text:
Unless otherwise noted within the course descriptions, courses are considered "in-class" credit and graded on an A-F scale.
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. |
LRWA I - Introduction to Legal Research, Writing and Analysis | 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. |
LRWA II - Trial Level Writing | 097 | 3 | Students continue developing their research, analytical and writing skills by working through a trial-level problem. Students will also participate in an oral argument. |
LRWA III - Appellate Writing | 098 | 2 | Appellate Writing builds on the practical legal writing skills students mastered during their first year. This course provides an opportunity to perform in-depth legal research and a high level of legal analysis as students brief both sides of an appellate case and participate in oral arguments. |
LRWA IV - 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: Structure of Government | 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 | The purpose of this course is to prepare students for the Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition. Students may only register with the permission of the instructor. As of Fall 2010, students receive two (2) total credits for this class. One (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class". |
Jessup International Moot Court Competition | 126 | 2 | The purpose of this course is to prepare student for effective participation in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition. All class participants must be members of the GMU Jessup International Moot Court Team. As of Fall 2010, students receive two (2) total credits for this class. One (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class". |
Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot | 127 | 1-2 | The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, held in Vienna, Austria, is an annual competition of teams representing law schools throughout the world (the "Moot"). The goal of the Moot is to foster the study of international commercial law and arbitration for the resolution of international business disputes and to train future law leaders in methods of alternative dispute resolution. This course prepares students to compete in the Moot. Students will meet weekly with the course instructors to learn more about how international commercial arbitration, and the Vis International Moot specifically, is conducted, to receive instruction on the most important sources of law for the competition - the U.N. Convention on the International Sale of Goods and the UNCITRAL Model Arbitration Law - and to receive guidance on researching and writing the Memoranda. Enrollment is with instructor permission only. In the fall, this is a seven-week course that starts mid-semester. Students who complete the fall course will receive one (1) credit. The spring course is a full-semester course for two (2) credits. One (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class." Enrollment in the fall and/or spring course is by permission of the instructor only. |
Constitutional Law: The Founding | 131 | 2 | This is a 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 the 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. |
Drafting for Practice: Matrimonial Law | 134 | 2 | This course prepares students interested in practicing family law for the stages of a dissolution of marriage proceeding in Virginia, including client intake, interim proceedings and discovery, and settlement documents, with an emphasis on the documentation required throughout the process. LRWA IV is a prerequisite. |
Preparing to be a Law Clerk | 140 | 2 | This course is designed to prepare students for the rigors associated with being a law clerk for a state court trial or appellate judge. It also will have application in your practice as an associate at a law firm. Starting with the interview process for clerkship jobs, resume writing and interviewing, and the role of the law clerk, all the way to the nuts and bolts for preparing motions, bench briefs and presenting cases to judges and partners, this course will address matters associated with the highly competitive world of being a law clerk. There will be several writing components to this course and it is suggested, although not required, that students have taken Evidence before enrolling. This course is graded "CR." |
Supervised Externship (Summer) | 142 | 2 | 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. Students are also required to attend a minimum of one tutorial over the course of the semester (tutorial dates are to be determined by the course instructor). All credits are considered "out-of-class," and the course is graded "CR". For more information about the program's requirements and application process, please see the Externship Information Packet. For more information on the role and responsibilities of a Supervising Attorney in this program, please see Guidelines for Supervising Attorneys. |
Supervised Externship (Summer) | 143 | 3 | 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. Students are also required to attend a minimum of one tutorial over the course of the semester (tutorial dates are to be determined by the course instructor). All credits are considered "out-of-class," and the course is graded "CR". For more information about the program's requirements and application process, please see the Externship Information Packet. For more information on the role and responsibilities of a Supervising Attorney in this program, please see Guidelines for Supervising Attorneys. |
Water Law | 146 | 2 | This course surveys the principles of property law and administrative law regulating the acquisition and use of river water. It studies common law doctrines including riparian rights, prior appropriation, and the public trust and other judicial doctrines protecting public rights in water. The course studies statutory schemes regulating water use, focusing on administrative permit systems and different variations on those systems. It surveys environmental and other statutory programs that incidentally limit parties' use of water. It also studies a few case studies in which government agencies have used ad hoc processes to try to reach consensus-based solutions to conflicts over water use. |
Writing Fellows Workshop | 150 | 1 | Limited to candidate Writing Fellows for LRWA. Course is graded "CR". |
Aviation Law | 151 | 2-3 | 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. |
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: The 14th Amendment | 158 | 2-3 | 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. As of Fall 2010, students receive two (2) total credits for this class. One (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class." |
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. |
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. |
Accounting for Lawyers | 169 | 2 | This course introduces you to accounting issues that arise in the normal practice of law. An understanding of some of the fundamentals of accounting and financial statements is useful in many respects. For example, a labor lawyer representing the Union who understands the company's accounting and financial statements can do a better job than one who is ignorant about finance. A business lawyer negotiating a deal sometimes can change a few technical words and save or gain the client triple digit thousands. Lawyers also need to understand accounting concepts and their embodiment in the various documents which represent the client's income, tax position, net worth, liabilities, liquidity, and general financial position. A lawyer with solid legal expertise whose conversation with the client can range over these topics is a huge asset both for the client and for the firm. |
