Upper-Level 18 - College of Law

798: Illinois Constitutional Law and Policy

This experiential course will provide students with an in-depth first hand review of the state in operation from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Current topics include the state’s budget and pension problems, political stalemates between the governmental branches, gerrymandering, the impeachment process, and home rule issues between the state and local governments.

Frequent guest speakers will bring students to the forefront of Illinois law and politics. Past guest speakers included Supreme and Appellate Court Justices, the Lieutenant Governor, the State Treasurer, a State Senator, a State Representative, Champaign’s Mayor, practitioners, and lobbyists from political interest groups who discussed the relevant day’s legal topic and its practical application directly with the students. A field trip to Springfield also ensured that the students could observe and learn about the Illinois Legislature and the Illinois Supreme Court from a behind-the-scenes perspective.

To prepare for their future legal careers, students will role-play by arguing various Illinois constitutional issues, provide constitutional advice to clients, and function as Illinois governmental employees. Students will be graded based on participation and a research paper, on a topic of their choosing. Prior students wrote on the following topics: criminal law, financial regulation, education policy, and state funded retirement plans.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I

Evaluation: Students will be graded on attendance, preparation, and active participation in class and the submission of a paper, well-researched and written, on a topic involving the Illinois government mutually agreed-upon and orally presented to the class. The instructor will review a draft outline of the paper and provide assistance, where necessary, to enhance the writing experience.

792: Representative Government in the State of Illinois

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN ILLINOIS is the study of Illinois Government, and particularly, the crises Illinois faces. Representative Government is taught by the Honorable John E. Bradley, an actual former Representative and decision maker, the former Assistant Majority Leader and Chairperson of the powerful Revenue & Finance Committee. As the Chair of Illinois’ version of Ways & Means for over a decade, Professor Bradley had a front row seat at some of the most tedious and precarious constitutional crises in modern American democracy. Whether it be the impeachment of Rod Blagojevich, the appointment of a successor to the elected but deceased Comptroller Judy Barr Topinka, or the ongoing battles of Illinois budget making, you are invited to study and discuss these crises with the people who actually navigated the State of Illinois through them.

In addition to Professor Bradley, previous classes have met with Presiding Officers of the Illinois General Assembly, Chiefs of Staff of the Illinois Governor and various agencies, Directors of State Agencies, Parliamentarians and Legal Counsel to the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate, and numerous Senators and Representatives. Political practitioners and representatives of state associations, such as the Illinois State Bar Association, and Fortune 500 companies round out a vibrant and robust assemblage of guest speakers throughout the semester.

Classes have studied the impeachment of former Governor Blagojevich from the actual legislative attorneys who prosecuted him. Others have discussed the reform of the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules with the decision makers who helped accomplish it. And students always enjoy Professor Bradley’s ability to explain the law on multiple levels, including the fascinating back stories often involved in its development. Moreover, the class encourages an environment of discussion, giving students candid and insightful information.

Each year students are invited to attend an optional field trip where they have been able to meet with the Attorney General’s office, Illinois Supreme Court personnel, the Legislative Reference Bureau (the body that actually drafts the bills for the General Assembly), and members of the General Assembly, to name a few.

Representative Government in Illinois offers an experience in learning Illinois constitutional and statutory law like no other. If you are interested in Illinois government, or in simply practicing law in Illinois, don’t miss the chance to learn Illinois law and the history behind it from the people that make it–Representative Government in Illinois.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: A final project

792: Laws of War

This class investigates whether and how the laws of war constrain different actors. This class will provide a historical overview of the development of the laws of war as well as an exploration of its multiple and sometimes competing purposes. Questions about enforcement, compliance, and the role of law in influencing state behavior will likely predominate. We will also look at domestic implementation of the laws of war with a focus on American statutes, court cases, and military manuals.

Sequence and Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites, although familiarity with International Law is helpful.

Evaluation: Grades will be based on a combination of class participation and a final exam.

794: International Business Transactions

Corporate entities and financial institutions are operating increasingly on a transnational or even global basis. Lawyers, consequently, frequently are called upon to structure cross-border business transactions that are affected or regulated by international treaties and/or the interplay of the domestic laws of two or more nations. This task becomes particularly challenging when the participants are from, or the transaction occurs in, a developing nation without a mature or reliable judicial system or sophisticated commercial laws. This course is designed to introduce law students to the types of legal problems typically confronted in international commerce, including cross-border sales, technology transfers, transfers of funds and cross-border financing arrangements, international transport arrangements, export regulations and customs clearance, foreign corrupt business practices, and international arbitration and other means of commercial dispute resolution. This course does not cover, except incidentally, the regulation of trade among nations (e.g., GATT, WHO, NAFTA, etc.).

