Course Descriptions

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Spring 2016 Class Descriptions

Administrative Law (LWPP510)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (JD), Health Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG), Environmental and Energy Law (MSLS)

This course discusses the basic rules and principles governing federal administrative agencies. Subjects covered include the procedures governing administrative agencies, judicial review of administrative action, and presidential and congressional controls over agencies. The rules governing agencies are quite different from those that govern courts. Knowledge of these rules has become increasingly important, as many practitioners are now likely to spend more time dealing with administrative agencies than litigating in court.

Note: This is a required course for the Environmental & Energy Law and Public Interest Law concentrations (JD). This course may be applied as part of the nine required credits for the Health Law Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Environmental & Energy Law Concentration (JD), Public Interest Law Concentration (JD), Health Law Concentration (JD)

Adv. Chapter 11 Reorganization (LWBC500)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Prerequisite(s): Bankruptcy

This course focuses on business reorganization under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. It features lectures followed by practical application by teams of students divided into the roles of debtor-in-possession counsel, official creditors committee counsel, and secured creditor counsel. The teams of students will be provided a troubled business, inclusive of assets, liabilities, secured and unsecured debt. Presented with financial statements, schedules and a statement of affairs, the student teams will rotate roles as debtor-in-possession counsel, creditor committee counsel, secured creditor counsel and U.S. Trustee. The teams will prepare pleadings, present and argue critical phases of the business reorganization process and seek confirmation of a chapter 11 plan of reorganization. A basic bankruptcy course is a prerequisite. Grading will be in the traditional letter grading scale. Final grade will be based on exam, but students are also required to submit and argue plan and disclosure statement motions.

Advanced Corporate Tax Problems (LWTE508)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax II/Corporate Tax

A series of planning and structural problems involving advanced issues in corporate taxation will be discussed. The topics to be covered include advanced corporate asset disposition and distribution problems; redemptions; stock transfers and dividends; collapsible corporations; accumulated earnings tax; personal holding companies and S corporations. Prerequisite: Tax II (Corporate Tax). This class meets for 10 sessions TBA.

Students who completed the three credit Tax I course must obtain professor approval using the form at www.sandiego.edu/law/registrar/forms.php.

Advanced Legal Writing (LWGC505)

Instructor(s): Staff

1 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills OR Writing
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMG)

Advanced Legal Writing is a one-unit course specifically designed to help students strengthen their fundamental legal writing skills. The class will help students master the skills needed to be a good legal writer, including :Selecting active and powerful word choices; Constructing paragraphs; Using proper grammar and punctuation; Creating a strong micro and macro legal structure; Developing thesis and conclusion sentences; Issue spotting; Extracting, formulating, and synthesizing rules of law; Crafting explicit factual comparisons; and Revising, editing and perfecting their work product. The class will also include workshops on “The Secrets of Successful Legal Writing Students” and “How to Ace Your Final & Bar Exam Essays.” Students will learn through lecture, in-class exercises, outside-class exercises, workshops, one-on-one TA and Professor sessions and practice. The class requires no outside research. It will be graded Honors, Pass, Low Pass and Fail. Students may only enroll in two of the following during their law school career: Advanced Legal Writing OR LWR III: Lit & Judicial Drafting OR LWR III: Legal Writing OR Legal Drafting. Students desiring to add the second class in this series must receive a signature on their add/drop form from the Office for Law Student Affairs, and provide the form to the Registrar office (that is, students cannot add the second class themselves online.)

Note: This course may fulfill either the Professional Skills OR Upper Division Writing requirement. Students will be asked in class at the beginning of the semester to elect which requirement they would like this course to fulfill. The student's election is final.

Advanced Pass-Thru Taxation (LWTE556)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I
Recommended Class(es): Corporate Tax

The use of tax pass-through entities has become widespread and powerful both in the U.S. and internationally. The purpose of the course is to understand the rules that apply to S corporations, partnerships, REITs and other pass-through entities and how those entities are used, both domestically and internationally. The course will also consider the tax policy issues that pass-through entities raise. The questions are both broad (e.g., Why do we have so many pass-through entities? Why do the rules for each differ? What are the issues for different classes of investors? Is simplification possible?) and narrow (e.g., How is entity-level tax eliminated in the case of a REIT or a RIC? In the case of a REMIC? In the case of an S corporation?) This class meets from January 11, 2016 to February 4, 2016. In addition to class participation, there will be 2 hour open book exam on February 11, 2016.

Students who completed the three credit Tax I course must obtain professor approval using the form at www.sandiego.edu/law/registrar/forms.php.

Advanced Trial Advocacy (LWLP515)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG)
Prerequisite(s): Trial Advocacy, Evidence

A course combining one hour per week of demonstrations and lecture with a two hour per week workshop involving critique of individual student performances in a number of the more difficult areas of trial practice. Students are videotaped during certain skills over the semester with feedback from instructors and practitioners. In addition to the weekly skills sessions, students perform at least one bench trial and one jury trial. The class will also address and consider the use of trial presentation technology at trial, and the intricacies of examining experts and children. There will be minor written requirements related to the skill of the week. This is an intensive course designed to focus on individual presentation skills. Prerequisites: Trial Advocacy and Evidence. Enrollment is limited. Students are graded by the standard letter grading system.

Agency Externships (formerly called Agency Internships) (LWVL590)

Instructor(s): John Sansone

1-3 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Health Law (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), International Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), LLM in International Law (LLMI)

The Agency Externship Program provides students the opportunity to gain valuable clinical legal experience for academic credit with a government agency or non-profit organization during the fall, spring or summer semesters. (The externship program does not allow students to receive academic credit for working in a private law firm). Students may enroll in the Agency Externship Course for 1 - 3 units of credit and must complete a minimum of 60 hours per credit (120 hours for 2 credits and 180 hours for 3 credits) of Externship work and activities (e.g., observing a trial).

Academic requirements include: mandatory orientation, journals between student and professor relating to the field placement; a three-five page reflective paper at the end of the semester; an example of work product for professor review; and, satisfactory completion of work experience. The externship is graded on a Pass-Fail basis.

If you have been offered and have accepted a field placement, meet the eligibility requirements, agree to meet the course obligations and want to register for the Externship course, fill out the Field Placement Form. The Office of Career and Professional Development will then confirm your placement and instruct you on registering for the course.

Contact lawcareers@sandiego.edu with placement questions. Contact Professor Margaret Dalton, Faculty Director, at mdalton@sandiego.edu with academic questions.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the concentration web pages for more information. Contact Law Student Affairs to find out if your Agency Internship qualifies for a concentration.
Additional Information: Concentrations Web Page, Email Law Student Affairs

Agency Internships (LWVL596)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-3 credit(s), P/F Graded

The Agency Internship Program consists of a work component and a class component. The Agency Internship Program allows students to earn academic credit for working in a law related internship position. Students work a minimum of 60 hours per unit of credit and may receive 1-3 credits. For the work component, students intern with a government agency or a nonprofit organization. Students participate in primarily on-line class sessions involving small group discussions, prepare weekly summaries of their work and complete a writing assignment. If you have been accepted into an internship placement and want to apply for the internship course, fill out the Internship application. The internship is graded on a Pass-Fail basis.

For questions about finding a field placement or eligibility, contact the Office of Career and Professional Development at 619-260-4529 or email lawcareers@sandiego.edu. For academic related questions, contact Professor Margaret Dalton, Faculty Director, Clinical and Placement Education at 619-260-7664 or mdalton@sandiego.edu.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation in January 2016. Time and date TBA.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the concentration web pages for more information. Contact Law Student Affairs to find out if your Agency Internship qualifies for a concentration.
Additional Information: Concentrations Web Page, Email Law Student Affairs

Agency, Partnership & the LLC (LWBC502)

Instructor(s): Mark Lee

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)

This course is about the business issues that inevitably confront people working together and how the laws of the various forms of non-corporate business organizations -- agency, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership (LLP), and limited liability company (LLC) -- resolve these issues. The focus will be on what, if anything, a lawyer can and should do about the resolutions provided by these laws. Students will be asked to provide advice to hypothetical clients about how they might achieve some of their goals while reducing the chances of pricey litigation. Because the focus of this course is the development of a set of skills, students will be asked to practice using these skills every day in class; the professor will ask sets of interrelated questions and will work with students to answer these questions. The instructor treats students as junior partners, according them the respect due and expecting them to shoulder the responsibilities of a junior partner.

Animal Law (LWGC510)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing

Animal Law is a survey of the wide range of laws pertaining to animals. Some of the topics to be discussed during the semester include how animals have been defined by courts and legislatures, interpretation and enforcement of federal and state animal welfare statutes, and liabilities connected with the guardianship/ownership of animals. We will also consider the ethical implications of using animals for experimentation and food. In addition to reading the materials and participating in class discussions, students will be required to write a substantial paper on an issue related to animal law.

Antitrust (LWBC503)

Instructor(s): Mark Lee

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Intellectual Property (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

In the name of two vaguely worded statutes, the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, courts have regulated a wide variety of business practices including price-setting cartels, trade associations activities, distribution agreements, franchising, package selling, boycotts, long-term contracting, and mergers. This course focuses on the issues raised by this regulation. Understanding and formulating the arguments bearing on these issues requires the use of elementary microeconomics. Students without any economics background usually constitute the plurality of the class population. If you are among this plurality, you may experience a little intellectual discomfort, but you may take solace in the fact that, in several other years, some similarly situated students outperformed their classmates. The trick is to avoid falling into the trap of believing that wishing makes something so. I will assume that you have engaged in no prior study of microeconomics (unless each of you informs me otherwise), so I will explain the relevant economic concepts as they arise. When I am not explaining economic concepts – or summarizing a course unit – I will direct class discussion about cases and problems. I will do this by asking a set of interrelated questions designed to (a) lead students to a particular insight and (b) serve as a model for analysis. Your course grade will not be less than the grade that you achieve on the (very traditional) final examination, but it may be one grading increment higher if you make a relatively strong net intellectual contribution to class.

Note: There are limitations on Intellectual Property (JD) concentration eligibility. Please check the Intellectual Property Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Intellectual Property Concentration (JD)

Appellate Clinic (LWVL501)

Instructor(s): Michael Devitt, David Schlesinger

2 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)
Prerequisite(s): Civil Procedure, Evidence or concurrent enrollment, Professional Responsibility or concurrently, Crim Pro I or concurrent enrollment

The Appellate Clinic is a year-long clinic opportunity in which teams of students will enjoy the hands-on experience of litigating from start to finish an appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. During the fall semester, students will write an opening brief; and in the spring semester students will write a reply brief and participate in oral argument. Additional periodic classroom sessions held throughout the academic year will focus upon appellate procedure and persuasive written and oral advocacy. From time to time, class sessions will feature guest speakers such as judges and local practicing attorneys. Students will receive four credits (two in the fall semester and two in the spring semester) for successfully completing the year long Appellate Clinic. The Appellate Clinic is open only to third and fourth year law students; and students must have completed or take concurrently with the Appellate Clinic the following courses: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Professional Responsibility, and Criminal Procedure.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Civil Litigation Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration

Art Law (LWIP505)

Instructor(s): Herbert Lazerow

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

Some legal problems of the art world encountered by artists, art middlemen, and museums. Some of the following topics will be considered: art in wartime, the international art trade, the artist's rights in works, artistic freedom, the collector's security, the tax collector, and the museum as trustee and entrepreneur. This course draws from doctrines in many fields, including contracts, property, torts, constitutional law, administrative law, tax, intellectual property, and international law.

