-
Federal Regulation of Securities
LAWS 42401
- 01
(3)
+
The securities laws govern the way in which a company may raise, and seek to raise, capital; they also impose substantial ongoing obligations upon companies and their security holders in both private and public contexts. Accordingly, the aim of this course is to provide a basic working knowledge of the securities laws to soon-to-be lawyers who will find themselves advising clients that seek to raise (or have raised) either public or private capital. The course will analyze methods of regulation (and possible alternative methods), the financial/institutional context in which the securities regulations exist, and the application of these regulations to real-world situations.Grades will be based on class participation and a final examination.
Spring 2010
James Spindler
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Federal Sentencing: Balancing Judicial and Prosecutorial Discretion
LAWS 47602
- 01
(3)
b, s
The Supreme Court has dramatically changed the federal sentencing landscape in recent years, making federal sentencing the least settled and most dynamic area of federal criminal jurisprudence. This seminar examines the recent federal sentencing revolution in the context of the history of federal sentencing. We will study the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and recent Supreme Court cases that struggle to define the Guidelines' proper role in sentencing. A central focus of the seminar will be the ongoing struggle to balance judicial discretion and prosecutorial discretion, and the fundamental tension this creates between the executive branch and the judiciary. The seminar will also focus on the ongoing debate over sentencing disparities. Reading materials are varied and include Supreme Court and lower court cases, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, law review articles, Sentencing Commission studies and reports, and Department of Justice internal directives. Various guest speakers will visit class, including federal district court judges and an Assistant United States Attorney. Students will be expected to complete a 20-25 page practice-oriented research and writing assignment based on an actual federal case. Students will be graded based on their written submissions and class participation. Writing for this seminar may be used as partial fulfillment of the JD writing requirement (SWP for JD '10; SRP or WP for JD '11 and JD '12).
Winter 2010
Alison Siegler
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Financial Accounting
LAWS 79201
- 01
(2)
+
The course is presented from the perspective of a practicing lawyer who must apply an understanding of accounting principles to provide relevant and accurate legal advice. While the course begins with a review of the fundamentals of accounting concepts and principles, it concentrates on their application in typical legal practice settings such as contracts, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder reporting, regulatory reporting, management reporting, bankruptcy and litigation. A student's grade will be based on class participation and a final examination. No entry-level accounting class may have been taken prior to taking this class.
Winter 2010
David Bowers
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Financial Crisis of 2008-2009: Legal Issues
LAWS TBD
- 01
(3)
b
The government's response to the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 generated a number of legal controversies. This seminar will address, among others, legal issues raised by the bailouts of financial institutions, the authority of the Fed and the Treasury, the TARP law, bankruptcy reform, mortgage modification, and reform of financial regulation. Grades will be based on a major paper or series of short research papers. Writing for this seminar may be used as partial fulfillment of the JD writing requirement (SWP for JD '10; SRP or WP for JD '11 and JD '12).
Spring 2010
Eric Posner
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Food and Drug Law
LAWS 94501
- 01
(3)
This course explores federal regulation of products subject to the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products include food, human prescription and nonprescription drugs, animal feed and drugs, biologics and blood products, medical devices, and cosmetics. The course examines the public policy choices underlying the substantive law, FDA enforcement power, and agency practice and procedure. The course covers such contemporary issues as expediting approval of AIDS and cancer drugs, importing drugs from abroad, compassionate use of experimental products, requiring adequate consumer and professional labeling for FDA-regulated products, and the relationship among international, federal, and state regulatory requirements. A prior course in Health Law is desirable but not a prerequisite. The student's grade will be based on final examination.
Autumn 2009
Anup Malani
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Foreign Relations Law
LAWS 97801
- 01
(3)
This course examines the constitutional and statutory doctrines regulating the conduct of American foreign relations. Topics include the allocation of foreign relations powers between the three branches of the federal government, the status of international law in U.S. courts, the scope of the treaty power, the validity of executive agreements and the power to declare and conduct war. The course will also focus on the political question and other doctrines regulating judicial review in foreign relations cases. Where relevant, current events will be explored, such as ongoing controversies regarding individual rights during wartime, the post-September 11 war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. Grades will be based on a final examination.
