Course Descriptions

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Delaware Course Descriptions: Master List (.pdf) updated 10/19/09

Delaware Course Descriptions: Master List (.doc) updated 10/19/09

LAW 618: ACCOUNTING FOR LAWYERS (NO CPA’S ALLOWED) (2credits)
This course is intended to familiarize the student with the basic principles of accounting and their connection to the law. Included is a study of appropriate accounting concepts from both a practical and a theoretical perspective. Of necessity will be a review of the statements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Opinions of the Accounting Principles Board and the official pronouncements of any other organization deemed appropriate. The student will also be asked to review pertinent cases affecting the ultimate accounting as well as legislation affecting the profession. Due to the problems discovered during the relatively recent accounting and management scandals a major emphasis will be placed on the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley and other statutes and regulations affecting the accounting industry.

LAW 530: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (3 credits)
This course studies the law governing administrative agencies in the task of carrying out governmental programs; interrelations of legislative, executive and judicial agencies in development of public policy; decision-making processes and internal procedures of administrative agencies and legislative, executive, and judicial controls on them.

LAW 539X: ADVANCED ANALYTICAL APPLICATIONS (2 credits)
This course is required for students with GPA’s between 2.5 and 2.69 after their first year in law school. AAA is a skills-oriented course focusing on advanced case and statutory reading, analysis and writing. AAA provides extensive written and oral feedback on and opportunities for rewriting of practice exams.

LAW 641: ADVANCED CONTRACTS (2 credits)
This course will cover topics which are generally not fully covered in the first year Contracts course, including third-party beneficiaries, assignment and delegation, and liquidated damages. Although the focus of the course is not the drafting of contracts, we will use contract drafting as a vehicle to discuss some of the topics which we will cover.
Prerequisite: LAW 508: Contracts

LAW 910: ADVANCED INCOME TAX (3 credits)
This problem-oriented course primarily focuses on business-related income tax concerns, including advanced tax accounting matters, the time value of money and property transactions.
Prerequisite: LAW 610: Federal Income Tax

LAW 639: ADVANCED INSURANCE ISSUES (2 credits)
A survey and analysis of emerging trends and doctrines in insurance law, this course provides special emphasis on the reinsurance contract including extra-contractual liabilities of insurers in first-and third-party contracts; bad faith actions; punitive awards; the impact of unfair claims practices acts on insurance practice; insurance implication on toxic torts; market share and enterprise liability; modern claim settlement techniques and practices.
Prerequisite: LAW 638: Insurance Law

LAW 775: ADVANCED LEGAL RESEARCH (2 credits)
This course will build upon basic legal research skills. The tools of legal research, including technology-based sources, will be investigated in detail. Legislative History, research in specialized areas of law, and non-legal research will be covered. Emphasis will be placed on research techniques and sources that students will need to rely upon in their practice of law.

LAW 768: ADVANCED TORTS (3 credits)
This course focuses on those aspects of tort liability that receive short shrift during the first year course. In a broad sense, the subjects covered could be described as affecting economic interests – either directly, as with the business torts, or by sullying plaintiff’s reputation, as is so with defamation. Yet the plaintiff’s interest in emotional well being also commands our attention. Thus, we also consider that aspect of defamation law, as well as invasion of privacy, and wrongful birth/wrongful life.
Prerequisite: LAW 518: Torts

LAW 788: ADVANCED TRIAL METHODS (2 credits)
This is a capstone simulation course in trial practice. The culmination of the course will be a daylong criminal trial at the end of the semester before a judge or experienced trial lawyer. A written trial notebook will be prepared and submitted. Students will be expected to perform relevant steps of the criminal justice system necessary to prepare a case for trial, with the assistance of and feedback form the instructor. Students will prepare pleading, motions and other materials for in-class analysis and will perform certain simulation exercises. In addition, case theory and courtroom ethics will be discussed. The course is graded A through F scale. Enrollment limited to 16 students.
Prerequisite: LAW 781: Trial Methods or LAW 779: Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP)

LAW 620: ALCOHOL, VEHICLE & THE LAW (2 credits)
This course studies civil and criminal issues of substance abuse and legal responsibility. Issues of what constitutes a vehicle, what constitutes operation, implied consent, the science of blood, breath, urine and saliva testing, social host liability, dram shop liability, under the influence vs. per se violations will be addressed. This course will consider the changing societal view of alcohol-related offenses and the effect of those changes on the legal system.

LAW 684: ANIMAL LAW (2 credits)
Animal law, currently taught in nearly 80 law schools around the country, is a two-credit course that addresses the legal and ethical treatment of animals in society. As presented in the course, animal law is not synonymous with “animal rights” or with any particular political, moral, or ethical agenda. Rather, it is an objective and methodical examination of a unique, specialized area of the law that continues to receive increasing public interest. The required text will be Animal Law, 3rd ed., Frasch et al. (Carolina Academic Press). Selected excerpts from articles in the journal Animal Law (published by the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College) and other readings will also be assigned. Because animal law is not a traditional legal field , assigned topics will be framed in terms of familiar contexts of the law such as tort, property, contract, and criminal law as delineated in case law and statutes. Specific topics to be covered will include: definitions of animals (e.g. wild vs. domestic vs. companion); the legal standing of animals; animals as property; non-economic damages for harm to animals; veterinary malpractice; anti-cruelty laws.

LAW 627: ANTITRUST (3 credits)
A survey of federal antitrust laws, the course covers horizontal restraints among competitors (price fixing, market divisions, customer allocation, concerted refusal to deal, group boycott), vertical restraints (intra band distributional restraints, exclusive dealing, tying arrangements), monopolization (monopoly power, relevant market, monopolistic conduct), attempted monopolization, predatory pricing, mergers and acquisitions, price discrimination, and special issues (direct purchaser, standing, antitrust injury, petitions to the government, and state action).

LAW 986: ART LAW (2 credits)
This interdisciplinary two credit course will focus on a variety of topics which may include: art transactions (Including consignments, UCC matters, and warranties); auctions; authentication and theft of art; copyright and First Amendment issues for artists; government aid to the arts; art related tax and estate planning; regulation of museums; and the international trade in works of art. The grade in this course will be based on a final exam.

LAW 900: BANKRUPTCY CLINIC (6 credits)
Students represent low-income persons, living in Delaware County Pennsylvania, who have debt collection and debt harassment problems. Often these clients need to file a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions. These petitions are filed electronically in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In addition to filing bankruptcy petitions, students represent clients in debt collection matters and frequently are able to stop illegal collection practices.
Prerequisites: LAW 702: Professional Responsibility and LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 631: BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS (4 credits)
This J.D. /LL.M. survey course analyzes the conduct of business in each of the principal forms of business organization, and the relative rights and liabilities of the members of such organizations and third persons. The course reviews the uniform partnership statutes, the Model Business Corporation Act, and The Delaware General Corporation Law, and considers the legal principles governing agency and partnership relationships as well as corporations. The course introduces the federal securities laws and the state statutes governing limited liability companies, limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships.

LAW 844: BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND TRANSACTIONS FOR LAWYERS (2 credits)

This course introduces concepts and documents with which business lawyers should be conversant. These concepts and documents include basic accounting principles, present value and risk, discounted cash flow analysis, option value, basic financial analytical tools, and basic business financing forms (including trust indentures, shareholders’ agreements, and preferred stock terms).

LAW 600 MJ: MJ BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS (3 credits)
This course examines the legal framework of business transactions, focusing primarily on the law of contracts and business organizations. Contract law topics include: enforceable contract formation; defenses to nonperformance of contracts; and remedies for breach of contract. The law of agency and the legal environment of business entities are also explored, including the creation and operation of corporations, partnerships, and limited liability corporations.

LAW 843: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (2 credits)
This course provides a survey of capital punishment beginning with the Supreme Court’s striking and reinstitution of the death penalty in the mid-1970s. Topics include political dimensions of capital punishment, substantive limitations on its imposition, procedural concepts governing its use and the law of habeas corpus. Offered as course or seminar; students may not take both.
Prerequisite: LAW 505: Criminal Law

LAW 977: CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (2 credits)
This course will be an in-depth study of the welfare system from the reporting of child abuse, through emergency seizures, court interventions, proof of maltreatment, evidentiary issues to adjudication and permanency planning. It will cover such topics as: defining maltreatment, privilege to discipline, neglect, sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment, medical neglect, termination of parental rights and representing children.

LAW 634: CHILDREN AND THE LAW (2 credits)
In this course, we will explore the interaction among child, family and state. Our study will focus on fundamental questions that arise from this interaction: who decides on behalf of the child? How does the law allocate power over the responsibility for children in our society? When and how should the state intervene in the parent-child relationship? We will examine these questions in a number of different contexts: abuse, neglect, foster care, adoption, divorce (custody and child support), medical treatment, and constitutional rights of children. Throughout our discussion of current practices and proposed reforms, we will attempt to keep the child at the center of the debate. (Not open to students who have taken a seminar of this matter.)

LAW 968: CHILDREN’S HEALTH LAW (2 credits)
This course emphasizes a legal s well as a medical and ethical approach to the complex world of pediatric and adolescent health law and is taught by a Physician/Attorney. Topics addressed will include issues of organ transplantation, end of life issues, informed consent, health insurance, medical research and others, all as they apply to children and teens. There will be several prominent health care providers as guest speakers to give added context to the course. The student will write a paper on a choice of topics in Children’s Health Law and give a brief discussion on the paper to the class. There is no final examination.

LAW 502: CIVIL PROCEDURE (4 credits)
This course studies civil litigation procedure, with emphasis on the development of modern federal practice. Topics include subject matter and personal jurisdiction, venue, joinder, pleadings, motions, discovery, summary judgment and related concepts.

LAW 504: CIVIL PROCEDURE II (2 credits)
This course consists of several units that explore topics and issues beyond those covered in the basic first-year Civil Procedure course. Units may include such matters as res judicata and collateral estoppel, forum non conveniens, joiner of parties, and introduction to class actions, and an introduction to the Erie doctrine.
Prerequisite: LAW 502: Civil Procedure I

LAW 903: CLINICAL EXTERNSHIP (3 credits)
Students enrolled in the Clinical Externship Program are placed in a wide variety of field placements, such as prosecutors, public defenders, general and specialized legal services offices and legal offices of non-profit corporations. The program is a full year clinical layering experience, with students engaging in supervised aspects of practice ranging from litigational to transactional from federal to state; from judicial to legislative to administrative. Regular placements are available in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and sometimes Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The program is designed to enhance the student’s practice skills, to familiarize the student with law practice procedures, to demand critical reflection upon proceedings in law practices and in the legal profession, to provide an in- depth, advanced experience with the professional responsibilities of lawyers and judges, to enhance the student’s ability to deal with issues of supervision in a legal setting, and to assist students in bringing career objectives into focus. Externs perform many of the normal duties of a practicing attorney under the field supervision of the attorney to whom (s) he is assigned. Enrollment in the program is for a minimum of two semesters. A student must devote an average of ten hours per week to their responsibilities in the field placement. Students also meet weekly for a classroom component. The class meets in large groups for simulation exercises that focus on issues of skills and professionalism related to their lawyering experience, and in small groups to analyze and discuss readings and supervises practice experiences. In addition, each student is required to keep a reflective journal of his/her experience, to be submitted to the faculty directors on a regular basis. Students earn a total of four (4) credits per semester two (2) pass/fail for the field placement component; two (2) graded for the classroom component) for a total of eight (8) credits for the required two semester sequence.
Prerequisites: LAW 702: Professional Responsibility and LAW 836: Evidence. Applicants must have completed three semesters of instruction and possess and maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.3. The faculty directors of the program have final authority to determine which students qualify for admission to the program, and which students to assign to which placements. Applicants must submit a complete current transcript of grades (student copy), two copies of a current resume and a Non-Classroom Credit Approval Form (available from the Registrar).