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. Patent Law I and II are prerequisites to this course. |
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 | 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. |
Supervised Externship - Virginia Practice | 179 | 3 | This course 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 judge. Students may be placed in the offices of the Public Defender, Commonwealth Attorney, and Legal Aid. They may also be placed in the chambers of the Circuit Court, General District Court, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts judges. 180 hours of fieldwork is required for this program. Students participating in fall/spring program must attend two tutorials; the summer program requires attendance at one tutorial. All credits are considered "out-of-class" and the course is graded "CR". For more information on this program, students should review the Information Packet at http://www.law.gmu.edu/academics/clinics. |
Communications Law | 181 | 3 | A treatment of basic telecommunications law, policy, and regulation. |
Comparative Antitrust Law | 182 | 2 | Antitrust law and antitrust jurisdiction is not determined by the origin of, or the geographic area where the relevant action has taken place. It is determined by the action's effects. These could and, in a globalized economy, normally do take place any- and everywhere. The more so since the number of countries equipped with more or less sophisticated antitrust laws and enforcement systems has grown spectacularly in the recent years, and continues to do so. Concurrent overlapping of different antitrust laws and jurisdictions has therefore become much more the rule than the exception. And, in essence, no modern antitrust enforcement anywhere in the world can omit to give a close look at what in the relevant area is being done in the US and in the EU. The course focuses on modern Antitrust law and enforcement in a global setting. It will delve into and compare the main antitrust categories (agreements, monopolization, mergers, administrative and court enforcement) from the perspective of mainly the US and the EU systems. It will, furthermore, devote attention to the BRICS countries and to those countries having a significant antitrust record. Finally, it will deal with international antitrust enforcement, both in terms of concurrent or shared enforcement between different systems, and of the workings of international networks, structures, and organizations. Antitrust is a prerequisite for this course. |
Legal Clinic - Supreme Court | 185 | 4 | The Supreme Court Clinic, offered in partnership with Wiley Rein LLP, provides pro bono legal representation before the United States Supreme Court. The year-long clinic provides George Mason law students with the opportunity to work closely with Wiley Rein attorneys to identify cases of interest, research legal issues, and draft Supreme Court briefs on behalf of parties and amici at both the certiorari and merits stages. Students accepted into the clinic also will receive classroom instruction, analyze federal and state appellate decisions for possible litigation opportunities, and attend at least one Supreme Court argument per Term. The clinic is a two semester (fall and spring), graded class, with two credits awarded each semester. Constitutional Law I: Structure of Government is a prerequisite. |
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. |
Commercial Fraud | 196 | 2 | Parallel to the legitimate world of international commerce and finance, there exists an alternative universe of commercial fraud. From Charles Ponzi to Bernard Madoff, commercial fraud is a matter of the gravest concern because, apart from direct and indirect losses, it poses a serious threat to the integrity of the economy. One of the significant problems in dealing with it is the lack of a systematic study of its nature and of the role of law in combating it. This course studies commercial fraud from the perspective of financial fraud, commodity fraud, and fraud regarding the sale and delivery of goods, consumer fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, risk management, insurance, and money laundering, touching on issues in commercial law, contract, tort, and regulatory matters as well as criminal law. |
Corporate Tax | 198 | 3-4 | 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. Income Tax is a prerequisite to this course. |
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. Criminal procedure is a prerequisite for this course. |
Law and Economics Colloquium | 208 | 2 | This is an advanced course that will bring together outside scholars, resident faculty, and GMUSL students for discussion of cutting-edge research papers in the law and economics tradition. Approximately two of every three weeks will feature a leading scholar presenting a paper growing out of his or her research in the law and economics tradition. On weeks for which there is no outside speaker, the seminar will meet to review prior workshops and to discuss papers to be presented in later sessions. Students must write short critiques of the papers and are expected to engage in the discussion. The critiques are due at the beginning of each workshop. |
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. |
Family Law | 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. |
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. Income Tax is a prerequisite to this course. |
Evidence | 222 | 3-4 | 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. |
Water Resources Law | 225 | 2 | This course will look at water law from the quantitative rather than qualitative side. It will cover both common and statutory law relating to private and public water rights, including the prior appropriation and riparian doctrines, equitable and congressional apportionment on interstate streams as well as groundwater issues. Statutes impacting flood control, navigation and water reclamation will be part of the survey. The relationship, or conflict, of this body of law with more contemporary environmental statutes will also be treated as time allows. Grading will be based on two work products: a critical book review of Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert and a longer paper on a topic to be assigned by the instructor. |
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 | 2 | 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 and economic foundations of the United States health care delivery and payment systems are analyzed from the differing perspectives of providers, payers, patients, contractors, and governments, including health reform and the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, managed care and insurance, professional licensure and discipline including practicing medicine and nursing, charitable and private hospitals and nursing homes, life sciences including genomics and genetics, and life, dying, and death. |
Advanced Constitutional Law: Freedom of Religion | 234 | 2 | This class examines the original meaning of the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses as well as contemporary constitutional jurisprudence and conflicting schools of interpretation. |
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. |
