2014-2015 School of Law Catalog archived
Curriculum - Second and Third Year
|
|
|
|
Second and Third Year Elective Courses
-
LAW 381 - Taxation of Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs).
This course will examine the tax consequences of partnership/LLC formations, distributions, mergers, and liquidations, as well as the allocation of income and deductions generated by these entities. This course will take into account related Internal Revenue Code provisions such as the at-risk and passive activity loss rules. Lastly, this course will address partnership/LLC drafting issues in order to serve as a primer for “Business Planning.” Three hours. Hellwig Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation of Individuals or may be taken concurrently. -
LAW 427 - Trademarks.
The course focuses on private actions available to business and individuals rather than government actions in antitrust or trade regulation. The course is a study of misappropriation of marks or product configurations and false advertising. Special emphasis is on the nature of trademark rights, the role of trademark registration, and the loss of trademark rights. Two hours. Wiant Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 313 - Tutorials
Students may pursue specialized studies in areas of the law which are of particular interest to them in the form of tutorials. Faculty members may conduct tutorials for small groups of students on issues not otherwise taught in the curriculum. One to two hours of ungraded credit will be granted per tutorial, depending on size and scope. No more than two tutorials will be given credit toward graduation. -
LAW 435 - Virginia Law and Procedure.
This course covers Civil Procedure in Virginia with particular emphasis upon the Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure. Specific subjects covered are: parties, venue, service of process upon individuals and corporations, pleading, discovery before trial, summary judgment, trial in all its incidents, some statutory procedures, and appellate practice. Three hours. Wood
Practicums
-
LAW 205P - Advanced Civil Procedure Practicum: Discovery.
In this practicum, the student will exercise professional judgment in conducting discovery in a civil litigation matter. The practicum is designed to focus on Rules 26 - 37 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as Rules 702 - 705 of the Rules of Evidence. Students will therefore be required to prepare and respond to written discovery, as well as conduct depositions of fact and expert witnesses. At the beginning of the semester, the students will be provided the facts of a hypothetical dispute, the complaint, and the answer/counterclaim which have been filed in the matter. The students will be paired so that a student will represent either the plaintiff or the defendant in the hypothetical dispute. Each student will determine what information needs to be obtained, as well as which method of discovery would obtain that information most efficiently; then each student must implement his/her professional judgment effectively by crafting the written discovery or conducting the depositions to obtain the information. Three hours. Evans -
LAW 202P - Advanced Family Law Practicum.
This practicum will parallel the progression of a relationship that begins with marriage and ends in divorce. It takes students through the gamut of services an attorney may provide to individuals contemplating marriage or divorce, from drafting an initial prenuptial agreement to filing of a divorce petition through settlement proceedings to settle the couple’s financial and custody arrangements. More specifically, students will: negotiate a prenuptial agreement, representing intended husband or intended wife; represent the intended father in a surrogate parenting arrangement; do oral argument in a contested custody proceeding between the natural father and a surrogate mother; argue on behalf of surviving family members before the federal fund established for victims of 9/11; prepare a legal memorandum in support of the characterization of stock funds as marital property; prepare an affidavit in support of a motion for pendente lite support; negotiate a settlement agreement resolving all matters arising out of a marriage, including child support, child custody, equitable distribution of property and spousal maintenance, and prepare the supporting documentation. Together these exercises are intended to convey the broad range of skills and values that a lawyer must possess to provide competent counsel. Students will consider the potential effects of procedural rules and ethical rules, as well as the unwritten customs and practices of lawyers. The course also emphasizes the art of lawyering. Students explore the roles and relationships between attorneys and clients—and between attorneys, senior partners, judges and opposing counsel. Students bill for their time. Students will also consider how ethical doctrines like confidentiality may constrain their choices in representing a client. Five hours. Weaver Prerequisite: Family Law. -
LAW 207P - Advanced Secured Transactions-Leveraged Finance Practicum.
This practicum will provide students an opportunity to understand, draft, and negotiate two complex highly leveraged secured transactions - a syndicated corporate loan and a high-yield bond issuance. The practicum will cover the basics of commercial lending, typical deal structures, and key financial and legal concepts in both bank and bond deals. In the process, students will gain an in-depth understanding of advanced secured transactions, structural and contractual subordination, opinion practice, the syndicated loan market, and corporate debt structures. Students will also be introduced to other areas of law implicated by bank/bond deals, including: margin regulations, indemnification, the Patriot Act, bankruptcy and fraudulent conveyances, fiduciary and agency relationships, private equity, and contracts, as well as certain securities and corporate tax topics. In order to provide both a realistic and comprehensive experience, students will be divided into teams, and take turns representing the borrower/issuer and the lenders. Students will be expected to learn to identify key issues, negotiate on behalf of their clients, and prepare initial drafts or mark-ups of all key documents in a typical bank/bond deal, including commitment letters, credit agreements, indentures, collateral agreements, and opinions. Students will also be asked to prepare short presentations to the class on related legal concepts. Prerequisites: Students must have already taken or be simultaneously taking (1) Secured Transactions; and (2) either Close Business Arrangements or Publicly Held Businesses. Four hours. Hoefling -
LAW 415P - Advanced Social Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Development Practicum.
This offering is available to students who have completed the fall semester Social Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Development practicum and secured written permission from the Instructor. Students will continue their supervised project work from the fall semester, take on additional projects in greater depth, enhance their leadership development, and more completely explore the objectives of the fall course. Students will engage in these practicum activities individually and in groups with colleagues from W&L and elsewhere in the United States. Three hours. Walker Prerequisite: Social Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Development Practicum -
LAW 211P - Appellate Advocacy Practicum.
This course is “hands on.” Students will have the opportunity to argue in a moot setting cases that are currently on appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia. After moot arguments, students will observe the actual arguments before the Court. Students will learn the nature and function of appellate courts; how to preserve issues for appeal; what is subject to appeal and when; standing and what parties must be before the court; how to perfect an appeal; how to make the appellate record; effective brief writing; standards of review; oral argument; and how a judge thinks and makes decisions. With visits to one or more of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Virginia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Court of Appeals of Virginia, students will also observe appellate advocacy “up close” and have the opportunity to speak with appellate judges about their roles and their work. Four hours. Lemons -
LAW 213P - Banking Law Practicum.
