2013-2014 Catalog 
    
    May 03, 2024  
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2013-2014 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

 

Elective Courses

The law school makes all reasonable efforts to offer the following electives on a periodic basis but cannot guarantee that each course or seminar will be available to all students who wish to take it during their law school careers. More precise information on the courses and seminars that will be offered in a given semester, including those not listed here, is available from the registrar during the preregistration and general registration periods.
  

  • LAW - 711 Mergers and Acquisitions

    (3 hrs.)

    The application of the federal securities laws and state corporation laws to takeovers of corporations, mergers, tender offers, proxy contests, and open market and privately negotiated acquisitions of corporate control. Also includes an examination of the Williams Act and cases thereunder relating to third-party acquisitions of control; issuer repurchase programs; issuer tender offers; going private transactions; and fiduciary duties of incumbent management during takeovers. Current trends and techniques in takeover practice are emphasized. Prerequisites: Business Associations (LAW-611) and Securities Regulation (LAW-612). Connolly Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 727 International Banking

    (2 hrs.)

    The legal aspects of foreign exchange, eurodollars, international loan agreements, letters of credit, and aspects of U.S. and foreign banking supervision. Comizio Spring
  

  • LAW - 730 Land Use Planning and Practice

    (3-4 hrs.)

    The law of land use controls: Euclidian zoning, the role of the comprehensive plan, the urban planning process, variances, special exceptions, subdivision regulations, rezoning, nonconforming uses, growth controls, exclusionary zoning, inclusionary zoning remedies, civil rights challenges to zoning, permit moratoria, aesthetic zoning, historic districts, historic preservation, takings, inverse condemnation, due process challenges to zoning, and vested rights in zoning. The practice part of this course involves student presentations, moot court style, of several land use cases in simulated form before a hearing examiner. Burke, Delaney, Orens Fall
  

  • LAW - 736 International Contract Law

    (3 hrs.)

    A study of private and commercial contracts with an overview of practical problems of choice-of-jurisdiction and of choice-of-law will be given in a comparative approach of the private international law of countries from all continents. Topics include some substantive law provisions plus the conflict of law solutions to several problems. Analysis will be performed of contracts and enforcement of judicial and arbitral decisions. Mattar
  

  • LAW - 736A International Contract Law: Technology Licensing Agreements

    (3-4 hrs.)

    This course examines transactions granting the right to use intellectual property rights and their assignment in cross-border business dealings. The course will explore international law of international agreements in general, and then progress to the international and comparative law treatment of contracts relating to the exploitation or the transfer of intellectual property rights. Examples of brand-licensing and of authors’ copyright agreements will be given. The main focus will be a detailed analysis of the transfer of technology in patent licensing agreements and assignments of patents. The course gives ample attention to problems of strategy, valuation and negotiation. The last two classes are built around a negotiation exercise in which students create a mock licensing instrument. Erauw Summer
  

  • LAW - 749 White-Collar Crime

    (2 hrs.)

    An examination of the substantive law of white-collar crime, as well as the practice, procedure, and strategy concerning federal white-collar criminal investigations and prosecutions. Topics include the definition of and theory behind white-collar crime; investigative techniques used to combat white-collar crime; grand jury law and practice; prosecutorial discretion; plea bargaining; grants of immunity, entrapment, privileges, and other common defenses; charging decisions and drafting of indictments; sentencing and the goals of punishment; and substantive law topics including conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, bribery and public corruption, false statements, perjury, obstruction of justice, computer and Internet fraud, and money laundering. Eliason, Sklamberg, Tenney Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 750 Special Education Law

    (3 hrs.)

    Teaches how to resolve disputes arising under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) through mediation and due process procedures. Current issues in special education law are analyzed. These include the definition of an appropriate education and the concept of least restrictive environment (LRE). DuBow Fall
  

  • LAW - 763 Financial Institutions

    (2 hrs.)

    An overview of current changes in the relative roles of financial institutions (banks, savings institutions, securities firms, and other financial intermediaries) and the implications of those changes on the regulation of financial institutions. Particular attention is given to existing statutes, proposed legislation, and causes for the breakdown of the compartmentalized system of financial institutions. Comizio Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 773 Law and the Regulation of Science

    (3 hrs)

    Science and the fruits of scientific research play a fundamental role in the modern legal system: from the use of scientific evidence in the courtroom to regulation based on scientific findings to the ownership and exploitation of scientific discoveries. This course will explore the multifaceted relationship between science and the law, examining the ways in which scientific reasoning and the scientific method have been applied, and misapplied, to legal and policy decisions over the years. Throughout the course we will consider the differing standards for scientific and legal inquiry and whether or not these standards have proven to be compatible. In considering these questions we will analyze pivotal science-based legal decisions from a diverse selection of disciplines, beginning with the infamous trial of Galileo and including an analysis of the evolving standards for scientific evidence in the courtroom, the difficulty of proving causation in toxic torts, the regulation of hazardous substances, the balancing of personal liberty and public health, determining when a drug is safe enough to market, attempts to define fundamental aspects of the human condition, the debate over evolution in public schools and the legal and ethical issues arising from the mapping, and patenting, of the human genome. We will also explore the means by which scientific inquiry itself is fostered and regulated in the United States and abroad, covering topics including the recent policy debates over human cloning and embryonic stem cell research, as well as scientific misconduct, fraud, bias and the politicization of the scientific debate. Contreras Fall
  

  • LAW - 779 Trade Secrets

    (2 hrs)

    This course considers the law and theory of the most ubiquitous form of intellectual property protection-trade secrets. Trade secrecy can protect a much wider range of information than other forms of intellectual property (including formulas, recipes, and customer lists). The course will cover trade secret protection and the related tort of misappropriation in the employment context, because it is within that context that trade secret litigation often arises. Thus, the course will examine issues such as non-competition agreements, confidentiality, and the inevitable disclosure doctrine. Additionally, we will be discussing the increasing importance of trade secrecy for international actors. To facilitate this, we will study comparative approaches to trade secret protection (particularly Mexico, China, EU, and Japan), in addition to the U.S. approach. J. Anderson Fall
  

  • LAW - 782 Family Law: Children of LGBT Parents Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Examines some of the most cutting-edge legal issues in family law. Specifically, the course covers the following: how to define a parent and what constitutional rights parents have; custody and visitation issues arising for children born within heterosexual marriages when a parent later comes out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender; family formation through adoption, foster parenting, sperm and egg donor insemination, and traditional and gestational surrogacy; whether/when the marital presumption of parentage applies to same-sex spouses; interstate and federal recognition of parentage; and custody and child support disputes when same-sex couples split up. Students also study demographic and social science research on children with gay or lesbian parents; public opinion research about lesbians and gay men raising children; arguments about the well-being of children that have come up in litigation, legislative efforts, and ballot initiatives about same-sex marriage and parenting; and international/comparative law on LGBT parents. Students follow pending litigation and legislation. Polikoff Fall
  

  • LAW - 788 Federal Regulatory Process

    (3 hrs.)

