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Course List and Descriptions

The following (Part I) is an alphabetical listing of courses currently offered at the Law School preceded by course numbers. A brief description of the course follows in Part II. This information is also listed in the J.D. Manual of Policies & Procedures.

PART I - Alphabetical List of Courses

REQUIRED COURSES

661 Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction
660 Civil Procedure: Rules
650 Constitutional Law I
651 Constitutional Law II
600 Contracts I
601 Contracts II
640 Criminal Law
641 Criminal Procedure
670 Evidence
630 Legal Analysis Research and Writing I
631 Legal Analysis Research and Writing II
633 Legal Drafting Practicum (E)
690 Professional Responsibility
620 Property I
621 Property II
610 Torts I
611 Torts II

ELECTIVE COURSES

800 Administrative Law
946 Advanced Bar Studies
860 Advanced Individual Income Tax Problems
779 Air Pollution Law and Policy
924 Appellate Advocacy Practicum (E), (U)
709 Banking Law
820 Bioethics and the Law (P), (U)
927 Business & Finance Concepts for Lawyers
702 Business Associations
903 Business Negotiation (E)
930 Business Planning Practicum (E)
756 Children Family and the State (P)
919 Civil Pretrial Proceedings (E)
714 Consumer Bankruptcy
774 Copyright Law
945 Core Bar Studies
703 Corporate Counsel
705 Corporate Finance
855 Corporate Taxation
791 Criminal Adjudication
750 Decedent’s Estates
914 Depositions (E)
902 Dispute Resolution (E)
911 Divorce Mediation (E)
849 E-Discovery (E)
900 Electronic Legal Research
817 Employment Discrimination Arbitration (E)
811 Employment Law
783 Energy Law
780 Environmental Law
938 Environmental Law Practicum (E), (U)
878 ERISA Deferred Qualified Plans
850 Estate and Gift Taxation
752 Estates and Trusts
915 Expert Witness (E)
944 Externship (E)
755 Family Law
942 Family Youth Advocacy Center (E)
852 Federal Personal Income Tax
858 Federal Tax Procedure
841 Forensic Evidence
905 General Arbitration (E)
940 General Litigation Clinic (E)
926 General Practice Practicum (E)
822 Health Law (U)
830 Immigration and Naturalization
872 Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates
982 Independent Research Project (U)
720 Insurance Law
898 Insurance Taxation
770 Intellectual Property
823 Interdisciplinary Child Welfare (P)
965 International Law (P), (U)
908 Interviewing and Counseling (E)
843 Judging and the Nature of Justice (P)
921 Jury Instructions (E)
795 Juvenile Law
813 Labor and Employment Arbitration (E)
810 Labor Law
956 Law and American History (P), (U)
952 Law and Literature (P)
829 Law and Social Science (P)
986 Law Review I (U)
987 Law Review II
802 Legislation
804 Local Government Law
925 Managing Your Law Practice
935 Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Seminar and Practicum (E), (P), (U)  
910 Mediation (E) 
941 Mediation Clinic (E) 
912 Mediation of Workplace Disputes (E) 
996 Mock Trial (E)
990 Moot Court (E) 
989 Moot Court Practicum (U)
904 Negotiation (E) 
847 Ohio Civil Rules Practice
784 Oil and Gas Law
958 Origins of Western Law: Greece and Rome (P) 
856 Partnership Tax
772 Patent Law
711 Payment Systems
821 Public Health Law (U) 
762 Real Estate Finance
896 Real Estate Taxation
981 Research Seminar (P), (U) 
933 Ridesharing & Autonomous Vehicle Litigation
710 Secured Transactions
826 Sexual Minorities and the Law (P) 
853 State and Local Taxation
865 Subchapter S Corporations and Advance Pass-Through Entities
825 Summer Adoption Law Institute (SALI) 
862 Tax Research and Communication I
863 Tax Research and Communication II
854 Taxation of Business Entities
932 Trademark Prosecution and Practice
922 Trial Advocacy Practicum (E) 
943 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) (E) 
951 Women and the Law (P) 
734 Workers’ and Unemployment Compensation

(E) Experiential 
(P) Perspective
(U) Upper-Level Writing – with professor permission, limit of 5 students

PART II - Descriptions

A. REQUIRED COURSES

600 AND 601 CONTRACTS I AND II (3 credits each): The enforceability of agreements and promises under the common law and applicable statutes with an emphasis on Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code regarding contracts for the sale of goods. Specific topics include consideration and promissory estoppel, formation of agreements, the Statute of Frauds, policing agreements, remedies for breach, performance and conditions, excuse, rights of third parties, assignment and delegation.

610 AND 611 TORTS I AND II (3 credits fall, 2 credits spring): Intentional torts to persons and property, and defenses; negligence and defenses; traditional strict liability; products liability and defenses.

620 AND 621 PROPERTY I AND II (3 credits each): Concept of possession and remedies of a possessor, gifts, good faith purchasers, estates in land, co-ownership, basic future interests, landlord-tenant problems, conveyancing, recording acts, covenants, and easements.

630 AND 631 LEGAL ANALYSIS RESEARCH AND WRITING I AND II (2 credits each): Instruction in legal analysis, research tools, and writing techniques. Students are required to write predictive and persuasive documents typically encountered in the profession.  

633 LEGAL DRAFTING PRACTICUM (2 credits): Legal Drafting is a requirement for graduation and is designed to give students practical experience drafting documents that they did not draft in the first-year Legal Analysis Research and Writing course and that they likely will encounter in the practice of law. As described below, each section of Legal Drafting has a different focus and the assignments are tailored to the focus. All sections of Legal Drafting include instruction on the Multistate Performance Test portion of the Bar exam, and in all sections students work individually and in small groups to enhance their writing skills. Enrollment is limited to 25 students in each section of this two-credit course. Limited to students in their final year of law school.

  • Transactional will focus on transactional drafting. Students will be engaged in the process of negotiating and drafting contracts.
  • Criminal will teach students legal drafting in the criminal context. Students will draft an indictment, a bill of particulars, a motion to suppress evidence, and a guilty plea.
  • General will teach legal drafting in the civil litigation context. Students will draft a complaint and answer, a discovery document, and a will, among other documents.
     

640 CRIMINAL LAW (3 credits): Nature and sources of criminal liability; mental conditions requisite to criminal responsibility; specific crimes and defenses under both the common law and modern statutes. 

641 CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (3 credits): Criminal process and enforcement; jurisdiction and venue; limits on investigation and prosecution; rules of arrest, search, interrogation, wiretapping, and eavesdropping; prosecution and defense of criminal trials; rights of defendants; sentencing; post-conviction remedies. 

650 AND 651 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I AND II (3 credits each): First semester: Constitutional Law I discusses the structure of the legal system including separation of powers and federalism issues. Topics include, but are not limited to, the powers of Congress, the powers of the federal judiciary, the powers of the President, and the powers reserved to the states. Second semester: Constitutional Law II discusses various individual rights. Topics include, but are not limited to, equal protection, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion.

660 CIVIL PROCEDURE: RULES: (3 credits): Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including pleading, motions to dismiss, sanctions, discovery, motions for summary judgment, joinder of claims and parties, judgment as a matter of law during and after trial, dismissals, relief from judgment, res judicata and collateral estoppel, and appeals.

661 CIVIL PROCEDURE: JURISDICTION (3 credits): Personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, venue, service of process, removal to federal court and choice of law in federal courts.

