School of Law - Courses
LAWS 103, Constitutional Law I, 4
The constitutional system of the United States; judicial function in constitutional cases; the division of powers between the nation and the states and within the national government; the powers of the president; national and state citizenship; and constitutional limitations on the powers of the states and nation for the protection of individual liberties. Required.
LAWS 104, Civil Procedure, 4
A broad survey of the procedural development of a lawsuit is undertaken, tracing the various steps from pleading and discovery to trials and judgments. Modern procedural issues involved in jurisdiction of the courts, venue, choice of law, and former adjudications are discussed. Throughout the course principal attention is given to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Required.
LAWS 123, Contracts, 5
The formation of a contract; problems of offer and acceptance; consideration; the question of contract breach; damages and remedies for a breach. Required.
LAWS 131, Criminal Law, 3
A basic course in substantive criminal law, dealing with the standards to be used in defining and punishing criminal behavior. The course includes discussion of crimes and criminality; culpable mental states; causation; insanity; attempt and complicity; homicide; and rape. Required.
LAWS 132, Torts, 4
This course covers compensation of an injured party for harm resulting from intentional or unintentional acts and omissions of others. Consideration is given to the rules, rationale, and policy underlying tort liability. The course includes analysis of assault and battery, false imprisonment, negligence, standard of care, duty, risk, causation, liabilities and rights of landowners and land users, liability relating to dangerous activities and defective products, liabilities arising from special relationships or specially recognized legal interests, and defenses. Required.
LAWS 144, Property, 4
The nature of property interests; estates in land and future interests; concurrent ownership; landlord-tenant; transfer of property interests; easements, covenants, and equitable servitudes; nuisance; and zoning. Required.
LAWS 151, Research, Analysis, and Writing, 2
Both semesters must be completed before credit is given. Students are introduced to the methods and formats of written legal analysis and to both manual and computerized legal research. Writing assignments include objective memoranda of law, pleadings, motions, and persuasive briefs for both trial and appellate courts. Required.
LAWS 152, Research, Analysis, and Writing, 1
Continuation of LAWS 151. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given. Required.
LAWS 202, Constitutional Law II, 3
This course explores the individual freedoms protected by the First Amendment. Primary attention is devoted to the freedoms of speech, assembly, and association. The course analyzes what is protected, why it is protected, and to what degree it is protected. Topics covered include prior restraint, advocacy of unlawful conduct, the hostile audience, defamation, commercial speech, obscenity, offensive speech, expression on public property, and symbolic speech.
LAWS 203, Business Associations I, 3
This course first deals at some length with the policies and dimensions of the doctrines of vicarious liability (liability for the wrongs of another) and authority (being bound by the assent or representation of another). The discussion then moves to questions of an intermediary's or employee's duties of obedience, due care, and loyalty. Against this background, the statutory approaches of the Uniform Partnership Act and the Uniform Limited Partnership Act are developed and analyzed.
LAWS 204, Business Associations II, 4
This course is an elaboration of "corporateness" as a mode of business asset ownership and management. The functions and relationships of corporate enterprise participants, primarily promoters, shareholders, creditors, and managers, are fully investigated. The course first covers preorganizational problems and fundamental concepts of corporate financing. It then canvasses the roles of ownership and management, with emphasis on the special duties (fiduciary and other) imposed on certain participants. Careful attention is paid to the allocation of prerogatives among those most intimately involved in corporate life. The discussion examines and tests the traditional view of directors as the repositories of everyday management power and shareholders as the possessors of a theoretical franchise to select management, veto fundamental changes, and enforce management responsibilities. Maintenance of the capital structure for the protection of creditors and shareholders is treated in connection with problems of recapitalization and distribution. State statutory themes are taken in the context of the ALI- ABA Model Business Corporation Act. Threads of the federal corporate regimen being developed under the aegis of the securities laws are woven throughout the course fabric. Throughout the discussion, distinctions are drawn between the requirements and policies applicable to close and to publicly held corporations.
LAWS 206, Corporate Tax Problems, 3
This is an advanced income tax course limited primarily to study and analysis of Sub-chapter C of the Internal Revenue Code. The course is intended to provide the student with a comprehensive background in taxation of corporations and shareholders, including the tax treatment of dividends, redemptions, corporate reorganizations, and liquidations.
Prerequisite: Federal Income Tax (LAWS 211).
LAWS 207, Evidence, 3
This is a comprehensive course in the law of evidence as applied in civil and criminal cases. Subjects include relevance, direct and cross-examination, impeachment, character, expert and lay opinion testimony, and hearsay. The problem approach is used to highlight both the practical applications and theoretical underpinnings of the federal and common law rules of evidence. Students may take no more than one from LAWS 207, LAWS 209, and LAWS 212.
LAWS 209, Evidence for Litigators, 4
An intensive course in the law of evidence, designed for those who plan a career in litigation. Subjects include relevance, hearsay, judicial notice, privileges, burden of proof, presumptions, and real and demonstrative evidence. The course deals with both the common law and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Emphasis is on the skills involved in making and meeting objections in the trial setting. Students may take no more than one from LAWS 207, LAWS 209, and LAWS 212.
LAWS 210, Family Law, 3
This survey course covers law relating to the creation, functioning, and dissolution of the family as a legal unit. Topics include legitimacy, adoption, procreative rights, cohabitation, marriage, family obligations, division of marital property, divorce and annulment, and child custody. Particular attention is given to the social forces that affect the development of rules and policies.
LAWS 211, Federal Income Tax, 4
An introductory course in federal income taxation of the individual taxpayer, including a consideration of the nature of income, specific statutory exclusions, business and nonbusiness deductions, the treatment of capital gains and losses, and elementary tax accounting.
LAWS 212, Evidence, 4
A comprehensive course in the law of evidence as applied in civil and criminal cases. Subjects include relevance, hearsay, judicial notice, privileges, examination of witnesses, expert and lay opinion testimony, and real, demonstrative, and scientific evidence. This course deals with both the practical applications and theoretical underpinnings of the Federal Rules of Evidence and common law precedents. Students may take no more than one from LAWS 207, LAWS 209, and LAWS 212.
LAWS 214, Scientific Evidence Seminar, 3
The legal issues associated with the use of scientific evidence at trial. It examines the admissibility of scientific evidence, expert testimony, and related issues. In addition, it considers specific techniques such as forensic pathology, fingerprint comparison, firearms identification, bite mark comparisons, questioned document examinations, and polygraph and breathalyzer testing. Outside experts are used to present many of the topics.
LAWS 215, International Law, 3
Examines the basic international legal processes (including the fundamental principles, the sources of international law, the subjects of the international legal system, nationality and jurisdiction)as well as the role and status of international law within the United States legal system. Throughout the course use is made of contemporary international problems.
LAWS 217, Juvenile Law, 2
The role of the juvenile court in society--its jurisdiction, procedures, and dispositional alternatives. Students study both the quasi criminal aspects of the juvenile court (jurisdiction over juvenile delinquents and status offenders) and the civil-protective aspects of the court (termination of parental rights and the handling of neglected, dependent, and abused children). In addition, the rights afforded juveniles are compared with the rights afforded adults in comparable circumstances. Many related juvenile justice issues, such as the right of a minor female to have an abortion without parental notice and the constitutionality of capital punishment for juvenile offenders, are also examined.
