Course & Seminar Descriptions
You are strongly encouraged to review the Course Selection Guide and all course updates before finalizing your second- and third-year course selections. Pay close attention to the descriptions. Courses offered in more than one section may have separate descriptions that reflect the different emphasis of the instructors who are teaching the course.
2023 – 2024 Course Descriptions are now available. This document was accurate as of the publishing date of April 21.
Course Definitions (may appear at end of course description)
- “Prerequisite”
Indicates that students must have taken and already completed the specified prerequisite course stated in order to elect the course. - “Corequisite”
Indicates that the student must take the specified prerequisite course in order to elect the course, but may take the specified course concurrently. - “Limited”
Indicates limited enrollment for this course. Students should pay careful attention to this notation when numbering their course preferences (all seminars have limited enrollment). - “Restriction”
Indicates that the course may not be taken if the student has also taken or will take other specified courses. - “Notes”
Will call your attention to classes that satisfy the Experiential Learning requirement or do not offer the CR/NC/H grading option. Most seminars offer an opportunity to satisfy the Upper-class Writing Requirement, while most courses do not. Exceptions to the above will be noted in the course and/or seminar description.
- (S) in the title field indicates a seminar.
- (C) indicates a clinical program course to which you must apply and be accepted before registering.
- (AM) indicates an LLM course in American Law.
JD students are not permitted to enroll in American Law classes. - (BK) indicates an LLM course in Banking and Financial Law.
Registration for Banking courses is on a space available basis and is not available through WebReg. Exams for Banking courses are administered by the Graduate Program for Banking and Financial Law. Credit and grades are automatically counted toward the law school JD requirements and GPA. For more information or to register, visit their office in Room 1005, call 617-353-3023 or email banklaw@bu.edu. - (TX) indicates an LLM course in Taxation.
Registration for Taxation courses is on a space available basis and is not available through WebReg. Exams for Taxation courses are administered by the Graduate Tax Program. Credit and grades are automatically counted toward the law school JD requirements and GPA. For more information or to register, visit their office in Room 1005, call 617-353-3105 or email gradtax@bu.edu.
Course Descriptions
Administrative Law: LAW JD 801
4 credits
This course will examine the nature and functions of federal administrative agencies and the legal controls on agency action. Agency action is situated and examined in its political and legal contexts. Topics include the status of administrative agencies in the constitutional framework of separation of powers including the non-delegation doctrine, the President's appointment and removal powers in light of the unitary executive, the constitutionality of the legislative and line-item vetoes, the constitutionality of agency adjudication, and the constitutional (and political) status of independent agencies; agency rulemaking and adjudication including the choice of procedural model and the procedural requirements of the rulemaking model; and the availability, timing and scope of judicial review of agency action including standing to seek judicial review and exceptions to the availability of judicial review. The course also examines different methods of policy analysis such as regulatory impact analysis and cost-benefit analysis. Additional topics include discriminatory enforcement, regulatory delay, judicial imposition of procedural constraints on agencies, the implication of private rights of action from regulatory statutes and the availability citizens' suits. Some attention may be paid to differences between state and federal separation of powers doctrines.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 801 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Jack M. Beermann | LAW | 414 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Gary S. Lawson |
Admiralty: LAW JD 932
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 932 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 11:00 am | 12:30 pm | 3 | Hooper | LAW | 420 |
Advanced Evidence and Advocacy: LAW JD 922
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 922 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Lowy | LAW | 512 |
Advanced Legal Research: LAW JD 879
2 credits
In this class students will be exposed to how legal research functions in practice. The research projects will be designed to highlight major legal research tools in both online and print formats. The projects will feature tasks such locating court documents, doing a legislative history, finding agency regulations and guidance, doing state specific research with practice series, researching an unfamiliar area of the law using secondary sources, as well as learning to use Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law in a cost effective manner. Most classes will have an assignment and some will be longer projects such as a client letter, a research memo for a supervisor and all will include a research log. There will be an exam where the students must do several short research assignments with a research log. The objective of the class is for students to become comfortable completing simple and complex research in a work setting. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 879 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 2 | Brian Flaherty | LAW | 204 |
Advanced Legal Writing (S): LAW JD 874
3 credits
The purpose of this seminar is to provide students with the opportunity to improve their writing, editing and communication skills. Students will prepare a variety of practice related documents based on a single fact pattern. Some legal research will be necessary, but the emphasis will be on writing, not on research. Students will also have the opportunity to edit other students' papers, with the goal of improving their own writing skills. Actors will perform a scenario for the class, from which students will extract the pertinent facts. From this fact pattern, students will draft an inter office memo, a letter or memo to a non lawyer client, and a trial or appellate brief. Students will also engage in simulated client interviewing and counseling sessions, as well as a simulated meeting with a supervisor. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work, editing work on their classmate's papers and on their classroom performance. There will be no final exam. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 874 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Constance A. Browne | LAW | 513 |
Advanced Legal Writing for LLM Students: The Essentials of Bar Exam Writing and Beyond (S): LAW AM 707
3 credits
This seminar focuses on developing the critical lawyering skills needed to succeed on the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) of the Uniform Bar Exam -- and to succeed in the practice of law: the ability to analyze and apply relevant law to specific factual situations to perform a lawyering task in writing. As with the MPT, students will be assigned lawyering tasks, which may include writing a memorandum to a supervising attorney, a client letter, a persuasive memorandum or brief, a statement of facts, a contract provision, a settlement proposal, and the like. Students will work from source files containing facts and other material, and will receive a collection of legal sources with sufficient substantive information to complete the task. The class does not teach research skills or substantive law. Rather, it focuses on developing analytical and writing skills in the American legal tradition. The class will also expose students to specific writing approaches, outlining and issue spotting techniques, and time management strategies. Enrollment is limited to 14 foreign-trained lawyers enrolled in the American Law Program. **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.
Affordable Housing Law (S): LAW JD 935
3 credits
The seminar will evaluate the current affordable housing crisis and the ways in which it has been influenced by significant events, including population growth pressures, the Great Migration, the 1918 Flu Pandemic, the spread of zoning in the 1920s, race-based restrictive housing covenants, red-lining, rent control and other topics. The course will examine the impact of racism, casteism and economic discrimination on housing law and the permitting, financing and taxation of housing by reviewing the relevant decisional law, local, state and federal regulations and statutes and housing policy reports and articles. The affordable housing crisis will be examined from the perspectives of the individuals who need affordable housing, the individuals who oppose affordable housing being built near them, the developers who design and build housing, the local officials who perform the permitting and the state and federal officials who create and enforce the regulatory, statutory and tax schemes that mold how affordable housing is created. A 15-20 page term paper will be required that examines one or more aspects of affordable housing law, with a variety of potential topics to be offered at the outset of the course. 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.
Ajlm/Ed Board: LAW JD 753
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 753 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Ajlm/Member: LAW JD 752
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 752 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Alternative Dispute Resolution: LAW JD 881
3 credits
The goal of this course is to improve students' ability to resolve disputes and to productively engage in conflict. In this highly interactive class, students will examine a variety of dispute resolution processes, other than traditional court adjudication, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, dispute system design and restorative justice. Over the course of the semester, students will engage in a series of exercises (i.e., role-plays) through which they can develop and hone their skills and approaches to dispute resolution. Discussion and short lectures will accompany the exercises, as appropriate. There will be short written assignments as well as a longer paper due at the end of the semester. No final exam. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Alternative Dispute Resolution and Negotiation (JD921).
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 881 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:15 pm | 3:45 pm | 3 | Mark Bamford |
Alternative Dispute Resolution for LLMs (S): LAW AM 955
3 credits
The goal of this course is to improve the ability of internationally-trained LL.M. students to resolve disputes and to productively engage in conflict. In this highly interactive class, students will examine a variety of dispute resolution processes, other than traditional court adjudication, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, dispute system design and restorative justice. Over the course of the semester, students will engage in a series of exercises (i.e., role-plays) through which they can develop and hone their skills and approaches to dispute resolution. Discussion and short lectures will accompany the exercises, as appropriate. There will be a series of short written assignments (2-3 pages). No final exam. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 18 students.
American Constitutional History (S): LAW JD 912
3 credits
This seminar will investigate constitutional history, from the years leading to the American Revolution through the early twentieth century, from several different angles, including presidential leadership, legislative mandates, and judicial interpretation. We will also consider popular constitutionalism and how society at large debated and helped to shape constitutional interpretation and development. Topics to be covered will include the constitutional impact of the break with Britain, the Founding of the Republic, Civil War era constitutionalism, the redefinition of American citizenship during Reconstruction, the rise of Jim Crow, constitutional law in the industrial Republic, and changes in the rights of the individual and developments as to federalism during the time period covered in this course. No prior history background is necessary. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 912 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Christian G. Samito | LAW | 418 |
American Legal History: LAW JD 804
3 credits
Selected topics in 19th- and 20th-century U.S. legal history. We will first explore the role of the legal profession in four public controversies: the authority of English common law after the American Revolution, slavery and racism, women's rights, and organized labor. We will then turn our attention to various methodologies for interpreting legal change: formalism, realism, law and economics, critical legal studies, and feminist jurisprudence. Readings (which will be plentiful) are drawn from primary sources (cases, speeches, and treatises) and secondary literature (articles and books). Students can either write a research paper or complete a take-home examination. Research papers may, but need not, fulfill the Writing Requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 804 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | David J. Seipp |
Antitrust & Health Care (S): LAW JD 891
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 891 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Ford |
Antitrust Law: LAW JD 838
4 credits
The antitrust laws reflect a conviction that competition in the marketplace will yield the best outcomes for consumers and the optimal allocation of resources in our economy. Beginning with the Sherman Act of 1890, the antitrust statutes condemn a variety of acts -- from mergers to agreements among competitors to monopolists' exclusionary business practices -- that restrain trade or contribute to monopoly power. The statutes, however, are written in general terms, leaving it to the courts to draw the line between lawful competition and unlawful restraints of trade or monopolization. Early on, the Supreme Court established that the law reaches only "unreasonable" restraints, which only begs the question of how to draw the line between "reasonable" competition and "unreasonable" interference with competitive markets. Over the course of the twentieth century, the courts struggled to fix this line; as the century closed, they had settled on an economically-oriented normative framework that largely deferred to firm decisions and doubted the value of government intervention in markets. In recent years, however, a cacophony of voices -- ranging from activists to scholars to politicians of all stripes -- has begun to call that framework into question and to call for renewed enforcement of antitrust laws. This course will explore the principal statutes and common law that have shaped antitrust law over the past century-and-a-quarter since Congress passed the Sherman Act. We will also examine the standards and procedures that the antitrust agencies use to evaluate mergers and to challenge conduct as anticompetitive. As we critically evaluate the case law, we will also reflect on current calls for reform. While we will engage rigorously with economics, all of the economic principles necessary to understand the case law and debates will be explained in the course; formal training in economics is not a requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 838 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Keith N. Hylton |
Appellate Advocacy Program Director: LAW JD 901
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 901 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Jennifer Taylor McCloskey |
Asian-American Racialization and the Law (S): LAW JD 677
3 credits
This seminar will examine the role of Asian Americans in shaping legal controversies involving race. It will critically analyze how U.S. law has both created and reacted to Asian American identities, through defining racial categories and framing legal issues. The course will cover issues such as citizenship, immigration, national security, and affirmative action in admissions. For each issue, it will focus on how Asian Americans have: 1. Influenced the development of legal doctrines and policies; 2. Affected the social and political dynamics surrounding the issue. Readings will include cases involving Asian Americans, law review articles which illuminate these cases, relevant scholarly literature in the social sciences and humanities, and current news articles. Importantly, the course will also emphasize diversity within Asian Americans, highlighting the similarities and differences in the experiences of Americans of East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander descent. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: Students will be able to fully satisfy the requirement through a 6000-word scholarly paper which involves substantial legal analysis and research; two different 3000-word scholarly papers which involve substantial legal analysis and research; or partially satisfy the requirement with one 3000 word scholarly paper which involves substantial legal analysis and research AND one 3000 word critical autobiographical reflection on the student's own racial experiences as they relate to issues covered in the course. This option is intended for students who have written or will write another 3000-word scholarly paper for a different course to completely fulfill the Upper-class Writing Requirement. Other requirements will include class participation, which will involve leading discussions on readings and course topics and a final presentation of students' scholarly papers. ** 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 waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 677 A1 , Jan 23rd to Apr 30th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Staff |
Banking Structure and Regulation: LAW BK 925
2 credits
This course provides an introduction to and overview of the banking and financial services industry under US law and where US laws intersect with international banking supervision structures and principles. The course focuses on US banking structures and regulations, with an emphasis on the public or regulatory policies behind the laws and regulations. Recent US legislation in the Dodd-Frank Act and recent international reform initiatives such as Basel III receive close scrutiny. The course addresses a range of safety and soundness rules, permissible activity issues, chartering and merger activity procedures and capital and liquidity requirements. The course also addresses administrative procedures including bank examination and supervision, the regulatory supervisory process and bank enforcement actions. Students are asked to do significant reading and to participate in classroom discussion about course subject matter and to be aware of current developments in the financial services industry. This is a required course for all students studying for the degree of Master of Laws in Banking and Financial Law.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 925 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Kevin J. Handly | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Kevin J. Handly |
Bankruptcy: LAW BK 933
2 credits
This course examines bankruptcy and related state law from the point of view of secured and unsecured creditors. The course begins with survey of individual state law collection remedies and non-bankruptcy composition and liquidation schemes. The balance (and bulk) of the course focuses on the rights, obligations and procedures created by federal bankruptcy law. Topics addressed include: the automatic stay, the use and protection of collateral during the pendency of a bankruptcy case, the avoidance of pre- bankruptcy transfers as preferences and fraudulent transfers, the treatment of executory contracts and unexpired leases, debtor-in- possession financing, asset sales and the negotiation and confirmation of a plan of reorganization that is binding on all creditors. Finally, the course will discuss recent !? bankruptcy reform!? legislation, which affects both corporate and consumer bankruptcies.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 933 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Francis C. Morrissey | LAW | 605 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Francis C. Morrissey |
Bankruptcy & Creditors' Rights: LAW JD 803
4 credits
This course focuses on corporate reorganization and corporate finance. We will study the legal requirements for reorganization plans under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, as well as the use of going concern sales outside of Chapter 11. We will study important doctrinal issues relating to reorganization of corporate groups, including substantive consolidation and equitable subordination. We will investigate avoidance actions in bankruptcy, including preferences and fraudulent conveyance, and the treatment of pre-bankruptcy contracts. Other topics include the financing of corporate debtors in bankruptcy and workouts and duties to creditors outside of bankruptcy. Finally, we will also introduce and ultimately master some basic tools of corporate finance--present value, expected value, and risk and diversification. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals, Corporations.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 803 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Frederick Tung | LAW | 209 |
Bar Exam Skills: LAW JD 608
2 credits
Students in this course will learn and practice a specific set of skills and test-taking strategies with the goal of enhancing a student's ability to prepare for the July bar exam. It will introduce students to the content of the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) and its three forms of questions, multiple choice, essay and performance test. The subject matter will be drawn from some of the most highly tested topics on the UBE, including criminal law, constitutional law and torts. The materials for this course are provided by Kaplan Bar Review. This course is for students who want an early start on their bar exam preparation or are particularly concerned about not passing the bar exam. This course is not a replacement for a commercial bar review program. The course consists of weekly in-person classes, assignments outside of class and a final exam. Course enrollment is limited to two sections, 25 students per section. Prerequisites: This class is restricted to graduating (3L) students. GRADING NOTICE: This course will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 608 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 2 | Lisa Freudenheim |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Tyson-Lord Justice Gray |
Bench-to-Bedside: Translating Biomedical Innovation from the Laboratory to the Marketplace : LAW LA 997
3 credits
The subject of the course is the translation of medical technologies into new products and services for the healthcare system. The course begins with a rigorous study of intellectual property, licensing and the core aspects of planning, creating, funding and building new entrepreneurial ventures. Concepts and tools are presented for assessing new technologies and their potential to be the basis for a new entrepreneurial venture. Comparisons will be made of how technologies can be sourced and commercialized out of three very different environments: universities, national laboratories and corporate laboratories. Cross-disciplinary teams of students will be formed which will evaluate translational research projects currently being developed at Boston University and their potential for transformation into a start-up company to commercialize the technology, providing a unique linkage between the scientific research activities of the university and the professional schools. Each week there will be a case study which will discuss examples of both success and failure in technology commercialization. Some of these case studies examine Boston University life sciences spin-out companies, and the founders and CEO?s of these ventures will share their experiences with the class. NOTE: This course meets at the School of Management and will be treated as a non-law course on the law transcript. The course and grade will appear on the transcript, however the grade is not factored into the law g.p.a.
FALL 2023: LAW LA 997 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 11th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 9:15 pm | 3 | Nijhawan | HAR | 302 |
Business Fundamentals: LAW JD 605
0 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 605 OL , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 0 | Frederick Tung |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 0 | Frederick Tung |
Business Immigration: LAW JD 807
2 credits
This course will provide an overview of business immigration law, with a particular focus on how various federal administrative agencies are engaged in shaping a complex, multidisciplinary immigration law ecosystem for employers. In addition to a substantive overview of nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications throughout the course, we will explore how immigration laws are informed by, and overlap with, other key areas such as corporate and securities law, employment and labor law and tax law. Topics will include entity formation of new businesses; visa challenges in entrepreneurship; immigration obstacles faced by multinational businesses; immigration consequences of mergers and acquisitions; the intersection of business immigration with employment laws; enforcement trends targeted at employers; and the role of the IRS and tax laws in business immigration. We will also briefly review administrative law basics, explore the parameters of executive power in shaping business immigration law, and examine the plenary power of the President over immigration. Throughout the course, we will discuss how debates about outsourcing, unemployment and national security, among others, inform a complex national discussion about business immigration. We will also identify, examine and discuss core professional responsibility issues that arise in business immigration practice. There are no prerequisites for this course. There is no writing requirement, but there will be weekly quizzes and a final examination. Class attendance and participation are essential.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 807 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Staff |
Business Succession Planning: LAW TX 969
2 credits
This course will cover the practical, tax, financial, accounting and ethical considerations in succession planning for the family business owner. It will propose strategies to deal with the psychological hurdles and pitfalls business owners face when doing this planning, such as giving up control or equity in the business during their lives and determining equitable ways to treat children actively involved in the business and children who will not participate in operating the family business. It will compare the various vehicles used in succession planning and discuss the different levels of protection and the fiduciary standards between using a trust, business entity and private trust company to encourage entrepreneurship. It will discuss ways to separate the business's control and equity for purposes of doing lifetime planning for the business owner as well as for benefiting children both inside and outside of the business. It will compare the typical estate planning strategies for family business owners, including life insurance trusts, buy-sell agreements, GRATs, sales to grantor trusts and freeze partnerships. It will also cover the ethical issues involved when working with business owners in their succession planning, including identifying who your client is, navigating conflicts when doing planning with the business in trusts or otherwise and provide best practice and practical tips for advisors to avoid these ethical dilemmas. The materials will also deal with passing on an operating business to key employees while retaining a portion to pass on to one's children. The materials will cover income tax planning that can be used when a senior family member intends to sell the family business for cash while still alive, when an earnout is part of the sale, the pre-sale due diligence a business owner should undertake before the business is offered for sale, and how the income tax costs in a lifetime sale can be reduced by integrating lifetime charitable planning. Prerequisites: TX901, TX902, TX930, TX933, TX904
Central Banks, Commercial Banks, and Financial Markets: LAW BK 983
2 credits
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. Not offered 2023-2024.
Civil Litigation and Justice Program (C): LAW JD 861
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation and Justice Program. Student in the Civil Litigation and Justice Program handle their own caseloads, representing indigent clients in civil cases under the supervision of clinical faculty. Students may participate in the Program for either a full year (the Individual Rights Litigation Clinic (IRL) or Access to Justice Clinic (A2J)) or for one semester (the Employment Rights Clinic (ERC)). Students participating in IRL or A2J work on cases in areas such as domestic relations, eviction defense, employment law and Social Security appeals. Students in the ERC represent clients in unemployment compensation cases, with a possibility of working on wage and hour disputes, discrimination/sexual harassment cases, and Family Medical Leave Act cases. PRE/CO-REQUISITES: Evidence. NOTE: The Civil Litigation and Justice Program counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 861 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Naomi M. MannJade Brown |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Naomi M. MannJade Brown |
Civil Litigation and Justice Program: A2J Skills & Professional Responsibility: LAW JD 963
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Access to Justice Clinic of the Civil Litigation and Justice Program. This seminar examines the larger societal context of students' fieldwork representing poverty-law clients in family, housing, employment, and disability cases. Students will actively analyze and address the intersections of the legal system with the multiple systemic barriers their clients face (e.g., gender, race, class, disability). In addition to the skills and legal knowledge relevant to representation of clinic clients, seminar discussions and projects will focus on proposed solutions to the systemic challenges faced by those clients, and situate them within current theories of law as a tool for social justice. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. This class may be used to satisfy the Professional Responsibility requirement, in which case credits for the class may not be counted towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 963 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Naomi M. MannJade Brown | LAW | 420 |
Civil Litigation and Justice Program: Pretrial Advocacy/Pro Resp.: LAW JD 973
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation and Justice Program. Pretrial Advocacy is the companion fall classroom component for students in the Civil Litigation and Justice Program IRL and fall ERC clinics. Pretrial Advocacy is taught in groups of roughly 14 students with two clinical professors per group. Classes are devoted to learning the theories of practice for use in the field, reinforced by activities and simulations in which students practice skills through role play. NOTE: Students who enroll in this component of the clinic may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement or the Professional Responsibility requirement. It may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 973 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth | LAW | 418 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth | LAW | 418 |
Civil Litigation and Justice Program: Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 974
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Civil Litigation and Justice Program. Trial Advocacy is the companion spring classroom component for students in the Civil Litigation and Justice Program IRL and spring ERC clinics. Trial Advocacy is taught in groups of roughly 14 students with two clinical professors per group. Classes are devoted to learning the theories of practice for use in the field, reinforced by activities and simulations in which students practice skills through role play. NOTE: This course does not count towards the Professional Responsibility requirement. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 974 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Constance A. BrowneMadeline H. Meth |
Civil Litigation: A2J Skills II: LAW JD 965
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Access to Justice Clinic of the Civil Litigation and Justice Program. This seminar continues the coursework of the fall semester in examining the larger societal context of students' fieldwork representing poverty-law clients in family, housing, employment, and disability cases. Students will actively analyze and address the intersections of the legal system with the multiple systemic barriers their clients face (e.g., gender, race, class, disability). In addition to the skills and legal knowledge relevant to representation of clinic clients, seminar discussions and projects will focus on proposed solutions to the systemic challenges faced by those clients, and situate them within current theories of law as a tool for social justice. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 965 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Naomi M. MannJade Brown |
Civil Procedure for LLMs: LAW AM 708
2 credits
This class introduces internationally-trained LLM students to the rules, standards, and values that govern the procedures used in civil cases in the federal district courts of the United States. Drawing from constitutional and statutory texts, and focusing on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the class covers such civil litigation issues as: jurisdiction, choice of law, venue, pleadings, discovery, pre-trial motions, trial through judgment, joinder of parties and claims, and finality of judgments. The course will meet 1/13/2020-2/26/2020. A final exam will be scheduled for a Friday afternoon prior to spring break (date/time TBD).
Civil Rights Litigation: LAW JD 877
4 credits
This course is about civil and criminal enforcement of constitutional rights and other federal rights against government officials. The primary focus is on civil rights litigation in federal courts against state officials under the civil rights statutes passed in the wake of the civil war, including 42 U.S.C. ? ?1983, 1981, 1982 and 1985 on the civil side and 18, U.S.C. ?? 242 and 249 on the criminal side. The criminal segment of the course will be taught by an Assistant United States Attorney in charge of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit and the Civil Rights Enforcement Team in the District of Massachusetts. Criminal issues include prosecutions of police officers for violating the civil rights of arrestees and hate crimes. On the civil side, we will examine the rights that give rise to civil rights action and, to a lesser extent, the scope of those rights. The kinds of cases include police brutality, unlawful searches and seizures and discrimination in government jobs. The issues that arise include many statutory questions, such as identification of proper parties to 1983 actions, and judge-make defenses, such as official and state immunities from damages actions and injunctive suits. We will also look at federalism and eleventh amendment limitations on congressional power and federal court remedial power in 1983 actions, although coverage of these issues will not be as thorough as in Federal Courts. The standards for holding local governments liable for damages will also be examined. Our major foray into the substance of constitutional rights will be with regard to the role of state remedies and defendant's state of mind for fourteenth amendment procedural due process violations. We will also look at substantive constitutional rights such as police brutality, medical care for prisoners and detainees, high speed police chases and other similar areas. There will also be some coverage of remedies against federal officials directly under the constitution and remedies against private individuals for civil rights violations. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 877 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 4 | Jack M. BeermannS. Theodore Merritt | LAW | 413 |
Client Counseling (S): LAW JD 862
2 credits
This seminar will provide students with the real-world skills necessary to effectively counsel their clients. We will discuss the differences in counseling clients when their legal matters are complex or simple, sensitive or uncontroversial, and high-risk or low-stakes. Finally, we will examine client counseling at several stages of the attorney-client relationship, including the initial client meeting, client and witness interviews, preparing the client to be deposed or testify, and strategically guiding the client's decision-making as the matter evolves. Students will not only study methods of effective client counseling; they will practice what they learn by conducting mock interviews and collaborating with their classmates/co-counsels to rehearse optimal client counseling techniques. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 16 students. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 862 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Dorn |
Climate Risk & Financial Institutions: Submerging Markets (S): LAW JD 767
3 credits
This seminar will explore how the law shapes the assessment of, and response to, the financial risks of climate change. We'll look, for example, at how misaligned incentives for risk-taking (such as between a developer and a house buyer, or between a corporation and its insurer) lead to overdevelopment in flood plains and areas with high wildfire risk. After an introduction to the economics of climate change, we'll turn to questions like: What role do securities regulators, insurance commissioners, and central bankers play in the transition to a greener economy? What does "ESG" investing mean and does it do anything? Are markets foreseeing both physical risks and transition risks (i.e., stranded assets)? Our approach will consider the political economy of risk bearing, and investigate dynamics like the influence of credit ratings agencies on local government investment in sea-level rise adaptation. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may 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 (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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 767 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Madison Condon |
Commercial Lending: LAW BK 991
2 credits
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 ensure 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.