LAW 649: COLLOQUIUM: SELECTED TOPICS IN CORPORATE LAW (2 credits)
All candidates for the Master of Laws in Corporate Law and Finance must fulfill the requirements of the Colloquium course. This course, offered every spring semester, is designed to provide students with an intensive experience in writing and oral presentations, while immersing them in a particular area of the corporate law. The class will consider broad topics or themes in corporate law each year, and will be taught by a faculty member especially conversant in that area of the law. During the first several weeks of the course, the class will read and consider materials in the relevant subject areas. Each student will also consult with the professor on a scholarly paper concerning the same subject as the oral presentation, and will submit a paper of publishable quality by the end of the semester.

LAW: COMPLEX LITIGATION (3 credits)
This course is a course in advanced civil procedure that provides a more detailed study of some issues identified in introductory procedure courses and introduces new topics concerning case management. Students will study procedures utilized in civil litigation that is characterized as “complex” because of multiple parties, multiple suits concerning similar issues, or difficult and novel questions of substantive law. Topics addressed include: class actions, consolidation of cases, duplicative litigation in state and federal courts, intervention, interpleader, joiner of claims and parties, proceedings under the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation in federal courts, and alternative trial structures.

LAW 700: CONFLICT OF LAWS (3 credits)
This course provides a survey of issues peculiar to civil actions with multi-state elements, in both state court and federal court under diversity jurisdiction. The three principal topics are choice of law, personal jurisdiction, and recognition of sister state judgments.

LAW 601: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW I (4 credits)
This course introduces the United States Constitution as a source of law, largely through decisions of the United States Supreme Court. It examines foundational theories of government and individual rights from historical as well as contemporary perspectives. Topics include judicial review, federalism, congressional power, executive power, due process, and equal protection.

LAW 602: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW II (2 credits)
This course furthers develops the issues first seen in Constitutional Law I, with an emphasis on the speech, press, and religion clauses of the First Amendment.

LAW 900: CONSUMER CLINIC – BANKRUPTCY (6 credits)
The consumer Clinic – Bankruptcy is a one-semester client service clinical program offering an opportunity to study and to undertake actual cases involving consumer credit matters in the Pennsylvania and Federal courts on behalf of clients who are unable to afford legal services from traditional private sources. Clinical participants interview and counsel clients, provide assistance framing legal issues and preparing for litigation on behalf of clients in consumer credit matters, and in preparing for preliminary negotiations, non-judicial dispute resolutions and litigation in the Pennsylvania trial courts of appropriate jurisdiction and the U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Clients will be represented by clinical interns under with the substantive and procedural problems encountered in the clinic’s work and provide opportunities for group training and discussion. Preference will be given to third year law students who have taken Creditors’ Rights or consumer Law. All applicants must have completed LAW 836: Evidence or its equivalent, and the Commercial requirement. Completion of LAW 781: Trial Advocacy or its equivalent is helpful. Students will be selected by the Clinical Director after interview and submission of any relevant written materials.
Prerequisites: LAW 836: Evidence and LAW 702: Professional Responsibility

LAW 848: CONSUMER FINANCE LITIGATION AND IDENTITY THEFT (2 credits)
This upper level course examines principally federal statutes regulating consumer financial transactions from a litigation perspective. The course surveys Federal Truth in Lending Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the emerging Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as state consumer Protection Statutes redressing consumer fraud. The role of class actions and statutory attorney’s fees is addressed from a practical and practice perspective. Automobile dealer fraud and predatory lending is addressed. A significant portion of the course will be directed to the exploding tort of identity theft with particular emphasis on potential remedy for victims of identity theft.

LAW 508: CONTRACTS (4 credits)
This course studies the law governing contracts and contractual relationships. The course introduces the students to contract formation, performance, and non-performance, and explores the role of contract law in a market society.

LAW 734: COPYRIGHT LAW (3 credits)
This course surveys the law of copyright. Topics to be discussed include the subject matter of copyright; ownership and transfer of copyrights; the rights afforded to copyright owners; duration of copyright rights; infringement; and remedies. Related areas of law, such as author’s moral rights, unfair competition, and contractual protection of ideas, are also addressed.

LAW 739: CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY/ CHAPTER 11 (2 credits)
This is an advanced course dealing with all facets of corporate reorganization under Chapter 11 of title 11, U.S.C. The course will deal with the responsibilities of counsel and the duties of the debtors and creditors committees. Drafting of various motions, applications, and possibly Disclosure Statements or Plans will be required. Problem and analysis of various issues will be along role playing by teams of students who will be assigned to represent various parties (debtors, trustee, creditors committee, etc.). Class participation is encouraged and expected. Grades will be based upon class participation, drafting of pleadings, and team role.

LAW 738: CREDITORS’ RIGHTS & BANCKRUPTCY (3 credits)
This is a survey course of creditors’ rights, debtors’ rights and bankruptcy. The first part of the course will address state law collection remedies for creditors and federal laws that protect consumer debtors from illegal debt collection practices.
The second part of the course will focus on the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, giving particular attention to Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies. For Chapter 7 bankruptcies, the course will cover these elements common to business and consumer bankruptcies. For Chapter 13 bankruptcies the course will cover the elements of an acceptable plan to repay creditors and the unique aspects of a Chapter 13.

LAW 505: CRIMINAL LAW (3 credits)
This course studies the general principles that underlie statutory criminal liability, including a consideration of their judicial application in the context of selected offenses and defenses.

LAW 506: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE I – INVESTIGATION (3 credits)
This course provides in-depth consideration of the fourth amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure, the Fifth Amendment’s right against compulsory self-incrimination, and the sixth amendment’s right to counsel, all with particular emphasis on the judicial interpretation of the application of these constitutional provisions within the context of police investigation of crime.

LAW 784: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE II – PROSEC. & ADJUC. (3 credits)
This course surveys the criminal justice process from arrest through appeal. Constitutional provisions, statutes, rules of criminal procedure, and practice strategies concerning prosecutorial discretion, initial appearance, pre-trial release or detention, preliminary hearing, grand jury procedure, plea-bargaining and selected trial and appellate issues are considered.
Prerequisites: LAW 505: Criminal Law and LAW 506: Criminal Procedure I – Investigation

LAW 665: CURRENT CONCEPTS IN LAW & MEDICINE (2 credits)
This course will consists of 14 weeks of discussion of current major topics in Law and Medicine, team taught at each session by sets of two Professors, one representing the legal viewpoint, and the other from the medical professional field. Beginning the central portion of the offering, we will be joined by medical students from Drexel University and those sessions, also team taught, will be taken jointly with those students.

Those medical students will be using those six weeks as their Health Law Elective portion of their Humanities Studies. It will give you the opportunity to work together and think together and hopefully, to find common ground. Three sessions of the six joint meetings will be held at the Law school and three at the Philadelphia campus of Drexel Medical on Queen Lane. Some sample topics include White Collar Crime in Healthcare Practice, Tort Reform, The Law and Medicine in Public Health/Infectious Disease, Medical Error, and Legal and Ethical Aspects of Informed Consent. A final class will feature a mock Medical Malpractice Trial featuring an Orthopedic Surgical Expert, two experienced Trial Lawyers and a sitting judge. A final paper is required of the Law Students and the last several weeks will be devoted to student presentations

LAW 672: CYBERCRIME (2 credits)
As digital networks become increasingly pervasive and critical to our banking, power, telecommunications, health care, employment, law enforcement, and entertainment infrastructures, they become an increasingly tantalizing target to routine criminals, terrorists, and spies. A continuing increase in cybercrime is thus a certainty, for, in the words of Willie Sutton, “that’s where the money is.” This course will examine cybercrime, including hacking/cracking, wiretapping, cyber stalking, Internet threats, child pornography, and criminal intellectual property theft. The class will debate what technological and legal proposals optimally balance privacy interests, free speech interests, business interests, and law enforcement and national security interests; and whether cybercrime requires novel legislative and investigative responses or whether traditional notions of, and compilations of, criminal and constitutional law are adequate.

LAW 917: DELAWARE CIVIL CLINIC (6 credits)
This one semester client services clinical program provides students with an opportunity for intensive study and actual experience representing clients with civil legal problems under the supervision of law school clinical instructors. The Delaware Civil Clinic (DCC) provides free legal services to indigent clients with civil legal problems. Students participating in the civil clinic will interview and counsel clients, frame legal issues in cases, draft pleadings, negotiate legal matters and represent clients in court pursuant to Delaware Supreme Court Rule 56. In addition, a weekly seminar will provide skills training and discussion of substantive, procedural and ethical problems. Students are expected to work a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week. Participation is limited to eight (8) to ten (10) students. Selection for the civil clinic, unlike regular course selection, is based upon an application procedure, which may include written materials, interviews, and a final acceptance decision, by the Civil Clinic Director. Once enrolled in the Delaware Civil Clinic, students may not withdraw from the course without specific written authorization from the Director.
Prerequisites: LAW 836: Evidence and LAW 702: Professional Responsibility

LAW 770: DELAWARE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE LAW – BOARD (1 or 2 credits)
This journal requires a performance of significant and appropriate editorial duties. Total credits obtainable for courses designated LAW-770 and LAW-763 not to exceed six (6) credit hours. A student who takes LAW-770 cannot take LAW-763.
Prerequisites: LAW 762: DJCL- Note and LAW 763:- Staff and election to Law Review Editorial Board.

LAW 762: DELAWARE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE LAW – NOTE (1 credit)
This journal requires the preparation of a comment or note of publishable quality. It may not be repeated.
Prerequisites: LAW 763: DJCL-Staff

LAW 763: DELAWARE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE LAW – STAFF (1 credit)
This journal requires the preparation of case note or comment; analysis and criticism of recent cases; citation checking and critical review of publications of others. Total credits obtainable for course designated LAW 763 not to exceed four (4) credit hours.
Prerequisites: Completion of first year and invitation predicated upon scholarship or demonstrated writing skills.

LAW 740 : DELAWARE PRACTICE (2 credits)
This course provides an analysis of the jurisdiction of the courts in Delaware, civil and criminal procedure in Delaware courts, and special procedures applicable to Delaware. Delaware Practice should prepare students to practice law in the criminal and civil courts of the state.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 798/799: DIRECTED RESEARCH (1 /2 credits)
Students may write research papers for credit under the supervision of a full-time member of the faculty. The faculty member must approve the subject.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of one Seminar

LAW 765: DISABILITY LAW (2 credits)
This course examines the legal response to the issues confronting people with disabilities. General topics include the meaning of disability; the historical treatment and contemporary social status of people with disabilities; the role of the law in the construction of disability; and constitutional and statutory protections against discrimination in: education; employment; family rights; federally funded programs; housing; and public accommodations, benefits and services. Specific legal rights and protections include: the equal protection guarantee; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Fair Housing Amendments Act; the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and the benefits available under the Social Security Act (SSD/SSI and Medicare/Medicaid). Students have the option of completing a take home exam or writing a paper; the paper may be used to satisfy the School of Law’s writing requirement.

