Note: Not all of the courses described will be offered during any one academic year. Schedules for the various terms and accompanying notes should be consulted to select courses comporting with student interest and law school requirements.
See also:
| Course Name | Number | Cr. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to U.S. Law | 093 | 1 | This course is designed to provide LL.M. students who did not receive their legal education in the United States with an overview of U.S. law. Students will develop basic research and writing skills necessary for the study and practice of law in the U.S., while covering substantive areas of law, including contracts, torts, and Constitutional law. This course will not provide an exhaustive survey of each topic, but rather exposure to a large amount of foundational information in a short period of time. |
| Legal Research, Writing and Analysis I | 096 | 2 | Introduces the student to research methods, analysis of legal concepts, and the art of legal writing. Students begin to learn the research, analysis and writing process through an assigned series of open and closed memoranda. |
| Legal Research, Writing and Analysis II - Trial Level Writing | 097 | 2 | Students continue developing their research, analytical and writing skills by working through a trial-level problem. Students will also participate in an oral argument. |
| Legal Research, Writing and Analysis - Appellate Writing | 098 | 2 | Students continue developing their research, analytical and writing skills by working though an appellate problem. Students will also participate in an oral argument. |
| Legal Research, Writing and Analysis - Legal Drafting | 099 | 2 | Students continue developing their research, analytical and writing skills by drafting legal documents that govern the future behavior of clients and other parties. |
| Contracts I | 102 | 2 | Introduction to the principles of contract law, including the consideration doctrine, offer and acceptance, promissory estoppel, and the regulation of the bargaining process. |
| Contracts II | 103 | 3 | Continuation of Contracts I, with emphasis on interpretation, excuse, and remedies. |
| Property | 104 | 4 | This required course is a survey of the law of property. It emphasizes the process and rationale for the creation of private interests in tangible, intangible and intellectual property; the Anglo-American system of estates in land (including landlord-tenant law and future interests); transfers of land (including the real estate contract and deed); and methods for title assurance (including deed covenants, the recording system, and title insurance). |
| Criminal Law | 106 | 3 | General principles of the substantive criminal law and its major processes are derived from study of its common law origins and the effects of such variables as societal values, legislation, and judicial activity. Inquires into uses of the coercive power of the state, the federal-state relationship, and the concepts of group criminality, liability for uncompleted crimes, and rationale for punishment. |
| Economic Foundations of Legal Studies | 108 | 3 | This course exposes students to a broad survey of economic, statistical, finance and accounting concepts in which those concepts play a crucial role in determining the outcome of legal disputes. Students will not become expert in these technical areas but will be exposed to both the mechanics and subtleties of these tools. The goal is to educate and train students so that they will be better prepared to understand a dispute, craft an argument, or prepare a witness. |
| Torts | 110 | 4 | This course examines the fundamental principles of legal obligation in the absence of voluntary contract or family relationship. In such circumstances, why, when, and to what extent should one person ever be financially liable to another? The legal rules and doctrines are considered in themselves and in relation to moral philosophy, political theory, and economics. |
| Civil Procedure | 112 | 4 | This basic course is for the study of the legal process, with emphasis on the powers and operations of courts deciding disputes between private parties. Examines the organization of state and federal courts and the relations between them; the processes by which courts resolve disputes; and the extent to which judicial decisions are conclusive of subsequent disputes. Among the topics studied are jurisdiction of courts over persons, property, and subject matter; the finality of judgments; the choice of applicable law; the scope of litigation as to claims, defenses, and parties; the processes of stating claims and exchanging information in discovery; trials and the division of functions between judge and jury; the right to jury trial; a brief introduction to the law of evidence; summary methods of decision without trial; and appellate review. |
| Administrative Law | 116 | 3 | An inquiry into the powers and processes of federal administrative agencies, and the control of agency action through judicial review and other means. |
| Constitutional Law I | 121 | 4 | Analysis of the structure of American government, as defined through the text of the Constitution and its interpretation. The course focuses on the allocation of powers and responsibilities among governmental institutions, including the separation and coordination of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions at the federal level, and the relation between the state and federal governments (including an introductory treatment of the Fourteenth Amendment). |
| Advanced Economic Foundations | 123 | 2 | The point of view for this course comes from Law and Economics which studies how legal systems, and subsequent decisions, promote economic efficiency. In this course we first examine the process of inter-temporal voluntary exchange as an important source of market inefficiency. We then examine how private treaty solutions, such as reputations, sanctions and exclusion, attempt to overcome this inefficiency. The course then proceeds from the assumption that the law should act incrementally to maximize the gains from exchange by working with and improving on private solutions. At the same time we assume that the legal process is subject to rent seeking, within, by legal professionals, and without, by regulatory capture. This susceptibility implies a need for checks and balances on how the law is used and leads to the recognition that society must be willing to limit the scope of the law as an instrumental tool for social justice. |
| Giles Rich Moot Court Competition | 125 | 2 | |
| Jessup International Moot Court Competition | 126 | 1 | |
| Founders' Constitution | 131 | 2 | The Founders' Constitution is a required course in which students read and discuss important documents that illuminate the intellectual and historical context in which the U.S. Constitution was framed. The focus is on primary sources, such as Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights, our Declaration of Independence, early state constitutions, Madison's notes of the debates at the Philadelphia Convention, selected writings of the Anti-Federalists, and the complete Federalist Papers. This course is a prerequisite to all courses in Constitutional Law. |
| Founding of the American Constitution | 133 | 2 | This course, for students in their second year or beyond, is equivalent to the course "The Founders' Constitution" (which is for first year students only). |
| Advanced Legal Research Writing | 150 | 1 | |
| Aviation Law | 151 | 2 | This is a survey course of aviation law, covering both U.S. and international domestic law and regulation. Students will receive an introduction into all major aspects of aviation law, with special emphasis placed on Government regulation of aircraft, air carriers, airmen, and airports. Students will gain a basic understanding of the structure and forms of federal and international aviation law and regulation. The course will expose students to administrative law, constitutional law, international law, federal jurisdiction, and to a lesser extent antitrust law and environmental law. Materials consist of cases, statutes, treaties, regulations, and policy statements. |
| Advanced Constitutional Law: First Amendment | 155 | 2 | Examines selected topics from the First Amendment, including speech, press, assembly, and association. Coverage will vary from year to year. |
| Antitrust | 156 | 3 | This course examines judicial doctrines, enforcement guidelines, and policies relating to competition as a means of ordering private economic behavior. Specific topics include agreements involving competitors, dominant firm behavior, joint ventures, mergers, distribution, practices, and international competition policy. |
| Constitutional Law II | 158 | 2 | This course is a continuation of Constitutional Law I, and examines the interpretations of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the scope of congressional authority to enforce these constitutional provisions. |
| Appellate Advocacy | 159 | 2 | This course focuses on brief writing and oral advocacy for students participating in extramural moot court competitions. Rules of the Supreme Court, which govern most moot court contests, receive special emphasis. All class participants must be registered for an extramural competition during the semester in which they take the course, must receive permission of the instructor, and must have taken Appellate Writing (LRWA III) as a prerequisite. |
| Appellate Practice | 160 | 2 | This course is a practicum on the modes and methods of appellate practice and advocacy. Students are graded on several compositions and practical exercises involving both oral and written advocacy. The course will use federal and/or state rules at the discretion of the instructor. |
| Electronic Mass Media Regulation | 161 | 2 | This course will examine the regulation of electronic mass media by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Congress and the courts, with a particular focus on the broadcasting and cable industries and the effect of the Internet, digitalization and other new technologies on those industries. The course will focus on the history of the broadcast and cable industries as well as the various regulations, First Amendment cases, and policies applicable to these industries. Current topics such as indecency over the airwaves, political ads, media concentration, and the development of digital and satellite television will be covered. Students will be graded based on class participation and three take-home essays due over the course of the semester. |
| Bankruptcy | 167 | 3 | Studies legal, economic, and social issues in bankruptcy through a survey of the Bankruptcy Code and the previous Bankruptcy Act. Considers bankruptcy liquidation and reorganization, as well as the role of the courts and trustees in the bankruptcy process. |
