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 747: AI in Healthcare
  For an industry that has kept fax machines alive for decades, the healthcare industry is currently deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) faster than many other industries. This course will explore the real-time transformative impact of AI on the healthcare industry. Taking a holistic approach, we will examine how AI is disrupting long established practices in healthcare, and what attorneys need to consider as they advise clients across the healthcare continuum, including hospitals, insurers, and health-tech companies. The course will:(1)Provide an introductory overview of significant AI concepts including machine learning, generative AI, and agentic AI.(2)Track the tension between state and federal AI regulations; especially as they overlay on the established healthcare regulatory framework.(3)Analyze the evolution of specific healthcare topics e.g., scope of practice, privacy, and Software as a Medical Device in the context of rapidly advancing AI technology.(4)Discuss ethical and policy implications of the new technology and how it can improve or exacerbate current health disparities, including patient outcomes and patient safety.(5)Examine topics that often come up in practice including governance and contracting issues such as liability, data use, and intellectual property rights.Participants will be evaluated on class participation and assignments. There will be a final exam. PRE/COREQUISITES: Participants should have some familiarity with healthcare law, through a previous course, a concurrent course, or work experience. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in this course and AI in the Professions (JD795).
• LAW JD 748: International Economic Law and Climate Change
  This course explores the following question: To what extent do the international rules governing trade and investment constrain or facilitate countries in making and implementing climate commitments? Students will examine the history of how today’s trade and investment agreements and climate agreements have been formed and the underlying principles that shape them. They will become familiar with the texts of those treaties and how they have been interpreted in modern jurisprudence, including the most recent decisions by the International Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body, and investment dispute tribunals. They will also become familiar with how this system of treaties is intended to shape national-level policymaking, which, in turn, shapes the actions and behavior of private firms and individuals. The course includes topics such as (1) environmental disputes at the World Trade Organization, (2) investor-state dispute settlement targeting environmental and climate policies, (3) efforts at the bilateral, regional and mega-regional level to incorporate environmental commitments into free trade agreements, (4) unilateral efforts by the EU and the US to promote climate-friendly policy-making worldwide and (5) developing country perspectives in the "just transition" movement. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the points of harmony and tension between these two regimes and will have thought critically and creatively about the ways forward. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement with approval of the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs. ** 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 749: DISABILITY LAW
  This seminar surveys the evolution of federal law as it relates to people with disabilities. We will cover disability discrimination in the areas of employment, education, government services, public accommodations run by private entities, and housing. In exploring these areas we will examine relevant case law and statutes (i.e. the ADA and its amendments, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the IDEA, and the Fair Housing Act) and their implementing regulations and guidance. In addition to studying legal authorities, we will engage in practical classroom exercises and hear from attorneys practicing in disability law-related settings. Readings will be provided. Grades will be based on class participation and a final paper. 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 762: Health Law Externship: Fieldwork
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Office of Experiential Education to enroll. Students receive credit for working at a public agency, a non-profit, or a private health care organization. Placements may be paid or unpaid. Prior to the beginning of the semester, the course instructor works with students to identify suitable field placements depending on each student's individual interests and career goals. Once possible placements are identified, students are responsible for applying and being accepted to those organizations. 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: Health Law Externship: Seminar (JD 764).
• LAW JD 763: Mock Trial Competitions
  This year-long course is designed to prepare and support the 2L and 3L members of BU Law’s mock trial competition organization who participate in extramural mock trial competitions as advocates (including foil teams and alternates), student coaches, witnesses, bailiffs, or trial technicians. The course will focus on teaching students the basics of trial procedure and practice, pretrial and trial motions, and evidence, with a focus on the procedures, motions, and evidence rules that are most relevant to mock trial competitions. In the fall, class sessions will focus on the various aspects of mock trial (motions in limine, opening and closing statements, direct and cross exam, proffering experts, common objections, common rules of evidence, trial motions, and procedural competition basics). In the spring, students and the instructor will use course hours to prepare for and attend various mock trial competitions. All students will be required to write a reflection paper due no later than two weeks after the close of their competition. There will be no final exam. GRADING NOTICE: CR/NC graded. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the 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 course.
