APPELLATE BRIEF WRITING SEMINAR
(DBL)
W76 714S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p La Pierre
Enrollment limit: 16. Students will write an appellate brief
in a case pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the
Eighth Circuit (or, perhaps, in the United States Supreme Court).
There will be several class meetings at the beginning of the
semester, and several class meetings at the end of the semester to
review and discuss the briefs that the students have written.
Students will meet frequently with the instructor to evaluate drafts
of their briefs. Students will also be required to review and
evaluate briefs written by other members of the class. To the extent
permitted by the Eighth Circuit's argument calendar, students will
review and analyze briefs filed by the parties and attend argument
in cases (or review transcripts of arguments). All briefs must
comply with the rules of the Eighth Circuit (or the rules of the
Supreme Court). 3 units.
CONSTITUTIONAL
INTERPRETATION / JURISPRUDENCE SEMINAR (SLP)
W76 686S LAW 01 Days/times TBA* Paulson
Enrollment limit: 16. (This seminar will have 3 group meetings
during the first three weeks of the semester, at times that are
mutually agreeable with the enrolled students and Prof. Paulson.
Thereafter, the seminar reverts to one-on-one meetings scheduled
with individually with Prof. Paulson.) In the seminar on
constitutional interpretation, students have an opportunity to
examine and evaluate competing views on the nature and sources of
constitutional law, this with an eye to writing a research paper.
Typically, though not necessarily, the student's examination of a
particular approach to the Constitution ("constitutional
interpretation") will take place in the context of a particular case
or case-law development. One modern example illustrating the central
importance of a theory of constitutional interpretation stems from
the area of privacy. Abortion, also certain forms of sexual behavior
- both proscribed in the legislation of many of the States - enjoy
protection under a constitutional doctrine of privacy. What is
privacy? and what sort of argument can be adduced for or against its
constitutional standing? Does a doctrine of individual autonomy lie
behind the doctrine of privacy? In orientation sessions at the
beginning of the semester, I'll sketch various approaches to
constitutional interpretation (originalism or intentionalism,
Dworkinian politico-moral principles, Ely's "representation
reinforcement" as a middle way, etc.), based on readings from
representatives of each view. Then the offering reverts to the
format of "supervised independent research" (i.e. several one-on-one
meetings with me in the course of the semester rather than class
meetings). Those students who are interested in jurisprudence or
legal philosophy rather than constitutional interpretation are
invited, in consultation with me, to write a paper in that field.
(Seminars are not graded anonymously because the professor works
with students on their writing project(s) throughout the semester.)
3 units. * Three group meetings in the 1st 3 wks of the
semester at times that are mutually agreeable with Prof. Paulson &
the enrolled students. Thereafter, Prof. Paulson will meet with
students individually at mutually agreeable times.
DISABILITY RIGHTS LAW SEMINAR (SRB)
W76 741S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Bagenstos
Enrollment limit: 16. In this
seminar, we will engage in an in-depth examination--from a legal,
normative, and policy-design perspective--of our nation's emerging
legal response to disability. After introducing two basic models of
disability policy--one, associated with rehabilitation and welfare
programs, that focuses on providing benefits to individuals
diagnosed with disabilities; the other, associated with the
Americans with Disabilities Act, that treats disability issues as
questions of civil rights--we will proceed to examine a number of
important areas in which disability rights law has been
controversial. Topics may include: the definition of 'disability'
for purposes of disability rights and disability benefits law; the
normative underpinnings of the ADA's mandate of 'reasonable
accommodation'; possible explanations for the apparent
ineffectiveness of the ADA in improving the employment rate of
people with disabilities and potential alternative disability
employment policies; the application of anti-discrimination and
accommodation norms to various primary/secondary and higher
education settings; the institutionalization and
de-institutionalization of people with mental disabilities; and the
application of disability discrimination law to medical treatment
decisions. Grades will be based on classroom participation and
(primarily) a paper (of roughly 25 to 30 pages in length). Classroom
sessions during the first half of the semester will be devoted to
discussing readings assigned by the instructor and drawn from cases,
statutes, legal commentary, and a variety of non-legal sources.
