500 Level Courses
501 - Collaborative Law and Mediation (2)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
This course will provide students insight and practical knowledge of alternative dispute resolutions. This course focuses on the attorney's ability to understand the differences in the practice of mediation and the more recent development of the Collaborative law process and understand the application of each. Students will learn through didactic as well as skill-centered methods, giving each the opportunity to practice skills through role play and “fishbowl” exercises. We will cover the basics of mediation and Collaborative practice while emphasizing useful derivative skills that will serve students well in their future law careers. A client-centered approach, the primary goal of this class is to expose students to effective communication methods and skills that lead to settlement without litigation. Guest lecturers will bring their specific areas of expertise to the class so that students will be able to see first-hand the application of the processes we will be studying and be able better to emulate them. The final grade will awarded based partly on a 10 page critical paper and more significantly from class participation. (Rosenbloom and occasional guest lecturers)
503 - Legal Analysis and Writing Enhancement (1)
This course counts as a Non-Graded Course.
This is a skills course in which students are introduced to analytical and writing techniques for taking both the essay portion and performance portion of the bar exam. This course also addresses practical tools for taking the bar exam. During this seven-week course, students write both essays and performance questions under time constraints and receive written feedback on their answers. In-class discussion of the questions is an important part of the course. Although there is no required text, class participation is necessary. This class is recommended for students in their last year of law school, but is open to all upper-division students. (Hanover, Reddick)
504 - Comparative Perspectives on Patent Law, Policy & Health Care (2-3)
This course will explore the intersection of patent policies and policies that promote health care and research. The fundamentals of national patent laws and international agreements will be discussed, as well as how they are applied to areas that impact health care directly or indirectly, including patents on drugs and devices and methods of treating patients.
506 - Patent Prosecution Seminar (2)
This course offers an introduction to the art and science of preparing patent applications and prosecuting patent applications in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. While a discussion of selected statutory requirements and Patent Office rules will be incorporated in the lectures, the focus of the course will be on hands-on drafting and strategy. In-class exercises and homework assignments include drafting claims and various parts of a patent application, as well as preparing responses to Office Actions. There are no pre-requisites for this course, although a technical background or comfort with describing technology would be desirable. (Freeman, Hetz/Genin, Nethery, Penn)
507 - The Art of the Presentation (1)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
Lawyers are always giving presentations, both formally and informally. From interviewing to meeting with senior attorneys to engaging with clients to advocating for one's client in court, it's essential for a new lawyer to know how to speak confidently and persuasively. Students will learn how to become positive, clear, and articulate speakers and presenters. Topics include: how to create excellent formal presentation's summarizing one's work, how to engage others in the networking and interviewing processes, how to handle difficult conversations in the workplace, how to understand one's role and add value during formal and informal meetings, and how to be eloquent and efficient while conveying information to attorneys, clients, and the court.
This course counts as a Bar Course.
The federal courts play a central role in upholding the rule of law in this country. They galvanized the civil rights movement, and they continue to protect the most vulnerable members of society by virtue of their independence from political pressures. But unlike state courts, federal courts hear only certain cases -- the ones they are authorized to decide under Article III of the U.S. Constitution -- and the limits of federal courts' jurisdiction are a topic of intense dispute. Whether people have broad or narrow access to these courts deeply affects the extent to which important rights are protected. We will explore this issue first by considering the "case or controversy" requirement of Article III and its attendant doctrines of standing, ripeness, and mootness. We will then address sovereign immunity, a doctrine that limits lawsuits against the federal and state governments. In addition, we will cover abstention, the idea that courts should choose not to resolve some of the cases that fall within their Article III powers. These and other topics will help us reach informed judgments about the proper extent of access to the federal courts. (Bronsteen, Michael).
Construction law draws upon many areas of law from contracts to torts to insurance and land use. This course allows students to understand how they interact and work together. It will focus on the legal issues common to the construction industry from transaction considerations to litigation. We will examine the parties involved in a construction project, project delivery systems, negotiation of contracts, scheduling and delays, insurance and bonding considerations, mechanics liens, defects, claims procedures, remedies, warranties, and termination. Students will gain practical experience in drafting construction contracts as well as writing complaints for a construction dispute. Readings will include state and federal cases and statutes, with a focus on Illinois law. In addition, this course will look at current construction projects and disputes going on in Chicago.
This course examines the ways in which technology, particularly the electronic media; alter the structure of legal reasoning. The switch from printed cases to the Internet and from the oral testimony of an eyewitness to video recordings of an actual event typifies these changes. By combining jurisprudence with media theory we will discover: how changes in scientific theory and media affect a jury's perception and judgement; how technology affects the role of judges, juries and lawyers; and whether the choice of media favors the plaintiff or the defendant.
We will dissect the use of video, audio and graphic evidence in significant cases, and apply the principles of media and perception in short individual projects that document legal or factual issues in a variety of legal specialties. Small teams of students will produce a 2-5 minute video1 concerning an assigned case or statute. The video project includes script writing, other preproduction activities, document drafting, elements of design, acting, soundtrack creation and editing.
The class is not a traditional course concerning the rules of evidence. Students who think visually, and those with backgrounds in science, art, acting, broadcasting, journalism, film, computer technology, or an interest in how people process information and make judgments will find the course helpful. The grade is based on a take home final, the class projects and the video. (Lepow)
1Video production requires a group effort. Thus, class members will participate in the video projects of others as well as their own. We will not necessarily create artistic works but will learn how to work with non-lawyers in creating demonstrative evidence as well as when to object to the submission of an opponent's graphic or video evidence.