This simulation of the Office of General Counsel, Elk Cliff Bank, will explore the rich, forward-looking environment of an in-house banking law practice in a time of financial crisis and, in the process, impart a broad exposure to the discipline of financial institutions law. The Office of General Counsel will hire new staff, negotiate an assistance agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department, help the bank develop a project plan to address the most comprehensive financial reform legislation since the 1930s, and assist with implementing the statute and regulations as developments occur in Washington and the states. As part of Elk Cliff Bank’s corporate team, within a growing firm that needs lawyers who understand its business as well as the intricacies of banking law, the Office of General Counsel will negotiate and draft contracts; analyze and implement new legislation and regulations; advise lobbying efforts; prepare resolutions and proxy materials; write concise business memos; assist in product development; revise consumer forms; manage priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment; and set reasonable expectations within the Office of General Counsel and the bank. Four hours. Pannabecker Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 217P - Business Planning Practicum.
This course is aimed at students who expect to be legal advisors to business leaders. The principles of law learned in the corporate, tax, and other commercial courses are drawn together as students perform lawyer-like work on common, but complex and intellectually-demanding, business transactions. Students, for example, advise two entrepreneurs as to the best organizational form for a start-up biotech venture and prepare an actual operating agreement for the proposed deal. They also confront intellectual property topics, professional responsibility concerns, and a host of other business and finance issues as they design the optimal business arrangement for the venture. Students next confront a challenging financing issue. Drawing on their understanding of securities regulation – covering both public offerings and private capital formation – they analyze, and express views on, the choice between conducting an IPO or entering a corporate joint venture to finance a growing business. They then negotiate and prepare (and revise) a detailed letter of intent, addressing all pertinent issues, for a proposed Delaware corporate joint venture between the LLC they earlier formed and an unrelated public corporation. Finally, students handle selected issues associated with the purchase and sale of a business. They work with an Asset Purchase Agreement and ancillary documents in this setting. As they do so, they see how a broad range of legal subjects must be thoroughly understood and addressed in order to handle a complex sale and purchase transaction. Five hours. Johnson Prerequisites: Close Business Arrangements and Federal Income Taxation of Individuals. -
LAW 223P - Business Tax Planning Practicum.
This course exposes students to the complex world of sophisticated business tax planning. Assuming the role of associates in a law firm, students will learn substantive corporate tax law through research projects and “firm lunches” where students will present and explain a corporate tax topic to the rest of the group. The first part of the course will be devoted to learning corporate tax principles (students who have already taken corporate tax may elect to do research projects in lieu of participating in that portion of the course). The main focus of the course will be dealing with cutting edge problems similar to those that a tax attorney would face in practice. Problems will arise in areas such as business formation, corporate mergers and acquisitions, corporate divisions, and business dissolution. Students will resolve those problems by structuring transactions to accomplish the client’s goals with the minimum amount of tax liability. It is likely that students will be assigned to work in teams. The goal of the practicum is to immerse the students in the perspective of approaching problems from a transactional view. The students will be given a set of facts and objectives (either through a memorandum from the “partner” or via discussion with a client), and will be required to determine what steps should be taken to achieve those objections. An additional goal is to provide the students with exposure to the manner in which highly skilled lawyers utilize those skills to solve complex problems. The principal issues on which the problems will focus are corporate tax issues, but other areas will likely be covered. Five hours. Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation of Individuals. Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 229P - Civil Litigation Practicum.
This practicum course is designed to simulate the litigation of a civil lawsuit, from filing of pleadings through jury selection. Students will serve as “associates” at “law firms” handling both sides of a personal injury lawsuit. Students will draft pleadings, prepare discovery requests and answers, take depositions, draft and argue motions, hire and prepare experts, and the like. Five hours. Peppers -
LAW 232P - Constitutional Literacy Practicum.
If you know your rights, you’re more apt to exercise and protect them. That’s the premise underlying the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. The project deploys law students (called fellows) to teach in public high schools in underserved areas to teach constitutional law, juvenile justice, and oral advocacy to seniors in Government classes. The seniors become better acquainted with their rights as citizens by learning fundamental constitutional fare and the operation of the civil law and criminal justice systems. The objectives of the class are to hone students’ substantive knowledge and critical thinking skills through instruction, and oral advocacy skills through a moot court competition. W&L law fellows teach one class each week at Roanoke’s William Fleming High School. They are responsible for arriving in class on time, prepared to teach. They are responsible for conveying syllabi to WFHS teachers and administrators on deadline. They are responsible for prepping and guiding their classes through a moot court competition. W&L law fellows also meet at the law school on alternate weeks during the first half of the semester for discussing assigned readings, briefing cases, debriefing prior high school class sessions, scheduling, editing, and amending M-B-provided syllabi and supplemental materials. Written assignments might include reflective papers, an ethnograph or case study, and a short (10 pages or less) paper on a substantive issue. Three hours. Mitchell -
LAW 251P - Corporate Counsel Practicum.
This practicum places the student in the position of counsel to an affiliated group of corporations and limited liability companies dealing with corporate structure, environmental, products liability, real estate, insurance, and indemnity issues. Students will analyze methods of sale of a closely held business to a publicly traded company and draft significant documents associated with the negotiation and the contract for the sale of the business. As part of the transaction students will deal with pending litigation against the business and representations required by the buyer as part of the transaction. The course has a heavy emphasis on drafting, in both litigation and transactional settings. Specific drafting projects include: Rule 26 disclosure in Federal Court; electronic discovery stipulations and analysis of document retention policies of the business; evaluation of letter of intent to purchase the business and development of revisions to be sought by seller; environmental evaluation and remediation documents connected to sale; evaluation of pending litigation; sections of purchase agreement dealing with allocation of liability, indemnification, condition of assets, title and liens against assets, and representations and warranties. While most of the work in the course involves drafting and independent research, sessions will be conducted on the issues involved in the drafting of documents with attention paid to the areas of substantive law relevant to the documents to be drafted. Attorneys whose practices concentrate in environmental law, civil litigation, real estate transactions, and mergers and acquisitions will conduct the sessions involving the substantive law in their areas of expertise. These sessions, while instructional, should replicate in part conferences that would be held among counsel representing a seller. This course is designed to expose the student to the breadth of issues that corporate counsel handles through the mechanism of the sale of the business. Three hours. Jennings Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 252P - Corporate Governance and Shareholder Derivative Litigation Practicum.
This practicum emphasizes acquiring practical knowledge and developing strategic decision-making skills in the context of a simulated shareholder derivative lawsuit. A primary goal of the course is to develop students’ written and oral advocacy skills to prepare them for practicing commercial litigation.
