Courses

• LAW JD 816: Corporations
  Course about the legal structure and characteristics of business corporations. Topics include the promotion and formation of corporations; the distribution of power between management and shareholders; the limitations on management powers imposed by state law fiduciary duties and federal securities laws; shareholder derivative suits; capital structure and financing of corporations; and fundamental changes in corporate structure, such as mergers and sales of assets. The course serves as a PREREQUISITE to advanced courses.
• LAW JD 817: Advanced Human Trafficking (S)
  In the Advanced Human Trafficking Seminar, students will examine the complexities of multidisciplinary legal practice in the human trafficking context. These topics will be explored through the use of case rounds and the discussion of issues arising in cases handled by the student attorneys. Topics will include the ethics of engaging with other professionals (e.g., social workers, medical professionals, etc.) as well as how to approach legal issues with a multi-disciplinary lens. For example, in the human trafficking context, courts have adopted diversion programs and "John" schools to alleviate the harsh implications of the criminal justice system while providing more effective protection to human trafficking survivors. Students will examine these approaches and the limitations of various models. Requirements include active class participation, journals, and a final paper.
• LAW JD 818: Advanced Human Trafficking (C)
  Students will continue to represent human trafficking survivors in a variety of contexts. They will be expected to contribute ten hours per week to represent human trafficking survivors. The clinical work will be based at the Family Justice Center, which provides space to agencies providing social, legal and other services to human trafficking survivors.
• LAW JD 819: Criminal Procedure: Comprehensive
  This course examines basic issues in criminal procedure that cut across the investigative and adjudicative stages. We will consider how the Constitution shapes the criminal justice system in the courtroom in areas such as the concepts of the presumption of innocence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the right to counsel, grand jury requests for the production of evidence, plea bargaining and the application of the Exclusionary Rule seeking to suppress evidence the police obtained in violation of the Constitution. We will also study the limits the Constitution places on the power of the police in the areas of interrogation, searches, seizures of property and stop and arrest, paying particular attention to the issue of racial profiling. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in this section and Criminal Procedure (JD821). Students who previously enrolled in Criminal Procedure: Adjudicatory (JD820) are also restricted from registering.
• LAW JD 820: Criminal Procedure: Adjudicatory
  This course examines the procedures and institutions involved in adjudicating the fate of an accused after arrest. Topics include such matters as the right to counsel, charging by grand jury and otherwise, prosecutorial discretion and plea bargaining, discovery, double jeopardy, trial practice (including the right to a jury trial, the right to confront witnesses, the meaning of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt", etc.), evolving practices in sentencing, and criminal appeals. RESTRICTIONS: Enrollment is limited to students who have not taken and are not currently enrolled in Rossman's Criminal Procedure (JD 819). Students who have taken or who are enrolled in Maclin's Criminal Procedure (JD 821) are permitted to take this course.OFFERING PATTERN: This class is not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
• LAW JD 821: Criminal Procedure: Investigatory Process
  This course covers search and seizure, the privilege against self-incrimination, confessions and the rights to counsel during custodial police interrogation. In general the course will examine the constitutional law in cases arising out of the conflict between police practices and the Bill of Rights. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in this section and Criminal Procedure (JD819).