| Sports and Antitrust | 170 | 2 | An organized sports league presents a unique business model because its members must act as both partners and competitors of one another. The antitrust laws are intended to discourage coordination among business competitors. On the other hand, the business needs of an organized sports league require a considerable degree of such coordination. It is not surprising, then, that amateur and professional sports leagues increasingly find themselves in costly and uncertain antitrust litigation. Courts struggle in these circumstances because precedents drawn from other industries and other contexts are not always helpful. This course seeks to bring coherence to the analysis, exploring how fundamental antitrust principles can properly be adapted to the unique business needs of an organized sport. Issues to be considered include league governance (e.g., agreements among members limiting the number or location of competitors); equipment and behavior standards (e.g., prohibitions on "square-grooved" golf clubs at PGA Tour events; restraints on player mobility or compensation (e.g., draft rules, salary caps, etc.); and the extent to which Congress has chosen to limit application of the antitrust laws to certain sports, Major League Baseball being the most notable. The course will also touch upon what "market" or "monopoly" power means in the context of sports. |
| Business Associations | 172 | 4 | Provides a detailed introduction to the law and economics of agency, partnerships, limited partnerships, and corporation law. The second half of the course focuses on publicly traded corporations. |
| Chemical and Biotechnology Patent Practice | 174 | 2 | Presents an in-depth treatment of patent law and practice as applied specifically to protecting inventions relating to chemical and biotechnology. Patent application preparation and prosecution strategies are particularly emphasized. |
| Commercial Paper | 176 | 3 | This course covers the workings of the finance and payments systems, and the legal doctrines on which they are based, focusing on UCC Articles 3 (Negotiation, Defenses, Holder in Due Course, and the status of parties to an instrument) and 4 (the bank collection system) and Regulation CC. It also considers negotiation in Funds Transfer Systems and in the context of personal property leases, letters of credit, bank acceptances, and personal property security interests. Related doctrines of agency, suretyship, insolvency, contracts, sales of goods, bankruptcy, and assignment and transfer are reviewed. Attention will also be given to drafting and litigation, the conduct of discovery, and trial tactics. |
| Animal Law Seminar | 177 | 2 | An exploration and discussion of the treatment of captive and wild animals under state, federal, and international law. The course will address the historical status of animals in the law; legislative efforts and citizen initiatives to strengthen animal protection laws; the application of federal laws concerning captive animals, wildlife, and farm animals; the role of international conventions concerning trade in animals and animal products, free trade, and comparative animal protection laws; the limitations on state laws addressing anti-cruelty, hunting, trapping, and animal fighting; the emerging areas of veterinary malpractice and other animal-related torts; the use of consumer protection statutes to address animal welfare concerns; the effect of free speech, religious expression, and other Constitutional principles on animals protection statutes; legal constraints on animal advocacy such as libel and defamation, invasion of privacy, and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act; and the movement to obtain legal recognition of the rights of animals. |
| Legal Clinic | 179 | 3 | The Legal Clinic presents students with the opportunity to take what they have learned in the classroom and utilize it in real litigation settings under the supervision of an attorney or a judge. Students in the Clinic are placed in the offices of the Public Defender, Commonwealth Attorney, and Legal Aid. Students are also placed in the chambers of the Circuit Court, General District Court, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judges. |
| Communications Law | 181 | 3 | A treatment of basic telecommunications law, policy, and regulation. |
| Conflict of Laws | 186 | 3 | Focuses on choice of law problems, particularly in relation to property, family law, contracts, torts, trusts, and the administration of estates. Consideration is given to acts of jurisdiction, effects of judgments, special problems of federalism, and transnational regulation. |
| Copyright Law | 191 | 3 | This course covers the basics of copyright law, including determinations of what is copyrightable, formalities for obtaining protection, and copyright registration practices and procedures. The substantive and procedural elements of infringement actions are examined, including defenses. Technological developments affecting copyright are also addressed, including issues related to computer software and the Internet. |
| Corporate Acquisitions | 194 | 2 | Focuses principally on state corporate law, though consideration is also given to federal securities, tax, and antitrust laws. Topics covered include business and tax considerations relevant to acquisitions, methods of corporate combinations, directors' duties in connection with sales of control, appraisal rights, and target defensive tactics. |
| Levy Workshop | 195 | 2 | Year-long seminar taught by the Director of the Levy Fellow program that all Levy fellows are required to take in each of their second and third years. The course also is available to regular JD and LLM students with the approval of the Director. For Levy Fellows, a passing grade of "C" or above will be required for continuation of the Fellowship and receipt of the JD degree. |
| Corporate Tax | 198 | 3 | Focuses on the taxation of corporations and their shareholders. Consideration is given to the tax consequences of the formation of a corporation, distributions, redemptions, liquidations, and reorganizations. |
| Family Law | 200 | 3 | |
| Litigation and Dispute Resolution Theory | 205 | 3 | Provides the cornerstone of the Litigation Law track. It introduces the theory and practice of litigation and other forms of dispute resolution, and draws upon the basic tools of decision theory, game theory, and economic analysis to address some of the key features of the litigation process and its institutions. Among the topics addressed are the decision to commence litigation and whether to settle or go to trial; settlement negotiations; strategic behavior as affecting decision making by both private actors and the courts; economic analyses of litigation; agency or moral hazard problems presented by both lawyers and courts; the impact of attorney's fee arrangements, fee-shifting rules, and court-imposed sanctions; party versus court control of proceedings; and the effect of enforcement costs on competing substantive legal rules. |
| Criminal Procedure | 206 | 3 | Acquaints students with the criminal justice system, its procedures, and Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. |
| Advanced Criminal Procedure | 207 | 2 | This offering is intended for students interested in advanced work in criminal procedure. The topics covered focus on aspects of trial procedure and post-conviction remedies. |
| Discrimination in Employment | 210 | 3 | Examines the federal regulatory structure governing employment practices that make distinctions based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and age. |
| Domestic Relations | 212 | 3 | The course is focused on the formation of families, marriage, marital dissolution and the division of marital assets, cohabitation, issues connected with children, and contemporary directions in the reform of family law. |
| European Union Law | 213 | 2 | Reviews major legal aspects of the European market institutions and operations with emphasis on attaining an integrated market. |
| Federal Election Law | 215 | 2 | The course explores the principal bodies of federal constitutional and statutory law affecting the regulation of elections, with a focus on the right to vote, gerrymandering, political parties and independent candidates, campaign finance, and corruption and bribery. |
| Environmental Law | 218 | 3 | This course covers numerous substantive areas in environmental law, while exploring the theme that environmental law is perhaps the most significant area of the law where structural constitutional questions of federalism and the separation of powers regularly arise. After explaining some of the background constitutional provisions in the environmental area, such as the Commerce Clause, the Spending Clause, and Takings, we turn to analyzing particular statutory areas: (1) the Clean Air Act (a greater area of focus as the first complex regulatory statute encountered); (2) the Clean Water Act; (3) NEPA; (4) RCRA; (5) CERCLA; and (6) the Endangered Species Act. We also spend several class units on recurring administrative law issues in environmental law and on the topic of environmental enforcement. Modes of statutory and regulatory interpretation are also an important class theme. |
| Estate and Gift Taxation | 219 | 3 | Provides a detailed examination of the estate, gift, and intergenerational transfer taxes, and considers their interaction with individual, partnership, and corporate tax provisions. |
| Evidence | 222 | 3 | Examines legal rules governing the proof of disputed issues of fact during adversary proceedings. The emphasis is on rules determining the admissibility of various types of evidence, including testimonial evidence (hearsay rules and impeachment of witnesses), documentary evidence, and scientific and expert evidence. The course also considers judicial notice as substitute for evidence, burdens of proof, and the effect of jury trial on rules of evidence. May be 3 or 4 credits. |
| Federal Courts | 226 | 3 | Jurisdiction of the federal district courts, including federal question, diversity, and supplemental jurisdiction; appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court; federal common law; aspects of the relations of the federal and state courts, including removal, abstention, and the Anti-injunction Act; and state sovereign immunity in the federal courts. |
| Federal Budget Law | 228 | 2 | Studies the law underlying the federal budget process, including the preparation of the president's budget, the Congressional Budget Resolution, and the appropriations and reconciliation bills. Also examines the Constitutional provisions underlying the federal budget process. |
| Government Contracts | 230 | 3 | Examines the processes by which private parties establish and perform contracts with the federal government. Specific subjects include the appropriations mechanism; the authority of government agents, sealed-bid and negotiated procurement methods; competition requirements, contract pricing, award protests; inspection, acceptance, and warranties; changes; termination; the prosecution and defense of claims; and civil and criminal sanctions for fraud. For factual illustrations, the course draws heavily upon the procurement activities of major purchasers such as the Department of Defense. |
| Health Law | 233 | 3 | The legal foundations of the health care delivery and payment systems are analyzed from the differing perspectives of providers, payers, patients, contractors, and governments. Areas of focus include the Medicare and Medicaid programs, managed care, professional licensure and discipline, health care crimes including fraud and abuse, eHealth and privacy, hospitals and nursing homes including charitable organizations, and the practice of medicine. |
