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 907: REPRESENTING LIFE SCIENCES CO.
  Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals are two of the fastest growing industries in the U.S., and the legal issues that arise in connection with representing them are complex and evolving. This seminar will focus on the transactional, intellectual property, and regulatory legal issues that challenge lawyers working with clients in these industries. We will begin with an overview of these industries, including a basic review of the sciences underpinning them (intended for non-scientists). We will then delve into complex legal issues such as licensing, collaborations, and consortium building; academic-industry interactions; the drug and biologic regulatory approval process; issues arising in clinical trials; and legal issues arising in the manufacture and distribution of life sciences products. If time permits, we will also examine the medical device industry and the ways in which that industry differs from the biopharmaceutical industry. In lieu of an exam, students will prepare a 25 page, journal-worthy article addressing a legal topic of the student's selection. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is not offered every year. 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 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 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.
• LAW JD 911: Courts and the LGBT+ Movement
  The seminar will examine the role of the courts in both enabling and hindering the remarkable social/political/cultural shifts that have made it possible for many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans to participate more fully in our common life while being as open as they choose about who they are, creating for many of us a changed landscape impossible to have imagined a just a few decades ago. The First Amendment will be a primary focus, although the questions posed will inevitably spill over into considerations of the Due Process and Equal Protection provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. Our perspective will be critical, recognizing evolving openness in the courts where it appears and at the same time calling out the conscious, unconscious and systemic bias that continues to pervade the law. The plan is to begin with the unlikely emergence of the First Amendment as a friend to LGBT+ folk in the otherwise hostile legal landscape of the Fifties. Then, we will track how, fertilized by the African-American civil rights and feminist movements of the Sixties and early Seventies, the right to speak burgeoned into the right to participate openly in civic venues that were formerly off limits. We will look at how, and to what extent, the role of the state as guardian of gender conformity lost much of its power to impede openness and equality for people who had historically been regarded as simply beyond the pale of community. We will examine the “red lines” that queer people were forbidden to cross, like the scouts, the military, athletics, parenting and marriage; and the extent to which those lines have eroded or become more rigid. We will assess the “blowback,” such as the spate of laws forbidding discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the schools; laws targeting transgender individuals; and the increasing use of the First Amendment to create exemptions to public accommodation laws. Finally, we will think together about the advantages and possible drawbacks of the strategies employed to advance equality for LGBTQ+ folks as these strategies relate to the larger struggle for human liberation and for the fostering of an environment that makes it easier for the planet and its inhabitants to thrive. To help facilitate this discussion, one or more sessions will, if feasible, include practicing attorneys working in this area of the law. There will be final paper in lieu of an examination. Grades will be based on the paper and class participation, including weekly response papers to the material covered in our weekly sessions. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the 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, 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 913: HOSPITAL LAW
  This course focuses on the highly regulated industry of health care, but with attention to the law applicable to hospitals and health systems. The course will review Federal and State statutes, regulations, as well as case law relevant to hospital organization, responsibilities and liability, credentialing, fraud and abuse laws and compliance oversight. The course is intended to develop competencies in understanding health care and health care insurance laws and regulations as they pertain to hospitals, developing familiarity with the reimbursement (particularly Medicare & Medicaid), regulatory compliance and enforcement issues facing hospital counsel. In addition, it is expected that students will demonstrate legal analysis and reasoning, problem-solving and communications skills required for work in a hospital/health care setting. Through understanding core health care law principles, students will learn the foundational legal, structural and business aspects of the modern hospital complex. Understanding how hospitals fit into the broader health care environment of payors, physicians, patients, regulators and other health care providers, law students will be able to appreciate the challenging dynamics affecting the health care system and the role of the hospital, often at the hub of activity, both in terms of current practice, but also health care delivery system reform. After completing the class, students will have been exposed to the key health care-related legal issues facing hospitals that hospital counsel and other health care lawyers need to know. Additionally, recognition of these stressors will be important training for lawyers in other disciplines interacting with hospitals, such as labor and employment law, intellectual property, antitrust, criminal defense, environmental, corporate, employee benefits, tax, etc. Course materials include a case book, primary source documentation, and guest lectures from in-house and outside counsel representing hospitals.