Antitrust Economics | 237 | 2 | The goal is to understand the role of economists and economics in competition policy and enforcement, the economic theory applicable to antitrust issues, and to apply economic theory to the facts of real antitrust and merger cases. Each week we will study and discuss at least one major case. We will also read relevant economic literature. We will cover the following subjects including introduction to antitrust economics, estimation of cartel damages, economics of cartels, abuse of dominance: rebates, monopolies: market power and loss estimation, market definition, joint venture economics, vertical restraints, free-riding, and intellectual property. Economic Foundations of Legal Studies (Law 108) is a prerequisite for this course. |
Independent Study | 238 | 1-3 | Each independent study course must be approved in writing by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, 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. All credits are considered "out-of-class" credit. Students may propose to complete an independent study for a letter grade or "CR" credit. |
Law and 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 | 2-3 | 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 Trade Law and Regulation | 253 | 3 | Covers the theory and practice of international trade law including U.S. laws and the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime. Includes trade remedy litigation (e.g. antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard investigations) and export controls for U.S. national security purposes (including the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, U.S. Department of State (DDTC); the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (BIS); Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of Treasury (OFAC)). Also examines domestic and international anti-bribery issues (including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)). |
Supervised Externship & Clinic - Domestic Relations | 254 | 3 | The Domestic Relations program, supervised by Former Judge and Senior Lecturer in Law Leslie M. Alden, has a clinical component and an externship component. In the clinical component, students have a unique opportunity to assist pro se litigants in obtaining uncontested divorces in Fairfax Circuit Court. Pro se litigants who already have initiated the divorce process in Fairfax Circuit Court but have been unable to complete the process due to difficulties with filing the necessary documents, are referred to the Domestic Relations program by the Court. In the clinical component, students are given their own case load of litigants to assist and may meet with clients, draft pleadings, review documentation and appear in court for ore tenus hearings before a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge. In the externship component, students are assigned to a supervising attorney who is an expert in domestic relations law and will work in the supervising attorney's office on all manner of domestic relations issues and cases. Students may perform research and writing, assist with the discovery process, and observe court proceedings. Additionally, if they have their Third-Year Practice Certificate, some students may even have the opportunity to argue motions for support or minor property determinations. 180 hours of fields work is required for this program. Students must also attend a two-hour training session and one classroom tutorial during the semester. All credits are considered "out-of-class" and the course is graded "CR". Space is limited. Students must submit an application to CAAS and interview prior to registering for this program. Applications are available through CAAS. Students may participate in this program twice, subject to space and professor's approval. For more information on this program students should review the Information Packet. |
International Environmental Law | 255 | 2 | This is an introductory course on the theory and practice of international environmental law including bilateral and multilateral agreements and nonbinding instruments. It will touch, generally, on the sources of law: customary international law, general principles of law, decisions and actions of international organizations, and instruments negotiated by governments or developed transnationally in the private sector. Substantive areas explored in this class include transboundary pollution and disasters, ozone depletion, climate change, water allocation, biological diversity and endangered species, and environment and trade. The relationship between international environmental law and national sovereignty will also be discussed throughout the course. |
Labor Law | 256 | 3-4 | 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. |
European Union Competition Law | 259 | 2 | European Union Competition Law impacts significantly on the ways in which companies, both large multinational corporations, and small and medium-sized enterprises, conduct themselves in the competitive environment. The primary focus of this course will be on the control of multi-lateral and unilateral anti-competitive conduct. The course will focus on the operation of the EU Competition Law regime, based on articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU, and procedural and implementing legislation. The course will also consider the main provisions of American Antitrust Law, as enshrined in Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act 1890, and Section 5 of the FTC Act. In both cases the outline of the institutional processes, and the relationship between public and private enforcement will be considered. The course will also consider the context within which the law operates, focusing on the relevant economic principles and theories, as well as the tensions in the economics debate, underpinning the application of the law. Antitrust is a prerequisite for this course. |
Legal and Economic Theory of Intellectual Property | 264 | 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. |
Prosecuting Terrorism and Cases Involving National Security | 265 | 3 | This course is divided into three areas. First, the course analyzes the body of substantive criminal statutes addressing acts of terrorism and protecting the nation's security. Case studies are used to provide appropriate context. Second, the course analyzes statutes pertaining to national security investigations, provides case studies, and discusses challenging evidentiary issues in national security cases. Third, the course focuses on actual prosecutions. Some concepts, such as the government's obligation to turn over exculpatory evidence and sentencing-related issues, are generally applicable throughout the criminal justice system. Others, such as the use of classified information, are unique to national security law. Both areas are discussed in detail. Criminal Law is a prerequisite for this course, and Criminal Procedure is suggested but not required. |
Legislation and Statutory Interpretation | 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. This course is limited to students in the Litigation Track. |
Local Government Law | 272 | 3-4 | 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. |
Advanced Securities: Law and Economics 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 two 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, and students with third-year practice certificates will represent their own clients in civil mental health commitment hearings. As of Fall 2010, students receive three (3) total credits for this class. Two (2) credits are "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class" credit. The course may be offered for a letter grade or for "CR" credit. The instructor will make this determination before the start of each semester. |
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. |