During the second half of the semester, students will work directly
with the instructor in preparing their seminar paper. Each student
will be required to prepare a first draft of the pape, and then
submit a final draft that responds to the feedback the student has
received from the instructor. (Seminars are not graded anonymously
because the professor works with students on their writing project
throughout the semester.) 3 units.
EDUCATION LAW SEMINAR (TBN)
W76 S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Brown-Nagin
Enrollment limit: 16. This seminar
considers law and policy pertaining to public education, mainly
state and federal constitutional and statutory law concerning
elementary and secondary education. The goal of the seminar is to
examine how educational systems function as tools of socialization
and social ordering, and how individuals and communities interact
(and sometimes collide) with these systems. In addition to case and
statutory law, course materials include readings in educational
theory, history, and sociology. Moreover, the seminar addresses
tensions between the values and goals of lawyers, judges,
legislators and educational theorists, with a particular emphasis on
questions of pedagogy, student achievement, and equality. Topics
include school segregation, school finance, school choice, same-sex
schooling, standardized testing, ability grouping, special
education, and affirmative action in higher education. Course
Requirement: A substantial research paper. (Seminars are not graded
anonymously because the professor works with students on their
writing project throughout the semester.) 3 units.
EMPIRICAL INQUIRIES IN CIVIL
LITIGATION (MS)
W76 745S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Schlanger
Enrollment limit: 16. Students in
this course will conduct an empirical investigation into some
(small) aspect of the currently hot question in judicial
administration, Where have all the trials gone? The question is
provoked by a sharp trend; the absolute number of trials has
declined by 60% over the past 20 years, even as court filings have
risen. The entire federal court system conducted fewer than 4600
civil trials in 2002; only 1.8% of filings were resolved by trial.
Hypotheses abound to explain the decline; each student will pick a
hypothesis and try to make at least some headway in testing it,
using quantitative or qualitative data (chiefly systematic case
filings and terminations data, individual case dockets, and
interviews). Students will have ready access to a comprehensive
civil case dataset maintained by the Administrative Office of the
U.S. Courts, as well as to docket sheets that enable closer review.
Some or all students will also be able to work with at least one
federal district court, to investigate trends and their causes in
that limited setting. As this description makes clear, the seminar
will revolve entirely around student papers. We will meet several
times in the beginning of the semester and then as needed, first to
discuss the extant evidence of disappearing trials and the available
explanations, and then, once students pick paper topics, to deal
with both substantive and methodological questions. In addition,
several individual meetings with the instructor are required and a
teaching assistant will be available to help students substantially
with quantitative methods and computing. Topics for papers will be
chosen by the students, but with a good deal of guidance and input
of the instructor. In total, students must submit a topic statement,
a research plan, a first draft, and a final, revised version of the
paper. The instructor will provide feedback at each of these stages.
(Seminars are not graded anonymously because the professor works
with students on their writing project throughout the semester.) 3
units.
IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS SEMINAR (SHL)
W76 726S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Legomsky
Enrollment limit: 16. In this
writing seminar, each student will explore in depth, in a scholarly
paper comparable in scope and quality to a law review note, a legal
problem related to the course title. The general subject matter
encompasses all of immigration law (see course description for that
subject) plus all other areas of the law that implicate the rights
and obligations of noncitizens, as well as issues concerning the
citizenship laws of the United States or other nations. Examples of
paper topics include noncitizens' eligibility for welfare benefits,
entry into selected professions, government employment, voting and
other political activity, land ownership, access to the courts, to
public schools, and to other public services, and noncitizens'
susceptibility to tax liability, conscription, detention, etc. The
instructor will provide a list of specific suggestions for papers,
but students will be free to write on other suitable topics within
the subject matter of the course after receiving approval from the
instructor. Each paper will progress from topic selection to a
detailed written outline, to at least two drafts. We shall meet
formally as a group at the start of the semester and later on as the
need arises. Individual conferences also will be mandatory. Apart
from the required meetings, students will consult with the
instructor throughout the semester. There are no formal
prerequisites or corequisites, but students who have not taken
immigration law might need to do some extra work at the beginning to
familiarize themselves with basic concepts. (Seminars are not graded
anonymously because the professor works with students on their
writing project(s) throughout the semester.) 3 units.
