Upperclass Seminars

Seminars listed are those that have been offered in the past few years and are likely to be offered again. Seminar offerings change frequently in response to the research activity of individual faculty members and student interest. Prerequisites for individual seminars may be announced by the instructor at the time of registration.

 

Advanced Legal Research Seminar (2) The objective of this seminar is to give students an in-depth knowledge of general research tools and a good working knowledge of advanced tools available in specific subject areas. Both online and hard-copy resources are examined.

Advanced Mediation Seminar (2) This seminar addresses a variety of current issues in the practice of mediation. Topics include ethnicity, gender and power in mediation, the scope of confidentiality, the establishment and enforcement of ethical standards, mediation in the community, the role and practice of lawyers in mediation, the use of apology in mediation, the different settings in which mediation can take place, techniques of effective mediation, and mediation and justice. Additional topics are selected during the seminar. Students are expected to conduct independent research on selected topics, report to the seminar, and write a paper on their research. With permission of the instructor, students may conduct empirical research, or may participate in mediation and use their experience, together with other research, as a basis for analysis.

Advanced Topics in Criminal Law Seminar (2) This seminar will examine a range of selected issues dealt with only in passing, if at all, in the first-year Criminal Law course. The overarching purpose of the course will be to explore the moral concepts that underlie the substantive criminal law, particularly those of harm, culpability, and wrongfulness. We will deal with issues involving both the "general part" of the criminal law (the part that deals with general rules and principles that apply to some or all of the range of criminal offenses) and its "special part" (the part that identifies and defines the specific offenses that are subject to criminal sanctions). Among the topics dealt with will be the nature and purposes of punishment, the act requirement, omission liability, causation, legality, complicity, inchoate liability, justification, excuse, the codification of criminal law, and various specific offenses such as homicide, rape, and theft.

Banking Law Seminar (2) This seminar will provide an overview of federal regulation of commercial banking institutions, including such topics as the definition of a bank, geographical product restrictions, mergers of banking institutions and bank holding company regulations. The first half of the semester will consist of readings and lectures intended to introduce students to banking regulation. During the second half, students will be expected to prepare and give presentations on specific issues of current interest. Prerequisite: Business Associations

Art Law Seminar (2) This seminar will examine how the law shapes, contours, and constrains both the visual arts and artists. Emphasis will be given to issues such as copyright protection for artists; the moral and economic rights of artists; censorship and First Amendment rights of artists; artists' business relationships; public support for art and the display of art in public places; preservation of art and cultural property; stolen art and forgeries; the international movement of art, repatriation of cultural objects, and the illicit international trade in art; and the role of museums in society. In addition to casebook readings and weekly discussions, the class will consider contemporary art controversies as a means of examining these broader issues. Students will participate in a field trip to a local museum or listen to a panel presentation by local gallery owners and museum curators. Requirements for all students include: class participation, an op-ed column on an assigned topic to be debated in class, and a research paper. Class size will be limited to 20 students.

Business Planning Seminar (2) The seminar will focus on common planning issues facing attorneys representing a private business, large or small, during the various stages of the life of a business, from start up, through stages of growth, to the sale or other disposition of the business. The seminar will also address deadlock amongst owners of a business and succession planning. To assist in the discussion of various issues, each class will center upon a particular set of facts, many of which are based on the actual experiences of the professors or guest speakers. The seminar will touch upon the wide variety of issues confronting counsel for private businesses, including tax, employment, corporation and limited liability company issues. For example, the seminar will review the various factors that affect the decision to organize a new business as a corporation or limited liability company, such as the contributions to the business of the various parties, the nature of the business, the anticipated path to growth of the business and the personal interests of the owners, and the tax and business consequences of this choice of entity. Business Associations is the only prerequisite for the seminar. While specific tax issues will be addressed, a tax course is not a prerequisite. Furthermore, no business experience is necessary.
Prerequisite: Business Associations

Child Welfare System Seminar (2) This seminar will focus on the doctrinal and theoretical issues involved in the child welfare system, as well as some of the issues that occur in practice. Students will study state and federal statutes and case law, as well as various law review articles to gain a comprehensive understanding of how our child welfare system functions to protect abused and neglected children, how the courts operate alongside and in conjunction with this system, and whether all of this state intervention is always in the best interest of the children. As such, there will be classes on the concept of parens patriae and what it means in theory and in practice, how child abuse and neglect are defined, when parental rights should be terminated, what are the rights and entitlements of older youth who are forced to turn 18 as a ward of the state, and whether it is always best for children to be adopted when they cannot return to their biological families, among other topics. In addition, to provide students with a sense of what it is like to be an attorney representing a child, parent, or the state in a child protection matter, we will discuss the roles of each of these lawyers, as well as some of the complicated ethical dilemmas that inevitably arise. Finally, toward the end of the semester, the class will host a panel of attorneys practicing in this area to share some of their insights and experiences.