| Advanced Constitutional Law: Freedom of Religion | 234 | 2 | This class deals with the current law of the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause, and the policy arguments for and against it. |
| Immigration Law | 235 | 3 | Examines fundamental issues in immigration law of inadmissibility and deportability, relief from removal, asylum and refugee status, citizenship, nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, including labor certification, and administrative and judicial review. |
| Income Tax | 236 | 4 | The fundamental statutory and regulatory principles upon which the federal income tax structure is based are considered, with emphasis on individual income taxation. Topics include definition and characterization of income, deductions, and the tax treatment of property transactions. |
| Independent Study | 238 | 1 | Each independent study course must be approved in writing by the Vice Dean, who will require a written syllabus or similar detailed description of the content of the course and the means by which the student will be evaluated. May be 1 to 3 credit hours. |
| Law & Literature | 239 | 2 | The class reads a variety of classic and contemporary texts to illustrate how law and legal problems are portrayed in literature. This is both an exercise in our understanding of law as well as a lesson in how to read texts. We also can think of a text as a kind of evidence, legal or otherwise. Grading is based on a combinations of papers; students have an option of one long paper or two or three shorter papers, focusing on the works read and key themes of the class. Readings change each year, but typical readings include the Bible, Shakespeare, Kafka, Melville, James, and others. |
| Insurance Law | 242 | 2 | Acquaints students with the various problems involved in risk-spreading through private and public insurance. Concepts of risk, uncertainty (or compound risk), and insurability are discussed as well as contractual problems such as mistake, fraud, and coinsurance. The impact of insurance upon the development of tort doctrines such as strict and vicarious liability and relaxed standards of causation are addressed. Government regulation of the insurance industry receives some attention. |
| Privacy and Information Security Law | 243 | 2 | The course explores the rapid development of the law governing the use and disclosure of personal and other information by government entities and private sector parties. The course also examines the emerging law regarding the obligation to protect information from misuse or access by unauthorized third parties and liability arising from such misuse or access. |
| International Commercial Transactions | 245 | 2 | This course provides the foundation for understanding and working with international commerce. It approaches the subject from the perspective of essential payment mechanisms such as open account, banker’s acceptances, collections, and letters of credit. From this perspective, it will consider contract terms for payment and delivery, the role of international custom, transport law and practices that impact commercial transactions and the role of third party intermediaries. In addition to judicial opinions from the US and elsewhere and drafting exercises based on actual documentation from actual transactions, the course will provide an option to visit the operations department of a local bank if there is sufficient interest. |
| International Law | 248 | 3 | Considers traditional public international law issues and analyzes them in an economic and game-theoretic perspective. Emphasis is on basic concepts of public international law, including sources and evolution of international law; relation of international law to municipal law; subjects of international law; peaceful settlement of disputes; international agreements; jurisdictional competence; state responsibility and treatment of aliens; the use of force; and the evolving role of international organizations. |
| International Business Economics and Law | 249 | 2 | This course is designed to provide International Business track students with an analytical framework, based on microeconomic theory, for studying law and policy questions relating to international trade issues. Topics covered include comparative advantage and the gains from trade, patterns of trade, the effects of tariffs, subsidies and other trade laws, balance of payments issues, exchange rate determination, and industrial policy. |
| International Taxation | 250 | 2 | Considers the taxation of international transactions. Both the taxation of domestic entities and U.S. citizens doing business abroad and foreign entities and individuals doing business in the United States are examined. May be 2 or 3 credits. Corporate Tax is not a prerequisite but is strongly recommended. |
| International Business Track Thesis | 251 | 2 | Requires the student to develop, expand, and refine a research paper into an article suitable for publication in a law journal. |
| International Investment Law | 252 | 2 | International investment law is emerging as a distinct and important field of international law. The explosive growth of "investor-state" arbitration creates opportunities for practicing attorneys to assist the evolution of this field, while also drawing on and contributing to international law more broadly. These arbitrations often allege breaches of bilateral or multilateral investment treaties and they are often heard by tribunals established by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is part of the World Bank group. As a result, these arbitrations also raise important questions both about the rights and obligations of international investors (e.g., whether they should have substantive and procedural rights beyond those afforded domestic investors) and about the appropriate mechanisms for resolving investment disputes (e.g., whether the public should have the right to see and participate in what had traditionally been confidential proceedings). This course examines the substantive law governing international investment, explores how rights and obligations can be enforced in an investment dispute, and considers the proper role of investment law in the international legal system. No prerequisites are required, although students will find it helpful to take previously or simultaneously other international courses, such as International Law, International Finance, or International Trade. There will be a final exam in this course. |
| International Trade Law and Regulation | 253 | 3 | Covers trade law, principally American law and the related international regime. Includes separation of powers in trade policy matters; trade agreements, tariffs, classification, and valuation; statutory import remedies (e.g., etaliation, unfair imports, antidumping/countervailing duties); and export licensing, promotion, and controls. Also examines the mechanisms related to regulating international business and trade (e.g., GATT). |
| Legal Clinic - Domestic Relations | 254 | 3 | The Domestic Relations Legal Clinic is offered at the Fairfax County Circuit Court and gives students a unique opportunity to assist pro se litigants in obtaining uncontested divorces. Student lawyers are assigned a mentor who is a well-known domestic relations lawyer and work in the mentor's office 12 hours per week on all manner of domestic relations issues and cases. The student lawyers are given their own case load of clients who seek help from the clinic. The students meet with clients, draft pleadings, review documentation and appear in court for ore tenus hearings before a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge. Some students may even have the opportunity to argue motions for support or minor property determinations. To be eligible to enroll in the clinic, students must have completed Domestic Relations and have a Third-Year Practice Certificate. This clinic is limited to the first 10 students who apply. |
| Labor Law | 256 | 3 | An overview of the law of union and management relations in the private sector: development and coverage of federal labor law; representation elections; unfair labor practices; relations between employees and their union; employee concerted activity; anti-union discrimination; union picketing, strikes, and violence; regulation of collective bargaining; and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements. |
| Land Use Planning | 258 | 3 | This course focuses on government restrictions on the use of privately owned land and government takings of land. It reviews nuisance law, zoning and development restrictions, the use of eminent domain and the issue of regulatory takings. The course also considers the relative institutional competence of markets and planners; the legal rights and duties of zoning and planning administrators, legislators, and developers; the goals of subdivision regulations; how the regulatory process works in practice; residential community associations; the efficacy of private land use controls; how infrastructure needs are financed, the problem of local government and regional needs, and, finally, what happens when government assumes the role of landowner or land developer. |
| Legal and Economic Theory of Intellectual Property | 261 | 2 | A survey of the legal and economic theory of intellectual property including the common law premises for the protection of ideas and their embodiments and the evolution of statutory and judge-made law. The first half of the course concentrates on the underlying economic and property theory and law, and the second half develops the application to the statutory and common law classes of intellectual property: patents, copyright, trademarks, mask works, and trade secrets. |
| Legal and Economic Theory - Intellectual Property | 264 | 2 | |
| Legislation | 266 | 2 | An introduction for lawyers to public choice and competing theories of legislative behavior. This course begins with an examination of the process by which statutes are generated and the application of economic analysis to that process. The remainder of the course considers the implications of this analysis for a variety of legal issues arising in the interpretation and implementation of statutes, especially the principles and techniques of statutory construction. |
| Generic Drugs, FDA, and IP Law | 268 | 2 | This course examines, in depth, the unique interface of intellectual property law and regulatory law in the FDA-regulated industries, principally the pharmaceutical industry but also medical devices and food additives. Primary attention is given to the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the Patent Code and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which for the first time injected patent-law considerations into the FDA regulatory process and simultaneously created special patent rules for products subject to an FDA pre-market approval requirement. The impact of FDA regulation on copyright and trademark rights in the FDA-regulated industries also will be considered. Although the course should be of interest both to students planning careers in patent law and to those whose primary interest is in FDA regulatory law, neither the Regulation of Food and Drugs course nor previous exposure to patent law is a prerequisite to registration. |
