Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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LAW BK 957: Introduction to Project Finance
This course focuses on the structure, documentation and negotiation of a typical project finance transaction. The class will explore legal, financial, and policy problems involved in investing in domestic and cross- border power and infrastructure projects. We will focus on strategies and techniques of structuring and financing such investments, and will touch upon the legal and regulatory environment for investment, and in the context of foreign investment, the role of political risk management and the implications of treaties, conventions, and other relevant law. Selected domestic and cross- border investment transactions, both actual and hypothetical, will be used to illustrate recurring issues. This course may contain a graded group drafting component where students draft and negotiate a loan agreement. -
LAW BK 958: Transnational Lending
This course examines legal issues arising in debt financing provided by financial institutions in international markets. The structure of transnational loan agreements, guarantees, letters of credit, participation and loan sales transactions, and basic instruments and documents common to trade financing are examined. The nature of the documentation and techniques used in such transactions, as well as regulatory patterns, legal problems and international law reform efforts, are studied. The course also covers issues related to the syndication of debt financing transactions, governing law, and creditor remedies. -
LAW BK 971: Financial Crisis to Fintech
This course provides the student with a perspective on the origins of the financial crisis of 2007-2009, the response to that crisis, and the financial reform responses to the crisis be they legislative, regulatory of market- driven. The course has three parts: the Buildup, the Eye-of-the Storm, and the Response. In the first part, the causes of this and other financial crises are explored including the housing bubble, the development of the "shadow" financial system, new financial instruments, regulatory gaps and deregulation, monetary policies, compensation practices, accounting deficiencies, governance breakdowns, and more. In the second part, policy responses to the crisis are detailed such as: central bank liquidity facilities, government investment programs such as TARP, fiscal stimulus, stress-testing, enforcement actions and the lack thereof, and global coordination of responses. Finally, the course will take an analytical view of the reforms prompted by the crisis. These include various systemic risk measures, guidance from the G-20 and Bank Stability Board, Basel III, the treatment of home/host country issues, and the current state-of-play of the regulation of the derivatives marketplace. A discussion format is employed to the extent feasible, and problems and illustrations are used to focus and encourage class participation. -
LAW BK 972: Secured Transactions
Secured Transactions explores the "how-to's" of asset-based lending and, particularly, the way in which a lender or seller of commercial goods on credit protects its rights in the debtor's collateral under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The subject matter is approached from the perspective of practice skills in representing a lender and a commercial debtor. Students are responsible for case and problem recitation, as well as problem solving in a team environment. 2 credits. -
LAW BK 983: Central Banks, Commercial Banks, and Financial Markets
This course introduces lawyers to the economics of financial markets and institutions. Emphasis is placed on the interaction of commercial banks, the Federal Reserve System, and monetary policy. Other topics include the characteristics of financial instruments (such as Treasury securities, corporate stocks and bonds, and secondary market mortgage-backed securities), how they are priced in the market, the factors determining the level and shape of the Treasury yield curve, and the relationship between commercial banking and the growth of the over-the-counter derivatives market. Course grades will be based on midterm and final examinations, and on written assignments. -
LAW BK 987: Securitization
Securitization and structured finance together constitute one of the most dynamic segments of the financial markets. Securitization involves the creation and issuance of securities backed by one or more assets which generate cash flows sufficient to fund the securities. Structured finance includes securitization as well as transactions in which securities are not issued, but which involve the often complex structuring of cash flows to achieve a desired tax, accounting or financial objective. These transactions often cut across many areas of legal specialization, including bank and thrift regulation, securities regulation, taxation, bankruptcy and insolvency, fiduciary law, real estate law and environmental law. This course examines a series of actual transactions to explore the sometimes contradictory ways that these various legal constructs impinge upon the structuring transactions. Examples include single-family mortgage pools, trade receivable securitizations and commercial mortgage securitizations. This course also explores some of the more cutting-edge securitizations of exotic asset classes such as legal fees, intellectual property and renewable energy assets. -
LAW BK 988: Mergers and Acquisitions
This course deals with key issues that arise in bank mergers and acquisitions. Business and transactional topics include: merger and acquisition strategies, deal structure and pricing, hostile takeovers and defenses, duties of directors, disclosure obligations, due diligence, mergers of equals, social issues, tax considerations, and accounting issues. Regulatory topics include: federal and state approval processes, regulatory considerations in the structuring of transactions, antitrust considerations, interstate banking issues, the Community Reinvestment Act, thrift and other nonbank acquisitions, Glass-Steagall and Bank Holding Company Act issues, and cross- industry transactions. -
LAW BK 990: Government Regulation of Insurance