"Justice must not be for one side alone, but must be for both." - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
This course explores the legal rights and remedies of people victimized by violent crime in our society with an emphasis on adult victims of violent crime. First, students will discuss the history of the victims' rights movement and the creation of statutory and constitutional rights of victims of crime at both the state and federal level. Understanding these rights, students will focus on how these rights are afforded to victims and enforced by the justice system. The last section will focus on victim interface with law enforcement, prosecution, courts and corrections, compares the experiences of victims of specific crime types and identifies services needed to assist victims, and their families, in rebuilding their lives. (Kuhn)
517 - Advanced Legal Writing: Responsible E-Mail and Letter Drafting (2)
This course will address advanced legal writing issues that extend beyond drafting legal briefs and memoranda to prepare the student for common legal writing assignments involving correspondence and e-mail.
Specifically, this course will address professional e-mail etiquette, the analytical e-mail in comparison to the formal legal memorandum, productive communications with opposing counsel (including maintaining civility and professional decorum), and preserving client interests in dealing with non-parties.
518 - Advanced Writing for Criminal Law (2)
This course takes students through the progression of a federal criminal case from indictment to sentencing, and gives students an understanding of what kind of written advocacy is common at each stage of the case. Students will be given practical guidance for writing persuasively at each of those stages. With fact patterns drawn from actual federal criminal cases, students will hone their skills by writing various motions and a sentencing memorandum, from the side of either the prosecution or the defense. Students will present oral argument on one of the written assignments. Students will also observe a federal court proceeding relevant to the topics covered in class.
519 - National Security Law: Terrorism, Intelligence, and Law Enforcement (2)
This course is an introduction to several topical areas of national security law. Students will first learn the fundamentals of the government’s national security powers, which include issues surrounding separation of powers and government roles implicated by foreign relations. The next phase of the course focuses on the origins and evolving limitations of intelligence operations. The intelligence component of the course includes identifying the roles of various intelligence agencies, such as the DIA and NSA, as well as analyzing legal problems connected to the intelligence field. Encompassed in the intelligence component is discussion about law enforcement’s role as related to intelligence and about access to national security information. The intelligence component segues into the coordination of terrorism investigations and related issues, such as the criminalization of terrorism, material support crimes, and Fourth Amendment considerations. The class will not require a final exam, but will include a ten-page final paper. (O'Malley)
520 - Advanced Legal Writing for the Practice of Law: Disability Law (2)
Using disability law as a backdrop, this course will help students refine their research, writing and advocacy skills. In the first half of the course, students will gain an understanding of substantive disability law by analyzing caselaw involving the Americans with Disabilities Act and its 2008 amendments. In the second half of the course, students will apply this knowledge in the context of a hypothetical disability law case by writing an objective memorandum and brief on a topic chosen by the instructor. In addition to writing multiple drafts and working one-on-one with the instructor, students will also have an opportunity to talk with judges about their perspectives on effective advocacy.
520 - Advanced Legal Writing for the Practice of Law: Pretrial Litigation (2)
The course will concern itself with the different purposes—and therefore the different styles—of various documents that a lawyer is called upon to draft. We will examine and draft documents primarily used in litigation, such as complaints, motions regarding discovery issues, and substantive motions and briefs, but some attention will be given to contracts and statutory materials as well. Our goal will be to appreciate the appropriateness of particular styles of writing to accomplish specific ends and to learn to employ a style of writing for each document that best suits the intended purpose of that document. The course aims to provide a practical approach to the situations a lawyer will experience early in his or her career.
521 - International Sales Law (1)
The course focuses on the law governing the international sales of goods, with a particular emphasis on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (the "CISG"). Topics including the scope of the CISG, contract formation under the CISG, buyers' and sellers' performance obligations under the CISG are compared and contrasted with corresponding approaches under British and American law (particularly with regard to Article 2 of the American Uniform Commercial Code). Attention is also paid to risk-of-loss issues arising in relation to the International Chamber of Commerce's commercial delivery terms ("incoterms"). (Williams)
The aim of this seminar is to see what can be learned about the law from literature; that is, to study the law poetically. The assigned readings vary, but the following have been used in past offerings: Sophocles, Antigone; Plato, Apology, Meno; Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice; Melville, Billy Budd; Arthur Miller, The Crucible; Robert Bolt, A Man For All Seasons, The Pentateuch; Milton, Paradise Lost. Papers are written; there is no final examination. No prerequisites. (Berlin)
This course counts as a Bar Course.
This course concentrates on Articles 2 and 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code and other state and federal statutes covering the sale or lease of goods. In addition, the course examines selected provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Among the topics are the formation of contracts, including offer and acceptance, statute of frauds, and the "battle of the forms"; terms of sales contracts, including express and statutory terms, price, quantity, payment, delivery, and risk of loss; warranties, express and implied; disclaimers of, and defenses to, warranties; acceptance, rejection, revocation; buyers' and sellers' remedies for breach. (Breen, Krivinskas-Shepard, Williams)
527 - Government Regulation and the Marketplace (2)
This seminar examines the legal aspects of regulatory/deregulatory theory and practice. Regulation "in the public interest" involves, among other things, law, economics, science, and consumer protection. It ranges from the normal rules of commerce to detailed government systems which manage major industries (telecom, energy, pharmaceuticals, finance, etc) or aspects of industries (environmental protection). Influenced by international events (the privatization of former European government-run businesses) and changes in social thought (e.g., the "Chicago School" of economics) traditional regulation has gradually been replaced by forms of "regulation-lite" (combinations of antitrust law, market based "incentive" schemes and other innovative methods). Some claim these trends produce vast efficiency gains and consumer benefits; others point to the devastating economic and social costs of the spectacular failures of the Savings and Loan industry, Enron and Worldcom. This seminar explores the fundamentals of regulation, its operation, its innovations and their results. The first ten weeks will cover basic concepts and feature prominent guest speakers. Students will prepare research papers, applying the concepts to actual industry examples and present their analysis to the class. (Bloom, Waller)
This course will teach the fundamentals of drafting precise and clear contracts. Drafting concepts will be taught through assigned readings, lectures, in-class exercises, hands-on drafting in pairs and alone, and review of, and comments to, an individual’s work and the work of others. The majority of the semester will be devoted to drafting without the use of forms or precedent documents. For the first several weeks of class, students will draft the components of a contract, each component being either peer-reviewed or reviewed by the instructor. The components will be revised according to the comments received and integrated into a complete contract. The individual drafting will be supported by independent in-class exercises and review of the assigned reading and relevant cases. The final project will simulate a real-world drafting experience in which students will receive precedent documents, term sheets, emails, relevant statutes, and due diligence and will be required to prepare the first draft of the operative document for a transaction.
