COURSE DESCRIPTIONS BY SUBJECT AREA

A Curriculum Rich in Substance and Choice

At its foundation, Penn Law's curriculum is constructed of courses focused on in-depth study of traditional legal doctrine; upon this foundation, we have built a program of unrivalled depth. Our commitment to educating lawyers who can exercise their skills and talents in a wide variety of fields is evident in the correspondingly wide array of available courses. Complementing this rich and evolving curriculum are the courses offered at the graduate departments and professional schools of the University of Pennsylvania.

Here, to give you a sense of the breadth of the curriculum, is a listing of courses taught in recent semesters. Note that, because our faculty is engaged in cutting-edge scholarship in all fields, our course and seminar roster changes frequently, and we cannot guarantee that any given course will be taught in any specific semester.

Business Organizations and Financial Institutions
Clinical, Professional Responsibility, and Co-Curricular
Commercial Law
Constitutional Law and Related Fields
Courts and the Administration of Justice
Criminal Law and Procedure
Environmental, Land Use, and Natural Resource Law
Family and Estate Law
Human Rights Law
Intellectual Property and Technology Law
International and Comparative Law
Labor Law
Law and the Health Sciences
Perspectives on the Law
Property and Land Development
Regulation of Business
Taxation
Urban and Public Interest Law

(S) = Seminar

BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Accounting

2 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the basic fundamentals of accounting, emphasizing the nature and purpose of financial statements. The course will focus on legal problems that lawyers and their clients should consider in using and relying on financial statements and not on the technical aspects of preparing financial records and financial statements. No prior background in bookkeeping or accounting is necessary. The course's format will be approximately 50% lectures, 50% Socratic. The takeaway exam will be a combination of short-answer, essay and multiple-choice questions.

Administrative Law

3 sem. hrs.
We live in an administrative state, populated by thousands of governmental bodies that collectively exercise pervasive authority over the entire economy and the lives of every citizen. Unlike courts, which enjoy explicit constitutional independence, administrative agencies constitute a more constitutionally ambiguous “fourth branch of government.” Also unlike courts, most agencies have authority to wield a wide variety of regulatory powers other than adjudication, including rulemaking, licensing, advice-giving, and prosecution. Administrative law is the body of constitutional, statutory, executive, and “common law” principles that constrain and thereby seek to legitimate the exercise of these powers. This course will provide a critical examination of these principles, preparing you for the inevitable encounters lawyers have with administrative agencies in their professional practice. This is a 1L elective course and 1Ls will receive priority in enrollment.

Adv Issues in Priv Fin & Corp Reorg - Yearlong (S)

1.5 sem. hrs.
This seminar will address topics in private financing and corporate reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The principal emphasis will be on student research; a written research paper (which may satisfy the senior writing requirement) will be required. Students will be required to select a paper topic and submit a brief abstract before December 1, 2008. The instructor will be available in during the fall term consult with students about the selection of a topic. There also will be one or more organizational meetings in the fall term. Beginning after spring break seminar meetings will be devoted to students' presentations of their research and discussions by the seminar participants. Students wishing credit for the senior writing requirement must submit an initial draft for my review and comment by the week following spring break. All final papers will be due no less than five days before grades are due in the Registrar's Office for graduating students. THIS IS A FULL-YEAR SEMINAR AND STUDENTS MUST ENROLL FOR BOTH SEMESTERS.

Advanced Business Law: Understanding Business Law Scholarship (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to introduce the student to current academic research and scholarship on a range of business law topics. Students will read 6-8 works in progress by leading academics, and then attend workshop sessions in which the authors present their work. Prepatory sessions will focus on background readings that enable students to understand the scholarship in context. Students are expected to write short (approximately 5 page) position papers analyzing each of the papers presented and to participate actively in the discussion sessions. Students may complete the writing requirement and receive an additional credit by writing a research paper. Several sessions of this class will be cancelled, including October 9th. Make-up sessions will be announced. Corporations is required as a pre-requisite or co-requisite.

Advanced Topics in Corporate Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will analyze the canonical cases in corporate law. The text for the course is a recently published volume that provides a substantive analysis of the cases. The reading list will also include major cases that led up to the decision or that subsequently relied on the decision to further develop the emerging doctrine. Finally, the reading list will cover some of Vice Chancellor Strine's emblematic decisions. Students will be reading the cases in their entirety which will provide a better understanding of the structure of Delaware corporate law. Students are expected to attend class and participate actively in seminar discussion. In addition, students will be expected to write a paper based on a case not covered in the class, but using the format of the text. The paper will thus provide a substantive discussion of the doctrine as well as the history surrounding the case. The grade in the class will be based 50% on class participation and 50% on the paper.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Anatomy of a Merger

2 sem. hrs.
This class will focus on a single transaction (probably the acquisition of TXU by a private equity consortium led by KKR and TPG) to frame the legal issues that often arise in connection with the sale of a public company by merger, including confidentiality agreements, laws applicable to the disclosure of merger proposals and negotiations, duties of directors, reason for and role of special committees of directors, structure of merger agreements generally and with private equity buyers in particular, typical merger agreement issues, acquisition financing issues, post-announcement shareholder litigation, rules applicable to merger disclosure and solicitation of proxies and the role of hedge funds and more traditional institutional investors in merger votes. Corporations is a pre-requisite for this course; Mergers and Acquisitions is a suggested co-requisite.

Antitrust

3 sem. hrs.
The course considers the basic principles of antitrust law. It will examine the laws of horizontal restraints (including price fixing and other forms of collusion), vertical restraints (including resale price maintenance and territorial and customer restrictions placed on dealers), monopolization, merger regulation, and the relationship between antitrust and other forms of economic regulation. Although a background in economics may be useful, no previous knowledge of economics is assumed.

Business Acquisition Process

2 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on developing the lawyering skills required by an attorney advising a client who is selling or purchasing a closely held business. Individual drafting exercises, as well as client interview/strategy discussions and negotiations by student(s) acting as counsel to the buyer or seller, will be interspersed with periodic lectures on the business acquisition process and analysis of selected court opinions and publicly available documentation of actual acquisition transactions. A prerequisite is the course on Corporations (aka Business Associations).

Business Strategy and Corporate Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course explores strategic, business and legal decision making in a fluid real world corporate context. Classes will cover a series of timely financial and legal subjects as well as case studies that deal with topical problems in corporate governance, investment strategy, executive compensation and potential corporate and criminal behavior. Press, public market reaction and governmental/political considerations will be integrated into the discussion. All students will be required to participate in one major team project. An equal number of graduate law and business students will participate. The instructor, a 24 year veteran and partner at a major private equity firm, is also an attorney and CPA. No pre-requisites.

Chapter 11: Corporate Reorganization

3 sem. hrs.
This course, taught by an experienced practioner, will focus on the practical and strategic applications of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. It will examine applicable statutory and case law with particular emphasis on considerations confronting debtors and creditors in a business reorganization so that students will appreciate the negotiation, litigation, and the transactional components of a Chapter 11 case. Students will be assigned to discuss problems from the text. Those students who have not taken the basic bankruptcy course should read West Nutshell in the first two weeks of the course.

Commercial Credit I

3 sem. hrs.
The course will provide an intensive examination of some of the practices and legal problems which arise in the extension of credit, particularly business credit. The principal focus of the course will be on Article 9 of the UCC, which deals with security interests in personal property. The course will also introduce basic practices and principles involved in the extension of both secured and unsecured credit. Attention will be given to problems of relating the UCC to underlying legal principles of general applicability and to other statutes, such as the Bankruptcy Code.

Commercial Credit II

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus principally on bankruptcy, although we will also briefly consider state collection remedies and other nonbankruptcy issues that overlap with bankruptcy. We will consider all aspects of bankruptcy law, starting with commencement of the bankruptcy case; continuing through issues such as trustee avoidance powers and operating a business in bankruptcy; and concluding with liquidation, individual wage earner plans, and corporate reorganization. At various points, we will pay particular attention to recent legislative reform efforts. The course will consider both the theoretical debate as to the proper role of bankruptcy, and the doctrinal apparatus of the Bankruptcy Code. The class will be roughly 60% participatory, but will at times be Socratic (30%) or lecture (10%) in format. Class participation may be taken into account in grading. There will be an in-class exam.

Commercial Litigation Strategy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The course includes case studies of categories of litigation and the types of relief that plaintiffs seek, including damages, injunctive relief, declaratory judgments, and class actions. Experienced litigators will be guest speakers. Students will be expected to read cases assigned and participate in class discussions. Generally, each class will have two separate segments. One segment will be discussion of the cases from the assigned reading, generally led by one of the students, subject to advance assignment. The discussion will focus on the contentions by counsel and the court’s decision, with an emphasis on strategic objectives and alternatives. The second segment will discuss a general litigation topic, usually with a guest speaker. The specific topics are listed above, but are subject to change. There is no exam. The grade will be based on class participation (20%), one short paper (20%), and one long paper (60%).

Contract Drafting (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The aim of this course will be to teach students how to draft contracts that are clear and effective; participants can expect learn in one semester what a corporate associate might take several years to learn, if at all. The course will focus on two overarching topics: what to say in a contract, and how you should say it. In terms of contract language, much of our time will be devoted to having students put into practice the recommendations contained in Professor Adams’s ABA book “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting.” In addition, we will examine the building blocks of a contract and the linkages between them; we will explore certain key contract concepts, such as “material adverse change” provisions and “best efforts” and its variants; and we will study the “boilerplate” provisions that are found in most contracts. We will also explore how contracts are drafted and negotiated. Throughout, we will consider the shortcomings of current drafting practices, in terms of both quality and process. There will be several written assignments, each requiring that students either draft a contract expressing the terms of a mock transaction or redraft a contract that is representative of mainstream practices but is nonetheless deficient. Students will be permitted to drop the course only after the first class. And anyone who wishes to add the class will be permitted to do so only if they attended the first class.

Corporate Finance

3 sem. hrs.
This course presents an overview of the basic principles of corporate finance. Topics include securities valuation including the discounted cash flow analysis, pricing of bonds and common stocks; portfolio theory including the capital asset pricing model and precepts of market efficiency; and capital structure of firms, including the weighted average cost of capital and debt policy. This material is then combined in a section dealing with approaches to valuing entire companies. A final brief section introduces option theory. The course combines finance and legal perspectives for each topic. The primary reading is a standard MBA-level finance text. There will be a series of ungraded problem sets and a graded open-book final exam. This course or an equivalent course satisfies the requirements needed to register in upper-level MBA courses offered by the Wharton Finance Department. Prerequisite: A completed course in or current enrollment in Corporations. There will be an in-class exam.

Corporate Governance (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to introduce the student to current developments and policy debates in corporate governance. Selected topics will include the shareholder primacy debate, the role and composition of the board of directors, shareholder voting, instituitonal investors, shareholder litigation, and executive compensation. The class will generally meet once per week (on Tuesdays), with a limited number of Thursday sessions that will be announced in advance. Students are expected to attend regularly and participate actively in class discussion. A research paper is required and may be used to complete the writing requirement. Corporations is required as a pre-requisite or co-requisite.

Corporate Lawyering

2 sem. hrs.
The nature and substantive aspects of the practice of law in a corporation or other business setting: the unique role of in-house counsel; the ethical considerations and professional responsibilities of the employee/attorney; the multi-faceted functions and responsibilities of in-house lawyering including fostering the corporate conscience, corporate compliance, educating the organization, implementing corporate governance procedures, interfacing with business operations, participating in governmental/public affairs and legislative activities, and selecting, utilizing, and supervising outside counsel. The course will feature the participation of leading corporate executives and outside practitioners. Please note that there will be a double session on Monday, Sept 14; class will meet 4:30-6:20 and 6:30-8:20. Food will be provided for this extra class.

Corporate Taxation

2 sem. hrs.
Tax issues relating to the formation, capitalization, operation, restructuring, liquidation, and reorganization of corporate entities form the core of this course. The course will examine the tax consequences of equity and debt to both the issuing corporation and the shareholder or holder of corporate debt instruments and will provide a brief introduction to certain hybrid financial products commonly issued or acquired by corporate entities. While the focus is on tax issues, the business reasons for engaging in various transactions will be an integral part of the course. This course is useful both to students considering tax practice and to students interested in general business practice. Federal Income Tax I is a prerequisite. The course will combine lecture and problem solving.

Corporations

4 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on the structure and characteristics of the modern business corporation, with particular attention given to problems relating to the large, publicly held company. Some emphasis will be given to federal securities laws and the impact of federal securities regulation on corporate governance. The class will be roughly 60% participatory, but will at times be Socratic (30%) or lecture (10%) in format. The open-book exam will be in a multiple choice format.

Deals: Economic Structure of Transactions & Contracting

3 sem. hrs.
This course focuses on the role of professionals, including lawyers and investment bankers, in creating value through transaction engineering. The overall goal of the course is to explain how private parties actually order their commercial interactions and to develop a theory of how they ought to do this. The first half of the course will be devoted to impediments to transacting, including asymmetric information, difficulties intrinsic to contracting over time, enforceability, and various forms of strategic behavior, and to a variety of possible responses rooted in decision theory, option theory, risk management, and incentive alignment. In the second half of the course, student teams will apply the tools developed in the first half to a series of real transactions. That part of the course will be described in more detail in a separate memo to be circulated once the roster of deals is fixed. The requirements for the class are regular attendance and active participation in class discussions, completion of homework assignments, and a group project. For the group project, students will be divided into teams of roughly 8 to 10. Each team will be assigned to a transaction and given access to the original documents for their deal. The student teams will present their transaction to the class, focusing on how the transaction was structured and the advantages and disadvantages of that structure. After the students make their presentation, one or more of the parties who worked on the transaction will present the deal and take questions from the class. Each student team will then draft a final paper on its transaction. The only prerequisite for the course is that students have taken or currently be taking corporations. Although not strictly required, most students find it helpful to have at some point taken at least introductory courses in microeconomics and finance. This course meets jointly with the MBA level course offered through the Wharton Management Department. Enrollment will be restricted this year to 25 upper class Law students and 25 graduate Wharton students. In the event that the course is oversubscribed, Law students will be admitted from the waiting list only if other students drop the course. Priority for admission in these circumstances will go to students who have attended the class from the beginning.

Empirical Finance (S)

3 sem. hrs.
We will examine the empirical tools used in legal research and litigation, including the use of event studies to examine the effects of legal rules and internal governance on firm value.

Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic

5 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course involves the direct representation of entrepreneurs, businesses, and social entrepreneurs from the Philadelphia area. With the guidance and supervision of full-time faculty with significant transactional experience, students serve as the primary counsel to both for profit and non-profit clients on matters such as business structuring and formation, contract drafting and review, intellectual property, managing employees, negotiating with third parties, asset acquisitions and dispositions, business strategy, and regulatory requirements. The Clinic does not litigate. Through weekly seminars, concepts and skills involving substantive law, business, and professional development are introduced to enable students to best serve their clients and learn the fundamentals of transactional practice and impact distressed communities. In addition to the regularly scheduled class meetings, students will meet with Faculty supervisors at least once a week for approximately an hour. Students also present workshops on various legal topics to local entrepreneurs. These presentations take place in the evenings and are teamed presentations. Enrollment is limited to 16 students. Corporations is recommended. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if: a) you are enrolled in another clinical course, or an externship in the same semester; or b) you have 3 or more incomplete grades at the beginning of the semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

Federal Crimes Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The Federal Government plays an increasingly significant role in the prosecution of crime in the United States, particularly in the corporate and white collar context. This course will focus on the application of the developing federal criminal law to organizations and individuals and consider the trends of federalization and criminalization while analyzing the most widely used federal criminal statutes. Topics will include the prosecution of white collar crime such as financial fraud and embezzlement, securities offenses, obstruction of justice, money laundering, and the mail and wire fraud statutes as well as RICO, conspiracy, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The course will also explore the increasing use of deferred and non-prosecution agreements, internal investigations, and the law of corporate and entity liability. The grade component will be 75-80% paper and 20-25% class participation. 1st year criminal law or permission of the instructor is required.

Federal Income Taxation

4 sem. hrs.
This course presents an introduction to the basic principles of the federal income tax and of tax law in general. The course is designed both to educate the generalist in the fundamentals of taxation and to provide a foundation for those students who wish to take advanced tax courses. This course is a prerequisite for Corporate Taxation and most other advanced tax courses. The course will use lecture and Socratic formats. Class participation will be taken into account in grading.

Financial Accounting

3 sem. hrs.
The objective of the course is for the student to learn to read, understand, and analyze financial statements. The course adopts a decision-maker perspective of accounting by emphasizing the relation between the accounting data and the underlying economic events that generated them. The course focuses initially on how to record economic events in the accounting records (bookkeeping and accrual accounting) and how to prepare and interpret the primary financial statements that summarize a firm's economic transactions (the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows). The course then examines in depth the major asset, long-term liability, and shareholders' equity accounts. This class is offered for a grade only; there is no pass/fail option.

Financial Crisis & Bailout (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will focus on the financial sector’s recent collapse, its precipitating conditions, and the federal government’s responsive actions. The topics covered will include precedent financial crises here and abroad and patterns of governmental response; the systemic risk and moral hazard problems; the subprime loan, asset-backed securities, and credit default swap markets; Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG; the TARP, the TALF, and the bankruptcy alternative; and the economics of government ownership and resulting corporate governance problems, including regulation of executive pay. Students will be required to prepare short weekly papers responding to the week's reading. Class attendance will be mandatory.

Insurance Insolvency (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will take a transactional, law and finance approach to studying some of the largest and least understood financial institutions in the world: life insurance companies. With trillions of dollars of assets under management and balance sheets that can exceed those of banks, life insurance companies are an integral part of the financial system and the leading supplier of such important lifecycle financial products as life and disability insurance, annuities, and pensions. Yet these financial giants are regulated in the U.S. through a state-based regulatory system that dates to the 19th century. We will study and critique the existing state-based approach to life insurance solvency regulation, as well as current proposals to allow federally chartered and regulated life insurance companies, by working through the regulatory framework as it applies to historical case studies and the financial crisis of 2008. In the process, students will receive an introduction to the valuation of the assets and liabilities of financial institutions and, equally important, how financial institutions fail. These are topics of tremendous current importance as we watch the rescues (or not) of seemingly impregnable financial institutions, such as AIG, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Wachovia, and no doubt more by the time the semester is over. The seminar is intended to be of particular interest to students who anticipate engaging in a transactional law practice. Wharton students with a finance background are encouraged to enroll, regardless of any prior legal study. Students will be required to prepare one page memos on the materials assigned each week and to participate in a small group project for which the group will be graded as a whole. There will be no exam.

Insurance Law

3 sem. hrs.
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to insurance institutions and insurance law, with the ultimate goal of understanding the role of insurance in society. Liability, health, and property insurance will receive the most attention, but we will also discuss life and disability insurance. After taking this course, students will know how to read and analyze a standard form insurance contract, how to work with insurance regulatory materials, how to spot the insurance issues in a wide variety of legal and public policy contexts, and how to think about insurance related issues using conceptual tools from a variety of disciplines. Cross-cutting themes of interest include the behind the scenes role of insurance in shaping litigation strategy, the role of insurance in financial planning, and the promises and pitfalls of using private insurance arrangements to achieve social goals.

International Bankruptcy

2 sem. hrs.
This course first introduces students to the basic principles and problems of international bankruptcy cases. It then turns to the business bankruptcy systems of various countries and regions in all parts of the world, with instruction from leading lawyers and judges from those countries and regions. The course then focuses on the questions presented when parties in a business bankruptcy case are invoking the bankruptcy laws of different countries and how these questions are resolved by courts in the United States under new Chapter 15 and by courts in other countries.

International Business Transactions

3 sem. hrs.
This course provides an overview of the legal issues—domestic, foreign, and international—that arise when U.S. companies do business abroad. Transactions discussed include export sales, agency and distributorship agreements, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, privatization, project finance, and foreign government debt. The course also covers U.S., foreign, and international regulation in such areas as antitrust, securities, intellectual property, tax, and foreign corrupt practices. The course does not cover U.S. rules on import restrictions or W.T.O. matters.

International Finance

3 sem. hrs.
The course is intended to discuss the emerging legal structures and the regulatory problems of globalizing financial markets and institutions. Particular emphasis will be given to issues resulting from different levels of economic and political development in various parts of the world.

International Tax

3 sem. hrs.
The course follows the change in wealth from physical to intangible - Andrew Carnegie to Bill Gates. Modern income does not come from manufacturing steel and cars so much as from supplying data, communications, and entertainment. Tax (and other legal rules) were conceived when you could see where income was earned: at the steel plants in Pittsburgh, at River Rouge near Detroit. Now signals are sent from who knows where; and tax law must determine where it is earned by rules that look at how it is earned, from the performance of services or the transfer of property. For instance, if Tiger Woods gets money from Nike for wearing its clothing at a golf tournament, is his income earned where he wears it (physical services) or where the goodwill associated with his reputation is televised? The material deals with these questions, which reflect the enormous revolution of recent years and for which traditional rules were not conceived. For that reason, the focus is on concepts (what is a service, what is the transfer of property, does one own property pursuant to commercial law or economically), rather than the details of rules which tax law continually revises. The Code is longer than Shakespeare, but ideas stay put. Consistent with this approach, the book emphasizes the reasons for the rules rather than their details. Everything is open book, and relevant rules and concepts are repeated. The idea is not to trick or confuse anyone, but to open up thinking for a field that everyone is just beginning to look at. In part for that reason, there are no prerequisites. What are services, or where they are performed, is up for grabs. Although a merger has been a merger for 100 years and will remain so, people have just started to deal with internet gambling and the downloading of software. Two of the principal themes of the course are the meaning of words and that we are borne back ceaselessly into the past. Fans of history and literature are encouraged to participate.

Issues in Corporate Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will examine a variety of cutting edge issues in corporate law with frequent guest lecturers. A basic course in corporations (at Penn or abroad) is a prerequisite. Attendance is required. Students will be expected to write a series of 3-5 page "reaction papers" in response to the assigned reading.

Labor Law in Comparative Perspective

3 sem. hrs.
This course will introduce the fundamentals of labor law in the United States, comparing the American approach with those of other advanced industrialized democracies. We will study the federal law governing employee collective action, including the law governing organizing, employee-union relations, collective bargaining (including tools of economic pressure), and preemption of state law. We will then consider the appropriate scope of application of the NLRA regime; assess the political economic role of organized labor; consider historical and institutional explanations for American 'exceptionalism', and; explore the advantages and disadvantages of American labor law as compared to its alternatives.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship

2 sem. hrs.
This course introduces students to the unique role of the lawyer in counseling entrepreneurs and emerging growth companies which they generate. A hypothetical example of a start up technology or life sciences venture will serve as the backdrop for exploring the numerous substantive disciplines which are commonly implicated in such representations, including corporate and tax issues considered in entity formation, protection of intellectual property, issues surrounding the raising of seed and venture capital, labor and employment, outsourcing and equity compensation issues. Discussion of such issues will be lead by guest lecturers expert in such areas. In addition, to provide the practical background for understanding the role of the emerging growth lawyer, the course will also feature prominent guest speakers who will address preparation of a business plan, the role of the accountants, organizational build out consultants, investment banks and venture capitalists. The course will conclude with a panel of Chief Executive Officers of successful emerging growth companies who will describe their experiences with legal issues and the role of the lawyer in facilitating their successes. In addition to covering the substantive and practical disciplines inherent in representing such companies, the course will track how those issues change and the answers evolve throughout the life cycle of an emerging growth company, from start-up through initial public offering or exit. Professors Goodman and Jannetta are both Partners in the Emerging Growth Practice at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. There will be a takeaway exam.

Mergers and Acquisitions

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the law of business combinations, that is, mergers and acquisitions. It will primarily focus on Delaware law and the applicable federal Securities Regulation. As such, it is the central "advanced" corporations course offered. Completion of a four credit (United States) Corporations course is a prerequisite. Securities Regulation is advised, but not required. For students with a strong interest in M & A, you should seriously consider taking the "Anatomy of a Merger" course in parallel.

Negotiation and Dispute Resolution

3 sem. hrs.
Effective negotiation is at the root of most successful professional and personal encounters today. Whether representing an individual client or putting together a billion dollar deal, there are measurable differences in results between those who negotiate well and those who do not. The same is true whether buying a car or having a discussion with a family member. This course provides law students with the practical tools to become better negotiators. Students will learn how to systematically prepare for negotiations, deal effectively with hard bargainers and power imbalances, find hidden agendas, use standards more effectively, build coalitions, find creative options to overcome impasses, win over opponents and generally gain better results from the myriad encounters of life. This includes negotiating with peers, superiors and subordinates, in two-party and multiparty situations, with those who are similar as well as those who are very different. The course will include work on the special challenges of attorneys, including agency and ethics issues, use of negotiation in a litigation environment, and the problems and opportunities of multi-cultural and international representations. Also to be addressed will be issues of personal style, negotiating in highly emotional situations and dealing with a wide variety of parties, from passive to belligerent, corporate to government, family to fiduciary. A theoretical foundation will be presented. But the emphasis in each case will be on practical, operational tools. The course will be participatory. Students will negotiate cases from the start and will also be encouraged to bring their own thorny negotiation problems to class, to be analyzed and solved. This includes issues that students may already have or contemplate from their law firm jobs. There will be opportunities outside of class for one-on-one meetings with the professor on individual negotiation issues. Please note: All students are required to attend the first class of the semester. If you do not show up to the first class, you will be dropped from the course and your seat will be given to someone on the waiting list. Professor Diamond highly encourages #’s 1-10 on the waitlist to attend the first class. NOTE: Publisher for text books is not available as a choice. For Bargaining for Advantage, publisher is Penguin. For Influence, publisher is Quill.

Non-Profit Organizations - Yearlong (S)

1.5 sem. hrs.
Harvard (even now) has a huge endowment. The Gates Foundation has $30 billion of its own and is also spending $30 billion of Buffett's money. This seminar seeks to understand how nonprofit organizations are held accountable. Co-taught by an administrative law scholar and a corporate law scholar, the seminar will trace out the various monitoring and accountability mechanisms employed in the nonprofit sector, and compare them to the ways in which for-profit firms and governmental entities are held accountable. The seminar will be spread over the full year. During the first half of the fall semester, we will examine the basic legal/regulatory structure within which nonprofits operate. We will then break for students to prepare case studies of a nonprofit organization of their choice. We will reconvene during the spring semester during which time students will present their case studies. Throughout the year, we will have guest speakers from nonprofits.

Partnership Taxation

3 sem. hrs.
This course explores the federal income tax aspects of conducting a business or investment activity as an enterprise that is taxed as a partnership for tax purposes, rather than as an association taxable as a corporation. The course considers when joint undertakings cross the line from mere co-ownership to taxation as a partnership (and why the rules developed as they did), the way in which the results of partnership operations are taxed (and why or why not the rules reach the correct result), and why business start-ups might choose to operate initially in partnership form. In some areas, I may ask if an alternate approach would have achieved a better result. No partnership course could be complete, however, without considering why partnerships tended to be the business form of choice for the dreaded "tax shelter" (whatever that is). Neither familiarity with accounting principles, balance sheets or income statements, nor exposure to sophisticated business transactions, should be considered a prerequisite. I ask only that you bring an open mind and a willingness to read some admittedly complicated Treasury Regulations. The text will be supplemented with Examples intended to reinforce the technical rules described in class. Federal Income Taxation I is a prerequisite, however. All students are required to bring a copy of the Internal Revenue Code and a copy of the Treasury Regulations (excerpts from the Regulations are included as a supplement to the course materials) to class every day.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Privacy

3 sem. hrs.
The study of privacy law serves several purposes. Most importantly, it introduces students to an important area of legal practice. Not only is privacy law now a recognized area of legal practice in its own right, but knowledge of privacy law is frequently called for in the practice of health, business and intellectual property law. The study of privacy law serves another purpose: developing a better understanding of the concept of privacy and the controversies--some philosophical, some political-- surrounding its application in the law. The course is divided into three sections or "chapters." Our study begins with state common law. State common law is an historic source of privacy protections. Chapter 1 examines the origins of state privacy law in the late 19th century and its subsequent growth until today. The chapter considers the four common law invasion of privacy torts recognized in most states and by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of (Second) of Torts. The chapter also examines the closely affiliated state common law of publicity and confidentiality. Chapter 1 samples major statutes enacted by state legislatures both to create privacy rights akin to those recognized in the common law and to supplement them. We move next to the federal constitution, a crucial major source of privacy law. Chapter 2 takes on the voluminous privacy jurisprudence spawned by the Bill of Rights-- most importantly, the First and Fourth Amendments’ jurisprudence of associational, physical, and informational privacy. This chapter also features the often-controversial Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and substantive due process decisional privacy jurisprudence. It concludes with a consideration of state constitutions that, state courts have held, significantly expand privacy protection beyond federal limits. The journey ends after an encounter with the federal privacy statutes, a dynamic source of privacy and data protection law. Chapter 3 examines nearly a dozen federal privacy statutes, covering government record management; health, education, and financial data; video rentals; communications; the internet; and surveillance. The chapter touches on some state counterparts to federal legislation and the agency rules that implement them.

Regulation of Financial Institutions

3 sem. hrs.
The course will examine the regulation of banks and other bank-like financial institutions.

Risk Management

1 sem. hrs.
This course describes the concepts and techniques available to corporations, non-profit organizations, and other organizations in their efforts to manage pure risks. The costs associated with such pure risks as product liability, environmental impairments, property losses, work-related injuries, and employee benefits (e.g., pensions, health insurance, etc.) affect the daily management of all organizations. Managers who make decisions without appropriate consideration of risk management issues can jeopardize the long-term survival of their organizations. The course examines a common set of techniques which can be used by managers in dealing with these problems, including risk assumption, prevention, diversification, and transfer via insurance and non-insurance market mechanisms. In turn, students learn to recognize that the institutional structure of the organization itself influence its own risks and their corresponding treatments.

Securities Regulation

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines federal securities regulation. Topics include the registration of securities under the Securities Act (and applicable exemptions), civil liability, the definition of a security, periodic disclosure requirements for public companies, Rule 10b-5 liability, the role and powers of the Securiteis & Exchange Commission and capital markets regulation. The course is particularly useful for students pursuing careers in business law, litigation, investment banking, and/or private equity. The course will use a combination of lecture and Socratic formats. Regular attendance and class participation are required.

Sports Law

2 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on many topics in the law of sports. General areas to be covered will include contracts, antitrust, labor, arbitration, constitutional law and amateur athletics. Special attention will be given to antitrust litigation in the National Football League, collective bargaining in professional sports, television issues, franchise movement, Title IX, amateur sports, and the changing concepts of amateurism. It will be helpful if students have taken Antitrust or Labor Law. There will be a takeaway exam.

Structured Finance and Securitization

2 sem. hrs.
This seminar is designed to familiarize the student with the underlying legal concepts necessary to understand contemporary securitization and structured finance transactions. The course will introduce the basic economic elements of securitization and the economic business rational for this type of finance. Today, structured finance and securitization is a major element of the worldwide capital markets practice. The topics covered will include commercial finance, including Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, corporate law, securities and investment company act regulation, bankruptcy law and securitization, tax issues and structuring considerations in securitization transactions, bank regulatory aspects of securitization, and cross-border securitization transactions. The course will focus on the many types of securitization that exist today and show how different legal disciplines interact in each of the transaction. The course will require some knowledge of introductory corporate and tax law and some exposure to basic bankruptcy law concepts. Introductory Securities Regulations will also be helpful. The course will not require any background in the economics of securitization or related capital markets transactions, although this may be helpful. It is the goal of the course to provide a thorough introduction to this area of practice so that a student has skills to evaluate these types of transactions in a law firm or investment banking firm setting.

Taxation of Business Entities

3 sem. hrs.
Modern tax practice requires a panoptic understanding of business forms. The classic “C corporation” no longer predominates, and it is not unusual for a single deal structure to incorporate a variety of business entities. This course covers major topics in the taxation of corporations (both “C” and “S”), limited liability companies, partnerships, and their owners. The course is organized primarily topically; business forms are analyzed in parallel fashion topic by topic. Topics include the choice of entity, contributions from owners to businesses, business operations, and distributions from businesses to owners. The course objectives are two: to provide students with a general sense of the landscape of business taxation; and to instill in students the sort of deeper understanding of each business form that derives from explicit and frequent comparison to alternatives. The course is intended for two types of students. First, it is addressed to students who wish to specialize in tax law, and who may go on to take courses on partnership tax or corporate tax, which would generally cover a different set of more specialized topics. The course is also intended for students who are not planning to specialize in tax, but who believe they would benefit from a general examination of business tax issues, perhaps as a complement to their study of other areas of business law. Federal Income Taxation, or an equivalent course, is a prerequisite for taking this class.

White Collar Crime and Capital Markets (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide an overview of the federal law targeting white collar crime, with a particular emphasis on the securities industry. The statutes, regulations and jurisprudence addressing criminal conduct in investment banking and brokerage will be examined from two perspectives: measures targeting bad actors whose crimes threaten the integrity of the capital markets, such as securities fraud and money laundering; and measures holding broker-dealers and other financial institutions accountable for facilitating improper conduct, including the USA Patriot Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Beyond a mere review of the black letter law, however, the course will offer a practitioner’s perspective. Students will gain insight into how federal prosecutors, regulators and investigators work together to develop a complex white collar case. They will hear from guest speakers -- current and former Assistant US Attorneys, SEC and FINRA Enforcement staff, FBI agents, and white collar defense attorneys -- about their real-life experiences. The seminar will also examine the various typologies of securities fraud, their impact on the way business is done on Wall Street, and evolving law enforcement efforts to police that business. From insider trading to "pump and dump" and "ponzi" schemes, the tools of the fraudsters' trade will be analyzed through the prism of recent cases including Bernard Madoff, Martha Stewart and Raj Rajaratnam. Court Golumbic is a Managing Director in the global Compliance Department of Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York. He was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he specialized in investigating and prosecuting securities fraud, money laundering. and other forms of white collar crime.

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CLINICAL, PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND CO-CURRICULAR

1L Legal Writing Instructor: Yearlong

3.5 sem. hrs.
Legal Writing Instructors and Legal Writing Fellows only.

Appellate Advocacy

3 sem. hrs.
Each student will be assigned two problems requiring a written assignment and an oral argument. One of the written assignments will be a full brief under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Students will also be assigned readings in advocacy and related topics. No more than 12 students are admitted to each section; preference is given to second-year students.

Bioethics, Babies and Babymaking (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines the interactions and conflicts between law and ethics in the context of reproduction, reproductive technology, family formation, and child rearing. In recent decades, regulators, lawmakers, ethicists, and others have struggled to understand and, in some cases, contain developments in how babies are made, how families are formed, and how parents care for their children. As evidenced by frequent media sensations such as the birth of mega multiples or women giving birth well past menopause, controversies regularly arise about advancing reproductive technologies. These debates take place in the social, political, and medical arenas with varying consequences for individuals and the larger society. During the semester, we will study how the law has responded to changes in family formation, babymaking, and child rearing. More specifically, we will grapple with the relationship between law and ethics and seek to determine whether the law of babymaking and child rearing is or should be ethical. Through a study of topics such as disputes over parentage for children created using technology, fetal rights, sex selection, and limitations on access to parenting, we will evaluate where law and ethics intertwine and where they depart from each other. While we will study cases and learn black letter law, the class will also focus squarely on ethics, particularly feminist bioethics, and how policymaking does and does not reflect the ethical imperatives in any given situation. The final grade will be based on performance on exercises conducted in and out of class, attendance, participation and a final paper.

Civil Practice Clinic: Fieldwork

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course examines first hand the challenging issues that confront lawyers who represent clients in civil disputes and litigation. Under close faculty supervision, students will serve as litigators in the Penn Legal Assistance Office, a teaching law firm providing legal representation to actual clients whose interests are directly at stake in state and federal court proceedings and in administrative agency hearings. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and provide legal representation in formal adjudicatory hearings under Pennsylvania's student practice rule. Students will be assigned their own individual cases in which they will have primary responsibility in a broad range of substantive areas, such as housing, social security disability, child custody and support, civil forfeiture, education, and discrimination and civil rights. The skills and experience obtained in this course will serve students throughout their professional careers, whether or not they choose to pursue litigation practice. In addition to their casework as lawyers, students will engage in classroom seminars twice weekly to obtain training in basic interactional skills (e.g., interviewing, counseling, negotiating) and to discuss in a collegial setting issues of case development, strategy and professional responsibility which arise in the Clinic's cases. Students will also participate in videotaped simulations utilizing trained actors as a means of enhancing skills development. Most important, each student will be assigned to an individual faculty supervisor with whom he/she will meet regularly on a one-to-one basis to receive close supervision and constructive feedback. Students will develop competence in basic lawyering skills as well as self-reflection, acquiring an ability to analyze what it is they do as lawyers and to learn from their own experiences. The Penn Legal Assistance Office is located in Silverman Hall which includes a court room, client interview and conference rooms, computerized student work and research areas and videotaping facilities. Fieldwork and classroom components of the course are graded separately. Class attendance is mandatory. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if: a) you are enrolled in another clnic, or an externship in the same semester; or b) you are responsible for 3 or more incomplete grades at the beginning of the semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Civil Practice Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

Civil Pre-trial Litigation

3 sem. hrs.
Students will take a mock case from initial client contact through settlement. Topics included will be problem identification and claim formulation, pleadings, discovery, dispositive and non-dispositive motion practice, settlement, strategic considerations, and ethical issues. The course will be writing-intensive. Students will draft a complaint or an answer, document requests, interrogatories, and motion papers. Students will also participate in a client interview, a deposition, motion arguments, and a pretrial conference.

Commercial Litigation Strategy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The course includes case studies of categories of litigation and the types of relief that plaintiffs seek, including damages, injunctive relief, declaratory judgments, and class actions. Experienced litigators will be guest speakers. Students will be expected to read cases assigned and participate in class discussions. Generally, each class will have two separate segments. One segment will be discussion of the cases from the assigned reading, generally led by one of the students, subject to advance assignment. The discussion will focus on the contentions by counsel and the court’s decision, with an emphasis on strategic objectives and alternatives. The second segment will discuss a general litigation topic, usually with a guest speaker. The specific topics are listed above, but are subject to change. There is no exam. The grade will be based on class participation (20%), one short paper (20%), and one long paper (60%).