    An overview of the regulatory process of government administration, including the rationale for regulatory programs and reasons for ending or deregulating them, how and why Congress creates or abolishes agencies, how agencies administer their statutory programs, and alternatives to traditional regulations. Students are introduced to several government-wide procedural statutes, such as the Administrative Procedure Act and the Freedom of Information Act. A unique element of the course is the participation of more than 20 guest lecturers from the legislative and executive branches, trade associations, and the private and public interest bars. The practical aspects of the regulatory process are emphasized. Edles, Eisner,Nelson Summer
  

  • LAW - 789 International Commercial Arbitration: U.S. and Comparative Perspectives

    (3 hrs.)

    Analysis of the practical legal problems that arise in the arbitration of international commercial disputes. Drafting of arbitration agreements, selection of arbitral procedures and forums, and enforcement of arbitral awards as they arise under both domestic law (in U.S. and other major arbitration forums) and international law. Chuang, Naon, Frutos-Peterson Spring
  

  • LAW - 789S Introduction to the Practice of International Commercial Arbitration

    (1 hr)

    designed as an introduction to the general theory and practice of international arbitration. The course includes an overview of the different institutions and rules of arbitration, institutional and ad-hoc arbitration, when to arbitrate and when to litigate, how to draft an arbitration clause, jurisdiction and powers of the arbitration tribunal, regulation of the arbitration process and enforcement of arbitral awards from a theoretical standpoint. The course also provides an introduction to the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards. Summer
  

  • LAW - 804 Islamic Law

    (2 hrs.)

    Focuses on the origins of Islamic law, its sources, and the various schools of jurisprudence. Students will consider several substantive areas of Islamic law, including constitutional law, contract law, tort law, property law, banking law, crime and punishment, family law, and successions and wills. Mattar Spring
  

  • LAW - 808 International Business and Human Rights

    (2 hrs.)

    Examines the policies underlying various regulations of transnational business practices designed to promote respect for internationally protected human rights and explores potential conflicts between those policies and corporate business objectives. Students also analyze the appropriate limits of restrictions on overseas corporate practices. Orentlicher, Gorove Spring
  

  • LAW - 809 The United States Trade Regime

    (3 hrs.)

    Provides thorough exposure to the U.S. trade regime. Course coverage includes the legal (including constitutional) framework underlying U.S. participation in trade initiatives; the practical realities of power-sharing in the trade field between the political branches of the U.S. government; the relationship between international obligations and U.S. law in the trade field; the limited but important role of the U.S. judiciary in adjudicating trade matters; the basic U.S. statutory and regulatory frameworks for regulation of imports and exports, as well as export promotion; the process by which discretionary determinations occur day-to-day in the many areas of trade regulation that are not tightly governed by law; and various federal-state issues in the trade field arising from the federal structure of the United States. While substantive WTO law is not included, the course does focus significant attention on U.S. implementation of WTO norms and commitments as well as U.S. participation, both offensively and defensively, in WTO dispute settlement proceedings. The course also covers several domestic U.S. laws and policies that are directly related to trade and concludes with a unit on practical aspects of advocacy work in the international trade field in Washington, D.C. Magnus, Nicely Fall
  

  • LAW - 810A Communications Law and Information Policy

    (2 hrs)

    This course provides a general overview of the legal and public policy issues in domestic regulation of the communications industry. Areas of study include broadcasting, satellite, telephone, wireless, and broadband services. Phillips Fall
  

  • LAW - 810B Communications Law and Economic Regulation

    (2 hrs)

    This course focuses on economic regulatory questions. It emphasizes policy issues involving access and entry, market structure and competition, and pricing in the regulation of broadcast and spectrum, cable television and video, telephone, and the Internet. J. Baker Spring
  

  • LAW - 811 U.S.-Israeli Law

    (2-3 hrs.)

    The Israeli legal system was initially based on the Common Law tradition, except in the area of personal law, where it derived from the Ottoman tradition. By the end of the twentieth century, the legal system in Israel developed into a Common Law system unique to the Israeli society, with some influences of the European civil tradition. The course compares and contrasts the American and Israeli systems. It focuses on the Israeli system, dealing with such issues as the presence of the constitution and the jury system in the U.S. and the absence of these characteristics from the Israeli system; the declaration of independence; the specialized court systems, such as the religious court system that is unique to Israel; the place of the judiciary in both systems; and other important differences. Summer
  

  • LAW - 814 The Law and Popular Culture

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Examines the way in which American law is depicted in American popular culture, specifically in mass marketed narrative film, “entertainment” television, mass journalism, and popular literary fiction. The class will focus on a few questions: (1) Why is the law such a common topic in popular culture? (2) What does the depiction of the law in our popular culture tell us about the law? (3) What does that depiction tell us about the mass culture? (4) What does it tell us about the way that the masses view the law (and how does it affect that view)? (5) What might lawyers do differently given the popular depiction of the law and lawyers? Niles, Phelps Spring
  

  • LAW - 815 Feminist Jurisprudence

    (3 hrs.)

    Provides students an opportunity to study the different strands of feminist theory. The course examines the relationship of law to the experiences of women situated differently in the world; the relationship of sex and gender as reflected in and influenced by law; cultural images of women and men that both shape and are shaped by the law; and institutional and social structures and practices that perpetuate inequality or subordination. The course also considers the interaction of feminist theories with other critical traditions, including Critical Race Theory, Social Theories of Power and Wealth, Cultural Studies, and Clinical Theory. Students may take the course for two or three credits, depending upon the scope of the project/paper they undertake. Shalleck Fall
  

  • LAW - 833 Regulation of International Capital Markets

    (2 hrs.)

