PDF reflects print Law (LAW)
The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.
Courses numbered 500 and above are open only to law students except by special permission from the associate dean.
LAW 200x Law and Society (4) and structure of law; history of Bill of Rights emphasizing effect on criminal justice system; limits of law in solving problems in American society. Not available for major credit to law students.
LAW 201x Law and Politics: Electing a President (4) Examination of the rules and realities of American politics, and the role politics plays in American life and culture. Not available for major credit to law students.
LAW 343 Courts and Society (4, Fa) A focus on the judiciary as an institution and its role in American society.
LAW 402 Psychology and Law (4, Sp) Explores issues of responsibility and credibility. Intentional and unintentional behavior. Clinical biases. Topics include witness credibility, confessions, cults, hostages, battered persons, and repressed memories.
LAW 403 Mental Health Law (4, Sp) Issues at the intersection of law and psychology, both civil -- e.g., civil commitment -- and criminal -- e.g., the insanity defense. Emphasis on ethical issues.
LAW 404 The Psychology of Wrongful Convictions (4) Examines the psychological factors that cause failures in the criminal justice system, leading to the conviction of innocent people. Recommended preparation: PSYC 100.
LAW 444 Civil and Political Rights and Liberties (4) (Enroll in POSC 444)
LAW 450 Internet Law (4, FaSp) Basic issues of current Internet regulation, intellectual property rights, freedom of expression on the Internet, privacy, security, and jurisdiction and zoning as it relates to the Internet. Prerequisite: LAW 200.
LAW 502 Procedure I (4, Fa) Consideration of the participants in litigation -- private and public plaintiffs, defendants, and courts. Information exchange, process, outcomes, and costs of law suits.
LAW 503 Contracts (4, Fa) The interpretation and enforcement of promises and agreements.
LAW 504 Criminal Law (3, Sp) The crime problem and the legislative response to it through substantive criminal law; administration of criminal justice through police, prosecutorial, sentencing, and penological discretion.
LAW 505 Legal Profession (3, Sp) Functions of the lawyer in modern society; history and organization of the legal profession; the adversary system; equal access to justice; other problems of ethics and professional responsibility.
LAW 507 Property (4, Sp) The idea of property as understood through economic and philosophical concepts. Rights in land, water and other natural resources. Forms of shared ownership (e.g., landlord and tenant), and a survey of mechanisms for controlling land use.
LAW 508 Constitutional Law I (4, Sp) The function of the American Constitution; allocation of authority among branches of the national government; division of authority between the nation and the state; limitations of government control of the individual. The process of constitutional interpretation and the role of the United States Supreme Court.
LAW 509 Torts I (4, Fa) Individual's obligation not to harm others; bases for compensating persons who are harmed, either by holding responsible whoever is at fault or by invoking other principles of liability, including the efficiency of resource allocation and the spreading of losses.
LAW 510 Legal Research (0 or 1, FaSp) Examination of the basic sources of law for federal and California jurisdictions; utilizing a vast array of sources from books to computer-assisted research and analyzes research methodology and techniques. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 511ab Legal Writing (a: 1-2, Fa; b: 1-2, Sp) Two-semester course focusing on developing analytic and communication skills. Lawyers will analyze legal principles and incisively apply them to facts. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 512 Law, Language, and Ethics (3, Fa) Law as the mind's attempt to define, direct, and administer human experience. Examination of theories of knowledge, language, meaning, mental process, social organization, personal responsibility and freedom which underlie legal thought and judicial decision-making.
LAW 515 Legal Research, Writing and Advocacy I (2, Fa) Development of legal research, writing and advocacy skills. Emphasis on objective legal writing, including memoranda, and researching case law through primary and secondary sources.
LAW 516 Legal Research, Writing and Advocacy II (2, Sp) Continuation of LAW 515. Development of legal research, writing, and advocacy skills. Emphasis on persuasive legal writing, including appellate briefs, and researching statutory and administrative law. Participation in a moot court program. Prerequisite: LAW 515.
LAW 520 Introduction to U.S. Legal System (2) The basic structure of government in the U.S., including the constitutionally mandated division of power in the federal government and the federal system of power sharing between state and federal systems. A comparative perspective on selected substantive and procedural matters, such as common law reasoning, jury trials, adversary process, and various aspects of civil procedure. Open to incoming LL.M. students only.
LAW 521 Topics in American Law (1-4, FaSp) This course will provide LL.M. and M.C.L. students with a survey of various topics in American law, including criminal law, evidence, family law, constitutional law, torts, wills and trusts, administrative law and property law. Open to LL.M. and M.C.L. students only.
LAW 568 The Rights of Groups (4) (Enroll in REL 568)
LAW 599 Special Topics (2-4, max 8)
LAW 600 Taxation (3 or 4) Federal tax statutes, technical issues and social problems involved in tax planning, tax litigation, and reform of the tax laws.