Comparative Income Taxation: LAW TX 957
2 credits
This course considers different solutions adopted by nine industrialized countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to common problems in income tax design. It responds to the need for a broader understanding of the way that tax matters are handled in different countries as business transactions become increasingly global. The course presents a policy-focused overview of variant tax treatments in individual, business (corporate and partnership) and cross-border transactions. The intent is not to develop an expertise in any one, or any group of tax systems, but rather to provide a comparative knowledge base upon which a further, in-depth inquiry can be based. Course Structure: This course follows an assigned text. After the opening class the course is structured in three equal (four-class) segments on (1) Individual, (2) Business and (3) International tax topics. An effort will be made when appropriate to update the materials in the text, allowing us to discuss some current problems.
Online section not open to JD students.
Comparative VAT: LAW TX 952
2 credits
This course considers the details of the world's leading Value Added Tax system, the E.U. VAT. Students should expect to acquire a good grounding in the major legal instruments of the community (regulations, directions and decisions) which have binding effect on the member states as well as the recommendations and opinions which do not. Case law will be considered primarily from the leading decisions of the European Court Justice, although an occasional decision or two from domestic courts will be included. Major developments in the E.U. VAT are expected to be covered, including: (1) the adoption of the "reverse charge" mechanism as a response to widespread carousel fraud, (2) the inclusion of a transfer pricing regime under Rationalization Directive, and (3) proposals for major changes in the place of supply rules in services and intangibles. There are no pre-requisites for this course.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 952 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Richard Thompson Ainsworth | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Richard Thompson Ainsworth |
Compassionate Release Practicum (C): LAW JD 685
Var credits
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.
Competitions 1: Brief Writing: LAW JD 706
1 credits
This class is designed to prepare and support the 3L members of BU Law's extramural moot court teams who also serve as Stone and Albers competition preceptors. This seminar will focus on improving students' appellate brief writing skills through a series of course meetings that involve skills training and in-class exercises. The seminar will meet weekly as a group for the first half of the semester and will focus on competition brief writing skills, including research, organization, persuasive writing, and editing. The course will make use of former competition problems to prepare students to write their competition briefs in their specific competitions. For the second half of the semester, students participating in the National Moot Court competition (who serve as Albers preceptors in spring) will meet on an arranged schedule to conduct at least six one-hour formal oral argument practices. The National Moot Court competition students will also be required to write a reflection paper due no later than two weeks after the close of their competition. Students participating in spring competitions will serve as Stone competition preceptors, scoring briefs or oral arguments. These Stone preceptors will meet to work on editing and feedback skills. There will be no final exam. Note that students who are participating on extramural moot court teams that are assigned to serve as either Stone or Albers preceptors must still serve as preceptors even if they do not enroll in this course. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 25 students. GRADING NOTICE: CR/NC graded. NOTE: This class may not be used to satisfy the Upper-class Writing 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 706 A1 , Sep 8th to Dec 1st 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 10:30 am | 12:30 pm | 1 | Jennifer Taylor McCloskey | LAW | 418 |
Competitions 2: Oral Advocacy: LAW JD 714
1 credits
This class is designed to prepare and support the 3L members of BU Law's extramural moot court teams who also serve as Stone and Albers competition preceptors. This course will focus on improving students' appellate oral advocacy skills through a series of course meetings that involve skills training and in-class exercises. For the first month of the semester, the seminar will meet weekly as a group and will focus on oral advocacy skills, including how to prepare, argument organization, and presentation best practices. For the remainder of the spring semester, students participating in spring competitions will meet on an arranged schedule to conduct at least four one-hour oral argument practices for their competition and to attend and to serve as judges for at least two other one-hour oral argument practices for other competitions. Students serving as Albers preceptors will score briefs and oral arguments. These Albers preceptors will meet to work on editing and feedback skills. All students participating in spring competitions 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. Note that students who are participating on extramural moot court teams that are assigned to serve as either Stone or Albers preceptors must still serve as preceptors even if they do not enroll in this course. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 25 students. GRADING NOTICE: CR/NC graded. NOTE: This class does not satisfy the Upper-class Writing 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 714 A1 , Jan 19th to Apr 19th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 10:30 am | 12:30 pm | 1 | Jennifer Taylor McCloskey |
Compliance and Risk Management in Global Commerce: LAW JD 918
4 credits
This course covers U.S. laws governing global trade and finance. We will also explore sections of the UK and EU regulations. We will examine the compliance obligations of multinational enterprises pursuant to U.S. Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions, export controls, and cryptocurrency laws and regulations. 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.
Compliance in Financial Services Companies: LAW JD 683
2 credits
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 course will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 683 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Cornelius | LAW | 204 |
Compliance Policy Clinic: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 823
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to 1) students who have formally applied and been accepted to the Compliance Policy Clinic, a 6-credit, one-semester clinic; and 2) with instructor permission, students who have already completed one 6-credit semester in the Compliance Policy Clinic. The Compliance Policy Clinic prepares students to be effective compliance lawyers and leaders in the rapidly-expanding field of compliance lawyering: working across disciplines to translate complex, shifting legal requirements into effective systems that protect highly-regulated institutions from legal liability, reputational damage, and operational risk. The Clinic is designed to develop core skills and capacities that are transferrable across compliance practice contexts and substantive areas of law. Students lead the Clinic's work with private-sector, public-sector, and NGO partners/clients across a range of fields and industries as well as on systems-level projects in global anti- corruption law and other compliance topics with broad social impact. PRE/CO- REQUISITE: Introduction to Risk Management and Compliance. Additional courses that may be helpful to take before or at the same time as the Clinic: Corporations, Administrative Law, Professional Responsibility. NOTE: The Compliance Policy Clinic counts towards the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 823 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Danielle Pelfrey Duryea |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Danielle Pelfrey Duryea |
Compliance Policy Clinic: Seminar: LAW JD 729
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied and been accepted to the Compliance Policy Clinic. The Clinic is designed to develop core skills and capacities that are transferrable across compliance practice contexts and substantive areas of law. Clinic students hone research, analysis, writing, fact investigation, interviewing, presentation, counseling, project management, and interprofessional collaboration skills while deeply engaging issues of ethics, culture, risk management, and enforcement. PRE/CO-REQUISITE: Introduction to Risk Management and Compliance. Additional courses that may be helpful to take before or at the same time as the Clinic: Corporations, Administrative Law, Professional Responsibility. NOTE: The Compliance Policy Clinic counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning Requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 729 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 3 | Danielle Pelfrey Duryea | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 3 | Danielle Pelfrey Duryea |
Construction Law: LAW JD 716
2 credits
This course will introduce students to the key concepts of construction law. The course takes students from pre-construction through project execution, and addresses the issues and conflicts that frequently arise during the construction process. Although portions of the course will address issues of contract law and dispute resolution, the course focuses on issues that are particular and unique to construction.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 716 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 2 | Rubinstein | LAW | 416 |
Consumer Debt Practicum: LAW JD 705
2 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied and been accepted to the Consumer Debt Practicum. Consumer Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services staffs the Consumer Debt Practicum in Small Claims Court at the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) Roxbury Division, East Boston Division, Charlestown Division and Chelsea District Court. The practicum provides pro bono representation to low- income defendants in small claims court on credit card collection matters. Students will participate at the BMC Brighton Division on Thursday afternoons from 1 -- 4 pm (or earlier if cases resolve before 4 pm).
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 705 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 10:45 am | 12:15 pm | 2 | Jade Brown |
Consumer Financial Services: LAW BK 995
2 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 995 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Craig W. Kaylor |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Craig W. Kaylor |
Contemporary Issues of Constitutional Law (S): LAW JD 955
3 credits
Having taken the 1L Constitutional Law course (a pre-requisite for this seminar), students taking this course will do a deeper dive into the issues where the Constitution comes alive in our daily lives -- the ways in which citizens in general and lawyers in particular need to understand the role the Constitution plays in political and social debates over free speech, voting rights, reproductive rights and so much more. The course will cover several issues currently on the Supreme Court's docket, and the course topics will intersect with developments in the news on a regular basis. There is no exam. Students will be required to write a paper on an issue of their choice. Grades are determined by the quality of the paper and class participation. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: Class of 2024 only -- This class may be used 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 955 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Robert M. Thomas Jr. | LAW | 418 |
Contract Drafting: LAW JD 788
3 credits
This course is the foundational skills course within the Transactional Law Program. It teaches students basic principles and skills of drafting and analyzing commercial and transaction agreements, with a focus on recognizing, and addressing through contractual provisions, key business issues in transactions. Although the course will be of particular interest to students interested in a corporate or transactional law practice, since most practicing attorneys will need to work with contracts at some point in their career, the concepts and skills which the course conveys are applicable to virtually all practice areas and specialties. While the course utilizes lectures to introduce various contract concepts and techniques essential for drafting and reviewing commercial and transaction agreements, it also requires that students complete both in-class exercises and out-of-class assignments as a means of building basic drafting skills and a solid understanding of the structure and operation of contractual provisions in a business transaction. The course also considers various ethical issues that may arise in the contract drafting and review process and in transactional practice generally. Grades will be based on class participation and graded drafting assignments. CLASS SIZE: 12 students. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT/EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING REQUIREMENT: This course is a designated Professional Writing Course which may be used to partially satisfy the Upper-Class Writing Requirement (with a grade of B or higher) or the 6-credit Experiential Learning Requirement, but not both. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 788 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 3 | Elizabeth Brody Gluck | LAW | 418 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Young M. Park | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | John F. Cohan | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Yael D. DeCapo | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Cecily Banks | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | John F. Cohan |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Yael D. DeCapo |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Johnston |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Cecily Banks |
Contract Law Practice for LLM Students: Understanding the US Lawyer's Perspective: LAW AM 813
2 credits
This is an introductory course on US contract law specifically designed for foreign-trained LLM students from civil law traditions. Its goal is to prepare non-common law lawyers to work effectively with US counsel when structuring and negotiating contractual terms and provisions. The class brings a practical perspective to the topics covered in a traditional first-year contracts course: the fundamentals of contract formation, enforceability, defenses to enforceability, interpretation, performance, conditions, third party rights, damages, and other remedies. In addition to receiving foundational exposure to the main U.S. contract law topics, students will examine how contract law principles affect real-world US legal practice in a range of settings. Comparisons to civil law traditions will be made to elucidate doctrinal concepts and practice considerations. As a result, students will gain a deeper understanding of the practical and cross-cultural issues to consider when working with (or against) US counsel. Enrollment is limited to LLM students from non-common law backgrounds who have not taken the fall semester four- credit JD or LLM contracts class.
Contracts for LLMs: LAW AM 812
4 credits
This course will use the case method to examine legal and equitable remedies for enforcing contracts, determining what promises are enforceable, elements of assent, standards of fairness and restrictions on bargaining process, and tests for performance and breach. Designed for students preparing to sit for the bar, this course will focus on those areas emphasized on the multi-state, New York, and Massachusetts bar exams. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
Copyright Law: LAW JD 929
3 credits
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 secondary and vicarious liability. Each class meeting will consist of a combination of lecture and class discussion. Our discussions will sometimes focus on dissecting a landmark case and other times on working through the dynamics of a transaction or a policy question based on your reading. We'll also 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 (15%) and a 3-hour, open book, final exam.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 929 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Jessica Silbey |
Corporate Counsel Externship Fieldwork: LAW JD 954
Var credits
This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. This is the companion fieldwork component for students enrolled in the Corporate Counsel Externship: Seminar. Students will work at legal offices of for-profit and nonprofit companies in unpaid or paid placements. Students will receive 3-9 variable P/F credits for working at their placements. Each credit requires 50 hours of work over the course of the 13-week semester (averaging 4 hours per week). COREQUISITE: Corporate Counsel Externship Seminar (JD 896). NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 954 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Corporate Counsel Externship Seminar: LAW JD 896
2 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 896 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:45 pm | 6:15 pm | 2 | Cecily Banks | LAW | 416 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:45 pm | 6:15 pm | 2 | Cecily Banks |
Corporate Finance: LAW JD 985
3 credits
This course covers the foundations of corporate finance. It starts with the concepts of time value of money, discounting, and present value. With that background it then considers the major financial decisions made by corporate managers. Topics include the valuation of financial assets and liabilities, criteria for making investment decisions, business valuation, relationships between risk and return, portfolio theory, market efficiency, capital structure choice, and cost of capital. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals, Corporations.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 985 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:30 pm | 4:00 pm | 3 | Theodore S. Sims | LAW | 209 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:45 am | 12:10 pm | 3 | Stephen G. Marks |
Corporate Governance (S): LAW JD 941
3 credits
Corporations play a central role in our society. What corporations do, and how they do it, depends on the legal rules and other forces that govern them. The course examines the most important aspects of corporate governance by analyzing real world examples. The course considers the relationship between directors and executives, and the role that mutual funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds and private equity funds play in corporations and the capital markets. We will consider the objectives and the behavior of each of these groups, and the laws and practices that shape their actions. We will also consider the social and environmental responsibility of corporations, and how corporations--and the rules and institutions that shape their operation--affect our society. There will be no exam. Instead, students will be assessed on a course paper and their class participation. PREREQUISITE: Corporations (may be waived with instructor's permission). 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, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 941 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Scott HirstStaff |
Corporate Reorganizations: LAW TX 924
2 credits
Income tax considerations relating to corporate tax free reorganizations including: review of the requirements for tax free treatment of acquisitive and time permitting divisive reorganizations; review of the tax treatment to all relevant parties to the transaction; consideration of special problems associated with certain types of reorganizations. Prerequisite: Introduction to Corporate Tax. Note: Limited enrollment.
Corporations: LAW JD 816
4 credits
Course about the legal structure and characteristics of business corporations. Topics include the promotion and formation of corporations; the distribution of power between management and shareholders; the limitations on management powers imposed by state law fiduciary duties and federal securities laws; shareholder derivative suits; capital structure and financing of corporations; and fundamental changes in corporate structure, such as mergers and sales of assets. The course serves as a prerequisite to advanced courses. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 816 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 4 | David I. Walker | LAW | 102 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Stephen G. Marks | LAW | 103 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Pierluigi Matera | LAW | 414 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Scott Hirst |
Corporations for LLMs: LAW AM 815
4 credits
Course about the legal structure and characteristics of business corporations. Topics include the promotion and formation of corporations; the distribution of power between management and shareholders; the limitations on management powers imposed by state law fiduciary duties and federal securities laws; shareholder derivative suits; capital structure and financing of corporations; and fundamental changes in corporate structure, such as mergers and sales of assets. The course serves as a PREREQUISITE to advanced courses. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
Creative & Innovative Economies (S): LAW JD 770
3 credits
This IP seminar studies the complicated relationship of access and ownership in the development and sustainability of IP-rich communities in the internet age. Students read intensely for the first half of the semester about particular creative and innovative communities and their IP practices, e.g., video game developers, graffiti artists, biomedical engineers, podcasters, photographers, chefs, jewelry designers, app developers (the list is endless!). In this first part of the course, students write short response papers and discuss the material. They will also begin formulating a plan for the second half of the semester, in which they will choose their own a creative or innovative community to study in depth. The second half of the semester supports the student in that research project, identifying the community, gaining access to evidence about that community, analyzing the evidence, and developing legal analysis of intellectual property issues for that community. We workshop the individual projects as a group, read proposals together, and continue with our reading on intellectual property issues that relate to the chosen projects. The final project is a combination of (1) facts/evidence about the community, (2) a written analysis of the facts, (3) legal proposals to aid the achievement of its goals as a creative or innovative community, and (4) a short presentation to the class of the findings/analysis. COREQUISITE/PREREQUISITE: Intellectual Property, Copyright, Trademark, or Patent Law. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 770 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Jessica Silbey |
Criminal Law for LLMs: LAW AM 710
2 credits
This class will introduce internationally trained LLM in American Law Program students to the basic doctrines and principles of substantive criminal law, including the justifications for punishment, objective offense elements, mental states, mitigating and exculpating defenses and various forms of criminal liability.
Criminal Motion Practice and Advocacy: LAW JD 768
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 768 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 9:00 pm | 3 | Michael Vitali | LAW | 512 |
Criminal Procedure: Adjudicatory Process: LAW JD 820
3 credits
This course focuses on the constitutional rules of the criminal process from arrest to sentencing and appeal ("bail to jail"), particularly under the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments. Topics include the right to counsel, effective assistance of counsel, pretrial release and detention, charging, grand jury, prosecutorial discretion, discovery, double jeopardy, plea bargaining, jury vs. bench trial, jury selection, speedy trial, confrontation, jury instructions, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, sentencing, and appeals. RESTRICTIONS: Enrollment is limited to students who have not taken and are not currently enrolled in Criminal Procedure: Comprehensive (JD 819). Students who have taken or who are enrolled in Criminal Procedure: Constitutional (JD 821) are permitted to take this course. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 820 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Sadiq Reza |
Criminal Procedure: Comprehensive: LAW JD 819
4 credits
This course surveys the constitutional rules that govern investigation, prosecution, and adjudication in the criminal process and derive primarily from the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments. Topics include police powers and limits in searches and seizures (e.g. stops, frisks, arrests, excessive force, profiling, and surveillance), police interrogations (Miranda), the exclusionary rule (the suppression of evidence obtained unconstitutionally), bail and detention, the right to counsel, the right to trial by jury, grand jury proceedings, prosecutorial charging and discretion, double jeopardy, discovery and exculpatory evidence, plea bargaining, jury selection, and the rights to a public, speedy, and fair trial. We will discuss policy and practical considerations as well as the governing constitutional doctrines, and classroom demonstrations will illustrate the course material. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in this section and Criminal Procedure: Constitutional (JD821) or Criminal Procedure: Adjudicatory (JD820).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 819 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Sadiq Reza | LAW | 605 |
Criminal Tax: LAW TX 981
2 credits
This Course will cover the legal, evidentiary, and procedural challenges presented in the prosecution of criminal tax cases. Class discussion will cover basic criminal tax violations found in United States Code Title 26 and a selection of federal crimes found in Title 18. The Course will also cover: IRS and Department of Justice, Tax Division practice and procedure; IRS audit, appeal and collection procedure and parallel civil and criminal tax procedures; the various methods of proof used by the IRS in investigating and prosecuting criminal tax fraud cases; federal grand jury practice; financial records search warrants; federal conspiracy and money laundering offenses; testimonial and document production immunity; foreign evidence processes, including select portions of the Title III of the USA PATRIOT ACT (also known as the International Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of 2001; and application of criminal tax offenses to terrorism financing cases.
Criminal Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 981
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. This course meets in the fall and is mandatory for all 2L students in the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Advocacy focuses on teaching courtroom skills in the context of criminal trial litigation. NOTE: The Criminal Law Clinical Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 981 A1 , Sep 8th to Dec 1st 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 10:00 am | 1:00 pm | 3 | Brian A. WilsonTracy Walts | LAW | 602 |
Criminal Trial Practice I (C): LAW JD 982
5 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice I is mandatory for students in their first semester of the Program. 2Ls take the course fall or spring, as determined in consultation with the Director of the Criminal Law Clinical Program upon acceptance to the Program. 3Ls take the course in the fall. The course consists of a fieldwork and classroom component. The classroom component provides students with an introduction to Massachusetts criminal procedure and basic instruction in lawyering skills such as case planning and investigation. For their fieldwork, students are assigned to cases handled by senior members of the Program and conduct tasks out of court such as legal research, fact investigation, witness interviews and preparation. Students spend one morning a week in court observing and second-seating the cases they have helped to prepare, and must reserve either a Tuesday or Wednesday. NOTE: The Criminal Law Clinical Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 982 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 5 | Brian A. WilsonTracy Walts | LAW | 420 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 5 | Karen Pita LoorBrian A. Wilson |
Criminal Trial Practice II/Defenders (C): LAW JD 898
8 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice II is for students in their second semester of the Program who have been assigned to the Defender section. Students represent indigent defendants 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, Tuesday and Wednesday. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 898 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 8 | Angelo PetrighTracy Walts | LAW | 420 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:20 pm | 8 | Angelo PetrighShira M. Diner |
Criminal Trial Practice II/Prosecutors (C): LAW JD 899
Var credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Criminal Law Clinical Program. Criminal Trial Practice II is for students in their second semester of the Program who have been assigned to the Prosecutor section. Students serve as lead 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 supervision of the clinical professor. Students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences, including investigation, interviewing, and trial advocacy. Students handle pretrial matters, litigate evidentiary hearings, and are assigned to conduct every phase of jury or bench trials. Students collaborate but serve as the lead prosecutors on their own cases. Case assignments are based upon an individual assessment of a student's progress and demonstrated competence. 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 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday if enrolled in the fall, or two full days per week on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday if enrolled in the spring. PREREQS: Evidence; Trial Advocacy or Criminal Trial Advocacy; Criminal Procedure (Comprehensive, Constitutional, or Adjudicatory). NOTE: The Criminal Law Clinical Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 899 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | Var | Brian A. WilsonStaff | LAW | 512 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | Var | Brian A. WilsonStaff | LAW | 512 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | Var | Brian A. Wilson |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | Var | Brian A. Wilson |
Crimmigration (S): LAW JD 837
3 credits
Noncitizens are increasingly impacted by interactions with the criminal legal system, often facing detention and deportation from the United States as a result of even minor infractions. This course will explore the dynamic field of "crimmigration" -- the intersection between immigration law and criminal law. Through readings, discussion, and independent research projects, students will learn to analyze constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions concerning immigration, as well as procedural and substantive requirements in criminal proceedings as they affect noncitizens. Students will also engage with the growing conversation around immigration and criminal abolition, as a response to the expanding carceral state. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 837 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Sarah R. Sherman-Stokes |
Critical Race Theory Colloquium(S): LAW JD 731
3 credits
In the mid-1980s, a scholarly movement to become known as "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) developed in legal academia. Early critical race theorists--including Derrick Bell, Mari Matsuda, Charles Lawrence, Richard Delgado, Kimberle Crenshaw, and Patricia Williams--challenged the substance and style of conventional legal scholarship. Substantively, race crits rejected formal equality, individual rights, and colorblind approaches to solving legal problems. Stylistically, critical race scholars often employed new methodologies for legal scholarship, including storytelling and narrative. The Critical Race Theory Colloquium is designed to expose students to core CRT principles and interrogate CRT's possibilities and limitations. This endeavor will require students to think critically about race and racism in conjunction with other intersecting structures of oppression and hierarchy. The Critical Race Theory Colloquium employs a workshop-format that enables students to engage leading scholars in the field of Critical Race Theory. The first part of the semester will involve a general overview of Critical Race Theory. During the remaining meetings, invited scholars will present works-in-progress for discussion. To prepare, students will write short reaction papers that include three questions for further discussion. Final grades depend on the reaction papers, class participation, and attendance. 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 (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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 731 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Jonathan Feingold |
Deals (S): LAW JD 999
3 credits
This seminar provides an overview and introduction to the structure of complex transactions and contracts -- deals - and the role effective counsel can play. We will review challenges and issues common to complex business transactions with a focus on risk identification, allocation and mitigation. We will also review how that impacts deal negotiations, documentation and execution. The course is divided into two parts. The first section will be a review and analysis of a Series A funding round based on the National Venture Capital Association form agreements. The first section will conclude with a take home project to be done individually. The second part will be a review and analysis of a transaction involving a public company. The class is organized into teams and each team will prepare and present an analysis of one of the participants. Each team will present its analysis to the class. PREREQUISITE: Corporations. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 999 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Kathy Fields Povoas |
Digital Civil Liberties (S): LAW JD 779
3 credits
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: This class may not be used 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 779 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Woodrow Hartzog | LAW | 417 |
Digital Evidence Use in Law Enforcement (S): LAW JD 953
3 credits
This course will consider how the evolution and global reach of technology in the areas of criminal practice and privacy rights has created an environment and area of the law that is frequently enacted only to be outpaced, eclipsed, and rendered irrelevant almost immediately by the very thing it seeks to regulate. This course provides an overview of cybercrime, privacy rights, and digital evidence practice; focusing on the current legal and technical landscape facing investigators and prosecutors in our justice system as they respond to the now commonly overlapping digital, cloud, and physical crime scenes. This course will give students the ability to assess current issues in this space using real-world examples. Students will examine the various constitutional protections afforded to users in the digital space, the law and policies that govern detection and prosecution, using this evidence in investigative practice, understanding the principles of digital search and seizure, and privacy rights vs. privacy protections. This course provides a summary of this fast-growing area of the law arising out of digital evidence investigation as it is used in criminal law as well as in areas of collateral civil practice. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may be able to use this course 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 953 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Luke Goldworm | LAW | 417 |
Digital Money and Property (S): LAW JD 728
3 credits
What we earn, owe and own will soon be represented only by bits in a computer, but we are only beginning to understand the benefits, risks and legal pitfalls associated with this change. While crypto currencies have dominated the news, they are only part of the larger global conversion to digital money and property representations that is underway. In Norway, over 95% of consumer transactions are now made with digital fiat money, California is working on converting its entire car title system from paper to digital and virtually all central banks are working on introducing national digital currencies. The impact of digitization will cut across property law, banking and finance, secured transactions, consumer rights, bankruptcy and many other areas of law - all of which this seminar will explore. The relationship between money, the reach of government and the impact on societal wealth and inequalities will also be considered over the course of the semester -- as well as the potential for government to limit privacy and control behaviors using digital money and payment systems. The goal of this seminar will be to explore and understand current issues, but more importantly, to equip students with a framework to understand and apply the law to evolving and new forms of money and digital property throughout their careers. Over the course of the semester, we will review and study various laws that govern money, property rights and debt with a focus on recent changes to the Uniform Commercial relating to digital assets and currency including Article 12 on Controllable Electronic Records. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 728 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Tim Duncan | LAW | 418 |
Disability Law (S): LAW JD 749
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 749 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Gregory Dorchak | LAW | 418 |
Drugs, Devices, and Diagnostics: New Challenges, Strategies, and Execution: QST HM 717
3 credits
This course will examine issues and opportunities in life sciences focused on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices sectors and the life sciences service industry supporting these sectors, through the eyes of the CEO. The course will investigate who manages these companies and what are the strategies that are used to build successful enterprises. Students will be introduced to individuals and institutions at every stage of the development cycle from idea generation and start-up fundraising to manufacturing, commercialization and global expansion. We will specifically look at key elements of strategy and the execution by examining companies, that have either succeeded or failed, by discussing the pros and cons of different approaches and teasing out the lessons one can derive from leaders in the field and case studies examining their approaches.
