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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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601:706
Seminar: American Legal History-Special Topics (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.
Lawyer-Presidents in American History
Including Barack Obama, our current president, 26 men who served as president of the
United States have been lawyers. That means that nearly one-third of the
men who served in the White House were lawyers (exactly 59.09 percent). The American Legal
History Special Topics Seminar will look at how the vocation of lawyering may have had an
impact on the highest office in the land and the way the lawyers who served in that office had an
impact on our country's history. How well did lawyers do in the role of president? Did their
legal training have an observable impact on the way they performed in office? Can we credit the
legal profession with our country's success? We will also look at the "also-rans"--candidates
who lost the presidential prize; how many of them were lawyers? In particular, we will look at
the quintessential lawyer-president: Abraham Lincoln. Self-taught but famously effective in
court, how much of his reputation as a lawyer is myth? Who was the better lawyer: Lincoln or
his 1861 presidential (and 1858 senatorial) opponent Stephen Douglas? How did Lincoln's
lawyer's perspective impact his defense of the Union and his views on slave emancipation?
Two general books on the backgrounds and biographies of the presidents and the
losing presidential candidates will be assigned as an introduction to the topic. We will also read a biography of
Abraham Lincoln as a lawyer. Class discussions for the first several weeks will focus on these
books. We will also discuss the process of researching and writing a seminar paper and its
applicability to the practice of law. Students will research and write a seminar paper on one
lawyer-president or one of the lawyer-presidential candidates who failed to win the office. They will also give a class presentation about their topic.
Hull
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601:718
Seminar: Animal Law (2)
Relevant legal doctrine includes constitutional law (e.g., standing), environmental law (e.g.,
Endangered Species Act), food and drug law (e.g., the regulation of organic animal products),
state statutory law (e.g., anticruelty statutes), and state common law (e.g., property rights in
animals). The course will begin with philosophical, literary, and scientific texts dealing with the
relationship between animals and humans. We will explore rights-based, utilitarian, religious,
and other traditions that inform how we might approach the question of animal rights and welfare
in relation to human interests. Moving from first principles to the law, we shall focus on federal
practice, including standing doctrine, the administrative law related to farmed animals and
laboratory animals, the relationship between animal and environmental law, and the economics
of animal protection. The course will emphasize how legal reasoning takes shape in emerging
fields, the interplay between law and social movements, and the role of information as a
regulatory tool. Readings will include works by Cass Sunstein, Martha Nussbaum, and Richard
Epstein.
Goodman, Rodriguez.
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601:749
Seminar: 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.
Pre- or corequisite: Professional Responsibility. This course does not substitute for the required course in Professional Responsibility.
Joseph
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601:735
Seminar: 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
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601:709
Seminar: Control of Organized Crime (2)
Considers law as a tool for control of organized crime. Specific topics addressed include structures
and methods of criminal organizations; legal limits on electronic surveillance, physical searches, and
grand jury investigations (including witness immunity, contempt of court, and perjury prosecutions);
aspects of substantive criminal law and of the law of criminal procedure, evidence, and sentencing
that present special problems in organized crime cases; and a brief introduction to statutes
particularly aimed at organized crime, such as the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations (RICO) act.
Coombs
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601:798
Seminar: Corporate Governance (2)
The past decade witnessed waves of major corporate scandals and misunderstood financial risk, culminating in the economic "meltdown" of 2008. The upshot has been a revolution in the law of corporate governance and regarding the personal accountability of officers and directors of public companies and other large organizations. The lawyer who advises public companies or nonprofit organizations stands on the ramparts of that revolution. This seminar will seek to equip that lawyer to counsel effectively as the "architect" of structures and processes that balance principles of accountability with organizational effectiveness. We will examine the rules, agencies, institutions, and processes that seek to deter self-dealing and undue risk and to hold the society's largest organizations and their officers accountable to their owners and public stakeholders. Topics will include lessons drawn from the scandals; the role of institutional investors, gatekeepers, and other intermediaries in publicly held companies; the philosophical basis for the law of corporate governance; institutions and mechanisms of corporate governance; boards of directors as fiduciaries; the "market for corporate control" (mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers); the revolution in division of roles between state and federal law; the parallel revolution in rules governing directors and officers of nonprofit organizations; regulating disclosures versus regulating conduct; executive compensation as "ground zero"; and the globalization of principles of good governance.
Prerequisite: Business Organizations.
Coleman
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601:764
Seminar: Criminal Law Theory (2)
This seminar will explore the theoretical underpinnings of the criminal law. Topics may include criminalization, the structure of offenses and defenses, strict liability, and the citizen's relationship with the state.
Ferzan
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601:775
Seminar: 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 United States Supreme Court.