Criminal Defense Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course will combine hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing litigation skills. Students will try cases under the close supervision of a senior trial attorney from the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During the first four weeks there will be intensive classroom study where students will learn Pennsylvania Criminal Law, Procedure, Evidence, trial and cross examination skills. During this period students will also be assigned mock cases to prepare in addition to observing actual preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials in municipal court. Students will then be assigned to represent defendants. Students will conduct misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and prepare various pretrial motions. Students will be interacting with their clients, members of the judiciary, District Attorneys, witnesses and complainants. Successful participants will need to be able to persuasively articulate legal arguments, work with a wide variety of individuals and maintain their composure in difficult situations. It is the instructor’s expectation that each student will have the experience of representing clients on 5 to 7 different cases. In addition to the classroom educational component described above, students will be exposed to a variety of guest speakers who will examine some of the ethical and social issues raised in criminal defense, and particular issues involved in representing the indigent. This course will meet for 6-1/2 hours, over two days per week. There will be a mid-semester evaluation of the student's progress and weekly feedback of the student's in-court performance, which can be scheduled at the student's convenience. Clinical instruction will be conducted at the Law School, except when courtroom appearances are required. This course will be open to 2L's who have completed three semesters and have had Evidence. (Students who have not had three semesters will be ineligible for certification by the court to appear on behalf of clients.) Enrollment is limited to 8 students. Class attendance and courtroom appearances are mandatory. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Criminal Defense Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive three credits for this course. In addition to various handouts provided by the instructor, the required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania, Gould Publications.

Criminal Defense Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course will combine hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing litigation skills. Students will try cases under the close supervision of a senior trial attorney from the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During the first four weeks there will be intensive classroom study where students will learn Pennsylvania Criminal Law, Procedure, Evidence, trial and cross examination skills. During this period students will also be assigned mock cases to prepare in addition to observing actual preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials in municipal court. Students will then be assigned to represent defendants. Students will conduct misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and prepare various pretrial motions. Students will be interacting with their clients, members of the judiciary, District Attorneys, witnesses and complainants. Successful participants will need to be able to persuasively articulate legal arguments, work with a wide variety of individuals and maintain their composure in difficult situations. It is the instructor’s expectation that each student will have the experience of representing clients on 5 to 7 different cases. In addition to the classroom educational component described above, students will be exposed to a variety of guest speakers who will examine some of the ethical and social issues raised in criminal defense, and particular issues involved in representing the indigent. This course will meet for 6-1/2 hours, over two days per week. There will be a mid-semester evaluation of the student's progress and weekly feedback of the student's in-court performance, which can be scheduled at the student's convenience. Clinical instruction will be conducted at the Law School, except when courtroom appearances are required. This course will be open to 2L's who have completed three semesters and have had Evidence. (Students who have not had three semesters will be ineligible for certification by the court to appear on behalf of clients.) Enrollment is limited to 8 students. Class attendance and courtroom appearances are mandatory. The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 5, 2008. In addition to various handouts provided by the instructor, the required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania, Gould Publications. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Criminal Defense Clinic toward heir public service requirement will receive three credits for this course.

Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic

5 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course involves the direct representation of entrepreneurs, businesses, and social entrepreneurs from the Philadelphia area. With the guidance and supervision of full-time faculty with significant transactional experience, students serve as the primary counsel to both for profit and non-profit clients on matters such as business structuring and formation, contract drafting and review, intellectual property, managing employees, negotiating with third parties, asset acquisitions and dispositions, business strategy, and regulatory requirements. The Clinic does not litigate. Through weekly seminars, concepts and skills involving substantive law, business, and professional development are introduced to enable students to best serve their clients and learn the fundamentals of transactional practice and impact distressed communities. In addition to the regularly scheduled class meetings, students will meet with Faculty supervisors at least once a week for approximately an hour. Students also present workshops on various legal topics to local entrepreneurs. These presentations take place in the evenings and are teamed presentations. Enrollment is limited to 16 students. Corporations is recommended. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if: a) you are enrolled in another clinical course, or an externship in the same semester; or b) you have 3 or more incomplete grades at the beginning of the semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

Evidence

4 sem. hrs.
A study of the common law and federal rules of proof, taught by a practicing trial lawyer. The scope and function of the rules are analyzed against the background of problems arising during the trial of an issue of fact, and the rules are evaluated on the basis of their logical consistency and their tendency to promote or impede a rational method of investigation. The format will combine lectures organizing the materials, Socratic questioning on the readings, and class discussions about policy issues. A particular emphasis will be the importance of thinking strategically about how to apply the rules in pre-trial preparation, and during trial itself. The exam will be entirely closed-book with a mostly black-letter, multiple-choice section and a less structured policy-oriented essay.

Externship: Delaware Riverkeeper

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. Established in 1988, Delaware Riverkeeper Network (“DRN”) is the only advocacy organization working throughout the entire Delaware River Watershed. The Delaware Riverkeeper is an individual who is the voice of the River, championing the rights of the River and its streams as members of our community. The Delaware Riverkeeper is assisted by seasoned professionals and a network of members, volunteers and supporters. Together they form DRN, and together they stand as vigilant protectors and defenders of the River, its tributaries and watershed. DRN is committed to restoring the watershed's natural balance where it has been lost and ensuring its preservation where it still exists. DRN has an active legal clinic that uses environmental laws to enforce legal protections of our waterways and educate law students interested in environmental and public interest law. DRN maintains a docket of robust citizen enforcement actions and other unique environmental cases. DRN has an active legal clinic that uses environmental laws to enforce legal protections of our waterways and educate law students interested in environmental and public interest law. DRN maintains a docket of robust citizen enforcement actions and other unique environmental cases. DRN’s staff attorney is the primary litigator for the organization. DRN has been involved in matters in federal and state court in the watershed states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Recent cases have addressed sewage permits, floodplain development and wetlands violations. The extern will take an active role in all aspects of the daily litigation practice at DRN, including case development, research and drafting, court appearances, depositions and discovery, meetings and coordination with other attorneys and advocates. Working with DRN at this level provides the extern with a unique opportunity to develop critical litigation skills in a nonprofit setting. Although some research work may be done elsewhere, the extern should expect to be on site at least 1-2 times during the week to participate in meetings, conferences, etc. (DRN’s office is located in Bristol, PA, approximately ½ mile from the Bristol train station [SEPTA R7]. Whether you drive or take the train, please consult a map to ensure that your timing and transportation needs can be met.)

Externship: District Attorney's Office - Fieldwork

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. PREREQUISITE: Students must have completed Constitutional Criminal Procedure and Evidence. Participants, after an intensive training program, and upon certification by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will appear in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to handle preliminary hearings in felony cases, pre-trial motions and trials in misdemeanor cases. Student experiences are closely supervised and critically analyzed. Mock presentations and evaluations are conducted throughout the course. Participants must possess the fortitude to litigate in court; students will be interacting not only with members of the judiciary before whom they appear, but also with opposing counsel, and witnesses and victims of crime, some of whom may be uncooperative. Successful participants need excellent interpersonal and communications skills, abundant self-confidence, an outgoing nature, flexibility, and an ability to maintain their composure under stress. While this local externship will require a minimum of 20 hours work each week, it is likely that in many weeks the work will require substantially more hours. Participants must be available: 1. on two full days to appear in court. 2. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. -- on the afternoon preceding each day in court to review case files with their assigned supervising attorney (e.g. from 3:00 p.m. Friday if court days are Monday and Tuesday). 3. to participate in a classroom component from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. each Wednesday. 4. after each court appearance to complete their paperwork. This must be done before the student leaves the office and entails approximately 2 to 3 hours of very careful preparation. Students cannot miss the class meeting to finish this work. 5. Mandatory Orientation: All students MUST be available Wednesday, September 2, 2009 and Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (the two weeks before classes officially begin), at Three South Penn Square (meet in the Lobby). You must bring your copy of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. Dress code for this Externship is courtroom attire required at ALL times. Background Check. A background and/or criminal record check will be made. Students must complete a background form and submit two passport-sized photographs. Required Text. The required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania (Gould Publications). District Attorney students should contact Valerie Rose in the Clinical Programs office to arrange for their certification under Pennsylvania's student practice rule.

Externship: Federal Appellate Litigation

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. Penn Law School, in cooperation with Dechert LLP, a major national law firm, is offering a new and innovative opportunity for students who are interested in federal appellate litigation to participate in an appellate clinical externship at Dechert's Philadelphia office. Students will work closely with attorneys from Dechert’s appellate practice to identify issues for appeal, conduct research, draft briefs, moot oral arguments, and, whenever possible, argue their assigned cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (to the extent allowed by Third Circuit Local Rule 46.3 which permits students to argue civil rights and habeas cases on behalf of indigent prisoners). Under the supervision of Dechert Partner Cheryl A. Krause, in conjunction with the Penn Clinical program, students will participate in a 4-credit externship (requiring on average 12 hours per week from each student), gaining invaluable hands-on experience in federal appellate litigation. Should some (or all) of the students have their cases selected for oral argument in the spring term, they may, on an individual basis, be able to pursue independent study credit, if appropriate, for work related to preparing for and delivering their oral argument(s). This externship is only open to third year students since a student must complete four semesters before being eligible to make an appearance in the Third Circuit under the Court’s student practice rule. Enrollment is limited to four students. Students who sign up for the externship will be required to submit a statement of interest and other related information before final enrollment decisions are made.

Externship: Pennsylvania Human Relations Comm - Fieldwork

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is the state agency responsible for enforcing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s civil rights. The externship will provide the opportunity to perform legal research, writing, investigation, and litigation in the areas of employment discrimination, public accommodations discrimination, unfair educational opportunities, and housing discrimination, including: mortgage lending and predatory lending discrimination. The extern will be provided a wide variety of challenging legal tasks involving the Legal Division’s investigative and prosecutorial functions within the Commission. During the Commission’s investigative process, the extern will be involved in the drafting of complaints, attending fact-finding conferences, interviewing complainants, preparing subpoenas, responding to motions, and drafting legal opinions on a wide variety of topics. Furthermore, the extern will routinely review investigative case files to identify relevant facts and issues in the context of an analytical analysis of the evidence with the goal to determine whether unlawful discrimination occurred in any given matter. During the Commission’s prosecutorial process, the extern will be involved in all aspects of discovery and litigation for a number of cases on the Commission’s public hearing docket. In particular, the extern will assist the Commission attorneys in preparing interrogatories, requests for documents, subpoenas, stipulations of fact, and requests for admissions. The extern will also attend depositions, assist in witness preparation, assist in presenting cases at public hearings before administrative law judges or panel of commissioners and assist in preparing post-hearing and appellate briefs.

Externship: Phila District Attorney's Office

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. PREREQUISITE: Students must have completed Constitutional Criminal Procedure and Evidence. Participants, after an intensive training program, and upon certification by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will appear in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to handle preliminary hearings in felony cases, pre-trial motions and trials in misdemeanor cases. Student experiences are closely supervised and critically analyzed. Mock presentations and evaluations are conducted throughout the course. Participants must possess the fortitude to litigate in court; students will be interacting not only with members of the judiciary before whom they appear, but also with opposing counsel, and witnesses and victims of crime, some of whom may be uncooperative. Successful participants need excellent interpersonal and communications skills, abundant self-confidence, an outgoing nature, flexibility, and an ability to maintain their composure under stress. While this local externship will require a minimum of 20 hours work each week, it is likely that in many weeks the work will require substantially more hours. Participants must be available: 1. on two full days to appear in court. 2. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. -- on the afternoon preceding each day in court to review case files with their assigned supervising attorney (e.g. from 3:00 p.m. Friday if court days are Monday and Tuesday). 3. to participate in a classroom component from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. each Wednesday. 4. after each court appearance to complete their paperwork. This must be done before the student leaves the office and entails approximately 2 to 3 hours of very careful preparation. Students cannot miss the class meeting to finish this work. 5. Mandatory Orientation: All students MUST be available Wednesday, September 2, 2009 and Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (the two weeks before classes officially begin), at Three South Penn Square (meet in the Lobby). You must bring your copy of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. Dress code for this Externship is courtroom attire required at ALL times. Background Check. A background and/or criminal record check will be made. Students must complete a background form and submit two passport-sized photographs. Required Text. The required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania (Gould Publications). District Attorney students should contact the Clinical Programs office to arrange for their certification under Pennsylvania's student practice rule.

Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. The legal needs of children, resulting from child maltreatment, physical, mental, and emotional disabilities, special educational needs, and the denial of reimbursement by health care managed care agencies for medically necessary services prescribed by doctors demand increased academic and clinical attention, as well as skilled, and dedicated legal representation. Unfortunately, the structures in place to provide legal advocacy for these children are sparse and disjointed, and many of the providers of services to children at risk are inadequately trained and lack the essential experience in collaborative advocacy necessary to address the children’s immediate and long-term needs. Practice professor of Law, Alan Lerner, Dr. Cindy Christian, a pediatrician, and Director of “Safe Place” the child maltreatment clinic at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, along with a licensed Social Worker, offer an innovative, interdisciplinary, clinical seminar to bring together upper class law students, graduate social work students, and medical students, residents and/or fellows to study and compare the context, identification, treatment, and societal response to child abuse and neglect, and disabilities and special educational needs of children, and to provide the highly skilled multi-disciplinary advocacy for them and their families in a variety of legal settings, including Family Court and various administrative forums, necessary to help at risk children survive and prosper. In the process, the students jointly examine and grapple with important professional responsibility issues that arise, almost daily, in such interdisciplinary work. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit.

Keedy Cup Preliminaries

1 sem. hrs.
The Law School's intramural moot court competition, the Edwin R. Keedy Cup Competition, begins with the Keedy Cup Preliminaries, a voluntary competition among second-year students during the Spring Term. Students brief a pending United States Supreme Court case and argue the case before a panel of faculty members and local practitioners. Twenty-two semifinalists are chosen after the first round of argument. Competitors receive one academic credit for their work. Appellate Advocacy is not a prerequisite. The case will be distributed by the Moot Court Board in early February, and participants will have three weeks to write their briefs. You must register to access the problem case when it is posted to the course portal. Drop/add ends two days after the problem case is distributed.

Lawyering in the Public Interest Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar explores major lawyering themes that confront public interest lawyers in diverse practice areas and settings. It is designed to integrate theory and academic analysis with practice themes emerging from students' public interest work experiences during law school. Students will closely examine the unique challenges posed by community lawyering; the efficacy of competing service delivery models; the impact of scarcity of resources and high volume practice upon the practitioner; the empowerment of the disadvantaged and powerless through law and education; litigation and non-litigation strategies; legal and non-legal restrictions on the work of public interest lawyers; professional responsibility issues; the role of the private practitioner in the delivery of legal services to the poor; and current themes and timely issues relating to access to justice and public interest practice. Requirements include mandatory attendance, class participation, oral presentations, and completion of a seminar paper. Students will write seminar papers on topics selected with the approval of the instructors. Paper topics may, but need not, relate directly to the particular issues discussed in class. The paper is expected to be of publishable quality and may, with additional development and instructor permission, be used to satisfy the senior writing requirement. The final several weeks of the seminar will include oral presentations by students on their papers. There will be no final examination. Enrollment is limited. If the seminar is oversubscribed, preference will be given to Public Interest Scholars and Sparer Fellows who register timely for the course.

Legislative Clinic

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. The Legislative Clinic offers students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the role of lawyers in the legislative process and in the formation of public policy. The seminar is a live client course that combines legislative placements with a classroom seminar component. After consultation to consider student interests and preferences, students will be assigned to legislative placements in the offices of members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly or the U.S. Congress, or at public interest organizations advocating for legislative change under the supervision of experienced legislative advocates. In the seminar portion of the course, students will examine basic lawyering competencies required for successful legislative lawyering and will discuss issues of public policy, legislative strategy and professional responsibility that arise in their fieldwork. Seminar topics will include an examination of the role of the legislative lawyer; a comparison of lawyering skills needed to succeed in legislative and judicial forums; strategic legislative planning; statutory drafting; legislative research; and principles of legislative advocacy. The course may be taken for 7 credits (requiring 20 hours per week on average) or 4 credits (requiring a minimum of 12 hours per week). The course meets weekly for two hours. Enrollment is limited. Attendance is mandatory and class participation will count in grading. There is no final examination, however there are several required statutory drafting assignments, simulated exercises, and journal responsibilities. Students intending to enroll in the course must arrange their class schedules such that they can devote at least one full day during the week to their legislative placement. The best days to reserve for legislative placements are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (although Friday is acceptable). Please note that most Washington DC legislative placements now require two full days per week, so plan on taking the course for 7 credits if you are interested in a Washington DC legislative placement. You must appear at the first meeting of the course or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have the advance permission of the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4:00 p.m. on the first Friday following the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Legislative Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

Mediation Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. Mediation involves the intervention of a neutral third party into an existing or threatened dispute, usually with the aim of facilitating a negotiated resolution of the conflict. Lawyers are increasingly immersed in this arena, both as mediators and as representatives of clients in mediation. It is also a subject of great interest to business/transactional lawyers and those practicing criminal law. This clinical course focuses on the role, skills and ethical questions involved in the mediation function. It includes classroom study, simulated skills training, observations of outside neutrals in actual cases, and real case fieldwork in which students are front-line mediators under faculty supervision. By the end of the course, students will have learned a great deal about negotiation, advising, evaluating cases in litigation, chairing a meeting--as well as conflict resolution as a mediator. The course begins with classroom study and intensive simulation skills training. During this period, students are assigned to observe actual mediations and adjudications. In order for the fieldwork to begin by Week 6, there are approximately 12 hours of extra skills classes. (There will be partial make-up time reduction in later weeks.) You MUST be available for extra classes on the following Mondays and Wednesdays from noon to 1:20: Jan 20, 25, 27, Feb. 1,3,8,10, 15 and 17. Starting in Week 6, students are assigned to faculty-supervised mediations. Cases include civil litigation, criminal matters, child custody disputes and employment discrimination matters. The seminar meets for two (2) class sessions per week during most of the semester. Enrollment is limited. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Mediation Clinic to satisfy their Public Service requirement will receive three credits for this course. *NB: Students must be available for extra front-end classes from 12:00-1:20pm on the following Mondays and Wednesdays: January 20, 25, 27, February 1, 3, 8, 10, 15 and 17.*

Mock Trial Team Competition

2 sem. hrs.
As a member of the Penn Law Mock Trial Team, you will learn the skills necessary to analyze, prepare, and to try civil/criminal cases in the courtroom. You will learn how to connect with the judge and jury through your speeches. You will learn how to tell a compelling story through your witnesses on direct examination, and you will learn how to destroy your opponents’ witnesses through cross-examination. Most importantly, in weekly skills workshops you will have the opportunity to experience and use the legal principles that are ordinarily only topics of discussion in your other courses. Advanced workshops will focus on theatre, psychology, and technology in the courtroom. Additional subject matter may be covered depending on student interest and student requests. All interested students are welcome to register to attend the weekly skills workshops in the Fall and Spring semesters. Participation in a formal competition is optional; however, you must participate in a formal competition to receive credit.* In 2009-2010, we will compete in at least two national competitions and field at least four teams. During the Spring semester, students will compete in the AAJ National Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) and the ATLAC Mock Trial Competition (“ATLAC”) against teams from schools from around the country. By way of example, the ATLAC competition is held annually in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (“Pa.W.D.”). Eighteen schools from around the country prepare either the Plaintiff or Defense side of a real case submitted to the organizers. In addition to the team’s plaintiff/defendant witness (traditionally played by a 1L), on the day of the trial, the organizers provide medical doctors to serve as expert witnesses and paralegals to act as fact witnesses, both of whom must be prepared for their testimony “on the spot.” A sitting federal District Court judge presides over the day-long trial, after which, a real jury issues a verdict. Since the team’s first year of participation in this competition, we have not lost a verdict. Additional details on both competitions are available at www.atlac.org/mock.html and www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/1734.htm Students may also participate in additional competitions relating to White Collar Crime, Employment Law, and Criminal Trial Advocacy depending on student interest. Attendance at the weekly workshops in the Fall and Spring is mandatory for competitors and the course will be graded as Credit/No Credit. Failure to attend more than two workshops or withdrawal from a competition after committing to participate without prior approval will result in an award of “No Credit.” Competitors are expected to meet and practice in addition to the weekly workshops at least commensurate with the credit awarded for competition participation. *1Ls are also encouraged to attend our weekly workshops as early as their schedules allow to sharpen their advocacy skills. Length of seniority on the team will be considered in selecting team members to fill limited competition slots. 1Ls may compete as witnesses and will receive a notation for participation on their official transcript but are not currently eligible to receive credit for participation.

Negotiation and Dispute Resolution

3 sem. hrs.
Effective negotiation is at the root of most successful professional and personal encounters today. Whether representing an individual client or putting together a billion dollar deal, there are measurable differences in results between those who negotiate well and those who do not. The same is true whether buying a car or having a discussion with a family member. This course provides law students with the practical tools to become better negotiators. Students will learn how to systematically prepare for negotiations, deal effectively with hard bargainers and power imbalances, find hidden agendas, use standards more effectively, build coalitions, find creative options to overcome impasses, win over opponents and generally gain better results from the myriad encounters of life. This includes negotiating with peers, superiors and subordinates, in two-party and multiparty situations, with those who are similar as well as those who are very different. The course will include work on the special challenges of attorneys, including agency and ethics issues, use of negotiation in a litigation environment, and the problems and opportunities of multi-cultural and international representations. Also to be addressed will be issues of personal style, negotiating in highly emotional situations and dealing with a wide variety of parties, from passive to belligerent, corporate to government, family to fiduciary. A theoretical foundation will be presented. But the emphasis in each case will be on practical, operational tools. The course will be participatory. Students will negotiate cases from the start and will also be encouraged to bring their own thorny negotiation problems to class, to be analyzed and solved. This includes issues that students may already have or contemplate from their law firm jobs. There will be opportunities outside of class for one-on-one meetings with the professor on individual negotiation issues. Please note: All students are required to attend the first class of the semester. If you do not show up to the first class, you will be dropped from the course and your seat will be given to someone on the waiting list. Professor Diamond highly encourages #’s 1-10 on the waitlist to attend the first class. NOTE: Publisher for text books is not available as a choice. For Bargaining for Advantage, publisher is Penguin. For Influence, publisher is Quill.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Professional Responsibility

2 sem. hrs.
Using a variety of teaching formats, this course will examine the diverse roles lawyers play, the professional obligations incident to those roles, and the many sources of regulation of lawyer conduct. In examining various dimensions of the lawyer's interaction with clients, other lawyers, legal institutions and the public, the course will focus on the many external and personal factors that influence the lawyer's conduct in situations involving choice or decisions. It will include an examination of the adversary system, traditional and alternative conceptions of the lawyer's role and will examine broad themes involving life as a lawyer. Particular attention will be paid to those situations in which the lawyer faces conflicting obligations and where the law regulating lawyers may prove inconclusive in seeking to resolve those tensions. This course, however, aims to go beyond these concerns in assisting students in beginning to develop the ability to make sound ethical judgments and to define affirmatively a concept of the sort of lawyer he/she wishes to be. Successful completion of this course will satisfy the Professional Responsibility graduation requirement. The class will meet for nine weeks of instruction, two 80-minute sessions per week. There will be an in-class, closed-book essay examination given during the week following the last class.

Refugee Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the origins of “refuge” or “asylum” including the myriad of human rights violations that force people to flee and seek protection, public policy issues such as US laws and regulations that govern asylum, and international agencies that are involved in the process of granting protection. The course will cover both the international refugee law and human rights context of State practice with reference to international treaties and customary international law. The course will begin with a review of The United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees - the standard against which refugee protection will be measured. We will study the dimensions, responsibilities and realities of the Office of the United National High Commissioner for Refugees which monitors implementation of this treaty. We will then cover regional practice relating to refugees in Europe, Latin America and Africa and Asia and briefly discuss root causes reasons of current and potential population displacements The major portion of the course, however, will deal with US statutory, regulatory and case law determining who is and is not a refuge vis-a-vis the 1980 Refugee Act, implementing regulations, and administrative and judicial decisions law. To better understand and see how theory is put into practice, especially as it relates to deterring refugees from entering the US through their detention students may be involved in interviewing asylum seekers. The course will conclude by looking at the international institutional response to refugee problems. We will conclude with a discussion of ancillary refugee issues such as, restricted employment and welfare entitlements, expedited procedures, and returns to safe countries. By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Understand the international framework for refugee determinations 2. Understand the US domestic framework including legislation, regulations and judicial decisions, for refugee and asylum related issues 3. Show competency in conducting an intake of an asylum seeker and developing a case analysis 4. Research Country Conditions regarding human rights violations 5. Prepare An Application for Asylum, Form I-589 and understand US regulations dealing with asylum adjudication 6. Prepare an Affidavit attesting to the asylum seeker's claim for asylum 7. Prepare a packet with evidence to support the claim for asylum

Research in International and Foreign Law

1 sem. hrs.
Research in Foreign and International Law 1 sem. hour. Spring QIII This course will provide an opportunity for students to get acquainted with the basic sources available for research in public and private international law, as well as in the law of selected foreign countries. Students will learn how to find international treaties, European Union documents, decisions of international courts, statutes and court decisions of the United Kingdom and selected civil law jurisdictions such as France and Germany. The emphasis will be on English language materials. International trade, human rights and foreign constitutional and labor law research will be singled out for special attention. The availability of foreign and international materials online will be discussed. No prerequisites are required. The course is strongly recommended for journal editors working in this area and for participants in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and other international competitions. The course will have some recommended readings. A short paper and an in-class presentation on the same topic will be required. It will be graded pass-fail. There will be no final exam. Class attendance is mandatory. The format will be 80% lecture, 20% participatory.

Supreme Court Practice and Process (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Decisions of the Supreme Court are thought simply to reflect the Justices' views of the merits of the legal issues before the Court. But the results often are heavily influenced by the particulars of the process that leads up to the decision. This seminar will study the Supreme Court primarily from the point of view of the advocacy process that precedes and influences the Court’s decisions, but we will also look into selected aspects of the Court’s internal decisionmaking process. The course will examine the nature of effective advocacy before the Court and the ways in which advocates’ strategies may (or may not) influence the Court at each stage of a case – the petition for certiorari and brief in opposition; merits briefs by petitioner and respondent; and oral argument. The course will consider the influence of amici at each stage as well as the special role of the Solicitor General's office. The course will also examine some aspects of the Court’s process that do not relate to advocacy, such as the role of law clerks, the nature and extent of collegial decisionmaking at the Court, and the confirmation process for new Justices. Materials will include actual petitions, briefs, and oral arguments from recent and pending Supreme Court cases, as well as secondary sources. The course will include consideration of one or more cases currently before the Court, with a trip to the Court to hear an oral argument if feasible. Course sessions will include guest lectures by experienced Supreme Court advocates and others involved with Supreme Court litigation. Course requirements: to be determined, but will include drafting one or more documents based on filings in actual Supreme Court cases, and possibly an analysis of an oral argument.

Transnational Legal Clinic - Fieldwork

6 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTION PAGE. The Transnational Legal Clinic provides students an opportunity to explore legal advocacy in settings that cross cultures, borders, languages and legal systems through direct representation of individual clients with immigration cases and individual or organizational clients engaged in international human rights advocacy. Students work in teams of two or more under faculty supervision, and are responsible for all aspects of client representation. They meet regularly in their teams with the faculty supervisor to receive guidance and constructive feedback. Seminar time is devoted to: training in fundamental lawyering skills (interviewing, counseling, fact investigation, case theory and persuasive advocacy) through lectures, videos, interactive group work and simulations; and, case rounds, during which students share developments and solicit suggestions and feedback on legal, factual, ethical and strategic issues in their cases. Class participation is mandatory. Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to discuss competing interests underlying the development of immigration law in the U.S. and its relationship to international law, the role of international and comparative law in legal advocacy, law and organizing, and the role of the client in larger human rights/impact litigation cases. The seminar is not a substitute for an international law or immigration course. Substantive law will be discussed as needed in specific cases and students are responsible – with the guidance of the faculty supervisor – for researching and analyzing the underlying substantive law relevant to their individual cases. Fieldwork and seminar components of the course are graded separately. Students will be provided with a grading memo at the start of the semester outlining the criteria on which they will be graded. Students are expected to engage in critical reflection on the choices presented and made in their cases, and are required to write a self-evaluation memo mid-semester and at the end of the semester assessing their own performance and professional development. Class participation is mandatory. Students enrolled are required to read prior to the start of classes The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. The book explores the relationships between the American medical system, doctors and social workers, and a young Hmong girl and her refugee family. It raises several issues of cross-cultural communication that will serve as the basis for discussions throughout the semester. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if you are enrolled in another clinical course or an externship in the same semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course.

Trial Advocacy: Yearlong

2 sem. hrs.
This is a pass-fail course with strict reading and in-class performance requirements. It is a skills course in trial techniques and related litigation theory development. The student will learn how to prepare and try civil and criminal cases. The objectives are to create strong fundamental skills in the art of direct examination, cross-examination, objections, preparation of witnesses, jury selection, preparation and examination of expert witnesses, introduction of documents, and opening and closing arguments. There will be video-taped exercises followed by individual critique. The course culminates in full mock trials in state or federal courtrooms, with witnesses and jurors. All students participate as trial counsel. It is strongly recommended that students have completed, or are currently enrolled in an Evidence course. Attendance and participation are mandatory. Approximately six (6) students will be selected from the combined classes to participate, on a voluntary basis, in the National Mock Trial Competition. Tryouts are held at the conclusion of the first semester. If selected, the Trial Team's second semester will entail participation on the Trial Team, and those selected will not be required to attend the regular Trial Advocacy classes. This course is graded credit/fail only.

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COMMERCIAL LAW

Accounting

2 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the basic fundamentals of accounting, emphasizing the nature and purpose of financial statements. The course will focus on legal problems that lawyers and their clients should consider in using and relying on financial statements and not on the technical aspects of preparing financial records and financial statements. No prior background in bookkeeping or accounting is necessary. The course's format will be approximately 50% lectures, 50% Socratic. The takeaway exam will be a combination of short-answer, essay and multiple-choice questions.

Adv Issues in Priv Fin & Corp Reorg - Yearlong (S)

1.5 sem. hrs.
This seminar will address topics in private financing and corporate reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The principal emphasis will be on student research; a written research paper (which may satisfy the senior writing requirement) will be required. Students will be required to select a paper topic and submit a brief abstract before December 1, 2008. The instructor will be available in during the fall term consult with students about the selection of a topic. There also will be one or more organizational meetings in the fall term. Beginning after spring break seminar meetings will be devoted to students' presentations of their research and discussions by the seminar participants. Students wishing credit for the senior writing requirement must submit an initial draft for my review and comment by the week following spring break. All final papers will be due no less than five days before grades are due in the Registrar's Office for graduating students. THIS IS A FULL-YEAR SEMINAR AND STUDENTS MUST ENROLL FOR BOTH SEMESTERS.

Advanced Topics in Commercial Real Estate Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar is designed to introduce students to the variety and fluidity of structures in today's commercial real estate transactions and the lawyer's role in "structuring and negotiating the deal," taking into account the current state of the commercial real estate market. In the first part of the course, the students will get an overview of the impact of the capital markets crisis on commercial real estate transactions and real estate development, as well as an overview of the lenders forced to acquire the property securing their financing. Subsequently, the course will involve an examination and discussion of shopping center and mixed use development, acquisition, sale and leasing, including, the legal issues inherent in obtaining the entitlements, structuring the acquisition, the role of the lender as simply a source of financing or as an equity partner, and the legal relationships and conflicts among developers, contractors, architects, tenants, lenders, Wall Street, surety companies, hotel franchising companies and management companies. The exams will consist of a paper on selected topics. One or more paper topics will require research into points of law discussed in the earlier part of the course; other paper topics will involve creative analysis and deal structuring using tools learned in class and from the textbook.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Antitrust

3 sem. hrs.
The course considers the basic principles of antitrust law. It will examine the laws of horizontal restraints (including price fixing and other forms of collusion), vertical restraints (including resale price maintenance and territorial and customer restrictions placed on dealers), monopolization, merger regulation, and the relationship between antitrust and other forms of economic regulation. Although a background in economics may be useful, no previous knowledge of economics is assumed.

Chapter 11: Corporate Reorganization

3 sem. hrs.
This course, taught by an experienced practioner, will focus on the practical and strategic applications of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. It will examine applicable statutory and case law with particular emphasis on considerations confronting debtors and creditors in a business reorganization so that students will appreciate the negotiation, litigation, and the transactional components of a Chapter 11 case. Students will be assigned to discuss problems from the text. Those students who have not taken the basic bankruptcy course should read West Nutshell in the first two weeks of the course.

Commercial Arbitration

3 sem. hrs.
Arbitration is regarded by many, including the instructor in this course, as the principal and preferred method of resolving disputes under international commercial and investment contracts. The course will examine the law and practice of international commercial arbitration under the laws of the United States and other countries that are major arbitration venues. It will include a detailed look at the statutes, treaties and rules of arbitration that provide the framework for international, as well as domestic, commercial arbitration. The special topic of investment arbitration will be considered to the extent time permits. There will be substantial writing assignments, totaling approximately 25 to 30 pages and requiring some research. These assignments may include the drafting of short memoranda, a motion or brief for one of the parties in an arbitration, and either an arbitration award or a motion to a court to enforce or set aside an arbitration award. Students will act as counsel for parties to a hypothetical international commercial contract and, in that role, will draft and negotiate the contract’s dispute resolution clause, and will present briefs and oral argument in a hearing concerning a dispute under the contract. There will be no final examination. Students' performance will be evaluated on the basis of their written work and class participation. The course will be limited to no more than 16 students.

Commercial Credit I

3 sem. hrs.
The course will provide an intensive examination of some of the practices and legal problems which arise in the extension of credit, particularly business credit. The principal focus of the course will be on Article 9 of the UCC, which deals with security interests in personal property. The course will also introduce basic practices and principles involved in the extension of both secured and unsecured credit. Attention will be given to problems of relating the UCC to underlying legal principles of general applicability and to other statutes, such as the Bankruptcy Code.

Commercial Credit II

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus principally on bankruptcy, although we will also briefly consider state collection remedies and other nonbankruptcy issues that overlap with bankruptcy. We will consider all aspects of bankruptcy law, starting with commencement of the bankruptcy case; continuing through issues such as trustee avoidance powers and operating a business in bankruptcy; and concluding with liquidation, individual wage earner plans, and corporate reorganization. At various points, we will pay particular attention to recent legislative reform efforts. The course will consider both the theoretical debate as to the proper role of bankruptcy, and the doctrinal apparatus of the Bankruptcy Code. The class will be roughly 60% participatory, but will at times be Socratic (30%) or lecture (10%) in format. Class participation may be taken into account in grading. There will be an in-class exam.

Commercial Litigation Strategy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The course includes case studies of categories of litigation and the types of relief that plaintiffs seek, including damages, injunctive relief, declaratory judgments, and class actions. Experienced litigators will be guest speakers. Students will be expected to read cases assigned and participate in class discussions. Generally, each class will have two separate segments. One segment will be discussion of the cases from the assigned reading, generally led by one of the students, subject to advance assignment. The discussion will focus on the contentions by counsel and the court’s decision, with an emphasis on strategic objectives and alternatives. The second segment will discuss a general litigation topic, usually with a guest speaker. The specific topics are listed above, but are subject to change. There is no exam. The grade will be based on class participation (20%), one short paper (20%), and one long paper (60%).

Common Law Contracts

2 sem. hrs.
This course provides a summary of modern American contract law. The emphasis is on how the common law of contracts developed, and how common law principles have been modified by common law courts, by the Restatements of Contracts, and by the Uniform Commercial Code. An overview of such basic concepts as offer, acceptance, consideration, defenses to contract formation, and remedies will be presented. The course assumes some familiarity with U.S. civil procedure (federal and state ) It is designed to give practicing lawyers familiar with Code contract principles an idea of how the American common law has shaped and developed similar commercial concepts and principles. The emphasis is on practice rather than theory and is geared to the practitioner rather than the student. Course requirements - there will be one final examination and a group project.

Contract Drafting (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The aim of this course will be to teach students how to draft contracts that are clear and effective; participants can expect learn in one semester what a corporate associate might take several years to learn, if at all. The course will focus on two overarching topics: what to say in a contract, and how you should say it. In terms of contract language, much of our time will be devoted to having students put into practice the recommendations contained in Professor Adams’s ABA book “A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting.” In addition, we will examine the building blocks of a contract and the linkages between them; we will explore certain key contract concepts, such as “material adverse change” provisions and “best efforts” and its variants; and we will study the “boilerplate” provisions that are found in most contracts. We will also explore how contracts are drafted and negotiated. Throughout, we will consider the shortcomings of current drafting practices, in terms of both quality and process. There will be several written assignments, each requiring that students either draft a contract expressing the terms of a mock transaction or redraft a contract that is representative of mainstream practices but is nonetheless deficient. Students will be permitted to drop the course only after the first class. And anyone who wishes to add the class will be permitted to do so only if they attended the first class.

Corporate Finance

3 sem. hrs.
This course presents an overview of the basic principles of corporate finance. Topics include securities valuation including the discounted cash flow analysis, pricing of bonds and common stocks; portfolio theory including the capital asset pricing model and precepts of market efficiency; and capital structure of firms, including the weighted average cost of capital and debt policy. This material is then combined in a section dealing with approaches to valuing entire companies. A final brief section introduces option theory. The course combines finance and legal perspectives for each topic. The primary reading is a standard MBA-level finance text. There will be a series of ungraded problem sets and a graded open-book final exam. This course or an equivalent course satisfies the requirements needed to register in upper-level MBA courses offered by the Wharton Finance Department. Prerequisite: A completed course in or current enrollment in Corporations. There will be an in-class exam.

Corporations

4 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on the structure and characteristics of the modern business corporation, with particular attention given to problems relating to the large, publicly held company. Some emphasis will be given to federal securities laws and the impact of federal securities regulation on corporate governance. The class will be roughly 60% participatory, but will at times be Socratic (30%) or lecture (10%) in format. The open-book exam will be in a multiple choice format.