LAWS 219, Workers' Compensation, 2-3
Workers' compensation law has a statutory basis which continues to evolve through judicial decisions. The statutes deal with benefits for work-connected injury and disability. Course material is national in scope with an emphasis on recent Ohio cases. The course also touches on related areas of law, such as torts.
LAWS 220, Civil Law and Psychiatry, 2
The interaction between law and psychiatry and its effects on patient rights, institutional care, guardianship, psychiatric malpractice, suicide, psychic damages, and child abuse and custody. Students will test the analysis of legal issues against actual experience (videotaped interviews, visit to a state mental hospital). The course is jointly taught by a psychiatrist and an attorney specializing in mental health law.
LAWS 222, The Health Care Professions, 2
Offered pass/no credit. Recommended for students interested in health law who do not have a medical background. The history of medicine, the scientific method, techniques for researching medical and scientific questions, basic human anatomy and physiology, and an overview of medical training and practice. Held at the School of Medicine.
Prerequisite or corequisite: Health Law (LAWS 227).
LAWS 224, Global Perspectives, 3
An introduction to the transnational legal process. Using areas of substantive law most familiar to first-year students (e.g., contracts, property, and criminal law), the course examines issues arising from cross-national activity. Students are exposed to choice of law, comparative law, and international law through study of a wide array of international problems.
LAWS 225, Criminal Law and Psychiatry, 2
The interaction between criminal law and psychiatry: psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, competence to stand trial, the insanity defense, malingered mental illness, infanticide, sexual psychopath laws, and direct and cross-examination of mental health experts. Videotaped examples serve as a basis for discussion. A visit to the Justice Center Court Psychiatric Clinic is included. The course is taught jointly by a psychiatrist and an attorney specializing in mental health law.
LAWS 227, Health Law, 3
The course examines the nature and structure of the health care system; the relationship between patient, provider, and payer; private legal controls on health care delivery such as malpractice and informed consent law; and public controls in the form of government regulatory and payment programs.
LAWS 229, Patent Law, 2
Basic concepts of patent law as property considered primarily from a litigation viewpoint in its substantive aspects, including the relationship to other forms of protection and intellectual property, infringement, and statutory requirements for patents.
LAWS 231, Research in Transnational Legal Problems, 2
A specialized course, providing supervised exposure to sophisticated international legal research skills. It includes a study of the philosophy of international legal information, intensive training in the structure of the international legal system and its information systems, use of international legal databases, and analysis of international organizations and their publications. Students will compile a comprehensive annotated bibliography of materials and information available on a topic of their choice, plus a detailed statement of their research methodology.
Prerequisite: Any course in international law (may be taken concurrently) or permission.
LAWS 232, Wills, Trusts, and Future Interests, 4
A survey of the law of intestate and testate succession, will substitutes, private and charitable trusts, fiduciary administration, and future interests (including the Rule Against Perpetuities).
LAWS 234, Nonprofit Organizations, 3
Explores the rationales for the existence of the nonprofit sector and the allocation of certain functions to it. The focus is on the legal framework for the structure and operation of nonprofit organizations under state nonprofit corporation statutes and the policy and practice of preferred tax treatment for selected organizations and gifts to them under the Internal Revenue Code.
LAWS 236, Natural Resources, 3
An introduction to the law of natural resources with emphasis on private rights rather than resources in the public domain. Major themes will include: how the common law deals with rights in another's land; problems of common pool resources, their ownership and regulation; different legal treatment of renewable and nonrenewable resources; legal structures available for the exploitation of natural resources. Primary focus will be on water, oil, and gas, but the legal issues of other extractive industries will also be considered.
LAWS 238, Mergers and Acquisitions, 3
Topics include the corporate and securities law governing various forms of mergers and acquisitions; business motivations for mergers; concerns of acquiring and acquired companies in friendly mergers; bidders' techniques and targets' defenses in hostile tender offers; valuation of businesses and investments, portfolio theory, and capital markets; concerns of companies and investors in negotiating corporate financings.
Prerequisite: Business Associations II (LAWS 204).
LAWS 240, Computers and the Law, 3
Deals primarily with intellectual property issues: the patentability and copywritability of software and the protection of interests in software by contract or by treating it as a trade secret. Issues relating to the risks of distributing computer software -- i.e., the risks of products' liability for computer software -- will also receive considerable attention. Some time will be spent on the legal issues that arise when computers are interconnected by networks. Since many of the legal issues relating to computers arise because courts and lawyers do not understand how computers work and what they can and cannot do, the course begins with basic instruction in such matters as registers, central processing units, logic gates, and computer languages; this portion of the course includes ungraded homework assignments.
LAWS 242, Elements of Legal Persuasion, 2
A course in persuasive public speaking for both litigation and non-litigation settings, based on principles of classical logic and rhetoric and modern communications theory. Students will learn to recognize logically fallacious reasoning, to present legal arguments effectively, and to give interesting, informative, and persuasive presentations to civic and professional groups. Some weeks students meet in a single group for lectures and presentations. Other weeks the class is divided into groups of 8 for presentations which are videotaped and closely critiqued.
LAWS 244, Poverty, Social Inequality, and the Law, 3
An overview of the way the law impacts on disadvantaged people, and the law that supports advocacy on behalf of them. Students will learn about legal problems that are common to poor people and identify potential solutions. The course will analyze the effectiveness of various legal interventions such as administrative advocacy, legislative advocacy, and litigation (including individual and class representation) in various contexts. Past and current means of using and changing the law on behalf of low-income people will be studied. Students will analyze the responsibilities of lawyers to represent low-income clients. Many of the concepts will be taught through the use of case studies; a client interview will be conducted.
LAWS 245, Complex Litigation, 3
Advanced procedural issues involved in complex civil litigation. Joinder and multiple party problems, class actions, discovery, case management, judicial control of litigation, and issues of duplicative litigation.
LAWS 248, Criminal Procedure II, 2
The adjudicatory stage of the criminal process. Pretrial release, preliminary hearings, grand jury practice, speedy and public trial, discovery, right to jury trial, guilty pleas, right to counsel, and double jeopardy are examined.
Prerequisite: Criminal Procedure I (LAWS 327).
LAWS 249, Comparative Constitutional Law Seminar, 3
The seminar deals with constitutional law and adjudication in a comparative context. It offers an analysis of judicial review and its position in the modern world. It explores certain structural and functional differences among national systems of judicial review and discusses the relatively recent phenomenon of judicial review at the supranational level -- particularly as it has emerged in Europe.
LAWS 250, Trends and Tensions in Legal Education, 3
Focuses on critical legal studies; analyzes CLS impact or influence on critical race theory and feminist jurisprudence; covers deconstruction and its use as a method of criticism.
LAWS 251, Employment Law, 3
This course explores employer-employee relations in non-union settings. Topics are selected from these areas: hiring, privacy, wrongful discharge, occupational safety and health, whistle blowing, wage and hour laws, and unemployment compensation. May be taken in conjunction with Labor Law (LAWS 359) and Discrimination in Employment (LAWS 328). Overlap will be minimal.
LAWS 253, European Community Law, 2-3
After a brief introduction to the institutions and organs of the European Community, the legal aspects of the internal operations of the Community will be discussed. Special emphasis will be placed on the external impact of Community law, for example, its trading rules, company law, and business competition law, as well as its rules governing the free movement of goods, services, capital, and persons. The concept of European citizenship will also be dealt with.