    Provides an introduction to the operation and regulation of securities markets in the context of modern international transactions, with an emphasis on U.S. and EU securities markets. At the end of the course, it is expected that students will have a solid grounding in the international structures that increasingly harmonize securities regulation throughout the world; the nature of international securities transactions and the legal framework in which they function; modern financial instruments that function on a global basis; and the major issues and challenges faced by the international securities markets and regulators resulting from the globalization of the securities markets, such as hedge funds. Using this groundwork, students should be able to continue their studies in depth in the various subtopics of the regulation of international transactions which interest them. Symonds
  

  • LAW - 839 Sales

    (2 hrs.)

    Covers the rules and principles of Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 governing sales of goods. It serves as both a review of major principles from first-year contracts and an introduction to commercial law and the rights and liabilities of parties to sales contracts in contemporary commercial contexts. Students consider the scope and policy objectives of UCC Article 2 as they learn to apply provisions of the code to problems involving a wide range of issues such as contract formation, warranties, and performance obligations. This course covers some aspects of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and UCC Article 5 (letters of credit) to expose students to legal and logistical issues that arise as goods are bought and sold across national borders. The course also covers finance leases under UCC Article 2A (leases); engages students in distinguishing sales, leases, and secured loans; and introduces students to general principles and objectives of the UCC. Hughes, Snyder Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 840 Secured Transactions

    (3-4 hrs.)

    Examines Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 governing secured transactions. It covers the law regarding loans that are secured by personal property and introduces students to basic principles of finance. In addition to learning rules for creation, perfection, and priority of security interests, students consider social and economic effects of secured transactions domestically and abroad and the policies embodied by UCC Article 9. The course also provides exposure to types of secured transactions that are crucial to finance and to economic development, including project financing, equipment leasing, accounts receivable financing, mezzanine lending, securitization, and purchase money security interests. The course also covers general principles of bankruptcy law relating to UCC Article 9. No prior knowledge of business, finance, or economics concepts is required or expected. Students may not take LAW-615 if they take LAW-840. Hughes, Snyder, A. Jacobs Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 844 Advanced Environmental Law: Liability and Torts

    (3 hrs.)

    Focuses on advanced issues in liability under federal environmental law, particularly advanced issues in Superfund, and an extensive survey of common law issues of environmental torts. In addition, the course surveys issues of environmental federalism, including commerce clause and choice of law issues arising in environmental cases. Breen Spring
  

  • LAW - 845 Cultural Property Law

    (2 hrs.)

    Provides an introduction to the legal protection of historic sites and artifacts by examining the application of such federal statutes as NEPA, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, and the Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The issues studied include the preservation and management of historic sites, archeological resources, Native American artifacts, and historic shipwrecks; and criminal, civil, and administrative remedies. Blanco Spring
  

  • LAW - 846 E-Commerce Law and Drafting

    (2 hrs.)

    Focuses on the practical legal and drafting issues facing developers, licensors, licensees, and users of computer software, hardware, multimedia works, and on-line networks. Topics include drafting and modifying a variety of contracts and agreements; copyright, patent, and trade secret protection; licenses and warranties; roles and responsibilities of system operators and service providers; and the regulation of emerging technology of electronic commerce. Effross Spring
  

  • LAW - 847 Appellate Courts and Advocacy

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Covers appellate advocacy in civil cases, with an emphasis on federal courts. The bulk of the course is devoted to brief writing and oral argument techniques. Also provides an overview of appellate procedure, including jurisdiction, finality, the collateral order doctrine, interlocutory appeals, mandamus, standards of review, and issue preservation and harmless error. Bondy, A. Feldman, Gupta, Olderman, Shanker, Smith Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 849 Legal Drafting

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Has two primary focuses. First, it teaches the principles of preparing transactional (i.e., nonlitigation) documents. Students can expect to draft several contracts of varied length and subject matter. Second, the course provides opportunities for students to draft litigation pleadings, such as a complaint or an answer, to which they are not exposed in Legal Rhetoric (Legal Method). The emphasis is on hands-on exercises and individualized critique of student work. Prerequisite: Legal Rhetoric: Writing and Research I and II. Keith, Spratt, Risoleo, S. Shapiro Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 851 Global Warming: Law and Policy

    (3 hrs.)

    Examines one of the most critical air and atmospheric issues of our time: global warming or climate change. Related areas, such as transboundary air pollution and ozone depletion, are also studied. Goldberg, Rumsey Fall
  

  • LAW - 855 Patent Prosecution

    (2 hrs. )

    Focuses on the realities of the U.S. Patent Office and the specific issues relating to the preparing, prosecuting, and securing of a U.S. patent. The course is based on case law from the U.S. Supreme Court, Federal Circuit, Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and Patent Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. To prosecute patents properly and represent inventors before the U.S. Patent Office, knowledge of the above court decisions and how those decisions relate to each other in terms of similarities and inconsistencies is imperative. Prerequisite: Patent Law (LAW-688). Parisi Spring
  

  • LAW - 856 Corporate Finance

    (3 hrs.)

    Introduces fundamental concepts of corporate finance, the financing of corporate activities, and the basics of the internal capital structure of the corporation. The course focuses on the legal aspects of finance and capital structure. Prerequisite: Business Associations (LAW-611). K. Anderson, A. Jacobs
  

  • LAW - 858 Aviation Law: Domestic and International Aspects

    (2 hrs.)

    Examines the legal framework for the international aviation industry, including the relevant multilateral agreements; the current debate over the future of bilateral aviation agreements and U.S. “open skies” policies; economic and competition rules governing the industry; airline alliances and other commercial arrangements; and international aviation safety, security, and liability issues. Devall Spring
  

  • LAW - 861 Seminar: Economic, Social, and Cultural Human Rights

    (2 hrs.)

    A close examination of the content and enforcement of the rights to food, water, housing, education, health, “social security,” and work, grounded in the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. The course examines the increasing case law, both international and domestic, demonstrating the justiciability of these rights and the relationship of ESCRs to globalization and other economic issues. Wilson, Sutton Summer
  

  • LAW - 869 U.S.-Japanese Comparative Legal Systems

    (2 hrs.)

    Japan is the second largest economy in the world, a crucial provider of international assistance globally, an important U.S. strategic ally, and a country with legal traditions dating back thousands of years. For these and other reasons, the student will learn in this course that Japan is an important and deeply interesting legal jurisdiction for study. The course will begin with an overview of comparative law and provide an analytic basis for comparing U.S. and Japanese law. The course will proceed with a review of the historical background of modern Japanese law and provide an understanding of the historical role of law in Japanese society. The course will review major comparative areas of civil and criminal law and through frequent outside speakers provide insights into current legal reforms and issues, such as reform of the legal profession, adoption of a jury system for criminal trials, enforcement against organized crime and money laundering, mergers and other corporate practice issues. The student will take away important insights on why understanding Japanese law remains crucial in international business, foreign affairs, and the comparative law of Asia. J. Miller Spring
  

  • LAW - 870 Temas Especiales en Derecho Internacional

    (3 hrs.)