Children and the Law Seminar (2) This seminar will examine the constitutional and public framework for allocating power and responsibility among children, parents, and the state. Explores selected legal topics relevant to this central theme, including child custody and child support; child abuse, neglect, and inadequate parenting; medical and psychiatric treatment; and educational rights. Considers the changing nature of childhood and the family and emphasizes sociological and psychological issues raised by the current legal structure.

Cognitive Psychology for Lawyers Seminar (2) The last 30 years have seen a veritable explosion of new knowledge and new concepts of how people perceive, think, and decide. These stress that most thinking and deciding is done without conscious thought or rational deliberation. Named in various fields as "the new unconscious," "System 1 and System 2 Thinking," and "behavioral economics," these have revolutionized the various academic domains where they have appeared. Will they do the same for law? They shed new light on a broad range of legal activities and doctrine--how lawyers persuade judges and juries, how lawyers negotiate, how mediators work, the accuracy of witness memory and perception, the nature of biases, the limits of free will and legal responsibility, and so on. The seminar will explore these topics through books written for the general public by important researchers in the field. The second half of the seminar will be devoted to student reports on approved research projects. Prior familiarity with academic psychology is not required. In fact, a seminar composed of students with a variety of backgrounds and experiences would be desirable. Grading will be on the basis of a paper and class participation. Student papers may be used to satisfy the Graduation Writing Requirement with the prior written permission of the instructor.

Comparative Corporate Governance Seminar (2) Investigates and compares standards of performance applied to corporations and to their governing bodies and executives. The point of departure will be the U.S. system. The United Kingdom and France are used to represent, respectively, the Anglo-Saxon and Continental perspectives, without forgetting the impact of the European Union. To gain a fuller understanding, the social, historical, and cultural contexts that may help explain differences and similarities are also explored. Depending on the particular experience and language skills of seminar participants, other national perspectives may be considered.

Computer Crimes Seminar (2) This course explores the growing field of cybercrime and the Fourth Amendment issues arising in investigations involving computers, digital media and digital communications. Discussion will include both legal and policy issues now encountered by judges, legislators, prosecutors, and defense counsel as they react to the ever-growing and changing computer-related crime. We will consider the interplay between traditional laws, investigations, and prosecutions, on the one hand, and cyberspace, on the other. Topics include: computer crimes, such as computer hacking, logic bombs, viruses, worms, cyberterrorism, Trojan horses, and identity theft; criminal procedure, such as electronic surveillance and the Fourth Amendment in cyberspace; and policy, including defining what cyberconduct should be criminalized, identifying appropriate resolutions, and discussing civil liberties online.

Confinement, Reentry, and Policy Seminar (2) Every day in this country, nearly 1,800 people are released from prisons, jails, and detention facilities - a number likely to rise in the ensuing months with the implementation in California of the "population reduction order" required by the U.S. Supreme Court in this year's Coleman/Plata decision, and preemptive measures taken elsewhere. In those states with the highest rates of confinement, the communities to which offenders will return are disproportionately poor and racially segregated. Legal, physical, psychological, financial, and social barriers await their return; and, not surprisingly, more than two-thirds of them will reoffend within three years of release. In many circles, there is general agreement that the system, with its chronic recidivism and ballooning cost, is "broken" and in critical need of reform. The question that remains hotly debated, and that to which we repeatedly will return over the course of the semester, is "How?" As its title suggests, this interdisciplinary seminar examines the roots of the challenges of reentry in the legal history of mass incarceration, while at the same time tracing the contours of policy skirmishes occurring in local, state, and federal arenas regarding best practices for addressing this phenomenon. For our purposes, this requires a study of how law - constitutional, statutory, and judicially-rendered at the local, state, and federal levels - directly impacts communities, public safety, justice, and human development, and also how social categorizations of persons by gender, race, class, and sexuality reflect and refract certain assumptions about deviance and criminality. While the course takes a national arc, our focus will remain local, with appropriate consideration given to New Jersey and New York (in our assigned readings and featured guest speakers). In addition to weekly written responses to assigned readings, a final research paper (15-plus pages, in the style of a law review/scholarly article) is required (in lieu of an exam).

Constitutional Theory Seminar (2) This seminar will focus on the use of constitutional theory in appellate advocacy and judicial opinion writing. The goal is to develop the student's ability to make effective use of political intuitions, values, and concepts in legal argument. Topics will include textualism, original intent, natural law, and political theory (including feminist theory). Among the readings will be selections from Bruce Ackerman, Derrick Bell, Robert Bork, John Hart Ely, Catherine MacKinnon, Martha Minow, and Suzanna Sherry. In addition to reading and discussing the theories themselves, we will critically examine their use in briefs and judicial opinions.