LAWS 260, Law and Economics, 3
This course explores the uses (and misuses) of economic theory to analyze legal institutions. Topics include optimal deterrence, regulation, property rights, Chicago School analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and others, depending on class interest.
LAWS 262, Appellate Advocacy, 2
The goal of the course is to teach students how to handle an appellate case. It examines appellate practice and procedure through reading materials, lectures, discussions, and simulations. Students are assigned to small groups to develop their advocacy skills through simulation exercises and critique. Credit will be awarded only to students who also participate in the Dunmore Moot Court Competition in the spring semester.
LAWS 264, International Organizations, 1-3
Deals with legal issues surrounding some common characteristics of intergovernmental organizations having wide membership, with an emphasis on the United Nations system. Many of the issues are constitutional or procedural; that is, they have to do with the powers of, and restrictions upon, the organizations or their members as set forth in the constituent instruments of the organizations or as developed in practice. Issues such as eligibility for membership and termination thereof, rights and obligations of members, dispute resolution, and legislative procedures will be addressed comparatively. The growth of international law through intergovernmental organizations is also addressed.
LAWS 267, Products Liability, 2
Explores in depth the liability of manufacturers and sellers for physical injury to persons or property caused by defective products. The relevant law includes UCC warranty provisions, Restatement of Torts (Second) 402A and other tort law, state "tort reform" statutes, and federal and state statutes regulating product safety, such as the FDA and the Consumer Product Safety Act. The course will also examine proposals to "reform" the law of products liability by federal legislation.
LAWS 278, Regulatory Law and Policy, 3
Covers the substance of regulatory law, rather than the procedure aspects covered in Administrative Law (LAWS 301). We will examine the theories used to regulate a variety of areas including telecommunications, utilities, agriculture, and pesticides. The course also includes a substantial comparative law aspect, examining how each area is handled in other countries. Materials from the political science and economics literatures are used in addition to legal materials.
LAWS 279, Advanced Real Estate Development: Shopping Centers, 2
The seminar takes the point of view of the attorney for a real estate developer with a strong emphasis on shopping center development, including apartment complex and office building developments, but provides insights useful to an attorney for the other side: a tenant, financial institution, or major department store. The approach is practical as well as academic; the course may be considered a capstone for students interested in real estate. Topics include negotiations and documentation; actual documents are used.
LAWS 285, Social Science and the Law, 3
Examines the social impact of law and the use of social research in the legal process; assesses efforts to use law to effect social reform, and empirical studies of legal processes and institutions.
LAWS 292, Health Care Legislation, 2
The course will introduce students to legislative processes, interpretation and drafting, focusing on health care legislation. The course will examine one major legislative proposal in depth and follow its progress through the Ohio General Assembly. Initial proposal documents, as well as the actual statute (including all versions) will be studied. The views of all constituents will be examined. Some of the meetings may take place in Columbus and the class may attend a committee hearing.
Prerequisite: Health Law (LAWS 227)
LAWS 301, Administrative Law, 3
The law of the administrative process with particular reference to the functional, institutional, and political constraints within which agencies promulgate and apply public policy. Topics include legislative, executive, and judicial control of administrative actions; the requirement of an opportunity to be heard; rulemaking and adjudication under the Administrative Procedure Act; the availability, timing, and scope of judicial review; and the contemporary debate over regulatory reform.
LAWS 300, Advanced Environmental Law, 2
In depth analysis of key issues encountered in environmental law practice, from the perspectives of the regulator and the regulated entity. Introduction to environmental research and the role of agency interpretive materials. Exploration of environmental audits, ethics, and issues arising in environmental enforcement. Issues will be presented in a series of problem sets, which will form the basis for both written analysis and in-class discussion.
Prerequisite: Environmental Law (LAWS 331) or permission of the instructor.
LAWS 302, Advanced Legal Information Systems, 2
This advanced research seminar offers direct exposure to sophisticated legal research, strengthening students' knowledge of legal databases and introducing them to other legal bibliographical sources and technology. It includes extensive hands-on experience in database searching and research in specialized subject areas. Students will be required to compile a comprehensive, annotated bibliography of materials and information available on a topic of their choice, plus a detailed statement explaining the research methodology used in producing the bibliography.
LAWS 303, Admiralty Law, 2
The general principles of admiralty law including jurisdiction, practice, maritime liens, collisions, salvage, limitation of liability, and the rights of injured maritime workers.
LAWS 304, American Legal History, 3
This course surveys the American legal past from the Revolutionary era to the present. It examines the development of a distinct American legal culture by exploring the interrelationships among legal institutions, thought, practice, and education in various historical periods.
LAWS 307, Securities Regulation, 3
This course explores the policies and techniques of state and federal investor protection, with emphasis on the distribution of securities by issuers and their affiliates. After an analysis of express general anti-fraud remedies, the "security" concept, and the diverse philosophies underlying "value judgment" and "disclosure" approaches to regulation of business fund-raising practices, the course proceeds to a full consideration of the impact of the Federal Securities Act of 1933 on primary and secondary distributions. Concurrent as well as independent effects of state blue sky laws, typified by the Uniform Securities Act, are also treated. To round out the total pattern of investor protection in the distributional setting, the course includes limited excursions into the anti-fraud, periodic reporting, public information availability, and broker-dealer aspects of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Prerequisite: Business Associations II (LAWS 204).
LAWS 308, Advanced Securities Regulation, 3
This course begins by treating the security assessment process engaged in by investors, and then proceeds to a discussion of regulation designed to perfect the decision- making process and to overcome informational and other-than-informational deficiencies in the trading markets. Topics include periodic reporting; annual reports to shareholders; duties of broker-dealers and advisers in the trading markets; trading on, and selective disclosure of, nonpublic material information; and the disclosure duties of quiescent issuers. Attention is given to the regulation of tender offers and other large-scale acquisitions of securities, as a special problem of the trading markets. The course also deals with securities regulation which benefits holders of securities, including proxy regulation, securities regulation approaches to corporate mismanagement, and Exchange Act Section 16. Post-transaction relief is also discussed, and, if time allows, attention is given to the occupational licensing aspects of broker-dealer and adviser regulations.
Prerequisite: Securities Regulation (LAWS 307).
LAWS 309, Antitrust Law, 3
A study of the implementation of federal trade regulation statutes with emphasis on the interrelationship of these laws with the competitive tensions of the contemporary economy.
LAWS 313, Business Planning, 3
Major events in the creation and development of a business are examined in light of partnership, corporate, and tax law problems. Students are presented with a series of hypothetical client-suggested transactions. Students seek the most appropriate means of attaining the business ends desired by the principals. From time to time, brief written memoranda covering issues raised by the problem scenarios may be required. Emphasis is placed on the interaction among partnership, corporate, tax, and securities concepts and doctrine. The significant business events that may be covered in the course include formation of a partnership; incorporation of a going concern; corporate distributions, recapitalizations, and repurchases of shares; sale of the corporate business; and corporate combination. Prerequisites: Business Associations I and II (LAWS 203, LAWS 204) and Federal Income Tax (LAWS 211).
