International Law

This course introduces and compares sources of law, underlying values and goals, and applications of the major legal traditions of the world, including civil law, common law, Islamic law, Talmudic law, customary law, and Asian legal systems as they originally developed and as they are evolving and changing in the world today. Close Window

This course provides an introduction to the legal rules and institutions that comprise international legal order. We will examine the sources of international law (e.g., treaties, custom, and soft law); the relationship between international law and domestic law in the United States; and international rules governing human rights, war crimes, refugees, territorial sovereignty, the environment, the law of the sea, and the use of force. Over the course of the semester, we will discuss how international law applies to a variety of current controversies, including U.S. drone strikes in the Middle East, Russian intervention in Ukraine, the North Korean nuclear program, the Paris Climate Agreement, the South China Sea dispute, and the Syrian refugee crisis. Close Window

This course will survey a variety of laws that U.S. companies contend with when doing business overseas. Areas may include corporate law and securities regulation, commercial sales, employment discrimination, human rights, anti-corruption, intellectual property, dispute resolution, and various dimensions of international trade law. It will have both a doctrinal and a practical component. The course will be graded on the basis of in-class participation and a final examination. Close Window

A comprehensive survey of contemporary maritime law. Topics to be addressed include admiralty jurisdiction and procedure, the creation and enforcement of maritime liens, limitation of liability, maritime contracts, ship mortgage law, marine insurance contracts and principles, bills of lading, general average, and other maritime cargo issues, pilotage, towing, salvage, the law of seaman's injury and death, mariner's licensure, dealing with the modern piracy challenge, and an introduction to maritime environmental law. The course will have a practical focus, emphasizing legal concepts and practice tips of particular use to counsel representing ship owners, operators, seamen, marine insurance carriers, cargo interests, and others on a day-to-day basis. Close Window

This course will examine important cases in the field of Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and Anti-Terrorism Act litigation and other areas involving claims against or the defense of foreign governments before United States federal courts and administrative agencies. Students will consider litigation involving Holocaust survivors, victims of the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, victims of Hamas suicide bombings and other incidents of terrorism sponsored by foreign states or aided and abetted by international banks. Discussion will focus on the practical implications and challenges of pursuing civil remedies, the enforcement of outstanding judgments and the intersection of such efforts with U.S. foreign policy concerns. Students will be required to write a 10-15 page paper due after the conclusion of the course. 1 credit (pass/fail). Close Window

This course will compare the ways countries and cultures approach and embed constitutional issues. Transnational constitutional norms and themes will be analyzed. Readings discussions and presentations will focus on issues such as roles and functions of constitutions, economic and social protections, forms of government and balances of power, and constitutional protection of human rights. Constitutional processes in the modern era, including in post-conflict environments, will be examined. Close Window

This course introduces and compares sources of law, underlying values and goals, and applications of the major legal traditions of the world, including civil law, common law, Islamic law, Talmudic law, customary law, and Asian legal systems as they originally developed and as they are evolving and changing in the world today. Close Window

How the courts of a state address the fact that other states and nations, with their own laws, exist. The primary focus is choice of law--which state's or nation's law should apply to a case with multi-jurisdictional elements. Also covered will be the constitutional restrictions on choice of law and state court recognition of sister state judgments. Other possible topics are: the extraterritorial application of federal (including constitutional) law, state and federal court recognition of the judgments of foreign nations, and conflicts between federal and state law, including the Erie doctrine. Close Window

A survey of all of the major elements of the trial of a criminal case including search and seizure, interrogation, identification procedures, the right to counsel, arrest and prosecution, preliminary hearings, grand juries, jury selection, trial procedure and sentencing. The course will address all of the major issues covered by Criminal Procedure I and II but will do so in less depth. Students who take Criminal Procedure Survey may not take either Criminal Procedure I (Law 401) or Criminal Procedure II (Law 402) for credit. Close Window

The European Union (EU) is different in many ways from a Federation, although the exercise of power in the Union has some federal traits and one can draw some useful comparisons. 'European Union Law', in any case, is a heading that today refers to as many topics as 'US Law' would. Therefore, it is impossible to study with some depth in one single course all relevant and substantive aspects of European Union Law. In this introductory course we will study the basic Law of European Union (institutions, law- making procedures, legal remedies, role of the European Court, relationship between EC law and national law, all of this taking into account the recently passed Constitution). This will provide you with analytical tools to feel comfortable when you have to work in any area of substantive EC law. The method of instruction will be the typical interactive approach used in US law schools, although at times I will introduce or summarize a topic with a lecture. We will be using a set of teaching materials that you should obtain before the course starts. These materials are included in the book 'Foster on EU Law', by Nigel Foster. Class attendance is mandatory. Participation will be counted as an important part of the grade (50%). The exam will be a take home (open book) exam with two or three questions based on cases pending before the European Court or important current issues in the legal development of the EU. Close Window

