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Last revised:
April 25, 2008
(This includes all changes through the issuance of the
Fall 2008 Schedule of Classes.)
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Not all elective courses and seminars are offered each year. Some elective courses
are only offered during the evening hours, beginning at 6:00 p.m. or later. The
Law School reserves the right to add, delete, or change any course, or the credit
for any course, or the courses required for graduation, at any time. Some elective
courses and all seminars and clinical programs have limited enrollments and may
not be available for every student who wants to take them. Course descriptions
that have been added or revised since 2001 are indicated by a notation of the
date the description was added or revised.
[Elective Courses] [Litigation
and Practice Skills] [Seminars]
REQUIRED COURSES
Doctrinal Courses
Law 258 Civil Procedure. A study of basic restrictions upon
the procedural systems of both the federal and state courts, and various aspects
of civil litigation in the federal system. The course focuses on the requirements
of due process as a limitation upon the personal jurisdiction that courts may
exercise over defendants and on the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal
courts imposed by Article III and congressional legislation. The course also addresses
pleadings, challenges and amendments to pleadings, pretrial discovery, adjudication
without trial, and other procedural issues. Five credit hours.
Law 275 Constitutional Law. This course provides an introduction to the
fundamental law of the United States as set forth in the Constitution and developed
primarily by the United States Supreme Court. It addresses Supreme Court review,
separation of powers, federalism, and the protection of individual rights under
the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. Specific topics
include the Commerce Clause, race and sex discrimination, abortion and the right
to privacy, and the concept of state action. These topics are explored in the
context of the historical and theoretical foundations of American constitutionalism,
including the role of the Supreme Court in American government and the controversy
over different approaches to constitutional interpretation. Four credit hours.
Law 251 Contracts. A study of issues of contract
formation, interpretation, breach, defenses, and remedies. Contract doctrines
such as "consideration" and "offer and acceptance" and modern
deviations from the traditional model are presented, as are various defenses to
the prima facie case of contractual obligation. These include the traditional
defenses of duress, misrepresentation, mistake, impossibility, and frustration.
The contract remedies of monetary damages, specific performance, rescission and
reformation are also explored. Among the other issues that may be studied are
the parol evidence rule, the statute of frauds, and the rights of third party
beneficiaries. Five credit hours.
Law 257 Criminal Law.
A study of the general principles of criminal liability, including the justification
of punishment, general concepts of act and fault, principles of justification
and excuse, the significance of resulting harm, and accountability for acts of
others. Certain specific crimes, such as murder and manslaughter, are also examined.
Modern statutory developments provide a significant focus for study. Three credit
hours.
Law 206 Legislative Process. This course provides
an introduction to the creation, implementation, and interpretation of statutes.
Topics addressed in the course include: how a statutue works its way through the
legislative system; the roles that different institutions play in a statute's
passage, interpretation, and enforcement; alternatives to our legislative processes;
the ways in which statutues embody public policy; theories and doctrines of statutory
interpretation; and the role of coures in the interpretive process. Three credit
hours.
(added 8/05)
Law
415 Professional Responsibility. This course is designed to prepare students
to recognize and deal with ethical issues in the practice of law. Topics investigated
include: conflicts of interest, actual and potential, and the limits on representation
required; confidentiality in the context of an adversarial system; lawyers' responsibilities
as advocates in and out of the courtroom; ethical problems encountered by corporate
and government lawyers; special problems facing prosecution and criminal defense
lawyers; advertising and solicitation; and admission to the Bar. Actual and hypothetical
problems are analyzed in light of the Code of Professional Responsibility and
the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, subjecting both sets of rules to critical
analysis. Two credit hours.
Law 261 Property. An
introduction to the law of property. Topics include: the meaning of ownership,
including the right to exclude and the right to use reasonably; methods of acquiring
ownership; the division of ownership into present and future interests; landlord
and tenant law; multiple ownership; non-possessory interests and private arrangements
for the control of use. Four credit hours.
Law 253 Torts.
An introduction to the basic principles of liability for harm caused to the person
or property of others. The basic topics covered include the general elements of
the plaintiffs prima facie case (legal injury, tortious conduct, actual causation
and proximate causation), the various types of tortious conduct (intentional negligence,
etc.), the relevant privileges and defenses that can be raised by the defendant
(e.g. defense of self or others, contributory negligence, and consent or assumption
of risk), and the underlying principles or policies justifying and limiting liability.
Additional topics may be covered, such as various types of traditional strict
liability (e.g. liability for nuisances and ultra hazardous activities), an introduction
to modern products liability, vicarious liability, immunities, types of damages
and other remedies, and allocation of liability among multiple responsible parties.
Five credit hours.
Legal Writing Courses
Students
who begin law school in Fall 2002 or after are required to take Legal Writing
1, Legal Writing 2, Legal Writing 3, Legal Writing 4, and a seminar. Students
who began law school prior to Fall 2002 should see the Assistant Dean for Academic
Administration and Student Affairs about their legal writing requirements.
(revised 11/04) Law 259 Legal
Writing 1. An introduction to legal analysis, research, and writing through
the preparation of legal memoranda, client letters, and other assignments. This
course emphasizes the basic skills and tools of analysis and research, and the
fundamentals of good writing. Students research and write legal memoranda and
other documents of increasing length and complexity; develop research skills,
both individually and in group projects; and learn editing skills and the basics
of legal ethics. Students rewrite several assignments after written comments from
and in-person conferences with the professor. Three credit hours.
Law 260 Legal Writing 2. This course provides additional instruction in
legal research, analysis, and writing, with a focus on written and oral advocacy.
Students write both a trial and an appellate brief, and are introduced to oral
advocacy through preparing and presenting a mock appellate argument. Two credit
hours.
Law 431 Legal Writing 3. This course provides
an introduction to non-litigation oriented transactional issues and documents,
through shorter assignments than are the norm in Legal Writing 1 and 2, and on
oral communication with colleagues and clients. One credit hour.
Law 432 Legal Writing 4. This course focuses on specialized legal research
in areas such as environmental law, intellectual property, labor/employment law,
and international law, and on drafting legal instruments common to these areas.
Students are introduced to research resources and techniques in the particular
area of focus, as well as in legislative history, administrative materials, international
legal materials, and empirical research. Students typically will prepare several
legal instruments for the specialty area and may be assigned a major paper in
the subject area. Three credit hours.
ELECTIVE
COURSES Law 359 Accounting for Lawyers. There is something
about a law student that just doesn't love accounting. Maybe it's the numbers,
although accounting involves only one basic formula and some addition and subtraction.
Or perhaps you don't know much about business. This aversion to accounting is
unfortunate, not because it's universally enjoyable to study (although it can
be gratifying and sometimes even fun). It's unfortunate because accounting plays
such an important role in many areas of law practice. Accounting is the language
of business and your clients are likely to have interests that involve financial
matters. Lawyers should understand certain fundamental things about accounting
and financial statements. Familiarity with accounting concepts has become even
more important since the 2001 Enron scandal, followed by the obstruction of justice
conviction and collapse of its auditor, Arthur Anderson and Company. Accounting
fraud also affected WorldCom and many other public and private companies. A lawyer
with knowledge of accounting fundamentals may be able to recognize "red flags"
that suggest their client or another party has committed financial fraud. The
Preface states that the casebook "strives to make accounting as teachable
as possible to law students, recognizing that many law students approach the subject
with considerable trepidation." Students are not assumed to know anything
about accounting or business when the course begins. All you need is a couple
of pencils and several erasers. Students who have taken more than one course of
undergraduate accounting may not enroll in the course. Two credit hours.
(revised 11/04)
Law 372
Administrative Law. A study of the legal problems involved in the creation,
functioning, and control of government agencies (other than courts or legislatures)
that engage in rule making or adjudication. Particular attention is given to the
constitutional constraints on agency action, including those imposed by due process,
separation of powers, and the nondelegation doctrine. The investigative functions
of agencies and the timing, method, and scope of judicial review of an agency's
actions also are covered. Three credit hours.
Law
314 Advanced Criminal Law. This course covers substantive criminal law issues
either omitted from the required criminal law course or not covered in depth.
There will likely be five main topics: punishment, focusing on the death penalty;
defenses, focusing on self-defense, necessity, duress, and insanity; inchoate
crimes, including conspiracy and solicitation; and specific crimes, particularly
rape and offenses against property. Three credit hours.
Law 268 Advanced Issues in Family Law. This course addresses a variety
of current family law issues, including divorce taxation, the drafting of prenuptial
agreements, effective discovery strategies in divorce litigation, evaluation of
closely-held businesses, treatment of deferred income plans, and effective use
of expert witnesses. Recommended preparation: Family Law. Three credit hours.
(added 12/02)
Law 486
Advanced Legislative Advocacy. This course will provide an opportunity for
students to develop and implement a complete Policy Action Plan. This advanced
course will focus on a thorough understanding of researching, understanding, and
drafting legislation, as well as administrative rules and regulations. Students
will select a topic to work on for the semester, which may be a continuation of
the topic they addressed in the basic Legislative Advocacy course. Students will
be expected to prepare a comprehensive policy review of their topic, with an in-depth
analysis of the existing laws and regulations pertaining to the topic. Students
will also be expected to develop a sophisticated research base for their topic,
which will include drafting expert testimony on behalf of a researcher. Students
will also complete research including legislative history, relevant policy makers,
and agency officials and administrators. Prerequisite: Legislative Advocacy. Two
credit hours.
(added 4/07)
Law 474 Advanced Property: Real Estate Finance and Transfers. This course
focuses on the modern real estate transaction. The course consists of two basic
parts. Part 1 will examine the process of land transfer. Topics covered include
the real estate contract, risk of loss, title assurance and deed formalities.
Part 2, which constitutes the bulk of the course, deals with the law of land finance.
Topics covered include installment land sales contracts, sale and lease backs,
mortgage formation, environmental and other due diligence requirements, foreclosure,
and equity participation. New, advanced forms of land security will also be covered.
Some attention will be given to the federal tax consequences of different transactions.
Two credit hours.
(added 4/07)
Law 301 Advanced Property: Real Estate Transactions. This course involves
a detailed examination of the legal issues arising in connection with the purchase
and sale of real property. Topics include: the role of brokers in real estate
transactions, the contract of purchase and sale, instruments of conveyance, warranties
of title, recording acts, title insurance and other forms of title assurance,
warranties of condition and other forms of quality assurance and the financing
and closing of real estate transactions. The course examines real estate transactions
from a practitioner's perspective, as well as from a more theoretical standpoint.
Three credit hours.