LAW 602 Criminal Procedure (3) Criminal procedure in the courts, and the regulation of law enforcement by the courts through rules of evidence and interpretation of the Bill of Rights.
LAW 603 Business Organizations (3 or 4) Organization of economic activity -- especially the modern corporation -- as institutions of social power. The roles of managers, owners, and public regulatory agencies in shaping processes of decision-making.
LAW 604 Real Estate Transactions Problems (1, Fa) Selected problems to supplement LAW 605. Corequisite: LAW 605.
LAW 605 Real Estate Transactions (3-5, Fa) The land transfer process: arrangements between buyers and sellers, brokers, escrows, recorders, title companies. Real estate financing through mortgages and other land security devices.
LAW 606 Land Use Controls (3 or 4) The regulation of land development through planning, zoning, subdivision controls and private devices. Mechanisms for coordinating regional development and financing new urban infrastructure.
LAW 607 Gifts, Wills, and Trusts (3 or 4) Gratuitous transfer of wealth, especially the transmission of wealth from one generation to the next as a settlement of family affairs. Comparative analysis of the legal mechanisms of gifts, wills, and trusts. Introduction to problems of fiduciary administration.
LAW 608 Evidence (3 or 4) The purpose and character of trial. Problems of adversary presentation and the nature of proof. The basis for admission and exclusion of evidence in judicial proceedings.
LAW 609 Torts II (2 or 3) Remedies of the law for injuries to an individual's personal integrity or to his reasonable economic expectations, including the torts of misrepresentation, defamation, and assault.
LAW 610 Advanced Civil Procedure (2-4, Sp) This course will look at juries and judges as decision-makers during trials. As background, we will examine the constitutional rights to a civil and criminal jury trial, and then focus on such features of the jury as voir dire, peremptory challenges, instructions, deliberations and differences in perceptions. The scope of jury authority, including jury nullification, as well as various models for the proper role of the jury in our society.
LAW 611 Banking Law (1-4) Law and regulation of banks and other financial institutions. Focus on federal and California banking law.
LAW 613 Advanced Legal Research (2-4) This course will build upon basic research skills and expose the student to printed and online sources utilized by researchers in several specialized areas of law.
LAW 614 Accounting for Lawyers (2 or 3) The lawyer's skills needed to understand the financial affairs of a business client.
LAW 615 Election Law (1-4) Consideration of legal regulation of the right to vote and otherwise to participate in the electoral process.
LAW 616 Advanced Torts: Products Liability (2-4) Exploration of products liability law with special attention to its historical genesis and normative justification.
LAW 617 History of American Law (2 or 3) Explores the interaction of law, culture, and politics in American society from the Revolution through the New Deal.
LAW 618 Advanced Contracts (2-4, FaSp) Students work in groups using principles of contract design analyzing concrete cases based on actual events in transactions handled by a large commercial law firm.
LAW 619 Employment Law (2-4) Examination of the evolving role of work in our society and the nature and scope of legal regulation of the employment relationship.
LAW 620 Mortgage Law (2-4, Sp) Deals with the rights and remedies of mortgage lenders and borrowers after the mortgage loan has gone into default. Recommended preparation: LAW 605.
LAW 621 Gender Discrimination (1-4) Analysis of the constitutional and statutory debates about the meaning of equality, and the recognition and accommodation of difference.
LAW 622 Family Violence (2-4, Fa) Practical and theoretical aspects of legal practice in cases involving family violence, including both spousal violence and child abuse.
LAW 623 Family Law (3 or 4) Creating, regulating and dissolving family relationships. Explore moral and power relations among men, women, children and the state. Develop skills to help clients in families.
LAW 624 Domestic Violence Clinic (2-5, FaSp) Students represent domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking victims and learn law concerning restraining orders, child custody and visitation, criminal law, immigration law and other areas.
LAW 625 Remedies (3 or 4) Comparison of the remedial goals of contracts, torts, and property and the impact of procedural devices in law and equity. Damages, injunctions, specific performance and restitution. Remedial theory and transactional application.
LAW 626 International Arbitration (2-4, Fa) Steps in the arbitration process, attorney's functions in the process, relation of arbitration to national courts, policy issues, issues involved when governments are parties to international commercial disputes.
LAW 627 Law and Psychiatry: Criminal Dimensions (2-4) Examination of the issues at the intersection of the mental health and criminal justice system. Topics discussed will include the insanity defense, disposition of insanity acquittees, competency to stand trial and competency to be executed.
LAW 628 Real Estate Finance Problems (1, Sp) Selected problems to supplement LAW 629. Corequisite: LAW 629.
