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Upper-Class Elective Courses Applicants should understand that the curriculum frequently undergoes revision. By the time that they enter the second or third year at the law school, it is likely that the curriculum may have changed somewhat from that set forth below. |
Administrative Law (3) Examines the law regarding the actions and decision-making processes of administrative agencies, including requirements for public participation in agency decision making and judicial review of agency action. Examines these issues in the context of agency rule making and agency adjudication. |
Advanced Contracts (2) Supplements the required course in Contracts. Depending upon the interests and prior experience of the class, topics may include justifications for nonperformance, conditions, contract interpretation, the parol evidence rule, third party beneficiaries, assignment and delegation, and techniques of contracts drafting and risk planning. Some treatment also may be given to the related tort of interference with contractual relations. |
Advanced Intellectual Property (2) Provides an intensive study of issues and concerns pertaining to the prosecution, protection, exploitation, and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Practices and procedures important to obtaining, using, protecting, and defending the use of ideas, trade secrets, copyrights, patents, and trademarks are examined. Students develop their transactional, negotiation, and litigation skills through preparation of documents and mock negotiation. Current developments in intellectual property law are reviewed and integrated into the course study. Prerequisite: Copyright and Trademark. |
Advertising Law (2) Considers the constitutional basis for the regulation of advertising. Specifically, students review the constitutional construct developed over the past 25 years which permits governmental authorities and the courts to regulate the dissemination of truthful information by advertisers. At the substantive level, students will examine the economics of advertising and the dangers presented by the provision of false or misleading information by advertisers. Students also study the development of controls on false and misleading advertising messages developed under the common law and through statute. Specifically, students study the concurrent regulation of advertising at the federal level both by the Federal Trade Commission and private parties under the Lanham Act. Finally, the students study the regulation of advertising by state governments and by private parties under state consumer protection laws. |
Alternative Dispute Resolution (3) Introduces law students to the range of dispute resolution processes including negotiation, mediation, arbitration and so-called hybrid processes that have increasingly come into use as alternatives to traditional litigation and trials. These processes have become part of the work of many lawyers. Considers the distinctive characteristics of these methods, their relative strengths and weaknesses, and their implications for the goals and methods of our public justice system. |
American Constitutional History (3) Discusses the development of an American constitutional culture, including constitutional structure and law, from its English and colonial backgrounds through the end of the Warren Court. Ends at the Civil War/Reconstruction era. Explores the development of the ideas that informed constitutional evolution; the ways they were embedded in social, political, and economic structures; how those ideas found expression in constitutional text, structure, and doctrine; the development of the institutions of American constitutionalism, especially the Supreme Court; and the ways in which the constitution has become its own cultural icon. The class materials consist of primary sources, including legal and constitutional texts; political, jurisprudential, and philosophical writings; cases; and secondary materials. |
American Legal History (3) Explores the social and cultural meaning of legal texts in American history. Covers topics ranging from 1776 through the 20th century, but will focus on 19th-century themes such as the women`s rights movement, the Civil War and Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments, and 19th-century morals regulation, including laws against obscenity and polygamy. A central, though by no means exclusive, organizing frame for the course will be constructions of gender and sexuality in American legal history. Readings consist of both primary and secondary historical sources. |
Antitrust (3) An introduction to the law of antitrust, including the common law of restraint of trade, the basic federal antitrust statutes, the enforcement policy guidelines of the federal antitrust enforcement agencies, and the application of these statutes and guidelines to various arrangements, practices, and institutions such as formal cartels, price-fixing conspiracies, "conscious parallelism," trade association activities, resale price maintenance, mergers, boycotts, and tying arrangements whose effects are potentially anticompetitive. |
Appellate Advocacy (3) A study of appellate practice and procedure, brief writing, and oral advocacy through both lectures and classroom participation. Records of real or hypothetical cases are utilized for classroom experience in presenting oral argument, with critique by the instructor. For the final project, each student is given the record of an actual case and is required to prepare a full brief and present an oral argument. |
Asian-American Jurisprudence (2) Examines the legal, social, and political history of Asian/Pacific-American (APA) immigration and experience in the United States. Using case law, historical texts, scholarship, and narrative, the course begins with a survey of historical developments core to the APA experience, such as exclusion, colonialism, alien land acts, and internment. As we shift into post-World War II America, we will review the modern immigration landscape, and turn to the contemporary issues challenging APA communities. |
Bankruptcy (3) Covers basic bankruptcy law Title 11 of the United States Code and federal regulation of debtor-creditor relations. Course not open to students who have taken Debtor-Creditor Law. |
Business Associations (3 or 4) Covers the standard subject matter of a general course in corporation law, including the nature, formation, promotion, and governance of corporations. Specific topics include comparison of the corporation with the partnership; powers of the board, officers, and shareholders; the federal proxy rules; problems of the close corporation; directors' fiduciary duties to the corporation and duties to the investing public; social concerns and their relation to corporate governance. |
Business Torts and Intellectual Property (3) This course is oriented toward an understanding and analysis of the common law and statutory materials available for the acquisition and protection of commercial property rights. Detailed treatment is afforded the law of trademarks, trade secrets, and trade values. The interrelationship of unfair competition, trade values, patents, copyright, and false advertising is considered in some depth. Students will be encouraged to assume the role of legal counsel in typical commercial settings. |
Civil Commercial Trials (2) Examines the development of fact and law issues for and at trial as well as trial tactics and strategies from jury selection to closing argument in a variety of cases such as libel, unfair competition, trade secrets, and contracts. Teaching materials include actual trial transcript excerpts. Students also participate in mock trial exercises (e.g., opening statements and direct and cross-examinations). Written work includes short memoranda on evidentiary and trial motion issues. |
