Elective Courses by Title

New products, tools, and processes incorporating artificial intelligence, the Internet-of-Things, blockchains, and other emerging technologies are an increasingly common part of modern life. Some, such as driverless cars and smart homes, may change fundamental aspects of daily life. Others, such as complex algorithms have already altered the nature of financial markets. This seminar provides an introduction to these issues so that students will be better prepared for our complex future. The course will address the implications of A.I. and other emerging technological solutions on subjects such as liability, contracts, intellectual property, criminal procedure, and the administration of justice. A paper is required in lieu of a final examination.

In recent years, numerous conflicts have erupted on university campuses over classroom speech, revocation of invitations to "controversial" outside speakers, student disruptions of scheduled speaker events, the extramural speech rights of faculty, limits on faculty research, and restrictions on faculty expert testimony. This course will examine the general principles of academic freedom applicable on university campuses, the relationship between academic freedom and the free speech rights of faculty and students, and the role of university leaders in supporting academic freedom and free speech on campus.

This course provides an introduction to accounting and finance for students who have had little or no coursework in either area. Accounting topics include the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of cash flows, and financial-statement analysis. Finance topics include risk, return, time, value of money, valuation, financial instruments, and capital markets. All topics will emphasize implications for the legal profession. The following students are ineligible to take the course without permission of the instructor. - Students who have completed three or more undergraduate-level courses in accounting and finance (counted on a combined basis). For example, a student with two accounting courses and one finance course is ineligible. - Students who have completed any graduate-level course in either accounting or finance (including Law 437 Corporate Finance). - Students who are enrolled in the joint JD / MBA program.

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. This coure is an introductory examination of the rules and procedures government federal agencies. It explores: (1) the Constitutional background and limitations on agency action, (2) the procedural requirements (from various sources) that an agency must follow, and (3) the doctrines of judicial review that apply whenever a court evaluates agency decisions.

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.

This course is designed to enhance the student's brief writing skills in preparation for writing Moot Court tournament briefs. Moot Court team members are required to enroll during their fall, second-year semester. Students who take Advanced Brief Writing cannot take the Appellate track in Advanced Practice. This course is available only to Moot Court members.

This course will study issues in Constitutional law that are typically not included or studied in depth in the 1L Constitutional Law Class. Topics covered likely include but are not limited to: Executive power, Constitutional tension with the Administrative State, the Second Amendment, the right to vote, the Dormant Commerce Clause, the Political Question doctrine, First Amendment Speech / Press, School segregation, Procedural Due Process, and the First Amendment Religion Clauses. The goal of this course is to offer 2L and 3L students the chance to study a variety of constitutional doctrines at a deeper level of depth than in the 1L required course but less than what they will learn on a course that focuses entirely on one provision or another. To enroll in this course, students must have completed the 1L Constitutional Law course, but this class is not a prerequisite for or substitute for any other upper-level elective course.

This course will introduce students to the substantive knowledge, thought process, and writing skills needed for success on the Bar Exam. The learning methodology will be iterative, consisting of substantive lectures and materials followed by practice-testing and analysis. This course is recommended for all Virginia applicants, as well as other students seeking a rigorous approach to Bar Exam preparation. The course will begin by reviewing the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) subjects; the majority of the course will then cover heavily-tested Essay Examination subjects. The course will use Virginia as a default jurisdiction in order to benefit the greatest number of students, but will also benefit applicants in other jurisdictions. Practice-testing will use actual MBE and Essay Examination questions, and all substantive materials will be written by the instructor specifically for this course. The UBE Examination will also be covered. Students will be able to quantify their progress during the semester, both individually and relative to their peers. All students will also meet individually with the instructor to discuss their progress and specific steps they can take to maximize their success on the Bar Exam. Grading will be Pass/Fail based on timely and complete submission of assignments. Students will be expected to complete weekly assignments. This class is restricted to only those students who have been identified, based on academic performance, as likely to benefit from additional bar exam preparation studies. The Dean's Office will be responsible for identifying and contacting such students who will be notified and administratively registered during their third-year as a condition of graduation.

This course provides more in-depth instruction covering both research content areas not included in the first-year instruction of Introduction to Legal Research and advanced research and analysis methods. Content areas include: a more in-depth look at statutory research and legislative history, municipal law, administrative law (both finding administrative rules and also administrative decisions), research in transactional practice, competitive intelligence, research skills in litigation practice (public records searching, docket research, etc.), using practitioner-focused research tools and resources, and advanced skills in researching cases. The course would also include instruction on advanced research strategies and the research process more generally, giving students the tools to assess their research themselves and build confidence their ability to tackle research questions where there might not be a complete answer.

The Pretrial Criminal course is designed to introduce students to persuasive pretrial advocacy in the criminal case. Unlike what you might see on television, criminal cases are not usually won in 22 minutes in the courtroom. Rather, the bulk of criminal litigation is handled pretrial through pleadings, discovery, witness interviews, and pretrial motions. The course will prepare students for practice in criminal law by focusing on the application and expansion of their legal writing skills in a criminal law context. Through written assignments and class discussions, students will engage in various pretrial activities found in criminal practice, which may include moving for discovery and preparing other motions and briefs for trial.

The Appellate Advocacy course will provide in-depth instruction and practical training in appellate advocacy, emphasizing both written and oral skills. Students will learn how to prepare for an appeal, file an appeal, write effective appella briefs, and make effective appellate oral arguments. The skills involved include the ability to analyze, write, make strategic decisions, and speak effectively. Students will complete several practice writing assignments culminating in one final written brief. At the end of the semester, students will present oral arguments based on their final written brief. NOTE: Students who take Law 730 Advanced Brief Writing may NOT take this course.

The Pretrial Civil course is designed to introduce students to persuasive pretrial advocacy in a civil case. The course will prepare students for practice in civil litigation by focusing on the application and expansion of their legal writing skills in a civil context. Students will learn civil litigation skills through written assignments and class discussions that will expose them to some of the issues and challenges civil practitioners must address when drafting documents, motions, and briefs in the course of client representation.

The Transactional Practice course is designed to introduce students to several elements of transactional practice in a deal-based context. Students will learn transactional practice skills through a variety of drafting exercises and assignments designed to familiarize students with the most common issues found in drafting transactional documents. Students will encounter and draft different types of agreements used in transactional practice and will work on understanding, analyzing, and drafting critical sections of contracts. The course will stress the importance of using clear and concise writing skills to articulate agreements accurately and precisely.

This course will introduce students to the legal regulation of efforts to influence government action in our democracy, focusing on the interrelated legal regimes governing the advocacy industry, including federal lobbying disclosure laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and state lobbying regulations. A key goal of the course will be to enable students to gain some appreciation of the difficulty and complexity of the issues raised by the attempt, in fashioning these legal regimes, to balance the goal of curbing corruption and improper influence with the need to permit the legitimate advocacy and expression of views that is protected by the First Amendment, to some degree, and that is desirable in any event in a vibrant democracy.

Knowledge about the various alternative processes of dispute resolution, as well as the law of ADR is quickly becoming indispensable to the civil legal practice of law. This survey course will introduce students to the important legal principles and issues posed by the growing use of ADR within the legal system. Further, the course will focus on the different types of alternative processes available to lawyers, with the goal of recognizing that conflict can present opportunities for significant change and growth that will enable lawyers to more adequately represent the interests of their clients.

This seminar provides a broad overview of contemporary jury system management and trial procedure with an emphasis on current policy debates concerning the American jury. The course begins with a brief review of the history of the jury and current public perceptions of its role in contemporary society. It then examines the jury selection process from summoning and qualification procedures through voir dire. After a brief examination of jury behavior and decision-making based on contemporary social science, the course focuses on contemporary issues concerning the American jury in civil and criminal litigation. Specific topics include juror comprehension of expert testimony, civil jury verdicts and awards including punitive awards, racial and ethnic bias in criminal verdicts, and the effects of death qualification procedures in capital juries. Grades are based on a combination of homework assignments, short essays, a group project and class participation.

This seminar offers a practical survey of legislative and regulatory effects and litigation on behalf of animals under U.S. and International law. The course will address the historical status of animals in the law; the current application of animal protection laws for companion animals, wildlife, and farm and other domesticated animals; legislative efforts and citizen initiatives to strengthen animal protection laws; and the limitations on implementation and enforcement of laws addressing anti-cruelty, wildlife, marine mammal and other areas of animal protection and the impacts of free speech, religious expression, and other Constitutional provisions on animal protection statutes will be explored.

A study of restraints of trade, mergers and monopolies. The central concern of the course is to analyze what laws are necessary to protect a system in which goods are allocated by competitive markets.

This clinic will introduce students to appellate practice in the federal Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Students will work as a team to identify cases suitable for the clinic and then work as pairs to prepare appellate briefs in cases involving the First and Fourth Amendments. In Clinic matters, students will prepare briefs on the merits, amicus briefs, petitions for rehearing or certiorari, appendices, and other appellate filings. For cases in the federal courts of appeals, students will present oral argument when the court allows. Classes will meet every week for general instruction on appellate practice and to discuss draft briefs, petitions, and issues that have arisen in the Clinic's cases. Students will be graded based on the quality of their written product, and when appropriate, oral argument, as well as their level of effort and participation in preparing ancillary appellate materials such as appendices and filing documents. Graded course. Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic II will be offered in the spring semester for those who choose to enroll and have successfully complete Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic I. Graded course. Clinic is limited to 3Ls. Successful completion of LAW 140A Advanced Writing and Practice-Appellate Advocacy OR LAW 730 Advanced Brief Writing AND LAW 115 Professional Responsibility OR LAW 117 The Legal Profession AND LAW 308 Applied Evidence in a Technological Age OR LAW 309 Evidence are course prerequisites. Receipt of Virginia Third Year Practice certificate required. Graded course. To receive credit for this course, each student MUST attend the first meeting.

Appellate Clinic II will continue the work of Appellate Clinic I, introducing students to a more in-depth look at appellate practice in the federal Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Students will continue to work as a team to identify cases suitable for the clinic and work as pairs to prepare appellate briefs in cases involving the First and Fourth Amendments. Students will be graded based on the quality of their written product, and when appropriate, oral argument, as well as their level of effort and participation in preparing ancillary appellate materials such as appendices and filing documents. Successful completion of LAW 788 Appellate Clinic I, and either LAW 140A Advanced Writing Practice-Appellate Advocacy OR LAW 730 Advanced Brief Writing and LAW 115 Professional Responsibility OR LAW 117 The Legal Profession AND LAW 308 Applied Evidence in a Technological Age OR LAW 309 Evidence are required prerequisites. A Third Year Practice certificate required. Graded course.

This four-credit course combines all of the elements of a traditional evidence course along with basic oral and trial advocacy and courtroom technology. The course will concentrate on the Federal Rules of Evidence from a pragmatic perspective. It will also address the evidentiary implications of modern electronic evidence. In addition to the study of fundamental evidentiary concepts, students will try a simple bench trial with traditional and electronic evidence using the McGlothin Courtroom's state-of-the art courtroom technology. This course is supported by the Center of Legal and Court Technology which will train students in the use of the McGlothin Courtroom's evidence presentation technology and provide clerk of court administrative support. Students who take Applied Evidence in a Technological Age may not take Law 309 Evidence. This course satisfies the Third Year Practice requirement.

Legal Principles in Protecting the Past. This course will introduce students to the concept of cultural heritage and examine the laws and ethics involved with the protection of cultural property. Through discussions of public policy, domestic and international law, and international conventions, students will learn basic principles governing the movement and ownership of cultural heritage, particularly as related to the restitution and repatriation of stolen art. We will explore the effects of war, colonialism, and modern development on cultural heritage through case studies on looted antiquities, Nazi-plundered art, and tribal repatriation. In addition to case law and relevant legal treatises, students will review case filings to develop an understanding of how advocacy works in an emerging area of law. Students will write a graded final paper in lieu of a final examination.

This course will introduce students to the federal law of bankruptcy, which allows debtors to restructure and discharge their obligations to creditors. Although both consumer bankruptcy and corporate reorganization will be touched on, the course will focus on business bankruptcies under Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. We will not cover the adjustment of personal debts under Chapter 13. There are no prerequisites for the course.

Law, medicine, science, and ethics are often inextricably intertwined. This course considers the relationship between the law and bioethics, with an emphasis on how the law can impact medical practice and how ethical principles can impact legal structures and judicial decision-making, health care, and policy. Course topics include abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, assisted reproductive technology, organ sales and transplantation ethics, research genetic modification, and human enhancement. The course will be graded based on a paper.

This course concerns financial-instrument markets and their regulation. Its main focus is on the secondary market for public-company stock (namely, the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the wide variety of off- exchange trading platforms in existence today). These markets perform important social functions: providing liquidity for investors and incorporating information into prices, which in turn serve as vital guides to real economic activity. The effectiveness with which these markets perform these functions and their costs of operation are determined in significant part by the rules governing exchanges, broker-dealers, and market makers. The course will begin with a consideration of major domestic capital market institutions. It will then address the economic theory that explains how these markets operate and the incentives that motivate their various players. This part of the course focuses on market-microstructure and finance theory. These beginning segments lay the groundwork for a more informed discussion of the substantive law that governs the markets, which takes place during the second half of the course. In that second half, regulatory areas to be considered include the rules relating to (1) transparency: who knows (and when) the prices at which securities are being offered and sold (the “bid” and “ask” quotes) and the prices at which actual trades occurred (transaction data), (2) brokers duties with respect to execution of customer orders, (3) dealer rules for transacting directly with retail customers, (4) trading system alternatives to the NYSE and NASDAQ, (5) trader behavior including manipulation and short selling.The course, with its focus on persons who operate or trade in these capital markets as well as the market structure itself, should be distinguished from Securities Regulation, which is devoted primarily to the regulation of the behavior of the firms that issue securities and their agents. The course should be of use for students who plan on pursuing legal work relating to various financial-services industries. More generally, it will provide value to students who intend to work in the corporate, securities, and financial industries (or in the regulation of the same through the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulation Authority (Finra), various state AG offices, among others).

