-
Mental Health Advocacy Clinic
LAWS 67013
- 01
(1 to 2)
+, a, s, w, x
The Mental Health Advocacy Clinic teaches legislative advocacy and other policy advocacy skills. Under the supervision of the clinical teacher, students engage in legislative and other policy advocacy on behalf of persons with mental illnesses and not-for-profit organizations. Students may research and draft legislation and regulations and supporting materials, devise and implement strategies to obtain the enactment or defeat of legislation, negotiate with representatives of various interest groups, engage in coalition building and testify in legislative hearings.
The Mental Health Advocacy Clinic satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed. Prior or contemporaneous enrollment in either Legislation or a course on statutory interpretation is encouraged but not required.
The course includes a mandatory one hour weekly classroom component during the Fall Quarter for which one credit will be awarded.
2-7 credits by agreement with the clinical teacher.
Student may enroll in the course for no more than three quarters.
Autumn 2012
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Mental Health Litigation Clinic
LAWS 67015
- 01
(1)
+, a, s, w, x
The Mental Health Litigation Clinic teaches litigation skills. Under the supervision of the clinical teacher, students engage in litigation on behalf of indigent, mentally ill clients of the Law School's Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic. Students may interview clients and witnesses; research and draft pleadings and legal memoranda, including briefs to reviewing courts; conduct formal and informal discovery; negotiate with opposing counsel and others; conduct evidentiary hearings and trials; and present oral argument in trial and appellate courts. The most common type of litigation will involve representing persons confined in state hospitals in state trial court hearings concerning the clients’ conditional or unconditional release or their treatment within the hospital. Students will be licensed to appear, under the supervision of the clinical teacher, in state and federal courts pursuant to court rules and practices.
See the general rules for all clinical courses for further details concerning enrollment, including the rules governing the award of credit.
The Mental Health Litigation Clinic satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed.
Participation in the Mental Health Litigation Clinic is limited to third year students.
Prior completion of Evidence is required.
2-6 credits by agreement with the clinical teacher.
Autumn 2012
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Mental Health Litigation Clinic
LAWS 67015
- 01
(1)
+, a, s, w, x
The Mental Health Litigation Clinic teaches litigation skills. Under the supervision of the clinical teacher, students engage in litigation on behalf of indigent, mentally ill clients of the Law School's Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic. Students may interview clients and witnesses; research and draft pleadings and legal memoranda, including briefs to reviewing courts; conduct formal and informal discovery; negotiate with opposing counsel and others; conduct evidentiary hearings and trials; and present oral argument in trial and appellate courts. The most common type of litigation will involve representing persons confined in state hospitals in state trial court hearings concerning the clients’ conditional or unconditional release or their treatment within the hospital. Students will be licensed to appear, under the supervision of the clinical teacher, in state and federal courts pursuant to court rules and practices.
See the general rules for all clinical courses for further details concerning enrollment, including the rules governing the award of credit.
The Mental Health Litigation Clinic satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed.
Participation in the Mental Health Litigation Clinic is limited to third year students.
Prior completion of Evidence is required.
2-6 credits by agreement with the clinical teacher.
Spring 2013
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Mental Health Litigation Clinic
LAWS 67015
- 01
(1)
+, a, s, w, x
The Mental Health Litigation Clinic teaches litigation skills. Under the supervision of the clinical teacher, students engage in litigation on behalf of indigent, mentally ill clients of the Law School's Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic. Students may interview clients and witnesses; research and draft pleadings and legal memoranda, including briefs to reviewing courts; conduct formal and informal discovery; negotiate with opposing counsel and others; conduct evidentiary hearings and trials; and present oral argument in trial and appellate courts. The most common type of litigation will involve representing persons confined in state hospitals in state trial court hearings concerning the clients’ conditional or unconditional release or their treatment within the hospital. Students will be licensed to appear, under the supervision of the clinical teacher, in state and federal courts pursuant to court rules and practices.
See the general rules for all clinical courses for further details concerning enrollment, including the rules governing the award of credit.
The Mental Health Litigation Clinic satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed.
Participation in the Mental Health Litigation Clinic is limited to third year students.