This course will cover fundamental international human rights law. It will address the sources of international law, United Nations human rights instruments, domestic jurisdiction, organizations for enforcement for human rights law, non-governmental organizations that promote human rights enforcement, and current issues in human rights law. Close Window

This course will examine federal immigration law and policy. Topics include citizenship, admissions, deportation, an introduction to refugee law, and the role of the courts in reviewing the actions of executive officials. We will examine the history of immigration to the United States, the constitutional rights of non-citizens, the federal agencies that administer the immigration and citizenship laws, undocumented immigration, and the balance between national security and openness to non-citizens. Close Window

Introduces law office management enhanced with modern technology. Includes hardware and software selections, practical issues relating to email, mobile computing, electronic timekeeping and billing systems, use of video-conferencing, project management, case management, security, social networking and the practice, marketing, business plans, presentation systems, remote court reporting and technology-related issues. Close Window

Arbitration has become the prevailing method for the resolution of disputes in international commerce. This course will survey the sources of law governing the practice of international commercial arbitration. Those sources include international treaties, domestic legislation, the rules of arbitral institutions, and various sources of "soft law" promulgated by organizations such as the International Bar Association. Particular attention will be given to both the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and the United States Federal Arbitration Act, although students will also be exposed to arbitration statutes in other jurisdictions through the UNCITRAL model law. Students will read U.S. Supreme Court cases applying the FAA, in particular the Court's "arbitrary" jurisprudence. Some unique features of arbitration in the U.S., such as class arbitration and consumer arbitration will be explored. In addition, the course will survey the unique aspects of arbitration of investment disputes against sovereign states under investment treaties. Throughout the course, students will be exposed to various practical issues, including how to draft an enforceable arbitration clause to identify "pathological" clauses. This will be a graded course and the final grade will be based on a final examination and class participation. Close Window

This course examines the emergence of international criminal law during the last century and assesses the desirability and efficacy of international criminal prosecutions as a response to large-scale violence. The course traces the development of international criminal law, focusing primary attention on events taking place since the Nuremburg and Tokyo Tribunals, and concentrating in particular on the work of the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and East Timor, as well as the International Criminal Court. The court traces the substantive development of international criminal law through an examination of the core international crimes over which these bodies have jurisdiction: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. The course will likewise trace the development of international criminal procedure, a unique body of law that blends features of adversarial and non-adversarial criminal justice systems in an effort to meet the challenges of prosecuting large-scale crimes that can span many years, many miles, and feature many thousands of victims. Finally, the course will examine the political context in which the prosecution of international crimes takes place. It will consider the effect of such prosecutions on peace negotiations and the desirability of international prosecutions in comparison with other responses to mass atrocities, including domestic and transnational criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, lustration efforts, and reparations schemes. Completion of Public International Law is desirable though not compulsory. Close Window

This course will survey a variety of laws that U.S. companies contend with when doing business overseas. Areas may include corporate law and securities regulation, commercial sales, employment discrimination, human rights, anti-corruption, intellectual property, dispute resolution, and various dimensions of international trade law. It will have both a doctrinal and a practical component. The course will be graded on the basis of in-class participation and a final examination. Close Window

This course will examine the legal regimes and moral theories that govern the conduct of international and internal armed conflicts (jus in bello). In particular, the course will examine the historical origin and application of international agreements that seek to establish parameters for the conduct of armed conflicts, to include the Geneva Conventions and Hague Conventions. Issues to be addressed include the status of conflicts and combatants; the protection of noncombatants; the means and methods of war; lawful and unlawful weapons; lawful and unlawful targets; rules of engagement; war crimes; the law of internal armed conflicts; and terrorism. The Law of Armed Conflict’s four fundamental principles of distinction, military necessity, unnecessary suffering, and proportionality will be discussed, with the goal of developing a framework for examining past and current practices related to the means and methods of conducting war. Students are advised that this course may include discussion and visual depictions of armed conflict and other acts of extreme violence. The textbook for this course is Gary D. Solis's The Law of Armed Conflict-International Humanitarian Law in War (3rd ed., 2021). The class will be graded based on class participation and a research paper. Close Window