An introductory examination of the law applicable to contemporary forms of business enterprise: the general partnership, the limited partnership, the limited liability partnership (LLP), the limited liability company (LLC), and the corporation. The course begins with an introduction to the principles of agency, which govern all these forms of enterprise. The course then explores the process of organization, formation and capitalization, limits on investors personal liability, and the role of fiduciary duties in different business contexts. We will then examine how these duties are enforced under state (and some federal) law. This course is a general introduction to the field. Students who take Business Associations may not take Alternative Business Entities, or Corporations, or Small Business Entities.

The typical first-year Torts class focuses on torts that primarily cause personal injury and/or property damage. Business torts have a different focus – such torts often cause pure economic loss, i.e., economic harm without any accompanying personal injury or property damage. Think of a business tort, therefore, as tortious conduct that primarily harms a plaintiff’s wallet rather than her person or things. This course will emphasize the operation of various business torts and will examine the torts' applicability to particular business or economic settings. This course will be graded primarily by a final examination.

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview and in depth understanding of the finance system at the federal and state levels. This will be accomplished through the analysis of the Federal Election Campaign Act or 1971 as amended (FECA) including extensive analysis of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). The course will provide a guide to the practice of campaign finance law from a practitioner's perspective. The course will be a thorough review of federal law as it applies to the entities that it affects, including candidates, party committees, PACs, 527's, corporations, non-profit organizations and individuals. The course will emphasize a practical preparation for the practice of law in this area through the review of case law, regulatory trends, as well as a review of the institutions that regulate campaign finance law. Students will be encouraged to follow current developments in campaign finance law during the course and should expect broad discussion about the practical, policy and political aspects of the practice of campaign finance law. Students must have completed Election Law Survey, or obtain permission from the instructor or Rebecca Green, or have significant experience in the field. THIS COURSE IS TAUGHT IN A HYBRID FASHION (SOME ONLINE, SOME IN-PERSON). CONTACT INSTRUCTOR FOR DETAIL

One of the most dynamic areas of legal theory today, children's rights is a fascinating lens through which to reexamine fundamental principles about rights more generally and larger moral and legal questions. What beings are capable of possessing rights? At what point in their lives do they become right holders—before birth, at birth, upon developing certain capacities? What reasons does the legal system have for ascribing rights to anyone? What do rights protect - choices, interests, something else? Should everyone have the same rights? Or should equal rights for all at least be a presumptive starting point for legal analysis? In this class we will address these questions in the course of examining the law governing fundamental aspects of children's lives. Specific topics will include abortion, maternal substance abuse during pregnancy, how states identify and protect newborns from unfit birth parents, prison nurseries, barriers to adoption domestically (including race and religion matching and the Indian Child Welfare Act) and internationally, corporal punishment within the family and in schools, parental religious objection to medical care, cults, homeschooling, regulation and financing of religious schools, students' rights of expression, and the right to vote. Students in this class will write a 10-15 page paper on a topic of their choice; no exam.

In addition to offering professional advice as counselors at law, lawyers in America have often been citizen leaders, playing key societal roles in politics, business, and their community. How does traditional legal thinking and analysis work for lawyers in citizen leadership roles, often beyond a purely legal context? This class will address that question, and seek to broaden your approach to problem-solving. We will focus as a case study on how lawyer-leaders performed both in advising policy-makers and sometimes playing those policy roles during the United States' involvement in the Vietnam war. We'll assess the process of their decision-making, and see what lessons can be learned for all citizen lawyers. Henry Kissinger has commented that U.S. foreign policy has suffered in part because key players have often been lawyers, who lack an appropriate historical perspective in making decisions. We'll consider if that is a valid criticism and examine other ways that decisions might have been better made. We will also address the topic of Executive War Powers authority, which remains a live issue for our country today. This class is intended to sharpen your skills in conceptual problem-solving, and how to think beyond narrow legal frameworks when appropriate. The goal is to develop that most vital of all lawyer skills: good judgement. We will also assess how ethical factors contribute to better leadership decision skills. Class Approach: There will be a variety of assigned reading, selected in part from the books noted below. We will consider four groups of decision makers: White House advisors, the State Department, Congress, and the Pentagon, and evaluate how each "client group" contributed to the decisions being made. Prominent guest speakers will be invited to address us as well. Student Eligibility: The seminar is primarily intended for second and third year law students. The course will be graded on Pass-Fail basis, based on class discussion and a short essay to be submitted after the course conclusion. Primary Assigned Reading (Selections): Dereliction of Duty - by Gen. H.R. McMaster Lessons in Disaster - by Gordon M. Goldstein

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).

This course focuses on the strategic options federal law provides to persons attempting to resolve disputes through litigation. It introduces students to basic concepts involved in the federal civil adversary system, federal jurisdiction, choice of law, and finality. Students will explore in depth the policies governing and the mechanics involved in pleading, discovery, and disposition before trial.

This course begins with an overview of the causes and effects of global climate change and the methods available to control and adapt to it. We will then examine the negotiation, implementation and current status of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. The focus will then turn to the past and proposed actions of the U.S. Congress, the executive branch and the courts, as well as regional, state and municipal efforts. The Clean Air Act and other statutory frameworks will receive attention. We will evaluate the various legal tools that are available to address climate change, including carbon trading; carbon taxation; command and control regulation; litigation; and securities disclosures. The roles of renewable energy sources, carbon capture and sequestration, and forestry and agriculture will each receive close attention. Implications for international human rights, international trade, environmental justice, and international and intergenerational equity will be discussed.

This three (3) hour course will survey the law of commercial transactions within the scope of the three primary areas of the Uniform Commercial Code: (1) Sales transactions governed by Article 2 of the UCC; (2) Secured transactions governed by Article 9 of the UCC; and (3) Payment transactions governed, primarily, by Articles 3 and 4 of the UCC. There may also be consideration of complementary areas of commercial law (e.g., Article 5, "Letters of Credit") and consumer protection law (state and federal). Students will approach the subjects from both litigation and transactional perspectives. Students who have taken the separate Sales or Secured Transactions courses would not be eligible to enroll.

This one credit course will review all aspects of a typical commercial real estate transaction, with particular focus on the various aspects of a commercial real estate purchase and sale contract. The course will also review documents often utilized in the financing of a commercial real estate project and the due diligence involved in the examination of a commercial real estate project, including title, survey, land use and other matters. Students will draft certain portions of a commercial real estate purchase and sale contract and will be involved in a negotiation session in class based upon a hypothetical scenario presented to the students. Students should obtain a basic understanding of how to conduct a commercial real estate transaction. The course is taught by an attorney with forty years of commercial real estate experience and will be taught from the prospective of a practitioner. The course will teach basic legal concepts as they are reflected in actual documents and practical situations that arise in the practice of commercial real estate. In hypothetical situations, students may be asked to assume they have already graduated from law school, passed the bar exam, are now practicing law, and must provide specific advice to their client. The class grade will be based upon class participation, understanding of basic real estate concepts, document drafting and negotiation skills.

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.

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.

Complicated business transactions occur in numerous regulated industries. For our course, we will focus on aviation and will explore transactions in the aviation industry. After providing a general overview of the international and domestic regulatory structures in commercial and private aviation, the course will then use an aircraft purchase to introduce students to specific applications of aviation regulations and the laws of contract, insurance, finance, security interests, tax, and civil procedure in the aviation industry. The focus will be a practical application of legal principles in the context of complex transactions within a regulatory framework. This course will be graded pass/fail. Students will be given a fact pattern and will draft an aircraft purchase agreement.

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.

A study of the structure of government, from the role of the courts and the concept of judicial review, through the distribution of power in the federal system and the allocation of power among the three branches of the government, followed by a study of individual rights protected by the Constitution.

This course explores legally enforceable promises, normally exchanged as part of a bargain between private parties. Among the topics that may be covered are: bases of enforcement, capacity to contract, contract information, interpretation, conditions, excuse of performance, and remedies for breach.

A study of the Copyright Act, with coverage of the subject matter of copyright, copyright ownership and transfers, the nature of copyright rights, copyright infringement, remedies, and First Amendment considerations.

This course is an introduction to the federal income taxation of corporations and their shareholders. Topics covered will include the tax classification of business entities, incorporation and capital structure, taxable and non-taxable dividends, stock redemptions, corporate liquidations, corporate reorganizations, and an overview of "S corporations." Pre- OR co-requisite: Law 311 Federal Income Tax Recommended: Law 303 Corporations or Law 320 Business Associations.

This course provides practice skills that will assist prosecutors and defense lawyers as they work their way through pre-trial, trial, sentencing, and post-trial practice in the criminal justice system. Among the topics explored will be how to conduct a preliminary hearing, navigating the discovery process and determining Brady material, learning how to conduct a suppression hearing, voir dire practice, making and overcoming motions to strike, handling sentencing hearings, and understanding the lawyer’s role in probation revocation proceedings. This course will be graded pass/fail based primarily on skills performance.

An intensive study of the basic doctrines underlying the criminal law, including actus reus and mens rea; the principal substantive and inchoate crimes; the accountability for the criminal acts of others; and the general defenses to criminal liability.

An in-depth study of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution including criminal procedure. Considered are general due process concepts; the right to counsel; arrest, search and seizure; police interrogation and confessions; identification procedures; and the scope and administration of the exclusionary rules. Students who take Criminal Procedure I may not take Criminal Procedure Survey, LAW 403, for credit.

A study of the constitutional and non-constitutional procedural components of the criminal process. Included are discretionary aspects of the decision to charge; the preliminary hearing; pre-trial release; grand jury proceedings; venue; jury selection; trial procedures; sentencing; double jeopardy; appeals, and post-conviction proceedings. Criminal Procedure I (Investigation) is not a prerequisite. Students who take Criminal Procedure II may not take Criminal Procedure Survey, LAW 403, for credit.

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.

The Department of Justice is one of the most important and powerful executive branch departments in government. DOJ prosecutors make decisions that have a profound impact on the lives of individuals and the ongoing success of business entities. Drawing on my experiences as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, in leadership positions at DOJ (including Acting Deputy Attorney General, principal deputy to the Deputy Attorney General, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions) and my work as a defense attorney in private practice, this course will focus on critically important issues confronted by the Department and the defense bar. It will examine the mission of DOJ, its organizational structure, the rule of law, the government’s decision-making process and exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The issues confronted by DOJ attorneys, in both civil and criminal arenas, present some of the most consequential legal and policy questions facing this nation. This course, in part, will examine the principles of federal prosecution, the vital work of the Solicitor General’s Office, the Office of Legal Counsel, the National Security Division, the role of DOJ in international affairs and the roles of DOJ law enforcement agencies including the FBI, DEA, ATF&E, U.S. Marshal’s Service and Bureau of Prisons.It will examine the unique role of the Attorney General as a member of the President’s Cabinet including the White House Communications policy. This course will also examine the line between enforcement policy driven by the President’s agenda and a commitment to independent, objective law enforcement with a goal of seeking justice. Readings will include DOJ prosecutorial guidance principles, policy memoranda, case law, Office of Legal Counsel opinions and news articles.

The course explores the legal and policy issues surrounding cryptocurrencies and related technologies. Students will acquire a working understanding of Bitcoin, Ethereum, smart contracts, and blockchains, but technical details will be kept to a minimum. The course will examine legal doctrine as applied to cryptocurrencies and related technologies; coverage includes anti-money laundering regulation, securities regulation, and other topics selected as the field evolves. The course will also examine how the technology fits within legal policy and theory and how it may affect legal practice.

This class will examine current Antitrust controversies. The class will begin by examining recent debates regarding possible normative standards governing antitrust enforcement under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act, using the treatment of mergers as the paradigm case. The class will then examine modern antitrust treatment of horizontal and vertical mergers, including through application of the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines. Building on this foundation, the class will also examine proposals by the Biden Administration and FTC to adopt more aggressive enforcement policies vis a vis both types of transactions, including any recent amendments to enforcement guidelines. The class will then examine other possible innovations in enforcement policy, including the proper antitrust treatment of employee noncompete agreements, the role of labor market impacts when assessing various transactions and agreements, and proposals to regulate high tech platforms and two-sided markets more aggressively. The course will draw upon a wider range of materials than the basic antitrust course, including enforcement guidelines, petitions for rulemaking, cases, administrative decisions, briefs and proposed legislation. Completion of Antitrust (Law 411) is a prerequisite to enrolling in this course.

This course is for international JD students in F-1 status who want to engage in paid internships and require Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization. Although CPT is not required for unpaid internships, the Reves Center for International Studies strongly recommends credit for unpaid internships. The Law School endorses that recommendation. Prior approval for CPT - for either a paid or unpaid internship - is required from both the University's Designated School Official (DSO) in the Reves Center and Dean Kaplan. Students cannot complete more than 15 paid CPT hours per week during fall or spring semesters. There is no weekly maximum hour limit for summer paid CPT. To apply for CPT authorization, the student and the student's supervisor must complete a CPT Objectives and Site Agreement. A written report by the student of at least five pages and a written evaluation by the student's field supervisor are due by the date in the CPT course syllabus. The syllabus also describes the format and content of the report and the evaluation. Credit earned for this course does not apply toward the total credits required for the JD degree, nor does the credit count toward the total pass/fail credits permitted for graduation. In addition, this course is distinct from credit-bearing externships. Credit earned and hours completed for the CPT course cannot be counted toward an externship, and externship credit and hours completed cannot be counted toward the CPT course. However, a student may earn CPT credit and externship credit for the same internship if the student satisfies the requirement for both courses.