Law 446 Advanced Torts. The first-year
Torts course is limited, mainly by credit-hour-restrictions, to convering concepts
related to attempted recovery for physical injuries to the person caused by one's
negligence, intentional acts, or abnormally dangerous activities. In Advanced
Torts, students will analyze actions that seek to protect against intangible or
economic injuries. Among the topics that may be considered are: Defamation, the
Right of Privacy, the Right to Publicity, Fraud and Deceit, Interference with
Contractual Relations, Interference with Prospective Advantage, Injurious Falsehood,
Malicious Procedution, Abuse of Process, and various Statutory Torts. In addition,
there will be a review of the so-called "tort reforms" enacted by Congress
and state legislatures in recent years. Two credit hours.
Law 277 Agency Law. This course addresses basic principles of agency law,
particularly the doctrines associated with authority, vicarious responsibility,
and fiduciary duty. It also addresses how agency principles and doctrines are
applied in such areas as legal ethics, corporation law, contract law, civil procedure,
criminal law, torts, and constitutional law. Two credit hours.
Law 375 American Legal History. This is a survey course that examines major
themes and interpretations in the history of American law from the end of the
eighteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. Our primary goal is to explore
the relationship between historical change and changes in the law and legal institutions.
Topics include law in colonial and revolutionary America, changing understandings
of the U.S Constitution, the law of slavery, the Civil War, the rise of the corporation
and the modern state, debates over the meaning of rights, and developments in
legal education and the legal profession. We will also consider how shifts in
American culture relate to shifts in legal doctrine, including contract law, torts,
property, family law, and criminal law. Requirements include regular participation
in class discussion and a take-home final exam. Three credit hours.
(revised
8/05)
Law 363 Antitrust. A study of
antitrust law concerning problems of monopolies, price fixing, horizontal and
vertical restraints on trade and mergers. The major federal legislation in the
field, including the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, are considered in detail.
Three credit hours.
Law 223 Appellate Courts and Procedure.
Appellate courts make important case law decisions and supervise courts below
them in the judicial hierarchy. This course will examine the functions of appeals
and appellate courts, and the process of appellate review: appellate jurisdiction,
standing to appeal, timing of review, vehicles for obtaining review, the breadth
and depth of review, and appellate lawmaking. The course also will consider the
structure of our appellate courts, and how those courts and Congress have responded,
and may in the future respond, to the threat to function posed by the increasing
volume of appeals. The course will acquaint students with the contemporary role
of appellate counsel and with the U.S. Supreme Court's certiorari policies and
practices. Although federal courts will be the main focus, many of the matters
discussed also will be pertinent to state appellate systems. Three credit hours.
Law 313 Banking Law. A study of the law of commercial
banking with special emphasis on banking as a "regulated industry."
Among the topics included are the history and structure of the American banking
system and of the federal regulatory agencies; the regulation of traditional banking
activity, including lending limitations; discrimination based on sex or marital
status; usury; reserve requirements; capital adequacy; interest limits; the formation
of a new bank or branch; branch banking; management interlocks; criminal liability;
attainment of competitive markets; banks' trust powers; and failing banks and
the FDIC. The course will include a description of the banking industry and the
regulation of banks in several foreign countries and major international financial
centers. Included are several topics of “international banking” such
as the methods by which banks of one country can operate in another country. Three
credit hours.
(revised 11/07)
Law 435 Bankruptcy. After surveying the rights of creditors under non-bankruptcy
law, this course focuses on how the Bankruptcy Code deals with those rights and
other relationships involving the debtor. Topics covered include initiation of
bankruptcy proceedings, the stay and its consequences, definition of the bankruptcy
estate, claims, priorities, exemptions, discharge, avoidance powers, executory
contracts, liquidation, reorganization, and other issues. Three credit hours.
Law 409 Business Organizations. This course examines
how businesses are organized in the United States and the variety of legal regulations
they face. It considers the different forms of business organizations, including
sole proprietorships, general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies,
and the various forms of incorporated business enterprises, with the goal of establishing
which form of organization is best suited for a variety of business goals. The
course emphasizes the rights and obligations of the various parties in the business
relationshipBemployees, promoters, partners, and corporate officers, directors,
investors, and stockholders, as well as their attorneys. Special focus also is
devoted to the question of control of closely-held corporations. These general
themes are examined in the context of specific corporate issues, including executive
compensation; proxy contests; basic securities fraud and insider trading; and
mergers, acquisitions, and tender offers. The course also includes an introduction
to basic principles of corporate finance. Four credit hours.
Law 238 Chicago Legal Clinic Practicum. The Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc.
(not affiliated with Chicago-Kent) was established 23 years ago to offer low-cost
legal services to laid-off steel workers and their families. Today the Clinic
has four offices in Chicago and represents more than 12,000 clients a year, including
victims of domestic violence, people with social security problems, clients with
immigration issues, and organizations with environmental concerns. The Pilsen
Office of the Chicago Legal Clinic assists people who are seeking to become U.S.
citizens as well as persons with other immigration concerns. In addition to offering
direct representation to individual clients, assistance is also offered at citizenship
workshops. This practicum offers a practical overview to Immigration Law and includes,
as cases permit, preparation of documents, attendance at government interviews
and assistance at Administrative Hearings. The Clinic also provides representation
to immigrants with consumer fraud problems. Opportunities include: gaining practical
legal experience in the areas of immigration and consumer law with clients of
the Chicago Legal Clinic; representing clients who are seeking to become U.S.
citizens as well as others with immigration problems before the United States
Citizenship and Immigrations Services; counseling immigrants, seniors and people
with disabilities who have limited sources of income; creating web-based educational
materials and presenting work-shops for social agencies, caseworkers, caretakers
and potential clients. A 711 license is not required. Students are expected to
work an average of 8 hours a week, in addition to a weekly meeting. No final exam.
Two credit hours.
(revised 11/05)
Law 369 Civil Procedure 2. This course will complete the overview of civil
litigation in the federal system. It will focus on judicial supervision of pretrial
conferences, the promotion of settlements, and incentives to settle; the trialBincluding
the Seventh Amendment right to jury trial, judicial control of the verdict through
judgments as a matter of law, new trial orders, remittitur and additur, different
kinds of verdicts, and juror impeachment of the verdict; the preclusive effects
of judgments; and pre- and post-judgment remedies. Three credit hours.
Law 279 Civil RICO. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act (RICO) was enacted a generation ago primarily as a tool for criminal prosecutors
to use against organized crime. Its civil provisions were added to the legislation
as an afterthought and remained largely dormant for a decade. Today, civil RICO
is on the cutting-edge of the debate over illegal immigration. Mr. Foster has
pioneered the use of the law against employers who hire large numbers of illegal
workers in order to depress wage levels for legal American workers. These cases
have not only made headlines across the country but have also reached the U.S.
Supreme Court. This class will not only delve into the fundamentals of the RICO
statute, but also touch upon issues of market power over wages, proximate causation,
class action procedure and Supreme Court practice, concepts with broad application
in employment and business law.
(revised 11/06)
Law 626 Civil Rights History: From the Civil War
to the Civil Rights Movement. This course examines the development of civil
rights law in the United States since the end of the Civil War. Topics include:
the passage and ratification of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments;
the retreat from Reconstruction in the courts and in society; the role of law
in creating, maintaining, and challenging racial oppression during the Jim Crow
era; and the origins, achievements, and limitations of the modern civil
rights
movement. We will give particular attention to the changing
historical context
in which courts and legislatures create civil rights law,
the role of social
movements in the formation of civil rights policy, and
the power of law to
reshape entrenched social practices. Two credit hours.
(added
11/07)
Law 265 Commercial Law: Payment
Systems. An examination of the legal regulation of various methods of payment,
with primary emphasis on checks and wire transfers and some consideration of letters
of credit, credit cards, debit cards, stored-value cards, and cash. The course
also deals with promissory notes, primarily as a means to explore the concept
of negotiability. Coverage includes Uniform Commercial Code articles 3, 4, 4A,
and 5. Three credit hours.
Law 202 Commercial Law: Secured
Transactions. This course is concerned with the structuring and use of transactions
in which personal propertyBautomobiles, computers, rights to payment, wheat, etc.Bis
used to secure business and consumer debt. It examines the rights of the parties
to a secured transaction (i.e., debtor and creditor) as between themselves and
as against third parties. The emphasis is on security interests created under
Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Three credit hours.
Law 455 Commercial Law: Survey. This course provides a survey of the Uniform
Commercial Code and is designed for those students who either do not want to take
the individual commercial law courses (Payment Systems and Secured Transactions),
or have not decided whether to take these courses. Commercial Law is clearly the
most significant substantive subject appearing on the Illinois Bar Examination,
appearing on all four parts of the exam (the Multistate Bar Examination, the Multistate
Essay Examination, the Illinois Essay Examination, and the Multistate Performance
Examination). In light of the above, it is advisable that students planning to
take the Illinois Bar Examination should have some exposure to the Code. This
course is not a prerequisite for any other commercial law course. If you take
this course, you will be able to subsequently (or concurrently) take Payment Systems
and/or Secured Transactions. If you have already taken both Payment Systems and
Secured Transactions, you may not take this course. Four credit hours.
Law 458 Comparative Constitutional Law. This course will begin with a case
study examining a single constitutional issue from the perspective of
three
different constitutional systems. The relationships between different constitutional
systems and the limitations of comparative analysis will then be discussed more
generally. The next section will look at the role and structure of constitutional
courts, in particular different approaches to judicial review. Finally, the course
will look at constitutional protection of individual and group rights focusing
on the question of what substantive norms are necessary for a constitutional system
and can such questions be answered across different constitutional cultures. Prerequisites:
Constitutional Law (please see Professor Harding if you wish to take this course
and are taking Constitutional Law at the same time). Two credit hours.
(revised
5/03)
Law 430 Comparative Law. This course
examines the problems and issues that arise when a lawyer deals with foreign clients,
foreign lawyers, or foreign law. It focuses on the differences in substance, procedure,
methods, and ways of thinking between the United States and other countries, revealing
the many ways in which the United States legal system is unique and evaluating
the implications of this uniqueness. The course examines foreign laws and legal
institutions and identifies ways in which lawyers can learn about and better understand
systems other than their own and develop strategies for dealing with the effects
of differences between systems. Three credit hours.
(revised
4/05)
Law 473 Comparative Tort Law. Comparative
law is important for at least two reasons. First, law and legal disputes are increasingly
becoming more global, so that knowledge of other legal systems with different
procedural and doctrinal structures, especially those based on the European civil
law tradition rather than the Anglo-American common law tradition, as well as
law promulgated by international organizations such as the European Court of Human
Rights, is becoming increasingly important to everyday legal practice. Second,
studying how other legal systems deal with various substantive and procedural
issues can provide useful insights for how those issues might be better dealt
with in our legal system. The premise of this course is that the benefits of studying
comparative law can be best obtained by focusing on a specific area of law, which
however encompasses issues and doctrines that are fundamental to all of law. Tort
law is such an area. Two credit hours.