Energy Law and the Environment | 280 | 3 | This 3-credit writing course will cover the basic elements of energy law and its intersection with natural resources and environmental policy and law including air, climate, water, endangered species, and other kinds federal and state regulation. The course will also cover introductory material regarding economic regulation of energy sources. The grade will be based on one (1) book review and two (2) major papers. The book will be assigned by the instructor. One of the major papers must address an area of energy and environmental interface. The second paper may cover a topic of the student's own choice even if it focuses exclusively on energy law or economics and energy law. All topics for either paper must be approved by the instructor in advance. |
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 Law I is a prerequisite to this course. |
Perspectives on Regulation | 289 | 2-3 | 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 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; and patent misuse. Patent Law I is a prerequisite to this course. |
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. Patent Law I & II are prerequisites to this course. |
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 Practicum - Regulatory Comments | 300 | 2 | 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 and 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. |
Patent Office Litigation | 306 | 2 | The recent passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) has shifted the battleground of certain patent challenges from district court to the USPTO by creating new, more powerful, fast-track, litigation-like review proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review, and the transitional program for covered business method patents. This course will cover practical aspects of how patent office litigation proceedings are used on their own and in conjunction with district court litigation to achieve client aims. The course also explores the interface between the proceedings and the district courts, the USITC, and the Federal Circuit, presents hypothetical scenarios addressing situations that are expected to occur, and provides an overview of comparable proceedings in selected countries to provide students with an international perspective. The course will involve lecture with frequent opportunities for student input and consideration of how to counsel clients on available patent office litigation options and limitations. Practical strategies and a working case study for analysis will be used. Patent Law I and II are prerequisites for this course. |
Veterans Law | 308 | 2 | The number of cases brought by veterans in search of benefits to the Department of Veterans Affairs ("DVA") is expected to exponentially increase as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down and the military continues to draw down its numbers. With that increase will come a corresponding increase in veterans seeking review of decisions made by their local DVA offices in an attempt to secure benefits. These veterans will require pro bono assistance, particularly because there is little to no remuneration available for representation for these cases. This course will introduce students to the bodies of administrative law that govern the administration of veterans' benefits, focusing attention on how veterans' claims are adjudicated through the DVA and governing courts. The course will incorporate a case study and practical exercises. The goal of the course is to educate and train students about a large, specific body of administrative law and prepare students to serve as pro bono counsel to veterans in the future. |
Legal Clinic - Legal Assistance to Servicemembers and Veterans (CLASV) | 309 | 2 | CLASV enables students to represent active-duty members of the armed forces, their families and veterans in a wide variety of civil and administrative, litigation and non-litigation matters, including consumer-protection, landlord-tenant, family law, contracts, and military law and entitlement matters. Students are supervised by law school instructors or private practitioners with subject matter expertise, attend 2 hours of weekly classroom instruction and status meetings, and conduct an average of 6-10 hours per week (fall & spring) of out-of-class casework. Students registered for the fall or spring session of the clinic will receive two (2) total graded credits for this course which are "in-class" credit. Students registered for the summer session of the clinic will receive two (2) total graded credits for this course, one (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class." Visit http://clas.law.gmu.edu for additional information. Application and Permission of the Director are required for registration. Students who possess a third-year practice certificate or ability to acquire one prior to start of semester are preferred and will be given priority. To apply, please email a resume to firstname.lastname@example.com and submit the CLASV Student Advisor Application available at: http://clas.law.gmu.edu/student-advisor-application/ |
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. |
Trademark Prosecution | 311 | 2 | This course will illustrate the practical aspects of trademark search, clearance, strategy, counseling, prosecution and enforcement. Class discussion will focus on the law, USPTO rules and procedures, pleadings and forms, and client counseling. The course is designed to give the students a background of what practicing trademark law would be like in a law firm or corporate environment. A background in Trademark Law (either through a Trademark Law course or work-related experience) will be helpful, but is not a prerequisite for this course. |
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 and warranty. It also provides an introduction to the UN Sales Convention, which the US has adopted. |
Refugee and Asylum Law | 313 | 2 | This course will cover the international and U.S. refugee law regime, with a focus on asylum law in the United States. The course will trace the history and development of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1967 Protocol, and the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980. Students will become familiar with the key actors in the asylum and refugee law arena, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, international non-governmental organizations, the U.S. Congress, the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and the federal courts. Students will gain an understanding of the refugee definition as interpreted in the U.S. |
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-Fall/Spring | 320 | 2 | 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. Students are also required to attend a minimum of two tutorials over the course of the semester (tutorial dates are to be determined by the course instructor). All credits are considered "out-of-class," and the course is graded "CR". For more information about the program's requirements and application process, please see the Externship Information Packet. For more information on the role and responsibilities of a Supervising Attorney in this program, please see Guidelines for Supervising Attorneys. |
Supervised Externship-Fall/Spring | 321 | 3 | 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 the Interior, and General Services Administration. Students also are required to attend a minimum of two tutorials over the course of the semester (tutorial dates to be determined by the course instructor). All credits are considered "out-of-class," and the course is graded "CR". For more information about the program's requirements and application process, please see the Externship Information Packet. For more information on the role and responsibilities of a Supervising Attorney in this program, please see Guidelines for Supervising Attorneys. |