Civil Liberties (3) Examines cases, materials, and issues in 1st Amendment law, exploring the changing parameters of rights of political and other expression; religious freedom; freedom of the press; privacy; and access to information about government activities. If class size permits, the course is organized around contemporary problems, both real and hypothetical, for which the reading materials provide information and an analytical framework. Course not open to students who have taken Constitutional Law II. |
Civil Rights (3) Discusses both the substantive and procedural Constitution and statutory problems involved in the efforts from the end of the Civil War until the present to enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Legislative, executive, and judicial areas of action considered. Course not open to students who have taken Constitutional Law II. |
Civil Rights-Section 1983 (3) Originally enacted immediately following the Civil War, the 1866 and 1872 Civil Rights Acts, now codified as 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 and related statutes, have become the major statutory provisions through which the federal courts protect constitutional rights. Section 1983 has developed into a substantial body of jurisprudence, governing who may sue, who may be sued, when governments and their employees are immune from suit, and availability of remedies. Explores developments and considers the ways in which Section 1983 assists or restricts the use of the law to control government abuses and to facilitate movements for social change. |
Commercial Law (4) A basic course in the sale and lease of personal property, coupled with a study of negotiable instruments and various payment systems, such as the checking system, electronic funds transfer, and letters of credit. The focus will be on Articles 2, 2A, 3, 4, 4A, and 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Includes an introduction to the Convention on the International Sale of Goods. |
Comparative Law (3) Course starts by exploring what comparative law is; what it tries to accomplish; what other tools are needed to accomplish anything. In the process, it also asks what governs human behavior (social norms versus law; impact of culture). Looks at civil law versus common law in certain countries of origin, in countries that voluntarily adopted one or the other system, and in former colonies. Also begins an exploration of Islamic law. While it looks at the fundamental principles, including judicial process, the course uses the business arena as the point of departure, from which it considers related areas, including family law and criminal law. |
Complex Litigation (2) Explores topics of increasing importance that cannot be covered in the introductory Civil Procedure course, among them, aspects of class actions, duplicative litigation, judicial management, claim and issue preclusion, and discovery practice. |
Conflict of Laws (3) Examination of the legal problems that arise when a lawsuit involves parties and events connected to two or more states. These problems concern personal and subject matter jurisdiction, choice of the applicable state law, and recognition of the judgment by courts of other states. Course analyzes the theories used by courts and recommended by scholars to resolve these problems. |
Constitutional Law II (4) Includes topics not covered in the basic Constitutional Law course, but covered in the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties courses. Emphasis on 1st Amendment issues of free speech and religion and a study of federal civil rights legislation implementing the 14th Amendment. Course not open to students who have taken Civil Rights or Civil Liberties. |
Constitutional Theory (3) Examines theories of constitutional interpretation and their application to constitutional controversies. Topics may include originalism, process theory, feminist theory, critical race theory, populist constitutionalism, and other theoretical approaches. |
Copyright and Trademark (3) A survey of copyright and trademark protection for creative works and commercial trade identifiers. This course is based in federal statutes, and interpretative case law, that protect valuable intangible interests in information, its use, and its communication. Related state law is considered, with particular emphasis on relationships between state and federal laws within the constitutional framework of federalism. Subject matter of copyright study ranges from classic works of art and literature through application of copyright to computer programs. Trademark study spans domestic through international protection of product market identity. |
Corporate Finance (4) The law and economics of the financing of corporations, including (1) the valuation of securities and of the issuing corporation; (2) the rights of senior security holders; (3) insolvency reorganization; (4) capital structure and dividend policy; and (5) mergers, recapitalizations, and takeovers. Course materials include basic financial economics and documentation from actual financing transactions in addition to cases, statutes, and other traditional materials. Prerequisite: Business Associations. |
Criminal Adjudication (3) Addresses the rules that govern the processing of criminal cases, with emphasis on the adjudication stage: preliminary examination, indictment, plea bargaining, trial, sentence, appeal, and collateral attack. |
Criminal Procedure (4) Provides an overview of the constitutional amendments regulating police conduct in the administration of criminal justice with special emphasis on the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment; searches and seizures under the 4th Amendment; and police interrogations under the 5th Amendment. Supreme Court decisions in this area have reflected intense division among the justices. Class lectures and discussion will explore the different types of arguments through which constitutional doctrine is developed and the competing assumptions and values that inform the doctrinal divisions. |
Criminal Trial Presentation (2) Practice in preparing for and conducting criminal trials with systematic study of problems of gathering evidence, strategy in planning the trial, order of proof, empaneling a jury, openings to jury, direct and cross-examination, and summations. Prerequisite: Evidence. |
Debtor-Creditor Law (4) Provides an introduction to the law of security interests in personal property under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and the law of individual bankruptcy and corporate reorganization under the Federal Bankruptcy Code. Article 9 topics include the creation and perfection of security interests, priority among the holders of competing interests, and the enforcement of contract rights under the UCC. Bankruptcy topics include the rights of creditors in bankruptcy, individual`s right to discharge, the relationship between bankruptcy law and state law, treatment of executory contracts, bankruptcy planning, restructuring of corporations in Chapter 11, and procedure for confirming plans of reorganization. Course not open to students who have taken Bankruptcy or Secured Transactions. |
Economic Regulation (2) Explores the legal and economic bases for the economic regulation of business. Included are a review of the constitutional limits upon regulation and the evolving rationales for regulation, and, with increasing frequency, deregulation. While the materials are drawn from several industries, the greatest focus is on the great transformation which has occurred in the last quarter century in the regulation of the traditional public utility firms, particularly those in the energy fields. |