670 EVIDENCE (4 credits): Major topics in the law of evidence, including competency of witnesses, credibility and impeachment, opinion evidence, character and reputation, evidence of other crimes, hearsay evidence, the Best Evidence Rule, and authentication of evidence. Prerequisites: 600, 601, 610, 611, 620, 621, 630, 631, 632 (evening students only), 640.

690 PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2 credits): The legal profession as an institution; the development of a sense of professional responsibility; an introduction to lawyer disciplinary rules and procedures; the acquaintance of the young lawyer with the privileges and responsibilities of a member of the profession; the importance of cross-cultural competency to professionally responsible representation and the obligation of lawyers to promote a justice system that provides equal access and eliminates bias, discrimination, and racism in the law.  

 

B. ELECTIVE COURSES

All elective courses require the completion of first-year day courses for full-time students and part-time day students and first and second year evening courses for evening students. Additional prerequisites are listed with the course description.

702 BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS (4 credits): The course includes a study of partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, agency law and corporations. The study of partnerships and limited partnerships involves matters of formation, property rights, fiduciary duties, dissociation, dissolution and liquidation. The study of agency law addresses employer/employee, master/servant, and independent contractors as applied to the law of contracts and vicarious tort liability. The study of corporations focuses on formation, operation, fiduciary duties, and liquidation of corporations.

703 CORPORATE COUNSEL (3 credits): This course will identify the multiple roles that often comprise the position of corporate counsel, thus distinguishing it from others in the legal profession. The course focuses mostly on problem solving from within the corporate counsel's multiple roles. Students will consider the role of corporate counsel in implementing, guiding and overseeing the many issues covered in substantive law areas, including a look at ethics and professionalism. Prerequisites: 700, 701. Co-requisites: 670.

705 CORPORATE FINANCE (3 credits): A survey of issues and principles relating to the acquisition, accumulation and distribution of capital resources. Examination of concepts of valuation and capital struc¬ture, legal capital, classes of securities, corporate distributions, mergers, purchases of assets or stock, recapitalizations, and applicability of Federal securities and tax laws. Considerations of economic, social and political thought as they relate to corporate finance. Prerequisites: 700, 701.

709 BANKING LAW (3 credits): An examination of the American Banking System, its main institutions, and the laws governing it. The course explores the Federal Reserve System, Bank Holding Company Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the structure of regulations of banking institutions, and includes analysis of commercial banks, savings banks, and credit unions, along with branch banking and bank mergers and acquisitions. The course emphasizes the business of commercial banking and includes study of business lending, lending limits, letters of credit, bankers acceptances, real estate lending and bank ownership, asset-based lending, and nonperforming loans. The course includes a discussion of troubled banks, focusing on the Financial Institution Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act, creditors and debtors of failed institutions, and FDIC assistance to failed banks. Prerequisites: 700, 701.

710 SECURED TRANSACTIONS (3 credits): Regulation of secured and unsecured credit transactions, with emphasis on Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.

711 PAYMENT SYSTEMS (3 credits): The law of negotiable instruments, commercial paper and electronic fund transfers, including bank relations. Emphasis on Articles 3, 4 and 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code together with appropriate federal statutes and regulations.

714 CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY (3 credits): State collection law and bankruptcy law in cases involving consumer debtors. Prerequisite: 710.

720 INSURANCE LAW (2-3 credits): Insurance protects individuals and all types of entities against uncertainty and risk. This course will provide students with a practical legal understanding of insurance law which can be used in the course of personal or business dealings or to advise clients on insurance related issues. This course will cover insurance legal fundamentals, the insurance contract, the use of insurance to manage risk, insurance regulation and insurance related litigation.

 

TORTS


734 WORKERS' AND UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION (2 credits): Study of the prevention and compensation of workers' disability and unemployment.
 

PROPERTY

750 DECEDENTS' ESTATES (2 credits): Issues relevant to transfers through a probate estate, both testate and intestate. Advancements, assignments of expectancies, disclaimers, protection of spouse from disinheritance, execution and revocation of wills, will contests, contracts to make wills, changes in property between execution of will and death of testator, lapse, and overview of estate administration. Not open to students who have taken 752.

752 ESTATES AND TRUSTS (4 credits): A survey of the law relevant to the transfer of property from one generation to another, both inside and outside the probate system. This course will integrate much of the material covered separately in 750 and 751. See those course descriptions. Not open to students who have taken 750 or 751.

755 FAMILY LAW (3 credits): Marriage; divorce; annulments; related problems of jurisdiction and conflicts of law; alimony; custody; antenuptial and separation agreements; tort and contract problems of the family; adoption; paternity; divorce reform legislation.

756 CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND THE STATE (2 or 3 credits): This course examines the legal relationships among children, parents, and the State, primarily in the context of the issue of child abuse and neglect. The course content will include the historical background of child welfare law, the allocation of power between parents and the State, parental discipline and corporal punishment, reporting of abuse and the historical development of reporting laws, the abuse and neglect legal system and the decision-making process involved in removing a child from their parent's custody, and the foster care system. In examining these issues, this course will address various theoretical perspectives, including feminist legal theories and critical race theory.

762 REAL ESTATE FINANCE (3 credits): Mortgages; deeds of trust; land contracts; sale and leasebacks; joint ventures; Federal aid to housing and other topics viewed in transactional settings; financing of residences, condominiums, cooperatives, office structures, shopping centers, subdivisions, and farms; introduction to interstate land sales, zoning, and title issues. Co-requisite: 700.

770 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (3 credits): Introduction to intellectual property; background for general practice and a foundation for specialization in patents, trademarks, and copyrights; principles applicable to inventions and discoveries; secrecy as a means of protection; industrial espionage; the nature of the patent right, its acquisition, and enforcement; property and contract interests; basic requirements for trademark registration; relation of copyright to patents; trademarks. Prerequisites: first-year day courses. Not open to students who have completed more than one of the following: 772, 774 or 776.

772 PATENT LAW (3 credits): Conditions for a valid patent, subject matter of a patent, patent office procedures, amendment and correction of patents, patent infringement, property and contract interests in patents, and patent litigation.

774 COPYRIGHT LAW (3 credits): A study of intellectual property rights in literary, musical, and artistic works and other "original works of authorship" under the federal law of copyright, primarily the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended.

779 AIR POLLUTION LAW AND POLICY (2 credits): The Clean Air Act is one of the most significant areas of environmental law; it is also one of the most complex. This course will offer students a comprehensive introduction to the Act and to the legal and policy issues that arise under the Act. It will begin with an introduction to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and State Implementation Plans, the building blocks of the Clean Air Act. It will then examine in some detail the Act's major regulatory programs (the Prevention of Significant Deterioration program, the Non-attainment New Source Review program, the New source Performance Standard program, and the Hazardous Air Pollutants program), as well as the Act's enforcement and judicial review provisions. In this context, issues of federalism, market-¬based approaches to regulation and environmental justice will be addressed. The course will conclude with an introduction to international air pollution issues, with a focus on global warming. Prerequisites: 780.