    Taught in Spanish, this course addresses sources and subjects of international law, the international responsibilities of states, peaceful settlement of disputes, and rights and obligations of individuals under international law. Open only to students who have not taken public international law in English or Spanish. C. Grossman, Martin, Rodriguez-Pinzon
  

  • LAW - 870B Litigation and Advocacy in Human Rights Law

    (2 hrs)

    This course offers diverse perspectives on international and domestic advocacy in human rights and the interaction between the two spheres, the role of NGOs and the importance of international mechanisms of supervision. It addresses the role of non-state actors in the development of international human rights law and the relevance of legal mechanisms and organs of adjudication in the work of the human rights activist. (taught in Spanish) Summer
  

  • LAW - 870C Domestic Implementation of Human Rights Law

    (2 hrs)

    This course provides, an extensive look into the problems that the implementation of international obligations presents for States. The first part of the course provides a general introduction to constitutional and international law regarding international obligations of implementation and its counterparts at the domestic level. The second part examines particular challenges of implementation of international human rights obligations. The third part focuses on judicial implementation of international human rights duties by different tribunals and judges in Latin America. (taught in Spanish) Summer
  

  • LAW - 872 Regulatory Law and Policy

    (2 hrs.)

    Considers business regulation as a way to address market failures, including natural monopoly, externalities, or problems arising from costly or asymmetric information. The course focuses on pros and cons of alternative strategies for dealing with each type of market failure, including rate (price) regulation, incentive regulation (price caps), entry regulation, and deregulation in favor of competition. Although the course will employ economic analysis to evaluate how well various regulatory strategies solve market failures, it will go beyond the economics to look at the political and legal constraints limiting agency discretion and the way those constraints have changed over time. It also will analyze the costs and benefits of alternative strategies for addressing distributional issues like lifeline rates and universal service. Summer
  

  • LAW - 879 Investment and Trade Law of the Middle East

    (2 hrs.)

    Designed to provide an overview of the commercial laws of the Middle East from an international and comparative perspective. The course will focus on the legal aspects of doing business in the Middle East. Key areas of discussion include substantive and procedural rules under foreign investment and trade laws, joint ventures and other legal forms of establishing economic enterprises, contract negotiation and drafting, oil concessions, construction contracts, franchising agreements, commercial agency, labor law regulations pertaining to employment of foreign employees, and tax exemptions. The course also will address intellectual property protection and the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in the Middle East. Mattar
  

  • LAW - 904 Law of Elections: Lobbying and Political Advocacy

    (2 hrs)

    Surveys the major sources of regulation applicable to political advocacy, from the tax rules covering nonprofit organizations to federal and state campaign finance rules, with a focus on recent Supreme Court decisions and their impact on future efforts to regulate in this area. Approaches to public financing of elections will be considered in light of these decisions. The course will also review special rules applicable to unions and the use of government ethics rules and other status-based restrictions will be considered. Finally, the course will consider more recent approaches to political regulation including shareholder rights, pay-to-play regulations, and FCC disclosure rules. Schadler, Trister Fall
  

  • LAW - 913 Trial Advocacy: Litigating in the High-Tech Courtroom

    (2 hrs.)

    Technology has introduced rapid changes in the way evidence is presented at trial. It is now well recognized that jurors, as well as judges, retain and are persuaded more effectively by visual information, rather than the spoken word. This course will explore through lecture, demonstration, and discussion the accumulation, organization, and presentation of proof in the digital world. This will include an examination of evidentiary and procedural rules as they relate to visual advocacy, computer technology, and digital graphics. Students will also prepare and present visual evidence using the evidence camera and PowerPoint graphics in various trial segments (opening, closing, etc.) based upon case files created for teaching purposes by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. Prerequisite: Evidence (LAW-633). Austrian, Pavsner Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 915 Ethics for Trial Lawyers

    (2 hrs.)

    This class will survey the ethical terrain for the litigator in both the criminal and civil context. The course will use case law, bar opinions and role play exercises developed by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) to allow students to identify ethical issues and resolve the issues through simulated exercises. This course is a practical, exercise driven course that sensitizes students to the common conflicts that arise in litigation, informs them of the rules that govern their conduct, and allows them to work through conflicts in a safe environment where mistakes are not costly to themselves or their clients. Prerequisite: Legal Ethics (LAW-550) or Professional Responsibility: Theory and Practice (LAW-551). Spring
  

  • LAW - 916 Law and Drug Policy

    (2 hrs.)

    Based on creative discussion of the legal aspects of drug policy. Course participants will use rigorous analysis to discern how legal principles have influenced efforts to control substance abuse and ways lawyers can play a positive role in policy development. Jurith Spring
  

  • LAW - 923A Employment Discrimination: A Case Model Approach

    (3 hrs.)

    Combines issues of employment discrimination (primarily Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) and trial skills. The course is for students who are interested in learning about the disparate impact and treatment theories of Title VII liability and applying Title VII principles to a litigation setting. Recommended but not required: Employment Discrimination (LAW-668), Evidence (LAW-633), Civil Procedure (LAW-501, LAW-502). Ugelow, Both
  

  • LAW - 923B Immigrants in the Workplace

    (2-3 hrs.)

    This course is designed to provide a comprehensive background in labor and employment law as it applies to immigrant workers in the United States. The development of this law and the exclusion of categories of workers from certain rights and remedies will be examined in the context of historical, political, and legal considerations. Particular attention will be given to the intersections between labor/employment law and immigration law. The course will focus on rights and remedies emanating from the following labor and employment statutes: the National Labor Relations Act and corresponding state labor statutes; the Fair Labor Standards Act; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (focusing specifically on national origin discrimination and English-only policies); the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and state workers compensation statutes. In discussing these statutes, the course will combine the “textbook” instruction of substantive labor and employment law with a discussion of real-life, strategic choices to be made in pursuing workplace rights for immigrants. The course will also examine contemporary issues relating to immigrants in the workplace, including employment verification systems and worksite immigration raids. Rathod Spring
  

  • LAW - 925 Intellectual Property Management

    (3 hrs.)

