Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• LAW JD 887: Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders
  Federal income tax considerations have major implications for planning in the corporate area. This course focuses on income tax issues in transactions between corporations and shareholders, including distributions, exchanges, reorganizations and capital contributions. PREREQUISITE: Introduction to Federal Income Taxation.
• LAW JD 888: Immigrants' Rights/Human Traffic Clinic
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program. In this seminar, students will further develop their trial advocacy skills by participating in multiple mock hearings and portions of simulated trials. In particular, this course will focus on developing students' competencies in the following topics: (1) witness preparation, including working with lay and expert witnesses; (2) oral advocacy, including direct/cross examination and opening and closing statements; (3) factual and legal research; (4) cross-cultural lawyering and implicit bias; (5) legal advocacy and brief writing; (6) basic negotiation; and (7) developing professional roles and identities. Students will also be introduced to the intersections between criminal and immigration law, and to law and organizing in the immigration context. NOTE: The Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 889: Introduction to Federal Income Taxation
  The income tax is a pervasive feature of life in the United States and lawyers encounter tax issues in virtually every field of practice. This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of the federal income tax, and its impact on a wide range of matters, including employment, tort claims, divorce, retirement, and especially business activities and investments of all types Topics include: the concept of income, determination of gross income, allowance of deductions and the determination of taxable income, identification of the taxpayer, taxable periods and timing, the determination of gain or loss (including realization and recognition) from dealings in property, the concept of income tax basis, and the process of change in the tax law. GRADING NOTICE: Professor Dean¿s section does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 891: ANTITRUST & HEALTH CARE
  The healthcare industry has been a leading target of antitrust enforcement over the past two decades, and most of that has focused on the conduct of pharmaceutical companies. The high cost of prescription drugs is one of the biggest public policy challenges of our time and is now an issue squarely in the cross hairs of federal and state antitrust enforcers. The cases that result feature the application of traditional antitrust principles, formed over the last century, to a unique industry with atypical economics, complex regulatory schemes, and extensive enforcement of patent rights. At every turn, courts and regulators must balance the need to promote price-reducing competition with the need to maintain incentives for massive private R&D investment. This seminar will serve as an introduction to those cases. It will focus on the most common antitrust matters that arise from the competition between branded and generic drugs. It will also survey other hot topics at the antitrust-healthcare intersection more broadly, such as hospital and health system mergers. The course will also serve to develop practical lawyering skills--including how to critically analyze precedent, how to frame and to communicate advice to clients when legal standards are uncertain, and how lawyers shape the law. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement either partially or in full. **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 892: Torts
  Principles of civil recovery for injury, including strict liability, negligence, and the intentional torts, with emphasis on the social, economic, and moral underpinnings of the doctrines.
• LAW JD 893: Health Justice Practicum
  The Health Justice Practicum is a new one-semester, two-credit course enrolling a maximum of six students. Students will collaborate with frontline health care providers who serve marginalized populations on projects that require legal and problem-solving skills and where providers and/or patients have identified a systemic problem affecting patients' health and wellbeing. In Spring 2022, we will be collaborating with Project RESPECT, an integrated obstetrics, addiction medicine, and behavioral health clinic at Boston Medical Center that serves low-income pregnant and parenting people in recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs), especially opioid use disorders (OUDs). Project RESPECT providers have identified a problem in Massachusetts law that significantly harms low-income parents in recovery from SUDs and their children, disproportionately harming Black, Indigenous, or other people of color (BIPOC) families. Children born to women in evidence-based medication-assisted recovery (e.g., methadone treatment) must be reported at birth to the Department of Children and Families as if the mother were actively using drugs. Children born to BIPOC mothers are more likely than children born to white mothers both to be reported to child protection authorities and to be separated from their families as a result. The trauma of custody disruption has demonstrated serious effects on both recovering parents and child health and development. We will explore and advocate for possible legal and policy advocacy solutions to these issues--for example, changes in mandatory reporting laws and reformed child protection agency practices to eliminate discriminatory decisionmaking. Students will attend group meetings as well as work on research and advocacy. The project work will allow students to hone their research, analytical, writing, presentation, and problem-solving skills. Regular group meetings will deepen students' understanding of their projects by providing a broader context. Students will also meet individually or in teams with the faculty supervisor to discuss their project work. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 894: Trial Advocacy
  This course introduces the student to the structure of the trial process and the skills used by trial lawyers. The topics covered range from opening statements to closing arguments, including conducting direct and cross-examination of witnesses, making and meeting objections, introducing documents and discovery into evidence, and using hypothetical questions with expert witnesses. Students must perform simulated exercises and will try one or more civil or criminal cases before a jury. Visit the web for more information on the instructors. PREREQUISITE: EVIDENCE. Students taking TRIAL ADVOCACY in the second semester of their third year may take EVIDENCE as a COREQUISITE. Students who have taken a trial advocacy course as part of a clinic may not subsequently enroll in Trial Advocacy. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: A student who fails to attend the first class or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the class. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 895: Youth and the Law
  We will consider the way the law responds to the transition from childhood to adulthood across a variety of legal topics. We will consider the ways numeric age and conceptions of maturity influence responses to a range of issues. Topics may include: the treatment of youth in the criminal justice system; the rights of youth to familial or state support in obtaining housing and other material goods; the relationship between youth and commercial actors or other third parties ranging from the infancy doctrine to social media platforms; parental authority and responsibilities in healthcare and educational decision-making; the civic spheres of military service, voting, and jury duty; protective laws such as labor laws; and ages of privilege such as driving and access to alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. We will read together for the first portion of the course, opening class with all students making quick presentations about the day's readings individually or on teams. As we unpack frameworks underneath youth law, we will consider presentation and paper topics. In the final portion of the course, students will offer oral presentations of their research projects in light of the frameworks we develop. Evaluation will be based on preparation, class participation, presentations, and a paper that follows the presentation. UPPERCLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to partially satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This seminar does not offer the CR/NC option.
