Courses

• LAW JD 967: Advanced Trial Practice (S)
  This intensive seminar takes an integrated approach to civil and criminal procedure, evidence, and trial practice to teach the current trial techniques at work in our courts. Taught at the United States District Court itself, the course involves in-court observations, specific critique of actual trial presentations, and seminar discussion of all aspects of procedure, trial preparation, evidence, and trial practice. A term paper on some aspect of the trial process is required. While neither evidence nor trial practice is a formal prerequisite for this course, they are recommended. The goal of the seminar is to enhance the quality of judgment, exposition, and fact-law teaching a lawyer exercises on behalf of the client in the trial environment. The first class meeting will take place at the Law School -- Date/Time TBA. 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. ** 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 968: Immigration Law
  This class will cover the immigration laws of the United States, including the administrative and regulatory framework of the United States agencies charged with enforcing U.S. immigration laws. The topics covered by this course include the power of the Congress to regulate immigration; the effect of politics on immigration policy; nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications; the law of asylum; the intersection of immigration law and criminal law; grounds of removal from the United States; relief from deportation, immigration court representation and access to justice; and the law of naturalization and derived citizenship. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 969: Law & Regulation of Cannabis (S)
  This seminar will examine the burgeoning field of law surrounding the use, sale, and production of cannabis. Possible topics include federal versus state power to regulate cannabis, the substantive criminal laws regarding cannabis, and a variety of other issues such as banking, tax, and environmental laws that impact the cannabis industry in the United States. GRADING NOTICE: This class 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 972: Professional Responsibility in Business Law Practice (S)
  A survey of the laws and ethical rules that govern and regulate lawyers in corporate and transactional practice. Topics may include client identification in forming and dissolving business entities, representing close corporations and partnerships, investing in clients (including taking stock in lieu of legal fees), negotiation, representing public companies, the role of in-house counsel, conflicts of interest, and the future of regulating legal services in the US and globally. Students will write a 20 page research paper and give a brief oral presentation of their topic. NOTE: This class may be used to satisfy the Professional Responsibility requirement or the upper-class writing requirement (limited). This class may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class 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 973: Civil Litigation Program/Pretrial Advocacy
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation Program. Pretrial Advocacy is the companion fall classroom component for students in the Civil Litigation Program HEFD and fall ERC clinics. Pretrial Advocacy is taught in groups of roughly 14 students with two clinical professors per group. Classes are devoted to learning the theories of practice for use in the field, reinforced by activities and simulations in which students practice skills through role play. NOTE: Students who enroll in this component of the clinic may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement or the Professional Responsibility requirement. It may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 974: Civil Litigation Program/Trial Advocacy
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation Program. Trial Advocacy is the companion spring classroom component for students in the Civil Litigation Program HEFD and spring ERC clinics. Trial Advocacy is taught in groups of roughly 14 students with two clinical professors per group. Classes are devoted to learning the theories of practice for use in the field, reinforced by activities and simulations in which students practice skills through role play. NOTE: The Civil Litigation Program counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 975: International Human Rights Clinic (C)
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the International and Human Rights Clinic. Students in the Clinic work on human rights projects such as: working with NGO's in advocacy in the UN human rights system or in regional organs (e.g. Inter-American and European human rights bodies); filing briefs on human rights law issues in US domestic courts; counseling individual clients with human rights claims and without recourse within a domestic jurisdiction. While the nature of the fieldwork varies from year to year, the clinic has previously partnered with domestic and international NGOs on the Guantanamo cases, habeas cases, and Alien Tort Claims Act cases; drafted submissions to UN treaty bodies; and worked on the health and human rights aspects of humanitarian crises. Students conduct legal and factual research, conduct outreach to partners and project strategy development, and may prepare amicus briefs on human rights issues and appeals in human rights cases. The clinic fieldwork may include international travel. In the fall, students attend a weekly course, arranged in accordance with the students' schedules, to gain a structured introduction to human rights practitioners' work. NOTE: The International Human Rights Clinic count towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 978: Intellectual Property Rights and Commerce in the Global Cloud (LLM)
  This course, open to LLM in American Law and LLM in Intellectual Property Law students, will help participants appreciate and understand how the Internet or "Cloud" has introduced into everyday life an ever-expanding and evolving range of proprietary claims on digital information and its communication. We will cover the role of traditional industrial property (patents and trademarks) and of authors' rights (copyrights), as well as of internationally expanding rights in "confidential" information (trade secrets) -- which are amplified by the primacy of online "contracts" and licensing. We will also explore the extended range of quasi-proprietary interests such as privacy, publicity and "freedom of speech" and regulating factors such as consumer protection, e-commerce, competition and telecommunications policies (standards, Internet governance, Net Neutrality). While the subject matter will be examined in systemic appreciation from the perspective of U.S. and international transactions and enforcement, foreign-trained students will be encouraged to share insights on the national laws of their home countries. Grades will be based on a take-home final examination with a reasonable choice of covered subject matter, along with consideration of class participation. PREREQUISITE: None, as the course is directed to systemic understanding, but exposure to any of the mentioned subject matter would be helpful.