Corporate Governance Seminar (2) Replicates the general counsel's office of a major corporation and acquaints students with a large transaction and its attendant legal and practical problems. It also replicates the day-to-day activities of such an office. The emphasis is on a transaction and other events which pose issues of corporate law and governance. Seminar members are expected to work individually and in teams, to present materials both orally and in writing, and to play active roles in the issues under consideration.

Cultural Heritage Law Seminar (2) This seminar provides an introduction to the law pertaining to cultural heritage such as ancient artifacts, historical relics, and fine art. Topics covered include illicit antiquities trade, cultural heritage protection in times of armed conflict, repatriation of colonially acquired artifacts, repatriation of Nazi looted objects, repatriation of Native American remains under NAGPRA, bilateral agreements between source and market nations, and the role that museums and auction houses play in the illicit antiquities trade. Each student will submit a scholarly paper on a pertinent topic of their choice. One field trip to a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site will be included.

Current Issues in Bankruptcy Seminar (2) Stern v. Marshall (U.S. Supreme Court, June 23, 2011) has the bankruptcy world buzzing. Though it professes to respond to a "narrow" question, the majority opinion refocuses attention on the fundamental unanswered issue of whether "the restructuring of debtor-creditor relations is in fact a public right"--a question which, if ultimately answered in the negative, would remove non-Article III bankruptcy judges from their day-to-day functions. The majority strikes down the adjudicatory authority of bankruptcy judges in certain statutory core proceedings and raises questions as to others. Stern v. Marshall will be the starting point for the study of federal bankruptcy jurisdiction and a number of substantive provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. Given the breadth of subjects covered by the code either directly or through incorporation of other law, and the bankruptcy niche within the federal courts, the seminar should provide a capstone for the student's law school experience. Research, statutory analysis, advocacy within group discussion sessions, and legal writing skills are to be employed. A principal goal of the seminar is to have each participant realize confidence in her/his Rutgers Law-developed legal index and enhanced professional skills.

Developing a Solo or Small Firm Practice Seminar (2) This class focuses on the issues surrounding the development of a solo or small firm practice, spanning legal, business, and ethical concerns, in the context of how to structure a practice, how to build a client base, how to develop a sustainable practice area, and how to manage the practice once up and running. The course is designed particularly for those students who are considering this option, so that the practice they develop can survive and thrive.

Domestic Violence Seminar (2) This seminar will examine the legal system's response to domestic violence, both through the civil courts and the criminal justice system. Students will review both criminal and civil laws and policies employed by law enforcement and the judiciary in an effort to address family violence, as well as scholarly articles and essays dealing with various legal theories (feminist theory and critical race theory, e.g.). In addition, students will look at the national Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and will conduct a comparison of New Jersey's Prevention of Domestic Violence Act and New York's Domestic Violence Act, in the context of exploring the different nuanced approaches and collaborations involved in various state actors' and social service providers' attempts to address the legal and social needs of domestic violence victims. The course will involve an exploration of some of the more controversial methods used (mandatory arrest, compelled victim testimony, e.g.) that continue to divide domestic violence scholars and practitioners. Finally, to permit a practical component, students will also participate in trips to the Essex County Family Court and will hear from attorneys who represent domestic violence victims.

Education Law Seminar (2) This seminar deals with the basic legal structure of the public education system and explores a range of current legal and educational policy issues confronting the public schools. These include: various aspects of equal educational opportunity such as school finance reform, and racial and socioeconomic diversity; state-local district relations and responsibility for the quality of education provided; student rights; and pupil classification and other means to meet special pupil needs. To a substantial degree, the seminar uses pending cases and legislative developments to illuminate the issues.

Elder Law Seminar (2) Elder law has been part of the curriculum since 1983-84 when the law school was among only a handful to anticipate the emergence of this new area of law. The legal community now recognizes that elder law, while not yet fully delineated, can be a self-contained area of practice in which attorneys may have to deal with their clients holistically. In addition, firms and solo practitioners recognize they can no longer conduct business as usual with their older clients without regard to the complex of federal and state statutory and administrative laws and public and private institutions to which older Americans are beholden for their daily existence. This seminar explores the resources, issues, and substantive law in representation of older Americans in their quest for economic and personal independence. Topics include income maintenance through devices in the public and private sectors; the maintenance of autonomy in the face of increasing vulnerability through use of surrogate decision-making devices; problems of health care and housing; and concerns for dying.