Students will be immersed in the shareholder derivative litigation as counsel for the shareholder plaintiffs or the officer and director defendants. They will experience the life cycle of the litigation from filing of the derivative demand notice and the complaint to resolution of the dispute through mediation.
The course will focus on one complex shareholder derivative action. Students will be divided into two teams, representing the shareholders or the officers and directors. Much teamwork will be required to prepare students for working as a part of a litigation team.
Throughout the semester students will advise their clients on the principles of corporate governance and the fiduciary duties of officers and directors in the context of shareholder disputes.
Students will be challenged to draft pleadings that are ready to file with the court, including a complaint, answer, and briefs in support of and in opposition to motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment. Students will gain experience in oral advocacy by arguing their motions before the court.
The course will conclude with a simulated mediation with an experienced mediator. Students will prepare a mediation statement for the mediator, a presentation for the mediation, and participate with team members in the mediation. Five hours. Burke and Craddock Prerequisite: Close Business Arrangements. -
LAW 256P - Criminal Practice Practicum.
Students in this practicum will work through the various typical stages of a criminal case, including (1) making charging decisions, drafting an information or indictment with presentation at grand jury or preliminary hearing, (2) pretrial release and detention, (3) client relationships, (4) investigations, discovery and theory development, (5) pretrial motions, (6) plea negotiation, (7) jury instructions, (8) trial, and (9) sentencing. Students will be assigned to prosecute and defend actual, but completed cases (the work and presentations on the cases will be simulated). Students will meet regularly to discuss their work, and make oral presentations, including in court arguments, and out of court interviews of witnesses and/or the client. As prosecutors and/or defense counsel, students will brainstorm the theory of defense and themes in the Case(s), conduct investigation, draft and argue pretrial motions, in limine motions, jury instructions and argue portions of the trial. Ethical issues will be addressed as they arise. Students will devise methods of tracking their time and work, as well as file maintenance. Periodic lectures, given by students and/or invited lecturers, will address topics relevant to work on the cases. In addition to the direct case related work, students will be expected to research and present on one of the criminal law cases for which certiorari has been granted in the United States Supreme Court. Schedule permitting, we will get tickets to attend one or more of the arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, each week students will be expected to read and summarize new criminal law cases as they are decided in a selected jurisdiction. It is anticipated that students will devote 18-20 hours a week to this course. Five hours. Clarke and Shapiro Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 254P - Cross-Border Transactions Practicum.
This course will examine how international cross-border transactions, principally in a mergers and acquisitions setting, are structured, negotiated, documented and closed. It will focus on buyers issues and sellers issues, as well as joint venture and shareholders agreement issues, and various cross-border considerations that may be important to any transaction. All of these issues will be considered through simulated transactions, which will involve group exercises, drafting assignments and significant class participation. Three hours. Manning -
LAW 262P - Deals Practicum.
This course presents an opportunity to engage in sustained analysis of the structure of complex corporate transactions and contracts - that is, “deals.” Students will learn to identify contracting patterns that emerge across various types of deals - potentially including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, and others - developing a toolbox of concepts and skills broadly applicable in transactional legal practice, while discerning idiosyncrasies that affect transaction structures and contracting practices in the various deal contexts studied. The course involves two components. The first acquaints students with a range of conceptual building blocks permitting them to evaluate alternative transaction structures. Readings draw from multiple literatures, and negotiation and drafting exercises illustrate various elements of transactional practice and design. The second component builds on the first, requiring students to apply these concepts to “live” deals. Working in teams, students develop in-depth analyses of complex transactions recently negotiated by practicing transactional lawyers. Following each team’s presentation to the class, the lawyers who negotiated the transaction present their own perspectives and experiences, giving students an opportunity to pursue open questions and reality-check their understanding of the deal against that of the actual participants. Four hours. Bruner. Prerequisites: Close Business Arrangements and either Publicly Held Businesses or Securities Regulation. Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 276P - e-Commerce Practicum.
The practicum in E-Commercial Law will explore one of the law’s fastest-expanding fields. The video game industry’s budget has long surpassed that of Hollywood. Social networks and online marketplaces are the internet success stories of this decade. Yet most established lawyers know little or nothing about how to advise clients on increasingly important e-commercial issues. This practicum will focus on the practical knowledge lawyers must have to succeed in both e-commerce transactions and e-commercial litigation. The practicum covers arange of topics from core commercial law applied to e-commerce (internet sales and securing financing for internet startups), to currently evolving legal issues, including drafting End User License Agreements for video games and social networking sites, drafting electronic sales agreements, and exploring the novel legal issues raised by the growing commerce of online marketplaces and virtual worlds. The course will cover both transactional and litigation skills, and will involve advising a hypothetical client first in the structuring of an e-commercial enterprise, and then progressing to role-played litigation scenarios based on the students’ transactional work. Three hours. Sereff -
LAW 270P - Employment Law Practicum: Covenants Not to Compete.
This practicum is built around a single employment law problem, a breach of a covenant not to compete. There will be introductory instruction to provide students with an overview of the substantive issue. The focus will be on developing offensive litigation strategies for the employer, which is a party to the CNTC, and defensive strategies for the new employer onboarding the employee subject to the CNTC. The course will include a detailed analysis of (i) the elements of a covenant not to compete; (ii) the policy reasons for engaging a highly compensated employee and executing a covenant not to compete; (iii) the issues for the hiring employer, which has knowledge of a new employee’s covenant not to compete; (iv) and the litigation posturing and counteractions of the former employer and the new employer respectively. The course will discuss each side’s subpoenas, discovery (e-discovery), depositions [Rule 30(b)(6) deposition preparation], summary judgment theories, experts, mediation, pre-trial orders, rules of evidence, motions in limine, witness and document preparation, sanction practice and trial strategies. The course will also take up tactics like arbitration enforcement, removal to federal court of state court actions, and injunctions in state court. Three hours. Woody -
LAW 279P - Entertainment Law Practicum.
This course focuses on the practical elements of drafting and negotiating deals in the entertainment industry. The course will introduce students to understanding deal structures and terms, identifying issues and finding creating solutions to problems, negotiating on your client’s behalf (with an emphasis on what’s important to your client, what isn’t, and why), and drafting the necessary documents. In order to best simulate a real-world work environment, students will be involved in two deals simultaneously, one in which they represent the “talent” and one in which they represent the “corporate entity.” There will be a live, hands-on negotiation element to the course, as well as a written element intended to mirror how deals are done through drafting and revision of documents by e-mail. The instructor will also endeavor to have guest “clients” come to class to provide students with a realistic experience in addressing client needs and concerns, and giving the best advice (including advice that a client may not want to hear). Four hours. Victor -
LAW 287P - Estate Planning Practicum.