• LAW JD 979: International Business Deals for LLMs
  This seminar focuses on the "best practice" strategies an international lawyer can employ in order to efficiently navigate his or her clients through the complexities of the typical transaction lifecycle. Each step in the lifecycle (including initial term sheet negotiations, due diligence, regulatory and third party approvals, definitive agreement negotiations, closing mechanics, and other key steps) will be analyzed, with an emphasis on underlying business principles that are common across different jurisdictions (e.g. U.S., U.K/Australia, EU/civil law countries, Africa, India, China, Japan, Asia-Pacific and other jurisdictions). Case studies (involving real-life M&A, JV, franchising/licensing and other transactions) will be used to demonstrate the strengths and weakness of common strategies employed by law firm, in-house and other transactional lawyers. Grades will be based on class participation and a final paper where students, based on their course learnings, advocate for their own "best practice" strategy to international business transactions. Enrollment is limited to LL.M. in American Law Program students. Corporations and Contracts are pre-requisites or co-requisites, unless otherwise waived by the instructor.
• LAW JD 980: International Business Arbitration (S)
  Legal dimensions of resolution of cross-border economic disputes through binding arbitration. Treaty framework for determining validity of arbitration agreement and for recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, in particular 1958 New York (UN) Convention and 1965 Washington (World Bank) Convention. Comparative approach, including reference to French, English, Swiss, and United States approaches to arbitration law, as well as the United States (UNCITRAL) Model Act. Investor-State proceedings pursuant to free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties. Influence of major arbitration rules, including ICC, LCIA, AAA and ICSID. Exploration of special issues arising from intellectual property arbitration and expropriation claims, including Act of State and sovereign immunity. Introduction to debate on "delocalized" arbitration, the role of the arbitral seat and the enforceability of awards annulled at the place of proceedings. Arbitral awards as a contribution to lex mercatoria and the "soft law" of dispute resolution. Comparison of business arbitration with issues related to consumer, employment and class action proceedings in the United States. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** 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 981: Criminal Trial Advocacy
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. This course meets in the spring and is mandatory for all 2L students in the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Advocacy focuses on teaching courtroom skills in the context of criminal trial litigation. NOTE: The Criminal Law Clinical Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 982: Criminal Trial Practice I (C)
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice I is mandatory for students in their first semester of the Program. 2Ls take the course fall or spring, as determined in consultation with the Director of the Criminal Law Clinical Program upon acceptance to the Program. 3Ls take the course in the fall. The course consists of a fieldwork and classroom component. The classroom component provides students with an introduction to Massachusetts criminal procedure and basic instruction in lawyering skills such as case planning and investigation. For their fieldwork, students are assigned to cases handled by senior members of the Program and conduct tasks out of court such as legal research, fact investigation, witness interviews and preparation. Students spend one morning a week in court observing and second seating the cases they have helped to prepare. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 984: Professional Responsibility
  This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed will be problems of disclosure, conflict of interest, advertising, adversary tactics, competence, attorney fees, and fiduciary duties. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class Professional Responsibility requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 985: Corporate Finance
  This course covers the foundations of corporate finance. It starts with the concepts of time value of money, discounting, and present value. With that background it then considers the major financial decisions made by corporate managers. Topics include the valuation of financial assets and liabilities, criteria for making investment decisions, business valuation, relationships between risk and return, portfolio theory, market efficiency, capital structure choice, and cost of capital. GRADING NOTICE: Professor Sims' section will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 986: Lawyering Fellows
  This class is restricted to students who have applied and been accepted as Lawyering Fellows. Accepted students must register for both the fall and spring sections of the class.
