Course Descriptions, Adoption - Business Associations
LW887 — Adoption — 2 Hours
This course will cover all aspects of adoption law – consents of parents; termination of rights; Indian Child Welfare Act; transracial and transcultural adoptions; the Hague Convention on Intercountry Cooperation in Respect to Adoption, access to information; the effects of adoption; and actions for wrongful adoption.
LW780 — Administrative Law — 3 Hours
This course examines procedures before administrative boards and tribunals as well as their powers and duties and the scope and availability of judicial review of their decisions. Prerequisite: Constitutional Law I.
LW895 — Advanced Evidence — 3 Hours
This course is designed to enable students to explore in-depth evidentiary issues in civil and criminal cases that are difficult or novel. Topics may include expert testimony, opinion and character evidence, evidence issues involving children. Evidence in cases involving sex crimes may also be addressed. Hitech demonstrative evidence and its use in the courtroom will be a topic. Students may be asked to perform simulated evidentiary exercises. Prerequisite: Evidence.
LW800 — Advanced Legal Research — 2 Hours
A survey of legal and law-related research resources not introduced in the first year Legal Analysis, Research and Writing courses. The course emphasizes computer-assisted, Internet and interdisciplinary sources. Each student selects a legal specialty and prepares a written, selective guide (pathfinder) to the legal and law-related research sources for the chosen specialty.
LW920 — Advanced Legal Research: Business Law — 1 Hour
Advanced Legal Research: Business Law will focus on research methodologies and strategies relating to business, corporate and transactional law. Sources include Internet, online databases, loose-leaf services, practice materials, newsletters, federal and state legislative history, statutes and administrative materials. Students will prepare a company dossier, an annotated bibliography on a focused business related topic and an essay detailing the search process. Prerequisites: Legal Analysis, Research and Writing I and Legal Analysis, Research and Writing II. This course is graded.
LW855 — Advanced Oil and Gas Law — 2-3 Hours
The oil and gas industry uses a number of unique contractual arrangements to explore for, develop, produce, and market oil and gas. This course goes beyond conveyances and oil and gas leases and examines the law governing farmout agreements, operating agreements, drilling contracts, production sales contracts, pooling agreements, unitization agreements, and agreements for the sale and exchange of producing properties. State oil and gas conservation issues and the law governing oil and gas development on federal public lands are also studied. Students will also study the intricate web of environmental laws that apply to the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas. This course provides students with an opportunity to improve their legal drafting skills through various drafting exercises. Variable credit, see course schedule. Prerequisite: Oil and Gas.
LW724 — Advanced Trial Advocacy — 2 Hours
This is an advanced litigation skills course. The primary focus is simulated trial experience. Other topics include the use of expert witnesses, innovative demonstrative evidence, the art of oral persuasion and communication science. Sections will be offered with either a criminal law or civil law focus. Prerequisites: Evidence and Trial Advocacy.
LW706 — Agricultural Law — 3 Hours
This course will focus on two fundamental aspects of law as it relates to agriculture: governmental regulation and exceptional treatment under law. Approximately half the semester will be devoted to each topic. Regarding governmental regulation, the following topics will be addressed: the constitutional framework for regulation; how regulatory power is allocated between different levels of government; and regulation within administrative and bureaucratic structure s. Also addressed will be specific examp les of regulation such as price supports, m ilk markets, packers and stockyards, and biotechnology. Regarding exceptional treatment, the following topics will be explored: why exceptions are created for agriculture and how the exceptions work. Specific exceptions covered will include business structures, including corporations, cooperatives and leases; agricultural labor; animals and fences; nuisance; and recreational use. Prerequisites: None.
LW753 — Alternative Dispute Resolution — 2-3 Hours
A foundational course that introduces upper level students to a variety of non-judicial processes for resolving disputes, with emphasis on negotiation, mediation and arbitration. The course will explore these and other hybrid dispute resolution processes by analyzing state and federal statutes, emerging case law, court rules, and standards established by the American Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, and other dispute resolution organizations. Students will compare private alternative dispute resolution systems to traditional adjudication and court annexed systems, and examine ethical problems, societal perspectives and practical limitations on these alternatives.
LW782 — Antitrust — 3 Hours
The course examines the Sherman Antitrust Act and related federal legislation. It includes an examination of the legal restraints on monopolies, unfair competition, price-fixing agreements, and corporate mergers.
LW889 — Appellate Advocacy for Moot Court — 2 Hours
This course will focus on the art of appellate advocacy with special attention to the unique challenges presented by moot court competitions. The course will educate students about the procedural rules of moot court competitions, brief writing and editing, and oral argument. We will discuss the types of matters regulated by the procedural rules, potential pitfalls, and ways to insure compliance. The primary emphasis of the curriculum will be on brief writing and editing. To practice the brief writing techniques, students will edit briefs written by previous (anonymous) moot court teams. Students will work in teams in order to learn to work cooperatively to produce an improved written product. The final segment of the course will focus on oral argument. Students will learn about planning an argument, anticipating questions from the bench, and transitioning from question responses to argument. Students will have an opportunity to practice oral presentations, which we will videotape and review together. In addition to substantive planning and presentation, students will learn fundamentals of oral presentation. Successful completion of this course will be a prerequisite to participating in interschool competitions. Prerequisites: Membership on Moot Court Council or selection for membership on Moot Court Council through our in-house Moot Court competition in the Fall.
LW767 — Appellate Practice — 2 Hours
A study of appellate procedure in Kansas and federal courts. Topics include perfecting the appeal, jurisdiction, preparation of a brief and oral argument, and principles of appellate review.
LW854 — Arbitration — 2 Hours
This course focuses on the adjudicatory dispute resolution process of arbitration. It provides an examination of the legal and practical contexts in which arbitration is used, with specific study of arbitration in the international and securities arenas. The course will consider arbitration systems in international compacts, treaties and conventions and in commercial and labor transactions. This course is designed for advanced law students and may be of particular interest to those with a concentration in business or international law. Recommended: Alternative Dispute Resolution.
LW924 — Art Law — 2 Hours
This seminar examines various legal issues in the visual arts, including: artists' rights and copyright; government regulation and funding of art, museums, and artists; authentication of art and cultural property; disputes over the ownership of art; illicit international trade of art; the disposition of art in times of armed conflict and war with emphases on World War II and the Middle East; and First Amendment issues as they relate to museums and artists.
LW860 — Bioethics and the Law — 3 Hours
A seminar exploring the legal and ethical issues surrounding the rapid development of new biological technologies. Topics include: beginning of life issues such as contraception, abortion, and nontraditional methods of human reproduction; end of life issues such as pain management, advance health care directives and physician-assisted suicide; genetic issues such as cloning, genetic testing, gene therapy, and eugenics; and other issues such as organ transplantation, pharmacological regulation of behavior, and experimentation on human subjects.
LW703 — Business Associations — 4 Hours
An analysis of the legal attributes of available business organization forms. Emphasis will be on partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations. The law of agency, as applied to each of these forms will also be emphasized. Rights, duties and liabilities of managers, owners, and agents will be examined. The course also focuses on formation issues, operational powers and fundamental changes in business forms such as dissolution, merger, or acquisition.