• LAW JD 896: Corporate Counsel Externship: Seminar
  This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. This is a 2-credit graded seminar for those students doing fieldwork in Corporate Counsel offices that meets every week for 1.5 hours. The seminar will cover a range of topics and competencies essential to the day-to-day role of a lawyer in the corporate counsel offices of for-profit and nonprofit companies, such as: understanding the modern and future role of corporate counsel offices, on a global scale; exercising executive leadership; representing a business entity through its constituents; becoming both a trusted legal advisor and strategic business partner to the corporate client; upholding confidentiality and ethical standards; learning the client's business; understanding the role of regulatory compliance; communicating effectively in a business setting; managing priorities and crises; collaborating with multi-disciplined teams; and solving problems with workable solutions that enable the client's objectives. To maximize the students' growth over the semester, the seminar will also teach students how lawyers learn from practice, build strong supervisory and mentorship relationships, build cultural competence, reflect and self-assess, and set and measure progress on professional development goals. Students will write reflective papers, make oral presentations, and complete other work as required by the instructor. COREQUISITE: Corporate Counsel Externship Fieldwork (JD 954). NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.
• LAW JD 897: Consumer Economic Justice Clinic Seminar 1
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation and Justice Program ¿ Consumer Economic Justice Clinic. In addition to the clinic fieldwork, students will attend a weekly classroom seminar. The fall seminar will cover substantive consumer law as well as theories and policies that explain the current state of consumer protection and economic injustice. Students will learn about key state and federal consumer protection laws including the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, The Truth in Lending Act, M.G.L. Chapter 93A (also called the "Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law") and how these laws may be used to move low-income consumers towards economic justice. PRE/CO-REQUISITES: Evidence and Professional Responsibility. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 898: Criminal Trial Practice II / Defenders
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice 2 is for students in their second semester of the Program who have been assigned to the Defender section. Students represent clients charged with criminal offenses in either the Boston Municipal Court or the Boston Juvenile Court, handling felony and misdemeanor cases of increasing complexity under the supervision of the clinical professor. Students gain exposure to lawyering experiences such as investigation, interviewing, counseling, and trial advocacy. Students must be available to be in court two full days a week. Students will receive more information about which days they must have available for court before they must register for all courses. PREREQS: Evidence; Trial Advocacy or Criminal Trial Advocacy; Criminal Procedure (Comprehensive, Constitutional, or Adjudicatory). NOTE: The Criminal Law Clinical Program counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 899: CRIMINAL TRIAL PRACTICE II/PROSECUTORS
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice 2 is for students in their second semester of the Program and who have been assigned to the Prosecutor section. Students serve as prosecutors in the Quincy District Court on behalf of the Norfolk County District Attorney¿s office, handling felony and misdemeanor cases of increasing complexity under the direct supervision of the clinical faculty member. Students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences, including investigation, interviewing and trial advocacy. Students litigate evidentiary hearings and conduct every phase of jury and bench trials. Students collaborate but serve as the lead prosecutors on their own cases. Students in the Prosecutor Clinic may choose to enroll for 5 or 8 credits. Students must be available to be in court two full days per week. Students will receive more information about which morning they must have available for court before they must register for all courses. NOTE: The Criminal Clinical Program satisfies the upper-class professional skills requirement and counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 900: Economics of Intellectual Property Law
  This seminar will explore the economics of intellectual property law. There are no prerequisites. The readings for the seminar will consist of Cass and Hylton, Laws of Creation (2013), and several cases and articles. The seminar will emphasize understanding the policy justifications for the major doctrines in intellectual property. The topics studies will include patent law, copyright law, trademark law, trade secret law, and the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to satisfy the requirement.