IP
INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW SEMINAR (CRM)
W76 705S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p McManis
Enrollment limit: 16. This
seminar will basically explore the international impact of the TRIPS
(i.e. Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
Agreement, which was adopted in 1994 as a part of the Uruguay Round
of GATT negotiations (the same round of multilateral trade
negotiations that produced the World Trade Organization, which
oversees implementation of the TRIPS Agreement).
As a part of that overall study, the seminar will also
examine the two “Great Conventions” of the 19th
Century (i.e. the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property, and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary
and Artistic Works), and various subsidiary and complementary
multilateral agreements, such as the International Convention for
the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the WIPO Copyright
Treaty, and the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture. The
seminar will also examine various regional harmonization agreements,
such as NAFTA and various EU Directives.
Course materials for the seminar will consist of a packet of
photocopied materials, and the seminar will be taught by means of a
series of weekly written assignments that will focus on such topics
as digital technology, biotechnology and traditional knowledge
protection, plant variety and database protection, open-source
software, and “common-pool” management of genetic resources for
food and agriculture. The
weekly written assignments will constitute the entire work
requirement for the course. Regular class attendance and preparation
are, of course, required. While
there are no course pre-requisites, as such, for this seminar, some
previous introductory IP coursework is strongly recommended for
those enrolling in this seminar. (Seminars are not graded
anonymously because the professor works with students on their
writing project(s) throughout the semester.)
3 units.
IP
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW SEMINAR (APM)
W76 612S LAW 01 Mutharika
This course has
been moved to Fall 2005
LAW AND POLITICS SEMINAR
(NS/LE/AM)
W76 736S LAW 01 M 3:00p-4:30p Staudt / Epstein / Martin
Enrollment limit: 24 (approx. 12
law students and 12 graduate social sciences students). This seminar
will focus on the interplay between law and politics; we will
organize the seminar as workshop and will focus on contemporary
problems and issues. For purposes of discussion, we will divide the
semester into 7 two-week blocks. In the first week of each block, we
will discuss a paper authored by a nationally well-known scholar and
in second week we will invite the scholar to campus to present
his/her work to the class for further discussion. As far as
substance, we will focus on quantitative and not qualitative studies
in the context of law and politics. Students will write 7 short
papers addressing the issues we discuss in class; to assure its
interdisciplinary nature, the seminar will be open to both law
students and graduate students in the social sciences. (Seminars are
not graded anonymously because the professor works with students on
their writing project(s) throughout the semester.) 3 units.
Є
LEGAL ETHICS SEMINAR (KC)
W78 627S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Clark
Enrollment limit: 16. This course
is a part of the Ethics Curriculum. It is not considered a "survey"
ethics course, so students may take this course and other ethics
courses. There are no prerequisites for this course. In this writing
seminar, each student will write a research paper on a topic related
to legal ethics. The class will meet occasionally as a group to
discuss paper topics, research methods, and the leading research
sources for legal ethics. During the semester, each student is
required to hand in three possible topics that he or she would like
to pursue; a one-sentence statement of the paper’s thesis; a 1-2
page sentence outline of the proposed paper; and a more detailed
5-10 page sentence outline of the paper. (Seminars are not graded
anonymously because the professor works with students on their
writing project throughout the semester.) 3 units.