| Litigation Law Track Thesis | 271 | 2 | Requires the student to develop, expand, and refine a research paper into an article suitable for publication in a law journal. |
| Local Government Law | 272 | 2 | Decision-making processes of local government bodies; types and authority of city, county, and special-function local government units; intergovernmental relations; organizational structure and modifications. |
| Law of Investment Management | 275 | 3 | This course examines the law and economics of investment advisors, investment companies, mutual funds, and pension funds. These institutions currently manage a large and rapidly increasing share of America's wealth, and further expansion is especially likely with the growing impetus to privatize social security. Yet little is known about their internal organization, the critical contracting and property rights issues they face in financial markets, or the sources of regulation that influence them under the Securities Exchange Act (1934), the Investment Advisors Act (1940), the Investment Company Act (1940), or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (1974). The course will use basic financial theory and property rights analysis to examine the law that shapes these increasingly vital institutions, with the objective of understanding their internal organization and external environment. This course is an elective in the Corporate and Securities Track. Financial Theory recommended but not required. |
| Legal Clinic -- Mental Illness | 277 | 3 | The Clinic consists of three components. The classroom portion focuses on the history and development of laws affecting the mentally ill, while also preparing the students for court hearings. Students then appear in court on a weekly basis, representing their own clients. Additionally, the students participate in research projects with the Treatment Advocacy Center. |
| Moot Court | 278 | 1 | Promotes the development of appellate advocacy skills. Members of the Moot Court Board must participate in at least two moot court competitions, one of which must include an appellate brief writing component. Members coordinate and conduct all intra-mural moot court competitions. Open only to students selected for Moot Court Board membership. |
| Mediation | 279 | 3 | This course focuses on the structure and goals of the mediation process and on the skills and techniques used to assist parties in overcoming barriers to dispute resolution. Skills are learned through readings and discussions of the thoretical bases for mediation and through interactive participation in simulations, exercises, and role plays. The course also examines the roles of attorneys and clients in mediation, ethical issues for lawyers and mediators, dealing with difficult people, power imbalances, and cultural considerations. Previous students have used this course to satisfy the skills training required by the Virginia Supreme Court to become certified as state mediators. |
| Partnership Taxation | 282 | 3 | Examines the taxation of partnerships and limited liability companies. |
| Patent Law I | 284 | 2 | Provides an introduction to the basic principles of the law of patents in the United States. Covers the history, origin and function of the patent system; the nature of patents as property and as legal instruments; comparisons with other forms of intellectual property; subject matter eligible for patenting; the conditions for patentability of an invention; and the disclosure requirements for a patent application. |
| Patent and Know-How Licensing | 286 | 2 | Covers the business and legal criteria necessary to implement and maintain successful patent licensing programs. Subject areas covered are business objectives in licensing; rights and duties of license parties; determining and negotiating the terms and clauses of the contract; administering and enforcing the license; antitrust and misuse constraints on the business and law of licensing; and special problems in trade secrets, know-how, and show-how contracts. |
| Patent Litigation and Dispute Resolution | 287 | 2 | Builds upon the basic required course in Civil Procedure by teaching the procedure, tactics, and options common to most patent litigation. The role of preliminary injunctions is covered in detail. The course focuses primarily on strategy considerations. |
| Perspectives on Regulation | 289 | 2 | This course introduces students to regulatory institutions and the political economy of regulatory processes. With this foundation, students will examine current or proposed regulation and the costs, benefits, and incentives they create. |
| Patent Interference Law and Practice | 291 | 1 | Patent Interference Law and Procedure will focus not only on the law and procedure of a patent interference, but also on the tactical and strategic considerations which must be taken into account prior to becoming involved in a patent interference, during a patent interference and after termination of a patent interference. Emphasis will be placed on an understanding of the 2004 Interference Rules and how they are applied and interpreted by the Administrative Patent Judges that handle patent interferences. Further emphasis will be placed upon the major substantive aspects of patent interference practice, namely conception, corroboration, actual and constructive reductions to practice, derivation, and abandonment, suppression and concealment. The first class will not involve any text. After the first class, the text will be available at no charge to any student taking the course for downloading and printing. The text will be regularly updated to include major decisions which have issued from the Federal Circuit, District Courts as appropriate and the Board of Patent and Appeals and Interferences since May of 2004. Additional materials will be provided electronically to the students at the beginning of the course. The approach taken in the class is non-Socratic. |
| Patent Law II | 292 | 2 | A continuation of Patent Law I. This course focuses on the meaning and function of patent claims as property definitions; patent prosecution, including conduct giving rise to the unenforceability of a patent; post-grant procedures; infringement of a patent, including claim interpretation and acts giving rise to infringement; equitable defenses to a charge of infringement; remedies; patent enforcement; & patent misuse. |
| Patent Prosecution | 294 | 2 | This course builds upon Patent Law I and II by providing an in depth analysis of the substantive and procedural law relating to the prosecution of patent applications in the Patent and Trademark Office. The course emphasizes various strategies for responding to office actions, avoiding and overcoming objections and rejections, and avoiding prosecution history estoppels arising under Supreme Court and Federal Circuit case law. The course stresses how patent prosecution affects the value of patents. |
| Real Estate Finance | 295 | 2 | A study of the basic elements of construction, development, and permanent financing that uses real estate as security for the financing. This course will examine the real estate finance transaction from a practitioner's viewpoint and will cover the laws governing and normal documentation utilized in a real estate finance transaction, negotiation skills, title insurance, remedies, and other facets of a real estate secured loan. |
| Products Liability | 296 | 2 | Discusses the historical development of product liability as a branch of contracts, through express and implied warranties, and of torts, through abnormally dangerous activities, joint tortfeasors, and industry-wide liability. Students address the benefits and costs of such a system in economic and legal terms. Proposals for federal and state legislation are also considered. |
| Professional Responsibility | 298 | 2 | A study of the activities and responsibilities of lawyers and their relationships with clients, the legal profession, the courts, and the public. Problems of professional responsibility are treated in several contexts, e.g., the lawyer's duty to the client, the provision of adequate legal services to all, and the reconciliation of the lawyer's obligations to the client with the demands of justice and the public interest. 2 credits. |
| Proof | 299 | 2 | Focuses on the analysis of the persuasive value of evidence and the methods of constructing and improving inferential chains of proof. Topics include the analysis and synthesis of inference networks; consideration of the relationships of proof and probability; and the processes of generating and testing factual hypotheses. |
| Legal Clinic - Regulatory | 300 | 3 | Students engage in the federal regulatory process, analyzing an active regulation and filing public comments (from a public interest perspective) with a federal agency. The course combines practical lectures with workshops on how to analyze regulations and effectively communicate ideas. Students will work with a Mercatus Center mentor and present their analysis through a mock hearing and op ed, as well as the public comment. |
| Quantitative Forensics | 301 | 3 | Considers the principles of statistics and econometrics and their application to a wide range of legal applications. Topics include statistical evaluation of forensic and economic evidence and their relationship to the rules of procedure, to the rules of evidence, and to burdens of proof. |
| Negotiation & Legal Settlement | 303 | 3 | This interactive course introduces students to the theory and practice of negotiation in our legal system. We will examine various aspects of legal negotiations, including strategy, ethics, communication, case valuation, the psychology of bargaining, collaborative lawyering, dispute resolution, deal-making and creative problem-solving. Students will develop negotiating skills and improve their understanding of the negotiation process by participating in simulations, analyzing bargaining behavior, discussing negotiation concepts and receiving critique. Grades are based on class participation and application of skills; two short papers analyzing specific negotiations; and one 10-page paper due at the end of the semester. The class is limited to 16 students. Class attendance is required. Note: Students must attend the first class in order to be enrolled. |
| Legal Clinic - Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) | 309 | 2 | CLAS was established in 2004 in response to 9/11 and the desire of the law school community to help active-duty members of the armed forces and their families for whom retaining counsel would be an undue hardship. It remains unique in American legal education. Students have represented clients from all armed services in civil litigation, adjudication and negotiation regarding consumer-protection, family-law, landlord-tenant, contract, military-law and entitlement matters. Students are supervised by law school instructors or private practitioners with subject matter expertise, and receive weekly classroom instruction on legal ethics, client interviewing, and procedural and substantive issues relevant to their practice. |