LAW 629 Real Estate Finance (2-4, Sp) A survey of the major types of financing used for real estate and the basic techniques used to make real estate investment and financing decisions. Prerequisite: LAW 605.
LAW 630 Mediation Clinic (2-4, max 8, FaSp) Students receive the training required to become professional mediators for civil cases in the L.A. County Superior Court, and mediate these cases.
LAW 631 Feminist Legal Theory (1-4) The first half of the course will survey major arguments and key writings of feminist legal theory. The second half, seminar participation, will organize discussions that focus on significant legal decisions to investigate the fit and helpfulness of the various theoretical approaches.
LAW 632 Business for Lawyers (2-4) This course introduces law students to the tools, concept, and language of business. It is premised on the belief that to excel as a business lawyer, one must understand the business world from the perspective of the clients one counsels and assists. The course will cover, in compressed form, the basic subjects from the M.B.A. program which are most useful to lawyers.
LAW 633 Law and Economics (4) Employs economic reasoning to explain and provide a normative basis for the analysis of property, contract, tort and criminal law and the legal process. Prerequisite: ECON 500 or ECON 503.
LAW 634 Legal Analysis of Evidence (2-4) Legal analysis of the rules of Evidence using problems designed to improve analytic skills and problem-solving. Taken in conjunction with Evidence. Corequisite: LAW 608.
LAW 636 Labor Law (3 or 4) The interrelation of labor, business, and government in collective bargaining, federal regulation of union and management practices and pressures, especially through the Taft-Hartley Act.
LAW 637 International Trade Policy (1-4) Examination of the institutions and laws that regulate international economic relations. Students will be introduced to the major international agreements and national laws that regulate international trade goods, services and capital.
LAW 638 Topics in Alternative Dispute Resolution (2-4, max 6, Sp) Examines selected topics in negotiation, mediation, or alternative dispute resolution. May be repeated with permission of the instructor as topics vary. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 639 Law and Literature (1-4) Exploration of the meaning of basic sociolegal institutions through the double lens of literature and law. Focus will be on institutions associated with the rise of market, including private property, contract, notions of profit and interest and the role of lawyers, litigation and legal forms.
LAW 640 Legal Conceptions of Maternity and Paternity (1-4) Exploration of the legal definition of a parent. Who is a parent, according to the law (rather than, what rights does a parent have), will be the fundamental question.
LAW 641 Commercial Law (2 or 4) Commercial transactions involving secured financing (other than land). Government regulation of such sales and borrowing through Article 9 of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code and other recent legislation.
LAW 642 Secured Transactions (2-4) This is a course on Chattel paper and secured transactions involving personal property under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and some related bodies of law.
LAW 643 Securities Fraud Litigation (2-4) Examination of the laws governing fraud in securities markets. Focus on several sections of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 including fraudulent statements and insider trading, fraud in the takeover context, fraud in proxies, and controlling personal liability.
LAW 644 Corporate Tax (2 or 3, FaSp) Tax principles and practice applicable to business, especially problems of formation, liquidation, and reorganization.
LAW 647 Bankruptcy: Debtors and Creditors I (2 or 3) Bankruptcy of the poor, imprudent or unlucky, and of unsuccessful businesses. The mechanisms of our law for distributing the debtor's property and discharging his obligations.
LAW 649 Insurance (2 or 3) The pooling of risks and distributing of losses. Actuarial foundation and contract problems of insurance.
LAW 650 Entertainment Law (2-4, Sp) An examination of how the courts are handling selected, "cutting edge" topics in entertainment law. The topics will include the scope of and limitations on the right of publicity; fair use and parody defenses to copyright infringement; future technology clauses in rights contracts; and copyright and defamation issues arising in the online world. Previous entertainment law courses recommended, but not required.
LAW 651 Entertainment Law Practicum (1, Sp) Supervised internship for students enrolled in LAW 650. Graded CR/D/F. Corequisite: LAW 650.
LAW 652 Persuasion (2-3, Fa) Analysis and development of persuasive arguments using principles of persuasion; translation of the arguments into visual presentations using presentation models; persuasive presentation of visuals.
LAW 653 Legal Issues in the Music Industry (1-4, FaSp) The course will focus on contract drafting and negotiation issues relevant to an artist's pursuit of a career in the music business.
LAW 655 Environmental Law (2-4) Focus on environmental law policy and practice. This course is a combination of regulatory and private law, with a special emphasis on disputes and regulations involving contamination in soil, water and air.
LAW 656 International Organization (1-4) A study of the work of both legal and international relations scholars. A brief introduction to the nature and recent history of international organizations; understanding of formal structures and rules; and consideration of legal and nonlegal norms that apply in the international community.
LAW 657 International Protection of Intellectual Property (1-4) The laws concerning how to enforce and exploit rights protecting media creations, marketing symbols, computer programs, new technologies, designs, know-how, and data across national borders.