Electronic data has become of irreplaceable value to governments and industries. Political and business leaders are awakening to the realization that every business is a digital business – the small shops too. The goal of this seminar is to build students’ acumen surrounding information and cyber security, especially for those who aim to build careers in business, law, and government, where they will have the opportunity to enable changes towards a more protected digital environment. Given that electronic data pervades nearly every personal, governmental, and commercial activity, including elections, this interdisciplinary course has been specifically designed to provide students with a fundamental understanding of how to recognize information technology risks and to minimize potential harm in one’s personal and professional lives. Students will have the opportunity to review the anatomy of a cyber-attack and will consider the intersection of cybersecurity, privacy and data protection. Subject matter experts will engage with students and offer practical insight on contemporary topics related to cyber and information security.

This course provides an overview of legal, technical, and law enforcement issues involving cybercrime. Contemporary events have led to a growing awareness of the interrelationship between information security and data privacy. Prominent cyberattacks, data breaches, and hacking incidences have led to high profile cases and rapid developments in the law. The internet, ecommerce, social media, and other developments in the digital age has expanded the vulnerability of online identities to theft and misappropriation. At the same time, the digital economy vastly increases law enforcement access to digital evidence. Examining cybercrime and digital law enforcement tools allows for an interrogation of the strength of constitutional protections afforded to users, the law that governs cybercrime detection, and developments in prosecutorial techniques that are dependent upon cybersurveillance. Cybercrime is especially challenging as an area of law and policy where criminal activities can be hidden and where geographic boundaries for an investigation are not readily understood. Consequently, this course will cover cybercrime, cybersurveillance, and digital forensic evidence, as well as tensions in constitutional law that may be strained under these technologies.

Data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents are making headlines on a regular basis. While no two cybersecurity incidents are the same, they all have one thing in common—they are fraught with a variety of legal risks. This course examines a lawyer’s role in preparing for and responding to cybersecurity incidents, from directing forensic investigations to working with law enforcement to assessing notification obligations and more. Students will review relevant legislation, regulatory guidance and enforcement actions, and case law. Students will also discuss policy considerations at play in the quickly evolving legislative and regulatory landscape. The course concludes with a mock scenario where students put what they’ve learned into practice. This course is graded pass/fail based on class participation and contribution during the mock scenario.

This seminar will explore how best to address the legal and policy challenges posed by foreign and domestic threats to U.S. elections, threats that uniquely exploit our digital economy and information society. Foreign interference of U.S. elections and the Capitol attack of January 6, 2021, have both exposed unprecedented vulnerabilities; widespread disinformation and misinformation campaigns; abuse of voter data and consumer data in psychographic profiling through voter manipulation and AI-driven voter microtargeting; underregulation of social media platforms and Internet governance; shortcomings to national cybersecurity policy and the failure to develop effective cyber deterrents; and what federal oversight of election administration and voting systems may be necessary while still respecting federalism principles and state sovereignty. Multiple intelligence reports have described the foreign interference of U.S. elections as an 'influence campaign' that blends covert cyber operations and overt propaganda operations. The course will explore how legal, policy and corporate reform efforts can be shaped by the emerging fields of cyber ethics and data ethics. The seminar will include a close examination of the January 6 Reports and intelligence reports, Special Counsel’s indictments, and other original source material to better understand the nature of interference in U.S. elections. It will focus on the interdisciplinary research of experts in multiple fields; data and information science, ethics, privacy law, cybersecurity, national security, federalism, state and local governments, corporate governance, election law and voting rights, media and communications law, internet governance, civil rights and civil liberties, international relations, and political science and political theory.

In 2021, Dominion Voting Systems filed billion-dollar defamation suits against Fox News and others based on their claims that Dominion rigged the 2020 Presidential Election. The case against Fox News settled in April 2023 for a record-breaking $787.5 million. In this short course, students will examine the life cycle of bet-the-company litigation, from pre-publication counseling to resolution. During each of the six sessions, instructors who served as litigation counsel on both sides of this historic litigation will analyze retraction demands, reputational harm in the age of disinformation, the First Amendment, and related privileges commonly raised by media defendants in libel litigation. This one-credit course will be pass/fail.

An examination of a specialized subject that generally is not offered as a course within our curriculum on a regular basis. This course is arranged between an individual student or group of students (maximum, 5) through readings selected in agreement by the directing faculty member and students. This course meets for at least 700 minutes over the course of the term. Prior approval by the Vice Dean. and Faculty Development is required. Students are limited to one Directed Reading credit per year.

This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the law and policy concerns of disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and the coronavirus pandemic. Frameworks for analysis include governmental power to respond; the role of public and private actors; statutory and regulatory responses; social vulnerability and loss of culture; compensation and risk spreading; and political leadership. This course counts towards the "Group B" requirements of the Environmental Law concentration.

The Domestic Violence Clinic offers students who have their third-year practice certificate the opportunity to provide legal representation to victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and sexual assault under the supervision of practicing attorneys. The Domestic Violence Clinic represents clients primarily in cases involving protective orders. Successful completion of LAW 115 Professional Responsibility OR LAW 117 The Legal Profession AND LAW 308 Applied Evidence in a Technological Age OR LAW 309 Evidence are course prerequisites. Pass-fail course.

This course is designed for students interested in working as a judicial law clerk and will enhance students’ writing skills as they prepare written legal opinions. Each student will receive one civil and one criminal case assignment which will include a written case synopsis, trial exhibits, and other legal documents related to the cases. Students will also be expected to participate in interactive classroom discussions. Discussions will be designed to provide guidance and feedback regarding the writing assignments. During the course, each student must submit two draft written opinions – one for each case scenario. Grading will be pass/fail and will be based on classroom participation and the written assignments.

This course introduces students to the legal regime governing information privacy and data protection in the European Union. It examines how the EU legal framework recognizes privacy rights or interests and balances them against competing interests, and the ways that laws, regulations, actions by stakeholders, and societal norms protect individual privacy against government, corporations and private actors. The course combines a practical approach to the daily problems that a privacy lawyer will face with the theory necessary to understand how the law is developing. We will learn about the policy questions arising from data-driven technologies, the theory behind them, and the questions to ask when assessing information practices. The course may also address briefly privacy issues and laws in additional jurisdictions, such as the United States and China, for purposes of further comparison. Students will gain a broad understanding of the breadth, diversity and growing importance of the privacy field.

A study of the many applications of economic reasoning to problems of law and public policy including economic regulation of business; antitrust enforcement; and more basic areas such as property rights, tort and contract law and remedies, and civil or criminal procedures. No particular background in economics is required; relevant economic concepts will be developed through analysis of various legal applications.

An examination of principles of school law by use, in part, of the care study approach. Legal foundations of public and non-public schools are studied with consideration given to the Virginia School code. Basic legal principles and guidelines for assisting teachers, administrators and professional support personnel are developed.

The William & Mary Elder Law Clinic provides free legal services to individuals 55 years and older in the greater Williamsburg community. Through its students and staff attorneys, the Elder Law Clinic provides legal assistance on matters such as: basic estate planning (wills, powers of attorney, medical directives, and probate), guardianship/conservatorship actions, elder abuse and consumer protection cases, Medicare and Medicaid, and nursing home and senior housing issues. Clinic students will represent low- income clients in a variety of legal matters. They will interview clients, conduct the necessary factual investigation and legal research for cases, draft legal document and pleadings, prepare clients for hearings, and represent clients and hearings. Students will also make a community-based presentation on an elder law issue. Students will work in teams with each team member handling a caseload of four to five cases at a time. They will take primary responsibility for representing clients under the supervision of clinic faculty. Students will be expected to spend eight to ten hours per week in client representation. Three graded credits.

This course surveys significant issues in elder law. It will explore the role of the practicing attorney involved in representing elderly clients, as well as key statutes and regulations of particular importance to seniors. Topics of study will include, among other things, models of elder law practice; ethical issues in representing older adults; age discrimination; advance planning and guardianship/conservatorship; income maintenance and the Social Security system; access to health care and the role of Medicare and Medicaid; housing concerns (including nursing home and assisted-living issues); elder abuse and neglect; and end-of-life care. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of the cognitive and physical impairments can have on legal rights and the ability to exercise those rights

This course will examine the laws that govern the political process in the United States. Topics will include the right to vote, political representation, election administration, political parties, ballot initiatives, and campaign finance. The goal of the course is to provide students with a solid foundation in the basic principles of election law in this country.

Many law school classes touch on election law subjects ranging from voting rights, to redistricting, to election law and campaign finance. This course will focus on the legal issues you will need to understand to advise a candidate. The goal of this course to help students understand the basic statutory framework that candidates must navigate. While there are state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction differences, the basic frameworks are well known by practitioners. Students will gain an understanding of the issues that have arisen at various stages of the candidate / election administration process and that have been presented to federal and state courts across the county.

The purpose of this course is to examine international election standards based on the rule of law. The ultimate goal is to establish knowledgeable, predictable, rule-based decision-making that limits the power entrusted to government officials, while concurrently encouraging the widest development of democratic systems. The course will cover each step in the electoral process: (1) recognition of political parties and which candidates will be qualified to stand for election; (2) voter registration including registration, maintenance of lists, grounds for suspension and reinstatement; (3) absentee ballots, if they are to be used, as well as the procedures for their issuance and as to their counting;(4) early voting and remote voting if it is accepted as a means of increasing participation; (5) ballots, ballots design, machinery, pre-vote verification, the observation of that process so that it is transparent, ballot collection, computerized and other mechanical voting systems, ballot audits, physical security, and the availability of election day remedies; (6) verification of who is, and is not, a voter; (7) the conduct of the election itself, including how officials are trained and qualified; (8) the process for recounts; (9) the process for challenges and contests; and, (10) administration and supervision applying objective standards. Each of these steps will involve the class in a discussion of the development of concrete standards for the international community to apply in the election process. Pass/Fail

This course addresses the legal and practical issues inherent in conducting electronic discovery in civil cases, especially under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. No special information technology knowledge or background is required. NOTE; students may not register for this course if they are registered for, or successfully completed, Electronic Discovery, LAW 358.

With computers and mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, dominating every aspect of business and personal life, the nature of civil discovery has changed. Lawyers need to know how to request, identify, preserve, collect, process, review and produce electronically stored helps students identify and avoid signficant pitfalls arising from the collection, processing and production of ESI to better represent their clients. Law students will learn about the nuances of the quickly evolving world of e-discovery and gain practical skills they can utilize immediately upon entering the legal profession. This class does not require a technical degree or even significant technical proficiency. NOTE; students may not register for this course if they are currently registered for, or successfully completed, Electronic Discovery and Data Seizure, LAW 310.

Property rights and the sovereign's power of eminent domain have been essential components of Anglo-American law for centuries, and the protection of the right of private property ownership is one of the foundations on which the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post-Civil War Amendments are built. This course will introduce students to the practical lawyering and analysis necessary for eminent domain practice, including the nuts and bolts of takings practice as well as the study of recent (and ongoing) U.S. Supreme Court cases. In addition, this course will focus on the history, policy, and, to some extent, the politics of property rights, eminent domain law, and related legal topics. We will examine how the right of private property was developed in common and constitutional law, the relationship of property rights to other civil rights and the sovereign's power to take land, the role of federal and state courts in protection of property rights, how private property squares with environmental law, and the proper "place" of property rights in the modern administrative state. Course materials will be cases and selected portions of books and journal articles, and other materials which will be made available. Grading will be based on a take home paper and class participation.

This course will provide an overview of the area of Employee Benefit Law and the Federal law applicable to the same including ERISA, COBRA and tax law. Employee Benefit Law is a practice area of significant importance to corporations, insurance companies, labor unions, plan administrators, law firms, benefit consulting firms and employees and their family members. The course will cover employer provided benefit plans including health insurance, traditional pension and defined benefits plans such as 401(k)s, cafeteria plans and others. The course will cover topics including vesting, nondiscrimination provisions, disclosure requirements, reporting requirements, notice requirements, fiduciary rules and duties and spousal rights. The course will also examine the impact of employee benefit law as well as ERISA on other practice areas including employment law, health law, labor law, tax law, divorce, corporate mergers/acquisitions, bankruptcy and specialized litigation. There is no prerequisite for this course. The class will be graded by final exam (70%), classroom assignments (23%), and class participation (7%).

This course surveys the laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. In particular, the course emphasizes case law under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (race, religion, sex, or national origin), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students will learn the basic doctrinal frameworks applicable to disparate treatment, disparate impact, and mixed-motives cases and trace their evolution through statutes and judicial decisions. The course also will include brief overviews of remedies for and economic theories of employment discrimination. Employment Law (LAW 456) is not a prerequisite.

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. The course will also include a brief review of unemployment compensation and workplace health and safety issues, as well as an introduction to employment discrimination law. This course will not address traditional labor law nor will it cover issues unique to public-sector employment. Neither will it significantly overlap the Law 452 Employment Discrimination course.

Energy law is at the forefront of developments in natural resources law, public utility law, and environmental law. Policy debates are shaping these developments at the local, state, federal, and international level, giving energy lawyers a real opportunity to influence the world we live in. This course covers the laws and policies that govern the exploitation of energy resources and the production and distribution of electricity. Course coverage begins with traditional principles of utility law and regulation (including rate regulation) and progresses to focus on laws and policies relating to natural gas and electricity. The main focus will be on energy law issues that arise in the context of one major energy- producing activity—the production and use of electric power—with some limited attention to parallel themes in other areas such as natural gas and transportation. We will explore general legal issues in these areas: the role and regulation of markets, the tension between economic and environmental regulation, the degree of national versus decentralized regulation, and the roles law might play in impacting not only supply but also consumer behavior.