Prior completion of Evidence is required.
2-6 credits by agreement with the clinical teacher.
Winter 2013
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Partnership Taxation
LAWS 44301
- 01
(3)
s, x
This course examines income tax aspects of partnerships. Partnerships have become a widely used business structure, particularly since the invention of limited liability companies (which are treated as partnerships for tax purposes) and the increase in the number of start-up ventures and sophisticated financial ventures such as hedge funds and private equity funds that rely upon partnership tax principles to maximize after-tax returns of investors and management. The course uses problem sets to illustrate the application of basic principles to formations, income and loss allocations, borrowings, and distributions of partnerships, with a special focus on applying the tax rules in a transactional setting.
Introductory Income Tax is a prerequisite.
The student's grade is based on a final examination and class participation.
Spring 2013
Richard Lipton, Todd Golub
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Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic
LAWS 67243
- 01
(1)
a, s, w, x
The Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic (PIRC) will assist individuals returning to society after detention and imprisonment. Approximately 600,000 people are annually released from state and federal prisons in the United States; in Illinois, about 40,000 prisoners return to their communities each year and a substantial percentage of Illinois prisoners return to a small number of Chicago neighborhoods (several on the Southside) where they encounter restricted housing, employment, and educational opportunities, inadequate social, medical, and mental health services, real obstacles to care and provide for their families, and other policies and practices that make it difficult to become productive members of the community. Students will be engaged in individual representation, policy reform, and public education. In terms of direct representation, students may interview and counsel clients, prepare and present witnesses at hearings before the Circuit Court of Cook County or the Prisoner Review Board, provide advice and assistance on reviewing criminal records, prepare petitions for expungement and sealing of records, apply for certificates of good conduct and relief from disabilities, provide counsel in parole and probation revocation proceedings, and consider petitions for executive clemency and other post-conviction relief. With regard to policy and public education, we will, inter alia, collaborate with other community organizations and providers in advocating for alternatives to incarceration, legislative reform, and the elimination of barriers to employment, housing, public benefits, and education for those with criminal records. PIRC will engage in effective interdisciplinary collaboration with the Clinic social worker and social work students as well as related law school clinics, interested academics, and other university departments and disciplines.
Winter 2013
Herschella G. Conyers, Randolph N. Stone
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Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic
LAWS 67243
- 01
(1)
a, s, w, x
The Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic (PIRC) will assist individuals returning to society after detention and imprisonment. Approximately 600,000 people are annually released from state and federal prisons in the United States; in Illinois, about 40,000 prisoners return to their communities each year and a substantial percentage of Illinois prisoners return to a small number of Chicago neighborhoods (several on the Southside) where they encounter restricted housing, employment, and educational opportunities, inadequate social, medical, and mental health services, real obstacles to care and provide for their families, and other policies and practices that make it difficult to become productive members of the community. Students will be engaged in individual representation, policy reform, and public education. In terms of direct representation, students may interview and counsel clients, prepare and present witnesses at hearings before the Circuit Court of Cook County or the Prisoner Review Board, provide advice and assistance on reviewing criminal records, prepare petitions for expungement and sealing of records, apply for certificates of good conduct and relief from disabilities, provide counsel in parole and probation revocation proceedings, and consider petitions for executive clemency and other post-conviction relief. With regard to policy and public education, we will, inter alia, collaborate with other community organizations and providers in advocating for alternatives to incarceration, legislative reform, and the elimination of barriers to employment, housing, public benefits, and education for those with criminal records. PIRC will engage in effective interdisciplinary collaboration with the Clinic social worker and social work students as well as related law school clinics, interested academics, and other university departments and disciplines.
