INTRO. TO U.S. LAW AND METHODS I

Greenhaw/Koby             

Research Sections/Labs:

A  THU 3:00-4:00

B  THU 4:00-5:00   

[Open only to international LL.M. and exchange students.] This is the first in a two semester course sequence to introduce lawyers who did not receive their legal education in the United States to distinctive aspects of U. S. legal methodology. Rather than mastery of legal rules, the goal is to learn how law is made, found and enforced in the United States. Methods and writing classes cover U.S. legal institutions; how common law, statutory and constitutional sources "blend" to analyze and resolve legal problems; formats and styles for effective written communication with U.S. trained lawyers; plagiarism and exam taking. The objective is to learn partially through resolution of problems that require assuming the role of a U.S. lawyer "making" the law by arguing a case related to, but significantly distinct from, case precedent.  Written critique of papers and personal conferences stress reasoning by case analysis and synthesis, and use of facts in analogical reasoning to predict a probable court holding. Research classes instruct and give practice exercises in locating and using both paper and electronic sources and tools to prepare for the Intro to U.S. Law & Methods II course, seminars and individual research projects or dissertations.  3 units.

various professors

(This is not Wiley Rutledge Moot Court; See “Moot Court” under “Applied Lawyering Skills Courses.”) A student may receive one credit for participation in an external moot court competition through Supervised Moot Court.  In order to receive credit, a student must secure a full-time faculty member as an adviser, prepare an appellate brief of passing quality (minimum 10 pages per student), present a minimum of two oral arguments of passing quality, and attend two mandatory seminar sessions on appellate brief writing and appellate argument. Supervised Moot Court is graded on a pass/fail basis and does not fulfill the research and writing requirement. Approval forms are found in the Student Forms area near the student mailboxes or on the web at http://ls.wustl.edu/Registrar/Forms. The full-time faculty member who reviews the brief and critiques the preparation for oral argument is limited to supervising no more than six students per year in Supervised Research, Supervised Practicum, or  Supervised Moot Court. [Students should keep in mind the limitations regarding credit toward their degree for competition work (as a participant or board member): 1) a maximum of 4 total credits from competitions; 2) only one competition per semester.]  1 unit.

SUPERVISED PRACTICUM 

  varied professors  

Students interested in pursuing a Supervised Practicum must write a petition to the faculty and turn in the Supervised Practicum approval form to the mailbox of Prof. Dan Keating, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, prior to the first day of classes in the semester the student plans to do the Supervised Practicum. There is no guarantee that a student will be able to do a Supervised Practicum; a student's ability to take this course will always be a function of finding a willing and able full-time faculty member and supervising attorney at the practicum site who will agree to supervise the project.  One to three units of academic credit may be earned in Supervised Practicum by working on a clinical project under the direct supervision of a member of the faculty. The exact nature of the Supervised Practicum experience shall be determined by the individual faculty member.  The precise number of credits earned for the Practicum, which depends upon the scope of the project, shall be determined by the supervising faculty member after completion of the clinical project.  Supervised Practicum is graded on a pass/fail basis.  A student may enroll in only one supervised practicum during his/her law school career.  A student cannot be enrolled in a clinic course and a supervised practicum in the same semester.  The forms are available in the hanging file folders located by the student mailboxes or on the web at http://ls.wustl.edu/Registrar/Forms. Credit variable, max 3 units.

SUPERVISED RESEARCH 

[TBA]     

May only be taken for academic credit (1-3 credit hours) on a pass/fail basis. Supervised research does not fulfill the research and  writing requirement.  No more than 2 Supervised Research courses may be taken in total and no more than 1 may be taken in a semester. To complete registration for this course, a Supervised Research Form must be turned in to the Registrar's Office by the end of the second week of the semester.  The forms are available in the hanging file folders located by  the student mailboxes on the third floor.  The work must be completed during the semester; incompletes are not permitted.  There is no guarantee that a student will be able to do a Supervised Research; a student's ability to take this course will always be a function of finding a willing and able full-time faculty member who will agree to supervise the project.  Therefore, one of  the first steps that a student who is interested in this experience should undertake is to secure the participation of a faculty member.  Faculty members are limited to supervising no more than 6 students per year in either Supervised Research, Supervised Practicum, or Supervised Moot Court.  Registering for Supervised Research online is not a guarantee that the student is enrolled - the steps described in the above description must also be satisfied. Credit variable, max 3 units.

TEACHING ASSISTANT 

 01  TBA                        

 02  TBA                         

 03  TBA                      

 04  TBA                     

 05  TBA                          

 06  TBA                        

Koby             

Students chosen as a Teaching Assistant receive one unit of academic credit per semester for this year-long Teaching Assistantship.  These students assist the legal writing professors throughout the year by helping prepare potential research assignments, drafting bench memoranda regarding potential research assignments and being accessible to first-year students as the students research and draft their assignments.  Students chosen for this position will engage in significant research and writing during the course of the year.  Students applying for this position can be rising second-year or third-year students who have demonstrated their legal research and writing skills on one of the publications, moot court programs, or in summer employment.  Interested students should submit (in April, to apply for the following year) a cover letter and resume regarding their interest in the position, including the nature of their legal research and writing experience. Students should indicate in their cover letter whether or not they have taken Advanced Legal Research or plan to enroll in that course during their third-year of law school.  Applicants should send their cover letter and resume to the Legal Writing Professor whom they would prefer to assist.  Those applicants who do not have a preference should submit their resume to the director of the LRW program.  1 unit.