Course Descriptions
A | B | C | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | W
A
Administrative Law
LAW 623
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Function, procedure, and powers of administrative agencies; constitutional and statutory limitations; judicial review and relief from orders and decisions; the administrative process and its role in the development of public policy. Satisfies the administrative law requirement.
Admiralty
LAW 614
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Basic principles of admiralty law with emphasis on problems to be encountered in the practice of general law in the Great Lakes area; jurisdiction of admiralty law, limitation of liability, maritime remedies for collisions, cargo claims, liens, personal injuries, and death involving seamen, shore-side workers, and yachtsmen, and ownership of vessels, including small craft.
Advanced Brief Writing
LAW 615
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. A course designed to sharpen the student’s ability to research complex legal issues, to prepare appellate briefs and to engage in oral argument. Required of students who wish to try out for interscholastic Moot Court Competition. Satisfies third semester of legal writing requirement.
Advanced Business Immigration Law
Law 7XX
(1 Credit Hour)
Prerequisites: RCC; Immigration & Nationality Law, LAW 734. This course will focus on specific immigration issues that arise in the business context.
Advanced Legal Writing and Research
LAW 777
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course will be structured around three substantial writing assignments modeled after the kinds of writing tasks demanded of lawyers. The writing component will involve both objective and persuasive writing. While reinforcing the analytic skills developed in the first year writing course, the course will focus less on the mechanics of legal analysis and document construction and more on varied techniques for effective writing. The research component of the course will require students to perform the research necessary for two of the course’s major writing assignments, including statutory and case research tools, legislative history and administrative law research. Satisfies third semester of legal writing requirement.
Advanced Trial Advocacy
LAW 669
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC; Trial Advocacy, LAW 663. This course is designed to help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to handle federal court litigation. The emphasis will be on viewing litigation and the litigation process strategically: What are your client’s objectives (interests, not just positions), and how can you achieve them as efficiently as possible? Particular emphasis will be placed on developing problem-solving skills, in the context of negotiation and mediation. Class sessions will be devoted to analyzing each state of the litigation process. Students will be expected to prepare and perform classroom demonstrations.
Agency, Partnership, and Limited Liability Associations
LAW 691
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course provides an introduction to business associations. Employers and business entities, whether sole proprietorships, partnerships, or large corporations, utilize agents -- especially employees -- to effectuate their business objectives. Agency relationships can be formed intentionally or inadvertently, but regardless how they originate, the law imposes strict duties of conduct on both agents and their principals, and exacts severe penalties for their breach. The course examines the law of agency closely, including vicarious liability for wrongs of another and authority to bind another by assent or representation. Second, the course focuses on the law governing partnerships and addresses the complex intersection of agency and partnership law (i.e., the legal consequences of partners simultaneously being agents for the partnership as well as principals). Because the Uniform Partnership Acts impose numerous legal and economic risks for partners and partnerships, many business entities have reorganized to limit their liability consistent with the structures newly created by state statute, e.g., as a limited liability partnership or limited liability company. These diverse new statutory options for business organization constitute the final focus of the course. Required for the Business Law concentration.
Alternate Dispute Resolution
LAW 696
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Judicial, court-centered processes are not the only nor, necessarily, the best methods of resolving disputes. This course surveys the range of dispute resolution processes that are alternatives to litigation and adjudication. These include detailed study of the primary dispute resolution processes -negotiation, mediation, and arbitration - as well as some of their hybrid variants. The course also examines noteworthy applications of these litigation alternatives, the context for which ranges from the personal to the global. The ethical issues surrounding effective client advocacy in non-litigation situations will be explored in depth.
American Legal History
LAW 550
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Lectures and discussions exploring various topics in American legal history from colonial times to the twentieth century. Topics may include legal control of “deviants” (criminals, juvenile delinquents, paupers, political dissidents), the growth of legal institutions and the legal profession, developments in substantive private law, law and the economy, the problem of freedom of speech and press, the law of slavery, and the changing status of women and children. Other topics may be substituted or added from time to time. Satisfies perspective elective requirement.
Ancient Athenian Law
LAW 570
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. The ancient Athenians have been widely celebrated for their contributions to literature, philosophy and political thought. However, the genius of the Athenian people was also reflected in their legal innovations – which include the concepts of trial-by jury and judicial review. This course will provide students with a basic understanding of the structure and procedures of the Athenian legal system. Topics covered in the course include the Athenian constitution, the Athenian jury system, the resolution of commercial disputes, adultery, the torture of witnesses, and the sentencing of criminals. From their readings, students will gain an understanding of a legal system that struggled with many of the same issues that face modern society and which often provided thoughtful and creative solutions. In lieu of a final exam, students will write a 10-page research paper regarding an aspect of Athenian law. Students may choose to fulfill their Upper Level Writing Requirement with this course by writing a 20-page research paper. The course will satisfy the perspective elective requirement.