• LAW JD 917: QUEERNESS & THE LAW
  This course explores the interactions between gender, sexual orientation, and the law in the United States, historically and contemporaneously. Over the course of the semester, students will gain a critical understanding of how doctrines of positive rights, conduct, privacy, and equal protection have shaped views on gender and sexual orientation across time, and how the latter have likewise shaped the former. Looking through the lens of modern legislation, litigation, and the lived experiences of LGBTQ people in the United States, students will develop their own theories of law regarding gender and sexual orientation--theories of law that will hopefully be applicable throughout their careers as legal professionals. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement.
• LAW JD 918: Compliance & Risk Management in Global Commerce
  This course covers U.S. laws governing global finance and trade. We will examine the compliance obligations of multinational enterprises pursuant to U.S. Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions, Anti-Bribery and export controls laws and regulations, with additional focus on cryptocurrency regulations. We will also explore sections of the UK and EU regulations, including the UAE with respect to virtual assets’ governance, as applicable. Key focuses of the course will be the extraterritorial scope of U.S. laws, and techniques for mitigating legal risk in transnational business operations. Students will learn how to: 1. Identify and assess legal risk in transnational trade and financial operations; 2. Build compliance programs that effectively mitigate such risk; 3. Manage interactions between multinational enterprises and U.S. enforcement agencies; and 4. Present professionally and effectively to various audiences about these risks.
• LAW JD 919: WHISTLEBLOWER LAW
  Whistleblowing has become a frequent topic in the news around law and politics. What exactly is it, and what laws govern it? Who represents whistleblowers, and what is there to know about lawyering in this space? This course will examine federal (and some state) laws that protect and incentivize whistleblowers to provide information and assist in the enforcement of laws prohibiting fraud and misfeasance in both the public and private sectors. It will cover both the substantive law as well as the practical aspects of lawyering in this field. There are two types of whistleblower laws, and the seminar will cover both: 1) laws which protect whistleblowers inside and outside of government from retaliation by their employers for having engaged in protected activity, and 2) laws which provide financial incentives to whistleblowers for reporting fraud against the government, or fraud in the securities and commodities markets. Each student will write a paper based on a whistleblower case and will be encouraged to interview one or more whistleblowers who have gone through the experience and/or whistleblower attorneys who have a substantial practice in this area. Alternatively, students who express a particular interest in an area relevant to the course may get permission to explore that topic in their paper. There is no examination in this course; the grade is based on the paper and the students' participation in the class discussions UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the 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 921: Negotiation
  The goal of this course is to improve your effectiveness as a negotiator. In this highly interactive class, students will examine negotiation from a variety of perspectives and learn specific negotiation strategies and tactics. Over the course of the semester, students will engage in a series of negotiation exercises (i.e., role plays) through which they can develop and hone their negotiation skills and approaches. Discussion and short lectures will accompany the role-plays, as appropriate. There will be short written assignments as well as a longer paper due at the end of the semester. No final exam. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 16 students. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution (JD881).
• LAW JD 922: Advanced Evidence and Advocacy
  This course teaches students evidence at an advanced level through student exercises simulating courtroom presentations. This is simulation course and the emphasis is on performance and feedback in order to integrate legal evidence theory with the professional skills students need to advocate for their future clients. After evidence related exercises, students will engage in self-critique and will also receive feedback from fellow classmates and the instructor. The instructor will utilize the student exercises to teach the law of evidence at a level beyond the introductory evidence course and advocacy skills. Class discussion and exercises will provide opportunities to improve trial and advocacy skills, recognize and address ethical issues, and consider broad societal questions. Exercises may include the following: a motion in limine concerning prior bad acts evidence, a voir dire on an issue of rape shield, or a Daubert hearing concerning expert testimony on causation in a toxic tort case. PREREQUISITE: Evidence. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6-credit experiential learning requirement.
