-
Privacy
LAWS 79501
- 01
(3)
x
This course surveys society's efforts to draw boundaries between the public and private spheres, with a focus on the legal regimes governing the collection, aggregation, and dissemination of private information. The course devotes substantial attention to the privacy-related torts, government surveillance, privacy-related First Amendment issues, and international privacy law. Other substantive topics that may be covered include consumer privacy on the Internet, Megan's Law, associational privacy, the Freedom of Information Act's privacy provisions, and medical privacy.
The student's grade is based on a final examination and participation.
This course is capped at 84 students.
Spring 2013
Lior Strahilevitz
-
Private Equity in Asia
LAWS 71407
- 01
(3)
m, w, x
Private equity is expanding rapidly into new regions of the world. Asia, where profound economic change is taking place in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, and Viet Nam, offers attractive opportunities for Western firms seeking to export proven investment models. Firms like Carlyle, KKR, and Bain Capital, among others, expect their operations in Asia to excel in both growth and rate of return and eventually rival operations in the United States and Europe in scale.
Asian nations present unique challenges to private equity investors, however. These challenges include partnering with governments in state-sponsored transactions, participating as minority investors in contrast to the more typical majority or controlling position, dealing with new or opaque laws, overcoming fraud and corruption, and mitigating the risk of weak corporate governance. Additionally, domestic funds are sprouting up in large numbers and becoming more formidable in the competition for the best deals.
This seminar will address the current developments in private equity across major countries in Asia. We will review the nature and rise of the industry in the region, the role of private equity as a new tool in the economic development of Asian nations, and the success and failure of recent Asian private equity deals.
Grading will be determined by class participation in the discussion of cases and readings – and by performance across three short papers. The first paper will examine private equity in the macro-context of economic transformation; the second will focus on issues in a recent case study; and the third will address terms in a prospective deal negotiation.
Winter 2013
Tom Manning
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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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Problems in Corporate Law
LAWS 52203
- 01
(1)
x
This course examines current hot topics in Delaware corporate law, relying principally on judicial decisions and academic or practitioner commentary. It is not a high-level survey course; instead, the course will consider issues such as why Delaware occupies a dominant position in the field of corporate law, and will explore particular aspects of that law, including judicial standards of review, common law fiduciary duties of managers and directors, change of control transactions, conflict transactions, poison pills, and defensive mechanisms—all in the context of particular decisions by the Delaware Court of Chancery and Supreme Court. The class is intended to be a focused course on how corporate law is made in Delaware, as well as the policy reasons underlying its law.
Grades will be based on class participation and either a paper or an in-class examination.
This mini-course will meet January 7-10.
Winter 2013
William Chandler
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Professional Responsibility in the Real World
LAWS 41013
- 01
(3)
p, x
This course, which satisfies the professional responsibility requirement, addresses real world ethical issues and challenges facing attorneys in private practice and public service. The instructors, members of a major international law firm, will make the rules governing the professional responsibilities of lawyers come alive by discussing a number of examples taken from the headlines and daily practice. Along the way, the instructors will give meaningful insight into what it is like to practice law in a broad range of practice areas, including transactions, litigation and public service. Class attendance and participation will be an essential aspect of this course.
The student's grade will be based on class participation, a substantial series of short take-home exercises and a final, take-home examination.
Spring 2013
Michael Sweeney, James E. Clark, Teresa Wilton Harmon
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Project and Infrastructure Development and Finance
LAWS 42512
- 01
(2)
+, m, w, x
This seminar will be of most interest to students interested in financial transactions as the core of a corporate law practice. There are no pre-requisites. The emphasis in this seminar will be on financings of identified operating assets, principally industrial and infrastructure projects and transportation equipment. These financings will be distinguished from financings of ongoing corporate enterprises, and representative transactions will be studied in depth in order to develop and then focus on selected legal structuring and legal practice issues, including, for example, legal opinions normally delivered at financial closings. Because these financings in practice employ nearly the full range of financial products, from commercial bank loans to capital market instruments, credit supports and derivatives, collateral security, and equity investments, the issues discussed have relevance to a broad range of financial transactions. The class will be discussion oriented; there will be no exam and grades will be based on short papers and class participation. The readings will include selected cases, portions of treatises and academic journals, and rating agency and official publications. One or more guest speakers from the financial community are expected.