Animal Law
LAW 715
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Animal Law focuses on the legal, social and biological nature of nonhuman animals, including companion animals, wildlife, and animals raised for food and research. The course will consider such topics as:
1. Areas of national concern and statutory interpretation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Endangered Species Act, federal cruelty laws, the Animal Welfare Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Humane Slaughter Act;
2. State and federal constitutional issues, e.g., exemptions from laws involving the use of animals, “hunter harassment” laws, federal constitutional standing issues involving animal interests, and state constitutional provisions regarding the protection of natural resources; and
3. Local and state law concerns, including common law property as applied to animals, state cruelty laws, agricultural treatment of animals and protection of livestock, municipal regulations of pets, and the changing status of animals in society.
Students will write a paper in the course and make a presentation to the class. Satisfies upper level writing requirement.
Antitrust Law
LAW 646
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course provides an overview of legal and economic problems in the public control of corporate market power, focusing on the legal (and occasionally economic) significance of price fixing, boycotts, monopolization, franchising restrictions, and mergers. Students will examine how courts evaluate business practices and/or corporate structure.
Arbitration
LAW 633
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. The nature, law and practice of arbitration of disputes and claims of various types with an emphasis on labor arbitration.
Art Law
LAW 659
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course reviews both policy issues and practical applications of selected areas of the law that relate to the creation, display, reproduction, sale, resale and taxation of works of fine art. The areas we will explore are: limitations on the freedom of visual expression, in the form of both government regulation and private causes of action; copyright and trademark law and the fair use doctrine as they apply to visual images and distinctive artistic style; artists’ right to protect their artistic reputation by preserving the integrity and attribution of their works of recognized stature (i.e., droit moral); commercial law issues relating to auctions, consignment sales, and secondary market resales of works of art; limitation of actions against bona fide purchasers of stolen art; and tax considerations relevant to artists, dealers and art collectors. Offered infrequently.
Asylum Law
LAW 744
(1 Credit Hour)
Prerequisite: RCC; Immigration & Nationality Law, LAW 734
The course will examine Asylum Law, including an examination of overseas refugees; the meaning of persecution; issues relating to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, social group, sexual orientation, gender; non state actors; standards of proof; exceptions to eligibility; and the convention against terror.
Students will be evaluated through a written project, requiring them to analyze a fact pattern according to the principles studied during the semester. The course will not satisfy the upper level writing requirement.
B
Banking Regulation
LAW 641
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course will explore all aspects of federal banking regulation, from standards for obtaining a bank charter and federal deposit insurance to restrictions on bank activities and bank failure. It will not canvass the commercial law governing bank transfers or payments already covered by Commercial Law, L601. Satisfies the administrative law requirement.
Bankruptcy
LAW 624
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Secured Transactions (LAW 603) is recommended but is not a prerequisite. A survey of the fundamentals of bankruptcy law, including the “Automatic stay” of creditor collection activity, the creation of the debtor’s bankruptcy “estate,” the treatment of “executory contracts,” the trustee’s “avoiding” powers, the nature of “claims” against the debtor’s estate, the individual debtor’s right to a “discharge,” “exemptions,” the powers and jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court, and the processes of “liquidation,” “adjustment” of debts of an individual debtor, and “reorganization” of a business.
Biomedical Ethics and the Law
LAW 602
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course will cover legal and ethical values and doctrines in the context of particular current issues in health science decision-making including, e.g., a) death and dying; b) informed consent and other aspects of the doctor patient relationship; c) artificial reproduction (e.g., artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, in vitro fertilization, embryonic transfer); d) organ transplants; e) the AIDS epidemic; f) testing of employees and others for indications of drug use; g) genetic screening and testing; and h) research and experimentation on human subjects.
C
Capital Punishment and the Law
LAW 679
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course examines the theory, jurisprudence, and practice of the modern death penalty system in the United States. It focuses on constitutional and statutory issues surrounding death sentences, including: limitations on imposing the death penalty based on factors such as the type of crime, and the role and age of the defendant; pretrial and trial issues such as prosecutorial discretion in charging, jury selection, psychiatric experts, aggravating and mitigating circumstances; right to counsel at trial and on post-conviction review; processes available for judicial and executive review of death sentences; and, limits on carrying out the death penalty such as a defendant’s competency to be executed.