• LAW JD 923: Professional Responsibility for Criminal Practice
  The course is designed to cover substantial instruction in the rules of professional conduct, and the values and responsibilities of the legal profession and its members, with a particular emphasis as the rules apply to criminal practice. This class is open to all students but Criminal Clinic students are given priority in enrollment. NOTE: This course satisfies the Professional Responsibility requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 924: Legal Externship Program: Fieldwork
  This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. Students receive credit for working in the legal department of a non-profit, government agency, judicial placement, private company, or at a law firm. Placements may be paid or unpaid. Students may find their own placements that must be approved by the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office, or the Office has resources to help students identify and apply to suitable field placements based on their interests and career goals. Students receive 3-9 variable P/F credits for their fieldwork, as determined in consultation with their placement supervisors. Each credit requires 50 hours of work over the course of the 13-week semester (averaging 4 hours per week). NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Legal Externship Program: Legal Ethics (JD 925).
• LAW JD 925: Legal Externship Program: Legal Ethics
  This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. This is the companion academic component for students enrolled in the Legal Externship Program: Fieldwork course. This two-hour weekly seminar satisfies the Professional Responsibility course requirement. It examines legal practice and the ethics of lawyering, including conflicts of interest, competency, confidentiality, pro bono obligations, special ethical obligations of government and in-house attorneys, and ethical billing. The seminar requires students to write a final paper and make a class presentation based on the paper. In addition, each student keeps a reflective journal chronicling their educational experience and reactions to the practice of law observed at the field placement. NOTE: Students who enroll in this seminar may satisfy the Professional Responsibility requirement or count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. The seminar may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. (The fieldwork component counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.) COREQUISITE: Legal Externship Program: Fieldwork (JD 924). GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 926: PUBLIC HEALTH LAW
  Public health seeks to prevent unnecessary illness, injury, and death, which law can either facilitate or thwart. The field is transforming from state programs that prevent disease in populations (e.g., vaccination, newborn screening) to federal and international efforts to broadly recognize a population and individual "right to health." This course explores contemporary examples of public health problems such as disasters and emergencies, firearms regulation, regulating commercial speech to prevent consumer deception, and reproductive health. The course offers a framework for identifying and controlling health risks drawing on principles and theories of law, assessment of risk, policy evaluation, and empirical evidence. We will consider how laws at the state and federal levels regulate personal behaviors and products as well as impact the underlying determinants of health. Students will analyze different legal strategies that can be used to guide public health such as governmental nudges through funding, criminal and civil prohibitions, data collection and privacy, marketing restrictions, and taxation. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 927: INTERNATIONAL LAW
  This course will offer a survey of contemporary international law. We will consider both the classical law of nations and postwar developments, which have shifted the fulcrum of the international system from a relatively exclusive focus on the rights and duties of states inter se (as between themselves) to a broader focus on all of the participants in the contemporary international legal process: not only nation-states, but transnational institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multinational enterprises (MNEs), terrorist networks, criminal syndicates, and individuals. Specific topics, subject to time constraints, will include (1) the history, nature, and sources of international law; (2) the establishment, transformation, and termination of states and other international legal participants; (3) national incorporation of international law, with a focus on core concepts of U.S. foreign relations law; (4) international law's allocation of jurisdiction to make and apply law, as well as selected immunities conferred by international law; (5) international law's effort to protect human dignity through international human rights, the law of war, and international criminal law; (6) control and regulation of the resources of the planet, with a focus on the law of the sea; and (7) the use of force.
• LAW JD 928: LIFE SCIENCES GENERAL COUNSEL
  This is a 2-credit graded course for students who want to increase their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a general counsel in the life sciences industry. The course will cover the substantive and/or doctrinal aspects of key areas of law in order to facilitate students' understanding of the general counsel's role in leading a company's legal function and advising key stakeholders, such as the board of directors and the CEO. The course will also orient students to the work environment in a large global enterprise. Although the principles and concepts covered in this course will be generally applicable to most industries, the course will be taught through the lens of the life sciences industry. To facilitate discussion and dialogue, the class will be limited to 12 students. Planned guest speakers include a CEO and a member of the board of directors of a public company. Grading will be based on engagement (class participation and overall contributions to the classroom environment), a written memorandum to a "CEO" and an oral presentation to a "board of directors."