Deals: Economic Structure of Transactions & Contracting

3 sem. hrs.
This course focuses on the role of professionals, including lawyers and investment bankers, in creating value through transaction engineering. The overall goal of the course is to explain how private parties actually order their commercial interactions and to develop a theory of how they ought to do this. The first half of the course will be devoted to impediments to transacting, including asymmetric information, difficulties intrinsic to contracting over time, enforceability, and various forms of strategic behavior, and to a variety of possible responses rooted in decision theory, option theory, risk management, and incentive alignment. In the second half of the course, student teams will apply the tools developed in the first half to a series of real transactions. That part of the course will be described in more detail in a separate memo to be circulated once the roster of deals is fixed. The requirements for the class are regular attendance and active participation in class discussions, completion of homework assignments, and a group project. For the group project, students will be divided into teams of roughly 8 to 10. Each team will be assigned to a transaction and given access to the original documents for their deal. The student teams will present their transaction to the class, focusing on how the transaction was structured and the advantages and disadvantages of that structure. After the students make their presentation, one or more of the parties who worked on the transaction will present the deal and take questions from the class. Each student team will then draft a final paper on its transaction. The only prerequisite for the course is that students have taken or currently be taking corporations. Although not strictly required, most students find it helpful to have at some point taken at least introductory courses in microeconomics and finance. This course meets jointly with the MBA level course offered through the Wharton Management Department. Enrollment will be restricted this year to 25 upper class Law students and 25 graduate Wharton students. In the event that the course is oversubscribed, Law students will be admitted from the waiting list only if other students drop the course. Priority for admission in these circumstances will go to students who have attended the class from the beginning.

Financial Accounting

3 sem. hrs.
The objective of the course is for the student to learn to read, understand, and analyze financial statements. The course adopts a decision-maker perspective of accounting by emphasizing the relation between the accounting data and the underlying economic events that generated them. The course focuses initially on how to record economic events in the accounting records (bookkeeping and accrual accounting) and how to prepare and interpret the primary financial statements that summarize a firm's economic transactions (the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flows). The course then examines in depth the major asset, long-term liability, and shareholders' equity accounts. This class is offered for a grade only; there is no pass/fail option.

International Bankruptcy

2 sem. hrs.
This course first introduces students to the basic principles and problems of international bankruptcy cases. It then turns to the business bankruptcy systems of various countries and regions in all parts of the world, with instruction from leading lawyers and judges from those countries and regions. The course then focuses on the questions presented when parties in a business bankruptcy case are invoking the bankruptcy laws of different countries and how these questions are resolved by courts in the United States under new Chapter 15 and by courts in other countries.

International Business Transactions

3 sem. hrs.
This course provides an overview of the legal issues—domestic, foreign, and international—that arise when U.S. companies do business abroad. Transactions discussed include export sales, agency and distributorship agreements, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, privatization, project finance, and foreign government debt. The course also covers U.S., foreign, and international regulation in such areas as antitrust, securities, intellectual property, tax, and foreign corrupt practices. The course does not cover U.S. rules on import restrictions or W.T.O. matters.

Intro to IP Law and Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course starts from the premise that the law and policy of intellectual property is increasingly becoming an important component of a modern legal education. As such, the course will present a broad overview of the contemporary doctrinal and policy challenges facing intellectual property in an era of rapidly changing technology. The course is not intended to replace (or be a prerequisite for) any of the basic IP courses - instead, the class will be structured around several of the major recent disputes over the patent, copyright, and trademark laws, considering these from both a doctrinal and a social policy perspective.

Issues in Corporate Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will examine a variety of cutting edge issues in corporate law with frequent guest lecturers. A basic course in corporations (at Penn or abroad) is a prerequisite. Attendance is required. Students will be expected to write a series of 3-5 page "reaction papers" in response to the assigned reading.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship

2 sem. hrs.
This course introduces students to the unique role of the lawyer in counseling entrepreneurs and emerging growth companies which they generate. A hypothetical example of a start up technology or life sciences venture will serve as the backdrop for exploring the numerous substantive disciplines which are commonly implicated in such representations, including corporate and tax issues considered in entity formation, protection of intellectual property, issues surrounding the raising of seed and venture capital, labor and employment, outsourcing and equity compensation issues. Discussion of such issues will be lead by guest lecturers expert in such areas. In addition, to provide the practical background for understanding the role of the emerging growth lawyer, the course will also feature prominent guest speakers who will address preparation of a business plan, the role of the accountants, organizational build out consultants, investment banks and venture capitalists. The course will conclude with a panel of Chief Executive Officers of successful emerging growth companies who will describe their experiences with legal issues and the role of the lawyer in facilitating their successes. In addition to covering the substantive and practical disciplines inherent in representing such companies, the course will track how those issues change and the answers evolve throughout the life cycle of an emerging growth company, from start-up through initial public offering or exit. Professors Goodman and Jannetta are both Partners in the Emerging Growth Practice at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. There will be a takeaway exam.

Patent Law

3 sem. hrs.
In our modern technologically-based economy, the creation and enforcement of patent rights can make or break a business. With record numbers of patents being issued every year, the stakes for inventors (and, indeed, their lawyers) continue to increase, even as the patent law and its administration faces growing criticism. This course seeks to equip students with a detailed overview of the law and policy of the United States patent system. We'll organize our inquiry into four components. The first considers the justifications for (e.g., economic, moral, political) and creation of patent rights as well as the relationship between patent law and other "intellectual property" concepts. The second will delve into the details of the statutory requirements for patentability, with a focus on both the "black letter" law and the underlying policies. Third, we'll consider the scope and enforcement of patent rights, again considering how the policies expressed in the legal doctrine relate to the justifications for patent rights we discussed in section one. And finally, we'll conclude with a look at the subject matter of patents -- considering specifically the cases of biotechnology, computer software, and internet business models -- drawing together the ideas introduced throughout the course. Class exercises and simulations will be used throughout to highlight important concepts. Last year's syllabus and additional information can be found at http://patents.pennlaw.net/.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Real Estate Transactions

3 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to provide an introduction to modern real estate transactions, in theory and in practice. The course materials will cover sales/purchases, mortgage financing, leasing, and related subjects, with emphasis on the relevant transactional documents and the lawyer's role in negotiating and drafting those documents. We will also consider some of the legal issues arising from the current mortgage crisis. The instructor will assume that students have taken contracts, property 1, and civil procedure.

Structured Finance and Securitization

2 sem. hrs.
This seminar is designed to familiarize the student with the underlying legal concepts necessary to understand contemporary securitization and structured finance transactions. The course will introduce the basic economic elements of securitization and the economic business rational for this type of finance. Today, structured finance and securitization is a major element of the worldwide capital markets practice. The topics covered will include commercial finance, including Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, corporate law, securities and investment company act regulation, bankruptcy law and securitization, tax issues and structuring considerations in securitization transactions, bank regulatory aspects of securitization, and cross-border securitization transactions. The course will focus on the many types of securitization that exist today and show how different legal disciplines interact in each of the transaction. The course will require some knowledge of introductory corporate and tax law and some exposure to basic bankruptcy law concepts. Introductory Securities Regulations will also be helpful. The course will not require any background in the economics of securitization or related capital markets transactions, although this may be helpful. It is the goal of the course to provide a thorough introduction to this area of practice so that a student has skills to evaluate these types of transactions in a law firm or investment banking firm setting.

Taxation of Business Entities

3 sem. hrs.
Modern tax practice requires a panoptic understanding of business forms. The classic “C corporation” no longer predominates, and it is not unusual for a single deal structure to incorporate a variety of business entities. This course covers major topics in the taxation of corporations (both “C” and “S”), limited liability companies, partnerships, and their owners. The course is organized primarily topically; business forms are analyzed in parallel fashion topic by topic. Topics include the choice of entity, contributions from owners to businesses, business operations, and distributions from businesses to owners. The course objectives are two: to provide students with a general sense of the landscape of business taxation; and to instill in students the sort of deeper understanding of each business form that derives from explicit and frequent comparison to alternatives. The course is intended for two types of students. First, it is addressed to students who wish to specialize in tax law, and who may go on to take courses on partnership tax or corporate tax, which would generally cover a different set of more specialized topics. The course is also intended for students who are not planning to specialize in tax, but who believe they would benefit from a general examination of business tax issues, perhaps as a complement to their study of other areas of business law. Federal Income Taxation, or an equivalent course, is a prerequisite for taking this class.

Trial Advocacy: Yearlong

2 sem. hrs.
This is a pass-fail course with strict reading and in-class performance requirements. It is a skills course in trial techniques and related litigation theory development. The student will learn how to prepare and try civil and criminal cases. The objectives are to create strong fundamental skills in the art of direct examination, cross-examination, objections, preparation of witnesses, jury selection, preparation and examination of expert witnesses, introduction of documents, and opening and closing arguments. There will be video-taped exercises followed by individual critique. The course culminates in full mock trials in state or federal courtrooms, with witnesses and jurors. All students participate as trial counsel. It is strongly recommended that students have completed, or are currently enrolled in an Evidence course. Attendance and participation are mandatory. Approximately six (6) students will be selected from the combined classes to participate, on a voluntary basis, in the National Mock Trial Competition. Tryouts are held at the conclusion of the first semester. If selected, the Trial Team's second semester will entail participation on the Trial Team, and those selected will not be required to attend the regular Trial Advocacy classes. This course is graded credit/fail only.

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CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND RELATED FIELDS

Administrative Law

3 sem. hrs.
We live in an administrative state, populated by thousands of governmental bodies that collectively exercise pervasive authority over the entire economy and the lives of every citizen. Unlike courts, which enjoy explicit constitutional independence, administrative agencies constitute a more constitutionally ambiguous “fourth branch of government.” Also unlike courts, most agencies have authority to wield a wide variety of regulatory powers other than adjudication, including rulemaking, licensing, advice-giving, and prosecution. Administrative law is the body of constitutional, statutory, executive, and “common law” principles that constrain and thereby seek to legitimate the exercise of these powers. This course will provide a critical examination of these principles, preparing you for the inevitable encounters lawyers have with administrative agencies in their professional practice. This is a 1L elective course and 1Ls will receive priority in enrollment.

Advanced Constitutional Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on topics not covered or covered slightly, in the first-year constitutional law course. There will be some, but hopefully not much, overlap with other advanced elective courses. Emphasis will be placed on important current issues and recent or pending cases. Among the topics, or subject areas, to be discussed: Civil liberties in the Age of Terrorism; immigration, citizenship and alien rights; congressional enforcement of the reconstruction amendments; new developments in racial equality (e.g., Michigan) sexuality and the constitution (e.g. Lawrence); religion and the First Amendment; the distribution of national power; commerce clause limitations on state power; congressional regulation of the political process. This list is not set in stone; there may be additions or subtractions.

Church and State

3 sem. hrs.
This course explores the tensions, common interests and political ramifications of religious faith and religious activity in an ostensibly secular society. The course will focus on constitutional issues, including the establishment and free exercises clauses of the federal constitution, and state and federal statutes such as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. It will also address questions of broad social applicability, including but not limited to compulsory flag salutes, school prayer, religious accommodation for employees, polygamy and same-sex marriage, drugs, ritual slaughter of animals, and government funding of religious freedom in the United States, as well as the development of constitutional doctrine and caselaw. There will be an in-class, open book exam.

Comparative Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to the legal systems of the civil law, with a focus on continental Europe. Many of the characteristic features of the Civil Law -- the absence of a jury, the relative lack of reliance on judicial precedents, the civilian approach to civil and criminal procedure -- have their origin in ancient and medieval times. The course will therefore start with a brief introduction to European legal history. After that, we will turn to an examination of the three most influential modern systems: those of France, Germany, and Italy. We will examine the civil codes, the nature of continental adjudication, the “inquisitorial” approach to criminal justice, and comparative constitutional law. After having treated the domestic systems, we will briefly turn our attention to the rise of the EU, the nature of its institutions, the way in which it functions on the international scene, and the way in which it has been bringing fundamental change to the domestic legal systems of Europe. The emphasis throughout the course will be on the ideas underlying legal change - that is, on the intellectual justifications the civil lawyers have provided for their distinctive approach to legal problems.

Conflict of Laws

3 sem. hrs.
A study of the resolution of cases connected to more than one jurisdiction: when different jurisdictions (states or nations) have adopted different substantive rules of law, which should govern? Major topics will include the more significant historical approaches (vested rights and interest analysis); the Second Restatement; the role of the U.S. Constitution in interstate conflicts; international conflicts; and domestic relations.

Constitutional Criminal Procedure

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus upon constitutional law issues that arise during the investigation of a criminal case. Attention is given to Fourth Amendment limitations on police conduct; the scope of the exclusionary rule; the law of confessions, including Miranda v. Arizona and its progeny; lineups and other pre-trial identification procedures; the use of informants and secret agents; and the privilege against self-incrimination in the grand jury setting.

Constitutional Law

4 sem. hrs.
A study of basic issues of federal constitutional law. Major topics will be: the role of courts in the interpretation of enforcement of the U.S. Constitution; the scope of federal legislative powers under the Constitution; federalism limitations placed on the powers of state and local governments; individual civil, political, and human rights under the U.S. Constitution, with the primary emphasis on the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Constitutional Litigation

4 sem. hrs.
The United States Constitution purports to restrain the actions of state and federal governments. When these restraints are transgressed, the injured parties and their representatives look to the federal courts for remedies. This course considers the legal doctrines that shape the courts' readiness to provide those remedies and the ways in which doctrines are likely to manifest themselves in the course of litigation. Topics include: the availability of damage actions, sovereign and official immunities, jurisdictional problems, abstention, Younger v. Harris and its emanations, standing and issues of institutional litigation. The format is Socratic. Exam will be a takeaway open-book essay.

Constitutional Theorizing (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will evaluate major theoretical works about the constitution, its meaning and interpretation. We shall begin with several of the most important essays in the Federalist Papers, regarded by many as America's foremost contribution to political theory. Among the other theorists whose work will be considered are Ames, Hand, Ely Michelman, Ackerman, Sunstein, MacKinnon, Bork, Dworkin, and Scalia.

Criminal Procedure: Prosecution and Adjudication

3 sem. hrs.
Traditional criminal procedure courses share two features: First, they treat criminal procedure as a subset of constitutional law. This means that they focus on doctrine and case law, in particular the decisions of the Supreme Court and how the Warren Court expanded defendants’ rights while the Burger and Rehnquist Courts have stayed or reversed this trend. Second, traditional courses focus on jury trials. This course will not be a traditional criminal procedure course. As a former federal prosecutor, my own view is that law schools focus too much on Supreme Court doctrine, ignoring variations among states and how police, prosecutors, and judges implement these rules in the real world. I also think that we should move beyond our obsession with jury trials, which today account for only 4-5% of felony adjudications. The real action today is in charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing, and this course will pay much more attention to these topics.This course will not overlap with Constitutional Criminal Procedure (now called Criminal Procedure: Investigation), which covers searches and seizures, Miranda warnings, etc., so those who have taken that course should feel free to take this one as well (and that class is NOT a prerequisite for this one). This course will, however, overlap with the Advanced Criminal Procedure course, so students may not take both. This lecture course will survey post-arrest criminal procedure. Topics will include the right to counsel, charging, double jeopardy, joinder, discovery,guilty pleas, sentencing, and appeals. Time permitting, there will also be selective coverage of jury trials and habeas corpus / collateral review. The final exam will be an eight-hour, open-book exam that students must take on a set date, with two issue-spotting essay questions. For each question, students will receive documents such as a police report, an indictment, and a guilty plea or sentencing transcript and will have to write an appellate brief or a habeas petition / opposition challenging or defending a conviction. The textbook for this course will be the same one (Miller & Wright) used in the Criminal Procedure: Investigation class. The instructor expects prompt and consistent class attendance. Students must add this class by the first class session, though they may drop the class in the first two weeks but not thereafter, absent exceptional circumstances. The instructor is seriously considering conducting an optional oral midterm examination, which would count only if it raised a student's grade. Students may not use laptop computers in this class, except during exam review sessions. Students should focus on listening and responding to the professor and one another instead of trying to transcribe every word spoken in class.

Death Penalty & Habeas Corpus

2 sem. hrs.
The course explores the theoretical bases and practical realities of death penalty law, and the interplay between substantive and procedural law both at the state and federal levels in the context of actual practice. The first half of the class deals generally with substantive death penalty issues, commencing with the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia. We look at the limits imposed on the states by the Supreme Court in order to have a constitutionally viable death penalty. What are the minimum protections that a state death penalty statute must provide? What trial procedures must be in place? The second half of the course explores how these issues interplay with federal habeas corpus, particularly since the enactment of the AntiTerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996. These issues address the balancing of the three "F's" at the heart of habeas: Federalism, finality and fairness. The class is taught in a participatory format, and active engagement is not just encouraged, but expected. Laptop abuse will result in the laptop being banned on an individualized basis.

Election Law

2 sem. hrs.
We will address a variety of constitutional, statutory and practical issues, including: the role and rights of major and minor political parties; ballot access; voting rights, including voter suppression and voter fraud; money and corruption in politics; government stasis and the efficacy of remedial efforts such as term limits, and the Initiative, Referendum and Recall; and our state-driven election regulatory administration. There will be a 48-hour take-home test.

Employment Discrimination

3 sem. hrs.
This course will introduce the basic theories and legal principles underlying equal employment opportunity law in the United States. The course focuses primarily on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, and secondarily on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act: the fundamental federal statutes prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, gender, religion, age and disability. The course begins with an overview of the primary structures of proof in employment discrimination cases--individual disparate treatment, systemic disparate treatment, and disparate impact. We then consider in greater depth specific topics including sexual harassment, gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation, pregnancy discrimination, religious discrimination, reasonable accommodation requirements, and affirmative action.

Evidence

4 sem. hrs.
A study of the common law and federal rules of proof, taught by a practicing trial lawyer. The scope and function of the rules are analyzed against the background of problems arising during the trial of an issue of fact, and the rules are evaluated on the basis of their logical consistency and their tendency to promote or impede a rational method of investigation. The format will combine lectures organizing the materials, Socratic questioning on the readings, and class discussions about policy issues. A particular emphasis will be the importance of thinking strategically about how to apply the rules in pre-trial preparation, and during trial itself. The exam will be entirely closed-book with a mostly black-letter, multiple-choice section and a less structured policy-oriented essay.

Evol of Intl & Const Legal Constraints on War (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar aims to develop an understanding of the theoretical origins of the legal constraints on the use of armed force, and the relationship between the constitutional and international law issues relating to such constraints. The seminar will begin with medieval ideas on just war, the emergence of legal constraints in early international law, through the development of constitutional law notions in the 18th Century, and the modern structure of both international and various constitutional regimes in the 20th Century as they relate to limiting armed conflict or the use of armed force. It will also provide an introduction to the arguments being employed in the debate over war powers in the constitutional realm, and whether the international law regime governing the use of force needs to be adjusted to respond to the evolving threats in a post 9/11 world. There are no specific prerequisites for this course. Grades will be based on a final paper (85%), and on participation (15%), and so attendance is important. There will be no mid-term exam. Materials, comprised of a mix of extracts from texts, journals, and case law, will be provided through the course portal.

Family Law

3 sem. hrs.
This survey course provides an introduction to the legal regulation of the family. Topics include restrictions on marriage; rights and obligations imposed on married couples; legal problems facing same-sex couples and nontraditional families; premarital and separation agreements; the legal construction of parenthood; the legal ramifications of alternative reproductive technologies; and the various incidents of divorce, including property distribution, spousal support, custody, and child support.

Federal Courts

4 sem. hrs.
This course examines the functions, powers and responsibilities of the federal courts, and considers their relationships with state governments and with the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. Topics covered will include justiciability; congressional authority over, and statutory and judge-made limits on, federal jurisdiction; Supreme Court review of state court judgments; federal common law; advanced topics in federal question jurisdiction; suits challenging state and federal government action, and immunities asserted in such suits; and federal habeas corpus. There will be an in-class, open-book essay exam.

Federalism (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will examine a variety of topics in the political economy of constitutional federalism. Issues to be covered include the advantages and disadvantages of political decentralization, competition between state and local governments, the impact of federalism on the status of minority groups, the Founding Fathers' view of federalism, and the role of the judges in enforcing federalism through judicial review. While most of the course focuses on federalism in the United States, some readings will also employ a comparative perspective. Each student will be required to write a research paper on a federalism-related topic of his or her choice. Grading will be based partly on written work, and partly on class participation.

First Amendment

3 sem. hrs.
This course will involve a critical examination of major first amendment free speech and free press doctrines, focusing on Supreme Court cases. Reading will be case law (plus case book notes), approach will be relatively theoretical. Classes will be oriented toward understanding, defending and critiquing case rationales on assumption that student have carefully read case before class. Exam will have student apply case law to hypo with an eye toward theoretical understanding and, possibly, a more general essay question.

First Amendment in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Discussion of the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech, press and assembly during the second half of the twentieth century occupied a central place in the Supreme Court's practice of judicial review. As the century closed, the "information age" brought new urgency to some elements of the discussion, and threatened to transform others. This seminar will examine the development of the constitutional doctrines protecting freedom of expression, and the ways in which these doctrines are likely to occupy the courts in the twenty first century. Discussion is likely to include problems of incitement and threats, conspiracy, compelled speech, anonymity, libel, obscenity, emotionally abusive speech, intellectual property, privacy, access to public fora, the internet and media structure. The first nine weeks will consist of discussion of class materials presented by the instructor; the last four weeks will consist of presentation of papers by students. Reading will be substantial, and attendance, preparation and class participation will be required of all seminar members.

Immigration Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course explores immigration policy and provides a comprehensive overview of the legal framework that regulates the admission and deportation of aliens in the United States. The course begins with a brief review of the history of immigration in the United States, a discussion of the morality of immigration restrictions, an analysis of the economic effects of immigration, and an examination of the constitutional basis for the federal government's power over immigration matters. The course then covers the existing categories of visas, the statutory provisions that can trigger exclusion or deportation, the issue of unauthorized immigration, and the constitutional law regarding restrictions on immigrant access to public benefits. The course explores the constitutional rights of aliens and the corresponding limits to the federal immigration power, including those arising from the First Amendment and from the Due Process Clause.

Intellectual Property & Nat'l Econ Value Creation (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal structure of intellectual property laws in the United States and select foreign countries and the effect of these laws on the countries national economic development. In this process, we will explore the nature of the correlation between different types of intellectual property laws and national economic development. We will also discuss the quantification of the economic value of different types of intellectual property laws. Lastly, we will engage in a discussion as to whether intellectual property laws can be effective tools for social engineering.

International Human Rights

3 sem. hrs.
This course traces the dramatic rise of the individual as a subject of international law in the post-World War II era; specifically, as a beneficiary of fundamental rights recognized, protected and enforced directly by that system of law. It begins by laying historical foundations, showing how the individual was formerly treated as no more than a mere appendage of his/her State, and then considers the transformation effected by the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and two International Covenants (1966). The evolution of specific areas of human rights will be considered, eg, civil and political rights, elimination of racial discrimination, elimination of discrimination against women, freedom of religion, elimination of torture, children’s rights, etc. In each case, three "eras" will be traversed: (a) that of general principles, in which the notion of the rights emerges at the general level; (b) that of specificity, in which the content of the rights takes shape and is defined; and (c) that of enforcement, in which the international legal system seeks to give practical effect to the rights it has recognized, at the national, regional and international levels. Consideration will also be given to exceptions to human rights principles, and possible derogations from them, where tensions arise at the interface of human rights and national security interests. Videos will be shown in class, dealing with the creation of the Universal Declaration, the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and Czechoslovakia, a tribunal established by NGOs to highlight abuses suffered by women, the effect of the Children’s Convention and a contemporary trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The essay exam will be an open-book takeaway. Students may opt to write a paper (with Professor Reicher's permission) in addition to the exam. Such papers will count as 60% of the course's grade (with the takeaway exam constituting the other 40%) and may be considered for Senior Writing. Class participation may be taken into account to improve a student's final grade.

International Human Rights and National Security

2 sem. hrs.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the U.S. policy responses that followed, have posed a series of challenges to U.S. and international legal rules and structures regulating the interests of human rights and national security. For some, the threat posed by international organizations like al Qaeda has demanded a reassessment of whether domestic and international law provides governments enough authority and flexibility to meet the modern threat of mass casualty terrorism. For others, images of detainee torture and prolonged detention at places like Guantanamo Bay have raised questions of whether human rights legal protections, including those forged in the aftermath of World War II, can actually be effective in constraining government power in times of acute security threat. Most broadly, as the United States continues to grapple with policy dilemmas posed by terrorism and methods to counter it, U.S. actions shed light on this country’s relationship to international law, and on prospects more generally for the legal regulation of national security. With a view to exploring these themes, this course begins with an introduction to several substantive bodies of law most centrally implicated by these questions, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law (the law of war), and affirmative legal authorities and constraints defining U.S. national security powers under U.S. constitutional and statutory law. Topics to be addressed include the nature and binding extent of state human rights obligations, the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties, the applicability of international humanitarian law to U.S. military operations, and the powers of the U.S. executive in situations of armed conflict. The course then turns to consider international and domestic structures for human rights law enforcement, with special attention to those mechanisms that most regularly encounter disputes involving human rights and security. In the international realm, the course will explore the operations of institutions including the UN Human Rights Council and relevant treaty bodies, as well as key regional courts. This part of the course will also consider how the U.S. domestic system implements U.S. and international human rights laws – both through the courts, and through non-judicial mechanisms such as administrative agencies and NGOs. The final portion of the course turns to consider how these rules and structures have been applied to contemporary topics in human rights and national security law, including interrogation and torture; security detention; prosecution and trial; and rendition of suspects from one nation to another. Drawing on case studies from recent events, the course will analyze the legal implications of these practices, and explore options for addressing the policy dilemmas that remain. Student grades for the course will be based principally on a take-home final examination distributed during exam period. Students will also be evaluated on the basis of class participation, and on the completion of a short reaction paper (3-4 pages) responding to one of the readings assigned during the semester. There are no prerequisites for this course. Cross-registrations are encouraged.

Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course engages foundational issues in jurisprudence and constitutional theory, including the nature of law, the authority of the Constitution's text, interpretive methods (e.g., originalism versus nonoriginalism), the countermajoritarian difficulty, and the role of nonjudicial actors in constitutional decisionmaking.

Jurisprudence of War Crimes

3 sem. hrs.
In recent years, scholars in many different fields have shifted their attention to the problem of the treatment of combatants and detainees in times of war. Revelations that the Bush Administration employed techniques against so-called “non-enemy combatants” that arguably violated the Geneva Conventions, as well as international and domestic laws against the use of torture, threw the legal community, as well as the public at large, into a heated debate about the permissible uses of torture in the war against terrorism and the efforts to enhance American security. This course will examine the problems of crimes of war, and more specifically torture, from a jurisprudential perspective. We will begin by considering the age-old debate in moral philosophy between the view that human beings have rights that cannot be overridden, and the view that all legal rules, including those governing conduct in war, should seek to optimize social utility, and that this principally requires a balancing of the costs and benefits of various courses of action. After considering the foregoing general debate between “deontologists,” as they are called, and “utilitarians,” we will consider the growing literature on the clash of these perspectives that the Bush Administration faced in deciding whether to authorize harsh interrogation techniques to assist in the global war against terror. In addition, we will consider such topics as the role of government lawyers in advising the government on the legality of its conduct. What is the role morality of a lawyer in this position? Does following the opinion of a government lawyer serve to immunize conduct of debatable legality? Should it, from a moral perspective? We will also look more generally at the role of international law in protecting human rights. One of the central arguments against the legality of torture bases itself on the idea that every human being has a set of rights with universal applicability, which rights are eo ipso violated when a human being, in whatever context, is made to suffer extreme physical and/or mental pain. Are there good philosophical arguments for the existence of such rights? If so, would the recognition of such rights provide a basis for universal prosecution for their violation? Finally, is prosecution of rights-violators the best way, and most compelling way, to protect individuals against violations of their rights, or would such prosecutions be both questionable from a legal standpoint and ill-advised from a global political perspective? In addition to the current debate about the techniques used in the Bush Administration’s war on terror, we will consider a number of historical examples, such as the prosecutions as Nuremberg, the prosecutions of the East German border guards, and the detention of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War.

Juvenile Justice Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How are juvenile offenders treated differently from adult offenders? To what extent should they be? These questions provide the focus for examining how the state treats the "aberrant" behavior of children. Students will be introduced to the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system in the United States beginning with founding of the juvenile court in 1899 and then-held assumptions about the nature of childhood. We will examine how in the late twentieth century the juvenile court has undergone both ideological and institutional change from its original form. These shifts in theory will be outlined with specific attention to several U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have significantly affected juvenile court, as well as psychological and social science data that have a continuing impact on juvenile court practice and jurisdiction. Throughout the course, students are invited to consider and imagine a future role for the juvenile court as it goes forward. Each class will be co-taught by two adjunct professors who are practitioners in the filed of children's law with particular emphasis in juvenile justice. During the last five classes, weekly reading assignments will be developed by student led teams, who will work with the professors in advance to select appropriate topics, relevant caselaw or other materials, as well as appropriate videos. Student teams will be responsible for leading class discussion on their designated topic. Each student is expected to complete a paper of approximately 10-15 pages in length, on an aspect of the juvenile justice system, as well as short reaction papers and legislative drafting exercises throughout the course. The topic of the paper must be approved by one of the course instructors. Students wishing to satisfy the law school's writing requirement must notify one of the instructors by the fourth week of class.

Law and the Holocaust

3 sem. hrs.
This course draws together comparative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, conflicts of laws, international law, human rights and legal history to examine the Nazi philosophy of law, emanating from the egregious racial ideology, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and ultimately eliminate, certain classes of people; then, to study the role of international law in seeking to rectify the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a system of international human rights designed to prevent a repetition. The course will consider the following areas: 1. The Holocaust: "Lawful Barbarism.” Overview of the Holocaust, and the ways in which it was "anchored" in law. 2. The Ideology That Made It Possible. Nazi theories of race and the nature and role of the State, and the legal system as an instrument of both. 3. The Nazi Legal System In Action. Laws giving effect to the theories of race, and their interpretation and application by the judges. 4. Jurisprudential Issues. Parts 2 and 3 above will form the foundation for an exploration of the role of morality in a system of law, through a consideration of academic writings and judicial reflection. An example of the former is the celebrated Hart-Fuller debate, in the Harvard Law Review; and an example of the latter is the controversial Bernstein litigation, in which the Courts grappled with the effect to be accorded in the US to expropriations of property by the Nazi regime. 5. Measure For Measure: The Response Of The International Legal System. Prosecution of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg; national legislation and court decisions bringing perpetrators of atrocities to justice; the Genocide Convention; and the evolution of international human rights, stressing the equality and dignity of all human beings, as a direct antithesis of the Nazi racial philosophy. 6. Lessons For The 21st Century. Case studies in which contemporary history--in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, etc.--raises the disturbing question: What lessons, if any, has the world learned from the Nazi era? Teaching in the course revolves around specially-edited materials, supplemented by video excerpts of archival footage of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, a re-enactment of the Wannsee Conference, a biography of Dr. Josef Mengele, Leni Riefenstahl's classic propaganda film Triumph of the Will, and a contemporary war crimes trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia.

Legal Responses to Inequality

3 sem. hrs.
This course will study legal material as expressive of, and as supportive of, differing concepts of equality and its role as a social value, rather than as simply part of a course of doctrinal development or a system of analytical reasoning. Its premise is that differences in those concepts are often not recognized, and the contestability and bases of one's approach to equality issues are often not acknowledged. Substantively, the course will include aspects of legal regulation affecting the status of racial, religious and ethnic "minorities," women, gay and lesbian people, and people perceived as disabled, as well as the distribution of wealth and income. It will do this in part by examining "antidiscrimination," "equal protection," or "poverty" law, but will focus also on issues of equality implicit in such mainstream first-year subjects as Procedure and Contracts.

Legal Revolutions in America: 1750-1880 (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This reading course will explore the enormous changes in American life and law that sustained the political, social and religious revolutions of the late eighteenth century through Reconstruction. All kinds of hierarchies were challenged (and many of them rebuilt) in the revolutionary epoch that unraveled British control, established new governments, and eventually created a new legal culture. The shattering of that culture and its reconstruction in a more powerful national government demonstrated the vulnerability as well as the versatility of the American revolutionary settlement. Students will write an essay reviewing scholarship and historical questions surrounding one of the major themes in the course, such as the Revolution, Constitution, or Reconstruction Amendments.

Legislation

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines issues relating to the enactment, application and interpretation of legislation, primarily at the federal level. The course will introduce students to the basic contours of Congressional lawmaking practice, theoretical models of the legislative process, the application and interpretation of statutes by the executive branch, and numerous aspects of judicial statutory interpretation. Students will explore and critique the different methods and canons that courts apply in construing statutes and consider issues such as the appropriate degree of deference to administrative interpretations, judicial use of legislative history in construction, and interaction between the courts and Congress. The basic text will be the Eskridge, Frickey & Garrett casebook, but students will also read selected legal and/or political science articles presenting current theories of legislative process and interpretation, and review examples of current cases and statutory debates. Grades will be based on an examination at the end of the semester.

Mental Health Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will cover the theoretical, doctrinal and practical issues in mental health law, with special reference to the criminal context. It will also be of interest to students interested in bioethics, health law, and family law.

Parents, Children and the State (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to examine the allocation of power between children, parents, and the government both within and outside of the family unit. Rather than providing a survey of family law, this course focuses upon primarily poverty law issues that arise from public institutions designed to promote social welfare and to protect and nurture young people and their families. Students should enter the course with a basic understanding of Constitutional law, along with a desire to explore social welfare through a variety of mediums. This course focuses upon the child welfare system. We begin with the foundational cases that establish both the legal rights and liabilities of parents. We will also examine recent federal legislation regarding termination of parental rights and touch upon adoption policy as it intersects with the foster care system. In exploring the dependency and child welfare systems, we will consider the role that race and class play in abuse and neglect cases and work to define the appropriate parameters of state intervention into the daily lives of families. Finally, we will examine the unique challenges that face counsel for children and parents.

Philosophical Foundations of Legal and Moral Equality (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Readings will mostly come from modern moral or political philosophers. Will start with Rawls and include selections from people such as Elizabeth Anderson, myself, G.A. Cohen, Dworkin, Habermas, Michelamn, Scanlon, Scheffler, Sen and others. A number of times during the semester, a student can expect to write a critical comment (not based on research) on the weeks reading; all other weeks, the student should write a question that the student thinks should be addressed about the reading - the critique or question being due the day before the class meets. Class discussion will focus on the readings, student critiques and student questions. The central questions of the seminar are: whether the concept of equality has a moral basis and if so, what is that basis; what is the best conception of equality; and how could/should/does that conception relate to law, presumably but not necessarily constitutional law. Given the nature of the course, attendance is expected and more than two absents may result in a lower grade. When absence is necessary, the student should still do the whatever written work is expected of him or her that week (though if needed it can be somewhat late).

Political Philosophy of the Constitution (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will examine the political philosophy of the framers of the Constitution. We shall read some of the works of the Whig political tradition in England (and in particular the essays of Hume) then study selected constitutional writings of the principal Framers, in particular Madison’s Notes of the Constitutional Convention, The Federalist and the writings of James Wilson. The aim will be both to understand the philosophical arguments relied upon by the Framers, and to examine their sources within the wider intellectual history of the eighteenth century.

Privacy

3 sem. hrs.
The study of privacy law serves several purposes. Most importantly, it introduces students to an important area of legal practice. Not only is privacy law now a recognized area of legal practice in its own right, but knowledge of privacy law is frequently called for in the practice of health, business and intellectual property law. The study of privacy law serves another purpose: developing a better understanding of the concept of privacy and the controversies--some philosophical, some political-- surrounding its application in the law. The course is divided into three sections or "chapters." Our study begins with state common law. State common law is an historic source of privacy protections. Chapter 1 examines the origins of state privacy law in the late 19th century and its subsequent growth until today. The chapter considers the four common law invasion of privacy torts recognized in most states and by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of (Second) of Torts. The chapter also examines the closely affiliated state common law of publicity and confidentiality. Chapter 1 samples major statutes enacted by state legislatures both to create privacy rights akin to those recognized in the common law and to supplement them. We move next to the federal constitution, a crucial major source of privacy law. Chapter 2 takes on the voluminous privacy jurisprudence spawned by the Bill of Rights-- most importantly, the First and Fourth Amendments’ jurisprudence of associational, physical, and informational privacy. This chapter also features the often-controversial Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and substantive due process decisional privacy jurisprudence. It concludes with a consideration of state constitutions that, state courts have held, significantly expand privacy protection beyond federal limits. The journey ends after an encounter with the federal privacy statutes, a dynamic source of privacy and data protection law. Chapter 3 examines nearly a dozen federal privacy statutes, covering government record management; health, education, and financial data; video rentals; communications; the internet; and surveillance. The chapter touches on some state counterparts to federal legislation and the agency rules that implement them.

Religion, Law and Lawyering

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines moral issues in public and private life from a religious perspective, without tying the investigation to any particular tradition of revelation. It is premised on the observation that the ways in which many of us think about questions of moral and legal obligation, and about our own intended careers, are related to our religious or spiritual outlook. Its aim is to read, think, and talk about contested moral questions with colleagues united only in their belief that the questions and their connection to religion are worth pondering, and in their (perhaps tentative) willingness to bring something of themselves into our discussions. This is not a course on the law of the First Amendment, although it may affect our understanding of some of the controversies that have arisen there We will consider questions like these: - Where do moral imperatives come from, and how do the answers found in religion and in law affect one another? - What are the implications of religiously-grounded values for our thinking about moral obligations and disputed issues of public policy? - What are the differences (and similarities) between religious and secular sources of moral norms? - Can religion's importance to our legal thinking, and its oft-found grounding in (differing) claims of revelation, be honored in a manner that honors too our commitment to pluralism and freedom of conscience? - Can we integrate our religious commitments with our choices of, and within, our work lives? Course requirements are regular attendance, conscientious engagement with the readings, and informed participation in discussions. The reading will consist of a specially prepared set of edited writings, to be posted on line. They are not doctrinal legal materials.