(added 11/06)
Law 228 Complex Crimes Prosecution. This course
focuses on issues that prosecutors of complex crimes encounter, including the
expanded role of the prosecutor in the investigation of criminal offenses and
the legal and ethical issues that expanded role raises; offenses that cross borders
(state and national) and the issues of jurisdiction such offenses raise; and the
statutes most commonly used to prosecute a wide range of complex criminal activity.
(added 11/04)
Law
327 Complex Litigation. A study of complex litigation involving multiple parties
and multiple claims. By way of background, we consider joinder of parties and
of claims generally, and treat transfer and consolidation of civil actions. We
then emphasize all major aspects of class action litigation. The facets covered
include ethical considerations, history and philosophy, federal subject matter
jurisdiction, due process considerations, requirements for bringing a class action,
notice, settlement, administration of judicial relief, appealability, binding
effect of the judgment, attorneys' fees, and trying complex cases. This advanced
course serves to round out a student's background in civil procedure, and demonstrates
clearly in what respects and why complex litigation has presented special problems
requiring special treatment. Three credit hours.
Law
478 Computer and Network Privacy and Security: Ethical, Legal, and Technical Considerations.
More and more, both practice and the job market require lawyers who understand
the interface between law and technology. This course provides a unique opportunity
to understand that interface. No technical knowledge is required. Everything
is explained in plain English. The course addresses the issue of privacy in an
age of surveillance. How much privacy should we demand? Why does privacy matter?
How is privacy to be defined? The course addresses security issues because in
the Internet age there is no privacy without security and security failures may
yet lead to the end of the Internet age. The course provides a unique opportunity
to really understand the interface between law and technology. Three credit hours.
(added
11/07)
Law 371 Conflict of Laws. A
study of the legal problems that arise when the domiciles of the parties or other
significant facts of a controversy are connected with states other than that where
the litigation occurs. Among the topics included are: the choice of applicable
law, jurisdiction of courts, the effect of out-of-state judgments, and the rules
of decision applicable in multi-state transactions. International conflicts are
becoming increasingly frequent and important, and thus the class will include
discussion of the international aspects of each of the three main areas of inquiry
(choice of law, jurisdiction, and enforcement of judgments). Similarly, the application
of these rules in the context of cyberspace is given attention. Three credit hours.
Law 351 Construction Law. A study of contractual
relations among participants in the construction process; legal disputes arising
out of the bidding and construction process; and the customs of the construction
industry as they relate to legal problems. There will be some discussion of the
bidding process and bonding requirements. The contractual interrelationships among
the owner, the architect, contractors, and subcontractors as defined by the "contract
documents" and as implied by law will be fully discussed. Finally, an analysis
of typical construction disputes arising from contract interpretation, change
orders, time problems, and payment issues will be made. An understanding of how
contract, and tort principles discussed in substantive courses are applied and
interrelated within the construction industry will be derived from the course.
Two credit hours.
Law 378 Consumer Health Benefits. This
course is designed to expose students to some of the legal and policy issues that
confront individuals/consumers in our health care system. The course will explore
the basics of our unique system of health care financing and delivery, focusing
on how that system affects the consumer/employee/patient. Among the topics that
are explored are employer-provided benefits; managed care; HMO liability; ERISA
preemption; litigating benefit coverage denials; eligibility, funding, and benefits
in the Medicaid and Medicare programs; COBRA benefits; and health care reform.
There is no exam and students are evaluated on the basis of a paper and class
participation. Two credit hours.
Law 212 Consumer Protection
Law. This course will cover the fundamental causes of action and defenses
in current consumer protection law. The course will examine common law antecedents
of modern consumer protection law, contract and tort-based causes of action, consumer
credit, compulsory disclosure statutes, consumer contract formation issues, collection
and foreclosure issues, complex litigation issues of federal and state provisions,
civil RICO, qui tam, class actions, and governmental enforcement. Three credit
hours.
Law 405 Copyright Law. This course is a detailed
examination of the entire range of copyright law, including protection for literary,
musical, artistic, and other works of authorship. The course is centered on a
consideration of the 1976 federal copyright statute, as amended by several recent
pieces of legislation, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the DMCA).
Topics covered include what kinds of work are protected by copyright, ownership
of copyright, and the rights and remedies provided by copyright law. In addition
to exploring basic questions about the purposes, nature, and scope of copyright
raised by the federal legislation, this course gives special attention to current
controversies concerning the extension of traditional copyright principles to
the online environment, the legality of peer-to-peer networks, protection for
computer programs, Internet service provider liability, the constitutionality
of new and greater forms of copyright protection, the interaction of copyright
and free speech principles, and the effect of international treaties upon U.S.
copyright law. Three credit hours.
488 Corporate Governance.
This course will explore some of the major issues in governance of public
corporations such as Enron, World Com, and Bear Stearns. Some of the questions
we will consider: What are the structural and procedural issues inherent in publicly
held corporations that almost invariably produce governance issues? Are "outside"
professional advisors to corporations (lawyers and accountants) facilitators of
corporate objectives or watchdogs of the public interest? How should a corporation
balance or prioritize responsibilities to equity investors, debt investors, the
communities in which it operates, and its employees and customers? What is the
proper role for institutional investors in the governance of the corporation in
which they invests? What are the appropriate policies and limitations (if any)
for a Board of Directors to impose on the form and amount of CEO compensation?
What is the appropriate course of action for a director if he believes a corporation
is embarking on a seriously unwise or illegal course of action? To what extent
are moral and psychological issues such as greed, envy, distributive justice and
honor at the root of corporate governance issues? The course requires regular
(almost every week) one-page submissions of responses to questions posed at the
previous week's session. Each week the class will discuss oral presentations of
several of the responses. Two credit hours.
(added 4/08)
Law 360 Corporate Finance. This course is intended to provide a basic understanding
of how stocks and bonds are utilized in the capital formation process, how businesses
raise capital, and how the capital formation process is regulated. In addition,
the course covers some fundamental concepts of financial analysis and investment
techniques. Two credit hours.
Law 344 Criminal Procedure:
The Adjudicative Process. This course and Criminal Procedure: The Investigative
Process are a study of the legal rules governing the operation of the criminal
justice system from investigation to trial. Among the topics included in this
course are: the right to counsel, transcripts and other aids; discovery and the
failure of the state to disclose; pretrial publicity and change of venue; the
right to a speedy trial; plea bargaining and guilty pleas; the right to a jury
trial and problems of jury selection; ineffective assistance of counsel; sentencing;
entrapment; double jeopardy; hearings into probable cause; and pretrial release.
Three credit hours.
Law 270 Criminal Procedure: The Investigative
Process. A study of the legal rules, primarily constitutional, governing the
operation of the criminal justice system from investigation to trial. Among the
topics included in this course are: the meaning of due process; arrest, search,
and seizure; wiretapping and electronic eavesdropping; police interrogation and
confessions; eyewitness identification procedures; the scope and administration
of the exclusionary rules; and grand jury investigations. Three credit hours.
Law 437 Disability Law. This course examines statutes
and cases concerning people with mental and physical disabilities. Most of the
relevant law has developed in the area of schooling, insurance, employment, access
to public facilities, and estate planning and guardianships. The course also explores
the processes of administrative and judicial review as they have adapted to resolve
these cases. Preparation of disability cases, the use of expert witnesses, and
the role of attorneys in disability negotiations also are covered. Two credit
hours.
Law 215 E-Commerce. This course covers Internet
contracting both domestically and internationally; payment systems and related
privacy concerns; Internet business torts and anti-trust in e-commerce. Legal
issues are examined against the background of the nature of e-commerce. Three
credit hours.
(revised 12/02)
Law 495 Electronic Discovery. This class is designed to help future lawyers
understand the shoots, ladders and traps that exist in the world of Electronically
Stored Information (ESI). Students will learn what an attorney needs to consider
when handling ESI in the litigation process; how both the federal rules of civil
procedure and the federal rules of evidence affect this aspect of litigation;
what e-discovery is and why it is so different from paper evidence; and when to
bring in forensic specialists to advise them about electronic data or when to
use an e-discovery coordinator to manage a project. This course will also discuss
how to manage cost of production and processing, and how those considerations
should affect an attorney’s thought process when working with this type of
information. Students will learn how preservation obligations and spoliation claims
can come into play. This class will include hands-on experience with real ESI
and will require a class project/presentation and final exam. Students must have
a laptop with access to the school network in class. Students will to learn how
to use different software packages as part of the class. Two credit hours.
(added 4/08)
Law 248
Emerging Technologies. Law and the legal system anticipate and also respond
to changes in technology in ways that may enhance or inhibit the development of
new technologies and new applications of old technologies. This course examines
these changes from a historical perspective using the telecommunications technologies
and regulations as a case study. It then moves into current technological developments
in genetic engineering, surrogate parenting, interactive cable TV, DNA testing,
nanotechnology, facial recognition technologies, and the like. Legal issues involving
intellectual property, contractual relationships, constitutional rights of individuals,
rules of evidence, negligence, and products liability will be discussed in the
contexts of a variety of emerging technologies. Questions revolve around the ways
in which the legal system responds to changes with analogies to the "known
and understood," with fear of the unknown, with conflict between legal and
moral issues, with new law, and with the attorney's role in formulating change.
Three credit hours.
Law 353 Employee Benefits Law.
A detailed study of the law governing retirement plans and related fringe benefits.
Attention will be focused primarily on employer-sponsored pension plans that qualify
for favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code. Topics include participation
and vesting requirements, taxation of benefit payments, creditor's rights, the
responsibility of plan administrators and trustees, and discrimination in favor
of highly compensated employees. Three credit hours.
Law
365 Employment Discrimination. An in-depth examination of the federal law
concerning discrimination in employment on the bases of race, sex, religion, national
origin, age, and disability. Topics covered include: Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, and
the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Illinois Human Rights Act also falls
within the purview of this course, as does the common law development regarding
wrongful discharge. Three credit hours.
Law 391 Employment
Relationships. This course will focus on the legal relationship between employer
and individual employee. It will cover the common law aspects of that relationship,
particularly contracts and torts. It will then examine statutory modifications
of the common law. Statutes that may be examined include ERISA, the Civil Rights
Acts, whistle-blower protection legislation, unemployment and workers compensation
acts, Fair Labor Standards Act and OSHA. The course is recommended for students
contemplating a labor law, corporate or general practice. Three credit hours.