Maltz
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601:738
Seminar: Current Issues in Tort Law (2)
Focus is on exploration of the law and policy implications underlying contemporary tort issues
with a particular emphasis on products liability law. Topics may include abrogation of joint and
several liability, categorical liability, contingency fee elimination, class action reform, damage caps, design defect jurisprudence, government standards defense, immunity, mandatory
arbitration clauses, market share liability, medical liability reform, preemption, punitive damage reform, state of the art defense, statutes of limitation and statutes of repose. Students will write a paper, which will be a substantial part of their grade. This seminar offers writing credit.
Gavin
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601:745
Seminar: Diversity in the Law (2)
This seminar will explore the intersections of law with diversity, race, equal protection, civil rights, and pluralism/multiculturalism. Through an examination of judicial opinions, legislation, legal scholarship, social science research, and case studies, students will evaluate and critique diversity as an established and evolving legal, social, and political construct in our "post-racial" American democracy.
Hawkins
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601:720
Seminar: Elder Law Special Topics (2)
This seminar will focus on different topics in the field of elder law. The topics covered will
vary each semester. Currently, the seminar focuses on an Introduction to the Law of Employee Pension and Welfare Benefits (ERISA).
As Colleen Medill points out: "Once upon a time, employee benefits law was the domain of a
select group of pension tax lawyers. Today, employee benefits law issues are part of the
everyday life of the corporate lawyer, the litigation lawyer, the estate planning lawyer, the lawyer who specializes in family law, and the general practitioner." The primary law covering employee pension and benefits plans is the much amended federal Employee Income Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). In conjunction with the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA regulates the retirement pension and health (as well as other) benefits plans offered by employers to their employees. How plans are marketed to employees, how they are administered in the interest of employees, and how employees' and retirees' expected benefits are protected when a plan is bankrupt or discontinued falls under the purview of these federal statutes. This seminar will provide an introduction to the major provisions of employee benefits law. The primary text will be a casebook that offers a narrative text along with problems and discussion questions. There is no exam. Students will be required to participate in seminar discussions and write a supervised seminar paper on a specific provision, case, or aspect of employee benefits law. This seminar qualifies for intensive writing credit.
Hull
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601:746
Seminar: European Union: History, Politics, and Prospects (2)
The European Union (EU) has become an important economic and political power in the
world today. Its development up to its present stage was a rather complex process that may
appear somewhat surprising against the background of historical experience, since it emerged in
a fully peaceful way from a series of international treaties by which its member states have
voluntarily submitted. So the EU represents a pretty new type of international community
whose political character and legal structure raise many questions. Of course, it is also subject to
considerable controversies as to its policies and politics. While large parts of Europe are still
in favor of the EU and support its further strengthening, others think that it has already become
too mighty or developed in the wrong direction. Because of these controversies, the EU presently
faces a considerable crisis that makes its future prospects uncertain.
The seminar aims at illuminating the history, politics, and prospects of the EU with particular
attention to its driving forces, political decision-making procedures, and legal structure.
Furthermore, special consideration shall be paid to the relationships between the EU and the
United States. These topics will be dealt with in successive steps on the basis of selected texts,
which should not only offer sufficient information on the most significant features of the EU, but
also provide a proper basis for its understanding and critical evaluation.
Peter Koller, Visiting Professor from University of Graz, Austria.
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601:710
Seminar: Global Equality (2)
This seminar will take up the question of what obligations a state owes to its citizens and citizens in other parts of the globe. A central focus will be on the question of the level at which
global equality should be sought: is it between states or between citizens of different states?
Readings will be from an anthology of articles and one or two books.
Patterson
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601:717
Seminar: International Human Rights Advocacy (2)
After an introduction to international law and human rights norms, the seminar will focus on
international and domestic mechanisms to enforce international human rights. Students will
engage in critical analysis of the methods and strategies for human rights advocacy at the local,
national, regional, and international levels and will examine the work of United Nations and
regional human rights bodies and domestic enforcement options. The seminar makes use of
simulated exercises such as the conduct of human rights investigations, planning and design of
advocacy and educational campaigns, client representation, and oral arguments. Students will
draft and revise three human rights complaints, each directed to a different domestic or
international tribunal.
Stephens
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601:753
Seminar: Judging (2)
Judges are the keystone of the legal system, yet we rarely focus on how they actually make
decisions. In real life, how do judges balance precedent and legislative language to bring justice
to litigants in both "big" cases and small ones? In this course a judge of the superior court,
assisted by speakers from inside and outside the judiciary, will explore such diverse subjects as what
goes into drafting an opinion, how courts are affected by good (or bad) lawyers, and how law
clerks help judges do their jobs. The course will examine writings of judges, justices, and legal philosophers describing the real-life experience of judges and debating the role of a judge's
personal or religious beliefs in numerous settings, from family court to the Supreme Court. The
seminar will range into some surprising topics, such as do judges ever desire to be reversed, and
some very practical ones, like docket management, the role of the appointment process, and
relations with lawyers. The culmination of the seminar will be students' preparation and
presentation of research papers, with comments from our speakers and seminar participants.