Right to Counsel (S)

3 sem. hrs.
What does it mean when a police officer says "if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you"? Since 1963, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has been interpreted to require the states to provide counsel to any defendant who cannot afford to hire an attorney. The right to counsel thus became an entitlement right, which is very rare in the Constitution. In this seminar, we will explore the evolution and current parameters of the right to counsel, including when counsel must be provided, what quality guarantee, if any, the right includes, impediments to the full functioning of the right, and efforts to enforce the right through litigation. We will also explore how the right applies outside the standard criminal courtroom, including post-9/11 contexts such as Guantanamo and Operation Streamline. Evaluation will be based on class participation (25%) and a paper (75%).

Same Sex Marriage: Law, Religion and Advocacy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will address the ways that marriage has been defined and re-defined in American law and religion. We will focus especially on the ways that supporters and opponents of same-sex unions have argued that justice, the Constitution, faith, and equality lead to one or another conclusion. Students will be required to write weekly responses to the reading, or a single research paper. Senior writing credit available for longer papers.

Shaping Communications Policy in the Obama Admin (S)

1 sem. hrs.
This course will examine changes by agency (at the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission), the role of the White House, Congress and other entities as "communications policy" is redefined and implemented in the new administration. The course may extend to other areas of communications (including public diplomacy and international communications policy). The reigning theme will be to understand whether there some overarching principles exist, how they are established and whether they can be enforced. It is a course that will look at inertia, institutional barriers, interest groups and civil society in the making of communications policy. The course, open to students in the law school, political science, and sociology as well as Communications. will be developed together with the Information Society Project at the Yale Law School where there will be a parallel Reading Group on the subject.

Sports Law

2 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on many topics in the law of sports. General areas to be covered will include contracts, antitrust, labor, arbitration, constitutional law and amateur athletics. Special attention will be given to antitrust litigation in the National Football League, collective bargaining in professional sports, television issues, franchise movement, Title IX, amateur sports, and the changing concepts of amateurism. It will be helpful if students have taken Antitrust or Labor Law. There will be a takeaway exam.

Study of Judicial Behavior (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How (and why) do judges reach the decisions they do? This fundamental question has perplexed legal scholars for more than a century. This seminar will introduce students to the dominant approaches to the study of judicial behavior in both the legal academy and the broader university. The seminar will place particular focus on the current dialogue between law professors and political scientists about how best to study judges and understand judicial behavior, although students will also read and consider works informed by economics, cognitive psychology, and related fields. The structure of the seminar will involve student engagement with major scholars working in this area. The first few meetings will involve background reading and discussion. Then, during the bulk of the semester, the instructors will arrange for scholars to visit Penn and present their work and receive comments and questions from the members of the seminar. Students will write a number of brief response papers on the works presented, participate in discussions of those works in advance of the authors' visits, and then lead the discussion when visitors make their presentations to the seminar. Evaluation will be based on the response papers and participation in the weekly seminar discussions. Enrollment is limited to 16 students.

Supreme Court Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
Supreme Court Clinic Professors S. Bibas and S. Kinnaird Yearlong: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 3 credits per semester, Mon. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Pre- or co-requisite: Supreme Court Practice and Process seminar, LAW 947-001, 3 credits, Fall 2009 Tue. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Clinic enrollment limited to eight students This year-long clinic will give students intensive, hands-on experience litigating cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. It is distinct from the pre- or co-requisite seminar, Supreme Court Practice and Process, LAW 947-001, which introduces students to the law, politics, and lawyering of the Supreme Court as an institution through a wide array of cases, briefs, and visiting speakers. The clinic, in contrast, will focus on the practical side of identifying and litigating real pending cases. In conjunction with the instructors and Supreme Court lawyers at a major Washington law firm, students will research and identify promising cases for Supreme Court review and take part in strategy sessions and conference calls, learning first-hand the tactical considerations that shape litigating positions and stances. They will then research and write first drafts of certiorari petitions, sections of merits briefs for the parties, and briefs amicus curiae at the certiorari and merits stages. Through intensive research, writing, editing, and rewriting, students will hone their legal-writing skills. Though students cannot argue these cases or sign briefs, their names will appear in appendices or footnotes to the briefs thanking them for their contributions. Students will travel to Washington D.C. several times each semester to meet with experienced litigators and watch moot courts and oral arguments in the cases on which they have worked. Students may take the seminar without taking the clinic, but if they wish to enroll in the clinic they must previously have taken or apply to take the seminar at the same time. They must be prepared to commit an average of at least ten hours per week to the clinic throughout the entire academic year, though the load will probably be lighter right around the final examinations period

Supreme Court Practice and Process (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Decisions of the Supreme Court are thought simply to reflect the Justices' views of the merits of the legal issues before the Court. But the results often are heavily influenced by the particulars of the process that leads up to the decision. This seminar will study the Supreme Court primarily from the point of view of the advocacy process that precedes and influences the Court’s decisions, but we will also look into selected aspects of the Court’s internal decisionmaking process. The course will examine the nature of effective advocacy before the Court and the ways in which advocates’ strategies may (or may not) influence the Court at each stage of a case – the petition for certiorari and brief in opposition; merits briefs by petitioner and respondent; and oral argument. The course will consider the influence of amici at each stage as well as the special role of the Solicitor General's office. The course will also examine some aspects of the Court’s process that do not relate to advocacy, such as the role of law clerks, the nature and extent of collegial decisionmaking at the Court, and the confirmation process for new Justices. Materials will include actual petitions, briefs, and oral arguments from recent and pending Supreme Court cases, as well as secondary sources. The course will include consideration of one or more cases currently before the Court, with a trip to the Court to hear an oral argument if feasible. Course sessions will include guest lectures by experienced Supreme Court advocates and others involved with Supreme Court litigation. Course requirements: to be determined, but will include drafting one or more documents based on filings in actual Supreme Court cases, and possibly an analysis of an oral argument.

Supreme Court: Great Cases (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This class discussion will, for the most part, focus on selected cases which, over the Court's two centuries, have seemed, inter alia, to define (for better or worse) the Court's perception, and implementation, of its appropriate role in the governance of the United States. In addition to participating actively in class discussions, each member of the seminar will prepare a relatively brief (in the twenty-five to thirty page range, not more) term paper. First drafts will be due not later than March 1. The term paper might address (1) the impact (or, possibly, the lack thereof) on the Court's work of a reasonably prominent judge, lawyer, professor, or political figure, or (2) an examination of themes given short shrift (or no shrift at all) in the cases assigned for class discussion.

Topics in Defamation

2 sem. hrs.
This course is meant to be an introduction to the basics of the law of defamation, and to current areas of controversy as the law continues to develop and new media emerge. A prior class dealing with First Amendment issues would be helpful, but is neither required nor necessary.

Topics in Philosophy of Law

3 sem. hrs.
This is an advanced seminar in the philosophy of law, listed as both a law school and a philosophy course offering. The course will begin with a brief survey of current scholarly writing on the central jurisprudential question "What is Law?" We will then address three methodological topics of significance for the philosophy of law: First, who is the legal subject? Is he rational or irrational, well-motivated or malicious, savvy or naïve? Second, what is the best account of legal reasoning? Do contemporary approaches to legal reasoning adequately take into account the psychology of the legal subject? Third, what general jurisprudential approach should we use to evaluate substantive theories of law? Should a theory of law seek to capture moral intuitions? Maximize utility or wealth? Reflect the choices legal subjects would presumably make were they able to select their own legal rules? Having addressed the foregoing foundational questions about law, we will then turn to more specific applications of legal theory. We will discuss specific topics in contracts, tort theory, criminal law, punishment theory, and international law, in order to test the theoretical propositions developed in the first part of the course in an applied context. Students will be expected to write one 25-30 page seminar paper. In addition, the seminar will be offered in conjunction with the Institute for Law and Philosophy's faculty workshop series, which will meet four times throughout the fall semester. Students are expected to write a short paper commenting on the speaker's article, and to attend the four workshop meetings on select Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:30.

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COURTS AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Administrative Law

3 sem. hrs.
We live in an administrative state, populated by thousands of governmental bodies that collectively exercise pervasive authority over the entire economy and the lives of every citizen. Unlike courts, which enjoy explicit constitutional independence, administrative agencies constitute a more constitutionally ambiguous “fourth branch of government.” Also unlike courts, most agencies have authority to wield a wide variety of regulatory powers other than adjudication, including rulemaking, licensing, advice-giving, and prosecution. Administrative law is the body of constitutional, statutory, executive, and “common law” principles that constrain and thereby seek to legitimate the exercise of these powers. This course will provide a critical examination of these principles, preparing you for the inevitable encounters lawyers have with administrative agencies in their professional practice. This is a 1L elective course and 1Ls will receive priority in enrollment.

Advanced Problems in Federal Procedure (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Study of selected problems in federal procedure, particularly complex litigation and discovery. There will be no exam. Each student will give two brief class presentations on selected readings. Each student will write a final paper, and will make a class presentation concerning his or her paper topic towards the end of the course. With instructors' prior permission, the final paper can be used to fulfill the senior writing requirement.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Appellate Advocacy

3 sem. hrs.
Each student will be assigned two problems requiring a written assignment and an oral argument. One of the written assignments will be a full brief under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Students will also be assigned readings in advocacy and related topics. No more than 12 students are admitted to each section; preference is given to second-year students.

Civil Practice Clinic: Fieldwork

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course examines first hand the challenging issues that confront lawyers who represent clients in civil disputes and litigation. Under close faculty supervision, students will serve as litigators in the Penn Legal Assistance Office, a teaching law firm providing legal representation to actual clients whose interests are directly at stake in state and federal court proceedings and in administrative agency hearings. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and provide legal representation in formal adjudicatory hearings under Pennsylvania's student practice rule. Students will be assigned their own individual cases in which they will have primary responsibility in a broad range of substantive areas, such as housing, social security disability, child custody and support, civil forfeiture, education, and discrimination and civil rights. The skills and experience obtained in this course will serve students throughout their professional careers, whether or not they choose to pursue litigation practice. In addition to their casework as lawyers, students will engage in classroom seminars twice weekly to obtain training in basic interactional skills (e.g., interviewing, counseling, negotiating) and to discuss in a collegial setting issues of case development, strategy and professional responsibility which arise in the Clinic's cases. Students will also participate in videotaped simulations utilizing trained actors as a means of enhancing skills development. Most important, each student will be assigned to an individual faculty supervisor with whom he/she will meet regularly on a one-to-one basis to receive close supervision and constructive feedback. Students will develop competence in basic lawyering skills as well as self-reflection, acquiring an ability to analyze what it is they do as lawyers and to learn from their own experiences. The Penn Legal Assistance Office is located in Silverman Hall which includes a court room, client interview and conference rooms, computerized student work and research areas and videotaping facilities. Fieldwork and classroom components of the course are graded separately. Class attendance is mandatory. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if: a) you are enrolled in another clnic, or an externship in the same semester; or b) you are responsible for 3 or more incomplete grades at the beginning of the semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Civil Practice Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

Civil Procedure

4 sem. hrs.
This course is devoted to a consideration of the basic problems of civil procedure. Pleading, discovery, multi-party actions, trial practice, and judgments are considered in terms of function and technique. The course is also designed to introduce the student to underlying problems such as jurisdiction, the choice of law in the federal system, and the role of courts as lawmaking institutions.

Complex Litigation

3 sem. hrs.
This course has two basic purposes. First, it is intended to expose students to topics of importance to the study of procedure that are not covered in most basic courses. Second, even as to matters covered in the first year, this course is intended to introduce additional (or at least non-traditional) perspectives, including: the values that inform or should inform a procedural system, the rhetoric of procedure and procedure as an instrument of power (whether in the hands of litigants or lawmakers). This course seeks to achieve both of its purposes through the study of procedural problems in complex litigation. The topics covered (including e.g., joinder of parties, class actions, judicial control of litigation, claim and issue preclusion) are considered largely, and sometimes exclusively, in the context of litigation that is complex because it involves multiple parties and/or multiple claims or because it involves lawsuits dispersed among the federal and state courts. This course will be taught in a seminar/participatory format. Class participation will be considered in grading. The in-class exam will be limited open-book, essay.

Conflict of Laws

3 sem. hrs.
A study of the resolution of cases connected to more than one jurisdiction: when different jurisdictions (states or nations) have adopted different substantive rules of law, which should govern? Major topics will include the more significant historical approaches (vested rights and interest analysis); the Second Restatement; the role of the U.S. Constitution in interstate conflicts; international conflicts; and domestic relations.

Constitutional Criminal Procedure

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus upon constitutional law issues that arise during the investigation of a criminal case. Attention is given to Fourth Amendment limitations on police conduct; the scope of the exclusionary rule; the law of confessions, including Miranda v. Arizona and its progeny; lineups and other pre-trial identification procedures; the use of informants and secret agents; and the privilege against self-incrimination in the grand jury setting.

Constitutional Litigation

4 sem. hrs.
The United States Constitution purports to restrain the actions of state and federal governments. When these restraints are transgressed, the injured parties and their representatives look to the federal courts for remedies. This course considers the legal doctrines that shape the courts' readiness to provide those remedies and the ways in which doctrines are likely to manifest themselves in the course of litigation. Topics include: the availability of damage actions, sovereign and official immunities, jurisdictional problems, abstention, Younger v. Harris and its emanations, standing and issues of institutional litigation. The format is Socratic. Exam will be a takeaway open-book essay.

Criminal Defense Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course will combine hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing litigation skills. Students will try cases under the close supervision of a senior trial attorney from the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During the first four weeks there will be intensive classroom study where students will learn Pennsylvania Criminal Law, Procedure, Evidence, trial and cross examination skills. During this period students will also be assigned mock cases to prepare in addition to observing actual preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials in municipal court. Students will then be assigned to represent defendants. Students will conduct misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and prepare various pretrial motions. Students will be interacting with their clients, members of the judiciary, District Attorneys, witnesses and complainants. Successful participants will need to be able to persuasively articulate legal arguments, work with a wide variety of individuals and maintain their composure in difficult situations. It is the instructor’s expectation that each student will have the experience of representing clients on 5 to 7 different cases. In addition to the classroom educational component described above, students will be exposed to a variety of guest speakers who will examine some of the ethical and social issues raised in criminal defense, and particular issues involved in representing the indigent. This course will meet for 6-1/2 hours, over two days per week. There will be a mid-semester evaluation of the student's progress and weekly feedback of the student's in-court performance, which can be scheduled at the student's convenience. Clinical instruction will be conducted at the Law School, except when courtroom appearances are required. This course will be open to 2L's who have completed three semesters and have had Evidence. (Students who have not had three semesters will be ineligible for certification by the court to appear on behalf of clients.) Enrollment is limited to 8 students. Class attendance and courtroom appearances are mandatory. The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 5, 2008. In addition to various handouts provided by the instructor, the required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania, Gould Publications. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Criminal Defense Clinic toward heir public service requirement will receive three credits for this course.

Criminal Law

4 sem. hrs.
This course will examine the criminal law as a device for defining and controlling harmful behavior. Attention is given to the theoretical justifications for and the effectiveness of punishment, the foundations of culpability, the basic principles of criminal liability, and the definition of offenses and defenses.

Criminal Procedure: Investigation

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus upon constitutional, statutory, case-law, policy, and ethical issues that arise during the investigation of a criminal case. Topics will include Fourth Amendment and other limitations on police searches, seizures, and surveillance; the scope of the exclusionary rule; the law of confessions, including Miranda v. Arizona and its progeny; lineups and other pre-trial identification procedures; the use of informants and secret agents; and the privilege against self-incrimination in the grand jury setting. This course is a renamed version of what has traditionally been called Constitutional Criminal Procedure, renamed to emphasize the variety of issues beyond constitutional ones that arise in a criminal case. Students may not take both that course and this one for credit. The instructor expects prompt and consistent class attendance. Students must add the class no later than the first class session, though they may drop during the first or second week of class but not thereafter, absent exceptional circumstances. Students may not use laptop computers in this class, except during exam review sessions. Students should focus on listening and responding to the professor and one another instead of trying to transcribe every word spoken in class. The final grade will depend almost entirely on an eight-hour, open-book, issue-spotting essay exam, which students may take wherever they wish but must take on the particular date set by the Registrar. Students may also choose to take an optional oral midterm, which will count only if it raises a student's grade. Class participation may raise but not lower a student's grade.

Criminal Procedure: Prosecution and Adjudication

3 sem. hrs.
Traditional criminal procedure courses share two features: First, they treat criminal procedure as a subset of constitutional law. This means that they focus on doctrine and case law, in particular the decisions of the Supreme Court and how the Warren Court expanded defendants’ rights while the Burger and Rehnquist Courts have stayed or reversed this trend. Second, traditional courses focus on jury trials. This course will not be a traditional criminal procedure course. As a former federal prosecutor, my own view is that law schools focus too much on Supreme Court doctrine, ignoring variations among states and how police, prosecutors, and judges implement these rules in the real world. I also think that we should move beyond our obsession with jury trials, which today account for only 4-5% of felony adjudications. The real action today is in charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing, and this course will pay much more attention to these topics.This course will not overlap with Constitutional Criminal Procedure (now called Criminal Procedure: Investigation), which covers searches and seizures, Miranda warnings, etc., so those who have taken that course should feel free to take this one as well (and that class is NOT a prerequisite for this one). This course will, however, overlap with the Advanced Criminal Procedure course, so students may not take both. This lecture course will survey post-arrest criminal procedure. Topics will include the right to counsel, charging, double jeopardy, joinder, discovery,guilty pleas, sentencing, and appeals. Time permitting, there will also be selective coverage of jury trials and habeas corpus / collateral review. The final exam will be an eight-hour, open-book exam that students must take on a set date, with two issue-spotting essay questions. For each question, students will receive documents such as a police report, an indictment, and a guilty plea or sentencing transcript and will have to write an appellate brief or a habeas petition / opposition challenging or defending a conviction. The textbook for this course will be the same one (Miller & Wright) used in the Criminal Procedure: Investigation class. The instructor expects prompt and consistent class attendance. Students must add this class by the first class session, though they may drop the class in the first two weeks but not thereafter, absent exceptional circumstances. The instructor is seriously considering conducting an optional oral midterm examination, which would count only if it raised a student's grade. Students may not use laptop computers in this class, except during exam review sessions. Students should focus on listening and responding to the professor and one another instead of trying to transcribe every word spoken in class.

Cybercrime Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal issues that judges, legislators, and lawyers confront as they respond to the increase in Internet and computer-related crime. We will explore how crimes in cyberspace challenge traditional concepts of crime that developed to deal with crimes committed in physical space. We will also explore how the investigation and prosecution of crime in cyberspace are altered from the physical world models. Topics will include: an exploration whether paradigms of the physical world translate to the cyber world; computer hacking and computer viruses; child exploitation; on-line threats and on-line stalking; online economic espionage and intellectual property theft; the interaction of the laws of privacy (constitutional and other) and law enforcement efforts to gather evidence from computers and on the Internet; issues of federalism and national sovereignty in computer crime; and cyber terrorism. An introductory course in American criminal law is required, but previous experience in computer technology is not. A basic familiarity with the Internet will be helpful. (This is a criminal law course, not a technology course). The seminar will examine how the criminal justice system should respond to computer-related crime. We will consider four broad questions. First, what conduct should be considered criminal in cyberspace? Second, how do we protect privacy on the Internet and what rules should govern law enforcement investigations of computer crime? Third, how should traditional notions of sovereignty that govern criminal law in the physical world apply in cyberspace? Finally, what are the risks of warfare and intelligence gathering in cyberspace? After the first, introductory class, we will spend approximately five classes each on the first and second questions and one class each on the third and fourth. I expect to have a federal law enforcement agent as a guest lecturer. In addition to the textbook, we will use materials from actual cases. Students will be required to write two papers of approximately 1,500 words each. For third year students, this requirement can be converted into a single paper to fulfill the senior writing requirement. Papers are to be on the issues discussed in class, or, with the approval of the instructor, on another appropriate topic. Attendance is mandatory. Absences for good cause are permitted. I view this seminar as a discussion class. It is limited to 14 students. The absence of even one person diminishes everyone's experience. Your first class meeting for Cybercrime (Levy) will be on Friday, Janurary 15, 2010 from 12:00 to 2:00pm in T-345.

Death Penalty & Habeas Corpus

2 sem. hrs.
The course explores the theoretical bases and practical realities of death penalty law, and the interplay between substantive and procedural law both at the state and federal levels in the context of actual practice. The first half of the class deals generally with substantive death penalty issues, commencing with the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia. We look at the limits imposed on the states by the Supreme Court in order to have a constitutionally viable death penalty. What are the minimum protections that a state death penalty statute must provide? What trial procedures must be in place? The second half of the course explores how these issues interplay with federal habeas corpus, particularly since the enactment of the AntiTerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996. These issues address the balancing of the three "F's" at the heart of habeas: Federalism, finality and fairness. The class is taught in a participatory format, and active engagement is not just encouraged, but expected. Laptop abuse will result in the laptop being banned on an individualized basis.

FDA Law and Policy

2 sem. hrs.
This course will explore a variety of topics related to the Food and Drug Administration and its oversight of prescription drugs, medical devices and food safety. The FDA is a crucial federal regulatory agency, with authority over more than a quarter of the consumer products sold in the United States. We will discuss the history and basic approval authority of the FDA over food safety and therapeutic products, along with specific focus on a number of emerging developments. The class dynamic will be a mixture of Socratic teaching and more interactive legal and policy discussion, and I expect all students in the course to take an active role in our critique and analysis of various FDA policies and issues throughout the semester. My intention is to offer students a choice of evaluation methods, either a self-scheduled “take away” final exam or a 20-25 page research paper on an FDA topic of your choosing. I may revisit the paper option if class enrollment is larger than expected, and will announce any changes to the paper option during the add/drop period. A small fraction of the grade will be based on class participation throughout the semester.

Federal Courts

4 sem. hrs.
This course examines the functions, powers and responsibilities of the federal courts, and considers their relationships with state governments and with the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. Topics covered will include justiciability; congressional authority over, and statutory and judge-made limits on, federal jurisdiction; Supreme Court review of state court judgments; federal common law; advanced topics in federal question jurisdiction; suits challenging state and federal government action, and immunities asserted in such suits; and federal habeas corpus. There will be an in-class, open-book essay exam.

Foundations of the United States Legal System

3 sem. hrs.
This course aims to provide for the entering LL.M. class an intensive introduction to the American legal system. Topics covered include American legal history, the Constitution, basic civil procedure, the law of torts, and an introduction to legal theory.

Insurance Law

3 sem. hrs.
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to insurance institutions and insurance law, with the ultimate goal of understanding the role of insurance in society. Liability, health, and property insurance will receive the most attention, but we will also discuss life and disability insurance. After taking this course, students will know how to read and analyze a standard form insurance contract, how to work with insurance regulatory materials, how to spot the insurance issues in a wide variety of legal and public policy contexts, and how to think about insurance related issues using conceptual tools from a variety of disciplines. Cross-cutting themes of interest include the behind the scenes role of insurance in shaping litigation strategy, the role of insurance in financial planning, and the promises and pitfalls of using private insurance arrangements to achieve social goals.

International Civil Litigation

3 sem. hrs.
This course is an introduction to litigation in U.S. courts in cases involving foreign parties. The topics to be considered may include: personal jurisdiction over foreigners; forum non conveniens and other forum selection issues; discovery of evidence located outside the United States; foreign sovereign immunity; the extraterritorial application of U.S. laws, including the antitrust and securities laws; the Act of State doctrine; and the enforcement of foreign judgments. The objective of the course is to familiarize students with special procedural and substantive issues that arise in international cases.

International Human Rights

3 sem. hrs.
This course traces the dramatic rise of the individual as a subject of international law in the post-World War II era; specifically, as a beneficiary of fundamental rights recognized, protected and enforced directly by that system of law. It begins by laying historical foundations, showing how the individual was formerly treated as no more than a mere appendage of his/her State, and then considers the transformation effected by the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and two International Covenants (1966). The evolution of specific areas of human rights will be considered, eg, civil and political rights, elimination of racial discrimination, elimination of discrimination against women, freedom of religion, elimination of torture, children’s rights, etc. In each case, three "eras" will be traversed: (a) that of general principles, in which the notion of the rights emerges at the general level; (b) that of specificity, in which the content of the rights takes shape and is defined; and (c) that of enforcement, in which the international legal system seeks to give practical effect to the rights it has recognized, at the national, regional and international levels. Consideration will also be given to exceptions to human rights principles, and possible derogations from them, where tensions arise at the interface of human rights and national security interests. Videos will be shown in class, dealing with the creation of the Universal Declaration, the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and Czechoslovakia, a tribunal established by NGOs to highlight abuses suffered by women, the effect of the Children’s Convention and a contemporary trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The essay exam will be an open-book takeaway. Students may opt to write a paper (with Professor Reicher's permission) in addition to the exam. Such papers will count as 60% of the course's grade (with the takeaway exam constituting the other 40%) and may be considered for Senior Writing. Class participation may be taken into account to improve a student's final grade.

Judicial Clerkship Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The goal of this seminar is to prepare students for their judicial clerkship experience upon graduation from law school. The course will focus on three principal areas: judicial writing, research resources, and the judicial experience and process. To provide a framework for these areas, specific areas of law will be discussed which give rise to unique problems which judicial clerks most frequently address. We will have a number of guest speakers and meet with current judicial clerks to discuss their experiences.

Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course engages foundational issues in jurisprudence and constitutional theory, including the nature of law, the authority of the Constitution's text, interpretive methods (e.g., originalism versus nonoriginalism), the countermajoritarian difficulty, and the role of nonjudicial actors in constitutional decisionmaking.

Juvenile Justice Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How are juvenile offenders treated differently from adult offenders? To what extent should they be? These questions provide the focus for examining how the state treats the "aberrant" behavior of children. Students will be introduced to the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system in the United States beginning with founding of the juvenile court in 1899 and then-held assumptions about the nature of childhood. We will examine how in the late twentieth century the juvenile court has undergone both ideological and institutional change from its original form. These shifts in theory will be outlined with specific attention to several U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have significantly affected juvenile court, as well as psychological and social science data that have a continuing impact on juvenile court practice and jurisdiction. Throughout the course, students are invited to consider and imagine a future role for the juvenile court as it goes forward. Each class will be co-taught by two adjunct professors who are practitioners in the filed of children's law with particular emphasis in juvenile justice. During the last five classes, weekly reading assignments will be developed by student led teams, who will work with the professors in advance to select appropriate topics, relevant caselaw or other materials, as well as appropriate videos. Student teams will be responsible for leading class discussion on their designated topic. Each student is expected to complete a paper of approximately 10-15 pages in length, on an aspect of the juvenile justice system, as well as short reaction papers and legislative drafting exercises throughout the course. The topic of the paper must be approved by one of the course instructors. Students wishing to satisfy the law school's writing requirement must notify one of the instructors by the fourth week of class.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Law and the Holocaust

3 sem. hrs.
This course draws together comparative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, conflicts of laws, international law, human rights and legal history to examine the Nazi philosophy of law, emanating from the egregious racial ideology, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and ultimately eliminate, certain classes of people; then, to study the role of international law in seeking to rectify the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a system of international human rights designed to prevent a repetition. The course will consider the following areas: 1. The Holocaust: "Lawful Barbarism.” Overview of the Holocaust, and the ways in which it was "anchored" in law. 2. The Ideology That Made It Possible. Nazi theories of race and the nature and role of the State, and the legal system as an instrument of both. 3. The Nazi Legal System In Action. Laws giving effect to the theories of race, and their interpretation and application by the judges. 4. Jurisprudential Issues. Parts 2 and 3 above will form the foundation for an exploration of the role of morality in a system of law, through a consideration of academic writings and judicial reflection. An example of the former is the celebrated Hart-Fuller debate, in the Harvard Law Review; and an example of the latter is the controversial Bernstein litigation, in which the Courts grappled with the effect to be accorded in the US to expropriations of property by the Nazi regime. 5. Measure For Measure: The Response Of The International Legal System. Prosecution of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg; national legislation and court decisions bringing perpetrators of atrocities to justice; the Genocide Convention; and the evolution of international human rights, stressing the equality and dignity of all human beings, as a direct antithesis of the Nazi racial philosophy. 6. Lessons For The 21st Century. Case studies in which contemporary history--in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, etc.--raises the disturbing question: What lessons, if any, has the world learned from the Nazi era? Teaching in the course revolves around specially-edited materials, supplemented by video excerpts of archival footage of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, a re-enactment of the Wannsee Conference, a biography of Dr. Josef Mengele, Leni Riefenstahl's classic propaganda film Triumph of the Will, and a contemporary war crimes trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia.

Lawyering in the Public Interest Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar explores major lawyering themes that confront public interest lawyers in diverse practice areas and settings. It is designed to integrate theory and academic analysis with practice themes emerging from students' public interest work experiences during law school. Students will closely examine the unique challenges posed by community lawyering; the efficacy of competing service delivery models; the impact of scarcity of resources and high volume practice upon the practitioner; the empowerment of the disadvantaged and powerless through law and education; litigation and non-litigation strategies; legal and non-legal restrictions on the work of public interest lawyers; professional responsibility issues; the role of the private practitioner in the delivery of legal services to the poor; and current themes and timely issues relating to access to justice and public interest practice. Requirements include mandatory attendance, class participation, oral presentations, and completion of a seminar paper. Students will write seminar papers on topics selected with the approval of the instructors. Paper topics may, but need not, relate directly to the particular issues discussed in class. The paper is expected to be of publishable quality and may, with additional development and instructor permission, be used to satisfy the senior writing requirement. The final several weeks of the seminar will include oral presentations by students on their papers. There will be no final examination. Enrollment is limited. If the seminar is oversubscribed, preference will be given to Public Interest Scholars and Sparer Fellows who register timely for the course.

Legal Responses to Inequality

3 sem. hrs.
This course will study legal material as expressive of, and as supportive of, differing concepts of equality and its role as a social value, rather than as simply part of a course of doctrinal development or a system of analytical reasoning. Its premise is that differences in those concepts are often not recognized, and the contestability and bases of one's approach to equality issues are often not acknowledged. Substantively, the course will include aspects of legal regulation affecting the status of racial, religious and ethnic "minorities," women, gay and lesbian people, and people perceived as disabled, as well as the distribution of wealth and income. It will do this in part by examining "antidiscrimination," "equal protection," or "poverty" law, but will focus also on issues of equality implicit in such mainstream first-year subjects as Procedure and Contracts.

Legislation

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines issues relating to the enactment, application and interpretation of legislation, primarily at the federal level. The course will introduce students to the basic contours of Congressional lawmaking practice, theoretical models of the legislative process, the application and interpretation of statutes by the executive branch, and numerous aspects of judicial statutory interpretation. Students will explore and critique the different methods and canons that courts apply in construing statutes and consider issues such as the appropriate degree of deference to administrative interpretations, judicial use of legislative history in construction, and interaction between the courts and Congress. The basic text will be the Eskridge, Frickey & Garrett casebook, but students will also read selected legal and/or political science articles presenting current theories of legislative process and interpretation, and review examples of current cases and statutory debates. Grades will be based on an examination at the end of the semester.

Legislative Clinic

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. The Legislative Clinic offers students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the role of lawyers in the legislative process and in the formation of public policy. The seminar is a live client course that combines legislative placements with a classroom seminar component. After consultation to consider student interests and preferences, students will be assigned to legislative placements in the offices of members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly or the U.S. Congress, or at public interest organizations advocating for legislative change under the supervision of experienced legislative advocates. In the seminar portion of the course, students will examine basic lawyering competencies required for successful legislative lawyering and will discuss issues of public policy, legislative strategy and professional responsibility that arise in their fieldwork. Seminar topics will include an examination of the role of the legislative lawyer; a comparison of lawyering skills needed to succeed in legislative and judicial forums; strategic legislative planning; statutory drafting; legislative research; and principles of legislative advocacy. The course may be taken for 7 credits (requiring 20 hours per week on average) or 4 credits (requiring a minimum of 12 hours per week). The course meets weekly for two hours. Enrollment is limited. Attendance is mandatory and class participation will count in grading. There is no final examination, however there are several required statutory drafting assignments, simulated exercises, and journal responsibilities. Students intending to enroll in the course must arrange their class schedules such that they can devote at least one full day during the week to their legislative placement. The best days to reserve for legislative placements are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (although Friday is acceptable). Please note that most Washington DC legislative placements now require two full days per week, so plan on taking the course for 7 credits if you are interested in a Washington DC legislative placement. You must appear at the first meeting of the course or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have the advance permission of the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4:00 p.m. on the first Friday following the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Legislative Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

Litigation for Social Change Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine the use of litigation as a tool to effect social change. We will look at the unique nature of the American legal system that makes this possible. We will review the use of class actions and other vehicles that have been successfully employed. We will consider the consequences of the use of litigation. There will be a takeaway exam.

Mediation Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. Mediation involves the intervention of a neutral third party into an existing or threatened dispute, usually with the aim of facilitating a negotiated resolution of the conflict. Lawyers are increasingly immersed in this arena, both as mediators and as representatives of clients in mediation. It is also a subject of great interest to business/transactional lawyers and those practicing criminal law. This clinical course focuses on the role, skills and ethical questions involved in the mediation function. It includes classroom study, simulated skills training, observations of outside neutrals in actual cases, and real case fieldwork in which students are front-line mediators under faculty supervision. By the end of the course, students will have learned a great deal about negotiation, advising, evaluating cases in litigation, chairing a meeting--as well as conflict resolution as a mediator. The course begins with classroom study and intensive simulation skills training. During this period, students are assigned to observe actual mediations and adjudications. In order for the fieldwork to begin by Week 6, there are approximately 12 hours of extra skills classes. (There will be partial make-up time reduction in later weeks.) You MUST be available for extra classes on the following Mondays and Wednesdays from noon to 1:20: Jan 20, 25, 27, Feb. 1,3,8,10, 15 and 17. Starting in Week 6, students are assigned to faculty-supervised mediations. Cases include civil litigation, criminal matters, child custody disputes and employment discrimination matters. The seminar meets for two (2) class sessions per week during most of the semester. Enrollment is limited. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Mediation Clinic to satisfy their Public Service requirement will receive three credits for this course. *NB: Students must be available for extra front-end classes from 12:00-1:20pm on the following Mondays and Wednesdays: January 20, 25, 27, February 1, 3, 8, 10, 15 and 17.*

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Political Law and Race

2 sem. hrs.
This course will provide students with an understanding of election law, lobbying law, and ethics law (i.e., political law). These laws attempt to protect the principle of one person, one vote, and balance the public’s right of access to elected officials against the potentially disproportionate influence of special interests. In the current political environment, it is unclear whether these laws protect the interests of racial minorities. For example, do elected officials who need to raise large campaign funds, attract more voters, and interact with special interest groups, adequately represent minority constituents who may be small campaign contributors, disenfranchised, and underrepresented by interest groups? Specifically, the course will examine election laws governing voting rights, legislative redistricting, voter disenfranchisement, and campaign finance. The course will also cover lobbying laws and the influence of special interests groups. In addition, students will learn ethics laws, which seek to restrict officials from having conflicts of interest. We will examine the application of these laws on recent federal, state, and local elections and ethics scandals, including recent events involving President Barack Obama, Congressman William Jefferson, Governor Bill Richardson, Governor Deval Patrick, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Professional Responsibility

2 sem. hrs.
Using a variety of teaching formats, this course will examine the diverse roles lawyers play, the professional obligations incident to those roles, and the many sources of regulation of lawyer conduct. In examining various dimensions of the lawyer's interaction with clients, other lawyers, legal institutions and the public, the course will focus on the many external and personal factors that influence the lawyer's conduct in situations involving choice or decisions. It will include an examination of the adversary system, traditional and alternative conceptions of the lawyer's role and will examine broad themes involving life as a lawyer. Particular attention will be paid to those situations in which the lawyer faces conflicting obligations and where the law regulating lawyers may prove inconclusive in seeking to resolve those tensions. This course, however, aims to go beyond these concerns in assisting students in beginning to develop the ability to make sound ethical judgments and to define affirmatively a concept of the sort of lawyer he/she wishes to be. Successful completion of this course will satisfy the Professional Responsibility graduation requirement. The class will meet for nine weeks of instruction, two 80-minute sessions per week. There will be an in-class, closed-book essay examination given during the week following the last class.

Psychological Analysis of Legal Decision-Making (S)

3 sem. hrs.
In this course, we will look at the psychology of judgments and decisions in the context of legal decision-making. This line of inquiry, sometimes called "behavioral law and economics," attempts to challenge some assumptions of law and economics with empirical observations from experimental research. We will consider some of the following questions: What factors drive decisions about whether and how much to punish wrong-doers? How do moral and social norms interact with legal rules to affect behavior? How do cognitive biases affect the ability to bargain efficiently for the allocation of goods? We will read articles from psychologists, experimental economists, and legal scholars.

Public Health Law & Policy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine a number of urgent issues at the intersection of law and public health, particularly those that involve a conflict between the rights of individuals and the well-being of the community. Rather than being wedded to a particular field of legal doctrine, we will use a case study approach to analyze US and international conflicts over (and regulation of) tobacco, junk food, pandemics/vaccines, biobanks, traffic accidents, and HIV/AIDS, among others. Several distinguished guests will be invited to speak to the class, and students will have the opportunity to research, write, and present original research.