LAW 776: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (2 credits)
This course will explore the history of domestic violence, its effect on the victim, and the societal and legal responses to the battering relationship. The purpose of the seminar is to expose law students to the issue and the need for a greater understanding of domestic violence by the legal profession. The goals for this course will be accomplished through the text, class discussions, guest speakers, videos, student presentations and a written paper submitted by each student. As a requirement of the Seminar in Domestic Violence each student must submit a written paper of at least 20 typewritten pages, give an eight (8) to ten (10) minute presentation on their paper topic, participate in class discussions, observe a minimum of one domestic violence trial and provide a two to four page trial observation memorandum. Any paper submitted for a writing requirement must be written in accordance with the Student Handbook.

LAW 657: EDUCATION LAW (2 credits)
This course will present an introduction to and overview of current issues in education law. Topics covered will include the state’s role in education vs. the federal government’s role, high states testing, protected and on-protected expression by students and faculty, search and seizure in schools, religious issues in public schools, Title IX, tenure, and collective bargaining.

LAW 661: ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY (2 credits)
This course will investigate one of the most rapidly evolving procedural areas of litigation in modern history. Electronic Discovery touches practically all areas of litigation. The trial lawyer and corporate counsel must understand the strategies and tactics involved in this very new, fruitful, sometimes invasive, potentially disruptive and often expensive form of discovery. The course is designed to take the student through an introduction of the subject matter and into the technology itself. Practical issues will be studied relating to corporate planning, costs, and document retention. Students will be teamed together to engage in electronic discovery from the beginning to the end of the process. A special electronic discovery master will resolve disputes and issue sanctions where appropriate.

LAW 832: EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION (3 credits)
This course is a study of federal law of discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, and handicap. Theories of discrimination are considered in detail, and selected topics in Title VII procedure and litigation are discussed.

LAW 833: EMPLOYMENT LAW (3 credits)
Employment law examines the various, and unrelated, laws regulating workers and the workplace. This course focuses on the government’s ever-increasing role in regulating individual employee rights through common law and legislation, only touching on collective rights of labor to provide a comparison. This course is a survey course, touching briefly on topics explored more fully in courses on Employment Discrimination, Labor Law, ERISA and Employee Benefits, and Worker’s Compensation.

LAW 835: ENERGY & PUBLIC UTILITIES (3 credits)
This course examines the federal and state regulatory framework within which energy decisions are made. Students will study the legal, regulatory and economic principles of public utility regulation, the various legal systems that have been used to regulate energy, coal, hydroelectric power, and renewable energy, electric utility deregulation, the merging of economic energy regulation and environmental law, and the role of law in promoting or obstructing energy conservation and renewable energy.

LAW 883: ENTERTAINMENT LAW (2 credits)
The course will provide a practical and comprehensive overview of the business and legal issues arising in the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, book publishing and ethics. The topics will include acquisition of rights, talent agreements, project financing and structures, distributor and licensing agreements. The course will survey the various areas of the law that impact the entertainment industry, such as contract, business organizations, securities, labor, copyright, trademark and right of privacy/publicity law. A textbook will be used for the course along with articles and materials supplied by the course instructor.

LAW 831: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (3 credits)
This course surveys the federal and state statutes and regulatory programs which attempt to limit water pollution, air pollution, environmental degradation, species extinction, hazardous waste, and chemical regulation problems. The course will examine how and why these statutes and programs are structured the way they are, how the laws work, and the extent to which our environmental laws achieve their goals.

LAW 915: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC (4 or 6 credits)
The Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic gives you the opportunity to hone your skills in complex civil litigation while having a meaningful impact on the environment. Under the guidance of the Clinic Director, you will participate directly in the representation of real clients in real legal matters like enforcement cases, appeals, development of client-oriented strategies, and negotiating agreements. Whether it’s formulating initial case strategy, resolving the practical issues of discovery, assembling and presenting case proof, drafting and responding to dispositive motions and evidence at hearings, researching and drafting briefs, or the drafting, execution and follow up of settlement, you will have the opportunity to learn up close how civil litigation and client representation works. The Clinic’s projects are under all major federal environmental statutes, many state statutes, and local ordinances, and are fought in federal and state court or before administrative hearing boards. In addition, every two-semester Clinic intern will draft all the main documents of complex federal civil litigation – including a civil complaint, initial disclosures, document requests, interrogatories, deposition notices, request to admit, responses to various discovery requests, and a settlement agreement. A weekly seminar helps to supplement your work on Clinic projects. Two-semester interns take 4 hours of credit each semester; one semester interns take 6 hours.

LAW 820: EQUAL PROTECTION (3 credits)
This course examines selected issues surrounding the constitutional guarantee of equality. Focus will be on competing visions of equality and their underlying premises, including the history of slavery and reconstruction, conceptions of personhood and difference and conceptions of the state. Topics will include the relationship between historical context and constitutional doctrine; the relationship between equal protection form and substance; the construction of discrimination; and contemporary issues in equal protection, e.g., the future of desegregation, affirmative action, discrimination against persons with handicaps and gender discrimination. Readings include unedited Supreme Court opinions.
Prerequisites: Law 602: Constitutional Law

LAW 742: EQUITY (2 credits)
This course examines the history of equity; the powers of courts of equity including enforcement of equitable decrees, decrees as to foreign property, injunctions against foreign suits and injunctions and decrees as to foreign acts; the injunction; the declaratory judgment and related remedies like quia timet relief, bills to quiet title and interpleader; specific performance of contracts; equitable relief against tortuous interference with land and chattels like trespass and nuisance; the equitable defenses of the “clean hands” doctrine, laches and estoppels; and equitable defenses peculiar to specific performance, rescission and reformation like fraud, mistake, hardship, and inadequacy of consideration.
Students may not take LAW 655: Remedies and LAW 742: Equity.

LAW 951: ERISA, PENSION & DEF. COMP. (2 credits)
This course surveys the federal taxation and regulation of pension and employee benefit plans. Some provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) will be examined in depth, and the application of other laws such as the age discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) will be considered. Central themes for the course include the various types of tax-qualified pension plans and deferred compensation arrangements, welfare benefits, administrative requirements, fiduciary roles and responsibilities including some focus on the investment of pension plan assets, the importance of pension and benefit plans in corporate transactions and current litigation trends.
Prerequisite: LAW 610: Federal Income Tax

LAW 690: ESSENTIAL LEGAL CONCEPTS (2 credits)
This course offers an expanded pre-commercial bar review experience for graduating students designed to review core legal concepts in bar related subjects and to offer practice MBE and essay examinations. Faculty from both Widener and BarBri of PA/NJ provide a series of lectures covering the six multi-states bar subjects, and other bar related topics. Students will take three practice essay examinations, 5 MBE quizzes, and one in-class practice MPT. To receive full credit, students must complete all examinations/quizzes, and attend all lectures.

This course, while designed to meet the needs of Widener students, should not replace the more comprehensive commercial bar review courses available. Students are able to audit this course free of charge; however no course credits will be awarded. Students must have permission from the professor to sign up as an auditor of this course.

Essential Legal Concepts (by video only): Enrollment in this independent study version of the course is limited to those students with significant scheduling conflicts that prevent attendance in the regular course for credit. Enrollment is by permission of the course administrator only. You may submit requests for this section at anytime. However, approvals will only be granted after registration start times have passed for all students eligible to take the class.

LAW 744: ESTATE PLANNING (2 credits)
This course is a problem-oriented study of the methods of creating and implementing an estate plan to accomplish a client’s wishes regarding disposition of assets with minimal estate shrinkage due to taxes and other expenses. Topics include the use of wills, trusts, insurance, stock purchase agreements and postmortem estate planning devices. Students will develop and prepare estate planning documents and will counsel hypothetical clients in lieu of a written final exam.
Prerequisites: LAW 610: Federal Income Tax: LAW 609: Federal Estate and Gift Taxation; and LAW 834: Wills and Trusts or co-requisite: Wills and Trusts.

LAW 6027X: EUROPEAN UNION LAW (2 credits)
We will examine the fundamentals of European law using the second edition of Dinnage and Murphy, "The Constitutional Law of the European Union" (May 2008). The course begins with some historical background, and an introduction to the institutions of the EU, plus an outline of the original common market and its evolution into the much broader Union of today. We then proceed to address various aspects of the EU as an autonomous legal system including primacy of EU law and the forms of legislation. This is followed by an examination of the division of competences between the Union and the Member States, including such matters as the internal market, intellectual property, competition (antitrust) policy, taxation and financial controls, and the conduct of foreign relations. The next part of the course covers materials dealing with the branches of EU governance, including on the administration of competition policy and the growth of European rights of action in the courts of the Member States. Finally, we will cover Fundamental Rights, including EU Citizenship and due process.

LAW 836: EVIDENCE (4 credits)
This course studies the law governing proof of disputed factual matters in criminal and civil trials, including, but not limited to, issues of relevancy, competency, hearsay and other exclusionary rules, and the privileges of witnesses.

LAW 636: FAMILY LAW (3 credits)
This course considers state and constitutional issues relating to the regulation of sexual and family relationships. Among the areas that may be covered are defining what constitutes a family, entry into marriage, divorce, and its economic consequences (alimony, property distribution and child support) and child custody. The course draws on constitutional principles, statutes, and the common law to study the family in the legal system.

LAW 747: FEDERAL COURTS (3 credits)
This course explores the role of the federal judiciary in our system of government. First, the course is concerned with the complicated issues of federalism presented by the existence of two sets of courts -- state and federal. Second, it examines the tensions inherent in the separation of powers between the political branches and the judiciary. While this course is not intended as a "practice" course, it combines the study of constitutional theory with the reality of politics.

LAW 609: FEDERAL ESTATE AND GIFT TAX (3 credits)
This course surveys and analyzes the excise taxation of lifetime and testamentary transfers of assets. Consideration is given to computing the descendant’s gross estate. The federal estate tax concept of ownership is explored by focusing on property owned at death, certain lifetime transfers, revocable and amendable lifetime trusts, annuities and pensions, joint tenancy property, powers of appointment, life insurance, valuation, unified credit, and marital, charitable and other deductions.
Prerequisite: LAW 610: Federal Income Tax

LAW 610: FEDERAL INCOME TAX (3 credits)
This course surveys and analyzes the federal system of income taxation. Topics include gross receipts, gross income, exclusions, gain-seeking and personal deductions, credits, rates and tax accounting.

LAW 624: FEDERAL JURISDICTION (2 credits)
This course examines topics relating to the federal courts that are not regularly covered in Constitutional Law or Civil Procedure, but are often tested on the bar examination. Specifically, the course explores the powers of the federal courts as well as limits on those powers arising from the relationship of federal courts to state courts and to other branches of the federal government. Subjects covered include constitutional and legislative controls over the jurisdiction of federal courts and judicially imposed limits on federal court jurisdiction, such as the doctrines of state sovereignty and political question.
Students taking this course may not also take LAW 747: Federal Courts.
Prerequisites: LAW 601: Constitutional Law I

LAW 810: FIRST AMENDMENT (3 credits)
The course is a compact, three-credit study of the first amendment. Topics may include: development of first amendment doctrine and the central issue of social and political advocacy; rights of the press; privacy, libel and tort law; symbolic dissent; commercial speech; obscenity; and the religion clauses.
Prerequisite: LAW 601: Constitutional Law I

LAW 851: GAMING LAW (2 credits)
This course will present an introduction to and overview of the current issues in gaming law. Topics covered will include the state’s regulation of permitted gaming activities and venues.