Spring 2013
Herschella G. Conyers, Randolph N. Stone
-
Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic
LAWS 67243
- 01
(1)
a, s, w, x
The Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic (PIRC) will assist individuals returning to society after detention and imprisonment. Approximately 600,000 people are annually released from state and federal prisons in the United States; in Illinois, about 40,000 prisoners return to their communities each year and a substantial percentage of Illinois prisoners return to a small number of Chicago neighborhoods (several on the Southside) where they encounter restricted housing, employment, and educational opportunities, inadequate social, medical, and mental health services, real obstacles to care and provide for their families, and other policies and practices that make it difficult to become productive members of the community. Students will be engaged in individual representation, policy reform, and public education. In terms of direct representation, students may interview and counsel clients, prepare and present witnesses at hearings before the Circuit Court of Cook County or the Prisoner Review Board, provide advice and assistance on reviewing criminal records, prepare petitions for expungement and sealing of records, apply for certificates of good conduct and relief from disabilities, provide counsel in parole and probation revocation proceedings, and consider petitions for executive clemency and other post-conviction relief. With regard to policy and public education, we will, inter alia, collaborate with other community organizations and providers in advocating for alternatives to incarceration, legislative reform, and the elimination of barriers to employment, housing, public benefits, and education for those with criminal records. PIRC will engage in effective interdisciplinary collaboration with the Clinic social worker and social work students as well as related law school clinics, interested academics, and other university departments and disciplines.
Autumn 2012
Herschella G. Conyers, Randolph N. Stone
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Poverty and Housing Law Clinic
LAWS 90512
- 01
(4)
a, s
This clinic, conducted over two sequential quarters, exposes students to the practice of poverty law work by giving them the opportunity to work on housing cases at LAF, which provides free legal services to indigent clients in civil matters. Students will spend twelve hours per week in LAF’s Housing Practice Group, and may be be asked to attend administrative grievance hearings, represent defendants in eviction actions, prevent landlords from performing lockouts or refusing to make necessary repairs, and participate in ongoing federal litigation. All students will be expected to interview clients, prepare written discovery, and draft motions. In addition to working at LAF, students will attend a weekly two-hour class at which they will learn about poverty law, subsidized housing programs, eviction actions, housing discrimination, the intersection between domestic violence and housing, using the bankruptcy code to preserve subsidized tenancies, challenging barred lists and "no trespass" policies, jury trial practice, and the extensive and often misunderstood connection between criminal law and subsidized housing.
Enrollment is limited to twelve students.
The seminar is taught by Lawrence Wood (Director, LAF’s Housing Practice Group).
Each student's grade is based on his or her class participation (20%), one paper-l0 pages minimum (10%), and work at LAF (70%).
Spring 2013
Lawrence Wood
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Poverty and Housing Law Clinic
LAWS 90512
- 01
(3)
a, s, x
This clinic, conducted over two sequential quarters, exposes students to the practice of poverty law work by giving them the opportunity to work on housing cases at LAF, which provides free legal services to indigent clients in civil matters. Students will spend twelve hours per week in LAF’s Housing Practice Group, and may be be asked to attend administrative grievance hearings, represent defendants in eviction actions, prevent landlords from performing lockouts or refusing to make necessary repairs, and participate in ongoing federal litigation. All students will be expected to interview clients, prepare written discovery, and draft motions. In addition to working at LAF, students will attend a weekly two-hour class at which they will learn about poverty law, subsidized housing programs, eviction actions, housing discrimination, the intersection between domestic violence and housing, using the bankruptcy code to preserve subsidized tenancies, challenging barred lists and "no trespass" policies, jury trial practice, and the extensive and often misunderstood connection between criminal law and subsidized housing.
Enrollment is limited to twelve students.
The seminar is taught by Lawrence Wood (Director, LAF’s Housing Practice Group).
Each student's grade is based on his or her class participation (20%), one paper-l0 pages minimum (10%), and work at LAF (70%).
Winter 2013
Lawrence Wood
-
Pre-Trial Advocacy
LAWS 67403
- 01
(2)
s, u, x
This class focuses on fundamental pretrial litigation strategies and skills, including creation and evaluation of legal and factual theories, motion practice, interviewing clients, discovery planning, depositions, and pretrial preparation. The class employs a variety of learning methodologies, including lectures, small group discussions, simulated exercises, and oral arguments.
Students taking Pre-Trial Advocacy are also eligible to enroll in the Intensive Trial Practice Workshop.
