Seminars
The law school offers a diverse range of subjects in a seminar
format. All seminars require the completion of a substantial writing
assignment by the participants, in a form designated by the seminar
instructor. All seminars are limited to 14 students.
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601:738Seminar: American Legal History (2) An introduction to research and historiography in American legal history. Current issues in American legal history and historiography. Each student prepares a paper based on original research in legal history. Hull |
601:749Seminar: Business, Ethics, and Law (2)Ethical issues raised by the way lawyers live, work, and succeed in the world of practice. Delves
more deeply into the subjects of confidentiality, conflicts, and duties than does the basic
Professional Responsibility course. Develops these concepts by focusing on current issues facing
the profession, including disclosure issues, multijurisdictional practice, mandatory insurance,
Miranda-like warnings in the attorney-client relationship, bank funding of personal injury
litigation, ways of handling conflicts of interest including advanced waivers, and others. Among
subjects addressed are the practical implications of working in an institutional setting and the
pressures young lawyers face, success billing, rainmaker traits, discovery failures,
professional malpractice, and insurance coverage. Simulations from NITA materials are used to
present various ethical dilemmas in a concrete manner for discussion.Joseph. Professional Responsibility, although not a prerequisite, is desirable. |
601:735Seminar: Citizenship (2)
Addresses the subject of citizenship-as-legal-status. Through readings in law and political
theory, examines questions concerning the acquisition and loss of citizenship, and citizenship's
significance more generally. Focuses on the institution of citizenship in the United States, but
also considers certain citizenship questions that have recently arisen in Europe. Topics include
the history of citizenship under the U.S. Constitution; the current birthright citizenship
controversy; voting and citizenship; naturalization and loyalty oaths; welfare and immigration
status; and the relationship of citizenship to the nation-state.Bosniak |
601:798Seminar: Civil Disobedience (2)Classic statements in favor of civil disobedience--Thoreau,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr.--are compared with authors who argue we have
a duty to obey the
law. In addition, cases in which individuals have violated the law in
pursuit of a better society--from the Boston Tea Party to protests
against the Vietnam War--are examined.Hyland |
601:732Seminar: Common Law (2)Explores current issues in the common law (contracts, property, torts, and
occasionally restitution). Specific topics vary from year to year, as announced. The seminar
considers theory, ideology, and politics in the common law as well as doctrine.Feinman |
601:740Seminar: Culpability in Criminal Law (2)
Analyzes the concept of culpability in criminal law. Considers how culpability is defined
differently depending upon the justification for punishment adopted (e.g., retributivism,
deterrence, and virtue ethics). These competing conceptions are viewed through the prism of
specific criminal law doctrines, including provocation, negligence, and accomplice liability.Ferzan, Husak |
601:775Seminar: Current Issues in Constitutional Law (2) Students enrolling in this seminar are required to brief and argue selected cases from the current docket of the U.S. Supreme Court. Maltz |
601:781Seminar: Fifth Amendment outside of Police Interrogation (2)The history and present-day law of the privilege against self-incrimination; the values underlying
the privilege; immunity and its effect on the present construction of the privilege; and the
privilege as it pertains to the production of documents.Braithwaite |
601:733Seminar: Law and Urban Problems (2) Focuses on the role of government and law in solving housing, development, poverty, and other urban problems. Individual study of topics that are important and relevant to urban life and government, such as municipal financing, housing, mass transportation, homelessness, racial issues, group homes, historic preservation, urban environmental issues, and urban economic development. Washburn |
601:786Seminar: Law, Politics, and Democracy (2) Drawing upon case law, legislative sources and nonlegal writings, the
course explores the origins and character of American democratic
institutions; the concepts of representative government, majority rule,
citizen rights and universal suffrage; the principles of the
sovereignty of the people, equality, and individualism; the role of
mediate institutions in the political process (like political parties,
voluntary associations, and special interest groups); and alternative
models to the traditional Anglo-American forms of representation. The
course is not a survey of the American political system. Nor is the
focus on the mechanics of the electoral process. Rather, while the
course considers both process and mechanics, the emphasis is on the