Electronic Commerce (3) The Internet is reshaping every aspect of business activity. In the emerging digital age of electronic commerce, companies will have to adapt quickly and cleverly or risk being overwhelmed by rivals. Today`s laws were mostly framed for pre-Internet conditions, but rapid changes are essential for electronic commerce to flourish. Examines the specific business law-related issues which every firm must address when marketing a product online, executing an electronic payment process, or an associated electronic delivery of goods and services. The Internet has changed expectations about convenience, speed, comparability, price, service, and business transactions at every level. Such changes are being reflected in corresponding changes in commercial law. Most of the difficulties addressed by this seminar did not even exist five years ago, such as MP3 pirates, digital signature cross-certification, UCC Article 2B, web site tenant rights, among others. Unlike an Internet Law Seminar, which considers a broad cross section of Internet legal matters, this seminar will focus on legal issues associated with computer, information, and telecommunication technologies as well as the Internet that result in electronic business transactions. |
Employee Benefits (2) Gives an overview of the law of employee benefit plans under ERISA. Emphasis on issues of interest to labor and management counsel of Taft-Hartley funds, including fiduciary responsibility of plan trustees, investment issues, reporting and disclosure requirements, benefit claims, plan termination, and withdrawal liability. Selected issues concerning benefit rights and discrimination including downsizing, interference with protected rights, and age and disability discrimination; selected issues involving medical benefits, including retiree health, exclusions from coverage, and managed care. |
Employment Discrimination (3) Covers substantive and procedural law relating to discrimination in employment on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Emphasis is placed on developments under the Federal Civil Rights Act. Considers both public and private sector problems; judicial proceedings under the Civil Rights Act; administrative procedures under the acts, under Executive Order 11246 as amended, and under state civil rights acts; the relationship among the administrative process, the judicial process, and arbitration proceedings under collective bargaining agreements; and questions of remedy including issues relating to numerical standards, sometimes called "quotas." |
Employment Law (3) Current topics in employment relations that fall outside the system of collective bargaining, including regulation of employment termination; ownership of ideas and information by incumbent and departing employees (covenants not to compete, trade secret, and invention agreements); privacy rights on the job (including hiring questionnaires, disclosure of personnel information, searches and seizures, drug testing, electronic monitoring); employment relations of independent contractors and home workers; employee representation on board of directors; employee-owned businesses. Problems relating to invention agreements and covenants also may be considered. |
Entertainment Law and Business (2) Reviews and discusses the relevant law and business structures in the entertainment industry. Encompasses case law, statutory law, rules, regulations, and business practices specific to the fields of music, motion picture, print publication, television, and live theater. The topics discussed will range from 1st Amendment, privacy, and publicity rights, to contract issues, new technologies, and the role of labor unions and intellectual property laws. With entertainment serving as the number one export of the United States, global implications and applicable laws of other countries will also be reviewed and discussed. Course not open to students who have taken Law of the Entertainment Industry. |
Entertainment Law Contract Drafting and Negotiation (2) Contract drafting and negotiation is one of the most significant and critical functions of an attorney in the entertainment industry. Students develop their knowledge of the entertainment industry and their contract drafting and negotiation skills. This is accomplished by contracting drafting assignments, mock negotiations, critique sessions, and classroom lectures. Students learn both the dynamics and deal points of importance in the music, motion picture, literary publishing, personal management, and related industries. |
Environmental Law (3 or 4) The recent attempt to convert societal aspirations for a decent environment into an effective and equitable public policy poses some extraordinarily difficult legal problems: for example, how can government decision making incorporate and balance the wide range of conflicting values; how should burdens of proof be allocated in light of factual uncertainty about long-term environmental consequences of human activities; what are the relative merits of control strategies based on economics, incentives, or direct government regulation; and on whom should the costs of environmental protection be imposed? This introductory course examines substantive areas such as air pollution control, regulation of waste disposal activity, and victim compensation schemes and procedural devices such as environmental impact statements and reporting requirements imposed on land transfers in order to identify common themes and problems underlying environmental law and to analyze how it differs in important respects from other fields of law. |
Estate Planning (2) Considers estate planning techniques for individuals and families, with a particular emphasis on the tax consequences of various estate plans. Topics include client interviews, protection of surviving spouse and children, and other documents necessary for planning for modest estates of less than $4 million or so for a couple. Students should take Trusts and Estates at least simultaneously. Prerequisite: Federal Income Tax. |
European Union Law (2) In European Economic Community law, students first learn about the historic and political backgrounds of the founding of the EU. The focus then shifts to the institutional arrangements and fundamental principles underlying the union. The second half of the course is dedicated to the economic freedoms in the internal market of the EU. At the end, there will be an outlook into the future, namely the accession of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2004 and the deepening of the integration process in the foreseeable future. |
Evidence Prepares the student to use rules of evidence in the preparation and trial of civil and criminal litigation. Using the Federal Rules of Evidence as a framework, all the traditional categories (relevance, hearsay, impeachment, writings, experts, privileges, etc.) are examined with the objective of training students to understand the rationale behind all evidence rules so that they can reason about and use all rules of evidence with maximum effectiveness. |
Fact Investigation (3) Cases are determined by applying a set of rules or laws to the particular facts of a controversy. In the cases studied in previous courses, facts were provided by appellate courts in their opinions. As a case develops at trial, however, the facts are provided not by the court, but by the attorney. This course explores the process by which factual information is obtained, the manner in which facts shape legal claims, and, in turn, the way in which legal issues shape factual investigation and the presentation of facts at trial. |
Family Law (3) Examines the legal aspects of the family unit, including establishment of the marital relationship, intrafamily rights and responsibilities, marriage dissolution, problems of support and the custody of children, and, if time allows, the role of the state in protecting the welfare of children. The changing role of women is explored in each area. |
