Course Descriptions — J through Z

This seminar investigates a myriad of theories about law. It is an aim of this offering to afford students a vehicle whereby they might test and place in perspective many of the theories of law gleaned from classroom work and personal experience.

This course examines the legal position of the child in society and the extent to which the child may be legally controlled by parent(s) or state. Subject matters include the right of the child to control reproductive decision-making, child support and paternity issues, child pornography and minors' access to pornography, child abuse and neglect, foster care, termination of parental rights, adoption, medical treatment of juveniles, and medical experimentation on juveniles. The course also examines the delinquency jurisdiction of juvenile court, the constitutional protections afforded the child accused of criminal activity, adjudications of delinquency, punishment or placement of the child in the dispositional phase of juvenile proceedings, and treatment of the child as an adult offender.

This course is an extended study of the federal National Labor Relations Act focusing on the right to form and join labor organizations, strikes, boycotts and picketing, collective bargaining, and the enforcement of collective bargaining agreements.

The practical and applied aspects of labor-management relations in collective bargaining, recognition and unfair labor practice proceedings are examined. Emphasis will be on the translation of statutory and judicial materials into situational tactics and strategy. (Offered in alternate years.)

The public regulation of private property raises some of the more interesting and difficult questions in property law. On one side of the debate is the government, which seeks to regulate land use in ways that it believes promote the public interest. On the other side are private property owners who often object to restrictions placed on their ability to use their property as they deem best. In studying this tension between public goals and private rights, the course will explore the constitutional limitations placed on governments in the area of land use regulations as well as topics such as variances, special use permits, vested rights, subdivision controls, exactions and impact fees, exclusionary zoning, the rebuilding of urban cores, and the managing of growth in suburban areas.

Major issues and concepts in law and social policy regarding individuals with handicaps are introduced. Topics include: income maintenance programs, special education, federal and state anti-discrimination laws, accessibility, special health issues, institutionalization and de-institutionalization. This is a required course for participation in the Disability Law Clinic.

This course focuses on law concerning the physician-patient relationship as well as bioethical issues that arise in that relationship. It covers confidentiality, medical malpractice, informed consent, the duty to treat, refusing life-sustaining medical treatment, physician-assisted suicide, experimental medical treatment, and more. It will expose students to issues that arise in representing physicians and patients on matters relating to patient care.

This seminar will explore the different ways in which the law regulates and accounts for sexuality in general and sexual orientation in particular. Topics to be covered will include rights to privacy and their impact on the ability of the state to regulate sexual conduct; rights to equal protection by lesbians and gay men; the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy; rights to free speech and associations of lesbians and gay men (and of those who do not want to associate with them): same-sex marriage and adoption by lesbians and gay men; employment discrimination; and legal issues involving transgendered individuals.

Note: Credit will be awarded only for a grade of 70 or higher, and the grade in no event will be calculated in the GPA. Students spend three years in law school mastering the procedure and substance of the law, but do not focus on the people whom the law affects and influences. The single most frequent reason for client dissatisfaction is not their lawyer's inability to deal with the technical aspects of the law, but rather with their lawyer's inability to deal with people. This course is designed to teach law students how to effectively deal with clients, associates, partner, opposing counsel, judges and staff by teaching them why these people act as they do. The goal of the course is for students to learn how to manage their practice more efficiently and enthusiastically by creating productive change in their own behavior as well as those around them.

The course will bring applied behavior analysis to bear on the legal setting. Applied behavior analysis is the systematic study of behavior in all environments, individually and collectively. The class will teach behavior management principles as they are applied to all aspects of the practice of law. The class will meet for two hours, once per week. The first hour will be devoted to teaching principles of behavior analysis and the second hour will incorporate a modified case study approach to bring these principles to bear on specific law-related problems such as client communication and management, improving relations with the court, and increasing staff productivity.

The objectives of this course include an examination of the interface between law and the arts with an eye to both theoretical and practical implications and a striving to identify creative and serviceable solutions to the problems that have frustrated the growth and harvest of the creative effort. The investigation will be directed toward subject areas that reflect functional divisions within the arts; i.e., the visual arts, dance, music, the literary arts, and areas such as television and film. The course includes a mandatory overnight field trip to New York City at the students' expense. It is a prerequisite for the Art, Sports, and Entertainment Law Clinic.

The course aims to offer thorough instruction on the foundations and sources of the law of the sea, the principle types of maritime jurisdiction, the principles of resource management, and approaches to the settlement of maritime disputes.