Note: There are limitations on Intellectual Property (JD) concentration eligibility. Please check the Intellectual Property Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Intellectual Property Concentration (JD)

California Civil Practice Research (LWGC515)

Instructor(s): Staff

1 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)

This course will center on an actual case file containing the redacted pleadings and evidentiary materials for a wrongful death suit. Working with this case file, students will develop skills in identifying the key facts and issues, and also in identifying other leads or witnesses they would like to focus on during discovery. Students will gain familiarity with the tools that attorneys use in daily practice (such as commercial practice guides and treatises, forms, court rules, jury instructions, etc.) to further refine the relevant legal issues and identify controlling law; additionally they will develop the research skills necessary to draft common pleadings such as complaints and answers, in addition to motions for summary judgment and other pre-trial motions. Discovery requests (such as interrogatories, requests for admission, depositions), objections to discovery requests, and motions to compel will also be covered. Students will also learn to research commons issues that may arise during trial (such as the handling of witnesses, experts, and evidence) and post-trial issues (settlements, enforcement of judgments, post-trials motions, and appeals). Students will also research and draft an opposition to a motion for summary judgment that their opponent has filed.

California Civil Procedure (LWLP520)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG)

This course is designed for upperclass law students who intend to practice law in California and therefore may wish to learn more about California civil procedure. The course will focus on the important caselaw doctrines, statutory rules, and policies which define civil litigation in the California courts with particular attention to those areas of California civil procedure that are unique when compared to federal and to other states' procedural laws. The topics covered will include considerations before undertaking representation; statutes of limitations and related doctrines; California conflicts of law doctrine; jurisdiction, venue, forum non conveniens, and service of process; prejudgment attachment and other provisional remedies; claim and issue preclusion; pleadings and motions; joinder of parties and claims, new party cross-complaints, equitable indemnity, and good faith settlements; the California Civil Discovery Act; summary judgments, default judgments, involuntary dismissals for failure to prosecute, the “fast track” system, and judicial and contractual arbitration; right to jury trial, trial procedures, and post-trial motions; judgments, enforcement of judgments, and setting aside judgments; and appeals, extraordinary appellate writs, and administrative mandamus. The course will also provide students with a brief summary of the federal or general position on each major topic covered as a basis of comparison and as a review of basic civil procedure. Third year full-time and fourth year part-time students have registration priority for this class.

California Criminal Litigation Skills (LWCR505)

Instructor(s): Jean Ramirez

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG)
Prerequisite(s): Criminal Law, Legal Writing & Research

If you are considering a career as a prosecutor or criminal defense attorney, or plan to intern at a prosecution or criminal defense agency, this is the course for you. This course focuses on the knowledge and skills required to litigate criminal cases in the California trial courts. The class tracks a criminal case from arrest through sentencing, but not trial, providing students with an overview of the process. Students draft practice-related documents, participate in courtroom simulations, learn fact management and development, and participate in discussions on relevant topics.

Note: Students that have taken Criminal Clinic are not eligible to enroll in this class.

California Torts (LWLP522)

Instructor(s): Edmund Ursin

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Health Law (JD)
Prerequisite(s): Torts

California Torts focuses on the unique body of doctrines, policies, and jurisprudential perspectives that make up California personal injury law. For the past half century the California Supreme Court has been the most influential state supreme court in the nation. Indeed, six of the seven “most followed” state supreme court decisions rendered since 1966 are tort decision of the California Supreme Court. Roughly speaking, there have been three generations of California tort law—and today’s tort law is an amalgam of the three. Beginning in the 1960s, the avowedly lawmaking court of the “Traynor era,” rewrote much of the fault-based, liability-limiting body of traditional tort doctrine, thereby establishing the doctrine of strict products liability and abolishing or limiting an array of no-duty rules and defenses that had shielded negligent defendants from liability. Beginning in the mid-1980s, however, the court—by then dominated by Republican appointees, but remaining a policy oriented lawmaking court—has created a third generation of decisions which have “refined,” or limited, the doctrines put in place by its liberal predecessor. First year torts courses inevitably obscure the unique character of California tort law—taken as a body of connected doctrines, policies, and jurisprudential perspectives. The forest, so to speak, is not seen and even “California trees” are often not in clear focus. The goal of this course is to enable students to understand the forest, see clearly—and understand—the individual trees, and to be able to anticipate new growths. This course will also serve as a review of material that will be tested on Bar examinations. Student who have taken the Enterprise, Products, and No-Fault Liability course are ineligible to take this course.

Child Advocacy Clinic: Delinquency I (LWVL503)

Instructor(s): Robert Fellmeth

4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD)
Prerequisite(s): See course description

Students work with assigned attorneys from the San Diego Office of the Public Defender, representing juveniles in delinquency court proceedings. Students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences, such as interviewing their minor clients; preparing briefs and motions; participating in hearings and conferences; coordinating with probation officers, investigators, etc.; and making court appearances as necessary and appropriate. Delinquency Clinic students must commit 20 hours per week to their Clinic work, and there is an additional one-hour classroom component each week. Students must have completed or be enrolled in Evidence, Civil Procedure and Child Rights and Remedies. Clinic slots are limited; students must obtain a permission slip from Professor Robert Fellmeth or Elisa Weichel before registering for the course.

Note: This clinic may be applied as the required clinic for the Children's Rights Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Children's Rights JD Concentration

Child Advocacy Clinic: Dependency I & II (LWVL507)

Instructor(s): Robert Fellmeth

4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD)
Prerequisite(s): See course description

Students work with assigned attorneys from the Dependency Legal Group of San Diego, representing abused and neglected children in dependency court proceedings. Students are exposed to a wide variety of experiences, such as interviewing child clients; presenting evidence during bench trials; preparing briefs and memoranda; participating in settlement conferences; conducting field work with investigators; and making court appearances as necessary and appropriate. Dependency Clinic students must commit 16 hours per week to their Clinic work, and there is an additional one-hour classroom component each week. Students must have completed or be enrolled in Evidence, Civil Procedure and Child Rights and Remedies. Clinic slots are limited; students must obtain a permission slip from Professor Robert Fellmeth or Elisa Weichel before registering for the course.

Note: This clinic may be applied as the required clinic for the Children's Rights Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Children's Rights JD Concentration

Child Advocacy Clinic: Policy I & II (LWVL505)

Instructor(s): Robert Fellmeth

1-3 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD)
Prerequisite(s): Child Rights & Remedies

Students work with CAI professional staff on legislative and regulatory policy advocacy projects, impact litigation, public education projects, and/or policy research and analysis of current applications of law and regulations as they affect children. Policy Clinic students are also able to serve as Educational Representatives for at-risk youth and/or assist CAI’s Homeless Youth Outreach Project. Students must have completed or be enrolled in Child Rights and Remedies. Clinic slots are limited; students must obtain a permission slip from Professor Robert Fellmeth or Elisa Weichel before registering for the course.

Note: This clinic may be applied as the required clinic for the Children's Rights Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Children's Rights JD Concentration

Civil Clinic I (LWVL510)

Instructor(s): Allen Gruber

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)
Prerequisite(s): Civil Procedure, Evidence
Recommended Class(es): Trial Advocacy or Practicum

Students interview, counsel and represent clients at Superior Court or in administrative hearings in a wide variety of cases under the supervision of an attorney. Students draft pleadings and correspondence, as well as confer and negotiate with opposing counsel/parties. Weekly group meetings are combined with individual case conferences to provide intensive personal training in litigation techniques, problem solving and case management. Students also learn general civil litigation practice and procedures. Prerequisites: Civil Procedure, Evidence Recommended: Practicum or Trial Advocacy. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Civil Litigation Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration

Civil Clinic II (LWVL511)

Instructor(s): Allen Gruber

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)
Prerequisite(s): Civil Procedure, Evidence
Recommended Class(es): Trial Advocacy or Practicum

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Civil Litigation Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration

Civil Rights Law & History (LWPP519)

Instructor(s): Gail Heriot

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

This course will explore the legal history of civil rights from the 19th century to the present and will also cover civil rights issues that confront federal and state policymakers today, including human trafficking, hate crimes and same-sex marriage. Among the questions that will be explored will be, “What are ‘civil rights’ and how has the meaning of that term changed over time?” The Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution will be discussed with special emphasis on the Thirteenth Amendment, given that its sesquicentennial is coming up in 2015. Legislation like the New York Married Women’s Property Act of 1848, the Mississippi Black Code, the Reconstruction civil rights acts, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as failed efforts like the proposed Equal Rights Amendment will also be explored. Some non-legal historical reading will also be included. This course is aimed at enhancing student understanding of how foundational concepts such as "civil rights" endure and as well as evolve over time and are translated into constitutional and statutory texts, legal institutions and public policy. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Washington, D.C. Externship Program. This class begins on January 27, 2016 and ends on April 20, 2016.  The final exam will be held on April 25, 2016.

Community Property (LWTE544)

Instructor(s): Dennis Lilly

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

In this course the non-tax aspects of estate planning are integrated, combining wills, trusts, future interests, and community property. Methods of family wealth transfer in both community property and non-community property jurisdictions are considered, including: inter vivos gifts, wills, trusts, intestate succession and will substitutes. Fiduciary administration; class gifts; powers of appointment; the rule against perpetuities; charitable trusts; classification, control and management of community property; and the distribution of property on dissolution of the community are studied.

Comparative Con Law (LWIC515)

Instructor(s): Laurence Claus

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): International Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI)

This course considers how sophisticated political systems limit and channel the exercise of governmental power. We do this primarily by taking the great issues of American constitutional law and asking how those issues are treated elsewhere. The course is open to all upper-class students, and may be taken concurrent with Constitutional Law. A research paper is required.

Complex Litigation (LWLP523)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG)
Prerequisite(s): Civil Procedure

This course offers in-depth instruction in how class actions and other aggregate party lawsuits are litigated in federal courts, taught by a trial lawyer with more than 30 years experience litigating class actions. The course covers the case law and practice skills involved in litigating cases under Rule 23, with special focus on several important substantive areas of class action practice – consumer, securities fraud, employment discrimination, and mass tort. 

Constitutional Law I (LWAA515)

Instructor(s): Lawrence Alexander, Miranda McGowan, Michael Rappaport

4 credit(s), Letter Graded

This course provides an introduction to the United States Constitution, stressing the theory and practice of judicial interpretation and review, the separation of federal powers, the relation of the states to the federal government, and specific powers of the federal government. It also provides an introduction to the Bill of Rights and its limitations on the exercise of governmental power, with emphasis on freedom of speech.

Constitutional Law II (LWPP525)

Instructor(s): Lawrence Alexander, Miranda McGowan

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Prerequisite(s): Constitutional Law I

This courses covers the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection and due process clauses. Specific topics include race discrimination (including school desegregation and affirmative action), gender discrimination, discrimination against gays and lesbians, voting rights, privacy (including abortion, sexual freedom, and the right to die), and property. A final exam is required. 

Contracts (LWAA520)

Instructor(s): David McGowan, Laurence Claus, Thomas Smith

4 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)

An introduction to legal reasoning and analytical skills through an investigation of how the law enforces agreements. Included are such topics as: the requirements for the formation of a contract; problems of interpretation; damages for breach; the statute of frauds; illegality; and problems which arise during the performance stage of a contract, such as the creation and failure of express and implied conditions, excuse through impossibility or frustration of purpose, and discharge. Article II of the Uniform Commercial Code is introduced and compared with the common law of contracts.

