Course Descriptions
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E
Election Law
LAW 727
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. After the presidential election of 2004, Ohio’s electoral system became a matter of national and international controversy. In this course, we will study the basic federal constitutional and statutory law governing elections, but we will move beyond this foundational material into the cutting edge policy and legal issues for achieving fair elections while devoting special attention to Ohio.
This course will be somewhat unusual, for we will not only seek to cover the basics for navigating in the field legally and administratively, but will also strive to stay current on the dynamic judicial and administrative developments concerning the conduct of elections in Ohio. Topics will likely include: legality of requiring Ids at the polls to vote; problems with new touch screen voting machines that are arguably susceptible to hacking and pre-programmed results; methods of “redistricting” (boundaries for legislative districts); voter registration issues, including improper “purging” (deletion) of voters from the rolls; accountability for county and state election officials; paucity of State administrative enforcement of Ohio’s elections law; regulating money in political campaigns, among many others. What is the governing law, if any, on these subjects? Who makes the policy decisions governing elections and enforces them? If Federal or State election law appears to have been violated, who are appropriate parties and what actions can lawyers undertake? Is effective administrative agency review available? Under what circumstances is State or Federal judicial involvement available and with what caveats? The course will satisfy the administrative law requirement, and a few students may elect to satisfy the upper level writing requirement as well.
Course requirements: (1) experiential learning component of at least 6 hours (volunteer or paid capacity), which can be for a candidate, political party, or county board of election; for a civic organization focused on elections (e.g., Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition or League of Women Voters) or for the Center for Election Integrity; and (2) a final exam, research paper, or a policy brief/amicus brief. The instructor cannot supervise more than 6 research papers, however, and preference will be given to those who want to work on Ohio or other State election law/administration topics. If the Center should seek to file an amicus brief or administrative policy brief on a pending election law or policy issue, those in the primary work groups(s) can use their submissions requiring research and writing to satisfy the final exam/brief requirement.
Election Law Seminar
LAW 728
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Election Law, LAW 727, is recommended but not required. Focusing on advanced topics in Election Law, during Spring Semester 2009 the seminar will focus on researching, drafting, and justifying portions of a proposed Model Election Law Code. This work will entail traditional legal research with analytic and critical thinking but will also require a variety of other skills and types of learning. We will interview election officials and advocacy organization representatives, political party officers (major and minor parties), and other to identify not only the persistent problems in Ohio and other states’ conduct of 21st century elections but also their proposals for legislative reforms. We will read widely, drawing from law, political science, public and business administration (including accounting), and history. We will also review a variety of states’ and other nations’ statutory and administrative law governing the topical areas of greatest concern. We will consider to what degree U.S. elections should be governed by federal instead of state law.
Each student will select a particular topical focus for research and legislative development, work closely with the professor in developing the research and analysis, and in crafting proposed legislative resolutions with an accompanying memorandum. All students will read and critique other students’ proposals using a wiki, and will participate actively in seminar discussions. Students are also required to undertake some practical work in election administration, totaling at least 8 hours, and write a short evaluation of the experience.
Employee Pension and Benefits (ERISA) Law
LAW 685
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. Pension and benefit funds are currently the largest single source of capital in the nation (over $3 trillion). Their collection, administration, distribution, and other key aspects are regulated in private sector employers by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA provides complex tax and other incentives to businesses to create and administer pension and benefit funds. The course focuses primarily on ERISA and its impact on a host of employment and business-related problems, including collective bargaining, tax planning, multi-employer bargaining arrangements, mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, plant closings, layoff, bankruptcies, divorce and probate, preemption of state law, fiduciary relations, and fiscal policy.
Employment Discrimination Law
LAW 639
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. Formerly Fair Employment Practices Law. This course affords students an opportunity to delve deeply into the problems and legal solutions to employment discrimination, one of the most publicly contested areas of the law. While its primary focus is Title VII, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and national origin, the course also examines the more recently enacted remedial statutes, particularly those proscribing age and disability discrimination. The course also explores sexual orientation discrimination, constitutional protections, 42 USC sections 1981 and 1983, and the Equal Pay Act. Students will master the substantive law of discrimination, the special procedural requirements for administrative claims, and the array of remedies available to aggrieved parties, including affirmative action. This course is a foundation requirement for the Employment and Labor Law Concentration. It is recommended that students planning to take the Employment Law Clinic take the course prior to or in conjunction with the Clinic. Beginning Fall 2009, satisfies administrative law requirement.