Treaties are the foundation of public and private international law and national foreign affairs law. This course examines: historical development of law of treaties; concept of treaty; treaty as source of international and national law; stages of concluding treaty; reservations; accession to treaties, functions of depositary; publication of treaties; breach of treaty obligations; invalidity, termination, and suspension of treaties; denunciation and other withdrawal from treaties; treaties and jus cogens; treaties and customary rules of international law; treaties and third States; treaties and municipal law; interpretation of treaties; languages and authentic texts of treaties. Texts: A. Aust, Modern Treaty Law and Practice ( Cambridge University Press, 2000); W. E. Butler, The Law of Treaties in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States ( Cambridge University Press, 2002).

This course will identify diverse areas in which advances in technology have posed challenges to society and law and will study select topics within those areas in order to ground the participants in the relevant legal, scientific and ethical principles, and jurisprudential and social theories. Subjects addressed may include issues in biotechnology such as cloning, transgenics, xenotransplantation and pharmaceutical development; the ownership of biotechnological products; experimentation with humans and animals; human and animal rights concerns; environmental bioremediation; and non-lethal defense technologies.

This seminar provides students with an opportunity to analyze and discuss ethical and legal issues relating to representation of business entities. Issues covered include (1) who is the client for the lawyer who represents a business entity; (2) what special rules govern confidentiality and information sharing in the representation of a business entity; (3) how should a lawyer respond to evidence of client fraud or other illegal activities; (4) what are the potential liabilities for furnishing legal advice or providing legal opinions for business transactions that are later found to have been fraudulent or illegal; (5) when is a business entity required or permitted to reimburse employees for legal expenses relating to their employment activities; and (6) what special obligations and responsibilities are imposed on "in-house" attorneys who are full-time employees of a business entity.

This course is designed to develop the analytical, writing, and research skills vital to a lawyer. The process model of teaching is used, and the course is taught in small groups to provide opportunity for extensive individual feedback. Students analyze and synthesize cases and statutes, conduct legal research, and draft legal memoranda.

This course continues to develop analytical, writing, and research skills vital to a lawyer. Students are taught to write persuasively and end the semester by drafting a brief and presenting an oral argument in support of a trial motion.

This course is a survey of laws affecting the lives of the poor with emphasis on professionalism. The course seeks students with diverse backgrounds to interact in discussions on the theory of poverty law. Areas of focus include the welfare laws, workers' compensation, Social Security disability benefits, consumer law, child support, custody, and domestic abuse, and methods of representing large groups of the poor, such as class actions, implied rights of action, and injunctions.

This course deals with the enactment and construction of statutes with specific attention to the organization, procedures and powers of federal and state legislative bodies, to statutory drafting and construction, and to lobbying.

Initial consideration of peculiarly American Admiralty jurisdiction and practice, after which a survey of substantive rules of the general maritime law respected by shipping and trading nations is essayed. Carriage of goods by water (including bills of lading, charter parties, and general average), collisions, salvage, and seafarers' personal injuries are treated as discrete subjects with warranties of seaworthiness, applicability of multilateral treaties, harmonizing effects of worldwide London insurance markets, and modern English precedent being recurring themes. (Offered in alternate years.)

This course acquaints students with the theory and practice of mediation, so that they can (a) help clients determine when mediation is appropriate, (b) help clients select the appropriate model of mediation, (c) serve as effective advocates in a mediation setting, and (d) begin to acquire mediation skills themselves. The course introduces students to facilitative, evaluative and transformative models of mediation through assigned reading, lectures, simulations, and group discussion. The course also examines the law of mediation (e.g., privilege, confidentiality, mediation "in good faith," enforcement of mandatory mediation provisions, and enforcement of mediated agreements) and mediation ethics (e.g., self-determination, power imbalance, mediator impartiality, conflicts of interest, procedural justice). Other consensual dispute resolution processes employing a neutral (e.g., mini-trial, summary jury trial, and early neutral evaluation) also are introduced. Enrollment is limited to 24 students; preference is given to students seeking the Certificate in Dispute Resolution.

Antitrust, tax, contract, ERISA, environmental, corporate, and securities laws' considerations in the context of a merger and acquisition are reviewed. Spin-offs and divestitures will also be examined. Emphasis will be placed on the Business Judgment Rule and securities law compliance in connection with a negotiated transaction, an unfriendly tender offer, sale of the enterprise, and a spin-off or divestiture. State anti-takeover laws and provisions in corporate documents will also be discussed.