REMINDER: This is a QST course. Students cannot register through WebReg. Students who register for the class and want law credit must add the course to their law transcript by completing an add form at the Law Registrar's Office before the end of the add/drop period for that semester.
FALL 2023: QST HM 717 E1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 6:30 pm | 9:15 pm | 3 | Conti | HAR | 406 |
Economics of Intellectual Property Law (S): LAW JD 900
3 credits
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. **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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 900 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Keith N. Hylton | LAW | 417 |
Education Law: LAW JD 777
3 credits
In this course, we will examine the relationship between law, public policy, and current issues in education at both the K-12 and higher ed levels. Major themes will include campus safety and privacy; the right to an equal and quality education (with a focus on desegregation and resegregation); constitutional issues in public schools (including religious considerations and student freedom of expression); and structures of educational governance and various school reforms. Related topics of engagement will likely include policing in schools, ongoing legal battles over race-conscious practices and policies, the unmet needs of English language learners, and the impact of the charter school movement. Course assessment will include a take home examination. Class participation will also factor into final grades.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 777 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 30th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 9:00 am | 10:25 am | 3 | Tiffani Darden |
Effective & Ethical Depositions (S): LAW JD 958
3 credits
The purpose of this seminar is to teach students how to take and defend effective and ethical depositions. The course involves both a simulated deposition component and a professional responsibility component. Simulated Deposition Course Component: Students will be divided into firms representing either the Plaintiff or the Defendants in a gender discrimination and defamation case brought by an attorney who has been denied partnership. The students will prepare and perform depositions of lay and expert witnesses and gather experience with obtaining and developing facts, preserving testimony, and the uses of depositions. Professional Responsibility Course Component: The simulated context offers the opportunity to explore several professional responsibility issues that arise naturally in deposition practice. These issues emerge largely because of the dual professional roles of an attorney: zealous representative and officer of the court. Some of the more timely issues involve proper witness preparation, improper witness coaching, inadvertent waiver of privilege, and abusive tactics. Writing and Performance Requirements: Each week students will write a short one or two page comment on the professional responsibility issues raised in class. At the end of the course, students will perform a videotaped deposition rather than take a final written exam. NOTE: This class may be used to satisfy the Professional Responsibility requirement, credits toward Experiential Learning requirement, or the upper-class writing requirement. This class may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students per section. 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, 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 958 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Constance A. Browne |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Constance A. Browne |
Effective In-House Legal Counsel (S): LAW AM 893
3 credits
This course will introduce internationally-trained LLM students to the roles and responsibilities of in-house legal counsel. Students will investigate the skills and characteristics that contribute to successful and effective practice as an in-house counsel and explore the similarities and differences between in- house legal practice and outside legal practice. Topics covered during the course will include: the relationship between in-house counsel and his/her client; in-house counsel's role in adding value to his/her organization; advising and counseling clients; fact gathering and investigation; managing an in-house legal practice; selecting and managing outside counsel; and the ethical challenges of in-house counsel. This will be a hands-on course focused on practice skills development. In role plays, students will step into the shoes of in-house counsel to address a variety of situations in which an in- house counsel would be expected to act. ** 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.
Effective Transactional Lawyering Skills (S): LAW AM 721
3 credits
Successful transactional lawyers build their practices by adding value to their clients' transactions. In addition to having strong drafting and negotiation skills, they think creatively and strategically, more like skilled chess players than technicians. They are also effective, diplomatic communicators. This seminar teaches students how, as transactional lawyers, they can bring added value to a deal. Through role plays, simulations, in- class exercises and written assignments, students learn strategies for translating the concepts of a business transaction into legal documents. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the client's business and strategic objectives for a deal; identifying the risk and value issues that the client has not yet considered; structuring the deal; and negotiating and drafting the deal documents to achieve the client's goals. Note: Although strategic contract drafting is an element of the course, this is not a class dedicated to contract drafting. Instead, the focus is on how the various provisions of deal documents interact with each other to further a client's business objectives, and on how to work strategically to structure, negotiate, and draft the provisions to achieve those objectives. This class is open to foreign-trained LLM students in the LLM in American Law and Intellectual Property Law Programs. Prerequisites: contracts, unless otherwise waived by the instructor. Enrollment limited to 12 students.
Effective Writing (LLM): The Lawyer's Craft (S): LAW AM 706
3 credits
There is no such thing as a good lawyer who is not also a good writer. Whether you are writing a court document, a legal development update, a settlement agreement, or a simple internal email to colleagues, your ability to make proper decisions about tone, style, language and organization will play a big role in your effectiveness as a practitioner and overall professional identity. This seminar will focus on the best practices for effective writing across a broad range of legal communications. Weekly assignments will build upon -- but not overlap with -- the fall semester Legal Research and Writing seminar's assignments. Students will be exposed to a range of writing styles and approaches suitable for different audiences. Assignments will focus on the craft of writing and effective expression, not on substantive legal issues or legal research and may include such work products as lawyer-to-lawyer letters, informal client advisories, internal communications and official submissions to government agencies. Students will receive direct individual feedback on their assignments. Enrollment is limited to 14 LLM in American Law Program students who are not enrolled in Professor Sugarman's "Advanced Legal Writing for LLMs: The Essentials for Bar Exam Writing and Beyond."
Elder Law: LAW TX 977
2 credits
Understanding the differences between Medicare and Medicaid. Exploring the operation of a Durable Power of Attorney and a Health Care Proxy in connection with the admission of a loved one to a nursing home. A walk through the Federal and corresponding Massachusetts Medicaid Regulations as they relate to: understanding what is a countable and non countable asset for Medicaid eligibility purposes: exploring the five year look back period versus the period of ineligibility resulting from disqualifying transfers along with related exceptions to these rules; discuss real estate as a countable and non countable asset including the different treatment of a primary residence, vacation home and rental properties along with ways to convert these countable assets to non countable assets; last minute planning techniques with annuities and personal care contracts; understanding the drafting and operation of Medicaid Irrevocable Trusts including a complete analysis of the Income, Gift and Estate Tax consequences of using these trusts from Grantor Trust rules to step up in basis, use of life estates along with real life fact patterns that explain the planning opportunities and related pitfalls to be avoided.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 977 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Staff | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Staff |
Election Law and Voting Rights Reform: LAW JD 825
3 credits
This course examines the law that organizes democratic elections. After discussing the ideas and concepts that have influenced the development of the right to vote and the basic organizing structure of our election systems, we will explore a number of topics, including: (1) the role of political parties, (2) the disenfranchisement of black voters, (3) the passage and operation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, (4) the practice of felon disfranchisement, (5) the problems of racial and partisan gerrymandering, (6) the proper role of the courts, (7) special issues that arise in presidential elections, and (8) recent efforts to unduly influence or subvert elections. Throughout, students will learn to not only identify ongoing problems but also evaluate possible reforms. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 825 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 9:00 am | 10:30 am | 3 | Robert L. Tsai | LAW | 209 |
Employment Discrimination: LAW JD 853
3 credits
Comprehensive coverage of federal and state statutory anti-discrimination and accommodation laws governing employment. Federal statutes treated include Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Equal Pay Act, and section 1981. Constitutional equal protection law also will be treated where applicable. Topics include disparate treatment, disparate impact, systemic disparate treatment, harassment, retaliation, remedies, including affirmative action, and procedural choices.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 853 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 4:20 pm | 5:45 pm | 3 | Staff |
Employment Law: LAW JD 834
3 credits
This course is about the legal regulation of the employment relationship in the U.S. It surveys relevant common law doctrines and selected statutes affecting this. Among the substantive issues to be considered are the at-will default rule (and many of its modifications); regulation of wages and workplace safety; unemployment insurance; whistle-blowing; workplace disputes about property rights (including restrictive covenants surrounding trade secrets, non-compete; arbitration agreements); torts arising in employment contexts (negligent hiring and retention; defamation); liability coverage, and other topics.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 834 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 9:00 am | 10:25 am | 3 | Benjamin David Pyle | LAW | 413 |
Energy Law & Policy (S): LAW JD 832
3 credits
Energy law and policy are integral to the U.S. economy and have major impacts on the environment. This seminar will provide an overview of U.S. energy law and policy with an emphasis on the sources and regulation of electric energy. We will pay particular attention to emerging alternative energy sources, e.g. wind, solar, biomass, as well as new technologies, e.g. horizontal fracking for the development of natural gas. We will consider the division of regulatory authority among federal, state, and local governments. Students will have the opportunity to enhance their research, writing, and oral presentation skills and receive detailed feedback. There are no pre-requisites to the course other than a curious mind and interest in the subject matter. 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. ** 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 832 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Alan L. Feld |
English Legal History: LAW JD 942
3 credits
This course will cover the history of the common law in England from the late twelfth century to the time of the American Revolution. We will study the development of the legal profession, its doctrines, and its techniques in five areas: procedure, criminal law, property, contract, and tort. The readings emphasize primary sources, and students will give presentations in teams on historical documents handed out in class. Students can either write a research paper or complete a take-home examination. Research papers may, but need not fulfill the Writing Requirement. OFFERING PATTERN: This class not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 942 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | David J. Seipp | LAW | 204 |
Entertainment Law (S): LAW JD 905
3 credits
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. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 18 students. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 905 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Schreyer |
Environmental Law: LAW JD 833
4 credits
This is an introductory survey course in environmental law. We will consider the theoretical foundations and political dimensions of environmental law as we focus on several key statutes including the Clean Air Act (and its application to climate change), Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (the Superfund statute), and the National Environmental Protection Act.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 833 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Madison Condon |
Environmental Law Practicum (C): LAW JD 766
Var credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 766 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Pamela Hill | LAW | 420 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Pamela Hill | LAW | 420 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Pamela Hill | LAW | 420 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Pamela Hill |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Pamela Hill |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Pamela Hill |
ERISA Regulation of Retirement Plans: LAW TX 905
2 credits
This course provides an introduction to the regulation of retirement plans, focusing on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). Specifically, the course will cover public policy implications, the different types of retirement plans subject to regulation including the unintended rise of the defined contribution plan or 401(k), state versus federal regulation of plans, application of the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA's fiduciary duties and prohibited transaction rules, and civil enforcement in the courts, as well as by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor. The course will be relevant for any student interested in employee benefits, employment law, labor law, business law, or securities law.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 905 OL , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Densberger |
Est Plan & Draf: LAW TX 975
2 credits
This course description is currently under construction.
Estate and Gift Taxation: LAW TX 904
2 credits
Principle issues of estate and gift taxation. Topics include the definition of taxable gifts and exclusions and deductions; determination of the taxable estate of a decedent including problems with lifetime transfers; valuation issues; deductions from the taxable estate with special emphasis on property passing to a spouse; and transfers with retained interests. Reference is made throughout to planning issues relating to estate and gift taxation and is designed to give both a requisite background for those intending additional study of estate planning and a comfortable familiarity with the subject for those going on to other tax fields.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 904 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Imelda Monaghan | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Imelda Monaghan |
Estate Planning: LAW JD 687
2 credits
This course will examine in depth the theoretical and practical aspects of a variety of estate planning strategies currently being used in the real world. The primary focus of the course will be on federal income, estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer tax issues which arise in the estate planning context, although other planning issues, including professional ethics, will also be considered. The course will use case studies of specific tax driven planning strategies, including grantor trusts, marital deduction trusts, post-mortem planning, and planning for incapacity. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I and Estate and Gift Tax. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. NOTE: This course (and the final exam) is administered through the Graduate Tax Program (Room 804). This section is for pre-registration purposes only. Students will be transferred to the Tax section (TX935) of the course during the summer.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 687 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Melissa Langa |
Estate Planning: LAW TX 935
2 credits
This course will examine in depth the theoretical and practical aspects of a variety of estate planning strategies currently being used in the real world. The primary focus of the course will be on federal income, estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer tax issues which arise in the estate planning context, although other planning issues, including professional ethics, will also be considered. The course will use case studies of specific tax driven planning strategies, including grantor trusts, marital deduction trusts, post- mortem planning, and planning for incapacity. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I and Estate and Gift Tax
FALL 2023: LAW TX 935 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Langa | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | LangaMattson |
Estate Planning- Advanced: LAW TX 934
2 credits
This course picks up the estate planning course (TX 935) leaves off. We will survey several "cutting edge" estate planning techniques-techniques that permit the transfer of large amounts of wealth at little or no gift tax or estate tax cost. We will zero in on valuation rules that apply to the estate tax and gift tax; we will discuss what to look for in appraisals; we will examine, in depth, the current status of planning involving family partnerships and LLCs; we will examine the rules that apply to GRATs, installment sales to "defective" grantor trusts, and how to structure transfers using these techniques; we will review the biases built into the actuarial valuation rules that the Internal Revenue Service requires us to apply; we will examine the effects of the UPC, the Uniform Trust Code, and will consider "decanting"; we will discuss some of the psychological aspects of estate planning including issues presented by parents' fears of making their children too wealthy too soon; and we will discuss trust design and the choice of trustees. There is no final exam but students will be required to write a 10 -- 15 page term paper. In addition there will be several quizzes throughout the semester. Prerequisite: Estate Planning and Estate and Gift Tax Recommended: Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries
Ethical Issues in Medicine and Public Health: SPH LW 725
4 credits
This course reviews the nature and scope of moral dilemmas and problematic decision making in public health, medicine, and health care. After a survey of ethical theory, the course focuses on a broad range of ethical concerns raised by the theory and practice of public health and medicine: the nature of health, disease and illness, health promotion and disease prevention; rights, access, and the limits of health care; the physician-patient relationship; truthtelling and confidentiality. Through a series of case studies, the course examines specific topics: the bioethics movement and its critiques; human experimentation; the role of institutional review boards; the concept and exercise of informed, voluntary consent; abortion, reproduction, genetic counseling and screening; euthanasia, death and dying; ethics committees; and international and cross-cultural perspectives.
REMINDER: This is a SPH course. Students cannot register through WebReg. Students who register for the class and want law credit must add the course to their law transcript by completing an add form at the Law Registrar's Office before the end of the add/drop period for that semester.
European Union Law (S): LAW JD 880
3 credits
This seminar's content will include: Historical and economic foundations of the Treaty of Rome (EEC 1957); institutional structure of the EU; internal market and the four freedoms of movement (goods, services, people and capital); fundamental rights protection; the EU crises of the 21st century, including migration and Brexit; and the prospect of Ukraine's accession. Assessment: 1) Students will be asked to discuss assigned readings (or, occasionally, videos) in each meeting. They will periodically be asked to upload short answers on our Blackboard site. 2) Students will select an EU Law topic, after consultation with the instructor and with the law librarian. After spring break, on a schedule to be determined, they will provide an overview of their chosen topics to the class. By the last day of spring exams, students will submit their complete research papers (approx. 6000 words, not counting footnotes). The seminar paper requirement can also be satisfied by two papers (approx. 3000 words each, not counting footnotes). Note: it is possible to satisfy the upper- class writing requirement through this seminar by completing papers that meet the current certification standards. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 880 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Daniela Caruso |
Evidence: LAW JD 829
3 credits
This 3-credit course will examine the rules and doctrines of Evidence Law with a focus on the Federal Rules of Evidence and pertinent constitutional law. We will cover hearsay and its exceptions, relevance, prejudice, character evidence, impeachment, and other central subjects. Emphasis will be on the practical application, the policies and purposes, and theoretical considerations of Evidence Law. This course utilizes a problem-based approach to learning and encourages critical analysis of how Evidence Law impacts equity and justice. Assessment for the course will be based upon a bar-style multiple-choice final examination, a policy paper, and short review assignments due before each class (after the first week). This course satisfies BU Law clinics' Evidence prerequisite/co-requisite requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 829 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:45 am | 12:10 pm | 3 | Jasmine Gonzales Rose |
Evidence: LAW JD 831
4 credits
Lawson/Donweber: Practical and theoretical aspects of the rules of evidence. The purpose and policies underlying the evidentiary rules are stressed throughout in order to make the rules meaningful, predictable, and functional both for students interested in trial practice and for students who anticipate engaging in a more diversified practice. In addition to covering the substantive rules of evidence, the course demonstrates the significance of evidence as a tactical device at the trial and as a vital skill for the office lawyer. Okidegbe: Evidence law is a system of rules and standards that regulates proof of facts in adjudication. This course will examine the rules of Evidence Law with a focus on the Federal Rules of Evidence. It will utilize a problem-based approach to learning evidentiary concepts and standards. The topics covered by this course include relevance, character evidence, impeachment, competency of witnesses, the hearsay rule, opinion evidence, and other central subjects. Assessment for the course will be based upon a final examination.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 831 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Gary S. Lawson | LAW | 103 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Gary S. Lawson | LAW | 605 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:45 am | 12:45 pm | 4 | Stephen M. Donweber |
Evidence for LLMs: LAW AM 703
2 credits
This course provides LL.M. students with an overview of the substantive rules governing the admissibility or exclusion of evidence at trial. Subjects include competency of witnesses, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, the rule against hearsay and its exceptions, expert and lay opinion testimony, privileged communications, relevancy, procedural considerations, judicial notice, burden of proof, presumptions, form and type of objections, authentication, the best evidence rule and the use of demonstrative and scientific evidence. The course is designed to give students a fundamental understanding of evidentiary rules in anticipation of taking a US bar exam.
Executive Compensation: LAW TX 925
2 credits
Study of the tax and ERISA aspects of various forms of executive compensation. Topics include traditional fringe benefits and deferred compensation arrangements, incentive and non-qualified stock option and restricted stock plans, stock appreciation rights, excess benefit arrangements, rabbi trusts, golden parachute agreements, split-dollar insurance arrangements, and special issues for tax-exempt organizations.
Exempt Organizations: LAW TX 926
2 credits
This course examines the formation, organization, operation and tax aspects of tax-exempt entities including charitable organizations, private foundations and various other tax-exempt entities such as healthcare organizations, social clubs, business leagues, trade associations, fraternal organizations and arts organizations. The course will analyze the following topics: the rationale for federal tax-exempt status; general considerations in organizing tax-exempt entities, including selection of appropriate form and methods of obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status; distinctions between non-profit and tax exempt status; income taxation of exempt organizations; structuring relationships with nonprofit affiliates and for profit business organizations; liability and responsibility of agents, officers and directors; prohibited transactions; the taxation of unrelated business taxable income; private benefit/private inurement; intermediate sanctions; fundraising; political activities; and considerations in acquisitions, mergers and liquidations of exempt organizations. Pre or Co-Requisite: Federal Income Tax I
Family Law: LAW JD 811
3 credits
This course offers a survey of family law, including case law, statutory law, and the role of constitutional rights in limiting governmental regulation of the family. This course will introduce students to law concerning a basic social institution: the family. Students will gain knowledge about how family law intersects with many other fields of law, such as contracts, constitutional law, criminal law, property, torts, public and social welfare law, as well as how social science informs family law. The course will focus on marriage (including the recognition of same-sex marriage), nonmarital families, divorce, pathways to becoming a parent, and the parent-child relationship. Topics include defining and regulating marriage; formal marriage; common law marriage; nonmarital couples, cohabitation, and alternatives to marriage; common law incidents of marriage and the transformation of the common law; domestic violence; traditional and "no fault" divorce; property division; spousal support; child support; child custody; adoption; and regulating parenthood. There will be a final examination. The teaching method is a combination of lecture and class discussion, along with in-class small group problem-solving exercises. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 811 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Katharine B. Silbaugh |
Federal Courts: LAW JD 836
4 credits
This is a basic survey course covering the federal courts, their place in the structure of American government, their relations with the Legislative and Executive branches and with the states, and their adjudication of federal-question cases concerning constitutional and civil rights, federal social welfare programs, and business regulation. This course builds on first-year courses in Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure and complements upperclass courses on modern public law and legal institutions: e.g., Administrative Law, Immigration Law, Environmental Law, Labor Law, and Conflict of Laws. Topics include the separation of federal legislative and judicial powers, Congress' authority to prescribe the federal courts' jurisdiction and to assign adjudicatory duties to other bodies (e.g., "legislative" courts and agencies), standing to litigate in federal court, conflicts between federal and state courts, the states' immunity from private lawsuits, the Supreme Court's authority to review state court judgments, and "abstention" doctrines governing the exercise of federal judicial power. We will explore theoretical and policy questions--asking not only what federal-courts law is at the moment, but also what it should be. Yet we will organize our discussions around practical lawyering in the federal courts--identifying and analyzing the constitutional, statutory, and judge-made hurdles that litigants must clear to obtain a decision on the merits of a federal question. Especially recommended for students who plan to practice with firms that represent clients subject to federal regulation, to pursue careers with federal or state agencies and departments, or to handle constitutional, civil rights, or other public interest litigation.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 836 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Larry Yackle | LAW | 413 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Jed Handelsman Shugerman |
Federal Income Taxation II: LAW TX 902
2 credits
Federal income tax aspects of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of property. Topics include: 1.Realization and recognition, 2.Basis and amount realized, 3.The effects of debt (including its cancellation), 4.Depreciation and amortization, 5.At risk, not for profit, and passive activity loss deductibility limitations, 6.Capital gains and losses, related party transactions, quasi-capital assets and depreciation recapture, and 7.Deferred payment transactions (original issue discount and installment sales). Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 902 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Joseph E. Hunt IV | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Joseph E. Hunt IV |
Financial Crisis to Fintech: LAW BK 971
Var credits
The landscape of the financial system is defined by crises and the responses to those crises. Whether it is the Panic of 1907 that let to the creation of the Federal Reserve, the Great Depression that produced the Glass Steagall Act, or the Great Recession of 2008-09 that resulted in the Dodd Frank Act, one cannot appreciate the nuances of the financial system without an appreciation for how it was shaped. This course respects the significant role of history in shaping the current financial system. It is, however, in discussing current events in the context of that development that the course delivers the greatest value. Each student is expected to keep abreast of recent developments in the financial services industry and come to class prepared to discuss them. In this regard, something new is afoot today. It is called "fintech" or financial technology. Each crisis and each regulatory reaction call for financial institutions to be more highly regulated. This imposes additional costs on incumbent institutions. It also opens the door for the digitization of finance, new ways of making payments, and an opportunity for AI to be a substitute for the old ways of doing business. All this comes with considerable risk and opportunity. This course provides the student with a perspective on historical developments. For example, the origins of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 are explored along with the extensive financial reform responses to the crisis be they legislative, regulatory or 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. The critical role of Government Sponsored Enterprises, GSEs, is also explored. Finally, the course takes an analytical view of the reforms prompted by the crisis. These include various systemic risk measures, guidance from the G-20 and Financial Stability Board, Basel III, the treatment of home/host country issues, and the current state-of-play of the regulation of the derivatives marketplace. In each of these three parts, the role of fintech is discussed. This includes the topics of crypto, stablecoins, real time payments, asset digitization, and AI assisted credit underwriting. When the instructor believes an outside subject matter expert will enhance the discussion, he will call on qualified practitioners to participate. Students are expected to make their own presentations as well.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 971 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | Var | Cornelius K. Hurley | LAW | 203 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Cornelius K. Hurley |
Financial Regulation: LAW JD 864
3 credits
This course will survey the regulatory architecture of major U.S. financial institutions, including commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds, mutual funds, and insurance companies. Understanding the regulatory framework surrounding financial institutions requires situating them within a rapidly evolving political, technological and global context. The course will explore various regulatory mechanisms, such as bank supervision, security disclosures, fiduciary duties, consumer protections, capital requirements, and risk monitoring. The design of these complex governance tools has important implications for the health and stability of the economy, and thus for society. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals.