Buchsbaum
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601:765
Seminar: Law and the Brain (2)
This seminar will be devoted to reading contemporary literature on the mind/brain and law connection. We will consider both empirical and
conceptual questions. No prior experience in philosophy or neuroscience is presumed.
Patterson
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601:733
Seminar: 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
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601:786
Seminar: 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
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601:734
Seminar: Legislative Process (2)
As lawyers are increasingly required to assist clients with creating statutory changes, this seminar
examines the legislative process with special attention given to the role of interest groups,
constituency, elections, and political party in forming law and public policy by the legislative
branch of government. The seminar also considers the inextricable role of the executive and
judicial branches of government in the legislative process. Students will learn about the unique
structures, stakeholders and rules in drafting, reviewing, amending, and approving legislation.
This seminar will focus on the American federal and state legislative processes, with particular
emphasis on the New Jersey legislature. In addition to reading case studies, court opinions,
legislative materials, and statutes, students will gain valuable insight from discussions with
former and current legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists, and executive branch officials.
Students will complete several short legislative legal writing assignments and a final paper.
Students will also be expected to attend at least one legislative process observation trip to be
scheduled during the semester.
Schalick, Mroz.
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601:782, 784
Seminar: Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Fellowship Program (2)
The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Fellowship Program enlists law students in an effort
to increase civic literacy and participation in American democracy. Talented second- and third-year law students prepare and teach a course in constitutional law to Camden high school
students. The aim is to make the U.S. Constitution come alive for young people in Camden, while
simultaneously improving law students' ability to translate and explain complicated legal concepts
into lay terms. Marshall-Brennan is a sequential two-semester course. In the fall semester, meeting weekly in a
two-hour seminar, the fellows will study constitutional law with a focus on cases and concepts
concerning young people and schools. They will draft and execute lesson plans relating to these
topics and will discuss pedagogy. Fellows also will research and write a paper on a relevant topic.
The fall seminar provides two course credits and qualifies as writing intensive. In the spring, teams of two fellows each will teach constitutional law courses at Camden high
schools, typically conducting four, 45-minute class sessions each week. Fellows will be entirely
responsible for their courses. They will interact with high school teachers, design lesson plans, lead
classes, and evaluate students. With a continuing focus on issues of law, the spring seminar
sessions also will explore teaching strategies and classroom dynamics and will provide general
support for fellows. The spring course provides 3 noncourse credits and no writing credits.
Fellows are chosen through a competitive process during the spring semester of each year. All
interested students are encouraged to apply. A faculty selection committee will choose applicants
based on their academic preparation, motivation, maturity, and intellectual interest in constitutional
issues. Interested students should attend the informational session(s) held during the spring
semester. Note: While every effort will be made to accommodate the convenience of the fellows, teaching
in the spring is a significant time commitment that may require significant flexibility. In particular,
students may be required to teach during all or part of the law school's spring break.
Prerequisite: Constitutional Law.
Friedman, McLaughlin.
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601:700
Seminar: Philosophy of Law: The Limits of Responsibility (3)
This course, offered as a graduate seminar in philosophy in New Brunswick and cross-listed as a
law course, will examine philosophical issues revolving around legal and moral responsibility
and its limits. Issues to be addressed may include the justifiability of strict liability in torts and criminal law, the importance of fault to responsibility and whether all wrongs are faults, the possibility of moral luck, as well as related topics.
Taught in New Brunswick. Prerequisite: Permission required from Professor Oberdiek. Oberdiek, Husak.
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601:793
Seminar: Politics, Policy, and Federal Law (3)
This course examines the influence of politics upon the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the intricate relationship between policies set by the White House and the DOJ mandate to enforce federal law. The course focuses on the genesis and function of the DOJ as the nation's law firm, and the issues that arise as the DOJ, an executive agency under the direction of the president, fulfills its duty to its number-one client. We will begin by taking an in-depth look into the political appointment and function of the DOJ key management and its role in the appointment of federal prosecutors and judges. We will then take a top-down approach, focusing on the impact that policy set by the White House, and carried out by its appointees, has on the department's divisions, offices, and programs. The course then zeros in on the role of one of the most important offices within the DOJ, that of the U.S. Attorneys. We will highlight the interaction between the U.S. Attorneys and the other DOJ agencies, and ultimately focus on the tools used by Assistant U.S. Attorneys to enforce the law. The course will conclude with an examination of the revolving door between the DOJ and the private sector. This seminar is 3 credits, WI (2 meeting hours, plus 1 credit for intensive writing work).
The Honorable Noel L. Hillman and John Giordano.