A study of the nature and causes of environmental pollution and of the main legal techniques for its control. The course will consider the common law, the environmental impact assessment process (e.g., the National Environmental Policy Act), and the basic regulatory framework for air, water and solid and hazardous waste control (the Federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), with attention given under each statute to the basic regulatory framework and the main policy issues presented by it.

The course introduces students to the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Collectively, these taxes apply to donative transfers of wealth during life and at death. Despite the relatively narrow application of these taxes, they account for a significant amount of planning and are at the center of some of the most contested tax policy debates of the 21st century. Accordingly, the course will consider tax planning objectives of taxpayers while giving proportionate coverage to policy concerns and perspectives of the government. The course has no prerequisites, but it is not a substitute for taking Federal Income Taxation or Trusts & Estates.

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.

The European Union is the most advanced system of law and governance outside the United States. Yet different crisis and tensions in the EU are testing ways the foundations of economic and political integration, from its damaged single currency architecture, the massive arrival of refugees, terrorist attacks, populist movements, the UK’s decision to leave the EU or the demands of a globalized Marketplace and technological disruption. This introductory course will study the state of EU decision-making, the application of its legal principles and the balance of power between EU political institutions and between Member States in a critical moment of European integration.

An intensive study of the law of evidence primarily utilizing the Federal Rules of Evidence. Topics addressed by the course include relevance, authentication, real evidence, competence, hearsay, impeachment of witnesses, and privileges. This course satisfies the Third Year Practice requirement.

This course covers requisites for marriage, pre-nuptials, paternity, property management during marriage, spousal abuse, parental child rearing rights, grounds for divorce, property distribution upon divorce, consequences of cohabitation prior to marriage, alimony, child support, and child custody and visitation.

Open to 3Ls, the Family Law Clinic offers students who have their third-year practice certificate the opportunity to represent and advise clients in custody, support, divorce, adoption, and equitable distribution matters. Students will represent individuals with limited financial means from the Williamsburg Office of the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia (LASEVA), as well as victims of domestic violence who are seeking to move forward with their lives following an abusive relationship. Students will receive training and experience in working with clients and individuals who have experienced trauma. Students will also learn courtroom skills, that they will use to represent their clients. Taught by Professors Darryl Cunningham and Lindsay Barna. Pass-fail course. Successful completion of LAW 115 Professional Responsibility OR LAW 117 The Legal Profession AND LAW 308 Applied Evidence in a Technological Age OR LAW 309 Evidence are course prerequisites.

Eligible placements include Federal agencies and the JAG Corps. They also include Congressional committees and members of Congress, subject to the prohibition on partisan political activities and lobbying. Federal Public Defenders are covered by the Public Defender Externship; U.S. Attorney offices are covered by the U.S. Attorney Externship. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

A study of the basic laws relating to federal income taxation of the individual. Included are problems relating to computing gross income, the reduction of gross income to taxable income, and the recognition and character of gains and losses from disposition of property.

This course will focus on the intellectual and doctrinal framework that governs Federal Indian law: its origins (and, some hope, its future) in international law; the sources and scope of Federal authority over Indian affairs; allocation (among Tribal, State, and Federal governments) of civil, criminal, and regulatory jurisdiction in Indian country; and Tribal sovereign immunity. The course also will examine the recent acknowledgment - both administrative and legislative - of seven Indian Tribes in Virginia.

This is an advanced criminal law course that will cover procedural, substantive and practice issues related to "white-collar" criminal law. The class will cover the principal federal "white-collar" statutes, e.g., mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, securities law and insider trading, false statements, obstruction of justice, money laundering and public corruption. Corporate criminal liability and business crimes will be a course focus. The course will also cover practice related issues such as attorney-client privilege; "internal" investigations; grand jury practice, document production, immunity, plea bargaining, and co-operation agreements with the Department of Justice. The class will conclude with a take home examination. Prerequisite: Criminal Law. Recommended: Evidence.

The primary goal of this course is to introduce second- and third-year law students to the basic legal framework of U.S. and international financial sanctions. A secondary goal is to identify emerging issues in financial sanctions law and regulation, in order to prepare law students for the future development of this area of practice.

In this course we will study the First Amendment's religion clauses - the Free Exercise clause and the Establishment Clause. The core of the course examines how government interacts with religion, and the interplay between free exercise and establishment, in three key areas: government regulation of religious activity and institutions, government funding of religious activity and institutions, and governmental attempts to promote a common culture or political ethos. Our primary focus will be on current First Amendment doctrines concerning religion. Time permitting, we may also examine the intersection between the religion clauses and the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause.

This course will examine the ways in which Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, and the courts have gone about regulating the food and drug industries. We will highlight current issues which may include the FDA's jurisdiction and enforcement authority concerning dietary supplements; the regulation of food additives; food labeling; the implications of globalism in the pharmaceutical industry; "orphan drugs;" and the relationship between federal regulation and state law. The course will be graded on the basis of in-class participation and a final examination.

Foreign and International Research is a 1-credit pass/fail course that introduces students to a variety of foreign and international law sources and research methods over seven class sessions. Students will learn how to efficiently research secondary information, treaties, and other international agreements, foreign and European Union law, and United Nations documents. Classes meet once a week for seven weeks, and students complete in-class and out-of class research assignments. There is no final exam or required textbook.

This course is intended primarily for students in Law, Public Policy and related disciplines. It is cross-listed with PUBP 600. It is designed to introduce the students to the science of natural systems and ecological processes. Through readings, lectures and discussion, the first half of the course examines the current state of our understanding in terms that will give the student confidence and the facility to critically assess theories and observations in environmental science. With this as a foundation, the second half of the course begins with an instructor led discussion of the enhanced greenhouse effect followed by student led discussions of other major case examples such as coastal eutrophication, biodiversity loss, water resources, sea level rise, environmental contamination, land use trends, and invasive species impacts. Student expectations include mid-term and final exams, and the development of a case study presentation extending over two class periods. This is a non-law course crosslisted with Law and the course materials will be found in Blackboard.

This course surveys the law's construction and regulation of gender, gender identity, and sexuality, and it examines the effects of U.S. legal structures on the lives of marginalized sex and gender groups. Parts of the course will explore advanced issues in constitutional law, addressing how litigants have sought to leverage federal or state constitutional provisions to assert a range of gender- and sexuality-related claims. The remainder of the course focuses on statutory and other sources of law, while throughout we employ an interdisciplinary approach to study the interaction between social and political forces and legal doctrine. Issues we will address include, for example: family and privacy rights, discrimination in education and employment, the rights of queer youth, and religion-based exemptions to non-discrimination laws.

This course will examine the processes by which the federal government awards and administers contracts ranging from acquisitions of multi-billion dollar weapon systems and large public works contracts, to routine purchases of office equipment and supplies. Discussions will focus on how federal contracting differs from contracting under state law, and address special topics unique to government contracting, such as procurement ethics, socioeconomic considerations, bid protests, changes, contract disputes and litigation, fiscal law requirements, and terminations.

This course examines fraud and abuse in the delivery of health care through discussions of the criminal, civil, and administrative laws and regulations that combat various forms of health care fraud. Students will explore, among others, federal and state Anti-Kickback Laws, the federal physician self-referral law (Stark), the federal civil monetary penalty and exclusion laws, and the federal and state false claims acts. Students will learn the processes by which such abuse is discovered and investigated, the challenges that such investigations face, and the ways in which both prosecutors and defense counsel can most effectively overcome those challenges and benefit their respective clients. This course will also explore the complexities and challenges that arise in developing and maintaining an effective compliance program for health care providers.

This class will give students an overview of the U.S. health care system. We will examine various legal and policy issues related to the health care system, including: the legal structure of the patient-physician relationship; how our legal system addresses issues of quality and choice; structures and mechanisms of the Affordable Care Act; Federal-State tensions regarding insurance regulation; how our legal system regulates the behavior of medical professionals and institutions; and patient privacy and confidentiality. Students will develop an understanding of the trajectory that the U.S. health care system has taken in these areas, as well as the current reforms implicating them. In addition, we will examine laws and policies that surround issues of public health, such as vaccines, obesity rates, and State-mandated screenings and data collection.

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.

Students will engage with immigration law matters including assisting noncitizens, participating in community outreach and education, and conducting policy research and advocacy for immigrants. Depending on the availability of cases and the types of cases selected by the professor, students may participate in representing asylum applicants, applicants for relief under the Violence Against Women Act, or U visa applicants. Graded three-credit course.

Immigration Clinic II is an advanced clinical experience for students who wish to continue in the Immigration Clinic following successful completion of Immigration Clinic I. Students in this clinic will build on the cases and skills learned in Immigration Clinic I by representing an immigrant in a matter that is in an advanced stage, such as an affirmative interview before USCIS, a removal hearing in Arlington Immigration Court, or in an appeal to the AAO, BIA, or Fourth Circuit. Successful completion of Immigration Clinic I is a prerequisite; Immigration Clinic I students interested in taking Clinic II should speak with the Professor before registration. Graded course. Class time TBD based on student schedules.

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.

Looking for a cutting-edge way to take your legal writing to the next level? This course will introduce you to the latest technology in natural language processing ChatGPT and show you how to integrate it into your legal writing to improve efficiency, accuracy, and overall impact. Through a combination of lectures, hands-on exercises, and interactive discussions, you'll learn how to use ChatGPT to streamline your legal writing process, generate high-quality drafts, and enhance the clarity and persuasiveness of your arguments. Topics covered in the course include An overview of natural language processing and its applications in the legal field How to use ChatGPT to generate legal documents, such as contracts, briefs, and pleadings Strategies for using ChatGPT to improve legal research and citation Techniques for editing and proofreading documents generated by ChatGPT to ensure accuracy and consistency Ethical considerations for using ChatGPT in legal writing, including issues related to confidentiality, privilege, and malpractice. (Note: This course description generated by ChatGPT, with minor editing by a human.)

This course requires the completion of a scholarly paper on a subject selected by the student, under the supervision of a faculty member. Does not satisfy the writing requirement. For Law 704-02 or 03, please see term description.

This course requires the completion of a significant research paper on a topic selected by the student, under the supervision of a faculty member. Students may enroll in this course and/or Law 706 for credit no more than twice. An important goal of an independent legal writing project is to improve students' writing skills. Faculty supervisors should communicate this goal to students at the beginning of the process and reinforce it throughout the paper-writing process, especially after submission of the first draft. Papers should evolve through four major stages, each of which should occur in consultation with the supervising faculty member: 1. Topic Development: The student should produce a succinct, coherent topic statement that sets out the thesis of the proposed paper. 2. Outline: The student should produce a reasonably comprehensive outline of the paper, including a statement of the basic steps in the argument, the major sources used, and a tentative conclusion or a comparable writing. 3. First Draft: The student should produce a first draft of the paper in time for the supervising faculty member to make comments and for the student to respond to those comments in the form of a second draft. Normally, the first draft should be submitted to the supervising faculty member by the end of the 10th week of classes. 4. Final Draft: The student should turn in the final draft of the paper by noon on the last day of exams for the semester, or as otherwise designated by the professor. LAW 705 does NOT meet the second-year writing requirement.

This course requires the completion of a significant research paper of at least 30 pages on a topic selected by the student, under the supervision of a faculty member. Students may enroll in this course and/or Law 705 no more than twice and this course satisfies the writing requirement. An important goal of the major paper requirement is to improve students’ writing skills. Faculty supervisors should communicate this goal to students at the beginning of the process and reinforce it throughout the paper-writing process, especially after submission of the first draft. Papers that satisfy the major paper requirement should evolve through four major stages, each of which should occur in consultation with the supervising faculty member: 1. Topic Development: The student should produce a succinct, coherent topic statement that sets out the thesis of the proposed paper. 2. Outline: The student should produce a reasonably comprehensive outline of the paper, including a statement of the basic steps in the argument, the major sources used, and a tentative conclusion or a comparable writing. 3. First draft: The student should produce a first draft of the paper in time for the supervising faculty member to make comments and for the student to respond to those comments in the form of a second draft. Normally, the first draft should be submitted to the supervising faculty member by the end of the tenth week of classes. 4. Final draft: The student should turn in the final draft of the paper by noon on the last day of exams for the semester, or as otherwise designated by the instructor.

This clinic offers eight students the opportunity to engage in the legal investigation and research of inmate claims of actual innocence under Richmond attorney Fred Gerson. Using primary sources including police and forensic reports, court pleadings, transcripts, appellate briefs and opinions, students will research and prepare written summaries of the cases referred to the Clinic by the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP), so that MAIP may determine whether or not to pursue the innocence claim. Students will have the opportunity to conduct interviews of inmates and possible witnesses, as well as other preparatory case work with private investigators, forensics experts and attorneys. The Clinic's focus will include DNA evidence, investigative activities, post-conviction remedies and procedures, and in-class simulations. Students will gain an understanding of the various ways innocent people are convicted and discuss remedies for exoneration. In-class discussions will systematically prepare students to undertake the investigations necessary to assess prisoner's claims of factual innocence. Although the investigations are as varied as the cases, they can generally be placed into two categories; (1) cases involving searches for DNA evidence, and (2) cases involving non-biological evidence. In all of the cases, students, supervised by the professor and MAIP staff and volunteers, will work with the prisoner, former attorneys, courts, and police departments to create complete files to determine an investigative strategy. In DNA cases, students contact (and sometimes visit) courthouses, police departments, labs, and hospitals to determine whether any testable physical evidence remains in files or warehouses from cases that are often decades old. In non-DNA cases, students will interview eyewitnesses, alibi witnesses, co-defendants, and, in some cases, alternative suspects, and perform other necessary investigation, again to include travel throughout the Commonwealth. Occasionally cases also require travel to a prison in order to interview a prisoner. Ideally, in instances where MAIP accepts the case and assigns it to an attorney, the Clinic students who worked on the case will remain involved with it, thus preserving continuity and providing students with an even fuller learning experience. Innocence Project II will be offered in the spring semester for those who choose to enroll and have successfully completed Innocence Project Clinic I; ideally the students from IP I will enroll in IP II, for a more in-depth semester of work and skill building on their assigned cases. Prerequisites: Students must be enrolled in or have completed Evidence. Weekly clinic seminar Thursdays 4:00 - 6:30 pm. To receive credit for this course, each student MUST attend the first meeting. Pass/fail course. Pre or Co-requisite: Evidence Law 309 or Law 309T.