Controlled Substances (LWGC518)

Instructor(s): Donald Dripps

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)

This course examines the criminal law’s treatment of recreational drug use and the policy controversies attending the law. The course should be of special interest to students interested in taking up criminal practice, whether as prosecutors or defenders, but should also appeal to students interested in our criminal justice system generally. Specific topics covered will include the Nature of Intoxicants, the Development of Legal Prohibitions, and Continuing Debate over Legalization; The War on Drugs, Mass Incarceration, and Questions of Equal Justice; Possession versus Distribution; Manufacture and Conspiracy Offenses; Mens Rea in Drug Crimes; Drug Testing at Work and School; Sentencing under the Guidelines; Criminal Procedure--Informants and Wiretaps; Criminal Procedure—Search and Seizure, with special emphasis on suppression hearing practice; The Controlled Substances Act and the FDCA; Medical Marijuana; and International Aspects of Drug Control.

Copyright Law (LWIP525)

Instructor(s): Abraham Bell

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

This course surveys the law relating to rights in expressive works. We will study what copyright covers – such as books, movies, musical recordings, and software – and distinguish copyright from other forms of intellectual property, such as trademark and patent. We will focus on the exclusive rights granted in copyrightable works, rules governing the transfer of those rights, what acts infringe those rights, what remedies the law provides for infringement, and what limitations the law places on those rights, such as the fair use doctrine. We will discuss some topics of current interest, such as the rules governing the copying and distribution of music over peer-to-peer networks, digital rights management, and open-source software development.

Note: May be applied as part of the six required credits for the Intellectual Property Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Intellectual Property JD Concentration

Corporate Counsel Externship (formerly called Corporate Counsel Internship) (LWVL591)

Instructor(s): Beth Baier

1-3 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Health Law (JD), Intellectual Property (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG)

The Corporate Counsel Externship Program consists of a work component and a class component and allows students to earn academic credit working in the legal department of a corporation, company or other business entity. Students may also work in other departments of a corporation as long as they are supervised by an on-site licensed attorney.

Students work a minimum of 60 hours per unit of credit and may receive 1-3 credits. Academic requirements include: mandatory orientation, journals between student and professor relating to the field placement; a three-five page reflective paper at the end of the semester; an example of work product for professor review; and, satisfactory completion of work experience. The Externship is graded on a Pass-Fail basis.

If you have been offered and have accepted a field placement, meet the eligibility requirements, agree to meet the course obligations and want to register for the Externship course, fill out the Field Placement Form. The Office of Career and Professional Development will then confirm your placement and instruct you on registering for the course.

Contact lawcareers@sandiego.edu with placement questions. Contact Professor Margaret Dalton, Faculty Director, at mdalton@sandiego.edu with academic questions.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the JD concentrations web pages for more information. Contact Law Student Affairs to find out if your work in this internship qualifies for a concentration.
Additional Information: JD Concentrations Web Page, Email Law Student Affairs

Corporate Innovation and Legal Policy (LWIP528)

Instructor(s): Orly Lobel

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Intellectual Property (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG)

What are the optimal policy ingredients and business strategies for managing innovation? How can business leaders, inventors, lawyers, and policymakers benefit from the connections between corporate success, intellectual property, and human capital? The course will introduce foundations of intellectual property law and employment and organizational practices. We will examine corporate policies and disputes over the control of ideas, secrets, skill and intellectual property. In particular, we will analyze non-compete contracts, trade secrets and non-disclosures, information privacy, economic espionage, employee duties of loyalty, including prohibitions on customer and co-worker solicitation and raiding for competitive endeavors; and employer ownership over inventions and artistic work, including pre-invention patent assignment agreements and work-for-hire disputes. In the past few years, the black box of innovation has been pierced with a plethora of new interdisciplinary research and practice. At the same time, industry and policymakers in the United States, like other countries around the world, are debating the benefits of existing EIP laws. In the course, we will bring together these various developments to identify how companies can sustain their innovative capacities, commercialize science, and manage creativity, and to assess how differences in regulatory and contractual arrangements in the employment relationship can impact key aspects of innovation, such as the rate of patent filings, the level of network participation in intellectual and creative endeavors, individual motivation to innovate, organizational behavior, and talent mobility.

Note: This course may be applied as part of the nine required credits for the Employment and Labor Law Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Employment and Labor Law Concentration

Corporate Reorganization (LWTE510)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I, Corporations, Corporate Tax

This course considers the tax treatment of corporations and shareholders in corporate acquisitive reorganizations, single corporation reorganizations and corporate divisions, including carryovers. Prerequisites: Tax I, Corporate Tax and Corporations.  

Students who completed the three credit Tax I course must obtain professor approval using the form at www.sandiego.edu/law/registrar/forms.php.

Corporate Tax (LWTE560)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I

The course involves a study of the basic concepts of federal income taxation of C corporations and their shareholders, including organization of corporations; cash and stock dividends; redemptions of stock; partial and complete liquidations; sales of corporate businesses and reorganizations. Taxation of corporations is compared with taxation of partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations. The emphasis is on careful analysis of Code provisions, Treasury Regulations, other administrative materials and important judicial decisions in relation to problems that are frequently assigned in advance of class discussion. Your grade will be based on a 8 hour take-home final examination.

Note: This is a required course for the Business and Corporate Law Concentration (JD).

Corporations (LWBC545)

Instructor(s): Staff

4 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)

This course examines the structure and the rights and obligations of directors, officers, and shareholders mainly under state corporations law. Other topics include partnerships and limited liability entities. The course covers, among other subjects, the characteristics of the corporation as distinct from other forms of business association, the special problems of the closely-held corporations (a corporation owned by a few persons), the fiduciary obligations of directors and controlling shareholders in closely-held and public corporations, procedures for decision making by directors and shareholders, shareholder voting rights, and certain federal securities law subjects, such as insider trading.

Note: This is a required course for the Business and Corporate Law Concentration (JD) and the LLM in Business & Corporate Law.

Criminal Procedure I (LWCR520)

Instructor(s): Kevin Cole

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)

This course explores constitutional limitations upon the investigation of crime under the fourth, fifth, sixth and fourteenth amendments. Its focus is on the law governing searches, seizures, and police interrogation. Topics include the nature of a fourth amendment search; arrest and investigative detention; warrants and exceptions to the warrant requirement; confessions; and the application of the exclusionary rules.

Students are required to purchase an i>Clicker. The clicker responses are not part of the student’s grade, but the clickers will be used to give feedback and to ensure compliance with the attendance policy. The bookstore sells new and used i>Clickers and will repurchase clickers in good condition at the end of the semester. You may also purchase them from other sites. Every version, including the early, “text only” model, will suffice.

Note: This is a required course for the Criminal Litigation Concentration (JD).

Criminal Procedure II (LWCR525)

Instructor(s): Knut Johnson

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Criminal Procedure I

In this advanced criminal procedure class, students will continue the study commenced in Criminal Procedure I, focusing on the processing of a criminal defendant through the criminal justice system. The course will address a number of issues regularly presented in criminal cases, including the charging process, the right to a speedy trial, criminal discovery and disclosure, the right to jury trial, the right to effective assistance of counsel, the right to confrontation and the exercise of the privilege against self incrimination at trial. In addition the course will include discussions of the principles of the right against double jeopardy, and post conviction remedies such as direct appeal and petitions for habeas corpus. The purpose of the course is to develop an understanding of the basic structure of the criminal process in a federal system of government as well as the basic principles underlying the constitutional and procedural protections of the criminal justice system.

Note: This is a required course for the Criminal Litigation Concentration (JD).

Education & Disability Clinic I (LWVL550)

Instructor(s): Margaret Dalton

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Health Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD)
Recommended Class(es): Special Education and the Law

Students receive practical training and experience in client intake, interviewing and counseling, file review and analysis, and legal representation in diverse forums. Some cases proceed to mediation and due process hearings, where students argue the case with support from the supervising attorney. Weekly group meetings are combined with individual case conferences to provide intensive personal training in case management. The classroom component also includes an overview of statutes and cases in this growing area of civil law. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. No prerequisites. 

Students must attend a mandatory orientation Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

Note: This clinic may be applied towards the three required clinic credits for the Children's Rights Concentration (JD). There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Health Law Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Children's Rights Concentration, Health Law Concentration

Education & Disability Clinic II (LWVL551)

Instructor(s): Margaret Dalton

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Health Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD)
Recommended Class(es): Special Education and the Law

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

Note: This clinic may be applied towards the three required clinic credits for the Children's Rights Concentration (JD). There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Health Law Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Children's Rights Concentration (JD), Health Law Concentration (JD)

Employment Law & Technology (LWPP539)

Instructor(s): Richard Paul

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Employment and Labor Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG)

This course will examine the application of free expression, privacy, harassment, defamation and related workplace doctrines to issues created by the proliferation of communications and related technology devices. The course will open with a discussion of some of the technologies, their typical ownership and function, and of the areas of potential concern surveyed in several articles published by the instructor on these topics. The first third of the course will review employer and employee rights and duties in the clash between employer interests in efficiency and information security with employee rights of speech, privacy and the like. The second third of the course will examine the application of these ideas to different stages of the employment relationship (i.e., pre-hire, testing, selection, monitoring, discipline, etc.). We will consider current issues raised by specific electronic technologies (e.g., computer search technologies, PDAs, SNS, text and image messaging, blogspeak, GPS); medical technologies (e.g., security implants, employee genetic testing and coding); workplace configurations (e.g., remote employment); rights of ownership; and special work environments in which information free flow is either vital or restricted (e.g., public sector, healthcare, defense, higher education). The final part of the course will be reserved for presentation and discussion of student papers on topics within the general course parameters.

Note: This course may be applied as part of the nine required credits for the Employment and Labor Law Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Employment and Labor Law Concentration

Energy Law and Policy Clinic I & II (LWVL518)

Instructor(s): Joseph Kaatz

2-3 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Environmental and Energy Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG)
Prerequisite(s): Energy Law

The Energy Law and Policy Clinic provides students an opportunity to conduct legal and policy research in cooperation with a related agency, such as the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Air Resources board. Agency staff, EPIC staff, and students work together to select one or more energy-or-climate change-related legal or policy research topics. Under the supervision of a practicing attorney and EPIC staff, students conduct a semester-long research project on the selected topic(s). Students will present results to the agency staff at the end of the semester. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. 

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Environmental & Energy Law Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Environmental & Energy Law Concentration

Entertainment, Sports and IP Externship (formerly called Internship) (LWVL592)

Instructor(s): Beth Baier

1 - 3 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Employment and Labor Law (JD), Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG)

The Entertainment, Sports and Intellectual Property Externship Program consists of a work component and a class component and allows students to earn academic credit for working in a law department of an entertainment or sports industry company, talent guild or trade association, or in the intellectual property law department of a company or trade association. Students work a minimum of 60 hours per unit of credit and may receive 1-3 credits. Academic requirements include: mandatory orientation, journals between student and professor relating to the field placement; a three-five page reflective paper at the end of the semester; an example of work product for professor review; and, satisfactory completion of work experience. The Externship is graded on a Pass-Fail basis.

If you have been offered and have accepted a field placement, meet the eligibility requirements, agree to meet the course obligations and want to register for the Externship course, fill out the Field Placement Form. The Office of Career and Professional Development will then confirm your placement and instruct you on registering for the course.