LAW 658 Mergers and Acquisitions (1-4, Sp) Problems of integrating the corporate, securities, tax, business, antitrust, accounting and contractual aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions. Prerequisite: LAW 603.
LAW 660 Trademark (1-4) A rigorous introduction to a law of trademarks. A trademark can be any word, symbol, design, sound, fragrance or product configuration that is used to distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of another, and to indicate the origin of the goods or services.
LAW 662 Public International Law (3-4) Principles of international law involving relations among governments. The function of international tribunals and organizations.
LAW 663 European Union Law (2-4, FaSp) Introduction of the EU legal system and an understanding of the functioning EU, constitutive treaties, and evolving judicial and regulatory system being established within Europe.
LAW 664 Globalization and Law (2-4) The impacts of globalization and legal reactions in a number of areas including constitutional law, trade law, military law and the environment.
LAW 668 Moot Court Participation (3) Preparation of briefs and presentation of oral arguments in the Hale Moot Court honors competition. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 669 Moot Court Supervision (1-3, max 6, FaSp) Evaluation and supervision of the preparation of briefs and oral arguments in the Hale Moot Court honors competition. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 670 Advanced Moot Court Oral Arguments (1-3, max 3, Sp) Preparation of oral arguments in approved moot court competitions, such as national and state prize rounds (other than Hale Moot Court Program). Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 671 Advanced Moot Court Briefs (1-3, Sp) Preparation of briefs in approved moot court competitions, such as national and state prize rounds (other than Hale Moot Court Program).
LAW 672 Jessup Moot Court Briefs (1-3, Fa) Students prepare for competition by writing a brief on the issues in a problem that is the basis for the Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Participation is by faculty selection only.
LAW 673 Law and Psychology: Courtroom Decision-making (2-4, Fa) Insights into the legal system based on experimental research in social and cognitive psychology. Ways in which the legal system is affected by the mental processes of its participating agents.
LAW 674 Crime, Law and Society (2-3, Sp) Examination of assorted issues regarding social responses to crime. Topics include cultural and political conceptions of crime, theories of punishment, disobedience, economical approaches to crime.
LAW 676 Law and Psychiatry: Civil Dimensions (1-4, Sp) Examination of issues in which psychiatry is relevant to the law. Subjects to be studied include standards of competency, the right to refuse treatment, civil commitment, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
LAW 677 Quantitative Methods in the Law (2-4, FaSp) Introduces students to basic principles of descriptive and inferential statistics, probability, and valuation.
LAW 678ab Review of Law and Social Justice Staff (1-4; 1-4) Writing, source-checking, and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Review of Law and Social Justice. For second-year students serving as staff members on the Review. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 679ab Review of Law and Social Justice Writing (1; 1-4) Writing, source-checking, and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Review of Law and Social Justice. For second-year students serving as staff members on the Review. Graded IP to numerical.
LAW 680ab Review of Law and Social Justice Editing (1-3; 1-4) Supervision of research and writing, and final editing of articles and comments for publication in the Review of Law and Social Justice. For officers of the Review. Graded IP to CR/D/F.
LAW 682 Jessup Moot Court Oral Arguments (1, Sp) Students prepare oral arguments on the issues in a problem that is the basis for the Jessup International Moot Court competition. Participation is by faculty selection only. Graded CR/D/F. Prerequisite: LAW 672.
LAW 684 Appellate Advocacy (2-4) The primary focus will be on California Civil appeals and Writs. By the end of the course, the students will have prepared a writ petition and supporting papers and will have argued an appeal (brief supplied by instructor) in a moot-court type of setting.
LAW 695 Water Law (2-4, FaSp) A review of the basic principles of western water law, including riparian, appropriative and percolating water rights and the public trust doctrine.
LAW 696 Transplantation and the Law (2-4, FaSp) This seminar will cover legal, ethical and economic considerations in transplantation of natural and artificial organs and parts.
LAW 697 Foreign Relations and National Security Law (2-4, FaSp) This course will examine the statutory, constitutional, and international legal structures that form the base of American diplomacy.
LAW 698 Collective Security: Multilateral Response Mechanisms and International Conflict (2-4, FaSp) Examination of the international institutions and legal norms applicable to the use of force.
LAW 700 Health Care Regulations (1-4) Regulation of the medical profession; the physician-patient relationship; professional and institutional liability; health care institutions and delivery systems; quality control; access to health care services and problems of distribution and rationing; cost control, including government and private health care programs; patient rights; antitrust.