Students in the Innocence Project Clinic II will continue to work on cases assigned in the Innocence Project Clinic I, engaging in more in-depth investigative activities, post-conviction remedies and procedures, and in-class simulations relating to inmate claims of actual innocence. Building on the foundation laid in Innocence Project Clinic I, the in-class portion will focus on client and case specific theories of innocence, and will include skills development in interviewing witnesses, handling ethical issues, organizing investigative tasks, and digesting transcripts, among others. The class is designed such that students will act as intake investigators to determine whether representation of a prisoner's claim of innocence should be undertaken. The work entails understanding core legal concepts relating to criminal trials, reading transcripts, performing legal analysis, and investigating cases in order to determine whether an inmate has a claim worth pursuing. Prerequisites: Innocence Project Clinic I

This course will survey the fundamental legal principles governing selected kinds of insurance including: automobile, fire and property (homeowners), liability, life, health, and disability. Among the topics examined will be the formation and operation of the insurance contract, coverage and exclusions, insurable interest, the claims process and subrogation. A practical approach will be featured, placing students in the roles of attorneys for the insurer, insured and third party claimant as issues are discussed.

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.

A review of the legal protection of artistic, technical and business creativity through the law of copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets.

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective practitioners in the field of internal investigations. It examines the role of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, as well as various other offices of inspector general, in protecting our national security. The course focuses heavily on investigative legal authorities, the report writing process, and effective interview and interrogation techniques. Students will also discuss oversight mechanisms within the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This course will be graded primarily by paper.

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.

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.

This course surveys the variety of treaties and laws governing worldwide intellectual property rights. In addition to the major multi-lateral treaties governing intellectual property rights protection, the course will compare various relevant national laws to see how different social and economic policy goals drive differences in laws governing copyrights, patents, trademarks, and related rights. International intellectual property laws have become increasingly important to companies with a global business footprint. Therefore, the course will explore business strategies in the context of this network of laws. Students will be evaluated primarily based on a final exam; there will also be a participation component. Students who have successfully completed LAW 430, Selected Topics in International Intellectual Property and International Trade, may not enroll in LAW 336.

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.

Students must contribute substantially to the development of the substantive written competition briefs or memorials or application documents. Students must complete oral arguments and attend the competition to receive credit. Pass/Fail.

This covers the regulation of international trade at the international level by organizations such as the World Trade Organization, at the regional level by such arrangements as the North American Free Trade Agreement, and at the national level by the U.S. and its principal trading partners through various U.S. trading institutions. Topics include the constitutional allocation of authority over international trade in the U.S., customs law, non- tariff barriers, import relief measures and other trade remedies, government procurement, trade in services, regional economic integrations, and the need to examine trade issues in relation to the new trade agenda, namely labor and environmental issues and the protection of intellectual property rights.

This course introduces the fundamentals of the U.S. legal system to international LL.M. students. Students will explore the structure and content of U.S. law and legal institutions, the U.S. Constitution, federalism, separation of powers, the role of precedent in common law, the theory and practice of the adversary system of justice, and the legal profession. This course is designed to provide students a broad understanding of U.S. law and the U.S. legal system, especially aspects that may be unfamiliar to LL.M. students who received their legal education outside the United States.

This course will examine the historic roots of Islam and its significance as law and religion before surveying several representative systems of Islamic law.

Eligible placements include judges (including administrative law judges); hearing officers; courts; and organizations that provide research, educational, and management services to judges and courts (e.g., the National Center for State Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts). Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

A seminar intended for those students who have an interest in developing critical insights and techniques in the power of persuasion of jurors. The factors, both conscious and unconscious, which compel jurors in the processing of evidence, and the hierarchy of decision-making, will be examined. Analysis of the spectrum of impact, subtle to dramatic, of memory, perception, bias, and heuristics will be applied by each student to develop strategies to fairly and professionally influence jurors in the pursuit of justice. Integration of coursework and simulations will result in each student drafting, arguing, conducting case specific voir dire, and making decisions regarding challenges for cause and peremptory strikes, resulting in the selection of a jury of citizens from the community. Additionally, each student will deliver an opening statement to the selected jury and receive juror feedback. Grades are based on professionalism, class participation, drafted memoranda, and performance.

This course is designed to improve the English language skills of entering international students in the LLM program or at the University.

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.

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.

An analysis of the legal principles governing the use and management of land and the fundamental values underlying those principles. While focusing primarily on government regulation of land use, the course also will examine common law rules which affect the way that land is used. Topics that might be considered include judicial control of land use, zoning and the rights of landowners, zoning and the rights of neighbors, land use planning, public regulation of land development, aesthetic regulation, and the preservation of natural and historic resources.

The seminar examines the manner in which law and state power are used (or misused) in tackling the problems of development in Africa (economic as well as political). The insights gained and the methodology developed in the seminar will be useful in determining the appropriateness of state power in the context of other developing countries as well. Satisfies the Writing Requirement.

The intersection of law and entrepreneurship is an emerging field of study. This course explores the legal and economic issues faced by highly innovative start-up companies, their entrepreneurs, financiers (angel investors and venture capitalists), and lawyers. The course is loosely structured around the life cycle of a start-up company - from inception to financing to governance and finally exit - with the primary focus on entrepreneurial finance. Classroom sessions are a mix that may include lecture, outside speakers, and presentations by the students. Grading is based on a presentation, final paper, and classroom participation.

Higher education is a complex, idiosyncratic institution. Universities and colleges have a unique mission--teaching, research, and public service--and a uniquely challenging task of accommodating the various constituencies and organizations, both internal (governing boards, faculty, employees, students, alumni) and external (legislatures, courts, governmental agencies), that influence how they are managed. This seminar will explore the dynamic tensions, high expectations, and complex legal-policy issues universities and colleges face in fulfilling their mission.

This course explores the ways in which law and literature intersect in addressing various issues. Students will read and write papers on fiction and non-fiction (books to be determined each term) to examine how legal texts and the legal system affect individuals, society, and culture. Students will submit a response paper prior to each class meeting, focusing on the assigned primary text, in preparation for discussion of the readings. This class will be graded pass/fail.

American society and law schools have become intensely politicized in recent years. Is it possible anymore for people who have different political alignments and values to engage with each other in reasoned, respectful dialogue about controversial social and legal issues? This course is offered in the hope that it is possible at least at this law school. We will deepen our understanding of highly-charged contemporary issues, and of others' views on those issues, such as abortion, policing and incarceration, the equal treatment vs. religious freedom struggle occasioned by same-sex marriage, accommodation and acceptance of trans- gender persons, immigration, preferential treatment for particular groups in college and law school admissions and hiring, student protests at invited-speaker events, and calls to abolish the child protection system. We will study alternative perspectives on each issue, not just the prevailing orthodoxy. The semester will begin with canonical texts in political philosophy and critical theory and sociological writings on political parties and perspectives in the U.S. today, to lay some foundation for subsequent conversations about particular contested social policies. Students will assume much of the responsibility for leading discussions and will write a paper at the end of the semester. (No exam)

Law does not always stand alone. Instead, it influences and is impacted by other disciplines. This course explores the inter-relationship between law and economics, psychology, sociology, criminology, and philosophy. Led by distinguished scholars from across the university, this course will examine leading books and articles from each field. Each week, students will explore a different discipline and discuss law’s relationship with that discipline. Students will discuss core principles from each discipline, how the field influences legal doctrine and analysis, and how scholarship can impact the law in the future. The course will be graded pass/fail. Students will be evaluated based on class participation as well as three reaction papers that will be due ten days after each class session.

The course will introduce students to the law firm leader's role in six major leadership functions: (i) Culture and Strategy, (ii) Governance and Execution, (iii) Compensation and Financial Management, (iv) Talent/Leader Recruitment, Development, Promotion and Accountability/Reward, (v) Practice Management and Business Development, and (vi) Risk Management and Industry Challenges. Course materials will include the writings of prominent law industry commentators (e.g., William Henderson, Gillian Hadfield, David Maister, etc.) and general business thought leaders (e.g., Larry Bossidy, Robert Kelly, Sonja Lyubomirsky, etc.). Students will be given the opportunity to engage in leader self assessments (e.g., GRIT, introvert-ambivert-extrovert, positivity, etc.) and will be exposed to law firm leader skills (e.g., framing, challenge response competency, mistake imperative, etc.) The course will be pass-fail and graded primarily by a paper on a topic chosen from 12 leader dilemmas (2 from each of each of the 6 functions).

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.

The metaverse, which encompasses a broad spectrum of digital worlds and associated enabling technologies, has engendered a myriad of new legal challenges and considerations in areas of intellectual property, business law, privacy, government compliance and litigation. These issues have caused lawmakers to grapple with how to regulate and otherwise govern virtual life and business activities in digital environments. In this course, we will explore the metaverse from its technical origin to its current presentation in the marketplace. We will examine the legal implications of various business models within the metaverse which involves its cybereconomy. Students will be introduced to current research, case law, articles and other materials that shape legal thought in connection with the metaverse. Ultimately, students will become acquainted with the evolving body of law relating to the metaverse and other digital technologies

This course will explore the intersection of law and politics. Led by leading political scientists as well as former government officials, students will examine critical legal questions through the lens of politics and political science. The course will provide a richer understanding of doctrine (is the search for original meaning a value-laden enterprise; do lawmakers have sufficient incentive to take Supreme Court statutory interpretation methodology into account when enacting a law; does the Supreme Court appreciate the multi-fold ways that presidents can limit independent agency autonomy). The course will also raise questions about judicial legitimacy and independence (does party polarization create psychological roadblocks that stand in the way of neutral judicial decision-making; does the appointments and confirmation process push presidents and Senators to select extremist judges; can collegiality and judicial independence norms serve as a counterweight to elected government efforts to transform the courts into political entities). The course will be graded pass/fail. Students will be graded based on class participation as well as three reaction papers.

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.

International LL.M. students will explore professional expectations and the roles of lawyers in law firms and other organizations in the United States. This course features a “learning by doing” component that highlights skills essential to the successful practice of law. Students will develop their oral and written communication skills by drafting professional correspondence, delivering reports to supervising attorneys, and conducting client interviews, courtroom simulations, and negotiations and alternative dispute resolution exercises. All students will gain exposure to key elements of the practice of law in any field, including ethics and professional responsibility, analytical and critical thinking, communication and presentation skills, and norms for interaction with clients and other stakeholders. Grades will be based on written assignments, in-class exercises, and overall participation. Student improvement over the semester will factor significantly in the final grade. While students may sometimes work in teams, each student will be graded individually.

In this course, students will learn various skills essential to the successful practice of law. With instruction and feedback from practicing attorneys, students will learn by preparing for, and executing, several simulations designed to ready students for what they will encounter in the day-to-day life as an attorney. These simulations include presenting an oral report to a supervising attorney, interviewing a client, and counseling a client. Prior to each simulation, students will read about and discuss the underlying doctrine, theory, and goals that are fundamental to understanding the lawyer’s role. Through integrating coursework and simulations, students will also receive guidance on navigating daily practice and the importance of professional ethics.

In the second semester of Lawyering Skills, students will reinforce and build upon the skills learned in Lawyering Skills I, and apply their practical communication abilities to a new range of settings. With the instruction and feedback from practicing attorneys, students will advance their advocacy skills through simulating a pretrial oral argument and a negotiation with an opposing counsel. As in Lawyering Skills I, prior to each simulation, students will read about and discuss the underlying doctrine, theory, and goals that are fundamental to understanding the lawyer's role. Through the continued integration of coursework and simulations, students will become increasingly able to navigate daily practice and uphold professional ethics.

In this course, students will receive an introduction to and an opportunity to explore and develop several of the numerous foundational skills and professional competencies and characteristics that entry-level lawyers must possess to be successful at the start of their careers. The class will explore the following core competencies: (1) communication and relationship building; (2) self-assessment and self-direction; (3) project management, productivity, and technology: (4) grit, resilience, and a growth mindset; (5) cultural awareness; (6) ethics and professionalism; and (7) leadership, teamwork and collaboration.

This course will provide students with a practical “hands on” introduction to the legal and regulatory issues faced each day by the in-house practitioner or human resource executive. This course will focus on enabling students to recognize and manage the breadth of legal issues that arise in both the public and private sector. Each class will focus on the actual application of the law as it affects employees and employers. The course will help the successful student appreciate and understand the legal environment of human resource management and better prepare students for their roles in business.

In this course, students will develop the critical skills of legal analysis, writing, and research. Under the instruction of research librarians, students will learn to conduct thorough research using a number of different legal sources. Students will work with full-time writing professors to learn how to analyze legal rules and precedent to assess the legal position of a client or other party. With close guidance and feedback from the writing professors, students will learn how to successfully communicate legal analyses in objective legal memoranda, using clear and concise language and employing the fundamental principles of effective legal writing.