Law 232 Energy Law. This course offers a basic overview
of the legal framework within which the production, distribution and sale of energy
takes place. It is offered as part of the Program in Environmental and Energy
Law but is open to all students. After a brief introduction to scientific concepts
of energy and the history of energy technology, the course will survey the major
sources of energy. The traditional sources have been oil, natural gas and coal
converted to consumer products such as electricity and gasoline. Newer sources
include nuclear and solar energy. Each source and delivery system has its own
network of property rules and contract relationships. National energy policy will
be reviewed and the impact of interregional competition on the regulation of energy
will be studied, as will constitutional and economic concepts affecting the pricing
of energy. Particular emphasis will be placed on energy issues in environmental
law. Three credit hours.
Law 373 Entertainment Law. A
general survey of the legal principles and business customs and usages of the
entertainment industry. Topics include: contract, labor, copyright, trademarks
and unfair competition, privacy and publicity rights, and constitutional law cases
and material involving the motion picture, live theater, television, music, and
print publishing branches, and the production, distribution and retail sectors
of each branch. Students interested in intellectual property and those who may
represent individuals or entities in the entertainment industry should consider
taking this course. The Copyright Law course is recommended preparation. Two credit
hours.
Law 489 Entrepreneurial Law Practicum.
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic will help students develop their lawyering skills
by giving them the opportunity to work with individuals and small companies to
address issues commonly arising out of the entrepreneurial environment, including
but not limited to: LLC formation and conveyance of membership; contracts; protection
of trade secrets; and trademark protection. Students are required to perform five
hours a week of fieldwork in addition to a weekly one-hour class meeting. Activities
will include interviewing entrepreneurs, preparing a preliminary issues assessment
memorandum, presenting such memoranda to a practicing attorney and the class;
researching legal issues raised and preparing a proposed course of action; and
executing such action as appropriate. Students will receive feedback throughout
the course from entrepreneurs, other students, and practicing attorneys. Students
must have completed 30 credit hours. One credit hour.
(added
4/08)
Law 426 Environmental Law and Policy
1. This course examines the scientific, economic, and ethical foundations
of environmental law and policy and introduces the student to many of the major
biodiversity conservation and pollution control regulatory programs. The role
of courts in policing environmental regulation and decision-making is also covered.
The course will take an interdisciplinary approach, looking at history, economic
theory and analysis, and other disciplines. The course covers the common law origins
of environmental protection, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered
Species Act, Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and
Superfund. The course examines the substance of the Acts and uses them as vehicles
for exploring complex statutory schemes, administrative policy-making, market
environmental controls, the interplay of federal and state environmental programs,
benefit-cost analysis, risk analysis, and environmental litigation. This is the
first semester of a two-semester course sequence. While it is required for students
concentrating in Environmental and Energy Law, it is open to all students. The
course can be taken without the second semester course. Three credit hours.
Law 441 Environmental Law and Policy 2. This is the second semester of
a two-semester course sequence. While it is required for students in the Program
in Environmental and Energy Law, it is open to all students. Environmental Law
and Policy 1 is not a prerequisite. The course emphasizes the Clean Air Act as
a vehicle for exploring complex statutory schemes, administrative policy-making,
market environmental controls, the interplay of federal and state environmental
programs, benefit-cost analysis, risk analysis, and environmental litigation.
The course will also examine global warming and the broader concept of climate
change. Two credit hours.
Law 414 Estate Planning.
An analysis of the various methods of achieving proper lifetime and testamentary
planning, including the preparation of documents in connection with estate plans
such as wills and trusts. Two credit hours.
Law 311 Estates
and Trusts. A study of the law relating to the gratuitous transfer of property
at death and in trust. The course will examine the formalities required for the
execution and revocation of a will, will contests, the problems incident to intestate
succession, will substitutes, the creation and enforcement of private express
trusts, the creation and enforcement of charitable trusts, and the use of class
gifts and powers of appointment to introduce flexibility into estate plans. The
course will also explore certain issues of elder law, such as living wills and
health care powers of attorney. Four credit hours.
Law
476 European Copyright Law. This course, which will be offered in intensive
format, covers European approaches to digital rights management, the exploitation
of works in computer networks (P2P, databases, software, etc.), the scope of fair
use, liability for infringements in the digital environment, and the enforcement
of rights. It considers not just the present state of regulation but looks at
future challenges as well. Available as a course or seminar. The class will meet
from Monday, August 20 through Saturday, August 25, 2007. Students taking the
class as a regular course will take an exam at a date to be determined later.
Two credit hours.
(added 4/07)
Law 291 European Union. This course is designed as a general introduction
to the legal system of the European Union (EU). It covers both its constitutional
and institutional structure and focuses on specific key areas of substantive law.
The course starts by introducing the EU's legal order, and then moves briefly
into the EU's legislative process, where it concentrates on the political and
legislative functions of the various institutions and the division of competences
between the EU and its Member States. The course pays particular attention to
the role of the judiciary in shaping the EU's legal order. The European Court
of Justice developed the fundamental notions of direct effect and supremacy of
European law. Those notions, through which rights are created for European citizens,
are examined, and the course subsequently turns to how those rights can be enforced.
The area of European Trade Law is then chosen as a 'test case' to analyse the
legal, political and social developments of the European system. In particular,
the provisions on free movements, competition, and state aids are thoroughly analysed
with reference to the case law of the European Court of Justice and to relevant
secondary legislation. This part of the course, by focusing also on specific issues
such as the tension between market forces and values (public health, European
culture, and social prerogatives), is not confined to legal themes only but indirectly
examines the role of the EU and the values and polices upon which the European
constitutional architecture is founded. Therefore, although the course is not
a comparative one, a discussion on the US and EU institutional and judicial system
is warmly welcome in each lecture. Three credit hours.
Law
273 Evidence. A study of the rules of evidence and the reasons underlying
these rules, with particular emphasis on the Federal Rules of Evidence. Among
the topics included are: competency and examination of witnesses, including impeachment;
relevancy; the hearsay rule and its exceptions; privileges; writings; opinion,
expertise, and experts; scientific and demonstrative evidence; and other issues.
Three credit hours.
Law 442 Family and Employment-Based
Immigration Practice. This course is designed to familiarize law students
with the practical, hands-on practice of family and employment-based immigration
to the United States. In an increasingly international world, the ability to obtain
and maintain lawful immigration status in the U.S., permanent and temporary, is
very important. This course will focus on ways foreign-born persons can obtain
permanent immigration status in the U.S. through their family and/or employment,
both from abroad and from within the U.S. itself. In addition, the course will
examine the temporary statuses available to persons seeking to enter the U.S.
to work or study. There are no prerequisites, but it is recommended that students
enrolling in this course have previously taken Immigration Law and Policy or have
practical experience in immigration law. Two credit hours.
Law 340 Family Law. A study of the legal problems involved in the formation,
continuation, and dissolution of the relationship of husband and wife, and the
legal problems arising from the relationship of parent to child. Among the topics
that may be discussed are are engagements; marriage requirements; marital rights
and responsibilities; divorce; property distribution; child support; maintenance;
parental rights; paternity; legitimacy; custody; adoption; and modern methods
of conception. Three credit hours.
Law 290 Family
Wealth Management. The process of accumulating, managing and transmitting
wealth raises important issues for individuals and families. This course will
expose students to personal finance and wealth management, which will help them
make informed decisions for themselves and those whom they advise. This is a practical
course that covers the following subjects: wealth, financial assets and investing;
home ownership and mortgage financing; life and disability insurance; property
and succession; income taxation of the family; wealth transfer taxation; credit,
debt and asset protection; planning for the costs of higher education, retirement
security, and end of life issues. Many of these topics are the subject matter
of specialized courses in the curriculum, including: Bankruptcy, Disability Law,
Elder Law, Employee Benefits Law, Estates and Trusts, Estate Planning, Family
Law, Gift and Estate Tax, Insurance, Personal Income Tax, and Secured Transactions.
Family Wealth Management is a survey course that is not intended to be a substitute
for any of these courses. Two credit hours.
(added 11/05;
revised 11/06)
Law 480 Famous Trials in History.
This course will investigate some of the most famous trials in history. Included
with be the Scopes trial on the teaching of evolution, the Sacco and Vanzetti
murder trial, the Leopold and Loeb murder trial (including Clarence Darrow's argument
against the death penalty), the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Rosenberg trial,
and other controversial trials. The course will be taught in a seminar format
(although it may not be taken for senior seminar credit), with no final exam or
paper. Professor Brill will begin the course with a multi-week investigation of
the Sacco/Vanzetti case, its after-effects, and recent revelations about the case.
Thereafter, students will be assigned, in teams of two, to prepare and present
multi-media presentations of highlights from other significant trials, and lessons
learned from that trial that may have relevance for current controversial cases.
Grades will be based on the quality of the presentations. Two credit hours.
(added
11/07)
Law 370 Federal Courts. A study
of the powers of, and restraints upon, the federal judiciary, derived largely
but not exclusively from Article III. Specific issues addressed include: the concept
of judicial supremacyB the role of courts in a representative democracy; Article
I tribunals; permissible congressional control of the original and appellate jurisdiction
and remedial arsenal of the federal judiciary; abstention; sovereign immunity;
and federal review of state court decisions. Three credit hours.
Law 282 The First Amendment. A study of the constitutional protection of
speech and religion under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The course
will explore the history and theory of freedom of speech and religion; the constitutionality
of regulating seditious speech, pornography, hate speech, and commercial speech;
the permissibility of state support for religion; and other topics. Three credit
hours.
Law 393 Food and Drug Law. The U.S. Food
and Drug Administration regulates products comprising over 25% of the consumer
spending in the United States, yet its practices and mechanisms are not commonly
understood. This one agency regulates most of the nation's foods, and all of its
dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, biological products, medical devices, cosmetics,
and other products. It does so with a variety of legal tools and varying degrees
of control over different product types, and yet its actions are guided by just
two key goals -- to protect the public health and to help new products get to
market -- and a small number of deceptively simple concepts. This course will
examine the primary powers of this important agency, how the agency has changed
over time in response to crises, business trends, and evolving public policy considerations,
and will address some of the key concepts common to all federal regulatory agencies.
Two credit hours.
(added 4/06)
Law 403 Forensic Sciences. This course is designed to familiarize students
with contemporary scientific evidence and expert witnesses. Acknowledged experts
will present their specialties with an eye towards what the lawyer should know
about the scientific area and how to select and utilize an expert witness. Emphasis
will be on topics suitable to both civil and criminal cases. Topics include: pathology,
toxicology, toolmark and firearms identification, questioned documents, fingerprints,
forensic photography, and the polygraph. Two credit hours.