• LAW JD 764: Health Law Externship: Seminar
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Office of Experiential Education to enroll. This is the companion academic component for students enrolled in the Health Law Externship: Fieldwork course. The one-hour weekly seminar examines various health law issues as well as the challenges of working in a health care environment. The seminar requires students to write a paper and make a class presentation. In addition, each student submits reflective memoranda chronicling their educational experience and reactions to the practice of law observed at the field placements. NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Health Law Externship Program: Fieldwork (JD 762). GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 766: Environmental Law Practicum
  THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Environmental Law Practicum. Students receive credit for completing environmental law-related legal projects for a regional or national environmental law organization, such as the Conservation Law Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Projects will vary in scope and content based on student interest and the needs of the partnering organization. Project topics include clean energy, clean water, and environmental justice, which concerns the intersection of civil rights, fundamental fairness, and environmental policy. Students may also have the opportunity to work on litigation-related matters. Throughout the semester, students will work both under the supervision of an attorney at the partner organization and under the supervision of Professor Pam Hill. Practicum students must attend at least six class meetings with Professor Hill. Students receive either 1, 2 or 3 graded credits depending on the nature of the project and the anticipated workload. NOTE: This clinic counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 768: Criminal Motion Practice and Advocacy
  Advocacy courses in law school tend to focus on the traditional Trial Advocacy model (opening statements, direct and cross examinations, and closing arguments) or post-trial Appellate Advocacy. The vast majority of cases, however, never reach trial. Criminal Motion Practice and Advocacy will look comprehensively at the pre-trial motions that comprise the bulk of criminal litigation. Students will have the opportunity to research, write, and argue their own pretrial motions against opposing counsel. The course will travel chronologically through the life of a criminal case, beginning at arraignment and focusing on the art of motions practice. In class exercises will include arguments for Motions to Suppress searches and seizures based on search warrants, as well as Motion to Suppress hearings with live witness testimony and examination. NOTES: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. PREREQUISITE: Criminal Procedure. 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 for a section are required to attend the first meeting to be considered for enrollment.
• LAW JD 769: Immigration Law Research
  Immigration law research is complex, requiring knowledge of unique sources and materials. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit noted the “labyrinthine character of modern immigration law -- a maze of hyper-technical statutes and regulations.” Drax v. Reno, 338 F.3d 98, 99 (2d Cir. 2003). In addition, it is an area with the potential for sweeping legislative and regulatory change in the upcoming year. This one-credit experiential course will help students navigate this complex and shifting legal and regulatory environment, by covering a broad spectrum of search strategies and tactics for researching immigration law issues.  The course will initially focus on some key immigration statutes (the Immigration and Nationality Act and its many amendments, the Refugee Act, and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility of 1996). From there the course will proceed to administrative law, which heavily impacts immigration. Students will look at the agencies responsible for immigration procedure, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Labor (DOL), and they will learn to research the regulations, administrative decisions, and guidance documents from these agencies and how they affect immigration law. Research topics will include asylum law, grounds of inadmissibility, deportation and removal proceedings, visa classifications, business immigration law and the intersection of criminal law and immigration. The goal of the course is for students to become comfortable researching both simple and complex immigration issues. NOTE: This class 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 771: Learning from Practice Ext: Seminar
  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 Learning from Practice: Fieldwork course. This one-hour weekly seminar focuses on the ways in which lawyers develop skills on the job, and identifies best practice for professional development, mentoring, networking, communication, and interacting with clients and the media. The course also examines issues involving diversity, work-life balance, and ethical considerations. The seminar requires students to make a class presentation and keep 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 externship may count the credits toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Learning from Practice Externship (JD 809). GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 772: Mental Health Litigation Practicum
  Faculty will supervise BU Law students as they represent clients being held involuntarily at a local psychiatric hospital where the hospital has petitioned to have the client involuntarily committed for up to 6 months or recommitted for up to one year and also often petitioned for involuntary treatment. Through reading assignments and class discussions, students will develop a thorough understanding of the Mental Health Statute, the rules of evidence, and the case law that governs civil commitments and involuntary treatment. In addition, students will hone their trial advocacy skills by preparing a defense and defending their clients at bench trials. In preparation for trial, students will conduct client interviews, review medical records, identify their case theory driven by the client's story, prepare a defense, and engage expert witnesses to assist with their client's defense. At the bench trial, students will litigate motions, cross-examine the hospital's witnesses, direct-examine defense witnesses, and argue in closing that the hospital failed to meet their burden beyond a reasonable doubt. PREREQUISITES/COREQUISITES: Evidence and a trial advocacy course (including Trial Advocacy, Criminal Trial Advocacy, Pre-trial or Trial Advocacy sections of the Civil Litigation/Access to Justice Program, Advanced Evidence and Advocacy, and Criminal Motion Practice and Advocacy).