In this course, students will continue to develop the critical skills of legal analysis, writing, and research. Under the instruction of research librarians, students will expand their knowledge of legal sources, databases, and research methods. Building on the analytical and writing skills developed in Legal Research & Writing I, students will apply their abilities in a persuasive context. With close guidance and feedback from the writing professors, students will focus on how language can be crafted to persuade instead of just inform and will learn how to draft effective legal arguments in pretrial memoranda, settlement letters, and other documents.

Students will learn essential information about the U.S. legal system and fundamental principles of legal decision making, as well as legal analysis, writing, research, and other practical skills. Students will work with law school legal writing faculty and research librarians to research and write objective office memoranda and other legal documents.

Much of the law school curriculum, especially in the first year, focuses on judge-made common law. But for many lawyers today, reading and interpreting statutes is more important. This course will provide you with an overview of the legislative process, which is the source of those statutes. It will consider the distinctive features of statutory law as opposed to other forms of law. Most importantly, the course will introduce you to various approaches to interpreting statutes and teach you the rules and doctrines of statutory interpretation used in federal and state courts – material with great practical value as well as theoretical interest. The course will also give some attention to the role of administrative agencies as implementers and interpreters of statutes. Grades will be based primarily on a final examination. Students who are taking or have previously taken Statutory Interpretation, LAW 638, are not eligible to enroll.

With the 2020 Census on the near horizon, significant attention will be placed on redistricting in the coming years. Inherent in any redistricting plan is a recognition of the spatial configuration of voting districts and the processes driving proposed voting district maps. Federal and state constitutions and statutes impose legal requirements for voting districts that in practice are often manipulated to favor of drawing lines that protect partisan/incumbent interests. This one-credit course will combine an introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with a focus on the legal analysis of redistricting plans. Students will learn basic GIS skills and tools designed to develop compliant maps. This will include working with district boundary maps, census information and other socioeconomic layers in an integrated GIS platform to understand and quantify the impacts realized when voting districts are redrawn. The course will focus on the 2017 Supreme Court case Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections decision as a frame to better understand the laws governing redistricting efforts. After learning the legal parameters of the redistricting process, students will work in teams to develop and present a redistricting plan for the 12 state legislative districts identified as problematic in Bethune-Hill. In the process of coming up with ways to improve compliance with state and federal statutory and constitutional mandates, this course will uniquely prepare students to play a substantive part in the 2020 round. This course will be graded pass/fail.

A Prosecutor's Decision-Making Process in a Capital Case. Students will learn how a major state attorney's office handled death penalty eligible cases from the initial crime scene visit through the conclusion of the case. The course focuses on a specific case, the 2009 Thanksgiving Day murders of four family members in Jupiter, Florida, to examine how the charging decisions were made, including the relevant legal criteria and other non-legal influences. One of the exercises will involve having students conduct a mock capital case review committee meeting in a first-degree homicide. The course will identify the type and nature of cases that qualify for death penalty consideration. We explore factors that influence the decision to charge and/or resolve a capital case (including community pressures, views of victims' family members, and police/investigator influences). We will note the differences with regard to the death penalty in the various state systems and the federal system. The class includes a case study of the recent very public (and legal) conflict that occurred between then Florida Governor Rick Scott and State Attorney Aramis Ayala (Ninth Judicial Circuit in Florida). The dispute stemmed from SA Ayala's announcement after she took office that she would not seek the death penalty in any of her office's cases. We also will engage in a discussion of the federal death penalty prosecution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh to highlight the federal capital case process. The course also surveys the current state of the law regarding the death penalty in the United States. The discussion will include the evolving law relating to jury decision-making in capital cases using recent US Supreme Court cases. This course component will use a more traditional case analysis teaching method. Finally, the course delves into possible reforms of the death penalty decision-making process.

Open to 3Ls, the Federal Tax Clinic offers eight students the opportunity to assist in the representation of low income Virginia taxpayers seeking assistance from the nonprofit Community Tax Law Project before the IRS, U.S. Tax Court, and U.S. District Court. Students will find it helpful if they have taken Federal Income Tax, however Tax is not a prerequisite. Taught by Professor Craig Bell. Pass/fail course.

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 course will explore the mental health aspects of the law. Virginia laws that focus on mental illness will be compared with other mental health laws in the United States. The course will explore mental heath conditions/illnesses as justifications and/or mitigating factors in a criminal context and explore the civil commitment and involuntary detention process in Virginia and across other states. This course will also take a deeper dive into mental health conditions and illness. Professionals from the legal and mental health fields will discuss how the brain works, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and trauma; how a person’s – a client’s - conduct and behavior may be affected from birth to adulthood. Whether engaged in criminal or civil law, the mental health of our clients will be a factor for consideration in representation. Understanding mental health and illness will improve our advocacy. Professionals who will be asked to contribute to the classroom lectures and learning are special justices, mental health clinicians, magistrates, attorneys who represent respondents in commitment hearings, mental illness advocates, and others. This exploration will help students better communicate with and understand their everyday clients and others they interact with in the legal field. Resiliency will also be discussed and how this relates to effective and efficient representation of clients. Mental health, vicarious trauma and wellness are also components of this course. As attorneys and legal professionals, we must make sure that our own mental health is a priority. We will explore our ethical duties and how our own mental health can affect our work.

A survey of various forms of business combination transactions, including mergers, share exchanges, tender offers and asset purchases. This course will focus on planning for and structuring such transactions to address business, corporate law and securities law issues from the standpoints of both the acquiring company and the target company.

This seminar explores the nature and function of contemporary military justice, the application of international human rights, and strategies for reform. Topics will include the role of commanders; unlawful command-, presidential-, and congressional-influence; constitutional rights of military personnel; court-martial jurisdiction and offenses; judicial independence; punishment; military commissions; and summary (nonjudicial) proceedings. We regularly consider foreign materials.

Students will learn how to prosecute and defend misdemeanor cases, particularly in Virginia District Courts (General District and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court). This seminar will significantly assist any student who wants to handle cases under the Third-Year Practice ability in Virginia and like states. Specifically, the seminar will discuss traffic and criminal misdemeanor cases. Classes include the following topics: Introductions to the practice of misdemeanors in VA courts; Criminal Misdemeanors and Cases Involving Animals; Traffic Cases; Driving Under the Influence Cases and Bond Motion; and A View from the District Courts’ Judges. Guest lecturers will include attorneys from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Offices and defense attorneys, both public and private.

Students must contribute substantially to the development of the substantive written competition briefs or memorials. Students must complete oral argument requirements and attend the competition in order to receive credit. Pass/fail.

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.

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).

The course provides an introduction to federal natural resources law, with an emphasis on living resources. We will examine the theoretical conflicts that underlie various approaches to resource management, as well as the special qualities of natural resource problems that render management efforts difficult. Focusing on the legal treatment of fisheries and marine mammals, wildlife and biodiversity, water resources, forests and preserved public lands, we will probe the complex interplay between environmental, economic, cultural, and political factors in natural resource decision making. Note: this class does not meet every year.

This course will explore the theoretical and strategic fundamentals of negotiating in a variety of legal situations. The course will be taught in a once-weekly, 2 1/2 hour format and will focus heavily on class exercises and simulations by students working in teams of two, three, or four. The course will cover various issues central to the topic, including the stages of negotiation; psychology of negotiation and related issues such as verbal and non-verbal communication and power and control in the bargaining process; the principal-agent relationship; substantive and strategic differences between unilateral and multilateral negotiations; and the law of settlement. The course grade will be based on (1) student participation in class discussions and exercises; (2) student performance in simulated negotiations; and (3) a final exam which will draw heavily on weekly class discussions of the assigned class materials.

A practical course designed to assist students in analyzing the issues that tax exempt organizations face when engaging in political and lobbying activities. Students will read, analyze, and apply rules and regulations from the Department of Treasury/IRS, the Federal Election Commission, and applicable case law. Upon completion, students will have a framework to identify and analyze the many issues that tax exempt organizations face when engaging in politics and policy advocacy activities.

Nonprofit organizations are an influential and significant sector in America. They range from small volunteer organizations to large corporations. This course will concentrate on understanding the unique tax and legal concepts applicable to non-profit organizations as well as the practical procedures utilized in forming a nonprofit, operating and governing a successful nonprofit, dealing with nonprofit tax, business and fundraising issues, understanding the state and federal regulation of nonprofits and, finally, effectuating the merger or dissolution of a nonprofit organization. The principal objective on this course is to introduce the law student to the world of nonprofit law so that as a lawyer, he or she can be prepared for an active role in establishing, advising, serving on the board or even working as in-house counsel for a nonprofit organization. Classes will be a combination of lectures, discussions, preparation of documents, group problem solving, and evaluation of solutions to actual practice queries. Grading criteria for the course will include participation, assignment and project/memo preparation, and a final examination. Regular attendance is required.

Eligible placements include U.S. civil legal services/legal aid organizations and U.S. private, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations. Private nonprofit organizations with IRS status other than 501(c)(3) are not eligible for externship credit. Organizations outside the U.S. are eligible if they would qualify for 501(c)(3) status if they were U.S. organizations. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

This course is designed to assist students to develop a practical understanding of oil and gas issues. To achieve this understanding on the legal side, the course will focus on private property and contract law concepts specific to oil and gas development, terminology that is unique to the industry and the oil and gas lease, the document that generally governs the relationship between the mineral interest owner and the mineral developer. On the practical front, students will be introduced to the business side of the industry including oil and gas development, transportation and refining as well as domestic and global market considerations. Approximately half of the class sessions will be taught in person by the instructor, while approximately half will be taught remotely.

The course will present the essential principles of the patent law, as well as significant policy considerations which are the basis for many patent doctrines. Highlighted will be decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

This seminar considers procedural and substantive issues surrounding patent litigation and administrative remedies that are available for patent disputes. Topics will include a broad range of issues relevant to the subject that may include jurisdictional matters, cease & desist letters, pleadings, motions, discovery, jury trial, remedies and appeals. The exact selection of seminar topics will be identified on the seminar syllabus. Prior successful completion of Intellectual Property Survey or Patent Law is strongly preferred. Civil Procedure is a prerequisite. This seminar is not intended to provide the basic coverage of Patent Law but rather it is intended to build upon the fundamental knowledge of that subject. For two credits, the students, in consultation with the professor, will prepare a footnoted or end noted research paper between 20 and 25 pages in length. .

This seminar examines the roles and responsibilities of both prosecutors and law-enforcement officers in the United States. Specifically, this course will identify and critique various models of policing in the United States and how and whether these models are consistent with contemporary notions of public safety. This course will explore the discretion police officers enjoy and the rules that govern police interactions with individuals and communities they serve. The course will identify and critique various legal mechanisms and policy solutions that are currently used or proposed to hold police officers accountable for their conduct, evaluate the effectiveness of these solutions, and contemplate new proposals. This course will also explore the unique role of the prosecutor in the U.S. and what it means to do justice. Similar to law enforcement officers, prosecutors enjoy vast discretion, and this course will explore the advantages and disadvantages of that discretion. The course will explore prosecutors’ role in wrongful convictions in the U.S. and ways to minimize errors in the criminal justice system. In addition to caselaw, policy documents, and legislative materials, the class will focus on historical and contemporary case studies.

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.

This is a course about learning to use power and influence as effective tools for both understanding your surroundings and achieving your goals. It is a course about getting things done in the real world, where politics and personalities can often seem to hinder rather than help you. It is a course for those of you who want to make things happen, despite the obstacles that might stand in your way. Consequently, it is a course about you. Course Objectives: This course presents conceptual models, tactical approaches and self-assessment tools to help you understand political dynamics as they unfold around you and develop your influence style. By focusing on specific expressions of power and influence this course gives you the opportunity to observe their effective and ineffective uses in different contexts and stages of a person's career. The subject matter will introduce different ethical questions. This course should challenge you to define what will constitute the ethical exercise of power and influence in your life. In this course we will rely on a mix of case studies, exercises, self-assessment tools and readings. Your grade will be based 50% on class participation and 50% on the final paper.

Should the NSA tap Americans' phone calls? Should Target be liable to consumers for data breaches? What if Snapchat doesn't really delete images but stores them--should users have recourse? Given modern technological realities, is privacy dead? This course will review the historical roots of the concept of privacy in U.S. law, the common clash between privacy and the public good, and the shifting balance of privacy rights in rapidly changing technological contexts. We will aim to understand privacy's place amidst the swirl of commercial and national security interests and the rise of the global Internet. Grades will be determined by class participation and a final exam.

This course will provide an overview of the common legal structures employed in the formation, capitalization, compensation, and governance of private equity funds. We will study as an example the structure of an existing private equity fund operating in the Canadian real asset space. In particular, we will spend considerable time on contractual interpretation of the fund’s limited partnership agreement. This course will also explore a number of topical issues in private equity, most notably securities regulatory oversight of private equity managers and taxation of their compensation. In examining all of the foregoing, we will consider the extent to which legislators and public regulators should oversee and intervene in private contractual relationships. An understanding of basic income tax law will be helpful but not required for this course. This course will be graded by a final exam.

Eligible placements include solo practitioners, law firms, and in-house law departments of corporations and trade associations. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

This course will focus on the development of the theories of liability for personal injuries and property damage caused by defective products. Among the areas to be considered are the roles of warranty, negligence and strict liability law in today's products liability litigation, as well as important related issues such as expert testimony, causation proof, the role of science, and the effects of mass tort litigation.