| Regulation of Food and Drugs | 310 | 2 | Covers the regulation of food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including basic statutory provisions, regulations, and case law. The history of regulation is discussed, as well as the development of new legal and procedural mechanisms for regulation in light of advancing technology and new theories of consumer protection. Since the FDA has been important in establishing legal precedents governing U.S. regulatory agencies, a familiarity with this field will provide a basic understanding of how the government regulates and how administrative law works. May be 2 or 3 credits. |
| Sales | 312 | 2 | This course reviews formation issues treated in Contracts from the perspective of UCC Article 2 (Sales) and focuses on critical Sales issues not addressed in Contracts, namely performance (delivery and payment), title to goods, third party rights, and quality & warranty. It also provides an introduction to the UN Sales Convention, which the US has adopted. |
| Remedies | 314 | 3 | A legal and economic analysis of remedies given in legal proceedings. The coverage includes the forms of legal and equitable remedies, the substantive law of restitution, and methods for the measurement of damages and corresponding problems of nonmonetary forms of remedy. |
| Regulated Industries | 315 | 2 | Surveys the legal and economic foundations of the various forms of regulation. The origin and development of both economic and social regulation are analyzed. |
| Securities Law and Regulation | 317 | 3 | Examines the disclosure system and securities market regulation, including registration, exemptions, and remedies under the Securities Act of 1933; reporting and accounting standards under the 1934 Act; the proxy system; Section 16(a) reporting; state "blue sky" laws; and the regulation of broker-dealers, specialists, and self-regulatory organizations. |
| Supervised Externship | 320 | 3 | Entails 120 hours of supervised fieldwork in a private law firm or a federal or state agency in Virginia, Maryland, or the District of Columbia. The participating offices are selected on the basis of interest and ability to provide the student with a sound educational experience under the supervision of an agency attorney or judge. These legal offices cover diverse subject areas to meet the interests of most students. Recent placements include the U.S. Attorney in Alexandria and the District of Columbia, legal divisions in the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Claims Court, Department of Interior, and General Services Administration. Except during the summer, this includes a one-credit-hour classroom component. A full outline of rules and forms may be obtained from the Career, Academic and Alumni Services office. |
| Supervised Externship | 321 | 4 | Entails 180 hours of supervised fieldwork in a private law firm or a federal or state agency in Virginia, Maryland, or the District of Columbia. The participating offices are selected on the basis of interest and ability to provide the student with a sound educational experience under the supervision of an agency attorney or judge. These legal offices cover diverse subject areas to meet the interests of most students. Recent placements include the U.S. Attorney in Alexandria and the District of Columbia, legal divisions in the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Claims Court, Department of Interior, and General Services Administration. Except during the summer, this includes a one-credit-hour classroom component. A full outline of rules and forms may be obtained from the Career, Academic and Alumni Services office. (identical to Law 320, except for the hours) |
| Secured Finance | 322 | 3 | Explores the law and economic consequences of secured finance. The principal focus is on the Uniform Commercial Code's Article 9 (on security interests in personal property) and its influence on financial transactions between debtors and creditors. Includes examination of how bankruptcy law affects secured credit. |
| Trademark Law | 327 | 3 | Covers procedural and substantive law in obtaining trademark registrations in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and enforcement and licensing of federal and state registrations after they are obtained. |
| Trial Advocacy | 329 | 2 | Provides training in the preparation and presentation of evidence in jury and non-jury trials. |
| Trusts and Estates | 330 | 3 | A study of the basic devices in gratuitous transfers, including the will, the trust, powers, selected problems in class gifts, will and trust substitutes, and social restrictions upon the power of testation, the formation of property interests, and the trust device. |
| Advanced Trial Advocacy | 331 | 2 | Continuation of skills of trial and courtroom argument with emphasis on individual technique and jury persuasion. In depth analysis of criminal and civil cases of complex nature. |
| Unfair Trade Practices | 332 | 3 | This course examines the legal determination of what business practices are considered to be unfair. It includes the problem of entry, deceptive practices, interference with business relations, trade secrets, and misappropriation. The bodies of law studied include the common law and various federal enactments, such as the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Lanham Act. |
| Virginia Remedies | 333 | 3 | This course examines the law of remedies, including remedies at law and equitable remedies as separately administered in Virginia courts within current Rules of Court concerning the Unification of Practice in Circuit Courts. Will include statutory remedies that follow equity practice, such as Mechanic's Liens, but not major areas, such as Family Law or Decedent's Estates which are separate courses. This course is not a substitute for Virginia Practice, but Virginia Practice is a logical preparation for it. |
| Virginia Practice | 334 | 3 | This course examines the rules of civil and criminal practice in Virginia, with emphasis in such areas as pleading, process, distinction between law and equity, statutes of limitation, pretrial discovery, venue, extraordinary writs, and appellate practice. Presentation of motions and strategies from procedural standpoints are included. Prerequisite: Civil Procedure. |
| White Collar Crime | 337 | 3 | In White Collar Crime, we will study nonviolent crimes committed for financial gain, typically by means of deception under the color of legitimate economy activity. The grade in the course is based on a final exam as modified by the students' performance. |
| Unincorporated Business | 339 | 2 | This course is intended to be a modern successor to Agency and Partnership. The course focuses on general and limited partnerships as well as several relatively new business forms: limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, limited liability limited partnerships, business trusts and unincorporated nonprofits. The course covers the theoretical, legal and business context of unincorporated firms, including choice of form considerations and exercises in drafting governance documents and statutes. Live examples will be drawn upon, and periodic guests will be drawn upon to supplement and enrich the classroom dialogue and learning experience. |
| Readings in Legal Thought | 342 | 1 | Students read a selection of important works in the development of Anglo-American legal thought from the eighteenth century to the present. Authors have included Blackstone, Bentham, Mill, Holmes, Llewellyn, Frank, Bickel, Calabresi, Posner, MacKinnon, and others. May be 1 or 2 credits. |
| Perspectives on the Individual, Family, and Social Institutions | 344 | 2 | Wealth (capital) creation and transmission in the context of the individual rather than the firm unifies this sequence. Wealth, in the broad sense considered here, means not only the person's accumulation of financial assets but also his or her earning capacity, moral values and contributions to society. Although much of the approach will be law-and-economics based, other disciplines will necessarily inform the discussion as well. Biology, sociology, political science, history, and philosophy all will play a part. |
| Expert and Scientific Evidence | 345 | 2 | This class focuses on issues surrounding the admissibility of expert testimony in civil and criminal litigation, with a particular focus on forensic science evidence. Topics include an in-depth analysis of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and state common law rules for admissibility, and a discussion of particular categories of expert testimony, such as fingerprints, lie detectors, psychological syndromes, and epidemiology. It is recommended, but not required, that students take Evidence and Trial Procedure before taking this class. |
| Comparative Law | 346 | 3 | This course will provide an introduction to the methods of comparative law by examining the concept of a legal tradition and by comparing the development of the law in various legal systems. It begins with a survey of basic historical developments in Western legal systems, including discussion of the general features of the civil and common law systems. The course will compare theoretical frameworks and judicial interpretative methods. A substantial portion of the course will consider selected comparative problems either in private law or in constitutional and public law. |
| Trade Secrets Law | 347 | 1 | Considers the law and theory applicable to protection of confidential business information ranging from computer programs and manufacturing processes to customer lists. Covers reverse engineering of products; invention/idea submissions from employees and outsiders; employment agreements; consultant agreements; considerations regarding drafting of agreements; remedies; defenses; misappropriation; trade secret-defeating publications versus patent-defeating publications; implied and express duties of confidentiality; trial tactics; use of trade secret clauses to effect non-compete agreements; the inevitable disclosure doctrine; Federal Economic Espionage Act of 1996; and various public policy considerations associated with the foregoing. The procedures and requirements for preserving trade secret protection for confidential business information are reviewed. The economics of trade secret law is considered relative to other types of protection such as patents and copyrights. |
| Alternative Dispute Resolution | 348 | 2 | Examines the various modes of resolving civil disputes and focuses on alternatives to litigation, including attorney negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Concentrates on the structure of alternative methods of dispute resolution and implicated legal skills. The ethical considerations for a new model of attorney practice are also considered. |
| Jurisprudence | 350 | 2 | This course is an introduction to the philosophy of law. The first half will deal with the descriptive problem of what the law is. Is the law reducible to sociological facts — in particular power? Is it reducible to ethics? Is it something completely different — neither sociological nor ethical? Readings will consist of the classics in the field, including John Austin, H.L.A. Hart, Hans Kelsen, Ronald Dworkin and the American Legal Realists. The second half of the course will deal with normative problems of what the law ought to be. Should the law promote economic efficiency? Should it promote some other conception of justice? Special emphasis will be placed on economic and corrective justice accounts of tort law. Readings will consist of more recent discussions of these and other topics, including material by Richard Posner, Jules Coleman, Ernest Weinrib, Jeremy Waldron and David Brink. May be 2 or 3 credits. |