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 | Law 329 - Trial Advocacy - 2 credits This course trains students in the preparation and presentation of evidence in jury and non-jury trials. Evidence is a prerequisite and the course is graded "CR". Students who have previously taken Law 329 Trial Advocacy for Competitors may not register for this course. Law 329 - Trial Advocacy for Competitors - 2 credits This course focuses on the same matters as Trial Advocacy, but its enrollment is limited to students participating in an intramural or extramural trial advocacy contest during the semester in which they register to take the course. All students must receive permission of the instructor to register, and priority may be given to students competing in extramural versus intramural competitions. All students must also have taken Evidence as a prerequisite or be taking Evidence during the same semester they enroll. As of Fall 2013, students will receive two (2) total graded credits for completing this course: one (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class." Students may participate in Trial Advocacy for Competitors a maximum of two times, subject to instructor approval, or one time if the student has already taken the non-competitor Trial Advocacy course. |
Trusts and Estates | 330 | 3-4 | 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. The course is graded "CR" and Evidence and Trial Advocacy are prerequisites. |
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. |
Unincorporated Business Entities | 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 works representing varieties of modern legal thought, which may include empirical legal studies, economic analysis of law, legal history, comparative law, and studies of the legal profession. The course meets three to four times over the semester. For each meeting students submit a brief reaction paper (5-6 pages) and read each other's reaction papers, on the basis of which one or two students will prepare a discussion outline in advance of the meeting. |
Perspectives on the Individual, Family, and Social Institutions | 344 | 2-3 | 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. |
Comparative Constitutional Law | 346 | 3 | In a world of increasing global interaction it is critical for American lawyers to understand the legal systems of other nations. This course will introduce students to comparative legal methods with an emphasis on comparative constitutional law. It will examine the general features of common and civil law systems, their underlying principles, and the scope of their constitutional protections. It will focus in particular on British and Canadian common law, French and German civil law, and examine the impact of European Union law on member states. |
Trade Secrets Law | 347 | 1-3 | 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. |
Patent Litigation at the ITC | 349 | 2 | This course provides an in-depth examination of the U.S. International Trade Commission and its adjudication of patent litigation disputes under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The course will focus on all aspects of litigation at the ITC, from the institution of an investigation under Section 337 through the Commission's review of an Administrative Law Judge's decision, as well as key Federal Circuit decisions involving the ITC. Students will not only learn the unique procedures of the ITC, but will also be exposed to policy considerations and the practical application of U.S. patent law in ITC investigations. Patent Law I is a prerequisite for this course. |
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. Patent Law I & II are prerequisites to this course. |
ERISA Law | 352 | 2 | This course introduces students to the laws governing employee benefits, principally the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. The course will examine selected topics related to both employee pension and welfare benefits including regulation of plans, preemption, plan administration, fiduciary duties, enforcement, plan operation, and termination. Students will also gain an understanding of the tax implications associated with employee benefit plans, both from an employer and employee perspective. |
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. Patent Law I & II and Patent Writing Theory and Practice are prerequisites to this course. Instructor approval can be obtained in lieu of prerequisites. As of Fall 2010, students receive two (2) total credits for this class. One (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class." |
State and Local Taxation | 359 | 2 | This course introduces students to the law of state and local taxation. No prior training in tax is required. Taxes covered include the real property tax, state personal and corporate 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 will also offer a smattering of public finance economics to assist those students who have an interest in elected, staff, lobbying or public-interest positions involving public-finance type issues in public fiscal and tax policy. The course will also cover the fact that states do not have equal revenue-raising capacity. The natural resource states such as Alaska can use severance taxes, the economic burden of which is borne in other states, and need not tax households. Knowledge of these capacities can assist students in advising clients where and what state tax burdens are low and seem likely to stay low. |
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. |
Economics of Private Law | 374 | 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. |
American Legal History Survey | 379 | 2-3 | This is a profession-specific civics course for aspiring lawyers. It is about the evolution of American law and legal institutions from colonial times to the end of the 19th century. By the end of the course you should have anecdotal knowledge of, and a comprehensive appreciation for, the development of courts and their relations with legislatures, executives, interest groups, and the general public; of legislation, regulation, and doctrine; of legal education; and of the organized bar – up to about the year 1900.This course is not an introduction to modern American law or government; rather, students are expected to have an understanding of those subjects sufficiently deep and current to enable them to understand analogical and passing references to modern topics. |
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 | 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. |
Sexuality and the Law | 390 | 2 | This course will cover developments in sexual orientation and gender identity law with an emphasis on current legislative developments. Topics to be discussed include employment discrimination, U.S. Military policy, marriage, and hate crimes. Participants will be encouraged to examine sexuality in the context of constitutional protections and limitations. |
International Commercial Arbitration | 391 | 1 | This is a course on the law and practice of arbitration as a means of commercial dispute resolution. The course places arbitration in the continuum of overall methods of dispute resolution from negotiation to litigation. It then deals with the laws which encourage agreements to arbitrate. The bulk of the course will be the development of an actual arbitration matter from the drafting of a demand for arbitration to the issuance of an arbitration award. |