This course will cover a variety of topics relating to lawyers' obligations as members of the legal profession, such as the duty of competence, fees and billing, creating and ending the lawyer-client relationship, the duty of confidentiality, and conflicts of interest. The class will cover both lawyer regulations (such as the Model Rules of Professional Conduct) and other ethical concerns in the practice of law. NOTE; LAW 115 is equivalent to LAW 117, The Legal Profession. Students may not take LAW 115, Professional Responsibility, if currently enrolled in or completed LAW 117, The Legal Profession.

Property focuses on the rules for acquiring, using, dividing (in various dimensions), and losing rights over scarce resources. Most material concerns realty, with limited consideration of personal property. Property will introduce the rudiments of capture, finds, and adverse possession; landlord-tenant law; the system of estates; co-ownership; easements; and restrictive covenants. In addition to these private law subjects, the course will introduce zoning and takings.

Eligible placements include state and local prosecutors. Placements with U.S. Attorney offices are covered by the U.S. Attorney Externship. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

Eligible placements include federal, state, and local public defenders. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

Public policy analysis is vital for defining problems and evaluating alternative solutions that lead to new laws, regulations or government policies. This course prepares students to deal with an increasingly regulated business environment, rapidly changing regulations in environmental science, and the widening scope of the practice of law. Offered one evening per week throughout the semester, the course is team taught by an economics professor and a political science professor in an engaging seminar format using provocative materials with practical application. Topics include markets, political economy, market failure, equity and efficiency, government failure, regression analysis and surveys (including political option polling) and data collection for public policy analysis. Prior exposure to economics or statistics is helpful but not required, and college algebra is sufficient mathematical preparation for the course. Satisfactory completion of this course is a prerequisite for enrollment for graduate students outside Public Policy in subsequent Public Policy courses, whether or not they are cross listed outside of Public Policy. This is a non-law course crosslisted with Law and the course materials will be found in Blackboard.

Open to 2Ls and 3Ls, the Puller Veterans Clinic – Disability Compensation and Appeals offers students the opportunity to acquire varied law practice skills through actual representation of military veteran clients. They gain first-hand experience with a major federal administrative law system: by learning about veterans' disability law and procedure, they gain insight into the many issues and challenges that arise in such systems. Each student works on individual cases, drafting and filing disability claims and arguments in support, developing evidence, and appealing within the VA and sometimes in the courts, often working with psychologists in a medical-legal partnership. There is a required day-long Boot Camp on the first Friday of class. Graded course.

This course examines the struggle for racial change in America from the late nineteenth century to the present and the reasons for that change. The goal of this course is to provide an appreciation for the way in which law develops out of a particular social and political context and the way in which law has been used to accomplish racial change in the United States. This course sets forth two paradigms for consideration: the litigation model and the social protest model. In addition, this course also touches on racial struggles in other parts of the world. This course will be graded by a final exam.

This seminar offers a broad overview of legal constructions of race and the theories that inform those constructions from the American founding to the present. The course will explore the ways in which American courts, and particularly the Supreme Court, have defined and constructed "race." We will examine jurisprudence on Blackness, Indigeneity, and whiteness from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century. The course begins with reviewing case law on race and secondary sources that contextualize that case law to put the court’s decisions into conversation with the societal, political, and economic period in which they take place. The second half of the course will shift to examining the theoretical frameworks that aid the court or should aid the court in making decisions about race, paying particular attention to colorblind constitutionalism and Critical Race Theory. This part of the course will address contemporary debates on the role of these frameworks in the media and public sphere. The primary goal of this course is to introduce and encourage students to think critically about major theories and themes that inform modern debates about how the court should decide or interpret cases about race. It is merely an introduction and not a comprehensive survey on race and constitutional law. Due to time limitations and constraints, the course focuses exclusively on three racial groups. This is not to suggest that the topics covered in the course could not be applied to other racial groups. Instead, the course provides a theoretical framing that will help cultivate the ideas that can be applied to other facts. At the very end, the course will cover some scholarship on intersectionality, Asian, and Latina/o studies but that will not be the primary focus. Grading is based on 1) class participation; 2) weekly discussion questions; 3) a final 20–25 page research paper; 4) and a final in-class presentation.

The primary goal of this course is to explore ways in which people have used law both to perpetuate and to challenge racial injustice in the United States. It begins with a brief survey of race-based law from the nation's founding through the Supreme Court's 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia. It then explores the Critical Race Theory academic movement, perspectives on racial identity, race as social construction, and identity performance. And it examines the intersections of race and laws governing (inter alia) education, employment, criminal justice, affirmative action, and electoral processes. The secondary goal of the course is to explore ways in which the increasing diversity of society and of the legal profession affects the practice of law. Legal practice involves interpersonal activity, and all lawyers will interact with colleagues and clients whose cultural heritage differs from their own. This course thus explores the significance of culture and cultural differences in the practice of law. It introduces Intercultural Communication Theory - the study of interactions between people of different cultural backgrounds - to provide students (of all racial/cultural backgrounds) a framework upon which to enhance their capacities to communicate effectively and work productively with attorney colleagues and clients with identity backgrounds different than their own. Grading is based on (1) 2-3 short reflection papers or an in-class presentation (student's choice); and (2) a take-home (24 hrs.) self-scheduled exam, or writing a research paper.

This course will provide an in-depth examination of a specialized area of environmental law – toxic substances and hazardous waste. Principal coverage will focus on federal regulation of hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the remediation of hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). The course will also address, to a more limited extent, the manufacture, import and use of industrial chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the sale and use of pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The basic science of toxic substances and their effects and the policy foundations upon which the law of toxic substances and hazardous wastes has been built will also be reviewed. There is no pre-requisite; however, LAW 424 Environmental Law is recommended.

This course involves a study of the law of judicial remedies, both legal and equitable, and focuses on the nature and scope of available relief. The course emphasizes the various remedies available, including compensatory and punitive damages, injunctions, declaratory judgments, restitution, and enforcement proceedings. It provides a brief study of the development of chancery courts and the continuing distinction between equitable and legal remedies. Special attention is given to the appropriateness of various remedies to given situations. Substantive examples will come primarily from contract and tort law, but property interests, statutory violations, and constitutional harms also will be discussed.

The Supreme Court's decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago have ushered in a new era of Second Amendment theory, litigation, and politics. Current events keep issues of firearms, gun violence, gun safety, and self-defense constantly in the news. This seminar will explore the Second Amendment and the various state constitutional analogs historically, theoretically, and pragmatically. Students will be introduced to the historical and public policy materials surrounding the Second Amendment, the regulatory environment concerning firearms, and the political and legal issues pertaining to firearm rights-enforcement and policy design. Student evaluation will be based on short writing exercises as well as in-class participation.

The course will focus on litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983—the statute most commonly used to protect Americans’ constitutional rights. Topics covered will include the history of the statute, the categories of defendants who can be sued under the statute, theories of liability, available remedies, defenses to suits, immunity from suit, and awards of attorneys’ fees. The course will also cover the relationship between substantive rights and the litigation tools provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The course will explore the major Supreme Court cases that define the principles of § 1983, and the class will discuss how the principles apply to actual cases that have arisen and been litigated in Virginia. Students will be graded based on a paper (approximately eight to ten pages) based on facts provided to the students, and classroom participation.

A study of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code governing security interests in personal property and fixtures. NOTE; you may not register for this course if you have successfully completed or are currently enrolled in Commercial Law.

This course examines the federal law and policies governing the purchase and sale of securities. The goal of the course is to provide students with a survey of the landscape of securities litigation under the federal securities laws as well as the tools necessary to work in the area. In particular, the course focuses on the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as the regulations and caselaw connected to it. It begins by discussing securities disclosure law (the focus of the related Securities Regulation course) in broad terms. It then moves on to focus on the types of legal instruments and transactions that trigger the application of the core federal securities laws. The main part of the course then takes an in-depth look at public and private litigation under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, with a special focus on corporate-mistatement litigation as well as public and private insider trading actions. In so doing, the class will touch on a number of other aspects of securities litigation (including Securities Act of 1933 provisions, judicial overlays on the securities-fraud litigation, and class action litigation more generally.) 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.

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.

This seminar will consider various topics regarding criminal justice. The nature of the topics will vary from term to term; review Banner for term specific description.

This course will explore issues relating to two groups of juveniles: cases involving children relating to support, custody and child protection and those involving allegations of delinquency. The course will cover broader national approaches, but with a specific focus on Virginia law. Knowledge gained from this course will assist students as future lawyers and policy makers to better shape the juvenile court system. The course will be graded.

This course will explore the law that governs sentencing criminal defendants, with particular emphasis on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Students will analyze federal statutes, caselaw, and the complex federal sentencing guidelines that guide judges in determining the appropriate sentence for persons convicted of federal crimes – including length of incarceration, non- incarceration alternatives, and compensation due to crime victims. The course will also briefly the sentencing law and guidelines that govern state cases in Virginia. In addition to scheduled class sessions, there will be one mandatory class session at the federal courthouse in Newport News for students to observe an actual federal sentencing. The date for the class session at the federal courthouse will be announced after the drop/add period. This course will be graded on a pass/fail basis.

The course is designed to assist students in making the transition from law student to legal professional and small business owner of a solo or small law firm. Topics covered in this seminar include, but are not limited to, the following: identifying areas of practice; attracting and maintaining good clients; client intake and interviewing; client relations; marketing your legal services; establishing a good reputation; acquiring and maintaining staff; team building, training and mentoring expectations; internal law office operations and management; computer technology; social media protocol; setting, charging and collecting fees; time keeping and billing; the billable hour; contingency fees; managing trust accounts; ethical issues pertaining to solo and small firms; risk management (avoiding malpractice claims); and health, wellness, and quality of life. Students will develop a business plan suitable for obtaining financing, setting goals, providing direction, and integrating their personal values, passion, and purpose to create a practice that serves their lives. Final grades are determined by a combination of completion of a business plan, class participation, group work and written assignments.

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.

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.

Open to 2Ls and 3Ls, the Special Education Advocacy Clinic (PELE) I offers eight students the opportunity to assist children with special needs and their families in special education matters. Graded course.

Open to 2Ls and 3Ls, the Special Education Advocacy Clinic (PELE) II is an andvanced clinical experience for up to eight students. Students will refine their own advocacy skills by continuing work on their cases, as well as build their leadership, supervision and collaborative skills by mentoring PELE Clinic I students. PELE I is a prerequisite. Graded course. Class time TBD based on student schedules.

This one-credit course reviews the key case law, legislation, and regulations, tests and measurements in determining eligibility in special education, and in the preparation of Individualized Education Programs and Section 504 Plans. Among the topics to be considered are issues of behavior and discipline for students with disabilities; strategies for negotiating with schools and working with parents; dispute resolution procedures in special education; and preparing legal claims and remedies on behalf of students with disabilities who are denied an appropriate education. This course will be graded based on student participation and a paper no less than ten double-spaced pages.

This seminar examines topical issues of criminal law. Our examination will include reading, discussing, and analyzing various theoretical approaches to the issues and reforms that may have been made. Our discussions will include applying and evaluating the theoretical literature to actual case law and doctrine. The nature of the topics will vary from term to term; please review Banner for term specific description.

Eligible placements include state or local government agencies and offices, such as city/county attorneys, attorneys general, and state legislators. This type of externship covers all William & Mary offices. Placements with prosecutors and public defenders are covered by their respective externships. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

This course examines the scope and nature of local government powers and their relationship to state and federal governmental authority. Particular emphasis is placed upon matters of concern to cities, counties and other units of local government. Special consideration will be given to questions of governmental design. Specific topics may include state constitutions, theories of authority, boundary changes, Dillon's Rule and home rule, preemption, interlocal conflict and cooperation, finance and fiscal distress, and service delivery.

The State and Local Taxation course considers taxation imposed by states and local governments in a variety of contexts including the taxing of income, sales and use, property, and business licenses. This course will benefit students entering either a tax practice or a general business practice. Topics to be covered in the course will include: the key elements of the major business taxes and individual state income tax; the constitutional restrictions applicable to the taxation of interstate businesses; the handling of audits; and the conduct of administrative and judicial appeals. The course will use Virginia's tax system as an illustrative model for issues that are common to most jurisdictions. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their class participation and on a series of written assignments including administrative protests of hypothetical audit assessments and initial court pleadings.

This course introduces basic statistical analysis and its application to problems that arise frequently in litigation. It covers the concept of distributions and summary statistics; statistical sampling; analyzing the validity of data collection methods; basic hypothesis testing; and methods for studying correlations in data. The course will cover a variety of legal applications of statistics, including discrimination litigation, use of DNA to identify individuals, products liability, and discrimination in jury selection. The course assumes no prior knowledge of probability or statistics. It will emphasize broad understanding over the details of calculation. Grading will be based on weekly homework assignments and a final exam.

This course will look at Court decision-making over the past two terms and the upcoming 2023-24 docket; it will also consider the causes and consequences of the partisan split between liberal/Democrat and conservative/Republican Justices. This course will also provide students with an opportunity to meet with former Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and prominent Supreme Court advocates (including Stanford law professor Pam Karlan and former Solicitor General Paul Clement). Students will also attend (virtually) a moot court of a case that the Court will hear in November (and we will likely have an opportunity to discuss the moot with the advocate arguing the case). There will be around 8 class meetings over the course of the semester. There is no exam; students will write two 4 page memos. Memos will be based on class readings and there is no independent research.

Technology-Augmented Trial Advocacy combines instruction in traditional trial practice, including basic deposition practice, with contemporary technology-augmented trial practice techniques, including use of a high-tech record at trial, technologically presented evidence, and remote witness testimony. The course will address trial strategy, jury selection, opening statements, presentation of evidence, including the examination of witnesses, closing arguments, and preparation of jury instructions and will encompass both civil and criminal cases. The course requires satisfactory completion of a jury trial using role-played witnesses. This is a 4-credit pass/fail course open to second-year and third-year students. Students may not enroll in or have Basic Adv Litigation (LAW 720), or Medical Malpractice Trial Advocacy (LAW 472) for credit. Students may take or have taken National Trial Team Trial Ad. Pre- OR co-requisite: current enrollment or completion of Evidence or Applied Evidence.