Election Law and Political Process Seminar (2) A practicum in politics and the electoral process. Examines federal and state constraints on political campaigning, with emphasis on the Federal Election Campaign Act. Among topics to be considered are presidential campaigning and the Electoral College; fundraising and reporting in federal elections; political activity by business and labor organizations; operation of political action committees; grassroots organizing and campaigning; the Federal Voting Rights Act and voter registration; broadcast regulation; election law reform; ballot access; the right to vote; election day operations; counting the votes and challenging the results; and political patronage.

Federalism Seminar (2) Federal-state relations are a subject of great controversy in contemporary political debates and legal discourse, both in the United States and the European Union (EU). This seminar will explore the origins and history of federalism, competing theories of federalism, and the current law and practice governing the relationship between the federal and state governments.This seminar will examine (1) federal preemption of state law, and the intersection of preemption doctrines with both the federal government's preeminent role in foreign relations and federal agencies' broad powers, (2) the scope of federal common law after Erie Railroad v. Tompkins, (3) the dormant Commerce Clause constraints on states, (4) whether and to what extent "political protections" of federalism currently actually exist, (5) contemporary debates regarding the breadth of the Commerce Clause and other enumerated powers, and (6) interstate compacts and interstate compact agencies as mechanisms for federal/state and state-to-state cooperation. The seminar might also explore the EU's model for EU/nation-state relations.The course will discuss issues that are generally not covered in Constitutional Law or, if they are, only superficially. Moreover, the historical and conceptual portion of the seminar will provide new insights into even those federalism issues that participants have covered in Constitutional Law.

Financial Crisis Seminar (2) This seminar examine the various financial products, financial institutions, and regulators that played a role in the crisis. We will explore the causes of the financial crisis, will consider whether the response to the financial crisis is adequate to prevent a subsequent crisis, and will explore alternative ways of handling financial firms in distress (including under the Bankruptcy Code). There will be an emphasis on the monetary implications of shadow banking and Dodd-Frank's failure to provide a mechanism for addressing the monetary consequences of defaults by financial firms.

Financial Institutions Seminar (2) Examines current issues affecting regulations of different institutions providing financial services, specifically focusing on the impact of deregulation on the financial services industry, the existing regulatory structure (administered by the SEC, federal and state bank regulators, stock exchanges and securities organizations), and recent proposals for functional regulations of financial products. Prerequisite: Business Associations.

Gender and the Law Seminar (2) This seminar will explore the intersections of law, gender, and sexuality through the frameworks of constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, family law, and legal theory. Topics include employment discrimination, reproductive rights, intimate relationships, violence, and pornography. The seminar will explore throughout these topics legal and social constructions of gender and sexuality, privacy, autonomy, and the intersections of gender, sexuality, class, race, and ethnicity. Course not open to students who have taken either Sex Discrimination Seminar or Gender, Gender Identity, Sexuality, and the Law Seminar.

Gender, Gender Identity, Sexuality, and the Law Seminar (2) This seminar will explore the intersections of law, gender, gender identity, and sexuality through the frameworks of constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, family law, and legal theory. Topics include employment discrimination, intimate relationships, family, and violence. The seminar will explore throughout these topics legal and social constructions of gender (including gender identity) and sexuality, privacy, autonomy, and the intersections of gender, sexuality, class, race, and ethnicity. Course not open to students who have taken Gender and the Law Seminar

Hedge Fund and Investment Adviser Seminar (2) This seminar will focus on the private investment entities commonly referred to as "hedge funds," as well as registered investment advisers. Hedge funds and their advisers, which heretofore have generally not been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), play an increasingly influential role in the financial markets. The regulatory framework of hedge funds has been dramatically changed by the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, which generally requires the managers of hedge funds to register as investment advisers with the SEC. The seminar will address the legal and economic issues associated with different forms of private investment entities, such as traditional hedge funds and private equity funds, and the distinctions between domestic and offshore funds, and review federal and state regulation of hedge funds and investment advisers, including the new requirements for the registration of hedge fund managers; the consequences of such registration to hedge fund managers, investors, and the financial markets; the various exceptions to registration; best practices in complying with the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and applicable provisions of other federal securities laws. The seminar will explore the process of forming a hedge fund and a private equity fund, the operation of a hedge fund and a private equity fund, including a review of the legal and business issues and associated documents, and the process of registering as an investment adviser. Seminar members will, individually and in teams, participate in negotiations and the drafting of documents.
Prerequisite: Business Associations

History of American Corporate Governance Seminar (2) Covers the history of corporate governance and regulation from the framing of the Constitution to the adoption of the New Deal era securities acts. Topics may include theories of the corporate form, the development of general incorporation statutes, innovations in corporate organization, political opposition to corporations, corporate corruption and scandals, women and corporations, the creation of a managerial class, the rise of corporate lawyering, the landmark role of New Jersey in state corporate regulation, and the origins of federal regulation of public companies.