Children, Parents and the State
LAW 771
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC;. Family Law, LAW 618. This course builds on students’ understanding of the issues covered in the basic Family Law course (marriage, divorce, distribution of property upon divorce, and child custody issues) and asks students to think about how the law allocates power and responsibility for children in our society and how it should do so. In addition, the course addresses the extent to which the law should recognize the autonomy of older children-i.e., to what extent the law should give older children the power to decide for themselves. Finally, the course addresses the appropriate role of the government vis a vis children and their families.
Church and State
LAW 560
(3 Credit Hours)
This course examines the two constitutional clauses that protect religious freedom--the one barring an establishment of religion, the other protecting the free exercise of religion. The interaction of these two provisions will be examined in many contexts: public and private schools, religious symbols on government property, the rights of prisoners, and so on. While the primary focus is on the state’s attitude toward religion, as expressed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the course will also look at how religious denominations view the state. Satisfies perspective elective requirement. Offered infrequently.
Civil Liberties Seminar
LAW 710
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Discussion of the leading United States Supreme Court cases dealing with the main issues that arise in connection with freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom of religion under the first amendment to the United States Constitution. A paper is required. Legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, and the development of written and spoken communication skills are involved. Taking the course should enhance the students’ ability to provide competent representation and lead them to reflect on how to promote justice, fairness and morality in the application of the 1st amendment. Satisfies the upper level writing requirement. Offered infrequently.
Civil Procedure
LAW 505
(6 Credits Hours; 2 Semesters)
In Civil Procedure we study the process by which legal disputes of a civil nature are decided in an adversarial system of justice. This includes how a civil lawsuite begins, which courts may hear the dispute, where the lawsuit may be files, who may be a party, how parties gather facts to support their claims and defenses, what law applies to cases filed in federal court, how cases are resolved, procedural remedies, and the binding effect of a final judgment. Specifically we study pleadings, joinder of claims and parties, subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, venue, choice of law, discovery, resolution without trial (including summary judgment, default judgments, dismissals), trials, and issue and claim preclusion. The course involves close examination of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as well as statutes and constitutional provisions that govern civil litigation. A grade is entered on the student’s transcript for each semester of the course. Required for graduation.
Civil Procedure I
LAW 505
(3 Credit Hours)
A study of pleadings (including Rule 11 and Rule 12); joinder of claims and parties; discovery; resolution without trial (including summary judgment, default judgments, Rule 41 dismissals); and trial. Required for graduation. Offered through the 2004-2005 academic year.
Civil Procedure II
LAW 507
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisite: Civil Procedure I (LAW 505). A study of subject matter jurisdiction; personal jurisdiction; venue; Erie/choice of law; binding effects of judgment (res judicata and collateral estoppel). Required for graduation. Offered through Fall 2005.
Civil Rights Seminar
LAW 716
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. The course aims at furnishing the students with a perspective on responses of the law to problems presented by categories of race, class, gender, sexuality and disabilities. The course has four interrelated objectives: (1) to raise awareness about dominant cultural assumptions about race, class, gender and sexuality, which, in turn, inform articulation of legal issues involved and responses by the law; (2) to analyze critically important Supreme Court cases and legal approaches to civil rights; (3) to familiarize students with the current array of legislative and administrative responses to perceived civil rights problems; and (4) to enable students to read law critically with special sensitivity to the ways in which legal techniques, rhetorical strategies, and legal practices reproduce patterns of power and privilege that work to subordinate people based on categories of identity. Offered infrequently.
Class Actions
LAW 635
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Whether sued in federal or state court, whether considered rightly or wrongly initiated, class-action lawsuits are more popular today than ever. Indeed, Congress’ highest-profile litigation reform effort of late – its recently-enacted Class Action Fairness Act – goes directly to this sensation’s heart. Given class actions’ prevalence, well-rounded lawyers need to understand class actions’ substantive, procedural, political, societal, economic, and constitutional nuances and effects. This course will examine multiple substantive class-action areas, such as consumer fraud and deceptive-business practices; price-fixing and market-allocation schemes; and securities and commodities fraud. While considering these various substantive areas, we’ll analyze Federal Rule 23 and its state-court counterparts. We’ll study class-certification procedure in federal and state courts; the requirements necessary for class certification; and the defenses and tactics typically (and not so typically) asserted to defeat it. We’ll also consider competing class certifications’ Due Process, Commerce, and Full Faith and Credit Clause implications; class-action coordination among various competing or complimentary federal and state class-action cases; and class-action settlement issues, such as proper notice, damages allocation, opt-out procedures, and objections. We’ll study why class actions are considered important (or not) to our society and economy; how they contribute to redressing (or exacerbating) consumer wrongs; and how they raise our collective social consciousness or, alternatively, are abused and create (at least arguably) social chaos. Students will leave this course with an understanding and appreciation for the full range of class action issues that new lawyers can expect to encounter in their daily practices, whether their practices concentrate on class action law or other substantive areas.