Employment Law
LAW 684AR/NA
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course functions as an introduction to the Employment and Labor field and , when listed as LAW 684AR, satisfies the Administrative Law requirement. It primarily focuses on the law governing the non-unionized workforce. Three broad areas of inquiry constitute its subject matter. First, we study the newly developing law often referred to as common law wrongful discharge, by which an employee can assert claims of unlawful termination of employment because the employer violated fundamental public policy, contractual provisions, duties imposed by tort law (which can result in defamation, intentional infliction, invasion of privacy, and fraud cases) or the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Second, we examine the duties the law imposes on employees that run to the benefit of the employer, including non-competition and the duty of loyalty. Third, we study several pivotal federal statutes that govern the workplace--the Fair Labor Standards Act (which includes minimum wage regulation), Family and Medical Leave Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and some limited attention to unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, and federal pension and benefits law (ERISA). Discrimination law is generally not covered in this course but in the Employment Discrimination course, LAW 639. Students may take either Employment Law, LAW 684AR or LAW 685NA, which does not satisfy the administrative law requirement because course coverage does not include a focus on the administrative process in the context of the statutory provisions, but not both.
Employment Law Clinic
LAW 802
(2-5 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; approval of the Clinic faculty; Employment Discrimination Law (LAW 639) or Employment Law (LAW 684) recommended (may be taken concurrently). Students, supervised by Clinic faculty, provide representation to real clients with employment cases in federal sand state court and administrative agency proceedings. Students participate at all stages of representation from client interviewing through settlement, trial and appeal. A weekly seminar is devoted to in-depth discussion of the cases (including case evaluation, strategy, legal, factual and ethical issues); and instruction in litigation and lawyering skills, using assigned readings, written assignments and simulations. Through both casework and the seminars, students learn such representation skills as: interviewing clients and witnesses, investigating facts, counseling, drafting pleadings, planning and conducting discovery, negotiation, motion practice, brief writing and oral argument. Normally, students enroll over the course of two semesters, registering for 3-5 credit hours each semester. With permission of Clinic faculty, may be taken for a third semester for additional credit hours. Satisfies project and/or advanced course requirement of Employment and Labor Law Concentration. Satisfies skills course requirement.
Employment Law Seminar
LAW 750
(2 or 3 Credits)
Prerequisites: RCC; additional pre- or co-requisites may be listed depending on the course focus. The Employment Law Seminar provides an opportunity to study a critical area of employment law in great depth. The specific topic may vary with the instructor and students should consult the New and Revised Courses information for the term in which the course is offered for information on the focus of the course in that term.
Students will be required to submit a substantial research paper for the course. Satisfies the upper level writing requirement.
Entertainment Law
LAW 636
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. Entertainment Law surveys the issues affecting performers, practitioners, and producers in the music, motion picture, television, theatre, print, and multimedia industries. Special attention will be given to those areas most predominant in the Cleveland metropolitan area. Issues such as copyright, licensing, contract, compensation, and impact of unions on the industry will be addressed.
Environmental Law and Regulation
LAW 671
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course will address both the substantive and procedural aspects of environmental law and regulation. It will include discussion of the common law grounding of environmental law, as well as analysis of several federal environmental laws, and their state counterparts. It will address the interactions of federal, state, and local law and regulation as they pertain to environmental compliance and enforcement , and will attempt to apply those laws in a practical way to case studies. Coverage may include aspects of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, and other pertinent federal, state, and local laws. Satisfies administrative law requirement.
Environmental Law in Business and Real Estate Transactions
LAW 649
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Corporations (LAW 692) or permission of the instructor. The course presents students with an understanding of how environmental issues affect business and real estate transactions, and gives students the tools to effectively identify, analyze, negotiate and address these issues in the transaction context. The course begins with an overview of environmental law and an examination of the anatomy and process of the “deal.” The balance of the course will consist of detailed discussions of specific types of corporate and real estate transactions, with each unit followed by in-class practical exercises. In these exercises, groups of students will assume roles as counsel to the various parties to, and stakeholders in, the transaction (e.g., buyer, seller, lender, regulatory authority, underwriter, etc.), and will be responsible for examining environmental issues, preparing a negotiation strategy, drafting or marking up relevant provisions, and negotiating the final deal terms.
Environmental Law and Policy Clinic
LAW 808
(2-4 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Environmental Law (LAW 671); permission of the instructor. The Clinic provides students with the opportunity to learn environmental law through practical experience including litigation support as well as participating in drafting legislation and reports on environmental needs and solutions in the greater Cleveland area and the midwest. Students provide legal support on environmental issues to citizens, environmental organizations, legislators and government officials. This includes investigation, counseling, research, drafting of legal documents, reviewing and drafting legislation, and negotiating. The Clinic is normally elected for four (4) credit hours but may, with permission of the instructor, be taken for 2 or 3 credits. Satisfies skills course requirement.