Contact lawcareers@sandiego.edu with placement questions. Contact Professor Margaret Dalton, Faculty Director, at mdalton@sandiego.edu with academic questions.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the concentration web pages for more information. Contact Law Student Affairs to find out if your internship qualifies for a concentration.
Additional Information: ESIP Application, JD Concentrations Web Page, Email Law Student Affairs

Entrepreneurship Clinic I (LWVL520)

Instructor(s): Sebastian Lucier

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills

Through hands-on opportunities, students in the Entrepreneurship Clinic provide pro bono legal services to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs who want to start or expand their small businesses. The Entrepreneurship Clinic does not engage in litigation-related services; instead, it focuses on advising clients on legal matters relating to starting their business and assisting in drafting and filing necessary documents. Such work includes: determining the appropriate choice of business entity, assistance in obtaining necessary permits and licenses, advising on employment and independent contractor issues, drafting and reviewing commercial contracts and leases, and assisting with the establishment of tax-exempt organizations. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. No prerequisites.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

Entrepreneurship Clinic II (LWVL521)

Instructor(s): Sebastian Lucier

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

Ethics, Law & Int'l Affairs (LWJT515)

Instructor(s): Horacio Spector

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): International Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (MSLS)

Contemporary public policy and legal debates in both the domestic and international arenas involve an intricate network of moral, political, and legal considerations. The course’s goal is to throw light on the relations among these three fundamental realms: ethics, politics, and law. After a general introduction, we will proceed to discuss the following topics: conceptions of liberty and equality, democracy and public deliberation, human rights, conflicts of rights, corporate responsibility for human rights violations, and the rule of law. Our attention will be focused on cross-boundary issues: Is democracy more important than the rule of law? Does economic equality threaten liberty? Are welfare and social rights compatible with civil liberties in populist democracies? In the last part of the seminar, we will deal with complex global issues: wars and military interventions, terrorism, and global justice. Can military force be used to protect human rights? Should rich nations transfer money to poor countries? Should pharmaceutical patents be enforced in the undeveloped world? Are there immigration rights? Is there a global community? Each student will be required to write a research paper of 20 pages in length. Successful completion of this course satisfies the written-work requirement.

Evidence (LWLP529)

Instructor(s): Kevin Cole, Donald Dripps

4 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)

The rules of evidence in judicial tribunals, focusing on the Federal Rules of Evidence and the California Evidence Code are addressed in this course. Also covered are issues relating to: (1) judicial control and administration - functions of judge and jury, judicial notice, burden of proof presumptions, problems of relevancy, circumstantial evidence, and unfair prejudice; and (2) witnesses - competency, privileges, principles of examination and cross-examination, impeachment and support, expert and lay opinion testimony. The hearsay rule and its exceptions, rules relating to writings, real and scientific evidence are also examined. 

In Professor Cole’s section, students are required to purchase an i>Clicker. The clicker responses are not part of the student’s grade, but the clickers will be used to give feedback and to ensure compliance with the attendance policy. The bookstore sells new and used i>Clickers and will repurchase clickers in good condition at the end of the semester. You may also purchase them from other sites. Every version, including the early, “text only” model, will suffice.

Note: This is a required course for the Civil Litigation (JD) and Criminal Litigation (JD) concentrations.

Evidence Advocacy Lab (LWLP530)

Instructor(s): Staff

1 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Evidence

This course is designed to familiarize students with the practical application of evidentiary points addressed in the traditional evidence course. Students focus on one or two evidentiary issues each week using a problem format. Each area of evidence is taught through performance. Each student is assigned as a proponent, opponent, witness and judge and is responsible for performing that role in class each week, and for submitting a short memo identifying the evidentiary issue and presenting the best approach to offering or opposing the evidence in court. The roles rotate each week. There is a new problem assigned each week. By the end of the semester, each student should be comfortably able to determine what it is he or she wished to accomplish in a courtroom with respect to specific evidentiary questions, and be able to structure the most logical, persuasive and trouble-free means to that end. The course is graded on a 4-tier Pass/Fail basis.

Family Law (LWFC540)

Instructor(s): Michael Kelly

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD)

This open-enrollment course surveys the constitutional and legislative doctrine and the adjudication frameworks related to traditional family-law topics: marriage and divorce; marital property regimes; parent and child, including child custody, termination of parental rights, and adoption; family support rights; and rights of children. The course will be organized generally in relation to the California Family Code.

Note: This is a required course for the Children's Rights Concentration (JD).

Federal Tax Clinic (LWVL555)

Instructor(s): Richard Carpenter

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I - can take concurrently

This is a hands-on clinical course for students who wish to develop tax controversy skills. Students working under the supervision of the Tax Clinic supervising attorney will represent low income taxpayers in resolving their tax disputes with the IRS. Students will learn client interviewing skills, how to interact with IRS personnel, and how to effectively resolve a client’s federal tax dispute. Students must also be available to participate in Tax Clinic Outreach presentations at various community locations and times. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. 

Students must attend a mandatory orientation in January 2016. Time and date TBA

Fundamentals of Bar Exam Writing (LWGC520)

Instructor(s): Staff

1 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded

The course covers the fundamentals of bar exam essay writing and performance test writing. The first class is an introduction to bar exam components and topics. The next several classes focus on the details of essay exam writing and performance test drafting. Students will receive substantial feedback on their written work, and participate in small group sessions, self and peer review, and professor-student conferencing. Grading is on the H/P/LP/F scale. Students may be withdrawn from the course and/or given a failing grade for missing more than one class, failing to turn in any written assignments on time, or failing to complete any practice examination. 3L & 4E students only.

Global Water Law & Policy (LWEV543)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Environmental and Energy Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG), Environmental and Energy Law (MSLS)

This course will examine how the United States and other countries are approaching the major challenges facing global water sustainability. These challenges include (1) how regions and nations can cope with growing populations and economies in the face of scarce and often dwindling water supplies, (2) effective drought planning, (3) the sustainability of local groundwater use, (4) the need for improved governance of local water supplies (including appropriate pricing mechanisms), (5) the needs and demands of Native Americans and other indigenous populations, and (6) disputes over international and interstate waterways. The course is appropriate both for students with no experience in the water field as well as students who have previously taken California Water Law. Where appropriate, the course will draw from examples in the American Southwest, with a particularly emphasis on Southern California, San Diego, and the Colorado River. Student grades will be determined by their performance on a final exam. Students who have taken Contemporary Water Law or California Water Law are eligible to take this course.

Health Care Reform (LWGC578)

Instructor(s): Mila Sohoni

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Health Law (JD)

The past five years have seen a dramatic transformation of the health care policy landscape. Legislative and regulatory interventions in the health care market have had, and continue to have, enormous effects upon insurers, small businesses, doctors, and individual consumers. And they have also raised, and continue to raise, novel and critically important issues of constitutional law, administrative law, and legislative process. The goal of this course is to orient students to the broader implications for public law of the ongoing torrent of health care reform measures. This course will equip students both to understand these reforms as a practical matter and also to critically evaluate how health care reforms are faring as instruments of public law. The primary focus of the course will be on the Affordable Care Act and on the legislative, regulatory, and judicial responses to it. The final grade for the class will be based primarily on an approved-topic paper, satisfactory completion of which will satisfy the writing requirement for graduation. Class attendance and participation will also be considered.

Note: This course may be applied as part of the nine required credits for the Health Law Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Health Law Concentration

Health Law & Policy (LWGC523)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Health Law (JD)

Health Law and Policy is a new 3-unit course designed to introduce students to basic principles of health care law. The class will discuss legal principles surrounding the professional-patient relationship; informed consent; liability of health care professional; liability of health care institutions; quality control regulation of physicians and health care institutions; access to health care; the privacy rights of patients and the ability of government to regulate patient health care choices. The goals of the course are for students to understand the role of the legal system in health policy and health care delivery; the application of basic tort, contract and corporate law principles in the health care environment; and to gain a practical understanding of the interaction between the health system and the legal system. The course will be taught in a lecture-seminar approach. Outside speakers from major health institutions will participate. Course materials will be based on the text Health Law - Cases, Materials and Problems, Seventh Edition, Barry R. Furrow. The final grade for the class will be based upon class participation and on the submission of an approved-topic paper. This course is not a course that allows you to satisfy the law school’s writing requirement.

Note: This is a required course for the Health Law Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Health Law Concentration

Health Law & Reproduction (LWGC536)

Instructor(s): Dov Fox

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Health Law (JD)

Millions of children each year are born using reproductive technologies. The emergence of new, technologically advanced ways to have children has raised new questions in tax, torts, contract, inheritance, immigration, family, constitutional, and especially health law. This course considers the cases, statutes, and policies that explore these issues. We will cover topics including sperm donation, egg freezing, gamete selling, embryo disputes, prenatal torts, surrogacy contracts, fertility tourism, and posthumous conception. No background in science or medicine is required. The course grade will be based on a final exam.

Human Rights Advocacy (LWIC527)

Instructor(s): Dustin Sharp

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), International Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI)

In the brief span of 60 years, human rights advocates have taken a marginal utopian ideal, and transformed it into a critical component of global discourse, even if dilemmas in practice and gaps in enforcement remain conspicuous. This course examines the actors and organizations behind this remarkable development as well as the vast challenges faced by advocates today. Topics of study will cover the ethical and strategic dilemmas faced by of modern-day human rights advocates; techniques and strategies central to human rights practice, including fact-finding, interviewing, monitoring, litigation, report writing, and media work; and the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in transnational legal and policy processes. This course will also examine debates about the ways in which modern human rights advocates are attempting to stretch the discourse to apply it in new contexts, including attempts to link human rights to the environment, corruption, natural resource extraction, and development. The course will contain a substantial critical and academic component, but will also seek to engage students in “real-world” skill building exercises like press release writing, media interviews, and qualitative interviews with victims of and witnesses to human rights violations. Grades will be based on a variety of practice-oriented assessments, both written and oral: drafting a press release, drafting an op-ed, drafting a strategy and planning memo, and delivering a group oral presentation.

Human Trafficking (LWCR538)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)

Increased globalization and the internet have brought instances of human trafficking and child exploitation to unprecedented levels. As a result, the criminal justice system stands at a historic crossroad. We will review and discuss the various Title 18 crimes associated with human trafficking and child exploitation, accompanied by the relevant case law. We will also review the various methods of proof used by prosecutors to combat these crimes. This course will involve a written exam at the end of the semester designed to evaluate the student's understanding of the law and the challenges that are encountered during the investigation and prosecution of a human trafficking case.

Immigration Clinic I (LWVL530)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Public Interest Law (JD)

Students gain practical experience through interviewing, counseling, and representing clients with immigration-related problems. Students have the opportunity to assist clients with a range of immigration issues such as naturalization, lawful permanent residency, derivative citizenship, deferred action, and U-visa and VAWA for domestic violence and abuse victims. Students may attend U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services interviews related to their client’s applications. Students may also attend and participate in community immigration outreach. Weekly meetings are held with the clinic supervisor and other interns to discuss immigration law, practical application and casework. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. No Prerequisites.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

Immigration Clinic II (LWVL531)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Public Interest Law (JD)
Prerequisite(s): Immigration Clinic I

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

In-House Corporate Counseling (LWBC567)

Instructor(s): Stephen Ferruolo

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS)

In-house lawyers practice in the law departments of for-profit business entities, non-profits, and in government at the federal, state, and local levels. (It is estimated that 20 to 30% of all lawyers will practice in-house at some time in their careers.) This course will be conducted by Dean Stephen C. Ferruolo with experienced corporate counsel from San Diego based corporations. Topics to be addressed include: The Roles of the In-house lawyer; Professional Responsibility Issues for In-house Lawyers; Practicing Preventive Law; Corporate Business Ethics Programs; Compliance Programs and Internal Investigations; Corporate Governance Best Practices; Risk Management and Crisis Management; Why and How to Teach Your Clients Contracts 101; Litigation Outside Counsel Management; Trade Secrets and Intellectual Property; International Operations and Transactions; Counseling the Public Company Board and Officers, Shareholder Meetings, and Compliance with Federal and State Securities Laws. The class will also discuss what In-House lawyers should know about labor and employment law, and accounting and finance.