530 - International Law Colloquium (2)
This seminar will examine select topics in contemporary international law practice and scholarship. Approximately every other week, the course will feature presentations of papers or works in progress by a leading international law scholar or practitioner. Students will submit short written comments of each paper in advance of its presentation. These comments will be sent to the speaker and the two hour session will be devoted to discussion of the paper and these comments. No prerequisite is required.
532 - Law and War: Regulating Conflict (2)
This seminar investigates whether and how the laws of war constrain different actors. This class will provide a brief historical overview of the development of the laws of war as well as an exploration of its multiple and sometimes competing purposes. Questions about enforcement, compliance, and the role of law in influencing state behavior will likely predominate. Each week, we will explore these questions in the context of American involvement in recent disputes such as Iraq and Afghanistan and its war against terrorism more broadly. We will also look at domestic implementation of the laws of war with a focus on American statutes, court cases, and military manuals.
534 - Advanced Tax Transactions (Kent) (2)
This seminar examines the tax and business planning aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including taxable and nontaxable transfers of businesses and real estate. Transactions covered include installment sales, earn-outs, options, technology transfers, reverse mergers and like-kind exchanges. Particular attention will be given to planning whether to use asset sales or stock sales, structuring financing for acquisitions and techniques for compensating investors. The seminar will also explore the taxation of partnerships, S corporations and limited liability companies and their special application to corporate and real estate acquisitions.
*Full time or part time Loyola students, who have completed their first year of legal studies, may enroll in one or more of a select group of 10 classes taught at Kent. These classes will not be curved and will be graded by name. Although these classes will be taught at Kent by Kent professors, you can enroll in them through LOCUS, as you would any other Loyola class. If you have questions about the courses offered and their prerequisites, please contact Assistant Dean, Stephen Sowle at ssowle@kentlaw.edu.
537 - Human Rights and the Global Economy (2)
Human rights issues have come to the fore front around the world, in courts and legislatures, in corporate board rooms, in the corridors of the United Nations and the international trade and financial institutions. This emergence and universalization of human rights has arisen as the promotion and globalization of free markets through trade liberalization, flows of foreign direct investment and finance across national boundaries has intensified. This course will examine how the growing influence of the international human rights framework is implicated in settings such as the overseas manufacturing operations of companies like Apple, in extractive industry mining activities such as those involving ‘blood’ diamonds, and in China’s huge infrastructural projects particularly in Africa. These case studies and more will be examined in light of the history and theoretical origins of human rights such as rights to food, housing, health, education, cultural expression, political participation, and prohibitions of discrimination and violence. The course will examine a variety of responses to these case studies as they relate to the legal framework under major international and regional human rights treaties and how international, regional, and domestic courts, (including federal courts under the Alien Tort Statute), and other actors have interpreted them. No prerequisite is required.
539 - Legal History of Civil Rights
This seminar explores various topics in the ancient and recent history of civil rights law. The primary emphasis is on considerations of law, policy, and culture surrounding issues like race, gender, immigration, and children's rights. In considering the various areas of study, careful attention is given to the role of the three branches of government in protecting the liberty and equality of citizens. The assessment includes a careful analysis of the implications of federalism to determining the extent of governmental authority. The course also analyzes whether civil rights advances are primarily pragmatic or principled. (Tsesis)
This course offers a basic overview of the legal framework within which the production, distribution and sale of energy takes place. It is offered as part of the Program in Environmental and Energy Law but is open to all students. After a brief introduction to scientific concepts of energy and the history of energy technology, the course will survey the major sources of energy. The traditional sources have been oil, natural gas and coal converted to consumer products such as electricity and gasoline. Newer sources include nuclear and solar energy. Each source and delivery system has its own network of property rules and contract relationships. National energy policy will be reviewed and the impact of interregional competition on the regulation of energy will be studied, as will constitutional and economic concepts affecting the pricing of energy. Particular emphasis will be placed on energy issues in environmental law. Three credit hours.
542 - Trademark Law Seminar (2)
This course builds upon the trademark concepts discussed in the intellectual property survey class. The focus of the class will be an advanced and applied understanding of trademark law. The course will cover various areas of trademark law and practice, including clearance and prosecution of trademarks, as well as infringement, dilution and licensing. The final grade will be based upon class participation, and assignments, including a final project; there will be no final exam. Prerequisite: Intellectual Property or permission of instructor. (Nanette Norton)
544 - Community Lawyering and Civic Rights Practicum (4)
This course counts as an Experiential Learning and a Skills Course.
This course focuses on how lawyers work with communities and organizations to bring about change and takes a practical approach to understanding different forms of community-based lawyering. Students will work (for an approximate total of 50 hours in the semester) on projects with community organizations. Their work may entail doing research, creating fact sheets and manuals, conducting "know your rights" presentations in the community, helping to craft the message of a campaign, writing press releases, and strategizing with community members on how to identify and resolve particular issues. In addition to their fieldwork, every week, students will be assigned readings relating to course topics, such as organizing and different theories of change, the tools and strategies of lawyers, the history of lawyers working with different communities, and the role of law and lawyers in different movements. We will have discussions based on the assigned readings, and guest speakers will join us throughout the semester.
545 - Advising Not-for-Profit Organizations in Real Estate and Business Transactional Settings (2)
This course counts as a Skills and Experiential Learning Course.