LAWS 315, Commercial Paper, 3
One of the basic courses in commercial law, dealing with the law of negotiable instruments and bank collections and deposits. These topics are considered primarily under the Uniform Commercial Code and, to some extent, recent federal banking and consumer credit legislation. This course may not be taken by students who have taken or are taking Commercial Transaction (LAWS 338, LAWS 339)
LAWS 317, Comparisons of Law, 2-3
This course concentrates on the comparative study of distinguishing features of the legal systems of foreign societies in order (1) to understand, by reverse projection, the unique characteristics of U.S. analogs, (2) to cultivate a cross-cultural jurisprudential understanding of law through the development of the comparative method, (3) to develop a basis for evaluating the fairness, efficiency, and integrity of legal systems currently engaged in reform efforts, (4) to appreciate obstacles to the development of international law from a comparative perspective, including distinctive problems of transnational practice.
LAWS 319, American Indian Law, 3
An introduction to the body of law governing the relationship among Indian tribes and state and federal governments. Major themes include tribal sovereignty; the federal- tribal relationship; criminal, tax, and regulatory jurisdiction on reservations; and the rights of individual Indians.
LAWS 320, Conflict of Laws, 3
Competing approaches to choice of law in cases having multi-state and/or multi-national contacts. The course also covers personal jurisdiction, constitutional and international limitations on choice of law, and enforcement of judgments. Comparative and international perspectives are integrated throughout. Students develop their own choice of law theory in a simulated restatement conference.
LAWS 323, Basic Debtor-Creditor Law, 3
The creditor's power to enforce its judgments through such judicial processes as attachment, execution, levy, garnishment, and creditors' bills. The debtor's power to resist creditors' claims through statutory exemptions or federal bankruptcy discharge, or because the creditor has acted inappropriately or in bad faith. Also studied is the creditor's power to set aside and avoid fraudulent transfers made by the debtor -- a power which has generated much litigation in recent years. We also study the special rights of the federal government to enforce its claims, through the Federal Debt Collection Act of 1990, the Federal Priority Statute, and the Federal Tax Lien Statute. Finally, we survey collective creditors' remedies under state law, including assignments for the benefit of creditors, creditors' arrangements, and receiverships.
LAWS 324, Bankruptcy, 2-3
A study of bankruptcy, with emphasis on the current Federal Bankruptcy Act. Includes Chapter 7 (liquidation bankruptcy proceedings), Chapter 11 (business reorganization), and Chapter 13 (debt adjustment by individuals). Also noted and investigated are the quite different policies and legal rules that we apply to bankrupts because they no longer are capable of conforming to the usual legal standards.
LAWS 327, Criminal Procedure I, 3
The investigatory stage of the criminal process. Constitutional limitations on searches and seizures, interrogation practices, and pretrial identification procedures are examined. In addition, the exclusionary rule, the principal method for enforcing Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, is considered.
LAWS 328, Discrimination in Employment, 3
The federal laws and regulations concerning discrimination in employment. These include Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and federal executive orders requiring affirmative action in employment. Regulation of discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disability will be studied, with a focus on practical considerations in prosecuting and defending employment-based civil rights actions.
LAWS 331, Environmental Law, 3
The course is designed to provide an overview of both the breadth and depth of environmental regulation in the United States and to consider ways our environmental regulatory system might be improved. Although all of the major environmental laws will be surveyed, several statutes will be examined in greater detail. Students will be expected to navigate select provisions of statutes and regulations through in-class problem sets. Guest speakers will also be invited to speak on topics of current interest.
LAWS 332, Civil Rights, 2-3
The course focuses on race, discrimination, and segregation in American law. It includes historical material on the Civil War amendments to the Constitution, equal protection cases, and statutory remedies under the current civil rights legislation. The substantive areas examined include segregation and discrimination in education, housing, public facilities, and voting rights. Employment discrimination is not covered in this course, but in Discrimination in Employment (LAWS 328).
LAWS 335, Equity and Equitable Remedies, 3
The course provides a short introduction to the equitable jurisdiction and in particular to the concept that equity acts in personam. The major emphasis of the course is on the specific performance of contracts and on injunctions against continuing torts. A major concern is the doctrine that equity affords a remedy only when the remedy at law is inadequate. The course also gives some attention to the law of restitution, since restitutional remedies, even those granted by law courts, are traditionally considered to be equitable. Equitable liens, constructive trusts, equitable enforcement of restrictive covenants, and the doctrine of equitable conversion are considered. The defenses that apply to equitable remedies, such as laches, unclean hands, and the doctrine that "he who seeks equity must do equity" are also considered. If time permits, some consideration is given to injunctions against governmental officers and to other extraordinary remedies that form the common law basis for administrative law and judicial review of governmental action.
LAWS 336, Ethics in the Professions, 3
Theories of professional ethics, as applied to the professions of law, medicine, nursing, social work, and management. A major portion of the course will be devoted to issues common to these professions, such as confidentiality, truth-telling, client or patient autonomy, decision making, and conflict of interest, comparing professional norms and practices in the light of the dominant ethical theories first developed. Open to students of law, medicine, nursing, applied social sciences, and management.
LAWS 338, Commercial Transactions I, 2
Students must complete both semesters to receive credit. This is a concentrated survey of the law relating to the sale of goods and the financing and payment for the sale of goods. The focus is on the Uniform Commercial Code, principally Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9, although some consideration is given to state and federal consumer protection legislation, the Bankruptcy Act, and other relevant laws. The course is designed for students (1) unwilling or unable to take the three basic commercial law courses: Sales, Commercial Paper, and Property Security; (2) desiring exposure to broad areas of commercial law; and (3) willing to work with unusual intensity over the whole year to attempt to master a large and unusually difficult and complicated body of law. The limited time makes it necessary to omit entirely or touch only briefly upon important topics covered in some depth in the three basic commercial courses. The speed with which the materials are covered places a considerable burden upon the student. Not open to students who have taken or are taking one of the three basic courses in commercial law, i.e., Sales (LAWS 381), Commercial Paper (LAWS 315), and Property Security (LAWS 377). Students taking Commercial Transactions are precluded from subsequently taking any of these three courses.
LAWS 339, Commercial Transactions II, 3
Continuation of LAWS 338. Students must complete both semesters to receive credit.
LAWS 340, Federal Courts, 3
Issues as to the appropriate allocations of judicial power in a federal/state system will be explored in depth. Topics include justiciability, federal court abstention, suits against state and federal governments and officials, habeas corpus, and federal injunctions on state proceedings.
LAWS 341, Estate Planning and Taxation, 3
This course covers disposition of individual wealth from both the property law and tax law viewpoints. Grade is based on class participation and major written project. Students may elect either to complete a research paper or to prepare an estate planning memorandum and documents for a hypothetical client.
Prerequisites: Wills, Trusts, and Future Interests (LAWS 232); Federal Income Tax (LAWS 211).
LAWS 343, Federal Taxation of Partnerships and S Corporations, 3
A study of Sub-chapters K and S of the Internal Revenue Code, with emphasis on the problems of determining the tax liability of (1) partners for contributions to partnerships, distributions from partnerships, and transfers of partnership interests; and (2) shareholders for the equivalent transactions involving S corporations.
Prerequisite: Federal Income Tax (LAWS 211).
