First Year Courses

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LAW 601
Procedural processes that guide the adjudication of civil actions in American courts. Allocation of judicial power between federal and state courts, focusing on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Fundamental policies underlying particular procedural rules.

Taught By:
Juscelino F. Colares, Evan J. Criddle, Lisa A. Dolak, Margaret M. Harding

LAW 602
This course covers (1) Judicial Review in all its aspects, including the Case and Controversy doctrine, and (2) Structure, that is, Federalism (Federal and State regulatory and taxing powers) and Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances among the branches of the federal government.

Taught By:
Keith J. Bybee, Tucker Culbertson, Richard A. Ellison

LAW 603
Legal protection afforded promissory agreements. Contract interpretation; contract formation, including offer and acceptance, mutual assent, and consideration. Parties affected by contracts and remedies for breach of contract. Taught by Professors: Josephs, Rabin, Surratt and Wechsler.

Taught By:
Richard A. Ellison, Hilary K. Josephs, Robert J. Rabin

LAW 604
Elements of various crimes and problems of statutory construction and interpretation. Substantive defenses, emphasizing the defense of insanity, as well as attempts and the specific crimes of conspiracy, theft, and homicide.

Taught By:
Rakesh K. Anand, Sanjay Chhablani, Gary T. Kelder

LAW 607
Problems concerning the possession of land and chattels. Methods of acquiring title to personal property, possessory and concurrent estates, and landlord and tenant problems. Historical introduction to real estate, including future interests, real covenants, and easements.

Taught By:
Jeremy A. Blumenthal, Laura G. Lape, LaVonda Reed-Huff, Terry L. Turnipseed

LAW 608
Imposition of liability for personal wrongs as viewed by traditional tort law and current alternatives. Historical development and policy basis of liability for various types of injury-producing conduct, including intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability.

Taught By:
Peter Bell, Nina A. Kohn, Roderick Surratt

LAW 609
LCR I - Fall Semester: Introduction to basic lawyering skills, including analysis, citation, and court hierarchy. Application of these skills to complex factual situations in a mock law firm setting.

LCR II Spring Semester: Skills introduced this semester include legal research, oral argument, and the written presentation of legal arguments in persuasive form.

Taught By:
Elizabeth A. August, Elton Fukumoto, Ian Gallacher, Susan James, Lynn Levey, Aliza M. Milner, Kathleen M. O'Connor, Lucille M. Rignanese, Richard S. Risman

LAW 610

Indian Law: This course will cover selected topics in Indian Law as the context for the following course goals: develop an understanding of the legislative process; develop an understanding of the administrative process and the role of agencies in implementing policies affecting Indian Nations and peoples; and develop an understanding of the tools available in researching issues involving statutes, legislative history, and regulation

Health Law: Law as it affects the professionals and institutions that deliver health care in the United States. Will primarily address four major concerns: quality of health care, cost of health care, equitable access to health care, and respect for the patient.

Family Law Issues: This course will study how state, federal, and local governments, administrative agencies, courts, and civil and criminal law, define, condone, condemn, remedy, and otherwise respond to violence within the family.

Violence Against Women Act: When the United States Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, it was a landmark piece of legislation that was the first comprehensive law to acknowledge the problem of domestic and sexual violence against women, and to devote resources to victim protection and assistance. This course will examine the act’s legislative history and the effects of implementation. Particular attention will be paid to how criminal justice practitioners in federal and state courts, including criminal and civil attorneys, law enforcement, and judges, work together to improve the systemic response to intimate partner violence. The policy implications and ongoing challenges will also be discussed.

Taught By:
Peter Bell, Richard A. Ellison, Carrie Garrow, Lynn Levey

LAW 690

Writing in Criminal Litigation
The course is designed to have students write the most common types of papers encountered in a simple federal criminal prosecution. Each student will start out as an Assistant United States Attorney investigating a crime that has come to the attention of the U.S. Attorneys Office. The course will develop from an initial agent interview, through the application for a wire intercept and search warrant, and then a charging instrument. The students will be assigned to represent the defendant. Each student will prepare a memorandum in support of a motion to suppress and will also draft proposed jury instructions and a defendants motion for a new trial. Each student will argue a motion against a student representing the other side.

Research and Rhetoric
This course is designed for students who experienced difficulty during their first semester of the legal research and writing program. The course will focus on personalized instruction, tailored to the individual needs of each student. The course is designed to ensure that enrollees become proficient in the field of legal analysis and legal writing. The course will reintroduce students to fundamental legal analysis and legal writing skills, closely monitor student progress, and consistently reinforce course subject matter and materials.

Writing in Pretrial Litigation
The course is designed to have students write the most common types of pleadings, discovery requests and responses and motion papers encountered in a simple federal court civil litigation. At the beginning of the semester, students will be presented with the most basic facts of the case, and will be divided into two-lawyer teams. Each team will represent either the plaintiff or the defendant. During the course of the semester, the teams will develop additional facts through client interviews and discovery. The course will culminate with the preparation of memos in support of and in opposition to summary judgment based on the facts developed in discovery. Each team will argue the motion against the opposing team. The course is intended to expose students to the types of writing and thinking they will have to engage in during a real litigation, as well as exposing them to non-writing litigation skills. Students will also learn how to work as a team with another lawyer and how to relate to opposing counsel.

Writing for Trial and Appellate Judges
Writing for Trial and Appellate Judges introduces students to the writing process that judges and law clerks use to complete their work. By the end of the course, students are comfortable drafting bench memos, majority and dissenting appellate opinions, and trial decisions. The course also includes two dynamic in-class exercises. In the dispute resolution exercise, students act as a judge or law clerk who is resolving a dispute between litigants, role-played by students in other LCR III classes. In the deliberation exercise, students sit as appellate judges and discuss what should be the outcome of a case. Both exercises improve skills of communication and persuasion. Throughout the course, we examine the relationship, particularly the division of labor, between judges and law clerks, as well as the different perspectives of judges and litigants in resolving legal disputes. This course is equally designed for students interested in clerking and for those interested in litigating and wanting to know how judges and law clerks make decisions.

Legal Argument: History, Structure, and Style
This course focuses on writing: how to arrange and structure a legal argument and how to develop and maintain a readable style. Students will read and discuss material about language, legal language and its historical development, legal argument, and style.

Taught By:
Elton Fukumoto, Andrew S. Greenberg, Aliza M. Milner, Kathleen M. O'Connor, Richard S. Risman