There are more than 1.5 million not-for-profit organizations in the United States alone, and more throughout the world. Not-for profit organizations contribute to society in many ways, through diverse missions from education and research, to social services, relief, and advocacy, to religion, to arts and culture. In addition to the impact made through their missions, not-for-profits as a group are significant as employers and for their contribution to the general economy as well.
Not-for-profit organizations exist to further their charitable purposes, do not distribute dividends or net revenues (having no private shareholders or owners), and often are formed and operated to qualify for Federal income tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) or other provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Nonetheless, they have many of the same operational needs and characteristics of any other business. They occupy space (whether owned, leased, or hosted by others). They purchase and consume goods and services from vendors and suppliers. They manage and cope with attendant risks.
Interestingly, commentators suggest that not-for-profits can be more complex to manage, and to advise, than a for-profit business. The organization may have funding constraints, staff constraints, and knowledge constraints, particularly when copying with transactions or situations that arise only occasionally or where the organization is governed or operated in whole or in part by volunteers. Not-for-profit facilities and operations can be uniquely complex (think for example about a museum, a zoo, a hospital, or a cathedral), and their diverse sources of governmental and private funding can come with extensive conditions, restrictions, and reporting requirements. They may even be offered (or accept) donated goods or services in kind, gifts that come with their own implications.
This course will explore the opportunities and challenges for lawyers involved with not-for-profit organizations, whether as paid or pro bono legal advisors, or as board members or volunteers. The course will be centered around a recurrent series of fictional clients, each a not-for-profit organization, engaged in a variety of operational and transactional situations. Each client organization will have a different mission, size, and resources, as well as mock client representatives who will have different business and style preferences, which the class will need to accommodate and will come to anticipate in fashioning and recommending solutions for each client. There will be a particular emphasis on transactions and involving ownership, leasing, use, and operation of real estate, which (just as with many for-profit businesses) is typically the largest single category of capital investment and the second largest category of repeat expense (after total personnel costs) for many not-for-profit organizations. The course will also consider issues of legal ethics and professional conduct, as well as governance and fiduciary duty of board members, in the not-for-profit context.
The course will use traditional lecture and discussion learning techniques and case study simulation, with a major focus on transactional goals, issue spotting, transaction structuring, documentation, and implementation. The course's emphasis on case studies and commercial transaction scenarios is also designed to act as a capstone course that complements and draws upon the students' prior coursework in contracts, real estate and commercial transactions, ethics and government regulation. In these ways, the course emphasizes skills relevant in any transactional project, for-profit or otherwise.
In the fall semester, we will meet most weeks at the scheduled class time for lectures, simulation exercises, and discussion. In the spring semester, we will meet some weeks at the scheduled time, while using other weeks for guest speakers and field visits to selected not-for-profit organizations in the Chicago area and for individual meetings with students on directed work. Each student will have the opportunity to identify and explore an individual topic relevant to not-for-profit transactions, operations, or governance.
This course is offered for two credits each semester (four credits total). Successful completion of the fall semester is a prerequisite for the spring semester unless waived by the instructor. Students will be graded based on class participation, written assignments and exercises, a mid-term take home examination (administered at the end of the first semester), and a paper and presentation resulting from research and study on their chosen individual topic. (Hagy)
This course counts as a Skills and Experiential Learning Course.
This weekend course will provide the essential skill set you will need as an entry-level deal lawyer. This is increasingly important, in light of growing client unwillingness to pay junior associate rates for attorneys to learn on the job. Facing an ever more competitive recruiting environment, it will be crucial for you to come out of the gate armed with the appropriate skill set for your chosen practice area. This course is designed to prepare you to speak intelligently in interviews and hit the ground running on the job. To this end, the focus of each class will be how to perform due diligence and how to draft resolutions, third-party opinion letters, and closing documents – tasks commonly assigned to junior associates. You will also study sample agreements that appear in many different types of deals, including commitment papers, indemnities, guaranties, escrows, pledge agreements and security agreements. When appropriate, we will invite guest lecturers to join us to provide real life insights into the transactional law practice.
549 - Anti-Trust and Intellectual Property Seminar (2)
This seminar focuses on the interface between Intellectual Property (IP) and antitrust law. Patents, copyrights and trademarks and other IP regimes confer exclusionary rights. Exclusive rights provide incentives and serve other ends, but their exercise can also impede competition distort otherwise competitive markets. This seminar will address the intersection of IP and Antitrust with respect to issues such as standard setting, licensing, corporate strategy, product design, efforts to increase market share and mergers and acquisitions.
Prerequisite: Intellectual Property, Copyright or Antitrust Law or instructor permission
550-Search and Seizure: Fourth Amendment Law and Practice in Illinois (2)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
A practical skills course on 4th Amendment/Search & Seizure law as it applies in Illinois, and how the most common issues are litigated in criminal cases. The class explores applicable Illinois statutes, Illinois Supreme Court rules, and federal and state case law that sets forth the prevailing legal basis for individuals’ rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Taught by a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney and with question and answer sessions with a defense attorney and law enforcement; the course takes a balanced look at both the prosecution and defense approaches to Motions to Quash and Suppress, the bread and butter of pretrial litigation and the chief avenue for deciding 4th Amendment issues. After learning the legal basics, students will be tested on their ability to identify and analyze Search & Seizure issues in various scenarios and argue for or against 4th Amendment violations, as well as practice some basic motion writing and oral arguments.
551 - Electronic Discovery Law and Problem Solving (2)
Electronic discovery ("e-discovery") is the discipline of dealing with digital evidence.
Proficiency in e-discovery has become a must-have skill set for litigators. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence have already been modified twice in the last few years to try to address e-discovery concerns, and additional changes appear imminent. The states are following suit with their own rules. A burgeoning body of case law comes down each year, attempting to define the ethical and legal obligations of parties and counsel when preserving, collecting, reviewing, and producing electronically stored information.
