Employment Law

Employment Law: This course will address the basic common law and contemporary statutes governing the employment relationship, with an emphasis on their practical application in today's private-sector workplace. Topics to be addressed will include establishment of the employment relationship, wage and hour regulation, conditions of employment, discharge and termination, and non-competition and other post-employment obligations. This course will not address traditional labor law nor will it cover issues unique to public-sector employment. Neither will it overlap with the LAW 452 Employment Discrimination course. The grade will be based on two memo assignments involving research (about 5 pages each) and class participation. Though there is no exam, the class involves considerably more work than most during the semester. Close Window

A study of employee-union-management relations as regulated by the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. Issues considered include the organizational process, representation elections, collective bargaining and picketing activities. Close Window

Administrative law establishes the legal controls over the operation of government and hence it relates to almost every legal practice, from security regulation to social programs to criminal justice. Indeed, administrative law is essential to justice in a modern society because administrative agencies generate most of the law that actually affects our lives and because administrative agencies adjudicate far more disputes than the traditional judiciary. This course is an introductory examination of the rules and procedures governing agency decision making. It explores (1) how agencies make policy and (2) how businesses, interest groups, and citizens challenge agency policymaking in court. Close Window

This course will explore the various processes of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) available to attorneys and their clients, with particular focus on negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and court and agency-annexed ADR. The role of the lawyer in counseling a client and recommending a specific ADR process will be examined, as will the role of technology in ADR (including online ADR), and the ethical issues that surround a lawyer's participation in ADR processes. Skills in communication and ADR processes will be developed through role play and simulation exercises, both in and out of class, throughout the semester, with learning reinforced through a reflective journal. Close Window

Employee Benefits The course is an introduction to the federal regulation of employee benefits (including retirement benefits, medical coverage, disability, and severance). The course introduces students to the rights that employees have under the federal statute ERISA. It covers topics such as vesting of benefits, preemption of state law, fiduciary duties, enforcement, and remedies. This course is partiularly appropriate for students interested in a labor, employment, or health-care practice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Close Window

This course will focus on collective bargaining and how labor arbitration had its genesis in the collective bargaining contract. The course will cover the 'federal common law' that has developed in support of traditional labor arbitration. The course will cover how labor contracts are negotiated and discuss the arbitration provisions that are normally included in such labor contracts. The course will cover the possible expansion and use of labor arbitration as a substitute for employment litigation in the courts. The course will emphasize both the theoretical and practical application of the arbitration system to current employment issues. A paper will be required in lieu of an exam; however, the course does not satisfy the writing requirement. Close Window

Mediation: This course is designed for students who are interested in how to effectively incorporate mediation theory into practice. Different models and approaches to mediation will be discussed and students will learn a broad range of skills and techniques through lectures, discussions, video simulations, exercises and role-plays. The process of mediation including convening and preparing for mediation, opening the mediation session, defining the issues, facilitating communication and creative problem-solving, and structuring a mediation will be covered. Skills that are valuable for mediators and advocates such as developing trust and rapport, active listening, formulating questions, gathering information, reframing, and effective interaction for facilitated decision making will be covered. In addition, we will examine legal, ethical and policy issues that arise in the mediation context. This is a 3 credit, graded course Close Window

Mediation Advocacy This course introduces the mediation process from the advocate?s perspective and then provides an opportunity to practice those skills necessary to become effective advocates in this process. The advocacy skills students will practice include listening, summarizing, reframing and negotiation skills as well as preparation of opening statements in mediation. Classes will consist of lectures by the instructor as well as experts in the field, demonstrations of advocacy skills, and participation by students in role plays supervised by the instructor and attorney mediators. The course will require readings from the text and supplemental materials, class attendance, participation in discussion and role plays, a paper and written work predicated on the lecture and role plays. There will be one Saturday or extended class which will be required attendance for everyone. Class participation and attendance will count for 50% of the final grade and a paper will count for the remainging 50%. Close Window

The course provides an introduction to the theory, process, and practice of negotiation as an element of, and an alternative to, litigation. We will examine the basic stage of a negotiation, the major tensions at play in negotiation, distributive bargaining and problem-solving negotiating techniques, power dynamics, and negotiation ethics. The class is designed to help students develop negotiating skills (and develop a framework for ongoing self-learning) through negotiation role-playing simulations, group discussion, and regular journal and short writing exercises. Grades will be based approximately 50% on the quality of student's classroom contributions in discussion and simulations and 50% on the class writing assignments, culminating in a final journal project. Please note that attendance for the course is mandatory, because one student's absence frustrates not only that student's opportunity to learn but also the learning opportunities of students matched with him or her in that day's rol-play exercise. If you cannot attend every class session, including the mandatory first class, you should not enroll in the course. Close Window

This seminar will consider various topics regarding sports law. The nature of the topics will change from term to term Close Window

Selected Topics in Employment Law Seminar: Men, Women, Work and the Law: This seminar will focus on sex and gender-related issues in the contemporary workplace. Among the topics to be examined will be sexual harrassment and gender discrimination, office dating policies and other gender-related privacy issues, pay equity issues, workplace sexual stereotyping, and gender-specific employment. The course's orientation will be more practical than theoretical, with an emphasis on real-world fact patterns and challenges viewed from the problem-solving perspective of a working employment law attorney. Prerequisites: None. Although not required, it is recommended that students have successfully completed either the survey course in Employment Law or the Employment Discrimination course prior to enrolling in this class. Close Window