Because of the overlap in topics, students are ineligible for Pre-Trial Advocacy if they have taken or are currently enrolled in any of the following litigation clinics: Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic; Civil Rights Clinic: Police Accountability; Mental Health Litigation Clinic; Complex Mental Health Litigation Clinic; Exoneration Project Clinic; Employment Discrimination Clinic; Abrams Environmental Law Clinic; and Federal Criminal Justice Clinic.
The student's grade is based on class participation and written work product.
Evidence is a prerequisite (may be taken concurrently).
Enrollment is limited to 20 students.
Spring 2013
Erin Kelly
-
Private Equity Transactions: Issues and Documentation
LAWS 71402
- 01
(3)
+, m, s, x
This seminar will examine from a practical perspective the issues and documentation arising in a typical private equity acquisition transaction. The seminar will follow this type of transaction through its various stages and provide students in-depth and practical experience with common deal issues and drafting contractual provisions to address those issues. The goal of the seminar is to help prepare students for the practical aspects of being a deal lawyer. Coursework will include reading acquisition contracts, cases and legal commentators and weekly written assignments (contract drafting and issue analysis).
Corporations/Business Associations I and Contracts are prerequisites.
Grades will be based on class participation and the written assignments.
Winter 2013
Mark Fennell, Stephen Ritchie
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Prosecution and Defense Clinic
LAWS 67713
- 01
(3 to 4)
+, a, s, x
The Prosecution and Defense Clinic provides students with an opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system through: (1) a 2-quarter seminar taught by a former Assistant United States Attorney and a former Federal Defender; and, (2) a clinical placement in either a prosecutor’s office or public defender’s office. The goal of the clinic is to familiarize students with the legal procedures and issues which arise in a typical criminal case as well as ethical and other social justice issues (such as race and poverty) routinely considered by all criminal justice attorneys and courts. The clinic will provide students with a unique combination of substantive criminal law and procedure, ethics, trial practice (through participation in courtroom exercises built around a single federal criminal case), and hands-on experience through a clinical placement.
Each student in the clinic will be responsible for securing a field placement and participating in a pre-screened externship program with a federal or state prosecutor or defender office for the winter and spring quarters. Examples include the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois or the Public Defender’s office in any northern Illinois county. (Please note that some offices require law students to apply as early as September for externships beginning the following January.) Students will comply with the clinical placement’s requirements regarding hours and assignments, which will be considered part of their course grade. In the clinical placements, students may be expected to research substantive criminal law issues, draft affirmative and responsive pleadings and memos, interview witnesses and clients, assist lawyers with court hearings and where permitted (and with an appropriate 711 license), appear in court under the supervision of practicing attorneys. Other components of each student’s grade are: seminar classroom participation, including discussion of readings; participation in trial practice exercises; twice monthly journal entries; and, a 10-page practice paper or research paper. There is no final exam (in either quarter) and students will earn up to seven credits for the course, depending in part on the number of hours required for the student’s field placement. Because of the practical component, the class size will be limited to 12 students. Both 2Ls and 3Ls may sign up for this course, provided they have taken Evidence (2Ls may take it concurrently). A 711 license is not required, but depending on the placement, may be encouraged.
Winter 2013
Lisa Noller, Gabriel Plotkin
-
Prosecution and Defense Clinic
LAWS 67713
- 01
(3 to 4)
+, a, s
The Prosecution and Defense Clinic provides students with an opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system through: (1) a 2-quarter seminar taught by a former Assistant United States Attorney and a former Federal Defender; and, (2) a clinical placement in either a prosecutor’s office or public defender’s office. The goal of the clinic is to familiarize students with the legal procedures and issues which arise in a typical criminal case as well as ethical and other social justice issues (such as race and poverty) routinely considered by all criminal justice attorneys and courts. The clinic will provide students with a unique combination of substantive criminal law and procedure, ethics, trial practice (through participation in courtroom exercises built around a single federal criminal case), and hands-on experience through a clinical placement.