• LAW JD 822: Privacy (S)
  Modern information technology and new information-intensive businesses and social practices have moved privacy concerns into the spotlight. And though privacy law has existed as a legal practice area for a generation or more, laws and practice in the area are increasingly complex and evolving rapidly. This course examines law and policy issues concerning personal information and privacy. Law enforcement, national security, and other public law topics will be considered, but the main focus will be civil law and the use of personally identifying information by businesses. We will consider privacy-related statutes and regulations; a variety of recent controversies drawing from Constitutional law, contract, and tort law; established privacy regimes in the EU and elsewhere; and emerging laws that have implications for the use and protection of personal information globally. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. GRADING NOTICE: This seminar does not offer the CR/NC/H option. **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 824: Juvenile Delinquency (S)
  The American juvenile justice system was established over one hundred years ago to address the problem of young offenders. This course examines the historical, social and legal foundations for our current system. We will examine the issue of "rights" as applied to children and look at the effects of ideology and politics on the current juvenile justice system. How have assumptions of childhood and responsibility changed? Has the juvenile court been "criminalized" with the introduction of due process rights for children? Under what circumstances are children treated as adult offenders? Selected issues for inquiry include: police interrogation of juveniles; school safety and zero tolerance policies; adjudicative competency; anti-youth crime policies; conditions of incarceration; and changes brought about by elimination of mandatory juvenile life without parole. We will examine these issues through use of court cases, law review articles, governmental and private organizational position papers, and legislative history. Using the Massachusetts model, one of the early and often emulated juvenile systems, we will examine the changes in the prosecution and incarceration of juveniles over the past century. As we consider the overarching issue of whether it makes sense to maintain a separate justice system for juveniles, we will compare our system to those of other nations. We will visit the Boston Juvenile Court to observe a delinquency session and speak with court personnel. Students are expected to attend each class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. Course requirements include a 15-20 page final paper, a class presentation based on the paper topic or related class readings, and several assigned reading response papers over the course of the semester. A limited number of students will be permitted to fulfill the upper-class writing certification requirement. This is a graded course. NOTE: This seminar satisfies the Upper-class Professional Skills requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 18 students. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. **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 826: Mediation: Theory & Practice (S)
  Mediation is part of the legal landscape in almost every substantive area and legal setting. This course will cover the theory and practice of mediation, the use of mediation to resolve disputes in various different legal contexts, and the development of practical mediation skills. We will examine the mediation process from the role of the mediator through the attorney representing a party in mediation. We will also address direct negotiation, the decision to mediate, mediator selection, preparation for mediation, and ethical issues involved in negotiation. The course will provide skill building through several interactive role-plays, in which students will have opportunities to act as a mediator, a party in mediation, and counsel to a party in mediation. The role play mediations and other exercises will survey many of the areas in which mediation is being used, including business and commercial; court-connected, federal-state agency (environmental and others); construction, employment/workplace; family/ divorce; school, community, and international. Due to the interactive nature of the class, students will be expected to attend all scheduled classes and to participate actively. Active participation includes in-class discussions, mediation role-plays, assigned reading, and writing a weekly mediator's journal. NOTES: This seminar does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement. This seminar satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 827: Restorative Justice: Principles and Practices
  The course explores the needs of key stakeholders in a justice system (victims, offenders, communities, government officials), outlines the basic principles and values of restorative justice with comparisons to the principles and values of retributive justice, and introduces some of the primary models of practice. It also identifies challenges to restorative justice. These discussions will takes place in the context of secular and religious understandings of justice. The course is organized around the issue of crime and harm within a western legal context. However, attention is given to applications and lessons from other contexts. Of particular interest is the contribution of traditional or indigenous approaches to justice as well as applications in post-conflict situations, such as South Africa. The class will include presentations by the instructor, class discussion of the assigned reading, conversations with victims, offenders and community members, and role plays of different practices. The class will include students from both the Law School and the School of Theology. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work and classroom performance. There will be no final exam.
• LAW JD 828: Wrongful Convictions Clinic (C)
  Participants will engage in screening applications from prisoners claiming innocence who have requested help from the New England Innocence Project. This may involve reading prisoner questionnaires, pleadings and court opinions in the case, legal research and analysis of the requirements for obtaining a new trial, review of attorney files, and search for forensic evidence in the case. Clinic students must attend biweekly meetings as determined necessary by Professor Cormier, and spend at least five hours a week on Clinic tasks, under supervision, for the full academic year. If investigation of the prisoner's case finishes at the end of the Fall Semester, or part-way through the Spring Semester, the Clinic work will end at that time. Most often, however, Clinic obligations continue throughout the academic year. Students will receive one pass/fail credit for each full semester of work. If, however, work on the prisoner's case is not finished by December, credit for the Fall will be deferred until the work is completed. Hours spent on Clinic work in the Spring semester that do not receive credit may be counted toward satisfaction of the School's Pro Bono Pledge. Participants will be expected to attend an evening orientation program, conducted in late September at the New England Innocence Project. Interested students may obtain an application online at http://www.bu.edu/law/central/jd/programs/clinics/applying/ and submit it to Mr. Cormier at pc@gscboston.com. The application deadline is May 15, 2015. NOTE: This Clinic satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement. Enrolling in this Clinic will not disadvantage participants who wish to enroll in other law school clinics, either contemporaneously or subsequently. NOTE: The clinic will meet from 6:30-9:30 on a weekday to be determined by the needs of the enrolled students.
