-
Marriage
LAWS 68001
- 01
(3)
+, c/l, r, w
With the aim of making predictions and recommendations for the future, this course examines marriage as a state-sponsored institution, considering its history, its variants (e.g., common law marriage) and close substitutes (e.g., domestic partnership), conceptual frameworks for analyzing it (e.g., analogies between marriage and the business corporation or partnership or relational contract), past and future variants on the joining of one man and one woman (e.g., polygamy and same-sex marriage), and the use of marriage as an ordering principle in various areas of law.
Constitutional Law III is a recommended prerequisite.
The grade is based on a substantial paper, series of short reaction papers, or final examination, with class participation taken into account.
Paper writers require permission of the instructor.
Undergraduates require permission of the instructor.
Spring 2014
Mary Anne Case
-
Mental Health Advocacy Clinic
LAWS 67013
- 01
(1 to 2)
+, a, s, w
Mental Health Advocacy teaches a variety of advocacy skills. With the permission of the clinical teacher, students may choose to focus on litigation, legislation, or both. Students engaged in litigation 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. Students who have completed sixty percent of the credits needed for graduation may be licensed to appear, under the supervision of the clinical teacher, in state and federal trial and appellate courts pursuant to court rules and practices. Students engaged in legislative advocacy may research and draft legislation and supporting materials, devise and implement strategies to obtain the enactment or defeat of legislation, negotiate with representatives of various interest groups, and testify in legislative hearings. In addition to discrete advocacy skills such as cross-examination, discovery planning, and legislative drafting, the clinic aims to provide students with an understanding of the relationships between individual advocacy tasks and the ultimate goals of clients, between litigation and legislative advocacy, and between advocacy on behalf of individual clients and advocacy for systemic change.
Prior or contemporaneous enrollment in Law and the Mental Health System is encouraged, but not required, for all students.
See the general rules for all clinical courses for further details concerning enrollment, including the rules governing the award of credit.
Mental Health Advocacy satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed.
Student may enroll in this clinical course for between one and six quarters.
Winter 2014
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Mental Health Advocacy Clinic
LAWS 67013
- 01
(1 to 2)
+, a, s, w
Mental Health Advocacy teaches a variety of advocacy skills. With the permission of the clinical teacher, students may choose to focus on litigation, legislation, or both. Students engaged in litigation 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. Students who have completed sixty percent of the credits needed for graduation may be licensed to appear, under the supervision of the clinical teacher, in state and federal trial and appellate courts pursuant to court rules and practices. Students engaged in legislative advocacy may research and draft legislation and supporting materials, devise and implement strategies to obtain the enactment or defeat of legislation, negotiate with representatives of various interest groups, and testify in legislative hearings. In addition to discrete advocacy skills such as cross-examination, discovery planning, and legislative drafting, the clinic aims to provide students with an understanding of the relationships between individual advocacy tasks and the ultimate goals of clients, between litigation and legislative advocacy, and between advocacy on behalf of individual clients and advocacy for systemic change.
Prior or contemporaneous enrollment in Law and the Mental Health System is encouraged, but not required, for all students.
See the general rules for all clinical courses for further details concerning enrollment, including the rules governing the award of credit.
Mental Health Advocacy satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed.
Student may enroll in this clinical course for between one and six quarters.
Spring 2014
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Mental Health Advocacy Clinic
LAWS 67013
- 01
(1 to 2)
+, a, s, w
Mental Health Advocacy teaches a variety of advocacy skills. With the permission of the clinical teacher, students may choose to focus on litigation, legislation, or both. Students engaged in litigation 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. Students who have completed sixty percent of the credits needed for graduation may be licensed to appear, under the supervision of the clinical teacher, in state and federal trial and appellate courts pursuant to court rules and practices. Students engaged in legislative advocacy may research and draft legislation and supporting materials, devise and implement strategies to obtain the enactment or defeat of legislation, negotiate with representatives of various interest groups, and testify in legislative hearings. In addition to discrete advocacy skills such as cross-examination, discovery planning, and legislative drafting, the clinic aims to provide students with an understanding of the relationships between individual advocacy tasks and the ultimate goals of clients, between litigation and legislative advocacy, and between advocacy on behalf of individual clients and advocacy for systemic change.
