Course Descriptions, Family Law - Juvenile Offender

Family Law

LW 728; 3 hours. This course introduces the numerous subject areas which comprise family law today starting with the often complex federal and state laws and cases on how to define a family. In addition to the traditional topics, such as marriage, parent- child relationships, divorce, property division, maintenance, child custody and child support issues, the course covers premarital, cohabitation and postmarital contracts, paternity, adoption, assisted conception, the role of the lawyer in family law, and alternative dispute resolution. This course is a prerequisite for Divorce Practice and Family Law Seminar.

Family Law Seminar

LW 754; 2 hours. This seminar explores the theoretical, sociological and psychological aspects of current legal issues in family law.
Prerequisite(s): Family Law.

Federal Courts

LW 759; 3 hours. An examination of the broad institutional restrictions on the federal courts in the federal system and the policies aimed at achieving a fair and efficient allocation of judicial power. The course explores the balance of power between the federal courts, the states and the two other branches of federal government. The issues examined in this course will have implications for federal practice in a variety of areas, including civil rights, bankruptcy, environmental, oil and gas, and real estate financing law.

Federal Indian Law

LW 841; 3 hours. This course focuses on the framework which bears upon Native Americans and Indian reservation transactions. The course explores the Native Americans and the federal government, powers of tribal government, Indian civil rights, Indian lands, water and mineral development, Bureau of Indian Affairs authority, and federal/state conflicts regarding jurisdiction over Indians and Indian affairs.

Financial Issues in Divorce

LW 888; 1-2 hours.. This course addresses financial issues associated with divorce including the identification, valuation, and division of property. Students will learn how to work with appraisers to value physical assets and complex intangible assets such as pensions, stock options, closely-held corporations, and businesses. The drafting, administration, and effect of pre-marital agreements will be addressed along with the taxation and planning aspects of divorce.

Prerequisite(s): Family Law.

Fundamentals of Oral Argument

See Advanced Oral Argument

Fundamentals of Real Estate Law

LW 938; 1-2 hours. This course builds upon first year Property and Contracts classes and completes the coverage of real property law, covering doctrinal topics foundational to the understanding of legal rights, interests, and transactions in real estate. The course will cover the law of real property contracts - both purchase and sale agreements and mortgage loans - as well as the US real estate title assurance system. In the two-credit version, the course will offer more detail about the development and modern variations within the US land title and mortgage systems. A student may not take both this course and Real Estate Transactions.
Prerequisite(s): Property; Contracts.

Gender, Sexuality, and the Law

LW 934; 3 hours. This course will examine the interaction between gender and law in the United States, with a focus on how the law affects and reflects societal constructs of gender and sexuality. The course will explore legal issues such as governmental regulation of sex and gender in the context of reproductive rights, employment, family, and educational institutions.

Health Care Law and Policy

LW 830; 2-3 hours. Examination of the health care system in the United States with emphasis on the law and policy pertaining to the delivery of health care services on a national basis. Specific areas considered include such matters as access to health care, quality assurance, cost control and other topics of current interest.

Human Trafficking Law in the United States

LW 775; 2 hours. The course will cover the development, adoption and implementation of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and its reauthorizations. Students will learn the legal definitions of slavery, peonage, involuntary servitude debt bondage, and sex trafficking; how to identify potential clients in these scenarios; and how to provide trauma-informed legal services to survivors. Areas of law this course will intersect include immigration law, family law, victim advocacy in the criminal prosecution process, expungement and vacatur, employment law and civil litigation.

Immigration Law

LW 815; 2-3 hours. An examination of immigration law, procedure and professional responsibility in its practice. Moral and social implications of immigration policy. Related topics such as the right to communicate in this country in languages other than English, the rights of citizen children of undocumented parents, rights of refugees, amnesty, and employer sanctions.

Independent Readings in Natural Resources Law

LW 826; 1-2 hours. A candidate seeking an environmental law certificate may earn up to two hours credit for independent reading supervised by a faculty member. Offered only upon prearrangement with the faculty supervisor and the Dean. Credit, no-credit.

Independent Study in Oil and Gas Law

LW 969; 1-2 hours. Students focus on an area of special interest by engaging in supervised research and writing to complete a project that expands their knowledge of oil and gas law. Students must propose a project for review and approval by the faculty supervisor and the Dean. Credit, no-credit.
Prerequisite(s): Oil and Gas Law and Advanced Oil and Gas Law.

Insurance Law

LW 710; 3 hours. This course is a broad examination of insurance law foundational concepts and practical knowledge. This includes reviewing the legal, regulatory, and economic issues that support an analysis of many common insurance coverages, including life, property, auto, and liability (but not health/Affordable Care Act, although this material is available in the text). The course material includes insurance law cases and policy contract language, covering both commercial and personal insurance through descriptive material.
Prerequisite(s): Contracts.

Intellectual Property

LW 808; 3 hours. An introduction to patents, trademarks and copyrights, including creation and protection of rights in intellectual property and enforcement of rights against infringers.

International Business Transactions

LW 778; 3 hours. This course will provide an introduction to the rules governing international business transactions. It will cover basic U.S. trade rules, and the organization of the World Trade Organization and regional trading arrangements. Topics will include tariffs and non-tariff barriers, responses of domestic producers to import competition, and the resolution of trade disputes. The course will also focus on issues that arise in typical international business transactions, such as the choice between CIF and FOB contracts, the risks of international trade and allocation of risks by contract, and the use of letters of credit.

