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The upper level curriculum will expand in each succeeding year over
the next five years as the size of the faculty and student body increases.
It is composed almost entirely of elective courses. It includes two required
courses, Legal Skills & Values III and Professional Responsibility.
So that every graduate has had some exposure beyond the core curriculum
to the major areas of legal inquiry, students will also be required to
satisfy a distributional requirement by taking at least one International
and Comparative Law course and two Litigation and Alternative Dispute
Resolution Law courses.
The following courses may or will be offered in the years specified.
Both the offerings and course descriptions are subject to change.
Courses to be Offered in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006
Administrative Law (3 hours)
This is an introduction to the laws controlling executive branch agencies
of government. Major topics include delegation of power to agencies,
modes of agency action, control of agencies by the legislative
branch, control by the judicial branch, and public access and influence.
Business Organizations (4 hours)
This is a basic course on state and federal law governing incorporated
business enterprises, partnerships and limited liability companies.
Criminal Procedure (3 hours)
This course explores pre-trial aspects of criminal procedure
under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United
States Constitution,
with emphasis on searches and seizures, police interrogation
and the right against self-incrimination, and the right to
counsel.
Evidence (3 hours)
This course addresses the law of evidence, including: hearsay,
judicial notice, burden of proof, and presumptions; functions
of judge and
jury; competency and privileges of witnesses; and exclusion
of testimony of witnesses and documents.
Federal Income Tax (3 hours)
This course offers an introduction to the fundamental principles
of federal income taxation, particularly as applied to
individuals, including
the
concepts of gross income, identification of the proper
taxpayer, deductions, income tax accounting, capital gains and losses,
deferred payment sales
and non-recognition transactions. Consideration will be
given
to issues of tax policy and tax planning techniques.
First Amendment (3 hours)
This course is an examination of the historical origins
and underlying values of the rights of conscience protected
in
the First Amendment.
The emphasis will be on the fundamental principles articulated
in Supreme Court interpretations of its provisions relating
to free
speech, free
press, and religious liberty.
Immigration Law (3 hours)
This course examines the major aspects of the Immigration
and Nationality Act. The interrelationship between
the administrative agencies
empowered to execute the Immigration and Nationality
Act's mandate will be
studied. Major attention will be focused on the immigrant
and
nonimmigrant visa
system, political asylum and refugees, exclusion and
deportation of the foreign-born, and naturalization.
Policy implications
behind the
statute
and judicial interpretations are addressed.
Intellectual Property Law (3 hours)
This is a survey course that introduces students to
patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, right
of publicity
and unfair competition
law. The course is designed to give students entering
a general business or
civil litigation practice a thorough overview of
the various intellectual property doctrines.
International Business Transactions (3 hours)
The course provides an overview of the domestic,
foreign, and international law governing international
business
transactions. Transactions
discussed include export sales, agency and distributorship
agreements, licenses,
joint ventures, privatization, project finance,
and foreign government debt. The course also covers U.S.
regulation
of international
transactions in such areas as antitrust, securities,
intellectual property,
tax, foreign corrupt practices, and export controls,
as well as the impact
of North
American Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement
on Trade and Tariffs.
Legal Skills and Values III (3 hours)
This course will advance students’ legal skills in analysis, research,
objective writing, persuasive writing, and oral communications, and also
raise new professionalism issues. In this course students will interview
and counsel a client regarding a dispute and then research the legal
issues raised by the dispute. Students will write a Complaint or Answer,
a Demand Letter or Response Letter, an objective memo to a senior attorney
describing the legal issues and their proposed course of action, and
then prepare or respond to discovery requests. Students will mediate
with opposing counsel to resolve the dispute, and will ultimately write
a brief in support of their client’s position.
Professional Responsibility (3 hours)
This course will examine the law of professional
responsibility, including professionalism and
malpractice risk management,
with significant emphasis
on the rules of ethics
governing lawyers and judges. The objective is to give
students an appreciation for the challenges
they will face
as practitioners, and a working knowledge
of the principles of professionalism and the
ethics rules that they will use in
their daily practices.
Sales (3 hours)
This course covers contracts for the sale of goods
under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Some
consideration
will also
be given
to
leasing
of goods
under Article 2A of the Code
Seminars (2-3 hours)
Seminars provide an opportunity for intensive analysis
of legal and policy issues in a specialized area
of study, culminating
in a major
research
paper or a series
of shorter papers. They require a considerable
investment of
time by students and faculty, and a corresponding
responsibility for
thorough preparation
and participation by all members of the seminar.
Seminars may also include a final
examination.