Corporation Law is not a prerequisite, but is recommended.
Students wishing to meet the WP requirement must write a research paper.
Enrollment is limited to twenty-five students.
Autumn 2012
Martin Jacobson
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Property
LAWS 30411
- 01
(3)
1L, a
This course, offered over two sequential quarters, provides an introduction to the legal relationships that arise out of or constitute ownership of property. Subjects covered may include, but are not limited to, such areas as the initial acquisition of rights in real and personal property, the nature of ownership of natural resources, the various types of concurrent and successive interests in land, and restraints on alienation. The course will also deal with the law relating to easements and covenants, landlord and tenant, and conveyancing.
The student's grade is based on a single final examination.
Winter 2013
Lior Strahilevitz
-
Property
LAWS 30411
- 01
(3)
1L, a
This course, offered over two sequential quarters, provides an introduction to the legal relationships that arise out of or constitute ownership of property. Subjects covered may include, but are not limited to, such areas as the initial acquisition of rights in real and personal property, the nature of ownership of natural resources, the various types of concurrent and successive interests in land, and restraints on alienation. The course will also deal with the law relating to easements and covenants, landlord and tenant, and conveyancing.
The student's grade is based on a single final examination.
Spring 2013
Eduardo Peñalver
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Property
LAWS 30411
- 02
(3)
1L, a
This course, offered over two sequential quarters, provides an introduction to the legal relationships that arise out of or constitute ownership of property. Subjects covered may include, but are not limited to, such areas as the initial acquisition of rights in real and personal property, the nature of ownership of natural resources, the various types of concurrent and successive interests in land, and restraints on alienation. The course will also deal with the law relating to easements and covenants, landlord and tenant, and conveyancing.
The student's grade is based on a single final examination.
Winter 2013
R. H. Helmholz
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Property
LAWS 30411
- 02
(3)
1L, a
This course, offered over two sequential quarters, provides an introduction to the legal relationships that arise out of or constitute ownership of property. Subjects covered may include, but are not limited to, such areas as the initial acquisition of rights in real and personal property, the nature of ownership of natural resources, the various types of concurrent and successive interests in land, and restraints on alienation. The course will also deal with the law relating to easements and covenants, landlord and tenant, and conveyancing.
The student's grade is based on a single final examination.
Spring 2013
R. H. Helmholz
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Property Theory
LAWS 95502
- 01
(2)
m, x
This seminar will provide an introduction to the most influential contemporary theories of property, as well as an opportunity to discuss how those theories might approach several important questions within property law. The first half of the seminar will survey the contending theories, including various utilitarian/welfarist theories of property, Lockean and libertarian theories, as well as Aristotelian approaches. The second half will explore various property "controversies" through the lenses of these theories. We will discuss questions such as redistribution, eminent domain, and the right to exclude.
Students will be graded on a series of reaction papers and class participation.
Winter 2013
Eduardo Peñalver
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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
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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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Public Choice
LAWS 69001
- 01
(3)
x
This course focuses on the relationship between modern perspectives on voting and interest groups on the one hand and legislation and judicial interventions on the other. Public choice is essentially the science of collective decision-making, and it comes with several well developed tools of analysis. With these tools, and that perspective, we revisit the interactions between legislatures and judges, democracy's attempt to solve certain problems, and the roles played by a variety of legal doctrines and constitutional institutions (from takings law to line-item vetoes and to the meaning of precedents). As the course proceeds, we explore specific topics in law, such as the possibility of judicial vote-trading, the role of referenda in some jurisdictions but not others, and the role of precedent itself.
Grades will be based on a final examination.