This course has several segments covering such matters as federal and state power over Native American affairs; personal rights and liberties under tribal law; and the history of treaties with and legislation concerning Native Americans. (Offered in alternate years.)

This course provides a basic overview of federal and state regulations and of the common law affecting title to and exploitation of such resources as water, coal, oil, gas, and public lands. Common mineral leasing provisions are given particular emphasis.

This course introduces students to conflict resolution theory and acquaints them with the array of skills and techniques employed in negotiation. Bargaining theory (including distributive and interactive bargaining), negotiation ethics, and the basics of contract drafting are all introduced. Instruction consists of assigned reading, a series of simulations, reflective written assignments, group discussion, and at least one contract drafting exercise. Prerequisite for Conflict Resolution Theory Seminar. The Negotiation course is one of the core courses for the Certificate in Dispute Resolution and advocacy. It is ordinarily offered in the fall, but may be offered in the spring if justified by demand. Enrollment is limited to 32 students; preference is given to students seeking the Certificate in Dispute Resolution and Advocacy.

This course first concentrates on the legal regime for the coastal zone, including estuaries, bays, barrier islands, beach erosion and access, islands, and wetlands. The course then moves progressively seaward through the territorial sea into the ocean, concentrating on such issues as ownership of submerged lands; Freedom of High Seas; narcotics control, immigration, and sanitation in the contiguous zones; fishery management; and resource exploitation.

This course examines the income tax consequences of the formation, operation, and liquidation of a partnership, the classification of an entity as a partnership, distributions by a partnership, and sales of partnership interests.

This course is an examination of the legal requirements for obtaining patent protection for an invention. The statutory foundations of United States patent law are examined through an analysis of patent prosecution practice and patent litigation. The course also considers United States patent practice in the context of international intellectual property law.

In the modern economy commercial parties use a variety of payment mechanisms. This course provides an overview of different payment systems (including checks, credit and debit cards, wire transfers, and letters of credit), the credit system, and the devices that enhance creditworthiness (including notes, guaranties, and standby letters of credit). Classroom discussion is devoted almost exclusively to developing analyses of written problems contained in the course text. Because this course requires familiarity with the Uniform Commercial Code, students should take another Uniform Commercial Code course prior to or concurrently with this course.

This course is a step-by-step analysis of the procedure, planning, tactics, and strategy in defending and prosecuting a criminal case in Pennsylvania from pre-arrest through appeal. Special emphasis is placed on all aspects of the procedure and law relating to the suppression of evidence.

Pennsylvania civil practice is studied by covering the state court system and procedures in civil actions from commencement of the case through trial.

This is a study of guilty pleas and sentencing alternatives, post-conviction remedies, parole, probation, commutation, and pardon. The course will also examine the law of corrections and prisoners' rights.

This course deals primarily with the handling of estates following death. Emphasis is thus placed on accounts and distribution, the responsibilities of estate administrators and personal representatives, inheritance tax problems, and will contests. Other topics include avoidance of probate and the drafting of wills.

This course incorporates and expands the concepts derived from the basic Torts, Contracts, and Uniform Commercial Code coverage of products liability. Emphasis will be on the substantive and procedural law of contract, negligence, and strict liability developed by courts and administrative tribunals. Proposals for legislative reforms will also be studied.

Through the use of hypothetical situations, this course attempts to generate student sensitivity to ethical problems faced by lawyers in various kinds of practice. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the older Code of Professional Responsibility are the basic tools, but discussion centers as well on case law, ABA opinions and standards, statutes, and the dictates of conscience. Discipline and professional malpractice are also treated.

Prerequisites: None

This course introduces the basic concepts and principles in the law of property. Topics include: acquisition and allocation of property rights; restrictions on owners' rights to use, limit access to, and sell or dispose of their property; and the relationships among multiple owners of rights in the same property. The emphasis is on real property, although the course also addresses intellectual property and other types of personal property.

With the perception that the federal judiciary is increasingly hostile to constitutional claims, individuals have turned to state constitutions as an independent source of rights in civil and criminal litigation. This course will explore the unique procedures and methods of state constitutional rights interpretation. In lieu of an examination, persons enrolled in the course will brief questions of state constitutional law in an arena where the United States Constitution fails to afford protection. (Offered in alternate years.)

The purpose of this seminar is to facilitate discussion and understanding of the role law has played in both the subordination and promotion of the rights of people of color in America . Subjects for discussion will include race and the American criminal justice system, hate speech and the First Amendment, affirmative action policies, and the quest for effective schools.