Law 201 Gender and the Law. This class asks: how does gender (that is,
concepts regarding what it means to be a man or woman) construct law, and how
does law construct gender? Over the past thirty years a rich and exciting body
of scholarship regarding gender and the law has developed. It poses a significant
challenge to traditional ways of thinking about law, questioning some of the basic
premises of what constitutes justice and equality in a democracy. This course
examines the main tenets, methodologies, and controversies in this body of literature
including the meaning of equality, the intersection of race and law, the public/private
divide, concepts of objectivity and neutrality, and how law reproduces hierarchies
while also having the ability to participate in significant social change. We
will also analyze debates regarding sex work, domestic violence, reproductive
rights, the nature of the workplace, and concepts of the family. The goal of the
course is to think broadly and critically regarding the interaction of law, society,
and gender while exploring the potential and limitations of our legal system.
Three credit hours.
(added 11/06)
Law 368 Gift and Estate Tax. This course deals with the federal taxation
of gratuitous property transfers during life and at death and with the techniques
for structuring transactions so as to minimize such taxation. The emphasis will
be on gift and estate taxes, but we will also study the income taxation of trusts
and estates and the generation-skipping transfer tax. These tax rules will be
examined in the context of the kinds of transactions that give rise to their applicability:
transactions that typically include outright gifts, so-called "living"
trusts, irrevocable trusts, joint tenancies, powers of appointment, life insurance,
and employee benefits. Three credit hours.
Law 362 Health
Care Law. One-eighth of the U.S. economy involves the delivery and regulation
of health care services. This course addresses the statutory, administrative,
and judicial precedents for regulating health care from the point of view of patients,
health care professionals, and health care institutions. It covers topics such
as informed consent, right to refuse treatment, medical malpractice, human experimentation,
the regulation of new medical technologies, health care financing, and health
care reimbursement. Three credit hours.
Law 547 IIT Interprofessional
Projects (IPROs). Students may obtain one credit of independent research by
joining a university-wide team to work on projects furnished by industry. The
IPROs offered vary from semester to semester. Recent IPROs with involvement from
the law school have included: Project Bosnia, where students have helped design
computer and telecommunications packages for linking Bosnian government officials
together through use of intranets, creating internet access for media, and providing
government information on the web; Project Poland, where students have helped
establish a technological infrastructure that supports the continuing development
of the rule of law in Poland; and the International Rights and Asylum Project,
which used information technology to help educate and inform attorneys, refugees,
and other audiences all over the world about international human rights. One credit
hour.
Law 413 Illinois Civil Procedure. This course
focuses on the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure and the Illinois Supreme Court
Rules. Topics covered include: personal and subject matter jurisdiction, venue,
and pleadings and motion practice, with an emphasis on how Illinois procedural
rules differ from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Two credit hours.
Law 304 Immigration Law and Policy. This timely course explores the historical
backdrop to modern immigration law and policy, its unique status in American law,
and post-9/11 issues. Topics include immigrant status (family and employment),
non-immigrant visas, citizenship, bases for exclusion and removal, and current
refugee/asylum policy and procedures. Students may also visit the immigration
court in Chicago. Two or three credit hours.
(revised 11/03)
Law 561 Independent Research. Research under the
supervision of a member of the faculty. One credit hour per semester.
Law 501 Independent Research in Lieu of Seminar. Research under the supervision
of a member of the faculty leading to the completion of a substantial paper fulfilling
the seminar requirement. One credit hour per semester.
Law
358 Insurance. Insurance is an increasingly important tool for the management
of risk by both private and public enterprises. This course provides a working
knowledge of basic insurance law governing insurance contract formation, insurance
regulation, personal, commercial, and professional liability insurance, and claims
processes and disputes. The emphasis throughout the course is on the link between
traditional insurance law doctrine and modern ideas about the functions of contract
law and public policy. Two credit hours.
Law 281 Intellectual
Property and Technology Licensing. This course emphasizes the management of
intellectual property. The intent is to provide the future corporate practitioner
with important information about managing, marketing, selling, buying, and licensing
corporate intellectual property assets (including patents, trademarks, copyrights,
data, trade secrets, software, know-how, and other types of valuable information),
and limiting corporate liability with respect to those assets. The course places
particular emphasis on software and other emerging technologies, but will also
cover traditional intellectual property issues. Two credit hours.
(revised
11/03; formerly Intellectual Property for Corporate Lawyers)
Law 490 Intellectual Property Financial Markets and Legal Principles. This
course will examine both existing and developing markets for intellectual property.
The first portion of the course will detail specific methods and techniques for
intellectual property valuation and commercialization, while the later portion
will focus on the intersection of those techniques with legal principals associated
with the determination of economic damages in intellectual property infringement
matters. The course will be taught through a combination of lectures and interactive
case studies based on real world examples. Two credit hours.
(added
4/08)
Law 283 Intellectual Property in
the High Tech Era. This is a survey class in intellectual property law in
the context of the current high tech era. It covers all four intellectual property
regimes –- copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secret. Questions related
to the use of intellectual property with the current technologies will be explored,
including, for example, issues of the availability of generic drugs to developing
countries and the relationship to the patented pharmaceuticals, the use of peer-to-peer
file transfers across the internet, re-broadcast of copyrighted works through
internet streaming as well as new digital satellite technologies, and the relationships
among the regimes to protect a variety of products. This course will meet August
9-August 22, 2008, starting at 5:30 p.m. (all day on both Saturdays; no class
on Sundays). The course is a survey of intellectual property law for students
who are not pursuing the Intellectual Property certificate; we do not expect or
advise I.P. certificate students to take the course. However, certificate students
are not prohibited from taking the course. Students who take the course and later
decide to pursue the I.P. certificate may take any I.P. course in the future.
This course will not, however, count towards the credits needed to earn the certificate.
Three credit hours.
(added 4/04; revised 4/08)
Law 387 International Business Transactions. An examination
of the legal environment of business, focusing on the legal considerations specifically
related to transactions having transnational elements. Among the topics discussed
are: national laws relating to aliens and foreign transactions, the extraterritorial
reach of American laws, international contracts, international technology transfers,
international and commercial arbitration, and international investment. The respective
roles of foreign law, foreign lawyers, and foreign clients in international business
processes are also considered. Three credit hours.
Law
374 International Capital Markets. This course examines the international
aspects of the U.S. regulation of banking and securities; the international systems
of regulating banking and capital markets including payments, settlements and
capital adequacy; and the capital markets of the European Union (particularly
U.K., Germany and France), and of Canada, and Japan. The course covers special
instruments and techniques including Eurodollar deposits, Eurobonds, Global Bonds,
international asset securitization, futures, options, swaps, offshore trusts,
and project finance. Included are materials on second-tier markets such as Singapore,
Hong Kong, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, several of the emerging markets such as
Mexico, Argentina, etc. and the special problems of the "offshore" centers
such as Lichtenstein, Cayman Islands, Antigua, Jersey, and the like. Three credit
hours.
Law 222 International Commercial Arbitration.
This course is an introduction to a rapidly-expanding field in international commercial
law. An increasing percentage of all international business contracts contain
a clause for binding arbitration in cases of dispute. The reason is simple: In
June 1958, the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign
Arbitral Awards was signed and has now been adopted by over 100 countries, including
all the major commercial countries. This Convention ensures that an arbitral award,
rendered anywhere in the world, will be enforced in the courts of the signatory
countries. Judgments of courts do not receive this treatment: court awards are
very difficult to enforce in other countries. Students will gain a working knowledge
of the various international treaties which provide the structure of international
commercial arbitration. The course will explore the ways in which arbitrations
can be structured: either ad hoc or under the umbrella of an international organization.
The course will examine several umbrella organizations and their "Rules,"
including The American Arbitration Association, the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC – Paris), The London Court of International Arbitration, UNCITRAL (United
Nations Commission on International Trade Law), the International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes, and UNCITRAL's Convention for the International Sale of
Goods. Topics to be covered include: under each regime and each set of rules,
how does an arbitration panel obtain jurisdiction, how are the arbitrators chosen,
what is the process, the rules and the costs, where does the arbitration take
place, which language is used, how is evidence obtained and admitted, etc. No
prerequisites. Three hours credit.
(added 4/04)
Law 235 International Commercial Litigation. This
course will examine international commercial litigation from the investigation
of transnational disputes through the enforcement of judgments in the United States
and abroad. Topics studied will include, among others, case analysis, jurisdiction
over non-U.S. defendants, service of process on foreign defendants, obtaining
evidence abroad, extraterritoriality, trial of transnational cases, and enforcement
of judgments. International arbitration will also be examined. The course will
be taught from both an academic and practical perspective, using actual court
documents where appropriate. Three credit hours.
Law
312 International Human Rights. The course involves both a definition of human
rights as well as enforcement procedures for the implementation of human rights.
The historical and philosophical bases of human rights are examined starting with
the works of various thinkers from the diverse schools, particularly natural law,
positivism, Marxism and the sociological school. The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the later International Covenants are looked at in terms of the
influences of the various schools. The course addresses the question of whether
there is agreement as to fundamental human rights. Recent developments and tensions
in the field of human rights, particularly since the increased membership of countries
from the "third world" and socialist bloc countries, are investigated.
This is highlighted by focusing on the later two covenants of the United Nations
particularly the Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, which enlarges
the scope of human rights to include welfare, cultural, and economic rights. Finally,
the course focuses on the contribution of international and non-governmental organizations
in the protection and implementation of human rights. Two credit hours.
Law 236 International Intellectual Property. This course examines issues
of intellectual property law raised by the exploitation and use of creative and
commercial products in an international environment. General topics covered include:
the negotiation and conclusion by states of different types of agreements prescribing
standards of intellectual property protection under national law; efforts to create
supranational intellectual property rights; resolution of disputes between states
regarding compliance with obligations imposed by international intellectual property
law (primarily under the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization);
the interaction of trade policy and intellectual property laws; and the private
enforcement of intellectual property disputes involving international components.
Under these general headings, the class will address both fundamental principles
underlying the international intellectual property system and issues of current
interest and debate. For example, in the latter category, the class will discuss
the extent to which states can ensure access to essential medicines (such as HIV
drugs) through compulsory licensing of patented drugs; the effect of the Internet
on territorial copyright and trademark laws;institutional reforms designed to
facilitate faster international intellectual property lawmaking; treaty provisions
requiring protection under national law of technological measures designed to
restrict access to copyrighted works; restrictions imposed upon the availability
of so-called parallel imports; cross-border infringement litigation in a single
court seeking relief against conduct in several states; extraterritorial protection
of intellectual property rights; and proceedings by trademark owners before ICANN-authorized
dispute settlement panels to recover domain names under the Uniform Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Policy. Prerequisite: any one of Copyright Law, Trademarks
and Unfair Competition, or Patent Law. This requirement may be waived only with
permission of the instructor. Three credit hours.