Refugee Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the origins of “refuge” or “asylum” including the myriad of human rights violations that force people to flee and seek protection, public policy issues such as US laws and regulations that govern asylum, and international agencies that are involved in the process of granting protection. The course will cover both the international refugee law and human rights context of State practice with reference to international treaties and customary international law. The course will begin with a review of The United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees - the standard against which refugee protection will be measured. We will study the dimensions, responsibilities and realities of the Office of the United National High Commissioner for Refugees which monitors implementation of this treaty. We will then cover regional practice relating to refugees in Europe, Latin America and Africa and Asia and briefly discuss root causes reasons of current and potential population displacements The major portion of the course, however, will deal with US statutory, regulatory and case law determining who is and is not a refuge vis-a-vis the 1980 Refugee Act, implementing regulations, and administrative and judicial decisions law. To better understand and see how theory is put into practice, especially as it relates to deterring refugees from entering the US through their detention students may be involved in interviewing asylum seekers. The course will conclude by looking at the international institutional response to refugee problems. We will conclude with a discussion of ancillary refugee issues such as, restricted employment and welfare entitlements, expedited procedures, and returns to safe countries. By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Understand the international framework for refugee determinations 2. Understand the US domestic framework including legislation, regulations and judicial decisions, for refugee and asylum related issues 3. Show competency in conducting an intake of an asylum seeker and developing a case analysis 4. Research Country Conditions regarding human rights violations 5. Prepare An Application for Asylum, Form I-589 and understand US regulations dealing with asylum adjudication 6. Prepare an Affidavit attesting to the asylum seeker's claim for asylum 7. Prepare a packet with evidence to support the claim for asylum

Remedies

3 sem. hrs.
Most law school courses revolve around the standards for legal liability: when one is liable for breach of contract, or for a tort, or for violation of some constitutional or regulatory standard. This course is about the consequences of civil liability for litigants who have been wronged or who are about to suffer wrong. We will assume that the defendant's actual or threatened conduct is impermissible, and ask what a court can do about that conduct. Topics will include damages measurement, injunctive and preliminary relief, specific performance, declaratory judgments, restitution, criminal and civil contempt, punitive remedies, and complex equitable remedies in institutional and civil rights litigation.

Right to Counsel (S)

3 sem. hrs.
What does it mean when a police officer says "if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you"? Since 1963, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has been interpreted to require the states to provide counsel to any defendant who cannot afford to hire an attorney. The right to counsel thus became an entitlement right, which is very rare in the Constitution. In this seminar, we will explore the evolution and current parameters of the right to counsel, including when counsel must be provided, what quality guarantee, if any, the right includes, impediments to the full functioning of the right, and efforts to enforce the right through litigation. We will also explore how the right applies outside the standard criminal courtroom, including post-9/11 contexts such as Guantanamo and Operation Streamline. Evaluation will be based on class participation (25%) and a paper (75%).

Shaping Communications Policy in the Obama Admin (S)

1 sem. hrs.
This course will examine changes by agency (at the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission), the role of the White House, Congress and other entities as "communications policy" is redefined and implemented in the new administration. The course may extend to other areas of communications (including public diplomacy and international communications policy). The reigning theme will be to understand whether there some overarching principles exist, how they are established and whether they can be enforced. It is a course that will look at inertia, institutional barriers, interest groups and civil society in the making of communications policy. The course, open to students in the law school, political science, and sociology as well as Communications. will be developed together with the Information Society Project at the Yale Law School where there will be a parallel Reading Group on the subject.

Social Welfare and American Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar focuses on the role of law in remedying poverty, addressing inequality, and providing social and economic security in the United States in the twentieth century. The primary aim of the course is to familiarize students with broad themes in twentieth-century legal history, including the growth of the administrative state, changes in legal thought, and the “rights revolution.” A secondary aim is to give students a greater understanding of the workings and development of the American welfare state, a topic that is relevant to contemporary legal debates and intersects fruitfully with issues in administrative law, constitutional law, family law, and poverty law. Attendance, preparation, and class participation are essential. Grades will be based on contribution to discussion and a series of short papers.

Study of Judicial Behavior (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How (and why) do judges reach the decisions they do? This fundamental question has perplexed legal scholars for more than a century. This seminar will introduce students to the dominant approaches to the study of judicial behavior in both the legal academy and the broader university. The seminar will place particular focus on the current dialogue between law professors and political scientists about how best to study judges and understand judicial behavior, although students will also read and consider works informed by economics, cognitive psychology, and related fields. The structure of the seminar will involve student engagement with major scholars working in this area. The first few meetings will involve background reading and discussion. Then, during the bulk of the semester, the instructors will arrange for scholars to visit Penn and present their work and receive comments and questions from the members of the seminar. Students will write a number of brief response papers on the works presented, participate in discussions of those works in advance of the authors' visits, and then lead the discussion when visitors make their presentations to the seminar. Evaluation will be based on the response papers and participation in the weekly seminar discussions. Enrollment is limited to 16 students.

Supreme Court Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
Supreme Court Clinic Professors S. Bibas and S. Kinnaird Yearlong: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 3 credits per semester, Mon. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Pre- or co-requisite: Supreme Court Practice and Process seminar, LAW 947-001, 3 credits, Fall 2009 Tue. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Clinic enrollment limited to eight students This year-long clinic will give students intensive, hands-on experience litigating cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. It is distinct from the pre- or co-requisite seminar, Supreme Court Practice and Process, LAW 947-001, which introduces students to the law, politics, and lawyering of the Supreme Court as an institution through a wide array of cases, briefs, and visiting speakers. The clinic, in contrast, will focus on the practical side of identifying and litigating real pending cases. In conjunction with the instructors and Supreme Court lawyers at a major Washington law firm, students will research and identify promising cases for Supreme Court review and take part in strategy sessions and conference calls, learning first-hand the tactical considerations that shape litigating positions and stances. They will then research and write first drafts of certiorari petitions, sections of merits briefs for the parties, and briefs amicus curiae at the certiorari and merits stages. Through intensive research, writing, editing, and rewriting, students will hone their legal-writing skills. Though students cannot argue these cases or sign briefs, their names will appear in appendices or footnotes to the briefs thanking them for their contributions. Students will travel to Washington D.C. several times each semester to meet with experienced litigators and watch moot courts and oral arguments in the cases on which they have worked. Students may take the seminar without taking the clinic, but if they wish to enroll in the clinic they must previously have taken or apply to take the seminar at the same time. They must be prepared to commit an average of at least ten hours per week to the clinic throughout the entire academic year, though the load will probably be lighter right around the final examinations period

Supreme Court Practice and Process (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Decisions of the Supreme Court are thought simply to reflect the Justices' views of the merits of the legal issues before the Court. But the results often are heavily influenced by the particulars of the process that leads up to the decision. This seminar will study the Supreme Court primarily from the point of view of the advocacy process that precedes and influences the Court’s decisions, but we will also look into selected aspects of the Court’s internal decisionmaking process. The course will examine the nature of effective advocacy before the Court and the ways in which advocates’ strategies may (or may not) influence the Court at each stage of a case – the petition for certiorari and brief in opposition; merits briefs by petitioner and respondent; and oral argument. The course will consider the influence of amici at each stage as well as the special role of the Solicitor General's office. The course will also examine some aspects of the Court’s process that do not relate to advocacy, such as the role of law clerks, the nature and extent of collegial decisionmaking at the Court, and the confirmation process for new Justices. Materials will include actual petitions, briefs, and oral arguments from recent and pending Supreme Court cases, as well as secondary sources. The course will include consideration of one or more cases currently before the Court, with a trip to the Court to hear an oral argument if feasible. Course sessions will include guest lectures by experienced Supreme Court advocates and others involved with Supreme Court litigation. Course requirements: to be determined, but will include drafting one or more documents based on filings in actual Supreme Court cases, and possibly an analysis of an oral argument.

Supreme Court: Great Cases (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This class discussion will, for the most part, focus on selected cases which, over the Court's two centuries, have seemed, inter alia, to define (for better or worse) the Court's perception, and implementation, of its appropriate role in the governance of the United States. In addition to participating actively in class discussions, each member of the seminar will prepare a relatively brief (in the twenty-five to thirty page range, not more) term paper. First drafts will be due not later than March 1. The term paper might address (1) the impact (or, possibly, the lack thereof) on the Court's work of a reasonably prominent judge, lawyer, professor, or political figure, or (2) an examination of themes given short shrift (or no shrift at all) in the cases assigned for class discussion.

Torts

4 sem. hrs.
This course examines the doctrinal, theoretical, and policy dimensions of non-promissory civil liability for harm to persons, property, and certain intangible interests.

Trial Advocacy: Yearlong

2 sem. hrs.
This is a pass-fail course with strict reading and in-class performance requirements. It is a skills course in trial techniques and related litigation theory development. The student will learn how to prepare and try civil and criminal cases. The objectives are to create strong fundamental skills in the art of direct examination, cross-examination, objections, preparation of witnesses, jury selection, preparation and examination of expert witnesses, introduction of documents, and opening and closing arguments. There will be video-taped exercises followed by individual critique. The course culminates in full mock trials in state or federal courtrooms, with witnesses and jurors. All students participate as trial counsel. It is strongly recommended that students have completed, or are currently enrolled in an Evidence course. Attendance and participation are mandatory. Approximately six (6) students will be selected from the combined classes to participate, on a voluntary basis, in the National Mock Trial Competition. Tryouts are held at the conclusion of the first semester. If selected, the Trial Team's second semester will entail participation on the Trial Team, and those selected will not be required to attend the regular Trial Advocacy classes. This course is graded credit/fail only.

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CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE

Advanced Criminal Law

3 sem. hrs.
This term's Advanced Criminal Law course will have three components. The largest will be work for the Pennsylvania Legislature in doing a study of the penalty inconsistencies in current Pennsylvania criminal law. The work is aimed toward writing legislation that will rationalize offense penalties and grades throughout the Pennsylvania Code. The class will work with the members and staff of the Democratically-controlled House Judiciary Committee and the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. A second class component will be a study of the competing arguments for how criminal liability and punishment should be distributed: a theoretical analysis of who should be punished how much. After reading Distributive Principles of Criminal Law (Oxford 2008), each student will present and defend her own distributive principle proposal. Finally, throughout the term, students will serve as prosecutors and defense counsel for a series of real-world case studies that present issues of special theoretical and practical importance, drawn from Criminal Law Case Studies, 3d edition (West 2007). Any student wishing to enroll in this class must be present at the first class meeting.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Constitutional Criminal Procedure

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus upon constitutional law issues that arise during the investigation of a criminal case. Attention is given to Fourth Amendment limitations on police conduct; the scope of the exclusionary rule; the law of confessions, including Miranda v. Arizona and its progeny; lineups and other pre-trial identification procedures; the use of informants and secret agents; and the privilege against self-incrimination in the grand jury setting.

Criminal Defense Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course will combine hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing litigation skills. Students will try cases under the close supervision of a senior trial attorney from the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During the first four weeks there will be intensive classroom study where students will learn Pennsylvania Criminal Law, Procedure, Evidence, trial and cross examination skills. During this period students will also be assigned mock cases to prepare in addition to observing actual preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials in municipal court. Students will then be assigned to represent defendants. Students will conduct misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and prepare various pretrial motions. Students will be interacting with their clients, members of the judiciary, District Attorneys, witnesses and complainants. Successful participants will need to be able to persuasively articulate legal arguments, work with a wide variety of individuals and maintain their composure in difficult situations. It is the instructor’s expectation that each student will have the experience of representing clients on 5 to 7 different cases. In addition to the classroom educational component described above, students will be exposed to a variety of guest speakers who will examine some of the ethical and social issues raised in criminal defense, and particular issues involved in representing the indigent. This course will meet for 6-1/2 hours, over two days per week. There will be a mid-semester evaluation of the student's progress and weekly feedback of the student's in-court performance, which can be scheduled at the student's convenience. Clinical instruction will be conducted at the Law School, except when courtroom appearances are required. This course will be open to 2L's who have completed three semesters and have had Evidence. (Students who have not had three semesters will be ineligible for certification by the court to appear on behalf of clients.) Enrollment is limited to 8 students. Class attendance and courtroom appearances are mandatory. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Criminal Defense Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive three credits for this course. In addition to various handouts provided by the instructor, the required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania, Gould Publications.

Criminal Defense Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course will combine hands on trial experience with an educational component tailored to developing litigation skills. Students will try cases under the close supervision of a senior trial attorney from the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During the first four weeks there will be intensive classroom study where students will learn Pennsylvania Criminal Law, Procedure, Evidence, trial and cross examination skills. During this period students will also be assigned mock cases to prepare in addition to observing actual preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, and trials in municipal court. Students will then be assigned to represent defendants. Students will conduct misdemeanor trials and preliminary hearings for felony cases. Students will interview and counsel clients, develop case theories, negotiate with opposing parties, and prepare various pretrial motions. Students will be interacting with their clients, members of the judiciary, District Attorneys, witnesses and complainants. Successful participants will need to be able to persuasively articulate legal arguments, work with a wide variety of individuals and maintain their composure in difficult situations. It is the instructor’s expectation that each student will have the experience of representing clients on 5 to 7 different cases. In addition to the classroom educational component described above, students will be exposed to a variety of guest speakers who will examine some of the ethical and social issues raised in criminal defense, and particular issues involved in representing the indigent. This course will meet for 6-1/2 hours, over two days per week. There will be a mid-semester evaluation of the student's progress and weekly feedback of the student's in-court performance, which can be scheduled at the student's convenience. Clinical instruction will be conducted at the Law School, except when courtroom appearances are required. This course will be open to 2L's who have completed three semesters and have had Evidence. (Students who have not had three semesters will be ineligible for certification by the court to appear on behalf of clients.) Enrollment is limited to 8 students. Class attendance and courtroom appearances are mandatory. The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 5, 2008. In addition to various handouts provided by the instructor, the required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania, Gould Publications. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Criminal Defense Clinic toward heir public service requirement will receive three credits for this course.

Criminal Law

4 sem. hrs.
This course will examine the criminal law as a device for defining and controlling harmful behavior. Attention is given to the theoretical justifications for and the effectiveness of punishment, the foundations of culpability, the basic principles of criminal liability, and the definition of offenses and defenses.

Criminal Law Theory (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Seminar in Criminal Law Theory Fall 2009: The Credibility of Criminal Justice This term's Seminar will examine what gives a criminal justice system more or less credibility with the community for doing justice in a fair way, and how this reputation can have an effect on the system's crime-control effectiveness. Readings will be from Robinson & Cahill, Law Without Justice and from Tom Tyler, Legitimacy and Criminal Justice. (Professor Tyler, Chair of the Psychology Department at NYU, will be a visitor to the Seminar.) Both books are on reserve in the library. During the first half of the course, students will prepare weekly one-page comments on the week's assigned readings. During the second half of the course, students will present and discuss their own papers on a relevant topic approved by the instructor. Final drafts – with a maximum of ten single-spaced pages – will be due by the last day of the term. Any student wishing to enroll in this class must be present at the first class meeting.

Criminal Procedure: Investigation

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus upon constitutional, statutory, case-law, policy, and ethical issues that arise during the investigation of a criminal case. Topics will include Fourth Amendment and other limitations on police searches, seizures, and surveillance; the scope of the exclusionary rule; the law of confessions, including Miranda v. Arizona and its progeny; lineups and other pre-trial identification procedures; the use of informants and secret agents; and the privilege against self-incrimination in the grand jury setting. This course is a renamed version of what has traditionally been called Constitutional Criminal Procedure, renamed to emphasize the variety of issues beyond constitutional ones that arise in a criminal case. Students may not take both that course and this one for credit. The instructor expects prompt and consistent class attendance. Students must add the class no later than the first class session, though they may drop during the first or second week of class but not thereafter, absent exceptional circumstances. Students may not use laptop computers in this class, except during exam review sessions. Students should focus on listening and responding to the professor and one another instead of trying to transcribe every word spoken in class. The final grade will depend almost entirely on an eight-hour, open-book, issue-spotting essay exam, which students may take wherever they wish but must take on the particular date set by the Registrar. Students may also choose to take an optional oral midterm, which will count only if it raises a student's grade. Class participation may raise but not lower a student's grade.

Criminal Procedure: Prosecution and Adjudication

3 sem. hrs.
Traditional criminal procedure courses share two features: First, they treat criminal procedure as a subset of constitutional law. This means that they focus on doctrine and case law, in particular the decisions of the Supreme Court and how the Warren Court expanded defendants’ rights while the Burger and Rehnquist Courts have stayed or reversed this trend. Second, traditional courses focus on jury trials. This course will not be a traditional criminal procedure course. As a former federal prosecutor, my own view is that law schools focus too much on Supreme Court doctrine, ignoring variations among states and how police, prosecutors, and judges implement these rules in the real world. I also think that we should move beyond our obsession with jury trials, which today account for only 4-5% of felony adjudications. The real action today is in charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing, and this course will pay much more attention to these topics.This course will not overlap with Constitutional Criminal Procedure (now called Criminal Procedure: Investigation), which covers searches and seizures, Miranda warnings, etc., so those who have taken that course should feel free to take this one as well (and that class is NOT a prerequisite for this one). This course will, however, overlap with the Advanced Criminal Procedure course, so students may not take both. This lecture course will survey post-arrest criminal procedure. Topics will include the right to counsel, charging, double jeopardy, joinder, discovery,guilty pleas, sentencing, and appeals. Time permitting, there will also be selective coverage of jury trials and habeas corpus / collateral review. The final exam will be an eight-hour, open-book exam that students must take on a set date, with two issue-spotting essay questions. For each question, students will receive documents such as a police report, an indictment, and a guilty plea or sentencing transcript and will have to write an appellate brief or a habeas petition / opposition challenging or defending a conviction. The textbook for this course will be the same one (Miller & Wright) used in the Criminal Procedure: Investigation class. The instructor expects prompt and consistent class attendance. Students must add this class by the first class session, though they may drop the class in the first two weeks but not thereafter, absent exceptional circumstances. The instructor is seriously considering conducting an optional oral midterm examination, which would count only if it raised a student's grade. Students may not use laptop computers in this class, except during exam review sessions. Students should focus on listening and responding to the professor and one another instead of trying to transcribe every word spoken in class.

Cybercrime Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal issues that judges, legislators, and lawyers confront as they respond to the increase in Internet and computer-related crime. We will explore how crimes in cyberspace challenge traditional concepts of crime that developed to deal with crimes committed in physical space. We will also explore how the investigation and prosecution of crime in cyberspace are altered from the physical world models. Topics will include: an exploration whether paradigms of the physical world translate to the cyber world; computer hacking and computer viruses; child exploitation; on-line threats and on-line stalking; online economic espionage and intellectual property theft; the interaction of the laws of privacy (constitutional and other) and law enforcement efforts to gather evidence from computers and on the Internet; issues of federalism and national sovereignty in computer crime; and cyber terrorism. An introductory course in American criminal law is required, but previous experience in computer technology is not. A basic familiarity with the Internet will be helpful. (This is a criminal law course, not a technology course). The seminar will examine how the criminal justice system should respond to computer-related crime. We will consider four broad questions. First, what conduct should be considered criminal in cyberspace? Second, how do we protect privacy on the Internet and what rules should govern law enforcement investigations of computer crime? Third, how should traditional notions of sovereignty that govern criminal law in the physical world apply in cyberspace? Finally, what are the risks of warfare and intelligence gathering in cyberspace? After the first, introductory class, we will spend approximately five classes each on the first and second questions and one class each on the third and fourth. I expect to have a federal law enforcement agent as a guest lecturer. In addition to the textbook, we will use materials from actual cases. Students will be required to write two papers of approximately 1,500 words each. For third year students, this requirement can be converted into a single paper to fulfill the senior writing requirement. Papers are to be on the issues discussed in class, or, with the approval of the instructor, on another appropriate topic. Attendance is mandatory. Absences for good cause are permitted. I view this seminar as a discussion class. It is limited to 14 students. The absence of even one person diminishes everyone's experience. Your first class meeting for Cybercrime (Levy) will be on Friday, Janurary 15, 2010 from 12:00 to 2:00pm in T-345.

Death Penalty & Habeas Corpus

2 sem. hrs.
The course explores the theoretical bases and practical realities of death penalty law, and the interplay between substantive and procedural law both at the state and federal levels in the context of actual practice. The first half of the class deals generally with substantive death penalty issues, commencing with the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia. We look at the limits imposed on the states by the Supreme Court in order to have a constitutionally viable death penalty. What are the minimum protections that a state death penalty statute must provide? What trial procedures must be in place? The second half of the course explores how these issues interplay with federal habeas corpus, particularly since the enactment of the AntiTerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996. These issues address the balancing of the three "F's" at the heart of habeas: Federalism, finality and fairness. The class is taught in a participatory format, and active engagement is not just encouraged, but expected. Laptop abuse will result in the laptop being banned on an individualized basis.

Evidence

4 sem. hrs.
A study of the common law and federal rules of proof, taught by a practicing trial lawyer. The scope and function of the rules are analyzed against the background of problems arising during the trial of an issue of fact, and the rules are evaluated on the basis of their logical consistency and their tendency to promote or impede a rational method of investigation. The format will combine lectures organizing the materials, Socratic questioning on the readings, and class discussions about policy issues. A particular emphasis will be the importance of thinking strategically about how to apply the rules in pre-trial preparation, and during trial itself. The exam will be entirely closed-book with a mostly black-letter, multiple-choice section and a less structured policy-oriented essay.

Externship: District Attorney's Office - Fieldwork

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. PREREQUISITE: Students must have completed Constitutional Criminal Procedure and Evidence. Participants, after an intensive training program, and upon certification by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will appear in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to handle preliminary hearings in felony cases, pre-trial motions and trials in misdemeanor cases. Student experiences are closely supervised and critically analyzed. Mock presentations and evaluations are conducted throughout the course. Participants must possess the fortitude to litigate in court; students will be interacting not only with members of the judiciary before whom they appear, but also with opposing counsel, and witnesses and victims of crime, some of whom may be uncooperative. Successful participants need excellent interpersonal and communications skills, abundant self-confidence, an outgoing nature, flexibility, and an ability to maintain their composure under stress. While this local externship will require a minimum of 20 hours work each week, it is likely that in many weeks the work will require substantially more hours. Participants must be available: 1. on two full days to appear in court. 2. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. -- on the afternoon preceding each day in court to review case files with their assigned supervising attorney (e.g. from 3:00 p.m. Friday if court days are Monday and Tuesday). 3. to participate in a classroom component from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. each Wednesday. 4. after each court appearance to complete their paperwork. This must be done before the student leaves the office and entails approximately 2 to 3 hours of very careful preparation. Students cannot miss the class meeting to finish this work. 5. Mandatory Orientation: All students MUST be available Wednesday, September 2, 2009 and Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (the two weeks before classes officially begin), at Three South Penn Square (meet in the Lobby). You must bring your copy of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. Dress code for this Externship is courtroom attire required at ALL times. Background Check. A background and/or criminal record check will be made. Students must complete a background form and submit two passport-sized photographs. Required Text. The required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania (Gould Publications). District Attorney students should contact Valerie Rose in the Clinical Programs office to arrange for their certification under Pennsylvania's student practice rule.

Externship: Phila District Attorney's Office

7 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. PREREQUISITE: Students must have completed Constitutional Criminal Procedure and Evidence. Participants, after an intensive training program, and upon certification by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will appear in the Philadelphia Municipal Court to handle preliminary hearings in felony cases, pre-trial motions and trials in misdemeanor cases. Student experiences are closely supervised and critically analyzed. Mock presentations and evaluations are conducted throughout the course. Participants must possess the fortitude to litigate in court; students will be interacting not only with members of the judiciary before whom they appear, but also with opposing counsel, and witnesses and victims of crime, some of whom may be uncooperative. Successful participants need excellent interpersonal and communications skills, abundant self-confidence, an outgoing nature, flexibility, and an ability to maintain their composure under stress. While this local externship will require a minimum of 20 hours work each week, it is likely that in many weeks the work will require substantially more hours. Participants must be available: 1. on two full days to appear in court. 2. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. -- on the afternoon preceding each day in court to review case files with their assigned supervising attorney (e.g. from 3:00 p.m. Friday if court days are Monday and Tuesday). 3. to participate in a classroom component from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. each Wednesday. 4. after each court appearance to complete their paperwork. This must be done before the student leaves the office and entails approximately 2 to 3 hours of very careful preparation. Students cannot miss the class meeting to finish this work. 5. Mandatory Orientation: All students MUST be available Wednesday, September 2, 2009 and Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (the two weeks before classes officially begin), at Three South Penn Square (meet in the Lobby). You must bring your copy of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. Dress code for this Externship is courtroom attire required at ALL times. Background Check. A background and/or criminal record check will be made. Students must complete a background form and submit two passport-sized photographs. Required Text. The required text is Crimes Code of Pennsylvania (Gould Publications). District Attorney students should contact the Clinical Programs office to arrange for their certification under Pennsylvania's student practice rule.

Federal Crimes Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The Federal Government plays an increasingly significant role in the prosecution of crime in the United States, particularly in the corporate and white collar context. This course will focus on the application of the developing federal criminal law to organizations and individuals and consider the trends of federalization and criminalization while analyzing the most widely used federal criminal statutes. Topics will include the prosecution of white collar crime such as financial fraud and embezzlement, securities offenses, obstruction of justice, money laundering, and the mail and wire fraud statutes as well as RICO, conspiracy, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The course will also explore the increasing use of deferred and non-prosecution agreements, internal investigations, and the law of corporate and entity liability. The grade component will be 75-80% paper and 20-25% class participation. 1st year criminal law or permission of the instructor is required.

Freedom & Responsibility Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The seminar will read two important new books that address criminal and moral blame and responsibility. Attendance, preparation and consistent participation are required. A paper limited to 15 pages on any related topic the student chooses is required. A longer paper can also satisfy the senior writing requirement.

Intention and the Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
In this seminar we will explore the role of intention in the law. We will discuss the relevance of intention to culpability and responsibility, and the appropriate relationship between culpability, responsibility, and legal liability in different parts of the law. Areas of the law we will study from this angle include contracts, torts, criminal law, corporate law and constitutional law. Each student will participate actively in each session, present a short paper in an assigned week, and submit a final paper on an approved topic on the last day of class.

International Human Rights

3 sem. hrs.
This course traces the dramatic rise of the individual as a subject of international law in the post-World War II era; specifically, as a beneficiary of fundamental rights recognized, protected and enforced directly by that system of law. It begins by laying historical foundations, showing how the individual was formerly treated as no more than a mere appendage of his/her State, and then considers the transformation effected by the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and two International Covenants (1966). The evolution of specific areas of human rights will be considered, eg, civil and political rights, elimination of racial discrimination, elimination of discrimination against women, freedom of religion, elimination of torture, children’s rights, etc. In each case, three "eras" will be traversed: (a) that of general principles, in which the notion of the rights emerges at the general level; (b) that of specificity, in which the content of the rights takes shape and is defined; and (c) that of enforcement, in which the international legal system seeks to give practical effect to the rights it has recognized, at the national, regional and international levels. Consideration will also be given to exceptions to human rights principles, and possible derogations from them, where tensions arise at the interface of human rights and national security interests. Videos will be shown in class, dealing with the creation of the Universal Declaration, the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and Czechoslovakia, a tribunal established by NGOs to highlight abuses suffered by women, the effect of the Children’s Convention and a contemporary trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The essay exam will be an open-book takeaway. Students may opt to write a paper (with Professor Reicher's permission) in addition to the exam. Such papers will count as 60% of the course's grade (with the takeaway exam constituting the other 40%) and may be considered for Senior Writing. Class participation may be taken into account to improve a student's final grade.

Intro to IP Law and Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course starts from the premise that the law and policy of intellectual property is increasingly becoming an important component of a modern legal education. As such, the course will present a broad overview of the contemporary doctrinal and policy challenges facing intellectual property in an era of rapidly changing technology. The course is not intended to replace (or be a prerequisite for) any of the basic IP courses - instead, the class will be structured around several of the major recent disputes over the patent, copyright, and trademark laws, considering these from both a doctrinal and a social policy perspective.

Juvenile Justice Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How are juvenile offenders treated differently from adult offenders? To what extent should they be? These questions provide the focus for examining how the state treats the "aberrant" behavior of children. Students will be introduced to the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system in the United States beginning with founding of the juvenile court in 1899 and then-held assumptions about the nature of childhood. We will examine how in the late twentieth century the juvenile court has undergone both ideological and institutional change from its original form. These shifts in theory will be outlined with specific attention to several U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have significantly affected juvenile court, as well as psychological and social science data that have a continuing impact on juvenile court practice and jurisdiction. Throughout the course, students are invited to consider and imagine a future role for the juvenile court as it goes forward. Each class will be co-taught by two adjunct professors who are practitioners in the filed of children's law with particular emphasis in juvenile justice. During the last five classes, weekly reading assignments will be developed by student led teams, who will work with the professors in advance to select appropriate topics, relevant caselaw or other materials, as well as appropriate videos. Student teams will be responsible for leading class discussion on their designated topic. Each student is expected to complete a paper of approximately 10-15 pages in length, on an aspect of the juvenile justice system, as well as short reaction papers and legislative drafting exercises throughout the course. The topic of the paper must be approved by one of the course instructors. Students wishing to satisfy the law school's writing requirement must notify one of the instructors by the fourth week of class.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Law and the Holocaust

3 sem. hrs.
This course draws together comparative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, conflicts of laws, international law, human rights and legal history to examine the Nazi philosophy of law, emanating from the egregious racial ideology, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and ultimately eliminate, certain classes of people; then, to study the role of international law in seeking to rectify the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a system of international human rights designed to prevent a repetition. The course will consider the following areas: 1. The Holocaust: "Lawful Barbarism.” Overview of the Holocaust, and the ways in which it was "anchored" in law. 2. The Ideology That Made It Possible. Nazi theories of race and the nature and role of the State, and the legal system as an instrument of both. 3. The Nazi Legal System In Action. Laws giving effect to the theories of race, and their interpretation and application by the judges. 4. Jurisprudential Issues. Parts 2 and 3 above will form the foundation for an exploration of the role of morality in a system of law, through a consideration of academic writings and judicial reflection. An example of the former is the celebrated Hart-Fuller debate, in the Harvard Law Review; and an example of the latter is the controversial Bernstein litigation, in which the Courts grappled with the effect to be accorded in the US to expropriations of property by the Nazi regime. 5. Measure For Measure: The Response Of The International Legal System. Prosecution of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg; national legislation and court decisions bringing perpetrators of atrocities to justice; the Genocide Convention; and the evolution of international human rights, stressing the equality and dignity of all human beings, as a direct antithesis of the Nazi racial philosophy. 6. Lessons For The 21st Century. Case studies in which contemporary history--in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, etc.--raises the disturbing question: What lessons, if any, has the world learned from the Nazi era? Teaching in the course revolves around specially-edited materials, supplemented by video excerpts of archival footage of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, a re-enactment of the Wannsee Conference, a biography of Dr. Josef Mengele, Leni Riefenstahl's classic propaganda film Triumph of the Will, and a contemporary war crimes trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia.

Legal Imagination: Criminals & Justice Across Literature (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Legal Imagination: Criminals and Justice Across Literature This seminar will focus on the legal, moral, religious, social, psychological, and political dimensions of crime, blame, shame, and punishment as discussed in great works of literature. It will be co-taught by Professor Stephanos Bibas of the law school and Professor Ilya Vinitsky of the Slavic Studies department. The first part of the course will compare and contrast visions of justice in Eastern and Western Europe and emphases on divine versus human justice. Readings may include the Book of Job, Tyndale's and Theodora's after-death visions, selections from Dante's Divine Comedy, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, and selections from Enlightenment thinkers. The second part will move to the psychology of the individual person, the criminal. Readings may include selections from Victor Hugo's The Last Day of a Condemned Man and Jeremy Bentham's Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Dickens' Oliver Twist, and especially Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, as well as secondary critical essays about these works. Part three of the course will focus on the state institutions of criminal justice. Readings may include Tolstoy's Resurrection, Kafka's The Trial, Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich or selections from The Gulag Archipelago, and especially Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Students will have a choice of writing one long or three short papers and will be expected to participate actively in classroom discussion, as well as making presentations and taking turns leading discussion. Students may not use laptop computers in this class. Students should focus on listening and responding to the professor and one another instead of trying to transcribe every word spoken in class.

Mental Health Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will cover the theoretical, doctrinal and practical issues in mental health law, with special reference to the criminal context. It will also be of interest to students interested in bioethics, health law, and family law.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Privacy

3 sem. hrs.
The study of privacy law serves several purposes. Most importantly, it introduces students to an important area of legal practice. Not only is privacy law now a recognized area of legal practice in its own right, but knowledge of privacy law is frequently called for in the practice of health, business and intellectual property law. The study of privacy law serves another purpose: developing a better understanding of the concept of privacy and the controversies--some philosophical, some political-- surrounding its application in the law. The course is divided into three sections or "chapters." Our study begins with state common law. State common law is an historic source of privacy protections. Chapter 1 examines the origins of state privacy law in the late 19th century and its subsequent growth until today. The chapter considers the four common law invasion of privacy torts recognized in most states and by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of (Second) of Torts. The chapter also examines the closely affiliated state common law of publicity and confidentiality. Chapter 1 samples major statutes enacted by state legislatures both to create privacy rights akin to those recognized in the common law and to supplement them. We move next to the federal constitution, a crucial major source of privacy law. Chapter 2 takes on the voluminous privacy jurisprudence spawned by the Bill of Rights-- most importantly, the First and Fourth Amendments’ jurisprudence of associational, physical, and informational privacy. This chapter also features the often-controversial Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and substantive due process decisional privacy jurisprudence. It concludes with a consideration of state constitutions that, state courts have held, significantly expand privacy protection beyond federal limits. The journey ends after an encounter with the federal privacy statutes, a dynamic source of privacy and data protection law. Chapter 3 examines nearly a dozen federal privacy statutes, covering government record management; health, education, and financial data; video rentals; communications; the internet; and surveillance. The chapter touches on some state counterparts to federal legislation and the agency rules that implement them.

Right to Counsel (S)

3 sem. hrs.
What does it mean when a police officer says "if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you"? Since 1963, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has been interpreted to require the states to provide counsel to any defendant who cannot afford to hire an attorney. The right to counsel thus became an entitlement right, which is very rare in the Constitution. In this seminar, we will explore the evolution and current parameters of the right to counsel, including when counsel must be provided, what quality guarantee, if any, the right includes, impediments to the full functioning of the right, and efforts to enforce the right through litigation. We will also explore how the right applies outside the standard criminal courtroom, including post-9/11 contexts such as Guantanamo and Operation Streamline. Evaluation will be based on class participation (25%) and a paper (75%).

Supreme Court Clinic

4 sem. hrs.
Supreme Court Clinic Professors S. Bibas and S. Kinnaird Yearlong: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 3 credits per semester, Mon. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Pre- or co-requisite: Supreme Court Practice and Process seminar, LAW 947-001, 3 credits, Fall 2009 Tue. 4:30-6:30 p.m. Clinic enrollment limited to eight students This year-long clinic will give students intensive, hands-on experience litigating cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. It is distinct from the pre- or co-requisite seminar, Supreme Court Practice and Process, LAW 947-001, which introduces students to the law, politics, and lawyering of the Supreme Court as an institution through a wide array of cases, briefs, and visiting speakers. The clinic, in contrast, will focus on the practical side of identifying and litigating real pending cases. In conjunction with the instructors and Supreme Court lawyers at a major Washington law firm, students will research and identify promising cases for Supreme Court review and take part in strategy sessions and conference calls, learning first-hand the tactical considerations that shape litigating positions and stances. They will then research and write first drafts of certiorari petitions, sections of merits briefs for the parties, and briefs amicus curiae at the certiorari and merits stages. Through intensive research, writing, editing, and rewriting, students will hone their legal-writing skills. Though students cannot argue these cases or sign briefs, their names will appear in appendices or footnotes to the briefs thanking them for their contributions. Students will travel to Washington D.C. several times each semester to meet with experienced litigators and watch moot courts and oral arguments in the cases on which they have worked. Students may take the seminar without taking the clinic, but if they wish to enroll in the clinic they must previously have taken or apply to take the seminar at the same time. They must be prepared to commit an average of at least ten hours per week to the clinic throughout the entire academic year, though the load will probably be lighter right around the final examinations period

Trial Advocacy: Yearlong

2 sem. hrs.
This is a pass-fail course with strict reading and in-class performance requirements. It is a skills course in trial techniques and related litigation theory development. The student will learn how to prepare and try civil and criminal cases. The objectives are to create strong fundamental skills in the art of direct examination, cross-examination, objections, preparation of witnesses, jury selection, preparation and examination of expert witnesses, introduction of documents, and opening and closing arguments. There will be video-taped exercises followed by individual critique. The course culminates in full mock trials in state or federal courtrooms, with witnesses and jurors. All students participate as trial counsel. It is strongly recommended that students have completed, or are currently enrolled in an Evidence course. Attendance and participation are mandatory. Approximately six (6) students will be selected from the combined classes to participate, on a voluntary basis, in the National Mock Trial Competition. Tryouts are held at the conclusion of the first semester. If selected, the Trial Team's second semester will entail participation on the Trial Team, and those selected will not be required to attend the regular Trial Advocacy classes. This course is graded credit/fail only.

Visual Legal Advocacy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Visual Legal Advocacy will introduce students to the art of making short nonfiction advocacy films on behalf of actual individual clients and/or groups devoted to the advancement of the cause of social justice. Instruction will track the steps in the production of a nonfiction or documentary film, starting with pre-production planning (including writing treatments and shooting scripts, budgeting, and scheduling), going on to the rudiments of production (including introductions to camera, lighting, and sound equipment), and concluding with post-production (including making paper edits and an introduction to editing). Participants will be divided into several working groups that will be responsible for the production of a short piece of visual legal advocacy, most likely a video clemency petition made on behalf of a formerly incarcerated person whose employment opportunities are limited by her/his criminal record or a victim impact statement made on behalf of a person harmed or injured by Philadelphia's gun violence.

White Collar Crime and Capital Markets (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide an overview of the federal law targeting white collar crime, with a particular emphasis on the securities industry. The statutes, regulations and jurisprudence addressing criminal conduct in investment banking and brokerage will be examined from two perspectives: measures targeting bad actors whose crimes threaten the integrity of the capital markets, such as securities fraud and money laundering; and measures holding broker-dealers and other financial institutions accountable for facilitating improper conduct, including the USA Patriot Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Beyond a mere review of the black letter law, however, the course will offer a practitioner’s perspective. Students will gain insight into how federal prosecutors, regulators and investigators work together to develop a complex white collar case. They will hear from guest speakers -- current and former Assistant US Attorneys, SEC and FINRA Enforcement staff, FBI agents, and white collar defense attorneys -- about their real-life experiences. The seminar will also examine the various typologies of securities fraud, their impact on the way business is done on Wall Street, and evolving law enforcement efforts to police that business. From insider trading to "pump and dump" and "ponzi" schemes, the tools of the fraudsters' trade will be analyzed through the prism of recent cases including Bernard Madoff, Martha Stewart and Raj Rajaratnam. Court Golumbic is a Managing Director in the global Compliance Department of Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York. He was formerly an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he specialized in investigating and prosecuting securities fraud, money laundering. and other forms of white collar crime.