Federal Courts (4) An inquiry into the powers of the various federal courts; into their relations among themselves and to other arms of governments (state and federal); and into the science, art, and politics of successfully invoking their powers. The major focus is on the role of the federal courts in our constitutional system. Analysis of the types of cases the federal courts should adjudicate, the circumstances under which they should hear cases, when they should defer to proceedings in state courts or decisions by state officials, and the extent to which Congress can alter federal court jurisdiction. |
Federal Income Tax (4) Provides an overview of the U.S. system of federal income taxation. Analyzes the statutes, regulations, and cases that comprise the federal income tax as applied primarily to individuals. Topics include the tax rate structure, the definition of gross income, the recognition of gains and losses, business and personal deductions, tax ethics, critical issues in tax policy, and the administrative and procedural aspects of the tax determination process. |
Federal Income Tax-Corporations and Shareholders (3) A study of federal income tax laws relating to the conduct of business in corporate form. Deals with the transactions in which tax considerations are of particular importance in business planning, including the organization of a corporation, the formulation of its capital structure, dividend distributions to shareholders, stock redemptions, sales of stock or assets, liquidations, and corporate reorganizations. Primary emphasis on matters of interest in closely held corporations, although many of the principles are also of concern to public companies. Prerequisite: Federal Income Tax. |
Feminist Jurisprudence (3) Explores the philosophical and political backgrounds of competing conceptions of equality for women (for example, the philosophical basis for the "difference equality split" that has dominated so much of the literature in feminist legal circles). Required texts have been authored by thinkers as divergent as Simone de Beauvoir, Luce Irigaray, bell hooks, Patricia Williams, and Toni Morrison. A crucial focus of the class is whether or not an adequately formulated theory of equality for women can be devised without understanding the intertwinement of any conception of our sexual difference with our race, class, and nationality. The cases covered are put in the context of how law has attempted to expand its own conception of equality so as to address the specific situation of women and, more particularly, women of color. The topical issues of abortion, pornography, and sexual harassment from the perspective of competing theories of equality also are examined. |
Food and Drug Regulation Law (2) A course in the federal regulation of food, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices, four of our most vital industries. Provides an understanding of the statutory provisions and administrative actions that govern marketing of these critical consumer products. It deals with development of federal regulatory controls, pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, with particular focus on the response of Congress to such problems as the use of chemical additives in food, the assurance of the safety and effectiveness of drugs and medical devices, and the safety of cosmetic ingredients. A study of both case law and administrative rule making is undertaken by examining a variety of actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in implementing the act. The seminar is presented to reflect the concerns of the regulated industries as well as those of FDA. |
Housing Law and Policy (3) Explores selected legal and policy issues in housing and urban development, often omitted in the first year Property course because of time constraints, such as: (1) Is there a right to housing? (2) How private is private property? (3) the limits of eminent domain; (4) private government through homeowner associations; (5) Mount Laurel and exclusionary zoning; (6) landlord/tenant reform efforts (rent strikes, tenant unions, housing courts, the implied warranty of habitability, protection against retaliatory eviction, and other changes); (7) public housing; (8) homelessness; (9) squatting; (10) rent control; (11) antidiscrimination legislation; (12) federal subsidy programs; (13) predatory lending; (14) farmworker housing; (15) housing integration programs, etc. |
Immigration and Naturalization Law (2) Survey of laws dealing with the defense of alien rights. Analysis of current law governing the admission, exclusion and deportation of aliens. Discussion of eligibility requirements in various immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories. Reviews of laws pertaining to acquisition of U.S. citizenship. |
Insurance (2) Surveys the law of insurance contracts and the regulation of the insurance industry. With respect to the law of insurance contracts, course examines the formation and meaning of these relationships and their application in various particular commercial and personal lines of business. Also reviews the administrative and statutory regulations of this industry and of relationships within it. |
Intensive Deposition Advocacy Taught over a three-day intensive period of instruction that focuses on enhancing the skills necessary to elicit information effectively and obtain admissions through depositions. Participants are given frequent opportunities to conduct deposition examinations and defend depositions through simulations, followed by faculty commentary and critique. Simulations are supplemented by lectures on various topics relevant to effective depositions. The exercises focus on witness preparation, eliciting complete information from witnesses, using exhibits, dealing with obstreperous opposing counsel, obtaining admissions, and theory testing. This course is graded Pass/Fail. |
Intensive Trial Advocacy Taught over a five-day intensive period of instruction that focuses on skills needed to present a case to a jury, both in a criminal and civil context. Participants enhance their case preparation and trial advocacy skills through practical exercises, and engage in simulated trial settings followed by faculty commentary and critique. Simulations are supplemented with short lectures on relevant topics. The exercises focus on developing an appropriate and persuasive case theory, selecting and using exhibits, opening statements, direct and cross-examination, impeachment, and closing argument. Each participant also participates in a full mock trial. This course is graded Pass/Fail. Prerequisite: Evidence. Course not open to students who have taken Trial Presentation or Criminal Trial Presentation. |
International Business Transactions (3) A study of the private law aspects of international transactions. General topics include U.S. law as it affects the entry of persons, goods, and investment to national markets, multinational corporations, export controls, international institutions that affect private transactions, such as GATT and the EEC, and the comparative study of similar topics in both developed and developing countries. |
International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development (3) An interdepartmental course offered by the law school and the business school that examines combining business and legal measures to make nature conservation more profitable and effective in developing nations and to make environmentally destructive practices comparatively less profitable. Focuses on topics raised by economic incentive strategies for promoting international environmental protection. These include the integration of sustainable development and conservation programs, creation of start-up businesses in poor countries linked to new conservation commitments, intensive ecomarketing of the resulting products and services in wealthy developed nations, and using information disclosure mandates and other legal mechanisms in consumer nations to reduce the value of goods produced in an ecologically harmful manner. Also, overcoming legal and political barriers to international trade in conservation-compatible goods. |