• LAW JD 773: Reproductive Justice Practicum
  The Reproductive Justice Practicum offers students the opportunity to engage in direct fieldwork addressing critical issues at the intersection of law, healthcare, and reproductive justice. Through partnerships with reproductive justice organizations, health clinics, advocacy groups, and legal organizations, students will develop practical legal skills while meaningfully contributing to the movement. Students can anticipate working on issues ranging from abortion access, maternal health equity, gender-affirming care, sex education, crisis pregnancy centers, and other pervasive issues communities face when accessing reproductive healthcare. The primary goals of the Reproductive Justice Practicum are to: (1) Understand and apply the reproductive justice framework to analyze legal and policy issues impacting reproductive healthcare access and bodily autonomy. (2) Develop practical legal and non-legal skills critical to reproductive justice advocacy. (3) Engage with community partners in culturally competent and trauma-informed ways. (4) Master the ability to critically analyze the intersections of race, class, gender, disability, and other identifies in reproductive health, law, and policy. (5) Contribute substantively to ongoing reproductive justice work in the field. Practicum fieldwork varies in both subject matter and skills development according to the goals of our community partners; however, students can anticipate engaging in any of the following: litigation, policy research and advocacy, legal research, public education, storytelling, and infrastructure/capacity building, among others. Under the Practicum director’s supervision, students will act as the lead attorneys on these projects and spend the semester establishing relationships with project partners, identify project goals, draft agreements, and execute projects. Through this process, students will develop professional identities, explore how they can most effectively show up for community partners, and better understand how to put into practice key principles of reproductive justice. NOTE: The Reproductive Justice Practicum counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
• LAW JD 774: Transaction Simulation: Public Company Go-Private
  This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. The simulated transaction is the 2020 “go-private” transaction pursuant to which Dunkin' Brands was de-listed as a public company and taken private through an acquisition by a privately-owned buyer. This course will provide students the experience of being junior lawyers working on the Dunkin’ go-private through simulations of elements of the transaction, with different areas of focus each week of the course. Students will engage in group and individual simulation work on topics including how a public company’s leadership team communicates with prospective buyers in compliance with selective disclosure and other regulatory requirements, directors’ fiduciary duties to shareholders, SEC reporting requirements, go shop/no shops, break-up fees, fairness opinions and the dynamics and challenges of working with a private equity buyer. Students will also practice counseling skills relating to how a public company management team interacts with its board, how and when to engage with a public company’s employees without disclosing inside information, how lawyers work best with financial advisors and boards of directors and considerations of risk in the context of a no-indemnity transaction. Because the acquisition of a public company has fulsome disclosure documents, including the proxy statement, the simulation will allow for research, study, discussion and simulation of actual issues that arose in the transaction. The course grade will be based on class participation and graded drafting assignments. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. PRE-REQUISITES: Recommended as a co- or pre-requisite, but not required: Corporations (JD816) and Contract Drafting (JD788). NOTES: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement and satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS: 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 course. Students who are on the wait list are required to attend the first class to be considered for enrollment. Because the course involves regular in-class exercises, some of which are done in teams, and class participation is a significant component of a student's final grade, regular class attendance is essential and thus the course cannot accommodate flexibility in attendance.