Sports Law | 392 | 2 | This course combines three distinct elements of the modern sports world. First, it provides an introduction to the basics of sports law, e.g., the rules governing the operation of a professional league; regulation of the NCAA and the eligibility rules for amateur athletes; the fundamentals of Title IX and gender equity; and the role of the sports agent. Second, it covers two critical issues typically treated in a more advanced course on sports law, i.e., the role played by antitrust law and labor law with respect to professional sports. Third, it lays out the financial and economic issues that differentiate the business of sports (amateur as well as professional) from any other business model. Advanced knowledge of economics is not required in order to take and perform well in the course. The fundamental economic principles that are relevant are intuitive and easily understood, and will be thoroughly explained in class. |
Law Practice Management | 394 | 2 | This course is intended to give students who intend to enter private practice the basic foundation in the business aspects of law necessary to enable them to operate their own practice or to become a financially productive member of a firm. The course will expose students to all aspects of the administrative and business side of a law firm whether the student wants to hang out a shingle or become a partner in a medium to large size firm. It will acquaint students with the practical and ethical issues surrounding billing, trust accounts, and collections; marketing for lawyers; and client interaction from the initial consult to conclusion of the representation. Classes will include lecture, discussion, interactive role playing, and written projects. |
Readings in American Law | 395 | 2-3 | What is the point of reading and talking about a bunch of stuff from some bygone era? Actually, there are at least three points: (1) to gain deeper understanding and appreciation of an important period in legal history; (2) to practice the careful study of law in context; and (3) to enjoy one of the most enriching of lawyerly activities – reading about law and then probing its meaning and function with engaged colleagues. There is a lot of reading, and pre-class thinking, but if you like those activities you will like this course, because there isn't much else required (given that the quizzes described below will be pretty easy for anyone who does the reading). Grades: Your grade is based on closed-book quizzes and participation. Quizzes count for 1/3 of the grade. A short quiz consisting of a few straightforward factual questions about obvious topics in the assigned reading is given at the start of most sessions in which we discuss new material. The questions are designed merely to determine whether you have, in fact, done the reading and paid attention. They are easy to answer for anyone who has done the reading but are likely unanswerable by someone who has not. Participation counts for 2/3 of the grade. Let us be clear about this up front: Evaluation of participation in the course is inevitably largely subjective, which means that if you do not like the participation grade you receive there will be no basis for challenging it. Having said that, you are unlikely to get a bad grade if you come to every class prepared to make useful contributions, do in fact make those contributions, and respectfully listen to and comment on the contributions of others. It is in part because of those expectations that there is an electronics ban for this course. No one will be able to Google whatever we are talking about in class and then read something off a computer screen, passing it off as his or her own thought. All of us will have to read and reflect and perhaps even do a little bit of our own research before class in order to be confident that we will have something useful to share. What a wonderful thing that will be! |
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 asymmetric 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. |
Broadband Economy – Current FCC Initiatives | 398 | 2 | (NOTE: This course was previously called "Broadband, Net Neutrality, and the Future of Media") - In the Obama Administration's first term, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) addressed the future of media in the 21st century by, among other things, producing a National Broadband Plan and new "Open Internet" rules. In the second term, the FCC is continuing to make the expansion of wireline and wireless broadband a priority by updating universal service policies, implementing "incentive" auctions to free up spectrum, and holding public workshops to analyze the transition to IP networks. This course will review the FCC's major proceedings in these areas and debate the various policy proposals that are being offered by the FCC and others as solutions. Students will be graded based on class participation, assigned oral presentations, and several written essays due over the course of the semester. There are no prerequisites for the course. |
Health Law & Antitrust Seminar | 400 | 2 | The Health Law & Antitrust Seminar will cover various topics in health care law, including: (i) the continuing relevance of the Federal Trade Commission's and Department of Justice's Statements of Health Care Antitrust Enforcement Policy; (ii) the legal and economic analysis of (a) mergers of hospitals, physician groups, other health care institutions, and pharmaceutical companies; (b) attempts by physicians to collectively bargain with commercial payors of medical services, and the formation of physician networks; (c) agreements between or actions by branded and generic pharmaceutical companies that the Federal Trade Commission has argued delay entry of competing products to the market (the FTC has challenged a number of practices); (d) the formation of Accountable Care Organizations; (e) (alleged) monopsony power of commercial payors; and (f) professional licensing requirements/restrictions; (iii) state action immunity and health care markets; and (iv) Noerr-Pennington exemption and health care markets. In addition to a review of the relevant antitrust case law, we will review the economic literature on health care markets. |
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. |
International Intellectual Property and 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 Seminar | 420 | 2 | This course is identical to Law 374 with the exception that it is conducted as a Seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
Immigration Policy Seminar | 422 | 2 | This course will examine U.S. immigration policy as it is embodied in our laws and procedures and will ask how our nation's immigration policy reflect on our values as a nation. The course will discuss whom we let in, whom we keep out, how do we treat the people already here, and why. The course is broken down topically along the lines of a typical immigration law class, but this course is not concerned with the mechanics of the immigration laws. The class is intended to reach into the policy goals, the implications of policy, and the unintended consequences of poorly designed policies. |
Structure of Liberty Seminar | 425 | 2 | This seminar will examine the manner in which constitutions may be designed to protect liberty, with an emphasis upon and a close reading of the debates of the Framers at their Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. The debates are the greatest and least read set of deliberations upon liberty and democracy, and have the excitement of a fine detective novel. The course will also examine the empirical literature of how presidential and parliamentary regimes have fared, when it comes to protecting liberty, and students will read Bagehot's The English Constitution. The seminar will end with a look at the expansion of executive power in the U.S. |