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: 50% final exam, 30% mid-term, 20% class participation

796: Comparative Constitutional Law

The course will tackle three main aspects of contemporary constitutionalism in Western democracies, countries in transition to democracy and beyond, namely:

“Constitution-building”, which treats fundamental subjects such as transitions to democracy, constitution-making and implementation processes, actors and factors of the transitions, constitution v. constitutionalism. Focus will be put on the processes of transition taking place in North Africa and in the Middle East following the Arab uprisings.
“The Division of Governmental Powers”, which explores the ways in which limitations on governmental powers have been pursued in different constitutional systems (presidential v. parliamentary democracy, federalism and regionalism, secession and self-determination…). Focus will be put on institutional and territorial transformations in some Western consolidated democracies such as in Italy, Spain and United Kingdom.
“Protection of Fundamental Rights”, which examines some of the most relevant instruments of protection of fundamental rights and freedoms both in consolidated and new democracies (e.g. lustration laws/political
isolation laws; militant democracy and party banning; the unconstitutional-constitutional amendments doctrine…).

Course requirements include regular class attendance, active participation in class discussion and final examiniation. Students are expected to have read the assigned materials before each class. Class time will be divided between lectures and discussion. Each topic will be introduced by the instructor. The readings will be provided some weeks before the start of the course.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None.

Evaluation: Grades will be based on an administered final exam, class participation and discussion.

656: International Law

The International Law course examines the variety of roles played by law and lawyer in ordering the relations between states and the nationals of states. The course utilizes a number of specialized contexts as a basis for exploring these roles. The contexts include, among others, the status of international law in domestic courts; the efficacy of judicial review by the International Court of Justice; the effort to subsume international economic relations under the fabric of bilateral and multilateral treaties; and the application — or misapplication — of law to political controversies that entail the threat of actual use of force. The course proceeds through an examination of problems selected to illuminate the operation of law within each of these contexts.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Take-home exam

657: International Human Rights Law

Based primarily on a series of contemporary “real world” problems, the course introduces the student to the established and developing legal rules and procedures governing the protection of international human rights. Its thesis is that there exists a substantial body of substantive and procedural International Human Rights Law, and that lawyers, government officials, and concerned citizens should be familiar with the policies underlying this law and its enforcement, as well as with the potential it offers for improving the basic lot of human beings everywhere. Additionally, the course presupposes that the meaning of “human rights” is undergoing fundamental expansion, and therefore explores Marxist and Third World conceptions of human rights as well as those derived from the liberal West.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Exam

654: International Trade Policy

The course in International Trade is an introductory level course that includes 1) a brief introduction to economic principles used to analyze international trade; 2) an analysis of national, regional and international systems of international trade regulation, focusing on the U.S., EU and the WHO/GATT; and 3) a study of the types and operation of import restraints and export controls. The latter topic takes up about 60% of the course.

The course complements the course in International Business Transactions (Law 653), which deals primarily with the structuring and financing of international business transactions, and the course in International Law, which deals primarily with non-commercial matters. An attempt will be made to coordinate the coverage of the course with that of International Business Transactions (Law 653) so as to provide a comprehensive sequence dealing with legal issues raised by international commerce.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: The exam will be a take-home exam – it will be distributed at the end of classes and will be due March 15. I reserve the right to adjust grades for class performance and/or attendance.

798: Federal Tax Policy

This seminar will examine the major approaches to the formulation of federal tax policy, including their political and economic ramifications. Particular consideration will be given to: tax simplification efforts and the tax legislative process; base-broadening and its potential for lowered rates; the concept of “tax expenditures” in the federal budget; and the phenomenon of taxpayer noncompliance. Current legislative proposals and significant recent legislation will be examined as well.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Income Taxation (Law 647) is a prerequisite. Specific coursework in micro-economic theory or American political institutions is not required, but some familiarity with those fields will be helpful.

Evaluation: Students are expected to prepare a research paper on some currently vital tax policy issue and to present such paper for discussion.

647: Income Taxation

This is the introductory course in federal income taxation. Topics covered may include, for example, the definition of gross income, the determination of permissible deductions from gross income, timing issues, and the taxation of property transactions. The course will also address various tax policy issues. The principal source of law is the Internal Revenue Code and its accompanying regulations, and the course therefore also serves as an introduction to statutory reading and analysis.

Sequence and Prerequisites: No prerequisites. This course is a prerequisite for a number of advanced tax courses.

Evaluation: Final examination