• LAW JD 775: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
  In the United States, and around the world, many people still suffer from basic lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services. This course explores the role of law in understanding the distribution of access to SRH services and care. We will draw on various theoretical and doctrinal tools including critical legal theory, critical race theory, sociology of science, human rights, feminist theory, and a range of public health methods to understand the current state of the law and the possibilities and limitations of legal reforms. The course will foreground issues of race and reproduction as well as the politics of public health law (including the role of scientific evidence and medical expertise in courts). We will examine various sites of lawmaking including courts and legislatures and we will pay attention to the legal reforms offered by social movements both for and against greater access to services and care.
• LAW JD 776: Intellectual Property Workshop
  This seminar examines topics from the frontiers of intellectual property law. The class provides students with the opportunity to meet and interact with cutting-edge IP scholars who will be invited to speak. Students will read the speakers' works in progress, critique those writings in papers and oral give-and-take discussions with the authors, and will be provided additional reading as appropriate. The goals of this workshop are three: for students to deepen their substantive knowledge of IP law, for students to increase their abilities to participate in scholarly debate, and for established scholars to improve their working papers through the input of the workshop group. 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, 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 777: Education Law and Policy
  In this course, we will examine the relationship between law, public policy, and current issues in education in both K-12 and post-secondary institutions. Major themes will include regulation of education by state and federal government; accreditation; legal oversight through constitutional versus regulatory and case law; and an attorney’s obligation to advise and empower their education clients. Legal issues presented will include but not be limited to contract rights of different employees and students; tort liability management; free speech; free expression of religion; due process; intellectual property rights; Americans with Disabilities Act/Section 504; Title IX; campus safety and privacy; the right to education; and more. Course assessment will include client memos, in-class exercises, and a client advisory including video and written instruction. Class participation in-class and by discussion boards will also factor into final grades.
• LAW JD 778: INTRO TO RISK MANAGEMENT & COMPLIANCE
  Spanning the range of industries from health care to financial services to manufacturing and beyond, compliance is the fast-growing practice of managing the full range of legal risk within highly-regulated organizations. At the complex intersection of law, business operations, reputation, and ethics, compliance lawyers practice "preventive law" to protect companies against corporate criminal and civil liability. We will discuss how to identify and evaluate an organization's legal risks and and work in multidisciplinary teams to develop effective strategies to prevent wrongdoing (and detect violations when they do occur). Among other topics, we will look at the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and enforcement guidance from the Department of Justice and Securities & Exchange Commission to see how compliance has become a key mechanism of corporate accountability in the U.S. and globally.
• LAW JD 779: Digital Civil Liberties
  This readings seminar will focus on emerging issues of civil liberties in our digital society, with special attention paid to privacy and freedom of speech in the age of social media, platforms, and artificial intelligence. We will explore the potential and dangers of the Internet revolution in communications, and how it is affected by the activities of users, by companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and by government attempts to restrain or shape the evolution of online activity through law. The course will be structured around discussions of principal readings of relatively recent (and readable) books and articles, including the possibility of videoconferencing or in-person lectures with some of the authors to discuss their work. There will be three student papers required - two short papers due during the semester providing a critical review of one of the readings chosen by the student, and a slightly longer paper due at the end of exams comparing and critiquing two of the principal readings. In addition to gaining a deeper understanding of the topics of the books, we will work on developing essential skills for lawyers of close reading and clear and persuasive writing. 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. 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 780: Trademark and Unfair Competition
  This course will examine the principles of trademark and unfair competition law. We will investigate issues of ownership, protectability, and infringement in the context of words, symbols, slogans, product design and other forms of trade dress. We will explore the policy reasons for protecting marks and the limiting principles that protect competition, speech, and other interests. The course also will include a brief introduction to false advertising and the state law right of publicity.
• LAW JD 782: AI in Corporate Compliance Programs
  This course will explore how artificial intelligence is transforming corporate compliance programs. Students will develop practical strategies for integrating AI into compliance frameworks. The course will emphasize real-world case studies, regulatory guidance, and hands on exercises. There will be no final exam. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class does not satisfy the requirement.