International Intellectual Property (2) Examines selected issues involving international protection of intellectual property, with a particular emphasis on copyright. Among private international law issues covered are conflict of laws and jurisdiction. The course also examines public international law issues, including examination of international treaties and enforcement mechanisms, and compares foreign intellectual property systems with those of the United States and addresses issues concerning licensing of intellectual property abroad. |
International Law and Just World Order (3) The content of the course covers the following topics. The role of legal processes, institutions, and organizations in the evolving world community. It covers the manner in which traditional international law arose and calls for an analysis of the basic concepts of international law: sources, subjects, sovereignty, treaties and agreements, jurisdiction, state responsibility, the use of force, and peaceful settlement of disputes. Insofar as possible, it deals with the interrelated problems of war, poverty, and maldevelopment; social injustice; and ecological instability throughout the globe. |
International Tax (3) Overview of U.S. taxation of income from international transactions. U.S. income taxation of foreign persons and of foreign-source income derived by U.S. persons is examined. Topics include operation of the foreign tax credit and of U.S. income tax treaties, the new definitions of U.S. residency under the Tax Reform Act of 1984, U.S. taxation of foreign investment in U.S. real estate, deferral of U.S. tax on income derived by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies, and U.S. tax consequences of differing methods of conducting international business transactions. Prerequisite: Federal Income Tax. |
International Trade Regulation (2) This course is concerned with the emergence of a regulatory impulse in international relations. Taking trade as the focus, the course asks a set of rather practical questions about the historical, ideological, technological, and professional characteristics of international regulatory enterprises: How, for instance, might we understand the evolution of international trade regime in the postwar era? Is it possible to pin down the political commitments of an international body such as the World Trade Organization? Or is there a set of techniques or competencies which signals the identity of such an enterprise? Finally, if we look closely, what might we notice about the vocational preoccupations of those who are associated with the enterprise? |
Internet and Intellectual Property Law (2) Introduces copyright on the Internet and creating copyright-safe Internet sites. Domain names and trademark disputes including cyber-squatting, meta tags, and related statutes are reviewed. Additionally, Internet intellectual property aspects of patents, trade secrets, privacy, contracting, and taxes are considered. Approximately 100 of the most frequently encountered Internet intellectual property matters are presented. |
Internet Law (2) The explosive growth of the Internet as a medium for commerce and communications poses novel legal challenges. Addresses issues that must be considered when transacting business, offering services, or merely using the Internet. Covers electronic commerce, intellectual property protection, state process and regulations, contracts, privacy, torts, taxation, speech, crime, security regulations, advertising, and jurisdiction, among other issues. |
Introduction to Jurisprudence (3) The topics covered include: natural law, positivism, legal realism, law and economics, critical legal studies, law and literature, critical race theory, gay rights, postmodern legal theories, lawyering and jurisprudence. |
Islamic Jurisprudence (2) Introduces the student to the history, sources, and methodology of Islamic law and jurisprudence (The Shari`a). The student will gain a basic familiarity with the four primary sources of the Shari`a: The Holy Qu`ran, the Sunnah (precedent) of the Prophet Muhammad, the Doctrine of Ijma` (Consensus), and Qiyas (methods of analogical reasoning used by Islamic jurists). The course is divided into two parts. In Part I, students study the history, theory, and sources of Islamic jurisprudence. Part II comprises Islamic family law, with specific reference to Islamic family law in American courts. |
Jewish Law (2) Covers the evolution and development of Jewish law from Biblical to Talmudic to post-Talmudic to current times. Included among the various categories of law are torts, real estate, criminal law, and commercial contracts. Addresses the judiciary, the legislative, and other rule-making systems. The course culminates in an intensive study of personal property. No prior knowledge of Judaism or Hebrew is necessary. |
Jurisprudence: Sexuality and Law (3) Beginning with the landmark Hart-Devlin debate about the state's role in safeguarding public morals, this course studies the jurisprudence of the individual/state relationship through the lens of government regulation of sexuality. We look to natural law, law and economics, libertarian theory, feminist legal theory, and other philosophies of law to understand how, when, and why government seeks to control human sexuality -- and how courts respond to these regulatory efforts. To further our jurisprudential study, we consider cases in which governments have sought to regulate a wide range of aspects of sexuality - including reproduction, surrogacy, sexual intimacy, nude dancing, prostitution, pornography, sex education, and family relationships. |
Labor Law (3) A study of the law governing union organizing, strikes, boycotts, collective bargaining, and grievance arbitration under the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. The course also examines how these laws protect employees who act through organizations other than unions, or without formal organization. |
Land Use Controls (2) An analysis of various legal controls which are available to carry out planning policy, with special emphasis on the relationship between implementing various planning goals and the basic principles of constitutional law. Review of the legal problems involved in zoning ordinances and in various types of housing and redevelopment legislation. Special attention given to the implications of such controls for civil liberties and basic democratic values. Current land use problems, including Mount Laurel. |
Law and Economics (3) An introduction to the central concepts of "law and economics," including alternative notions of efficiency, rational choice and public choice theory, the Coase theorem, transaction and administrative costs, the impact of public and private regulation on individual behavioral choice, and the application of these concepts to various aspects of the legal system, including: the choices between statutory and common law, rules and standards, property and liability rules, and strict liability and negligence; the determination of damages for breach of contract; and the rules of legal procedure. Some attention also paid to the moral, ethical, and philosophical criticisms often made of the economic approach to law. A prior acquaintance with economics is neither assumed nor required. |
Law and Mass Communications (2) Covers most of the subject matter of a communications law course but with emphasis on 1st Amendment problems which arise in connection with activities of the "big media," such as defamation and privacy; freedom of information and access to public proceedings; regulation of broadcasting, particularly the electronic media; public rights of access to the media; and the impact of new technologies on law. Some emphasis is placed on the problems of developing a coherent theory of freedom of the press in the context of the media today. |