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), better known as health care reform, is the most important and controversial piece of federal social legislation of this generation. It is also basically an insurance regulatory statute. PPACA establishes a new and complex set of rules governing the operation of the health insurance industry, provides consumers with important rights with respect to access to medical care and imposes obligations with respect to health insurance on both businesses and individuals. The course will look at PPACA and the issues that surrounded its enactment--issues which continue to fuel debate over whether it should modified or repealed. This will be done as part of an examination of the regulatory rules that govern all of insurance industry?s products (annuities, auto, home owners? product liability, life insurance, etc). The course also takes a look at the insurance industry?s structure and financial performance and at the competitive interactions between the insurance, banking and securities industries. The impact on the industry of the financial crisis of 2008 and the resulting Dodd-Frank reform legislation will be reviewed. Not offered Fall 2020. -
LAW BK 991: Commercial Lending
This course studies the legal problems involved in negotiating and documenting various types of commercial lending transactions ranging from short-term unsecured loans to secured and long-term financings. The process is followed from the initial identification of a lending opportunity to pre- commitment correspondence and commitment letters, through to the key documents required at closing. The major aspects of a loan agreement, including definitional provisions, representations and warranties, lending provisions, pricing, affirmative and negative covenants, and events of defaults are studied in detail in an effort to insure that each student understands the mechanics of a commercial loan agreement. Security interests in real estate and personal property are addressed. Loan syndications and the loan markets are examined. Issues relating to guaranties and subordination agreements are considered. Overviews of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and lender liability are provided. Provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act relating to financing transactions, legal lending limits, margin requirements, and usury are considered. A lecture and discussion format is employed. Reading assignments include relevant court decisions, articles, and actual transaction documents. -
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 602: Lawyering Skills 1
Provides training in legal research, legal writing, oral advocacy, client interviewing, and client counseling through simulations of real-world legal disputes. -
LAW JD 603: Lawyering Skills 2
Provides training in legal research, legal writing, oral advocacy, client interviewing, and client counseling through simulations of real-world legal disputes. -
LAW JD 605: Business Fundamentals
Introduction to Business Fundamentals is an online, self-paced, asynchronous program forming a required part of the JD curriculum. The curriculum consists of modules covering business basics, corporate finance and financial accounting, including the following subjects: capital markets; the basics of financial reporting; balance sheets; income statements and cash flow; business forms and organizations; financing organizations; discounting; and calculating risk, return and valuation. Assessment is based on multiple choice exams. Students may opt-out of the course if they score an 84% or better on the pre-course exam. A score of 70% or better on the post-course exam, following successful completion of the course, is necessary to meet the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course awards no credits and is graded P/F. It is a graduation requirement for JD students. Students may enroll in the program for the fall, spring or summer semesters, but should complete the course by the conclusion of the fall semester of the 3L year. -
LAW JD 607: Lawyering Lab
Lawyering Lab is an intensive, four-day course required of all first-year law students. Lawyering Lab provides hands-on, practical training in the context of a business deal, giving students the opportunity to practice a variety of skills under conditions that simulate the realities of day-to-day practice, including time constraints. These skills include negotiation, client counseling, problem-solving, professionalism, public presentation, and teamwork. Students also have an opportunity for self-reflection and evaluation. Students are grouped into small teams and assigned to represent a client on either side of a transaction. Under faculty supervision, teams on both sides of the transaction identify the legal constraints and opportunities presented. Students then collaborate with their teammates to identify, assess, and recommend options for action to their client. After counseling their client on a course of action, students negotiate and draft contractual provisions with opposing counsel. The deadlines for class assignments are tight, as they usually are for lawyers seeking to respond with immediacy to particular client problems. Through the expertise and guidance of the instructors, collaborative exercises with peers, and exposure to some of the day-to-day elements of lawyering, students in the Lawyering Lab learn about law and legal practice in a way that is exciting, innovative, and participant-centered. 1 credit, P/F. -
LAW JD 608: Bar Exam Skills
This course trains students on the test-taking and study skills that are critical to students' success on the bar exam. This course consists of eight in-person classes, weekly homework assignments and in-class final exam. This course teaches students how to approach the types of questions they are likely to encounter on the Uniform Bar Exam. This course utilizes practice materials provided by Kaplan, one of the largest bar exam test prep companies in the country. This course will also provide students with individualized feedback and a personalized study plan for the bar exam. Course enrollment is limited to two sections with twenty students in each section. This course is designed to provide students with an early start to their bar exam preparation, as opposed to an alternative to taking a full bar review program. THIS COURSE IS RESTRICTED to 3L students who have submitted a written application that is approved by the instructor, Nick Horan. The application for enrollment will be emailed directly to all 3L students. GRADING NOTICE: This course will not offer the CR/NC/H option. Meeting dates TBD. -