780 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (3 credits): Environmental issues have great importance for American society today. From climate change, to renewable energy, to air or water pollution, to "green" products or businesses, environmental issues are profoundly affecting our health, our natural environment and our economy. Environmental lawyers will play a major role in addressing these issues. They will interpret existing statutes and inform policymakers and businesses of their legal options and obligations. They will draft the legislation that shapes the environmental outcomes of the future, and the contracts that allow the new environmental technologies to emerge. They will bring the lawsuits that enforce the environmental laws on the books. This course will introduce students to the exciting world of environmental law and will prepare them to participate in it. It will provide students with a solid grounding in the major federal environmental statutes – The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act, the Superfund Law, the Endangered Species Act, and others – and will expose them to the most significant cases interpreting these statutes. In addition, the course will introduce students to the regulatory approaches -- such as market-based trading, technology-based “command-and-control,” or planning-based strategies -- that underlie these statutes, and will thereby give them a deeper understanding of the statutes they are reading. The course will include regular exercises so that students can build their environmental law practice skills. It will close with a section on climate change law and policy, an area of increasing importance to the next generation of environmental lawyers.

783 ENERGY LAW (2 credits): An overview of the basic principles governing the production, sale, and use of coal, oil, natural gas, and electricity. Equal focus on the environmental and business laws that affect producers and consumers of energy.

784 OIL AND GAS LAW (2 credits): This course explores the fundamentals of oil and gas law, while also exposing students to the practical skills needed to be successful oil and gas attorneys. This course will provide a mixture of traditional doctrinal instruction, skills and experiential opportunities. Course activities may include a visit to a “fracking” site, a visit to a County Recorder’s Office to conduct a simulated title search, and an in-class simulated negotiation exercise in groups.

 

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE

791 CRIMINAL ADJUDICATION (3 credits): This is a three-hour, one-semester, elective course surveying the basic issues of criminal procedure in the post-investigation, adjudication phase. This course will address issues of criminal procedure, including: the role of and right to counsel, pretrial release and detention, prosecutorial discretion, grand jury indictment, preliminary hearing, motion practice, discovery, joinder and severance, speedy trial, plea bargaining, jury trials, and double jeopardy. Prerequisite: 640 Criminal Law. NOTE: 641 Criminal Procedure is NOT a prerequisite for this course.

795 JUVENILE LAW (2 credits): This course examines the legal relationships among children, family and the state, primarily in the context of issues over which juvenile courts traditionally have jurisdiction. The subject matter is divided into two sections, the first dealing with the constitutional and statutory rights of juveniles, [focusing on those rights which are] involved in the criminal justice system and the second focusing on civil matters including neglect, abuse, termination of parental rights, adoption, and children's right to treatment issues.

 

PUBLIC LAW

800 ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (3 credits): Delegation of powers; statutory and constitutional controls in administrative proceedings; right to notice and hearing; adequacy of findings; procedure for obtaining judicial review; extent of judicial review.

802 LEGISLATION (3 credits): Consideration of how legislatures are formed and legislators elected; the making of statutory law; how statutes are drafted, enacted, applied, and interpreted.

804 LOCAL GOVERNMENT (2 credits): The Local Government class is designed to give students a broad overview of the formation of local governments, the limits of their authority, and the wide range of issues affecting them. Students will have the opportunity to learn from attorneys and specialists within the Civil Division of the Columbus City Attorney’s Office, City & State agencies, and the private sector, who are experts in their field of practice. Topics include, but are not limited to, home rule, litigation, the First amendment, state tort immunity, 1983 actions, nuisance abatement, public health emergencies, zoning/real estate, labor & employment, and public records/ethics. Class participation is highly encouraged and an oral advocacy component will be incorporated throughout the semester. The writing assignments will serve to provide students an opportunity to craft responses similar to what would be expected of a clerk working in a professional law office to show understanding of the substantive material being presented in class. Guidance will be provided pertaining to writing style, applying law to facts, choice of language, sentence structure, and proper citation format.
810 LABOR LAW (3 credits): Analysis of the relationship between employers, employees and unions in the private sector under the National Labor Relations Act and other federal statutes. Topics include union organizing, employer and employee bargaining relations, representation procedures, strikes and picketing, unfair labor practices, the duty of fair representation, internal union affairs, and the enforcement of collective bargaining agreements.

811 EMPLOYMENT LAW (3 credits): Focuses on employment relationships between employers and employees. Examines the common law principles of employment-at-will, legal regulations on hiring and terminating employees, and conditions of employment. Specific topics include polygraph testing, nepotism, violence in the workplace, covenants not to compete, reference checks, and off-work behavior. Also covers the Family Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Occupational Health and Safety Act, and various state laws.

813 LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT ARBITRATION (2 credits): The origin and development of labor arbitration. Examines state and federal labor arbitration laws, arbitration rules, and major arbitration decisions. Also includes the mechanics of the arbitration process and evidential and due process issues. This course usually concludes with a mock arbitration hearing, including the writing of a brief for arbitration and an arbitration opinion.

817 EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION ARBITRATION (3 credits): A survey of federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of race, national origin, sex, age, religion, and disability. Focuses on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Equal Pay Act, and reconstruction era civil rights statutes. Prerequisite: 651.

820 BIOETHICS AND LAW (3 credits): Analysis of legal, ethical, and economic problems generated by current and projected advances in biomedical technologies; mind/behavior control by psychotropic intervention with organic therapies; genetic control through molecular biology and reproductive technology; life prolongation; reconstructive medicine and termination of life; regulation and support of biomedical research and experimentation. Co-requisite: 651.

821 PUBLIC HEALTH LAW (2 credits): This course will focus on efforts to use regulation, litigation and taxation to improve public health, with a particular focus on the tension between public health promotion and individual rights. It will survey the legal framework in which the government may regulate for the public health, focusing on the inherent tension between public health regulation and individual rights. The course will touch briefly on a wide range of constitutional limitations on government power (including 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th/14th Amendment issues) as well as the broader debate over whether government power should be used for "paternalistic" regulation. It will review litigation in the public health arena, including a discussion of whether courts are an appropriate and effective forum for addressing public health concerns. Finally, the course will touch on taxation for the public health, addressing the impact of "sin" taxes and the debate about whether the government's taxation power should be used to influence behavior.

822 HEALTH LAW (3 credits): An analysis of the health care industry, its financing and cost problems, its mix of public and private decision-making, and the various mechanisms by which resources are or might be allocated to health care uses. Specific topics include: 1) tensions of health policy--the health care sector and its special problems; access to health care-legal entitlements and obligations; professionalism; 2) mechanisms of quality assurance--credentialing and regulation of health care personnel; the quality of care in institutions; 3) controlling health care costs--regulatory approaches to cost containment; cost controls in government programs; privately initiated reforms.

823 INTERDISCIPLINARY CHILD WELFARE INSTITUTE (ICWI) (2 credits): The Family and Youth Law Center teaches the Interdisciplinary Child Welfare Institute as a summer intensive program to provide law students and graduate level social work students with a foundation of mutual understanding of legal and sociological principles in child welfare work and strategies for effective multidisciplinary practice among child-serving professionals. Students in the ICWI will gain a basic understanding of the legal concepts related to children and families, child development theory, family dynamics, ethical considerations of interdisciplinary practice, and practical, interdisciplinary exercises and problem-solving opportunities. This course is open to law students and graduate social work students. The Institute is offered over five consecutive days in the summer of odd-numbered years.

825 SUMMER ADOPTION LAW INSTITUTE (SALI) (2 credits): The Family and Youth Law Center teaches the Summer Adoption Law Institute as a summer intensive course to explores issues relating to adoption law. The course content will include the history of adoption law and child welfare law in the United States, Constitutional rights in the family context, types of adoption, parties to adoption, adoption procedure, confidentiality and records in adoption, the Indian Child Welfare Act, race and sexual orientation issues in adoption, interstate dimensions of adoption, assisted reproductive technologies, and wrongful adoptions. Class participants will be provided in-class opportunities for discussion and the opportunity to interact with guest speakers and families involved in adoption. This course is open to law students and practicing attorneys seeking CLE credit. The Institute is offered over five consecutive days in the summer of even-numbered years.

