Required First Year Courses
Contracts (LAW-LW.11672)
Fall semester, 4 credits.
The body of law concerned with private agreements, including capacity to contract, contract formation, interpretation, conditions, excuse of performance, and remedies for breach, is the focus of this course. Attention is given to the Uniform Commercial Code and other relevant statutes as well as to principles of common law and equity.
Procedure (LAW-LW.11650)
Fall semester, 5 credits.
This course examines the rules governing civil litigation, with an emphasis on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Constitutional issues relating to jurisdiction and procedural protections are also considered.
Torts (LAW-LW.11275)
Fall semester, 4 credits.
Civil liability for breach of duty causing harm to persons or property. Intentional and unintentional injury; fault and no-fault theories of liability; strict products liability; theories and analysis of causation.
Lawyering (LAW-LW.10687)
Year-long course, 2.5 credits each semester.
The first semester involves a series of drafting exercises designed to develop essential skills in legal research and writing, to examine the functions and techniques of several forms of legal writing, and to explore the interplay of law and fact in legal analysis.
The second semester concentrates on a number of activities basic to legal practice: interviewing, counseling, case analysis and problem handling, negotiation, informal advocacy, and trial advocacy. Working in teams of two, three, or four, the students role-play and then critically review their experiences in each activity.
The Administrative and Regulatory State (LAW-LW.10925)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
This course addresses the public law institutions and procedures of the contemporary administrative regulatory state. It examines the legislative lawmaking processes, the implementation of statutes by administrative agencies through rulemaking and other procedures, and the role of courts in interpreting statutes and reviewing administrative action at the behest of affected private parties. This course examines the processes, purposes, efficacy and limitations of regulation through an administrative regime, rather than criminal enforcement or private law. Its goals are to introduce the materials, concepts, and tools that lawyers need in a world of statutes and regulations, and to analyze and assess critically the institutions of the administrative regulatory state.
Criminal Law (LAW-LW.11147)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
This introductory course covers the general elements of criminal liability and defenses. Under liability, the course examines the concepts of act and omission, causation, the necessary mental element, the scope of complicity, and the crimes of attempt and conspiracy. Under defenses, the course examines the general theory of justification and excuse and the particular defenses of necessity, duress, self-defense, and insanity.
First Year Elective Courses
Constitutional Law (LAW-LW.10589)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
Corporations (LAW-LW.10223)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
This course is a basic introduction to the law of business organizations. The course focuses on the central conflicts among owners of firms and between owners and managers in publicly held firms. Topics covered include agency, partnership, formation and financing of corporations, shareholder voting (proxy contests), securities fraud relating to proxies, managers' fiduciary duties, shareholder suits, mergers, and change of control transactions (takeovers).
Income Taxation (LAW-LW.10694)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
This introductory course, designed for first-year law students with no prior background in tax law, examines the basic concepts underlying the income taxation of individuals. Subjects covered include the definition of the tax base (income and deductions), timing issues, the tax treatment of various types of property dispositions, and issues concerning taxation of the family. Although the primary emphasis is on current law, the course covers a variety of policy issues, concerning both economic efficiency and questions of just distribution that are raised by the income tax.
International Law (LAW-LW.11577)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
This is a general survey course in Public International Law. It is designed to introduce students to the basics of the international legal system, including not only its fundamental principles but also its main institutional structures. Among other topics, we will study the traditional sources of international law (treaties and custom), international organizations, the law on the use of force, non-proliferation, international humanitarian law, human rights, and universal jurisdiction. We will also consider how the international legal system is changing in light of globalization and the emerging post-9/11 world order.
Property (LAW-LW.10427)
Spring semester, 4 credits.
A study of the institution of property: property interests in land and in wealth other than land; formation of interests in land; the estate concept; possessory and non possessory interests; concurrent interests; the landlord-tenant relation; the allocation and development of land resources by private arrangement and through community planning devices such as zoning and eminent domain.