Human Trafficking Seminar (2) This seminar will examine the international and individual state legal frameworks to combat trafficking in persons around the globe. Topics will include the development and implementation of the Palermo Protocol, individual state responsibility and responses, and substantive and procedural challenges to effective enforcement of available legal measures. In addition, we will examine specific populations and industries particularly affected by trafficking.

Immigration Policy Seminar (2) Who should be allowed to come to America: what mix of people who add value to the economy, relatives of Americans, or who? Is the right to migrate a human right? Should it be? What drives current patterns of migration, and how responsive are they to legal regulation? Currently, lawful permanent residence status automatically confers the right to stay, work, be removed only for cause, and become a citizen. Should any or all of these questions be decoupled from the others? Should the requirements to become a U.S. citizen be revised? What are the implications of the ease with which individuals may be citizens of more than one country? Will we see increasing numbers of people holding multiple citizenship? Is this a good or bad thing? What is the economic impact on U.S. workers and consumers of current levels and forms of migration? Can the process of permitting employers to sponsor immigrants be made more useful and efficient for them without creating unacceptable risks of job loss or downward wage pressure for U.S. workers? Can fair programs for temporary workers be designed, or are they all exploitative? Must 75% of all agricultural labor be performed by workers without any legal authorization to be here? Can existing labor unions, or new worker organizations, be given a formal role in the immigration process to prevent exploitation of either migrant or US workers? Should the NAFTA countries (Canada, U.S., Mexico) gradually evolve toward a single free labor market on the model of the European Union? Or should border security be made more effective? Should the concept of refugee include a broader range of oppressed people, or remain limited to those who are persecuted for group membership or political opinion? Do state and local governments have any role to play in the regulation of migration?

Institutional Reform Litigation Seminar (2) This seminar will explore the use of litigation as a vehicle for transformative institutional change on behalf of poor and disenfranchised constituencies. It will examine the role of substantive law, legal procedure and advocacy in advancing client interests as a group. Looking beyond judicial forums, the seminar will examine litigation as a form of public advocacy, as a means to lobby government and as a means to communicate with the press and educate the public. It will consider how recovering attorney's fees relates to the success or failure of institutional reform. As a model, the seminar will focus on an era of litigation over the last 30 years to change conditions, programs, management and even the governance of jails and prisons, and other law enforcement practices. The seminar will evaluate whether such litigation led to successful periods of institutional reform or created a backlash against perceived judicial activism that diminished the ability of lawyers to protect individual rights. The seminar will include practical considerations in the drafting and functions of a complaint, the assembly of evidence from public documents and client testimony, obtaining discovery and admissions from defendants, the role of experts, initiating and managing negotiations, achieving resolution through trial or consent orders, and the monitoring and enforcement of structural injunctions and other remedial court orders.

International Law and Terrorism Seminar (2) Explores a number of basic questions: What is terrorism? Is the term legally meaningful? What other terminology could be used to denote the same phenomena? How can this type of violence be effectively punished and prevented? What is the role of the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations in this process? What is the role of international law such as treaties, customary international law, general principles? What are the roles of individual states? What limitations does international law place on the means that may be used to respond to such violence?

International Women's Human Rights Seminar (2) Examines questions of women's human rights in international perspective. One of the most important developments in international law in the last two decades has been its increasing recognition of the universality and centrality of women's rights. We will examine women's civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights under international law. Topics will include the Women's Convention, cultural relativism, religious fundamentalism and women's rights, the impact of armed conflict on women, the role of women's organizations, women's economic rights and empowerment, and violence against women.

 

Islam, Secularism, and Human Rights Seminar (2) This seminar critically examines the theory and practice of Islamic and secular governance, with special attention devoted to the rights of women and religious minorities. The seminar will draw on international human rights law, comparative constitutional law, and political philosophy to explore the relationship between religion, the state, and the individual. The seminar will relate the laws of selected countries--including the United States, France, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran--to broader intellectual and political movements - including liberalism, republicanism, feminism, multiculturalism, modernism, and fundamentalism.

Issues in Higher Education Law Seminar (2) This course examines the legal issues that confront universities and the laws, statutes, and regulations that govern them. This is a course more about practice than theory. Rutgers itself will be a semester-long case study and students will analyze issues and fact patterns based on matters that were handled by Rutgers' attorneys or that have otherwise impacted the university. This course will focus on topical issues and study how societal changes and rapid technological developments over the last few decades have translated into legal and policy issues for universities, such as accommodations for students with disabilities; students, faculty, or staff and mental health issues; social networks and student life; DMCA and file-sharing; copyright in a digital age; athletic programs and Title 9; FERPA, HIPAA, and privacy; Bayh-Dole and commercialization of university intellectual property; ethics of internet research; regulation of animal research and the tension between the free flow of ideas and restriction of the export of certain data and technologies to countries unfriendly to the United States. Students will have the opportunity to choose issues of particular interest to them to research more fully.