826 SEXUAL MINORITIES AND THE LAW (2 credits): An examination of a variety of areas in which the law distinguishes on the basis of sexual orientation including criminal law, family law, employment law and constitutional law. The jurisprudence in a variety of areas of law will be examined to see how that jurisprudence has or has not been modified in light of sexual orientation. Co-requisite: 651.

829 LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (2 credits): This course introduces students to the use of social science evidence by legal practitioners and courts at all levels. Such evidence is used, for example, in cases involving issues of trademark infringement, obscenity, discrimination, identification of criminal offenders, potential jury prejudice, eyewitness reliability, sexual assault, self-defense, dangerousness, and the fashioning of remedies. Despite its now common use, scientific evidence poses fundamental issues and recurring challenges for the law. In this course, students examine the methodology of social science research and various uses and challenges of using such research in the law. This course provides a foundation for law students to become sophisticated consumers and critics of social science evidence, equipping them to recognize issues raised by the use of social science in the law, and providing a foundation in empirical analysis that assists in using social science in legal forums. This course fulfills the Perspective Requirement for graduation.

830 IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION (2 credits): A basic introduction to immigration law and procedure. The course traces major legislative history and immigration policy.

 

LITIGATION AND PROCEDURE

841 FORENSIC EVIDENCE (3 credits): An advanced evidence course focusing on expert issues or various forensic disciplines, crime scenes and incident investigations as evidence in civil and criminal litigation. Prerequisite: 670.

843 JUDGING AND THE NATURE OF JUSTICE (2 credits): This course will examine the ethical and legal responsibilities of the neutral arbiter of disputes and debate the appropriate role of judges in making, interpreting and applying law. It will include analysis of various judicial philosophies and the contemporary theories of law which influence their development. Through readings and excerpts from film, it will trace notions and concepts of justice through time with an emphasis on the evolution of the administration of justice in contemporary U.S. society. Discussion will focus on topics such as methods of factual decision-making, judicial ethics, judicial writing and the characteristics intrinsic to those who are perceived as “good” and “bad” judges. Lastly, the course will provide an opportunity to compare the practical realities of the profession of judging with aspirational notions of “justice”. Prerequisite: 661.

844 REMEDIES (3 credits): Compensatory damages (measuring value, consequential losses, limits on damages); injunctions (uses of injunctions, permanent injunctions, TRO's); declaratory judgments, restitution; punitive damages; contempt; collecting money judgments; litigation expenses; remedial defenses. Limited to students in their final year of law school.

847 OHIO CIVIL RULES PRACTICUM (1 Credit): Study of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure designed for students who plan to practice in Ohio and who have taken Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction and Civil Procedure: Rules. Topics include the unusual constitutional authority underlying the Civil Rules; the exquisitely-complex issues posed by application of the Civil Rules to civil actions and to “special statutory proceedings” under Civil Rules 1, 73, 75, and 82; commencement of actions; venue of actions; service of process; pleadings and motions; joinder; summary judgment; discovery; jury trial; dismissal of actions; JNOV and directed verdict; jury instructions; trial court findings of fact and conclusions of law; and relief from judgment under Civil Rule 60 (B). Course reading will include text of most Civil Rules and leading Ohio Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Rules, including many of the decisions listed in the Civil Procedure section of the Outline of Subjects Tested on Essay Portion of Ohio Bar Examination as last revised and promulgated by the Supreme Court of Ohio in November 2002. Prerequisites – all first-year day courses.

849 E-DISCOVERY (2 credits): This course covers legal issues pertaining to discovery of electronically stored evidence (ESI) in civil litigation. The course will provide traditional doctrinal instruction about the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence pertaining to the discovery of ESI and case law interpreting these provisions. Additionally, the course will provide instruction on and opportunities to practice skills essential to managing the production and review of ESI. Finally, the course will provide a basic introduction to the technology most commonly used in the production and review of ESI. The course will explore issues surrounding ESI throughout the entire course of civil litigation from the duty to preserve to the eventual admissibility at trial of ESI. Prerequisites: 660, 661 or 661P.

 

TAXATION

850 ESTATE AND GIFT TAXATION (3 credits): Substantive provisions of federal estate and gift tax laws and the generation skipping transfer provisions, including transfer with retention of interest or power, joint interests, life insurance proceeds, property subject to powers of appointment, marital deduction, and split gifts. Co-requisite: 852.

852 FEDERAL PERSONAL INCOME TAX (3 credits): Taxation of income; realization; recognition; timing; sales; dispositions of property and capital gains; personal and business-related deductions; exemptions; credits; and tax procedure. Prerequisites: 600, 601, 610, 611, 620, 621, 630, 631, 632 (evening students only), 640.

853 STATE AND LOCAL TAXATION (2 credits): An examination of the fundamental principles applicable to state and local taxes including a review of various types of taxes, (property, income, and sales and use taxes) used by the states and localities. We also look at federal constitutional limitations upon the states’ ability to tax, including Commerce Clause, Due Process, and Equal Protection considerations. Ohio tax law is not the focus of the class and is used only as a means to address the principal national issues. Prerequisites: 651.

854 TAXATION OF BUSINESS ENTITIES (3 credits): This survey course will cover the basics of taxation of business entities. It will include an introduction to Federal taxation of C Corporations, Partnership, LLCs, and S Corporations. This course is designed primarily for students interested in business and will focus on identification and resolution of tax issues in common business transactions. Prerequisite: 852 This course may not be taken if the student is enrolled in the LL.M. in Taxation or M.T. programs, nor may they be used to replace the Corporation and Partnership tax courses required in those programs. The course may be taken by a student enrolled in the LL.M. in Business.

855 CORPORATE TAXATION (3 credits): Tax consideration in corporate formation, distributions, redemption and liquidation, including tax consequences of corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, consolidations, and divisions. Prerequisite: 852.

856 PARTNERSHIP TAX (3 credits): The meaning of partnership taxation including formation, transactions between partner and partnership, determination and treatment of partnership income and losses, sale or exchange of partnership interest, distributions, retirement, death of partner, and drafting the tax provisions of a partnership agreement. Prerequisite: 852.

858 FEDERAL TAX PROCEDURE (2 credits): The focus of this course is on federal tax procedure. Areas covered include: organization and operation of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), audits, administrative appeals, deficiency procedures and litigation, refund claims and suits for refund, summons and other investigative authority of the IRS, access to IRS information, assessments, collections, private letter rulings, penalties and interest, and an introduction to criminal tax procedure. Co-requisite: 852.

860 ADVANCED INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX PROBLEMS (2 credits): The course will utilize selected problems to cover the major income tax issues for individuals. Topics covered will include definitions of gross income, business deductions, income splitting, sales and other dispositions of property, gains and losses, and timing issues. Prerequisite: 852.

862 TAX RESEARCH and COMMUNICATION I (2 credits): An introduction to tax research and communication. The student will be responsible for completing certain exercises and drafting tax documents utilizing tax research techniques. Prerequisite: 852.

863 TAX RESEARCH and COMMUNICATION II (2 credits): Preparation of a comprehensive research paper. Prerequisite: 852, 862.