Prior or contemporaneous enrollment in Law and the Mental Health System is encouraged, but not required, for all students.
See the general rules for all clinical courses for further details concerning enrollment, including the rules governing the award of credit.
There is a mandatory one-credit seminar component for this course which meets once a week during the Autumn Quarter.
Mental Health Advocacy satisfies part of the writing requirement if substantial written work is completed.
Student may enroll in this clinical course for between one and six quarters.
Autumn 2013
Mark J. Heyrman
-
Mergers and Acquisitions
LAWS 42311
- 01
(3)
+
In this course we will examine a number of the important legal and practical issues that arise in connection with mergers and acquisitions of U.S. businesses. These include: (1) the differences between mergers, tender offers, stock acquisitions and asset acquisitions, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type of transaction; (2) the duties of directors in change of control transactions; (3) special considerations applicable to transactions, such as controlling shareholder buyouts or management buyouts, in which a director, officer or shareholder has a material conflict of interest; (4) disclosure issues in public M&A transactions; (5) issues that arise in connection with hostile takeovers and takeover defenses; (6) timing issues in public M&A transactions; (7) the enforceability of deal protection provisions in public merger agreements; (8) issues relating to fraud claims brought in M&A transactions; and (9) problems that arise between signing an M&A agreement and the closing of the transaction. The course materials will include relevant judicial decisions as well as examples of disclosure documents and merger, stock purchase and asset purchase agreements.
Grades will depend on a final exam and class participation.
Some of the topics in this course will also be covered more intensively in Buyouts, but that course is not a prerequisite for this course and students may take both courses.
Students who have taken the Advanced Corporate Law: Mergers and Acquisitions seminar with Professor Barnard may not enroll in this course.
Winter 2014
Scott Davis
-
Network Industries
LAWS 73501
- 01
(3)
This course addresses state and federal regulation of price, quality, and entry, with an emphasis on the regulation of natural monopolies, cost-of-service rate-making, rate design, and the problem of partial competition within a regulated environment. While the scope of the course precludes a detailed investigation of any particular industry or system of regulation, particular attention is paid to electrical generation and transmission, the Internet, and telecommunications, with exposure to problems of the other network industries, such as transportation and consumer electronics. This course emphasizes the substantive law and regulated industries and pays scant attention to the procedural questions addressed in Administrative Law, which should be taken at some point, but which is not a prerequisite for this course.
The student's grade is based on class participation and a final examination.
Spring 2014
Randal C. Picker
-
Non-Profit Organizations
LAWS 67802
- 01
(2)
+, c/l, m, x
The financial crisis and increase in political polarization that we have experienced has led to an increase in the role of non-profit organizations in our economy and democratic processes. However, few professionals understand how the rules applicable to non-profit organizations differ from comparable laws that govern the behavior of for-profit entities. This seminar attempts to fill that gap by exploring the tax and non-tax rules applicable to non-profit organizations. Such topics as fiduciary duties, commercial activities, federal and state tax exemptions, charitable deductions, and limits on lobbying and political activities are included. We dwell on the underlying question of why some activities (and not others) are carried out in the non-profit sector and the erosion of the difference between activities conducted by for-profit and non-profit entities. Think of hospitals; both for-profit and non-profit hospitals provide the same services to customers (patients). However, the tax and non-tax rules that apply to the two categories of hospitals are quite different. We examine these differences and consider whether they make sense.
The student's grade is based on class participation and a final examination.
Instructor's approval is required for students who have not completed or are currently enrolled in Introductory Income Tax.
Enrollment is limited to 20.
Autumn 2013
William C. Golden
-
Obscenity Law and Pop Culture
LAWS 53013
- 01
(3)
m, w, x
This seminar will examine a culturally relevant issue: the intersection of obscenity laws and pop culture. It will provide an in-depth look at the obscenity laws in the United States, with a particular focus on the laws that prohibit obscene materials of minors. The seminar will explore the "community standards" requirement of obscenity, as it relates to the definition of obscenity and how it interacts with the law's treatment of a teenager's ability to consent to being featured in obscene material.
Students enrolled will write a seminar paper.
Spring 2014
Rachael Pontikes
-
Originalism and its Critics
LAWS 76803
- 01
(2)
+, m, x
This seminar covers a prominent and controversial method of constitutional interpretation -- originalism. Students will read judicial opinions and academic scholarship on different aspects of the original meaning of the Constitution, as well as theoretical scholarship for and against originalism, and scholarship confronting challenges such as precedent and changing circumstances
A prior constitutional law course is highly recommended.