Each student in the clinic will be responsible for securing a field placement and participating in a pre-screened externship program with a federal or state prosecutor or defender office for the winter and spring quarters. Examples include the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois or the Public Defender’s office in any northern Illinois county. (Please note that some offices require law students to apply as early as September for externships beginning the following January.) Students will comply with the clinical placement’s requirements regarding hours and assignments, which will be considered part of their course grade. In the clinical placements, students may be expected to research substantive criminal law issues, draft affirmative and responsive pleadings and memos, interview witnesses and clients, assist lawyers with court hearings and where permitted (and with an appropriate 711 license), appear in court under the supervision of practicing attorneys. Other components of each student’s grade are: seminar classroom participation, including discussion of readings; participation in trial practice exercises; twice monthly journal entries; and, a 10-page practice paper or research paper. There is no final exam (in either quarter) and students will earn up to seven credits for the course, depending in part on the number of hours required for the student’s field placement. Because of the practical component, the class size will be limited to 12 students. Both 2Ls and 3Ls may sign up for this course, provided they have taken Evidence (2Ls may take it concurrently). A 711 license is not required, but depending on the placement, may be encouraged.
Spring 2013
Lisa Noller, Gabriel Plotkin
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Secured Lender Remedies and Workout Transactions
LAWS 71404
- 01
(2)
m, s, x
Starting first by discussing the parameters under which a borrower company must typically operate under its secured loan facility, this seminar will focus on the remedies available to secured lenders when that borrower defaults and the various workout transactions that may ensue, either before bankruptcy or as a bankruptcy alternative. Remedies will be viewed from the perspective of the secured lender's counsel, including negotiation and documentation of forbearance agreements, consensual turnovers and UCC sales of assets and equity, as well as exercise of pledged equity voting rights.
Spring 2013
Erin Casey
-
Strategic Business Partnerships
LAWS 79917
- 01
(3)
s, u, w, x
As modern businesses face increasing pressure to increase innovation and speed to market while cutting costs and mitigating risk, they have increasingly recognized that the path to success includes partnering with third parties. Success in these relationships requires significant advance planning, a focus on shared goals, and the ability to capture the essence of the transaction in a legal document that is often negotiated on an accelerated time frame. Lawyers working for or with these businesses must bring more than legal expertise and negotiating skills to the table; they must also draw upon sound business principles, their knowledge of the underlying business, its core competencies and strategic needs, to implement successful and durable arrangements. This class, intended for those planning careers as either business/transactional attorneys or business leaders, will explore various alternative partnering options and how they are documented by the legal and business teams. These alternatives, intersecting law and business, will be examined, discussed, and negotiated against a backdrop of real-world business intelligence and agreements, using a publicly traded Fortune 100 retailer as the business case upon which much of the class will be based. A former CEO of the company will join the class as a guest speaker to provide business context; external attorneys involved in many of the transactions will provide occasional commentary and additional context.
Grades will be based on a series of short reflection papers, substantial in-class exercises and negotiations, and out-of-class projects.
Spring 2013
David Zarfes, Matt Myren
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Strategies and Processes of Negotiations
LAWS 46702
- 01
(3)
s, u, x
This simulation class aims to make you a better negotiator by giving you the analytical frameworks as well as the hands-on experience of negotiating in various roles. In addition to discussing the theoretical “science” of negotiations, you will participate in a series of increasingly complex (and fun!) exercises where you will fine tune the “art” of negotiations. You will work your way from participating in simple two-party, single issues negotiations to multi-party, multi-issue negotiations with internal (within the organization) and external (outside the organization) parties. You will learn how to categorize the problem and prepare for the negotiation; how to create value in an ethical manner; how to ensure that you capture a fair share of the value created; how to form effective coalitions; and how to apply specific tactics to overcome common biases and mistakes made by negotiators. The class will enable you to hone your personal negotiating strengths and work on your personal weaknesses by giving constant feedback showing you how your strategies and tactics worked relative to those used by your classmates.
Attendance in every class is compulsory. Grades are based on preparation, participation and a final project.