Environmental Law Seminar
LAW 711
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Environmental Law (LAW 671). Survey of legal problems involved in ameliorating the “environmental crisis.” Present and potential role of the law at local, state, national and international levels applied to pollution--air and water--and to disposal of solid and hazardous waste. Students may participate in currently pending litigation and legislation. Interested students should consult the New and Revised Courses information for the term in which the course is offered for information on the focus of the course in that term. Offered infrequently.
Estate Planning
LAW 689
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Tax I (LAW 607); Estates and Trusts (LAW 609); Wealth Transfer Tax (LAW 606). An analysis, primarily from a tax perspective, of basic devices used in estate planning, including maximum marital deduction formula clauses, revocable and irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, insurance trusts, grantor and beneficiary trustees, freezing estate values and valuation, inter-vivos gift giving and generation skipping transfers.
Estates and Trusts
LAW 609
(4 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course will include analysis and discussion of the law of wills, testate and intestate succession, testamentary capacity; the execution, revocation, and republication of wills; construction of wills, lapsed legacies, ademption and satisfaction of bequests; incorporation by reference and independent legal significance. Other topics include planning and creation of a trust; obligations of trustee to beneficiaries and third persons; rights and remedies of beneficiaries; resulting and constructive trusts; termination and modification of trusts; and problems in the administration of trusts, charitable trusts and cy pres.
European Union Law
LAW 568
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course will familiarize students with the legislative and judicial structure and functioning of European Union institutions, the fundamental characteristics of EU law, its methods and procedures. This knowledge is applied within a selective appreciation of substantive areas of law, generally including the economic and social law of the internal market, social policy, human rights, and environmental protection law. The course shows how the European Union law has been influenced by its historical, political, economic and social context, and how its ideals have developed from a purely economic agreement to a social and political union. Offered infrequently.
Evidence
LAW 661
(4 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. Relevancy; direct questions; cross-examination; opinion rule; best evidence rule; hearsay rule and its exceptions; inferences; presumptions; burden of proof; judicial notice; expert testimony; scientific and demonstrative evidence; Federal Rules of Evidence. Required for graduation.
Externships
PLEASE NOTE THAT MORE COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM AND SPECIFIC EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS CAN BE FOUND AT
http://www.law.csuohio.edu/academics/externships/externshipplacements.html
For the most current information concerning our externship offerings, please visit our Current Semester course and Exam Schedules webpage.
Judicial, LAW 815 (Fall or Spring: 6 Credit Hours; Summer: 3 or 5 Credit Hours)
United States Attorney, LAW 882 (Fall or Spring: 4 Credit Hours; Summer: 5 Credit Hours)
Government/Public Interest, LAW 817, (Fall or Spring: 4 or 6 Credit Hours; Summer: 3 or 5 Credit Hours)
Independent, LAW 805 (Fall or Spring: 4 or 6 Credit Hours; Summer: 3 or 5 Credit Hours)
Externships provide students the opportunity to learn the law outside of the classroom by participating in and observing the legal system in action while earning course credits. Students work in settings where, under close supervision of an attorney or judge, they contribute to the ongoing work of the office. Students have the chance to learn the law by being active participants in the legal process. Externs also get to observe legal proceedings—e.g., depositions, settlement conferences, trials—so that they receive broad exposure to the legal system. A key aspect of every externship is close supervision by an attorney or judge who will review and comment on the student’s work throughout the term so that the student hones professional skills and expands one’s understanding of professional responsibilities.
Externships are with judicial and governmental offices and other organizations that serve the public interest. Student work depends on the office. When working in a judge’s chambers, a student may research and write bench memos in preparation for hearings on cases or draft orders and opinions. In other offices they may conduct client or witness interviews, engage in discovery and document review, or other types of fact investigation. Brief descriptions are provided below. For more information see
http://www.law.csuohio.edu/academics/externships/Externshipplacements.html
Prerequisites: For any externship, a student must have substantially completed the RCC*, completed 29 credits and have a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.5 or better. Some externships have additional requirements, as noted. Please also note that some externships require background clearances that may take six weeks or longer. Placements that currently require this kind of clearance are the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chief Counsel Office, the U.S. Department of Justice Immigration Court, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Law Department. For these you need to apply well in advance of the term in which you wish to extern because you cannot begin your externship until you are cleared. The site supervisor makes the final decision approving students for the placement.