Financial Reporting for Lawyers: LAW JD 872
2 credits
Understanding financial statements and reports. The objective of the course is that students will be able to read and understand the four financial statements and the 10-k annual report. Emphasis is placed on understanding the nature and meaning of the reports, as well as the relationship to the underlying transactions. Other topics include: basic accounting principles, US GAAP versus IFRS, financial statement analysis, the relationship of the financial statement information to covenant documents, and accounting gamesmanship. RESTRICTION: Not open to students who have had more than one three-hour college course, or its equivalent, in accounting. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 872 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Kevin Wall | LAW | 103 |
First Amendment: LAW JD 839
3 credits
This course will examine the free speech, free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment. About two-thirds of the course will focus on speech, including such topics as political speech (including campaign finance regulation), commercial speech, and expression in the public forum. The final one-third of the course will focus on religion, including such topics as freedom of religious practice, religion in schools, and religious displays and symbols.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 839 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Jay D. Wexler | LAW | 101 |
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law (S): LAW JD 802
3 credits
This seminar examines the Food and Drug Administration as an administrative agency combining law and science to regulate activities affecting public health and safety. Topics include testing and approval of pharmaceuticals and medical devices; food safety and nutritional policy; biologics and biotechnology regulation; cosmetic regulation; pricing of and reimbursement for drugs and devices; global aspects of pharmaceutical regulation, US and foreign patent issues, and FDA practice and procedure; jurisdiction and enforcement. A writing project involving research on food and drug issues will be required. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. RECOMMENDED COURSES: Health Law or Public Health Law, Administrative Law. 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, 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 802 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Frances H. Miller | LAW | 513 |
Foreign Relations Law: LAW JD 992
3 credits
This course will introduce the framework of constitutional, statutory, and international law that both authorizes and constrains the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs. After studying the constitutional allocation of foreign affairs powers among the branches of the federal government and the foundations of the government's national security powers, the course will turn to discrete topics of contemporary relevance, including the power and limits of judicial authority in foreign affairs; treaties and other international agreements; customary international law's status in the U.S. legal system; foreign affairs powers retained by the several states; the application of the Constitution to persons and incidents abroad; war powers; covert action; the detention, interrogation, and trial of terrorists and other irregular combatants, before courts and military commissions; targeted killing; torture and other coercive interrogation; and the protection of individual liberties and civil rights in wartime. Grading will be based on a twenty-four hour take-home final. RESTRICTION: Students who have previously enrolled in National Security Law (JD890) may not register for this course.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 992 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:45 am | 12:10 pm | 3 | Robert D. Sloane |
Fundamentals of U.S. Constitutional Law for LLM Students: LAW AM 709
2 credits
This class provides an introductory level survey of U.S. constitutional law. Topics will include: the Constitution's impact on fundamental concepts of criminal and civil law; the delineation of spheres of power between the branches of the national government; the role of the judiciary and other institutions in interpreting and applying the Constitution; individual rights; substantive due process; theories of constitutional interpretation; and the practice and meaning of judicial review in a political democracy. Enrollment is limited to LLM students who obtained their law degree outside the U.S. and to students not currently enrolled in the JD four-credit constitutional law class.
Gender, Violence & The Law (S): LAW JD 798
3 credits
This seminar provides a detailed examination of gender-motivated violence and legal responses. Recently, there has been greater recognition of gender-based injuries within the law and the provision of new, important protections to survivors. However, despite considerable progress, gender-based violence continues to present theoretical and practical questions, such as: To what extent is gender-based violence different than other types of violence? What legal approaches are most effective to address the harms while recognizing that the diverse interests of survivors? How do societal norms related to gender-based violence impact legal remedies? How should courts balance the interests of other parties in such proceedings to ensure that constitutional rights remain intact? This seminar will explore the limits of the law in addressing gender-based violence and emerging non-traditional approaches, including problem-solving courts and restorative justice frameworks. It also will examine how the emergence of the #MeToo movement may influence legal responses to gender-based violence. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 798 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Naomi M. Mann |
Governance, Risk Management and Compliance: LAW BK 931
2 credits
The course is a survey of the key areas of compliance. The course will examine implementing and maintaining a compliance program. Topic areas to be covered include: U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the Office of Foreign Assets Control; Bank Secrecy Act; Privacy; Investigations; Whistleblower Rates; Information Reporting/Disclosure; Insider Trading Policies; Code of Ethics; Audit; Conflict of Interest; Management Reporting; Internal Reporting/E- Discovery/Record Retention.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 931 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Stephen Cesso | LAW | 605 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Stephen Cesso |
Government Regulation of Insurance: LAW BK 990
2 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 990 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Elizabeth Ditomassi | LAW | 605 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Elizabeth Ditomassi |
Health and Human Rights: SPH LW 740
4 credits
This course focuses on health and it is closely linked to the realization of human rights. Preventable illness, infant mortality, and premature death, for example, are closely tied to societal discrimination and violation of human rights. This course explores the relationship between human rights and health by examining relevant international declarations in historical context, exploring the meaning of "human rights" and "health," and analyzing specific case studies that illuminate the problems, prospects, and potential methods of promoting health by promoting human rights on the national and international levels.
REMINDER: This is a SPH course. Students cannot register through WebReg. Students who register for the class and want law credit must add the course to their law transcript by completing an add form at the Law Registrar's Office before the end of the add/drop period for that semester.
FALL 2023: SPH LW 740 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 19th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:00 am | 12:50 pm | 4 | George J. Annas | INS | 109C |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:00 am | 12:50 pm | 4 | George J. Annas | INS | 206 |
Health Care Corporate Compliance: LAW JD 745
2 credits
Health care organizations of all types (hospitals and health systems, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, health plans, and other health care providers) must develop and maintain an effective corporate compliance and ethics program. Boards of Directors are judged on whether or not they have taken steps, directly and through management, to implement such programs. This is necessary both as a core management tool and to demonstrate a commitment to good governance and compliance in order to take advantage of penalty reductions under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, including the Sentencing Commission's June 2020 revisions. "Such compliance and ethics program shall be reasonably designed, implemented, and enforced so that the program is generally effective in preventing and detecting criminal conduct." But how do you design such a program? How does legal counsel assist the company in building and operating one? What distinguishes the "legal function" from the "compliance function." Lawyers working in health care businesses need to be able to answer these questions to advice the board and management. This course focuses on the fundamentals required to develop and maintain an effective health care corporate compliance program. Students will study the seven elements of a successful compliance program in practical detail and will learn best practices for compliance programs. Specifically, this will include learning how best to design and implement compliance oversight and committees, practicing policy drafting, and exploring the most effective ways to educate and train in compliance. This will also include developing an excellent understanding of audit, investigation, and corrective action skills and strategies.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 745 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | James BryantLarry Vernaglia | LAW | 204 |
Health Care Decisions & Bioethics: LAW JD 727
3 credits
This course will cover issues that arise in clinical healthcare settings, primarily involving who decides and on what basis. Topics include: informed consent and materiality; competence and capacity to give consent; surrogates, advanced directives, physicians orders, and powers of attorney; end-of-life decision making, including withholding/removing treatment, euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicide; clinical ethics committees; patient confidentiality and duties to disclose; human subjects research and institutional review boards; physician conflicts of interest; pre-approval access to drugs; and rationing of scarce healthcare resources.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 727 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:45 am | 12:10 pm | 3 | Christopher Robertson |
Health Care Finance: LAW JD 867
3 credits
This 3-credit course will cover the legal structures governing public and private health care finance. Topics will include an overview of health care and health care insurance markets, the economics of health care insurance, the Affordable Care Act (federal and state health care insurance exchanges, Accountable Care Organizations, design and administration of health plans, benefits design including Essential Health Benefits, appeals and remedies) and related litigation, ERISA preemption, determination of medical appropriateness and related ERISA provisions, provider reimbursement, Medicare and Medicaid regulation including Medicaid expansion. Grades will be based primarily on a 3-hour, in-class final examination. Student participation is required and will affect course grades. No prerequisites.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 867 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:45 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Kathryn Zeiler | LAW | 101 |
Health Care Fraud and Abuse (S): LAW JD 726
3 credits
This seminar will use a practical, case-study approach to some of the issues arising in the complex world of health care enforcement and compliance. With emphasis on the procedural mechanisms of the False Claims Act and the substantive law of the Anti-Kickback Act, the Stark I and II laws, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, and the government's remedial authorities, the seminar will explore how prosecutors, defense attorneys, whistleblowers, and compliance officials inside health care companies approach their work and advise their clients. The seminar will explore the relationships between regulated industries (e.g., pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, doctors, medical device companies) and government insurance programs (e.g., Medicaid and Medicare), why these relationships generate billions of dollars every year in fraud, and how the interested constituencies are approaching these issues. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may satisfy the requirement under the supervision of Ms. Hitchings. **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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 726 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Erica HitchingsStaff |
Health Care Transactions (S): LAW JD 998
3 credits
Partners, associates and general counsel from leading firms will discuss the deals they were personally involved in. After an introduction to the regulatory context of health care and health care transactional theory, the course will turn to case studies of 8 complex health care transactions, drawing on actual documents and the experience of practitioners who worked on the deals. The transactions include hospital M&A, joint ventures, clinical affiliations, and others. Students will analyze the deal and present your conclusions to the class, with the lawyers who closed it. Case law related to the legal issues presented by the transaction will be presented and discussed. Students also will complete two assignments: one considering the fiduciary obligations of a non-profit board of directors, and one writing exercise drawn from class materials. We also will review and discuss a term sheet for the acquisition of a home health agency by a hospital system. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: Health Law. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 998 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Dianne McCarthy | LAW | 702 |
Health Justice Practicum: LAW JD 893
2 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 893 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 10:40 am | 12:10 pm | 2 | Debbie FreitasCristina Freitas | LAW | 508 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 10:30 am | 12:00 pm | 2 | Cristina FreitasDebbie Freitas |
Health Law Externship: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 762
Var credits
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).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 762 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Health Law Externship: Seminar: LAW JD 764
1 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 764 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 1 | Dianne McCarthy | LAW | 702 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 1 | Dianne McCarthy |
Health Law Research: LAW JD 717
1 credits
Health law encompasses the engagement of the legal system with a large and dynamic segment of the U.S. economy. In this class, students will gain a familiarity with how to navigate the statutory and regulatory framework of health law, how to evaluate resources, and how complex and multi-part search strategies may be applied to research problems. Students will also gain a deeper understanding of databases beyond Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg, and of current awareness sources. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using print, electronic, and web-based resources. Students will be evaluated on several grounds, including class participation, regular assignments, and a short paper and presentation. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. NOTE: Students may not add this course after the first class has been held. 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. Meeting Dates 2/7/2024-4/3/2024
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 717 B1 , Feb 7th to Apr 3rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 1 | Jenna Fegreus |
Health Law Survey Colloquium (S): LAW JD 746
2 credits
The Health Law Survey Colloquium (HLSC), led by the director of the Health Law Program, is designed to orient students to the breadth of health law expertise at Boston University by featuring various BU faculty as guest lecturers each week. The HLSC will present a diverse range of topics spanning the field of health law. By asking each speaker to share something from their core specialty, we expect to receive enthusiastic and highly-engaging conversations with the students. Relevant readings may include scholarly works in progress (as in typical colloquia) but also excerpts from casebooks, primary sources, new legal or regulatory developments, or case studies from practice. Students will write response papers. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 746 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 2 | Laura Stephens | LAW | 203 |
Health Sector Consulting: QST HM 840
3 credits
This is an applied consulting project course that aims to develop reflexive practitioners who can elicit client requirements, translate requirements into a problem statement and develop actionable solutions that meet client needs. The course uses a mix of case studies, individual memos and team project deliverables to systematically apply skills developed over the course of the MBA to solve real-world health sector problems. Students work on the consulting assignment in teams of up to four students based on having a shared interest in a prospective consulting project. These projects are curated in partnership with sponsor organizations to be executable within the framework of an academic semester. Projects in the past have ranged from improving the departmental revenue cycle within an academic medical center, developing an international pricing strategy for the introduction of a new product by a pharmaceutical company, to improving safety culture at a large hospital. These projects all have active involvement of the project sponsors who provide access to their organizations and provide ongoing feedback over the lifecycle of the consulting engagement.
REMINDER: This is a QST course. Students cannot register through WebReg. Students who register for the class and want law credit must add the course to their law transcript by completing an add form at the Law Registrar's Office before the end of the add/drop period for that semester.
SPRG 2024: QST HM 840 E1 , Jan 18th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 6:30 pm | 9:15 pm | 3 | TBA | HAR | 306 |
Hedge Funds: LAW BK 934
2 credits
Assets being managed by hedge funds have grown significantly during the past 10 years. As a result, managers of hedge funds have been the focus of increased scrutiny by investors, the press and regulatory authorities. This course will cover the regulations (and exemptions) applicable to hedge funds and their managers, including under the Securities Act of 1933, the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act. We will focus on the formation and operation of U.S. and offshore hedge funds, including structure, disclosure, risks and economic and liquidity terms. This will include a detailed review of hedge fund offering documents. We will discuss the many issues being considered by hedge fund managers and regulators, including valuation, conflicts of interest, insider trading and compliance.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 934 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Miriam Gross |
Historical Perspectives on Law, Constitutions and Culture (S) : LAW JD 846
3 credits
This workshop-format seminar examines the interplay of law, constitutions, and culture from an historical perspective. The heart of the seminar is student engagement with works-in-progress by leading scholars in the history, theory, and culture of law, broadly understood. The first three class sessions will be devoted to developing the intellectual tools necessary for reading and engaging with such papers. Starting in week 4 of the semester, the class format will alternate between workshop sessions and more traditional seminar sessions. During the five workshop sessions, an invited scholar will present a current scholarly work-in-progress for discussion. Students will read the speaker's paper in advance and prepare discussion questions for the seminar. During the other sessions, the class will meet as a normal seminar, during which we will discuss readings related to the workshop papers and legal history more generally. The written work for the seminar will consist of a series of brief, critical essays in response to a student-selected subset of the workshop papers. NOTE: This course is open to law students and to graduate students from other departments. A background in history is not a prerequisite. Graduate students from outside the law school may be able to receive 4 credits for this course. Please consult the professor regarding this option. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with this seminar. ** 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 846 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Jed Handelsman Shugerman |
Homicide Investigations and Trials: Theory and Practice (S): LAW JD 950
3 credits
This seminar will focus upon the substantive law of homicide, as well as the practical aspects of actual homicide investigations and trials: crime scene interpretation; DNA analysis; autopsies and related forensic evidence; expert testimony, particularly in the area of psychiatry and criminal responsibility; jury considerations; ethical concerns; and the role of the media. Students will have the opportunity to study actual murder cases, visit local crime laboratories and courtrooms, and learn prosecution, defense, and judicial perspectives on various contemporary issues arising in murder investigations and trials. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. 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, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 950 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Christina Pujals Ronan |
Hospital Law: LAW JD 913
2 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 913 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 5:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 2 | James BryantLarry Vernaglia |
Housing Law (S): LAW JD 961
3 credits
Over the last sixty years housing law has evolved in a number of significant ways. Where once a lease was primarily considered to involve a transfer of an interest in land, it is now considered to involve a relationship framed by contract principles. Consistent with this change, tort law involving rental property is moving from a traditional negligence standard to a more complex standard based upon a duty derived from the implied warranty of habitability. Courts must now determine whether landlords should be held strictly liable in tort for personal injury claims based on defective conditions, inadequate security, lead poisoning, etc. Where formerly a landlord had significant discretion over tenant selection and tenancy termination, a variety of state housing laws and federal/state anti-discrimination laws now place significant limits on the landlord's power and control over these tenancy relationships. Public housing and governmentally subsidized housing has generated much heated debate as well as litigation over such issues as development-based policing authority and the right to evict entire families based upon criminal conduct of one family member. Finally, during the past four years complex title, tenancy, consumer rights and community preservation issues have arisen in the wake of the foreclosure crisis that has swept the nation. This seminar will focus on the various legal, social policy, and practical issues emerging with respect to traditional tenancies, premises liability, public safety in public and subsidized housing, housing discrimination, environmental protection, and control of foreclosed property. Student classroom participation and papers are required. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. 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, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 961 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Winik | LAW | 702 |
Human Trafficking Clinic: Adv. Advocacy Seminar (S): LAW JD 817
3 credits
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 and client counseling skills by participating in multiple simulations and a mock hearing. They will learn about comparative models to address human trafficking, and the challenges of a criminal justice framework to solving complex social problems. The course will focus on the lawyer's role in anti-trafficking work, given: (1) converging areas of law; (2) the emerging multi-disciplinary nature of legal work; and (3) tensions among the role of the client as both victim and defendant. Courses will focus on further developing students' competencies in the following areas: (1) strategic planning and decision-making; (2) client interviewing and counseling; (3) trial advocacy; (4) leadership and innovation; and (5) professional responsibility. Classes will focus on a wide range of topics, including: (1) oral advocacy; (2) direct and cross examination; (3) accompaniment and survivor-led advocacy; (4) legal advocacy and brief writing; (4) legislative advocacy; and (5) developing professional roles and self-care. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 817 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Julie A. Dahlstrom |
Ilj/Editor: LAW JD 757
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 757 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Ilj/Member: LAW JD 756
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 756 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 859
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program. Students have three fieldwork options: (1) concentration in immigrants' rights; (2) concentration in human trafficking; or (3) work on both types of cases. Students focusing on immigrants' rights will represent adult and children asylum seekers and other vulnerable noncitizens with the opportunity to litigate an immigration case in the Boston Immigration Court. Students focusing on anti-trafficking work will represent survivors of labor and sex trafficking in a wide range of civil matters and engage in policy-related work to address gaps in the local and national landscape. Students focusing on both immigrants' rights and human trafficking will represent immigrant clients and survivors of human trafficking in a range of civil matters. All students will have the opportunity to engage in immigrants' rights and human trafficking work through "Know-Your-Rights" visits at the local jail/detention center and by conducting intake at the Family Justice Center for human trafficking survivors. Students, working in pairs, assume the primary responsibility for multiple clients' complex cases, from start to finish. Students conduct client interviews, track down witnesses, speak with experts, develop documentary, testimonial and expert evidence, and write legal briefs. The clinical supervisors prepare students for their cases through weekly supervision meetings, mid-semester and final individual meetings, and mock hearings, as appropriate. NOTE: The Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. PRE/CO-REQUISITE: Evidence. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 859 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Julie A. DahlstromSarah R. Sherman-Stokes |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Julie A. DahlstromSarah R. Sherman-Stokes |
Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program: Core Lawyering Skills (C) : LAW JD 882
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Immigrants' Rights and Human Trafficking Program. The seminar is the fall companion course for students enrolled in the Program. It provides a practice-oriented introduction to advocacy on behalf of indigent clients, including noncitizens and survivors of human trafficking. Students will develop a wide range of competencies with classes focusing topics including: (1) client interviewing and counseling; (2) case planning; (3) legal research and writing; (4) cultural competency; (5) legal story-telling and developing a theory of the case; (6) affidavit writing; (7) vicarious and secondary trauma; and (8) professional responsibility. Students will participate in class simulations, present in case rounds, and actively engage in facilitated discussions. There also will be two boot camp classes for students with specialized training in the following areas: (1) immigration law with a focus on asylum law and representing vulnerable noncitizens; and (2) human trafficking law with a focus on the protection framework in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and multi-disciplinary lawyering. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 882 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Julie A. DahlstromSarah R. Sherman-Stokes | LAW | 416 |
Immigrants' Rights Clinic: Adv. Advocacy & Trial Theory (C): LAW JD 888
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 888 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Sarah R. Sherman-Stokes |
Immigration Law: LAW JD 968
3 credits
This class will cover the immigration laws of the United States, including the administrative and regulatory framework of the United States agencies charged with enforcing U.S. immigration laws. The topics covered by this course include the power of the Congress to regulate immigration; the effect of politics on immigration policy; nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications; the law of asylum; the intersection of immigration law and criminal law; grounds of removal from the United States; relief from deportation, immigration court representation and access to justice; and the law of naturalization and derived citizenship.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 968 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 11:00 am | 12:30 pm | 3 | Sarah R. Sherman-Stokes | LAW | 702 |
Immigration Law for LLMs: LAW AM 895
2 credits
This 2-credit course is designed to give the student an overview of U.S. immigration law. The focus is on the day-to-day practice of immigration law, including an examination of the substantive and procedural aspects of this practice. Topics covered include power of the Congress to regulate immigration; the effect of politics on immigration policy; nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications; the law of asylum; the intersection of immigration law and criminal law; grounds of removal from the United States; relief from deportation, immigration court representation and access to justice; and the law of naturalization and derived citizenship. There are no prerequisites for this course. There is no writing requirement, but there will be weekly quizzes and a final examination. Class attendance and participation are essential. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. RESTRICTION Students may not enroll in both Immigration Law for LLMs and Immigration Law: LAW JD 968.
Inbound International Taxation: LAW TX 953
2 credits
This course will cover the U.S. tax rules applicable to taxation of income from U.S. (and sometimes foreign) sources received by corporations and individuals that are non-residents of the United States. In some cases, such income will be derived from passive investments and be in the form of dividends, interest, rents, or royalties. In other cases, the income will arise from active business activities. The course will address the concept of residence and entity classification, the U.S. source of income rules, the U.S. withholding tax rules (including the obligations of withholding agents) with respect to non-business income, the types of activities that can generate a "trade or business" (tax nexus) in the U.S., the U.S. rules for determining income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business and thus taxable in the U.S., the branch profits tax, FIRPTA (foreign investment in U.S. real property) and the U.S. rules applicable to financing U.S. operations owned by non-U.S. taxpayers Finally, we will address the impact of tax treaties on the taxation of income of non-residents. This course will be of interest to students who will represent foreign resident taxpayers with economic operations in the United States. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I; Recommended: Tax Aspects of International Business
Independent Proposal Externship: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 709
Var credits
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 that meets every week for 1.5 hours for those students doing fieldwork in small and medium-sized law offices. This seminar focuses on a range of topics unique to legal practice in small and medium-sized law firms, with a particular emphasis on developing the skills necessary for successful lawyering in this setting. Students will gain a foundational knowledge of smaller firms and learn how to cultivate mentors, seek and respond to feedback, obtain challenging assignments, and measure progress on professional development goals. Students will write reflective papers, make oral presentations, and complete other work as required by the instructor. NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Independent Proposal Externship: Paper (JD 710).
Independent Proposal Externship: Paper (C): LAW JD 710
2 credits
This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. Students receive credit for an externship done in conjunction with an independent study project. Qualifying placements include the legal departments of non-profits, government agencies, private companies, or law firms. 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 toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: INDEPENDENT PROPOSAL EXTERNSHIP: FIELDWORK (LAW JD 709).
Information Privacy Law: LAW JD 956
3 credits
The collection, use, storage, and sharing of personal data has become increasingly important throughout society, from commerce to government and from health care to finance. For good reason, we call this the Information Age. Recall the countless high- profile privacy and data security controversies you have heard about in the last year: location tracking; inaccurate credit reports causing lost jobs; data breaches, hacking and identity theft; and government surveillance. Law has responded with a dizzying array of new rules -- and a rapidly growing area of professional specialization for attorneys. This course serves as an introduction to the emerging law of data privacy. By the end, you will be well grounded in many challenges facing any enterprise, public or private, that collects, processes, uses, and stores personal information. In addition to knowledge of constitutional, statutory, and common law rules as well as federal and state enforcement activity, we will learn about the policy questions that arise in this dynamic area, the legally relevant questions to ask when assessing information practices, and some of the many nonlegal models of information governance. You will gain a basic understanding of data privacy regulation in other countries, particularly the European Union. All students will benefit from more sophisticated knowledge about an issue that appears in the news every single day. But there are significant professional payoffs too. Major law firms have organized entire practice areas devoted to privacy and data protection law. In the last seven years the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), a key trade association in this space, more than tripled in size to 12,000 members. These trends mean that law school graduates will have increasing job opportunities in data privacy and security law. Meanwhile, in many other practice areas -- such as securities, labor and employment, health, advertising, and the list goes on -- familiarity with privacy and security law has become a major asset. Plus, the issues are fascinating and fun. If nothing else, you can have great conversations at parties.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 956 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Woodrow Hartzog | LAW | 209 |
Information Risk Management (S): LAW JD 934
2 credits
Businesses and organizations handle information every day to conduct business, process transactions, and deliver goods and services. They do so in the context of legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations relating to their possession and use of this information. In the age of "Big Data" and "Advanced Persistent Threats," these entities can no longer focus solely on developing and implementing procedures to govern information processing. Instead, they must implement governance that allows for the optimization of risk while facilitating core management decision making in order to create real value. This is the new world of "knowledge governance." Legal counsel must ensure compliance with the legal and core requirements for security, privacy and data breach prevention, in a way that aligns with the strategic objectives of their firm. Designing a robust compliance program is a critical part of this task, but the big-data environment requires skills that go beyond devising a formal compliance program. In particular, lawyers operating in this environment must consider the value of data and information, understand the nature of their organization's collection, use, and disclosure of that data, and appreciate the relationship between risk optimization and their organization's strategic objectives. This course will explore the lawyer's role in devising and implementing a policy and culture of knowledge governance within a firm. It will focus on information, especially personal information. It will introduce students to the core principles of information risk management -- the privacy attributes of collection, use, and disclosure married with the security concepts of confidentiality, integrity, and availability -- while providing a framework for governance around information risk management. This course will also serve in part as preparation for the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 934 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Kenneth P. Mortensen |
Innovation, Technology, and the Law: LAW JD 708
2 credits
This course will examine innovation theory and how it applies within the legal profession. The initial focus in the class will be on the disruptive forces and 'megatrends' in the world today that have an impact on organizations and the practice of law. The class will introduce students to the many facets of innovation in the legal context, including the application of advanced technologies to legal problem solving, derivation of new insights from data science, changes to the traditional employer/employee model (the 'future of work' for professionals), alternative revenue/business models applicable to legal services providers, and incorporating lean startup/design thinking theory into legal problem solving. The unique innovation directive applicable to law firms will be closely examined, including the emerging application of advanced technologies - such as artificial intelligence and blockchain - to legal problem solving. Recent advancements in Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) and their application to the law will be closely examined. In addition, the course will examine the ethics and rapidly evolving legal/regulatory policy and practice issues with data and advanced technologies, and how this evolving ethics/regulatory field will impact organizations and their legal providers. NOTE: Final paper required in lieu of exam. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement either partially or in full.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 708 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Jeffrey N. Saviano | LAW | 203 |
Insurance Law: LAW JD 850
3 credits
The presence or absence of insurance is in many instances the single most important determinant of whether and how a tort or contracts action is litigated. This course focuses on both individual and commercial forms of insurance coverage. Students are introduced to the key insurance concepts of risk management, including the transfer, pooling and allocation of covered risks. Problems of contract interpretation, imperfect information, adverse selection and discrimination will be treated at length. Additionally, the class will take up issues particular to property, life, health, disability, liability and auto insurance. Finally, some time will be devoted to the state regulatory regimes designed to ensure solvency and profitability, and to the secondary market (i.e. reinsurance, and surplus and excess lines). A final exam is required.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 850 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 9:55 am | 3 | Maria O’Brien |
Int'l Human Rights Clinic: Human Rights Advocacy (S): LAW JD 843
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the International Human Rights Clinic. This is the companion spring classroom component for students in the Clinic. The course focuses on further developing skills in the context of the substantive law and mechanisms of the Inter-American Human Rights system. Classes will cover: interviewing and counseling institutional (non-governmental organizations) clients; designing and implementing human rights field research; ethical pitfalls and professional 'best practices' in human rights collaborations with international networks; advocacy within the Inter-American machinery; and simulations using comparative and foreign human rights problems. The classes will be a combination of readings and discussion; simulations; student presentations; short papers and case rounds to discuss project work; and group and individual feedback on project development. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 843 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Susan M. AkramJulio Henriquez |
Intellectual Property: LAW JD 857
4 credits
In our modern information economy, the law of intellectual property has taken on enormous importance to both creators and users. This course introduces students to the principles of trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark law, and explores the ways in which those principles are shifting and adapting in response to new technology. The course is open to all upper level students, without prerequisite. No scientific or technical background is required.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 857 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | Michael J. Meurer | LAW | 103 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 4 | Stacey Dogan |
Intellectual Property for LLMs: LAW AM 790
4 credits
In our modern global information economy, the law of intellectual property has taken on enormous importance to both creators and users. This course introduces students to the principles of trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark law, and explores the ways in which those principles are shifting and adapting in response to new technology. The course will also focus on the international comparative aspects of intellectual property and address the practical application of key IP concepts for global practitioners. The course is open to LLM students in the ALP and IP programs, without prerequisite. No scientific or technical background is required.