Homeland Security Law Seminar | 426 | 2 | This course provides an introduction to the policy, strategy and practical application of homeland security through an understanding of the authorizing laws, regulations, and polices that established DHS. This is a multi-faceted course that will expose students to complex intergovernmental and public-private sector policymaking, operational planning and crisis management. The course is designed to promote subject matter understanding, critical analysis of issues and insight into senior leader decision making. It also includes a practical examination of stakeholder interaction and key subject matter areas through an interactive tabletop exercise and a research paper assignment as other interactive opportunities throughout the course. |
Health Law Seminar | 427 | 2 | The legal and economic foundations of the United States health care delivery and payment systems are analyzed from the differing perspectives of providers, payers, patients, contractors, and governments, including health reform and the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, managed care and insurance, professional licensure and discipline including practicing medicine and nursing, charitable and private hospitals and nursing homes, life sciences including genomics and genetics, and life, dying, and death. The legislative and regulatory process affecting and affected by health care will be considered, as will transactional and contract drafting concerns. |
Perspectives on the Individual, Family, and Social Institutions Seminar | 429 | 2-3 | This course is identical to Law 344 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
Computer Crime Seminar | 433 | 2 | This seminar will explore the legal issues that judges, legislators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys confront as they respond to the recent explosion in computer-related and online crime. In particular, the course will consider how crimes in cyberspace will challenge traditional approaches to the investigation, prosecution, and defense of crime, all of which have evolved from our experience with crimes in physical space. Topics will include: the Fourth Amendment in cyberspace, the law of electronic surveillance, computer hacking and other computer crimes, cyberterrorism, and intellectual property crimes. Although much of this class involves computer and internet technology, no prior technical background or knowledge is required. Any technology that needs to be understood will be explained in class, and students should not hesitate to ask for other technical explanations. Criminal Law is recommended but not required. There are no course prerequisites. |
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 | The course covers all core stages of a patent infringement action--from the filing of a complaint, to trial before judge and jury. Students work together as a litigation team representing one party in a patent infringement case against a team of students from Suffolk Law School in Boston. The course culminates in a trial either in DC or in Boston depending on the year (2013 will be in DC). Throughout the semester, the students participate in the various aspects of the case including drafting pleadings, working on written and document discovery, briefing and arguing claim construction (before a judge), taking and defending depositions, preparing expert reports, drafting summary judgment motions, and presenting at trial. A wide variety of roles and responsibilities are available and involve varying degrees of writing, research, and oral advocacy skills. Patent Law I is a prerequisite for this course. |
Advanced Constitutional Law: Freedom of Religion Seminar | 442 | 2 | This class examines the original meaning of the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses as well as contemporary constitutional jurisprudence and conflicting schools of interpretation. This course is identical to Law 234 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
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 | |
Law of Government Oversight and Internal Investigations Seminar | 448 | 2 | This seminar is intended to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective practitioners in the fields of government oversight and internal investigations. In particular, this course will examine the role of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General in protecting national security. Class sessions will rely on the case study method to illustrate relevant concepts related to internal investigations and program reviews. Discussion will focus heavily on Inspector General legal authorities, the report writing process, and effective interviewing techniques. In addition, collaborative partnerships are imperative to conducting oversight of domestic intelligence activities and national security investigations. Thus, legal authorities of the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Defense will also be discussed at length. |
Bankruptcy Reorganization Seminar | 454 | 2 | This Seminar will cover the procedures, the strategies and the dynamics of corporate reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Among other topics, the Seminar will examine management of the debtor's business, financing the debtor while in bankruptcy, what goes into a plan of reorganization and confirmation of the plan. The Seminar will use as a case study a current or recent corporate chapter 11 reorganization case including student access to the Court's electronic docket. Bankruptcy is a prerequisite for this course. |
Advanced IP Law Seminar: Technology and Entertainment | 463 | 2 | This seminar will focus on emerging copyright and trademark issues in the major content and technology industries, with a particular emphasis on topics that are encountered in the practice of IP law, including: musical licensing in the digital environment; the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; file sharing, cyberlockers and cloud computing; user generated content; film and television rights clearance; special problems in book publishing; the first sale doctrine and exhaustion of rights; cybersquatting and domain name expansion; and the unique legislative process and role of legislative history in copyright and trademark law. The course will begin with a basic overview of copyright and trademark principles, but students should have already completed the entry level IP survey course or another entry level course such as copyright law or trademark law. |
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. Business Associations, Income Tax, and Corporate Tax are prerequisites to this course. |
Law and Economics of Financial Regulation Seminar | 468 | 2 | This course will focus on the laws and regulations governing the securities, banking, and commodities markets. It will also introduce students to public policy debates in the financial regulatory context, applying public choice theory, cost-benefit analysis, the behavioral bias literature and empirical methods to debates about financial regulatory implementation. |
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. Antitrust is a prerequisite for this course. |
Smartphone Patent War: Antitrust & IP Perspectives | 490 | 2 | The past few years have seen a brutal war between smartphone manufacturers, which has led to significant litigation in the US and Europe, as well as antitrust complaints filed in various parts of the world. The purpose of this seminar is to discuss what led to this smartphone war, which actors it involves (Apple, Samsung, Google Motorola, Microsoft, etc.), the main patent infringement, breach of contracts and antitrust lawsuits that were filed by these actors, and how this war is likely to end. This seminar will generally appeal to students interested in the high-tech industry. There are no prerequisites for this course, although some knowledge (or at least interest) in antitrust and intellectual property. |