Credits: For every externship, a student must commit to work a certain number of hours and participate in the Externship Seminar. The number of credits you may receive depends on the semester and the externship placement. In the fall or spring 14-week term a student must commit to work 16 hours/week to receive 4 credits and 24 hours/week to receive 6 credits. In the 7-week summer term a student must commit 24 hours/week to receive 3 credits and 40 hours/week to receive 5 credits. Please see the specific terms and number of credits available under the listing for each externship below. Students may not receive compensation for their work as an Extern.
The Externship Seminar is taught by a full-time faculty member at the law school. Students submit weekly written journals and make a presentation about their externship experience. The course is graded Pass/Fail. This grade is based on four factors: completion of the required number of hours and assignments given by the site supervisor, the site supervisor's written evaluation of the extern's work, timely and thoughtful journal entries, and attendance and participation in the externship seminar including a presentation on the extern’s experience.
Third-year full-time and fourth-year part-time students may be eligible to represent clients in court. See our web pages on Ohio Supreme Court Legal Intern Certificate (for state court eligibility) and Federal Internship Rule (for federal court eligibility).
For more information about externships, contact Inga Laurent, Manager of Student Affairs at (216) 687-4596 or inga.laurent@law.csuohio.edu
Externship - Judicial
LAW 815
(Fall or Spring: 6 Credit Hours (24 hours/week); Summer: 3 Credit Hours (24 hours/week) or 5 Credit Hours (40 hours/week))
Students may work for a federal district court judge or magistrate, a federal appellate court judge, or a state appellate court judge. Students may only participate in one judicial externship experience during their law school career. Externs are integrated into the work of the chambers: writing bench memos, drafting opinions, researching issues during trials, observing settlement conferences and mediations. Students also have the opportunity to observe proceedings in the courthouse which may include trials, sentencing hearings or oral arguments. We also have externships with specialized courts, including The U.S Department of Justice Immigration Court and The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals.
For more information about a judicial externship, contact Inga Laurent, Manager of Student Affairs at (216) 687-4596 or inga.laurent@law.csuohio.edu
Externship - U. S. Attorney’s Office
LAW 882
(Criminal Division—Fall; Civil Division—Spring)
(Fall or Spring: 4 Credit Hours (16/hours/week); Summer: 5 credit hours (40 hours/week))
This placement is in the Cleveland office of United States Attorney. Students work in the Civil Division during spring semester and the Criminal Division during fall semester. Students will be introduced to the range of activities and types of cases, including appeals, handled by the division in which they are placed. For more information about this externship and the prerequisites, see
http://www.law.csuohio.edu/academics/externships/externshipplacements.html
Externship - Government/ Public Interest
LAW 817
(Fall or Spring: 4 Credit Hours (16 hours/week) or 6 Credit Hours (24 hours/ week); Summer: 3 Credit Hours ( 24 hours/week) or 5 Credit Hours (40 hours/ week))
The Government/Public Interest externships are placements with public interest, governmental, nonprofit or for-profit entity (but not a law firm engaged in the private practice of law). These externships are in numerous subject areas: civil, criminal, education, health, immigration, labor/employment, and tax. They are also in wide variety of types of legal practices: litigation, in-house counsel, court. During an externship a student may have the opportunity to delve into substantive areas of law, investigate claims, research and write motions or briefs, draft contracts, and participate in hearings, observe trails, settlement conferences, and negotiations. For more information about our current externship placements, students should refer to the externship placement website:
http://www.law.csuohio.edu/academics/externships/externshipplacements.html
Students interested in an externship placement not listed above should see the following section on Independent Externships (LAW 805).