Law
475 International Intellectual Property Litigation. As intellectual property
is increasingly exploited in more than one country simultaneously, disputes arise
that have transborder components. Thus, for example, when the makers of the Blackberry
personal data assistant were sued for patent infringement, they sought to escape
from liability under US law (where the plaintiff had a patent) by arguing that
much of the Blackberry communication process occurred in Canada (where the plaintiff
had no patent). Likewise, when Microsoft feared that its Windows mark might be
declared generic by a U.S. court in a dispute with a rival software developer,
it quickly brought parallel trademark infringement proceedings against the developer
in European countries and sought to leverage a victory in those countries to force
a settlement of the US dispute. In the copyright context, what is the relevance
of the fact that the distributors of the Grokster software were not located in
the United States? Did it matter that they are located in a country with less
strict copyright laws? These types of questions and disputes will be the subject
of this course. International intellectual property litigation involves not only
the substantive rules of intellectual property law in the relevant countries,
but also the rules of conflict of laws that determine which courts can hear cases,
which claims those courts can hear, which law the court applies, and whether the
judgment of one court will be recognized by other courts. We will read opinions
primarily of US courts, but there will also be discussion of decisions in this
area from courts in Europe and elsewhere. The rules on private international intellectual
property litigation are, perhaps appropriately, being developed through a truly
international conversation among judges and policymakers. We will also discuss
the draft American Law Institute project on Intellectual Property: Principles
Governing Jurisdiction, Choice of Law, and Judgments in Transnational Disputes,
which is being considered by the membership of the American Law Institute in May
2007. Prerequisite: Students should have taken at least one of the following courses:
Copyright Law, Trademark and Unfair Competition Law, or Patent Law. Students who
do not satisfy this prerequisite may contact the instructor to request its waiver.
Three credit hours.
(added 4/07)
Law 383 International Law. This course introduces students to the key concepts
and doctrines of international law. Students learn the sources of international
law such as custom and treaty, the role of international organizations such as
the United Nations, the bases of international jurisdiction, laws governing the
use of force and the protection of human rights, and the constitutional structure
of U.S. participation in the international legal system. An understanding of these
core concepts, rules and institutions is vital to more advanced and in-depth study
of world events, such as the Persian Gulf crisis and war in 1990-91 and the disintegration
of the Soviet Union in 1991-92, and places these events in the context of the
development and application of international law. The course also examines the
development of regional organizations such as the European Union and North American
Free Trade Agreement and the role the institutions of these arrangements play
both in international and municipal legal systems. Three credit hours.
Law 312 International Organizations. This course will focus upon the legal
and policy issues raised by the development and functioning of intergovernmental
organizations, with the emphasis on organizations having wide membership, particularly
the UN. It will encompass a course in United Nations law and a comparative study
of international organizations with a focus upon how these organizations deal
with human rights issues. Issues relating to rulemaking, dispute settlement, and
enforcement will be central to this course. It will consider, among other topics,
the privileges and immunities of international organizations, relations between
the United States and the United Nations, the past role of and future composition
of the Security Council, and restructuring proposals for the economic and social
functions of the U.N. Three credit hours.
(added 11/04)
Law 384 International Trade. This course involves
a comprehensive study of the international trading system, with attention to the
role of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the IMF, and regional and
bilateral trading arrangement (e.g. the European Union and the U.S.-Canada Free
Trade Agreement). The U.S. legal system with respect to international trade will
be considered in detail, including discussion of constitutional issues, treaty-making,
and Congressional and Executive authorities. Attention will be given to specific
legislation and regulations involving export and import controls, as well as remedies
against unfair trade practices. Current issues such as the implications of the
EU's 1992 plan, the treatment of nonmarket economies, trade-related aspects of
intellectual property, trade in services, and controls on the use of economic
sanctions will be analyzed. Three credit hours.
Law 400
Internet Law. This course covers legal and policy issues raised by the impact
of the Internet on existing law. Topics considered include: freedom of speech,
privacy, intellectual property, trademark and copyright, commercial transactions,
computer crime, and jurisdictional issues. Course materials are available only
on the Internet. It is a prerequisite of this course that students have a laptop
with ability to connect to the Internet from home and the classroom. Three credit
hours.
Law 210 Introduction to the American Legal System.
This course provides an overview of American constitutional and procedural law,
with an introduction to the U.S. judicial system, legal methodology, and government
structure. The course is open only to exchange students and students in the LL.M.
Program in International and Comparative Law. Two credit hours.
(added
5/03)
Law 456 Juries, Judges & Trials.
This course will look at juries and judges as decisionmakers, but will focus primarily
on the jury. As background, we will examine the constitutional rights to a civil
and criminal jury trial, and then focus on such features of the jury as venire,
voir dire, peremptory challenges, instructions, deliberations, and differences
in perception. We will consider the scope of jury authority, including jury nullification,
as well as various models for the proper role of the jury in our society. There
will be a take-home exam at the end of the course. Three credit hours.
Law 346 Jurisprudence. Many people submit to the law simply because they
believe that the institutions administering it are just. But what if a law itself
is unjust? The duty to obey law presupposes that laws are both consistent and
just: because they sometime aren't, difficult cases arise in which appeals to
a higher political morality become necessary if justice is to be served. But what
is this higher political morality and what is its connection to the institutions
we rely upon to do justice and protect our human rights as well as to the laws
that are actually produced? Is this higher political morality the morality of
our society or something broader? And, if it is something broader, how do we discover
what it is? In this course, we will attempt to answer these and other questions
by considering the relationship between legal and political philosophy, showing
how the former is incomplete without the latter. Taking the problem of how to
solve difficult cases as our point of departure, we will look at the inherent
incompleteness of conventional theories of law with the idea of developing a meta-theory
that would enable judges to decide difficult cases by drawing upon the best available
theory of politics appropriate to the case's level of abstraction. By so doing,
it is hoped that we will be able to produce resolutions for some kinds of controversial
cases and open doors to the way we should think about others. It is also hoped
that the course will provide an avenue for a broad critique of the way legal and
political institutions operate including the way law schools educate and judges
actually decide cases. Two credit hours.
Law 329 Juvenile
Law. This course examines federal and state laws and cases involving juveniles.
The Illinois Juvenile Court Act is covered in depth. Areas covered include delinquency,
neglect, adjudications, dispositions, sentencing alternatives, social service
agencies and constitutional safeguards for minors. Three credit hours.
Law 380 Labor Law. An examination of the theory and practice of the law
governing the relationships between labor unions and employers. Among the topics
covered are: the historical background of labor relations law; union organizing
and the law; procedures for the selection of union representation; the law and
process of collective bargaining; strikes, boycotts and picketing; and grievance
and arbitration procedures. Four credit hours.
Law 401
Land Use. A course exploring land use controls such as zoning and subdivision
regulations as exercised by local and state governmental units. The course analyzes
the history of land use controls and explores topics such as flexibility and discretion,
improper influence and corruption, alternative land use control schemes, suburban
zoning and racial/economic exclusion, environmental protection by land use schemes,
and growth control. In the process of exploring land use controls, the course
analyzes the local institutions and procedures, constitutional issues, and the
question of when an improper taking of property occurs in our legal system. Three
credit hours.
Law 286 Law and Literature. This
is not a course in intellectual property. Nor is it a course in literary criticism.
It is a law course, but a law course that employs literary works the way other
law courses employ cases and statutes. Works of the literary imagination will
be used as texts to be mined for the insights they might provide into the nature
of law and justice and as stimuli to more wide-ranging discussions. We shall explore
legal issues involving criminal law, family law, contract law, military law, civil
rights law, Biblical law, property law, professional responsibility, international
law, morality, justice. We shall consider issues of race, class, religion, gender,
sexual orientation. The reading list will consist of plays, rather than novels
or short stories. Prerequisite: a willingness to engage with your fellow students
in vigorous discussions. Three credit hours.
(added 11/04)
Law 471 Law, Economics and Justice. This course
is a "capstone" course that will review basic doctrines covered in the
first year courses (property, contracts, torts, criminal law, and procedure),
and possibly other topics, with the purpose of exploring the extent to which those
doctrines and areas of law can be explained, justified, criticized, or revised
from the perspectives of economic efficiency and justice. Students who take the
course should benefit from a more systematic analysis and review of the basic
legal doctrines that form the foundation for most of the law, an understanding
of basic (microeconomic) efficiency theory as applied to the law, a better understanding
of the principles of justice and their application to various areas of the law,
and an ability to recognize, employ and criticize efficiency and justice arguments
in and outside the law. Three credit hours.
(added
11/06)
Law 250 Law, Literature and
Feminism. This course will examine the development of feminist legal theory
by focusing on several cases, writings of theorists, and novels that provide further
illustration of the theories. The early advocates of women's rights argued in
court cases for equality; this theme is also developed in Zora Neale Hurston's
novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Supreme Court case focusing on maternity
leave raised the question whether women should be arguing for equality or difference;
Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye asks a similar question. Catharine MacKinnon
and Carol Gilligan gave the debate a slightly different turn, with MacKinnon focusing
on the need to rectify an existing power imbalance and Gilligan emphasizing an
appreciation of difference. Both these approaches intersect in Gloria Naylor's
The Women of Brewster Place and Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban. The course
will require attendance, participation, four ungraded writing assignments (1-2
pages), and a take-home final exam. Two credit hours.
(added
5/03)
Law 252 Law of Privacy. Privacy
may be one of the most pervasively discussed issues in this decade as a result
of the increased concerns for security in travel, the openness of the Internet,
the consolidation of information in massive databases both by corporations and
by governments, high incidence of identity theft, and the development of more
and more highly sophisticated "listening and viewing" devices. This
class examines privacy as protected by statute B through a patchwork of privacy
acts B and the concomitant freedom of information requirements of a democratic
government, as developed through tort doctrine in the courts, and as articulated
through the Constitution of the United States and those of the various states.
All aspects of privacy are considered, including wiretapping, government-required
personal and business information, personal, family, and reproductive autonomy,
the "right to be let alone," and the right of publicity. Three credit
hours.
Law 237 Law of Trade Secrets. This course
examines trade secret law, a fourth intellectual property regime. It will include
the common law development of trade secrets as well as the philosophical underpinnings
in contract, property, and tort law, and the development to the present through
the Restatement and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. It will also examine the relationships
between federal and state trade secret law, the relationships between trade secret
law and the other three intellectual property regimes, and the relationships between
trade secret law and other areas of law, such as employment law and law governing
business relationships. Three credit hours.
(added 12/02)
Law 467 Lawyer as Investigator. In this course,
we will explore how lawyers gather, analyze, and present facts. While law school
does a marvelous job training students to find the law, it has ignored the vital
role lawyers play in discovering the facts. This role has garnered much attention
lately as lawyers have been accused of breaching ethical duties thru techniques,
such as pretexting, used in the Hewlett-Packard scandal. While criminal litigators
have focused extensively on this role, civil lawyers also do a great deal of investigating.