LAW 703ab Children's Legal Issues (1-4; 1-4) Students will work on cases in the following areas: (1) Dependent and neglected children: All children who are wards of the court must have legal counsel. (2) Children with AIDS: Legal implications of such issues as health care and custody. (3) Guardianships or other temporary arrangements for children whose parents are terminally ill or are otherwise unable to care for them. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 704 Poverty Law (2-4, FaSp) An introduction to the problem of poverty in the United States and to the response of government and the legal system to the problems of the poor.
LAW 705 Community Property (1-3) The law of community property, including disposition of property on dissolution of the marriage and questions of conflict of laws. May be offered as a reading course.
LAW 706 Conflict of Laws: The Federal System I (2-4) The problem of interstate and inter-country private-dispute resolution: a: who has jurisdiction to make an externally enforceable decision (procedural due process and full faith and credit); b: whose law should be applied (choice of law and full faith and credit); c: the special role of the federal courts, including federal-state choice of law in diversity cases.
LAW 707 Construction Law (2-4, FaSp) This course is designed to provide an overview of the real estate development field with a strong emphasis on the construction process. This is a course in law, not in engineering or urban development.
LAW 708 Reviewing and Negotiating Business Contracts (2-4, FaSp) Covers the fundamentals of reviewing and analyzing business contracts and strategies for negotiating business issues with an emphasis on developing practical skills.
LAW 709 Contract Drafting and Negotiation (2-4, FaSp) Contract Drafting and Negotiation will teach students the mechanics of drafting and negotiating sophisticated contracts from a variety of legal disciplines including entertainment law, real estate law and general corporate law.
LAW 710 Corporate Crime Liability Seminar (2-4, FaSp) An examination of corporate and civil liability and director or officer liability. Focus on issues of general concern to corporations and managers contemplating potential liability.
LAW 711 Access to Justice Seminar (2-3, FaSp) Tracks the work being performed by the California Access to Justice Commission. This seminar will provide an introduction to the history of legal services.
LAW 713 International Human Rights (2-4, FaSp) This course will address the international law and institutions which have developed since World War II for the protection of human rights.
LAW 714 Maritime Law (2-4, FaSp) An examination of current maritime law including maritime contracts, injuries to and rights of maritime workers, peculiar maritime lien rights, and admiralty procedures and litigation, with an excursion into marine pollution and government regulation.
LAW 715 Law and Policy of Alternative Dispute Resolution (2-4) Exploration of the origin, development, and practice of mediation, arbitration and other forms of ADR, emphasizing the policies underlying these increasingly significant and evolving areas.
LAW 716 Race, Gender and the Law (2-4, FaSp) This course will investigate race and gender in the law in two senses: the experience of women and people of color as they have encountered legal institutions and processes; and the role of law in constructing racial and gender identities in defining the very meaning of race and gender in American culture.
LAW 717 Estate Planning (3, FaSp) Legal and tax considerations important to the lawyer advising his client on the transmission of wealth from one generation to the next.
LAW 718 Sports Law (1-4, Sp) Sports law is a blend of contract, labor, antitrust, agency, tax, intellectual property, tort, civil rights and constitutional law.
LAW 719 Corporate Finance (3 or 4) Legal and economic aspects of corporate finance including capital structure, policy, mergers, takeovers, and freeze-outs; analysis of policy relating to present law and possible reforms.
LAW 720 Topics in Corporate Law (1-4, max 8, FaSp) Executive malfeasance, shareholder rights, securities class actions, asset securitizations, hedge fund regulation and corporate social responsibility from a theoretical and corporate finance framework.
LAW 721 Law and Social Change in Post-War America (2-4, FaSp) A study of movements for social change following World War II, such as the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the antiwar movement and the farm workers' movement.
LAW 722 Complex Litigation (2-4, FaSp) Focuses on large scale litigation, mass toxic torts, consumer class actions and securities cases.
LAW 723 Law, Literature and Feminism (2-4, FaSp) An examination of the development of feminist legal theory by focusing on several cases, writings of theorists, and novels that provide further illustration of the theories.
LAW 724 International Finance (2-4, FaSp) An examination of international aspects of U.S. securities and banking law, capital markets and regulations, Eurobonds, Futures and Options, asset securization, swaps and project finance.
LAW 725 Bioethics and Law (3) Legal, ethical and economic problems of advanced biological technologies, for example, behavior, genetic, and reproductive control; control of the processes of dying; organ transplantation and the use of artificial organs; regulation of scientific research and human experimentation.
LAW 726 Stereotypes, Prejudice, and the Rule of Law (2-4, FaSp) An examination of the role of race (and other markers of social marginality) in the administration of justice in American courts.
LAW 727 Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies (2-4, FaSp) Deals with the formation, features and functions of general partnerships, limited partnerships and limited liability companies. Also focuses on business planning, recognizing business and legal objectives and selecting the appropriate entity to accomplish these objectives.