LAW 6011X: GLOBAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND PRACTICE: HOT TOPICS (1 credit)
Global public health practice involves traditional subject areas– maternal and child health, nutrition, humanitarian relief, reproductive health and more. Today the scope of practice has expanded beyond traditional subjects to include new ones, many of which are influenced by the law, of which a well known is tobacco control. International trade and others too can be counted and are included in this course. What’s more, every public health practice area is affected by globalization and the emerging trend towards global public health governance. This course on Hot Topics looks at global public health practice areas from the perspective of the law. How does the law support or impede the achievement of health objectives? Topics include the role of the law in global public health practice areas of infectious diseases such as HIV and SARS; of international trade and drug access; of humanitarian relief and disaster management; national health sector reform; new forms of international organizations such as the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria and TB; international clinical research and ethics; medical tourism; disability; and more.

LAW 819: GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS (2 credits)
This course provides a discussion, analysis and research of the sovereign's power to contract, dealing with applicable statutes, regulations, executive orders, and sovereign immunity. Topics include methods of procurement; problems of offer and acceptance, consideration, and authority of government agents to contract; issues of disputes and claims; special accounting techniques; and interface with labor law, products liability law, and white collar criminal law.

LAW 712: HEALTH CARE FINANCE (2 credits)
Beginning with some basic material on economic concepts, the class first will study different kinds of private insurance that have been the major sources of health care finance and the most recent innovations in the industry. Next, the class will examine the integration of providers, managed service organizations, and provider owned networks through which health care professionals have sought to retain their bargaining position with the underwriters of care. Finally, we will explore the effect of major federal payment programs. (Medicare, Medicaid and CHAMPUS) and the impact of ERISA on managed care organizations and integrated delivery systems).

LAW 667: HEALTH CARE TRANSACTIONS (2 credits)
This course will address corporate legal and tax issues as they apply to a number of contemporary healthcare transactions. The course and the issues discussed will be from a transactional lawyer's perspective. As such, certain transactions will be dissected to identify the relevant legal issues and to arrive at practical legal solutions. The hottest transactions today involve physician compensation and incentive arrangements; physician practice acquisitions; investor?owned physician practice management companies; the formation of integrated delivery systems; and the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information. These transactions are also the most likely to come under regulatory scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, Office of Inspector General, and the Justice Department.
This course is not a tax course. Nevertheless, certain tax issues will be addressed, particularly with respect to tax?exempt healthcare institutions because they are such a predominant player in the healthcare industry. Each student is expected to grasp the salient points of the tax issues discussed.

During the semester, we will analyze real and hypothetical transactions in the form of case studies or class problems. As a part of the class curriculum, we will also explore the types of legal entities used as acquisition vehicles and for joint venture purposes, examine corporate documents pertaining to the various corporate transactions, develop an effective due diligence plan to uncover legal issues as part of the acquisition process, and understand the importance of implementing a corporate compliance program to detect and prevent fraud and abuse. Also, alternative forms of dispute resolution will be introduced to cover those situations when the deal goes bad. Underlying each transaction, each student should always be aware of and sensitive to ethical considerations that govern each lawyer's professional conduct.

There is no central textbook for the course; however, the federal income tax issues discussed for the first three weeks of the semester will be from the treatise published by Tax Management, Inc, (Washlick, 873 2nd T.M., Nonprofit Healthcare Organizations: Federal Income Tax Issues) which will be provided to each of you. Handouts will be provided identifying relevant cases, statutes and regulations covering the major issues for each week and each student is expected to be familiar with the materials so that they can actively contribute to class discussions.

At the end of the semester, students should be able to identify corporate, tax, and fraud and abuse issues with respect to a number of transactions discussed in class. Each student should be able to develop alternative legal strategies to accomplish the client's objectives; develop an effective due diligence plan; and draft the appropriate contractual provisions to accomplish the client’s business purpose and to preserve the client's rights.
The final exam will be a take-home exam. Students should complete the final exam within the time allotted and follow all instructions

LAW 713: HEALTH LAW ADVANCED RESEARCH (1 or 2 credits)
This research course is intended primarily for students enrolled in the health law LL.M., D.L., and M.J. programs. It provides the framework for completion of the required Master’s Thesis in Health Law. This year the course is also open, with the permission of the Instructor, to J.D. students who have taken Health Law courses and/or have substantial health care experience. The expectation is a paper approximately fifty to sixty pages in length on an original Health Law related topic, to be agreed upon with the Instructor. The paper will be presented to the class and Health law faculty at the end of the semester.

HEALTH LAW ASSISTANTSHIP PROGRAM
Widener’s Health Law Assistantship Program (“Program”) seeks to provide qualified students with supervised work experience during the course of study for a J.D. or LL.M. Widener will undertake to place students admitted into the Program with health care businesses and nonprofit concerns in the Delaware Valley region (“Sponsors”) to work a minimum of 10 hours per week under the supervision of practicing attorneys. Students are required to complete 2 evaluations at the end of each semester’s work, a brief evaluation of the Sponsor and a self-evaluation of 3 pages, addressing concepts and skills learned and/or practice and ethical issues encountered. It is anticipated that each extern will participate in the classroom component of the program. Upon satisfactory completion of a semester’s legal assistantship, the student will receive 3 pass/fail credits towards degree completion.
Prerequisites: Must have completed all 1st year courses, have taken Health Law I or II, have taken or be taking Professional Responsibility, and have a minimum GPA of 2.7.

LAW 709: HEALTH LAW I (3 credits)
This course provides an introduction and overview to the study of health law. The course is divided into three parts. Part I looks at quality in health care: how to measure it and how to improve it. Physician licensing, malpractice litigation, and new government initiates to lower the rate of error in medicine will be considered. Part II looks at how society can promote access to health care, what the goals of a health care system should be, and introduces federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Part III looks at the economics of health care in an introductory way, considering the choices available to control costs in a health care system. Part IV then looks at the role of the patient in a health care system: patients’ rights to give an informed consent to treatment, to be warned about risks, to have private medical secrets kept secret, to receive quality care, to control the experience of one’s own death.

LAW 710: HEALTH LAW II (REGULATING THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY) (3 credits)
This course provides a more detailed examination of health care as a highly regulated industry in the United States, looking at government approaches to controlling costs and promoting access through both private and public law. It provides a look at the history of the American health care system, the theory and practice of policies that underpin such reimbursement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and regulatory strategies developed to control costs-the Diagnosis Related Groups program, the Fraud and Abuse laws-and to promote access EMTLA, the law of tax exempt status, and others. The goal of the course is to give the student a sophisticated sense of the range of legal issues facing the health law practitioner today.

LAW 929: HEALTH LAW EXTERNSHIP (1 to 3 credits)
This course is an extern placement program which is especially directed toward integrating health professionals and legal assistance. A typical extern under this program will be assigned to a hospital legal staff or as a special assistant to a hospital administrator for legal purposes. The extern placement is jointly supervised by a full time faculty member who is an expert in health law and related fields and by the clinical supervisor for extern placement. It is anticipated that each extern will participate in the classroom component of the Pennsylvania Civil Clinic and will spend at least 5 hours per credit hour at work in the clinical placement. This placement will pass-fail course.
Prerequisite: Must have taken 1 of 4: LAW 709: Health Law I, LAW 710: Health Law II, LAW 667: Health Care Transactions, or LAW 712: Health Care Finance

LAW 706: HEALTH LAW PROFESSION (2 credits)
This course is designed to acquaint law students with the medical profession, its organization and specialization; scientific and technical terminology; the doctor-patient relationship; the physician as expert witness; hospital organization and records.

LAW 707: HEALTH LAW: REGULATING FRAUD (2 credits)
This course provides a sophisticated look at the statutory bases for fraud investigations and prosecutions involving individual, institutional and corporate health care providers and those who manufacture, distribute, and market products used in the health care system. It will explore the underpinnings for fraud prevention, as well as the many statutes that are intended to ensure that patients receive quality health care that is based upon medical necessity and the needs of the patient, and to ensure that private and government insurers pay for quality and necessary care. The course will cover developing legal theories in the prosecutorial realm, investigative methods, and fraud prevention programs in regulatory agencies.

LAW 667X: HEALTH SYSTEMS & HOSPITAL REPRESENTATION (2 credits)
This class will focus on the wide range of issues that arise in the ordinary course of representing hospitals and health systems. Focus will include federal and state requirements, managed care and other reimbursement concerns, patient care issues, medical staff, business relationships and other matters.

LAW 697X: HOSPITAL LAW (2 credits)
Healthcare in the United States is among the most complex and highly regulated industries. Representing Healthcare institutions, as in-house counsel or outside counsel requires not only an understanding of health law, but also practical interrelationships of many complex areas of the law. This interactive course will examine the practical aspects of the representation of an integrated delivery system. Topics will include:
· Representation, Organization and Corporate Governance
· Quality, Risk Management, Patient Safety, Claims Investigation Malpractice and Insurance
· HealthCare Transactions
· Human Resources, Labor and Employment
· Healthcare Financing and Payor Contracting
· Healthcare Regulation and Administrative Law
· Specific Issues Facing Academic Medical Centers
· Medical Staff, Bio-ethics and Research
· Compliance

LAW 779: I.T.A.P. – INTENSIVE TRIAL ADVOCACY PROGRAM (3 credits)
Intensive Trial Advocacy Program is a three credit, seven day advocacy training program. Students develop trial advocacy skills by seeing live and videotape demonstrations of proper trial advocacy techniques followed by small group simulations taught by experienced trial practitioners and trial advocacy teachers. Students will complete a jury trial. Fellow students will act as parties and witnesses in these trials.
Students may not earn credit for Law 779: I.T.A.P and Law 786: Trial Methods. For an explanation of how I.T.A.P credits affect a semester credit load and residency credits, please refer to Part Three: Registration Practice & Procedure, Section 307 in the Student Handbook. The I.T.A.P course fee will be automatically added to your tuition bill upon registration of the course.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence.

LAW 703: IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION (2 credits)
This two credit course is a survey of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Title 8 of the U.S. Code, and related case law and regulations. The course includes an introduction to the historical and statutory evolution of current immigration law as well as a review of the major subtopics within the law, such as legal immigration, immigration and employment, non-immigrant classifications, exclusion and deportation, constitutional issues and limitations, refugee and asylum matters, citizenship, illegal immigration and employer sanctions. The course addresses current issues and controversies as well as the political and public policy factors reflected by U.S. immigration law.

LAW 638: INSURANCE LAW (2 credits)
This course studies the law relating primarily to property and liability insurance. In addition to general insurance contract interpretation and rights at variance with policy provisions, the course focuses on the nature of the insurers’ indemnity and defense obligations, theories of insurable interest, measures of recovery, and insured and insurers’ rights and remedies.

LAW 648: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (3 credits)
In the modern economy, a business’ most valuable assets are often its “intellectual property.” This course provides an overview of the law of intellectual property, including patents on new, useful, and non-obvious inventions (from biotechnology to bungee cords); copyrights on works of authorship (from books to movies to music); trademarks that identify the source of goods and services (i.e., brand names like Nike and Nabisco); and trade secrets that protect confidential business information.