Terrorism is a special form of political violence that has been used throughout history by both states and sub-state organizations to sustain a wide variety of causes. This course examines the challenges faced in protecting against and responding to acts of terrorism, including the conflicts of law, jurisdictional limits imposed by international and domestic legal regimes, and the need to balance increased security measures against protection of civil liberties. Students may not enroll in this course if they are currently enrolled in, or successfully completed LAW 529, The Military Commissions.

This seminar will challenge students to evaluate critical legal concepts using a novel as the shared narrative. The topics addressed include police brutality, prosecutorial power, bigotry, free speech, and violent white extremism in America. The country grapples with a history of slavery and inequality, and it relies on the "rule of law" to make progress on race, civil rights and justice system reforms. In fact, the principle of "rule of law" acts as the foundation for most of the nation’s democratic traditions and norms. This course tests some of the inherent assumptions we are taught to accept as law students, lawyers, and educators about the rule of law, using literature as the means of inquiry. Pass/fail.

What do rivers on fire, giant floating mats of seaweed, and coal mining in Appalachia all have in common? The Clean Water Act. This course will explore the history of the Clean Water Act, discuss its mechanisms for limiting water pollution, and analyze how far we've come in achieving Congress' goal of protecting water quality so that America's water bodies are 'fishable and swimmable.'

This course will explore the history, constitutional rules and implementation of the death penalty in the United States. We will examine the special requirements for a capital trial including the selection of a 'death qualified' jury, use of aggravating and mitigating evidence in the punishment phase of the trial, and the right to effective counsel. Arguments by proponents and opponents of the death penalty will be discussed. Students will write a research paper on an instructor approved topic and present the results of their research in class.

An examination of the federal judicial system encompassing such topics as allocation of federal judicial power; original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court; the Eleventh Amendment; suits in federal court against state officials; restrictions on federal adjudication of state-created rights; federal question jurisdiction and federal common law.

This 3-credit course will examine in depth the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech, press, and association. We will discuss First Amendment theories or justifications; the regulation of various categories of expression including incitement to unlawful action, threats, libel, child pornography, commercial speech, and obscenity; and content-neutral restrictions including limits on symbolic content (e.g., draft card burning, flag desecration, and nude dancing). The course will cover application of the First Amendment to government while acting in special capacities, including employer, educator, landlord, subsidizer/speaker, regulator of the airwaves, regulator of the Bar, controller of the military, prison warden, and regulator of immigration. The course will also cover certain ancillary First Amendment rights, including the right not to speak and the right of expressive association. Finally, we will examine the 'press' and newsgathering rights.

This course will commence with an overview of the U.S. Intelligence Community, its organization, functioning and the issues it faces. The heart of the course will be an in- depth study of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, its amendments, Executive Order 12333, Section 215 of the US PATRIOT ACT, the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA); the National Security Act of 1947, and related statutes. Students will examine the background for the creation of this framework, how it has evolved over the past 40+ years into the current legal framework utilized by the National Security community, and proposals for changes to FISA. The course will also identify the circumstances for pursuing different types of FISAs, e.g., electronic surveillance, physical searches, pen registers and trap and trace devices, and the production of certain business records; discerning the specific provisions of FISA that apply to a set of circumstances; the composition of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, and the requirements for an application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Grades will based on class participation and a final research paper.

This course, which satisfies the law school’s and the ABA’s professional responsibility requirements, will cover lawyers’ obligations as members of the legal profession, as defined by the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct and other bodies of law, but will also examine deeper questions of what it means to be a lawyer. The course will examine how lawyers over time and in various settings have constructed their identities, established their power, viewed their duty, and articulated their missions. Topics to be covered will include traditional professional responsibility topics, such as the lawyer-client relationship, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and competence, but will also include the historical development of the legal profession in England and America, the emergence of an adversarial legal culture, the changing nature of legal education, and the development of a professional identity. NOTE; LAW 117 is equivalent to LAW 115, Professional Responsibility. Students may not take LAW 117, The Legal Profession, if currently enrolled in or completed LAW 115, Professional Responsibility.

President George W. Bush's November 13, 2001 Order creating Military Commissions to prosecute those accused of committing acts of terror and who harbor them created a firestorm of legal activity. That activity is ongoing, albeit at a much slower pace than during the period from 2002 - 2014. This activity forms a critically important foundation for apprehending, detaining and trying stateless actors and those who fought in a status that was previously ill defined by international law. The course's discussions will engage the students concerning the balance between due process, fundamental fairness and society's interests in the goals of criminal law, e.g., safety, deterrence, retribution and punishment. This course will explore the underpinnings of the November 13 Order through the issuances from the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice that gave rise to the Order, the activities of lawyers in the Department of Defense and the White House prior to and following the Order's issuance, and the precedential cases relied upon to create the Order. Students will contrast trial of terrorists in Federal Courts with trial by Military Commissions and opine on the necessity for a legal process that does not include the protections afforded by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Grades will be based on a final paper. Students may not enroll in this course if they are currently enrolled in, or successfully completed, LAW 543, Terrorism and the Law.

This six session "short course" will explore the numerous difficult legal issues involved with the police interrogation of suspects. The focus here will be on the way the constitutional mandate [especially as seen in the seminal U.S. Supreme Court holding in Miranda v. Arizona] works in actual practice. We will consider the Court’s key decisions, the warnings process, and questions decisions, the warnings process, and questions involving citizens in general and certain groups in particular [e.g., juveniles, racial minorities, inmates]. Class will meet in one two-hour session each week for six weeks. The assigned text will be a compilation of materials prepared by the professor distributed at no cost to students enrolled in the class. The grade for this class will be pass/fail. A pass grade will be based on class participation, attendance [attendance at 5 of 6 sessions required] and a 3-4 page essay due the last day of class critiquing an article discussing the Miranda decision.

This course considers the topic of land title and the potential encumbrances and defects that might exist. It will focus on title insurance as an evolved form of risk management with special attention given to the principal title insurance policies currently in use. In particular, the course will discuss the insuring provisions of both the lender's and the owner's policy, exclusions from coverage, claims and claim processing, significant other policy provisions and risk analysis. This class is highly interactive with an emphasis on practical solutions.

A survey of the legal system's responses to problems arising from personal injury and property damage. Concentration on the legal doctrines relating to liability for harm resulting from fault and to strict liability. Analysis of the goals and techniques of accident prevention and compensation for loss.

An overview of federal trademark law and policy, including the acquisition and loss of trademark rights, the trademark registration process, issues relating to scope and enforcement of rights across geographic boundaries, trademark infringement and dilution, lawful unauthorized use, and remedies. Related issues such as federal false advertising law and state right of publicity law may be considered.

An advanced litigation course intended for those students who have a substantial interest in litigation. The course is designed to develop the student's skills as a trial lawyer for both civil and criminal cases. Trial Advocacy will deal with trial strategy, jury selection, opening statements, presentation of evidence, including the examination of witnesses, closing arguments, and preparation of jury instructions. Evidence presentation and related technologies will be fully integrated into all aspects of the course. A trial will be required. Students who take Trial Advocacy-Basic Advanced Litigation may not take any other Trial Advocacy section (Tech Trial Ad or National Trial Team Trial Ad or Medical Malpractice Trial Ad) for credit. Pre-requisite: satisfactory completion of Evidence, or co-registration in Evidence. This course is open to third year students only, who satisfy the pre-req or co-req.

This three-credit course emphasizes fundamental trial advocacy skills adapted for international LLM students. The course features a “learning by doing” component that highlights the trial process from start to finish, focusing on direct and cross-examination, expert testimony, jury selection, opening statements and closing arguments. The focus of this course is on advocacy techniques that can be applied in trials, arbitrations, and other forms of fact adjudication. Specific rules of evidence and procedure particular to the U.S. legal system will be limited to the essentials. This course extends benefits beyond a solid foundation in the art of trial advocacy. All students, including those interested in transactional or corporate careers, will gain exposure to the key elements of the practice of law in any field, including ethics and professional responsibility, analytical and critical thinking skills, communication and presentation skills, and norms for interaction with clients and other stakeholders. Grades will be based on written assignments, in-class exercises, and overall participation. Student improvement over the semester will factor significantly in the final grade. While students may sometimes work in teams, each student will be graded individually.

A study of the law governing inter vivos and death time gratuitous transfers of property. Aspects covered include transfers under intestate succession statutes; the law of wills, including the formalities of execution, testamentary capacity, undue influence and fraud, interpretation, and revocation; non-probate transfers; the law of trusts, including methods of creation and termination, rights and interests of the beneficiary, and special problems relating to resulting, constructive and charitable trusts; and fiduciary administration, including an introduction to probate proceedings and problems of trust administration.

Eligible placements include the civil or criminal divisions of U.S. Attorney offices. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

This course examines the historical and current public policy approaches to, and the regulation of, alcohol, tobacco/nicotine, marijuana/THC, and other substances considered to be vices. Policy objectives and challenges will be explored from the perspectives of public health and scientific communities, government, consumers, regulated and illicit industry and markets, and law enforcement, including the impact on human behavior, society at large, and various populations. The course will also focus on federal and state regulatory approaches and legal and constitutional considerations involved in the regulation of these vices, including in emerging areas such as cannabis and vapor products.

Eligible placements include the divisions/sections of the Virginia Attorney General's office. Finalizing an externship requires 3 steps before the registration deadline: (1) securing an externship; (2) submitting a completed Externship Agreement; and (3) registering for the correct course and the correct number of credits. 1-4 credits.

Covers procedural law for both law and equitable claims, including applicable statutes, rules of court and cases interpreting the statutes and rules. Appellate procedure for both the Court of Appeals of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Virginia are covered. Prerequisite: Third year status

A review of the Virginia statutes and Rules of Court governing criminal procedure in Virginia's courts. Covers Va. Code Title 19.2, Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia affecting criminal and traffic litigation and a large number of cases interpreting the statutes and rules. The course also lightly covers appellate procedure for criminal cases. Some of the topics covered are jurisdiction, venue, pre-trial motions and procedures, competency and insanity issues, trial, sentencing and appeals. It is not a constitutional law course but there is discussion of how state statutes and rules mesh with constitutional requirements. Course is structured for students who wish to do criminal litigation, either as defense counsel or prosecutor in Virginia. This course is open to 2L and 3L students. Either having completed or being enrolled in Criminal Procedure I & II is helpful, but not required.

This course will be taught as a practicum on the fundamentals of election law litigation, with a focus on issues in voting rights. By the end of this course, students will understand key issues in voting rights, and how to bring forth an action in court on behalf of a voter client. The areas covered will include a study of a variety of issues that may impact individuals’ voting rights, including voter identification, early/absentee voting, and ballot counting; required course readings will maintain a focus on cases brought forth by voter plaintiffs and will include complaints filed in selected cases. The course will include a review of Virginia and federal laws with respect to jurisdiction, venue, standing, and timing as applied to causes of action under the election laws. The course will apply the Virginia Election Laws set forth in the Constitution of Virginia and Title 24.2 of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended, as well as the United States Constitution and the federal Civil and Voting Rights Acts. The course will require students to prepare complaints as though they were preparing to litigate a voting rights case in court while representing voters under the laws of Virginia. Students will have two (2) written assignments as a part of this course. First, students will have an individual assignment to draft a complaint based upon a prompt provided in the first class; this complaint will be due the Wednesday before the second class. In the third session, students will have the opportunity to conference with professors about their individually- drafted complaints. For their second written assignment, students will be provided a hypothetical fact pattern during the third class and will be required to draft complaints in small groups on behalf of voter clients. This is a one credit course, graded on a pass/fail basis. Students will be assessed on their (1) class attendance and participation; (2) individual preparation of a complaint due the Wednesday before the second class session; and (3) small group preparation of a complaint drafted during the third class session. The complaints should demonstrate the student’s ability to apply voting rights precedent while using state law to advocate for a client. NOTE; Sept 19 class meets in Washington D.C.; location to be determined and communicated to students by instructor.

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.

This course will combine a general survey of U.S. water law and policy with an examination of water law doctrines, institutions, and policy issues. One goal of this course is to give students a basic introduction to the laws and institutions that have shaped the use, development, and preservation of water throughout the United States. Thus, we will examine the legal principles and doctrines that have shaped the use of surface water and groundwater in different jurisdictions across the United States, as well as the evolution of public and private rights in these resources. In addition, this course will examine how water law doctrines and water law institutions have evolved to influence the development and preservation of other important resources, including but not limited to biodiversity, coastal and marine resources, energy, and land use.

Preparation and editing of student notes for the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal; and editing of professional articles. Limited to the board and staff members of the Journal.

Preparation and editing of student notes for the William & Mary Business Law Review; editing of professional articles. Limited to the board and staff members of the Review.

Preparation and editing of student notes for the William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review; editing of professional articles. Limited to the board and staff members of the Review.

Preparation and editing of student notes for the William and Mary Journal of Women and the Law; editing of professional articles. Limited to the board and staff members of the Journal.

Preparation and editing of comments and notes for the William and Mary Law Review; editing of professional articles. Limited to the board and staff members of the Review.

This course covers child abuse and neglect, adoption, legal representation of children, emancipation, status offenses, delinquency, trial of minors as adults, and the constitutional rights of youths. There is no exam for this course. Students will write a research paper on a topic of their choice. This course is offered every other year.