This course examines various stages of the modern real estate transaction and of the relationships that shape it through the eyes of its various participants-buyer, seller, lender, developer, broker, attorney. Topics explored include contracts, deeds, financing, recording, and title assurance.

The basic vehicle for this seminar will be recent court decisions, especially those of the United States Supreme Court. These decisions will compel students to see the interplay between the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses and concepts of due process, equal protection, and privacy. The relevance of the factual record and procedural history and posture is explored.

Remedial devices focusing on the theory and application of legal and equitable relief are analyzed comparatively. The course covers the procedural and substantive law elements of damages, specific performance, injunctions, declaratory judgments, reformation, rescission, and restitution.

The increasingly widespread use of artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, and contracts for gestational services in this country and around the world has given rise to a multiplicity of thorny legal issues. While family law struggles to establish the parentage of children born from these techniques and to determine the appropriate role of contracts in this endeavor, succession law puzzles over the inheritance rights of children conceived posthumously with gametes stores by long-deceased donors or harvested from the bodies of persons whose pre-death procreative intentions are unknown. The law of torts addresses whether and how questionable practices in the fertility industry, fueled by the deeply felt desire of infertile couples to bear children, can best be curbed. Constitutional law offers a lens through which to ask whether resorting to assisted reproduction is subsumed within the ambit of procreative freedom. Finally, property law wrestles to resolve the disputes of those who claim the right to implant or destroy embryos stored in cryopreservation facilities and in the process is said to veer perilously close to commodifying humanity itself. This Seminar delves into the range of these issues and others in an effort to understand the deep impact assisted reproduction has on the lives of so many and to articulate policy necessary to resolve future legal disputes in this evolving area.

This minicourse will consider the notion of right in the context of personal choice. It will examine costs to individuation, both necessary and excessive, that are exacted in the process of establishing and perpetuating the uniformity and stability of legal and political regimes. Topics that will be considered include relative definitions of normalcy and privacy, physical characteristics and their exploitation, religious activities, prostitution, obscenity/pornography and personal expression, racial identity and discrimination, gambling, controlled substances, the use of force, and terrorism.

Article Two of the Uniform Commercial Code is an integrated body of statutory law that prescribes the rights and obligations of parties involved in transactions in goods. Although we will review general principles of contract law and contrast them with the approach adopted in Article Two, this course emphasizes the special techniques of statutory construction utilized in interpreting a code as opposed to an isolated statute. Classroom discussion is devoted almost exclusively to developing analyses of written problems distributed to the students in advance of the class. The problems require students to fashion arguments based on the statutory language. The problems also require students to develop an understanding of the legal and commercial context based on the assigned readings, and then to interpret the statutory language in light of this context. The course topics are: code methodology (including the history and jurisprudence of Article Two), contract formation and interpretation, performance obligations, breach and remedies.

This course deals with the creation, enforcement, and priorities of personal property security interests under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and related statutes. It addresses:(a) encumbrances on consumer, commercial, and industrial goods, (b) inventory and receivables financing for manufacturers, distributors, and dealers, and (c) personal property agricultural financing. Relevant provisions of other Articles of the UCC and other state and federal statutes are integrated into the course as required.

Prerequisites: None

This course explores how various areas of the law impact the sports industry.
The "law" that is used by most sports lawyers is principally the application of settled principles of other legal fields to the sports industry: contract law, labor law, tax law, products liability law, intellectual property law, etc.

The Sports Law course, then focuses on important areas that provide the foundational principles that drive the outcome of most legal disputes arising in the sports industry. The course also examines on certain areas of the law such as antitrust, labor, and constitutional law, that have specific and unique applications to sports.

Prerequisites: PERSP 999 Sports Law, or have faculty approval

Beginning with historical and constitutional aspects, students will analyze in detail recent developments in state and local taxation and their impact on client representation. Attention will be concentrated on corporate, sales and use and other business taxes, death duties, and property taxes and exemptions.

This course deals with the examination of state regulation of securities, emphasizing the Uniform Securities Act, leading departures from it and federal complements. Varying philosophies underlying state regulatory schemes and their applications will be examined. Requirements governing registration and exemption of securities and transactions, including the Uniform Limited Offering Exemption, involving the offer and sale of corporate equity and debt, limited partnership interests, and other security interests will be studied. Corporations is a prerequisite. Students are strongly advised to complete Federal Securities Regulation before electing State Securities Regulation, but the former is not a prerequisite for the latter.