LAW 729 Enterprise Liability Seminar (2-4, FaSp) Examines the postulates and unexamined assumptions of tort law in greater depth than is usually possible in a conventional first-year torts course.
LAW 730 Immigrants and the Constitution (2-4, FaSp) A focus on the constitutional rights of noncitizens. The course will explore the role of immigrants and immigration in American history.
LAW 731 Gender, Crime and Justice Seminar (2-4, FaSp) Analyzes various criminal justice issues with a focus on the questions of how gender may shape and inform those issues.
LAW 732 Tort Theory and the Law of Nuisance (2-4, FaSp) An exploration of the law of nuisance with an eye to assessing its theoretical significance for tort theory and an examination of subsequent economic analysis of nuisance law.
LAW 733 Corporate Reorganization (2 or 3) Reorganization of failing corporations under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act. Claims, protective committees, plans, tax considerations.
LAW 734 Local Government Law (3 or 4) Study and evaluation of the municipal and regional legal institutions. Emphasis on the crises in financing and governing the urban society.
LAW 735 Employer Legal Advice Clinic (2-4, Sp) Provides legal advice to clients in the area of employment law. Graded CR/D/F. Prerequisite: LAW 619.
LAW 736 Small Business Clinic I (2-4, Fa) Students provide legal assistance to small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations that cannot pay market rates for legal services. Graded CR/NC. Prerequisite: LAW 603; LAW 727 or LAW 827.
LAW 737 Small Business Clinic II (2-4, Sp) Continuation of Small Business Clinic I. Prerequisite: LAW 736.
LAW 738 Civil Rights Litigation (2-4, FaSp) An examination of issues of class action and other impact civil rights litigation with an emphasis on federal court practice.
LAW 739 Role of Taxes in Business Decisions (2-4, FaSp) The objective of this seminar is to learn how taxes affect business decisions. This seminar teaches the conceptual framework for recognizing tax planning opportunities and applying basic principles of tax strategy.
LAW 741 Sentencing Law, Practice and Policy (2-4, FaSp) This seminar will explore the law, purposes and practices of sentencing. Students will study and compare the different systems of sentencing and the procedures by which sentences are imposed. Students may also examine some actual pending criminal cases.
LAW 742 Criminal Law Motion Practice (2-4, FaSp) This course instructs students on the law and strategy concerning most major criminal case motions. Students will draft and argue motions based on actual cases.
LAW 744 Comparative Islamic Law (2-4, FaSp) Course will cover basic principles of Islamic transactional laws as adapted and incorporated into contemporary Islamic countries. Laws will be compared with U.S. and California.
LAW 745 Comparative Constitutional Law (2-4, FaSp) Comparison of the U.S. Constitution with constitutions in other nations. Exploration of differences in structure and substance, with a focus on how nations address pluralism.
LAW 746 Critical Race Theory (2-4) Intersectionality, destruction and critical historiography; specifically affirmative action in education, hate speech and immigration reform.
LAW 747 Constitution in the 20th Century (2-4, FaSp) This course examines the impact of historical events, world wars, cold war and civil rights and understanding the role of the Constitution in American life.
LAW 748 Topics in Constitutional Law and Religious Ethics (2-4, FaSp) This seminar will discuss religious views about the meaning and nature of human existence and address contested contemporary issues of constitutional law.
LAW 749 Securities Regulation (2-4, Sp) Regulation by state and federal agencies of issuance of, and trading in, stocks, bonds, and other securities. Particular reference to SEC regulations.
LAW 751 Sexual Orientation and the Law (2-4, FaSp) Explores the ways in which American law has responded to the diversity that exists within human sexual orientation.
LAW 753 Antitrust Law I (3 or 4) Laws designed to preserve and promote business competition, with heavy emphasis on the federal antitrust laws.
LAW 757 Regulated Industries (2-4) Conduct of industries regulated by administrative agencies studied in terms of economic and political theory. The role of the market and restraints on the market as strategies for achieving social goals. The practical and theoretical implications of attempts at implementation.
LAW 758 Identity Categories (2-4, FaSp) Drawing on feminist legal theory, critical race theory, and lesbian/gay/bisexual and queer theory, this seminar will explore the treatment of identity categories in United States law.
LAW 759 Japanese Law (2-4, FaSp) A study of the legal system in Japan and such aspects as the difference in legal consciousness between Americans and Japanese.
LAW 760ab Interdisciplinary Law Journal Staff (1-1 or 2, FaSp) Source-checking and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Interdisciplinary Law Journal. For third-year students serving as staff members on the Journal. Graded a: IP to CR/D/F; b: CR/D/F.
LAW 761ab Interdisciplinary Law Journal Writing (1-1 or 2, FaSp) Writing of an article for the Interdisciplinary Law Journal. For second-year students serving as staff members on the Journal. a: Graded IP to numerical. b: numerical.