    Encompasses a broad range of disciplines, including copyright, trademark, trade secret, commercial, and contract law. Basic principles of intellectual property (IP) formalities, infringement, licensing, and the use of copyrighted material on the Internet are addressed in the context of the problems under discussion. The course considers topics through an organizational IP audit, economic, and transaction-based approach, rather than legislative and judicial analysis. Wimbly-Martin Fall
  

  • LAW - 927 International Trafficking in Persons

    (3 hrs.)

    Examines the legal issues related to the trafficking of persons from an international and comparative perspective. Topics include forced labor, the exploitation of immigrant females for domestic services, the sale of children and irregular intercountry adoption, and the sale of wives legalized by transnational marriages. Students will consider the international trafficking prohibitions of the various international conventions, analyze legislative texts of domestic trafficking laws of selected jurisdictions worldwide, and analyze the U.S. statutes prohibiting trafficking in human beings. Chuang Spring
  

  • LAW - 929 Advanced Legal Research and Writing: Introduction to Legal Scholarship

    (2 hrs.)

    Introduces students to independent research methods that provide grounding in student-level scholarly writing and assist students in producing a high quality research-based written paper. B. Kaufman, Postar Fall, Spring, Summer
  

  • LAW - 933 Civil Rights and Remedies

    (3 hrs.)

    Federal courts have for many years struggled with the use of factors like race, sex, and disability when crafting remedies for civil rights violations. When there has been discrimination against groups or persons based on race, national origin, sex, or disability, courts have had to use these factors when providing remedies for that illegal conduct. Normally, under the law, race, national origin, sex, or disability should not be a basis for determining whether a person gets a job, education, housing, or any other governmental or private benefit or service. When courts must craft remedies for discrimination that has denied people benefits or services based on race, national origin, sex, or disability, courts have had to take care in crafting such remedies so as not to affect other people unfairly based on their race, national origin, sex, or disability (or lack of disability). The course will discuss ever-changing legal landscape of the permissible uses of race, national origin, sex and disability in the context of current civil rights litigation in areas such as school desegregation, affirmative action, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, voting practices, and police misconduct, as well as laws regarding the treatment of persons with disabilities. M. Gross Fall
  

  • LAW - 967 Immigration Issues: Employment and Family

    (2 hrs.)

    Specifically addresses family- and employment-based immigration topics and provides students with an in-depth, practice-oriented look at both the issues and the procedures involved in handling family- and employment-based immigration cases. Lawrence Fall
  

  • LAW - 968 Trial Advocacy: Evidentiary Foundations and Objections

    (3 hrs.)

    A practical course designed to enrich students’ understanding of the Federal Rules of Evidence and their application in a trial setting. Through a series of in-class exercises, which simulate witness examinations, students will develop the skills to admit and exclude evidence at trial. The students play the roles of attorney, witness, and sometimes judge during in-class exercises. In addition, students will learn how evidentiary rules can be used strategically and how to reconcile ethical issues in the trial context. Prerequisite: Evidence (LAW-633), Criminal Trial Advocacy (LAW-694), or Civil Trial Advocacy (LAW-695). Boals, B. Miller, Bruckheim, Winfree Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 969 International Trade Law II

    (2 hrs.)

    The course builds upon what has been discussed in International Trade Law I by going beyond trade in goods to international trade in services (GATs) and trade aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). The focus of discussions will be the WTO system while regional trading arrangements will be in terms of their relationship with the global trading system and can serve as focus for the papers. The latter part of the course focuses on the impact of international trade rules on governance (both domestic and global) including, but not limited to, its attempt to harmonize rules with emphasis on transparency in administration of trade regulation. It examines the conflicting values that the WTO system promotes (or is intended to promote), the different interests who seek to influence the WTO mandate and, given the legacy of colonialism, the implications of such efforts for North-South relations and global harmony. Ala’I Fall
  

  • LAW - 972 Bilateral Investment Treaty Arbitration

    (2 hrs.)

    The course will focus on current issues arising out of international arbitration within the context of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). Against the backdrop of actual arbitral decisions, the course will deal with substantive, procedural, and applicable law questions encountered in the handling of BIT arbitrations and with the contributions of this type of arbitration to the development of international law. Goodman, Brennan, Martin
  

  • LAW - 972S Investor-State Arbitration

    (1 hr.)

    Provides an overview of arbitration under Investment Treaties, including NAFTA (chapter 11) arbitration and ICSID Arbitration of Disputes. The course also addresses ‘hot topics’ in Investor-State Arbitration including transparency and third party participation, denial of justice and resort to local courts, provisional measures, parallel proceeding and diplomatic protection, substantive issues in annulment proceedings, proposals for appeal mechanisms and enforcement if awards. Summer
  

  • LAW - 973 International Sales

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Covers the many facets of international commercial sales of goods. The focus of the course is the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna 1980), generally known as the CISG, with comparisons to domestic systems in both the common law (especially Uniform Commercial Code Article 2) and the civil law. The class also covers the payment and credit terms typical in such sales, with particular attention to the laws and practices relating to letters of credit, as well as some treatment of security interests or reservation of title. The course addresses carriage of the goods and the risk of loss to them. Snyder Fall
  

  • LAW - 976 Business Immigration Law

    (3 hrs.)

    An in-depth review of the law, policies, and procedures regulating the entry of foreign nationals into the United States for employment purposes. Students will examine the various avenues and challenges under existing law for U.S. employers to hire and retain foreign national workers in light of periodic national personnel shortages, an increasingly global labor market, and pressures for legislative reform. Students will also familiarize themselves with the federal agencies which regulate the allowance of temporary and permanent immigration benefits in business, employment, and investment contexts and develop insight into the legal processes and procedures for obtaining those benefits. The course will also address related issues, such as post-9/11 security policies, undocumented workers, employer compliance with federal employment eligibility verification requirements, and, to a lesser extent, the intersection of immigration and employment law. Asaad Spring
  

  • LAW - 980 Advanced International Law and Peace Negotiations

    (3 hrs.)

    Provides students with an opportunity to explore the legal intricacies of peace negotiations, post-conflict constitutions, and war crimes prosecutions. The particular cases examined by students are constantly updated to ensure they are dealing with contemporary conflicts. Specific issues covered include ceasefires; human rights; refugee law; state structure; power sharing; fiscal devolution; demobilization and reintegration; reconciliation; international tribunals; peacekeeping; and self-determination. P. Williams Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 982S Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration

    (1 hr)

    Provides an overview of international commercial arbitration focusing on key issues: the different institutions and rules of arbitration, institutional and ad hoc arbitration, when to arbitrate and when to litigate, how to draft an arbitration clause, jurisdiction and role of arbitration tribunal, and regulation of the arbitration process and enforcement of arbitral awards. Summer
  

  • LAW - 984A Advanced Trial Advocacy: Homicide Prosecution

    (2 hrs.)