Judicial Valuation Seminar (2) Some of the theories, methodologies, processes, and strategies employed by litigants and courts in legal valuation disputes. Doctrinal areas covered may include corporate appraisal rights, eminent domain, equitable distribution of marital property, estate tax, damages for antitrust violations, torts, breach of contract, securities fraud, and infringement of intellectual property rights. Students will be required to perform original empirical research concerning how valuation disputes are resolved in a specific doctrinal context and to present their findings to the seminar both orally and in a written paper.

Juvenile Justice Seminar (2) Examines the state's treatment of children and adolescents accused of unlawful behavior. Students will study the creation and evolution of the juvenile justice system in historical context. That exploration begins by assessing the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system at its creation in 1899, as well as the turn of the century assumptions about childhood, punishment, and the judiciary's parens patriae responsibilities. Ultimately the historical exploration focuses on the late 20th century ideological and institutional evolution of the juvenile court. Students will consider the United States Supreme Court's recognition of certain due process rights for juveniles, its subsequent rejection of others, and the ongoing effort to reconcile the often competing goals of rehabilitation, punishment, and procedural protection. The course would then turn to current issues and challenges facing the juvenile justice system, including: (1) the criminalization of youthful offending (e.g., waiver and transfer, erosion of confidentiality, and sentencing); (2) the unique obligations of juvenile defense counsel; (3) institutional reform litigation; (4) disproportionate representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system; and (5) efforts to integrate social sciences and medical adolescent development research with juvenile justice policy and practice. The course will include student participation in one or two simulation exercises (for example, a juvenile court detention hearing).

Labor and Employment Arbitration Seminar (2) This seminar considers practice and procedure in public and private sector labor arbitration, and mandatory arbitration agreements for nonunion employees. The purpose of the seminar is to study the practical and legal aspects of the arbitration process and to consider the differences between labor arbitration in a union setting and mandatory arbitration for nonunion employees. Among the topics discussed will be sources of arbitration law, discovery techniques, submission of an issue to arbitration, conduct of the hearing, rules of evidence, burdens of proof, remedies, and the enforcement and vacation of an arbitrator's award. Each student is required to attend one actual arbitration and to write a posthearing brief. Guest lecturers include a labor arbitrator and a Superior Court judge.

Labor Negotiations Seminar (2) Presents an overview of the case law in the public and private sectors on negotiations practice and procedure, and a practical application of the law. Students initially participate in a few short mock negotiations. For the remainder of the semester, students are broken into teams and negotiate an actual labor contract. The last day of the semester students negotiate, as in actual labor negotiations, until a final agreement is reached. Students will each be required to write a memorandum of agreement memorializing the agreement reached. During the semester, students are required to solve a few short problems regarding scope of negotiations issues that grow out of semester-long negotiations. They are required to research a short legal memorandum for each problem. Guest lecturers include a mediator and a union and/or management negotiator.

Law Against Torture Seminar (2) Torture is at the heart of human rights law and activism. This interdisciplinary course will explore selected topics (legal, moral, historical, psychological, inter alia) arising from the practice of torture and efforts to define and prohibit it. United States, international, and some comparative law will be considered. Topics will include the Convention Against Torture; the Geneva Conventions; cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; rendition; non-refoulement; accountability; rape as torture, intelligence gathering, and national security; targeted killings and other unintended consequences; and the historical contexts of both torture and the campaigns to prohibit it.

(The) Law and Finance of Mergers and Acquisitions Seminar (2) This seminar will deal with issues such as the impact of mergers and acquisitions on corporate constituencies (shareholders, directors, managers, employees, customers and communities), the structural elements of merger and acquisition deals, financial evaluation, and implementation. Students will read and discuss scholarship in the fields of law, finance and law and economics relating to mergers and acquisitions.

Each week students will be assigned an article and a short reaction paper (2-4 pages), which will be discussed in class. At the end of the seminar, students will write a paper of no more than 12 pages on a topic of their choice among those that were touched upon during the seminar. Forty percent of the final grade will depend on the weekly papers and the remainder on the final paper.

Law & Public Policy Seminar (2) This seminar will focus on developing an understanding of the relationship between law, public policy, and politics. We will explore this in the context of concrete policy issues currently being debated in the state of New Jersey, including but not limited to public employee pension and benefit reform, education reform, and marriage equality. The student will learn the skill set necessary to conduct an analysis of specific public policy issues, identify emerging issues and evaluate why some issues reach the forefront of the public agenda. A heavy emphasis will be placed on the student actively participating during class since oral communication is an essential skill for the lawyer who wishes to shape and advance public policy. The course will include interactive discussions of fundamental concepts illustrated by concrete policy decisions, guest speakers, and written assignments. Evaluation will be based on class participation, a short written assignment, and a project focusing on a major public policy issue currently being debated in the state of New Jersey that will be presented in a paper and to the class.

