This seminar will cover the economic theories behind copyright, patent, and trademark law, including the study of empirical evidence testing those theories. The first part of the course will consist oflecture and discussion based on readings from Landes & Posner’s The Economic Structure of IP Law and other articles. The goal is to obtain an understanding of the economic analysis of all forms of IP. The second half of the course will consistent of student presentations of key articles in the field.
Sequence and Prerequisites: Prior completion of one of the following courses is required: Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademarks & Unfair Competition, International IP, or Introduction to IP.
Evaluation: Grades will be based on the class presentations.
Consumer Finance covers the law and finance of household lending. The course will cover basic financial principles and household lending laws to give students a background in these topics appropriate for entry-level lawyer positions in plaintiffs’ firms, corporate defense firms, general practice firms, administrative agencies, and compliance departments of financial institutions. The course also will empower students with legal knowledge that will help them navigate their own personal financial lives.
Course coverage will include important federal laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Credit CARD Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and regulations of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as well as state laws such as small-loan laws or unfair deceptive acts and practices (UDAP) laws.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None
Evaluation: Eighty percent of the course grade will be based on the final examination, and the other twenty percent will be based on completion of the other course requirements.
Students in this course will each prepare a brief to the Illinois Appellate Court in a criminal case on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois. The Chief Deputy Director of the Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP), will advise and supervise students in the preparation of the briefs. Initial class sessions will include instruction on and discussion of Illinois appellate procedure and brief-writing. In later weeks of the class, students will meet individually with the instructor to discuss issues arising in the preparation of their individual briefs. Students will thereafter appear in the Appellate Court to present their respective case at oral argument.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None. Students need to be eligible to obtain a 711 license (must have completed 45 credit hours) by the Spring Semester. This course is a two semester commitment, students must enroll in both the fall and spring semesters of this course. Cannot be taken with any Law 693, Clinic course during the same semester(s).
Evaluation: Written project (brief) and other assignments. This course is graded pass/fail.
Course Classification: Experiential
This course will be a general survey class on rules relating to workers compensation claims and litigation. The course will begin with an overview of the historical development of workers compensation laws, then survey the general principles applicable to such laws, with particular emphasis on the Illinois Workers Compensation Act. Guest speakers will include an arbitrator, a petitioner’s attorney, and a claims manager.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None
Evaluation: Grading will be by a final administered exam.
This course will explore large scale, multi-party litigation in its various forms including multi-district litigation and class actions. It will address the reasons for the explosion of multi-party litigation over the past 30 years and the advantages and disadvantages of consolidating dozens, hundreds or thousands of claims into a single proceeding. We will pay significant attention to landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have materially altered the mass action and class action landscape and the reactions of lower counts to those rulings. We will also consider recent and emerging areas of class action practice such as data breach and privacy litigation.
This class should be of particular interest to students who intend to practice in areas involving large-scale commercial litigation.
Sequence and Prerequisites: Civil Procedure. Evidence is helpful but not required.
Evaluation: This course will be evaluated based on a paper and class participation.
This course explores how law shapes and manages human interactions with the environment. It covers core U.S. approaches, key critiques, and emerging issues, preparing students to engage deeply with this evolving and impactful field.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None
Evaluation: Writing Assignments, Presentation, and Multiple-Choice Exam.
The course will cover ownership of minerals, conveyance of minerals, the Oil and Gas Lease, and other contracts and transfers concerning minerals and mineral operations. This course is designed to provide an introduction to natural resources law and there will be discussions of other areas of law that impact the oil and gas practice. The Oil and Gas Lease form will be referred to often during the semester.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None.
Evaluation: Fifty percent of the course grade in this class will be determined by participation in class discussions. The remaining fifty percent of the course grade will be determined by a brief written examination covering topics discussed during the course.
This course will examine how lawyers in solo practices and small firms (five lawyers or less) create and operate such firms. This course is designed for students interested in eventually working in such firms. This course will feature a number of panel discussions with successful solo and small firm practitioners. This course will address: 1) the personal characteristics needed to succeed in small firms; 2) creating a firm business plan; 3) financial, operational, and technological aspects of solo and small firm development; 4) how to market a solo or small firm practice; and 5) ethical and professional responsibility aspects of a solo or small firm practice.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None
Evaluation: Students will be expected to attend class, review the assigned reading before class, participate in class discussions, and prepare two short papers and an oral presentation.
This course will explore how the law and poverty interact. Public policy, legislation, case law and administrative rules will be analyzed to explore their impact on the low-income population. The evolution of social safety nets will be examined, as will common poverty myths. This course utilizes a traditional final examination and class periods involve significant opportunity for discussion.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None
Evaluation: Final Exam
Restitution is the body of law concerning civil liability for unjust enrichment. Restitution is the fourth major branch of civil law, and the law of restitution runs through all of the other three major branches—contract, tort, and property. As such, study of the law of restitution could easily be included within the first-year curriculum as a foundational subject necessary to a basic understanding of the law in general, in the United States and internationally, and as a building block integral to a full understanding of advanced commercial law subjects and sophisticated commercial litigation. This course surveys the law of restitution. The topics covered include: benefits conferred by mistake, by transactions conducted with defective consent or authority, or through transfers made under legal compulsion; restitution for unrequested interventions, including the law of indemnity and contribution, equitable subrogation, and common funds; disgorgement of benefits acquired by tort or other wrongful breach of duty; restitution in conjunction with failed contracts; restitution via monetary liability and via rights in identifiable property, even in the hands of subsequent transferees; defenses to restitution; and the relative priority rights of restitution claimants as against creditors with liens on identifiable property, including the priority rights of restitution claimants under the Uniform Commercial Code and the Bankruptcy Code. This course will not address criminal restitution penalties. An understanding of the issues covered in this course is useful to all practicing lawyers and particularly for civil litigators.
Sequence and Prerequisites: None
Evaluation: Grading is based upon a comprehensive final examination, as well as class attendance and participation.