For more information about a government or public interest externship, contact Inga Laurent, Manager of Student Affairs at (216) 687-4596 or inga.laurent@law.csuohio.edu
Externship - Independent
LAW 805
(Fall or Spring: 4 Credit Hours (16 hours/week) or 6 Credit Hours (24 hours/ week); Summer: 3 Credit Hours (24 hours/week) or 5 Credit Hours (40 hours/week))
The Independent Externship allows a student to propose externing in an office where we previously have not had an externship. The student is responsible for the following: (1) finding a placement in a government, public interest, nonprofit or for-profit legal environment (but not a law firm engaged in the private practice of law). Generally, students are not permitted to arrange an externship with a judge with whom we do not have an existing relationship. There have been some exceptions made for this rule, for instance where a student wants to extern with a judge outside the greater Northeastern Ohio area; (2) arranging for an attorney at the site to supervise directly his or her work; and (3) submitting a written proposal for the externship to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
The decision as to whether a proposed placement meets the goals, objectives and requirements of a Cleveland-Marshall externship shall be within the discretion of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Applications consist of a proposal conforming to the Independent Externship Proposal Guide and must be submitted 30 days prior to the initial registration date for the term in which the student wishes to enroll for the externship. The Independent Externship Proposal Guide is available online at:
http://www.law.csuohio.edu/academics/forms/documents/independentexternshipproposalguide.pdf
F
Fair Housing Clinic
LAW 886
(4 to 8 Credit Hours; 1 or 2 Semesters)
Prerequisites: RCC*, Evidence LAW 661 (may be taken concurrently); completion of 45 semester credit hours; permission of the instructor. The Housing Advocates, Inc., operates a Fair Housing Law Clinic in cooperation with Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Students in the clinic will work on fair housing cases referred from a number of fair housing organizations in Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Portage, Stark and Columbiana counties. The cases will be in both state and federal courts. Under Ohio Supreme Court Rule II students who have earned 60 semester credit hours will be eligible to participate in state court proceedings as Legal Interns. Under U.S. District Court Local Rule 83.6, students who have completed 45 semester credit hours will be eligible to participate in federal court proceedings as Legal Interns with permission of the Judge. Satisfies skills course requirement.
Fair Labor Standards Act Seminar
LAW 739
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course will provide students with a thorough understanding of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”), the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act (“OMFWSA”) (the FLSA’s Ohio Counterpart), and the practical and tactical use of these laws in litigation. While the course will focus on the historical and substantive components of the laws, the course will not be a series of lectures about the law. Instead, the thrust of the course will be the application of the law in prosecuting or defending FLSA/OMFWSA litigation. The course will also necessarily cover some aspects of civil procedure due to the complex nature of this type of litigation. As a result, students will gain a basic understanding of class action and collective action procedure.
Grades will be based on class participation, short quizzes, and a final paper to be submitted at the conclusion of the semester. This course will satisfy the administrative law and upper level writing requirements.
Family Law
LAW 618
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. History and development of the law of marriage and divorce; rights and duties arising out of the relations of husband and wife, parent and child, guardian and ward; the role of the state in defining and enforcing such rights and duties; law of alien and insane persons.
Federal Courts and the Federal System
LAW 625
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. During the past ten years, many of the U.S. Supreme Court's most controversial decisions have fallen within the doctrinal areas encompassed by this course. By mandate in both constitutional and statutory law, the federal courts are courts of "limited," not general, jurisdiction and are subject to numerous restrictions on the exercise of their power. Purposes asserted for these restrictions include protecting the constitutional allocation of power between the National and State governments – federalism – and the allocation of power between the coordinate branches of the National government -- separation of powers. These two foundational, organizing principles repeatedly surface as justifications for judicial outcomes. In particular, we examine closely the jurisdictional prerequisites of maintaining a case in federal court, including the doctrines requiring proper standing and forbidding the presentation of an unripe or moot suit. We inquire into the complicated interrelationship of federal and state law, including: federal common law, the obligation of state courts to apply and obey governing federal law, the weight of state courts' decisions on federal law questions, and the appellate power of the U.S. Supreme Court over State courts. We delve into the various legal strategies that can be employed to oust an otherwise properly filed case from federal court, including abstention and the Eleventh Amendment, and examine the Eleventh’s intersection with the Tenth Amendment and the Supremacy Clause. And we explore procedural aspects of suing the governments – States (under s. 1983) and the Federal Government via a Bivens action. The course is strongly recommended for those seeking a litigation career, and for those desirous of serving as federal judicial law clerks.
Course Requirements (for Professor Hoke) include: one short legal memorandum which does not require research (written feedback is provided), class participation, and a final exam.
Federal Indian Law
LAW 627
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. The field of Federal Indian Law involves the body of law that regulates the legal relationships between Indian tribes and the United States and individual states. Within the context of the history of the often-changing federal policy toward American Indians, the course examines tribal sovereignty and Indian property rights, federal power and obligations, states' rights, the jurisdictional framework governing both criminal and civil jurisdiction over acts and transactions occurring in Indian country, the rights of individual economic development. The course is normally offered as a paper course, thus giving students an opportunity to satisfy the upper-level writing requirement. Beginning Fall 2002, satisfies perspective elective requirement. Offered infrequently.