Law and Medicine (2) Explores the interaction of the legal and medical professions, with particular emphasis on newly developed legal doctrines and the impact of new medical technologies. The instructor`s involvement in right-to-die litigation is one focus of the term, but an effort is made to cover a broad range of topics of current interest. |
Law and Philosophy (3) Although the making of arguments is very important for a lawyer, most law students leave law school thinking that an argument is the expression of an opinion in a loud voice, or something that we have with friends or lovers when we disagree. This course is intended to teach the logical analysis of arguments. Looks at the language and uses of argument, close and deep analysis of arguments, informal fallacies, inductive reasoning, analogical reasoning, and analysis of arguments through application of (very elementary) formal logic. Examines the concept of the validity of arguments. This is a logic course geared toward practical application. Applies tools of logical analysis to arguments about such topics as capital punishment and abortion. There are regular exercises for which assigned students will have responsibility to discuss in class. |
Law and the Humanities (3) Law is not the most effective means of social control. Custom, morality, ethics, religion, and habit are more pervasive and have much to do with the way people act in their day-to-day lives. Though cultures differ radically across the planet, the experience of being a human is remarkably constant in many respects. Drama, music, dance, architecture, painting, and literature are some practices which are conventionally labeled as humanities. This course is concerned primarily with fiction, albeit other domains also are explored. Fiction is a useful way to explore the experience of being a human in various societies over time and around the world. Illustrative books from past courses (some will be repeated) include: The Book of Job; Aeschylus, The Orestian Trilogy; Plato, Phaedrus; Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter; Dreiser, Sister Carrie; Eliot, Middlemarch; Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov; Morrison, Beloved; Achebe, Things Fall Apart; Mahfouz, Palace Walk; Amado, Captains of the Sands; Allende, The House of Spirits; Gordimer, None to Accompany Me; and Roy, The God of Small Things. |
Law and the Humanities II (2) Examines law and human experience through a variety of texts, many nonlegal and most literary, in a broad intellectual effort analyzing the dynamics of voice and power as they are transmitted by and filtered through legal conventions. The works of classical authors, such as Tolstoy and Melville, are read along with contemporary writers, such as Sapphire and Hisaye Yamamoto. The human conflicts presented in their fictional narratives are compared to nonfictional texts as well as case law for the modes of argument and application of rules employed in different formats. Our explorations will be aided by an introduction to critical theory -- primarily postmodern and critical race theory -- in order to facilitate alternative readings of how the law and lawyering may operate in different contexts within American culture. |
Law of the Entertainment Industry (3) Examines a variety of legal issues confronted by the attorney in the entertainment industry. Analysis includes the motion picture, television, home video, and the emerging "pay-for-view" media, as well as the professional sports arena. Special guest lecturers participate from time to time. Course not open to students who have taken Entertainment Law and Business. |
Legal Accounting (2) Intended for persons who have never studied accounting. It begins with an explanation of double-entry bookkeeping and some practice in making bookkeeping entries, and progresses through the preparation and understanding of financial statements of corporations, the stockholders` equity accounts, and the principles used in determining net corporate income. |
Legal Profession (2) An introduction to the lawyer`s role and the law governing it, including such subjects as confidentiality, conflicts of interest, the limits of advocacy, lawyer fees, delivery of legal services, malpractice liability, and client misconduct. Focuses on a series of problems, which are explored in the light of professional rules, readings, and personal choices. Course not open to students who have taken Professional Responsibility. |
Legislation (3) Introduces students to the creation and development of statutory law, the dominant form of law in modern legal systems. Topics covered include the following: the mechanics of legislative process, including the impact of interest groups and lobbyists; the committee system and interbranch power struggles on legislative output; issues related to the composition of legislative bodies, such as gerrymandering and campaign finance; the constitutional limits and requirements on legislative process; and direct democracy as an alternative to legislatures in creating statutes. Offers a deep examination of judicial interpretation of statutory law. Students examine the actual and ideal relationship between legislatures (the creators of statutes) and courts (the interpreters of statutes) in light of democratic theory and constitutional constraints. Substantial time is devoted to the different (and not always compatible) methods of statutory interpretation employed by modern courts. By the end of the course students understand the impact of the codified statutory text, the record of legislative history, the canons of statutory interpretation, the legal and social context in which statutes operate, and the influence of administrative agency constructions of statutes on judicial interpretation of statutes. Students also gain a sense of whether courts act as honest agents of legislatures when interpreting statutes, or as independent actors who imbue statutory law with policy preferences sometimes at odds with those set by legislatures. |
Leiden Study Abroad (11) This registration is for students enrolled in the cooperative study abroad program at Leiden University, the Netherlands. |
Mediation (2) Mediation, in which a neutral third party assists people in resolving their disputes, has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the last few years. Many court systems use mediation as a way to settle cases without a trial. Lawyers may urge their clients to try mediation to get better agreements less expensively, without the hostility and aggravation that often accompany litigation. The practice of mediation seems to be on its way to becoming a profession. Even if they do not act as mediators themselves, lawyers may find themselves representing parties in mediation sessions, or drafting mediation clauses for contracts. But mediation raises substantial questions about fairness, accuracy, confidentiality, equity, and differences in power: Should it replace the traditional ways of resolving disputes? This course covers the key skills that mediators should have, using simulated mediations in which students participate. It also covers the conceptual issues that should be understood to make sound judgments about the use of mediation. After initial skills training in the course, students may have the opportunity to act as mediators in real disputes, such as those pending in small claims courts, municipal courts, and other venues. Students should have enough flexibility in their schedules to make themselves available for this kind of work. It is designed to follow up in a more intensive way some of the concepts introduced in Alternative Dispute Resolution, but Alternative Dispute Resolution is not a prerequisite. |
Mental Health Law (3) Examines various ways in which American law responds to the existence of mental illness. Readings and discussions explore such matters as privacy and the psychiatrist/patient privilege, the psychiatrist's duty to warn potential victims of a patient's violent impulses, a patient's right to refuse medication, the standard for confining those mentally ill individuals who are "dangerous" in mental institutions, and the implications of mental illness for crime and punishment, including such issues as the insanity defense and competency to be executed. |
