APPELLATE BRIEF WRITING SEMINAR (DBL) 

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)

Paulson

 (This seminar may not meet as a group on a regular basis.)  Enrollment limit: 16.  In the seminar on constitutional interpretation, students have an opportunity to examine and evaluate competing views on the nature and sources of constitutional law.  For one prominent example in recent literature, consider Ronald Dworkin’s position: He contends that one can make good sense of equal protection adjudication only if one takes seriously the underlying principle of equality--understood as a moral principle.  This is a position toward one end of the spectrum in the current debate.  Toward the other end, there is, for example, Robert Bork. He holds that the nature and limits of “equal protection” in our Fourteenth Amendment are to be understood by returning to the intentions of those in the Reconstruction Congress.  What they had in mind (what they intended) determines what “equal protection” means.  In addition to a variety of themes on constitutional interpretation, students may also select, if they wish, themes from jurisprudence and legal philosophy.  3 units.

CRIMINAL PROCESS SEMINAR (CAB)

Bracey

Enrollment limit: 16. Our principal aim in this seminar is to examine and critique the way in which our judicial system handles the processing of criminal cases.  Topics will include the right to counsel (and the concomitant right to "effective assistance" of counsel), prosecutorial discretion and plea bargaining, bail and pretrial detention, discovery, the right to jury trial and jury selection, double jeopardy, sentencing and appellate review.  Students will be encouraged to understand and appreciate the criminal process as a preeminent site of conflicting and confrontational norms, expectations, and impulses - a process that struggles to balance a variety of competing values, including fairness and efficiency, accuracy and finality, and uniformity and individualized justice.  The seminar will entail close scrutiny of leading cases in topic areas, an exploration of the historical and theoretical bases of the various components of the criminal process, and consideration of current Supreme Court jurisprudence.  Mechanics and Writing Requirement.  The class will meet as a group on a weekly basis for most of the semester to discuss course readings and late-breaking developments in the processing of persons formally accused of a crime.  Students will be expected to read assigned materials, participate actively in class discussion, and serve on "panels of experts" for three seminar sessions.  In addition, students will be required to complete a significant scholarly research paper.  Students must submit a topic statement, a first draft, and a final, revised, version of the paper.  The instructor will provide written feedback on drafts, and will confer individually with students to discuss papers during the course of the semester.  3 units.

DISABILITY RIGHTS LAW SEMINAR (SRB)

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. Classroom sessions during the second half of the semester will be devoted to discussing students' papers. Each student will be required to prepare a first draft of the paper, present it orally to the class, and then submit a final draft that responds to the feedback the student has received from the instructor and the class.  3 units.

FEMINIST LEGAL THEORY SEMINAR (LAR)

Rosenbury

Enrollment limit: 16.  This seminar will examine feminist legal theory as a means of understanding and critiquing our legal system and its norms. The seminar will begin by examining some of the general themes and debates that have emerged as feminists examine the law's explicit and implicit consideration and construction of gender as it relates to various groups of women and men. The remainder of the seminar will be devoted to discussing student research papers examining specific applications of feminist theory to law and social policy, including topics related to work and wealth distribution, the formation of intimate and familial relationships, and the regulation of sexuality.  3 units.

IP INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE COMPETITION LAW SEMINAR (DDE) 

Ellis

Enrollment limit: 16. Explores the international reach of American antitrust laws, the application of antitrust principles by the European Union and other nations, and institutions that facilitate or impede cooperation among nations in enforcing competition law principles.  This is a course seminar that will meet for one two-hour session for a minimum of ten weeks (which may not be consecutive) during the semester.  Students must write and present to the seminar a substantial (30-40 pages) research paper on a subject that falls within the scope of the seminar and approved by the instructor.  A minimum of one draft and a rewrite will be required.  The instructor will provide written and/or oral comments on the draft.  The purposes of the paper requirement are to assist students in improving their writing skills, to expand their familiarity with research sources and methods, and to acquaint them with a body of law relating to the subject matter of the seminar.  Grades will be based primarily upon the papers, but class participation will be taken into account.  There will be an attendance policy.  
(For more detailed information see the website for the seminar, http://ls.wustl.edu/Students/Courses/Ellis/Intcomplaw/index.htm.  3 units.

IP INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW SEMINAR (APM)

Mutharika              

(This seminar does not meet as a group on a regular basis.)

Enrollment limit: 16.  Introduction to current legal relationships between foreign investors and entities (both governmental and non-governmental) in the investee estate and examination of the legal factors that influence an investment decision and how investment agreements are structured.  Among the topics to be considered are U.S. and foreign investment laws and regulations, investment restrictions and incentives, currency controls, licensing, joint business ventures, expropriation and compensation, settlement of investment disputes, transnational corporations, and codes of conduct.  Students will be required to write a paper of publishable quality.  There will be one group meeting at the beginning of the semester.  After that, I will hold individual conferences at various intervals to discuss topic selection, abstract and outline, and partial draft.  3 units.

Є  LEGAL ETHICS SEMINAR (KC) 

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.   3 units.

REORGANIZATION SEMINAR (DLK/LP/BS)

Keating/Palans/Schermer             

Enrollment limit: 16. (BUSINESS REORGANIZATIONS UNDER CHAPTER 11). This course will be taught jointly by Professor Keating, United States Bankruptcy Judge Barry Schermer and Lloyd Palans of Bryan Cave. 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

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. 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.  3 units.