Considers selected issues concerning judicial review, federalism, separation of powers, and individual rights.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

Provides training in legal research, legal writing, oral advocacy, client interviewing, and client counseling through simulations of real-world legal disputes.

Provides training in legal research, legal writing, oral advocacy, client interviewing, and client counseling through simulations of real-world legal disputes.

This two-credit Legal Research and Writing seminar is required for LL.M. students in the American Law program and optional for students in the LL.M. programs in Banking and Financial Law and Taxation. It is specifically designed to introduce foreign lawyers to the basic principles of American legal writing. In small class settings and individual conferences, students receive guidance on drafting and editing memoranda and agreements. Their work is critiqued and rewritten. The research component of the seminar trains students to locate cases, statutes and secondary material through indexing systems and the latest computer technology. Research assignments are integrated into writing assignments -- exposing students to the methods of US legal analyses -- so that by the end of the term, students obtain the skills needed to write memoranda appropriate for submission to US law firms.