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ENVIRONMENTAL, LAND USE, AND NATURAL RESOURCE LAW

Administrative Law

3 sem. hrs.
We live in an administrative state, populated by thousands of governmental bodies that collectively exercise pervasive authority over the entire economy and the lives of every citizen. Unlike courts, which enjoy explicit constitutional independence, administrative agencies constitute a more constitutionally ambiguous “fourth branch of government.” Also unlike courts, most agencies have authority to wield a wide variety of regulatory powers other than adjudication, including rulemaking, licensing, advice-giving, and prosecution. Administrative law is the body of constitutional, statutory, executive, and “common law” principles that constrain and thereby seek to legitimate the exercise of these powers. This course will provide a critical examination of these principles, preparing you for the inevitable encounters lawyers have with administrative agencies in their professional practice. This is a 1L elective course and 1Ls will receive priority in enrollment.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Animal Law and Ethics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar course will focus both on fundamental legal and ethics questions, including human duties toward animals and whether conceiving of rights for animals is appropriate, as well as on an understanding of the current legal and administrative means through which the relationship between humans and animals is regulated. We will discuss the varying viewpoints expressed by animal advocates, generally falling into the category of either "animal welfare" or "animal rights" positions. We will discuss the fact that nonhuman animals are not legally "persons" and currently have no legal rights, per se, only limited legal "protections." Discussion of animal rights will necessarily entail an examination of the sources and characteristics of fundamental rights, why animals have historically been denied them, and whether legal rights are appropriately limited to humans. Further, we will discuss whether, if any such rights were recognized, what nonhuman animals should be entitled to them and, if so, to which legal rights they should be entitled. The class will also consider such issues as establishing standing to bring suits on behalf of animals, constitutional issues raised in animal protection cases and an analysis of the law and theory behind the protections afforded (or not afforded) animals under various federal and state laws. The focus will be on the status of animals as property, the doctrine of standing, and the nature of legal rights as applied to nonhuman animals. We will examine the content and enforcement of state anticruelty laws, the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Animal Welfare Act and accompanying regulations. We will have guest speakers for several sessions. In the past, these speakers have included including litigators and legislative advocates from the Humane Society of the United States and public interest law firms, a prosecutor who specializes in animal fighting, and leading legal scholars on animal ethics. Three short papers will be submitted based on the assigned readings in lieu of a final exam. As this course is intended, in part, as an opportunity to engage in an open dialogue on the potential for developments in this nascent area of law, attendance and participation in class discussion is crucial and laptops are not permitted.

Comparative Environmental Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar takes an economic approach to explaining and normatively critiquing the environmental regulatory systems of the U.S. and Europe. It will focus on topics involving environmental federalism that are common to both the U.S. and Europe. These topics include: the judicial role in the evolution of regulatory centralization; the economic rationale and positive political-economic explanations for regulatory centralization (federalization); transboundary pollution; environmental standard-setting; institutions for public participation in environmental decisionmaking; and, climate change. Students are expected to attend all meetings of the seminar, and the course grade will be based 20% on class participation and 80% on participation on a 24 hour take-home examination.

Cost-Benefit Analysis: Law, Policy and Practice (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Federal and state governments, and the U.S. public, are increasingly turning to cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment to guide rulemaking decisions and to set priorities among interventions intended to protect health, safety, environmental quality, homeland security, financial assets, etc. This course prepares students to critically evaluate risk and cost-benefit analyses, in order to help make decisions that are responsive to law, science, economics, and public values. Students will analyze recent and pending decisions by EPA, FDA, OSHA, and other agencies, to explore how analysis has informed or obscured important controversies, and how the courts have shaped both analysis and outcome. We will also discuss the art of crafting cost-effective controls, considering both traditional rulemaking and innovative proposals for new policy instruments. Required readings will include a mix of journal articles about methods of analysis and regulatory policy, along with close analysis of several major court decisions. The course instructor is an environmental health scientist, but the course will not require any particular science or math background. Rather, lectures and class discussion will emphasize insights the instructor gleaned during 10 years as the chief rulemaking official at OSHA and member of numerous EPA advisory committees, including many details of regulatory analyses, court decisions, and enforcement actions that are poorly captured in the public record. Because of the MLK holiday on January 18, there will be a first organizational class meeting scheduled for Friday, January 15th, 10:30-11:50 in Silverman Ground 48. Depending on the interests of the students who attend this meeting, the course content might be modified to emphasize topic areas of particular interest (e.g., bioethics aspects, scientific integrity and whistleblowing issues, specific regulatory controversies ongoing at the time of the course).

Environmental Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course focuses on both the substance and process of environmental law in the United States. The goal is for students to become familiar with the basic structure of federal environmental law and regulation, both to prepare for legal counseling and advocacy as well as to be able to engage in policy evaluation and design of environmental law. The course will cover key federal environmental statutes, such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, as well as selected EPA regulations. The course will focus on the major legal and policy issues underlying environmental statutes, as well as on legal methods of statutory interpretation. Classroom attendance and preparation is expected. There will be an in-class exam.

Environmental Lawyering

2 sem. hrs.
Environmental law has moved to the forefront both nationally and internationally. This course offers a unique opportunity to learn substantive environmental law and practical lawyering that cuts across most areas of legal practices (real estate, corporate, administrative and litigation). Using “real world” case studies and simulations throughout the semester, students will be asked to role-play as environmental attorneys in, among other things, (1) acquiring, financing and selling an ongoing business with potential environmental concerns; (2) negotiating with the federal EPA regarding a client’s non-compliance with environmental laws; (3) litigating a toxic tort matter; (4) pursuing and defending a citizens’ environmental suit; and (5) wrestling with ethical issues relating to the above presentations. Guests include an EPA official, an environmental consultant and a state or federal judge. The course is for students interested in learning environmental law and/or in just learning lawyering skills.

Externship: Delaware Riverkeeper

4 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR EXTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. Established in 1988, Delaware Riverkeeper Network (“DRN”) is the only advocacy organization working throughout the entire Delaware River Watershed. The Delaware Riverkeeper is an individual who is the voice of the River, championing the rights of the River and its streams as members of our community. The Delaware Riverkeeper is assisted by seasoned professionals and a network of members, volunteers and supporters. Together they form DRN, and together they stand as vigilant protectors and defenders of the River, its tributaries and watershed. DRN is committed to restoring the watershed's natural balance where it has been lost and ensuring its preservation where it still exists. DRN has an active legal clinic that uses environmental laws to enforce legal protections of our waterways and educate law students interested in environmental and public interest law. DRN maintains a docket of robust citizen enforcement actions and other unique environmental cases. DRN has an active legal clinic that uses environmental laws to enforce legal protections of our waterways and educate law students interested in environmental and public interest law. DRN maintains a docket of robust citizen enforcement actions and other unique environmental cases. DRN’s staff attorney is the primary litigator for the organization. DRN has been involved in matters in federal and state court in the watershed states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Recent cases have addressed sewage permits, floodplain development and wetlands violations. The extern will take an active role in all aspects of the daily litigation practice at DRN, including case development, research and drafting, court appearances, depositions and discovery, meetings and coordination with other attorneys and advocates. Working with DRN at this level provides the extern with a unique opportunity to develop critical litigation skills in a nonprofit setting. Although some research work may be done elsewhere, the extern should expect to be on site at least 1-2 times during the week to participate in meetings, conferences, etc. (DRN’s office is located in Bristol, PA, approximately ½ mile from the Bristol train station [SEPTA R7]. Whether you drive or take the train, please consult a map to ensure that your timing and transportation needs can be met.)

Foundations of Climate Change Law and Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course will begin by critically examining the scientific and economic work on the causes and consequences of global warming, with special attention to the political economy of international efforts to curb global warming, the structure and process of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the methodologies underlying economic estimates of costs and benefits. The course will then proceed to consider both domestic and international legal and political developments in the climate change area. These include the Kyotol Protocol, the European Emissions Trading Scheme, and -- in the U.S. -- the history and political economy of efforts to pass federal climate change legislation, state legislation and regulation (with a focus on California), regulation under existing federal environmental statutes and regulation via common law public nuisance actions. The course will conclude by discussing the many substantial environmental impacts from the new "green" energy projects funded by the 2009 stimulus bill and justified by the need to avert global warming, and the treatment of those impacts under existing state, local and federal environmental and land use laws."

International Environmental Law

3 sem. hrs.
The course will focus on the development of international law, institutions, and regimes that respond to international environmental problems. Topics will include transboundary air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, whaling, and fisheries conservation. The course will begin with introductions to economic and ethical issues in environmental law, to the sources of public international law, and to the problem of making that law effective. The course will also examine how international trade law and institutions, including the World Trade Organization, affect efforts to protect the environment.

Law & Policy of Cost-Benefit Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Federal and state governments, and the U.S. public, are increasingly turning to cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment to guide rulemaking decisions and to set priorities among interventions intended to protect health, safety, environmental quality, homeland security, financial assets, etc. This course prepares students to critically evaluate risk and cost-benefit analyses, in order to help make decisions that are responsive to law, science, economics, and public values. Students will analyze recent and pending decisions by EPA, FDA, OSHA, and other agencies, to explore how analysis has informed or obscured important controversies, and how the courts have shaped both analysis and outcome. We will also discuss the art of crafting cost-effective controls, considering both traditional rulemaking and innovative proposals for new policy instruments. Required readings will include a mix of journal articles about methods of analysis and regulatory policy, along with close analysis of several major court decisions. The course instructor is an environmental health scientist, but the course will not require any particular science or math background. Rather, lectures and class discussion will emphasize insights the instructor gleaned during 10 years as the chief rulemaking official at OSHA and member of numerous EPA advisory committees, including many details of regulatory analyses, court decisions, and enforcement actions that are poorly captured in the public record. There will be a first class meeting scheduled for Friday, January 16th, 10:30-11:50 in Silverman Ground 48.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Natural Resources Law & Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course covers laws and regulations that govern the ownership and use of natural resources, both those located on the public (federal) lands and those found on or under private lands. Particular areas covered include: the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) – the original law creating the obligation for federal project agencies to file an environmental impact statement under certain circumstances; the Endangered Species Act; the National Forest Management Act and other laws governing the use of the National Forests; the General Mining Law, and the Wilderness Act. In addition, water law (in particular western water law) will also be covered. The three objectives of the course are for students to: a) acquire a mastery of the stylized statutory and regulatory interpretive arguments that are appropriate (and sometimes persuasive) in these areas of the law; and 2) get a sense of the political and economic factors that account for the creation and survival of the American natural resource legal regime and how those factors influence regulatory and judicial decisions in this area; and, 3) develop familiarity with the structure of economic, scientific and ethical criticisms of the existing system and proposals for reform. The course grade will be based 80 per cent on a take home, 24 hour final examination and 20 per cent on class participation. Class participation includes two required 8-12 page double-spaced written exercises.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Public International Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course introduces students to the rules and institutions of public international law. The course provides a formal introduction to the major doctrinal issues in international law and emphasizes the relationships between law and politics in the behavior of states, institutions, and individuals in international systems. The course begins with an introduction to the nature and structure of the international legal system and the political / international relations questions and theoretical perspectives that frame the field. The course covers institutional and “constitutional” topics, including: the sources of international law, the roles and responsibilities of states and non-state actors in making and being subject to international law, the reach and scope of international law (including its relationship to domestic law and institutions). The course then turns to substantive legal issues. Topics include: human rights, the use of force, and international economic law (including the WTO and foreign investment). Throughout, we will consider the roles of established and emerging institutions and processes and applications to current and recent events. Additional topics may be added or substituted if international events and student interest so warrant.

Real Estate Transactions

3 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to provide an introduction to modern real estate transactions, in theory and in practice. The course materials will cover sales/purchases, mortgage financing, leasing, and related subjects, with emphasis on the relevant transactional documents and the lawyer's role in negotiating and drafting those documents. We will also consider some of the legal issues arising from the current mortgage crisis. The instructor will assume that students have taken contracts, property 1, and civil procedure.

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FAMILY AND ESTATE LAW

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Anatomy of a Divorce

2 sem. hrs.
More than 50% of the marriages in this country end in divorce; the percentage is even higher in many countries outside of the United States. Besides its emotional and financial impact on the divorcing parties, the transfers of wealth attendant to marital dissolutions have substantial economic consequences on society at large with the property subject to distribution in divorce expanding to include career achievements or career potential, celebrity status, enhanced earning capacity, license and degrees. This course provides exposure to the dynamic process of representing the spectrum of clients, including same-sex couples, in a dissolution of marriage case and the unique issues, such as dealing with the media, gag orders, and seeking to close courtrooms to shield children when representing high-profile and high net worth individuals. Topics are covered from the perspective of a practicing lawyer and include: initial client interviews and retention, jurisdiction and choice of law issues, child custody and visitation, the interplay between the Court and matrimonial attorneys, mental health issues, temporary and permanent maintenance for spouses and support for children, awards of attorney and expert fees, the nature of property subject to division and distribution, the valuation process, unique issues raised by certain types of property, effects of bankruptcy, pre- and post-marital agreements, negotiating and drafting marital settlement agreements, pre-trial discovery preparation for and conduct of trial, and Federal tax aspects of marital dissolution. Guest lecturers may include a sitting matrimonial judge, a forensic accountant and a former client.

Bioethics, Babies and Babymaking (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines the interactions and conflicts between law and ethics in the context of reproduction, reproductive technology, family formation, and child rearing. In recent decades, regulators, lawmakers, ethicists, and others have struggled to understand and, in some cases, contain developments in how babies are made, how families are formed, and how parents care for their children. As evidenced by frequent media sensations such as the birth of mega multiples or women giving birth well past menopause, controversies regularly arise about advancing reproductive technologies. These debates take place in the social, political, and medical arenas with varying consequences for individuals and the larger society. During the semester, we will study how the law has responded to changes in family formation, babymaking, and child rearing. More specifically, we will grapple with the relationship between law and ethics and seek to determine whether the law of babymaking and child rearing is or should be ethical. Through a study of topics such as disputes over parentage for children created using technology, fetal rights, sex selection, and limitations on access to parenting, we will evaluate where law and ethics intertwine and where they depart from each other. While we will study cases and learn black letter law, the class will also focus squarely on ethics, particularly feminist bioethics, and how policymaking does and does not reflect the ethical imperatives in any given situation. The final grade will be based on performance on exercises conducted in and out of class, attendance, participation and a final paper.

Evidence

4 sem. hrs.
A study of the common law and federal rules of proof, taught by a practicing trial lawyer. The scope and function of the rules are analyzed against the background of problems arising during the trial of an issue of fact, and the rules are evaluated on the basis of their logical consistency and their tendency to promote or impede a rational method of investigation. The format will combine lectures organizing the materials, Socratic questioning on the readings, and class discussions about policy issues. A particular emphasis will be the importance of thinking strategically about how to apply the rules in pre-trial preparation, and during trial itself. The exam will be entirely closed-book with a mostly black-letter, multiple-choice section and a less structured policy-oriented essay.

Family Law

3 sem. hrs.
This survey course provides an introduction to the legal regulation of the family. Topics include restrictions on marriage; rights and obligations imposed on married couples; legal problems facing same-sex couples and nontraditional families; premarital and separation agreements; the legal construction of parenthood; the legal ramifications of alternative reproductive technologies; and the various incidents of divorce, including property distribution, spousal support, custody, and child support.

Human Reproduction: Law & Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine selected topics relating to why, when and how human beings create other human beings. Feminist legal and philosophical perspectives will be featured in a close analysis of legal conflicts and the roles both sexes and the latest technologies play in contemporary reproductive practices. We look back to traditional regimes for regulating childbirth, pregnancy, contraception, and abortion; but also at current practices and ahead to novel regimes for regulating the use of genetic and other biological enhancements that permit control over how children look, behave, feel, achieve and endure. The primary texts will be Judith F. Daar, Reproductive Technologies and the Law, and a supplement of recent feminist, bioethical and other normative and policy perspectives. Students are encouraged to complete their senior writing requirement in connection with this course; but may take a final essay examination.

Juvenile Justice Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How are juvenile offenders treated differently from adult offenders? To what extent should they be? These questions provide the focus for examining how the state treats the "aberrant" behavior of children. Students will be introduced to the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system in the United States beginning with founding of the juvenile court in 1899 and then-held assumptions about the nature of childhood. We will examine how in the late twentieth century the juvenile court has undergone both ideological and institutional change from its original form. These shifts in theory will be outlined with specific attention to several U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have significantly affected juvenile court, as well as psychological and social science data that have a continuing impact on juvenile court practice and jurisdiction. Throughout the course, students are invited to consider and imagine a future role for the juvenile court as it goes forward. Each class will be co-taught by two adjunct professors who are practitioners in the filed of children's law with particular emphasis in juvenile justice. During the last five classes, weekly reading assignments will be developed by student led teams, who will work with the professors in advance to select appropriate topics, relevant caselaw or other materials, as well as appropriate videos. Student teams will be responsible for leading class discussion on their designated topic. Each student is expected to complete a paper of approximately 10-15 pages in length, on an aspect of the juvenile justice system, as well as short reaction papers and legislative drafting exercises throughout the course. The topic of the paper must be approved by one of the course instructors. Students wishing to satisfy the law school's writing requirement must notify one of the instructors by the fourth week of class.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Mental Health Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will cover the theoretical, doctrinal and practical issues in mental health law, with special reference to the criminal context. It will also be of interest to students interested in bioethics, health law, and family law.

Parents, Children and the State (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course is designed to examine the allocation of power between children, parents, and the government both within and outside of the family unit. Rather than providing a survey of family law, this course focuses upon primarily poverty law issues that arise from public institutions designed to promote social welfare and to protect and nurture young people and their families. Students should enter the course with a basic understanding of Constitutional law, along with a desire to explore social welfare through a variety of mediums. This course focuses upon the child welfare system. We begin with the foundational cases that establish both the legal rights and liabilities of parents. We will also examine recent federal legislation regarding termination of parental rights and touch upon adoption policy as it intersects with the foster care system. In exploring the dependency and child welfare systems, we will consider the role that race and class play in abuse and neglect cases and work to define the appropriate parameters of state intervention into the daily lives of families. Finally, we will examine the unique challenges that face counsel for children and parents.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Privacy

3 sem. hrs.
The study of privacy law serves several purposes. Most importantly, it introduces students to an important area of legal practice. Not only is privacy law now a recognized area of legal practice in its own right, but knowledge of privacy law is frequently called for in the practice of health, business and intellectual property law. The study of privacy law serves another purpose: developing a better understanding of the concept of privacy and the controversies--some philosophical, some political-- surrounding its application in the law. The course is divided into three sections or "chapters." Our study begins with state common law. State common law is an historic source of privacy protections. Chapter 1 examines the origins of state privacy law in the late 19th century and its subsequent growth until today. The chapter considers the four common law invasion of privacy torts recognized in most states and by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of (Second) of Torts. The chapter also examines the closely affiliated state common law of publicity and confidentiality. Chapter 1 samples major statutes enacted by state legislatures both to create privacy rights akin to those recognized in the common law and to supplement them. We move next to the federal constitution, a crucial major source of privacy law. Chapter 2 takes on the voluminous privacy jurisprudence spawned by the Bill of Rights-- most importantly, the First and Fourth Amendments’ jurisprudence of associational, physical, and informational privacy. This chapter also features the often-controversial Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and substantive due process decisional privacy jurisprudence. It concludes with a consideration of state constitutions that, state courts have held, significantly expand privacy protection beyond federal limits. The journey ends after an encounter with the federal privacy statutes, a dynamic source of privacy and data protection law. Chapter 3 examines nearly a dozen federal privacy statutes, covering government record management; health, education, and financial data; video rentals; communications; the internet; and surveillance. The chapter touches on some state counterparts to federal legislation and the agency rules that implement them.

Same Sex Marriage: Law, Religion and Advocacy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will address the ways that marriage has been defined and re-defined in American law and religion. We will focus especially on the ways that supporters and opponents of same-sex unions have argued that justice, the Constitution, faith, and equality lead to one or another conclusion. Students will be required to write weekly responses to the reading, or a single research paper. Senior writing credit available for longer papers.

Sexuality and the Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar explores the various ways that sexuality has been regulated through the years and the current legal challenges faced by the LGBT community. You will learn modern and post-modern theories of gender and sexuality. Using these theories, you will learn to analyze all key legal aspects of this increasingly important issue in a critical and up-to-date fashion. The seminar commences with a survey of the history of sexuality and its regulation around the world--when, why and how countries began to regulate sex. We will examine ways that heterosexuality was presented as the sole natural means to practice sexuality and ways that the law was regulated to maintain this. We will challenge the perception of sex, gender and sexual orientation as binary categories and ask whether or not related laws are sufficient to handle more complex categorizations of sexuality. We will examine the history of sexuality and gender and the narrative related to the emergence of the LGBT community in the political, social and legal realms. We will follow with an examination of the gay-liberation movement, with a focus on the way the LGBT community has used courts and legislation to achieve their goals. We will leverage all this knowledge to help investigate the current status of sex regulation. Students will be required to write weekly responses to the readings, or a single research paper. Class participation will constitute a substantial part of your final grade. This will be a participatory seminar. Attendance is required. Course materials will be distributed electronically on Course Portal.

Social Welfare and American Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar focuses on the role of law in remedying poverty, addressing inequality, and providing social and economic security in the United States in the twentieth century. The primary aim of the course is to familiarize students with broad themes in twentieth-century legal history, including the growth of the administrative state, changes in legal thought, and the “rights revolution.” A secondary aim is to give students a greater understanding of the workings and development of the American welfare state, a topic that is relevant to contemporary legal debates and intersects fruitfully with issues in administrative law, constitutional law, family law, and poverty law. Attendance, preparation, and class participation are essential. Grades will be based on contribution to discussion and a series of short papers.

Trusts and Estates

3 sem. hrs.
This course is a general survey of the law relating to family wealth transmission. The course will study both transfers within the probate system-wills and intestate succession-and transfers outside it, with special attention to trusts. The course will examine the substantive law as well as the policy issues that surround it. Particular attention will be given to the Uniform Probate Code. Cases from a variety of jurisdictions will also be discussed. Examination.

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HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Animal Law and Ethics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar course will focus both on fundamental legal and ethics questions, including human duties toward animals and whether conceiving of rights for animals is appropriate, as well as on an understanding of the current legal and administrative means through which the relationship between humans and animals is regulated. We will discuss the varying viewpoints expressed by animal advocates, generally falling into the category of either "animal welfare" or "animal rights" positions. We will discuss the fact that nonhuman animals are not legally "persons" and currently have no legal rights, per se, only limited legal "protections." Discussion of animal rights will necessarily entail an examination of the sources and characteristics of fundamental rights, why animals have historically been denied them, and whether legal rights are appropriately limited to humans. Further, we will discuss whether, if any such rights were recognized, what nonhuman animals should be entitled to them and, if so, to which legal rights they should be entitled. The class will also consider such issues as establishing standing to bring suits on behalf of animals, constitutional issues raised in animal protection cases and an analysis of the law and theory behind the protections afforded (or not afforded) animals under various federal and state laws. The focus will be on the status of animals as property, the doctrine of standing, and the nature of legal rights as applied to nonhuman animals. We will examine the content and enforcement of state anticruelty laws, the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Animal Welfare Act and accompanying regulations. We will have guest speakers for several sessions. In the past, these speakers have included including litigators and legislative advocates from the Humane Society of the United States and public interest law firms, a prosecutor who specializes in animal fighting, and leading legal scholars on animal ethics. Three short papers will be submitted based on the assigned readings in lieu of a final exam. As this course is intended, in part, as an opportunity to engage in an open dialogue on the potential for developments in this nascent area of law, attendance and participation in class discussion is crucial and laptops are not permitted.

Bioethics, Babies and Babymaking (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines the interactions and conflicts between law and ethics in the context of reproduction, reproductive technology, family formation, and child rearing. In recent decades, regulators, lawmakers, ethicists, and others have struggled to understand and, in some cases, contain developments in how babies are made, how families are formed, and how parents care for their children. As evidenced by frequent media sensations such as the birth of mega multiples or women giving birth well past menopause, controversies regularly arise about advancing reproductive technologies. These debates take place in the social, political, and medical arenas with varying consequences for individuals and the larger society. During the semester, we will study how the law has responded to changes in family formation, babymaking, and child rearing. More specifically, we will grapple with the relationship between law and ethics and seek to determine whether the law of babymaking and child rearing is or should be ethical. Through a study of topics such as disputes over parentage for children created using technology, fetal rights, sex selection, and limitations on access to parenting, we will evaluate where law and ethics intertwine and where they depart from each other. While we will study cases and learn black letter law, the class will also focus squarely on ethics, particularly feminist bioethics, and how policymaking does and does not reflect the ethical imperatives in any given situation. The final grade will be based on performance on exercises conducted in and out of class, attendance, participation and a final paper.

Constitutional Litigation

4 sem. hrs.
The United States Constitution purports to restrain the actions of state and federal governments. When these restraints are transgressed, the injured parties and their representatives look to the federal courts for remedies. This course considers the legal doctrines that shape the courts' readiness to provide those remedies and the ways in which doctrines are likely to manifest themselves in the course of litigation. Topics include: the availability of damage actions, sovereign and official immunities, jurisdictional problems, abstention, Younger v. Harris and its emanations, standing and issues of institutional litigation. The format is Socratic. Exam will be a takeaway open-book essay.

Death Penalty & Habeas Corpus

2 sem. hrs.
The course explores the theoretical bases and practical realities of death penalty law, and the interplay between substantive and procedural law both at the state and federal levels in the context of actual practice. The first half of the class deals generally with substantive death penalty issues, commencing with the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia. We look at the limits imposed on the states by the Supreme Court in order to have a constitutionally viable death penalty. What are the minimum protections that a state death penalty statute must provide? What trial procedures must be in place? The second half of the course explores how these issues interplay with federal habeas corpus, particularly since the enactment of the AntiTerrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996. These issues address the balancing of the three "F's" at the heart of habeas: Federalism, finality and fairness. The class is taught in a participatory format, and active engagement is not just encouraged, but expected. Laptop abuse will result in the laptop being banned on an individualized basis.

Employment Discrimination

3 sem. hrs.
This course will introduce the basic theories and legal principles underlying equal employment opportunity law in the United States. The course focuses primarily on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, and secondarily on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act: the fundamental federal statutes prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, gender, religion, age and disability. The course begins with an overview of the primary structures of proof in employment discrimination cases--individual disparate treatment, systemic disparate treatment, and disparate impact. We then consider in greater depth specific topics including sexual harassment, gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation, pregnancy discrimination, religious discrimination, reasonable accommodation requirements, and affirmative action.

Family Law

3 sem. hrs.
This survey course provides an introduction to the legal regulation of the family. Topics include restrictions on marriage; rights and obligations imposed on married couples; legal problems facing same-sex couples and nontraditional families; premarital and separation agreements; the legal construction of parenthood; the legal ramifications of alternative reproductive technologies; and the various incidents of divorce, including property distribution, spousal support, custody, and child support.

First Amendment in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Discussion of the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech, press and assembly during the second half of the twentieth century occupied a central place in the Supreme Court's practice of judicial review. As the century closed, the "information age" brought new urgency to some elements of the discussion, and threatened to transform others. This seminar will examine the development of the constitutional doctrines protecting freedom of expression, and the ways in which these doctrines are likely to occupy the courts in the twenty first century. Discussion is likely to include problems of incitement and threats, conspiracy, compelled speech, anonymity, libel, obscenity, emotionally abusive speech, intellectual property, privacy, access to public fora, the internet and media structure. The first nine weeks will consist of discussion of class materials presented by the instructor; the last four weeks will consist of presentation of papers by students. Reading will be substantial, and attendance, preparation and class participation will be required of all seminar members.

Global Research Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
2010 Global Research Seminar—Globalization of Corporate Governance: Italy and the European Union (Skeel) – W 4:30-6:30 The Spring 2010 seminar, led by David Skeel, will consider the foundations of contemporary corporate governance through an intensive study of Italian corporate governance and Italy’s place in the overarching structure of the European Union. The first half of the semester will consist of readings in the history of Italian corporate governance and bankruptcy; corporate governance theory; the emerging role of E.U. regulation; and the implications of the current financial crisis for Italian and European securities markets and finance. The class will then conduct hands-on research during a 10-day visit to Rome and Milan over Spring Break, where students will meet with the Milan Stock Exchange, Consob (the Italian securities regulator), and other government and private sector experts. The principal work product for the class will be a report commissioned by one or more of the Italian regulatory agencies. Registration will be capped at 12 students. Registration Deadline is Monday, November 30, 2009. In order to be considered, you must be a 2L, 3L, or LLM student who is able to spend ten days in Italy this March, overlapping with Penn Law’s Spring Recess. Registration will be competitive and require the following additional materials be sent electronically to Claire Wallace – cwallac2@law.upenn.edu by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, November 30: 1. Cover Letter addressed to Professor David Skeel 2. Resume 3. Writing sample (no more than five pages in length; it can be a part of a larger writing sample, if desired). Enrollment decisions will be made by Monday, December 14. If you are selected to enroll, the Registrar’s Office will add the seminar to your schedule.

Human Reproduction: Law & Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine selected topics relating to why, when and how human beings create other human beings. Feminist legal and philosophical perspectives will be featured in a close analysis of legal conflicts and the roles both sexes and the latest technologies play in contemporary reproductive practices. We look back to traditional regimes for regulating childbirth, pregnancy, contraception, and abortion; but also at current practices and ahead to novel regimes for regulating the use of genetic and other biological enhancements that permit control over how children look, behave, feel, achieve and endure. The primary texts will be Judith F. Daar, Reproductive Technologies and the Law, and a supplement of recent feminist, bioethical and other normative and policy perspectives. Students are encouraged to complete their senior writing requirement in connection with this course; but may take a final essay examination.

Human Rights Lawyering in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will introduce students to the range of human rights lawyering undertaken today, grounded in the historical development of human rights law and contemporary case studies. The seminar will also look at the role critical theory has played and continues to play in shaping the development of human rights. In addition to examining the law and theory that underlies human rights movements, it will also provide students with an opportunity to critically examine the practice of human rights law simulated and actual human rights research and advocacy projects. Students will engage in research, writing and strategic planning, and the drafting of advocacy documents, and will have the opportunity to work in collaboration with different partner organizations in identifying and advancing their different human rights agendas. There are no prerequisites, though an introductory course in international law would be beneficial. Class participation is mandatory. In lieu of mid-term or final examination, students will complete a final project of their selection.

Immigration Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course explores immigration policy and provides a comprehensive overview of the legal framework that regulates the admission and deportation of aliens in the United States. The course begins with a brief review of the history of immigration in the United States, a discussion of the morality of immigration restrictions, an analysis of the economic effects of immigration, and an examination of the constitutional basis for the federal government's power over immigration matters. The course then covers the existing categories of visas, the statutory provisions that can trigger exclusion or deportation, the issue of unauthorized immigration, and the constitutional law regarding restrictions on immigrant access to public benefits. The course explores the constitutional rights of aliens and the corresponding limits to the federal immigration power, including those arising from the First Amendment and from the Due Process Clause.

International Human Rights

3 sem. hrs.
This course traces the dramatic rise of the individual as a subject of international law in the post-World War II era; specifically, as a beneficiary of fundamental rights recognized, protected and enforced directly by that system of law. It begins by laying historical foundations, showing how the individual was formerly treated as no more than a mere appendage of his/her State, and then considers the transformation effected by the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and two International Covenants (1966). The evolution of specific areas of human rights will be considered, eg, civil and political rights, elimination of racial discrimination, elimination of discrimination against women, freedom of religion, elimination of torture, children’s rights, etc. In each case, three "eras" will be traversed: (a) that of general principles, in which the notion of the rights emerges at the general level; (b) that of specificity, in which the content of the rights takes shape and is defined; and (c) that of enforcement, in which the international legal system seeks to give practical effect to the rights it has recognized, at the national, regional and international levels. Consideration will also be given to exceptions to human rights principles, and possible derogations from them, where tensions arise at the interface of human rights and national security interests. Videos will be shown in class, dealing with the creation of the Universal Declaration, the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and Czechoslovakia, a tribunal established by NGOs to highlight abuses suffered by women, the effect of the Children’s Convention and a contemporary trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The essay exam will be an open-book takeaway. Students may opt to write a paper (with Professor Reicher's permission) in addition to the exam. Such papers will count as 60% of the course's grade (with the takeaway exam constituting the other 40%) and may be considered for Senior Writing. Class participation may be taken into account to improve a student's final grade.

International Human Rights and National Security

2 sem. hrs.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the U.S. policy responses that followed, have posed a series of challenges to U.S. and international legal rules and structures regulating the interests of human rights and national security. For some, the threat posed by international organizations like al Qaeda has demanded a reassessment of whether domestic and international law provides governments enough authority and flexibility to meet the modern threat of mass casualty terrorism. For others, images of detainee torture and prolonged detention at places like Guantanamo Bay have raised questions of whether human rights legal protections, including those forged in the aftermath of World War II, can actually be effective in constraining government power in times of acute security threat. Most broadly, as the United States continues to grapple with policy dilemmas posed by terrorism and methods to counter it, U.S. actions shed light on this country’s relationship to international law, and on prospects more generally for the legal regulation of national security. With a view to exploring these themes, this course begins with an introduction to several substantive bodies of law most centrally implicated by these questions, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law (the law of war), and affirmative legal authorities and constraints defining U.S. national security powers under U.S. constitutional and statutory law. Topics to be addressed include the nature and binding extent of state human rights obligations, the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties, the applicability of international humanitarian law to U.S. military operations, and the powers of the U.S. executive in situations of armed conflict. The course then turns to consider international and domestic structures for human rights law enforcement, with special attention to those mechanisms that most regularly encounter disputes involving human rights and security. In the international realm, the course will explore the operations of institutions including the UN Human Rights Council and relevant treaty bodies, as well as key regional courts. This part of the course will also consider how the U.S. domestic system implements U.S. and international human rights laws – both through the courts, and through non-judicial mechanisms such as administrative agencies and NGOs. The final portion of the course turns to consider how these rules and structures have been applied to contemporary topics in human rights and national security law, including interrogation and torture; security detention; prosecution and trial; and rendition of suspects from one nation to another. Drawing on case studies from recent events, the course will analyze the legal implications of these practices, and explore options for addressing the policy dilemmas that remain. Student grades for the course will be based principally on a take-home final examination distributed during exam period. Students will also be evaluated on the basis of class participation, and on the completion of a short reaction paper (3-4 pages) responding to one of the readings assigned during the semester. There are no prerequisites for this course. Cross-registrations are encouraged.

Juvenile Justice Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
How are juvenile offenders treated differently from adult offenders? To what extent should they be? These questions provide the focus for examining how the state treats the "aberrant" behavior of children. Students will be introduced to the legal, social, and historical underpinnings of the juvenile justice system in the United States beginning with founding of the juvenile court in 1899 and then-held assumptions about the nature of childhood. We will examine how in the late twentieth century the juvenile court has undergone both ideological and institutional change from its original form. These shifts in theory will be outlined with specific attention to several U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have significantly affected juvenile court, as well as psychological and social science data that have a continuing impact on juvenile court practice and jurisdiction. Throughout the course, students are invited to consider and imagine a future role for the juvenile court as it goes forward. Each class will be co-taught by two adjunct professors who are practitioners in the filed of children's law with particular emphasis in juvenile justice. During the last five classes, weekly reading assignments will be developed by student led teams, who will work with the professors in advance to select appropriate topics, relevant caselaw or other materials, as well as appropriate videos. Student teams will be responsible for leading class discussion on their designated topic. Each student is expected to complete a paper of approximately 10-15 pages in length, on an aspect of the juvenile justice system, as well as short reaction papers and legislative drafting exercises throughout the course. The topic of the paper must be approved by one of the course instructors. Students wishing to satisfy the law school's writing requirement must notify one of the instructors by the fourth week of class.

Law and the Holocaust

3 sem. hrs.
This course draws together comparative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, conflicts of laws, international law, human rights and legal history to examine the Nazi philosophy of law, emanating from the egregious racial ideology, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and ultimately eliminate, certain classes of people; then, to study the role of international law in seeking to rectify the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a system of international human rights designed to prevent a repetition. The course will consider the following areas: 1. The Holocaust: "Lawful Barbarism.” Overview of the Holocaust, and the ways in which it was "anchored" in law. 2. The Ideology That Made It Possible. Nazi theories of race and the nature and role of the State, and the legal system as an instrument of both. 3. The Nazi Legal System In Action. Laws giving effect to the theories of race, and their interpretation and application by the judges. 4. Jurisprudential Issues. Parts 2 and 3 above will form the foundation for an exploration of the role of morality in a system of law, through a consideration of academic writings and judicial reflection. An example of the former is the celebrated Hart-Fuller debate, in the Harvard Law Review; and an example of the latter is the controversial Bernstein litigation, in which the Courts grappled with the effect to be accorded in the US to expropriations of property by the Nazi regime. 5. Measure For Measure: The Response Of The International Legal System. Prosecution of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg; national legislation and court decisions bringing perpetrators of atrocities to justice; the Genocide Convention; and the evolution of international human rights, stressing the equality and dignity of all human beings, as a direct antithesis of the Nazi racial philosophy. 6. Lessons For The 21st Century. Case studies in which contemporary history--in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, etc.--raises the disturbing question: What lessons, if any, has the world learned from the Nazi era? Teaching in the course revolves around specially-edited materials, supplemented by video excerpts of archival footage of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, a re-enactment of the Wannsee Conference, a biography of Dr. Josef Mengele, Leni Riefenstahl's classic propaganda film Triumph of the Will, and a contemporary war crimes trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia.