Lawyers will do more of these as more regulation is imposed on corporate America
thru legislation, such as Sarbanes Oxley. Accordingly, students will learn how
to: (1) develop physical evidence; (2) conduct interviews and interrogations;
(3) process physical evidence; (4) retrieve electronic evidence; (5) use investigators
and experts; and (6) utilize formal discovery. Students will be required to develop
two investigation plans - one for a criminal case, one for a civil case. Students
will also be required to do several presentations to the class. Class participation
will also count toward the final grade - there will be no final exam. Three credit
hours.
(added 11/06)
Law 267 Legislative Advocacy. Corporations, public interest groups, governmental
entities and other business clients frequently seek advice on legislative matters.
Lawyers need to know how to access and communicate legislative information to
their clients, and be adequately informed about the legislative process. This
course is designed to train students in effective advocacy techniques to competently
present matters to policy makers and work within the legislative process. The
course is divided into four general modules: the law of politics; the legislative
process; lobbying; and effective advocacy techniques. In addition to the traditional
lecture format, students will learn through the use of role-playing, research
assignments and a hands-on advocacy assignment involving actual legislation. Students
will learn how to research legislation, present initiatives to policy makers,
and influence the process. Two credit hours.
Law
239 Management of Intellectual Property Portfolios. This class examines the
various types of business and personal transactions that implicate or center on
intellectual property assets, particularly where business and legal considerations
tend to collide. Topics include the securitization of intellectual property; intellectual
property valuation for various purposes; tax consequences of intellectual property
transfer; strategic use of intellectual property through licensing and litigation;
due diligence in assessing intellectual property portfolios for mergers and acquisitions;
and the role of intellectual property in bankruptcy. Prerequisites: Intellectual
Property in the High Tech Era, or completion of two of the following courses:
Copyright Law; Patent Law; Trademarks &
Unfair Competition; Law of Trade
Secrets. Two credit hours.
(added 11/05)
Law 334 Medical Malpractice. This course will examine various topics relating
to medical malpractice litigation. Among the topics to be considered are: pleadings,
discovery, expert testimony, damages, statutes of limitations, res ipsa loquitur,
informed consent and independent contractor issues. Two credit hours.
Law 484 Mental Health Law. This course covers all aspects of the law dealing
with persons with mental health needs and their treating professionals. Topics
covered include, but are not limited to, mental health treatment both in-patient
and out-patient, confidentiality laws and rules, mental health records, duty-to-warn
situations, treatment of children, guardianships for persons with mental health
issue, government regulations and benefits which might apply, services available,
accommodations in the workplace and in public situations, estate and trust planning,
etc. The course will deal with mental health issues at all ages, and with the
many ways in which they can and should be addressed by attorneys and the families
or professionals they are advising. Two credit hours.
(added
11/07)
Law 227 Money Laundering. This
course will first cover the historical antecedents to the newly revised regime
of "money laundering" -- criminal fraud, the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Acts, bank fraud, the Bank Secrecy Act, mail and wire fraud, and the rise of "white
collar crime" generally. The central portion of the course covers the law
of bank reporting (Currency transaction reporting, Suspicious Activity Reports,
etc.); confiscation, forfeiture and asset freezing; how the different types of
underlying criminal activity (tax evasion, trafficking in drugs, arms, people,
etc.) affects the application of second-line enforcement mechanisms; and use of
"offshore" havens for "asset protection," in the contexts
of evading creditors (tax authorities, divorce, bankruptcy). The third portion
of the course will cover the new regime created by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
of 1999, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and the
particular liabilities of attorneys. Included will be the international aspects
of enforcing money laundering and privacy laws, the OFAC, and an examination of
the various international agencies operating in the financial areas such as FinCen.
Topics may also include identity theft, the rise of forensic accounting, and the
use of religious groups and other non-profits for money laundering. Two credit
hours.
(added 12/02)
Law 481 Narrative Perspectives on the Death Penalty. This course will use
a variety of narrative (i.e. story-telling) sources, including fiction, non-fiction,
film and theater, to examine the death penalty and its legal, moral, political
and emotional aspects. The specific content of the course will be determined,
in large part, by the members of the class and their interests. Some of the works
that may be included in the course are Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Norman Mailer's
The Executioner's Song, Franz Kafka's In the Penal Colony, Dead Man Walking (film),
and The Exonerated (play). All students will be required to give a class presentation.
Students choosing to take the class for seminar credit will write a research paper
and those choosing to take it as a regular course will do a take-home exam. Two
credit hours.
(added 11/07)
Law 472 Natural Resources Law. This course covers the legal regimes that
control the choices that individuals and society make about the use of natural
resources. These resources include water, public lands dedicated to mining, timber
production, recreation and preservation, and renewable living resources such fish
stocks. The course will emphasize the tension between regimes put in place in
the 19th century to encourage the exploitation of natural resources for human
benefit and legacy of the environmental movement with emphasis on conservation,
mitigation, and preservation. Three credit hours.
(added
11/06)
Law 255 Nonprofit Law. Nonprofit
organizations -- including churches, hospitals, universities, cultural institutions,
social service charities, advocacy groups, unions, trade associations, and social
clubs -- make up about 10 percent of the economy. Their operations and role in
society raise important and difficult issues that cut across a variety of legal
fields. In addition, as "ownerless" enterprises serving the public good,
nonprofits present challenges for good governance, public oversight, and appropriate
public subsidy. We will study the relevant aspects of constitutional law, trust
and property law, corporate law, and tax law. Three credit hours.
Law 402 Patent Law. Public policies underlying various invention protection
systems are analyzed as background for understanding the fundamental concepts
of U.S. patent law. The nature of patentable subject matter in the U.S. and the
statutory requirements of utility, novelty, and nonobviousness are examined in
detail. Students also consider the process of obtaining and enforcing patent rights.
Such consideration includes an overview of the disclosure, enablement and claim
requirements for a patent application, as well as the scope of protection granted
to the owner of an issued patent. The interpretation of patent claims is covered,
with special emphasis placed on construing claims under the evolving doctrine
of equivalents. Remedies for patent infringement are also reviewed, as well as
the defense of patent misuse. Three credit hours.
Law
211 Patent Litigation. Students will examine major issues of substantive law
and strategy facing a lawyer involved with patent litigation. The class sessions
will focus on the leading cases in emerging areas of patent law. Such areas include
infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, the scope of remedies available
to a patent owner, the proofs required to establish patent invalidity, and the
role of a jury in deciding complex technological issues. The class will also address
procedures for developing and presenting at trial a credible theme and conducting
a coherent program of trial preparation. Prerequisite: Patent Law. Three credit
hours.
Law 284 Patent Office Practice. This course
focuses on the substantive and procedural requirements for preparing and prosecuting
patent applications. Strong emphasis is placed on drafting patent claims and preparing
effective responses to rejections of applications by the U.S. Patent Office. The
course also covers other aspects of practice before the Patent Office, including
interviews, appeals, and applications for the reexamination and reissue of a patent.
The nature of nonobviousness, the doctrine of equivalence, and the patent applicant's
duty of candor are reviewed in detail. Patents is a prerequisite. Three credit
hours.
Law 298 Patenting Human Genes in Europe and the
U.S. One of the principal aims of patents is to promote competition and further
scientific progress through the commercialization of technologies. Nevertheless,
patents are fundamentally anti-competitive and, a proliferation of patent rights
upstream might potentially hinder essential innovations further downstream in
the course of scientific research and product development, because each upstream
patent allows its owner to create another obstacle on the road to product development,
adding to the cost and slowing the pace of downstream innovation. In order to
deal with this dilemma, great care is needed for a reasonable balance to be found
between the promotion of competition, the enhancement of scientific research,
and the protection of intellectual property rights. To keep such a reasonable
balance, each new technology has necessitated modifications to the law. Aware
of that fact, the European Union enacted Directive 98/44/EC to clarify the issues
surrounding the patenting of human genes. While this was a welcome progress, it
has generated fundamental questions of its own. Also, in the U.S. and Japan the
patentability of human genes is under debate. While these patent systems have
a great deal in common, they reveal also fundamental differences with regard to
the patentability of biotechnological inventions. Thus, the Trilateral Projects
between the EPO, JPO and USTPO have attempted to clarify their respective doctrine
further. This course will concentrate on the requirements that have to be fulfilled
by human genomic inventions in order to be patentable in the US and Europe. Students
will learn about the interpretation of the patentability requirements by European
and U.S. courts and the legislative framework that serves as the basis for their
decisions. Moreover, we will examine how the patent granting authorities in Europe
and the U.S. apply these rules. This will serve as a basis for a discussion on
how the rules should be interpreted in the light of the rationales for patent
law.
(added 8/07)
Law
276 Personal Income Tax. A study of the federal income tax laws as they affect
individuals. Major topics include: identification of income, deductions, exclusions,
and credits; assignment of income; timing principles; capital gains and losses;
and deferral and nonrecognition provisions. Three credit hours.
Law 468 Practical Litigation: From Start to Finish. The intent of this
course is to give aspiring lawyers a taste of what it is really like to litigate
matters in state and federal court in Illinois and throughout the United States.
The course will cover initial case evaluation, preparation of the Complaint or
Answer to the Complaint (including applicable affirmative defenses), motion practice
intended to narrow triable issues, discovery (written and oral), and trial preparation.
In other words, the course will cover practical litigation skills necessary to
handle a case from start to finish - the things that many lawyers say "they
don't teach you in law school." The course will address only civil litigation,
not criminal. Two credit hours.
(added 11/06)
Law 271 Practice Before the Federal Circuit. This
unique course will focus on the practice of law before the Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The CAFC has exclusive appellate jurisdiction to hear
patent cases and appeals from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as
cases involving several non-patent related issues. Prerequisite: You must have
taken, or presently be taking, Patent Law. Course Requirements: (1) The course
will begin in September, but will also include several classes in January. Students
will be required to attend class on most Mondays during the Fall semester from
7:35 - 9:25 p.m. (2) Students will be required to compete in the Chicago-Kent
intramural Giles Rich Moot Court Competition, submitting an appellate brief and
presenting an oral argument on a Saturday afternoon in January. The problem used
for the intramural competition will consist of the Giles Rich Moot Court Problem.
Such problems frequently involve patent law and occasionally trademark or trade
secret law. Why take this course? This course will teach you appellate advocacy,
both with respect to how to identify the issues and write a convincing appellate
brief and how to prepare for, and present, a winning oral argument. Top students
in the class will be invited (but not required) to represent the school in the
Giles Rich Moot Court Competition. Chicago-Kent students taking this course last
year placed second in the Midwest Regional Competition and advanced to the National
Competition in Washington, D.C. Two credit hours.
(revised
4/04)
Law 470 Practicum in Business Transactions.