Trial Practice (3 hours)
The focus of this course is on trial tactics and
techniques. All students participate as counsel
and perform the
assignments. All
phases of an
actual trial are examined,
including direct and cross-examination of witnesses,
and opening and closing arguments. Prerequisite:
Evidence.
Wills and Trusts (4 hours)
This course considers the intergenerational transfer
of wealth in the United States is controlled
by both statutory
and
common law
principles.
Competing
views of the individual’s freedom of disposition
and state power both to channel and to tax property
have led to an interesting and complex array
of legal devices
and institutions. These include statutory intestacy
and elective share provisions, wills, and trusts.
Related topics to be addressed will include planning
for incapacity,
future interests in property, powers of appointment,
life insurance, and introductory aspects of trust
and estate administration.
Courses to be Offered in 2004-2005
Accounting for Lawyers (2-3 hours)
A study of the basic principles, conventions
and methods of accounting to enable the lawyer
to understand
the
legal economic
environment,
with specific
reference
to accounting problems encountered in such
areas of the law as tax and corporations.
Bankruptcy Law (3 hours)
This course covers such diverse matters as
the various forms of relief available to
different kinds of debtors,
including
liquidation,
reorganization
of a
business, and adjustment of an individual's
debts;
financing a Chapter 11 debtor in possession;
the automatic stay and the rights of secured
and unsecured creditors; the trustee's
avoiding powers,
exemptions,
discharge of debts
and the treatment
of executory
contracts. The basic concepts underlying
the 1978 Bankruptcy Code such as discharge, reorganization
and equitable
distribution are
also investigate.
Comparative Law (3 hours)
This course is designed to develop a technique
by which lawyers trained in one system
of law may be
enabled
to recognize,
analyze and study
legal problems
arising
in a different system. The first part
is devoted to procedural and evidentiary problems
faced
by domestic courts when
they have to decide
cases involving
foreign law and foreign facts. Following
this, the fundamental, historically conditioned
differences in approach and method between
common law
and civil law will be explored. Throughout
the course, foreign
legal
institutions will be
compared to our own,
with the aim of gaining perspective in
understanding and appraising the solutions
provided by
our
own system.
Conflicts of Law (3 hours)
This course deals with the special problems
that arise when the facts or the parties
in a case
have contacts
with more
than one
state or
country. These
problems relate to: jurisdiction in
personam, in rem and quasi-in rem; choice of the
applicable law; and after rendition
of a judgment, that
judgment's
recognition and enforcement in other
states and enforcement in other
states and countries.
Jurisdictional
and choice of law rules are studied
with special emphasis on situations involving
torts, contracts
and property
transactions cutting across
state and national
boundary lines. Also considered are
interstate and international problems concerning
marriage, divorce,
and decedents'
estates.
Corporate and Partnership Taxation
(3 hours)
The course examines the income tax
treatment of corporations and their
shareholders
and of partnerships
and their
partners arising
from various
transactions
including incorporations, distributions,
redemptions, liquidations, and non-taxable
acquisitive
reorganizations. Prerequisite: Federal
Income Tax.
Employment Discrimination (3 hours)
This course will assess the major federal
and state employment discrimination
statutes (e.g.,
Title
7, Americans with
Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination
in Employment Act) with emphasis
on the relationship among legislative,
executive,
and judicial
branches in the development
and implementation
of public policy.
Employment Law (3 hours)
This course is a survey of basic
legal and policy concepts governing
the employment
relationship. Subject areas
include personal service
contracts, including grounds
for discharge and the at-will doctrine;
the
collective
bargaining process, including the
notion of exclusivity/concerted
activity, unfair labor
practices,
duty to
bargain, impasse resolution and
contract enforcement; employment discrimination,
including race,
sex, handicap, age, and
remedial affirmative action;
statutory regulation of conditions
of employment, including workers'
compensation,
fair labor standards, safety and
health and whistleblower statutes;
and public
and
private employment distinctions,
including civil service systems
and employment
as
a property right.
Estate and Gift Tax (3 hours)
This course covers federal estate
and gift taxes and their impact
on gratuitous
property
transactions
during
life
and at death.
The course
includes brief
consideration of the tax on generation
skipping transfers. Prerequisite:
Federal Income Tax,
Wills and Trusts.
Estate Planning (2-3 hours)
This course will explore the
theories and skills involved
in the estate
planning process. Topics
include the
estate planning
engagement,
information
gathering,
identification of client objectives,
development
of remedial and conventional
estate plans, and selection
of fiduciaries.
Prerequisites:
Federal
Income Tax, Wills and Trusts.