LAW 762ab Interdisciplinary Law Journal Editing (1-3, Fa; 1-3, Sp) Supervision and final editing of articles and comments for publication in the Interdisciplinary Law Journal. Graded IP to CR/D/F.
LAW 763 Federal Courts: The Federal System II (3-5) Problems of adjudication in a federal system. Allocation of authority between federal and state courts and among Congress, the Executive and the Courts; choice of federal and state law; jurisdiction of federal courts and significant rules of practice.
LAW 764 International Business Transactions (3 or 4) Survey of legal aspects of international trade and investment transactions, including tax considerations.
LAW 767ab Law Review Staff I (1-1 or 2) Writing, source-checking, and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Southern California Law Review. For second-year students serving as staff members on the Review. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 768ab Law Review Writing (1-1 or 2) Writing, source-checking and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Southern California Law Review. For second-year students serving as staff members on the Review. Graded IP to numerical.
LAW 769ab Law Review Editing (1-3, FaSp) Supervision of research and writing, and final editing of articles and comments for publication in the Southern California Law Review. For officers of the Review. Graded IP to CR/D/F.
LAW 770 The Political Economy of Technology Policy (2-4, FaSp) Attempts to evaluate, from an economic perspective, and understand, from a political economy perspective, current federal policies that are designed to promote commercial innovation.
LAW 771 Intellectual Property Clinic I (1-5, max 8, FaSp) Provides law students with the ability to represent clients (under the supervision of the professor) in cutting-edge issues of intellectual property and technology law. Corequisite: LAW 772.
LAW 772 Intellectual Property (2 or 3) The protection of intellectual property and encouragement of creativity. Explores copyright, trademarks, patents, and selected state law theories.
LAW 773 Internet Law (2-4, Fa) Integration of cyberspace and the Internet into existing legal structures. Topics include: First Amendment issues; intellectual property, privacy and child protection; criminal activity and governance and jurisdictional activities.
LAW 774 Rights of Groups Seminar (2 or 3, FaSp) Explores the place of groups (such as racial and ethnic groups, labor unions, family, neighborhood, class and religious groups) in the legal order governed and protected by the Constitution. Asks whether groups have rights comparable in stature to the rights of persons, and, if they do, how conflicts between the group rights and individual rights should be adjudicated.
LAW 775 Immigration Law (2-5) The development of immigration law to its present state.
LAW 776 Immigration Clinic I (2-4, Fa) Students represent clients before the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Immigration Court, and certain law enforcement agencies in cases including applications for relief under the Violence Against Women Act, for asylum, and for relief against deportation. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 777 Administrative Process (1-3) Legal principles subject to judicial control and the alternative ways in which agencies can be organized to serve their purposes.
LAW 778 Sales (2-4, FaSp) Analysis of the buying and selling of goods both in domestic and international transactions with a heavy focus on Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
LAW 779 Chinese Law (2-4, FaSp) An introduction to the laws of the People's Republic of China covering traditional and contemporary legal institutions in China, civil and criminal laws, intellectual property laws, legal professions, contract and dispute resolution.
LAW 780 Intellectual Property Clinic II (2-4, max 4, Sp) Continuation of LAW 771. Prerequisite: LAW 771.
LAW 781 Clinical Internship/Externship I (1-10, FaSp) A clinical internship or judicial externship allows a student to gain hands-on legal experience in legal settings. Students will be assigned to a legal services program, government agency, state or federal judges, under faculty supervision. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 782 Clinical Internship/Externship II (1-10, FaSp) Advanced clinical training/externship. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 789 Dissertation (1-4) Students should register for 2 to 4 units of dissertation to engage in supervised research and writing that is expected to result in a paper of publishable quality. Any regular, full-time member of the faculty (including full-time visitors) may supervise students in this course upon agreement by the faculty member and the student. Other persons who teach in the J.D. program may supervise dissertation only upon approval of the Board of Review. A one unit registration for dissertation will be available only where the unit is to be added to the course where a paper is already required, in recognition that the student's paper will require substantially more work than that expected of other students in the course. Students may take a total of 4 units of dissertation during their educational experience at the law school.
LAW 792 Topics in Law and Philosophy (2-4, max 8) Examination of the best scholarly work currently done by legal, moral and political philosophers in the country.
LAW 793 Law and Economics Seminar (1-4, max 8) Key concepts and cutting-edge research in law and economics. Workshops with leading scholars from around the country.
LAW 795 Law and Political Process (2-4, Sp) Examines the contemporary political process and the laws regulating it.
LAW 796 Immigration Clinic II (2-4, Sp) Continuation of LAW 776. Prerequisite: LAW 776.
LAW 797 Jurisprudence Seminar (2 or 3, max 6) Investigation of selected jurisprudential problems.