Spring 2013
Saul Levmore
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Public Corruption and the Law
LAWS 68314
- 01
(2 to 3)
+, m, w, x
This seminar will focus on how governments use the law to prevent and catch public corruption, how the law is sometimes used to protect public corruption, and how one should determine the optimal response to corruption and its consequences. We will examine the substantive criminal laws and sentencing schemes used in the best public corruption prosecutions, ranging from RICO and "honest services" fraud to bribery and extortion laws. We will also examine the laws that create, authorize, or prevent the most effective investigative tools used by law enforcement against public corruption, including wiretap laws and related privacy issues. We will study several key topics within public corruption law, including patronage, its effect on democratic institutions, and its status under the First Amendment; campaign finance reform and whether money in campaigns is protected speech or a corrupting influence (or both); and the relationship between transparency, online access to information, and corruption. We will also consider an economic analysis of public corruption, including questions about whether the level of democracy, and the pervasiveness of corruption in the culture, affect the cost-benefit analysis.
Constitutional Law I and II are recommended pre-requisites.
Students taking the class for 3 credits write one short reaction paper (or short research paper if appropriate), and one major paper. Those taking it for 2 credits write several short reaction papers.
Spring 2013
David Hoffman
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Public International Law
LAWS 72901
- 01
(3)
This course is an introduction to public international law, which is the body of law that nation states have jointly created for the purpose of governing their relations. The course focuses on the sources of international law, international institutions such as the United Nations, international adjudication, and various substantive fields of international law, such as the use of force, human rights, the treatment of aliens, and international environmental law.
Grades will be based on class participation and an examination.
Autumn 2012
Eric Posner
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Regulation of Investment Professionals
LAWS 42402
- 01
(3)
+
This course will consider the rules regulating investment professionals. Topics will include the regulation of broker-dealers, hedge fund managers, private equity fund managers, venture capitalists, and others advising individuals and entities on investment matters. We will study the relevant laws, rules of the Securities Exchange Commission, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and other agencies, as well as the regulations of self-regulatory bodies, like FINRA and the New York Stock Exchange.
Federal Regulation of Securities is a recommended prerequisite.
Spring 2013
M. Todd Henderson
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Religion, Law, and Politics
LAWS 97521
- 01
(3)
c/l, m, w, x
This seminar examines the conceptualization and realization of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. We explore philosophical precepts and historical contexts, review the state of the law, and address current controversial issues.
There are no prerequisites.
Grades are based on a paper and class participation.
Spring 2013
Sylvia Neil
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Remedies
LAWS 41401
- 01
(2)
The way in which the law responds to violations of rights is no less important than the way in which those rights are allocated. The law of remedies determines the law's response to violations of rights, and in so doing, it delineates their boundaries and gives them legal meaning. Hence, the study of the law of remedies is closely related to the study of the substantive law, each field shedding light on the other. This course focuses on remedies in Contracts and Torts, referring to the goals of the substantive law to better understand the remedial law. It explores the law of damages in both Contracts and Torts and covers topics such as: restitutionary damages; probabilistic recoveries; the relationship between damages and non-legal sanctions; evidential damage; and liquidated damages. The course also covers the remedies of specific performance in Contracts and injunction in Torts and compares and contrasts these remedies with monetary ones. Some of the defenses available to both the breaching party and the wrongdoer, such as mitigation of damages and comparative fault, in Torts and Contracts will also be discussed.
This mini-course meets during the first four full weeks of the quarter only (starting October 1 and ending October 25).
A student's grade will be based on a 8 hour-take-home exam.
Autumn 2012
Ariel Porat
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Roman Law
LAWS 47702
- 01
(3)
e, m, r, w, x
The seminar develops skill in analyzing legal problems according to the processes of the Roman civil law, in contrast with those of the common law, and does not purport to give a comprehensive treatment of its detailed workings. The material provides an outline of the sources and procedure of Roman private law, followed by an examination of the Roman institutional system, the basis of most modern civil law codes. Particular emphasis is given to property and to obligations (contracts and torts). No knowledge of Latin is required for the seminar.
This class will be assessed via a series of short research papers.
Because this is a 1L elective, it will be graded on the curve usually applied to courses (as all 1L electives are) and will not count against the seminar limit.
Spring 2013
Richard A. Epstein