Law of Armed Conflict Seminar (2) This seminar critically examines the most important unresolved issues in international law regarding the use of armed force, the conduct of hostilities, and the aftermath of armed conflict. Topics may included anticipatory self-defense, humanitarian intervention, targeted killing, proportionality, force protection, human shields, military occupation, and war crimes.

Moral Puzzles of Criminal Law Seminar (2) This seminar will explore and compare a number of legal and moral concepts. Can someone "cause" a result by doing nothing? How should the law treat a person who did the right thing but for a wrong reason? Should people be able to consent to actions that would hurt them? These are only some of the questions that will be discussed at this seminar. In addition to cases and theoretical works, the seminar materials include movies, popular legal nonfiction, and news stories.

Public Education Law Seminar (2) This seminar deals with the basic legal structure of the public education system and explores a range of current legal and educational policy issues confronting the public schools. These include: various aspects of equal educational opportunity such as school finance reform, and racial and socioeconomic diversity; state-local district relations and responsibility for the quality of education provided; student rights; and pupil classification and other means to meet special pupil needs. To a substantial degree, the seminar uses pending cases and legislative developments to illuminate the issues.

Public Finance and Social Infrastructure Seminar (2) This seminar provides an introduction to the role and evolution of public debt in advancing crucial social infrastructure projects such as highways, rails, schools, waste treatment facilities and fire houses at the federal, local, and state level. Review of both academic materials and specific case studies will provide a practitioner's perspective into the difference between pay-as-you-go financing and issuance of public debt, mechanics and constitutionality of public financing, and challenges and limitations faced by governments in striking the right balance between necessity versus overreliance on public debt. This seminar will require a 25-page paper to be submitted by students at the end of the semester.

Public Interest Law Seminar (2) This seminar will explore a number of areas of public interest law that are currently being considered by the courts. Topics will be chosen in large part based upon the students' interests, but are likely to include such issues as same-sex marriage, creation of DNA databases, government surveillance in a post-911 world, and race and gender discrimination. We will also be hosting moot court arguments of public interest cases coming before the New Jersey Supreme Court with the attorneys arguing the actual cases for the public interest side. The judges will be ex justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court, retired Appellate Division judges, and various law professors and experts in the respective areas of law. After the mock arguments, the justices and our class will analyze the arguments to help the attorneys prepare for their actual Supreme Court appearances.

Race, Gender, and Tort Law Seminar (2) This seminar explores how harms involving race and gender are treated under tort law. We will attempt to define the nature of race and gender-based injuries, and evaluate the adequacy of existing tort law to address them. Through an examination of specific topics, we will consider issues such as the effect of race and gender on the development of causes of action and standards of conduct, the relationship between tort law and civil rights remedies, and questions involving damages and non-discrimination in jury selection. Problems of essentialism and the intersection of race and gender will be addressed.

Race, Law & Politics Seminar (2) In this seminar, we will examine the extent to which President Obama's election satisfies the goals of the Civil Rights Movement and the aspirations of American civil rights law. As part of our discussion, we will explore how American law took up the goal of racial integration, the extent to which its integrative agenda has been achieved, and the adequacy or inadequacy of American law on such topics as majority-minority districts, reverse discrimination claims, and affirmative action. Our discussion of these issues will include analysis of their relationship to identity politics, and potential directions forward in light of President Obama's historic election.

Role of the General Counsel Seminar (2) This seminar replicates the general counsel's office of a major corporation and acquaints students with a large transaction and its attendant legal and practical problems. It also replicates the day-to-day activities of such an office. The emphasis is on a transaction and other events which pose issues of corporate law and governance. Seminar members are expected to work individually and in teams, to present materials both orally and in writing, and to play active roles in the issues under consideration.

Science and International Law Seminar (2) This seminar explores international and comparative law aspects of scientific advances, with particular focus on biotechnology. It will consider issues in the areas of international trade, patent law, international public health, and international environmental law. A science background is not required.

Second Amendment Seminar This seminar will examine the emerging treatment of the firearms freedom by the judiciary in light of District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago. Topics will include the text and history of the Second Amendment, and state constitutional and statutory provisions. The constitutional theories support the enforcement of the right to bear arms, including the incorporation doctrine and the privileges and immunities clause, will be discussed. The seminar will also examine any emerging doctrinal trends that determine whether future governmental regulation affecting this nascent individual constitutional right are permissible.