Commercial Law
LAW 601
(4 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. A survey of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), except for Articles 8 and 9, with emphasis on Articles 2, 3, and 4 dealing with sales, negotiable instruments and bank collections. In addition, some consumer laws and federal regulations on sales and bank collections are addressed. Lesser emphasis is given to UCC Articles 2A, 4A, 5 and 7 on leases, wire transfers, letters of credit and documents of title; UCC Article 6 on bulk transfers is also covered briefly.
Community Advocacy Clinic
LAW 826
(2-5 Credit Hours)
See description under Urban Development Law Clinic (renamed as of Spring 2007)
Comparative Constitutional Law
LAW 567
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course examines and compares constitutional law and structure of governance of different countries of the world. Questions explored include: Why have constitutions? How do the structures of constitutional courts and the practice of judicial review differ in different countries? How do different constitutions deal with separation of powers, legislative process, regime changes, federalism, individual rights and social welfare? The course aims at helping students think systematically about different structures for organizing a government, and different approaches to establishing just, effective and stable forms of governments. Satisfies perspective requirement.
Comparative Law
LAW 687
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. The object of this course is to acquaint the student with the basic structure of other legal systems, their relationship to Anglo-American law and the philosophical background out of which each system has developed. The comparative approach is utilized for investigating the basic reasons for the differences in methods of solving legal disputes and the differences in legal institutions. Satisfies perspective elective requirement. Offered infrequently.
Comparative Law: Canon Law
LAW 581
(2 Credit Hours)
This course examines the legal system of the Latin Catholic Church. In addition to an historical overview of the science of canon law, lectures address specific canons of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and selected canonical issues. Subjects to be considered include: structures of governance, general norms of canon law, ecclesiastical rights, ecclesiastical sanctions (criminal law), trial procedures, marriage law, and temporal goods (i.e., property law, contracts, wills, and monetary issues). Satisfies perspective requirement.
Comparative Law: Islamic Law
LAW 551
(2 Credit Hours)
The subject will center on the traditional and modern law of the Middle East including the law of contracts and torts, criminal law, family law, inheritance, and property law. One focus of concern will be the manner in which law can aid in the development of a traditional society. Satisfies perspective elective requirement.
Computers and the Law: Criminal
LAW 665
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC The course will cover the growing area of computer crimes. Students will learn about the different types of criminal offense, which include but are not limited to economic, gambling, child exploitation, and fraud offenses. Further, the student will study the different investigative techniques utilized by the government in curbing such offenses as well as methods of defense explored on behalf of the accused. The student will also be exposed to the various Constitutional provisions contemplated during the processing of a computer crime and/or investigation.
Conflict of Laws
LAW 632
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. The law relating to actions having elements in more than one jurisdiction; choice of law; enforcement of foreign judgments; jurisdiction of courts in such cases; constitutional questions involved; application to contracts, torts, marriage and divorce, family relations, property, and procedure. Offered infrequently.
Constitutional Law
LAW 516
(5 Credit Hours; 1 or 2 Semesters)
General principles of the law of the United States Constitution; judicial function in constitutional matters; federal authority, separation of powers and the powers of the states; particular attention to the commerce clause, due process, and equal protection. A grade is entered on the student’s transcript for each term of the course. Required for graduation.
Constitutional Law Seminar
LAW 707
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Discussion of selected current constitutional issues (with consideration given to areas of particular student interest). Information regarding the focus of a particular section of the course will be provided with course schedules. May include preparation of appropriate student research papers, which will satisfy the upper level writing requirement. 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.