This course considers the principal tax and asset-management issues encountered in an estate planning practice. The course focuses on estate planning for both (i) persons of little to moderate wealth (whose primary concerns include using trusts or other arrangements to manage assets for beneficiaries, planning for the client’s incapacity, protecting family assets from creditors’ claims, planning for business succession, and minimizing the costs of estate administration); and (ii) persons of significant wealth (whose estate plans are designed primarily to accomplish tax-efficient inter-generational transfers of property). Students will acquire a solid grounding in estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxation. They will also be introduced to the special income tax rules that apply to trusts and estates and their beneficiaries. Students will also be exposed to the law of wills and trusts and the laws governing executors and trustees. All topics will be considered through the lens of simulated practice experiences, in which students will interview and counsel clients, draft estate planning documents, draft letters to clients, counsel executors and trustees, etc.
Students enrolled in the Estate Planning Practicum must also enroll in Estate and Gift Taxation (unless they already took Estate and Gift Taxation as a 2L). Estate and Gift Taxation will be taught on an accelerated basis during the first half of the semester. Students who simultaneously enroll in both Estate and Gift Taxation and the Estate Planning Practicum will receive a grade and credit for the practicum course only, and their grade in the practicum will be worth five credits. Students enrolled in the Estate Planning Practicum who took Estate and Gift Taxation as a 2L will receive three credits for the practicum course, not five. The workload for the practicum is equivalent to that of a three-hour practicum, to account for the two-hour workload associated with Estate and Gift Taxation. Five hours. Danforth -
LAW 393P - Failing Businesses and Potential Remedies: Bankruptcy Practicum.
The legal areas this course covers govern the remedies the law provides to debtors and creditors for failing businesses under either state law or the Federal Bankruptcy Code. The focus of the course, however, will be the work of students in developing solutions to simulated problems from either the debtor or creditor side for a failing business. Such work will be closely supervised. In this regard, the instructors plan to show students how attorneys think about the problems that arise in this area, including problems of professional responsibility. Students will be required to state their proposed resolutions to the problem and to draft the documents necessary to achieve the outcome they seek. Four hours. Laymon Prerequisite: either Secured Transactions or Bankruptcy. -
LAW 291P - Federal Civil Rights Law & Civil Rights Lawyering Practicum.
This practicum course provides both an overview of federal civil rights law and an introduction to the fundamental elements of lawyering in the area of civil rights law. It combines a substantive seminar class with student “field work” in federal civil rights law and policy. The primary goals of this practicum are: (1) to provide a broad survey of what civil rights protections are currently available under federal law; and (2) how civil rights attorneys attempt to assert and apply the full protection of these laws on behalf of clients who claim they have suffered discrimination and who allege violations of federal civil rights law. Five hours. Hu Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 272P - Federal Energy Regulation Practicum.
The class will study the development of the Federal energy regulatory system focusing on Federal regulation of the electric utility and nuclear power industries. The semester will begin with background information related to the necessity for regulation of certain industries and development of regulatory bodies and basic statutes and regulations. We then move to how the relevant statutes have been interpreted by the courts to structure the regulatory bodies - primarily the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - and the industries as we see them today. There is a heavy emphasis on current and ongoing regulatory and other developments in each industry. Beyond the subject-matter of the course, it also serves as a graduate-level course in administrative law; students learn from a practical approach how administrative agencies really function.
There is no casebook, but students are given a detailed syllabus that includes the course materials, such as court and agency cases, statutes, legislative histories, regulations, statements of consideration, law review and other articles. There is no exam in the course; students not only participate in classroom reading and discussion, but also, working in groups, perform research assignments, address practice problems and complete a major research project. In the past years the class has had visiting speakers active in the relevant practice areas and has taken trips to Washington, DC to meet with law firms and/or industry organizations.
The class is conducted as a seminar with a collegial practice-oriented atmosphere. The professor acts as the senior partner in the firm’s energy practice and the students as junior associates. The objective of the course is to prepare the students to move into a work environment in the practice area - whether it be a law firm, corporate law department or government regulatory agency – and be of immediate substantive use. Five hours. Carr -
LAW 307P - Global Corruption and Good Governance Practicum.
This course will engage students in problem-based learning concerning the comprehensive nature of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The course will require students to engage in deep legal analysis of both foreign and domestic anti-corruption law, engage in fact finding and data collection, counsel “clients” (the UN Office of Drugs and Crime and the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission), present findings and legal analysis to both “clients” in writing and in the form of an oral presentation via remote technology.
Student work in the practicum will consist of two primary projects, both of which will require multiple written assignments and will require a sophisticated understanding of domestic and international law related to corruption. First, students will work with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria on the Implementation Review Mechanism. This component of the course will involve detailed analysis of the UN anti-corruption treaty and it’s Implementation Review Mechanism. Students will prepare written memos designed to assist the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in its assessment of countries’ compliance with the treaty. Second, students will collaborate with the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of Legal Counsel to the President of Liberia in an effort to improve Liberia’s domestic legislation concerning corruption. To do so, the students will study and critique the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and assess its applicability in Liberia. Drawing heavily on the FCPA, students in the W&L practicum and at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law in Liberia will create recommendations on Anti-corruption legislation and practices for the Government of Liberia. Students will draft legislation and regulations as well as supporting memoranda. Five hours. McKnight and Rice -
LAW 308P - Global Sovereign Disputes Practicum.
This course takes students through hypotheticals based upon real global disputes so that they can master the theoretical, practical, and strategic problems present when a U.S. company becomes embroiled in a dispute with a foreign sovereign entity. Through various modules, this course will cover all of the procedural aspects of suing a foreign sovereign or sovereign entity in a U.S. court (like presenting proof of foreign law, the extraterritorial application of U.S. law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, and the Act of State Doctrine). It will also address the practical considerations of litigating in foreign courts, and the tools available for litigators to coordinate parallel U.S. and foreign litigation (like transnational discovery and antisuit injunctions). The course will cover commercial and treaty-based arbitration against foreign state-owned entities and states themselves, which may be pursued alternatively or in addition to U.S. and foreign litigation. And, when the disputes are resolved, the course will cover the issues of asset attachment and recognition of judgment and arbitral awards against foreign sovereigns. Throughout these modules, the focus will be on the strategic options presented at various junctures, as well as a focus on advocacy skills required across the domestic, foreign, and arbitral fora. Four hours. Kotoby and Sobota. -
LAW 316P - Health Law Practicum.