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601:781
Seminar: Public Media Policy Reform (2)
A robust system of public media is of critical importance for sustaining and enriching democratic practices
and social advancement. By connecting individuals to each other and to important public discourses,
public media can advance democratic capabilities, empower publics to communicate and organize, and
support the production and distribution of valued media content.
Public media can be understood as operating across four dimensions: (1) Public media supplement the
commercial media market with content and services designed intentionally to meet social, not market,
needs; (2) Public media leverage investments in educational, cultural, and other civil society functions by
linking to and supporting those functions; (3) Public media operate in a decentralized manner,
emphasizing local connections, to provide access and voice to underserved populations; (4) Public media
also centralize media production and distribution efforts through networks and collaboration.
What exactly the goals of public media should be in the new digital communications environment, how
these goals should be achieved, and how each of the four dimensions of public media should be stretched
are open and pressing questions. This 2-credit research seminar will involve initial class meetings and
instruction. The students will then develop ideas for public media policy reform that may be incorporated
into a series of policy proposals for the FCC and Congress and present their work to the group. In
addition to class meetings, students may, as the opportunities present themselves, participate in meetings
with policymakers, media funders, and other stakeholders.
Goodman
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601:757
Seminar: Religion and the State in Cross-National Perspective (2)
Certain fundamental ideas about religious liberty and the separation of church and state are so
deeply entrenched in the American constitutional imagination that we take them for granted.
But, in fact, other countries, including many Western democracies, often have quite different
notions about how to understand the relation of religion to the state. This seminar compares
religious liberty and church-state law in a variety of countries, including the United States,
Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Poland, India, and Saudi Arabia. Searching for
common threads and differences, as well as making sense of some of the ironies and paradoxes
that emerge from the inquiry, are the goals of the seminar. Course requirements include active
class participation, completion of either one major paper or several shorter ones, and an in-class
oral presentation.
Dane
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601:752
Seminar: The Right to Self-Defense (2)
Although the right to self-defense seems obvious, the reasons that justify the use of force against another are far more elusive. This course will examine potential theoretical justifications for the defense and examine how these different justifications would affect self-defense's doctrinal formulation. While the
course will focus primarily on individual defense, parallels to just war theory will be drawn.
Prerequisite: Criminal Law. Ferzan
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601:728
Seminar: Theories of Intellectual Property (2)
This seminar will explore theories of intellectual property (IP), with a particular focus on innovation.
It begins by discussing the application of Locke's labor theory and Hegel's personhood rationale
to IP. It then turns to the primary theory justifying IP--utilitarianism--and asks whether IP's scope
and duration are justified. It examines dangers of IP protection such as diminished speech and
cumulative innovation. And it explores innovation-related issues including open source software,
peer-to-peer (p2p) systems, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, potential patent reforms, and
the biotechnology industry.
Prerequisite: Intellectual Property or permission of instructor. Carrier
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601:767
Seminar: Tort Theory: Risk, Responsibility, and Rights (2)
A survey of central topics in tort theory. Through contemporary philosophical readings as well as case law, the seminar analyzes the concepts of risk, responsibility, and rights, among others, as they figure in tort law. Questions to be examined include: "What constitutes carelessness?", "When can one be responsible for unintentional harm?", "How are compensatory duties related to rights?", and "Does tortious wrongdoing presuppose fault?".
Oberdiek
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601:704
Seminar: Virtual Law (2)
Throughout history, new technology has often been productive of legal transformation. This
seminar considers one very recent communications technology, the virtual world, and examines
how law is responding to it. Virtual worlds such as Second Life and Eve Online are persistent
software simulations of spatial environments where millions of participants gather and are
represented to each other by avatars. Many virtual worlds feature complex in-world economies
that involve the trade of virtual property for currency both virtual and real. Participants also form
user associations, such as guilds and other organizations, in order to advance their collective
interests. In this seminar, we will explore current litigation over virtual worlds and the questions raised by
these lawsuits. We will also read law review articles concerning virtual worlds and online
contracts, online intellectual property rights, gambling and gaming laws, jurisdictional laws,
privacy and publicity rights, and criminal prohibitions against computer hacking. Over the
course of the semester, students will write a paper on a chosen topic concerning law and virtual
worlds and will conduct independent legal research on that topic.
Lastowka
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601:748
Seminar: War and Civil Liberties (2)
This seminar will explore the tension between civil liberties and national defense in theoretical,
historical, and contemporary contexts. In the first half of the course, we will lay a groundwork in
political philosophy and thereafter consider several historical episodes that have pitted
constitutional values against national defense. In the second half of the course, we will take up in-depth a series of clashes between civil liberties and national security that have arisen in the
context of the government's efforts to combat and prevent acts of terrorism, including a critical
examination of the proffered justifications for expansive use of certain governmental powers.
Litman
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