Intellectual Property for the Generalist: A Practical Skills Simulation: LAW AM 791
3 credits
This 3-credit course will provide a pragmatic, hands-on, practice-oriented course for generalists, the part-time IP practitioner, and those planning a career in IP Law. Students will learn foundational principles of IP, with an emphasis on pragmatic skills development for advising clients and company personnel on best practices for protecting and getting the most out of emerging, software-centric technologies and innovations. The course will address identifying the best form of IP for protecting your company's or clients' most valued innovations; unique IP characteristics of emerging technologies; performing an audit of your company or clients' IP plan; and developing a playbook for implementing an IP Protection Plan to secure and optimize the company crown jewels. Grades will be based on graded assignments, paper or exam, good faith completion of ungraded assignments, and class participation. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: 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 normally does not accommodate flexibility in attendance.
Intellectual Property Law Research: LAW JD 733
1 credits
This course begins with an overview of basic legal research skills, processes, and resources using intellectual property subject matter. The course then proceeds to specific research strategies in copyright, patents, and trademark law, providing students an increased understanding of advanced legal research skills using: secondary sources, legislative history, administrative materials, and more. Students will gain an even deeper understanding of the context and framework of legal resources and how they are applied to real-world research from practitioner guest lecturers. Classes combine instruction and hands-on exercises, with an emphasis on exposure to databases beyond Lexis and Westlaw. Students are evaluated on weekly research assignments and a final research project. PREREQUISITE: Intellectual Property. NOTE: Students may not add this course after the first class is held. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 15 students. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: Students who fail to attend the first class or obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, will be administratively dropped from the class. Students on the waitlist are required to attend the first class meeting for enrollment eligibility. Meeting dates 1/18/2024-2/29/2024
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 733 A1 , Jan 18th to Feb 29th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 1 | Staff |
Intellectual Property Rights and Commerce in the Global Cloud: LAW AM 978
2 credits
This course, open to LLM in American Law and LLM in Intellectual Property Law students, will help participants appreciate and understand how the Internet or "Cloud" has introduced into everyday life an ever-expanding and evolving range of proprietary claims on digital information and its communication. We will cover the role of traditional industrial property (patents and trademarks) and of authors' rights (copyrights), as well as of internationally expanding rights in "confidential" information (trade secrets) -- which are amplified by the primacy of online "contracts" and licensing. We will also explore the extended range of quasi-proprietary interests such as privacy, publicity and "freedom of speech" and regulating factors such as consumer protection, e-commerce, competition and telecommunications policies (standards, Internet governance, Net Neutrality). While the subject matter will be examined in systemic appreciation from the perspective of U.S. and international transactions and enforcement, foreign-trained students will be encouraged to share insights on the national laws of their home countries. Grades will be based on a take-home final examination with a reasonable choice of covered subject matter, along with consideration of class participation. PREREQUISITE: None, as the course is directed to systemic understanding, but exposure to any of the mentioned subject matter would be helpful.
Intellectual Property Workshop (S): LAW JD 776
3 credits
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. COREQUISITE/PREREQUISITE: Ideally, students should have taken or be concurrently enrolled in a course in IP, Copyright, Patent, or Trademark. Students who have not taken such a course (or who are not enrolled currently in such a course) must obtain the permission of the instructor. Students in the seminar will write several short papers commenting on the papers presented in the workshop. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 776 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Michael J. Meurer |
International Arbitration (S): LAW JD 980
3 credits
This class is intended to introduce students to the key legal and practical issues encountered when resolving disputes through international arbitration. Arbitration is a private means of dispute resolution where the parties agree to be bound by the decision of an arbitrator of their choice, whose decision in a final award has the same legal force as a court judgment or order. International arbitration is the main form of dispute resolution relating to cross-border commercial disputes and is also sometimes used in public international law contexts involving governments. This course will explore both doctrinal issues--such as what constitutes 'consent' to arbitrate and the relationship between international tribunals, who adjudicate the disputes, and national courts, who compel arbitration and enforce (or void) arbitral decisions--and policy debates, such as what issues are appropriate for resolution by private arbitrators rather than judges and the social ramifications of the lack of transparency in arbitration. There will be a skills component, including hands-on exercises such as roleplays, oral advocacy, and drafting arbitration clauses. PREREQUISITE: Students must have taken a course (any course) in international law (knowledge of the foundations of international law, e.g. what is a treaty, will be presumed). 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 980 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Maya Steinitz | LAW | 203 |
International Business Agreements: Negotiating, Structuring and Drafting (S): LAW JD 959
3 credits
This seminar will provide an overview of the private dimensions of negotiating and drafting international business agreements, and specifically on the contractual aspects. Students will gain hands on experience in structuring, drafting and analyzing various international business agreements and documents including global joint venture agreements and privatization provisions, sales, distribution and franchise agreements, international development agreements, share purchase agreements, letters of intent and technology licensing agreements. The design of the class will assist students in identifying critical legal issues and techniques likely to affect the outcome of international business negotiations including protecting against political, economic and legal risks. Emphasis will be placed on the important differences between international and domestic agreements from the American law perspective. Grades will be based on class participation and a final research paper. 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 (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.
International Criminal Law (S): LAW JD 996
3 credits
This class will focus chiefly on the crimes for which individuals incur criminal liability directly under contemporary international law. We will cover, in particular, (i) what crimes qualify as international in this sense, general principles of international criminal jurisdiction and immunities, and the historical evolution of the field from its genesis after World War I to Nuremberg to the permanent International Criminal Court established in 2002; (ii) treaty provisions, statutes, and tribunal jurisprudence defining the nature and scope of liability for core international crimes, viz., genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; (iii) modern debates over other, and at times more controversial, international crimes, such as torture and CIDT, as well as the crime of aggression; (iv) the minimal requirements and forms of individual criminal responsibility under international law; and (v) selected special topics, including the principle of legality, head of state immunity, and crimes of sexual violence. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students will be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with this seminar after consultation with the instructor. ** 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 996 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Robert D. Sloane |
International Development and Project Finance (S): LAW JD 936
3 credits
Capital-intensive public and private development projects throughout the world, including large-scale infrastructure, transportation, energy, agriculture, technology and environmental projects depend upon project financing as the primary funding mechanism. Understanding and resolving the political, legal and financial risks associated with the planning and implementation of these projects, and often in emerging and unstable economies, is the critical first step in developing project finance opportunities. The seminar will combine theory and practice and focus on the negotiation and structure of actual project finance and concession agreements and transactions and the minimization of exposures and risks associated with these transactions. Each step of the project finance process will be analyzed, including the rationale and sources for the project finance, the legal framework for the project finance, the organizational and governance structure, risk allocation and mitigation and dispute resolution. An interdisciplinary analysis from the legal, finance and public perspective will be used to assess the views that investors, lenders, designers, contractors, governmental participants, citizens and other stakeholders bring to an infrastructure project. Several of the world's largest and most complex civil engineering and infrastructure mega projects including the English Chunnel, the Chad Cameroon Pipeline, the Dabhol Power Project and Boston's Central Artery Tunnel Project will serve as models for analysis of project finance and risk. A final research paper will be required in lieu of an examination. 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 (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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 936 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Virginia Greiman |
International Due Diligence for LLMs: LAW AM 785
2 credits
Corporate law associates are often assigned "due diligence" projects in connection with transactional deals. They are asked to review a target's records and identify "anything that looks suspicious." Where to begin? This is a practical skills course that will assist LLM in American Law Program students in understanding international compliance and risk due diligence in cross- border transactions. Students will learn to identify and investigate the myriad "red flags" that can signal a target company's non-compliance with US laws governing global trade and anti-corruption. Through case studies and hands-on exercises and assignments, students will develop the lawyering skills needed to assess a target company's control framework (compliance programs), identify potential red flags of non-compliance, and advise management on the risks posed by a potential transaction. The focus will be on the compliance obligations of multinational enterprises pursuant to anti-corruption rules (primarily, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) and U.S. trade sanctions (OFAC). Students may not also take "Compliance and Risk Management in Global Commerce." (JD 918)
International Economic Law and Climate Change (S): LAW JD 748
3 credits
The aim of this class is to provide an overview of how international environmental commitments and international economic commitments fit together within the global economic governance architecture. Students will explore the history of today's international climate movement, beginning with the 1992 Earth Summit (Rio) and covering the most recent commitments made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They will explore the parallel way in which international trade and investment commitments have intensified during that time period, and the course will layout the various efforts by global leaders to harmonize the two (economic and environmental) regimes. 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. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 748 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Rachel Thrasher |
International Estate Planning: LAW TX 958
2 credits
The course will cover international estate planning from two perspectives: (1) U.S. citizens residing outside of the U.S. or owning assets located outside of the U.S.; and (2) foreign citizens residing in the U.S. or transferring assets in or to the U.S. U.S. gift and estate tax laws applicable to both situations will be studied in depth in a practice-oriented manner. Planning techniques and vehicles utilized in international estate planning will be explored, in particular trusts and the special U.S. income tax rules applicable to foreign trusts with U.S. beneficiaries and off-shore U.S.-grantor trusts. The impact of non-U.S. transfer taxes and tax treaties will be considered, as well as non-tax foreign laws impacting on international estate planning. The course will also cover the U.S. tax and estate planning issues applicable to "mixed marriages" where one spouse is a U.S. citizen and the other is a non-U.S. citizen, and multi-jurisdiction situations of gifts or bequests from non-U.S. donors or decedents to U.S. beneficiaries. Finally, the course will also consider cultural and ethical issues peculiar to the area of international estate planning. Prerequisite or corequisite: Estate and Gift Tax, Estate Planning
International Human Rights (S): LAW JD 991
3 credits
This is an introductory seminar to international human rights law. The class will introduce students to the concepts of human rights, and the legal texts that have codified and provided content to those concepts in the last seventy years. The class aims to work at three levels: to examine the role of human rights (law) in history and politics; to analyze the doctrine of international human rights law; to introduce key areas of current and future human rights practice. We will accordingly look at the historical evolution and political role of human rights law, and ask whether there is such a thing as universal human rights, or whether the concepts are dependent on specific regions, cultures and political systems. We will look at the key institutions and mechanisms, at the global and regional level, for the monitoring and enforcement of human rights law. We will analyze the law on specific rights (for example the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to self-determination) as well as in specific contexts and themes (for example human rights and climate change; business and human rights) to understand the reach and function of human rights law in the international system. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 991 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Aziza Ahmed | LAW | 417 |
International Human Rights Clinic (C): LAW JD 975
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the International Human Rights Clinic. Students in the Clinic work on policy issues on behalf of institutional clients that represent refugees, forced migrants, immigrants, and stateless persons. Students work on long-term human rights projects such as: working with NGOs in advocacy in the UN human rights system or in regional organs (e.g. Inter-American and European human rights bodies); advocating for durable solutions to statelessness and citizenship deprivation in the Middle East; and organizing workshops and presentations to major stakeholders around the world. Students conduct legal and factual research and outreach to partners and project strategy development, and prepare written reports and submissions to international and regional agencies. The clinic fieldwork may include international travel. PRE/CO-REQUISITE: International Human Rights (LAW JD 991). NOTE: The International Human Rights Clinic counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 975 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Susan M. AkramStaff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 3 | Susan M. AkramJulio Henriquez |
International Human Rights Clinic: Skills Seminar: LAW JD 840
3 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the International Human Rights Clinic. This course is the companion fall classroom component for students enrolled in the Clinic and provides an introduction to essential lawyering skills, with a focus on those relevant to the practice of human rights law. The goal of the course is to help students develop a wide range of competencies, including written and oral communication and advocacy, legal research, factual investigation, witness interviewing, professional responsibility, and strategic thinking and problem-solving. NOTE: This course counts towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 840 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Susan M. AkramJulio Henriquez | LAW | 508 |
International Human Rights in Practice (S): LAW AM 983
3 credits
This 3-credit seminar will provide an overview of international human rights advocacy beginning with the history of the international human rights movement and different theoretical perspectives about human rights advocacy. The seminar will also analyze the process by which human rights law is made, the various human rights actors and stakeholders, and the interplay between international human rights mechanisms and domestic legal systems and movements. Throughout we will consider what makes for effective human rights advocacy and what are the major critiques of the human rights movement. In order for students to develop the skills necessary to become practicing human rights lawyers and activists, the seminar will also include skills-oriented sessions and case rounds. Class exercises and simulations will help foster the development of lawyering and advocacy skills. Case rounds will give students the opportunity to present on their work, reflect on theory and practice, and solicit class feedback and discussions about challenges faced in their projects. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: 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 normally does not accommodate flexibility in attendance. RESTRICTION Students may not enroll in both International Human Rights in Practice and International Human Rights (S): LAW JD 991
International Information Reporting and Withholding: LAW TX 919
2 credits
International information reporting and withholding are the future of tax work. They are a source of revenue for the IRS through penalties and a source of anxiety for many tax practitioners, especially with the expanded reporting requirements newly enacted as part of the TCJA. A strong grounding in international information compliance and withholding transactions can benefit every practitioner from the estate planner to the corporate tax advisor. This course will cover the reporting requirements for US taxpayers who hold non-US assets, and the withholding requirements when US payors make payments to non-US persons. Students will become familiar with the various forms associated with different assets, such as the Foreign Bank Account Report ("FBAR") which is used to report foreign assets. We will cover how and when to file, the basics of how to prepare the form, and the penalties for noncompliance. The course will comprehensively cover informational reporting forms to report all foreign assets including closely held business interests, foreign trusts, and the receipt of gifts from non-US persons. We will discuss how the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA") created a worldwide network of information about non-US assets, and what individuals and fiduciaries need to know to remain compliant. Finally, in addition to covering the reporting associated with non-US ties, we will discuss withholding under Chapter 3 of the Internal Revenue Code and identify when and how to withhold US tax from payments to non-US entities and non-US persons.
International Law: LAW JD 927
4 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 927 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | Robert D. Sloane | LAW | 204 |
International Law Research: LAW JD 707
1 credits
An important component of understanding international law is mastering all the diverse sources of this area of law. Students will learn to navigate the international system as well as the relevant primary sources of law. Students will learn research strategies and skills for locating treaties, decisions of international tribunals, documents of international organizations and other sources of state practice. Among the organizations the course will discuss the United Nations, the OAS, the EU and the WTO. In addition, students will be introduced to strategies for researching the law of foreign jurisdictions. Students will gain hands-on experience in answering legal research questions in the area of international and comparative law. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using major print, electronic, and web based resources for international law research. 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. Meeting dates: 9/15/23-11/17/23
FALL 2023: LAW JD 707 A1 , Sep 15th to Nov 17th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 10:00 am | 12:00 pm | 1 | Stefanie B. Weigmann | LAW | 513 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 1:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 1 | Quigley | LAW | 513 |
International Law: Advanced Topics (S): LAW JD 670
3 credits
The International Law Commission (ILC/the Commission) is the only subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly mandated by the UN Member States to initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification. The ILC, which is comprised of 34 international legal experts from around the world nominated and elected by States, has over the past seven decades made seminal contributions to the development of modern international law. This advanced seminar, which offers students a unique opportunity to learn how international law is made from a visiting faculty member who serves on the ILC, will first explore the historical origins, mandate, working methods and contributions of the ILC towards the establishment of a rule-based international legal system. The seminar will then critically evaluate the main topics under current study by the Commission, their present status, and future direction. These include Immunity of State officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction; Prevention and repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea; Sea level rise in relation to international law; and Subsidiary means for the determination of rules of international law. Overall, the seminar, which is open to students who have completed an introductory course in international law, exposes students to the process of international law's codification and progressive development. Seminar grades will be based on a) paper (60%); b) class presentation (20%) and class participation (20%). LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students will be permitted to satisfy the upper- class writing requirement with this seminar after consultation with the instructor. ** 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 670 A1 , Jan 23rd to Apr 30th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Charles C. Jalloh |
International Mergers and Acquisitions: LAW AM 982
3 credits
This course will give students a detailed introduction to the knowledge and skills necessary for an international M&A lawyer to guide clients through a typical cross-border M&A transaction. The course will have two distinct parts: (1) a deep dive into the key M&A contractual language (and underlying theories) that get negotiated in most transactions (including purchase price adjustments, indemnities, covenants, representations and warranties, and other key terms) and (2) navigating through each step in the deal process (including initial term sheet negotiations, due diligence, regulatory and third-party approvals, definitive agreement negotiations, closing mechanics, and other key steps). There will be an emphasis on underlying business principles that are common across different jurisdictions (e.g. U.S., U.K/Australia, EU/civil law countries, Africa, India, China, Japan, Asia-Pacific and other jurisdictions). Students will engage in case study hypotheticals involving real-life deals, which will be used to demonstrate the strengths and weakness of common strategies employed by law firm, in- house and other transactional lawyers. PRE- or CO-REQUISITE: CORPORATIONS. This course is open to LLM in American Law Program students.
Introduction to American Law: LAW AM 700
2 credits
The class covers the basic structure and function of US legal institutions: the congress, the president, and regulatory agencies, and, especially, the federal courts. It examines the role of state law and state courts in the American system of federalism. The course also studies the American judicial processes of constitutional analyses, interpretation of statues, and development of common law. Some attention is paid to court procedures, including trial by jury. Finally, students study a few topics that are illustrative of the treatment of individual rights in American law, such as freedom of speech, anti-discrimination law, and protection of private property. The class grants two credits towards the American Law degree.
Introduction to Corporate Finance for LLM Students (S): LAW AM 817
3 credits
Understanding how businesses raise money to fund their operations is essential for any transactional lawyer. This is a survey class for international LLM students on the foundations of corporate finance -- its functions in a corporation and the underlying principles of contract and corporate law that influence the structure of basic corporate finance instruments, i.e., stock, preferred stock, varieties of debt, and other aspects of capital raising for public and privately held companies. The seminar will introduce students to basic US and international accounting principles, fundamental financial statements, concepts underlying the time value of money, interest rates, the valuation of companies, and mergers and acquisitions. The focus will be on understanding the business functions of these instruments; the choices that business managers must make between different ways to raise capital; and the legal dimensions of corporate finance instruments that international corporate lawyers must know in order to advise business clients interested in doing business in the US. The course will also discuss the financial markets in which capital is raised. Prior coursework in accounting, while helpful, is not required. Basic concepts from finance, such as risk, return, control, cost of capital, diversification, etc., will be introduced conceptually rather than through using finance math. In addition, the course will have distinctly legal and practical component, exposing students to how corporate finance is captured in contractual documents. CO-REQUISITE: Corporations. Students with strong backgrounds in business or finance may find that this course is too elementary for them; they might consider JD corporate Finance instead. Limited to 25 LLM in American Law Program students. ** 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.
Introduction to Corporate Tax: LAW TX 933
2 credits
Income tax considerations relating to transfers of assets and liabilities to a corporation (during incorporation and otherwise), non-liquidating distributions, stock redemptions, related party stock purchases and corporate liquidations. Includes an overview of the treatment of a corporate shareholder versus other shareholders. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I and II
FALL 2023: LAW TX 933 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Wayne E. Smith | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Smith |
Introduction to Federal Income Taxation: LAW JD 889
4 credits
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 Walker's section will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 889 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 10:45 am | 12:00 pm | 4 | Alan L. Feld | LAW | 101 |
Fri | 10:30 am | 11:45 am | 4 | Alan L. Feld |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 9:00 am | 10:25 am | 4 | Theodore S. Sims | LAW | 414 |
Fri | 9:00 am | 10:20 am | 4 | Theodore S. Sims |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu,Fri | 9:00 am | 10:20 am | 4 | David I. Walker |
Introduction to Jewish Law: LAW JD 730
3 credits
This course shall serve as an introduction to the literature, history, and dynamic processes of Jewish Law. This survey will be grounded in particular studies of such topics as jurisprudence (legal testimony; self-incrimination; dissent), civil law (voting rights; inheritance), criminal law (capital punishment); war crimes and genocide; family law (marriage; divorce); and gender and sexuality, among others. Throughout the course, we will consider concepts of authority, power, and enforcement in Jewish law -- during times of self-governance, subjugation, and crisis (e.g., Holocaust). We will also examine how Jewish Law impacts legal culture and judicial decisions in the modern State of Israel. Comparative legal studies will also help bring further perspective to our introduction to Jewish Law. All readings will be in English and no prior knowledge of Jewish Law is necessary. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 730 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 8:30 am | 9:55 am | 3 | Douglas HauerStaff |
Introduction to Project Finance: LAW BK 957
2 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 957 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Kathleen M. PhelpsThomas Murley | ||
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Kathleen M. PhelpsThomas Murley |
Introduction to Risk Management and Compliance: LAW JD 778
4 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 778 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 4 | Donald Griffith | LAW | 209 |
Introduction to the American Legal System: LAW BK 912
2 credits
This course is designed to provide foreign graduate students with a general overview of the American legal system and as a preparatory bar course. The topics include:American common law, federalism, and judicial review; the Bill of Rights and Reconstruction Amendments; freedom of speech, press, and religion; criminal law and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendments; property law; torts and civil remedies; contracts; professional responsibility; and the role of juries and the judiciary. The course grade is based on two short writing assignments, an online midterm, and online final exam, and class participation. Foreign- educated students planning to sit for a bar examination, especially the New York State Bar Examination, must take this course, which is only offered in the fall semester.Students who have completed the LECP will find some subject overlap between this course and their previous coursework, but largely different course materials.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 912 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Pilarczyk | LAW | 413 |
Introduction to the Uniform Commercial Code: Sale of Goods and Secured Transactions: LAW AM 814
2 credits
This is a six-week class intended to provide international LLM students with an introduction to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), the model code developed for the purpose of harmonizing the varied commercial and contract laws in the United States. The course will begin with an overall survey of the UCC, including its purpose and coverage. Students will then focus on two important articles of the code -- Article 2 and Article 9. Article 2 governs the sale of goods by merchants or professional sellers and addresses such matters as offer and acceptance, consideration and contract formation, modification, repudiation, breach of contracts, and the "battle of the forms." Article 9 governs secured transactions -- business transactions in which a debtor grants a security interest in personal property to a creditor in order to ensure repayment of a debt. This article addresses such issues as creating and giving notice of a security interest in property, and resolving conflicts among creditors claiming interests in the same property. The class will use a variety of learning methodologies, including readings, lectures, small group discussions, and role-plays. The class has no pre-requisites. Enrollment is limited to 40 LLM in American Law Program students. Students may not also enroll in LAW BK 972 or LAW JD 805.