Federal Jurisdiction Seminar
LAW 793
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Federal Courts (LAW 625); permission of the instructor. This seminar will examine in depth some selected issues of federal jurisdiction, including the role of federal courts in our system of judicial federalism and the historic and current rationale for original and removal jurisdiction; federal judicial reform, including a review of problems caused by the federal court caseload crisis and the emergence of a "managerial" role for federal judges; the role of state courts in our system of judicial federalism; the new scholarship on the two-tiered approach to Article III; the role of judicial discretion; the "dialogue" between the Supreme Court and Congress; and the increasingly important use of clear statement rules of statutory construction to decide federal jurisdiction issues. The course will review both the academic and the reform literature on a number of these topics, including the work (and working papers) of the Federal Courts Study Committee, and the federal jurisdiction writings of Richard Posner, Martin Redish, Akhil Amar, Mark Tushnet, Erwin Chemerinsky, Michael Wells, Barry Friedman, Ann Althouse, and others. This is a small seminar, and all students are required to write a paper; lead or co-lead at least one seminar session; and participate in the seminar discussions. Satisfies the upper level writing requirement. Offered infrequently.
First Amendment Rights and Responsibilities
LAW 680
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. A study of regulation and prohibition of verbal and nonverbal expression in the following areas: obscenity, “subversive” activities, draft resistance, expressions in public places, use of “fighting words,” loyalty oaths and other conditions of public employment, legislative investigations, picketing, threats against the life of the President, reporters’ refusal to reveal their sources and other information acquired in news gathering, and selected aspects of the law of libel. Also to be examined are freedom of religion and the prohibition of its governmental establishment, freedom of association, and the “right to travel.”
G
Genetics, Ethics and the Law
LAW 672
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course covers the impact of recent advances in genetic knowledge on privacy, tort law, employment discrimination, insurance, family law, research ethics, patenting, criminal law, and other topics. Offered infrequently.
H
Health Care Law
LAW 686
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Agency, Partnership, and Limited Liability Associations (LAW 691). This course will address the legal and business issues facing health care institutions and health care providers, including the business structure of institutions; payment issues, including Medicare, Medicaid and third party reimbursement; state and federal regulations as applied to health care institutions and providers; not-for-profit tax issues arising in the health care context; and business relationships between health care institutions and providers. Satisfies administrative law requirement.
Health Law Seminar
LAW 790
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This seminar will provide an opportunity for students to examine in detail special, topical issues in health law. Topics covered may include issues related to malpractice liability, reproductive issues, delivery of health services, regulation of health care institutions, modern bioethical questions, and legal regulation of pharmaceutical companies. Because course content may vary from term to term, students should contact the professor regarding the focus of the course for any particular offering of the course. This is a writing seminar in which students will complete and defend a major paper. Satisfies the upper level writing requirement.
Research with Human Subjects: Law & Ethics
LAW 616
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course covers the law and ethics of research (medical, educational, psychological, etc.) with human subjects. We will look at the history of that research in the U.S. and elsewhere, the ethical principles that should guide such research, and the federal regulations that govern it. Course materials include Ethical and Regulatory Aspects of Human Research: Readings and Commentary, ed. E. Emanuel et alia (JHU Press: 2003) and supplemental readings. There is a final exam.
I
Immigration and Nationality Law
LAW 734
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. Origin, social background, and constitutional foundations of the immigration and naturalization laws; the concept and nature of citizenship and limits to the state’s right to discriminate between citizens and aliens; rights and liabilities of aliens; variations of alien status; criteria for entry, exclusion, deportation, naturalization; adjustment of status and other discretionary relief; administrative procedure, judicial review, and other recurring problems in the representation of aliens. Satisfies administrative law requirement.
Independent Legal Research
LAW 860
(1, 2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; approval of Academic Dean. Independent study in a specialized area of the law, under the supervision of a faculty member; may be taken for 1, 2 or 3 credit hours, depending upon the nature of the research study involved, but in no event will more than three credit hours be applied toward the J.D. or LL.M. degree. Approval to register given upon a showing that a legitimate independent research study project has been approved by a faculty member, that the faculty member believes the amount of study time and effort likely to be involved in the project is commensurate with the number of contemplated credit hours, and that the faculty member will provide adequate supervision during the course of the project to justify the award of academic credit. It is the responsibility of any student seeking to enroll in Independent Legal Research to submit a written statement, signed by the supervising faculty member, indicating compliance with the criteria set forth above. Completion of an appropriate 2 or 3 credit hour project will satisfy the Upper Level Writing requirement. Faculty may exercise the discretion to award credit but to withhold upper level writing certification for a project.
Independent Moot Court Competition
LAW 804
(1 Credit Hour)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Advanced Brief Writing (LAW 615); permission of the Dean and the Faculty Advisor to Moot Court. Credit for participation in interscholastic moot court competition outside of the College's Moot Court Program. May be elected a maximum of two times. Graded Pass/Fail.