The result is a fundamental change in litigation practice. The enormous costs of e-discovery drive settlement strategy in commercial litigation. Divorce and trade-secret cases hinge on the contents of a party's hard drive. Product liability cases focus on the output of digital sensors. Technology-savvy attorneys use their expertise to contest the authenticity and probative value of key pieces of evidence. Parties seek arbitration or trial venues based on the protections and burden of discovery rules. Individual rights and the integrity of governmental evidence are at risk in criminal cases that rely on digital information, and attorneys and litigants are sanctioned with alarming frequency for failure to properly manage e-discovery. Mastery of e-discovery is a differentiator for clients choosing counsel and for law firms in the hiring of young attorneys.
This is a survey course, to familiarize students with foundational concepts, and to delve into some of the more challenging questions that e-discovery poses. It will also look at the tools lawyers use to manage digital evidence. The course will include a combination of lecture, discussion, and practical application, allowing students an opportunity to explore issues and practice their advocacy and problem solving skills. Readings will consist of case law, statutory and regulatory guidelines, ethical guidelines, research, and white papers. Grading will be based on class participation, group exercises and a theme paper. Prerequisite: Civil Procedure. (Rizzolo and Warner)
552 - Unincorporated Business Organizations (2)
Either as transactional lawyers or as litigators, you are more likely to find yourselves working with unincorporated business entities than corporations. What are these entities and how do they differ from the corporation? The course briefly reviews all unincorporated entities with special focus on limited partnership (LP), limited liability partnership (LLP) and limited liability company (LLC). First part of the course deals with the legal issues involved in the formation of those entities (choice of form considerations, drafting of the agreement). The second part considers issues encountered in the operation of those entities (inevitable conflicts among shareholders, partners or members, buyout agreements, dissolution of the entity). Students will undertake in-class mock negotiation and mock trial. Grades will be based on participation and on a take-home exercise (Champetier de Ribes-Justeau)
554 - Family Law Practicum (1)
This course counts as an Experiential Learning and a Skills Course.
Students in this practicum will administer a skills component of the traditional Family Law foundational course, focusing specifically on the drafting of an antenuptial agreement in a complex case hypothetical. Practicum students will serve as clients in the drafting exercise. In this capacity, students will meet face-to-face with the collective group of student attorneys representing each client and engage in ongoing, timely and detailed electronic communication with student attorney teams throughout the course of the skills exercise. Practicum students will also assist in evaluating the client counseling facet of the exercise, and in reviewing each prenup for its substantive terms. Each practicum student will spend approximately 40 hours engaged in work related to the exercise. Students may enroll in this practicum only with permission from the instructor. (Coupet)
555 - Patents, Academic Research, Health and Public Policy (2)
Academic research has a critical role to play in the biomedical innovation of today and the healthcare interventions of tomorrow - this relationship, and the laws and policies intended to facilitate it, is what this course fundamentally aims to explore. This course examines the legal and cultural issues involved with a changing environment in academic research, as well as the impacts those changes have on innovation, as well as access, with a special focus on healthcare products and services. The laws and policies of the United States, as well as the practices of university technology transfer offices will be considered and contrasted with the actual and proposed laws and practices of other countries.
This course should be of interest to students with an interest in how health care products are developed beyond the private sector, students interested in domestic patent law, as well as students with an interest in comparative law.
Students will be graded based on class participation, as well as written and oral projects and presentations. There will not be a final examination.
556 - Alternative Dispute Resolution (2)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
Class focus will be on mediation, arbitration and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution, with an emphasis on learning procedural aspects of mediation and arbitration, as well as negotiation skills. This course will provide students with the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and familiarity with the different methods of alternatives to litigation. Classes will include lectures, simulations, role-playing, and outcome-based actual case studies. (Moritz)(Roethke)
556 - Alternative Dispute Resolution (2) - Coupet
This course counts as a Skills Course.
This course aims to help law students become effective problem solvers through development of their knowledge and skills in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration as applied to a range of legal disputes. Student will learn to assist clients in identifying their goals and searching for creative solutions that produce efficient, expansive and effective outcomes. Students will learn about negotiation, mediation, and arbitration through lectures, but primarily through case simulations followed by critical feedback. Class attendance is critical. Participation in this course includes one six hour Saturday workshop in April offered in lieu of 3 regularly scheduled April classes. (Coupet)
557 - The Law of Risk Management (3)
In ways that vary from federal assistance to hurricane victims, to governmental health care programs to commercial insurance, risk management has become a vital component of the American economy. Life insurance, Medicare, FEMA and commercial litigation all represent components of an extensive public undertaking to manage risks of financial loss. To counsel and represent clients appropriately in connection with this part of the economy, it is often necessary to view issues from an unusual perspective, to "follow the loss" rather than "follow the money." This course provides a broad overview of the law of risk management, introducing students to ways in which the quantification of financial risks, the spreading of financial risk and other insurance concepts have been employed by courts and other governmental authorities to manage the financial risks faced by citizens.
This course will require students to review and discuss certain case law, as in many law school courses. It will also require students to review certain statutes and to acquire a facility in the analysis of statutes separately from case law. And it will require students to examine certain executive orders and the history of such orders. Some of the evaluation of each student's performance will be based on one or more short papers assigned during the term, and some will be based on a final examination. (Herbert)
559 - Education Litigation: The Impact of Civil Rights Equality Cases on K-12 School Policies (2)
This course examines the results of civil rights education cases brought on behalf of African American, Latino, and other minority students. Students will examine applicable legal precedents and statutory frameworks, classroom level implementation, and experts’ analyses of data and outcomes for five subject areas—student assignment, English Language Learner Programs, tracking (gifted and remedial), special education, and discipline. Students will work in teams and individually to present research and response papers related to the five subject matters. (Ashley)
561 - Comparative Education Law and Policy: Early Childhood Education (2-3)
This course counts as a Perspective Elective course.