IP Licensing in the Global Marketplace for LLMs (S): LAW AM 795
3 credits
This course focuses on the major legal and practical issues related to intellectual property licenses in the global marketplace. Taught from the US practitioner's perspective, the class is specifically designed for foreign- trained lawyers who want to learn how to leverage intangible assets through intellectual property licensing transactions. We will cover patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret license agreements in a range of industries. Topics will include the scope and limitations of different licensing arrangements; crafting and interpreting licensing contract language; the relationship between licenses and transactions involving tangible assets; and licensing enforcement. We will explore the similarities and differences in licensing in the media, entertainment and technology industries; as well as licensing law and practice in foreign jurisdictions. In-class exercises and role plays will help students develop the practical skills needed to successfully draft and negotiate intellectual property licenses. PRE-REQUISITES (unless otherwise waived by the professor): Contracts; and either Intellectual Property (fall survey class) or the fall seminar, The Practice of U.S. Copyright and Trademark Law: Media and Entertainment Transactions. Enrollment is limited to 18 LLM in Intellectual Property Law and LLM in American Law students. **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.
Islamic Law (S): LAW JD 675
3 credits
This course introduces students to the sources, jurisprudential methodology, doctrines, actors and institutions, and operation of Islamic law from classical to modern times. Readings include primary sources--foundational texts, fatwas (legal opinions), case reports, and constitutional and statutory provisions--along with secondary sources that discuss the history and evolution of Islamic law, theories of Islamic legal interpretation, competing views of the meaning and application of Islamic law, and variations in the role Islamic law plays in the legal systems of today's Muslim-majority countries. Specific topics to be covered include: the roots of the law and the derivation of legal rules from those roots; the respective roles of scholars, judges, executive officials and other actors in determining and enforcing rules of Islamic law; judicial procedure and rules of evidence; reform and the reception of Western law in the 19th and 20th centuries; democracy, constitutionalism, and contemporary theories and forms of "Islamic" states; and Islamic law in the U.S. and other "non-Muslim" lands. Cases in criminal law, family law, Islamic finance, and other fields will provide opportunities for in-depth discussions of substantive Islamic law, and regular reference to both the common-law tradition and the modern American legal system will offer comparative perspectives. PREREQUISITE: None. No background in Islamic studies is required. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option. Grades will be based on a seminar paper (50%) and class performance (50%), including participation and short weekly written reflections. UPPERCLASS 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, 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 675 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Sadiq Reza | LAW | 419 |
Judicial Externship Seminar : LAW JD 734
1 credits
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 simultaneously enrolled in the Judicial Externship: Fieldwork course. The seminar focuses on teaching the substance and skills related to being a successful judicial extern. Topics include judicial ethics, legal research, judicial process, opinion drafting, judicial selection and recusal, and judicial decision-making. Students keep reflective journals chronicling their educational experience and reactions to the practice of law observed at the field placement. Please note that the course is scheduled to meet for seven two-hour class sessions, every other week. NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Judicial Externship: Fieldwork (JD 735). GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 734 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:45 pm | 6:45 pm | 1 | Henry | LAW | 420 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 1 | Sragow Licht |
Judicial Externship: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 735
Var credits
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 chambers for a judge in the state or federal court system. The assignments handled by an extern are similar to those handled during a post-graduate clerkship. Students may find their own judicial placements that must be approved by the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office, or the Office will match the student with a judge. Students receive 4-9 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 toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Judicial Externship: Seminar (JD 734).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 735 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Judicial Writing (S): LAW JD 711
2 credits
This class will focus on writing styles and formats unique to the judicial process, such as the bench memo and appellate majority and dissenting opinion. Classes will provide a general overview of the opinion writing function with emphasis on topics such as opinion structure, judicial writing style, the relationship between style and substance, the use of narrative and rhetorical techniques, and ethical considerations in opinion writing. Through a series of writing assignments and in-class exercises, students will learn to how to diagnose and revise difficult and unclear writing, acquire techniques for writing more economically, precisely and unambiguously, and hone their skills in structuring and organizing, analyzing, and writing persuasively. In analyzing judicial opinions and writing from the perspective of a judge rather than an advocate, students will gain a deeper understanding of the judicial process and will become better critical readers and users of judicial opinions. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This Professional Writing Class may be used to partially 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 711 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:00 pm | 2 | Anuj Khetarpal |
Juvenile Delinquency (S): LAW JD 824
3 credits
The American juvenile justice system was established over one hundred years ago to address the problem of young offenders. This course examines the historical, social and legal foundations for our current system. We will examine the issue of "rights" as applied to children and look at the effects of ideology and politics on the current juvenile justice system. How have assumptions of childhood and responsibility changed? Has the juvenile court been "criminalized" with the introduction of due process rights for children? Under what circumstances are children treated as adult offenders? Selected issues for inquiry include: police interrogation of juveniles; school safety and zero tolerance policies; adjudicative competency; anti-youth crime policies; conditions of incarceration; and changes brought about by elimination of mandatory juvenile life without parole. We will examine these issues through use of court cases, law review articles, governmental and private organizational position papers, and legislative history. As we consider the overarching issue of whether it makes sense to maintain a separate justice system for juveniles. Students are expected to attend each class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. Course requirements include a 15-20 page final paper, a class presentation based on the paper topic or related class readings, and assigned reaction papers over the course of the semester. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 18 students. 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 (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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 824 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Tiffani Darden | LAW | 420 |
Labor Law: LAW JD 851
3 credits
Survey of modern labor management and union relations law in the private sector. Organization of workers and the representation process; collective bargaining; unfair practices, employer and union; negotiation and enforcement of collective agreement, including arbitration; regulation of strikes and lockouts. Administrative law and federalism principles will be treated. Employment discrimination and other individual employee protection laws are not treated in this course.
Land Use: LAW JD 855
3 credits
The built environment around us is not inevitable or by accident. It is the outcome of a series of legal and political choices about how people should live together; about how to regulate and control the future use of the property around them. These choices result in a legal regime that, at once, is enormously complex, implicates the most basic questions of equity and constitutional freedoms, and affects people in every aspect of their daily lives. This course will examine land use from a legal, historical, theoretical, and, most important, practical perspective. Students will be introduced to a brief history of land use controls in the United States. The course will then cover the basic aspects of land use law: Euclidean zoning, special use permits, variances, vested rights and preexisting uses, exactions, exclusionary and inclusionary zoning, subdivision control, wetlands control, and legal challenges to zoning decisions. The course will also look at more recent trends and issues in land use law, such as smart growth and transit-oriented development, form- based zoning, marijuana regulations, short-term rentals, climate change resilience, and increased federal control of local land use. Finally, the course will examine the constitutional limits of land use regulation under the Fifth Amendment. Students will undertake practical exercises to introduce them to how land use lawyers practice. They will attend a zoning board hearing and report on it; they will analyze a client's proposal to determine what zoning relief is necessary; they will attend a zoning trial or appeal. The course will cover general zoning principles applicable nationally but will focus on Massachusetts law for the practical exercises. The class will require student participation in discussion. The only prerequisite is completion of first-year Property. Students will produce a brief paper on the zoning board meeting they attend and a final paper, and be asked to comment on the trial or hearing they attend. Grading will be based on class participation, the zoning exercise, the comments, and the two papers. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 855 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 9:30 pm | 3 | Robert Foster |
Law & Economics Workshop (S): LAW JD 940
3 credits
The Law and Economics Seminar is a research workshop. Class sessions will alternate between (1) lectures on selected topics in microeconomic theory and empirical methods, including methodology commonly used in law and economics scholarship, and (2) presentations of working papers by outside speakers (typically faculty members from other institutions). The specific legal topics considered will vary depending on the interests of the speakers, but all paper presentations will focus on application of economics concepts and tools to legal and regulatory issues. Students are responsible for preparing short memoranda that respond to the presented papers. Final grades depend on attendance and participation. 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. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 940 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Kathryn Zeiler |
Law & Regulation of Cannabis (S): LAW JD 969
3 credits
This seminar will examine the burgeoning field of law surrounding the use, sale, and production of cannabis. Possible topics include federal versus state power to regulate cannabis, the substantive criminal laws regarding cannabis, and a variety of other issues such as banking, tax, and environmental laws that impact the cannabis industry in the United States. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 969 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Jay D. Wexler | LAW | 420 |
Law & Regulation Of Online Platforms (S): LAW JD 791
3 credits
Technology platforms -- the intermediaries that enable (and shape) our communications with friends, consumption of content, product purchases, game-playing, and more -- have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. In the early years of the internet, Congress and the courts approached tech platforms with cautious deference, concerned that any government interference with innovation would thwart technological progress to the detriment of the public. Policymakers and courts largely left platforms to their own devices in setting the terms of their relationship with advertisers and consumers, which enabled the collection of vast troves of personal data that fueled the growth of today's tech giants. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, moreover, gave platforms almost complete immunity for the misuse of their networks by third parties. Only in the area of intellectual property -- where well-funded interest groups provided a powerful counterweight to the presumption against interference -- did a compromise emerge between rights-holders and platforms. The platforms made good use of their freedoms, building innovative networks whose popularity fueled their data collection, which enabled their extraordinary growth and -- at least arguably -- gave them the power and incentive to snuff out competitors through acquisition or exclusionary conduct. Despite warnings that the platforms were engaged in "killer acquisitions" and other exclusionary behavior, however, antitrust regulators showed little interest in blocking mergers or bringing monopolization claims against them. In short, across a wide range of substantive areas of law -- from privacy to data security to defamation to antitrust -- policymakers, regulators, and courts put a thumb on the scale for technology platforms through at least the mid-2010s. Over the past several years, however, the tide has begun to turn. A rising chorus of critics has argued that online platforms are causing a range of harms for which they should be held legally responsible. Some of these harms relate to the platform's own behavior -- such as the collection of personal data, the deployment of harmful algorithms, and the use of exclusionary practices to thwart potential competitors. Some of the harms result from third party behavior -- like election interference, revenge porn, and defamation -- that takes place on technology networks. Advocates argue for a variety of different legal reforms, including (but not limited to) robust privacy laws, repeal of section 230, increased antitrust enforcement, and regulatory oversight of algorithms. This seminar will introduce these debates by exploring the history of platform law and regulation since the mid-1990s. We will cover a range of topics, including: intermediary liability under trademark and copyright law (including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act); the history and current role of section 230; debates over (and changing federal policy with respect to) net neutrality; state and federal laws governing privacy, data protection, and consumer protection; and antitrust litigation and reform efforts. Given time constraints, we'll cover some of these topics in passing, and others in greater depth, but students should come away with an understanding of the key legal and policy debates across the different areas of law. RECOMMENDED COURSES: A previous course in Intellectual Property or Information Privacy is highly recommended. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to partially 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 791 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Stacey Dogan | LAW | 418 |
LAW & SCIENCE: LAW JD 732
2 credits
Whether it is a clinical trial, a psychology laboratory study, or an econometric analysis, science is essential to a wide range of legal and policy contexts including regulation (e.g., new drug approval), litigation (e.g., causation in mass torts), and even transactions (e.g., acquiring a company that depends on technology patents). Through this course, students will develop basic fluency with reading and interpreting scientific studies used across these domains, and will also introduce several critical themes, including animal research ethics, the role of expert witnesses, funding and conflicts of interests, the neutrality of science, and scientific integrity. Note that this course is focused on scientific methods in a legal context; it is not designed to teach substantive scientific concepts and requires no background or prerequisites in scientific fields. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: A limited number of students may use this class to satisfy the requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 732 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Kevin OuttersonChristopher Robertson |
Law and Algorithms: LAW JD 673
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 673 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Andrew SellarsVaria |
Law and Sports (S): LAW JD 886
3 credits
This seminar will survey a range of legal issues presented by sports in America. There are no pre-requisites. However, students should be prepared to learn and apply basic principles of antitrust law and labor law. Intellectual property law, constitutional law, administrative law, anti-discrimination law, contract law and tort law also will be applied. Topics will include the legal, contractual, and economic relationship between professional sports franchises and the sports and entertainment venues in which they play, and the ownership of athlete identity and its utilization by athletes, teams, sponsors, and equipment manufacturers. The course also will treat the regulation of agent representation of athletes, the regulation of sports franchises and sports leagues. Grades will be based on client-directed writing and on oral class participation, including an advocacy presentation. There is no examination. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. OFFERING PATTERN: This class 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, 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 886 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Wall |
Law and Technology: Select Topics (LLM) (S): LAW AM 797
3 credits
Taught by Carolina Rossini, an internationally recognized and awarded professional with over 25 years of experience and a Global Council member for the World Economic Forum in the subject, this is the introductory course for candidates for the LL.M. at Boston University School of Law. This course is worth three (3) credits and is graded based on individual participation, group presentation, and a final opinion paper. This seminar brings an introduction to the field of internet and technology policy and regulation trends. It addresses the increasingly critical and complex legal and policy questions raised by advances in information technology, digital transformation, and the plataformization of the economy, with a special focus on internet governance, social media, fintech, and health. The discussion will always occur against a backdrop of international geopolitics, and economic and sustainable development. Examples of issues covered include internet governance, cybersecurity, NFTs, platforms, algorithms and more. While each topic that we will cover should merit a full course, this Seminar will offer a high-level, integrated view of core current technology policy and normative trends. It will provide enough information, bibliography, field actors identification and networking opportunities for students, and empower them to build their own life-long learning experience if wished. ** 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 Review/Ed B: LAW JD 751
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 751 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
LAW Review/Memb: LAW JD 750
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 750 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Lawyering Fellows: LAW JD 986
2 credits
This class is restricted to students who have applied and been accepted as Lawyering Fellows. Accepted students must register for both the fall and spring sections of the class.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 986 A1 , Sep 8th to Dec 1st 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 2 | Laura E. D’Amato | LAW | 413 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 2 | Laura E. D’Amato | LAW | 413 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 2 | Laura E. D’Amato | LAW | 413 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 2 | Laura E. D’Amato |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 2 | Laura E. D’Amato |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | 2 | Laura E. D’Amato |
Learning From Practice Externship (C): LAW JD 809
Var credits
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. NOTE: Students who enroll in this externship may count the credits toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Learning from Practice: Seminar (JD 771).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 809 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Learning From Practice Externship: Seminar: LAW JD 771
1 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 771 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 1 | Anuj Khetarpal | LAW | 416 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 1 | Cecily Banks |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 1 | Kate Devlin Joyce |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 1 | Strang |
Legal Interviewing & Client Counseling for LLMs: LAW AM 892
3 credits
This is a practical skills seminar designed to introduce LLM students to the theory and practice of legal interviewing and client counseling. Through a combination of classroom discussion, readings, reflective writing, simulations and role-plays, students will learn the skills and techniques lawyers use to help clients make sound decisions. These include: identifying and obtaining relevant facts; effectively formulating questions; actively listening; identifying legal problems; clarifying client needs and objectives; formulating potential strategies; assisting clients in evaluating options; and communicating difficult information to clients, in litigation and transactional contexts. This course will provide opportunities for experiential learning, allowing students to develop and practice interviewing and counseling in real- world contexts. Enrollment limited to 18. **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.
Legal Writing for Civil Litigation (S): LAW JD 712
3 credits
This class is designed to give students experience in legal writing for civil litigation. Over the course of the semester, students will work on the various stages of a federal court litigation from pre-complaint investigation through dispositive motions. There will be opportunities to draft a variety of litigation documents, including complaints, discovery, motions, and research memos. Students will complete multiple drafts of key documents and will meet individually with the instructor to discuss the drafts. Students will focus on using the facts to tell their clients' story and making persuasive, winning arguments. In class, students will discuss a range of strategic questions including developing viable causes of action, identifying critical facts, and using written discovery to obtain information. Additionally, students will participate in several in-class exercises designed to improve the students' skills in writing, fact-gathering and argument. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This Dedicated Writing Class may be used to satisfy the requirement. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Legal Writing for Civil Litigation and Persuasive Writing: Trial Level (JD 713). ** 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 712 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Edward J. DeAngelo | LAW | 419 |
Legislative Policy & Drafting: Clinic Option (C): LAW JD 786
6 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Legislative Policy & Drafting Clinic. Students learn about the law-making process through coursework and hands-on experience working with a client seeking to advance a bill or project through the state legislature. Students work on several projects during the semester that highlight different aspects of the legislative process, allowing students to relate and test the theories discussed in class to real life situations. The in-class seminar covers subjects that affect the legislative process including: constitutional interpretation by legislatures, theories of representation, legislative organization and rules, lobbying, legislative oversight powers, and legislature-executive agency relationships. The clinic instructor works with students to select projects in the students' specific areas of interest, if any. In particular, students interested in business and tax, environment law, or health law, may specialize in those areas for the full semester. NOTE: This clinic counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 786 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy | LAW | 416 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy | LAW | 416 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy | LAW | 416 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy | LAW | 416 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | Sean J. Kealy |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 6 | StaffStaff |
Life as a Life Sciences General Counsel: LAW JD 928
2 credits
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."
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 928 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Staff |
Life Cycle of a Business Venture: LAW TX 918
2 credits
The federal income tax laws significantly affect the way a business venture proceeds through the various stages of its life cycle. This course will explore the federal income tax aspects of: i) choosing the proper form of entity (typically, C corporation, S corporation or LLC) to carry on a business, ii) forming the entity that will carry on the business and issuing equity interests (and rights to acquire equity interests) in the entity to founders and other service providers, iii)financing the entity with debt and equity, iv) reporting the results of the entity's operations, v) purchasing and leasing assets, vi) buying out owners, vii) selling the business. Co- and prerequisites: Federal Income Taxation I, Federal Income Taxation II, Introduction to Corporate Tax and Partnership Tax I.
Local Government Law: LAW JD 800
2 credits
Local governments are considered the closest and most responsive form of government to the people. They are designed to create cities and towns that reflect the ideal of the residents' view of the ideal community. When all local government entities are taken into consideration, there are approximately 89,000 local government units in the country - including counties, municipalities, townships, special districts and school districts. Where do they get their powers? What are the limits? What should be the limits? This course provides a study of the law governing the powers and duties of local governments, mainly municipal corporations such as cities and towns. We look at the sources of municipal powers, the limits on those powers, the relationship between municipalities and the state including the relationship between state and local law, and the formation and expansion of municipalities. An important subject of study involves looking at various models of the relationship between the municipality and the state including home rule. We will also look at some issues in municipal finance and zoning power. Where possible, this course will focus on the intersection of local government law and important current events both locally and nationally. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 800 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 5:00 pm | 7:00 pm | 2 | Robert A. DiAdamo | LAW | 418 |
Mass Inequality and Social Trauma (S): LAW JD 970
3 credits
This interdisciplinary seminar offers a deep exploration of large-scale forms of inequality, the social trauma they create, and the possibility of legal and political solutions. A persistent difficulty in American culture and jurisprudence is a refusal to conceive of structural and intergenerational harms against disfavored groups. The goal is to not only find conceptions of equality that might be suitable, but also to reason from injustice to justice. Special attention will be paid to connections between inequality and the political economy. Among the historical episodes to be discussed: Reconstruction as a missed opportunity at transitional justice; the expulsions of Chinese migrants and their families from the West Coast; white riots and other forms of terror visited upon freed persons and their allies; the shame and silence that surrounded the internment of Japanese Americans; the policy of separating migrant children from parents; and periodic roundups of the poor. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 970 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Robert L. Tsai | LAW | 702 |
Mediation: Theory & Practice (S): LAW JD 826
3 credits
This class will cover the theory and practice of mediation as a mode of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) used in various legal contexts. We will start by mastering the basic concepts and techniques of facilitated negotiations, and work our way, using simulations and role plays, through successively more difficult mediation scenarios. These scenarios will be set in various legal contexts such as commercial, family, criminal, and international disputes. We will work together to develop your individual mediation skills and to learn effective mediation advocacy and settlement valuation. Through lectures, exercises, simulations and classroom discussions we will focus on the theoretical underpinnings that guide the mediation process and the skills related to communication, problem-solving and professional judgment. We will explore the ethical and professional issues related to mediation as well as the legal and cultural constructs that shape mediation practice. Because this course is experiential, students are required to attend all sessions and to participate actively. NOTE: This class counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not 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, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 826 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:40 am | 1:40 pm | 3 | Alarcon | LAW | 410 |
Mental Health Law, Policy & Ethics: SPH LW 854
4 credits
This seminar tackles some of the most complex issues in mental health, such as involuntary confinement, adolescent disorders and decision-making, deinstitutionalization, the right to treatment and the right to refuse treatment, criminalization, substance use disorders, medicalization and the meaning of mental illness, forced treatments, discrimination, confidentiality, research, and professional ethics. The course will focus primarily on legal cases, utilizing these as case studies to explore the intersection of law, policy, and ethics to determine the manner in which we attempt to understand and regulate in the area of mental health.
REMINDER: This is a SPH course. Students cannot register through WebReg. Students who register for the class and want law credit must add the course to their law transcript by completing an add form at the Law Registrar's Office before the end of the add/drop period for that semester.
SPRG 2024: SPH LW 854 A1 , Jan 23rd to May 7th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:00 pm | 4:50 pm | 4 | Ulrich | HOU | R115 |
Mental Health Litigation Practicum: Civil Commitment: LAW JD 772
Var credits
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. Through reading assignments and class discussions, students will develop a thorough understanding of the rules of evidence, the Mental Health Statute, 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). However, this trial advocacy co/pre- requisite may be waived for students who enroll in both the fall and spring semesters.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 772 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Kristin LummusBeau Kealy | LAW | 702 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Kristin LummusBeau Kealy | LAW | 702 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Beau KealyKristin Lummus |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | Var | Beau KealyKristin Lummus |
Mergers and Acquisitions: LAW BK 988
2 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 988 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Kevin J. Handly |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Kevin J. Handly |
Mergers and Acquisitions: LAW JD 988
3 credits
This course will cover the principal legal, tax and business issues of mergers and acquisitions. PREREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals and Corporations, or permission of instructor.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 988 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:30 pm | 3:55 pm | 3 | Stephen G. Marks | LAW | 413 |
Microfinance and Development: LAW BK 935
2 credits
This course provides an introduction to the field of microfinance, particularly its rapid evolution and role in economic development. Students will learn key concepts including the study of lending methodologies, products available to micro-entrepreneurs and the legal challenges, public policy considerations, and risks faced by investors, technical experts and financial providers. This course will also examine financial practices in the developing world such as payment and remittance systems, which allow foreign nationals to transfer funds internationally within and outside traditional banking systems. Not offered Spring 2024.
Negotiating Complex Commercial Contracts : LAW AM 816
3 credits
This seminar exposes international LLM students to how business lawyers effectively and ethically represent their clients in negotiating complex commercial contracts. Through role plays, in-class discussions, and written assignments, students will learn strategies to move negotiations from a binary win/lose result to a win-win outcome that can lay the groundwork for a productive start or continuation of a contractual relation. The seminar is hands-on, with a focus on developing practical negotiation skills in contexts that replicate actual legal practice with an unfamiliar opposing party. While students will have an opportunity to draft business and legal provisions of commercial agreements, the emphasis will be on strategies to effectively negotiate these provisions. ** 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.
Negotiation: LAW JD 921
3 credits
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).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 921 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:15 pm | 3:45 pm | 3 | Mark Bamford | LAW | 410 |
Negotiation for LLMs (S): LAW AM 891
3 credits
Whether you are a litigator, dealmaker or in-house counsel, your performance will turn in large part on your ability to negotiate effectively. The goal of this course is to improve your effectiveness as a negotiator. Students will engage in a series of negotiation exercises (i.e., role plays) through which they can develop and hone their skills and approaches to negotiation. Discussion and short lectures will accompany the role-plays, as appropriate. There will be short written assignments (3-5 pages) as well as a longer paper (12-15 pages) due at the end of the semester. No final exam. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 12 students. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in Negotiation for LLMs (JD891) and Negotiation (JD921) and Alternative Dispute Resolution (JD881). **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.
NY Pro Bono Scholars: Directed Study: LAW JD 744
2 credits
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 Pro Bono Scholars Program: Fieldwork course. Students work with a faculty supervisor in designing their own reading list, writing a 15-20 page research paper, and submitting seven 4-6 page bi-weekly journals. COREQUISITE: NY Pro Bono Scholars Program: Fieldwork (JD 743).
NY Pro Bono Scholars: Fieldwork: LAW JD 743
10 credits
This CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. Through the Pro Bono Scholars Program, students spend their spring 3L semester working full-time for credit at a government agency or non-profit providing direct legal services to indigent clients. Participating students sit for the February New York bar exam, and begin their fieldwork the week after. Students passing the bar exam and completing other NY bar and BU Law graduation requirements are admitted to the NY bar in late June. NOTE: Students who enroll in this program may count the credits toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: NY Pro Bono Scholars Program: Directed Study (JD 744).