While the course should be of interest both to students desiring only a general exposure to intellectual property law and to those who plan to specialize in the field, students who have taken two of the following three components, or who will have done so by the end of the term, may not obtain credit for the course: (1) Patent Law (or Patent Practice), (2) Copyright Law, and (3) Trademarks and Unfair Trade Practices. A student may first take this survey course and then go on to take all three component courses for credit—it is the order of study that is at issue.

LAW 511: INTENSIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS (2 credits)
Intensive Legal Analysis is offered in the spring for second-year students who have a cumulative grade point average of less than 2.300 at the end of their first year for. I.L.A. is designed to provide an opportunity to learn legal problem solving in a small, highly focused setting which we believe will be beneficial to those who take it.

LAW 731: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS (3 credits)
The course provides a context for understanding the changing legal environment in which international transactions occur. Topics include the law relevant to private transactions by which individuals and nations import and export goods, transfer technology, or make direct foreign investments. The domestic law of the United States and other nations, and how such laws affect international transactions, is also explored. Finally, the course considers the impact of international institutions such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Union on private transactions.

LAW 754: INTERNATIONAL LAW (3 credits)
This course serves as a comprehensive introduction to the doctrine and processes of this dynamic area of the law. Principal topics include the nature and sources of international law; international organizations, including the United Nations and the International Court of Justice; and the developing law of human rights. Other possible topics include the role of international law in United States courts; the nature of statehood; the law relating to the use of military force; state responsibility for injury to aliens including expropriation; international trade law; and the emerging area of international environmental law.

LAW 777: INTERSCHOLASTIC COMPETITION (1 credit)
Students may earn one or two credits for participation in interscholastic moot court, trial advocacy and other competitions sanctioned by the law school as appropriate interscholastic competitions. The list of approved interscholastic competitions includes but is not limited to National Moot Court, Jessup International Moot Court, Douglas Moot Court, Patent Moot Court, Polsky Moot Court, American Trial Lawyers Association Competition, Texas Trial Lawyers Competition, American Bar Association Client Counseling Competition and like events.

LAW 678: INTERSCHOLASTIC TRIAL COMPETITION COLLOQUIUM (1 credit)
This course is required for all students who wish to participate in interscholastic trail advocacy competitions. Taught by experienced trial attorneys, this intensive course will cover the basics of trial competition from case preparation through courtroom performance. Students enrolled in this course will be eligible for interscholastic trial teams.
Prerequisites: LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 679: INTERSCHOLASTIC TRIAL ADVOCACY COMPETITION (1 credit)
Prerequisites: LAW 678: Interscholastic Trial Competition Colloquium, LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 849: INTERVIEWING & COUNSELING (2 credits)
This course develops the practical lawyering skills involved in client interviewing and counseling. Classroom time includes lecture/discussion and role playing/practical exercises.

LAW 733: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS TAX (3 credits)
This course focuses on the income tax consequences of operation a business, including such considerations as choice of entity. It examines the tax problems arising upon the formation, operation and liquidation of corporations, small business corporations (“S” corporations), limited liability companies, and partnerships.
Prerequisite: LAW 610: Federal Income Tax

LAW 500: INTRODUCTION TO LAW (1 credit)
This one-week, fifteen-hour course provides entering students with a general overview of the American legal system and introduction to the basic methods and tools of legal study. The course will review the historic principles of our legal system, focusing on its structure and the allocation of responsibility among the components of that structure-executive, legislative and judicial. The course will also begin to familiarize the students with basic legal educational skills such as research, statutory analysis, and case reading and briefing.

LAW 650-MJ: MJ INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH LAW (2 credits)
This course is intended to help prepare MJ students to take health law classes along with upper-level JD students. To that end students will be introduced to selected health law issues implicating a range of legal subjects, including administrative law, public health, bioethics and corporate organization. Students will be encouraged through multiple brief writing assignments to develop skills emphasized in traditional JD courses, such as case analysis, the application of rules to fact patterns, and awareness of the policy implications of legal doctrine.

LAW 607: INTRODUCTION TO U S LAW & LEGAL INSTITUTIONS (3 credits)
This is an introductory course for foreign LL.M students only.

LAW 809: JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP (3 credits)
The Judicial Externship experience involves placement on the staff of a judge as a part-time judicial clerk, along with a pass/fail course component that entails readings about and critical reflection upon the placement experience.
Placements can be arranged with a variety of judges (trial, appellate or specialty; Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Maryland; state or federal…). In the summer term it is also possible to accommodate placements with judges far distant from the Law School. For example, last summer (in successful experimental arrangements) Widener students arranged placements as far away as New York City and Sydney, Australia.

The course component of the Judicial Externship Program requires that students enrolled reserve a two-hour time period every week in case it is needed for group meetings, but most program activities are conducted through individual meetings with the supervising faculty member, as well as asynchronously via threaded on-line discussions and chat sessions on the course website.

Students who have successfully completed (C or better) the Evidence and Professional Responsibility courses, and who are maintaining a GPA of 2.5 or better, may enroll in Law 809, the Judicial Externship Program. The number of credits for which this course can be taken is negotiable, though students should be advised that summer courses are paid for by the credit.

LAW 685: JUDICIAL EXTERNSHIP SUMMER TERM (2 credits)
This program was designed in response to repeated requests from students who had not found paying law-related summer jobs, but was interested in obtaining some valuable legal experience during the summer for academic credit.

Judicial Summer Term also entails placement on the staff of a judge as a part-time judicial clerk, along with a pass/fail course component that entails readings about and critical reflection upon the placement experience. The course component for Judicial Summer Term emphasizes Professional Responsibility: ethical considerations for judicial clerks, judicial ethics, and the ethical qualities of lawyering observed in the placement.

Placements for the Judicial Summer Term will be arranged with judges in the region. Upon acceptance into the program, the supervising faculty member will meet with each student to tailor a placement to his/her individual needs and interests.

The course component of the Judicial Summer Term requires that students enrolled reserve a two-hour time period every week in case it is needed for group meetings, but most program activities are conducted through individual meetings with the supervising faculty member, as well as asynchronously via threaded online discussions and chat sessions on the course website.

Students who are maintaining a GPA of 2.8 or better as of the spring semester of their first year may enroll in Law 685X, the Judicial Summer Term. The number of credits for which this course can be taken cannot exceed two, though students should be advised that summer courses are paid for by the credit. Judicial Summer Term is not available to students who have begun their third semester of Law School.

LAW 856: JUVENILE JUSTICE (2 credits)
This course will explore such topics as: “Controlling Street Gang Activities”, “Crime Control in Schools”, and “The Decision to Prosecute a Child as an Adult or a Child”. It is a journey through the juvenile justice system form arrest to deposition of the case.

LAW 758: LABOR LAW (3 credits)
This course examines the legal framework for collective bargaining, including establishment of the collective bargaining relationship, negotiation, and enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement, and union and employer self-help (strikes, boycotts, lockouts, and picketing). Additional topics to be considered include labor and the antitrust laws, Federalism and Labor Relations, and the individual and the union.

LAW 761: LAND USE PLANNING (2 credits)
This course is an in-depth examination of planning and zoning law, consisting of sequences relating to the taking clause of the 5th Amendment, basic zoning law, adoption of a comprehensive plan, variances and exceptions, special uses planned unit developments, subdivision controls, and aesthetic regulation.

LAW 673: LANDLORD TENANT LAW (3 credits)
This course will examine issues relating primarily to the relationship between residential landlords and tenants, including the creation of the tenancy, the rights and duties of the parties, leases, violation of leases, and eviction. Other topics may include discrimination in rental housing, rent control, public housing, and housing-related public policy initiatives.

LAW 618: LAW AND ACCOUNTING (2 credits)
This course is intended to familiarize the student with the basic principles of accounting and their connection to the law. Included will be a study of appropriate accounting concepts from the both a practical and theoretical perspective. Of necessity will be a review of the statements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the opinions of the Accounting Principles Board and official pronouncements of any other organization deemed appropriate. The student will also be asked to review pertinent cases affecting the nature of accounting as well as legislation affecting the profession. Due to the problems discovered during the recent accounting and management scandals, a major emphasis will be placed on the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley.

LAW 850: LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT (2 credits)
Enrollment is limited to 24 students. The course will cover trends in law practice; the law partnership; professional development; administrative systems including timekeeping, calendar, conflicts and communications systems, and emergency plans; marketing; the law office and law library; technology, including computers and computer systems, and the Internet; fees; compensation; financial management; and personnel matters. Students will prepare individual written assignments and projects. The course is particularly useful for students who plan to become solo practitioners or enter small or medium sized firms. However, the course will also benefit students who plan to enter large firms, corporate practice or plan non-traditional legal careers.

LAW 890: LEGAL HISTORY (2 credits)
The course in Legal History will explore various topics in American law from the founding of the republic to the twentieth century. For example, the class will study the early attempt to influence federal judicial opinions through impeachment of judges; the influence of slavery on developing the shape of the law; the contested presidential election of 1876; and the politics of the various Supreme Courts of the twentieth century. Students will be required to write 2-3 page essays each week addressing an assigned question for discussion. Grades will be based on these papers and class participation. There will be no examination.

LAW 6020X: LEGAL ISSUES OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (3 credits)
This course will examine from both a legal and historical perspective important issues of law that arose during the American Civil War Era. Many of these issues shaped the jurisprudence of the United States and some continue to raise controversies and present unsettled questions even today. Examples of Civil War era issues that are have recently reappeared include: the use of Military Tribunals to try non-military personnel accused of crimes; the balancing of civil liberties vs. national security issues; and the use and possible abuse of executive powers.

In this course we will cover a wide variety of diverse issues including: States Rights vs. Federal Authority; the Legality of Secession; the Use and Limits of Presidential Powers in Wartime; Slavery and Emancipation; the Establishment of a Military Draft; the Curtailing of Civil Liberties by the Government, the Punishment and Suppression of Civil Dissent; the Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus; War Crimes and the Treatment of Prisoners of War; the Role of the U.S. Supreme Court in Wartime; Pardons and Loyalty Oaths; the Establishment of the First Federal Income Tax; Reconstruction of the Rebellious States and much more.

LAW 509: LEGAL METHODS I (3 credits)
This course introduces basic techniques of legal analysis, writing and research. Course requirements include substantial writing assignments.

LAW 510: LEGAL METHODS II (2 credits)
This course continues development of the analysis, writing and research skills introduced in Law 509. Students will apply these developing skills to appellate advocacy, and will learn about persuasion and professionalism in the court setting.

LAW 512: LEGAL METHODS III (2 credits)
This required course builds upon, and expands, students’ acquisition of the skills of legal analysis, writing, and research that were introduced in Legal Methods I and II. By handling a simulated case, students will be exposed to a range of legal documents, including pleadings, discovery materials, and contracts. Students also will consider ethical and strategic questions bearing upon assigned tasks. Graded projects will include legal memoranda and persuasive documents.

LAW 993: LEGAL TECHNOLOGY aka TRIAL TECHNOLOGY (1 credit)
This one credit survey course will provide the attendee with a firm grasp of the technology lawyers should become acquainted with in private and in-house corporate practice. Students will hear the basics from experts in many fields including, jury psychologists, courtroom graphics, document management, electronic discovery and more. Students will participate in a team based in-class project with the mobile computer lab, creating and presenting graphics for closing argument. This is the same material taught to practicing lawyers for continuing legal education credit. It is 14 hours of technology related practical information, offered pass/fail with no prior preparation required. Class will be from 9 am to 5pm on Thursday and Friday, August 13th and 14th.
Students taking this course may not also take LAW 850: Law Office Management.