identification of principles susceptible to universal application and
the study of American democracy as a normative ideal. Robreno |
601:782, 784Seminar: Marshall-Brennan Fellows (2, N3) The Marshall-Brennan Fellowship program provides 8 to 10 talented
second- and third-year law students an extraordinary opportunity: the
chance to teach a high-school course about the Constitution,
citizenship, and education. Four teams of two fellows teach at Camden
charter schools (three at the LEAP Academy and one at Urban Promises)
in the spring term. The fellows are responsible for the entire class
structure: they design lesson plans and assignments, lecture and lead
discussion, and evaluate student work. The fellows enroll in a yearlong
seminar. The fall term course covers in depth the cases and issues that
fellows teach during the spring term. It also includes discussions of
pedagogy (with the help of the Graduate School of Education), legal
education, and ongoing developments in the field of education law. A
paper on a relevant topic is required, as are sample lesson plans. The
spring term places the fellows in front of their own classrooms for one
hour a day, four days a week. The weekly two-hour seminar continues to
meet, but the focus shifts to discussing classroom dynamics, effective
teaching strategies, and questions of law raised during the week's
teaching. In the fall term, students earn 2 course and 3 writing
credits. For the spring term, students receive 3 noncourse credits (on
a Pass/No Credit basis) and 2 writing credits. Hillman, Overton |
601:789Seminar: Methodology (2)Takes up the question of the proper methodology for jurisprudence. Is jurisprudence an exercise
in conceptual analysis (i.e., the meaning of key concepts like law) or should it be an
investigation of how legal actors use words in a variety of legal contexts? The central question in
the so-called methodology debate is the question whether philosophers of law need to pay any
attention to the sociological aspects of law or whether they can engage in "armchair analysis" of
concepts and engage in a worthwhile project. Readings for the course emphasize contemporary
authors, as the dispute is largely a contemporary affair. Readings consist of articles by the following
authors: Dworkin, Leiter, Patterson, and Perry.Patterson. A background and/or strong interest in analytic philosophy is recommended, but not required.
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601:793 Seminar: Patent Prosecutions (1) Designed for students who are interested in the mechanics of patent application drafting and prosecution. Students learn patent application writing techniques and strategy. Drafting responses to Patent Office actions and patent claim drafting and amendment strategy and writing skills also are addressed. Students apply the statutory knowledge acquired in Patent Law I to the real-world writing skills and techniques required by a patent practitioner. This course is helpful to students who plan to take the Patent Bar exam while in law school as these writing skills are evaluated on the Patent Bar exam administered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Students are required to complete a series of writing projects that demonstrates a mastery of basic patent drafting skills. Licata. Prerequisite: Patent Law I. May be taken concurrently with Patent Law II. |
601:779Seminar: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (2) Examines criminal and civil investigation and litigation under the federal and state statutes on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO). Specific topics addressed include the conceptual bases of so-called enterprise liability, including relational rather than individual definitions of misconduct; the relationships among enterprise liability and related doctrines, such as conspiracy, complicity, and vicarious liability; procedural implications of enterprise liability, such as broad joinder of claims and parties, expanded admissibility of evidence, and complication of pretrial and trial proceedings; the extraordinary civil and criminal remedies provided for RICO violations; and the impact of wide use of these statutes. Coombs |
601:723Seminar: Sex Discrimination and the Law (2)
Provides an overview of feminist legal theory and explores various legal doctrines that affect and
reflect women's status in society. Topics covered include constitutional law, employment,
reproduction and sexuality, the family, and violence against women.Goldfarb |
601:768Seminar: Theories of Property Rights (2)
Considers the theoretical foundations of property law and of property rights. Explores those
foundations from historical, sociological, political, and economic perspectives. Examines how
property rights emerge and how and why they are enforced. Focus is on libertarian and
communitarian theories of property rights in exploring how best to balance individual rights with
the interests of the community. Also explores whether property should be considered a
fundamental right. Draws on particular applications of property, including adverse possession,
servitudes law, housing law, takings law, land use, intellectual property, and environmental law.Ball |