Autumn 2009
Daniel Abebe
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Fundamental Legal Change
LAWS 63202
- 01
(1)
a, b
In this two-quarter seminar, students will investigate fundamental legal change in the United States. The goals of the seminar are to define fundamental legal change, explore its causes, and consider whether it leads to fundamental social change. During the Autumn Quarter, students will discuss the concept of fundamental legal change and choose concrete examples for additional study. During the Winter Quarter, each student will deliver an in-class presentation on one of these concrete examples. A wide variety of topics are eligible for student presentations--change that occurred recently or decades ago, change in private law or public law, change in institutional design or law enforcement strategy, and so on. The seminar will meet during parts of both the Autumn and Winter quarters; there will be 12 class meetings in total. Students will earn three credits for completing the seminar, and they will have the option of writing a research paper for JD writing credit (SWP for JD '10; SRP or WP for JD '11 and JD '12).
Autumn 2009
Adam Samaha
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Fundamental Legal Change
LAWS 63202
- 01
(2)
a, b
In this two-quarter seminar, students will investigate fundamental legal change in the United States. The goals of the seminar are to define fundamental legal change, explore its causes, and consider whether it leads to fundamental social change. During the Autumn Quarter, students will discuss the concept of fundamental legal change and choose concrete examples for additional study. During the Winter Quarter, each student will deliver an in-class presentation on one of these concrete examples. A wide variety of topics are eligible for student presentations -- change that occurred recently or decades ago, change in private law or public law, change in institutional design or law enforcement strategy, and so on. The seminar will meet during parts of both the Autumn and Winter quarters; there will be 12 class meetings in total. Students will earn three credits for completing the seminar, and they will have the option of writing a research paper for substantial writing credit.
Winter 2010
Adam Samaha
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Fundamentals of Accounting for Lawyers
LAWS 79112
- 01
(3)
s
This course will teach the basic fundamentals of accounting to better prepare you to recognize and understand financial business issues related to the practice of law. Topics include key accounting concepts, reading financial statements and financial statement analysis. The class sessions will include guest speakers presenting on current accounting hot topics such as Sarbanes Oxley, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and forensic accounting (investigating accounting frauds). The class is designed for those who have never taken an accounting class and/or have little financial background. There are no prerequisites but you should not take this class if you have taken an accounting class before or if you have experience in finance or accounting. Grades will be based on papers and a final examination.
Autumn 2009
Philip Bach, Graham Murphy, Lynne Inman
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Future of the Voting Rights Act
LAWS TBD
- 01
(3)
Four decades after its passage, the Voting Rights Act is at a crossroads. Some critics have argued that the Act is obsolete. In the spring of 2009 the Supreme Court went further, suggesting that core parts of the Act may be unconstitutional. This seminar will be structured as a simulated working group within the Justice Department, tasked with advising the President about how to respond to these concerns about the Act. Should the Voting Rights Act remain unchanged, be amended, or be repealed? To develop a joint recommendation, we will spend the first half of the seminar tracing the history of the Act and the role that race plays today in American politics. During the second half of the seminar students will select sections of the task force recommendation on which to work. In small groups, students will lead class discussion on their section and then author that section of the report. Grades will be based on class participation and the written report sections.
Spring 2010
Adam B. Cox
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Game Theory and the Law
LAWS 50602
- 01
(2)
This seminar examines the principles of game theory and their use to analyze legal problems. Applications are drawn from torts, contracts, bankruptcy, antitrust, and civil procedure. Enrollment is limited to 20. A student's grade will be based on a take-home examination.
Winter 2010
Douglas G. Baird
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Greenberg Seminar: Capitalism, For and Against
LAWS 95922
- 01
(1)
a
We will read canonical texts in praise of and critical of capitalism as a means of social ordering. These are likely to include works by Friedman, Hayek, Marx, Cohen, and others.
Autumn 2009
M. Todd Henderson, Brian Leiter
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Greenberg Seminar: Crime in the City of Big Shoulders
LAWS 95942
- 01
(1)
a
Chicago has a storied history of crimes both great and small, public and private. We will discuss historic and contemporary crime in the City of Chicago, ranging from famous murders nearly a century ago to modern issues of gangs and criminal justice. We will read: For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder that Shocked Chicago; Courtroom 302: A Year Behind the Scenes in an American Criminal Courthouse; and Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets; along with books on the Chicago mob and 19th century vice crimes (to be chosen later). We will meet on Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Jan. 13, Feb. 24, and April 21.