This practicum will survey health law and policy through the lens of landmark cases. It pairs an in-depth consideration of landmark cases and the stories behind those cases with simulated exercises that emphasize the challenges that modern medicine poses for healthcare providers, insurers, patients, regulators, and policymakers. It takes students through the hospital-patient relationship, including special rules governing institutional liability, nonprofit organizations and tax-exempt status; the doctor-patient relationship and quality of care, including conflicts of interests and informed consent; the billing of healthcare services by facilities, physicians, and other providers, including special rules governing civil false claims and “kickbacks;” death and dying, focusing on the Quinlan, Cruzan and Schiavo cases; reproductive rights, including assisted conception, surrogate parenting arrangements, and ownership and disposition of frozen embryos; healthcare rationing and medical futility, including how the law should treat anencephalic children; organ transplantation, the donation of human tissues (like gametes), and presumed consent laws, including how the law should treat the organs of the newly dead; and public health challenges and the limits of the state’s police powers. Through simulated exercises, students will become familiarized with a number of cutting-edge arrangements in modern medicine, and how to protect the parties to those arrangements. One such exercise would be to evaluate the disclosure given to subjects in a human research trial or to women who donate eggs for assisted conception by others. These exercises are intended to convey the broad range of skills and values that a lawyer must possess to provide competent counsel to healthcare clients. Five hours. Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 301P - Higher Education Practicum.
A practicum simulating private law practice and in-house counsel practice doing legal work on behalf of universities, including constitutional and statutory compliance issues, such as matters involving constitutional and civil rights law compliance, and issues involving university labor, finance, governance, and safety/security matters. The course will employ context based and integrative learning techniques as the educational format. Students will work in teams to represent students, faculty members, university trustees, university administrators, alumni student organizations, public interest groups, and other parties in a variety of hypothetical problems and exercises requiring strategic thinking, critical analysis of legal principles, and understanding of the cultural, political, and social traditions of American colleges and universities. Four hours. Schill and Wood -
LAW 320P - Intellectual Property Practicum.
This practicum will introduce students to trademark law and copyright law, doctrine, and policy. The course will focus on private enforcement of rights as opposed to government action through anti-trust laws and trade regulation. In the trademark area, the emphasis will be on misappropriation of marks or product configuration, false advertising, and trademark infringement in both the traditional markets as well as on the internet. In the copyright area, students will consider rights in literary works, including art, software, and music. Copyright and web issues will be addressed. Students will conduct interviews, perform research, draft documents, and engage in exercises relating to registration and licensing. Four hours. Wiant Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 324P - International Business Negotiation Practicum.
This course is structured around a semester-long, simulated negotiation exercise which is intended to provide an in-depth study of the structuring and negotiating of an international business transaction. This class might be taught with students from another law school acting as opposing counsel or by dividing the class in two sections.
The course provides students with an opportunity to gain insight into the dynamics of negotiating and structuring international business transactions, to learn about the role that lawyers, law and business play in these negotiations, and to develop experience in drafting communications and actual negotiations. Students will also learn about the legal and business issues that may arise in joint ventures, supply agreements and licensing agreements.
The thrust of this course is class participation and active involvement in the negotiations process. Students are expected to spend time outside of class, working in teams, to prepare for class discussions involving the written exchanges as well as preparing for the live negotiations. Class discussions will focus on the strategy for, and progress of, the negotiations, as well as the substantive legal, business and policy matters that impact on the negotiations. Five hours. Finkelstein, Hess and Rickert -
LAW 330P - International Human Rights Practicum.
In this practicum, students will learn how to apply the primary international and regional human rights treaties to real-world human rights problems. Student teams will work in partnership with international non-governmental organizations based in the U.S. or domestic human rights organizations based in Africa to promote human rights and seek redress for human rights violations. Projects may involve human rights fact-finding, legislative advocacy, test case litigation, local capacity-building, and other forms of human rights advocacy. Fieldwork abroad will be a component of the projects whenever possible, and all projects will involve careful consideration of the ethics of cross-cultural human rights advocacy. By engaging in extensive legal and policy analysis of real human rights problems, primarily in Africa, students will develop a better understanding of the challenges and social justice potential of the human rights framework. Five hours. Bond Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 332P - International Humanitarian Law Practicum.
The course will be a one-semester practical course intended to simulate the real-time experience of a humanitarian assistance or disaster lawyer during an event. The course will center on a simulation in which students work through the response and recovery phases of a natural or technological disaster. Students will choose between the different roles a government, Red Cross, or civil society lawyer might play in various situations. The class will also have guest speakers from various disciplines related to humanitarian assistance. By taking this course, students will gain insight into operational law as a concept and the dynamics involved in performing the duties of a lawyer in a crisis situation. Students will learn the nuances of being a researcher, advocate, counselor and decision-maker. They will gain experience in drafting the different types of documents and communiques involved in this practice. Learning to identify and make decisions about legal issues as they arise will be a core learning outcome of the course. Class activities will focus on the simulation in addition to the substantive legal, business, political, policy and cultural matters that impact humanitarian assistance work. Active class participation and engagement in the disaster cycle as simulated will drive the course. Students will spend time outside of class, working in teams or as individuals, to prepare for class discussions. Some of this will be devoted to developing strategies to help their teams’ performance in the simulation. The remainder will be dedicated to research related to the simulation and assigned written work. Five hours. Sanders DC Program. -
LAW 345P - Labor and Employment Law Practicum.
This practicum is built around simulations in four important sub-fields in contemporary labor and employment law practice: (1) the “contract” of employment, both formal and informal, as a matter of state law, (2) federal employment discrimination law, covering race, sex, religion, national origin, age, and disability, (3) federal labor standards, such as minimum wage and overtime or family and medical leave regulation, and (4) collective bargaining and labor arbitration. There will be some introductory instruction to provide students an overview of the substantive fields. Students will acquire additional doctrinal understanding, develop practice skills and exercise professional judgment and responsibility through their work on the simulations. Five hours. Grunewald Prerequisites: None. Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 360P - Legislation Practicum: Use of Military Force.
This course is a semester-long, simulated exercise in which students play the role of lawyers working on a hotly contested, high stakes legislative debate. Each year the practicum will use a different policy issue. In the Spring of 2015, the subject for the practicum will be legislation authorizing the use of military force.