Winter 2013
Radhika Puri
-
Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions
LAWS 71401
- 01
(3)
+, s
This course covers tax, legal, and economic principles applicable to a series of interesting, complex, current entrepreneurial transactions, utilizing venture capital or private equity financing, including (1) new business start up, (2) growth equity investment in existing business enterprise, (3) leveraged buyout of private or public company (including going-private transaction), (4) use of flow-through tax entity, such as S corporation, partnership, or LLC, for variety of venture capital or private equity financed transactions, (5) devising equity-based executive compensation program, (6) private equity financed restructuring or workout (in or out of bankruptcy) for troubled over-leveraged enterprise, (7) devising exit scenario for successful venture capital or private equity financed enterprise (such as IPO, SEC rule 144 sale, sale of company, or merger of company into larger enterprise), (8) utilizing NOL of troubled company after venture capital or LBO deal, and (9) forming new venture capital, LBO, or private equity fund.
Substantive subjects include federal income tax, securities regulation, corporate law, partnership law, LLC law, bankruptcy law, fraudulent conveyance law, and other legal doctrines, as well as accounting rules and practical structuring issues (including use of common and preferred stocks, convertible debentures, convertible preferred stock, warrants, and options), all reviewed in a transactional context, and with discussion of their policy underpinnings and likely future evolution.
No specific prerequisites, but introductory income tax strongly recommended, entity taxation desirable, and knowledge of corporate law, securities regulation, bankruptcy, and accounting helpful. However, the course book appendix plus assigned supplementary readings contains adequate precedents for an understanding of the material covered by the course.
Spring 2013
Jack S. Levin, Donald Rocap
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Trial Advocacy
LAWS 67603
- 01
(3)
+, s, u, x
This class will explore the trial lawyer's craft, with a focus on both the written submissions important in litigation and the courtroom skills required at various stages in the life of a case. The instruction will be by lectures, demonstrations, and participation in learning-by-doing exercises (including a mini-trial). Students will learn how to use motions, depositions, written discovery, expert witnesses, exhibits, and technology as effective litigation tools.
Enrollment is limited to 24.
Students who have taken LAWS 67503 Intensive Trial Practice Workshop or LAWS 91702 Trial Practice: Strategy and Advocacy may not take LAWS 67603 Trial Advocacy.
While the instructors strongly recommend that students have a good understanding of the Federal Rules of Evidence before taking the seminar, this is not an absolute prerequisite.
Final grades will be based on class participation, performance during courtroom exercises and the mini-trial, a fifteen-page trial brief, brief in support of a motion, or post-trial brief, and two shorter written pieces. Performance in the mock trial will count for 60% of the students' grade.
Winter 2013
Tom Dutton, Kevin Van Wart
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Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic
LAWS 65013
- 01
(1)
a, s, w, x
The Young Center Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic combines international human rights, immigration and children's rights law. Students in the Young Center clinic serve as Child Advocate (similar to a guardian ad litem) for unaccompanied immigrant children detained in Chicago. Unaccompanied immigrant children come to the U.S. from all corners of the world, on their own. They are apprehended—typically at the U.S./Mexico border, or through an internal enforcement action—then detained and placed in deportation proceedings. Pursuant to federal law, the Young Center is appointed as Child Advocate for the most vulnerable of these children.
Students in the Young Center Clinic are assigned to work one-on-one with children at Chicago-area detention facilities. Each student meets weekly with the child and advocates for the best interests of the child with federal officials, immigration judges and asylum officers, under the supervision of Young Center attorneys. In addition to serving as Child Advocate, clinic students have the opportunity to engage in legislative and public policy advocacy regarding human rights protections for immigrant children in removal proceedings. The Young Center Clinic admits both second-year and third-year law students.
Students who enroll in the clinic must:
1. Speak Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi or Arabic (each year the Young Center admits a few students who speak other languages or only English);
2. Participate in a 2-day orientation on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29;
3. Participate in a 2-hour weekly seminar during the Fall Quarter;
4. Participate in bi-weekly brown bag lunch meetings during the Winter and Spring Quarters;
5. Commit to at least 2, but no more than 3, quarters in the clinic.
For more information about the Young Center, visit: www.TheYoungCenter.org or contact Maria Woltjen at mwoltjen@uchicago.edu or 773-702-0349 or Elizabeth Frankel at efrankel@law.uchicago.edu or 773-702-9587.
Spring 2013
Elizabeth Frankel, Maria Woltjen, Jajah Wu