Emerging Law of Internet Privacy Seminar | 497 | 2 | Increasingly technology has served as a disruptive force which challenges society to make important decisions about what privacy is and how it should be respected and/or protected. Students will survey the historical, policy and technological bases of privacy and information governance. Particular attention will be paid to notions of "relationship dependent context" as it relates to the collection, use and disclosure of information. Leading legal academic scholarship in the field of information privacy will be discussed and students will apply knowledge of the law of privacy and technology to current legal and policy problems. Each student will apply their acquired knowledge both in class as well as through the preparation of a scholarly student paper. Issues such as Do-Not-Track and Online Advertising, Security Breaches, Workplace Monitoring, Comparative International Approaches, Ownership of Facts and Information, Health and Financial Privacy and more will be covered. |
Advanced Legal Research Writing Seminar | 500 | 2-3 | Limited to Writing Fellows in LRWA Program. |
Scholarly Writing | 510 | 2 | 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. As of Fall 2010, students receive two (2) total credits for this class. One (1) credit is "in-class" and one (1) credit is "out-of-class." Course is graded "CR". |
Law Journal Management | 511 | 1 | Limited to incoming editorial board members of the law school's academic journals. As of Fall 2010, students receive one (1) credit for this class which is "out-of-class" credit and graded "CR". |
Advanced Trademark Law Seminar | 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. Trademark Law is a prerequisite for this class. |
American Legal History Seminar | 602 | 2-3 | This course is an opportunity to examine more closely selected topics surveyed in the "American Legal History Survey" course. The specific content of this course will be determined by the instructors, with input (but not authority) from the students enrolled in the course, and thus the topics and readings will vary from year to year with the interests of the participants. The main idea is to become better students, scholars, and practitioners of American legal history. |
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. Income Tax, Trusts and Estates, and Estate and Gift Taxation are prerequisites to this course. |
Insurance Law Seminar | 608 | 2-3 | 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. This course is identical to Law 242 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
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. |
Telecom and Internet: Strategy and Policy Seminar | 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. |
Federalism Seminar | 620 | 2 | 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 | This course is identical to Law 397 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
Jurisprudence Readings Seminar | 622 | 3 | This seminar is devoted to a close reading of major works of legal and political philosophy. Past seminars have considered Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Blackstone, the Federalist-Antifederalist debate, and Tocqueville. For Spring 2014, the seminar will focus on the political and legal thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. |
Common Law and American Rights Seminar | 623 | 2 | This course is identical to Law 381 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
State Attorneys General Seminar | 624 | 2 | This seminar course will cover the history, powers and duties, and initiatives of the state Attorneys General around the country. It will begin with an overview of the history of the Office of Attorney General, followed by a survey of the law and related issues pertaining to the jurisdiction, powers and duties of the Office and its role in state government. Over the course of the semester, a number of contemporary issues regarding the state Attorneys General and their enforcement authority in antitrust, consumer protection, criminal law and environment as well as in state‐federal relationships will be discussed. Distinguished guest lecturers, who will offer insight on various high profile topics of interest, have been invited, including Attorneys General, former Attorneys General, and other members of the legal community. |
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. |
Law and Religion Seminar | 635 | 2 | |
Animal Law Seminar | 637 | 2 | This course is identical to Law 177 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
Disability Law Seminar | 639 | 2 | This course surveys American law as it relates to people with disabilities. Primary focus is on discrimination in employment, education, government services, public accommodations run by private entities, and housing. The course will also cover issues involving the civil rights of institutionalized persons. |
Surveillance Law Seminar | 641 | 2 | This seminar course will expose students to laws and policies relating to government surveillance, from traditional criminal wiretaps to high tech surveillance conducted as part of the global war on terrorism. The course will involve a survey of the Fourth Amendment's search and seizure caselaw and the application of that body of law to government surveillance efforts. Issues discussed will include: wiretaps in drug and organized crime cases; warrantless surveillance programs in the '60-'70s; legislative efforts to constrain surveillance; the expansion of government surveillance following the attacks of 9/11; and the implications of new surveillance technologies in an increasingly cyber- and technology-oriented world. |
European Union Law Seminar | 642 | 2 | This is a two‐credit course that aims to give students a comprehensive introduction to European Union law in the wake of the recent Treaty of Lisbon. The first part of the course will survey the succession of treaties that have led to today's EU and the institutions that govern the Union, and lay out key legal and political themes associated with the European integration project. The middle portion of the course will cover the role of the European Court of Justice and interaction of EU law with the national law of member states, then examine the EU as an international actor in its own right and the Union's increasingly important fundamental rights framework. The final segment of the course will cover the basics of the internal market and the four freedoms (free movement of goods, services, people and capital) and consider data privacy issues. The course also will give attention to research methods and sources. This course is identical to Law 213 with the exception that it is conducted as a seminar and will require a seminar paper. |
Federalism: Energy, Natural Resource & Environmental Policy Seminar | 644 | 2 | Energy and natural resources policies are often at odds with environmental regulatory policy. Increasingly, federal regulatory policy has been used to trump state policies relating to the generation of energy within states and the extraction of natural resources within states. Many states have pushed by filing suits against the EPA. This seminar will consider the relationship between federal and state regulatory policies, with an emphasis on recent cases or pending litigation. Students will be evaluated on the basis of constructive participation as well as short papers and class presentations. |