Income Tax of Trusts & Estates (LWTE536)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I, Trusts & Estates

The federal income taxation of trusts, estates, and their beneficiaries; distributable net income; distribution deductions for simple and complex trusts and estates; grantor trusts; income in respect of a decedent; and throwback rules. 

Students who completed the three credit Tax I course must obtain professor approval using the form at www.sandiego.edu/law/registrar/forms.php.

Intellectual Property Law Clinic (LWVL532)

Instructor(s): Ted Sichelman

3 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG)

This course places students at local law firms to provide legal assistance to a wide variety of technology companies, independent inventors, artists, musicians, and others in need of pro bono IP work in the areas of patent and trademark prosecution as well as licensing and litigation in all IP fields. Students will be supervised by attorneys at local law firms as well as the professors. The course will begin with 5-6 weeks of class sessions covering the core types of transactions encountered in technology startups. There are no scheduled classes during the remainder of the semester; instead, students will work with clients and supervising lawyers each week, and meet one-on-one with the professors on a regular basis. An application process will be used to select students for the course. Students may only begin the course in the fall semester, and may continue in the spring semester, but are not required to do so. Interested students may also apply to both the Technology Entrepreneurship Clinic, but will be selected for only one clinic.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Intellectual Property Concentration web page for more information. Email lawstudentaffairs@sandiego.edu to see if your work qualifies.
Additional Information: Intellectual Property Concentration

International Arbitration (LWIC530)

Instructor(s): David Brennan

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Experiential
Concentration(s): International Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (MSLS)

The New York Convention establishes a framework for international arbitration. More nations have acceded to the New York Convention than any other treaty in the history of the United Nations. This class will explain the system of international arbitration which has become the preferred method of dispute resolution among businesses throughout the world. The class will feature power point presentations, including photos and music from around the world. We will conduct a mock arbitration based upon a fact pattern of two USD law students who take a trip to Buenos Aires, then build a business extending from San Diego to Argentina, Brazil and beyond. LLM students will learn about an international legal structure and acquire practical skills which will be applicable when they return home (wherever that maybe). 2L and 3L students will learn arbitration law reaching from San Diego, California and the United States into the international arena. Students are graded by the standard letter grading system.

International Business Transactions (LWIC533)

Instructor(s): Ralph Folsom

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), International Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), International Law (MSLS)

This is an introductory course on international business law. The course book employed is problem-oriented, focusing student attention on practical problem solving. The course coverage is global, and may include problems related to international sales transactions, letters of credit, customs, import and export trade law, technology transfers across borders, foreign investment law, and international business dispute settlement. Grading is by exam and/or problem sets.

 

Note: This is a required course for the International Law Concentration (JD).

International Intellectual Property (LWIC545)

Instructor(s): Lisa Ramsey

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), International Law (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

This course examines international protection of intellectual property. We will discuss international treaties, trade agreements, and dispute resolution systems relating to trademarks, patents, copyrights, and related rights. The course will also cover acquisition and enforcement of intellectual property rights in foreign markets. Prerequisites: None

International Labor Law (LWIC544)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Employment and Labor Law (JD), International Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG)

This course examines “hard” and “soft” legal efforts to regulate labor standards in the global economy. Subjects covered include standard-setting and enforcement by the ILO, the OECD, the World Bank, the UN and other international organizations; labor standards in trade agreements such as NAFTA and the new Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic negotiations; codes of conduct and other voluntary corporate initiatives on labor conditions in global supply chains; lawsuits in U.S. federal and state courts on behalf of foreign worker plaintiffs; labor rights campaigns aimed at governments and companies by trade unions and non-governmental organizations; and treatment of migrant labor, child labor, and women workers in the global economy. Grades will be based on a take-home final exam.

International Legal Research (LWGC527)

Instructor(s): Staff

1 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): International Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (MSLS)

This course is designed to introduce students to basic concepts, sources, and specialized research tools used in foreign and international legal research. This course will include segments on researching international treaties, international courts and tribunals, United Nations documents, the European Union, as well as foreign legal systems.

There will be three research assignments and three CALI lessons assigned during the first six classes in the semester; they are due at the beginning of class. In addition, a final capstone project will require each student to research a foreign or international law topic (approved by the instructor) and present a written research plan and oral report to the class. 

International Redress for Human Injustice (LWIC553)

Instructor(s): Roy L. Brooks

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): International Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (MSLS)

Introduced into the law school curriculum in 1999, this seminar is based on the classic study of atrocities, When Sorry Isn’t Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (1999), written by Professor Brooks. Today, the subject matter of this seminar is taught in various forms (e.g., small or large classes as well as seminars) under various titles (e.g., “Transitional Justice,” “Atrocities,” “Reparations”) in schools across the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and the Commonwealth countries. Professor Brooks continues to teach the seminar at USD, and in recent years has added as one of its topics “modern slavery”(defined by international conventions and U.S. domestic law as “human exploitation over a period of time effectuated through coercion, fraud or trickery”) Yet, the main portion of the seminar, like all spinoffs of the seminar, continues to be on post-conflict justice. What does justice demand in the aftermath of atrocities like the Holocaust, Apartheid, and genocides in Armenia, Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and America? This question is framed by the international redress movement (consisting of scholars, activists, and government officials) in which Professor Brooks has played a key role. The focus of the movement is on claims from around the world that seek redress for human injustice under post-Holocaust conditions. Hence, in addition to studying the aftermath of modern slavery in Africa involving the “child soldiers” and in Thailand for sexual slaves liberated from bondage, the seminar studies issues of post-conflict justice involving Nazi persecution, Japan’s "comfort women" system, Apartheid in South Africa, and our own country’s internment of Japanese Americans (why was there no internment in Hawaii where many more Japanese Americans lived?), genocidal treatment of Native Americans, and enslavement of African Americans. We shall draw on legal and political analyses, government documents, personal testimonies, and historical narratives. The seminar meets one time each week. A paper is required. Successful completion of this course satisfies the written-work requirement.

International Sales (LWIC555)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), International Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), International Law (MSLS)

This course focuses on the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), with comparisons to domestic law (the UCC in particular). Considerable time is devoted to the application of the CISG to problems that typically arise in international sales transactions. The course does not include an exam. Students instead prepare written memos that reflect the type of assignments they can expect in practice with a law firm.

Intro to US Law (LWGC530)

Instructor(s): Michael Devitt

2 credit(s), Letter Graded

Introduction to United States Law is a required course for Master of Comparative Law students. No other students may enroll. This course comparatively introduces distinctly American approaches to law, lawyering and legal processes. Special emphasis is placed on the common law tradition.

Note: This course is for LLMC students only.

Judicial Externship (LWVL598)

Instructor(s): Shaun Martin

1 - 6 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG)

The Judicial Internship Program allows students to receive academic credit for work in a judge's chambers in San Diego. Students must work 60 hours per unit of credit. In addition to the work component of the Program, students enrolled in the program will have regular contact with the Program's instructor, Professor Martin, who will meet with students individually, and review samples of the student's refelctive and written work from the internship. Students can secure their own internship position or can meet with Professor Martin for guidance in securing a placement. The internship is graded on a pass/fail basis. Students must receive approval from Professor Martin to register for this program.

How to Register For A Judicial Internship For Credit

Note: Students must receive approval from Professor Martin to register for this program. There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the JD concentration web pages for more information.
Additional Information: JD Concentrations Web Page, Application

Judicial Lawmaking (LWLP540)

Instructor(s): Edmund Ursin

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)

Judicial Lawmaking examines the lawmaking role of courts. Do courts make law? If so, can this lawmaking by unelected judges be justified in our democratic system? And what if any constraints should be imposed on this undemocratic lawmaking? The focus is not on substantive law. However, in discussing the common law role of courts, examples will be drawn from tort law. Similarly, in the realm of constitutional law, major decisions (Brown v. Board of Education, Lochner v. New York, and Roe v. Wade) will be examined, and we will consider the influence of such decisions on attitudes toward judicial lawmaking generally. A primary focus is the conception of judicial lawmaking embraced—and expressly articulated—by the great judges who have shaped, and continue to shape, American law: Chief Judge Lemuel Shaw, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Justice Roger Traynor, and Judges Henry Friendly, and Richard Posner. The views of these judges are placed in the context of the law and legal scholarship (tort, constitutional, and jurisprudential) of their respective eras. The materials thus span the formative era of American law (the “Shaw era” 1830-1860), the seminal Lochner era, the “Traynor era,” and conclude by examining the contemporary tort scene and the recent jurisprudential writings of Judge Posner.  Successful completion of this course satisfies the written-work requirement.

Jurisprudence (LWJT530)

Instructor(s): Roy L. Brooks

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing

There is more than one way of finding a solution to any given legal problem. Some judges search for answers syllogistically, sometimes exaggerating the transparency of text (legal formalism), while others purport to seek solutions through original meaning or close, logical readings of text (e.g., Justice Scalia’s textualism). Still other judges look for answers in the social ends of law, disciplined only by the judge’s personal sense of justice (legal realism) or by well-defined community needs (sociological jurisprudence) or by existing governmental or social arrangements (legal process). This seminar gives students an opportunity to study these judicial technical and to sharpen their understanding of case analysis. Beyond that, it also gives students an opportunity to explore out-of-the-box thinking about judicial decision making by studying “oppositional” theories of judicial decision making called “critical process.” Unlike “traditional process” (e.g., originalism), critical process seeks to vindicate the norms of “outsider” groups—minorities, women, and LGBT. What would a traditional legal doctrine like personal jurisdiction look like if the Supreme Court were to base its decisions on female norms? (Does the very notion of “female norms” essentialize women?) Brown v. Board of Education, our most important civil rights case, is usually classified under legal realism. How would that case have been decided had it been approached from the perspectives of other norms in traditional process—legal formalism, Scalian textualism, sociological jurisprudence, and legal process—or from critical process? The seminar meets one time each week during the semester. A paper is required. Successful completion of this course satisfies the written-work requirement.

Latin American Law & Institutions (LWIC559)

Instructor(s): Horacio Spector

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): International Law (JD), International Law (LLMUS), LLM in International Law (LLMI), International Law (MSLS)

Over the last decade Latin America has been one of the fastest growing regions in the world, with foreign demand and investments boosting an unprecedented pace of prosperity and social inclusion. Though growth has declined since the global crisis, Latin America’s huge potential is awaiting a new trend of rapid expansion. American lawyers have a key role to play in the development of business strategies in the region, but training alertness is advisable. In fact, common law education is not self-sufficient for understanding the subtleties of Latin American law, and many American corporations and investors face difficulties for lack of expert counseling concerning domestic legal risks and problems.

The general goal of the course is to allow students to start becoming bijural by training them to communicate well with Latin American peers. We plan to achieve this goal by training students in various areas of Latin American variety of Civil Law: the Civil Law tradition in Latin America, constitutional law, human rights in national and Inter-American law, agrarian reforms and Indian peoples’ rights, civil and commercial codes, civil law remedies, civil procedure, and business law. Besides practical and professional concerns, the course will also be a rewarding intellectual experience, as students will progressively understand that there are few universal legal truths and that legal reasonableness is to a great extent relative to culture and historical accident.

We will focus on Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico (unincorporated US territory), and other Latin American and Caribbean nations. We will not assume that students have a command of Spanish or Portuguese, though some idiomatic background is obviously advantageous. Each student will be required to write a research paper of 20 pages in length in English. Successful completion of this course satisfies the written-work requirement.