LAW 810 Patent Law (2 or 3, Sp) Patent laws, litigation, and the process of prosecuting the patent application. The concept of invention and ownership of rights under patents. Prerequisite: LAW 772.
LAW 820 Pretrial Advocacy (3 or 4) Examines conceptual and practical aspects of interviewing, counseling, negotiation, settlement, drafting, and formal advocacy in the handling of legal cases.
LAW 821 Trial Advocacy (3 or 4, FaSp) Examines decision-making by counsel in the litigation of cases. Emphasis is given to decisions involving tactics and strategies and their implications for the functioning of legal institutions and substantive doctrine. Extensive use of simulated trial practice exercises.
LAW 822 Legislation (2-3, Fa) The legislative process in Congress and state legislatures; legislative and judicial law making, statutory interpretation and drafting, and judicial activism and restraint.
LAW 827 Counseling the Startup Company (2-4, Sp) Role of the attorney in startup firms: business plan, employment agreements, lease, stock option plan, financing documents and distribution and strategic partnership arrangements.
LAW 839 Copyright (2-4) Study of federal copyright law, analysis of property rights and interests created thereunder. Manner in which these rights can be exploited in the various entertainment media. Prerequisite: LAW 772.
LAW 841 Media and the Courts (2-4, Sp) Legal issues concerning media and the courts. Considers the appropriate role of the media in covering legal proceedings and how courts can and should regulate the press.
LAW 842 Partnership Taxation (2-4)
LAW 851 Topics in Criminal Law and Criminology (2-4, max 6) Selected topics in criminal law or criminology. May be repeated with permission of the instructor as topics vary.
LAW 855 Topics in Maritime and Admiralty Law (2-4, max 6, FaSp) Taught in honor of James Ackerman, USC Law graduate of 1948, this class examines selected topics in maritime and admiralty law. May be repeated with permission of the instructor as topics vary.
LAW 857 Employee Benefits (2-4, FaSp) This course will examine the law governing employer-provided benefits to workers.
LAW 859 Regulation of Telecommunications (2-4, FaSp) Concentration on the regulation of broadcast television, cable television, telephone, and spectrum management.
LAW 861 International Law Seminar (2-3, max 6, Sp) Investigation of selected problems of international law. May be repeated with permission of the instructor as topics vary.
LAW 863 International Negotiations and Mediation (2-4) Introduction to negotiation and mediation from an international perspective. Development of essential skills for effective client representation in negotiation and mediation.
LAW 867 Major Corporate Civil and Criminal Fraud: Lessons of Enron (2-4, Sp) Examines the causes for the business failures of the Enron era through selected readings of law, accounting, business practices, contemporaneous evidence, investigations and indictments.
LAW 868 Business Enterprise Taxation (2-4, FaSp) Examination of the taxation of corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies.
LAW 870 Legal Writing Fellows (1-4, max 7, FaSp) Assist in teaching writing and advocacy. Responsibilities include helping prepare lesson plans and draft writing assignments and sample answers; leading class exercises; and judging first-year moot court practice rounds. Graded CR/D/F.
LAW 871 Constitutional Law II (2-4) The First Amendment, freedom of expression (political speech, symbolic expression, obscenity, commercial speech, defamation), rights of access to the media of expression. The protection of religion and the prohibition of the establishment of religion.
LAW 872 Advanced Legal Writing and Advocacy: Appellate Advocacy (1-4, FaSp) Students will research, write, and rewrite an appellate brief and may work on motions and oral advocacy as well.
LAW 885 Legal Rights in a Multicultural Democracy (2-4, FaSp) This seminar will explore current controversies over "multiculturalism" through the lens of the law.
LAW 890 Directed Research (1-4) Directed Research may be taken only with the approval of the Administrative Board. This course is intended for substantial independent research and study that does not result in a paper of publishable quality. It includes, but is not limited to, preparation of research memoranda for faculty research projects, empirical research for such projects, and supervised independent study. Directed research is to be supervised by a regular, full-time faculty member (including full-time visiting faculty). Students may take a maximum of 4 units of Directed Research during their educational experience at the law school.
LAW 891 Post-Conviction Justice Seminar I (1-5, max 5, Fa) Examines the substantive rights of federal prisoners with respect to parole, sentencing, validity of conviction and conditions of confinement and the procedural mechanisms by which to enforce those rights. Under faculty supervision, students provide legal assistance to federal inmates in administrative and judicial proceedings. Graded CR/D/F.
892 Post-Conviction Justice Seminar II (1-5, max 5, Sp) Continuation of LAW 891. Prerequisite: LAW 891.
893 Advanced Clinical Training (1-5, max 10, FaSp) For third-year students who wish to continue their clinical training.