• LAW JD 830: Federal Habeas Corpus (S)
  This seminar explores federal court jurisdiction to entertain petitions for the writ of habeas corpus. Some attention will be given to habeas corpus as a means of challenging actions taken by the Federal Government in connection with national security and immigration. More attention will be given to habeas as the means by which state and federal prisoners attack criminal convictions and death sentences. The seminar should be of interest to students interested in the institutional role of federal courts in the United States, the relationship between federal courts and state courts, and the procedural mechanisms for adjudicating federal constitutional issues in criminal cases. Students who plan to practice criminal law, to handle capital litigation, or to clerk for federal judges will find the seminar especially valuable. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 831: Evidence
  Practical and theoretical aspects of the rules of evidence. The purpose and policies underlying the evidentiary rules are stressed throughout in order to make the rules meaningful, predictable, and functional both for students interested in trial practice and for students who anticipate engaging in a more diversified practice. In addition to covering the substantive rules of evidence, the course demonstrates the significance of evidence as a tactical device at the trial and as a vital skill for the office lawyer. GRADING NOTICE: Judge Lowy's section will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 832: Energy Law & Policy (S)
  Energy law and policy are integral to the U.S. economy and have major impacts on the environment. This seminar will provide an overview of energy law and policy, primarily the U.S., with an emphasis on the sources and regulation of electric energy as well as the relative environmental consequences of different energy choices. We will pay particular attention to emerging alternative energy sources, e.g. wind, solar, biomass, as well as new technologies, e.g. horizontal fracking for the development of natural gas and energy storage. The seminar will involve the detailed study of several real life electric energy projects in order that students may gain a focused understanding of key federal energy and environmental laws, regulations and policies and learn how lawyers in the public, private and non-profit sector apply the law to a complex and changing set of facts. Students will have the opportunity to enhance their research, writing and oral presentation skills and receive detailed feedback. There are no prerequisites to the course other than a curious mind and interest in the subject matter. 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 833: Environmental Law
  This is an introductory survey course in environmental law. Topics include clean air, clean water, hazardous waste regulation and cleanup, and the protection of endangered species. Administrative Law is recommended but not required as a prerequisite.
• LAW JD 834: Employment Discrimination and Employment Law
  The course focuses on race, sex, age, and disability employment discrimination prohibitions. Affirmative action, religious discrimination, constitutional protections of public sector workers, anti retaliation and whistleblower laws, and common law protection against arbitrary dismissals are also covered. Important procedural issues, including arbitration, are highlighted.