LAWS 346, Insurance, 3
A comprehensive introduction to the regulation of the insurance industry and to the legal issues arising from relations between the parties to insurance contracts. The course examines statutory regulation of the industry by state and federal agencies and analyzes cases involving aggressive regulation by the judiciary as well. Insurance decisions on the cutting edge of developments in contract, tort, and agency law are studied. Students are required to study the policy forms most frequently encountered in practice: the automobile policy, the homeowner's policy, and the life insurance policy. The course also provides exposure to problems relating to other areas of insurance including commercial general liability coverage, fire insurance, professional liability (malpractice) coverage, and health insurance.
LAWS 348, International Negotiations and Agreements, 3
Introduces students to the role of the lawyer in the dispute avoidance (rather than dispute resolution) process in relation to international agreements. The course is taught from the simulation approach. Students take active part in a mock negotiation and drafting of an international agreement between the United States and Russia. This course is coordinated with one taught at the Cleveland State University College of Law. In the mock negotiation students from one law school represent the United States, and students from the other law school represent Russia. Limited to 6 students from each law school.
Prerequisite: International Law (LAWS 215).
LAWS 349, International Trade and Development, 3
The public international and United States law regulating international trade. (The private law of international trade and investment is dealt with in International Business Transactions, LAWS 354,) It includes the economic theory of international trade (although no exposure to a course in economics in secondary or undergraduate education is necessary) as well as a legal examination of issues regulating global and regional (e.g., the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, EEC) international trade. Primary emphasis is on the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as such United States legislation implementing the GATT as antidumping and countervailing duties legislation and escape clause relief. The roles of trade and aid are also explored, as well as U.S. legislation affecting the transfer of resources to less developed countries.
LAWS 350, International Arbitration, 2
An advanced course covering the current status of arbitration as a dispute settlement mechanism in international affairs. This course will cover the use of arbitration as a means of resolving international disputes: a) between private parties; b) between private and governmental parties; and, c) between governments. It will cover possible forums and rules of arbitral dispute resolution and the problems of the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Special aspects of dispute resolution in certain geographical and subject areas will be covered as will be the problem of sovereign immunity. Disputes arising from multinational business transactions will be focused on as will be maritime, environmental, and border disputes.
LAWS 351, Alternative Dispute Resolution, 2
Students will examine the processes of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) through reading materials, videotapes, guest lectures, and simulation exercises. Particular emphasis will be given to the interaction of lawyers and clients in business negotiations and in litigation. Negotiation, arbitration, mediation, the summary jury trial, and the mini-trial will be examined. The class will also cover impediments to ADR, such as lack of understanding or hostility on the part of clients or lawyers.
LAWS 353, Philosophy of Law, 3
This is an examination of the general nature of law, the broad concerns of jurisprudence, the study of comparative law, and many of the issues raised in the literature of legal philosophy. Students will examine the principles of legal positivism, mitigated natural law, and rights theory. Selected readings and cases will illustrate these theories, which will also be examined in the context of rule selection by new governments in developing or revolutionary societies. The course also looks at the general nature of legal systems -- how politics, morality, and individual views of justice and right affect particular court cases and the course and development of law generally. Topics will include abortion, obscenity and sin, civil disobedience, affirmative action, surrogatehood, and the death penalty. This is unlike any other of the legal theory or jurisprudence courses, and those who have sampled legal theory elsewhere in a different form are welcome and encouraged to enroll.
LAWS 354, International Business Transactions, 3
The private law of international trade and investment. (International Trade and Development, L349, deals with the public law of international trade and investment.) The emphasis of the course is on the legal aspects of foreign market penetration by U.S. firms, including exporting, licensing, and investing. Functional aspects of forms of market penetration, such as host country regulations, foreign and U.S. tax, antitrust law, and export and import controls will be examined. In addition, basic issues faced by multinationals, such as co-determination, employee participation, transfer pricing, and technology transfer will be studied. No prerequisites, but it is desirable for the student to have had or to take concurrently Antitrust Law (LAWS 309) and Federal Income Tax (LAWS 211).
LAWS 356, Jurisprudence, 3
The main themes in the history of Western jurisprudential thought. Ideas such as the nature of justice, the definition of law, the power of the state, legal and moral obligation, and the nature of the judicial process are explored through the works of such writers as Aristotle, Aquinas, Austin, Dworkin, Holmes, Hart, and Finnis, together with selected works of literature.
LAWS 359, Labor Law, 3
The basic course in the area of union-management relations, designed both for students desiring to pursue the field further and for those whose interest lies in an introduction to legal principles in this area. The course begins with a brief historical study of the evolution of the labor movement and prestatutory law. It then considers federal regulation under the National Labor Relations Act of union organizational efforts, management-union interaction, and the representational process, then proceeds to the collective bargaining process. The collective bargaining process is examined in some depth with special emphasis on the scope and substance of the duty to bargain in good faith, the enforcement of collective bargaining agreements in courts and by arbitrators, and the legal regulation of industrial warfare, the strike and lockout.
LAWS 360, Labor Arbitration and Collective Bargaining Workshop, 3
Students participate in a collective bargaining project involving contract drafting and negotiation, with settlement required prior to a predetermined strike deadline. They also arbitrate a grievance arising under their executed agreements. The course materials deal with bargaining strategy and game theory, arbitration process and procedure, and the subject matter of collective bargaining agreements: seniority, management rights, union security, wages, vacations, holidays, discharge, and discipline. In addition, students will make use of tools of labor law research in drafting an arbitration brief.
Prerequisite: Labor Law (LAWS 359) or equivalent.
LAWS 362, Health Care Enterprises, 2
The course examines various legal issues (including Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement principles, fraud and abuse, corporate practice of medicine, certificate of need, and private inurement) in the context of a number of common health-care-related business transactions (including contracts between hospitals and third-party payors such as Blue Cross, physician recruitment arrangements, joint ventures between hospitals and physicians), and the creation of integrated delivery systems.
Prerequisite: Health Law (LAWS 227).
LAWS 363, Land Use Control, 3
This course analyzes the public control of land use, primarily at the local and state levels. Both legal and policy perspectives are considered. Attention is given to constitutional limitations such as the takings doctrine, equal protection, and due process. Topics considered include zoning, subdivision controls, exclusionary regulations, and historic preservation.
LAWS 365, Legislation, 3
This course is a study of the legislative process and product. Topics to be covered include political theories of the legislative role; the relation between the legislature and other branches of government; legislative apportionment; lobbying and campaign finance regulation; drafting and interpretation of statutes. Problems assigned during the semester are designed to enable students to solidify their understanding of the substantive areas considered and to put into practice techniques for statutory interpretation and drafting.
LAWS 370, Intellectual Property, 3
The protection of intellectual property rights in trademarks and copyrights. Relevant unfair competition doctrines will be examined. The federal statutory apparatus, which includes procedure, rights, and remedies, is covered and compared with the state systems. International regimes are discussed.
LAWS 373, Bioethics and Law, 2-3
How the legal and policy systems reconcile competing values and interests in controversies surrounding the practice of medicine. Case law, legislation, advisory policies, and institutional policies will be examined, as well as selected commentary from the legal, medical, and philosophical perspectives. Substantive topics to be addressed include definitions of death, competent patients' right to refuse treatment, decisions on life-sustaining treatment for incompetent patients (including children), active euthanasia and assisted suicide, hospital ethics consultants and committees, organ transplantation, and selected issues raised by genetics and by managed care.