LAW JD 668: Cannabis Law Externship: Seminar (C)
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. The Cannabis Law Externship Seminar (Externship Seminar) will be a tethered externship seminar. It will be open to a small (4-6) cohort of students who have secured cannabis law related externships The Externship Seminar will be a one credit experiential class with co-requirements of the Cannabis Law Seminar and a cannabis law field placement. The Externship Seminar will integrate the Cannabis Law course material and the assignments that students are working on at their placements, tethering the two experiences. The course will focus on the practice of law as it relates to the emerging area of cannabis law, legal ethics and professional responsibility within the field of cannabis law, students' professional development, and access to justice. COREQUISITE: Cannabis Law Fieldwork (JD 669) NOTE: Credits earned for the Cannabis Externship Seminar may be counted towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning Requirement. -
LAW JD 669: Cannabis Law Externship: Fieldwork (C)
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. The Cannabis Law Externship Seminar (Externship Seminar) will be a tethered externship seminar. It will be open to a small (4-6) cohort of students who have secured cannabis law related externships The Externship Seminar will be a one credit experiential class with co-requirements of the Cannabis Law Seminar and a cannabis law field placement. The Externship Seminar will integrate the Cannabis Law course material and the assignments that students are working on at their placements, tethering the two experiences. The course will focus on the practice of law as it relates to the emerging area of cannabis law, legal ethics and professional responsibility within the field of cannabis law, students' professional development, and access to justice. COREQUISITE: Cannabis Law Seminar (JD 668) NOTE: Credits earned for the Cannabis Externship Fieldwork may be counted towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning Requirement. -
LAW JD 673: Law and Algorithms (S)
This cross-cutting and interdisciplinary course, taught alongside a graduate-level course with BU's new faculty of Computing and Data Sciences, investigates the role that algorithms and automated decision-making systems play in law and society. The course connects legal and technical concepts of transparency, fairness, bias, privacy, and trust, though a series of case studies that present recent applications of technology to legal and regulatory situations and explore the challenges in regulating algorithms. Legal concepts explored will include evidence and expert witnesses, anti-discrimination law concepts of disparate impact and disparate treatment, sectoral information privacy regimes, and public access and transparency laws. Technical concepts explored will include artificial intelligence and machine learning, secure multi-party computation, differential privacy, and zero-knowledge proofs. Grades will be based on a series of assignments that correspond with each case study, to be completed collaboratively in mixed teams of law and computing/data science students. No prior technology experience is required. GRADING NOTICE: This class will 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 683: Compliance in Financial Services Companies
This course will take students through the compliance mechanisms within financial organizations putting regulatory requirements into practice. The purpose of the class is to offer a fundamental preparation to the lawyer in a financial institution's legal department or a separate compliance department. This course covers the following: * The history of compliance * The interaction between business processes, legal requirements, and compliance. * The profession of financial compliance * The interaction of conflicts, risks and ethics * The roles of the Chief Compliance Officer, the Auditor, the Legal Officer and the interaction among them * Defining best practice, business process, risk assessment and controls and their interactions within financial institutions * A broad outline of regulations applicable to financial institutions * Data privacy and information security compliance * Interacting with regulators, enforcement agencies and investigations * Business ethics and culture in financial institutions. The course will use an exam as the final assessment. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. -
LAW JD 685: Compassionate Release Practicum (C)
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied and been accepted to the Compassionate Release Practicum. In April of 2018, Massachusetts joined 44 states and the federal government in providing a statutory mechanism by which terminally ill and/or permanently incapacitated inmates could be released on so-called medical parole. The new statute was a result of ongoing compromises as part of the omnibus criminal justice reform bill, and pending constitutional litigation which became moot. To date only one person has been released. The intent of the practicum is to engage students both in direct representation of inmates not otherwise entitled to counsel, and in brainstorming and developing solutions in this new and rapidly developing area of law. Students will learn about legislative history and lobbying, about statutory construction, FOIA, and about the constitutional underpinnings of compassionate release. Students will learn and demonstrate drafting, client counseling and negotiation skills. This practicum can be taken for one (50 hours) or two (100 hours) graded credits. Students will write a total of twenty pages, which likely will include a petition for release, and a superior court complaint and motion for judgment on the pleadings. Students will in addition write two journal reflections. There will be a weekly one hour seminar at a time arranged with the students. The final grade is based on class participation, revised writing and journal reflections. NOTE: The Compassionate Release Practicum counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