Municipal Corporations (2) Considers the forms and functions of local government; the workings of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches thereof; the relationship of local government to county and state authority; and the legal issues likely to be involved with all of the foregoing. Principal decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the New Jersey courts, with some emphasis given to zoning and planning matters, tort claims, and state and federal constitutional issues that have particular relevance to local government will also be considered. |
Negotiations (2) Lawyers may negotiate more than they engage in any other single task. Arranging business deals, setting the terms of employment (both union and nonunion), transferring real estate, guiding divorces, setting all kinds of civil litigation, and plea bargaining are all familiar features of lawyers` work. Good negotiating involves both skill and understanding of what one is doing. This course pays attention to both. Students participate in and critique several simulated negotiation exercises, drawn from varied aspects of legal practice. The course also surveys key modern ideas about negotiation. The last few decades have seen a substantial growth in the breadth and richness of negotiation theory, and attention is paid to how theory can usefully inform practice. This course is designed to follow up in a more intensive way some of the concepts introduced in Alternative Dispute Resolution, but Alternative Dispute Resolution is not a prerequisite. |
New Jersey Practice (3) In the context of a hypothetical "workshop," this course examines New Jersey Civil Procedure, covering organization and jurisdiction of the courts, venue, civil actions, process, joinder of parties and claims, discovery, pretrial motions including discovery motions and motions for summary judgment, pretrial conferences, motions during trial, appeals, and satisfaction of judgments. |
New Jersey State Constitutional Law (3) Covers the emergence and evolution of state constitutional law by
studying the work of perhaps the most prominent and controversial state
supreme court in the nation, the New Jersey Supreme Court. Examines the
New Jersey court system prior to the 1947 Constitution in order to
understand the need for reform. It will then examine the critical
decisions of the Vanderbilt, Weintraub, and Hughes courts, and will
proceed to examine how the Wilentz and Poritz courts have construed the
New Jersey Constitution in several critical areas, including the rights
of criminal defendants, the capital punishment system, school funding,
affordable housing, and the right to die. |
New York Practice (2) A study of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, including: court organization and subject matter jurisdiction; transfers between courts of limited and general jurisdiction; personal jurisdiction; forum nonconveniens; process; pleadings; statutes of limitations; joinder of parties, claims, and remedies; venue; disclosure techniques; pretrial motions, including for accelerated judgment; provisional remedies, including temporary restraining orders, and preliminary and permanent injunctions; pretrial conference; consolidation/severance; Article 78 and other special proceedings; appeals, final, interlocutory and discretionary; scope of review; mandate and judgment. |
Nonprofit and Tax Exempt Organizations (2) Provides an overview of state and federal laws governing the creation and operation of nonprofit organizations including but not limited to the Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to tax-exempt status, 26 U.S.C. § 501 et seq.; the Charitable Registration and Investigation Act N.J.S.A. 45:17A-18 et seq; and the New Jersey Non-Profit Corporation Act., N.J.S.A. 15A;1-1 et seq. Focus is on state regulations and their 1st Amendment implications. |
Patent Law (3) A study of the patent law statutes and case law. Covers the requisites of patentability, including eligible subject matter, utility, novelty, nonobviousness, and disclosure. It then turns to patent enforcement issues, including claim interpretation, the doctrine of equivalents, and remedies. Addresses the policy underpinnings of the patent system and the international context in which patents operate. Designed for a broad range of students, including those who may encounter patent issues as part of a general litigation, corporate, or regulatory practice. No scientific, technical, or patent background is required. |
Privacy Law (3) Examines the protection federal and state law affords privacy. The course canvasses various constitutional, statutory, and common law protections of physical seclusion, confidentiality of personal information, and autonomy in making family and lifestyle choices. Covers 4th Amendment and analogous state constitutional protections of privacy against government intrusion (in both law enforcement and non-law-enforcement settings); federal statutory restraints upon wiretapping and interception of electronic communications by both governmental and nongovernmental actors; protections afforded by several data privacy statutes; action vindicating individuals` interests in privacy; and the scope of privacy with regard to personal choices, such as those relating to reproductive decisions, sexual preferences, and the right to die. |
Products Liability (3) Examines and analyzes the recent origins and current role of products liability law in American society. Discusses current trends in products liability law in Congress and the courts. Additionally, focuses on the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability and the many interesting and complex issues addressed therein from the perspectives of consumers, manufacturers, and plaintiffs` lawyers. These issues include potential causes of action against manufacturers or distributors of products including liability for defective products, including standards for determining whether a product is defective (such as strict liability and risk-utility tests); liability for failure to warn of a product`s dangers; and liability for failure to recall a defective product. Considers manufacturers` and distributors` affirmative defenses to such causes of action, e.g., statutes of limitation and repose, compliance with the current state of the art, assumption of risk, failure to prove proximate cause, and preemption. |
Professional Responsibility (3) Approaches the topic of professional responsibility from the perspective of legal ethics, legal history, and the sociology of law. Attention paid to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and to important case law, but also considers broad topics such as the following: the sociological concept of a profession; the historical rise of the American legal profession and its current demographic profile; the justifications for professional autonomy and self- regulation; the structure of professional discipline and malpractice; the nature of the adversary system and the proper limits of the advocate`s role (including alternatives to neutral partisanship); confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege (especially in the context of client fraud); ethics in corporate settings (including conflicts of interest and whistleblowing); and the market regulation and distribution of legal services. Course not open to students who have taken Legal Profession. |
Real Estate Transactions (3) A survey course encompassing typical residential and commercial transactions, title assurances, and financing techniques. |