Autumn 2009
Jonathan Masur, Richard H. McAdams
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Greenberg Seminar: Food Law
LAWS 95962
- 01
(1)
a
Many aspects of people's consumption of food are affected by legal rules. The seminar will explore a variety of social policies related to food, and how they have been reflected in the law, in the past and in the present. Possible issues include everything from genetically modified food to food labeling to price and nutrition controls. The seminar is offered for 1 credit, 5 meetings. The meetings will be held on Wednesday evenings (7:30-9:30 p.m.) and rotate between the instructors' homes. Food, needless to say, will be served.
Autumn 2009
Douglas G. Baird, Omri Ben-Shahar
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Greenberg Seminar: Gender, Power, and the Novel
LAWS 95972
- 01
(1)
a
The rise in popularity of the novel accompanies many developments in law and politics relating to the status and opportunities of women. We will discuss the way in which British novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries reflect these developments but also give a rich and nuanced commentary on them. We will discuss: Daniel Defoe's MOLL FLANDERS; extracts from Samuel Richardson's CLARISSA; Wilkie Collins's NO NAME; Anthony Trollope's THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET; and George Eliot's MIDDLEMARCH - along with the views of some key commentators. We will meet six times, twice during each quarter. The last meeting will be a festive play reading of a play from the period.
Autumn 2009
Martha Nussbaum, Alison LaCroix
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Greenberg Seminar: The Global Financial Crisis
LAWS 95952
- 01
(1)
a
In this seminar, we will read journalistic accounts of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Possible readings include In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic by David Wessel, A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers by Lawrence G. McDonald, House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street by William D. Cohan, and Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy by Barry Ritholtz.
Autumn 2009
Aziz Huq, Eric Posner
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Greenberg Seminar: What can We Learn from the Peace Corps and Teach for America?
LAWS 95932
- 01
(1)
a
This seminar will read and discuss several books written by participants in the Peace Corps and, more recently, in Teach for America. What can we learn from these autobiographical and journalistic reports that might help us with development policy abroad or education policy closer to home? What can we learn about individuals and their capacity for change through a structured, short-term experience? This Greenberg Seminar will meet on five Thursday evenings at 730 pm, in the course of the Fall and Winter terms. Dates to hold on to include: October 15, 29 and November 12, 19. We will use three of these dates and then two Thursdays in the Winter. Preference is given to 3Ls but some preference will also be given to a (very) few students who have participated in the Peace Corps or in TFA. If you have such experience, please send a note to Professor Roin as well as to the Registrar; it will not make your registration automatic but it will improve your chances.
Autumn 2009
Saul Levmore, Julie Roin
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Greenberg Seminar: Wine, Law, and Politics
LAWS 95912
- 01
(1)
a
Wine is distinctive product: with an history going back to the origins of civilization, it is today a multi-billion dollar global industry. Regulation of wine implicates many areas of law, including intellectual property, international trade, food and drug regulation, and constitutional federalism. This seminar will discuss the law, politics and economics of the wine industry and its regulation. We may also conduct some empirical research. Our first book will likely be Tyler Colman's Wine Politics.
Autumn 2009
Jacob Gersen, Tom Ginsburg
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Health Care Economics and Policy
LAWS TBD
- 01
(3)
b
This seminar surveys the economics and policy applicable to health care financing and delivery in the U.S. Topics include the structure of the industry, health care cost control, geographic and racial disparities in health care access, the problem of the uninsured, health care innovation, taxation of health care spending, end-of-life care and health care reform proposals. The student's grade will be based on a major paper and class participation. Writing for this seminar may be used as partial fulfillment of the JD writing requirement (SWP for JD '10; SRP or WP for JD '11 and JD '12).
Spring 2010
Anup Malani
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Health Law and Policy
LAWS 78801
- 01
(3)
c/l
This course explores the policies that underlie regulation of the provision of health care in the United States. We will begin with an examination of the principal government programs for financing the delivery of health care in America - Medicare and Medicaid. This first part of the course will focus on how these programs seek to resolve the tension between controlling costs, promoting quality, and assuring access. Focus will then move to a consideration of policy issues relating to managed care organizations, including the functioning of these organizations and the impact of ERISA on their actions. Next, we will study issues relating to the behavior of physicians, hospitals, and other health care institutions. Included will be a focus on the impact of the antitrust, labor, and tax laws on these entities. The student may choose to take a proctored final examination or to submit a paper. The grade will be based on the examination or paper, as well as class participation.
Winter 2010
Jack Bierig