LAWS 374, State and Local Government, 3
Examines the power of state and local governments. Among the topics considered are the purpose and role of local governments; the source and scope of local governmental power; state and federal constitutional restraints on local governmental activity; the distribution of powers between state government and local governments; and the various options by which state and local governments finance their activities.
LAWS 375, Professional Responsibility, 3
This course deals with questions underlying the responsibilities of the lawyer, as a professional, to self, society, client, and the profession. Premises concerning the lawyer's role or roles within the context of the adversary system are examined in some detail, as is the idea of professionalism. The Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct are analyzed as generalized statements of the aspirations and obligations of lawyers, and as applied to concrete problems. Required.
LAWS 377, Property Security, 3
The use of property as security for repayment of a debt is growing in all sectors of our economy. This course deals with the underlying social policies and the fundamental legal and equitable rules governing these secured transactions. In particular, we study the fundamentals of the law of security interests (historically and still commonly known as mortgages) in both real estate and personal property (the latter now codified in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code), and we identify the common principles underpinning these seemingly separate bodies of laws. The posing of actual problems assures that students develop strong practical capacity as well as theoretical understanding. Specific topics studied include creation of the security interest (mortgage), the legal rights and obligations of the debtor (mortgagor) and the secured party (mortgagee), the priority accorded to a security interest when in competition with competing interests in the same property, the transfer of a security interest, the redemption rights of the debtor (mortgager), and the foreclosure of a security interest. May not be taken by students who have taken or are taking Commercial Transactions (LAWS 338, LAWS 339).
LAWS 379, Restitution, 3
Studies the remedies by which one recovers specific property, the value of specific property, or a debt. A detailed examination of the remedies and legal theories that govern recovery of benefits conferred without a contract, under a void or voidable contract, or under a contract that is broken by either the plaintiff or the defendant. The major remedies considered are those of replevin, ejectment, debt, quasi-contract, specific restitution in equity, equitable liens, constructive trust, equitable accounting, tracing assets, and subrogation. Substantive areas that are studied include frustration of purpose, fraud, mistake, duress, unjust enrichment, and protection of ideas. Since restitution is often an alternative remedy in cases where damages are also available, the course also considers the normal rules for calculating damages for breach of contract and for tort.
LAWS 381, Sales, 3
One of the basic courses in commercial law. It serves equally as an introduction to the general organization, structure, and appropriate application of the Uniform Commercial Code. Primarily we study the law Sale of Goods under Article 2 of the U.C.C. Necessarily, this includes a study of products liability law, which is explored under both sales warranty and strict tort liability theories. The interrelationship between these competing theories of products liability law also is investigated. Other specific topics studied are the legal rules applicable to 1) the formation of the sale contract, including the battle of the forms, statute of frauds, and parol evidence rule, 2) performance of and excuse of performance from the sales contract, 3) title warranties and title transfers, and 4) remedies for breach of the sales contract. May not be taken by students who have taken or are taking Commercial Transactions (LAWS 338, LAWS 339).
LAWS 385, Real Estate Transactions and Finance, 3
Covers basic real estate transactions as well as issues involved in complex finance and development. Topics include: brokers, land contracts of sale, deeds and title covenants, the recording system, title insurance, mortgages, shopping center development, cooperatives and condominiums, ground lease financing, construction lending, real estate syndications, selected federal income tax issues, and the real estate attorney's professional responsibilities. Whenever possible, issues will be examined in the context of model transactions.
LAWS 390, Advanced Labor Law, 2
Covers relations between employers, employees, and unions not covered in the basic Labor Law course (LAWS 359). Among topics included are hot cargo agreements, obligations of successor employers, employee benefits (ERISA), duty of fair representation, union security, federal preemption of state labor legislation, internal union affairs, and labor law reform.
Prerequisite: Labor Law (LAWS 359).
LAWS 392, Mass Media Law, 2-3
Legal regulation of the communications media. The course briefly surveys basic First Amendment principles, then addresses limitations upon publishing (including defamation and privacy), legal problems of news gathering (including reporter's privilege and access to information), and the regulation of broadcasting and cable television. Completion of Constitutional Law II is advised but is not a prerequisite.
LAWS 395, Trial Practice, 2
This course provides practical training in trial procedure. Students are assigned to conduct segments of trials and examine witnesses and argue motions in a simulated courtroom situation. Students may not take both Trial Practice and Trial Tactics (LAWS 397).
Prerequisite: Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209).
LAWS 397, Trial Tactics, 4
An intensive course in trial tactics, techniques, and advocacy. The emphasis during the first half of the semester is on practice in the separate components of a trial: direct examination, objections, cross-examination, use of rehabilitative devices, examination of expert witnesses, jury selection, opening statements, closing argument, and pretrial preparation. During the second half of the semester each student acts as co-counsel in a full trial. Videotape recording is used for critiquing student performance throughout the semester. . Students may not take both Trial Practice (LAWS 395) and Trial Tactics.
Prerequisite: Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209)
LAWS 401, The Lawyering Process, 2
Certain legal skills basic to the practice of law, including interviewing, counseling, and negotiating, are discussed, and students have the opportunity to practice those skills in simulated interviews and negotiations under the supervision of the instructor. Videotapes of lawyers and/or students are shown and reading materials assigned. Class discussions of reading materials and videotapes and experience in simulations enable students to confront basic problems of interpersonal communications, role conflicts, and decision making posed by law practice.
LAWS 403, Criminal Defense Clinic, 4
See Criminal Clinic I and II, LAWS 413 and LAWS 414, for description and prerequisites.
LAWS 406, General Practice Clinic, 4
Students are exposed to a broader spectrum of legal practice than is possible in other clinic courses. The student represents clients in both criminal and civil matters and is exposed to the practice management issues of a small general practice. A concerted effort is made to assign cases that can be completed in one semester.
Prerequisite: Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209) may be taken concurrently.
LAWS 411, Civil Clinic I, 2
Students must be enrolled in and complete both semesters to receive credit. Students represent plaintiffs or defendants in a variety of matters, including landlord-tenant disputes, domestic relations cases, small business ventures, contract preparation, and administrative proceedings. A major part of the student's responsibility is to determine whether a legal problem actually exists and, if so, to resolve it as expeditiously as possible. The seminar sessions are devoted to discussions of matters being handled by the students and to the ethical and practical problems encountered in civil law practice. Emphasis is on the use of such tools as negotiation, litigation, and settlement procedures to accomplish specific objectives.
Prerequisite: Lawyering Process (LAWS 401) Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209) may be taken concurrently.
LAWS 412, Civil Clinic II, 2
Continuation of LAWS 411. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given.
LAWS 413, Criminal Clinic I, 2
Students must be enrolled in and complete both semesters to receive a final grade at the end of the spring semester. Students handle a limited number of misdemeanor cases in municipal courts throughout Cuyahoga County. The seminar sessions are devoted to discussions of cases being handled by the students and to ethical and strategic considerations of criminal law practice, trial tactics, and plea bargaining. Hypothetical case studies are also used to increase the breadth of the students' exposure to the criminal justice system. Each student also handles some prosecution in a local court. Prerequisites: Lawyering Process (LAWS 401) Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209) and Criminal Procedure (LAWS 327) may be taken concurrently. Students may not enroll in both the Criminal Clinic and the Criminal Defense Clinic.