LAW 645: LEGISLATION (3 credits)
This course studies the processes by which legislation is passed, enforced, and interpreted, with special attention to the relationship of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

LAW 644: LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING (2 credits)
The goals of this course are to provide the student with insight into the dynamics of a legislative body; appreciation of the importance of legislative history for interpreting the meaning behind legislation; an understanding of and political constraints on legal legislative and regulatory drafting; and practical drafting experiences.

AW 869: LIFE SCIENCES LAW (1 credit)
This Life Sciences and Health law seminar explores the regulation of Food and Drug Law based on the United States Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related law. The course provides an overview of how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates foods, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and other related products. The course covers issues such as landmark legislation and cases; administrative law; enforcement and compliance methodologies; medical device regulation; human drug topics such as prescription and over the counter products, drug approvals, promotion, generic and brand issues; cosmetic regulation; food law topics such as additives, claims and safety and product classification. Other topics that may be explored include policy and political issues, ethical issues and corporate accountability.

This seminar affords students the opportunity to become directly involved in practical, hands on, various interactive legal exercises. The seminar may satisfy the writing requirement upon the requisite approvals.

NOTE: This is an online course; however, there will be face to face sessions scheduled (teleconferenced to HRBG.) where students will be required to meet in DE or HRBG. The dates for these meetings are January 29th, March 19th, and April 30th.

LAW 906: MARYLAND PRACTICE (2 credits)
This course will provide the student intending to practice in Maryland with basic knowledge of District Court and Circuit Court practice and procedure. Areas of law covered by the course will include criminal, civil, juvenile and domestic law with a brief mention of appellate practice. Topics will include jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, discovery, motions practice, trial practice (including jury versus non-jury trials), and post trial procedures.

LAW 936: MEDICAL MALPRACTICE (2 credits)
This Medical Malpractice course will explore the various theories of physician liability, hospital liability, HMO liability and pharmaceutical liability. Included among the bases of liability will be informed consent, ostensible agency, negligent credentialing of physicians, nursing negligence and negligent referral. Practice issues relating to evidence of the standard of care, discovery, deposition taking and trial preparation will also be covered.

LAW 688X: MEDIATION (2 credits)
Mediation involves the intervention of a neutral third party into an existing or threatened dispute, usually with the aim of facilitating a negotiated resolution of the dispute. Due to the demands of clients and courts for efficient means of dispute resolution, lawyers frequently find themselves immersed in mediation processes. Through readings, role-playing, and simulations, this course will focus on the roles, skills and ethical questions involved in mediation for clients, mediators, and lawyer advocates. The professor will base a student’s grade on the student’s performance in class, in mediation simulations, and on papers demonstrating the student’s understanding of mediation as a dispute resolution process.

LAW 000: MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LITIGATION (2 credits)
This course will explore the anatomy of a medical malpractice case from the initial client interview through trial. A review of the types of cases most frequently litigated will be included. The course will examine the legal, medical and ethical issues that arise in these cases from both the plaintiff and defendant perspective. Case studies including deposition and trial testimony, medical studies and outcomes will be part of the course.

LAW 6024X: MILITARY JUSTICE (2 Credits)
The course is designed to give students a basic understanding and knowledge of the Military Justice System. During the semester we will examine the similarities and differences between the Military Justice System and Civilian System. The student's comprehension of the course will be measured by class participation and a final examination.

LAW 767: MOOT COURT HONOR BOARD (1 or 2 credits)
Executive Board members administer the curricular and extracurricular components of the Moot Court Honor Society and are elected by their predecessors. Executive Board Members develop and edit competition problems and critique oral arguments and written briefs submitted by Moot Court members. A student who takes Law 767 may not simultaneously register for Law 764 or Law 772.
Prerequisites: Law 764 and Election to the Board

LAW 764; MOOT COURT HONOR SOCIETY (1 credit)
This is a skills based course that focuses on development of written and oral appellate advocacy skills through participation in competition and workshops. Students are required to participate in all Moot Court activities and sponsored events in addition to competing in one moot court competition per semester. A student who takes Law 764 may not simultaneously register for Law 767 or Law 772.
Prerequisites: Completion of first year and invitation predicated upon scholarship and invitation based upon competition performance.

LAW 772: MOOT COURT INTERSCHOLASTIC COMPETITION (1 or 2 credits)
Participating students represent the Widener University School of Law in interscholastic moot court competitions. Students prepare an appellate brief for petitioner or respondent and present oral arguments for both petitioner and respondent in a selected competition. Students are required to participate in all Moot Court activities and sponsored events. A student who takes Law 772 may not simultaneously register for Law 764 or Law 767.
Prerequisites: Current enrollment or past completion of Law 764 and invitation from the Moot Court Vice President of Interscholastic Competitions.

LAW 898: MUTUAL FUNDS (3 credits)
Mutual funds are the most common type of investment company in the United States, as investment companies, mutual funds are governed by the federal Investment Company Act and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The course will introduce the main sections of the Act and, in the process, provide experience in statutory construction. The course will also examine some of the rules pertinent to investment companies that have been adopted by the Commission. Among the topics covered by the Act are the types of activities and arrangements that characterize an investment company and require registration with the Commission; the structure, marketing tactics, and investment practices of investment companies; and shareholder expenses and rights.

LAW 889: NEGOTIATION & MEDIATION: THEORY AND PRACTICE (3 credits)
This course will provide students with a foundation in the theories and practices of negotiations and mediations. Through readings, simulations, and written analyses, students will develop a critical awareness of the relevant processes. The professor will base grades on the following: class performance, performance in negotiation and mediation simulations, and student papers analyzing the performance of students and others in negotiations and mediations. This course satisfies the skills requirement.

LAW 766: NEW JERSEY PRACTICE (2 credits)
This course examines the rules governing practice and procedure in the courts of the State of New Jersey to include rules of general application; rules governing appellate practice; rules governing civil practice in the Law Division, Chancery Division – General Equity and Chancery Division – Probate Part; rules governing practice in the Family Part; rules governing civil practice in the Special Civil Part and rules governing practice in the municipal courts.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 705: NEW YORK PRACTICE (2 credits)
This course is designed to give an understanding of practice and procedure under the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, which historically has been tested heavily on the New York bar exam. Although the main focus of the course is on civil procedure, closely related substantive law issues will be raised as well (e.g., new rules on joint and several liabilities). Topics covered may include the following: personal jurisdiction under the New York long-arm statute; the subject matter jurisdiction of the New York courts; statutes of limitations; venue; appearances; pleadings; motion practice; provisional remedies; pretrial discovery; special proceedings; arbitration and judgments.

LAW 845: NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (2 credits)
This course examines the formation, organization and operation of tax-exempt entities including charitable organizations and private foundations. The course will analyze a myriad of topics including, but not limited to, the following: distinctions between non-profit and tax exempt statues; income taxation of exempt organizations; private vs. state related classifications and the scope of judicial review; structuring relationships with nonprofit affiliates and for profit business organizations; liability and responsibility of agents, officers and directors; comparisons of the Delaware and Pennsylvania statutory schemes; and considerations in acquisitions, mergers and liquidations of exempt organizations.

LAW 946: OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW (2 credits)
The nation's coastal zone has received unprecedented legislative and judicial attention in recent years at both the state and federal levels. With the growing desire to live and recreate on or near the ocean, as well as increasing pressure on the exploitation of the natural resources found there, most states have adopted comprehensive coastal zone management regimens, which combined with expanding federal legislation and regulations, have created a new and dynamic field of law.

This course will examine the unique problems with the use and development of the coastal zone and the emerging multi-level regulatory framework, which oversees their legal resolution. In addition, it will address the extension of a nation's jurisdiction and control into offshore waters, and the international conflict, which results when multiple nations compete for access and control of limited oceanic resources.

LAW 991: ORGANIZED CRIME (2 credits)
The course will focus on the nature and structure of both traditional and emerging organized crime groups and the methods used to investigate, prosecute, and defend them. The course will address the use of and issues arising from electronic surveillance; investigating grand juries; the use of informants, immunized witnesses, and witnesses who have entered into guilty plea agreements; the use of conspiracy, racketeering, and money laundering statutes; and the trial of an organized crime case. We will also work our way through an investigation from its inception to trial.

LAW 925: PA CIVIL CLINIC (6 credits)
The Pennsylvania Civil Clinic is a functioning law office located in the Clinical Wing on the 2nd floor of the Law School campus. The Pennsylvania Civil Clinic practice is devoted to bankruptcy cases (Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 related cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania) and family law cases (child custody, support, and related cases in the courts of Delaware County, Pennsylvania).

Students chosen for enrollment assume day-to-day responsibility for representation of Clinic clients. The Clinic provides opportunities for students to participate in the actual practice of law under the close supervision of faculty. Student Attorneys will: interview clients and witnesses; engage in case planning; engage in legal research and fact investigation; draft pleadings, motions and agreements; negotiate with practicing attorneys and others; and appear in various courts on behalf of Clinic clients.

Selection for enrollment is based on evidence of seriousness of purpose and ability to commit to the practice of law on behalf of Clinic clients.

Participation in the Clinic entails a commitment of 20 hours per week including presence in the Clinic offices on at least two different weekdays per week. This time is divided among work with clients, case rounds, meetings with colleagues and supervisors, court appearances, factual and legal research and weekly classroom sessions.
Prerequisites: LAW 702: Professional Responsibility and LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 675: PA CIVIL/CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (3 credits)
This course will address selected issues involving the Pennsylvania Constitution, statues and rules which govern civil and criminal procedure in Pennsylvania. Particular emphasis will be on those areas which differ from federal law. The focus will be both theoretical and practical. The criminal procedure aspect of the course will cover topics such as search and seizure, preliminary hearings, non-trial dispositions, discovery, double jeopardy, speedy trial and sentencing. The civil procedure segment will include topics such as pleading and discovery rules, venue, motion practice, service of process, local court rules, and the Pennsylvania court system.
Prerequisites: LAW 506: Criminal Procedure I (students may not also take LAW 771: PA Practice and LAW 786: Pre-Trial Methods).

LAW 918: PA CRIMINAL DEFENSE CLINIC (6 credits)
The Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Clinic is a one-semester course. Students enrolled in this clinical program will represent indigent persons charged with misdemeanor offenses. Students represent clients through all phases of the case including initial interviews, preliminary hearings, investigations, plea negotiations, pre-trial motions and hearing and jury or bench trials. The course includes a two hour weekly seminar focusing on lawyering and advocacy skills as well as substantive criminal law and criminal procedure. Only third year students are eligible to enroll. Students will be selected by the Clinic’s Director after submission of application and interview. Preference will be given to students who have taken Criminal Procedure II and/or Trial Methods or its equivalent.
Prerequisites: LAW 836: Evidence, LAW 506: Criminal Procedure I, and LAW 702: Professional Responsibility

LAW 771: PA PRACTICE (CRIMINAL) (3 credits)
This course provides a general survey of civil and criminal practice in Pennsylvania state trial courts. The emphasis will be on a practical application of relevant procedures. On the criminal side, discussions will be from arrest through appeal, including all criminal motions. On the civil side, topics will include service of process, venue, appearance, joiner of parties, pleadings, motions practice, remedies, pretrial and discovery procedures, trial, and judgment. Practical aspects of probate, zoning, and family law may also be addressed.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 769: PATENT LAW (2 credits)
The course provides an introduction to patent law, focusing upon the requirements of patent ability (patentable subject matter, utility, novelty and non-obviousness), infringement, and defenses to infringement. Other possible topics include the economics of information and innovation competition, claims drafting, licensing, patent misuse, and antitrust violations.