Students will be divided into groups of lawyers working on the legislation. The groups the students will be divided into will be lawyers from the executive branch (the White House, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and intelligence agencies), lawyers who work for congress, and lawyers from non-profits and “think tanks” with a stake in the outcome of the legislative debate.
The course will open with several weeks of background on substance. This review will include constitutional, legislative, and judicial law on the use of force. The background will also cover political, policy, and historical issues with an impact on the debate.
Students will be responsible for preparing for and conducting a mock U.S. Senate hearing and for lobbying for proposed legislation. They will also prepare memos on legislative strategy and legal/policy options.
The primary learning dynamic of the course is use class to replicate the experience of participating in a legislative battle. Students are expected to spend considerable time outside of class, working in teams, to prepare for class. Class discussions will focus on simulations of real lawyering and role playing. Five hours. Martel DC Program. -
LAW 375P - Local Government Law Practicum.
This practicum simulates the experience of serving as an Assistant City Attorney in the City Attorney’s Office of a significant Virginia municipality. The course will be organized in modules, with each module focused on legal issues that might commonly be encountered in this type of practice. Topics addressed in the course may include: (i) professional responsibility; (ii) Freedom of Information Act requests; (iii) public procurement and construction (as would occur when the city undertakes a major new project, such as an airport runway or landfill); (iv) sovereign immunity (in connection with a civil lawsuit against the city); (v) land use (as might arise, for example, in connection with locating a big box retailer in the city; (vi) Conflict of Interests Act issues; (vii) personnel matters; and, (viii) other topics, depending on time and class interest. Students may interact with simulated clients (members of the City Council, for example), citizens, and other lawyers, both in person and in writing. One or more projects will be performed in teams. Four hours. Williams -
LAW 364P - Mergers and Acquisitions Practicum.
This practicum follows the life of an M&A transaction from client intake through initial transaction/project development, drafting and negotiating key M&A documents, researching and advising the client on key issues that arise in the transaction, and post closing dispute resolution. The class will be divided into “modules” focused on different stages or elements of the transaction, some of which will involve non-transactional legal doctrines. The modules will be only partially self-contained – the modules will overlap with each other, one ramping up while the other winds down, with certain issues raised early in the course being revisited in greater detail later. The objective of the course is to simulate the life of a practicing M&A attorney – researching, drafting and negotiating the key corporate/transactional matters, but also being exposed to non-transactional subject matters – all designed to provided the experience of advising clients about the key issues that arise during the life of an M&A transaction. The class will emphasize contractual issues and formulating and delivering (both verbally and in writing) advice to clients in a transactional setting. The class will involve some, but less, substantive legal research. Five hours. Faglioni and Seevers Prerequisite: Close Business Arrangements. Recommended but not required: Publicly Held Businesses. -
LAW 394P - Patent Litigation Practicum.
Designed to provide an introduction to patent litigation, this course will focus on the trial of a hypothetical patent dispute. The course will emphasize strategic decision-making from the perspectives of both the patent holder and the alleged infringer (with particular focus on the costs and benefits of litigation). Students will engage such tasks and topics as drafting pleadings and briefs, venue considerations, discovery management, affirmative defenses, claim construction, dispositive motions, damages, and trial. Throughout the course the students will consider the role of good writing, project management, civility, collaboration, and legal ethics in modern trial advocacy. Five hours. Stillman Students enrolled in the Patent Litigation Practicum must also enroll in Patent Law. -
LAW 391P - Poverty Law and Litigation Practicum.
This course will use selected problems of the poor-public benefits, health rights, consumer protection, access to the courts, housing-to examine law in light of duty to a specific client, interest in a definable constituency, forum choices, procedural options, and substantive law. The purpose is to draw together skills and theory already learned into an operating context that requires strategic and tactical decisions. Students will be responsible for strategy, pleadings, briefs, and class review of each problem. Five hours. Woodward -
LAW 400P - Real Estate Transactions Practicum.
This course will introduce the students to the transactional practice of real estate law with a focus on commercial real estate transactions. The class will begin with the purchase of a residential property that will provide the students with a framework from which to work. It will then turn to a variety of commercial transactions involving Landlord & Tenant situations and the purchase of a National Net Lease Commercial Property. The commercial transactions will be set up to simulate real life practice and will involve interviewing clients and having teams work on opposite sides of some of the transactions. Three hours. Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 411P - Securities Fraud Practicum.
This practicum course is designed to simulate the litigation that arises when individual or institutional investors believe their investment decisions have been based upon fraudulent statements by a public company or upon the company’s omissions of material facts. The principal objective of the class will be to learn the essential principles of securities fraud law while exploring how those principles play out in factual situations that students can expect to encounter in practice. Students will advise their clients about litigation options (including the possibility of a class action suit), the causes of action that could be asserted, the costs and risks of litigation, and the likely results. Students will draft pleadings, make a discovery plan, prepare and respond to discovery requests, review and analyze financial records, review and analyze the company’s public statements, and draft and argue motions. Five hours. Evans Not offered in 2013-2014. -
LAW 416P - Social Entrepreneurship & Real Estate Development Practicum.
This course is an introduction to social entrepreneurship as a vehicle for achieving a triple net bottom line - profit, community benefit, and environmental stewardship. To learn how to achieve this tripartite goal, students will comprise an actual development team for Roanoke-based Commonwealth Capital Partners, LLC. They will engage in a variety of projects to develop the knowledge and personal skills necessary for effective real estate investment, development, and management. Three hours. Walker -
LAW 417P - Social Science and Law Practicum.
This course is designed to teach law students to critically examine how judges and lawyers analyze and use social scientific research in civil and criminal litigation, as well as prepare students for the use of social scientific research in their own legal practices. After providing a basic understanding of social scientific methodology, the Practicum will draw upon reading assignments, lectures, and simulation exercises to teach students (1) how to successfully work with and qualify expert witnesses and introduce their testimony or reports into evidence under the Daubert trilogy of Supreme Court cases; (2) how to use social scientific research and expert testimony to prepare for litigation (such as using expert reports to support change of venue motions and to assist in jury selection); (3) how to use social scientific research and expert testimony to adjudicate case specific facts (such as the issue of consumer confusion in trademark cases, applicable community standards in obscenity cases, and the veracity of the testimony of eye witnesses and children); and (4) how social science research can assist courts in interpreting law (such as whether the death penalty is “cruel and unusual punishment”). Examples of simulation exercises include (1) preparing a change of venue motion and brief that relies upon (or attacks) survey research conducted by an expert witness; (2) drafting a memorandum qualifying the testimony of a scientific expert using the Daubert standard; and (3) selecting a mock jury based upon reports generated by jury consultants on the mix of demographic characteristics and attitudes preferred in the “ideal juror.” There is no casebook for the Practicum; readings will draw upon relevant social scientific scholarship and the Supreme Court cases that reference the social scientific literature. Three hours. (Students in this course must also enroll in Quantitative Analysis for Lawyers.) Not offered in 2014-2015. -
LAW 425P - Transnational Offerings I, II and III.