LAWS 414, Criminal Clinic II, 2
Continuation of LAWS 413. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given.
LAWS 415, Family Law Clinic I and II, 2
Students must be enrolled in and complete both semesters to receive credit. Students represent parties in a variety of family law matters, including contested and uncontested divorces, domestic violence petitions, custody, support, and property division. A major part of the student's responsibility is to analyze the problems and determine the best way of resolving them. Seminar sessions are primarily devoted to specific skills and to discussions of cases being handled by the students. The ethical and practical problems encountered in family practice are emphasized, as well as case theory.
Prerequisites: Lawyering Process (LAWS 401) Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209) and Family Law (LAWS 210) may be taken concurrently.
LAWS 416, Family Law Clinic II, 2
Continuation of LAWS 415. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given.
LAWS 418, Health Law Clinic I, 2
Students must be enrolled in and complete both semesters to receive credit. Students represent parties in a variety of health law matters, including premature discharge or inappropriate transfer from medical facilities; informed consent and substituted consent; entitlement to public or private insurance coverage, health services, and income benefits; and mental health issues such as guardianships and involuntary hospitalization. A major part of the student's responsibility is to analyze the problems and determine the best way of resolving them. Seminar sessions are primarily devoted to specific skills and to discussions of matters being handled by the students. The ethical and practical problems encountered in health law practice are emphasized, as well as legal theory.
Prerequisites: Lawyering Process (LAWS 401) Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 209); Health Law (LAWS 227) or Civil Law and Psychi
LAWS 419, Health Law Clinic II, 2
Continuation of LAWS 418. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given.
LAWS 425, Administrative Law Practice Clinic, 4
See Administrative Law Clinic I and II, LAWS 427 and LAWS 428, for description and prerequisites.
LAWS 427, Administrative Law Clinic I, 2
Students must be enrolled in and complete both semesters to receive credit. Students represent clients with a variety of administrative law problems, such as unemployment compensation, claims, Medicaid, food stamps, social security programs (including disability, SSI, and Medicare), and aid to dependent children (ADC). A major part of the student's responsibility is to analyze the problems and determine the best way of resolving them. Seminar sessions are primarily devoted to specific skills and to discussions of cases being handled by the students. The ethical and practical problems encountered in administrative law practice are emphasized, as well as case theory. A limited number of second-year students may be admitted into this clinic with prior faculty approval.
Prerequisite: Lawyering Process (LAWS 401)
LAWS 428, Administrative Law Clinic II, 2
Continuation of LAWS 427. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given.
LAWS 500, Supervised Research Seminar, 1-2
Second- and third- year students may earn graded credit for an individual research project of scholarly depth and scope, under the close supervision of a faculty member. Approval of the faculty supervisor is required before registration. No student may undertake more than two Supervised Research projects or earn more than a total of four hours of Supervised Research credit. No student may work on more than one Supervised Research project in one semester.
LAWS 512, Tax Policy Seminar, 2-3
This advanced seminar for students interested in fundamental issues of tax policy and tax reform considers the favorable treatment of capital gains, the advisability of adopting a comprehensive tax base under a new definition of gross income, the use of tax incentives to achieve non-tax policy goals, and the basic system of taxing corporations and shareholders.
Prerequisites: Federal Income Tax (LAWS 211) and Corporate Tax Problems (LAWS 206).
LAWS 521, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, 3
Each year the seminar focuses on a different aspect of criminal law and procedure.
LAWS 524, Health Care Advanced Research Seminar, 2
Students will undertake significant research in health law, participating in group discussions to help refine each other's topics, identify research materials, and critique rough drafts. Enrollment by permission of the instructor.
Prerequisite: Health Law (LAWS 227).
LAWS 529, Social Science and Law Seminar, 3
This seminar is designed to introduce students to methods of empirical social research on legal problems and institutions. It will examine selected empirical studies of law, courts, and the legal profession, as well as significant judicial, administrative, and legislative materials which consider the relevance of social science findings for legal analysis. A substantial paper and an oral presentation are required.
LAWS 532, Law and the New Reproductive Technology, 3
Participants in this seminar will examine the major ethical and regulatory issues raised by modern medical techniques of treating human infertility. Topics include the scope, causes, and treatment of infertility; the meaning and constitutional status of procreative liberty; and legal and ethical issues raised by in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, fetal research, ovum/sperm/embryo donation, sex selection of offspring, and maternal/fetal treatment conflicts.
LAWS 534, Ethics and the Adversary System, 3
This seminar focuses on ethical issues that arise in the course of criminal and civil litigation. It is primarily a research seminar. Students will select a topic, present a draft paper to the class, and submit a final paper at the end of the semester. The course will first introduce students to the history, justifications, and criticisms of the adversary process used in the U.S. for adjudicating both civil and criminal actions. The class will then examine such issues as the ethical questions presented in negotiating the settlement of a civil case or a guilty plea.
LAWS 537, Health Care Controversies, 3
The course is open to students in the schools of law and medicine. Students from both disciplines will form teams to confront such problems in health care as management in nursing and social work, managed care, active euthanasia, rationing, eugenics, conflicts of interest, the ethics of organ transplantation, and issues in human genetics.
Prerequisite: Health Law (LAWS 227).
LAWS 538, Advanced Constitutional Law Seminar, 3
The aim of the seminar is to complement other course offerings in the area of constitutional law. It examines old and new theories about the role of the Supreme Court in the exercise of its power of judicial review. The focus is on cases decided by the Supreme Court in its most recent term and in its current term.
LAWS 544, Environmental Law Seminar, 2
Topics include environmental crimes, endangered species, use of cost benefit analysis, global warming, nuclear waste, and a mock argument of an actual case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prerequisite: Environmental Law (LAWS 331) or permission of the instructor. Administrative Law (LAWS 301) is recommended.
LAWS 547, Capital Punishment Seminar, 3
This seminar focuses on the major policy, philosophical, and legal issues associated with the death penalty. Deterrence, retribution, discrimination in the application of the death penalty, and the execution of the innocent will be major topics for discussion. State statutes and the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment will provide the legal framework for discussion.
LAWS 551, Consumer Protection Seminar, 3
This is a study of federal and state statutory and decisional law in the areas of consumer credit, consumer sales, and advertising. Considerable attention is given to the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, the Uniform Consumer Sales Practices Act, and the activities of the Federal Trade Commission in the consumer protection area. There are no prerequisites, but it is recommended that a student have completed one commercial law course or take Commercial Transactions (LAWS 338, LAWS 339) or Sales (LAWS 381) concurrently.
LAWS 553, International Antitrust Seminar, 3
Students will consider the application of antitrust statutes in various countries to international business transactions. During the first five weeks, students will read and discuss cases and materials concerning the application of United States and European Community antitrust laws to international business. Students will then be asked to prepare and present a research paper dealing in depth with one or more of the issues raised by the materials.
LAWS 554, Theories of Equality Seminar, 3
Explores fundamental concepts of equality and how those concepts have been applied by the courts in race, gender, and other status-based areas. Since familiarity with the case law will be assumed, most of the discussion will focus on writings of legal scholars and legal philosophers.
LAWS 556, Judicial Externship Seminar, 3
Students in the spring of their first year are selected for summer externships with specific federal district and circuit judges. Classes in the spring of the first year and the fall of the second year complement the eight weeks of externing in the judge's chambers. Permission of the instructors required.
