Isaac Borenstein

Examines the structure and function of civil procedure and the requirements of due process of law.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Principles of civil recovery for injury, including strict liability, negligence, and the intentional torts, with emphasis on the social, economic, and moral underpinnings of the doctrines.

This course introduces LL.M. students to the procedural rules and constitutional principles governing the U.S. criminal justice process, from investigation through adjudication. Emphasizing process rather than substantive criminal offenses, the course examines the roles of police, prosecutors, defense counsel, judges, and juries, and the allocation of authority among them. Topics include searches and seizures, custodial interrogation, charging and pretrial procedures, bail and detention, discovery obligations, trial rights, plea bargaining, and sentencing, with a focus on Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment doctrine. Drawing on judicial experience, the course provides students with a practical understanding of how criminal procedure operates in American courts.