    Focuses on a prosecutor’s role in a homicide case from the discovery of the victim up to and through prosecution and sentencing of co-defendants. The course will expose students to the day-to-day work of local prosecutors and covers many essential skills and motions filed by prosecutors. Depending on the case file used for the course, students will gain an appreciation for societal issues such as gang violence and various prosecutorial strategies to combat these issues, including such means as specialized gang statutes and gang injunctions. Prerequisites for this course are Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and one of the following: Criminal Trial Advocacy, Civil Trial Civil Trial Advocacy or Criminal Justice Clinic. Acosta, Wennar Spring
  

  • LAW - 984B Advanced Trial Advocacy: Challenges and Obligations of the Prosecutor

    (2 hrs)

    This course seeks to give students an understanding about the daily responsibilities of a prosecutor and the typical challenges that prosecutors face in practice. Topics covered include what factors to consider when deciding whether to prosecute a case, responding to discovery requests, ethical obligations that are specific to prosecutors, and grand jury practice, as well as other prosecution related trial preparation and presentation issues Advocacy or Criminal Justice Clinic. Acosta, Wennar Fall
  

  • LAW - 988 Drafting Wills and Trusts

    (2 hrs.)

    The primary focus of this course is the drafting of dispositive documents, wills and trusts instruments. While substantive law will be considered to the extent necessary to put the drafting in context, the course will concentrate more on the skills of drafting to make the client’s intent clear, learning how to accomplish a testator’s or grantor’s goals through the drafting of documents. Abravanel Fall
  

  • LAW - 991 Drug Products Liability

    (3 hrs.)

    More product liability lawsuits are filed against prescription drug manufacturers than against all other industries combined. As one legal scholar put it, the pharmaceutical industry is now “in tobacco-land in terms of how much people hate it,” and drug product liability litigation is now a “growth industry.” This course will consider the theory and practice of such lawsuits before, and now after, the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Wyeth v. Levine (2009). At the outset, we will focus on the similarities and differences between such litigation and other product liability cases, using the “Phen-Fen” cases tried by the instructor as a model, and on the special context of FDA regulation. Students then consider the legal principles governing such lawsuits, such as inadequate warning; the learned intermediary doctrine; and medical causation. As part of each class, we will review the manner in which the controlling issues were presented to a jury using the edited record of a recent pharma products trial. The course will also consider the practical application of these doctrines, including the problems when doctors are witnesses; discovery strategies; and techniques to present complex information to juries. Grossi Spring
  

  • LAW - 993 Adoption Law Policy and Practice

    (3 hrs)

    Examines the current legal regime governing both domestic and intercountry adoption. It will also delve into historical and current policy debates in the field, and explore how the current practice of domestic and intercountry adoption adheres to, and deviates from, the purposes of the laws and regulations applicable to the field. The course will also explore issues of human rights and children’s rights, exploring whether current law protects the interests of the parties, and how adoption necessarily involves complex issues of class, race, gender, and economic disparities. This course is practical and valuable for those who wish to practice family law, as well as those who serve populations of women that would consider placing children for adoption, and international populations that might be at risk of exploitation. Maskew Spring
  

  • LAW - 994 Litigating in the Digital Age: eDiscovery

    (2 hrs.)

    This is a predominantly skills based course examining one of the identification, collection and production of electronically stored information (ESI) in litigation. The course will examine the legal parameters and the technology surrounding eDiscovery as it has been developed through the Federal Rules and associated judicial decisions. It will include mock sessions of client interviews concerning computer infrastructure; an examination of methods by which parties learn about the opposing party’s technical infrastructure and negotiate with opposing counsel on various eDiscovery issues; motions to compel, spoliation and sanctions; and ethical issues, privilege and the admissibility of ESI at trial. Austrian, Racich Fall, Spring

Elective Seminars

The law school makes all reasonable efforts to offer the following electives on a periodic basis but cannot guarantee that each course or seminar will be available to all students who wish to take it during their law school careers. More precise information on the courses and seminars that will be offered in a given semester, including those not listed here, is available from the registrar during the preregistration and general registration periods.
  

  • LAW - 700 Administrative Law and Regulations Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Selected problems of administrative law, covering both regulations and programs administered by various federal agencies. Vaughn, Popper Spring
  

  • LAW - 701 Advanced Issues in Criminal Law Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    An in-depth analysis of selected problems associated with the law of crimes. Robbins, B. Smith Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 704 Business Planning

    (3 hrs.)

    Covers the substance and practical applications of such areas of law as business associations, taxation, and securities regulation. Students will consider issues faced by business lawyers, including ethical and other professional responsibility concerns, in advising clients in the formation, financing, operation, and ultimate disposition of business entities. Particular attention will be given to the tax aspects of choice of entity, financing, and operational issues. Prerequisite: Business Associations (LAW-611). Recommended: a tax course (LAW-647 or LAW-639 or LAW-644) and Securities Regulation (LAW-612). Eule Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 705 Advanced Civil Rights Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    An analysis of contemporary constitutional problems in areas of civil rights and liberties. Prerequisite: Constitutional Law (LAW-503). Schwartz Fall
  

  • LAW - 706 Advanced Civil Procedure-Complex Litigation Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    Using statutes and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as tools in civil litigation. Topics covered include strategy, purposes, and tactics of class action litigation; shareholder derivative suits; injunctions, temporary restraining orders, and stays; appealable orders, interlocutory appeals under 28 U.S.C. Section 1292 (b), writs of mandamus and prohibition; civil motions practice; judicial panel on multidistrict litigation; and award of attorneys’ fees to prevailing parties by statute, from a common fund or under Common Benefit Doctrine. Coleman, Karl Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 707 Advanced Constitutional Law Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Selected problems in constitutional law. Includes consideration of major recent decisions, as well as debates about modern constitutional theory. Raskin, Schwartz, Ahranjani, Wermiel Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 708 Advanced Criminal Procedure Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    Examines the historical development and practical impact of race and politics on the criminal justice system from initial street encounters with the police to the imposition of the death penalty. Selected case profiles, in-depth documentaries, and other materials are used to explore the problems of wrongful convictions and other miscarriages of justice. Students discuss and evaluate a variety of legislative and judicial reforms designed to eliminate and remedy the problems of racism in the criminal justice system. Davis, Jones, Roberts Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 710 Environmental Issues in Business Transactions

    (2 hrs.)