LAWS 559, Recent American Legal History, 3
Focusing on major issues, the course relates social, economic, political, and intellectual developments to legal change since 1945. Topics in 1994 were national security and civil liberties in cold war America; the civil rights revolution; the social and legal status of women; law and the Vietnam War; legal thought and legal education; and the legal profession.
LAWS 562, European Legal History, 3
From the Well-Ordered Police State to the modern welfare state, law has helped to shape the history of European states and societies. This course will use law as a means to explore such larger questions as the tension between communitarianism and individualism, the origin and functioning of capitalism, the rise of the bureaucratic state, and the future of liberalism. We will examine the history of law in Europe since the reception of Roman law around 1500, through the rise of the absolutist state, the emergence of the Rechtsstaat (state ruled by law), the great codifications, to the growth in power of the European Union. Focus will be on how law was shaped by, and in turn shapes, the material foundations of economy and society and the modes of discourse of culture. Along the way, students will learn about the foundations of the substantive and procedural law of European civil law systems.
LAWS 563, Biomedical Research Law and Policy, 3
The 20th-century biomedical research revolution has generated many conflicts demanding legislative, judicial, and administrative action. This seminar will address some of the most pressing issues. Topics include: experimentation on human beings (ethical principles and regulatory system); issues raised by rescue research (e.g., artificial heart); random clinical trials; research on children, elderly, and mentally disabled; research involving human fetuses and embryos; research on neomorts; gender and racial bias in research; HIV research issues; use of Nazi and other tainted research data; experimentation on animals; scientific fraud and misconduct; and commercialization of biomedical research.
LAWS 564, Science and the Law Seminar, 3
In this seminar we will examine problems encountered by decision-makers when scientific information is required for the resolution of a legal issue. Science-law discords arising in the courts, in administrative agencies, and in Congress will be considered in turn, with attention focused on why these institutions have difficulty processing scientific information and how these processes can be improved. Readings will be selected from political science, sociology, philosophy, the natural sciences, and from law. No prerequisites, but recommended: Environmental Law, Administrative Law, Health Law, Legislation, Evidence.
LAWS 565, Copyright, Entertainment Law, and the First Amendment, 3
The legal structures that protect the arts, entertainment, and the creative process, and how those protections interplay with the First Amendment.
Prerequisite: Constitutional Law II (LAWS 202).
LAWS 567, Labor Law Topics Seminar, 2
This research seminar focuses on issues not addressed in significant detail in basic Labor Law.
Prerequisite: Labor Law (LAWS 359) or the equivalent.
LAWS 568, Financial Markets -- Law, Theory, and Practice, 2
The seminar explores the interactions of law, principles of finance, and the theoretical underpinnings of financial markets. It introduces students to the roots of evolving financial market liabilities affecting the interests and conduct of people at all levels in those markets by examining (a) the structure and purpose of financial markets, (b) the financial and capital market theories which today shape the contours of the law, (c) intermediation in financial markets, and (d) the challenges of global market regulation.
LAWS 570, Introduction to American Legal Institutions, 4
This seminar is the required introductory course for foreign students enrolled in the Graduate Program in U.S. Legal Studies. It begins with a series of lectures introducing students to American legal education; American government, courts, and culture; various common law subjects; and professional responsibility. Throughout the year seminar sessions are held with legal practitioners from law firms and corporations in the Cleveland area who are involved in an international practice. Limited to the foreign LL.M. students.
LAWS 572, International Law -- Selected Problems in Theory and Application, 3
This applied international legal theory seminar raises foundational questions about the nature and scope of international law in the context of contemporary international legal problems. It considers the merits and limitations of three general approaches to, or stages of, international legal development --choice of law, legal uniformity, and jurisdictional unification -- in the context of a wide range of subject matter, e.g., the environment, human rights, trade. No prerequisite, but a prior course in international or comparative law is recommended.
LAWS 574, The American Legal Profession, 3
This seminar explores selected issues relating to the social organization and ideologies of American lawyers. Topics may include the attributes of professions, the demographics of the profession, the concept of professionalism, justifications and critiques of self-regulation, the distribution of legal services, the roles of lawyers in social change movements, recent changes in the organization of law practice, and legal education.
LAWS 575, International Organizations Seminar, 3
Deals primarily with constitutional and procedural legal issues surrounding some common characteristics of both governmental and nongovernmental international organizations. The growth of international law through intergovernmental organizations is also addressed.
LAWS 576, Advanced Evidence Seminar, 2
Examines selected topics chosen by participants and approved by the instructor. Illustrative topic areas are rape shield laws, probabilistic evidence, toxic tort cases, rape prosecutions, junk science, the residual hearsay exception, use of social science research as evidence, and jury studies.
Prerequisite: Evidence (LAWS 207, LAWS 212, or LAWS 212).
LAWS 582, Foreign Law Research Seminar, 2
This advanced comparative research seminar provides students with the opportunity to develop understanding and expertise in the law and legal system of a foreign nation; to evaluate the current reform efforts of the foreign country; and to deepen their appreciation for the distinctive aspects of transnational practice and international law. The choice of country and subject matter will vary.
LAWS 583, Cooperation, Economics, and Law, 3
Cooperation is a key element in the way society works; this course explores how cooperation develops and how the legal system can encourage or discourage it. We begin with a discussion of Robert Axelrod's work on the evolution of cooperation and then examine areas ranging from urban policy design to vigilantism. Class time is divided between discussion of readings and participation in exercises designed to explore the nature of cooperation. Open to M.B.A. students.
LAWS 584, Environmental Law and Policy I, 3
A two-semester course; students must complete both semesters. The course integrates administrative law, state and local government law (including zoning), environmental law, and legal research. The second semester adds an international law element. Because enrollment is limited, each student will take part in various activities, including a mock administrative hearing, negotiations, and trial counseling, playing different roles in the first and second semesters, and will work on various written projects appropriate to the role, including client memos, trial court motions, briefs, position papers, and various legal research exercises. A major research paper on an appropriate environmental law topic (due at the end of the spring semester). Environmental Law (LAWS 331) is a pre- or corequisite. Administrative Law (LAWS 301) and State and Local Government (LAWS 374) are recommended.
LAWS 585, Environmental Law and Policy II, 3
Continuation of LAWS 584. Both semesters must be completed before credit is given.
LAWS 588, Jurisprudence Seminar: Natural Law, Natural Rights, 3
Examines the legal philosophy of John Finnis through a careful reading of his book, Natural Law, Natural Rights. Finnis is an analytic philosopher and is consciously in the Aristotelian-Thomist tradition. The subjects to be studied include rights, obligation, justice, authority, and law.
LAWS 590, The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment Seminar, 3
This course addresses the major issues in the constitutional relationship between Church and State. Specific topics include religion in the public schools, aid to parochial education, public acknowledgments of religion, and mandatory accommodation of religious practice.
LAWS 592, International Economic Integration, 3
As countries open their economies to the world economy, new strains are placed on their legal systems. This course explores how legal systems adapt to open markets and free trade. Topics covered may include intellectual property, environmental, and labor laws. We will also examine specific countries' experiences (New Zealand, Chile, Mexico), the mechanisms for growing international trade agreements (expansion of NAFTA, for example), and methods of legal reform.
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