• LAW JD 929: Copyright
  This course will give you an introduction to copyright, including a foundation in the theories underlying copyright law, an understanding of the current contours of copyright protection, the basic elements of proving infringement, the fair use defense to and remedies for infringement, and familiarity with related forms of liability such as contributory and vicarious liability. Each class meeting will consist of a combination of lecture and class discussion. Our discussions will focus on discussion of the reading – including cases and policies – and applying the reading to new scenarios. We'll work through hypotheticals based on real-world examples and explore scenarios that will require you to think from a variety of different perspectives. Grading will be based on class participation, including problem sets and hypotheticals worked on in groups, and a 3-hour, closed book, final exam.
• LAW JD 931: PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL
  This seminar introduces students to the business and legal issues prevalent in private equity and venture capital deals and highlights the significant role that lawyers play in effecting these transactions. The seminar will begin with an overview of the private equity and venture capital industries, an introduction to investment transactions and will proceed through all aspects of the life of an investment from inception to exit. It will address how investment funds are formed and the legal and financial considerations present when those funds invest in private companies. We will examine deal terms and structures, pricing and corporate finance issues, and the management of deal risk. It will also highlight the due diligence process, stockholder relationships, fiduciary duties and securities laws considerations, and liquidity events. Theoretical readings will be balanced against practical articles and commentary, recent court decisions and model deal documents. The seminar will be highlighted by guest lectures by private equity and venture capital investment professionals. Grades will be based on a final exam, short pre-class exercises and class participation. PREREQUISITE: Corporations (May be waived with an instructor's permission.) UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the 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 932: ADMIRALTY
  Admiralty cases comprise a significant portion of the case load of federal courts located near U.S. ports. Clerks for judges in those courts should have an understanding of admiralty law. In addition, lawyers who handle international transactions will likely encounter admiralty issues even if they do not specialize in admiralty law; the practice of admiralty is by nature international. Admiralty practitioners work with lawyers and clients from many nations and travel often to those nations. The course will examine admiralty jurisdiction of the federal and state courts as well as oft litigated choice of law and choice of forum issues. Our examination of the substantive areas of admiralty law will show how they fit together and affect one another. The substantive areas will include the international and domestic multimodal carriage of goods, charter parties (contracts to use an entire ship or part of a ship), salvage, towing, pilotage, collision, stranding, general average, and personal injury. We shall also examine ship mortgages and marine insurance. Marine insurance affects almost all aspects of admiralty law. We shall attempt to predict the effects of the Rotterdam Rules (a new treaty that the United States and other nations are in the process of ratifying) on various aspects of admiralty law, particularly the carriage of goods. This course is a pre-requisite to apply for membership in the two or three student team for the national Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition, which will be held from April 11-13, 2024, in Seattle, Washington. Applicants for the Admiralty Moot Court Competition must first compete in the Stone Moot Court Competition. The Admiralty Moot Court competition will include instruction and an exercise in brief writing as well as oral argument. OFFERING PATTERN: This class may not be offered every year. It will be offered this year if 5 or more students register for it. Students are advised to take this fact into account when planning their long term schedule. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 933: Patent Trial Advocacy
  This course introduces the student to the structure of the patent trial process and the skills used by patent trial lawyers. This is a simulation course. Students will act as trial counsel in a federal civil action. The case will model a hypothetical patent case, from filing of the complaint to trial. The students will simulate motion practice, claim construction, depositions, as well as trial. The course will include some substantive instruction on patent law, but the focus of the course will be on experiential learning. Students will receive instruction on general litigation techniques relevant to presenting complex science and technologies to a judge or fact-finder. For example, students will learn how to utilize technology to facilitate their presentations during oral argument and in examining witnesses (e.g., through use of demonstratives). Students do not need to have a background in science or technology. Similarly, students do not need to have taken prior coursework in patent law. Enrollment will be limited to 12 students, who will be divided into plaintiff and defendant teams. Grades will be individualized and based on the following: participation in class discussion, simulations, and workshops; motion to dismiss argument; claim construction argument; deposition; and trial. PREREQUISITE Evidence (may be a corequisite for 3Ls). RECOMMENDED COURSES: Patent Law, Patent Litigation NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.