865 SUBCHAPTER S CORPORATIONS AND ADVANCED PASS-THROUGH ENTITIES (2 credits): Advanced corporate tax problems including taxation of Subchapter S corporations, professional corporations, personal holding companies and punitive taxes on earnings accumulations, and collapsible corporations. Prerequisite: 852.

872 INCOME TAXATION OF TRUSTS and ESTATES (2 credits): Taxation of income of simple trusts, complex trusts, and grantor trusts; discussion of rules unique to trusts and estates, including distributable net income, charitable deduction, distribution deduction, and income in respect of decedents. Prerequisite: 852.

878 ERISA TAX DEFERRED QUALIFIED PLANS (2 credits): This course will cover tax code principles of tax deferral, various non-qualified plan options and other tax qualified arrangements such as IRAS and SEPS, 403(b) and 457(b) and (f) plans. Coverage will focus on the core Internal Revenue Code sections relating to various qualified plan options, coverage and participation alternatives, contribution and benefit limits, vesting and benefit protection rules, discrimination rules, salary deferral opportunities under 401(k), merger and acquisition rules, control group and affiliated service group rules, fiduciary and investment management oversight, reporting and disclosure rules, and certain health and welfare benefit rules. The course culminates with a practicum-style case study which simulates the experience of a law firm associate working in a tax/benefits department. During the case study, students will be required to design compensation plans that achieve the management and financial goals of a simulated client. This interactive process will help the focused and prepared student develop the critical thinking and problem solving skills necessary to succeed in practice and will demonstrate how a skilled attorney uses the tax code, regulations and related authorities to meet the business and financial concerns of clients. In short, the exercise demonstrates the importance of integrating theory and practice skills to successfully serve the needs of clients. Prerequisite: 852.

896 REAL ESTATE TAXATION (2 credits): Effect of income taxes on real estate and real estate transactions, sales and exchanges of real estate interests, various entities for the ownership and development of real estate, real estate syndications, problems of the investor and the developer, basis and basis adjustments, and choices of financing techniques such as the sale-leaseback, depreciation, amortization, and obsolescence. Prerequisite: 852.

898 INSURANCE TAXATION (2 credits): Explores the tax implications of owning life insurance policies and annuity contracts, and transactions (e.g., exchanges, distribution) involving those contract, as well as the definitional requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Course in estate taxation and/or estate planning is helpful but not mandatory. Prerequisite: 852.

 

LAWYERING SKILLS AND PROFESSIONALISM

900 ELECTRONIC LEGAL RESEARCH (1 credit): The Electronic Legal Research is an intensive course that meets on a Saturday and Sunday early in the semester. This course will discuss and evaluate methods of electronic legal research. Internet legal resources, including Westlaw and Lexis, will be reviewed. Student will learn to evaluate electronic research tools and sources. A major course objective is to help students develop cost-effective and efficient research strategies. This course has limited enrollment. Attendance at every class for both days is mandatory. A research guide will be due at the end of the semester.

902 DISPUTE RESOLUTION (2 credits): Study of the major alternatives to litigation for the resolution of disputes including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and court-annexed procedures. Theoretical materials applied in simulated exercises. NOTE: Students enrolling in the summer intensive format version of this course are not to work during the course.

903 BUSINESS NEGOTIATION (2 credits): This course is designed for students who have taken the Negotiation course and wish to learn about the use of negotiation in the business environment. A student who completes this course will acquire: a comprehensive and well-founded knowledge of business negotiation necessary for successful negotiation in business; the skills and abilities necessary to engage successfully in negotiation in various business and organization settings; an understanding of how the discipline of law relates to business negotiation; the ability to identify problems, create solutions, innovate, and improve current practices in business negotiations; and the ability to think creatively to reach mutually satisfactory negotiated outcomes in business. Prerequisites: 904.

904 NEGOTIATION (2 or 3 credits): Selected materials in negotiation, the process by which lawyers resolve 90% of their clients' legal problems. Topics include selecting appropriate strategies for a particular negotiation, planning for a negotiation, and implementing strategy, selecting tactics and considering ethical issues of misrepresentation and zealous advocacy. NOTE: Students enrolling in the summer intensive format version of this course are not to work during the course.

905 GENERAL ARBITRATION (2 credits): An examination of the use of arbitration as an alternate adjudicative process. The course will discuss all aspects of arbitration, including compulsory arbitration, arbitration clauses, the Federal Arbitration Act, post-hearing processes for formal arbitration, and public policy issues.

908 INTERVIEWING and COUNSELING PRACTICUM (2 credits): Selected materials in the lawyering process including development of the skills necessary for successful client interviewing and counseling, extensive use of role playing, and actual client interviews. 

910 MEDIATION (2 credits): This course approaches mediation from the advocate's perspective. Students will develop a sophisticated understanding of mediation and will learn when to use mediation as a settlement process. Learning objectives will be met through in class role-plays, reading assignments, written analysis of mediation role-plays, and a final examination. NOTE: Students enrolling in the summer intensive format version of this course are not to work during the course. Classes run from 8:00 am to 1:10 pm every day from Monday through Saturday. A final exam is given the following Tuesday.

911 DIVORCE MEDIATION (3 credits): Mediation in the domestic/divorce arena combines a thorough understanding of the basic skills of mediation with the substantive knowledge of the relevant issues on divorce such as custody, visitation, support and property division. The student will receive education and training that will explore these areas as well as provide the necessary educational requirements to comply with the standard divorce/domestic mediation certification. This course is well suited for those future attorneys who wish to mediate divorce cases or to represent clients in divorce mediations. A final exam is given. This course has been approved by the Ohio Supreme Court to meet the requirement of Rule 16 of the Ohio Rules of Superintendence for a 40-hour course in specialized family or divorce mediation. Students interested in practicing in Ohio and being included on any list of court-approved family mediators should refer to Rule 16 for other Ohio Supreme Court requirements.

NOTE: In the one week summer intensive format, the 5 day class runs Monday through Friday (8:00 am to 5:30 pm). In the regular semester format, the class is taught over 5 weekend days (8:00 am to 5:30 pm each day).

Prerequisite: 910 Mediation. Students may seek permission from the Associate Dean to take 910 Mediation concurrently with 911 Divorce Mediation or to waive 910 Mediation. Permission to take the courses concurrently will be granted when attendance in regularly scheduled 910 Mediation classes will ensure that a student receives at least 12 hours of instruction in basic mediation before beginning 911 Divorce Mediation. Permission to waive 910 Mediation will be granted when a student has previously completed a basic 12 hour mediation course or has equivalent mediation experience.

912 MEDIATION OF WORKPLACE DISPUTES (2 credits): This course will expose students to various theoretical and practical approaches to mediating workplace disputes. Students will explore how the use and application of the mediation process can be used as a tool to resolve workplace disputes in lieu of protracted litigation. Through demonstration, structured exercises, simulations, role-play and group discussion, student will explore how to effectively represent clients during mediation. Students will also draft legal settlement agreements, prepare demand letters, and case evaluations for mediation. JD students and attorneys who have completed an extensive mediation training program may request that the prerequisite be waived. Prerequisite: 910.

914 DEPOSITIONS (2 credits): This course provides students with a developed knowledge and understanding of deposition strategies, as well as with the opportunity for hands-on application of the substantive and procedural law surrounding lay and expert depositions. Each student will be required to take and defend a lay and an expert deposition, prepare a deposition outline for those depositions they take, and prepare a deposition summary for all their deposition simulations. In conjunction with Grant Hospital’s Medical Program, the final videotaped class will consist of expert depositions (taking and defending) employing Grant Medical Residents as deponents and expert witnesses. This course is intended to compliment both Trial Advocacy and Civil Pre-Trial Proceedings. Prerequisite: 660.