Law & Socioeconomics (LWJT540)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing

Law and Socioeconomics studies the interrelationship between law and economic/social processes. It is interdisciplinary and draws on a variety of economic approaches (not only neoclassical economics) and other social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and political science. It offers students an interdisciplinary, values-based approach to public policy that is designed to take into account the power implications and distributional effects of laws and stresses the importance to effective regulation of attention to historical context, philosophical beliefs, culture, existing institutions, working rules, and sources of power. Students write a paper for this seminar.

Law of the Sea (LWIC560)

Instructor(s): Andrew Tirrell

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Environmental and Energy Law (JD), International Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG), LLM in International Law (LLMI), Environmental and Energy Law (MSLS)

This course studies regimes of the sea including fisheries, seabed mining, and coastal management zones. The politics of ocean regulation will be examined with emphasis on the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. The seminar will consider maritime law from three perspectives: 1) the development of international law; 2) the processes of international bargaining and negotiation; and 3) the decision-making processes associated with the formulation of maritime policies in individual countries. Grades will be based on a combination of two policy memo exams (take-home), a research paper, and active participation during class.

Legal Drafting (LWGC563)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills OR Writing
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)

Transactional drafting is crucial to the legal profession. It refers to the process of creating documents to formalize agreements between parties. This course trains students to be able to use the process comfortably. You will learn to structure agreements, and express them in clear and concise language that will benefit clients and maximize the likelihood of favorable interpretation. The course emphasizes both cooperative and individual drafting work. Each week in class, you will focus on selected components of the drafting process, and prepare a document or exercise requiring you to practice what you learn. You will receive immediate feedback on that day’s drafting activity, and written comments on individual weekly homework assignments. Visits by attorneys who draft contracts in their practice will provide a view of how the legal profession depends on this skill. This class will use various types of contracts that touch on various areas of substantive law: contracts for the sale of goods, business or property (contract law, commercial transactions); residential and commercial leases (landlord-tenant and real estate law); settlement agreements (torts); employment, non-disclosure and non-compete agreements (employment law); retainer agreements (legal ethics); intellectual property rights (intellectual property); corporate acquisitions (corporations, securities law); entertainment contracts (entertainment law); vendors’ contracts (sports law). Grades are based on the scores on individual weekly assignments. Students may only enroll in two of the following during their law school career: Advanced Legal Writing OR LWR III: Lit & Judicial Drafting OR LWR III: Legal Writing OR Legal Drafting. Students desiring to add the second class in this series must receive a signature on their add/drop form from the Office for JD Student Affairs, and provide the form to the Registrar office (that is, students cannot add the second class themselves online.)

Note: This course may fulfill either the Professional Skills OR Upper Division Writing requirement. Students will be asked in class at the beginning of the semester to elect which requirement they would like this course to fulfill. The student's election is final.

Legal Writing & Research II (LWAA546)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s)

Legal Writing and Research (LWR) II introduces students to persuasive legal writing and oral argument. Through a series of assignments, students focus on the analytical, research, and writing skills required to produce effective legal briefs. Students are also trained in the art of oral advocacy and required to deliver an oral argument based on their legal briefs before a panel of attorneys. The course is offered in small sections with very low student-faculty ratios so that faculty may provide individualized and frequent feedback on student work. Required for first-year students.

Legal Writing & Research, LLMC (LWGC560)

Instructor(s): Gail Greene

2 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded

This course, which is offered only to students in the LLM in Comparative Law program, focuses on providing students with: (1) a broad overview of the structure of the U.S. legal system; (2) techniques for successful research , writing and practice of law in the U.S. courts; (3) an introduction to the objective analytical skills that promote success in coursework and in the profession; (4) an introduction to persuasive writing techniques; and (5) techniques for success in class and examinations. The course has a very low student-faculty ratio and faculty carefully review each student’s research and writing assignments. Students are provided opportunities to meet with their professor and revise their written work.

Legislation in the Modern State (LWPP549)

Instructor(s): Gail Heriot

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Public Interest Law (JD)

This course will be focused in part on how our governmental institutions are constructed to ensure that Congress and state legislatures pass, and that other branches of government implement legislation in a manner that is in the public interest. Attention will also be given to how Congress in particular drafts laws knowing those law will ultimately be implemented by others-whether the President, administrative agencies, private litigants, courts or some combination of these. Several case studies will be examined. Although this is not a course on legislation generally nor administrative procedure generally, it has some elements of each as well as elements of public choice theory. It will feature a final examination.

Mediation Skills (LWLP556)

Instructor(s): Lisa Maxwell

1 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD)

Mediation is a process by which a trained and impartial third party helps others resolve a dispute. Lawyers use mediation extensively, both as advocates and as neutrals. This course consists of a twenty-four hour basic mediation skills training. Participants will learn to mediate a variety of disputes, using the methodology developed by San Diego's National Conflict Resolution Center. They will receive a certificate of participation upon their successful completion of the training. Participants must commit to attending each of the 3 all day training sessions (8:30-5:00 p.m.) as a condition of enrollment. The course is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis.  The Mediation Skills class is a great opportunity for those students who would like to pursue the Mediation Internship.

Note: There are limitations on concentration eligibility. Check the Civil Litigation Concentration (JD) and Employment and Labor Law Concentration (JD) web pages for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration, Employment and Labor Law Concentration

Moot Court Hon. Comp. (LWWI559)

Instructor(s): Staff

0-1 credit(s), P/F Graded

Multistate Bar Exam Review (LWGC576)

Instructor(s): Ted Sichelman

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

The MBE is given as part of the bar exam in nearly all U.S. jurisdictions. USD has licensed every published MBE question from previous examinations. Students in this course will take these MBE questions each week using customized online software (also accessible from tablets and smartphones), which tracks each student’s strengths and weaknesses in every substantive area of the bar exam (constitutional, criminal, real property, torts, contracts, evidence, and civil procedure). The online software will provide real-time review material for each area of the law. Each in-class session will cover test-taking techniques and the substantive law for one of the seven areas of law. Clickers are used to answer questions and provide immediate feedback to students. Please note that BARBRI, Kaplan, and most other bar exam review courses do not provide access to all of the previously released real exam questions from the MBE. As such, the questions in this course will not be the same as most of the questions that are provided in commercial summer bar preparation courses. Students must complete each week MBE questions in the required online modules (approximately 5-8 hours per week of work) and an in-class, three-hour final composed of questions similar to actual MBE exams. The final grade is 20% (based on timely completion of weekly assignments) and 80% based on the final exam grade. Only students planning to graduate in May 2016 or December 2016 may register for the course. Please note that Professor Sichelman will be teaching via a remote video connection for the first three class sessions. Students enrolled in this class must attend these first three sessions and are expected to attend the remaining class sessions, but may view up to five remaining sessions online.

Negotiation (LWLP560)

Instructor(s): Gregg Relyea

3 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Civil Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)

Effective negotiation skills are essential to the successful practice of law. Most legal disputes are resolved through direct negotiation. This course will teach students effective communication techniques and negotiation strategies in a workshop style setting. The course will introduce students to different types of bargaining, different approaches to bargaining, specialized communication techniques used by effective negotiators, and techniques for overcoming negotiating impasses. Negotiation practices will be taught using both lecture and experiential methods (interactive exercise, role play exercises). This course will be practical in its orientation, with an emphasis on prevailing negotiation techniques and strategies customarily used by practicing lawyers. Due to the participatory nature of the course, enrollment will be limited. Grades will be based on a written final examination, homework assignments, and class participation. The course is graded on a 4-tier Pass/Fail basis.

Note: There are limitations on concentration eligibility. Check the Civil Litigation Concentration (JD) and Employment and Labor Law Concentration (JD) web pages for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration, Employment and Labor Law Concentration

Negotiation (LWLP560)

Instructor(s): Herbert Lazerow

3 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Civil Litigation (JD), Employment and Labor Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)

Effective negotiation skills are essential to the successful practice of law. Most legal disputes are resolved through direct negotiation. This course will teach students effective communication techniques and negotiation strategies in a workshop style setting. The course will introduce students to different types of bargaining, different approaches to bargaining, specialized communication techniques used by effective negotiators, and techniques for overcoming negotiating impasses. Negotiation practices will be taught using both lecture and experiential methods (interactive exercise, role play exercises). This course will be practical in its orientation, with an emphasis on prevailing negotiation techniques and strategies customarily used by practicing lawyers. The course is graded on a 4-tier Pass/Fail basis. Note: Students may only elect this course or Alternative Dispute Resolution to count towards the Civil Litigation Concentration (JD).

Note: There are limitations on concentration eligibility. Check the Civil Litigation Concentration (JD) and Employment and Labor Law Concentration (JD) web pages for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration, Employment and Labor Law Concentration

Partnership Tax (LWTE545)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I

This course considers the federal tax consequences of entity classification of partnership and limited liability companies; formation of a partnership; basis of partnership interests and assets; effect of liabilities on basis; allocation of income and deductions; partnership elections; continuation, merger, and termination of partnerships; family partnerships; sales and exchanges of partnership interests; liquidating and non-liquidating distributions; retiring partners; and pertinent policy considerations.

Students who completed the three credit Tax I course must obtain professor approval using the form at www.sandiego.edu/law/registrar/forms.php.

Patent Law Policy (LWIP564)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

This seminar will examine contemporary policy issues in patent law, using doctrinal, economic, and historical approaches. Readings will be drawn from a variety of law review articles and books. Grades will be based on a final paper. Students must either (1) have taken at least one of the following courses: Intellectual Property Survey, Patent Law, or Biotech Patent Law; or (2) must have taken and passed the USPTO patent bar examination.

Patent Litigation II (LWIP569)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

This course will examine what all the work in a patent case really should be about from the first day: the trial. You’ve produced and read terabytes of documents, answered oppressive interrogatories and taken depositions of your opponents’ evasive witnesses. The judge has ruled on claim construction and denied cross-motions for summary judgment. Now you get to put the case together for trial. The course will be structured around hypotheticals, which will generate writing and oral advocacy assignments for members of the class. The class will be fundamentally interactive, although we may lecture occasionally. Oral advocacy will include an opening statement; direct examination of an expert technical witness, including preparation of demonstrative exhibits; cross examination of an expert technical witness; and preparation and argument of motions in limine. Grading will be honors/pass/low pass/fail based on in-class written and oral assignments. There will be no final exam. Prerequisites are at least one of the following: Patent Law, Intellectual Property Survey, Patent Litigation I, or registered patent agent. Recommended prerequisites are Patent Litigation I.

Patent Prosecution (LWIP571)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Intellectual Property Survey or Patent Law

This course provides an overview of practical aspects of U.S. patent practice, with a particular focus on issues that will be faced by a patent attorney in the early years of his/her career. Topics covered include preparation and prosecution of patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, discussing strategic and practical considerations in addition to the applicable law, regulations and procedures. The course will also cover development and execution of an IP strategy for a client, evaluation of the scope of issued patents, and issues relating to ownership, assignment, and licensing of patent rights. In addition, ethical issues related to inequitable conduct, duty of candor, and proper representation of clients are addressed. Students will complete a series of real-world assignments, including the drafting of claims and other patent application content, responses to Office actions, and provisions directed to the transfer of patent rights.

Prerequisite: Intellectual Property Survey, or Patent Law. No technical background is required. Grade will be based on a series of practical projects over the course of the semester.

Professional Responsibility (LWAA580)

Instructor(s): Robert Muth

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

The roles of the lawyer in society and the obligations implied in those roles are examined. Topics include disciplinary standards and procedures, the history and organization of the legal profession; avoiding conflict of interest; obligations to clients, the courts, and society, and conflicts presented by the adversary system for settlements of disputes; and responsibilities of lawyers as public servants and citizens. American Bar standards will be reviewed.