This course will introduce students to "real life" business transactions
through a series of simulations. The transactions covered will include business
acquisitions and combinations (M&A), joint ventures, project finance and other
financings, purchase and sale arrangements, licensing arrangements, distribution
arrangements, and dispute resolutions. Students will work in teams on opposite
sides of a transaction and will walk through all stages in the evolutions of a
transaction (planning, negotiating, drafting, closing). Time permitting, ancillary
issues such as tax and regulatory matters will also be considered. Two credit
hours.
(added 11/06)
Law 350 Products Liability. A study of the source, development, and limits
of the law of products liability, including theories of liability rooted in negligence,
warranty, and strict liability and the liability of sellers, manufacturers, and
others to users, bystanders, and other parties for "defective" products.
Two credit hours.
Law 434 Property Rights and Social
Conflict. This course will explore the role of property rights in resolving
current social conflicts. We will cover a significant range of topics, many of
which are taught more comprehensively in other courses, but the purpose of addressing
them here is to discuss how we use the idea of property rights in a wide array
of areas as tools for resolving social issues. We will begin by looking at some
general material on the nature of rights, including who/what is entitled to be
a rights-bearer, and from there look more specifically at the nature and extent
of property rights. Following this general and theoretical introduction we will
move on to an exploration of how and why the constitution protects property. In
this section we will also look at examples of how other nations with newer constitutions
have chosen to protect property interests. Given that many current constitutional
property rights cases -- the regulatory takings cases -- concern the impact of
conservation policies, our constitutional discussion will be followed by a section
focusing more broadly on property rights and the environment. In particular, it
will examine whether property rights are effective or alternatively ineffective
as tools for environmental protection. From here we will move into areas of discussion
that overlap with intellectual property -- in particular the nature of property
rights in personal information, genetic information, aspects of human reproduction
and body parts and substances. Following this exploration of property rights in
what we might consider deeply personal material, we move on to a discussion of
property rights in uniquely cultural material, cultural property, and traditional
knowledge. In this section we will also address property in its temporal dimension
(historic injustices) through the concepts of reparation and repatriation. If
you wish to receive seminar credit for this course, please see Professor Harding.
Three credit hours.
(added 11/04)
Law 464 Public Interest Law and Policy. This course offers an overview
of the issues faced by lawyers representing low income clients and lawyers who
serve under-represented and disenfranchised groups. The course will begin with
an investigation of the meaning of public interest law. The bulk of the course
will cover the key cases decided and legislation passed since the 1960s when the
Johnson Administration launched its war on poverty in the United States. These
cases may include court decisions and legislation affecting income support for
low income people including federal welfare programs, social security and state
general assistance programs. Low income housing, medical care, nutrition and access
to courts may also be explored. In addition, the course will explore ethical issues
that arise when lawyers represent low income clients and professionalism questions
that are raised by the special role lawyers play in providing access to justice.
Three credit hours.
(added 4/06)
Law 469 Real Estate Fundamentals and Syndications.
This course will take a practical approach to understanding current issues in
real estate. Covered topics will include syndications, tax and securities law
implications, real estate financing, zoning and land use, title and survey review,
leases, condominium development, closing and post closing issues, Forcible Entry
and Detainer, and commercial real estate asset management. Two credit hours.
(added 11/06)
Law
433 Religion and the Law. The goal of this course is to understand the tensions
between religious beliefs and practices and the claims of civil society and its
governments. A selection of historical materials will be analyzed to provide a
variety of ways such issues have arisen. Examples from countries with other practices
and traditions will assist in understanding the issues that face the United States
internally and in its relations with the rest of the world. A part of the course
will cover the particular U.S. formulations, whether as constitutional issues
under the First Amendment, as favorable taxation treatments, as issues in enforcement
of the police powers, as operations of public welfare, as questions of education
goals, or as controversies in public policy. Three credit hours.
(added
4/04)
Law 280 Remedies. The
course addresses the forms of relief available through the judicial process. Among
the topics covered are equitable remedies such as injunctions and specific performance;
damages; restitution; remedies for injuries to tangible and intangible property,
personal injuries, breach of contract, and invasions of civil rights. Three credit
hours.
Law 377 School Law. This course briefly
explores the historical underpinnings and the sources of state and federal power
relating to an entitlement that we take for granted: free public education. Additional
topics include many issues that are continually in the news and in the courts:
church-state conflicts (especially school prayer and school vouchers); desegregation,
school financing, student disability accommodations, free speech issues (both
students and teachers); and other student rights (including locker searches, dress
codes, and due process). Two credit hours.
(revised 4/07)
Law 361 Securities Regulation. A study of the Securities
Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Among the topics included
are: the registration and distribution of securities by issuers; exemptions from
the registration requirements; offerings by underwriters and dealings; reorganizations;
federal disclosure obligations; regulation of the securities markets, broker-dealers,
proxy rules, tender offers, and civil liabilities for insider trading, Rule lOb-5
and shout-swing profits. Three credit hours.
Law 460 Sexual
Orientation and the Law. Despite important recent changes at the local, state,
and national levels, and in some foreign countries and the European Union, to
protect gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons (LGBT) from discrimination
and to recognize same-sex relationships, society’s attitude toward homosexuality
and transgendered issues continues to be ambivalent. This is especially true in
respect to marriage and child rearing, as we see in the current debates over same-sex
marriage, but it is also found in the attitudes of states that fail to protect
against public and private employment discrimination, and in the federal government’s
“Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy to keep openly gay persons from
serving in the military. This course/seminar will explore the possibility of finding
a legal, philosophical or political framework for approaching LGBT issues by critically
looking at various conceptions of homosexuality and society’s purported justifications
for affecting this behavior, against its broader concerns for guaranteeing social
liberty and human equality. It will then apply this understanding to the interaction
between gays and the criminal justice system; discrimination in public employment
(including military service) and private employment; first amendment issues posed
by gay teachers in public schools and universities; the legal problems faced in
establishing same-sex relationships (especially
marriage) in Massachusetts
and elsewhere; and the legal problems gay people confront in matters pertaining
to child custody and visitation rights. Central to the course will be locating
possible interpretations for the Supreme Court’s 2003 interpretation in Lawrence
v. Texas, and its 1996 decision in Romer v. Texas. This particular area of the
law is really several areas as they relate to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered
people. LGBT have been a kind of exception to the way the law traditionally operates,
and this exception cannot usually be made sense of in terms of traditional legal
thinking. For this reason the course will engage a certain degree of theoretical
abstraction to undersand, clarify and hopefuly improve the law in these areas.
Two credit hours.
(revised 11/07)
Law 333 Sports Law. This course explores the contract, labor law and antitrust
problems facing professional and collegiate athletic institutions and athletes.
Principles of negotiation and ethical considerations are also considered. Two
credit hours.
Law 216 Sports, Law and Society.
This course will address sports, society, and law as a dynamic function of history,
economics, and culture in America. The focus will be on legal issues unique to
professional and amateur sports, including (a) the paradox of sports as a business
that embraces competition on the field but not off, (b) the entertainment value
of sports as a function of hero worship and the vicarious pursuit of personal
identity, (c) the history and influence of society on sports, and (d) the effect
of sports on society, including politics (Muhammad Ali), business (the Jordan
effect), and sociology (such as the 18-year continuum from Jesse Owens to Satchel
Paige, Jackie Robinson, and ultimately Brown v. Board of Education). Topics will
include the baseball antitrust exemption, athlete eligibility, due process, sports
injuries and violence, the evolution of sports broadcasting, Title IX, disabled
athletes, drugs, and such contemporary issues as the Cubs rooftop cases, baseball
steroids, and sports violence. Two credit hours.
(added
11/04)
Law 245 State and Local Government
Law. In 1805 there lived a total of approximately 5.3 million people in the
United States B far fewer than the 6 million people who today live in Massachusetts
or any of 15 other States of the Union. In 1828 James Fenimore Cooper, an American
born commentator on American life, took note of the burgeoning population growth
and projected that in one hundred years America's population might reach "near
or quite 100 million." Continue Cooper, "the first impression that strike
the mind is the impossibility that 100 million people should consent to live quietly
under the same government." Today's population, of course, is not only much
larger but is far more diverse than Cooper imagined. One of the reasons our country
has been able to grow and still remain united, ironically, is that under our federal
system much political power is decentralized at the state, local, and other subfederal
levels. And that is what this course is about: the decentralization of power.
The course explores the conflicts inherent in the allocation of power between
the national, state, and local governments. It tries to answer questions like:
Why do we still have states? What are the maximal powers that states and local
governments have, and should have, to create environments that both shape and
reflect their citizens' desires? In answering these and related questions the
course will look to both law and political theory. Explored in detail will be
many of the constitutional doctrines that define our country's federal structure.
Also examined will be vital doctrines concerning local government formation and
annexation, statutory and home rule powers, the relationships between local governments
(including city : suburb), participation in local government, as well as important
issues in taxation and finance. Three credit hours.
(revised
4/07)
Law 477 Strategic Counseling to International
Clients. This course is designed to introduce foreign lawyers to legal issues
facing international organizations wishing to invest in the United States. From
the planning phase to the actual implementation of the investment, students will
be involved in all practical aspects of strategically counseling international
clients to identify issues, prevent liability, and overcome legal barriers associated
with their business pursuits in the U.S. The course is open only to exchange students
and students in the LL.M. Program in International and Comparative Law. Two credit
hours.
(added 8/07)
Law 309 Strategies in Intellectual Property Law. This course is one of
the three ways in which students participating in the Intellectual Property certificate
Program can satisfy the requirement of a Capstone Experience. (The Capstone Experience
requirement may also be satisfied by participation in the Intellectual Property
Law – Patent Clinic, or the completion of an Intellectual Property Externship).
The course may be taken only by J.D. students enrolled in the Intellectual Property
Certificate Program. It is intended to be taken in the last year of legal studies.
This is a problem-solving course that will bring together learning from different
intellectual property courses and from non-intellectual property courses, bringing
home the inter-relationships between different bodies of law and asking students
to apply that knowledge to a concrete problem faced by a fictional client. The
course will be taught by several faculty members. During some class meetings,
the class will meet as a group. Between these "team" meetings, the class
will break into smaller groups (of approximately 8-12 students). These smaller
groups will work with teams of two faculty in researching and discussing particular
parts of the overall problem, will make oral reports to other members of the small
group, and after the small group decides on the appropriate strategy will make
oral and brief written reports to the entire class. The entire class will then
discuss how best to advise the client to proceed and how best to effectuate the
social and commercial objectives of the client. The course is intended to allow
students to develop an appreciation of the contexts in which intellectual property
problems arise, how to apply knowledge developed in intellectual property and
other courses to a concrete problem, the considerations (legal and non-legal)
that guide how lawyers approach those problems, and the real-life dynamics that
affect the practi |