Transnational Offerings I. Criminal Tribunals:
This innovative International Law Practicum works with a defense team in the Military Commissions Tribunal in Guantanamo, Cuba, the Office of Public Counsel for the Defense at the International Criminal Court, and the Karadzic defense team at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The role of the Practicum is to assist with the right to a fair trial and to support fair trials through effective representation of the accused. W&L students in the Practicum have been undertaking detailed legal research and factual analysis. Prior work has been recognized by the lawyers for its excellence and has been used directly in court proceedings. For the students, researching a broad range of issues under international law and human rights has been a challenge, as many of the questions involved have not been answered before. (Satisfies the actual practice experience.) Either fall or spring. Five hours. Wright and Rice
Transnational Offerings II. Transnational Access to Justice - West Bank, Palestine:
Transnational Access to Justice is currently taught in partnership with the International Legal Foundation and as a joint program at Washington and Lee School of Law and Hebron University School of Law, Hebron Palestine. The Practicum is also coordinated with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and for the next two years will focus on support for the Palestinian Public Defender Program, the supporting legal clinic at Hebron and community access to justice, including Children. For the 2014-2015 semesters four third-year students at W&L and law students at the Hebron University School of Law participate in the Practicum, per semester. The Practicum’s purpose is drawn from the “United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems”, General Assembly resolution A/RES/67/187. The specific focus is on access to justice in the pretrial setting and in representation of accused. The Practicum is taught over video conferencing and culminates with the four W&L students’ two-week travel to Israel and Palestine, subject to safety conditions (partially funded) work with their Palestinian counterparts seeking to fulfill the Practicum’s broad goal of building greater access to justice in Palestine’s criminal justice system. (Satisfies the actual practice experience.) Either fall or spring. Five hours. Rice
Transnational Offerings III. Transnational European Court of Human Rights:
Students will study International Human Rights issues through the cases and procedures of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). This Practicum is jointly taught (by video conference) with students and faculty from Union University School of Law in Belgrade, Serbia and occasional presentations by judges sitting on the ECHR. The principle work anticipated will be in three categories: past and current cases to study the procedures and case law of the ECHR, cases focused on disadvantaged prison populations and other groups in need of pro bono legal services, and International Human Rights issues from other jurisdictions that relate to or can be influenced by the case law of the ECHR. Selected case(s) before the grand Chamber will be studied in detail and will result in a student drafted opinion with analysis on the issue(s) presented to the Court. Additionally, weekly subjects will be compared with the relevant and comparative provisions of the U.S. Bill of Rights and case law developed under it by the United States Supreme Court. Washington and Lee students will be responsible for researching, selecting and presenting the U.S. case law to their Serbian colleagues for discussion and analysis of the opinions in each court. There is an optional trip, not funded, for students to visit Belgrade for joint meetings and class followed by travel to the ECHR in Strasbourg, France to observe a case in the Grand Chamber. (Satisfies the actual practice experience.) Spring semester. Five hours. Rice -
LAW 428P - Trial Advocacy Practicum.
This practical course is designed to prepare students for litigation at the trial stage. Through lecture, demonstration, and discussion, students will engage in an in-depth examination of the planning, organization, and techniques necessary for successful trial advocacy. Special emphasis will be placed on presenting the persuasive trial story through planning and organization of opening statements, effective direct and cross examination, the use of demonstrative evidence, and jury argument. Students will be required to develop a comprehensive trial notebook. In addition to the one hour joint meeting, each of the sections will meet separately. The emphasis will be on skills development and students will have the opportunity to plan, organize, and practice trial advocacy. Under the supervision of the instructor, practice exercises involving discrete problems of increasing complexity will culminate with each student preparing and trying a criminal or civil case to a jury. Three hours. Burnette, Carson, Dorsey, Hammond, Newell, Thomas and Wallace -
LAW 439P - White Collar Crime Practicum.
This course will present a case study of a corporation’s response to allegations that employees’ conduct may have violated federal law (in this case study, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). The class begins by establishing a basic understanding of the relevant federal law, corporate criminal liability principles, and corporate governance structures. Through the use of the case study, the class will follow the stages and consequences of a company investigation, including (1) the initiation and structure of an internal investigation; (2) document collection and management; (3) witness interviews; (4) assessments of the sufficiency of accounting controls and compliance programs; (5) reporting findings and deciding how to respond; (6) reporting to Government regulators; (6) resolution and remediation. Each student will participate in the exercise from the point-of-view of a particular participant in the inquiry – corporate general counsel, responsible members of senior management, an outside director of the Board, outside investigating counsel, and key government regulators. At the end of the course, each student will prepare a written memorandum of relevant findings, legal determinations and advice from that participant’s assigned perspective. Three hours. Hanes
Clinics
-
LAW 531 - Advanced Administrative Litigation Clinic (Black Lung).
The Advanced Administrative Litigation Clinic (Black Lung) represents coal miners or their survivors in claims for benefits in U.S. Department of Labor proceedings and on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Permission of the instructors is required; limited enrollment. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical program. This is a two semester course. Ten hours (five per semester). MacDonnell -
LAW 530 - Advanced Immigrant Rights Clinic.
This offering is available to student attorneys who have completed the fall semester in the Immigrant Rights Clinic and secured written permission from the IRC Director. Students in Advanced IRC will continue their supervised casework from the fall semester, take on additional matters, conduct community outreach and education activities, and/or engage in legislative advocacy on behalf of immigrant communities before the Virginia General Assembly. Advanced IRC student attorneys will engage in these practical lawyering activities individually and in groups. Three hours. Baluarte -
LAW 532 - Community Legal Practice Center.
The Community Legal Practice Center (“CLPC”) represents lower income Rockbridge area residents in a general law practice setting, but with a particular focus on the elderly, victims of domestic violence, and those with pressing family law concerns. The CLPC attempts to assist its clients with the entire range of legal concerns they present, thus exposing students to a wide variety of substantive legal issues in both litigation and drafting settings. Students are responsible for all aspects of their clients’ matters, from the initial intake interview until the clients’ matters are concluded. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. A student enrolled in the course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical program. This is a two semester course. Ten hours (five per semester). Belmont -
LAW 539 - Criminal Justice Clinic.