LAW 691X: PATENT LITIGATION (2 credits)
This course examines the basics of litigating patent disputes in a United States District Court, with particular emphasis on the practicalities of litigation, from the drafting of the Complaint and Answer, through “Markman” claim construction proceedings, fact and expert discovery, international discovery practice, dispositive motions practice, development of the pretrial order, trial, and post-trial proceedings. While not required, a prior course on patent law is recommended.

LAW 726: PATENT PRACTICE (2 credits)
This course is designed primarily for those planning to practice before the United States Patent Office. The following topics will be covered: the Rules of Practice of the Patent Office; preparing the specification; drafting claims; prosecution of an application before the Patent Office; professional responsibility; and foreign practice.
Prerequisites: The basic course on Patents is recommended but not required. Although not required for this course, a degree in science or engineering or equivalent course work and/or experience is required to sit for the Patent Office bar exam. (A law degree is not required to sit for the Patent Office bar exam.)

LAW 650: PAYMENT SYSTEMS (3 credits)
This course introduces the student to the law of negotiable instruments, primarily checks and promissory notes. The course focuses on Articles 3 (Negotiable Instruments) and 4 (Bank Deposits and Collections) of the Uniform Commercial Code. Topics covered include liability on negotiable instruments; negotiability and holder in due course; liability of the various parties in the check collection system; loss allocation for stolen, forged or altered checks and employee check fraud schemes; availability of funds deposited by check; relationship of depository and payer banks to their respective customers. If time permits, some attention may be given to Article 4A (Electronic Funds Transfer), Article 5 (Letters of Credit) and Article 7 (Documents of Title) of the Uniform Commercial Code.

LAW 658: PRACTICAL STUDIES IN CLASS ACTIONS AND OTHER COMPLEX LITIGATION (2 credits)
This course will focus on the investigation, filing, prosecution, and defense of class actions and other complex civil litigation. Some civil procedure theory will be taught, but, as the course title indicates, the emphasis will be on practicalities such as strategies in pleading, discovery, motions practice, and trial preparation and presentation. The course grade will be based on a final project, as well as on class attendance and participation.

LAW 786: PRE-TRIAL METHODS (3 credits)
Pre-Trial Methods is a semester-long simulation course focusing on litigation document preparation, discovery and motion practice. The course emphasizes motion practice and discovery skills, and includes written drafting exercises as well as oral deposition simulations and oral motion arguments. Pre-Trial Methods is graded A through F.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence (Trial Methods is not a prerequisite for Pre-Trial Methods)

LAW 786: PRE-TRIAL METHODS – TECHNOLOGY (3 credits)
Although this section will focus on the same topics and skills as the other Pre-Trial methods section, it will do so using basic law-office technology to demonstrate how technology has affected the way in which discovery, document preparation, and inter – and intra – office communication (including court filing) are done.

This is a limited enrollment course, which will be graded. Although not required, it is highly recommended that students take or have taken either Introduction to Legal Technology and the Law Office or the Intensive Technology Program. – (Maximum enrollment is 12).
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 652: PRODUCTS LIABILITY (2 or 3 credits)
This course studies the development of liability of the distributors (manufacturers, vendors and other suppliers) for harm caused by defective products. Emphasis is placed on the development and nature of theories of strict liability in tort, negligence, misrepresentation, and warranty liability under the UCC.

LAW 805: PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY (2 credits)
This course analyzes liability of physicians, attorneys, architects, accountants, insurance brokers, and others. Approximately one-half of course time is devoted to medical malpractice including hospital and corporate liability. The materials and lectures attempt to provide a basic understanding for the handling of a medical-legal or other professional liability case. The grounds of liability, the applicable standard of care, statutes of limitations, burden of proof, and damages are among the topics analyzed. Some time is spent in analyzing the unique terms, elements and issues involved in professional insurance coverage.

LAW 702: PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (3 credits)
This course examines the duties of lawyers toward clients, courts, and society. Ethical problems, which confront the lawyer, are raised and discussed in terms of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and case law. The areas covered include confidentiality, conflicts of interest, competence and unauthorized practice.

LAW 515: PROPERTY I (4 credits)
This course studies the basic elements of the law of real and personal property. Topics in personal property may include ownership and possession, finders’ rights, bailments, bonafide purchasers, and gifts. Topics in real property may include adverse possession, estates and future interests, marital interests, concurrent ownership, and landlord-tenant law. The course may include other topics which are covered in more detail in upper-level electives, such as nuisance law, zoning, and eminent domain.

LAW 516: PROPERTY II (2 credits)
Property II is a continuation of Property I. It explores the law of the modern land transaction, the contract for sale of real estate, deeds, the recording act, and private land use control law through easements, covenants, and servitudes.

LAW 682: PROTECTING HEALTH INFORMATION IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY (2 credits)
In the 1800’s the U.S. law first recognized the basic individual “right to be left alone.” This right most often defined an individual’s right to be free from government intrusion into private personal information was usually associated with information shared in the home, and later extended to information shared over the telephone. However, with the creation of federal health care programs, namely Medicare and Medicaid, the use and transfer of personal health information exposed the need for standards on the protection of the confidentiality of personal information in the health care setting. From the 1960’s to today, U.S. health information privacy law has developed rapidly, dramatically changing the health care landscape and creating significant new challenges for health care providers, payers and patients. The increased attention to privacy issues by federal and state regulators, private industry, patient/privacy advocates and international authorities has created a hodgepodge of rules, regulations and guidelines on the creation, use, maintenance, transfer and destruction of individually identifiable health information. This course will examine the implications of health information policy law. Topics will include:
· History and development of U.S. health information law (confidentiality and privacy)
· The case for a national standard: State medical record/health information legislation
· Bush plan for administrative cost reduction, Clinton Health Care Reform, Kennedy-Kassenbaum legislation, and HIPAA
· HIPAA Administrative Simplification: 1) Transactions and Codes Sets, 2) Privacy, and 3) Security
· Affects on communications with health care consumers and patients by mail, email, fax, and phone
· Federal enforcement: HHS, DOJ, and FTC
· State law developments: California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware
· International Data Protection laws.

LAW 692: PUBLIC BENEFITS LAW (2 credits)
This course will examine public benefits programs and their impact on people who are poor and/or disabled. We will study the benefits provided by the major American social welfare programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medicaid; how those laws affect recipients; how the policies behind the law have developed; and how the programs are administered on the federal and state levels. The course also will address the role of the lawyer as an advocate for clients who receive or seek public benefits. Students will apply the laws governing public benefits to fact patterns and critically analyze how public benefits laws impact recipients.

LAW 6005X: PUBLIC INTEREST EXTERNSHIP (2 – 4 credits)
Students enrolled in the Public Interest Clinical Externship Program may apply to be placed in a variety of field placements predominantly in the City of Philadelphia. Selective field placements include prosecutor and public defender offices, non-profit legal services agencies, and government offices. The program is designed to be a full year professional immersion, with students engaging in supervised aspects of public interest lawyering. The program is designed to enhance the student’s practice skills, to familiarize the student with law practice procedures, to demand critical reflection upon proceedings in law practices and in the legal profession, to provide an in-depth, advanced experience with the professional responsibilities of lawyers and judges, to enhance the student’s ability to deal with issues of supervision in a legal setting, and to assist students in bringing career objectives into focus. Externs perform many of the normal duties of a practicing attorney under the field supervision of the attorney to whom he or she is assigned. Enrollment in the program should ordinarily be for a minimum of two semesters; however, exceptions may be made at the discretion of the professor and the placement supervisor. Students must devote an average of fifteen hours per week to their responsibilities in the field placement, depending on how many academic credits are sought.

The course component of the Public Interest Externship Program requires that students enrolled reserve a two-hour time period every week in case it is needed for group meetings, but most program activities will be conducted through individual and small group meetings with the supervising faculty member, as well as through on-line discussions. The course component will focus on issues and professional skills related to public interest lawyering.

The number of credits for which this course can be taken is negotiable. It is a pass/fail course.

Prerequisites: Students who have successfully completed (C or better) the Evidence and Professional Responsibility courses, and who are maintaining a GPA of 2.5 or better, may apply for the Public Interest Clinical Externship Program. The course professor has the final authority to determine which students qualify for admission to the program, and which students are assigned to which placements. Applicants must submit two complete current transcripts of grades (student copy), two copies of a current resume, and a Non-Classroom Credit Approval Form (available from the Registrar). The public interest placements for this program are selective and interested only in students who have a sincere desire to do public interest work. Applicants will need to speak with the course professor regarding the specific requirements a potential placement may have.

LAW 6003X: PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERING (2 credits)
This seminar is intended to explore major lawyering themes that confront public interest lawyers and that cut across substantive practice areas and settings. The course is designed to integrate academic theory and analysis with common practice themes arising in public interest law advocacy. Students will discuss assigned reading, interact with guest speaker, conduct court observations, complete a seminar paper on an approved public interest lawyering topic, and deliver a short oral presentation on their paper while it is still a work in progress. There will be no final examination. Students will be graded on a 20-page final paper that will satisfy their writing requirement.

LAW 760: REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS (2 credits)
This course covers real estate conveyance and financing. Principal topics include the roles of the attorney and broker in a real estate transaction, conveyance issues, mortgage financing, and title protection. The course may also cover several of the following topics: negotiating real estate transactions; reviewing settlement sheets; learning how to conduct due diligence; learning different forms of ownership.
Prerequisites: LAW 515: Property I and LAW 516: Property II.

LAW 838: REGULATION OF TOXIC AND HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES (3 credits)
An in-depth examination of the regulation of toxic and hazardous substances, this course will address major federal legislation regarding the management and disposal of hazardous wastes, and the clean-up of disposal sites (toxic waste dumps) contaminated by hazardous substances. In particular, we will discuss in detail the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability ACT (CERCLA), otherwise know as “Superfund”. The course will also address associated disposal and clean-up issues, such as those involving state restrictions on the interstate and international transportation of hazardous wastes, criminal and civil liabilities for illegal activities, and insurance coverage for clean-up liability. This course will also examine the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (SARA Title III), and pesticide and chemical regulations, risk assessment and management, and the regulation of toxic substances.

Students can take both the course and seminar of this name. While it is recommended that students take the course prior to the seminar, this is not required.

LAW 6022 MJ: MJ REGULATORY COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS: PHARMACEUTICALS INDUSTRY ISSUES (2 credits)
[2 credits towards MJ degree; may qualify in whole or in part for CLE credits in DE and PA, including ethics, and may count towards credits required by the Health Care Compliance Association for certification.] This four-day course is designed to introduce post-baccalaureate students and working professionals to fundamentals of regulatory compliance for the pharmaceutical industry, and to update practicing attorneys and compliance officers as to current developments. The course will consist of four segments: (i) Clinical Research; (ii) Product Development; (iii) Sales and Marketing; and (iv) Compliance Program Design and Implementation (including ethical issues). The course will be staffed in part by practicing attorneys, compliance officers and other professionals experienced in their areas of instruction.