Rutgers Teaching Associate (3) Students who are selected to participate as teaching associates for Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis I and II are to register for this enterprise. Students receive 2 credits for assisting with Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis I and 3 credits for Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis II. |
Secured Transactions (3) Study of borrower, lender, and third-party rights in personal property used as collateral in secured sale and loan transactions. Creation and perfections of security interests, priority among conflicting interests, and enforcement of contract rights under UCC Article 9 constitute the focus of this course. Related issues arising under finance leases lead into limited coverage of UCC Article 2A. Course not open to students who have taken Debtor-Creditor Law. |
Securities and Market Regulation (4) Analyzes the series of statutes collectively referred to as the federal securities laws and examines the structure and practices of the key capital markets. The basic materials are court decisions, the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and SEC rules and regulations. Areas covered include public offerings of securities, tender offers, regulation of broker-dealers, and continuous disclosure requirements. Prerequisite: Business Associations. |
Social Security Benefits (3) Covers issues of entitlement and benefit calculation arising out of the set of programs popularly referred to as social security. The law of these programs touches the lives of well over 90 percent of all persons living or working in the United States and provides critical income to those who have retired or ceased working due to severe physical or mental disability and members of their families. Both individually and collectively the amounts are very large. For a majority of those receiving social security, the benefits represent at least half their total income. Total payments amount to more than $380 billion a year. The law directing these payments and setting their amount is complex. Questions about proper application of this law are raised in thousands of administrative hearings and federal court proceedings each year. Learning about that law is important, however, not only to those who must resolve questions of social security law as judges or who represent individuals and families seeking social security benefits, but to all individuals, family members, and organizations seeking a clearer understanding of how this program affects their lives and plans. Since these benefits are so important to individuals at critical points in their lives, knowing under what circumstances social security benefits are available and how much they will be is essential for effective financial planning. Decisions about when to retire, how much to save and in what form, and even whether to marry or divorce should in many cases involve consideration of social security. All instruction, including course discussions, take place via the Internet in cooperation with Cornell Law School. All course materials will be on the web. Background and introductory material, points about the readings, problems, and the opening portion of class discussion are all presented using web-linked streaming audio. Web-based tutorials and exercises tightly integrated with the readings and presentations provide a regular means for each student to gauge the level of his or her understanding of each topic in preparation for class discussion. Class discussions take place using written exchange within a web conference environment. |
Sports Law (2) Explores the legal issues presented in professional and amateur sports. Focuses on judicial, administrative, and private decisions that have created a body of principles by which courts and other tribunals have analyzed and resolved disputes involving athletes, clubs, leagues, spectators, and fans. These decisions address issues of antitrust, labor, tort, agency, and constitutional law. Particular attention is paid to recent events involving professional sports teams and organizations, cases involving free agency, the reserve system and player contracts, collective bargaining and salary arbitration, violence in sports, league structure and governance, and NCAA rules and regulations. |
State and Local Tax (2) Surveys the major elements of revenue-raising by the states and their subdivisions-property tax, sales tax, and income tax. The emphasis is on broad concepts and policies, rather than detailed exploration of tax rules. In particular, the course examines federal and state constitutions as they bear on due process, equal protection, and interstate tax equities, subjects normally omitted from the basic course in Constitutional Law. |
Tax Policy (3) Addresses major issues in tax policy. In part, the subjects depend on political developments, but we consider alternatives to the current income tax as well as several issues that remain of concern in the current income tax. Includes corporate tax shelters, the preference for capital gains, complexity in the law, behavior of the Internal Revenue Service, and perhaps some issues in state taxation. If then being considered legislatively, transfer taxes may be considered. Prerequisite: Federal Income Tax. |
The Supreme Court: Genesis and Progress (3) Addresses the genesis of the Supreme Court, including how the framers perceived the judicial branch, the importance of judicial independence, and the Supreme Court`s role in the development of a democracy. More importantly, the course addresses the lives and work of several individual justices to determine the role that perspectives and life experiences have on judicial decision making. |
Transnational Litigation and Dispute Resolution (3) Procedural, strategic, and substantive legal issues that are most likely to confront the American lawyer in handling the resolution of disputes that transcend national borders. Topics explored include the gathering of evidence, privileges and immunities, enforcement of judgments and awards, jurisdiction and access to judicial systems, and the extraterritorial application of domestic laws. |
Trial Presentation (2) Practice in preparing for and conducting trials, including development of trial strategy, opening statements and summations, the making of a trial record, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, and preparation and introduction of exhibits. Intensive classroom exercises culminate in simulated bench trials, in which students participate as members of trial teams. In connection with these trials, participant trial teams are expected to submit trial memoranda of approximately 10-20 pages in length. Each case can be tried in approximately four to five hours and each is conducted in one trial day, thereby simulating an actual trial schedule. Prerequisite: Evidence. |
Trusts and Estates (4) A survey of the law of wills, trusts, and other testamentary documents, with an emphasis on state statutes and the Uniform Probate Code. The course also includes some estate and trust administration, guardianships, and some estate and gift tax implications. The tax coverage is limited and will not prepare the students for estate planning. |
White Collar Crime (2) Considers legal and sociological aspects of the phenomenon commonly called white collar crime. Assesses the origins of the concept and the growth of public concern about white collar crime, focusing in particular on differences between white collar and "street" crime. Examines distinctive characteristics of investigation procedures, prosecution, and defense of white collar cases, as well as the difficulties faced by judges in sentencing persons convicted of white collar crimes. The assessment of special prosecution and defense functions focuses attention on the problem of defining legal responsibility, and setting the boundary between criminal and civil liability. Looks closely at fraud in insider trading in order to assess this issue of choice of sanctions. |
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