Federal Courts (3 hours)
The course examines the power
and role of the federal courts
as defined
by
the United
States
Constitution,
federal statutes
and
judicial
decisions. Among the
topics examined are federal
question, diversity and civil
rights jurisdiction,
habeas corpus,
immunities of state
and local
governments from suit,
and abstention.
Florida Constitutional Law
(2-3 hours)
This course studies the constitution
of the State of Florida,
including recent decisions
of the
Florida Supreme Court
and analysis of current
proposals for constitutional
change.
Labor Law (3 hours)
This course is about labor
union activities and other
forms of
concerted activity.
It focuses upon an employee’s
right to form or join a
union and the right to
refrain from such activities.
The course covers the representational
and unfair
labor practice provisions
of the National Labor Relations
Act, including the formation
of a labor organization
and negotiations and administration
of collective
bargaining agreements.
Law and Politics in Latin
America (2-3 hours)
This course examines a
series of issues related
to law
and legal
systems in
Latin America.
It draws out the
interrelationship of theory
and politics that
constitute “lawyerly
thinking” by Latin
Americans. It has both
a practical orientation,
addressing how to understand
and work with Latin American
law and lawyers, and a
theoretical
orientation, examining
how legal practices are
the result of both overlapping
and competing projects
of social organization.
This course in comparative
law and politics examines
a cross-section of the
institutions, doctrines,
and interpretive
theories of Latin American
codes, courts and legal
commentators. As against
the widely-held view that
Latin American law is merely
imitative of foreign models
or is mainly irrelevant
to their societies, the
course examines the strategic
and programmatic function
of law in the service of
national governance, cultural
identity, and existing
economic arrangements.
Legal Clinic
Students enrolled in the
Clinic will represent
actual clients
in either
a litigation or
transactional context,
as permitted
by the
Florida
Limited Practice Act.
The course is open only
to students who have
completed at least 60
credit hours
of
law school course work.
Prerequisites:
Professional Responsibility,
Evidence (for the litigation
clinic), Trial Practice
(for the litigation clinic),
and Business Organizations
(for the transactional
clinic).
Legislation (3 hours)
This course entails a
study of the legislative
process.
Pre-trial Practice
This course covers
trial preparation
from client
interview to the
courthouse steps.
The course
considers theory
of the case,
fact
investigation, pleadings,
discovery and disclosure
(depositions,
interrogatories,
requests for production), motion
practice, settlement
conferences and negotiations,
and final pretrial
preparation and professionalism
values.
Public International
Law (3 hours)
This course explores
advanced issues of
international law.
The goal
is to understand
how international
law operates
in practice.
Special
attention
will be devoted
to the acceptance
and application
of international
law by United States
courts.
Topics
include
the process
of international
dispute resolution,
the application of
domestic
law extraterritorially,
state
responsibility to
aliens and foreign
investors,
and
sovereign
immunity.
Real Estate Transactions
This course takes
an interdisciplinary
and
practice-oriented
approach to real
estate
transactions, covering
land transfers,
mortgage law, and selected
topics
such as usury and
mechanics' liens.
Students will
study
selected tax,
environmental and
federal securities
laws issues
in the context
of real estate transactions.
Remedies (3 hours)
The course focuses
upon the nature
and scope
of relief
that a court
may grant
a party
who has established
a substantive
right. Topics
include judicial
remedies such
as damages in
tort and contract
cases,
restitution,
punitive
remedies,
declaratory relief
and coercive
remedies in
equity.
Secured Transactions
(3 hours)
This course covers
the creation,
perfection, and
enforcement
of security interests
in personal property
under Article
9 of the
Uniform Commercial
Code, including
priorities among
conflicting interests
in the same
property and
choice of law
problems.
Some
discussion
of bankruptcy
law as
it affects
the interests
of secured creditors
may also be included.
Securities Regulation
(3 credits)
This course is
a comprehensive
survey
of the statutes
and regulations
governing the
distribution
of securities,
trading
of securities
on the stock
exchanges
and over-the-counter
markets, the
regulation of
broker-dealers,
and
the growing
role of institutional
investors. Primary
focus is placed
upon
the Securities
Act of 1933 and
the
Securities Act
of 1934, with
limited
attention
to
state “Blue
Sky” securities legislation. Prerequisite: Business Organizations.
Courses
to be Offered
in 2004-2005 or 2005-2006
Alternative
Dispute Resolution
(2-3
hours)
This course
entails an
examination
of the alternative
dispute
resolution
mechanisms
and techniques
for incorporating
them into
legal practice.