Sex Discrimination Seminar (2) This seminar will explore the intersections of law, gender, and sexuality through the frameworks of constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, family law, and legal theory. Topics include employment discrimination, reproductive rights, intimate relationships, violence, and pornography. The seminar will explore throughout these topics legal and social constructions of gender and sexuality, privacy, autonomy, and the intersections of gender, sexuality, class, race, and ethnicity. Course not open to students who have taken either Gender and the Law Seminar or Gender, Gender Identity, Sexuality, and the Law Seminar.

South African Constitutional Law (2) This course introduces students to South African Constitutional Law. The course begins with an introduction to the history of South Africa (as it relates to the development of the country's Constitution) and to the jurisprudence of the country's Constitutional Court. Over Spring break the class travels as a group to South Africa to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges facing the country and of the ways in which the country's Constitution is shaping its response to those challenges. Enrollment by permission of  instructor.

Special Education Law Seminar (2) The course will start with an historical examination of the public education system's treatment of children with disabilities, and the subsequent federal legislative response to the inadequate educational opportunities afforded them (namely the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act IDEA and its predecessor acts, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We then will cover each step of the special education process, including "child find," evaluation, eligibility and classification, individualized educational program (IEP) development, student discipline, procedural safeguards, court proceedings, available remedies, and the meaning of the statutory requirement that schools provide "a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment." At each stage, we will examine the applicable statutory law and regulations, the seminal cases governing the particular area, and the relevant policy issues. This course is open to all students, whether or not they are taking the Special Education Clinic. All students who are taking the Special Education Clinic for the first time must take this course simultaneously, if they have not taken the class previously.

State & Local Government (2) This seminar provides an introduction to the role of state government in New Jersey as it pertains to issues including but not limited to taxation, environment, health care, infrastructure and education. Review of both academic materials and specific case studies will provide a practitioner's perspective on the fast-changing public policy and political paradigm in state government and examine its concomitant effects. This seminar will require a paper to be submitted by students at the end of the semester.

The Thirteenth Amendment on the Eve of its 150th Birthday (2) The Thirteenth Amendment single-handedly transformed the Constitution of the United States from that of a slave nation to that of a modern republic. It is the only rights guarantee that protects not only against government, but also against private concentrations of power including multi-national corporations. It contains terms, for example--involuntary--and --servitude,-- that--in other contexts--have sparked intense debate among philosophers and policy makers. And it has spawned a doctrinal concept, the --badges or incidents of slavery-- that appears potentially expansive. Yet, the Thirteenth Amendment exerts very little influence on law or social practice. How did this come about? This seminar will approach the Amendment as a case study in constitutional interpretation and politics. We will examine the past, the present, and--to the best of our ability--the future of the Amendment, including the prospects for expanding its role in attacking present-day forms of exploitation and subjugation including prison labor and human trafficking.

U.S. Legal Thought Seminar (2) This seminar provides an introduction to the most important approaches found in 20th century legal scholarship, including legal realism, legal process, law and economics, law and society, and critical theorists. We will study the 20 classic articles found in The Canon of American Legal Thought (David Kennedy and William W. Fisher III editions., 2006) (Princeton University Press), which range from Holmes to John Dewey to Lon Fuller to Ronald Coase to Duncan Kennedy to Catherine McKinnon. This collection was first created to help students from abroad to understand the contemporary United States legal system, and is equally illuminating for those who know more about our law than about the ideas scholars and practitioners deploy to analyze and change it. Our goal will be to understand what these scholars are saying and relate their thought to broader social concerns and developments.

Urban Law and Policy Seminar (2) This seminar will briefly introduce urban theory and different approaches to urban planning. After this introduction, the class will explore the history of citites in New Jersey, focusing on Newark's development from the first New Jersey Constitution to the present. Next, using Newark as a case study, the class will discuss state and local efforts to redevelop urban areas, to provide educational opportunities in urban areas, and to combat urban crime, as well as the effect of New Jersey's affordable housing law on urban areas. Several guest speakers are expected to join the class dicussions on these various topics.

White Collar Crime Seminar (2) This course considers the legal, moral, and policy considerations that underlie a number of key white-collar criminal offenses, including perjury, mail and securities fraud, false statements, obstruction of justice, bribery, extortion and blackmail, tax evasion, regulatory offenses, money laundering, conspiracy, and RICO. Interwoven will be an ongoing treatment of various issues of corporate and organizational liability, individual liability in an organizational setting, federal jurisdiction over crime, the question of overcriminalization, sentencing, and the role of the white collar prosecutor and defense attorney.

Wrongful Convictions Seminar (2) This seminar is about the conviction and incarceration of the factually innocent in the American criminal justice system. We will examine how and why wrongful convictions occur, the sources of error (e.g., eyewitness mis-identifications, false confessions, perjured testimony from jailhouse informants, police and prosecutorial misconduct, etc), and what can be done to minimize future errors. A paper will be required.