Property (LWAA530)

Instructor(s): Abraham Bell, Adam Hirsch, Mary Jo Wiggins

4 credit(s), Letter Graded

Consideration is given, in both a historical and modern sense, to the rights and obligations that arise out of the legal ownership of possessory and non-possessory interests, tangible, and to a limited extent, intangible, personal, and real property. Areas covered include estates in land, landlord-tenant, conveyancing, land development, public and private control of land use, non-possessory rights in land, bailments, lost and misplaced property, gifts, and an introduction to gratuitous transfers of realty.

Public Interest Law & Practice (LWPP570)

Instructor(s): Robert Fellmeth

2-3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (JD), Health Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG)

2 or 3 credits - Year-long course Students study the substantive laws governing the functioning and decision making of state administrative agencies. These laws include the sunshine statutes which require most agency decision making to take place in public and guarantee public access to most agency records (the open meetings acts and the California Public Records Act) and the state Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the process agencies must follow to adopt regulations or take disciplinary action against the license of a licensee. Students also study important limitations on the power of agencies (including constitutional and antitrust limitations), and the functioning of the state legislature, which may enact, repeal, or amend the enabling acts of most agencies. As part of their coursework, students are assigned to monitor two California agencies; they travel all over the state to attend agency meetings, monitor and analyze their activities, interview agency officials and licensees, and track rulemaking, legislation, and litigation affecting their agencies. Twice during the year, students submit written reports on the activities of their assigned agencies. These reports are edited by CPIL professional staff and published, with attribution to the student author, in the Center's California Regulatory Law Reporter, the only legal journal of its kind in the nation; the Reporter is reprinted in full on Westlaw. Students wishing to take Public Interest Law and Practice should pre-register for the course. Public Interest and Practice is subject to a special application procedure or visit the CPIL’s offices (rear door of the LRC) for further information.

Note: This is a required course for the Public Interest Law Concentration (JD). This course only counts towards the Environmental and Energy Law Concentration (JD) if your course focus is on environmental or energy law. This course only counts towards the Health Law Concentration if your course focus is on health law.
Additional Information: Public Interest Law Concentration, Environmental and Energy Law Concentration

Public Interest Law Clinic (LWVL544)

Instructor(s): Robert Fellmeth

1-3 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Environmental and Energy Law (JD), Health Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG)

Students who enjoy Public Interest Law and Practice frequently go on to take Public Interest Law Clinic, in which they may design their own writing or advocacy project related to regulatory or public interest law. In the past, these projects have included written critiques of agencies or agency programs; petitioning an agency to adopt regulations; drafting model legislation; participating in litigation to enforce the state's sunshine statutes; or submitting amicus curiae briefs on public interest issues pending appeal. Student critiques of publishable quality may satisfy USD's written work requirement. Students interested in Public Interest Law Clinic must secure a permission slip prior to pre-registration from Professor Julie D'Angelo Fellmeth at CPIL's offices. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Environmental and Energy Law Concentration and Health Law Concentration web pages for more information.
Additional Information: Environmental and Energy Law Concentration, Health Law Concentration

Remedies (LWLP570)

Instructor(s): Chris Wonnell

4 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Civil Litigation (JD), Public Interest Law (JD)

Legal and equitable remedies under statutes and the common law are examined and compared. The course focuses on methods of evaluating alternative remedies and arguing for or against their creation or use in a given case. The course objective is to enable the student not only to identify all available remedies but also to choose the preferred remedy from among them. The principal subjects covered are equity, restitution and damages.

Note: This is a required course for the Civil Litigation Concentration (JD).

Scientific Evidence (LWCR570)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Evidence

This course will address the technical requirements under California law for admissibility of both established and new forms of scientific evidence. Possible topics include fingerprints, serology, odontology, DNA and others. Students will apply the principles of admissibility by participating in realistic foundational hearings in the classroom, and will present papers on specific forms of scientific evidence. 

Securities Regulation (LWBC580)

Instructor(s): David McGowan

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS)

The Securities Regulation class will include an overview of the capital markets and the underwriting process, the structure and prohibitions of the Securities Act, the registration process, the definitions of security and exempted securities, the private and limited offering exemptions, offerings by underwriters, affiliates and dealers, civil liability under the Securities Act, fraud in connection with a purchase or sale of a Security, and general civil liability provisions. No Prerequisites.

Note: This is a required course for the Business and Corporate Law Concentration (JD).

Small Claims Clinic I (LWVL545)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)

The Small Claims Clinic offers students the opportunity to develop interviewing and counseling skills as well as trial preparation skills in the Small Claims Court context. Students assist low-income families in preparing their cases for trial at Small Claims Court and can represent clients in the appeals process in Superior Court. Students must also be available to participate in outreach presentations at various community locations and times. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis. No Prerequisites.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Civil Litigation Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration

Small Claims Clinic II (LWVL546)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-4 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD)

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Civil Litigation Concentration web page for more information.
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration

Special Education and the Law (LWPP578)

Instructor(s): Margaret Dalton

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Children's Rights (JD), Public Interest Law (JD)

This class is designed to train students to respond to the legal needs of families whose children have physical, learning, or emotional disabilities. Course work covers the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), governing the rights of students with disabilities to special education and related services in public schools. Class includes the application of IDEA and federal regulations to the Individualized Education Program (IEP), placements, discipline provisions, procedural safeguards including due process hearings and legal remedies. Statutory and case law are utilized to assist students in understanding this complex and emerging area of specialization. No prerequisite.

State Energy Policy (LWEV597)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Environmental and Energy Law (JD), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMUS), Environmental and Energy Law (LLMG), Environmental and Energy Law (MSLS)

Now that the Environmental Protection agency (EPA) has issued its rules on carbon emissions, we know that each state will be responsible for coming up with its own plan that meets a reduction target. This means the nation’s focus will shift to states and their plans to meet the new Clean Power Plan standards. Since EPA will be leaving the design of the plans up to the states, the class will give students insight into the different state energy laws that exist today. We will focus on Midwestern states because they play such a pivotal role in lowering emissions, and in many cases will have to make big adjustments. However, we will also examine California for comparison. The class will start with a brief overview of the EPA rules, and the legal challenges by states. Then we will move into critical issues relating to the development of the state plans, starting with state energy laws relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy portfolio standards. In order to understand how utilities will be approaching the CPP we will also examine state regulatory laws, and rate design issues such as decoupling, fixed customer charges, and net metering standards. Finally, we will examine Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority over wholesale markets and regional dispatch of power plants, and how these regional authorities (independent system operators) maintain reliability in this changing world. Taken together these topics will give students a framework for understanding how states will meet their carbon reduction goals, and the role the state plans will play in setting the nation’s energy policy. In this process we will review the Clean Power Plan, state laws, key federal and state cases, and public utility commission orders. Students will also see how an actual case unfolds reviewing a utility commission case, expert testimony, cross-examination transcripts, briefs and a final order.

Students will be expected to write a paper, with their grade based 90% on their paper and 10% based on class participation. The paper cannot be used not satisfy the law school’s writing requirement. Students are expected to attend all classes, and will be permitted only one unexcused absence.

State Income Tax Clinic I (LWVL560)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT)

This litigation clinic, also known as the "Taxpayer Appeals Assistance Program (TAAP) - Franchise and Income Tax," is a joint effort between the USD Legal Clinics and the California State Board of Equalization (BOE). Under supervision of an attorney from the BOE's Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office, students assist taxpayers with state income tax disputes against the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). Students receive legal practice skills training, including gathering and identifying evidence, drafting legal briefs, and representing clients/taxpayers in negotiations with the FTB and at oral hearings before the BOE.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

State Income Tax Clinic II (LWVL561)

Instructor(s): Staff

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT)

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

State Sales & Use Tax Clinic I (LWVL562)

Instructor(s): Michael Larkin

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT)

This clinic is a joint effort between USD Legal Clinics and the California State Board of Equalization (BOE). Under the supervision of an attorney from the BOE’s Taxpayers' Rights Advocate Office, students will represent clients who are appealing California Sales and Use Tax determinations (tax bills). Students will have the opportunity to gain practical legal skills including client interview and counseling, evidence gathering, preparing legal briefs, and actual negotiation with auditors and attorneys. Furthermore, when necessary, students will have the opportunity to represent clients in a litigation setting at Appeals Conferences (informal hearings) and Oral Hearings (similar to court trials).

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

State Sales & Use Tax Clinic II (LWVL563)

Instructor(s): Michael Larkin

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT)

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

Tax I (LWAA590)

Instructor(s): Miranda Perry Fleischer, Dennis Lilly

3-4 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), Taxation (MSLS)

Tax I provides students with an understanding of the basic principles of federal income tax, including gross income, deductions, tax accounting, capital transactions, and income shifting. Required for upper-class students.

Tax Litigation (LWTE565)

Instructor(s): Richard Carpenter

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Taxation (MSLS)

This course provides a comprehensive review of prelitigation IRS administrative procedures, practical analysis in the selection of a choice of forum to litigate a federal tax dispute, pre-trial practice and case analysis, trial techniques and strategies when litigating a federal tax dispute before the U.S. Tax Court, and a review of refund litigation. 

Tax Planning Lab (LWTE568)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I, Corporate Tax

The course will be held on five Saturdays during the spring semester. Students will work in teams on simulated tax planning exercises with lawyers from Sempra Energy & KPMG. Exercises will include planning, counseling, and negotiating on matters related to mergers & acquisitions, corporate tax, international tax, and financial statement impact. Federal Income Tax and Corporate Tax are required pre-requisites. The course is open to both JD and LLM students. Grades will be assessed based on group projects, written work, and participation.

Tax Policy (LWAA505)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I

This course will offer an introduction to the principal policy considerations raised when creating a tax system. Topics will include the merits of different tax systems (such as income and consumption taxes), questions of tax administration and legal complexity, the efficiency implications of taxation, and distributional implications. It will consider how well current legislation addresses these various issues and consider whether there are ways that they might be better addressed. The class will be conducted as a seminar and will likely include guest experts who will join us in discussions of particular topics. Tax I is a prerequisite for this course; other tax courses, especially Corporate Tax, would be useful, but are not required. This courses fullfills the written work requirement. 

Taxation of Intellectual Property (LWTE572)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)

Intellectual Property development and exploitation are very significant for many businesses. This requires attention to IP legal protection and dispute resolution, but also to IP taxation in both the US and abroad. This course addresses key tax challenges and opportunities – in both the US and selected other countries – affecting IP development and exploitation. The course first focuses on basic tax rules such as treatment of income and expenses as ordinary or capital, source of income, timing of income recognition, and the effects of tax treaties on taxation of cross-border IP transactions. The course then applies such rules to selected business arrangements involving IP such as sales, licenses and cost sharing arrangements, financing techniques such as securitization, and business combinations such as mergers and joint ventures. The aim is to impart solutions for developing and exploiting IP in light of US and other tax rules. At the beginning of the course, students are assigned to teams. Each team is provided with a brief case study proposing one or more of the IP business arrangements covered in the course. In the final sessions of the course, each team makes a presentation and provides a paper covering key tax challenges and opportunities presented by its case study. One or more previous courses in taxation and/or intellectual property law are recommended but not required.