| Patent Writing Theory and Practice | 351 | 2 | This course applies principles learned in earlier patent law courses to the writing of applications for patents to accord them their maximum legal effect. The readability of patents by lay judges and jurors is also stressed. |
| Tax Policy | 355 | 2 | This course considers a range of public policy issues concerning taxation and other methods of raising government revenue. There is a significant emphasis on the economics of taxation. |
| Mental Illness Law | 357 | 2 | This course will examine the significant developments of mental health law over the last half-century. The course will study the activism of the judiciary in prescribing extensive due process procedures for certain psychiatric treatments as well as many statutory developments establishing rights of persons with mental illness. |
| Legal Clinic - Practical Preparation of GMU Patent Applications | 358 | 2 | This class will be a working seminar class where students will write actual applications which will be filed for inventors affiliated with George Mason University. The students will each be assigned an invention, and will work directly with the inventor(s), who will likely be George Mason University professors or staff, to write a patent application covering the invention. Students will be instructed as to best practices before meeting with the inventor(s) and drafting the application, and then will be critiqued regarding their written patent applications. The patent applications will be written in stages, including invention disclosure considerations, drawings, claims, andspecification, with critique on each step in the process. Multiple drafts of the complete application will be written and critiqued until it is ready for filing. The two credit hour course will meet for two periods every other week. The instructors will attempt to match inventions with students' backgrounds, if possible. The course is currently limited to those students with a background or facility in computer, electrical or mechanical technology. Prerequisites: Patent Law I Patent Law II Patent Writing Theory and Practice or equivalent experience |
| State and Local Taxation | 359 | 2 | This course introduces students to the law and major policy issues of state and local taxation. No prior training in tax is required, necessary, or particularly helpful. There is no state or local equivalent of the federal Internal Revenue Code. Taxes covered include the real property tax, state income taxes, and sales taxes. Important in the course are limits on a state's jurisdiction to tax and various constitutional limits on a state"s reaching beyond its borders to tax out-of-state taxpayers. The course trains those who represent clients. In addition, a smattering of public finance economics aims to assist those students who have an interest in elected, staff, lobbying or public-interest positions involving public-finance type issues in public policy. |
| Internet and Online Law | 361 | 2 | The ability for near instant communication and downloading of information over the Internet has caused its recent exponential growth as a significant information technology (IT) tool. However, the Internet's growth over the past several years has generated numerous new issues of law and led to the creative application of conventional legal principles in new contexts at a furious pace. The objective of this course is to acquaint the student with the Internet and the traditional and novel legal issues arising from its growth. |
| Legal Clinic -- Immigration | 362 | 3 | The Board of Immigration Appeals, within the Department of Justice's Executive office for Immigration Review, is the highest administrative tribunal for the interpretation and application of immigration and nationality law in the United States. The Board selects students from George Mason School of Law to serve as interns for academic credits. Students are assigned to a Board Attorney Advisor, who serves as a mentor, and will work on a variety of projects, including drafting orders to appeals pertaining to immigration law issues and legal research. Students are recruited in the fall for participation during the spring semester. |
| Statistics for Lawyers and Policy Analysts | 364 | 2 | The purpose of this course is to provide law and masters students with a good understanding of the basics of statistical inference, a reasonable command of the vocabulary used in statistics, some sense about the kinds of legal and policy issues that turn on statistical inferences; and an ability to recognize situations where particular statistical tests are appropriate. The course emphasizes how proper statistical tests can determine the validity of the hypothesis that two variables are related in a meaningful and statistically relevant manner. |
| Employment Law | 365 | 3 | Surveys the law governing the employment relationship in the absence of a collective bargaining agreement. The first section of the course will cover the agency law foundations of the employment relationship including the meaning of employee and the duties of loyalty and obedience. The course will then examine the special contract doctrines applicable to employment contracts, including employment at will and the public policy exception. Next, the course will cover tort law issues that arise in employment, including vicarious liability, worker's compensation, and tortious interference with contractual relations. The course will then examine some basic principles of discrimination law under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. We will conclude with a brief survey of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. |
| Intellectual Property Law | 367 | 3 | This course focuses on the protection of proprietary rights in inventions, writings, creative expression, software, trade secrets, trade designations, and other intangible intellectual products by federal patent, copyright, trademark and unfair competition law, and by state trade secrecy and unfair competition law. Consideration will be given to the challenges posed for traditional intellectual property paradigms by new technologies and the shift to an information-based economy. This course is designed for the non-specialist, but also serves as a foundation for the specialist. |
| Pretrial Practice | 368 | 2 | This course is designed for students with an interest in pursuing a career in litigation. The class is divided into two law firms that litigate against each other in two cases - a tort case and a contract case. Each firm represents the plaintiff in one case and the defendant in the other. Students review and then practice the major steps in the pretrial litigation process including litigation planning, informal fact investigation, legal investigation, pleading, all facets of discovery, pretrial motions, and settlement strategy. |
| Public Choice and Law Reform | 378 | 2 | Public choice is the economic study of the decisionmaking process behind the (constitutional or ordinary) laws, statutes and regulations governing society, and other such non-market decisions.This course focuses particularly on the origins and foundations of the state, voting rules, political activity, direct and representative democracy, interest groups, and rent seeking. Some specific law reform issues will be analyzed through the lens of public-choice theory, showing how such theory can help interpret mechanisms and aims of lawmaking. The tools developed during the course will be applied to an analysis of specific areas of the law such as tort liability and intellectual property. |
| Design Patent Law and Prosecution | 380 | 1 | This course will include a detailed review of design patent law practice, including patent prosecution and litigation. Course work includes in-depth review of the patent prosecution topics of statutory subject matter, actual reduction to practice, novelty, non-obviousness, public use, examination issues specific to computer-generated icons, designs comprising multiple articles or multiple parts embodied in a single article, and the issues of lack of ornamentally, functionality rejections and hidden-in-use rejections. Also covered will be the topics of restriction practice; double patenting; domestic and foreign priority; expedited examination; reissue and reexamination; protests; and the discussion of the relationship between design patent, copyright and trademark law. Also reveiwed during this course will be design patent litigation topics including claim interpretation, infringement, point of novelty and ordinary observer requirements as well as the issues of willful infringement, damages and invalidity. |
| Common Law and American Rights Seminar | 381 | 3 | This course will survey and analyze the key documents, cases and developments in that evolution from the Magna Carta to American colonial charters, state constitutions, and the federal Constitution and the drafting of our Bill of Rights. In the process the class will also discuss the options and alternatives along the way, the rise and decline of various expedients such as jury trial and a broad-based review of legislation. |
| Election Law | 382 | 3 | This course covers a broad range of topics involving campaigns and elections. Specific areas typically covered include districting, nominating candidates, campaigning for office, and voting, with some coverage of tax issues, administrative and judicial enforcement, and ethics law. Students will gain an appreciation for the historic record, and the inherent conflict faced by officeholders when they are given the means to regulate politics. There are no prerequisites. Constitutional Law I and/or Administrative Law are recommended. |
| National Security Law | 384 | 3 | This class explores the allocation of war-making and other national-security powers among Congress, the President, and the courts. Students will examine the government's surveillance of national-security threats (as under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the National Security Agency's warrantless Terrorist Surveillance Program), policies for protecting sensitive information from public disclosure (as with the use of "secret evidence" in cases against suspected terrorists), and the standards under which captured enemy combatants are detained, interrogated, and prosecuted (as at Guantanamo Bay and before military commissions). Students will consider legal limits on the government's war-making powers, such as those found in the Constitution and international law. |
| Habeas Corpus | 385 | 2 | This course covers the history of the Great Writ and the evolution of the scope of federal habeas corpus review and relief; the Suspension Clause; habeas review in capital cases including stays of execution; alternatives to habeas review; state post-conviction proceedings; and jurisdictional issues in both the trial and appellate courts. |