• LAW JD 988: Mergers and Acquisitions
  This course will cover the principal legal, tax and business issues of mergers and acquisitions. PREREQUISITE: Corporations or permission of instructor.
• LAW JD 989: Jessup Moot Court: Problem Solving in International Law
  This course is restricted to students who applied and were accepted as participants for the Jessup Moot Court competition. A full description can be found here: https://www.bu.edu/law/current-students/jd-student-resources/legal-writing-appellate-advocacy-programs/appellate-advocacy-program-competitions/jessup-moot-court-competition/ NOTE: This class satisfies the upper-class Professional Skills requirement and counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.
• LAW JD 991: International Human Rights (S)
  This is an introductory course to international human rights. The course will introduce students to the concepts of human rights, and the instruments that have codified and provided content to those concepts in the last sixty years. We will examine such questions as: Is there such a thing as human rights law? What standards, mechanisms, monitoring or enforcement machinery exists to make human rights concepts "legal"? Is there such a thing as universal consensus on human rights, or are the concepts relative from one region to the next? What, if any, constraints does human rights law place on the actions of sovereign states? How does the UN machinery operate in human rights law-making, monitoring and enforcement? What is the role of regional organizations, domestic courts and international entities in developing, promoting and implementing human rights norms? The course will take a contextualized approach using cases and current situations to address these questions primarily from a human rights perspective. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 10 JD students. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** 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 995: Internet & Telecommunications Law
  Previously titled Telecommunications Law & Policy. The Internet and Telecommunications Law course will survey the legal regime for regulating the Internet and the telecommunications industries that support the Internet. The primary legal framework will be the Communications Act of 1934, as amended from time to time by Congress, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, and interpreted by the federal courts. Starting from the 1934 Act's separate regimes for regulating the broadcast and telephone industries, the course will trace the regulatory evolution responding to technological changes in the provision of electronic communications by cable, broadcast satellite, microwave, and wireless broadband. The course will conclude by focusing on the rapidly evolving regime for regulating (and in some cases deregulating) the Internet. Topics will include the "net neutrality" debate, strategies for closing the "digital divide," allocation of Internet regulatory authority among federal, state, and municipal governments, regulation and immunity of content on the Internet, and possible legal strategies for reining in the power of sites like Face Book and Google. The course instruction will assume a background in Administrative Law and a basic understanding of First Amendment Free Speech doctrine. It will not require any background in intellectual property nor cover (except perhaps in passing) any topics in intellectual property law. COREQUISITE: Administrative Law.
• LAW JD 996: International Criminal Law
  This course will focus chiefly on the crimes for which individuals incur direct criminal liability under contemporary international law. We will study (i) what crimes qualify as international in this sense, general principles of international criminal jurisdiction and immunities, and the historical evolution of the field from its genesis after World War I to Nuremberg to the permanent International Criminal Court established in 2002; (ii) statutory and tribunal jurisprudence defining the nature and scope of liability for core international crimes, viz., genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; (iii) modern debates over other, at times more controversial, international crimes, in particular, torture and CIDT, aggression, and terrorism; (iv) the minimal requirements and forms of individual criminal responsibility under international law; and (v) selected defenses. Time permitting, we may also cover selected issues in the transnational cooperation and prosecution of crimes that transcend national borders, such as money laundering and human trafficking.

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