Students in the Criminal Justice Clinic represent poor clients facing criminal charges in trial-level state courts. In addition to appearing at court hearings, including trials and sentencing hearings, CJC students represent clients at each stage of the criminal trial process, including factual investigation, legal research, and plea negotiations. The Clinic also contains a classroom component in which students learn substantive law and procedure, as well as trial skills. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. A student enrolled in the course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical program. This is a two-semester course. Ten hours (five hours per semester). Shapiro -
LAW 537 - Immigrant Rights Clinic.
The Immigrant Rights Clinic provides direct representation to immigrants in south and central Virginia who cannot afford the services of private attorneys, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable populations. Students will represent juveniles, refugees and other immigrants before the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to help themobtain or maintain legal status in the United States. There is a contemporaneous class component with required attendance. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical or externship program. Five hours. Baluarte (Fall or spring) -
LAW 536 - Tax Clinic.
Students will (1) represent low-income taxpayers in resolving their post-filing tax controversies with the IRS; (2) provide outreach to individuals who speak English as a second language on their rights and responsibilities as U.S. taxpayers; and (3) engage in tax and administrative policy advocacy. The classroom component will include instruction in client interviewing skills, tax procedure, and selected tax policy topics of relevance to low-income taxpayers. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical program. Five hours per semester. Ms. Drumbl Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation of Individuals. (One semester or full year.) -
LAW 586 - Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse.
VCCC involves research and writing on issues involving capital punishment in Virginia and assistance to attorneys involved in capital cases. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. This is a two-semester course. Ten hours (five per semester). Engle Prerequisite: Death Penalty (or may be taken concurrently.)
Externships
-
LAW 535 - Criminal Externships.
- Commonwealth Attorneys: Eight students will work with the Commonwealth’s Attorney in a county or city near the Law School to prosecute state criminal offenses. Students must be third year practice certified. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical or externship program. Students have the option of earning law related service hours during the Spring Semester (Fall semester) (Two in-house credits (graded) plus three concurrent field placement credits (pass/no pass).) Five hours. Russell
- United States Attorney: Selected students will work with the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Virginia. You will research and prepare motions, briefs, and other court papers, appear in Magistrate’s Court to prosecute misdemeanor cases, and assist in the trial of felony cases. Students must be third year practice certified. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical or externship program. Students must enroll in the course and work on-site during the fall semester and available to spend at least one day per week in the placement in the spring semester satisfying law related service hours. Accordingly, these positions require a full-year commitment. (Two in-house credits (graded) plus three concurrent field placement credits (pass/no pass).) Five hours. Russell -
LAW 533 - Externship Program.
Students may pursue external experiential placements not covered by the other course offerings, including public interest, governmental, private practice or general counsel placements. Students may separately apply for the DC Program and pursue external experiential placements in Washington, DC. There is a contemporaneous class component with required attendance. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical or externship program. Placements must be approved by the instructor, must not be compensated, and must be supervised on-site by an attorney. One semester placements only. (fall or spring) (Two in-house credits (graded) plus three concurrent field placement credits (pass/no pass).) Five hours. Hellwig, T. -
LAW 534 - Judicial Externships.
Students serve as externs for state and federal judges. A student enrolled in this course may not simultaneously participate in another clinical or externship program. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. (Two in-house credits (graded) plus two concurrent field placement credits (pass/no pass).) Four hours. Apgar.
Programs for Academic Credit
-
LAW 515 - Arbitration Competition.
Students conduct a simulated arbitration on behalf of a client. One hour. MacDonnell -
LAW 517 - Client Counseling Competition.
This competition involves the simulation of a law firm consultation with a client. Students interview the client to elicit information needed to handle the legal problem presented and then discuss preparation of a postinterview memorandum. One hour. MacDonnell -
LAW 569 - German Law Journal.
Students who successfully complete Transnational Law Seminar: German Law Journal or the German Law in Context Seminar are thereafter eligible to serve as student editors of the German Law Journal. (Third year students.) Maximum of two ungraded credits. (one per semester) Permission of the instructor required. Miller -
LAW 570 - Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice.
Editorial board members edit and publish a journal including articles and casenotes by academics, practitioners, and students focusing on the intersection of racial and ethnic minorities with gender, sexuality, religion, class, and age and disability discrimination. Maximum of four hours. (One ungraded credit per semester.) -
LAW 510 and 511 - Law Review.
Students are selected on the basis of academic performance and aptitude for analytic legal writing. They edit and publish a quarterly journal consisting of professional articles and student scholarship. [Third year - 1 ungraded credit per semester - LAW 510] [Second year - 2 ungraded credits per semester - LAW 511] Maximum of six hours. Seaman -
LAW 513 - Mediation Competition.
Students simulate advocates and clients in a mediation setting. One hour. MacDonnell -
LAW 519 - Mock Trial Competitions.
Students interview witnesses and then conduct a mock trial. In recent years, students have competed in the National Mock Trial Competition, the ATLA Mock Trial Competition, and the ABA Criminal Justice Mock Trial Competition. One hour. MacDonnell -
LAW 518 - Moot Court Competitions.
Students write a brief and argue orally in a hypothetical appellate court during interschool competition. In recent years, students have competed in the National Moot Court Competition, the Jessup International Moot Court Competition, and the J. Braxton Craven Moot Court Competition, among others. One hour. MacDonnell and faculty -
LAW 514 - Negotiation Competition.
Students simulate representation of a client in negotiating a contract or settling a dispute. One hour. MacDonnell
Other Activities for Ungraded Credit
-
LAW 888 - Summer Internship Program.
Non-graded credit is available to students who work over the summer in an approved, unpaid, full-time internship for a for-profit entity, such as a law firm or corporate counsel’s office, a not-for-profit entity, governmental organization, NGO, trade organization, court or other legal practice setting. An internship term with a term of at least four weeks is eligible for one-half credit; an internship with a term of eight weeks or longer is eligible for one credit. Credit is not available for any internship for which a student received financial support through OCP, PILSA, the Transnational Law Institute, or any other third party source of financial support for unpaid positions. One half to one credit hour per summer, ungraded. (Maximum of two credits.) Faculty
Page: 1
| 2
|
Print this Page