Courses

• LAW BK 995: Consumer Financial Services
  This class presents an overview of the laws relating to traditional and innovative consumer financial products and services, including the impact of the new consumer protection provisions of the Dodd-Frank banking law on creditors and consumers. The course focuses on federal consumer financial laws governing installment, revolving, and real estate lending, credit and debit cards; and ATM networks, point of sale payment systems, home banking, stored value and prepaid cards; and other deposit and loan products and services. The course examines the design of retail financial products and considers operational issues, the regulatory framework, and consumer protection laws including The Consumer Financial Protection Act, Truth in Lending, Equal Credit Opportunity, Community Reinvestment Acts, and federal and state laws governing fair credit reporting, trade practices, usury, electronic funds transfers, and funds availability.
• LAW JD 606: Legislation
  Examines the lawmaking process in legislatures, theories and rules of statutory interpretation in the courts, and the relationships among statutory law, administrative law, common law, and constitutional law.
• LAW JD 700: Intro Amer LAW
  
• LAW JD 701: Prof Resp/Llm
  
• LAW JD 705: Cr Culture Ext
  
• LAW JD 706: Writing Supplements
  Students enrolled in selected upper-class courses have the option of enrolling in one-credit Writing Supplements to these courses. Designed for students who are interested in practicing in the areas covered by the course, these one-credit supplements are taught by experienced attorneys who practice in these areas. In collaboration with the professor teaching the substantive course, the practitioner instructs students in drafting documents related to the substantive coursework. For example, a writing supplement to a family law class could include separation agreements, custody agreements or restraining orders. Writing sections consist of one introductory meeting and a number of follow up meetings to discuss drafts in progress. Because enrollment is limited, you will receive substantial feedback and individualized instruction. NOTE: Fall 2013 Section A1 - Supplement to Trusts, Wills & Basic Estate Planning. Spring 2014 Section B1 - Supplement to Family Law.
• LAW JD 707: Human Trafficking
  This course is required for students accepted to the Human Trafficking Clinic (JD708). The course will examine international, federal, and state mechanisms to combat human trafficking. The course will also evaluate comparative models for criminal prosecution and protection of survivors. The course will explore serious enforcement challenges in a variety of contexts, including victim compensation, employment rights, immigration relief, and criminal prosecution. Moreover, the class will receive training in client counseling techniques, focusing on the unique challenges when working with vulnerable communities, such as trafficking survivors. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: Immigration Law (JD968) and Evidence (JD831).
• LAW JD 708: Human Trafficking Clinic
  The Human Trafficking Clinic offers a unique opportunity for students to work on legal cases of human trafficking, a widespread and serious human rights violation. Students must apply and be accepted to the clinic before registering. Clinic students will provide a variety of legal services, including direct representation of non-citizens trafficked into the United States, advocacy for trafficking survivors, and community education and training. In particular, Clinic students will directly represent trafficking survivors to apply for a T-visa, a special form of immigration relief for trafficking survivors and/or in removal (deportation) proceedings before the Boston Immigration Court. Students also will collaborate with a variety of stakeholders, including survivors of human trafficking, law enforcement, government officials, and non-governmental organizations, to identify solutions to combat human trafficking. Through their clinical experience, students will increase their knowledge of trafficking law and learn fundamentals of lawyering, while providing a valuable service to survivors who would otherwise be unrepresented. CO-REQUISITE: Students must also register for JD 707.
• LAW JD 709: Independent Proposal Externship: Fieldwork (C)
  This is a clinical progam. Students must apply and be accepted before registering for this course. Through the Independent Proposal Externship, students may receive credit for an externship done in conjunction with an independent study project. This option is available to students only if there are no spots available in one of our other externship offerings. The Fieldwork Students receive 3-5 variable credits for the fieldwork, determined as follows: 3 credits = 150 hours total (about 12 hrs/wk); 4 credits = 200 hours total (about 15-16 hrs/wk); 5 credits = 250 hours total (about 20 hrs/wk). Qualifying internships may be at a non-profit, government, or in-house counsel placement. An internship may be at a law firm, but only if the student works solely on pro bono assignments. For all placements, the student must be supervised by an attorney, and must work on projects typically handled by an attorney. COREQUISITE: INDEPENDENT PROPOSAL EXTERNSHIP: PAPER (LAW JD 710)
• LAW JD 710: Independent Proposal Externship: Paper
  This is a clinical program. Students must apply and be accepted before registering for this course. Students work under the guidance of a faculty member and earn three credits for writing a paper and submitting journals. The paper must be at least 30 pages in length. There are eight journals due (5-7 pages each). Students may satisfy the upperclass writing requirement through the paper, under agreement of the sponsoring faculty member. COREQUISITE: INDEPENDENT PROPOSAL EXTERNSHIP (LAW JD 709).
• LAW JD 711: Judicial Writing (S)
  Designed for students who would like to clerk upon graduation or who have ambitions to sit on the bench, this class will focus on documents that law clerks and judges are called upon to draft, including bench briefs and appellate and trial court decisions. Students will complete multiple drafts of these documents, meet individually with the instructor to discuss the drafts, and engage in peer editing of their classmates' papers. Students will work with a single fact pattern throughout the semester, and will conduct extensive research as part of the course. In class, students will discuss the role of judges and their opinions in the legal systems, as well as the relationship between a judge and law clerk. The class will also include in-class writing exercises designed to improve the students' writing skills. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. NOTES: This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 712: Legal Writing for Civil Litigation (S)
  This class is designed to give students a variety of legal writing experiences, all related to civil litigation. Students will draft a variety of documents, including discovery-related documents, pleadings, and motions. Students will complete multiple drafts of these documents, meet individually with the instructor to discuss the drafts, and engage in peer editing of their classmates' papers. Students will work with a single fact pattern throughout the semester, and will conduct extensive research as part of the course. In class, students will discuss litigation strategy, research skills and ethical and professional concerns. In addition, the class will also include in-class writing exercises designed to improve the students' writing skills. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. NOTE: This class satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 713: Persuasive Writing (S)