Information Technology and The Law
LAW 797
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Copyright, Patent & Trademark Law, L658, or permission of the instructor. This class will examine proprietary rights in information technology (i.e., computer hardware and software, databases, multimedia, networks, the Internet, etc.) and related content. An introductory course in intellectual property is encouraged, absent which students should demonstrate other appropriate background in the subject area (e.g., meaningful IT-related educational or vocational experience).
Substantive topics to be covered will include treatment of proprietary rights in Information Technology and related content through various forms of intellectual property law (trade secret, patent, copyright, trademark and trade dress) and newly-evolving issues presented by Information Technology (e.g., linking, framing, cybersquatting); growth of e-commerce and other Internet activities and the evolution of governing legal regimes; and liability, jurisdiction and sovereignty in cyberspace.
Students will be expected to do substantial reading and some independent research in order to contribute to class discussion and complete assignments. At the Instructor’s discretion, there may be an option to complete a research and writing project in lieu of a final exam. Offered infrequently.
Inheritance Rights of Children Seminar
LAW 759
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Estates & Trusts (LAW 609). This seminar will provide students with a basic understanding of the treatment of different classes of children under the modern inheritance system. For various reasons, a substantial number of persons in the United States die without executing wills. Thus, a significant portion of the seminar will be dedicated to exploring the right of children to inherit under the current intestacy regime in place in the different states. The seminar will be of particular interest to those persons considering careers in family law, estate planning, or child advocacy.
The seminar will focus upon the manner in which the development of the intestacy system has been influenced by public policy and societal values. For example, we will explore the correlation between society’s acceptance of non-marital children and their ability to inherit property under the intestacy system. Instead of just understanding the current intestacy system, the students will be encouraged to critically analyze the effectiveness of the system in light of the changing structure of the American family. For instance, we will explore questions like “Should stepchildren be considered the heirs of their stepparents who die intestate?”
The final grade in the seminar will be assigned based upon the preparation of substantial research paper and an in-class presentation. This course satisfies the ULWR
Insurance Law
LAW 613
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. A study of the principles of insurable interest, indemnity, subrogation; interests of third parties, beneficiaries, and assignees; the insuring agreement, exclusions, and conditions; warranties, representations, and concealment; making and terminating the insurance contract; waiver, estoppel, and election by the insurer; agents and brokers; the adjustment of claims; practical exercises in reading and interpreting policy language.
Intellectual Property: Advanced Topics
LAW 758
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Copyright, Patent, and Trademark Law (LAW 658). This course explores emerging issues in the area of intellectual property that result from, as well as in, social and political changes. Selected topics, including the economic basis for selected areas of IP, the role of Congress, the courts and private parties in the evolution of IP, federal preemption of state laws, constitutional limits, and the role of international law, will help illustrate changes driven by, and sometimes resulting in, new technology and globalization. Students will be called upon to consider solutions to problems that have arisen as a result of new technologies and to discuss various policy initiatives being pursued by Congress, the international community, and trade associations to address such problems. Students will be required to complete and defend a modest paper on a subject selected from the topics to be covered by the class. Grading will be based equal upon the quality of each student’s paper, its presentation, and class discussion and criticism of others’ papers. The course will generally not satisfy the upper level writing requirement but the professor may approve it as such on a case by case basis.
International Aspects of Intellectual Property Law
LAW 650
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; Copyright, Patent & Trademark Law (LAW 658). This course is an advanced study of so-called “intellectual property,” at the international level. It starts with a survey of issues that are quite important at the international level but which are not always addressed in introductory or survey-level so-called IP courses. The course then reviews the basic theories and problems of so-called intellectual property, such as the continuing debate between utilitarian and natural law justifications for these regimes. From there, the course proceeds to the various international agreements which address these issues and which, consequentially, derive explicitly or implicitly from the justificatory theories. These agreements include the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention, the EEC Treaty, the Universal Copyright Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the EC Harmonization Directive, NAFTA, TRIPS, the Madrid (Trademark) Protocol, and the Trademark Registration Treaty. The rest of the course is devoted to examining the most significant portions of those international agreements as well as a study of their economic bases and consequences. Finally, the course will examine how these arrangements affect the present and future distribution of resources between the developed and undeveloped countries in light of the justificatory theories.
International Business Transactions
LAW 688
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC* This is a course about international business transactions that focuses on both the how to and why of international commercial relations. It will approach different types of transactions from both the business person’s perspective and his or her lawyer’s perspective. The course first focuses on the role of corporate and commercial lawyers and traces through the lawyer’s role in initiating international business transactions. The focus then shifts to the role of the litigator--when international transactions fall apart. Students will be exposed to actual legal problems from current international business transactions.