| War and Law | 397 | 3 | Covers an array of legal issues, including questions of when military force is appropriate; the role of, and protections for, uniformed armies and who should serve in them; the proper treatment of conquered populations and non-combatants; treatment of prisoners-of-war and non-state actors; honorable behavior when waging asymetric warfare; and the war powers of the American executive. This course will examine these and other issues in historical perspective, then deal with today's evolving standards. |
| National Security Law Seminar | 406 | 2 | An analysis of the interaction between counter-terrorism/counterintelligence operations and the protection of civil liberties. Key topics covered will include: Constitutional authority and oversight for national security operations, surveillance law, and the role of the criminal process. |
| Advanced Constitutional Law: Takings Seminar | 409 | 2 | Examines constitutional and statutory aspects of regulatory takings. Topics explore the distinction between noncompensable police-power regulations and compensable takings with respect to governmental actions that significantly reduce the value of privately owned real property. Included are transfer development rights (TDRs), exactions on development, exclusionary and inclusionary zoning, and the effects of environmental regulations. |
| European Constitution Seminar | 410 | 2 | Contemporary Europe is characterized by economic and political integration and the ensuing legal and constitutional change. This course examines the interplay of the actors and the institutions of the European Community involved in what has become an increasingly rapid process. This culminated in a draft proposal for a constitution of the European Union by the European Convention in 2003 and in a constitutional contract of 18 June 2004 accepted by the European Council. The course analyzes the substantive nature of the European treaties, in particular the four basic freedoms, antitrust, and the European currency union from an economic and public policy perspective. Attention is given to the most important directives of the European Commission and decisions of the European court of justice. The course also looks into the discussion about the lack of democratic institutions and the tendencies towards excessive centralization at the European Union level and at the debates about the need for a European constitution following the accession of the Central and East European countries. The debate about centralized versus decentralized structures in the EU will be is compared with American notions of Federalism. |
| Multinational Intellectual Property & Policy Seminar | 418 | 2 | This seminar examines the major treaties and other international agreements providing protection for patents, trademarks, and copyrights and other forms of intellectual property, including the World Trade Organization TRIPS Agreements, the US free trade agreements and the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. Particular attention will be given to the roles of the WTO and the WIPO. The course also examines some of the recent issues that have attracted controversy in the international arena as well as relevant recent developments in foreign countries, including the European Union member states and China. |
| Economics of Private Law | 420 | 2 | After a brief review of the methodology of law and economics, this course utilizes the standard tools of economic analysis for the study of private law and legal institutions, with special emphasis on property, torts and contracts. The course builds upon the coherent first-year curriculum offered at GMU Law School. Students will develop a coherent framework for an economic explanation of legal rules: a framework that can be easily built upon in other courses for an economic analysis of other areas of the law. The first part of the seminar reviews some of the basic concepts of economic analysis, including the following: (i) Coase theorem; (ii) models of market failure; (iii) uncertainty and risk-aversion; (iv) strategic behavior and basic game theory; and (v) collective decision-making and public choice theory. The second part of the seminar applies the above tools to the study of private law and legal institutions with special focus on: (i) emergence of law and models of legal evolution; (ii) sources of law; (iii) selected topics in property, contract and tort law. |
| Jurisprudence Seminar | 435 | 3 | This is an interdisciplinary course introducing students to the fundamental question of post-World War II Anglo-American jurisprudence, the problem of deriving meaning from written texts. The derivation of meaning from written documents characterizes attorneys' work (interpreting cases and contracts, for instance), and is the essence of judges' work. But it also characterizes the work of biblical exegetes and of literary critics, and it turns out that the debates in those disciplines mirror those of modern jurisprudence. This course explores those debates, all the while examining the legal function as something possibly unique. |
| Federal Circuit Practice Seminar | 437 | 2 | A seminar on the practical aspects of appearing before the Federal Circuit, as well as the most relevant substantive issues currently before the Court. The seminar discusses the history of the Court, the purpose for its creation, the Court's jurisdiction, rules of practice, and the practical workings of the Court. Practical aspects of appearing before the Court will include opinion analysis, brief writing, and oral argument. The seminar also explores some of the more complex issues currently faced by the Court. Finally, the seminar will discuss Federal Circuit cases recently heard by the Supreme Court. |
| Patent Litigation and Dispute Resolution Seminar | 438 | 3 | |
| Regulatory Law Track Thesis | 443 | 2 | Requires the student to develop, expand, and refine a research paper into an article suitable for publication in a law journal. |
| Public Choice and Public Law Seminar | 445 | 3 | Provides students with a critical introduction to and analysis of public-choice and social-choice literature and relates covered concepts to actual cases, statutes, and legal doctrines. Covered topics will include structural and evolutionary analyses of state and federal legislative decision-making processes; structural and evolutionary analyses of judicial decision-making processes, including the doctrines of stare decisis and justiciability; evaluating public choice and social choice based proposals to expand the reach of federal judicial review; examining the proper role, if any, of interest group theory in constitutional and statutory interpretation; delineating the spheres of public and private law; examining the role of public choice and social choice in developing a structural analysis of separation of powers and federalism; and evaluating the competing roles of efficiency and cycling on the evolution of legal doctrine. Specific coverage may vary from year to year. |
| Tax Policy Seminar | 446 | 2 | |
| Corporate and Securities Track Thesis | 447 | 2 | Requires the student to develop, refine, and expand a research paper into an article suitable for publication in law journals. |
| Tort Theory Seminar | 449 | 2 | This seminar explores advanced topics in tort law doctrine and policy through readings, class discussion, and a substantial writing project. Students are encouraged to pursue their own interest within this broad field of study. Enrollment requires instructor's approval. |
| Bankruptcy Reorganization Seminar | 454 | 2 | |
| Welfare Law and Policy Seminar | 455 | 2 | Considers the major income transfer and health care programs that make up the social welfare state in the United States. Development of the programs and current legal policy issues will be emphasized. Covers unemployment insurance; Social Security Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (RSDI); Medicare; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Supplemental Security Income (SSI); food stamps; and Medicaid. The cultural, demographic, and economic factors which influence welfare policy changes are emphasized. |
| Spontaneous Order and the Law | 456 | 3 | This course shows how experimental economics can be used to understand how self-generating and spontaneous orders emerge in law and economics. Participants will receive hands on experience with different institutions in our experimental laboratory. The classroom experiments involve making decisions as buyers and/or sellers who are motivated to find optimal allocations specific to their unique situations. By building on this experience we will then explore a number of different public and private applications to law. Some applications demonstrate how experimental economics can be used to influence court decisions while other applications show how to improve the practice of law. |
| Legal History Seminar | 457 | 2 | Examines the intellectual history of Western legal thought from the ancients, with emphasis on the Anglo-American legal system from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. |
| Small Business Planning Seminar | 464 | 2 | Small Business Planning is an advanced course with a substantial writing requirement which builds upon students' knowledge of tax, business, employment and securities law to develop problem solving thought patterns and the performance of research, drafting and communication skills that are essential to advising entrepreneurs through the entire life cycle of a privately held business. |
| Law and Social Science Seminar | 472 | 2 | This course examines the expanding relationship between social science study and legal practice. The course takes a broad survey of social science applications in law. We begin by considering the history of social science theory in law and examine and test the basic model for social science research. With this background, we then assess the ways in which social science can shape law — by helping to determine adjudicative facts, set legislative facts, and establish social frameworks for litigation. In the process, we consider a number of controversial issues in which sociology, anthropology, statistics, economics, psychology and political science have played a role in shaping legal doctrines. This course is very much hands on. We will consider studies used in actual litigation, evaluating both their methodologies and results firsthand. |
| Advanced Antitrust Seminar | 475 | 2 | This course will cover advanced topics in modern antitrust law, including recent Supreme Court cases and developments involving the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The course will examine selected topics, such as the controversies surrounding dominant firms and exclusionary conduct, as well as such areas as the interface between the antitrust laws and intellectual property, health care, efforts to limit antitrust immunity, the Noerr-Pennington doctrine and state action, and merger policy (including the treatment of efficiencies and measurement of entry), as well as an overview of EU competition law. The course will conclude with the presentation of student research papers. Students should have take the basic antitrust law course. |
