Upper-Level 4 - College of Law

798: Current Topics in Labor Law

This is a research seminar. It is intended to give students deeper research and writing experience, to hone critical skills much sought-for by legal employers. Part of the seminar entails the students presentation of their work in progress, for discussion, comment and constructive criticism. This, too, is intended to hone the skills of advocacy.

The course will proceed in two parts. In the first the instructor will assign pressing issues in labor law for class discussion: e.g., wage theft, precarity of hours, wage payment, and the like. There will be about five discussion sessions, to allow for students to commence on research in earnest, assuming an enrollment of nine or more students. The first four sets of readings will be posted. These readings can be found electronically. Whether more will be addressed will depend on enrollment.

Thereafter, student work will be assigned, one per week. Suggested research topics will be posted in due course but these will be only suggestive. The student is free to select any other, subject to the instructor’s approval.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: It is a “paper course.” The grade will be based on the quality of the final paper. The metrics are: (1) thoroughness of research – has every primary and important secondary source been searched[1]; (2) analytical cogency – have all the factors, economic as well as social, been dealt with in a persuasive manner; and, (3) style – adherence to proper forms of citation, proper syntax, avoidance of the personal pronoun or pontifical statements, etc. The paper should be between 20 to 30 pages inclusive of footnotes, depending on how much material must be dealt with. Papers receiving a grade of B+ or above will be eligible having the paper qualify for senior writing credit.

[1] The instructor requests that if students have copied any of this material – statutes, regulations, case decisions, statistical studies, government or NGO reports, etc. – these be submitted along with the paper. This will allow the instructor to check on the accuracy of these sources without unnecessary inconvenience.

796: Comparative Equality Law

Comparative Equality Law uses a problem-based approach to examine how the law protects equality rights in different jurisdictions. The course will comparatively examine US, European, and other national, regional, and international legal systems (including those of India, Brazil, Colombia, Canada, and South Africa) and provide a global overview of legal protection from and legal responses to inequalities. The course covers 6 topic modules:

Theories and sources of contemporary equality law;
Employment discrimination law (race, sex, age, disability, LGBTQI+);
Equality and religion (secularism, human rights and the legal rights of religious minorities);
Sexual harassment/violence;
Rights of persons with disabilities; and
Affirmative action (race, caste, origin)/gender parity.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: papers/projects

797: Advanced Topics in Patent Law

Advanced Topics in Patent Law will explore a variety of topics related to patent law and practice, patent litigation, and the economic theories undergirding patents. We will examine these topics through a variety of sources: recently issued judicial opinions, briefs, pending legislation, scholarly articles, and empirical studies, among others. The course is designed to familiarize students with issues at the coalface of patent law and policy, as well as to fill in doctrinal areas that might go missing from a basic Patent Law or Intellectual Property course. Students will be responsible for carefully reading and digesting each week’s reading materials and, then, leading discussions in class. Students may elect to take the course to satisfy the Upper Level Writing Requirement.

Sequence and Prerequisites: While a technical background is not necessary for the course, students must have previously completed either Patent Law (Law 645) or Introduction to Intellectual Property (Law 797).

Evaluation: Paper

797: Trade Secret Law

This course will examine the origin and evolution of trade secret law, and the policies which promote the ongoing protections afforded this intellectual property right. In addition to studying the legal requirements for securing trade secret protection, this course will also examine the practical aspects and considerations for protecting a trade secret. A focus of this course will be the various ways in which trade secrets are used in commercial settings, how parties litigate trade secret misappropriation, potential defenses, and remedies available to a successful trade secret owner. We will explore both state-based trade secret law (often modeled after the UTSA) and federal trade secret law (DTSA). This course will also cover the circumstances under which criminal consequences for trade secret misappropriation may be enforced.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: This course will be evaluated by a final paper.

797: Economics and Law of Digital Platforms

This course will introduce the economics and law of digital platforms. The course will discuss the novel business models and important features associated with digital platforms and examine firms’ abuse of dominance conducts in the digital space. The course will also explore the recent development in the antitrust regulation of digital platforms and review the recent cases involving major digital platforms (e.g., Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook). This course is designed for students who are interested in antitrust laws and applying economics to analyze firms’ anticompetitive behavior. This is a pass/fail course.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Intermediate microeconomics and/or industrial organization are recommended, but not required.

Evaluation: This is a pass/fail course. Students are expected to attend classes and engage in class participation. Students are assigned reading materials and required to prepare a short paper.

798: Social Justice and the Supreme Court

This course examines the issues of police violence and racism in law enforcement, evolution of the Supreme Court’s role in policing decisions from the late eighteenth century to the mid-1950’s and landmark rulings from the Burger, Rehnquist and Roberts courts. A review of the legal reasoning the Court employs to impose minimal constitutional checks on police while gutting remedies plaintiffs might use to challenge police conduct will be addressed. Finally, the class will explore the national debate regarding inequality and how American society can move forward with common-sense police reform that incorporates best practices while assuring constitutional protection. The course focuses on the narrow issue to juxtapose to the broader movement of the Court over time.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Evaluation will take place through a final paper.

798: Climate Law & Policy Seminar

This seminar will explore the law and policy of climate change. Students will study international climate agreements as well as federal, state, and local U.S. climate law.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on the basis of a paper and presentation, and participation may be considered in final grading.

792: Behavioral Economics & the Law

The economic analysis of law relies on rational choice theory as a starting point for predicting human behavior. However, social scientists have found that human behavior in the real world systematically deviates from the rational choice model’s predictions. The objective of this course is to consider the ways in which behavioral findings complement or modify the economic analysis of law. Students will be introduced to biases and heuristics that influence human behavior related to the law; critiques of behavioral law and economics; and behavioral insights from psychologists and economists in property, torts, contracts, criminal law, the decision-making of judges and jurors, and litigation.

Sequences and Prerequisites: A basic understanding of property, torts, contracts, criminal law, and civil procedure.

Evaluation: Course evaluation will be based on participation, weekly reading responses, and a final paper.

792: Public Corruption

This seminar examines timely issues in the investigation, prosecution, and defense of federal public corruption offenses. The seminar will challenge students to reason through statutory, doctrinal, and policy issues in practical, frequently encountered scenarios from both prosecutorial and defense perspectives, including parallel civil and criminal investigations, grand jury practice and defense investigations, attorney client privilege and joint defense agreements, and plea bargaining and sentencing issues. This is a pass/fail course.

Sequence and Prerequisites: Law 684, Federal Courts is a pre- or co-requisite course. You must have taken or be taking Federal Courts.

Evaluation: Written assignments and participation

792: Law and Emerging Technology

This course will explore the implications of several technological advancements for the evolution of the law. Emerging technologies in urban mobility such as autonomous vehicles provide helpful case studies for thinking about the impact of technology change, particularly that of the substitution of artificial intelligence for human decision-making, on the law. We will mostly focus on the legal, ethical, and policy implications of emerging technologies in urban mobility. Algorithms play a key role in many of the technological advancements we will discuss, and we will explore both the regulation of algorithms and regulation by algorithms.

Sequences and Prerequisites: A basic understanding of torts, criminal law, and contracts.

Evaluation: Course evaluation will be based on participation, weekly reading responses, and a final paper