915 EXPERT WITNESS (2 credits): This course in expert witnesses focuses on the legal and practical considerations involved in use of expert witnesses in litigation. Students will evaluate case law, best practices concerning the use and exclusion of expert witnesses in litigation, the retention of experts, expert reports and depositions of expert witnesses. In addition to this instruction, the students will draft various legal documents, such as expert retention letters, expert reports, deposition outlines, and deposition summaries. Finally, the students will take several mock expert depositions, with the final culminating in the deposition of an outside expert based on the expert’s report.

919 CIVIL PRETRIAL PROCEEDINGS (3 credits): As a litigation attorney you will conduct most of your activity before trial in pleading, discovery and dispositive motion practice. This includes meeting with your client, independently investigating the facts, preparing a Complaint or Answer, Interrogatories, Requests for Production of Documents, Requests for Admissions, Notice of Deposition, Subpoenas and gathering information on your client, the opposing party, and sometimes Co-Defendants. Once you have gathered this information, you will typically be taking multiple depositions and defending your client’s deposition as well as your witnesses’ depositions. You may also be preparing or defending against a motion for summary judgment. This class will introduce you to the basics of pleadings, discovery and motion practice. You will explore strategies for framing and drafting pleadings. You will explore strategies for effective use of each discovery tool. You will prepare written discovery, prepare answers to discovery, and take mock depositions. Ultimately, the class seeks to help you learn to formulate a litigation plan and use each stage of the pretrial process to effectively develop the evidence needed to achieve your desired litigation outcome. By the end of this class, you should see how a litigator effectively employs pleadings and discovery to frame the factual issues in a way that allows for favorable disposition at trial or on summary judgment. Your final grade will be based on the pleadings you draft, the discovery submitted to opposing counsel, your responses on behalf of your client, including all appropriate objections, a final deposition and a motion for summary judgment. Prerequisite: 660, 661 or 661P.

921 JURY INSTRUCTIONS (1 credit): This skill-based course will introduce students to the theoretical considerations involved in drafting jury instructions, as well as provide them with hands-on training in the research and writing of instructions. Students will learn a step-by-step approach to the drafting of instructions for use prior to trial, during trial and at the end of trial. Students will also learn how to prepare jury interrogatories and additional findings, how to prepare verdict forms, how to participate in a charging conference and preserve perceived error, and how to address jury questions and the issue of inconsistent verdicts. Throughout the course there will be continuing discussion on the role of counsel as an advocate and an officer of the Court, including ethical considerations and balancing advocacy with presenting correct statements of the law.

922 TRIAL ADVOCACY PRACTICUM (3 credits): Trial tactics and strategy; preparation for trial; procedure during trial; conduct of counsel; mock trial of a case. Prerequisites: 660, 661, 670.

924 APPELLATE ADVOCACY PRACTICUM (2 credits): Course focuses on writing appellate briefs and preparing oral arguments in defense of the brief. Advanced writing, analysis, and persuasion skills are emphasized. Additional topics include appellate jurisdiction, the standard of review, and appealable orders.

925 MANAGING YOUR LAW PRACTICE: (2 credits): This course is designed to provide a basic overview of the business and professional issues facing the new law graduate who intend to practice as a solo practitioner or in a small law office. Most of the topics covered also will be relevant for students who intend to practice with larger law firms, government agencies, or corporate law departments. The course is open to students who have completed their first year. Enrollment is limited to 25 students. Prerequisite: 700.

926 GENERAL PRACTICE PRACTICUM (2 credits): Application of legal theory to solving concrete problems encountered in general practice: planning and drafting techniques in selected areas of administrative, trial, and appellate practice. Limited to students in the last year of law school.

927 BUSINESS & FINANCE CONCEPTS FOR LAWYERS (2 credits): This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the key financial issues that directly impact the performance of legal duties. This course will impart knowledge of financial concepts that practicing lawyers need for successful and informed representation of clients. Lawyers directly representing business firms will benefit from a better understanding of the drivers impacting these companies, as will lawyers serving in government agencies that regulate these firms. In addition, students planning careers in litigation or family practice will gain tools to better assess the other side’s financial resources and to improve their evaluation of settlement offers. Students will learn to read and analyze the basic financial documents that from the backbone of business practice.

930 BUSINESS PLANNING PRACTICUM (2 credits): Integrated study of corporate, financial, tax, accounting, and securities aspects of: organization of a small corporation, organization of a public corporation, stock dividends, recapitalization and stock redemption in the context of stockholder conflict, corporate liquidations, corporate mergers and acquisitions. 852, 700, and either 854, 855 or 856; Co¬-requisite: 701. 

932 TRADEMARK PROSECUTION AND PRACTICE (1 credit intensive-summer): Course will provide a comprehensive review of trademark law and teach students the process of selecting, clearing, prosecuting and maintaining a trademark. The course will start with students (as clients) creating a new business or product name. Students will learn how to advise a client and apply trademark law to assist with selecting an effective trademark. The course will focus on the skills to research and clear a trademark for use and the process of preparing and prosecuting a trademark application with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). Students will understand the trademark examination process and will prepare an application, respond to an office action from the USPTO, and know how to perfect the registration, and protect and maintain the mark after registration. 

933 RIDESHARING AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE LITIGATION (1 credit): This course focuses on the practical implications that changing technology plays in the role of tort law. The goal of this course is to examine how traditional tort law has adapted and been changed to apply to technologies and business relationships that did not traditional exist in tort law. This course will also examine the role that insurance plays in tort law, from shaping policies to compensating injured parties. Further, this course will discuss and examine the statutory and regulatory response to several of these emerging technologies.

935 MARSHALL-BRENNAN CONSTITUTIONAL LITERACY SEMINAR AND PRACTICUM (3 credits): Students will participate in the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. Students will be required to complete both components of the course. The first component will be a two-hour seminar in Advanced Constitutional Law, exploring how Constitutional Law affects the lives of high school students and the intersection between Constitutional Law and Education Law. The seminar will be conducted in the same manner as a traditional law school seminar. The seminar will meet once a week for two hours each week during the entire semester. Students will be expected to complete substantial reading assignments and participate in classroom discussion. The second component of the course will be a field placement. Students will be placed in teaching pairs and assigned to teach a Constitutional Law class in an area high school. Students will be expected to complete at least 30 hours of teaching at the high school during the course of the semester.

938 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW PRACTICUM (2 credits): This course uses problems and simulation exercises to teach students lawyering skills necessary for the practice of environmental law. It is divided into four sections -- compliance counseling, enforcement, litigation and policy -- which correspond to four of the main areas of environmental law practice. Each section commences with an introduction to the area of practice being covered. Following the introduction, students complete short problems designed to expand and deepen their understanding of the area. At the conclusion of each section, students engage in realistic that simulate the practice of environmental law. The course requires students to produce a variety of written work during the semester, such as memorandums, complains, and summary briefs. Students will be graded on these written assignments as well as on the quality of their performance in the simulations. There is no final exam or paper requirement. Prerequisite: 780.