• LAW JD 901: APPELLATE ADVOCACY PROGRAM DIRECTOR
  This class is restricted to third-year students who applied and were accepted as directors of the BU Law Moot Court programs (Stone and Albers). NOTE: This class may be used to satisfy the Upper-class Writing requirement.
• LAW JD 903: SUPREME COURT DECISIONMAKING
  This course will focus on cases that are currently on the docket of the Supreme Court across the range of the Court's subject matter. In the first week of class, we will read a set of pending certiorari petitions and vote as a class on whether we would grant the petition. (Petitions and background readings will be available on the course website.) Each student will be responsible for writing a brief memorandum in one case on whether the Court should grant the petition. Thereafter, each week, the class will read materials in preparation to discuss one or two cases pending on the merits, including its lower court opinion, the briefs from each party and selected amicus briefs. Prior to each class session, each student will be responsible for writing a brief memo (no more than a paragraph or two on each case) briefly stating how they would decide the case or cases for that week and why. Students will also be responsible for drafting one 20-25 page Supreme Court opinion and one 3-5 page dissenting opinion (either from their own opinion or someone else's) to be distributed to and discussed by the class. NOTE: Students registered for this seminar are encouraged to choose a case from the Court's docket during Fall Semester and take the lead on writing the opinion in that case. Students who do not choose a case in advance will be assigned one at the first class meeting. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to satisfy the requirement; two drafts and research on secondary sources is required. 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 905: Entertainment Law
  This seminar will focus on the varied legal and business doctrines that influence the practice of entertainment law. Some of the primary topics include copyright and trademark protection and enforcement; defamation and freedom of speech; privacy and publicity rights; social media; licensing and merchandising entertainment properties; and other general contractual relations within the entertainment industry. The course will also examine the practical aspects of entertainment law, such as client counseling and negotiations and contract drafting. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based upon papers and class participation. NOTES: This class may not be used to 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 906: Current Issues in Employment Law
  This seminar focuses on recent trends and developments in employment law as seen from the perspective of a practitioner. Topics include recent legislative and practice developments related to paid leaves of absences, restrictive covenants, the #me too movement, specifically efforts to end non-disclosure provisions and efforts to make discrimination and harassment claims easier to bring, and salary transparency. Topics also include: increased prevalence of retaliation claims and wage and hour claims, including with respect to the latter the challenges created by a "gig economy" (i.e., employee vs. independent contractor classification); increases in unionization efforts, and the complexities caused by remote workers. NOTE: Prior labor/employment law coursework preferred but not strictly required. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class will 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 908: WRITING FOR LEGAL CHANGE
  This course explores various ways that legal change happens with a focus on the written methods. We will examine theories regarding when and how legal change occurs, highlighting the various roles lawyers can play in creating that change. The main modules of this course will focus on (1) clarifying the law for non-lawyers, (2) the op-eds medium, (3) amicus briefs and giving voice to non-parties, (4) advocacy for regulatory changes through rulemaking, and (5) ballot initiatives. Students will critically examine each type of writing, revising current sources and writing their own. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing 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 wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 909: Theories of Law and Society
  This interdisciplinary seminar introduces students to theories of law and society. Specifically, this seminar considers the nature and function of law through the lens of sociological theory. It addresses many questions overlooked in the traditional law school curriculum. What is law? What is justice? What is the relationship between law and culture? Theorists include classic sociological thinkers such as Durkheim, Weber, Marx, as well as critical thinkers such as de Beauvoir, Said, and Fanon. In their final paper, students will be expected to apply one or more theories to an emerging area of legal doctrine or practice. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to satisfy the 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, 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 910: Consumer Economic Justice Clinic Seminar 2
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation and Justice Program ¿ Consumer Economic Justice Clinic. In addition to the clinic fieldwork, students will attend a weekly classroom seminar. In the spring seminar, students will explore the role of consumer protection laws and theories as a means to economic justice. Students will also reflect on their experiences from the fieldwork and how they relate to larger systemic problems. In the Spring Semester, the seminar will apply a macro lens to analyze the causes of individual consumer legal problems, including government and policy reasons, and the causes of economic injustice as a systemic problem. Students may also research and write papers for publication (e.g., comments on a proposed bill, a policy paper, or a know-your-rights article) about a consumer law issue. PRE/CO-REQUISITES: Evidence and Professional Responsibility. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.