Taxes & Business Strategy (LWTE558)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)

The course is based on the textbook “Taxes and Business Strategy: A Planning Approach” (5th ed. 2015), by Myron S. Scholes, Mark A. Wolfson, Merle Erickson, Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin. There are no prerequisites and students who have taken one or more tax classes can also take this class. The course provides a very high-level introduction to the basic rules of federal income taxation such as the computation of taxable income, the difference between capital gain and ordinary income, non-recognition provisions, and the basic forms of entity taxation. Most of the course is based around problems the students are required to solve using time-value of money computations, asking the students to determine, for example, what form of deferred compensation is most appropriate given specific individual and corporate tax rates along with a particular investment horizon. Students also compute the tax benefit of such techniques as rolling a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA and making a 338(h) (10) election as part of a corporate acquisition. This course is very different from other tax courses because it does not focus of the details of the Internal Revenue Code but rather seeks to develop the analytical skills students need to provide correct and detailed answers to specific business questions when the answers are affected by tax considerations. Each student will make heavy use of a financial calculator or a spreadsheet to do the homework although the examination will not require the students to do any calculations.
Grades based on the final exam.

Tech Entrepreneur Law Clinic (LWVL570)

Instructor(s): Ted Sichelman

3 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Intellectual Property (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG)

This course places students at local law firms to provide legal assistance to local technology startups in the areas of intellectual property prosecution and licensing, corporate formation and transactions, contracts, employment, and related areas. Students will be supervised by attorneys at local law firms as well as the professor. The course will begin with 2-3 weeks of class sessions covering the core types of transactions encountered in technology startups. There are no scheduled classes during the remainder of the semester; instead, students will work with the companies and supervising lawyers each week, and meet one-on-one with the professor on a regular basis. An application process will be used to select students for the course.

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the Business & Corporate Law Concentration and Intellectual Property Concentration web pages for more information. Email lawstudentaffairs@sandiego.edu to see if your work qualifies.
Additional Information: Business & Corporate Law Concentration, Intellectual Property Concentration

Trademarks Seminar (LWIP583)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Intellectual Property (JD), Intellectual Property (LLMUS), Intellectual Property Law (LLMG), Intellectual Property Law (MSLS)

Trademarks Seminar will feature three main components: (1) a survey of the main professional, philosophical, historical, constitutional, common law, and domestic and international statutory frameworks that relate to mark assertion, registration, rights, and infringement; (2) a seminar-like classroom format (to the fullest extent its student participants support); and (3) an evaluation format based on three short projects that are spread through the course. Students searching for a course with a final exam should look elsewhere.

Transitional Justice and Responding to Mass Atrocities (LWIC590)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

“Transitional Justice” is an emerging field of policy, practice, and study that focuses on the moral, legal, and political dilemmas encountered as individuals, communities, and nations attempt to grapple with historical legacies of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and other large-scale human rights violations. In such circumstances: Who must be punished and who may be pardoned? Do vigorous efforts to promote legal accountability jeopardize the emerging and fragile peace? What is the proper role and responsibility of the so-called international community? In this class, we will examine the complementarity and conflict between the often overlapping demands that nations face in the wake of large-scale human rights abuses, including retribution, reconciliation, restitution, memory, and other forms of accountability. This will include study of the traditional range of transitional justice tools and interventions that have evolved, including international tribunals from Nuremburg to the ICC, truth commissions, reparations programs, public memorials, vetting and lustration initiatives, and broader institutional reform. Along the way, we will probe the blind spots, assumptions, and limitations of varying transitional justice mechanisms, together with the transitional justice project in general. Course grades will be determined on the basis of class participation, short reaction papers, a group oral presentation, and a final research paper. Please be advised that this course does not fulfill the law school’s written work requirement

Trial Advocacy (LWLP550)

Instructor(s): Linda Lane

3 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Civil Litigation (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG)

This is an upper class course focused on the skills of case analysis and oral presentation of those cases to judges and juries on civil or criminal trials. The course also includes developing skills used in the discovery phase of civil cases, especially depositions. The course is specifically designed to expand the skills introduced to the student in Legal Research & Writing. The course methodology combines lectures, demonstrations and individual student performances in small groups with extensive critique and feedback by small group instructors who are experienced practitioners. The course culminates in a mock trial. The course is graded on a 4-tier Pass/Fail basis. 

Note: Students may only elect this course or Practicum--Civil to count toward the Civil Litigation Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Civil Litigation Concentration

Trusts & Estates (LWTE555)

Instructor(s): Adam Hirsch

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

This survey course provides an introduction to non-tax aspects of estate planning and the law of gratuitous transfers, including inter vivos gifts, intestate succession, wills, will substitutes, trusts, fiduciary administration, and future interests.

Valuation (LWTE585)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Taxation (LLMUS), LLM in Taxation (LLMT), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS), Taxation (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Tax I, Corporate Tax (Tax II)
Recommended Class(es): Corporations

This course encompasses the ever expanding body of law as it relates to valuation of business interest. Topics include the proper standard of valuation, various valuation methods, and the use of discounts and premiums. The class will review business valuation issues with respect to family limited partnerships, estate planning, corporation transactions, and other areas. Cutting edge issues such as valuing high tech companies will be covered. 

Students who completed the three credit Tax I course must obtain professor approval using the form at www.sandiego.edu/law/registrar/forms.php.

Venture Capital & Private Equity (LWBC590)

Instructor(s): Staff

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Business and Corporate Law (MSLS)
Prerequisite(s): Corporations

This course provides an overview of the legal infrastructure and regulation of private investment funds, with a particular focus on venture capital, private equity, and biotechnology investments. The primary focus of the course is on the contracting and regulatory issues that arise at the investment fund level rather than the operating companies that funds invest in.

Topics include the fundraising process, fund structure, carried interest, the structuring of portfolio company investments, exit strategies, publicly-traded fund sponsors, and differences between venture capital, private equity, real estate, biotech, and hedge funds. The course surveys aspects of the relevant regulatory landscape, including corporate law, securities law, bankruptcy law, ERISA, and tax law. Prereq: Corporations. Grades are based on an 8 hour take-home examination.

Veterans Clinic I (LWVL581)

Instructor(s): Robert Muth

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Public Interest Law (JD)

Students gain practical training and real world experience through representation of veteran clients and their families on a variety of legal issues. Matters include: representing clients who have disputes with predatory lenders and for-profit educational institutions over the use of GI Bill® funds and related loans; assisting veterans seeking to upgrade their characterization of discharge from the military; and representing veterans appealing disability claims with the Veterans Administration. Students provide advice, identify potential claims, and in some cases are able to advocate for clients in civil litigation, arbitration, or before governmental review boards. Weekly group meetings are combined with individual case conferences to provide intensive personal training in litigation techniques, legal strategy and case management. The classroom component also includes an overview of applicable law and procedure necessary to assist veterans in these matters. The clinic is graded on a 4-tier Pass-Fail basis.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation on Friday, January 15, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in WH 3B.

Veterans Clinic II (LWVL581)

Instructor(s): Robert Muth

1-4 credit(s), H/P/L/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Public Interest Law (JD)

Clinic II interns refine their skills, working on complex cases and cases already begun as Clinic I interns. Students may mentor first time clinic participants, serve as lead attorney on cases, and have additional opportunities to appear in court or administrative proceedings. Supervising attorneys/adjunct professors provide individualized coaching, based on the Clinic II interns’ needs and interests. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Clinic I in the same clinic.

Washington DC Externship Program (LWVL594)

Instructor(s): Gail Heriot

7 credit(s), P/F Graded
Requirement(s): Skills
Concentration(s): Employment and Labor Law (JD), Health Law (JD)

The University of San Diego School of Law offers a unique educational experience that enables students to work in a semester-long externship in Washington, D.C. The USD Law Washington D.C. Externship Program is an experiential way of understanding the role of government, public policy or agency lawyers or advocates in our legal system. Students who work in government or related entities in Washington, D.C. will ultimately acquire an enhanced perspective and more sophisticated view of the role of government in law and society. Under the program, students will work, under supervision of an on-site attorney, for a government, or public interest agency, non-profit trade association or think tank, or with a judge; students will also be enrolled in a program of graded coursework. In addition to practical legal training, the program allows students to cement new professional contacts and enhance their professional profile. This internship begins January 4, 2016. The program will initially be offered in Spring 2013 for up to 20 students. Second and third year students in good academic standing may apply. (Students within the academic supervision program must receive permission to apply for the program from the Assistant Dean for JD Student Affairs). Applicants should inquire about implications of an externship with respect to other law school activities (e.g., law review and law journal writing, moot court, clinical opportunities, spring recruiting, etc.) Students will earn 12 credits under the program. Seven pass/fail credits will be earned through the work component of the externship. (Students work 60 hours per unit of credit.) Five graded credits will be earned in: (a) a two–credit, two-week intensive course on administrative law, agency practice, or legislative process offered in Washington, D.C., prior to the students taking up their agency work; and (b) a three-credit course that meets weekly and has a final exam and fully complies with ABA standards for academic supervision and instruction. Students must enroll for all components of the Washington, D.C., program. It is recommended that students work together with Career Services to locate semester-long placements based on individual student interests and career aspirations. The Dean’s office determines the suitability of the placement. Students enrolling in the program will pay all standard tuition and fees required by the law school. Students must enroll in the program by November 1, 2015. If you are interested in enrolling, please fill out a short application expressing interest. You will be contacted by Career Services to help coordinate your placement. 

Note: There are limitations on JD concentration eligibility. Please check the JD concentration web pages for more information. Email the Office for Law Student Affairs to find out if your work qualifies for the concentration.
Additional Information: JD Concentrations Web Page, Email Law Student Affairs

White Collar Crime (LWBC595)

Instructor(s): Staff

2 credit(s), Letter Graded
Concentration(s): Business and Corporate Law (JD), Criminal Litigation (JD), LLM in Business and Corporate Law (LLMB), Business and Corporate Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMUS), Criminal Law (LLMG), Criminal Law (MSLS)

The course offers an overview of the most significant federal “white collar” crimes, with a pragmatic focus on how to investigate, prosecute and defend such cases. We place a heavy emphasis on interpreting and applying criminal statutes. In addition to the traditional Socratic methodology, we use real-world hypotheticals to help students gauge their understanding throughout the semester. The course is geared toward students interested in pursuing careers as prosecutors or criminal defense attorneys, as well as those who may represent corporate clients generally. The final written exam will count as 90% of the final grade; the remaining 10% will be based on participation in class exercises.

Note: Students may only elect this course or Federal Crimes to count toward the Criminal Litigation Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Criminal Litigation Concentration (JD)

Wine & Beer Law (LWGC597)

Instructor(s): Michael Kelly

3 credit(s), Letter Graded

This course will survey the legal issues confronted in the production and sale of wine and (to a lesser extent) beer. The regulatory structures will be examined, including licensing regulations, label restrictions, intellectual property issues, and limitations on interstate and international distribution of wine and beer. The effect laws have on the creation of wine-related businesses will be addressed, including some of the key choices confronted in the process of starting a wine business. Grades will be based on a final examination and at least one project completed during the term.

Work, Welfare & Justice (LWPP591)

Instructor(s): Orly Lobel

3 credit(s), Letter Graded
Requirement(s): Writing
Concentration(s): Employment and Labor Law (JD), Public Interest Law (JD), Employment and Labor Law (LLMG)

The course explores the relations between public policies and the new political-economy. The new economy, with its increased demands for flexibility and competitiveness, new technologies, and rapid globalization, has dramatically altered the nature of work relations, economic production, social organization and the roles of public and private entities in promoting growth, justice and fairness. In this class, we will explore at a number of policy fields, including issues in employment and labor laws, education and schooling law, environmental law, health law, discrimination policies and consumer law. These issues will be examined from an interdisciplinary perspective for understanding the challenges of law-in-action. We will think of practical questions of the comparative effectiveness of various regulatory mechanisms and the more theoretical aspects of legal means and social ends. Students will be required to write a paper.

Note: This course may be applied as part of the nine required credits for the Employment and Labor Law Concentration (JD).
Additional Information: Employment & Labor Law Concentration (JD)