Legal Responses to Inequality

3 sem. hrs.
This course will study legal material as expressive of, and as supportive of, differing concepts of equality and its role as a social value, rather than as simply part of a course of doctrinal development or a system of analytical reasoning. Its premise is that differences in those concepts are often not recognized, and the contestability and bases of one's approach to equality issues are often not acknowledged. Substantively, the course will include aspects of legal regulation affecting the status of racial, religious and ethnic "minorities," women, gay and lesbian people, and people perceived as disabled, as well as the distribution of wealth and income. It will do this in part by examining "antidiscrimination," "equal protection," or "poverty" law, but will focus also on issues of equality implicit in such mainstream first-year subjects as Procedure and Contracts.

Litigation for Social Change Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine the use of litigation as a tool to effect social change. We will look at the unique nature of the American legal system that makes this possible. We will review the use of class actions and other vehicles that have been successfully employed. We will consider the consequences of the use of litigation. There will be a takeaway exam.

Philosophical Foundations of Legal and Moral Equality (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Readings will mostly come from modern moral or political philosophers. Will start with Rawls and include selections from people such as Elizabeth Anderson, myself, G.A. Cohen, Dworkin, Habermas, Michelamn, Scanlon, Scheffler, Sen and others. A number of times during the semester, a student can expect to write a critical comment (not based on research) on the weeks reading; all other weeks, the student should write a question that the student thinks should be addressed about the reading - the critique or question being due the day before the class meets. Class discussion will focus on the readings, student critiques and student questions. The central questions of the seminar are: whether the concept of equality has a moral basis and if so, what is that basis; what is the best conception of equality; and how could/should/does that conception relate to law, presumably but not necessarily constitutional law. Given the nature of the course, attendance is expected and more than two absents may result in a lower grade. When absence is necessary, the student should still do the whatever written work is expected of him or her that week (though if needed it can be somewhat late).

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Public International Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course introduces students to the rules and institutions of public international law. The course provides a formal introduction to the major doctrinal issues in international law and emphasizes the relationships between law and politics in the behavior of states, institutions, and individuals in international systems. The course begins with an introduction to the nature and structure of the international legal system and the political / international relations questions and theoretical perspectives that frame the field. The course covers institutional and “constitutional” topics, including: the sources of international law, the roles and responsibilities of states and non-state actors in making and being subject to international law, the reach and scope of international law (including its relationship to domestic law and institutions). The course then turns to substantive legal issues. Topics include: human rights, the use of force, and international economic law (including the WTO and foreign investment). Throughout, we will consider the roles of established and emerging institutions and processes and applications to current and recent events. Additional topics may be added or substituted if international events and student interest so warrant.

Refugee Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the origins of “refuge” or “asylum” including the myriad of human rights violations that force people to flee and seek protection, public policy issues such as US laws and regulations that govern asylum, and international agencies that are involved in the process of granting protection. The course will cover both the international refugee law and human rights context of State practice with reference to international treaties and customary international law. The course will begin with a review of The United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees - the standard against which refugee protection will be measured. We will study the dimensions, responsibilities and realities of the Office of the United National High Commissioner for Refugees which monitors implementation of this treaty. We will then cover regional practice relating to refugees in Europe, Latin America and Africa and Asia and briefly discuss root causes reasons of current and potential population displacements The major portion of the course, however, will deal with US statutory, regulatory and case law determining who is and is not a refuge vis-a-vis the 1980 Refugee Act, implementing regulations, and administrative and judicial decisions law. To better understand and see how theory is put into practice, especially as it relates to deterring refugees from entering the US through their detention students may be involved in interviewing asylum seekers. The course will conclude by looking at the international institutional response to refugee problems. We will conclude with a discussion of ancillary refugee issues such as, restricted employment and welfare entitlements, expedited procedures, and returns to safe countries. By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Understand the international framework for refugee determinations 2. Understand the US domestic framework including legislation, regulations and judicial decisions, for refugee and asylum related issues 3. Show competency in conducting an intake of an asylum seeker and developing a case analysis 4. Research Country Conditions regarding human rights violations 5. Prepare An Application for Asylum, Form I-589 and understand US regulations dealing with asylum adjudication 6. Prepare an Affidavit attesting to the asylum seeker's claim for asylum 7. Prepare a packet with evidence to support the claim for asylum

Sexuality and the Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar explores the various ways that sexuality has been regulated through the years and the current legal challenges faced by the LGBT community. You will learn modern and post-modern theories of gender and sexuality. Using these theories, you will learn to analyze all key legal aspects of this increasingly important issue in a critical and up-to-date fashion. The seminar commences with a survey of the history of sexuality and its regulation around the world--when, why and how countries began to regulate sex. We will examine ways that heterosexuality was presented as the sole natural means to practice sexuality and ways that the law was regulated to maintain this. We will challenge the perception of sex, gender and sexual orientation as binary categories and ask whether or not related laws are sufficient to handle more complex categorizations of sexuality. We will examine the history of sexuality and gender and the narrative related to the emergence of the LGBT community in the political, social and legal realms. We will follow with an examination of the gay-liberation movement, with a focus on the way the LGBT community has used courts and legislation to achieve their goals. We will leverage all this knowledge to help investigate the current status of sex regulation. Students will be required to write weekly responses to the readings, or a single research paper. Class participation will constitute a substantial part of your final grade. This will be a participatory seminar. Attendance is required. Course materials will be distributed electronically on Course Portal.

Social Welfare and American Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar focuses on the role of law in remedying poverty, addressing inequality, and providing social and economic security in the United States in the twentieth century. The primary aim of the course is to familiarize students with broad themes in twentieth-century legal history, including the growth of the administrative state, changes in legal thought, and the “rights revolution.” A secondary aim is to give students a greater understanding of the workings and development of the American welfare state, a topic that is relevant to contemporary legal debates and intersects fruitfully with issues in administrative law, constitutional law, family law, and poverty law. Attendance, preparation, and class participation are essential. Grades will be based on contribution to discussion and a series of short papers.

Transnational Legal Clinic - Fieldwork

6 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTION PAGE. The Transnational Legal Clinic provides students an opportunity to explore legal advocacy in settings that cross cultures, borders, languages and legal systems through direct representation of individual clients with immigration cases and individual or organizational clients engaged in international human rights advocacy. Students work in teams of two or more under faculty supervision, and are responsible for all aspects of client representation. They meet regularly in their teams with the faculty supervisor to receive guidance and constructive feedback. Seminar time is devoted to: training in fundamental lawyering skills (interviewing, counseling, fact investigation, case theory and persuasive advocacy) through lectures, videos, interactive group work and simulations; and, case rounds, during which students share developments and solicit suggestions and feedback on legal, factual, ethical and strategic issues in their cases. Class participation is mandatory. Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to discuss competing interests underlying the development of immigration law in the U.S. and its relationship to international law, the role of international and comparative law in legal advocacy, law and organizing, and the role of the client in larger human rights/impact litigation cases. The seminar is not a substitute for an international law or immigration course. Substantive law will be discussed as needed in specific cases and students are responsible – with the guidance of the faculty supervisor – for researching and analyzing the underlying substantive law relevant to their individual cases. Fieldwork and seminar components of the course are graded separately. Students will be provided with a grading memo at the start of the semester outlining the criteria on which they will be graded. Students are expected to engage in critical reflection on the choices presented and made in their cases, and are required to write a self-evaluation memo mid-semester and at the end of the semester assessing their own performance and professional development. Class participation is mandatory. Students enrolled are required to read prior to the start of classes The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. The book explores the relationships between the American medical system, doctors and social workers, and a young Hmong girl and her refugee family. It raises several issues of cross-cultural communication that will serve as the basis for discussions throughout the semester. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if you are enrolled in another clinical course or an externship in the same semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course.

UN Security Council in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar is an introduction to the functions and operations of the UN Security Council, the only body of the United Nations capable of compelling action by a Member State. The intent of the course is to expand the student’s understanding of the strengths and limitations of the Security Council; the legal and political framework within which it operates; the practical aspects of advocating for Security Council action; and proposals for reform. Students will become equipped with the analytical tools to assess if a country situation falls within the jurisdiction of the Security Council as well as understanding the complex interplay between the Council and other UN and international organizations. To help make the subject as tangible as possible, the instructor will use a variety of techniques including role-playing, case study examples, video clips, discussions, lectures, and an occasional guest speaker.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY LAW

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Copyright

3 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on the protection of literary, musical and artistic works through copyright and related doctrines. Topics will include the concept and purposes of copyright (including a brief discussion of patents and trademarks), copyrightable subject matter, ownership of copyright, formalities, and rights, limitations, and remedies provided by copyright. There will be an in-class examination. Class participation will be taken into account in grading.

Copyright Theory (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The objective of this Seminar is to expose students to the various theoretical and policy debates that are today endemic to the copyright system. Each week, the readings will focus on one or more theories that purport to explain and justify the institution of copyright. Topics will include economic theories, labor/desert theories, personality theories, democratic/free speech theories, natural rights theories and theories of cultural production. Classroom discussions will then focusing on evaluating these theories against the actual workings of copyright doctrine. In the process we will ask if copyright is indeed the best way of stimulating creativity in different settings, whether there might indeed be other values/goals that drive copyright law, and whether at times the copyright system imposes more costs than benefits on society as a whole. Each student will be required to help lead class discussions during one class session. Additionally, every student enrolled in the seminar must complete a research paper that satisfies the law school’s writing requirement.

Cultural Heritage and the Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Culture Heritage and the Law: This course will be held once a week and will focus on the regulations, policy and practices in the emerging field of cultural heritage law. The class will use the textbook, Art, Cultural Heritage and the Law by Professor Patty Gerstenblith, DePaul College of Law, 2008 with supplemental readings and videos on related subject matter including the issues of claims for repatriation of cultural objects by tribes and nations of origin, the theft of art via looting and grand larceny as in the Gardner Museum in Boston, the Nazi seizure of art collections during World War II, and the defenses of museums and collectors to such requests. Guest speakers from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Barnes Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University Art Museums, the FBI- Art Theft division and the International Foundation for Art Research in New York will be visiting the class. A mid-term essay exam and a 10 page paper with a class presentation of same on a source nation and its cultural heritage regulations will be the basis for grading in addition to class attendance and participation in weekly readings and discussions. An optional field trip to two private collections in New York City and lunch with the general counsel of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be offered to those students who can attend a Saturday trip. The objective of the course is to introduce the many issues and debates in this new field of law where the cosmopolitan museums of the world and private collectors are being asked to return objects to their countries of origin which raises the debate as to whose mission it is to preserve and protect the cultural heritage of the world today. The instructor has degrees in law and art history and has previously taught a similar class at the University of Houston Law Center.

Cybercrime Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal issues that judges, legislators, and lawyers confront as they respond to the increase in Internet and computer-related crime. We will explore how crimes in cyberspace challenge traditional concepts of crime that developed to deal with crimes committed in physical space. We will also explore how the investigation and prosecution of crime in cyberspace are altered from the physical world models. Topics will include: an exploration whether paradigms of the physical world translate to the cyber world; computer hacking and computer viruses; child exploitation; on-line threats and on-line stalking; online economic espionage and intellectual property theft; the interaction of the laws of privacy (constitutional and other) and law enforcement efforts to gather evidence from computers and on the Internet; issues of federalism and national sovereignty in computer crime; and cyber terrorism. An introductory course in American criminal law is required, but previous experience in computer technology is not. A basic familiarity with the Internet will be helpful. (This is a criminal law course, not a technology course). The seminar will examine how the criminal justice system should respond to computer-related crime. We will consider four broad questions. First, what conduct should be considered criminal in cyberspace? Second, how do we protect privacy on the Internet and what rules should govern law enforcement investigations of computer crime? Third, how should traditional notions of sovereignty that govern criminal law in the physical world apply in cyberspace? Finally, what are the risks of warfare and intelligence gathering in cyberspace? After the first, introductory class, we will spend approximately five classes each on the first and second questions and one class each on the third and fourth. I expect to have a federal law enforcement agent as a guest lecturer. In addition to the textbook, we will use materials from actual cases. Students will be required to write two papers of approximately 1,500 words each. For third year students, this requirement can be converted into a single paper to fulfill the senior writing requirement. Papers are to be on the issues discussed in class, or, with the approval of the instructor, on another appropriate topic. Attendance is mandatory. Absences for good cause are permitted. I view this seminar as a discussion class. It is limited to 14 students. The absence of even one person diminishes everyone's experience. Your first class meeting for Cybercrime (Levy) will be on Friday, Janurary 15, 2010 from 12:00 to 2:00pm in T-345.

Development of US Intellectual Property Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will introduce students to major developments in the history of American patent and copyright law. One objective of the seminar is to explore how intellectual property institutions took their modern shape and to draw lessons about their possible future development. The other aim of the course is to reflect on the uses of historical argument in recent IP law and policy, especially in decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Students must complete a paper on a major case in patent or copyright law, placing the case in its legal and economic context, tracing the strategies of the parties, and explaining the subsequent importance and implications of the decision. No prior experience of legal history or historical research is required.

Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic

5 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE. This clinical course involves the direct representation of entrepreneurs, businesses, and social entrepreneurs from the Philadelphia area. With the guidance and supervision of full-time faculty with significant transactional experience, students serve as the primary counsel to both for profit and non-profit clients on matters such as business structuring and formation, contract drafting and review, intellectual property, managing employees, negotiating with third parties, asset acquisitions and dispositions, business strategy, and regulatory requirements. The Clinic does not litigate. Through weekly seminars, concepts and skills involving substantive law, business, and professional development are introduced to enable students to best serve their clients and learn the fundamentals of transactional practice and impact distressed communities. In addition to the regularly scheduled class meetings, students will meet with Faculty supervisors at least once a week for approximately an hour. Students also present workshops on various legal topics to local entrepreneurs. These presentations take place in the evenings and are teamed presentations. Enrollment is limited to 16 students. Corporations is recommended. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if: a) you are enrolled in another clinical course, or an externship in the same semester; or b) you have 3 or more incomplete grades at the beginning of the semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course. Students who elect to use their enrollment in the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic toward their public service requirement will receive one less credit for this course.

First Amendment in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Discussion of the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech, press and assembly during the second half of the twentieth century occupied a central place in the Supreme Court's practice of judicial review. As the century closed, the "information age" brought new urgency to some elements of the discussion, and threatened to transform others. This seminar will examine the development of the constitutional doctrines protecting freedom of expression, and the ways in which these doctrines are likely to occupy the courts in the twenty first century. Discussion is likely to include problems of incitement and threats, conspiracy, compelled speech, anonymity, libel, obscenity, emotionally abusive speech, intellectual property, privacy, access to public fora, the internet and media structure. The first nine weeks will consist of discussion of class materials presented by the instructor; the last four weeks will consist of presentation of papers by students. Reading will be substantial, and attendance, preparation and class participation will be required of all seminar members.

Intellectual Property & Nat'l Econ Value Creation (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal structure of intellectual property laws in the United States and select foreign countries and the effect of these laws on the countries national economic development. In this process, we will explore the nature of the correlation between different types of intellectual property laws and national economic development. We will also discuss the quantification of the economic value of different types of intellectual property laws. Lastly, we will engage in a discussion as to whether intellectual property laws can be effective tools for social engineering.

Intellectual Property: Trademarks

2 sem. hrs.
This course examines ways in which the manufacturer can establish and protect his /her identity and the identity of his/her product in the marketplace. Attention is directed to the various devices which can be used for this purpose, particular focus being given to trademarks and trade-names under the Lanham Act, common law and various state laws. Attention is also given to related areas of unfair competition, including such topics as false advertising.

International Communication: Power & Flow Seminar (S)

1 sem. hrs.
This course will address old and new patterns of communications flow across national and societal borders, taking account of media technologies, mutual perceptions, rhetorical forms, and the balance of power and influence in a globalizing world.

Internet Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the various legal regimes that apply to the Internet. Topics will include FCC regulation of the Internet, network neutrality, voice over Internet protocol, backbone regulation, pornography, municipal broadband and the digital divide, ICANN, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, cybersquatting, the use of trademarks in domain names, file sharing, regulation of search engines, and privacy. The course will meet during the second half of the fall semester beginning on 10/28 and ending on 12/9.

Intro to IP Law and Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course starts from the premise that the law and policy of intellectual property is increasingly becoming an important component of a modern legal education. As such, the course will present a broad overview of the contemporary doctrinal and policy challenges facing intellectual property in an era of rapidly changing technology. The course is not intended to replace (or be a prerequisite for) any of the basic IP courses - instead, the class will be structured around several of the major recent disputes over the patent, copyright, and trademark laws, considering these from both a doctrinal and a social policy perspective.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Patent Law

3 sem. hrs.
In our modern technologically-based economy, the creation and enforcement of patent rights can make or break a business. With record numbers of patents being issued every year, the stakes for inventors (and, indeed, their lawyers) continue to increase, even as the patent law and its administration faces growing criticism. This course seeks to equip students with a detailed overview of the law and policy of the United States patent system. We'll organize our inquiry into four components. The first considers the justifications for (e.g., economic, moral, political) and creation of patent rights as well as the relationship between patent law and other "intellectual property" concepts. The second will delve into the details of the statutory requirements for patentability, with a focus on both the "black letter" law and the underlying policies. Third, we'll consider the scope and enforcement of patent rights, again considering how the policies expressed in the legal doctrine relate to the justifications for patent rights we discussed in section one. And finally, we'll conclude with a look at the subject matter of patents -- considering specifically the cases of biotechnology, computer software, and internet business models -- drawing together the ideas introduced throughout the course. Class exercises and simulations will be used throughout to highlight important concepts. Last year's syllabus and additional information can be found at http://patents.pennlaw.net/.

Patent Litigation (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines the basics of litigating patent disputes in a United States District Court and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, including pre-suit investigation, drafting of pleadings, fact and expert discovery, "Markman" claims construction proceedings, dispositive motions, in limine motions, trial, post-trial motions and appeal. Policy implications will also be considered, e.g., the cost of litigation as a tax on innovation (and its effect of understanding this as a tax on the desirability of deciding these cases summarily, in a bench trial, and without extensive discovery); Markman hearings and the allocation of authority between judge and jury; the advisability of jury trials in patent cases; appeals and specialized adjudication; and the allocation of authority between trial and appellate court.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Privacy

3 sem. hrs.
The study of privacy law serves several purposes. Most importantly, it introduces students to an important area of legal practice. Not only is privacy law now a recognized area of legal practice in its own right, but knowledge of privacy law is frequently called for in the practice of health, business and intellectual property law. The study of privacy law serves another purpose: developing a better understanding of the concept of privacy and the controversies--some philosophical, some political-- surrounding its application in the law. The course is divided into three sections or "chapters." Our study begins with state common law. State common law is an historic source of privacy protections. Chapter 1 examines the origins of state privacy law in the late 19th century and its subsequent growth until today. The chapter considers the four common law invasion of privacy torts recognized in most states and by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of (Second) of Torts. The chapter also examines the closely affiliated state common law of publicity and confidentiality. Chapter 1 samples major statutes enacted by state legislatures both to create privacy rights akin to those recognized in the common law and to supplement them. We move next to the federal constitution, a crucial major source of privacy law. Chapter 2 takes on the voluminous privacy jurisprudence spawned by the Bill of Rights-- most importantly, the First and Fourth Amendments’ jurisprudence of associational, physical, and informational privacy. This chapter also features the often-controversial Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and substantive due process decisional privacy jurisprudence. It concludes with a consideration of state constitutions that, state courts have held, significantly expand privacy protection beyond federal limits. The journey ends after an encounter with the federal privacy statutes, a dynamic source of privacy and data protection law. Chapter 3 examines nearly a dozen federal privacy statutes, covering government record management; health, education, and financial data; video rentals; communications; the internet; and surveillance. The chapter touches on some state counterparts to federal legislation and the agency rules that implement them.

Taxation of Business Entities

3 sem. hrs.
Modern tax practice requires a panoptic understanding of business forms. The classic “C corporation” no longer predominates, and it is not unusual for a single deal structure to incorporate a variety of business entities. This course covers major topics in the taxation of corporations (both “C” and “S”), limited liability companies, partnerships, and their owners. The course is organized primarily topically; business forms are analyzed in parallel fashion topic by topic. Topics include the choice of entity, contributions from owners to businesses, business operations, and distributions from businesses to owners. The course objectives are two: to provide students with a general sense of the landscape of business taxation; and to instill in students the sort of deeper understanding of each business form that derives from explicit and frequent comparison to alternatives. The course is intended for two types of students. First, it is addressed to students who wish to specialize in tax law, and who may go on to take courses on partnership tax or corporate tax, which would generally cover a different set of more specialized topics. The course is also intended for students who are not planning to specialize in tax, but who believe they would benefit from a general examination of business tax issues, perhaps as a complement to their study of other areas of business law. Federal Income Taxation, or an equivalent course, is a prerequisite for taking this class.

Technology Policy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar, which will be cross-listed in the Engineering School and co-taught with Engineering School faculty, will focus on developing an understanding of existing and emerging technologies and exploring the legal, political, societal and economic impacts of those technologies. The specific issues covered will vary year to year based on recent developments and student and faculty interest. Past topics have included computer security, electronic privacy, electronic voting, open source software, issues related to genetic research and therapy, wireless broadband, and network neutrality. Grades will be based on class participation and a series of short papers written on topics discussed in class.

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INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW

Adv Issues in Priv Fin & Corp Reorg - Yearlong (S)

1.5 sem. hrs.
This seminar will address topics in private financing and corporate reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The principal emphasis will be on student research; a written research paper (which may satisfy the senior writing requirement) will be required. Students will be required to select a paper topic and submit a brief abstract before December 1, 2008. The instructor will be available in during the fall term consult with students about the selection of a topic. There also will be one or more organizational meetings in the fall term. Beginning after spring break seminar meetings will be devoted to students' presentations of their research and discussions by the seminar participants. Students wishing credit for the senior writing requirement must submit an initial draft for my review and comment by the week following spring break. All final papers will be due no less than five days before grades are due in the Registrar's Office for graduating students. THIS IS A FULL-YEAR SEMINAR AND STUDENTS MUST ENROLL FOR BOTH SEMESTERS.

Approaches to Islamic Law

1 sem. hrs.
This course aims to introduce students to the study of Islamic law, the all-embracing sacred law of Islam. In this course we will attempt to consider many different facets of the historical, doctrinal, institutional and social complexity of Islamic law. In addition, the various approaches that have been taken to the study of these aspects of Islamic law will be analyzed. The focus will be mostly, though not exclusively, on classical Islamic law. Specific topics covered include the beginnings of legal thought in Islam, various areas of Islamic positive law (substantive law), public and private legal institutions, Islamic legal theory, and issues in the contemporary development and application of Islamic law.

China & International Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
During the last quarter-century, China has become a principal participant in the international legal order. The PRC’s entry into the WTO in 2001 was a major milestone in its long march to membership in almost all of the major international organizations. China has enacted and repeatedly amended elaborate legal frameworks for foreign investment and trade, acceded to (or promised to accede to) major international conventions, entered into myriad bilateral agreements, engaged in the legal and political debates over international human rights and the rule of law, negotiated and disputed with other states over several of the major contemporary cases of unsettled territory, and become (directly or through its instrumentalities) a frequent party to, or focus of scrutiny in, transnational litigation. This seminar examines contemporary China's approach to international law, focusing on how China has understood and addressed key principles and doctrines of international law, and on international legal disputes and actions that have been important for China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong). Specific topics to be covered include China’s approach to sources of international law, treaties, statehood and sovereignty, the relationship between domestic and international law, state jurisdiction, immunity and responsibility, international dispute resolution, the law of the sea, human rights, the use of force and international economic law. In each of these areas, the course addresses concrete contemporary controversies as well as broader patterns and underlying issues. Introductory sessions will focus on major themes in China's earlier approach to international law, including those that emerged during the Maoist/high socialist period, the 19th-century encounter with Western powers and their conception of international law, and traditional Chinese approaches to international law (during the late imperial period and in classical Chinese thought).

Chinese Law

3 sem. hrs.
For thirty years, Chinese laws and legal institutions have developed rapidly, if unevenly, amid—and in response to—China’s breathtaking economic transformation and integration the outside world, and the social and political challenges and consequences that “reform” and “opening” have produced. Some aspects of legal change in contemporary China are unprecedented while others perhaps echo influences from earlier periods, including the PRC’s first decades, the initial impact of the West, the broad sweep of Chinese tradition, and diverse Chinese challenges to that tradition. This course provides a brief overview of classical Chinese thought on law, governance and economic regulation, the legal norms and institutions of law and government during the late imperial period, and the influence of Western ideas and pressures and of Chinese reformers and revolutionaries during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most of the course focuses on the PRC years, with primary emphasis on the contemporary “reform era.” For this period, the course addresses selected topics such as criminal law and other means of social control, the legal regulation and promotion of economic activity, law and government accountability, and legal aspects of regulating China’s external economic relations. Throughout, political, economic and social contexts are emphasized. The exam will be open-book, essay. It will be take-home with a lenght limit. Class participation, partly in the form of panels for specific weeks and topics, will count toward the final grade.

Comparative Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to the legal systems of the civil law, with a focus on continental Europe. Many of the characteristic features of the Civil Law -- the absence of a jury, the relative lack of reliance on judicial precedents, the civilian approach to civil and criminal procedure -- have their origin in ancient and medieval times. The course will therefore start with a brief introduction to European legal history. After that, we will turn to an examination of the three most influential modern systems: those of France, Germany, and Italy. We will examine the civil codes, the nature of continental adjudication, the “inquisitorial” approach to criminal justice, and comparative constitutional law. After having treated the domestic systems, we will briefly turn our attention to the rise of the EU, the nature of its institutions, the way in which it functions on the international scene, and the way in which it has been bringing fundamental change to the domestic legal systems of Europe. The emphasis throughout the course will be on the ideas underlying legal change - that is, on the intellectual justifications the civil lawyers have provided for their distinctive approach to legal problems.

Conflict of Laws

3 sem. hrs.
A study of the resolution of cases connected to more than one jurisdiction: when different jurisdictions (states or nations) have adopted different substantive rules of law, which should govern? Major topics will include the more significant historical approaches (vested rights and interest analysis); the Second Restatement; the role of the U.S. Constitution in interstate conflicts; international conflicts; and domestic relations.

Evol of Intl & Const Legal Constraints on War (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar aims to develop an understanding of the theoretical origins of the legal constraints on the use of armed force, and the relationship between the constitutional and international law issues relating to such constraints. The seminar will begin with medieval ideas on just war, the emergence of legal constraints in early international law, through the development of constitutional law notions in the 18th Century, and the modern structure of both international and various constitutional regimes in the 20th Century as they relate to limiting armed conflict or the use of armed force. It will also provide an introduction to the arguments being employed in the debate over war powers in the constitutional realm, and whether the international law regime governing the use of force needs to be adjusted to respond to the evolving threats in a post 9/11 world. There are no specific prerequisites for this course. Grades will be based on a final paper (85%), and on participation (15%), and so attendance is important. There will be no mid-term exam. Materials, comprised of a mix of extracts from texts, journals, and case law, will be provided through the course portal.

Federalism (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will examine a variety of topics in the political economy of constitutional federalism. Issues to be covered include the advantages and disadvantages of political decentralization, competition between state and local governments, the impact of federalism on the status of minority groups, the Founding Fathers' view of federalism, and the role of the judges in enforcing federalism through judicial review. While most of the course focuses on federalism in the United States, some readings will also employ a comparative perspective. Each student will be required to write a research paper on a federalism-related topic of his or her choice. Grading will be based partly on written work, and partly on class participation.

Foundations of Climate Change Law and Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course will begin by critically examining the scientific and economic work on the causes and consequences of global warming, with special attention to the political economy of international efforts to curb global warming, the structure and process of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the methodologies underlying economic estimates of costs and benefits. The course will then proceed to consider both domestic and international legal and political developments in the climate change area. These include the Kyotol Protocol, the European Emissions Trading Scheme, and -- in the U.S. -- the history and political economy of efforts to pass federal climate change legislation, state legislation and regulation (with a focus on California), regulation under existing federal environmental statutes and regulation via common law public nuisance actions. The course will conclude by discussing the many substantial environmental impacts from the new "green" energy projects funded by the 2009 stimulus bill and justified by the need to avert global warming, and the treatment of those impacts under existing state, local and federal environmental and land use laws."

Foundations of the United States Legal System

3 sem. hrs.
This course aims to provide for the entering LL.M. class an intensive introduction to the American legal system. Topics covered include American legal history, the Constitution, basic civil procedure, the law of torts, and an introduction to legal theory.

Global Research Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
2010 Global Research Seminar—Globalization of Corporate Governance: Italy and the European Union (Skeel) – W 4:30-6:30 The Spring 2010 seminar, led by David Skeel, will consider the foundations of contemporary corporate governance through an intensive study of Italian corporate governance and Italy’s place in the overarching structure of the European Union. The first half of the semester will consist of readings in the history of Italian corporate governance and bankruptcy; corporate governance theory; the emerging role of E.U. regulation; and the implications of the current financial crisis for Italian and European securities markets and finance. The class will then conduct hands-on research during a 10-day visit to Rome and Milan over Spring Break, where students will meet with the Milan Stock Exchange, Consob (the Italian securities regulator), and other government and private sector experts. The principal work product for the class will be a report commissioned by one or more of the Italian regulatory agencies. Registration will be capped at 12 students. Registration Deadline is Monday, November 30, 2009. In order to be considered, you must be a 2L, 3L, or LLM student who is able to spend ten days in Italy this March, overlapping with Penn Law’s Spring Recess. Registration will be competitive and require the following additional materials be sent electronically to Claire Wallace – cwallac2@law.upenn.edu by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, November 30: 1. Cover Letter addressed to Professor David Skeel 2. Resume 3. Writing sample (no more than five pages in length; it can be a part of a larger writing sample, if desired). Enrollment decisions will be made by Monday, December 14. If you are selected to enroll, the Registrar’s Office will add the seminar to your schedule.

Globalization and Public Law

1 sem. hrs.
The current international financial crisis makes it more evident than ever that we are living in a globalizing world: a world in which economies and societies are more and more interconnected, in which transnational economic and social realities acquire a constantly growing importance. What is true for economies and societies is also true for Law: the legal systems are more and more interconnected, while an increasing share of public affairs is dealt with by global bodies, often acting in a position of large autonomy from the states. This situation raises various issues concerning constitutional and administrative law. Not only does it generate an internationalization of domestic administrative and constitutional laws, not only does it transform the distribution of functions between domestic administrative and constitutional laws and international law, but it also renders necessary a reflection on some kind of constitutionalization of global public bodies and/or on their submission to commonly recognized principles of administrative law (such as motivation, transparency, legitimate expectation, judicial review,…).

Human Rights Lawyering in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will introduce students to the range of human rights lawyering undertaken today, grounded in the historical development of human rights law and contemporary case studies. The seminar will also look at the role critical theory has played and continues to play in shaping the development of human rights. In addition to examining the law and theory that underlies human rights movements, it will also provide students with an opportunity to critically examine the practice of human rights law simulated and actual human rights research and advocacy projects. Students will engage in research, writing and strategic planning, and the drafting of advocacy documents, and will have the opportunity to work in collaboration with different partner organizations in identifying and advancing their different human rights agendas. There are no prerequisites, though an introductory course in international law would be beneficial. Class participation is mandatory. In lieu of mid-term or final examination, students will complete a final project of their selection.

Intellectual Property & Nat'l Econ Value Creation (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal structure of intellectual property laws in the United States and select foreign countries and the effect of these laws on the countries national economic development. In this process, we will explore the nature of the correlation between different types of intellectual property laws and national economic development. We will also discuss the quantification of the economic value of different types of intellectual property laws. Lastly, we will engage in a discussion as to whether intellectual property laws can be effective tools for social engineering.

International Bankruptcy

2 sem. hrs.
This course first introduces students to the basic principles and problems of international bankruptcy cases. It then turns to the business bankruptcy systems of various countries and regions in all parts of the world, with instruction from leading lawyers and judges from those countries and regions. The course then focuses on the questions presented when parties in a business bankruptcy case are invoking the bankruptcy laws of different countries and how these questions are resolved by courts in the United States under new Chapter 15 and by courts in other countries.

International Business Transactions

3 sem. hrs.
This course provides an overview of the legal issues—domestic, foreign, and international—that arise when U.S. companies do business abroad. Transactions discussed include export sales, agency and distributorship agreements, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, privatization, project finance, and foreign government debt. The course also covers U.S., foreign, and international regulation in such areas as antitrust, securities, intellectual property, tax, and foreign corrupt practices. The course does not cover U.S. rules on import restrictions or W.T.O. matters.

International Civil Litigation

3 sem. hrs.
This course is an introduction to litigation in U.S. courts in cases involving foreign parties. The topics to be considered may include: personal jurisdiction over foreigners; forum non conveniens and other forum selection issues; discovery of evidence located outside the United States; foreign sovereign immunity; the extraterritorial application of U.S. laws, including the antitrust and securities laws; the Act of State doctrine; and the enforcement of foreign judgments. The objective of the course is to familiarize students with special procedural and substantive issues that arise in international cases.

International Communication: Power & Flow Seminar (S)

1 sem. hrs.
This course will address old and new patterns of communications flow across national and societal borders, taking account of media technologies, mutual perceptions, rhetorical forms, and the balance of power and influence in a globalizing world.

International Environmental Law

3 sem. hrs.
The course will focus on the development of international law, institutions, and regimes that respond to international environmental problems. Topics will include transboundary air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, whaling, and fisheries conservation. The course will begin with introductions to economic and ethical issues in environmental law, to the sources of public international law, and to the problem of making that law effective. The course will also examine how international trade law and institutions, including the World Trade Organization, affect efforts to protect the environment.

International Finance

3 sem. hrs.
The course is intended to discuss the emerging legal structures and the regulatory problems of globalizing financial markets and institutions. Particular emphasis will be given to issues resulting from different levels of economic and political development in various parts of the world.

International Human Rights

3 sem. hrs.
This course traces the dramatic rise of the individual as a subject of international law in the post-World War II era; specifically, as a beneficiary of fundamental rights recognized, protected and enforced directly by that system of law. It begins by laying historical foundations, showing how the individual was formerly treated as no more than a mere appendage of his/her State, and then considers the transformation effected by the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and two International Covenants (1966). The evolution of specific areas of human rights will be considered, eg, civil and political rights, elimination of racial discrimination, elimination of discrimination against women, freedom of religion, elimination of torture, children’s rights, etc. In each case, three "eras" will be traversed: (a) that of general principles, in which the notion of the rights emerges at the general level; (b) that of specificity, in which the content of the rights takes shape and is defined; and (c) that of enforcement, in which the international legal system seeks to give practical effect to the rights it has recognized, at the national, regional and international levels. Consideration will also be given to exceptions to human rights principles, and possible derogations from them, where tensions arise at the interface of human rights and national security interests. Videos will be shown in class, dealing with the creation of the Universal Declaration, the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and Czechoslovakia, a tribunal established by NGOs to highlight abuses suffered by women, the effect of the Children’s Convention and a contemporary trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The essay exam will be an open-book takeaway. Students may opt to write a paper (with Professor Reicher's permission) in addition to the exam. Such papers will count as 60% of the course's grade (with the takeaway exam constituting the other 40%) and may be considered for Senior Writing. Class participation may be taken into account to improve a student's final grade.

International Human Rights and National Security

2 sem. hrs.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the U.S. policy responses that followed, have posed a series of challenges to U.S. and international legal rules and structures regulating the interests of human rights and national security. For some, the threat posed by international organizations like al Qaeda has demanded a reassessment of whether domestic and international law provides governments enough authority and flexibility to meet the modern threat of mass casualty terrorism. For others, images of detainee torture and prolonged detention at places like Guantanamo Bay have raised questions of whether human rights legal protections, including those forged in the aftermath of World War II, can actually be effective in constraining government power in times of acute security threat. Most broadly, as the United States continues to grapple with policy dilemmas posed by terrorism and methods to counter it, U.S. actions shed light on this country’s relationship to international law, and on prospects more generally for the legal regulation of national security. With a view to exploring these themes, this course begins with an introduction to several substantive bodies of law most centrally implicated by these questions, including international human rights law, international humanitarian law (the law of war), and affirmative legal authorities and constraints defining U.S. national security powers under U.S. constitutional and statutory law. Topics to be addressed include the nature and binding extent of state human rights obligations, the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties, the applicability of international humanitarian law to U.S. military operations, and the powers of the U.S. executive in situations of armed conflict. The course then turns to consider international and domestic structures for human rights law enforcement, with special attention to those mechanisms that most regularly encounter disputes involving human rights and security. In the international realm, the course will explore the operations of institutions including the UN Human Rights Council and relevant treaty bodies, as well as key regional courts. This part of the course will also consider how the U.S. domestic system implements U.S. and international human rights laws – both through the courts, and through non-judicial mechanisms such as administrative agencies and NGOs. The final portion of the course turns to consider how these rules and structures have been applied to contemporary topics in human rights and national security law, including interrogation and torture; security detention; prosecution and trial; and rendition of suspects from one nation to another. Drawing on case studies from recent events, the course will analyze the legal implications of these practices, and explore options for addressing the policy dilemmas that remain. Student grades for the course will be based principally on a take-home final examination distributed during exam period. Students will also be evaluated on the basis of class participation, and on the completion of a short reaction paper (3-4 pages) responding to one of the readings assigned during the semester. There are no prerequisites for this course. Cross-registrations are encouraged.

International Tax

3 sem. hrs.
The course follows the change in wealth from physical to intangible - Andrew Carnegie to Bill Gates. Modern income does not come from manufacturing steel and cars so much as from supplying data, communications, and entertainment. Tax (and other legal rules) were conceived when you could see where income was earned: at the steel plants in Pittsburgh, at River Rouge near Detroit. Now signals are sent from who knows where; and tax law must determine where it is earned by rules that look at how it is earned, from the performance of services or the transfer of property. For instance, if Tiger Woods gets money from Nike for wearing its clothing at a golf tournament, is his income earned where he wears it (physical services) or where the goodwill associated with his reputation is televised? The material deals with these questions, which reflect the enormous revolution of recent years and for which traditional rules were not conceived. For that reason, the focus is on concepts (what is a service, what is the transfer of property, does one own property pursuant to commercial law or economically), rather than the details of rules which tax law continually revises. The Code is longer than Shakespeare, but ideas stay put. Consistent with this approach, the book emphasizes the reasons for the rules rather than their details. Everything is open book, and relevant rules and concepts are repeated. The idea is not to trick or confuse anyone, but to open up thinking for a field that everyone is just beginning to look at. In part for that reason, there are no prerequisites. What are services, or where they are performed, is up for grabs. Although a merger has been a merger for 100 years and will remain so, people have just started to deal with internet gambling and the downloading of software. Two of the principal themes of the course are the meaning of words and that we are borne back ceaselessly into the past. Fans of history and literature are encouraged to participate.