• LAW JD 835: Jurisprudence: Contemporary Controversies Over Law & Morality
  This course will examine some classic issues of jurisprudence as they arise in contemporary controversies over law and morality. Topics will include the following: * The legal enforcement of morals. In Lawrence v. Texas, which recognized a right of gays and lesbians to intimate association, Justice Scalia protested in dissent that the case "effectively decrees the end of all morals legislation." Is Scalia right that there is really no distinction between homosexual intimate association and, to quote Scalia's list, "fornication, bigamy, adultery, adult incest, bestiality, and obscenity"? What are the proper limits on moral disapproval as a justification for traditional "morals legislation"? * Government's role in promoting public values: conflicts between liberty and equality. To what extent may government inculcate civic virtues and promote public values? We will focus on conflicts between personal liberty (including religious liberty) and the use of antidiscrimination law to secure the status of equal citizenship for gays and lesbians. For example, should laws recognizing same-sex marriage grant religious exemptions to town clerks and business people who morally disapprove of such marriage? * Grounds for justifying rights: protecting freedom to choose versus promoting moral goods. What are the best grounds for justifying rights in circumstances of moral disagreement? For example, should we justify a right to same-sex marriage on the ground that government should respect people's freedom to choose whom to marry? Or instead on the ground that protecting such a right promotes moral goods (the same moral goods that opposite-sex marriage furthers): commitment, intimacy, fidelity, and the like. * Rights, responsibilities, and regulation. To what extent does the protection of rights preclude governmental encouragement of responsible exercise of rights or regulation to protect others from harm? We will examine such issues in the context of reproductive freedom and the individual right to bear arms. * Originalisms versus moral readings of the Constitution. To what extent does constitutional interpretation involve determining the original meaning of the Constitution as a matter of historical fact (originalisms) versus making moral and philosophic judgments about the best understanding of our constitutional commitments (moral readings)? We will explore the emergence of "new originalisms" that aim to justify certain controversial rights that conventional originalists like Justice Scalia have rejected.
• LAW JD 836: Federal Courts
  A basic survey course, covering the federal courts and their conduct of litigation concerning business regulation, environmental protection, and civil rights. This course picks up where the first year course in Civil Procedure leaves off and complements other courses on modern regulation and legal institutions: e.g., Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Labor Law, Conflict of Laws, and Constitutional Law. Topics include the prerequisites for gaining access to the federal district courts and the United States Supreme Court, the relationship between the federal courts and state courts, and "abstention" doctrines governing the exercise of federal judicial power. Especially recommended for students who plan to practice with firms that represent clients subject to federal regulation, to pursue careers with federal or state agencies and departments, or to handle constitutional, civil rights, or other public interest litigation.
• LAW JD 837: Wrongful Convictions and the US Criminal Justice System (S)
  The past two decades have witnessed an unprecedented surge in the freeing from our nations jails and prisons of innocent people who were wrongfully convicted. Many have served lengthy sentences and some have spent years on death row awaiting execution for crimes they did not commit. This course will examine the broad range of factors that contribute to the wrongful conviction of the innocent and, in doing so, will shed light on broader questions about the functioning of the US criminal justice system. We will explore the role played by faulty eyewitness-identification procedures; coercive and deceptive police interrogation procedures; the mishandling of confidential informants, cooperating witnesses, and jailhouse snitches; junk science, disorganized crime labs, and incompetent and corrupt experts; police and prosecutorial failures to preserve & disclose exculpatory evidence; and incompetent defense counsel and underfunded criminal-defense-delivery systems. We will also examine the role of racial and ethnic bias, profiling, and tunnel vision, before considering how wrongful convictions affect the debate over the death penalty. We will look the use of postconviction procedures such as appeals, new-trial motions, and habeas corpus petitions, to free the wrongfully convicted. Finally, we will explore some of the reforms that have been proposed and some of the critiques -- from both the left and the right -- of the innocence movement, with its reliance on DNA technologies, and its narrow focus on the "wrong-man" notion of the "factually innocent." Films, case studies, and guest speakers will help ground our discussion in concrete examples. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 15 students. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule. **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 838: Antitrust Law
  Antitrust law regulates the competition between business firms in unregulated markets (and in varying degrees in regulated markets, where it supplies a benchmark standard). Thus, all privately owned economic entities are subject to or affected by the antitrust laws (federal or state), ranging from the largest multinationals to self-employed individuals, e.g., lawyers. Antitrust law constrains business behavior that injures the competitive process, encompassing such topics as price fixing, boycotts, monopolization, mergers, price discrimination, distributorship limitations and similar trade restrictions. Antitrust analysis is increasingly economic in its orientation and therefore economic analysis will form a vital part of the course. Supplementary economic readings are suggested for students without previous economic background (and for others who may wish to refresh their knowledge).

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