| Advanced Antitrust Seminar | 480 | 2 | This course will cover advanced topics in modern antitrust law, including recent Supreme Court cases and developments involving the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The course will examine selected topics, such as the controversies surrounding dominant firms and exclusionary conduct, as well as such areas as the interface between the antitrust laws and intellectual property, health care, efforts to limit antitrust immunity, the Noerr-Pennington doctrine and state action, and merger policy (including the treatment of efficiencies and measurement of entry), as well as an overview of EU competition law. The course will conclude with the presentation of student research papers. Students should have take the basic antitrust law course. |
| Law and Economics Seminar | 482 | 2 | The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the law and economics field. The classes will be devoted to discussion of the assigned readings. Grading will depend on participation in the discussion and a term paper in the field. May be 2 or 3 credits. |
| Crime and Biology Seminar | 489 | ||
| Technology, Terrorism and National Security Law | 496 | 2 | The juxtaposition of real and perceived threats of cyberterrorism with American's dedication to preserving the civil liberties of its citizens gives rise to a significant number of legal issues of first impression. Moreover, as the relevant technology continues to develop rapidly, the ability of the law to keep pace or anticipate dynamic situations is often severely stretched. This course will explore the convergence of the existing laws, equities and variable in this compelling multidisciplinary area, along with the tensions that are created as a result of the various competing concerns. |
| Emerging Law of Internet Privacy Seminar | 497 | 2 | [description not available] |
| Writing Fellows Seminar | 500 | 3 | |
| Scholarly Writing | 510 | 1 | Scholarly Writing introduces students to writing and editing for scholarly legal journals. The primary emphasis of the course is the mechanics of writing a publishable-quality casenote or comment in one of George Mason's legal journals. The course also introduces students to editing and source-checking professional pieces selected for publication by the journals. Scholarly Writing therefore seeks to improve the legal writing and editing skills of individual students, as well as the overall quality of George Mason's legal journals. |
| Law Journal Management | 511 | 1 | |
| Federal Circuit Bar Journal | 512 | 1-2 | |
| Advanced Trademark Law | 601 | 2 | Covers advanced procedural and substantive topics of trademark law. Course work includes in-depth treatment of complex areas of practice such as protection of trade dress, packaging, and product design, border protection issues, trademark litigation strategies, and recent legal developments in the field of trademark law. |
| American Legal History Seminar | 602 | 2 | This course will examine the evolving institutional role of the American judge. The basis of the study will be G. Edward White's book, "The American Judicial Tradition," which focuses on exemplary judges and courts -- mostly of the federal appellate sort -- from John Marshall to William Rehnquist. From our readings of White we will branch out into criticisms of and alternatives to his analysis, and into deeper examinations of his exemplars. |
| Estate Planning Seminar | 604 | 3 | Includes a substantial writing requirement, with an emphasis on organization of facts, the development of problem-solving thought patterns, and performance of research, drafting, and writing skills that are involved in the practice of law. |
| Neuroeconomics and Law Seminar | 609 | 2 | |
| FTC Seminar | 612 | 2 | The seminar will examine the FTC as an institution in its many facets. The Commission's two main missions, consumer protection and antitrust, provide it with a platform for involvement with major sectors of the economy. We will examine the Commission's structure, its legal authority, and how it uses that authority in pursuing its many activities. We will address numerous issues that currently occupy so much of the agency's time, including intellectual property, health care, privacy, consumer fraud, and many others. The seminar will conclude with presentation of research projects involving particular issues the Commission faces. |
| Communications Policy and Law Seminar | 614 | 2 | Electronic communications services — telephone, radio, TV, Internet — and the industries that provide those services have been heavily shaped by the law in the form of legislation, regulatory rulings, antitrust actions, and court decisions. At times, communications law has evolved incrementally through FCC and court decisions, and at other times changes in technology, economics, public opinion, and politics have required a significant redirection of overall communications policy. This course will examine some of the most important events in which changes in technology, economics, public opinion, and politics have produced major changes in communications policy and how that impacted the course of the industry and the services available to consumers. The focus will be on the major policy changes that have brought us to the present and what that means for current policy issues such as the FCC's proposed transition to digital TV, intellectual property protection, and pending legislative proposals for changing the Telecommunications Policy Act of 1996 to better promote competition in communications services. |
| Modern Supreme Court Confirmation Seminar | 615 | 2 | Since the 1960's, membership on the United States Supreme Court has assumed a greater level of scrutiny in the United States body politic. This course will focus on how the modern Senate confirmation process has changed over time and reasons for this change. Special emphasis will be given to many of the constitutional rulings and policy disputes that have contributed to a greater level of scrutiny for the Court. Also the course will look at whether the increased scrutiny itself has caused the Court to engage in controversial rulings and policy disputes it otherwise may not have Additionally the class will focus on institutional causes of the enhanced scrutiny in the political process including divergent expectations for the Court"s role on the part of the Executive and the United States Senate as well as the public generally. Picking key nominations, the course will examine the selection criteria used by Presidents, the review of the nominees by the United States Senate (and in particular the Senate Judiciary committee) and the role that outside interest groups play in this process. Readings will include also the legal and policy issues that animate all of the parties to this process. |
| Education and the Law Seminar | 616 | 2 | |
| Telecom and Internet: Strategy & Policy | 617 | 2 | This course focuses on Public Policy and Business Strategy issues at play in the rapidly evolving communications sector, including those related to law, economics, finance, technology, and public choice. |
| Law and Poverty of Nations Seminar | 619 | 2 | A growing law and economics literature shows the importance and role of the law for economic development. This seminar aims at presenting and discussing the most important research findings, which have begun to influence not only academic thinking about development but also the strategy and policy of international organizations such as the World Bank. It deals with the role of property, contract, torts and financial institutions in poor countries. It also deals with substitute institutions, which can at least temporarily overcome the consequences of lawlessness in developing countries. |
| Federalism Seminar | 620 | 3 | This seminar will examine a variety of topics in the political economy of constitutional federalism. Issues to be covered include the advantages and disadvantages of political decentralization, competition between state and local governments, the impact of federalism on the status of minority groups, the Founding Fathers' view of federalism, and the role of the judges in enforcing federalism through judicial review. While most of the course focuses on federalism in the United States, some readings will also employ a comparative perspective. Each student will be required to write a research paper on a federalism-related topic of his or her choice. Grading will be based partly on written work, and partly on class participation. |
| War and Law Seminar | 621 | 2 | Covers an array of legal issues, including questions of when military force is appropriate; the role of, and protections for, uniformed armies and who should serve in them; the proper treatment of conquered populations and non-combatants; treatment of prisoners-of-war and non-state actors; honorable behavior when waging asymetric warfare; and the war powers of the American executive. This course will examine these and other issues in historical perspective, then deal with today's evolving standards. |
| Jurisprudence Readings Seminar | 622 | 2 | This seminar is devoted to a close reading of major works of legal or political philosophy. Past seminars have considered Montesquieu, Rousseau, Blackstone, the Federalist Papers and selected Anti-Federalist writings, and Tocqueville. |
| Common Law and American Rights Seminar | 623 | 2 | |
| State Attorney's General Seminar | 624 | 2 | |
| Federal Sector Employment Law Seminar | 625 | 2 | This course covers the rules and regulations governing employment in the Federal Government. Specifically, it will focus on personnel issues involving misconduct and performance, and Federal employees' rights to appeal adverse actions taken against them. It will also cover the Federal sector EEO process. |
| Constitutional Aspects of Property Rights Seminar | 626 | 2 | This seminar focuses on the nature and development of property rights in American constitutional jurisprudence. It further considers contemporary issues regarding the commons and its variants, and the interplay of private property and governmental power with respect to urban revitalization and water usage. In consultation with the instructor, each student will write a research paper comparable to a law review note on a topic within the general subject matter of the seminar. |
| Law of Politics and Representation Seminar | 628 | 2 | This seminar will examine the varying approaches to the regulation of contacts between the public and elected officials. The seminar will review the laws that govern lobbying, political and policy communications with government officials and the public, government ethics laws and rules, restrictions on the use of corporate and labor facilities in politics, and special rules applicable to the activities of foreign agents in the United States. We will discuss the justifications for, and effectiveness of these rules, as well as what limits exist on the ability of government to regulate contacts between the public and its elected officials. |
| Intellectual Property and Antitrust Seminar | 630 | 2 | The Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law Seminar will focus on "cutting edge" topics in the interface between antitrust and IP-patent rights. Specifically, the seminar will focus on critical antitrust issues arising out of patent licensing, patent pools, refusals to license IP, patent litigation settlements, among other topics assigned in weekly readings. The seminar grade will be based primarily on a research paper agreed to between the professor and the individual student. |