International Human Rights

LW 812; 2-3 hours. This is a seminar course that serves as an introduction to international human rights. Starting from an exploration of the theoretical and philosophical foundations of human rights, the course will examine the different treaty regimes and their reporting mechanisms, different regional systems, and different dispute resolution processes that together form the international human rights regime. This will focus on some of the more fundamental substantive rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from torture, the right to liberty, the right to equality, freedom of expression, and freedom of conscience. In examining the jurisprudence of various dispute resolution bodies, the course will also examine the different analytical approaches to the adjudication and enforcement of human rights claims. Students will be required to write and to present in class a research paper.
Prerequisite(s): Recommended: Public International Law.

International Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples

LW 919; 3 hours. This fully online, asynchronous course explores international human rights through the example of Indigenous peoples, with particular focus on land rights, cultural rights, and the extractive industries. Among other outcomes, students will learn to (1) describe the United Nations and regional human rights systems; (2) discuss how international human rights standards influence domestic law and policy; (3) describe the unique human rights challenges facing minority populations whose cultures are inextricable from their ancestral lands and resources; (4) select and apply international law to realistic human rights problems; and (5) critically discuss colonization and other social and historical context affecting Indigenous peoples' rights. Students who opt to complete the upper-level writing requirement will complete a seminar paper with revisions based on professor feedback. Those who seek the upper-level oral requirement will complete an individual presentation.

International Intellectual Property Law

LW 948; 3 hours. This course provides students with an introduction to the ever-growing framework for global harmonization of intellectual property standards. After a basic review of the primary subjects of intellectual property law (copyright, trademark, patent and related topics), the course turns to the growing body of international decisions and policies impacting these topics. Study of the subject also requires exploration of the views of intellectual property (IP) across cultures, including how societal, cultural and historical factors influence attitudes toward, and mechanisms accommodating, IP protection. A brief overview of international law and international trade concepts leads to exploration of the roles of the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and other international organizations in regulating both policy and enforcement in intellectual property protection, covering the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) and other core international agreements on the subject. Discussions will also include the role of IP protection in economic development, international politics and relations and important distributive issues involving health care, education and technological innovation.
Prerequisite(s): Recommended: Intellectual Property, Global Intellectual Property Enforcement Law, International Business Transactions, Public International Law, or International Law of Indigenous Peoples.

International Law

See Public International Law

International Petroleum Transactions

LW 973; 3 hours. This course focuses on the transnational law governing oil and gas companies when doing business abroad. The course addresses (1) applicable law in international petroleum transactions, (2) foreign legal regimes governing petroleum exploration, development and production, (3) the contractual and regulatory environment governing the operations of international petroleum projects, (4) basic principles of international petroleum distribution and sales, and (5) the key distinctions between international petroleum and gas transactions.

Interviewing and Counseling

LW 914; 2 hours. This course will introduce students to a practice-oriented approach to interviewing and counseling. It will enable students to develop the skills involved in investigating facts and interviewing and counseling clients. Class work will include demonstration, critique, discussion, and practical exercises. Students will also investigate doctrinal, procedural, and evidentiary issues in order to discharge effectively their role in each step of the process. Course topics will explore: 1) how to recognize legal and non-legal dimensions of a client's problems; 2) how to develop fundamental skills, including effective listening and questioning; 3) how to gather information; and 4) how to understand the decision-making process and help clients make appropriate decisions. Students will also explore ethical considerations in interviewing and counseling. This is a letter-graded class. There will be a final project instead of an exam.

Introduction to Nonprofit Law

LW 950; 2 hours. Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in the social development and economic stability of American society. This intersession course will provide a foundation to understanding nonprofit organizations by examining state and federal laws generally applicable to nonprofit organizations. Topics include state formation of not-for-profit corporations; federal laws governing tax-exempt nonprofit organizations; nonprofit governance models; fiduciary duties of board of directors; state and federal prohibitions and limitations for nonprofits; ethical considerations, and best practices. This course will also address the practical aspects of representing and advising nonprofit organizations. As many nonprofits are resource poor, attorneys are often asked to represent nonprofits on a pro bono basis. Unfortunately, many attorneys are unprepared to offer competent representation. This course will provide a basic foundation for the legal knowledge, skill, and preparation reasonably necessary for such representation.

Jessup International Moot Court Competition

LW 978; 1-4 hours. The Jessup International Moot Court Competition requires teams to research, analyze, and write "memorials" (briefs) on complex issues of public international law, and then to make oral submissions before panels of judges representing the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The team consists of six members: four serve as primary advocates and earn 2 credits; one serves as "of counsel" and earns 1 credit; and the sixth is a first-year student who is an observer of the competition, receives no credit, but is automatically one of the primary advocates the following year. Primary advocates are eligible for fulfilling both the upper-level writing requirement and the upper-level oral requirement. Students may participate in the Jessup team a second time in their third year, and are eligible again for 1 or 2 credit hours depending on their role as described above (for a maximum of 4 credit hours if taken twice). For more information see the Jessup webpage.
Prerequisite/Co-requisite(s): preference will be given to students who have taken or are in the process of taking Public International Law.

Judicial Externship

See Externship: Judicial

Jurisprudence

LW 799; 2 hours. An inquiry into the realm of legal philosophy. Students will analyze fundamental issues and major lines of thought in attempted resolution of those issues.

Jury Selection and Voir Dire

LW 877; 1 hour. This course examines the art and science of jury selection through a study of the law and courtroom procedures pertaining to voir dire. The skills associated with jury selection will be taught, demonstrated, and practiced by having each student pick a jury for trial of a selected case scenario. General and specific questions on voir dire will be conducted by students acting as counsel and presided over by a judge. Student performance will be critiqued and the final grade will be assigned based on class participation and a final examination.
Prerequisite(s): Trial Advocacy or ITAP.

Juvenile Offender

LW 886; 2 hours. This course will cover juvenile delinquency including purposes of punishment and juvenile justice; the juvenile courts; jurisdiction and disposition of juvenile court; procedural differences between delinquency process and adult criminal process; the role of the lawyer in the juvenile court process.