940 GENERAL LITIGATION CLINIC (2 or 3 credits): Law students who have received a limited license to practice law from the Ohio Supreme Court represent clients who are charged with misdemeanor offenses or who have civil legal problems in areas such as domestic relations, adoptions, landlord-tenant, consumer, and wills. The General Litigation Clinic class is scheduled to meet on Wednesdays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. In an effort to prepare students at the outset to handle various types of cases, i.e., domestic, criminal, civil, etc., there will be additional classes to teach the procedural and substantive elements of these areas. These classes are usually scheduled to start on the first Thursday immediately following the start of our regular Wednesday class for approximately 7 consecutive weekday mornings from 7:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.  We have scheduled these early morning classes during the first week of school in an effort to avoid interfering with established schedules. Prerequisite: This course is available only to students who have completed two-thirds of the credit hours needed to graduate (59 credit hours) and who satisfy the other requirements for the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Legal Intern License, outlined in Rule II of the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio. Enrollment priority will be given to students who have taken 908.

941 MEDIATION CLINIC (3 credits): A clinical experience for students who have already completed the Mediation course as a prerequisite. Students will complete “some” classroom work, but they will spend the majority of time mediating disputes in a variety of settings. Students will conduct and/or observe pre-scheduled mediation sessions at the Franklin County Municipal Court, the City Prosecutor’s Office, and The Supreme Court of Ohio. Mediations may be scheduled during the day time or evening hours and may require attendance at different locations. The classroom work involves general skills training in the techniques needed to conduct a mediation. Additional training and classroom work will focus on subject areas that will assist the student in performing his/her role as a mediator. There is “no” regular class time set for this course. “Classroom” sessions will be scheduled based on student availability. NOTE: Each student will have a different “mediation” schedule that she/he will specifically coordinate with the professor. This schedule can be a set time for the entire semester, or it can change from week to week as the professor and student determine. There is a lot of flexibility in determining this schedule. After completing the Mediation Clinic for 3 credit hours, students may petition to take an additional semester of Mediation Clinic for 1, 2, or 3 credit hours. Prerequisite: 910. 

943 VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE (VITA) (1 credit): Provides state and federal income tax preparation for low income taxpayers. Six students will permitted to enroll in VITA for 1 hour of academic credit. Those students will be required to be available to serve clients a minimum of 20 scheduled hours from February 1st through April 15th. Client appointments are typically on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Students will also be required to attend four weeks of classes in January and February in which there will be two hours of classroom instruction each week. All students will be required to achieve the score specified by the IRS as necessary for participation in VITA on examinations specified by the instructor. Students will receive a grade upon completion of the course as determined by the instructor.

944 EXTERNSHIP (1-6 credits): Approved students may earn course credit through placements or employment with courts, government agencies, not-for-profit agencies, corporations, or private law firms that offer the opportunity to apply the substantive law and lawyering skills learned in the traditional curriculum. A faculty supervisor closely supervises the student. Course credit is predicated on 50 working hours for each one-semester hour of credit. Grading is on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisites, Co-requisites, and other limitations on enrollment are announced in advance. Students may take the externship course more than once for a total of 6 credit hours. See Section 4.13.

945 CORE BAR STUDIES (2 credit): Core Bar Studies (CBS) provides a substantive review of the core doctrinal material tested on bar exams and relevant to law practice. The course features a comprehensive faculty-led lecture series on the frequently-tested topics such as Torts, Contracts, Property, Constitutional Law, Evidence and Criminal Law. CBS is modeled on active learning principles and methodologies. As such, students will be required to engage with the substantive material through a variety of hands-on methods, including: interactive online lectures, online assessment software, live classroom discussion, written assessment exercises, and individual consultation with the course instructor. Students are expected to commit themselves to the learning process and to the ultimate goals of bar passage and excellence as attorneys. Core Bar Studies is intended exclusively for students whose academic record and/or experiential profile suggests that they would benefit from an earlier start to their bar examination preparation. Enrollment in the course is strictly limited and will be open by invitation only to third-year day or fourth-year evening students

946 ADVANCED BAR STUDIES (3 credits): The Advanced Bar Studies course, graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, is a skills-development course that provides students with an intensive substantive review of selected legal material routinely tested on the bar exam, and uses problems and exercises in a bar exam format to familiarize students with techniques for answering multiple choice (MBE) questions and analyzing, organizing, and writing essay (MEE) and multistate performance (MPT) questions. Advanced Bar Studies is a supplement to, but not a substitute for, commercial Bar Review courses.  ABS may only be taken in the final semester of law school.
 

PERSPECTIVE

935 MARSHALL-BRENNAN CONSTITUTIONAL LITERACY SEMINAR AND PRACTICUM (3 credits): Students will participate in the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. Students will be required to complete both components of the course. The first component will be a two-hour seminar in Advanced Constitutional Law, exploring how Constitutional Law affects the lives of high school students and the intersection between Constitutional Law and Education Law. The seminar will be conducted in the same manner as a traditional law school seminar. The seminar will meet once a week for two hours each week during the entire semester. Students will be expected to complete substantial reading assignments and participate in classroom discussion. The second component of the course will be a field placement. Students will be placed in teaching pairs and assigned to teach a Constitutional Law class in an area high school. Students will be expected to complete at least 30 hours of teaching at the high school during the course of the semester.

951 WOMEN AND THE LAW (3 credits): This course examines topics in law relating to the law's treatment of and impact on women through a series of different theoretical perspectives that produce alternative understandings of the relationships between gender and law. Theoretical perspectives include formal equality, substantive equality, dominance theory, different voice theory, autonomy, and anti-essentialism. Substantive topics include employment, the family, domestic violence, school sports, sexual harassment, pornography, rape, insurance, affirmative action; women in legal practice, the regulation of pregnancy, sexual orientation discrimination, and the intersection of race, gender and culture in the law. The course emphasizes relationships between theory and practice.

952 LAW AND LITERATURE (2 credits): We explore law’s many meanings and values through stories. What is justice? Is our legal system just? How should we judge? What are law’s foundations? Must law be moral? Why obey law? How do we interpret the law? What kind of lawyer should I aspire to become? What values are most important to a meaningful life in the law? Literature helps answer these vital questions. It likewise teaches us new ways to critique our fickle justice system, to grasp law’s distinctive discourse, and to become better legal writers. Narrative structure, character development, and theme building, among other storytelling techniques, enhance our repertoire of writing and persuasion skills. Those skills also share center stage with our professional values, as we confront the many moral-legal dilemmas in a thoughtful lawyer’s life.

956 LAW AND AMERICAN HISTORY (3 credits): A survey of the history of the American legal and constitutional system, emphasizing how political, economic, social, and ideological changes have affected the structure, function, and content of American law.

958 ORIGINS OF WESTERN LAW: GREECE AND ROME (3 credits): An examination of Greek and Roman law and procedure, which greatly influenced Western law, including the birth and development of law and constitutional forms from the earliest beginnings in Greece through the codifications in Roman Emperor Justinian's reign.

965 INTERNATIONAL LAW (3 credits): An introduction to International Law as applied between independent nations and in American courts; selected problems dealing with the sources, development authority, and application of International Law; the making, interpretation, enforcement, and termination of treaties; states; recognition; territory; nationality; jurisdiction and immunities; the United Nations and other international organizations in which the United States holds membership; State responsibility; and International claims for wrongs to citizens abroad. 

OTHER

981 RESEARCH SEMINAR (2 credits): Every year the Law School offers several research seminars, most of which satisfy the upper-class writing requirement. This seminar also satisfies the perspective requirement. Topics of seminars vary from year to year. Prerequisites, Co-requisites, and other limitations on enrollment are announced in advance.