This unique course will immerse students in a comparative analysis of early childhood education law and policy. The course begins with an exploration of the legal and political structure of American early childhood education, including issues such as: (1) the role of the national and local government in regulating education; (2) the constitutional right to education; (3) the governance of educational institutions and the shaping of curriculum; (4) the rights and responsibilities of teachers; and (5) the image of the child. The American legal system’s resolution of these issues is then compared to the resolution of these same issues by legal and educational systems in other countries, particularly those in Italy and Finland.
One focus of the class will be the world-renowned approach to preschool education developed in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The preschools in Reggio Emilia are widely regarded as the best in the world. The “Reggio” approach to early education is built on a particular understanding of the biological and social nature of children, and the role of the state in developing its young. Accordingly, the class will explore the neuro-science undergirding the Reggio approach and how this science informs: educational objectives and methods; the architecture of the educational environment, the connections between school and community and the legal and political structures surrounding children. Throughout the class, the “Reggio” approach will serve as a benchmark for understanding and assessing the law and policy of early childhood education in the United States. In addition, the class will examine the internationally acclaimed educational system in Finland to determine whether its successes can be replicated in the United States.
Students will be required to participate actively in class exercises and projects, to present material to the class, and to write a 10-15 page analytical, research or policy paper that addresses an issue raised by the class.
This course counts as a Skills Course.
The purpose of this course is to develop an understanding of human behavior in changing organizations, and the managerial awareness, tools and methods that are available to increase effectiveness. The course surveys principles and theories about individuals and groups at work, motivation and interactive drives and processes for satisfying needs, organization strategies for effectively utilizing people and creating the environment to achieve goals of people and companies. New models of leadership, teams, organization structure are studied as the product of today’s transforming organizations. Some elements of organization development methods are incorporated to show how OD practitioners work.
567 - History of the Federal Judiciary (3)
People use the expression "trial and error" in reference to a continual experiment yielding both positive and negative results. Yet it is all but forgotten that the federal courts developed in precisely this manner at the hands of many successive (and sometimes shortsighted) Congresses. Since 1789, Congress has tinkered with every conceivable detail pertaining to the Third Branch, from the important (such as defining federal jurisdiction) to the trivial (such as micromanaging times for holding court). Some of these efforts were short-lived, while others have persisted since the first Judiciary Act in 1789 and today constitute cornerstones of the modern federal judiciary. With that pedigree in mind this course will examine certain aspects of the evolution of the federal courts from 1789 to the present, with particular emphasis on the structure and function of current, abolished and reconstituted Article III (i.e., constitutional) courts, federal judicial legislation, the federal judiciary, specialized Article III courts, the advent of Article I (i.e., legislative) courts and court officials. The instructor will evaluate students by a final examination as well as classroom participation. (Banich)
This course counts as a Perspective Elective Course.
The course is designed as a general introduction to the legal system of the European Union. It covers both its constitutional and institutional structure and focuses on specific key areas of substantive law. It starts by introducing the history and sources of the European Union's legal order, and then moves into the EU's legislative process, where it concentrates on the political and legislative functions of the various institutions and the division of competences between the EU and its Member States. The course pays particular attention to the role of the judiciary in shaping the EU's legal order. The European Court of Justice developed the fundamental notions of direct effect and supremacy of European law. Those notions, through which rights are created for European citizens, are examined, and the course subsequently turns to how those rights can be enforced. The course will also examine the ongoing effort to adopt a constitution for Europe. Throughout, the class explores policy, as well as legal considerations, and comes in close contact with EU cases and materials. (Fabbio)
569 - Securities Enforcement (2)
This course counts as a Bar Course.
This course will examine the enforcement of the federal securities laws from the perspectives of both the Securities and Exchange Commission and defense counsel. We will examine the SEC's investigative process, including the taking and defending of testimony; and will examine selective types of securities fraud investigations, including accounting fraud, insider trading, and stock options back dating. We will also evaluate the role of auditors and in-house counsel in detecting and preventing securities fraud, and remedies available to the SEC; the settlement process; and collateral actions by other civil and criminal authorities.
The required weekly reading will consist of recent enforcement cases, rulemaking, related statutes, law review articles and other commentary. Most classes will begin with a short discussion of recent developments. Standard reading materials will be supplemented with additional handouts in class as significant developments occur throughout the semester. Guest instructors may be used to address specific topics throughout the semester. (Cunningham/Wiggins/Fakhoury)
572 - Special Education Dispute Resolution (1)
This course counts as a Skills and Experiential Learning Course.
This one credit hour course will provide students with an intensive simulated experience in the various processes of resolution of special education disputes. Areas addressed will include some or all of the following: contested IEP meetings, manifestation determination reviews, resolution meetings, mediation, and due process hearings. Assuming the roles of parent legal advocate and school district counsel, students will develop a practical working knowledge of federal and Illinois statutes and regulations governing special education dispute resolution; develop a legal understanding of, and working familiarity with, student special education records and documents; and learn how to interview and prepare clients, witnesses, school personnel, experts, and others for their respective roles in the dispute resolution process. (Hirsman/Johnson)
574 - Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Administration (2)
While the Catholic Church ultimately exists for spiritual purposes, religious institutions must operate in the real world of human resources, leadership development, strategic thinking, communication, marketing, property and finance. Canon law is the Church’s own legal system that regulates ecclesiastical administration. In order to function effectively in this environment, knowledge of the Church’s legal system and how it interacts with civil law is essential for lawyers and administrators responsible for the management of ecclesiastical entities such as Catholic hospitals, universities, social service agencies, dioceses and parishes.
Examples of specific issues would be in the areas relating to Catholic identity, sponsorship, mergers and joint ventures involving Catholic schools and health care institutions; incorporation and tax-exempt status of religious organizations; the acquisition and sale (alienation) of ecclesiastical property; wills, estates and bequests involving ecclesiastical goods and offerings for Masses; liability for clergy and employee misconduct; immigration law aspects of foreign religious workers; and the interface between government regulations and the Church’s ethical and religious directives.
Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Administration should be of particular interest for law students and business students interested in the management of health care and educational institutions, as well as for those interested in comparative law. This course will be conducted as a seminar in which students will be invited to write a research paper and make a classroom presentation on some issue of canon law and ecclesiastical administration. (Bishop Paprocki)
577 - Employment Law Counseling (3)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
This will be a practical class designed to develop counseling skills in the representation of employees and employers, with an emphasis on assisting employers in complying with the major state and federal laws governing the workplace. The goal is to prepare you to provide clear and considered advice to clients in an effort to minimize the personal and business risks and costs associated with employment litigation. Topics covered include: (1) interviewing and counseling employment law clients; (2) recognizing the legal and practical aspects of employment issues to help clients make appropriate decisions; (3) identifying alternative solutions to workplace problems; (4) reviewing and drafting key employment documents, including handbooks, contracts, and personnel records; (5) handling discipline and termination cases; (6) managing the workplace crisis, including counseling employers on how to investigate and respond to whistle-blower complaints or complaints of harassment and discrimination; (7) training employees and managers on employment law compliance issues; and (8) strategies for dealing with common issues under state and federal worker protection laws such as the ADA, FMLA and FLSA. (Cripe)
579 - Practice Fundamentals: Interviewing Skills (1)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
Some of the most common complaints about lawyers stem from a single fundamental truth: we are trained to talk, but we are not trained to listen. Clients tell us frankly that we “have poor listening skills,” and further that we “don’t genuinely care about them or their case,” that we “think we know everything” and “nitpick every word they say.” Other client frustrations, such as “not communicating clearly,” “not keeping [them] informed,” and “kill[ing deals]” are superficially unrelated to our listening skills, but at bottom reflect a failure to appreciate the client’s point of view. In short, all lawyers need to know how to elicit and contextualize information from those they represent in order to represent them well. While interviewing is crucial to client relationships, its value does not end there. Young attorneys juggle many audiences in a day. These include assigning partners or department supervisors and those encountered in the course of doing the legwork that is a beginner’s bread and butter: opposing counsel and their staff, or low-level representatives of government institutions, including court and agency clerks. Happily, the listening and interviewing skills a young attorney acquires during these experiences will pay off when she tackles witness interviews and her first on-the-record interview, the deposition.
This course will introduce students to theories of interviewing and listening in a variety of legal contexts. More important, students will try their hands at different types of interviews to hone this experiential skill. We will meet for an hour each week, and our time will be spent roughly as follows: a 10-minute introductory discussion about the week’s reading, followed by a 30-minute “workshop” during which groups or pairs of students will conduct interviews using case study materials distributed in class. We will conclude by reflecting on the interview experience. Because each student will serve as both interviewer and interviewee each week, we will be able to consider the conversation from both the lawyer and the client points of view.
The course is a survey of different types of interviews young lawyers are most likely to conduct: beginning with a general overview and moving to practice-specific interviews about potential litigation or corporate work. We will then move to a conversation that directly results from the initial interview: review of an action plan with the client. From client interviewing, we will consider adapting these skills in three other contexts relevant to the beginning lawyer: witness interviews, adversary conversations (pre-negotiation or logistical negotiation) and finally, an introduction to depositions. Throughout, we will develop an awareness of the ethics and social considerations likely to arise in various communications contexts.
582 - Derivatives for Lawyers (1)
Derivative are one of the fastest growing vehicles in the financial industry, yet least understood. This four-course session is a comprehensive introduction to derivative products and the application of derivative tools and skills needed to value and understand equity options and options on futures. The course format includes a combination of group discussion, short examples, and case problems to illustrate and apply the concepts of option. (Vignola)
584 - Mediation Certification & Courthouse Practicum
This course counts as a Skills and Experiential Learning Course.
Students in this course will be trained to become certified mediators and then develop their mediation skills through hands-on experience mediating in court. The course starts with a mandatory intensive mediation skills training conducted by the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR) at the beginning of the semester. The course will thereafter meet once a week in seminar to discuss, practice and improve upon student mediation skills. Students who complete the skills training portion of the course and meet all of CCR’s certification requirements will be certified as CCR volunteer mediators and mediate actual cases in Cook County courts while continuing to meet in class once a week to discuss and build on what they learn in the mediations. Upon completion of this course and the CCR certification process, students will be able to continue volunteering as mediators for CCR, as long as they continue to meet CCR’s volunteer requirements. There is no prerequisite for this class; however, preference will be given to students who have already completed a mediation or negotiation course. (Block, Eatherton)
585 - Lawyering the Purchase and Sale of Commercial Property (3)
This course counts as a Skills Course.
This is an advanced seminar intended to give students a working familiarity with the anatomy of a commercial real estate sale, using a case study and typical documents, and provide a real-world introduction, from a practitioner's perspective, to: (1) the substantive law that applies to commercial real estate (and mortgage financing); (2) the business objectives of buyers and sellers as they analyze and negotiate purchase documents, conduct due diligence (survey, title and environmental, etc.) and negotiate mortgage loans; and (3) the mechanics of closing the deal. The course will focus on Illinois law, but the instructor will point out points on which state law may differ, and how that might affect the deal terms. The “text” for the course consists of a portfolio of legal documents (letter of intent, purchase agreement, brokers agreement, title report, survey, mortgage documents and all closing documents – deeds, assignments, affidavits, escrow instructions, etc.) In addition to the actual documents, course reading materials will include excerpts from statutes, treatises, practitioners' guides, and, occasionally (but rarely), court cases. The goal of the proposed course is to provide as nearly as possible, given the constraints of a classroom setting, the quality and substance of the experience a first-year associate would ideally have in a law firm in reviewing, negotiating and drafting a purchase agreement and closing documents, conducting due diligence (emphasis on title and survey) and quarterbacking the closing, all under a supportive, mentoring partner (i.e., the instructor). Students will volunteer to be seller’s counsel or buyer’s counsel. For the duration of the course, students will review, analyze and participate in discussions from their chosen perspectives. The culmination will be a mock closing, with a couple of last-minute surprise glitches to keep things interesting.