Outbound International Tax: LAW TX 939
2 credits
This course examines the current outbound international tax rules, but will demonstrate that the law in this area is more than a collection of those rules. It is instead a process, ever evolving, to address its various contexts and constituencies. We will examine the relevant contexts -- Constitutional, international (WTO, OECD) and commercial -- and will engage in class discussions applying the rules within those frameworks. The objective is for students to gain enough grounding in the rules to start a path toward mastery, and to understand the drivers behind the rules so that students can apply them as they exist today, and analyze changes as they occur in the future. Pre or co- requisite: Tax Aspects of International Business (recommended)
Partnership Tax I: LAW TX 930
2 credits
Presents an overview of subchapter K and the federal income tax treatment of partnerships and other entities, such as limited liability companies;. Topics include tax classification of a partnership versus a corporation or trust; considerations in choice of entity;basic partnership accounting and capital accounts, partnership formation and acquisition of partnership interests for property or services; determination of basis;basic rules allocations of income and loss ; taxation of normal partnership operations; distributions of cash and property; transactions between partners and partnership, including sales of partnership interests. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I and II, Introduction to Corporate Tax
Patent Law: LAW JD 870
3 credits
The basic questions in patent law are: why should society grant inventors a right to exclude others from using a patented invention? Who should be given the right? What is the scope of the right? How should the right be enforced? What disclosure duties should be placed on the patent holder? We will concentrate on these legal issues without getting mired in discussions of the technical details of particular inventions. Students without a technical background are welcome and encouraged to enroll.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 870 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:30 pm | 3:55 pm | 3 | Michael J. Meurer |
Patent Prosecution (S): LAW JD 939
3 credits
This seminar examines various aspects of U.S. patent practice including prosecution processes, strategies, post-grant options, business and ethical considerations, and management of international patent portfolios. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law; for LLMs, some experience with patent law is sufficient; experience as technology specialist or who have passed the patent bar may also be admitted. LIMITED WRITING REQUIREMENT OPTION: A limited number of students may be permitted to satisfy the upper-class writing requirement with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is frequently offered in alternating years. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 939 A1 , Jan 24th to May 1st 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 3 | Geller |
Patent Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 933
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 933 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Prussia |
Persuasive Writing: Trial Level (S): LAW JD 713
3 credits
This seminar will focus on improving students' persuasive writing skills through a series of assignments and in-class exercises. Students will draft a variety of trial-level documents designed to persuade, including a demand letter, a statement of the facts, a memorandum in support of a motion for summary judgment, and a reply memo. Legal research will be necessary for these assignments, but the emphasis will be on analysis and writing. Students will complete multiple drafts of these documents, meet individually with the instructors to discuss the drafts, and engage in peer editing of their classmates' papers to improve their own writing skills. The class will also include discussions of persuasive writing strategies, comparisons of examples of good and bad persuasive writing, and in-class writing exercises. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work and their peer editing work. Students will engage in oral presentation and advocacy in this course. There will be no final exam. ENROLLMENT LIMIT: 14 students. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This Dedicated Writing Class may be used to satisfy the requirement. RESTRICTION: Students may not enroll in both Persuasive Writing: Trial Level and Legal Writing for Civil Litigation (JD 712). ** 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 713 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Laura E. D’AmatoStaff |
Pilj/Editor: LAW JD 761
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 761 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Pilj/Member: LAW JD 760
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 760 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Pooled Funds and Investor Protection: LAW BK 950
2 credits
Pooled investment funds, such as pension plans and mutual funds, are an important part of the global financial services industry. This course is designed as a survey of pooled funds and seeks to introduce students to the common regulatory themes that are found across pooled fund types, and to identify the unique approaches to regulation applicable to the various pooled fund types studied. The course undertakes an analysis of the legal, regulatory and fiduciary standards that apply to trustees, managers, advisers, and sponsors of collective investment vehicles. The course focuses on the concept of fiduciary duty as the basis of all trusted relationships, and examines selected problems of investor and beneficiary protection in the fields of private and public pension plans and mutual funds. It studies in detail two U.S. federal statutes as examples of legal techniques used to mitigate those risks- -ERISA and the Investment Company Act of 1940 (including fiduciary duties, the role of the fund board and management fees). The class then studies pooled investment funds and investment trusts in the E.U., the U.K. and other countries, focusing on the perceived risks and protective measures reflected in their legal and regulatory systems.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 950 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Stuart E. FrossAndrade | ||
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Stuart E. FrossAndrade |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Stuart E. FrossAndrade | ||
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Stuart E. FrossAndrade |
Practice of US Copyright and Trademark Law: Media & Entertainment Transactions (S): LAW AM 911
3 credits
This seminar will provide foreign-trained lawyers with a practical overview of American intellectual property concepts in copyright and trademark as well as rights of privacy and confidentiality in their application and negotiation strategies in media and entertainment transactions. The course will study and analyze contracting/licensing from both a commercial and content creators' perspective. Focused on media and entertainment transactions, students will review, analyze, negotiate and draft agreements among which may include brand sponsorship, trademark licensing and product placement, content distribution, personal services for talent, such as music and TV/video production, and licensing music and clearance of rights for film and TV. Students will receive exposure to how the protection of intangible assets can further a variety of business strategies, as well as the client counseling issues to consider. International comparative analyses of concepts and strategies will be presented where applicable. Students will be evaluated based on their class participation and performance on drafting assignments, negotiation exercises and a final capstone project. Co-Requisites: Contracts; a survey IP class and/or prior exposure to copyright and trademark concepts is highly recommended. Limited to 18 LLM students. ** 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.
Private Equity and Venture Capital Transactions (S) : LAW JD 931
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 931 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Michael J. KendallLauren Falkowitz |
Professional Responsibility: LAW BK 941
2 credits
This course will provide an overview of a lawyer's professional and ethical obligations under United States law. It will examine the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers as they apply to the practicing lawyer. The course explores ethical issues, and tensions and dilemmas that arise in the practice of law, particularly in the representation of financial institutions. Students will have the chance to examine these issues through discussions of current events affecting the financial services industry.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 941 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Maggie Weir |
Professional Responsibility: LAW JD 984
3 credits
Donweber - This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed will be problems of disclosure, conflict of interest, advertising, adversary tactics, competence, attorney fees, and fiduciary duties. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class Professional Responsibility requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. Moore: This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed include competence, diligence, communication, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and limitations on the lawyer's duty to advance the client's interest (in adversary proceedings or in transactions) out of concern for others. The course will place special emphasis on business and other transactional lawyers, including addressing special problems that arise in representing organizational clients, although the course is appropriate for all students, regardless of the subject area in which they will practice. NOTE: This course satisfies the upper-class Professional Responsibility requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 984 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:15 pm | 3:40 pm | 3 | Stephen M. Donweber | LAW | 103 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 2:15 pm | 3:40 pm | 3 | Stephen M. Donweber |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Nancy J. Moore |
Professional Responsibility for Business Lawyers (S): LAW JD 972
3 credits
A survey of the laws and ethical rules that govern and regulate lawyers in corporate and transactional practice. Topics may include client identification in forming and dissolving business entities, representing close corporations and partnerships, investing in clients (including taking stock in lieu of legal fees), negotiation, representing public companies, the role of in-house counsel, conflicts of interest, and the future of regulating legal services in the US and globally. Students will write a 20-page research paper and give a brief oral presentation of their topic. NOTE: This class may be used to satisfy the Professional Responsibility requirement or the upper-class writing requirement (limited). This class may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 972 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Nancy J. Moore |
Professional Responsibility for Criminal Practice: LAW JD 923
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 923 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 5:00 pm | 7:00 pm | 3 | Stuart Hurowitz | LAW | 102 |
Professional Responsibility for International LLMs: LAW AM 701
2 credits
This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed will be problems of disclosure, conflict of interest, advertising, adversary tactics, competence, attorney fees, and fiduciary duties. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
Property for LLMs: LAW AM 702
2 credits
This course exposes LL.M. students to the basic principles of real property law, including possession, ownership, rights in land, conveyances, estates, future interests, real estate contracts, easements, land use disputes, landlord-tenant issues, and land use controls, among others. The course is designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the essential doctrines of real property law for LL.M. students interested in taking a U.S. bar exam.
Prosecutorial Ethics (S): LAW JD 806
3 credits
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson once noted, "The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America." This seminar examines the unique role and power of prosecutors and their responsibility to ensure "that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer." We will study the ways in which prosecutors exercise their broad discretion and the ethical and practical considerations that affect those determinations. What duty does the prosecutor owe to a victim? To the police? To the public at large? How might those parties' interests conflict with a prosecutor's objectives and impact prosecutorial decisions? A major focus of this course will be the prosecutor's obligations to the accused and the various ways in which those duties are breached. We will examine the consequences of prosecutorial misconduct, the ways in which it may or may not be remedied, and to what extent it can be deterred. Other topics to be covered include the relationship between the prosecutor and the grand jury, conflicts of interest, selective prosecution, trial misconduct, prosecutorial immunity, mandatory minimum sentences, the use of confidential informants and cooperating witnesses, discovery of exculpatory evidence, post-conviction obligations, and wrongful convictions. Our study will draw heavily from historical as well as current events, and will include emphasis on the ways in which the role of the prosecutor is shifting. Students will engage in mock disciplinary hearings, playing the role of bar counsel in bringing allegations of misconduct against prosecutors or defending them against such claims. NOTE: seminar satisfies the Professional Responsibility requirement. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. RECOMMENDED COURSE: Criminal Procedure, taken either prior to or concurrently with this seminar. GRADING NOTICE: This course 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 806 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Brian A. Wilson |
Public Health Law: LAW JD 926
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 926 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:15 pm | 3:40 pm | 3 | Nicole Huberfeld |
Queerness & the Law: LAW JD 917
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 917 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 10:40 am | 1:40 pm | 3 | Heron Greenesmith | LAW | 416 |
Representing Life Sciences Companies: Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices (S): LAW JD 907
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 907 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | Ghassab |
Reproductive Rights: LAW JD 775
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 775 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 11:00 am | 12:25 pm | 3 | Aziza Ahmed | LAW | 203 |
Restorative Justice: Principles and Practices: LAW JD 827
3 credits
A study of the fundamental principles and practices of restorative justice as applicable to church and society. The course explores the needs and roles of key stakeholders (victims, offenders, communities, justice systems), outlines the basic principles and values of restorative justice, introduces some of the primary models of practice, and identifies challenges to restorative justice and strategies to respond to them. The course is organized around the issue of crime and harm within a western legal context, but attention is given to applications in other contexts. Of particular interest is the contribution of traditional or indigenous approaches to justice as well as applications in post-conflict situations. The class meets at the School of Theology and will include students from both the Law School and the School of Theology. Students will be graded on the basis of their written work and classroom performance. There will be no final exam.
Review Bank/Ed: LAW JD 755
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 755 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Review Bank/Mem: LAW JD 754
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 754 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Sci Tech/Editor: LAW JD 759
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 759 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Sci Tech/Member: LAW JD 758
Var credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 758 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | TBA |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Staff |
Secured Transactions: LAW BK 972
2 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 972 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Michael Refolo |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Michael Refolo |
Secured Transactions: LAW JD 805
4 credits
Many commercial and consumer financing transactions involve the creation of security interests in the borrower's personal property that are akin to mortgages of real property. (Indeed, much commercial activity involves the grant of a UCC Article 9 security interest, and the economic system depends on Article 9 to provide much of the law against which modern commerce takes place.) In a secured transaction, in the event of the borrower's default, the lender can foreclose on the collateral subject to the security interest to help liquidate the debt. While simple to describe, secured transactions and the rules that govern them can be complex. This course covers the basic secured transaction governed by Article 9 of the UCC. Topics covered will include creation and perfection of security interests, priority contests, and default. The course is an excellent precursor to Bankruptcy and often helpful when sitting for the bar exam. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: Business Fundamentals. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 805 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 4 | Maureen A. O’Rourke |
Securities Regulation: LAW BK 955
2 credits
A survey and analysis of key problems arising under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the rules promulgated thereunder. These problems include the form and content of registration statements under the 1933 Act, liabilities of persons designated in Section 11 and 12 of the 1933 Act, the form and content of a typical Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Statement, processing a registration statement, exemptions under the 1933 Act, the underwriter's liability, the control person's "distribution;" regulation of securities exchanges and broker- dealers, manipulation, stabilization, and "Hot Issues;" tender offers; and civil liabilities under rule 10b-5, section 14(a), and Section 16(b) of the 1934 Act.
FALL 2023: LAW BK 955 A2 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | H. Norman Knickle |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | H. Norman Knickle |
Securities Regulation: LAW JD 883
4 credits
This course offers an introduction to federal securities regulation under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We will examine how the securities laws shape the process by which companies raise capital through IPOs, public offerings, and private placements. We will also focus on the mandatory disclosure regime for publicly traded companies and the related topics of securities fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, and shareholder voting. We will study core concepts such as the definition of a security and materiality. Finally, we will spend significant time examining the role of the SEC and private shareholder litigation in policing the securities laws. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 883 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 4 | David H. Webber | LAW | 605 |
Securitization: LAW BK 987
2 credits
Securitization constitutes one of the most dynamic segments of the financial markets and is one the principal sources of lower-cost non-dilutive liquidity in the world. Securitization involves the creation and issuance of notes or other forms of securities backed by one or more assets which generate cash flows sufficient to fund the timely payment of the principal and interest due on the securities. The securities are also usually issued by special-purpose bankruptcy-remote vehicles to insulate the assets from the risk of bankruptcy. This feature, combined with cash reserve accounts, overcollateralization and other features, achieves the "alchemy" of converting unrated assets into investment grade securities. These transactions often cut across many areas of legal specialization, including bank regulation, securities regulation, taxation, bankruptcy, and real estate and corporate law. In addition to teaching the elements of these various legal disciplines that are applied to securitization transactions, this course is unique among securitization courses offered at other law schools in the U.S. in that it involves the students in a series of real or hypothetical case studies that require the application of these legal disciplines to the process of structuring actual securitization transactions. In addition to residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and trade receivable securitizations, this course also explores some of the more cutting-edge securitizations of more esoteric asset classes, including legal fees, patents, trademarks and copyrights, as well as securitization of whole businesses. The course also examines the role of the irresponsible use of securitization technology in the 2008 financial collapse and the reform measures that were adopted in response, as well as the emergence of "impact" securitization in the form of solar asset securitization and use of securitization to finance development of life-saving drugs.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 987 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Steven B. LevineRonald S. Borod |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Ronald S. Borod |
Semester-in-Practice: Fieldwork (C): LAW JD 739
10 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. This course is the fieldwork component of the Semester-in-Practice Program. Students spend a semester working full-time for credit in non-profits, government agencies, courts, private companies, or law firms. 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. NOTE: Students who enroll in the Semester-in-Practice Program may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Semester-in-Practice: Seminar (JD 740).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 739 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 10 | Staff |
Semester-in-Practice: Seminar: LAW JD 740
2 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have received permission from the Clinical and Experiential Programs Office to enroll. This course is the seminar component of the Semester-in-Practice Program. Students will take the course online or on campus course (depending on the location of their placement). Topics covered in class will include legal ethics and professional responsibility, professional development, access to justice, cross-cultural lawyering, and the changing role of the legal professional. Students will have weekly readings and be expected to write weekly reflective memoranda. They will also give a presentation and prepare a final 10-12 page paper. NOTE: Students enrolled in this course may count the credits towards the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. COREQUISITE: Semester-in-Practice: Fieldwork (JD 739).
FALL 2023: LAW JD 740 A1 , Sep 8th to Dec 1st 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fri | 11:30 am | 1:30 pm | 2 | Kate Devlin Joyce |
SILC: Privacy, Security & Health Seminar 1 : LAW JD 866
2 credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 866 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Andrew SellarsChris Conley | LAW | 418 |
SILC: Privacy, Security & Health Seminar 2 : LAW JD 869
2 credits
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 869 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 2 | Andrew SellarsChris Conley |
Starting New Ventures: QST SI 852
3 credits
There isn't a "one size fits all" approach to starting new ventures. Start-ups need a strategy that aligns with their scarce resources. This course highlights the process of how to choose an entrepreneurial strategy, the specific choices that matter, how key choices fit together to form an overall entrepreneurial strategy, and the playbook for particular entrepreneurial strategies. Students will develop, analyze, and recommend entrepreneurial strategies for business concepts they develop.
REMINDER: This is a QST course. Students cannot register through WebReg. Students who register for the class and want law credit must add the course to their law transcript by completing an add form at the Law Registrar's Office before the end of the add/drop period for that semester.
SPRG 2024: QST SI 852 E1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 29th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 9:15 pm | 3 | Zyontz | HAR | 322 |
State and Local Tax Externship Seminar: LAW TX 903
2 credits
This 2.0 hour seminar will provide a basic overview of state and local tax, and consideration of each of the major taxes imposed by state and local governments, with an emphasis on the sales and use tax and the corporate income tax. The course will consider: (1) the policy considerations that underlie the various types of taxes and their collection; (2) the major restrictions that apply under the U.S. Constitution and federal law; (3) state law conformity with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code; and (4) the relationship of the states to one another as taxing entities in the U.S. Constitutional system. The course will focus on state and local tax from both a taxpayer and government perspective, with a special emphasis on practical dilemmas. The scope of the course will be national, with a focus on current issues; however, examples will frequently be drawn from Massachusetts tax practice. Enrollment limited to students in State and Local Tax Externship program
State and Local Taxation: LAW TX 928
2 credits
The course will expose students to the major types of United States state and local taxes,including personal income taxes, sales and use taxes, property taxes, and corporate taxes.We will explore the structure of each of these types of taxes, how the taxes are implemented in various jurisdictions, and some of the significant issues that arise in applying the taxes. We will also cover some special issues arising from the multi- jurisdictional nature of state and local taxation, and the principal aspects of United States federal law, both statutory and constitutional, that shape and constrain state tax systems. We will consider the application of basic state tax concepts to current issues facing state tax administrators and practitioners, including tax-advantaged business structures, and some of the legislative responses to such issues.
Student Innovations Law Clinic: Fieldwork : LAW JD 725
4 credits
FALL 2023: LAW JD 725 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 4 | Andrew SellarsChris Conley |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 4 | PechtAri Lipsitz |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 4 | StaffStaff |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 4 | Andrew SellarsChris Conley |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 4 | PechtAri Lipsitz |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 4 | StaffStaff |
Supervised Research & Writing: LAW JD 841
Var credits
Upper-class students may pursue a special research interest under the guidance of a full time faculty member, and earn one or two semester credits for a Supervised Research and Writing project (also known as an Independent Study). The study must involve a substantial investment of time and effort, and result in significant written work that reflects a high standard of legal scholarship. The student's final grade will be based solely upon written work submitted, and will be included in the student's average. NOTE: Students must register for Supervised Research and Writing directly with the Registrar's Office. You may not register via the Student Link.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 841 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Sarah R. Sherman-Stokes |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | Var | Cody Jacobs |
Supreme Court Decisionmaking (S): LAW JD 903
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 903 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Jack M. Beermann |
Sustainable Finance: LAW JD 885
2 credits
Corporate scandals, systemic racism, Covid-19 and climate change have put environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues of corporations in the spotlight, and many investors and other corporate stakeholders believe that these issues have a financial impact. In addition, investors are becoming more and more focused on the impact of their investments on society and the environment. As a result, flows into strategies that consider ESG factors have been soaring, and impact investing has consolidated as an investment strategy that promises financial returns and solutions to tackle the world's problems. These investment strategies are evolving rapidly and asking lawyers and regulators to address novel issues and reconsider issues that seemed settled. In this course, we will discuss the role of corporations, non-profits, investment funds and development finance institutions (DFIs) in this context. We will analyze how these strategies affect fiduciary duties and disclosure requirements. We will examine the tools that are available to implement these strategies such as: blended finance, pay-for-success, public benefit corporations, sustainable bonds and active shareholder engagement. After completing this course, students will develop an understanding of the different sustainable investment strategies and players in the industry, become familiar with the typical legal issues that arise in the sustainable finance industry and with some of the tools that are being used. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: Corporations. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 885 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Luciana Aquino-Hagedorn | LAW | 203 |
Tax Accounting for Financial Statements: LAW TX 978
2 credits
TX978 is an introductory course in the reporting of income taxes on financial statements under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). This course covers financial reporting rules that every tax attorney needs to know to be conversant with business clients and other tax professionals. Subjects include deferred taxes, valuation allowance, uncertain tax positions, effective tax rate, and permanent reinvestment of subsidiary earnings.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 978 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Phillip G. RoshakChristina Rice | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Phillip G. RoshakChristina Rice |
Tax and Technology: LAW TX 968
2 credits
This course examines the convergence of technology solutions, in support of taxation, from two different angles: corporations and government. The course will also compare and contrast these movements in America with other countries, as US-headquartered companies expanding abroad face new realities, unfamiliar tax structures and increasingly complex regulatory environments; and legal and tax professionals must be prepared for these challenges. Rather than focus on technology per se, analyzing computer programming language and codes, the bias of this course is the real-life business perspective of technology when applied to taxation and fiscal policy. This course gives students exclusive access to tax software actually used by multinational corporations to determine indirect taxes in the US and nearly 200 other countries and foreign tax jurisdictions. This access will allow students to simulate domestic/international transactions and analyze their tax implications while becoming familiar with the mechanics of an Enterprise-class tax automation solution.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 968 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Camilo Martinez | LAW | 414 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Martinez |
Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business: LAW TX 920
2 credits
A comprehensive course on how business owners can buy and sell businesses with a minimum tax cost and maximum after-tax return. The strategies for selling a business are often implemented from the moment the business entity is originally formed. The course will examine the crucial strategies, from choice of entity, to conducting ongoing operations, to the correct way to change or restructure existing C corporations, S corporations and other entities. The course will also examine the best way to structure a sale of a particular business, based on both the form of legal entity and on the specific facts in a case. For example, the course will compare a sale of stock to a sale of assets; will compare a sale for cash to a tax free transaction or part-cash, part-stock transaction; and compare the differences between a sale with immediate payment versus a possible installment sale. Prerequisites: Federal Income Taxation I and Federal Income Taxation II.
Tax Aspects of International Business: LAW TX 906
2 credits
Tax aspects of international business transactions, both "inbound" and "outbound", with particular attention to fiscal jurisdiction, the foreign tax credit, allocation of income among affiliated companies, treaties, anti-abuse measures aimed at tax haven operations, information reporting and foreign investment in U.S. securities and real estate. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 906 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Staff | LAW | 605 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Staff |
Tax Aspects of International Business & Finance: LAW JD 781
2 credits
Tax aspects of international business transactions, both "inbound" and "outbound", with particular attention to fiscal jurisdiction, the foreign tax credit, allocation of income among affiliated companies, treaties, anti-abuse measures aimed at tax haven operations, information reporting and foreign investment in U.S. securities and real estate. Attention to changes following the 2017 IRC amendments. PREREQUISITE/COREQUISITE: INTRODUCTION TO FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION is a recommended prerequisite, but required at least as a corequisite. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. NOTE: This course (and the final exam) is administered through the Graduate Tax Program (Room 1005). This section is for pre-registration purposes only. Students will be transferred to the Tax section (TX906) of the course during the summer.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 781 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Steven Dean |
Tax Court Practice: LAW TX 956
2 credits
This course focuses how to effectively represent taxpayers before the United States Tax Court. The course begins with an introduction to the history, organization and jurisdiction of the Tax Court. Students will examine the procedural and strategic decisions arising in litigation of federal tax controversies before the Tax Court. The matters covered in the class include: choice of forum, pleadings, discovery, motions practice, pre-trial procedures, stipulations, settlement negotiations, trial procedures, trial, post-trial briefs and procedures, opinions, decisions and appeal.
Tax Fraud and Technology: LAW TX 996
2 credits
This course undertakes a detailed examination of technology-based responses (blockchain, crypto-tax-currency, real-time transactional data collection, artificial intelligence [AI] applications) to technology-facilitated tax frauds (Zappers, Phantomware, SSaaS, the Dark Cloud and missing traders). It is valuable for both state and local as well as international practitioners, and will readily compliment criminal tax studies. This course will direct the student to consider how the sweep of technological developments in indirect taxation (digital invoices, encrypted transactional records, real-time data transmission to tax authorities, and inter- jurisdictional exchanges of digital tax data) will change/ is changing not only the collection and reporting of indirect taxes (VAT, RST, and various excise taxes) but will impact both the collection and reporting of direct taxes (personal and corporate income taxes), but also the treaties that facilitate international tax cooperation and coordination. Students should expect to be able to not only understand current technology-based tax frauds, but also be able to anticipate both the next generation of frauds, and the government's technology-based detection methods and countermeasures. Students should be able to see this as an iterative process where a technology-based fraud application is met by a government countermeasure only to find that criminal elements are fast advancing new technologies to be met yet again by more advanced government countermeasures. Public and private blockchain storage of tax data, and proposals for crypto-tax-currency based tax systems will be examined. Because this course works in a highly fluid tax/technology space the specific topics considered may not remain the same from year-to-year. This edition will examine the tax issues embedded in the technology of (1) sales suppression -- Zappers, Phantomware, SSaaS, and the Dark Cloud; (2) Missing Trader frauds -- notably frauds in CO2 permits, VOIP; and (3) excise tax avoidance -- notably frauds involved in cigarette smuggling and legalized marijuana. Both traditional organized criminal activity as well as terrorist funding activity will be explored.
Tax Law of Accounting Methods: LAW TX 913
2 credits
Examination of a broad range of subjects related to accounting methods and periods. Topics include principles of income recognition, prepaid income, claim of right, cash equivalency, and constructive receipt, special methods involving long-term contracts, depreciation, timing of deductions, estimated expenses, prepaid expense, expense versus capitalization, and conformity between tax and financial accounting. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I.
Tax Law Research: LAW TX 985
Var credits
Tax Law research is among the most complicated areas of the law to research. Statutes, regulations and agency issuances interact to create a thickly layered set of legal precedents. This class will explore the resources a tax professional would use to perform his or her research from legislative history to private letter rulings. Students will become familiar with the research platforms outside of Lexis and Westlaw that are commonly used in practice. Students will get practice in using many of the most heavily used practice materials. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using the major print and electronic resources available for tax law research. Students will be required to complete an assignment for each class.