    Explores the real-world environmental problems that practitioners encounter in counseling clients pursuing transactions in the corporate, real estate, banking, and bankruptcy contexts. Prerequisites: Environmental Law (LAW-629) and Business Associations (LAW-611). P. Wallace
  

  • LAW - 712A Human Rights Litigation Clinical Seminar

    (2-4 hrs.)

    Provides students with the opportunity to participate in litigation involving myriad issues of law that synthesize and build on first-year doctrinal courses and require creative analysis and complex research. Work centers on several pro bono human rights cases, and students will draw upon torts, contracts, property, constitutional law, evidence, international law, civil procedure, federal courts, and criminal law, among other areas. Instructor permission required. Co-requisite: Human Rights Litigation Fieldwork (LAW-712B) Beydoun Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 713 Political Crime and Terrorism Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    Political crimes and terrorism, including treason, sedition, espionage, political dissent, civil disobedience, draft resistance, and political struggles of Native Americans, labor, and women; sociopsychological profile of the political offender; causes of political crime; governmental measures for the suppression of political crime and subversion, including surveillance, wiretapping, deportation, extradition, outlawing of political parties, detention camps, loyalty oaths, and conspiracy trials; and comparative and international aspects of political crime and terrorism. Kittrie Fall
  

  • LAW - 715 Disability and the Law Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Explores the ways in which the legal system deals (and has dealt) with people with disabilities in such areas as employment, education, housing, institutionalization, transportation, and health. Students look at historical and contemporary depictions of people with disabilities, case law, and statutes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988. Dinerstein Spring
  

  • LAW - 716 Environmental Litigation Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    The procedural, substantive, and tactical considerations in environmental litigation. Squire Spring, Summer
  

  • LAW - 717 Advanced Evidence Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Continuation of the basic evidence course. Addresses the subjects of judicial notice and presumptions but the primary focus is on the subject of privileges, with particular emphasis on the attorney-client privilege. Prerequisite: Evidence (LAW-633). Spring
  

  • LAW - 719 Selected Topics in Health Law Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    Considers legal, ethical, and public policy problems posed by developments in health care financing, allocation, and delivery. Seminar topics include bioethics, fraud and abuse in the health care industry, federal reform of health policy, health care dispute resolution, health care transactions, managed care, medical liability, health law legislative and regulatory process, and public health law. Fall, Spring, Summer
  

  • LAW - 719B Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Contracting and Compliance

    (3 hrs.)

    Examines health care fraud and abuse laws from the perspectives of health care contracting and health care compliance. Emphasis is placed on the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law and False Claims Act, but state law issues also are considered. In addition, the course reviews sanctions and governmental enforcement initiatives. Students apply health care fraud and abuse laws to sample health care contracts. The course also considers the complexities and challenges that arise in developing and maintaining an effective compliance program for health care organizations. Scielzo Fall
  

  • LAW - 719C Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions

    (2 hrs)

    Examines health care mergers and acquisitions by dissecting a transaction from start to finish. Emphasis is placed on the unique challenges of doing deals in the health care industry. Students apply the studied principles to sample transaction documents.
  

  • LAW - 720A Advanced Family Law Theory and Policy Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    An interdisciplinary examination of selected topics in family law from both theoretical and policy perspectives, with an emphasis on race, class, and sexual orientation. Topics include legal responses to changing family structures and alternative methods of reproduction, state regulation of intimate human relationships, state intrusion into family life through the child abuse and neglect and welfare systems, and the effect of constitutional doctrine on the regulation of the family. Polikoff Spring
  

  • LAW - 721 Law of the Sea Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Combines a traditional overview of the law of the sea with a focus on contemporary issues such as environmental preservation, fisheries management, public enjoyment, and resource exploitation. To achieve this balance, the course will explore a number of case studies, including the Spratley Island dispute involving China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines; the Caspian Sea hydrocarbon dispute; and the Malaysian-Indonesian dispute recently submitted to the International Court of Justice. Particular emphasis will be placed on the interrelationship between international law and policy, noting how law shapes policy outcomes and how policy choices shape the development of law. Orellana
  

  • LAW - 723 Current Issues of International Organizations Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Focuses on selected legal issues confronting international organizations, particularly the United Nations and regional agencies under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. Investigates a number of contemporary problems, including the rights and obligations of membership; privileges and immunities; peace and security questions (including the question of the use of force and of self-defense, dispute settlement methods, and enforcement techniques); the structural and procedural difficulties impeding the work of the United Nations; the work of the International Court of Justice and the role of international organizations regarding the protection of the rights of individuals. Orentlicher
  

  • LAW - 725A International Protection of Human Rights Seminar

    (2-3 hrs.)

    Explores the interrelationships between U.S. and international law; contested or ambiguous moral values; and U.S. foreign policy ends, means, and processes as they affect efforts to defend and promote human rights. The course is designed to provide information on the substantive norms of human rights, the philosophic basis for the concept of rights and the leading points of controversy about the existence or character of certain rights that appear in conventional enumerations, the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which ideological and material interests influence the definition and enforcement of rights, and the ways in which policy makers attempt to reconcile the demand for human rights enforcement with more traditional foreign policy objectives. C. Grossman, Martin, Rodriguez-Pinzon Spring
  

  • LAW - 725B Gender, Cultural Difference, and International Human Rights Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Examines the application of international law to religious and cultural practices that have an impact on women’s rights. The course focuses on the personal status laws governing rights in the family, legal capacity, and inheritance in a number of countries. Students consider concepts of culture in international law and the scope of laws protecting the right to engage in religious and cultural practices; concepts of gender equality in international law; and feminist analyses of the ways in which gender, race, class, and other factors intersect with religion and culture to shape women’s de jure and de facto rights, with an emphasis on analyses by women in developing countries and women of color in the United States. Students also look at concepts of cultural difference, race, and gender in approaches to the practice of female circumcision and the concept of moral consensus as a cultural construct underlying restrictions on lesbian and gay rights in the United States and Europe. Examples include Islamic law, Hindu law, customary law in selected African countries, Jewish law, and Christian law as reflected in Irish constitutional law and canon law as incorporated in various legal systems. Harris, SaCouto Spring
  

  • LAW - 725R International Justice for Human Rights Violations

    (2 hrs)

    This course explores human rights accountability from different angles. First, the course examines the development of amnesty laws under international human rights law, the duty to investigate and prosecute, and the interaction between domestic and international human rights principles and procedures. Second, the course explores the advantages of universal jurisdiction. The course addresses development of international criminal tribunals. Overall, this course will examine the historical evolution of the notion of human rights accountability, and the related tensions between the pursuit of justice and realpolitik. Brody, Andersen Summer
  

  • LAW - 726 International Financial Institutions Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    Study of the principal international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Levinson Fall
  

  • LAW - 729 Wrongful Convictions: Innocence and the Criminal Process

    (2 hrs.)