Grading will be based on class participation and a series of very short reaction papers plus a longer, final reflection paper.
Winter 2014
Eric Posner, William Baude
-
Patent Claim Construction: A Hands-On Introduction to Patent Litigation
LAWS 78002
- 01
(3)
m, w, x
The interpretation of patent claims, or claim construction, is the single most important event in patent litigation and is often case-dispositive. This seminar will expose students to this complex, fascinating, and crucial aspect of patent litigation by having students undertake the claim construction process used by many courts. Students will develop proposed interpretations, write claim construction briefs, and conduct a claim construction hearing. At the same time, readings and class discussions will provide students a deep understanding of the extensive case law and scholarship surrounding claim construction. While some experience with patents--from prior classes, summer jobs, etc.--may be helpful, this seminar is intended to be accessible even for patent novices. Patent litigation is an increasingly important practice for large law firms, and many young associates will find themselves working on patent cases even if they have no technical background or strong interest in patent law. This seminar is intended to expose these future associates to the key issue that resolves most patent cases. Thus, no technical background or knowledge of patent law is required, and the patent used for the seminar's claim construction process will involve simple technology that is easy for anyone to understand.
Spring 2014
Greg Reilly
-
Patent Law
LAWS 78001
- 01
(3)
This is a basic course in patent law, in which the class is introduced to the governing statutes, core concepts, and influential court decisions. No technical expertise is necessary whatsoever, and students from all backgrounds are encouraged to enroll. Patent cases often involve complicated technologies, but the key to understanding the relevant legal issue almost never turns on an understanding of the patented technology itself.
Student grades are based on an in-class final examination.
Students from all backgrounds -- technical or not -- are encouraged to enroll.
Spring 2014
Jonathan Masur
-
Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic
LAWS 67243
- 01
(1)
a, s, w
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 2013
Herschella G. Conyers, Randolph N. Stone
-
Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic
LAWS 67243
- 01
(1)
a, s, w
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 2014
Herschella G. Conyers, Randolph N. Stone
-
Post Incarceration Reentry Clinic
LAWS 67243
- 01
(1)
a, s, w
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 2014
Herschella G. Conyers, Randolph N. Stone
-
Post-Judgment Proceedings and Asset Recovery
LAWS 47302
- 01
(3)
m, w, x
A plaintiff client's ultimate goal in bringing a lawsuit is to actually recover any money judgment that is awarded to the client. If you as the client's lawyer cannot collect -- that is, if you cannot actually get the money, the judgment is of virtually no use to the client. This seminar will explore the procedural and practical steps that a plaintiff can and should take to collect and execute on a judgment, including review and analysis of among other subjects: (a) pre-judgment discovery regarding assets; (b) pre-judgment approaches to freezing assets; c) finality of judgments for purposes of collection and execution; (d) post-judgment proceedings under federal and state law; (e) collections from third parties that hold assets of the judgment debtor; and (f) overcoming asset protection vehicles such as offshore trusts and companies.
Approximately seventy percent (70%) of the final grade will depend upon a seminar paper grade on a topic related to the issues covered in class.
Approximately thirty percent (30%) of the final grade will depend upon class participation.
Winter 2014
Gabriel Aizenberg
-
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 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-10 pages minimum (10%), and work at LAF (70%).
Spring 2014
Lawrence Wood
-
Poverty and Housing Law Clinic
LAWS 90512
- 01
(3)
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 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-10 pages minimum (10%), and work at LAF (70%).
Winter 2014
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; Employment Law 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).
Spring 2014
Erin Kelly
-
Privacy
LAWS 79501
- 01
(2)
m, x
Privacy is the study of society’s efforts to draw boundaries between different contexts in which information flows. This seminar surveys various legal regimes governing the collection, use, and dissemination of information, with potential topics of interest including government surveillance, privacy-related First Amendment issues, the privacy torts, consumer privacy on the Internet, associational privacy, medical privacy, the Freedom of Information Act, and international privacy regimes.
Students’ grades will be based on reaction papers and class participation.
Spring 2014
Roger Ford
-
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. 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 2014
Tom Manning