Tax Policy (S): LAW JD 799
3 credits
This seminar will examine criteria used to make administrative and legislative choices in taxation: equity, efficiency, administrability and simplicity. As a particular focus, we will study some of the connections between a tax system and spending programs. PREREQUISITE: Introduction to Federal Income Taxation. 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, will be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who waitlist for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 799 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Theodore S. Sims |
Tax Practice & Procedure: LAW TX 907
2 credits
Structure of the U.S. tax system; administration of the Internal Revenue Code by the Internal Revenue Service; ethics of tax practice and the regulation of tax practitioners; study of the administrative processing of tax returns; handling of audits, statutes of limitations, assessment of deficiencies and penalties, claims for refund, hearings before the Appeals Office, closing agreement, tax liens, tax collection procedures and civil and criminal aspects of tax fraud. Introduction to aspects of litigation in the Federal District Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and U.S. Tax Court.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 907 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Sean McMahon | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | McMahon |
Tax Seminar: LAW TX 982
Var credits
This course provides an opportunity for students to conduct in-depth research and to improve their writing skills on current issues in taxation. This class meets weekly to discuss tax law developments globally at the State & Local, US Federal and International topics and to review the topic proposal and outlines of class participants.
Taxation and Racial Capitalism (S): LAW JD 692
3 credits
Taxation and Racial Capitalism will explore the ways that anti-Black racism has shaped legal rules and institutions both domestically and globally. It will illustrate the dynamics of racial capitalism by tracing the evolution of international tax rules once shaped and now sustained by racial fears, perpetuating a false fiscal scarcity that has impoverished vulnerable states and eviscerated social safety nets in wealthier ones. Cycles of liberation and backlash from Reconstruction to decolonization have granted political power and economic autonomy to formerly enslaved individuals and erstwhile possessions only to watch it be stripped away, whether through Jim Crow laws or treaties designed to constrain fiscal sovereignty. This course will tell that familiar story from an unconventional perspective. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 692 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Steven Dean | LAW | 204 |
Taxation and Regulation of Cryptocurrency: LAW TX 989
2 credits
This course is designed to provide an introductory understanding of the theory and principles by which decentralized digital currencies - cryptocurrencies - operate, within both a practical and legal framework. The course can be broken down into three broad topics: (1) An examination of the concept of money, currency, and legal tender; (2) An introduction to the history of decentralized digital currencies, including the logic of a peer- to-peer payment system, the decentralized governance of cryptocurrency solutions, an analysis of the problems that cryptocurrencies are intended to resolve, and a high-level understanding of the blockchain; and (3) An in- depth examination and analysis of the current state of regulatory and tax treatment of various cryptocurrency transactions in the United States and in international jurisdictions.
Taxation of Bankruptcies and Workouts: LAW TX 936
2 credits
Study of the tax and opportunities arising in bankruptcy and nonbankruptcy workouts of individuals, partnerships, and corporations. Topics include cancellation of indebtedness income from the reduction or renegotiation of debt, gain or loss recognition on foreclosures and similar property transfers, restrictions on net operating loss carryovers, special tax consequences of the restructuring of partnership debt and equity, the taxation of the bankruptcy estate and its owners and creditors, and trust fund tax penalties on officers, directors, and other individuals. Prerequisites or corequisites: Introduction to Corporate Tax and Partnership Tax I.
Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders: LAW JD 887
3 credits
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. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 887 A1 , Jan 17th to Apr 24th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 10:45 am | 12:15 pm | 3 | Alan L. Feld |
Taxation of Financial Products: Policy and Theory: LAW TX 917
2 credits
This course explores the financial characteristics and income taxation of financial instruments, with an emphasis on both policy and theory. We start with the building blocks of debt and equity, move on to the "derivatives" level of options and notional principal contracts (swaps), and conclude with exotica such as currency products. In each instance we will first look at the financial characteristics of the security (after the fashion of an MBA offering in corporate finance), and then study the tax rules governing each class of instrument. Because discounting (net present value) and "pay off" diagrams are so central to an understanding of financial instruments, the course incorporates a rigorous study of these mathematical tools. Also, when studying the tax rules applicable to financial products, we focus on the fundamental building blocks of taxation -- amount, timing, character, and source -- to reveal underlying policy and theory tensions that go to the very root of our income taxation system. The course is intended to complement TX 949 Taxation of Financial Products: Principles and Application, and may be taken either prior or subsequent to that class or on a stand alone basis. Pre or Co-requisite: Federal Income Taxation I and II.
Online section not open to JD students.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 917 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Ameek A. PondaHinshaw | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Ameek A. PondaHinshaw |
Taxation of Intellectual Property: LAW TX 955
2 credits
Intellectual property- from sophisticated aerospace technology to computer software and web applications to music and video rights- is one of the most important, challenging, and sophisticated areas of modern commerce. However, because the IP revolution has occurred in only the last 25 years, many of the traditional principles of income taxation are not easily applied to IP assets. This course will explore the tax aspects of creating intellectual property, buying intellectual property, exploiting IP through leases and licenses, and strategies for selling valuable IP rights with the best tax results. The course will also explore important international tax issues, including the so called "migration" of IP offshore, cost-sharing arrangements, and other mechanisms that seek to "locate" IP and the associated tax liabilities in tax-favorable jurisdictions. The course will teach the tax differences between copyrighting and patenting a software program, the right and wrong ways to license and sell a trademark, and the mechanisms for turning a "license" into a "sale" and thereby converting ordinary income into capitol gains.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 955 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Joseph B. DarbySimona Altshuler | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | DarbySimona Altshuler |
Taxation of S-Corporations: LAW TX 984
2 credits
This course undertakes a detailed examination of Federal Income Taxation of S Corporations using a contextual approach so that students will be able to identify opportunities and pitfalls in the use of S Corporations. This will be accomplished through a combination of reading the Internal Revenue Code, regulations and other authorities relating to Federal Income Taxation of S Corporations. Use of S corporations in a multinational setting will also be considered. The course will emphasize, teach, expect, and measure the internalization of professional responsibilities in tax practice to clients using actual judicial decisions as well as hypothetical case studies. The inherit tension resulting from duties to clients and duties to the tax system is explored. We will also explore the various settings in which choice of entity for business operations will be a consideration and the utility of such choices for tax and non-tax purposes. Students will practice analytical and writing skills through written assignments. Since a contextual approach is used, it is expected that students will acquire knowledge of substantive tax law in addition to an understanding of ethical and legal responsibilities in federal tax practice.
Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries: LAW TX 937
2 credits
Income tax consequences arising upon the death of a decedent and special income tax treatments of estates, trusts, and fiduciaries. Topics include determination of gross income and allocation between the decedent and the estate or trust; special problems with income in respect of a decedent; separate and conduit taxation of estates and trusts; allocation of tax attributes between an estate or trust and its beneficiaries; grantor trust rules, and other topics. Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation I.
The Courts & the LGBT+ Movement (S): LAW JD 911
3 credits
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. **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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 911 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Ward | LAW | 417 |
The Language Of Law (S): LAW JD 719
3 credits
This course examines the historical underpinnings of language with a focus on how the prestige dialect affects understanding of and access to the law and legal system at all levels. The course will examine the language of law through four modules: (1) How language affects access to the American legal system; (2) How language affects outcomes in the American legal system; (3) How silence (what is not said or not written) affects access and outcomes; and (4) How language influences the attorneys' professional identities, including the students' own. Students will read a variety of cases and articles and listen to excerpts from podcasts and hearings in court to evaluate the role of language in shaping the law. Topics may be driven by student interest, but will center around issues of race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, ability, religion, age, and socioeconomic class. Students will also draw upon recent and current events to analyze how or if the language of law is changing and the impact therefrom. Students will choose an area where language impacts law to focus on and will use this topic for a research paper and presentation. Some shorter reflections may also be required. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to partially 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 719 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Hodo Walker | LAW | 419 |
The Role of In-House Counsel: LAW JD 978
2 credits
Practicing law in-house is often done at the tension point of enterprise growth and risk mitigation. This course explores the unique aspects of working as a lawyer within an organization's internal legal department. In order to provide a realistic appreciation and understanding of the role of in-house counsel, the course will utilize scenario-based group tutorials and simulations in which students will act as in-house counsel for a fictitious company in a specific industry. Areas covered may include contractual and employment matters, regulatory, compliance, internal investigations, enterprise risk questions and advising the Board of Directors and senior management. While the course will involve the substantive law of various areas relevant to the fictitious company's business and operations, the focus of the course will be on practicing and building lawyering skills that are critical for effective and ethical in-house practice. These include identifying and analyzing legally viable alternatives, and making recommendations, for the company to pursue to carry-out its business strategy and mitigate risks, as well as written and oral communications and presentations reflecting the same. As an overarching theme, the course will consider how to balance the important role of lawyer and trusted business advisor with the backdrop of the ever-present ethical and reputational considerations of the enterprise. This course is designed to provide students with practical skills (as well as opportunities to use and apply them) as they learn to identify and navigate the day-to-day challenges of the modern corporate counsel. Grades in the course will be based on scenario-based responses (presentation and/or written), a collaborative final group presentation, and in-class participation. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. NOTE: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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. 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 normally does not accommodate flexibility in attendance.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 978 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 23rd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Layo |
Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants: LAW JD 793
2 credits
This course will examine the theory, practice, and interrelationship of trade secret law and the law of restrictive covenants, including laws governing the use and enforceability of noncompetition agreements. We will explore what a trade secret is, what it is not, how it differs from other types of intellectual property, and how something secret can constitute protectable property. We will investigate how trade secrets can be misappropriated, including misappropriation through one's memory; whether and in what circumstances trade secrets will be protected, including through the use of noncompetition agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and other restrictive covenants; the other purposes served by those agreements; and the strengths and weaknesses of the various laws governing the protection of trade secrets and the use of restrictive covenants. Depending on class interest and time, we may discuss related issues such as the current debate over the use of noncompete agreements and their putative effects on innovation. OFFERING PATTERN: This class is not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 793 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Russell BeckCorvini Daly |
Trademark and Unfair Competition: LAW JD 780
3 credits
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. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 780 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 9:00 am | 10:30 am | 3 | Stacey Dogan | LAW | 101 |
Transaction Law Research: LAW JD 718
2 credits
Most students will end up practicing transactional law which presents unique legal research challenges. Students will learn to navigate the statutory and regulatory frameworks of transactional areas of the law like tax, banking, securities and other practice areas. They will research agency guidance, use specialized practice materials and search for filings and company information, among other research tasks. Legal information and technologies in these area are constantly changing and new lawyers should be familiar with the most recent research techniques and tools. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using major print, electronic, and web based resources for securities law research. Students will be required to complete several assignments using electronic and print resources and put together a final client presentation on a transaction. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 718 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 8:30 am | 10:30 am | 2 | Brian Flaherty |
Transaction Simulation (LLM): Forming and Financing a Start-Up Business: LAW AM 787
3 credits
This course is a semester-long transaction simulation offered exclusively for LLM in American Law Program and LLM in Intellectual Property Law students. The simulated transaction is the formation and initial financing of a privately- held company in the software industry. The course will expose LLM students to the principal issues involved in counseling U.S.-based entrepreneurs as to their emerging businesses, including choice of entity and entity formation, equity compensation for founders and employees, intellectual property protection of company assets, capital raising through preferred stock financing, and negotiation of financing-related contracts based on industry- standard models. Through in-class discussions, homework assignments and graded writing assignments, students will simulate the work of both junior and senior practicing attorneys who counsel start-ups and their founders and investors. Students will review sample agreements related to start-up businesses such as formation and financing documents, draft and revise such agreements and conduct negotiations for the financing of an emerging business. While the simulation is based on a start-up transaction, many of the principles and concepts will be applicable to a broader range of business deals. The course grade will be based on homework assignments, class participation and graded writing assignments. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. PREREQUISITE(S): Contracts and Corporations, unless otherwise waived by the instructor. Prior work experience in transactional business law is neither required nor expected. 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. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
Transaction Simulation: Forming & Financing a Start-Up Business: LAW JD 789
3 credits
Practice Areas: General Corporate and Corporate Finance This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. The simulated transaction is the formation and subsequent first-round venture financing of a new software business started by two entrepreneurs who are recent graduates of the California Institute of Technology. During this course, students will be exposed to, and will handle, the principal issues that arise in counseling entrepreneurs as to their emerging businesses, including key elements such as founders' arrangements, entity selection, governance, equity compensation, intellectual property protection, capital raising through SAFEs (which are simple agreements for future equity), convertible notes and preferred stock financing, capitalization/valuation/dilution and investment documentation based on industry-standard contracts. Through exercises both in and outside of class, as well as class discussions, students will simulate the work of practicing attorneys who counsel start-ups and their founders on a day-to-day basis. As part of these simulations, students will review sample agreements, draft and revise agreements and conduct negotiations. In addition, from time to time during the course, the instructors will address ethical issues and other practice points that can arise in connection with the simulated transaction or in transactional practice generally when working with emerging/start-up companies. The course grade will be based on attendance and class participation and three graded writing assignments. CLASS SIZE: 12 students. PREREQUISITE OR CO-REQUISITE: Corporations. Contract Drafting is recommended but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement and also satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 789 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 3 | MelwaniPerkins |
Transaction Simulation: Int'l Business Collaboration: LAW JD 783
3 credits
Practice Areas: Cross-Border Transactions and International Negotiations This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. The simulated transaction involves two companies, one a large U.S.-based pharmaceutical company ("KJH"), and the other an African agricultural production company that is majority owned by the government of the fictional African country of Malundi ("MCC"). The two companies are interested in working together to exploit a new technology developed by KJH that uses cassava, a plant, grown and harvested by MCC, for a new arthritis drug. MCC has a surplus supply of cassava and has been searching for alternative markets and uses for the surplus supply. KJH has a worldwide distribution channel, has developed and patented a manufacturing process, and possesses valuable know-how, used to extract the active ingredient for the new drug from cassava. Their collaboration could take the form of a joint venture, licensing agreement, long-term supply contract, or a combination of these structures. The course will begin with an introduction to important concepts about international business legal structures, negotiations, and the facts of the simulated case. The class will engage in a number of "hands-on" skill building exercises, individually and in small groups. After the third- or fourth-class meeting, students will be assigned to one of two teams of attorneys, one team representing MCC, and the other representing KJH. The teams will structure, negotiate and document in a detailed "letter of intent" the terms of the parties' collaboration.. The course will explore the impact of cross-cultural customs and norms, as well as challenges presented by individual personalities and negotiating styles and client demands. Certain ethical issues will be addressed that may arise in transactions of this kind and in transactional practice generally. A key goal of the course is to expose students to "real-world" practice and enhance students' ability to structure, negotiate and document a transaction. The course grade will be based on individual class participation, individual and team drafting assignments and team negotiations. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. This course is open to LLM students provided there are available seats and with the permission of the Instructor and the Assistant Dean of Graduate and International Programs. PREREQUISITES: Corporations and Contract Drafting (or Transactional Contracts in the case of LLM students) are recommended, but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement and also satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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. 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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 783 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Doyle | LAW | 513 |
Transaction Simulation: Pharma/Biotech Collaboration for Drug Development: LAW JD 812
3 credits
Practice Areas: Healthcare law, Intellectual Property and Strategy Transactions This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. Collaborative activity is essential to the biopharmaceutical industry due to the high costs and risks associated with drug development. In this course, students will learn how to read, draft, and negotiate collaboration agreements for new drug research, development and commercialization partnerships between biopharmaceutical companies. The course will begin with a brief introductory overview of (i) the biotechnology industry, with a focus on the importance of partnering for successful drug development and commercialization; and (ii) different forms of partnering agreements to develop a general understanding of the structure of such contracts. For the duration of the course, students will be assigned to teams to review, revise and negotiate the terms of a collaboration agreement for their clients, either a large pharmaceutical company or a smaller biotechnology company. Students will learn to think critically about whether certain provisions favor one party or the other, and ways to modify such elements through drafting changes. At the conclusion of the course, each team will be asked to present the key terms of the proposed collaboration agreement to their client's board of directors. Through regular out-of-class assignments, including substantial drafting assignments involving marking up term sheets, preparing issues lists, revising key sections of the collaboration agreement that will be negotiated and finalized by the student teams, and delivering board presentations, the course builds contract analysis, drafting, negotiation and strategic thinking skills students will need as they enter transactional law practice. The course also addresses various ethical issues that may arise in connection with these types of transactions and in transactional practice generally. The course grade will be based on individual participation, drafting assignments, and contributions to team efforts. Please note that no scientific background is necessary for this course as we will not be focusing on the scientific rationale for collaborations. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. PREREQUISITE: Contract Drafting is recommended, but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6-credit Experiential Learning requirement and also satisfies the Transaction Simulation requirement of the Transactional Practice Concentration. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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. 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 812 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 3 | Burlingame |
Transaction Simulation: The Rise and Fall of a Syndicated Loan: LAW JD 784
3 credits
Practice Areas: General Business, Banking/Finance, Corporate Governance and Restructuring This course is one of the semester-long transaction simulations offered as part of the Transactional Law Program. The simulated transaction is the structuring, negotiation and documentation, and subsequent restructuring of a $1.7 billion secured, syndicated commercial loan to a large, privately held medical testing company (the "Company"). The Company's primary purpose for seeking this loan is to use the proceeds to pay an extraordinary dividend to its founder and controlling shareholder and to several private equity firms which own stock in the Company (often referred to as a "dividend recap loan"). The course will explore some of the key issues, and students will perform several of the principal tasks, which transactional lawyers specializing in general business, banking/finance, corporate governance and/or restructuring must consider and carry out in advising corporate clients and financial institutions in a transaction of this kind. These tasks will include advising the Company's board of directors and officers or prospective lenders in evaluating whether to engage in the dividend recap loan transaction, the steps needed to obtain corporate approval of such transaction given that certain board members who are also shareholders will benefit from it, and structuring, negotiating and documenting these types of transactions. The course will also examine the critical role certain provisions of the credit and security agreements for the loan play following the loan closing when serious problems and potential events of default arise leading to a restructuring of the original loan. Finally, the course will consider various ways a troubled loan can be restructured either through an out-of-court consensual transaction or a Chapter 11 restructuring. The course grade will be based on class participation and graded drafting assignments. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. PREREQUISITE OR CO-REQUISITE: Corporations. Contract Drafting is recommended, but not required. NOTES: This course counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement and also 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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 784 A1 , Jan 18th to Apr 18th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Steven B. Levine |
Transactional Contracts: Drafting and Analyzing Transactional Agreements under U.S. Law (for foreign-trained LL.M. students): LAW AM 719
3 credits
This course is for foreign-trained LL.M. students. It teaches students basic principles and skills of drafting and analyzing commercial and transaction agreements under U.S. state laws, with a focus on recognizing, and addressing through contractual provisions, key business issues in transactions. While the course utilizes lectures and class discussion to introduce and explain the use of various contract concepts and techniques essential for drafting and reviewing commercial and transaction agreements, it also requires that students complete both in-class exercises and out-of-class assignments as a means of building basic drafting skills and a solid understanding of the structure and operation of contractual provisions in a business transaction under U.S. law. The course also considers various ethical issues that may arise in the contract drafting and review process and in transactional practice generally. Grades will be based on class participation and graded drafting assignments. CLASS SIZE: Limited to 12 students. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. 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. 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.
Transfer Pricing and Supply Chains: LAW TX 979
2 credits
This course will focus on advanced transfer pricing aspects of business restructurings (including supply chain redesigns and intangible property movements). Students will have the opportunity to experience applying the concepts of Section 482, GILTI/BEAT/FDII (new TCJA provisions) and the OECD's BEPS initiative in international tax planning for complex cross- border operations. Through case studies and small group projects, we will bring legal, accounting, and economic disciplines together to discuss practical tax challenges faced by multinational enterprises in the evolving international tax framework.
Transnational Lending: LAW BK 958
2 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW BK 958 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Sandra Vrejan |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Sandra Vrejan |
Trial Advocacy: LAW JD 894
3 credits
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.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 894 A1 , Sep 6th to Dec 6th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 6:00 pm | 8:50 pm | 3 | Angel Kelley | LAW | 512 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | Katz |
Trusts, Wills & Basic Estate Planning: LAW JD 871
4 credits
This course explores the basic law surrounding the disposition of property at death: (1) overview of the estate planning process and the policy considerations regarding inheritance law; (2) the process by which property is distributed in the absence of a will (intestacy); (3) the law of wills, examining challenges to a will, formal requirements for the execution of a valid will, revocation, and construction; (4) will substitutes and planning for incapacity; (5) the law of trusts, including revocable and pour-over trusts, and creditor and beneficiary rights; (6) brief coverage of powers of appointment, perpetuities, spendthrift, and charitable trusts. This course does not address in detail tax-motivated estate planning.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 871 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue,Thu | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 4 | David J. Seipp | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon,Wed | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 4 | Racki |
US and International Tax Policy: LAW TX 987
2 credits
Understanding the policy drivers that underlie the formation of tax rules is a valuable asset for a tax advisor. Knowledge of the technical rules can become dated as laws and regulations change, but a sophistication about the policy drivers will remain relevant throughout a tax career. This course will help a student to develop instincts about how the rules are most likely to work, and to evolve. In most cases, there are limited policy design choices available to legislators, and an observer can see repeating patterns in history and across various countries. This course, with an emphasis on debate and discussion, will provide an overview of the policy objectives and the political drivers that commonly shape the formation of tax laws. There are no prerequisites for this course.
US Transfer Pricing: LAW TX 951
2 credits
This course examines the US transfer pricing system. A close reading of the Code and regulations will be expected as well as a detailed consideration of the major transfer pricing decisions. There is no other assigned text. The theme of this course is to bring students to an understanding of how the law has developed in this area focusing closely on the interplay between case law and regulatory enactments. Students should expect to encounter a reasonable amount of supporting economic and accounting analysis as they work their way through the course, and come to an appreciation of how this area of the tax law relies considerably on the blending of these three analytical perspectives.
FALL 2023: LAW TX 951 A1 , Sep 7th to Dec 7th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thu | 6:30 pm | 8:30 pm | 2 | Richard Thompson Ainsworth | LAW | 212 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Richard Thompson Ainsworth |
Whistleblower Law & Practice (S): LAW JD 919
3 credits
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.
White Collar Crime: LAW JD 854
3 credits
The purpose of this Course is to teach present-day white collar crime practice. The course will review: (i) the theoretical bases of modern white collar criminal prosecution; (ii) the major statutes used by prosecutors, including mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, bribery and extortion, obstruction of justice, perjury, and RICO; and (iii) the procedural aspects of white collar crime such as grand jury, attorney/client privilege, and sentencing. Students will learn the prosecutorial and defense techniques employed in significant recent white collar cases. Upon successful completion of the course, students will be familiar with the statutes, procedures, and legal analyses employed by prosecutors and private lawyers in white collar criminal practice. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. OFFERING PATTERN: This class not offered every year. Students are advised to take this into account when planning their long-term schedule.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 854 A1 , Jan 16th to Apr 25th 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wed | 4:30 pm | 7:30 pm | 3 | David D’AddioSeth Kosto |
World of Limited Liability Companies: LAW TX 991
2 credits
LLCs have become the most popular entity for businesses. They are used in estate planning, joint ventures by large corporations, investment vehicles, small businesses, mergers and acquisitions, international transactions, operating businesses and individuals. This is a hands on course with lots of problem solving, drafting suggestions and practical approaches to dealing with these LLCs (emphasis on Subchapter K) within whatever tax discipline you practice. Co-requisite: Partnership Tax I
Writing for Legal Change (S): LAW JD 908
3 credits
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.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 908 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 10:40 am | 12:40 pm | 3 | Hodo Walker |
Writing for Tax Practice: LAW TX 992
2 credits
This course will focus on teaching students how to write client letters, internal memoranda, responses to IRS IDRs, and other documents common in tax practice. Students will be required to do multiple drafts of each assignment to allow for feedback and improvement on student writing. Additionally, there will be an emphasis on understanding the different audiences for each assignment (client, tax partner, government authority, etc.) and the relevant considerations in writing to each audience. Students will also be required to research and write the client letter and supporting memorandum in response to the problem set issued by the ABA Law Student Tax Challenge (submission to the competition is optional).
FALL 2023: LAW TX 992 A1 , Sep 11th to Dec 4th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 4:20 pm | 6:20 pm | 2 | Kevin Wall | LAW | 101 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ARR | TBD | TBD | 2 | Kevin Wall |
Wrongful Convictions Practicum: LAW JD 902
2 credits
THIS CLASS IS RESTRICTED to students who have formally applied to and been accepted to the Wrongful Convictions Practicum. Students have the opportunity to enroll for one semester or as a full year course (two semesters in same academic year). Students work on the cases of prisoners who claim an unjust result after either trial or plea. Practicum students assist with screening new applications from prisoners seeking relief, and aid the instructor in representing one to two incarcerated clients. Students review attorneys' files, pleadings, transcripts of trials and other court proceedings, and judicial decisions with the goal of identifying potential areas of investigation and legal research that may lead to a motion for a new trial or other post-conviction relief for an incarcerated client. Students will also meet with these clients and potentially with witnesses. In addition to this case field work, students meet in weekly seminars with the instructor. NOTE: The Wrongful Convictions Practicum counts toward the 6 credit Experiential Learning requirement.
FALL 2023: LAW JD 902 A1 , Sep 5th to Dec 5th 2023Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:30 pm | 6:00 pm | 2 | Ira Gant | LAW | 410 |
Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tue | 4:30 pm | 6:00 pm | 2 | Ira Gant |
Youth and the Law (S): LAW JD 895
3 credits
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 a simple reading quiz in lieu of reaction papers. In the middle portion of the course, we will use fishbowl debates and other rapid team work to develop and unpack frameworks underneath youth law. 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, quizzes, presentations, and a paper. UPPERCLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may not be used to satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This seminar does not offer the CR/NC option.
SPRG 2024: LAW JD 895 A1 , Jan 22nd to Apr 22nd 2024Days | Start | End | Credits | Instructors | Bldg | Room |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | 2:10 pm | 4:10 pm | 3 | Katharine B. Silbaugh |