IP
LEGAL ISSUES IN REALITY AND NON-FICTION WORKS SEMINAR
(JR)
W76 747S LAW 01 W 9:00a-11:00a Rothman
Enrollment limit: 16. Can
the producers of Trading Spouses prevail in a suit against the
producers of Wife Swap? Can you use John Lennon's music in a play
about his life without the permission of his heirs? Does a documentary
filmmaker have to get permission from Disney if one of his subjects is
watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon in the background of one of his
scenes? This seminar will examine these issues and many others that
confront artists, filmmakers, photographers, authors, television
networks and film studios when making works based on real people or
events, as well as issues that arise in works that record real events
as they unfold, including documentaries and "reality"
television. We will discuss such issues as defamation, false light,
misrepresentation, trademarks, idea submission, right of publicity,
assumption of risk and copyright protection. The course will include
screenings and discussion of several documentaries, films and
television programs. Students will write a 25-30 page paper of
publishable quality on a topic relevant to the issues raised in the
seminar. Students must meet firm deadlines for submitting a topic
statement, a first draft, and - after receiving significant feedback
from the instructor - a final version of the paper. Students will also
be asked to present their research to the class. Students are strongly
encouraged to have taken or be enrolled in either Trademarks and
Unfair Competition or Copyright & Related Rights. (Seminars
are not graded anonymously because the professor works with students
on their writing project throughout the semester). 3 units.
REORGANIZATION SEMINAR (DLK/LP/BS/DG)
(BUSINESS
REORGANIZATIONS UNDER CHAPTER 11)
W76 646S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Keating / Going Palans / Schermer
Enrollment limit: 16. This course will be taught
jointly by Professor Keating, United States Bankruptcy Judge Barry
Schermer and Lloyd Palans of Bryan Cave. David Going of
Armstrong Teasdale serves as the designated substitute teacher for
the course. The primary focus of the
class will be reorganizations under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy
Code. Using a single hypothetical reorganization as a backdrop, the
instructors will take students through the various stages of a
Chapter 11 case, from the initial filing with the bankruptcy court
to confirmation of a plan of reorganization. The class will meet
once each week during the semester for two hours each session. The
pedagogical objectives of the class include improving the students'
persuasive writing, their knowledge of Chapter 11 bankruptcy law,
and their ability to think on their feet. Students' grades will be
determined by their performance on two 8-page written assignments
(both of which will require a re-write by the students after
receiving written feedback from the instructors) and by their
participation in class discussion. Attendance and preparation are
both required. Students who have not taken the basic Bankruptcy
course may enroll, but they will be at a marked disadvantage to
those students who have. 3 units.
REPRODUCTIVE & PARENTAL RIGHTS
SEMINAR: AUTONOMY, ADOPTION, AND ARTS
W76 652S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Appleton
Enrollment limit: 16. This seminar
will explore several intersecting strands of Family Law and
Constitutional Law related to human reproductive decisions and their
consequences, including contraception, abortion, termination of
parental rights, adoption, and assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs,
for short). Taking Family Law and/or Individual Rights and the
Constitution (formerly Constitutional Law II) before or concurrently
with this seminar is recommended, but not required. In addition to
studying legal materials, students will gain exposure to relevant
literature from other disciplines - situating the law in a
historical, social, and critical context. The class will meet
regularly, and students must submit both a first draft and a revised
seminar paper. Students will also lead a class discussion on the
topic of their papers. (Seminars are not graded anonymously because
the professor works with students on their writing project
throughout the semester.) 3 units.
SOCIALIST LAW IN TRANSITION
SEMINAR (FF)
W76 680S LAW 01 M 3:00p-5:00p Foster
Enrollment limit: 16. (This seminar
does not meet as a group on a regular basis.) This seminar allows
students to pursue intensive research and writing on the changing
definitions and functions of law in socialist and post-socialist
countries. Students will meet individually with the instructor to
discuss topic selection and the progress of their research. They
also will be required to submit a topic statement, preliminary
draft, and final revised version of their seminar paper. We will
meet formally as a group at the start of the semester and later on
as the need arises. There are no prerequisites for this course.
(Seminars are not graded anonymously because the professor works
with students on their writing project throughout the semester.) 3
units.