  This seminar will focus on improving students' persuasive writing skills through a series of assignments and in-class exercises. Students will draft a variety of documents designed to persuade, including a statement of the facts and memos in support of motions. Some legal research will be necessary for these assignments, but the emphasis will be on writing, not on research. Students will complete multiple drafts of these documents, meet individually with the instructor to discuss the drafts, and engage in peer editing of their classmates' papers to improve their own writing skills. The class will also include discussions of persuasive writing strategies, comparisons of examples of good and bad persuasive writing, and in-class writing exercises. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work, their peer editing work, and on their classroom participation. There will be no final exam. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 717: Health Law Research
  Health law encompasses the engagement of the legal system with a large and dynamic segment of the U.S. economy. Students will learn to navigate the statutory and regulatory framework of health law, including research with case law, legislative history materials, and adjudications and guidance documents from federal health agencies. Students will become familiar with practice materials and premium databases beyond Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using major print, electronic, and web-based resources for health law research. Students will be required to complete several assignments using electronic and print resources. NOTE: Students may not add this course after the first class has been held. This course meets January 28 through February 25.
• LAW JD 718: Banking and Financial Law Research
  Banking law has been at the epicenter of recent economic events and major reforms have been passed by congress and now need to be implemented. Learn how to find laws and regulations, use specialized practice materials and search for agency issuances, among other research tasks. Lawyers practicing banking law often use licensed products other than LexisNexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg in their offices. Student will become familiar with these products in class. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using major print, electronic, and web based resources for banking law research. Students will be required to complete an assignment for every class using electronic and print resources. NOTE: Students may not add this course after the first class has been held. This course meets January 29 through March 5.
• LAW JD 719: Transactional Contracts: Drafting, Structuring and Negotiating Agreements under U.S. Law (for foreign-trained LL.M. students)
  This course is for foreign trained LL.M. students. This course will focus on developing the skills required to structure, negotiate and draft commonly-used transactional contracts, including agreements for the purchase or sale of a business, venture capital financing agreements, technology licensing agreements, loan agreements, and employment and non-competition agreements. In this class, students will learn the structure of agreements under U.S. law and the technical language required to effect the specific contractual provisions in these documents. Class time will be spent discussing how to negotiate and draft specific provisions of commonly-used contracts and other corporate documents, as well as the importance of each contract to a completed business transaction. Three credits.
• LAW JD 722: Environmental Justice Law
  Environmental Justice can be defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws and policies. Over the last two decades efforts to secure environmental justice have become important features of environmental policy and activism. This course will explore why environmental justice concerns have arisen, and what legal mechanisms may be used to address them. We will identify current situations where claims of environmental injustice might be made, and examine how existing legal tools, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and federal environmental statutes, might be applied to deal with them. The final grade will be determined by grades received on two short papers (each maximum 1,200 words; each 25% of the final grade); a final take-home exam (maximum 1,200 words; 40%); and class participation (10%), based on the quality, not quantity, of the contributions made.
• LAW JD 726: Health Care Fraud and Abuse (S)
  This seminar will use a practical, case-study approach to some of the issues arising in the complex world of health care enforcement and compliance. With emphasis on the procedural mechanisms of the False Claims Act and the substantive law of the Anti-Kickback Act, the Stark I and II laws, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, and the government's remedial authorities, the seminar will explore how prosecutors, defense attorneys, whistleblowers, and compliance officials inside health care companies approach their work and advise their clients. The seminar will explore the relationships between regulated industries (e.g., pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, doctors, medical device companies) and government insurance programs (e.g., Medicaid and Medicare), why these relationships generate billions of dollars every year in fraud, and how the interested constituencies are approaching these issues. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule. NOTE: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. **A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 728: Government Lawyering Externship/Fieldwork (C)
  The Government Lawyering Externship is a one-semester clinical program. Students are required to apply and be accepted to the program before they may register. Accepted students must register for the ungraded fieldwork component and the graded seminar. Through the Government Lawyering Externship Program (GLEP), students work at a state or federal agency. Upon acceptance to the Government Lawyering Externship Program program, the Office of Clinical Programs works with students to identify suitable field placements depending on each student's individual interests and career goals. The range of opportunities in the government is extensive and there are great options out there for every student. COREQUISITE: Government Lawyering Seminar (JD 729) NOTE: This clinic satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement.
• LAW JD 729: Government Lawyering Externship/Seminar
  The Government Lawyering Externship is a one-semester clinical program. Students are required to apply and be accepted to the program before they may register. Accepted students register for the ungraded fieldwork component and this graded seminar. The two hour weekly seminar will explore topics including determining who the "client" is for purposes of the attorney-client relationship, the interaction with other government agencies, ethical and moral considerations unique to government attorneys, and the impact of politics on the work of a government lawyer. Students will write weekly journals about their externship experience and will also write a final research paper. COREQUISITE: Government Lawyering Externship: Fieldwork (JD 728)

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