International Criminal Law
LAW 610
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course will survey basic principles, doctrines, and problems in the area of international crime and international criminal procedure. The primary focus will be on war crimes, “crimes against humanity” and other acts made criminal by treaties or customary international law and their related mechanisms, although we will also address problems that arise in prosecutions of foreign nationals for violations of domestic criminal statutes. Topics will include the ascription of individual culpability for acts committed in the name of the state and state culpability for individuals’ acts; specific international and transnational offenses and defenses; jurisdictional issues in domestic and international prosecutions of international offenses; international criminal tribunals and their procedures; extradition and other forms of international cooperation; and jurisprudential problems in the formulation and enforcement of international criminal norms in the absence of a sovereign. Satisfies the perspective elective requirement.
International Law
LAW 553
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course focuses on the force of international law today, particularly as applied by international tribunals and the courts of the United States and other nations; law of the sea, jurisdiction recognition, breach of U.S. antitrust laws, international agreements, expropriation and compensation. Satisfies the perspective elective requirement.
International War Crimes Tribunal Seminar
LAW 717
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. In this course students will study and work on issues that international courts are confronting in creating and operating war crimes tribunals. Students will research and write legal memoranda for officers in tribunals such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Satisfies upper level writing requirement.
Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating
LAW 634
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. This course examines the attorney-client relationship, emphasizing perception of client needs and objectives; development of skill in interpersonal communication in an interview or consultation setting. The course begins with lectures on psychological needs and responses, including nonverbal communication (body language), emotional problems, and what the client seeks from his or her attorney. The course may include presentations by experienced practicing attorneys on counseling in selected legal areas and common ethical problems encountered in such sessions. Interviews conducted by students will be critiqued.
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Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
LAW 820
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*; International Law (LAW 553) or International Business Transactions (LAW 688) (may be taken concurrently); selection by faculty advisor. Students participate in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The emphasis is on in-depth research of international law and appellate practice, written and oral. It is directed towards enhancing the professional skills needed for successful work as an advocate before international tribunals. Satisfies the Upper Level Writing requirement and the skills course requirement.
Journal of Law and Health
LAW 813
(1 Credit Hour; 1 Semester)
Prerequisites: RCC*; approval of Journal of Law and Health Editorial Board. Course credit for participation as a member of the Board of Editors of the Journal of Law and Health. Students may not work on or receive academic credit for participation on the Journal and the Law Review during the same semester. Graded on a pass-fail basis. May be elected twice.
Journal of Law and Health Editor-in-Chief
LAW 814
(1 Credit Hour; 2 Semesters)
Prerequisites: RCC*; approval of the Journal of Law and Health Editorial Board. Service as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law and Health for two semesters entitles a student to one Pass/Fail credit in addition to that earned in LAW 813. Journal of Law and Health students may not work on or receive academic credit for participation on the Journal and the Law Review during the same semester.
Judaic Law
LAW 561
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. No background in Jewish Studies or Hebrew Language is required for this course. The Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), as interpreted and codified by Jewish scholars over the centuries, provides the foundation for laws and a legal system that permits this ancient source to present viable solutions to twenty-first century issues including abortion, homosexuality, cloning and end-of-life decisions as well as selected core curriculum subjects. This course compares Judaic law to modern American law with a focus on both differences and how Judaic law solutions parallel or preceded American law. In lieu of a written examination, each student submits a paper on a topic selected by the student with the approval of the professor. Satisfactory completion of the course will satisfy the upper level writing and perspective elective requirements.
Jurisprudence
LAW 554
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. A survey of historical and modern Western attempts to define the essence of law. Course topics may include both the secular and non-secular natural law traditions, including representative writings from the ancient, classical and modern eras, and the various theses of legal positivism, including English utilitarianism, analytical jurisprudence, legal science, sociological jurisprudence and American Legal Realism, post-Realism, critical legal studies, and modern rights theory. The course does not presuppose a background in philosophy. Satisfies perspective elective requirement.
Juvenile Law
LAW 736
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC*. Inquiry into the theory and practice of the juvenile justice system, including its historical development and current proposals for reform. Topics include the rationale of a separate system for children, the different bases of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction (delinquency, neglect, and abuse, status offenses), procedural issues in juvenile hearings, medical and reproductive rights of children (including abortion bypass, treatment of children, confidential relationships with professionals, sex change operations at birth, special needs). The complex interrelationship between the rights of children, parents, and the state is explored. Emphasis on constitutional issues.