The Supreme Court, including procedure and practice, principles of adjudication, and history, as well as the topics of the current term are studied. Students are required to present analyses of current cases as well as an analytical paper on approved topics of constitutional law.

This course approaches corporate tax issues through the prism of the Federal income tax treatment of taxable and tax free mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Although the course will discuss virtually every section of subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code (i.e., § 301 et seq.), which governs the tax treatment of corporations, the emphasis is placed on those provisions of subchapter C that have the most impact in M&A transactions.

The course focuses principally on domestic M&A; however, because of the growing importance of cross-border M&A, the Federal income tax consequences of these transactions are also briefly examined. In this connection, when examining the particular transactions, such as taxable asset acquisitions in Chapter 4, the book also examines the Federal income tax consequences under the assumption that a foreign acquirer is acquiring a U.S. target in an inbound acquisition and alternatively that a U.S. acquirer is acquiring a foreign target in an outbound acquisition.

This course examines the fundamental issues in tax policy, focusing on trends and on current legislative proposals. Specific subjects include the underpinnings of the various tax systems, the tax legislative process, the use of tax structure and incentives to implement social and economic objectives, the legal methodology of controlling tax abuse, and similar subjects. (Offered in alternate years.)

This course focuses primarily on income tax problems unique to corporations and the income tax problems arising from the shareholder-corporate relationship.

This course treats the unique problems concerning U.S. taxation of the foreign income and operations of U.S. persons and enterprises and the incidence of U.S. taxation on foreign persons and enterprises, including the following basic topics: the tax treatment of international business and investments, sales and financing, the sourcing of income, inclusions and exclusions, the foreign tax credit, controlled foreign corporations, and tax avoidance. This course stresses the role of international tax treaties and examines, on a comparative basis, the tax rules of other countries in order to better understand our own system and to gain an understanding of the overall impact of taxation in the international setting. (Offered in alternate years.)

Note: Students may take EITHER International Tax (TAX 993) OR Taxation of Multinational Transactions (TAX 992) while attending Dickinson School of Law.

Tort law seeks to remedy civil wrongs that result in harm to person or property. The class will focus on basic concepts such as the intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, and products liability.

The law of trademarks is central to the concept of fair dealing in the commercial environment. The history of common law and statutory trademarks is explored as well as registration, conveyancing and foreign rights. The course deals with the duty of the merchant to compete honestly and remedies for failure to do so.

This course examines the disposition of property at death by intestate succession and by will. The execution, revocation, construction, and contest of wills, as well as limits on the power to dispose of property by will, are studied. This course also examines the creation, purposes and termination of trusts, including informal trusts, and the interrelationship between trusts and wills.

The inexorable paces of globalization and interdependence have made the need for international cooperation more acute. The role of the United Nations in these processes has become both more relevant and controversial. Notwithstanding the critical voices that have questioned the relevance or usefulness of the world body from certain national perspectives and points of view, the United Nations, through its activities and programmes, continues to have a considerable impact on countries and societies around the world, in such areas as conflict prevention and resolution, control of population displacements, humanitarian action, and social and economic development. These considerations, among others, make a study of the United Nations and International law more important today than it has ever been.

This course will cover the substantive law and procedures of major white collar crimes, including conspiracy, fraud, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, money laundering, public corruption, and economic crimes. It will also examine their civil counterparts and civil and administrative consequences and analyze the theory and policies of these hybrid criminal statutes. Finally, the class will learn and practice skills associated with white collar crime cases, for example, investigative techniques, negotiation, and development of effective theories of the case.

This seminar examines domestic and international law on the protection of wildlife. It reviews the history of wildlife law, from its roots in concepts of private and public property, through early attempts to conserve wildlife from over-hunting, to modern laws and treaties protecting specific endangered species and biological diversity generally. It concludes by exploring potential conflicts between elements of wildlife law and international trade agreements.

The goal of this course is to improve the legal reading, writing, and editing skills of students. The course will reinforce rules of grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, usage, voice, tone, style, and organization. The emphasis will be on the application of these rules in the context of legal writing. Students will learn how to craft sentences that are accurate, brief, clear, precise, and sometimes persuasive.

Students will be required to submit a writing sample to the instructor at the time of registration.

The goal of this course is to improve the legal writing and editing skills of students. By engaging in the process of directed writing and editing, students will learn to write clearly, succinctly, precisely, and sometimes persuasively. Emphasis will be given to organization and integration of procedural and substantive aspects of cases.

Students will be required to submit a writing sample and statement of interest to the instructor before enrollment in the course is approved.