    Focuses primarily on the work of students participating in the Innocence Project; however, other students are welcome. Students will consider the methods of challenging criminal convictions and the resources currently available. They will focus on the methods of criminal investigation, the use of forensic evidence, the weaknesses of eyewitness identification, the problems of jail house informants, and the importance of narrative in challenging criminal convictions. The seminar also will explore the cause and effect of wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system and the current debate regarding the significance of the number of wrongfully convicted people who have recently been exonerated. Gilbert Fall, Spring
  

  • LAW - 731 Real Estate Planning Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Examines business planning and workouts for real estate transactions and contract, corporate, tax, bankruptcy, and real property law. The course is conducted through the problem method, with all problems centering on commercial transactions involving shopping centers, office buildings, or subdivisions. Burke, Horowitz Spring
  

  • LAW - 732 The Law of Sentencing, Sanctions, and Corrections Seminar

    (2 hrs.)

    The philosophy and practices of sentencing and corrections: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, the death penalty, corporal punishment, imprisonment, fines, probation, and innovative alternatives; sentencing criteria and practices; women, juveniles, and other special classes of offenders, including the insane, alcoholics, drug addicts, corporate offenders, draft resisters, political dissidents, and sexual psychopaths; a review of the institutions responsible for carrying out penal sanctions-prisons, mental institutions, and juvenile facilities; and practices of foreign countries. Kittrie Spring
  

  • LAW - 737 International Institutions and Environmental Protection Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Environmental protection is promoted by many international institutions yet inhibited by others. This course examines the organizations including the UN, NGOs, and regional and transnational corporate institutions. Trade institutions also are examined. Special emphasis is given to the new Sustainable Development Commission and other institutions relevant to the recent UN Conference on Environment and Development. Hunter
  

  • LAW - 738 International Courts Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Considers the role of international courts in developing international law. Students study the evolution and structure of international courts and arbitral tribunals and examine how those bodies discern and apply principles of substantive international law. Particular reference will be made to traditional sources in international law, such as treaties, custom, general principle of law, and secondary sources. Heywood Fall
  

  • LAW - 739 Advanced Human Rights Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Analysis of the protection of basic rights during emergency situations and noninternational armed conflicts; the concept of public emergencies and the permissible derogations under U.S., Council of Europe, OAS, and Geneva conventions; special norms concerning due process; country studies; the role of nongovernmental organizations; supervisory and remedial machinery at the universal and regional levels; methods and proposals for fostering greater state compliance with basic human rights during emergency situations. Goldman
  

  • LAW - 739A Human Rights and Terrorism Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Examines the impact that key laws and policies adopted in the US and other countries after the 9/11 attacks have had globally on the rule of law, international human rights and, where applicable, international humanitarian law, (the law of armed conflict). Among the topics that students will explore are: Can respect for human rights actually assist counter-terrorism efforts? Are past experiences with terrorism relevant to the contemporary terrorist threat? Should terrorist suspects ever be subjected to torture? What are the significance and consequences of the US War on Terror? Have the enhanced powers of intelligence services world-wide and intelligence sharing contributed to serious human rights violations, such as torture? What impact have counter-terrorism measures had on the civilian justice system? Should military or special courts try terrorist suspects? The assigned reading are global in scope, drawing on cases from, inter alia, the US, the United Kingdom and human rights treaty bodies, such as the European Court of Human Rights, and the reports and publications of Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and other respected NGOs. Goldman
  

  • LAW - 739B Ethnic Identity and International Law Seminar

    (3 hrs.)

    Considers the ways in which international law and international organizations have been and could be utilized to address ethnic and national tensions. The course examines pertinent international legal standards and machinery, including human rights standards prohibiting discrimination and relevant implementation machinery; standards and experience with the use of “hate laws” to repress racial and ethnic hatred; criminal law and procedures relating to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; and legal standards related to the rights of indigenous peoples. Students will explore international laws concerning the cultural and political rights of distinct communities within a nation and the resulting conflicts; principles of humanitarian law and intervention governing situations of national, ethnic, and clan conflict; humanitarian responses to situations of massive displacement caused by such conflict; and the impact of ethnic- and nationalist-driven independence movements on international law related to the recognition of states and the right to self-determination. Orentlicher
  

  • LAW - 739C European Human Rights Law

    (2 hrs)

    Reviews the individual petition system and mechanisms for supervision of state obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), including the functioning of the European Court of Human Rights and the role of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in supervising the enforcement of the Court’s judgments of the Court. The course focuses on the role of legal practitioners in the implementation and application of this regional treaty and analyzes the extent to which norms of international human rights have penetrated the domestic law of the state parties to the ECHR. Summer
  

  • LAW - 739D Women and International Human Rights Law

    (2 hrs)

    This course addresses the challenges of achieving the international legal protection of the human rights of women. It reviews how international and regional human rights conventions, especially the American Convention on Human Rights, have been applied to prevent, punish and remedy the violations of women’s rights in different tribunals. It examines how the norm of the prohibition of all forms of discrimination against women has been applied, and how it might be more effectively applied in particular sectors. It explores how feminist theories, empirical data, and narratives might be used to expose women’s experiences of injustice. The course aims to go beyond a formalistic understanding of international legal obligations in order to examine different approaches to fostering compliance with the human rights of women in different cultures and religious traditions. Summer
  

  • LAW - 739S Human Rights and Development

    (2 hrs)

    these fields in theory, applied research and practice. Many bilateral and multilateral aid organizations, non-governmental organizations and development, workers now profess to implement “rights-based approaches” to development, which have been welcomed in some sectors, but not all. There will be a strong institutional focus to the course, with a close look at the roles and functions of United Nations development agencies, international development and financial institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, transnational corporations and business entities, set against political debates on human rights and development in inter-governmental bodies. Finally, consideration will be given to accountability mechanisms at global, national and local levels, where innovative and practical synergies between human rights and development might be identified. Summer
 

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