Prerequisites for the course are Contracts and Property. Students who have taken courses in Real Estate Law, and/or Secured Transactions would be at an advantage.
588 - Legal Issues in Student Discipline (2)
This course counts as a Skills course. This course may count as an Experiential Learning course with instructor approval.
The legal issues surrounding student discipline in public elementary and secondary schools involve the intersection of Constitutional and statutory law with the administrative hearing process. By developing a working knowledge of the school disciplinary process, course participants will build analytical and substantive skills applicable to a wide variety of practice areas.
The course will address the Constitutional implications of student discipline and the statutory provisions governing student discipline and the administrative hearing process. Students will learn about ‘zero tolerance’ policies, the role that school discipline plays in the ‘school-to-prison pipeline,’ and the discriminatory impact of school discipline policies. Issues relating to discipline in charter schools and discipline of students with disabilities will also be addressed. Other topics to be discussed include disciplinary-related challenges that arise in the context of protecting vulnerable children, including issues of harassment and bullying of LGBT and special needs children; and the legal tenets governing school districts’ responses to cyberbullying and the rise of social networks and digital media. Emerging trends in alternatives to punitive school discipline practices, such as human rights approaches, positive behavior interventions and supports, and restorative justice, will be examined.
Throughout the term, students will engage in hands-on learning activities, interactive exercises, and practical applications of the concepts and principles of the course. The culminating experience of the course will involve participation in a simulated student disciplinary hearing.
Experiential Learning Opportunity:
With instructor approval, a limited number of students taking the course will have the opportunity to serve as advocates for students facing expulsion from public schools. Students will work under the supervision of the course’s faculty to conduct client intakes, develop a defense strategy, conduct discovery, prepare witnesses, and advocate for students at a school expulsion hearing. Students may serve in this capacity as part of the course or for an additional credit, and they may earn Experiential Learning credit. Instructor permission is required to enroll in this portion of the course, and preference will be given to 2L students (no 711 license required). If you are interested in enrolling in this portion of the course, please contact Kathleen Hirsman at khirsman@luc.edu and Miranda Johnson at mjohnson11@luc.edu as soon as possible.
589 - Externship - Judicial (2, 3)
This course counts as an Experiential Learning, Skills and a Non-Graded Course.
A student after the first year may receive two or three hours of credit per semester for supervised work done in chambers under the supervision of a federal judge and his or her clerks. (Gough, Kieffer) Click here to download the Externship Packets. (Adobe PDF)
590 - Wrongful Conviction Seminar (1)
This weekend course is designed to provide students with an overview of the issues and case law related to wrongful convictions. Students will gain an understanding of the dynamics of wrongful convictions and this burgeoning area of law. The course will also provide the opportunity for each student to reseearch one recent case of wrongful conviction. 40% of the grade in this course is based on class participation. 60% is based on a research paper.
592 - Independent Research (1 or 2)
This course counts as a Skills and a Non-Graded Course.
A student may earn up to two units of ungraded credit for undertaking a research project for a faculty member. The scope and subject is chosen by the faculty member, who exercises control over the project. It is expected that for each hour of academic credit the student will engage in substantial legal work for at least sixty (60) hours during the semester. The project that is the subject of the Directed Study must be completed during the semester in which the registration occurs. (For additional requirements see the associate dean.) Click here to download the Directed Study approval forms. (Adobe PDF)
595 - Community Law Center Clinic (4)
This course counts as an Experiential Learning and a Skills Course.
The Community Law Center Clinic (LUCLC) course is designed to teach students the essential skills involved in the practice of law, including client interviewing and counseling, hearing advocacy, negotiation and practice management. These skills are taught in conjunction with the representation by students of clients in civil cases under the supervision of the law school's clinical faculty. The Law Center is located in Room 202 of the law school.
Students who enroll in the clinic course must be available to be in the clinic either one morning or one afternoon each week (Monday-Friday). The course also has a classroom component that meets each Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m. The purpose of the classroom component is to provide students with a theoretical overview of the lawyering skills that they perform at the clinic. In addition to regular clinic hours and classroom work, clinic students work on their cases during an additional 6 hours a week, most of this work done on the student's own time. Any student who has completed the first year of law school can enroll in the clinic course.
Students in the LUCLC represent clients in civil cases involving landlord/tenant, family and elder law problems. Many of LUCLC's clients are low income persons. Serving persons who cannot afford legal services sensitizes students to the special ways that the law affects the lives of the indigent.
Another important aspect of the LUCLC course is the opportunity for students to develop their own sense of the lawyer's professional role. Students experience the complexity of the attorney-client relationship and the myriad ethical dimensions of lawyering. Students are exposed for the first time to the conflicts, frustrations and rewards inherent in legal practice.
Enrollment in the Community Law Center Clinic course also helps students prepare for the performance tests that have been added to many state bar examinations, including Illinois. The skills that these performance tests measure are the same skills that students learn through their client representation.
The Community Law Center Clinic course is an excellent bridge from the law school classroom to the law office. It allows students to begin to learn how to practice law in a reflective environment. (Ceko)
* For more information about the Community Law Center Clinic, click here.
599 - Externship - Intensive Field Placement (2-3)
Students who have completed all first year courses (Civil Procedure, Contracts, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Property, Torts, and Legal Writing) and who wish to receive graded credit for work performed in an approved field placement may apply for this externship. Certain field placements may limit eligibility to students who have completed certain course work or who have obtained their Rule 711 license. Students enrolled in this course may receive two or three hours of graded credit for supervised work performed in an approved field placement. This externship includes a classroom component that focuses on the performance of discrete legal tasks. It has been designed to allow students an opportunity to further develop practical lawyering skills. Students will be graded on classroom participation, simulations, practice area based drafting and research assignments, and field placement evaluations. There will be no final examination. (Gough)