Contracts
LAW 501
(6 Credit Hours through 2004-2005; 2 Semesters)
(5 Credit Hours beginning Fall 2005; 2 Semesters)
Formation, offer, acceptance, and consideration; performance and excuse for nonperformance; breach and damages; third party beneficiaries; assignment of rights and delegation of duties; statute of frauds; contract integration rule; illegal contracts and public policy; unconscionability; discharge. A grade is entered on the student’s transcript for each semester of the course. Required for graduation.
Contracts Seminar
LAW 741
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. Examination of the contract as the legal method for allocation of risk by self-legislation between the parties; contracts jurisprudence from the vantage point of an upperclass law student; typical and atypical contract problems. Satisfies upper level writing requirement.
Copyright, Patent and Trademark Law
LAW 658
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course is designed for the general practitioner as well as for those who intend to specialize in the practice of intellectual property law. It is directed to the study of the patent, trademark and copyright laws, to the procedures undertaken before the various federal and state administrative agencies for obtaining patents, trademarks and copyrights, and to the protection and enforcement afforded such intellectual property by the federal and state laws and the courts.
Corporate Law and Governance Seminar
Law 772
(2 or 3 Credits Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC; Corporations, LAW 692, or permission of the instructor. This research seminar will allow you to explore a topic in corporate law in more depth than is possible in the basic Corporations course. The course will provide an opportunity to step back and consider the theoretical and policy aspects of basic business law doctrine. Though the readings and preliminary discussions will focus on governance issues, the range of potential topics for your research and writing is very broad. Grades will be based on class participation (including a class presentation) and a final paper. The paper can be used to satisfy the Upper Level Writing Requirement and/or the project requirement for the Business Law concentration.
Corporations
LAW 692
(4 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. The course concentrates on the following aspects of the modern business corporation: formation; financing; state and federal regulations respecting the issuance of securities and insider trading; governance of the corporation; powers and duties of directors and officers; rights and remedies of shareholders and creditors; dividends and other distributions; and corporate law suits and derivative actions. It also assesses the public policy and social responsibility implications of large scale business enterprise.
Criminal Felony Sentencing
LAW 626
(2 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course will explore the evolution of sentencing systems in the United States since 1787, culminating in the determinate systems adopted in recent years by the State of Ohio and the U.S. Congress and Federal Sentencing Commission. These will be contrasted with the indeterminate systems that were previously employed. The uncertainty created by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blakely v Washington will be a significant topic of discussion. Particular attention will be devoted to the allocation of power and discretion, the role of plea bargaining, the role of appellate review, the impact of mandatory minimum sentences, and issues of race. Satisfies Upper Level Writing requirement.
Criminal Law
LAW 506
(3 Credit Hours; 1 Semester)
General concepts of the criminal law; the purposes of punishment; general principles of criminal responsibility; other topics may include attempts; parties; conspiracy; specific crimes against the person, against the habitation, and against property; and, defenses available to the accused. Required for graduation.
Criminal Law Seminar/Advanced Topics
LAW 706
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. An in-depth study of one or more selected topics in substantive criminal law. 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.
Criminal Procedure I
LAW 621
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. This course focuses for the most part on police investigation techniques, such as searches, interrogations, undercover activities, electronic eavesdropping, and lineups. Closely studied will be constitutional limitations on these practices, flowing from the 4th, 5th, 6th and 14th Amendments. Other topics covered may include the right to counsel, the entrapment defense, bail, and/or plea bargaining.
Criminal Procedure II
LAW 678
(3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC; Criminal Procedure I, LAW 621, is recommended but not required. This course focuses on the criminal trial process from the charging decision through trial and sentencing including: case theory and role of counsel; grand jury proceedings; pretrial release and detention; discovery and other pretrial motions; plea bargaining and guilty pleas; jury selection and deliberation, sentencing procedures and guidelines. Particular emphasis is given to the protections provided by the U.S. Constitution in criminal proceedings. State and federal rules of criminal procedure may be studied.
Cyber Law
LAW 735
(2 or 3 Credit Hours)
Prerequisites: RCC. It would probably be helpful (if not required) for students to have some background (educational or vocational) in software, programming, etc., as well as Intellectual Property law. This course will examine a range of legal doctrines that bear on -- and are, in turn, influenced by -- various forms of Information Technology, specifically including the Internet. Readings and class discussion will cut across a range of legal disciplines, including intellectual property, contract law and tort, as well as broader doctrines like choice of law and sovereignty.
Student will be required to complete an extensive research and writing project for the course and, after surveying some of the basic issues listed above, the course will place greater emphasis on students’ research and writing projects and less emphasis on reviewing/discussing cases in class. The course will satisfy the upper level writing requirement.