International Trade Regulation

3 sem. hrs.
This course is a comprehensive introduction to the legal framework for U.S. and international regulation of international trade in goods. The course will include: a brief introduction to the economics of trade; an examination of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and related instruments; and an analysis of U.S. laws providing relief from unfairly traded imports, including the antidumping and countervailing duty laws, and of U.S. laws providing for other restrictions on imports, such as safeguards.

Intro to European Union Law

1 sem. hrs.
This one-credit, second quarter course will provide a brief introduction to the law and institutions of the European Union.

Intro to Theory & Practice of International Arbitration (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar provides an introduction to international arbitration. The course will cover the legal framework for international arbitration, including key treaties and the Federal Arbitration Act, interaction with US courts and the role of international arbitral institutions. Students will gain further knowledge of international arbitration practice by an in-depth discussion of several contemporary problems in both commercial arbitration and investor-State arbitration pursuant to investment treaties. Students will have the opportunity not only to discuss these topics in theory but also to draw on insights from practitioners. The course will be led by Associate Professor William Burke-White with the assistance of four leading practitioners in the field.

Jurisprudence of War Crimes

3 sem. hrs.
In recent years, scholars in many different fields have shifted their attention to the problem of the treatment of combatants and detainees in times of war. Revelations that the Bush Administration employed techniques against so-called “non-enemy combatants” that arguably violated the Geneva Conventions, as well as international and domestic laws against the use of torture, threw the legal community, as well as the public at large, into a heated debate about the permissible uses of torture in the war against terrorism and the efforts to enhance American security. This course will examine the problems of crimes of war, and more specifically torture, from a jurisprudential perspective. We will begin by considering the age-old debate in moral philosophy between the view that human beings have rights that cannot be overridden, and the view that all legal rules, including those governing conduct in war, should seek to optimize social utility, and that this principally requires a balancing of the costs and benefits of various courses of action. After considering the foregoing general debate between “deontologists,” as they are called, and “utilitarians,” we will consider the growing literature on the clash of these perspectives that the Bush Administration faced in deciding whether to authorize harsh interrogation techniques to assist in the global war against terror. In addition, we will consider such topics as the role of government lawyers in advising the government on the legality of its conduct. What is the role morality of a lawyer in this position? Does following the opinion of a government lawyer serve to immunize conduct of debatable legality? Should it, from a moral perspective? We will also look more generally at the role of international law in protecting human rights. One of the central arguments against the legality of torture bases itself on the idea that every human being has a set of rights with universal applicability, which rights are eo ipso violated when a human being, in whatever context, is made to suffer extreme physical and/or mental pain. Are there good philosophical arguments for the existence of such rights? If so, would the recognition of such rights provide a basis for universal prosecution for their violation? Finally, is prosecution of rights-violators the best way, and most compelling way, to protect individuals against violations of their rights, or would such prosecutions be both questionable from a legal standpoint and ill-advised from a global political perspective? In addition to the current debate about the techniques used in the Bush Administration’s war on terror, we will consider a number of historical examples, such as the prosecutions as Nuremberg, the prosecutions of the East German border guards, and the detention of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War.

Labor Law in Comparative Perspective

3 sem. hrs.
This course will introduce the fundamentals of labor law in the United States, comparing the American approach with those of other advanced industrialized democracies. We will study the federal law governing employee collective action, including the law governing organizing, employee-union relations, collective bargaining (including tools of economic pressure), and preemption of state law. We will then consider the appropriate scope of application of the NLRA regime; assess the political economic role of organized labor; consider historical and institutional explanations for American 'exceptionalism', and; explore the advantages and disadvantages of American labor law as compared to its alternatives.

Law and the Holocaust

3 sem. hrs.
This course draws together comparative law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, conflicts of laws, international law, human rights and legal history to examine the Nazi philosophy of law, emanating from the egregious racial ideology, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and ultimately eliminate, certain classes of people; then, to study the role of international law in seeking to rectify the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a system of international human rights designed to prevent a repetition. The course will consider the following areas: 1. The Holocaust: "Lawful Barbarism.” Overview of the Holocaust, and the ways in which it was "anchored" in law. 2. The Ideology That Made It Possible. Nazi theories of race and the nature and role of the State, and the legal system as an instrument of both. 3. The Nazi Legal System In Action. Laws giving effect to the theories of race, and their interpretation and application by the judges. 4. Jurisprudential Issues. Parts 2 and 3 above will form the foundation for an exploration of the role of morality in a system of law, through a consideration of academic writings and judicial reflection. An example of the former is the celebrated Hart-Fuller debate, in the Harvard Law Review; and an example of the latter is the controversial Bernstein litigation, in which the Courts grappled with the effect to be accorded in the US to expropriations of property by the Nazi regime. 5. Measure For Measure: The Response Of The International Legal System. Prosecution of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg; national legislation and court decisions bringing perpetrators of atrocities to justice; the Genocide Convention; and the evolution of international human rights, stressing the equality and dignity of all human beings, as a direct antithesis of the Nazi racial philosophy. 6. Lessons For The 21st Century. Case studies in which contemporary history--in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, etc.--raises the disturbing question: What lessons, if any, has the world learned from the Nazi era? Teaching in the course revolves around specially-edited materials, supplemented by video excerpts of archival footage of the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials, a re-enactment of the Wannsee Conference, a biography of Dr. Josef Mengele, Leni Riefenstahl's classic propaganda film Triumph of the Will, and a contemporary war crimes trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia.

Philosophical Foundations of International Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course aims to provide broad coverage of issues relating to the philosophical foundations of international law. While many law students are exposed to questions from “general” jurisprudence (the basic “what is law?” question), and many will be exposed to “special” jurisprudential issues in specific areas such as tort theory or criminal law theory, there has traditionally been much less focus on philosophical issues relating specifically to international law. This course seeks to remedy this deficiency. Students will use both contemporary and classic sources to acquaint themselves with the special philosophical issues that arise in the study of international law, such as the basic nature (including the existence of) international law, the question of who the proper subjects and actors in international law are, the conditions of the legitimacy of international law, and the use of force in international law. There are no formal prerequisites for this course but some background in reading philosophical texts or international law will be useful. The course requires participation, especially being ready to discuss the assigned readings, a short presentation, and a seminar paper of roughly 25 pages. The textbooks are available at the PENN BOOK CENTER, across Sansom Street from the School. NOTE: This is NOT the University (Barnes & Noble) Bookstore.

Public Health Law & Policy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine a number of urgent issues at the intersection of law and public health, particularly those that involve a conflict between the rights of individuals and the well-being of the community. Rather than being wedded to a particular field of legal doctrine, we will use a case study approach to analyze US and international conflicts over (and regulation of) tobacco, junk food, pandemics/vaccines, biobanks, traffic accidents, and HIV/AIDS, among others. Several distinguished guests will be invited to speak to the class, and students will have the opportunity to research, write, and present original research.

Public International Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course introduces students to the rules and institutions of public international law. The course provides a formal introduction to the major doctrinal issues in international law and emphasizes the relationships between law and politics in the behavior of states, institutions, and individuals in international systems. The course begins with an introduction to the nature and structure of the international legal system and the political / international relations questions and theoretical perspectives that frame the field. The course covers institutional and “constitutional” topics, including: the sources of international law, the roles and responsibilities of states and non-state actors in making and being subject to international law, the reach and scope of international law (including its relationship to domestic law and institutions). The course then turns to substantive legal issues. Topics include: human rights, the use of force, and international economic law (including the WTO and foreign investment). Throughout, we will consider the roles of established and emerging institutions and processes and applications to current and recent events. Additional topics may be added or substituted if international events and student interest so warrant.

Refugee Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the origins of “refuge” or “asylum” including the myriad of human rights violations that force people to flee and seek protection, public policy issues such as US laws and regulations that govern asylum, and international agencies that are involved in the process of granting protection. The course will cover both the international refugee law and human rights context of State practice with reference to international treaties and customary international law. The course will begin with a review of The United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees - the standard against which refugee protection will be measured. We will study the dimensions, responsibilities and realities of the Office of the United National High Commissioner for Refugees which monitors implementation of this treaty. We will then cover regional practice relating to refugees in Europe, Latin America and Africa and Asia and briefly discuss root causes reasons of current and potential population displacements The major portion of the course, however, will deal with US statutory, regulatory and case law determining who is and is not a refuge vis-a-vis the 1980 Refugee Act, implementing regulations, and administrative and judicial decisions law. To better understand and see how theory is put into practice, especially as it relates to deterring refugees from entering the US through their detention students may be involved in interviewing asylum seekers. The course will conclude by looking at the international institutional response to refugee problems. We will conclude with a discussion of ancillary refugee issues such as, restricted employment and welfare entitlements, expedited procedures, and returns to safe countries. By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Understand the international framework for refugee determinations 2. Understand the US domestic framework including legislation, regulations and judicial decisions, for refugee and asylum related issues 3. Show competency in conducting an intake of an asylum seeker and developing a case analysis 4. Research Country Conditions regarding human rights violations 5. Prepare An Application for Asylum, Form I-589 and understand US regulations dealing with asylum adjudication 6. Prepare an Affidavit attesting to the asylum seeker's claim for asylum 7. Prepare a packet with evidence to support the claim for asylum

Research in International and Foreign Law

1 sem. hrs.
Research in Foreign and International Law 1 sem. hour. Spring QIII This course will provide an opportunity for students to get acquainted with the basic sources available for research in public and private international law, as well as in the law of selected foreign countries. Students will learn how to find international treaties, European Union documents, decisions of international courts, statutes and court decisions of the United Kingdom and selected civil law jurisdictions such as France and Germany. The emphasis will be on English language materials. International trade, human rights and foreign constitutional and labor law research will be singled out for special attention. The availability of foreign and international materials online will be discussed. No prerequisites are required. The course is strongly recommended for journal editors working in this area and for participants in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and other international competitions. The course will have some recommended readings. A short paper and an in-class presentation on the same topic will be required. It will be graded pass-fail. There will be no final exam. Class attendance is mandatory. The format will be 80% lecture, 20% participatory.

Transnational Legal Clinic - Fieldwork

6 sem. hrs.
PLEASE SEE IMPORTANT ENROLLMENT PROCEDURES FOR CLINICS AVAILABLE ON THE REGISTRATION INSTRUCTION PAGE. The Transnational Legal Clinic provides students an opportunity to explore legal advocacy in settings that cross cultures, borders, languages and legal systems through direct representation of individual clients with immigration cases and individual or organizational clients engaged in international human rights advocacy. Students work in teams of two or more under faculty supervision, and are responsible for all aspects of client representation. They meet regularly in their teams with the faculty supervisor to receive guidance and constructive feedback. Seminar time is devoted to: training in fundamental lawyering skills (interviewing, counseling, fact investigation, case theory and persuasive advocacy) through lectures, videos, interactive group work and simulations; and, case rounds, during which students share developments and solicit suggestions and feedback on legal, factual, ethical and strategic issues in their cases. Class participation is mandatory. Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to discuss competing interests underlying the development of immigration law in the U.S. and its relationship to international law, the role of international and comparative law in legal advocacy, law and organizing, and the role of the client in larger human rights/impact litigation cases. The seminar is not a substitute for an international law or immigration course. Substantive law will be discussed as needed in specific cases and students are responsible – with the guidance of the faculty supervisor – for researching and analyzing the underlying substantive law relevant to their individual cases. Fieldwork and seminar components of the course are graded separately. Students will be provided with a grading memo at the start of the semester outlining the criteria on which they will be graded. Students are expected to engage in critical reflection on the choices presented and made in their cases, and are required to write a self-evaluation memo mid-semester and at the end of the semester assessing their own performance and professional development. Class participation is mandatory. Students enrolled are required to read prior to the start of classes The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. The book explores the relationships between the American medical system, doctors and social workers, and a young Hmong girl and her refugee family. It raises several issues of cross-cultural communication that will serve as the basis for discussions throughout the semester. N.B. You may not enroll in this course if you are enrolled in another clinical course or an externship in the same semester. You must appear at the first meeting of the course, or you may be automatically dropped from the course (unless you have advance permission from the instructor). The drop/add period for this course ends at 4 p.m. on the first Friday after the start of the course.

UN Security Council in the 21st Century (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar is an introduction to the functions and operations of the UN Security Council, the only body of the United Nations capable of compelling action by a Member State. The intent of the course is to expand the student’s understanding of the strengths and limitations of the Security Council; the legal and political framework within which it operates; the practical aspects of advocating for Security Council action; and proposals for reform. Students will become equipped with the analytical tools to assess if a country situation falls within the jurisdiction of the Security Council as well as understanding the complex interplay between the Council and other UN and international organizations. To help make the subject as tangible as possible, the instructor will use a variety of techniques including role-playing, case study examples, video clips, discussions, lectures, and an occasional guest speaker.

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LABOR LAW

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Employment Discrimination

3 sem. hrs.
This course will introduce the basic theories and legal principles underlying equal employment opportunity law in the United States. The course focuses primarily on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, and secondarily on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act: the fundamental federal statutes prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, gender, religion, age and disability. The course begins with an overview of the primary structures of proof in employment discrimination cases--individual disparate treatment, systemic disparate treatment, and disparate impact. We then consider in greater depth specific topics including sexual harassment, gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination, retaliation, pregnancy discrimination, religious discrimination, reasonable accommodation requirements, and affirmative action.

Employment Law

3 sem. hrs.
In this course we will examine the employment relationship from entry through exit and beyond, covering the major statutes, regulations, and common law doctrines affecting that relationship. Topics will include the origins of at-will employment; the legal definitions of the employer-employee relationship; workers’ rights in the workplace, including the rights to organize, to privacy, to nondiscrimination, and to a minimum wage; employers’ rights, including the rights to alter employment terms and terminate employment; the laws providing for workers’ welfare, including the laws governing workers compensation, unemployment, retirement, and healthcare; and the restraints that persist after employment ends. Themes that we will consider include the relationship between private and public ordering of the workplace, the interaction between workplace law and family life, and how workers’ citizenship status affects the laws governing their employment. Throughout, we will also analyze how well the existing legal regimes address the needs of our changing workforce and economy. Students will be challenged not only to learn what current workplace law is, but also to think critically about what workplace law should be.

Evidence

4 sem. hrs.
A study of the common law and federal rules of proof, taught by a practicing trial lawyer. The scope and function of the rules are analyzed against the background of problems arising during the trial of an issue of fact, and the rules are evaluated on the basis of their logical consistency and their tendency to promote or impede a rational method of investigation. The format will combine lectures organizing the materials, Socratic questioning on the readings, and class discussions about policy issues. A particular emphasis will be the importance of thinking strategically about how to apply the rules in pre-trial preparation, and during trial itself. The exam will be entirely closed-book with a mostly black-letter, multiple-choice section and a less structured policy-oriented essay.

Labor Law in Comparative Perspective

3 sem. hrs.
This course will introduce the fundamentals of labor law in the United States, comparing the American approach with those of other advanced industrialized democracies. We will study the federal law governing employee collective action, including the law governing organizing, employee-union relations, collective bargaining (including tools of economic pressure), and preemption of state law. We will then consider the appropriate scope of application of the NLRA regime; assess the political economic role of organized labor; consider historical and institutional explanations for American 'exceptionalism', and; explore the advantages and disadvantages of American labor law as compared to its alternatives.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Litigating Employment Class and Collective Actions

2 sem. hrs.
This course is intended to give students a substantial head-start in their training for the litigation of employment discrimination and wage/hour class actions in private practice. The course also may interest individuals considering a career in other complex litigation (even outside of the employment context) because many aspects of class action litigation that will be addressed apply well beyond employment-related cases. It will be presented from a practitioner’s viewpoint, with a focus on formulating litigation strategy based on the applicable legal principles. Consistent with this practice-oriented approach, there will be no textbook. Rather, students will receive (at the start of the semester) a variety of primary source materials for each week (which may be supplemented as the semester progresses), including key caselaw, regulations and opinion letters, articles on social science and statistical issues relevant to discrimination class actions, and publicly available or appropriately redacted briefs (e.g., motions to strike experts, motions to strike class allegations, class certification papers), expert reports, class member declarations, and class settlement papers. Specific topics to be addressed as part of the course will include the origins of modern discrimination class actions, social science and statistical principles relevant to class actions, working with experts, challenges to expert evidence, preliminary attacks on certification, varying perspectives on class certification requirements, strategic considerations and tactics in class/collective action litigation, and class settlements. Your first class meeting for Litigating Employment Class and Collective Actions (Puma) will be on Friday, Janurary 15, 2010 from 12:00 to 2:00pm in T-320.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Sports Law

2 sem. hrs.
This course will focus on many topics in the law of sports. General areas to be covered will include contracts, antitrust, labor, arbitration, constitutional law and amateur athletics. Special attention will be given to antitrust litigation in the National Football League, collective bargaining in professional sports, television issues, franchise movement, Title IX, amateur sports, and the changing concepts of amateurism. It will be helpful if students have taken Antitrust or Labor Law. There will be a takeaway exam.

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LAW AND THE HEALTH SCIENCES

Administrative Law

3 sem. hrs.
We live in an administrative state, populated by thousands of governmental bodies that collectively exercise pervasive authority over the entire economy and the lives of every citizen. Unlike courts, which enjoy explicit constitutional independence, administrative agencies constitute a more constitutionally ambiguous “fourth branch of government.” Also unlike courts, most agencies have authority to wield a wide variety of regulatory powers other than adjudication, including rulemaking, licensing, advice-giving, and prosecution. Administrative law is the body of constitutional, statutory, executive, and “common law” principles that constrain and thereby seek to legitimate the exercise of these powers. This course will provide a critical examination of these principles, preparing you for the inevitable encounters lawyers have with administrative agencies in their professional practice. This is a 1L elective course and 1Ls will receive priority in enrollment.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Animal Law and Ethics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar course will focus both on fundamental legal and ethics questions, including human duties toward animals and whether conceiving of rights for animals is appropriate, as well as on an understanding of the current legal and administrative means through which the relationship between humans and animals is regulated. We will discuss the varying viewpoints expressed by animal advocates, generally falling into the category of either "animal welfare" or "animal rights" positions. We will discuss the fact that nonhuman animals are not legally "persons" and currently have no legal rights, per se, only limited legal "protections." Discussion of animal rights will necessarily entail an examination of the sources and characteristics of fundamental rights, why animals have historically been denied them, and whether legal rights are appropriately limited to humans. Further, we will discuss whether, if any such rights were recognized, what nonhuman animals should be entitled to them and, if so, to which legal rights they should be entitled. The class will also consider such issues as establishing standing to bring suits on behalf of animals, constitutional issues raised in animal protection cases and an analysis of the law and theory behind the protections afforded (or not afforded) animals under various federal and state laws. The focus will be on the status of animals as property, the doctrine of standing, and the nature of legal rights as applied to nonhuman animals. We will examine the content and enforcement of state anticruelty laws, the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Animal Welfare Act and accompanying regulations. We will have guest speakers for several sessions. In the past, these speakers have included including litigators and legislative advocates from the Humane Society of the United States and public interest law firms, a prosecutor who specializes in animal fighting, and leading legal scholars on animal ethics. Three short papers will be submitted based on the assigned readings in lieu of a final exam. As this course is intended, in part, as an opportunity to engage in an open dialogue on the potential for developments in this nascent area of law, attendance and participation in class discussion is crucial and laptops are not permitted.

Bioethics and the Law: Mental Illness and Moral Lives Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
People affected by bipolar disorder, major unipolar depression, anxiety disorders, stress disorders, schizophrenia and other DSM-IV mental illnesses have rich and difficult moral lives. This includes lawyers, judges, physicians and other highly regarded professionals. Read their autobiographies and discover remarkable levels of moral and ethical engagement. This seminar will examine how moralists recommend that a just and caring society judge and respond to the harmful and offensive acts of people with mental conditions. The seminar will also examine how we can rethink moral agency and other basic moral concepts to account for the moral engagement by people with mental conditions. What services and opportunities will a just society offer persons affected by mental illness to enhance their moral agency? The required texts for the course include five books (three of them riveting memoirs written by accomplished professionals with serious mental conditions) and a compilation of readings assembled by Prof. Allen.

Bioethics, Babies and Babymaking (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course examines the interactions and conflicts between law and ethics in the context of reproduction, reproductive technology, family formation, and child rearing. In recent decades, regulators, lawmakers, ethicists, and others have struggled to understand and, in some cases, contain developments in how babies are made, how families are formed, and how parents care for their children. As evidenced by frequent media sensations such as the birth of mega multiples or women giving birth well past menopause, controversies regularly arise about advancing reproductive technologies. These debates take place in the social, political, and medical arenas with varying consequences for individuals and the larger society. During the semester, we will study how the law has responded to changes in family formation, babymaking, and child rearing. More specifically, we will grapple with the relationship between law and ethics and seek to determine whether the law of babymaking and child rearing is or should be ethical. Through a study of topics such as disputes over parentage for children created using technology, fetal rights, sex selection, and limitations on access to parenting, we will evaluate where law and ethics intertwine and where they depart from each other. While we will study cases and learn black letter law, the class will also focus squarely on ethics, particularly feminist bioethics, and how policymaking does and does not reflect the ethical imperatives in any given situation. The final grade will be based on performance on exercises conducted in and out of class, attendance, participation and a final paper.

Cost-Benefit Analysis: Law, Policy and Practice (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Federal and state governments, and the U.S. public, are increasingly turning to cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment to guide rulemaking decisions and to set priorities among interventions intended to protect health, safety, environmental quality, homeland security, financial assets, etc. This course prepares students to critically evaluate risk and cost-benefit analyses, in order to help make decisions that are responsive to law, science, economics, and public values. Students will analyze recent and pending decisions by EPA, FDA, OSHA, and other agencies, to explore how analysis has informed or obscured important controversies, and how the courts have shaped both analysis and outcome. We will also discuss the art of crafting cost-effective controls, considering both traditional rulemaking and innovative proposals for new policy instruments. Required readings will include a mix of journal articles about methods of analysis and regulatory policy, along with close analysis of several major court decisions. The course instructor is an environmental health scientist, but the course will not require any particular science or math background. Rather, lectures and class discussion will emphasize insights the instructor gleaned during 10 years as the chief rulemaking official at OSHA and member of numerous EPA advisory committees, including many details of regulatory analyses, court decisions, and enforcement actions that are poorly captured in the public record. Because of the MLK holiday on January 18, there will be a first organizational class meeting scheduled for Friday, January 15th, 10:30-11:50 in Silverman Ground 48. Depending on the interests of the students who attend this meeting, the course content might be modified to emphasize topic areas of particular interest (e.g., bioethics aspects, scientific integrity and whistleblowing issues, specific regulatory controversies ongoing at the time of the course).

Criminal Law

4 sem. hrs.
This course will examine the criminal law as a device for defining and controlling harmful behavior. Attention is given to the theoretical justifications for and the effectiveness of punishment, the foundations of culpability, the basic principles of criminal liability, and the definition of offenses and defenses.

Drug Product Liability Litigation (S)

3 sem. hrs.
More product liability lawsuits are filed against prescription drug manufacturers than against all other industries combined. As one legal scholar put it, the pharmaceutical industry is now “in tobacco-land in terms of how much people hate it,” and drug product liability litigation is now a “growth industry.” This course will consider the theory and practice of such lawsuits before, and now after, the Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision in Wyeth v. Levine (2009). At the outset, we will focus on the similarities and differences between such litigation and other product liability cases, using the “Phen-Fen” cases tried by the instructor as a model, and on the special context of FDA regulation. We will then consider the legal principles governing such lawsuits, such as inadequate warning; the learned intermediary doctrine; and medical causation. As part of each class, we will review the manner in which the controlling issues were presented to a jury using the edited record of a recent pharma products trial. The course will also consider the practical application of these doctrines, including the problems when doctors are witnesses; discovery strategies; and techniques to present complex information to juries. For the final class, each student will prepare one portion of opposing opening statements, based on the edited trial record they have been reviewing, which will then be combined and presented by a few volunteers to a “jury” recruited from Philadelphia residents. No Prerequisite. Course Requirements: A “bench memo” due Week 8; a 6-7 page section of the final jury presentation due Week 12; class participation. No exam.

FDA Law and Policy

2 sem. hrs.
This course will explore a variety of topics related to the Food and Drug Administration and its oversight of prescription drugs, medical devices and food safety. The FDA is a crucial federal regulatory agency, with authority over more than a quarter of the consumer products sold in the United States. We will discuss the history and basic approval authority of the FDA over food safety and therapeutic products, along with specific focus on a number of emerging developments. The class dynamic will be a mixture of Socratic teaching and more interactive legal and policy discussion, and I expect all students in the course to take an active role in our critique and analysis of various FDA policies and issues throughout the semester. My intention is to offer students a choice of evaluation methods, either a self-scheduled “take away” final exam or a 20-25 page research paper on an FDA topic of your choosing. I may revisit the paper option if class enrollment is larger than expected, and will announce any changes to the paper option during the add/drop period. A small fraction of the grade will be based on class participation throughout the semester.

Freedom & Responsibility Seminar (S)

3 sem. hrs.
The seminar will read two important new books that address criminal and moral blame and responsibility. Attendance, preparation and consistent participation are required. A paper limited to 15 pages on any related topic the student chooses is required. A longer paper can also satisfy the senior writing requirement.

Health Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine the regulatory environment that surrounds the United States health care delivery and financing systems. It will explore how statutes, regulations, common law, and market forces help or hinder three major goals of policy makers: increasing access, reducing cost, and improving quality. Specific topics will include the regulation of health care quality, anti-fraud and abuse laws, the law and policy of health information technology, and health care reform. (While our discussion of health care regulation will necessarily touch on ethical questions, the course will not focus on bioethical issues; nor will it address pharmaceutical or medical device regulation.) Casebook readings will be supplemented by government publications, policy materials, and Atul Gawande's book, Complications: A Surgeon's Note on an Imperfect Science. Evaluation will be based on exam and class participation.

Health Law and Policy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will examine recent debates in health law and policy through discussion of current events, proposed legislation, and scholarly articles in the legal, medical, and public policy literatures. Weekly topics will depend in part on student interest, but will likely include federal health care reform, malpractice liability reform, obesity, health disparities, regulation of pharmaceutical promotion, and other issues related to health care access, quality, and financing. Requirements include weekly attendance, a presentation/discussion of one health law-related current event, a research paper of at least 20 pages on any approved health law-related topic, and an oral presentation of the research paper. Evaluation will be based on the paper and class participation.

Human Reproduction: Law & Policy

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine selected topics relating to why, when and how human beings create other human beings. Feminist legal and philosophical perspectives will be featured in a close analysis of legal conflicts and the roles both sexes and the latest technologies play in contemporary reproductive practices. We look back to traditional regimes for regulating childbirth, pregnancy, contraception, and abortion; but also at current practices and ahead to novel regimes for regulating the use of genetic and other biological enhancements that permit control over how children look, behave, feel, achieve and endure. The primary texts will be Judith F. Daar, Reproductive Technologies and the Law, and a supplement of recent feminist, bioethical and other normative and policy perspectives. Students are encouraged to complete their senior writing requirement in connection with this course; but may take a final essay examination.

Insurance Law

3 sem. hrs.
This is a survey course designed to introduce students to insurance institutions and insurance law, with the ultimate goal of understanding the role of insurance in society. Liability, health, and property insurance will receive the most attention, but we will also discuss life and disability insurance. After taking this course, students will know how to read and analyze a standard form insurance contract, how to work with insurance regulatory materials, how to spot the insurance issues in a wide variety of legal and public policy contexts, and how to think about insurance related issues using conceptual tools from a variety of disciplines. Cross-cutting themes of interest include the behind the scenes role of insurance in shaping litigation strategy, the role of insurance in financial planning, and the promises and pitfalls of using private insurance arrangements to achieve social goals.

Intellectual Property & Nat'l Econ Value Creation (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will explore the legal structure of intellectual property laws in the United States and select foreign countries and the effect of these laws on the countries national economic development. In this process, we will explore the nature of the correlation between different types of intellectual property laws and national economic development. We will also discuss the quantification of the economic value of different types of intellectual property laws. Lastly, we will engage in a discussion as to whether intellectual property laws can be effective tools for social engineering.

Law and Bioethics

3 sem. hrs.
This course provides a comprehensive overview of American law as it relates to emerging ethical issues in medicine and health care. Picking up where introductory courses in health law and public health law often leave off, this course focuses on principles of constitutional, tort, administrative, and criminal law that govern the ethically-fraught landscape between the patient, the care provider, and the state. We will examine how courts and legislators have responded to various modern challenges in bioethics, including end-of-life care, maternal-fetal conflicts, genetic and reproductive technologies, exercises of conscience by health care providers, property rights in human tissue, and research ethics. There will be an in-class exam.

Law and Economics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar will provide students with an opportunity to learn about current research in law and economics through presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field. We spend two seminar sessions on each paper. During the first, we discuss the paper and background literature. During the second, the author joins us and discusses the paper with seminar members, law faculty, and other members of the Penn community. In preparation for the second session, students write short (two to three page) critiques of the author's paper. Final grades will be based on the bi-weekly critiques and seminar participation. Some background in economics or law and economics is very helpful; however, knowledge of technical economics is unnecessary.

Mental Health Law

3 sem. hrs.
This course will cover the theoretical, doctrinal and practical issues in mental health law, with special reference to the criminal context. It will also be of interest to students interested in bioethics, health law, and family law.

Patent Law

3 sem. hrs.
In our modern technologically-based economy, the creation and enforcement of patent rights can make or break a business. With record numbers of patents being issued every year, the stakes for inventors (and, indeed, their lawyers) continue to increase, even as the patent law and its administration faces growing criticism. This course seeks to equip students with a detailed overview of the law and policy of the United States patent system. We'll organize our inquiry into four components. The first considers the justifications for (e.g., economic, moral, political) and creation of patent rights as well as the relationship between patent law and other "intellectual property" concepts. The second will delve into the details of the statutory requirements for patentability, with a focus on both the "black letter" law and the underlying policies. Third, we'll consider the scope and enforcement of patent rights, again considering how the policies expressed in the legal doctrine relate to the justifications for patent rights we discussed in section one. And finally, we'll conclude with a look at the subject matter of patents -- considering specifically the cases of biotechnology, computer software, and internet business models -- drawing together the ideas introduced throughout the course. Class exercises and simulations will be used throughout to highlight important concepts. Last year's syllabus and additional information can be found at http://patents.pennlaw.net/.

Policy Analysis (S)

3 sem. hrs.
Lawyers play a key role in making public policy, whether in legislative, executive, or judicial settings. This seminar focuses on the role of the lawyer as policy analyst, aiming to develop skills of research, analysis, and exposition suitable for effective policy counseling and decision making. The seminar will emphasize a general framework for analyzing any kind of social or economic problem and assessing different types of alternative legal solutions. Seminar participants will work either individually or in teams (at their choosing) to prepare and present their own original policy analysis of an important problem they select, geared in a format to inform an actual decision maker. There will be no final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the final policy analysis, but class participation, short papers written during the term, and an in-class presentation will be factored as well. Senior wriiting requirement may be satisfied with permission.

Privacy

3 sem. hrs.
The study of privacy law serves several purposes. Most importantly, it introduces students to an important area of legal practice. Not only is privacy law now a recognized area of legal practice in its own right, but knowledge of privacy law is frequently called for in the practice of health, business and intellectual property law. The study of privacy law serves another purpose: developing a better understanding of the concept of privacy and the controversies--some philosophical, some political-- surrounding its application in the law. The course is divided into three sections or "chapters." Our study begins with state common law. State common law is an historic source of privacy protections. Chapter 1 examines the origins of state privacy law in the late 19th century and its subsequent growth until today. The chapter considers the four common law invasion of privacy torts recognized in most states and by the American Law Institute’s Restatement of (Second) of Torts. The chapter also examines the closely affiliated state common law of publicity and confidentiality. Chapter 1 samples major statutes enacted by state legislatures both to create privacy rights akin to those recognized in the common law and to supplement them. We move next to the federal constitution, a crucial major source of privacy law. Chapter 2 takes on the voluminous privacy jurisprudence spawned by the Bill of Rights-- most importantly, the First and Fourth Amendments’ jurisprudence of associational, physical, and informational privacy. This chapter also features the often-controversial Fourteenth Amendment equal protection and substantive due process decisional privacy jurisprudence. It concludes with a consideration of state constitutions that, state courts have held, significantly expand privacy protection beyond federal limits. The journey ends after an encounter with the federal privacy statutes, a dynamic source of privacy and data protection law. Chapter 3 examines nearly a dozen federal privacy statutes, covering government record management; health, education, and financial data; video rentals; communications; the internet; and surveillance. The chapter touches on some state counterparts to federal legislation and the agency rules that implement them.

Public Health Law & Policy (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This course will examine a number of urgent issues at the intersection of law and public health, particularly those that involve a conflict between the rights of individuals and the well-being of the community. Rather than being wedded to a particular field of legal doctrine, we will use a case study approach to analyze US and international conflicts over (and regulation of) tobacco, junk food, pandemics/vaccines, biobanks, traffic accidents, and HIV/AIDS, among others. Several distinguished guests will be invited to speak to the class, and students will have the opportunity to research, write, and present original research.

Topics in Public Health Law (S)

3 sem. hrs.
At its best, public health law seeks to strike a reasonable balance between theories of collective good and the liberty rights of individual citizen-patients. Yet all too often, policymakers fail to recognize that the successful implementation of public health policy depends in large part on the cooperation of front-line medical professionals, whose opinions as to the appropriate balance between collective and individual goods are shaped by traditional principles of medical ethics. This course will examine circumstances in which physicians’ medical decisions may be guided not only by patient well-being, but also by the state’s public health and safety goals; case studies will include routine and reporting of infectious diseases, mental health practice, military and correctional medicine, and public health emergencies such as epidemics. Through readings in history, case law, ethics, and philosophy, this course will explore the tension between medical professionalism and societal protection, and urge students to think critically about when and how the state’s powers may be permissibly exercised to further public health objectives. For students interested in public health policy, this course provides a framework for understanding many current health policy debates.

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PERSPECTIVES ON THE LAW

Advanced Legal Research

1 sem. hrs.
Advanced Legal Research. 1 sem. hr. George and Greenlee. QIII. Spring. This course is designed to permit students to master the legal research skills they started exploring in the first year legal writing course. An emphasis will be placed on problem analysis and efficient research strategies, including the ability to take full advantage of all the options the various online sources offer. Topics covered include administrative materials, legislative history, specialized subject resources, the use of indices and controlled vocabularies, and electronic resources beyond Westlaw and Lexis. The course is strongly recommended for anyone wanting to strengthen his or her skills with legal research for whatever reason, including serving as a Legal Writing Instructor or as an editor journal or preparing for employment during the summer or after graduation. Students will complete 2-4 brief papers (1-3 pp) comparing aspects of different resources or research strategies and a 15-20 page pathfinder on a topic of your choice. A pathfinder is a bibliographic/legal essay recommending a research strategy on a particular topic and will permit you to explore all the resources in depth on a topic of your own interest. The pathfinder will be due approximately one month after the last class.

Analytical Methods in the Law

3 sem. hrs.
Familiarity with quantitative reasoning and statistics is increasingly an important part of a lawyer’s job. This course will prepare students to understand the use of and to apply quantitative tools from statistics, finance, and economics to problems of legal importance. Topics covered include decision analysis, hypothesis testing, linear regression, game theory, microeconomics, and finance. Legal applications include litigation, negotiation, environmental law, corporate law, criminal law, employment law, antitrust, and intellectual property. In addition to a main textbook, sources for course material are drawn from legal cases, scientific studies, and journal and newspaper articles. The goal of the course is for students to develop their quantitative intuition through practical application, including the use of computer tools such as Excel. No specific mathematics background is required, and students with little or no quantitative coursework are especially encouraged to take the course. Students with more extensive math or economics backgrounds should consult with the professor to determine whether the course is appropriate.

Animal Law and Ethics (S)

3 sem. hrs.
This seminar course will focus both on fundamental legal and ethics questions, including human duties toward animals and whether conceiving of rights for animals is appropriate, as well as on an understanding of the current legal and administrative means through which the relationship between humans and animals is regulated. We will discuss the varying viewpoints expressed by animal advocates, generally falling into the category of either "animal welfare" or "animal rights" positions. We will discuss the fact that nonhuman animals are not legally "persons" and currently have no legal rights, per se, only limited legal "protections." Discussion of animal rights will necessarily entail an examination of the sources and characteristics of fundamental rights, why animals have historically been denied them, and whether legal rights are appropriately limited to humans. Further, we will discuss whether, if any such rights were recognized, what nonhuman animals should be entitled to them and, if so, to which legal rights they should be entitled. The class will also consider such issues as establishing standing to bring suits on behalf of animals, constitutional issues raised in animal protection cases and an analysis of the law and theory behind the protections afforded (or not afforded) animals under various federal and state laws. The focus will be on the status of animals as property, the doctrine of standing, and the nature of legal rights as applied to nonhuman animals. We will examine the content and enforcement of state anticruelty laws, the Endangered Species Act, the Federal Animal Welfare Act and accompanying regulations. We will have guest speakers for several sessions. In the past, these speakers have included including litigators and legislative advocates from the Humane Society of the United States and public interest law firms, a prosecutor who specializes in animal fighting, and leading legal scholars on animal ethics. Three short papers will be submitted based on the assigned readings in lieu of a final exam. As this course is intended, in part, as an opportunity to engage in an open dialogue on the potential for developments in this nascent area of law, attendance and participation in class discussion is crucial and laptops are not permitted.

Approaches to Islamic Law

1 sem. hrs.
This course aims to introduce students to the study of Islamic law, the all-embracing s