This course will focus on the prosecution of national security offenses (e.g., terrorism, espionage and piracy) and the unique issues that arise during the litigation of such cases. In addition to examining the substantive statutes for the offenses, the course will address jurisdictional and venue provisions and the acquisition of evidence both domestically and overseas for these prosecutions. In doing so, the application of Miranda, the Confrontation Clause and other constitutional rights in the national security context will be examined. Particular emphasis will be given to the handling of classified information and its use pursuant to the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). Finally, the course will explore the ability of the Article III courts to handle national security prosecutions in contrast to military tribunals. Grades will be based on a final examination, graded by anonymous number (although class participation will also be considered). Close Window

The National Security Law course will examine the law of war, executive power, and constitutional rights in the national security context. The course will also explore Article III standing and the ability of federal courts to hear national security matters. The focus will be on the legal framework that justifies the right to wage war and national defense, foreign intelligence operations, cyber policies, and safeguard classified information. In addition to examining sources of law that support national security decisionmaking, this course will also consider how constitutional rights are uniquely challenged by new surveillance developments in national security programs deployed since 9/11. Finally, the course will explore foreign interference of US elections, information warfare, and cyberattacks. This discussion will include the significant policy impact of technological developments in ongoing defensive and offensive operations, and the increasing reliance on AI and data analytics by the military and intelligence community to inform actionable intelligence. Students who are registered in or have successfully completed LAW 797, War Powers, may not register for nor enroll in LAW 475. Close Window

This course will cover two aspects of post-conflict justice: retributive and restorative justice with respect to human depredations that occur during violent conflicts and mechanisms for restoring and enhancing justice systems that have failed or become weakened as a result of such conflicts. Areas of study will include policy issues relating to accountability, mechanisms for assessing accountability, post-conflict peacekeeping and justice, and (re-)establishing the rule of law in post-conflict environments. Close Window

This course studies the disclosure philosophy of the federal securities laws and the nature and regulation of the securities markets. The relevant statutes are the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, primarily, as well as changes brought by recent legislation including the JOBS Act. Among the topics covered are the initial public offering (IPO) process and exemptions from registration under the 1933 Act; we also study the mandatory disclosure regime for public companies under the 1934 Act. Civil liabilities under both the 1933 and 1934 Acts are also explored. The course also studies the economics of the disclosure and liability rules and the workings of an efficient market. Prerequisite; Law 303 Corporations I or Law 320 Business Associations. Students are able to enroll in both Securities Litigation and Securities Regulation while pursuing their degree. Close Window

Globally, sovereign states have amassed over $60 trillion in debt. This course will examine the law governing this massive pool of obligations and the unique policy challenges that it presents. Our emphasis will be on the role played by lawyers and the financial industry, but we will also examine the parts played by government actors, the International Monetary Fund, and academic commentators. Government lending is governed by contracts written by the states and their creditors. Such contracts present complex legal questions. They often sprawl across multiple national legal systems. Because states can claim sovereign immunity, there are special challenges involved in enforcing such contracts. Finally, when sovereign states get into financial trouble there is no international financial trouble there is no international bankruptcy process that governs debt restructuring. We will examine all of these issues through the lens of historical and contemporary cases of government borrowing and default. There are no pre-requisites for this class. Close Window

Spanish for Lawyers is a one credit , P/F, course that will give students who already possess some proficiency in Spanish an opportunity to use their language skills in a legal context. The class will focus on acquisition of legal vocabulary in Spanish and will allow students to interact in the target language with discussion and oral exercises. The course will cover several areas of the law including family law, criminal law, immigration law, employment law and housing law. Students will learn and be able to use vocabulary related to each area in oral and written contexts. Students will be evaluated by performance on role playing exercises and a final oral exam. Students should possess an intermediate proficiency in Spanish. There will be grammar refresher opportunities offered throughout the semester. Close Window

This course will examine the distribution of national security powers amongst the three coordinate branches of government and the development of law and policy governing use of force, military operations, homeland security, intelligence collection, protection of national security information, foreign intelligence surveillance, and contemporary issues in the national security arena. The class is lecture and discussion based, with reading from the Dycus, Berney, Banks & Raven-Hansen's NATIONAL SECURITY LAW; supplemental materials will be assigned and distributed as appropriate. This class will be graded by an examination (80%) and class participation (20%). Students who are registered in or have successfully completed LAW 475, National Security Law, may not register for nor enroll in LAW 797. Close Window