A variety
of readings
and exercises
are used
as background
for discussions
of
the utility
of different
mechanisms
for resolving
certain kinds
of disputes.
This course
focuses on
adjudication,
negotiation,
and mediation.
Antitrust
(3 hours)
This course
is a study
of judicial
decisions
construing
and
applying
the federal
antitrust
laws (i.e.,
Sherman,
Clayton,
Robinson-Patman,
and Federal
Trade
Commission
Acts) to
the control
of the
competitive
process
in the
American
economy.
Civil Rights
(3 hours)
The course
focuses
on selected
federal
statues
enacted
to remedy
violations
of federal
constitutional
rights.
The principal
Reconstruction
Era statues,
42 U.S.C.
sections
1981,
1982,
and 1983,
are
examined
in depth.
Environmental
Law
(3 hours)
This
is
a survey
of
environmental
regulation,
addressing
the
environmental
policies,
rights,
and
remedies
provided
by
the
common
law
and
various
federal
statues.
The
course
focuses
on
the
National
Environmental
Policy
Act,
the
Clean
Air
Act,
the
Comprehensive
Environmental
Response,
Compensation,
and
Liability
Act,
and
various
other
statutes
and
common
law
doctrines
related
to
hazardous
wastes
and
toxic
substances.
Throughout
the
course,
students
will
be
asked
to
pay
attention
to
the
regulatory
and
administrative
structures
invoked
by
these
statutes
and
doctrines.
Family
Law
(3
hours)
This
course
examines
state
regulation
of
sexual
and
marital
relationships,
including
the
conflict
between
the
doctrines
of
family
privacy
and
state
intervention
in
the
marital
relationship.
Topics
include:
premarital
controversies,
capacity
to
marry
and
the
formalities
of
marriage;
rights
and
duties
of
marital
partners;
annulment
and
separation;
divorce
grounds
and
no-fault;
spousal
support
and
basic
issues
of
property
distribution;
principles
governing
child
custody
and
visitation;
child
support;
mediation
of
property
and
custody
issues;
and
regulation
of
non-traditional
relationships.
Health
Law (3
hours)
This
is a
study of
numerous topics
including national
health care
programs, health
care financing,
reimbursement, licensing
and accreditation,
hospital organization,
physician and
patient autonomy,
antitrust law,
quality of
care and
medical malpractice,
and ethical
issues related
to availability
of health
care and
services.
Interviewing
and Counseling
(2-3 hours)
This
course is
a study
of theories
and skills
involved in
interviewing, counseling,
and negotiating.
Student performances
in role-plays
and simulations
will be
a primary
means of
instruction.
Land
Use, Planning
and Control
(3 hours)
Since
the 1920s,
our society
has regulated
urban and
rural uses
of land
in an
attempt to
encourage the
prudent allocation
of our
land resources,
thus this
course undertakes
an intensive
analysis of
the traditional
regulatory techniques,
including general
and specific
planning, zoning,
and subdivision
mapping, and
relates them
to the
practical and
political aspects
of the
land use
entitlement process
and to
resolve conflicting
preferences.
Negotiation
and Mediation
(2-3 hours)
This
course will
entail a
study of
negotiation and
mediation techniques
and strategies.
Payments
Systems (3
hours)
This
course will
survey the
uses of
different payment
mechanisms (negotiable
and non-negotiable
instruments, credit
cards and
electronic funds
transfer and
wire transfer
systems) in
both credit
and cash
transactions. The
course will
consider allocation
of risks
for fraud,
countermands, defenses
on the
underlying contract,
mistake, timeliness
and unauthorized
payments. In
each case
the allocation
of risks
in connection
with different
payment mechanisms
will be
considered, along
with whether
these allocations
should be
the same
or different
for each
mechanism. The
course will
focus on
Articles 3
and 4
of the
Uniform Commercial
Code and,
as time
permits, consider
letters of
credit under
U.C.C. Article
5 and
the International
Chamber of
Commerce Uniform
Customs and
Practice. Special
emphasis will
be given
to techniques
of statutory
analysis, commercial
counseling and
a rethinking
of present
rules, especially
in the
light of
the revision
of Articles
3 and
4. The
impact of
federal legislation
on the
state payments
law (U.C.C.
Articles 3,
4, and
4A) may
also be
treated.
Products
Liability (3
hours)
This
course is
a survey
of the
history, growth
and development
of the
law regarding
injury to
persons and
property resulting
from the
use of
defective products.
The course
will examine
the various
legal theories
of fraud,
warranty, implied
warranties of
fitness and
merchantability,
negligence,
and
strict liability.
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