  • African American Males & the Law From Dred Scott to the Scottsboro Boys, to Rodney King to possibly Trayvon Martin, African-American males are negatively impacted by the American Justice system. African-American males are disproportionately represented in every aspect of the criminal justice system, from being racially profiled, stopped, arrested, prosecuted, sentenced, incarcerated, and placed on death row. Indeed, the over representation of African-American males in the criminal justice system negatively impacts their ability to gain meaningful employment, health care, the ability to vote, and to obtain a quality education, if any education at all. The purpose of this seminar is to identify, explore and determine the impact of the criminal justice system, court decisions, federal and state legislation, federal regulations, and the Constitution on the social and economic status of black males. Students will address issues related to black males in the areas of employment discrimination, the death penalty, the constitutionality of separate schools, Federal sentencing guidelines, AIDS, arrests and police brutality, NCAA’s Rules and Propositions, incarceration, education, exclusion as jurors in jury trials, harassment, and stereotypes. Other faculty members and members of the legal community may be invited to share their expertise on some of the topics covered. Students will be required to prepare an extensive research paper. This paper may be used to fulfill the Upper-class Writing Requirement. The seminar is also approved to meet perspective requirements.
  • Criminal Responsibility The typical sanction for breaking a criminal law is punishment. But because punishment may be considered a social evil, the institution of punishment must itself be justified. In this course, we will consider the retributive and utilitarian justifications for punishment, both in execution and amount. We will then apply those theories to types of cases in which punishment seems unjustified, including cases of involuntary acts, insane actors, mentally retarded murderers, and battered spouses. The question in all of these cases is: Why—and to what extent—should such actors avoid punishment for the social harm they have caused? Students will read and discuss dense philosophical and legal texts on these and other related issues. Each student will be required to submit a 20-page publishable paper on a relevant (and approved) topic of her choosing. This course fulfills the perspectives requirement.
  • Ideas of the First Amendment The first focus of the seminar will be the pivotal doctrines of first amendment law. For example, why is it important that we regulate speech after, rather than prior to, its expression; or why is viewpoint regulation more problematic than “neutral” regulation of speech; or should there be “paternalistic” reasons for regulating speech, designed to protect audiences from their own susceptibilities, to name a few. Although these doctrines are quickly canvassed in the core Constitutional Law courses, they are not given center stage as they will be in this seminar. The second focus of the seminar is that such questions are best studied by engaging a few of the greatest writings on the freedom of speech that have been generated in the Anglo-American tradition. The seminar will study these doctrines through the writings – some political polemic, some judicial opinions – of John Milton, James Madison, John Stuart Mill, Learned Hand, O.W. Holmes, Louis Brandeis, A. Meiklejohn and assorted “contemporary” replies. The course will fulfill the upper-level writing and perspectives requirements.
  • International Criminal Law This seminar will deal with the following topics: sources of international criminal law; jurisdiction (nationality; protective, territorial, passive personality, universal); crimes against humanity; war crimes, genocide; torture; terrorism; aerial hijacking; hostage taking; extradition; money laundering; environmental crimes; narcotics trafficking; international judicial assistance; and prisoner exchanges.
  • Latinx & the Law The seminar will cover salient legal issues that affect the Latinx community including workplace discrimination, voting rights, cultural stereotypes and hate speech/crime, immigration, and the criminal justice system. The courses will also address cross-cultural competencies and trauma informed client centered legal representation. The assigned materials will include cases, scholarly articles, films/documentaries, and popular commentary. Our class discussions will be student-centered emphasizing how attorneys may employ legal theories and strategies to address these daunting issues. The grades earned in the seminar will be based on class participation, a final paper (15 pages), and short reflection pieces. Student interested in serving underrepresented communities via direct legal representation or working in legislative and policy circles should find the course helpful for their professional development. Students may use the seminar to satisfy the upper-level writing and perspective requirements.
  • Law and Religion In this course, we will focus on the Supreme Court’s role in adjudicating issues regarding religious liberty. We also will raise issues regarding constitutional interpretation and will examine the development of substantive doctrine in this First Amendment area. After examining the basic historical and methodological materials, we will engage in a detailed examination of the most recent cases decided by the Supreme Court.

982 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECT (1-3 credits): Significant research paper or an independent research project under the guidance of a member of the faculty. A student may not register for independent research until the student provides a written proposal, tentative outline, and tentative hypothesis accepted by a full-time faculty member. A student may not register for more than one independent research project in a semester, or for more than six total credit hours of independent research, without the approval of the associate dean. Prerequisite: approval of instructor.

986 LAW REVIEW I (1-3 credits): Preparation of a publishable note or comment for the Capital University Law Review, attendance at class session(s), and completion of other duties, including citation checks, assigned to staff members. Approval of Editor-in-Chief and Faculty Advisor is needed. Course may not be repeated. Selection by class rank or writing competition.

987 LAW REVIEW II (1-2 credits): Preparation and editing of notes and comments for Capital University Law Review; editing professional articles. Limited to Board members of the Law Review. Approval of faculty advisor is needed. Prerequisite: 986 and selection.

989 MOOT COURT PRACTICUM (2 credits): Admission into this course is by invitation only. This course serves as a prerequisite for 990: Moot Court.  This is a seven-week intensive course that focuses on competitive brief writing and oral argument skills.  It is designed to prepare students for competing on a National Moot Court team or other interscholastic moot court competition and is open ONLY by invitation to those interested in competing on a moot court team.  Because this is an intensive course, it will meet for two hours, twice each week for a total of seven weeks, and students should expect to dedicate a minimum of 12 hours of outside coursework during those weeks. Students admitted into this Course will learn how to approach a moot court problem and prepare a competition-worthy appellate brief. Students interested in taking this course must submit a writing sample, resume, statement of interest, and professor reference to the Faculty Director of the Moot Court and Mock Trial Program.  Students invited to participate in this Course must plan on participating in 990: Moot Court. Successful completion of this course fulfills the upper-level writing requirement. 


990 MOOT COURT (2 credits): This course is offered to those selected to participate as a member of an interscholastic moot court team.  Each year, the school participates in a number of moot court competitions, based on the approval of the Director of the Moot Court and Mock Trial Program (Program Director).  The teams are supervised by the Program Director and adjunct faculty member(s) consistent with provisions of the Policy Manual Section 4.14.  Credit is awarded upon the certification of the Program Director.  Prerequisite: 989: Moot Court Practicum.  In extraordinary circumstances the Program Director may waive the 989: Moot Court Practicum prerequisite for students who have successfully completed 924: Appellate Advocacy Practicum.  Grading is on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Credit is awarded upon the certification of the Program Director. Among other competitions, the Law School typically participates in the National Moot Court Team (2 credit hours) in the Spring ABA/LSD competition. The Program Director supervises selection of team members consistent with provisions of the Policy Manual Section 4.14. 

996 MOCK TRIAL TEAM (1 credit): Participation as a member of a mock trial team.  The teams are selected and supervised by the Director of the Moot Court and Mock Trial Program (Program Director) and adjunct faculty member(s) consistent with the provisions of the Policy Manual Section 4.14.  Credit is awarded upon the certification of the Program Director. Completion of 670: Evidence or 922: Trial Advocacy practicum are recommended. 

 

4.9A Perspective Courses

During each registration period, courses satisfying the perspective requirement are listed in the registration materials. Following is a list of courses that have satisfied the perspective requirement in the past. Students should continue to check the courses on this list with information provided in the registration materials for the academic term to insure that courses continue to satisfy the requirement. Courses taught in summer abroad programs sponsored by other law schools cannot be used to satisfy the perspective requirement.