LAW 655: REMEDIES (3 credits)
This course deals with contract and tort damages in addition to the equitable remedies of injunction, specific performance and rescission. Legal and equitable restitution remedies (quasi-contract, constructive trust and equitable lien) are covered as well.

LAW 646: SALES AND LEASES (3 credits)
This course covers Articles 2 and 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code. Coverage generally includes all the stages of contracts for the sale or lease of goods from formation to breach and remedies. Documents of title (Article 7) and payment by means of letters of credit (Article 5) may also be covered. The course may also include comparisons and contrasts with Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

LAW 693: SCIENCE AND THE LAW (2 credits)
Science and technology are becoming increasingly important components of regulation and litigation. But the scientific disciplines have different processes and standards from those that lawyers customarily use. Law is primarily a humanities-based discipline, and translating scientific knowledge and principles into legal standards is often problematic. This course is designed to inform law students about the various interactions of law and science in the practice of law. Units will focus on the interdisciplinary relationship between law and science; the role of governmental institutions in which law and science must interact; and science in the courts. Students need not have any scientific background. This course is intended to provide students with a familiarity with scientific issues that arise in our legal institutions. It is possible that a paper option may be available as an alternative to the exam.

LAW 600: SECURED TRANSACTIONS (3 credits)
This course provides an introduction to the law governing contractually created interests in personal property used to secure payment or performance of obligations. The course involves the study of the creation, perfection, priority and enforcement of security interests in personal property under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The course also includes an examination of relevant provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and some other state and federal statutes, which affect security interests.

LAW 629: SECURITIES REGULATION (3 credits)
After examining the statutory definitions of a security, the course explores topics under the Securities Act of 1933 such as (i) the regulation of public distributions of securities, (ii) exemptions from the requirement that securities transactions be registered with the Securities and Exchange omission, and (iii) secondary distributions and distributions by control persons. The course also considers the application of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to the trading of securities, e.g., securities fraud, insider trading, and proxy regulation.
Prerequisite: LAW 631: Business Organizations

LAW 895: SEMINAR: ADVANCED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES (2 credits)
Advanced Business Enterprises examines contemporary fiduciary and contract issues in corporate, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, and corporate law. The course also explores the “virtual enterprise” and “agile business practice” of modern business entities.

LAW 873: SEMINAR: ADVANCED CORPORATIONS (2 credits)
This course explores cutting edge concepts of fiduciary standards of review and standards of conduct arising under the leading Delaware corporate cases in this area, as well as the litigation process.
Prerequisite: LAW 631: Business Organizations (Students cannot take both Advanced Corporation Law and Seminar: Advanced Corporations)

LAW 797: SEMINAR: ADVANCED FORENSIC EVIDENCE (2 credits)
This is an advanced course in evidence, with primary emphasis on cutting edge scientific developments, taught by an experienced trial lawyer and a Ph.D. scientist, with many guest lecturers.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 6004X: ADVANCED PROBLEMS IN CRIMINAL LAW (2 credits)
This seminar will integrate the principles learned in discrete courses -Evidence, Criminal Law, and Criminal Procedure I and II - into the criminal process. The principal focus will be to address four case files - a murder, a rape, a child sexual assault, and a drug conspiracy - to identify the evidentiary, substantive criminal law, and constitutional procedural issues common to each category of crime. The law will be analyzed; the case file will be analyzed; and then a mock trial will be conducted to put the learned principles into play.
Each student will be required to participate as counsel in one of the four trials and to make an in-class presentation on one of the topics. The in-class presentation will also be the subject of a paper. The paper will be a minimum of ten (10) pages, and may be rewritten for an improved grade. A lengthier paper may be submitted to comply with the senior writing requirement.
NOTE: Four students will have to make their in-class presentations the second week of the semester. Topics will be available before Winter break.

LAW 895X: SEMINAR: ALTERNATIVE BUSINESS ENTITIES (2 credits)
This is a seminar examining advanced issues in the statutory and case law of alternative business entities (partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability limited partnerships and limited liability companies). The course grade is based upon four 25% components: 1) class participation; 2) partnership drafting assignment; 3) limited partnership or limited liability company drafting assignment; and 4) either a short research paper on an issue of alternative business law or an assignment examining ambiguous statutory language. The three drafting components must result, in the aggregate, in at least twenty pages of double-spaced, typewritten materials.

LAW 879: SEMINAR: ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (2 credits)
Alternative Dispute Resolution is a substitute or complement to litigation that was traditionally the primary tool of the legal profession in resolving disputes. This class is practical. Attendance and participation are required in this cooperative learning mode. Each week you prepare for and participate in practice arbitrations, mediations and negotiations to improve your confidence and practical skills. There is no final exam in this course. A final paper will be published on the course web site.
Prerequisites: LAW 836: Evidence and LAW 702: Professional Responsibility

LAW 824: SEMINAR: AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE: JUDGES ON JUDGING (2 credits)
How do judges decide cases? In this course we will examine just what judging is and how it should be conducted. We will do this not from the vantage point of philosophy, history, political science or any other discipline, but from the pens of judges themselves. Any lawyer in any field of law should want to develop at least a rough conception of how judges see the practice of judging in American courts. Course requirements are a term paper, a seminar presentation of the results of your research, a one page weekly paper for approximately the first eight meetings of the seminar, and a strong yen for dynamic, yet respectful, argument. This seminar satisfies the Law School’s writing requirement.

LAW 814: SEMINAR: APPELLATE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE (2 credits)
The purpose of this course is to maximize the student's effectiveness as an advocate in the appellate forum at all levels. The following areas are emphasized: appeal strategy; role and function of appellate courts; preserving issues for appeal; appeal ability; the record on appeal; motion practices; and extraordinary writs. Preparation of a paper and presentation of an oral argument will be required.

LAW 839: SEMINAR: BIOETHICS AND THE LAW (2 credits)
Due to recent advances in medical technology, society is faced with increasingly complex decisions regarding life and death. This course will explore the nexus between law, medicine and ethics, and will examine case law, statutes and other materials that attempt to grapple with these issues. Topics may include the Human Genome Project and its implications, cloning allocation of scarce medical resources; organ transplantation, stem cell research and the right to die.

LAW 664X: SEMINAR: CLIMATE CHANGE (2 credits)
Climate change driven by global warming is one of the great environmental, economic, social and legal challenges facing the world, and is already reshaping the legal landscape. This seminar will examine the science, economics, and social implications of climate change driven by global warming. The seminar will consider the diverse array of local, state, national, and international legal responses to these daunting challenges. Student papers will research and analyze concrete legal developments in the U.S. (primarily at the state level), in other nations, or internationally. This seminar is intended to provide students with the legal tools and conceptual framework needed to practice in and shape the emerging law of climate change.

LAW L87: SEMINAR: COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (2 credits)
More constitutions have been written in the last 15 years than in any other time in world history; in Europe alone, almost 30 new constitutions have been adopted since 1989. Increasingly, the United States judicial system is looking to these developments as one resource for understanding our own constitutional system. This course will examine the modern rise of constitutionalism throughout the world, focusing on how different countries have addressed similar issues: How should state power be contained? What are the fundamental values that societies seek to protect through their constitutions? Should constitutions be stabilizing forces or engines of change? Students will write a paper (that may satisfy the Law School’s writing requirement) or any comparative issue in constitutional law.
Prerequisite: LAW 601: Constitutional Law I

LAW 681: SEMINAR: CONFLICTS IN THE DOCTOR/PATIENT RELATIONSHIP (2 credits)
In a complex modern society, the doctor-patient relationship is often troubled and conflicted. This doctor-patient relationship is ideally defined by patient trust in the doctor and physician dedication solely to the patients’ best interests. However, doctors serve in many roles and contexts that challenge this model, and health law struggles to regulate these conflicts of interest. Troublesome physician roles include the sports medicine doctor, the military doctor, the medical researcher, and the doctor paid through managed care. We will look at the law’s struggles—through tort and fiduciary law, fraud and abuse rules, medical research regulation, and bioethics—to reduce these conflicts and better protect patient interests.

LAW 988: SEMINAR: CONSTITUTIONAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, & NATURAL RESOURCES LAW USE (2 credits)
This seminar focuses on the influence the U.S. Constitution has on Environmental Law. As a principal matter, we will examine the extent to which Congress can delegate legislative authority, regulate activities that impact interstate commerce (as well as what limitations state face), and tell individuals, the states and the executive what to do. We will also explore the role of the courts in serving as constitutional “gatekeeper” to controversy. In particular, we will examine in detail the relationship between environmental law and The Articles One (Non-delegation Doctrine, the Commerce Clause, preemption and federalism), Article Two (enforcement), Article Three (standing and mootness), and the Fifth (“taking”), Tenth (state rights), Eleventh (sovereign immunity and federalism) and Fourteenth (equal protection and dues process) Amendments.
Prerequisite: LAW 601: Constitutional Law I

LAW 617: SEMINAR: CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY (2 credits)
Constitutional law, arguably more than any other area of law, depends upon theory to adjudicate conflicts. Constitutional theory includes jurisprudence, history, political science, and philosophy and the roles these disciplines play in explaining and justifying constitutional decisions. Without at least a modest appreciation of the theoretical framework behind constitutional reasoning, one cannot understand constitutional law or the government, which the Constitution established. Yet, even judges and attorneys often fail to appreciate this framework and consequently suffer an almost fatal disability as participants in American constitutionalism.

This seminar’s goal is to introduce students to the subject of constitutional theory by examining such issues as: 1) How should the constitution be interpreted? Should constitutional text, the Framers’ intentions, history, structure, and morality be consulted in reading the Constitution, 2) Is the document ratified in 1787 a “living Constitution”? 3) What kind of government does the Constitution establish? A Democracy? A Republic? What’s the difference? 4) Are there implied constitutional powers and fundamental rights? What is the relationship between governmental powers and the fundamental rights, which limit these powers, and finally 5) What is the relationship between constitutionalism and politics? The term paper for this seminar satisfies the Law School’s writing requirement.
Prerequisite: LAW 602: Constitutional Law

LAW 985: SEMINAR: CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY (2 credits)
This seminar will explore Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, the most frequently filed bankruptcies. Students will be introduced to the differences between these types of bankruptcies and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. The course will also study the pending amendments to the bankruptcy code and their potential impact on consumer bankruptcy practice. Time permitting students will be encouraged to observe meetings of creditors and other bankruptcy proceedings in local bankruptcy courts. Other topics to be covered in the course include, history of Consumer Bankruptcy in the United States, counseling the client about bankruptcy, dealing with secured creditors, discharge ability of debts, exempting property from the Reach of Creditors.
Students may fulfill the writing requirement of this seminar in any one of the following ways:
1. A scholarly paper on the particular consumer bankruptcy topic, or
2. A scholarly paper on the pending bankruptcy amendments, or
3. A moot argument and brief on a consumer bankruptcy issue.

LAW 857: SEMINAR: CONTEMPORARY JURISPRUDENCE (2 credits)
This course is a survey of contemporary schools of legal thought, including critical legal studies, pragmatism, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, law and literature, law and science, law and economics, and postmodern theory.

LAW 940: SEMINAR: CRISES IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (2 credits)
How do we deal with crises in American democracy? This seminar has two general goals. First, it seeks to examine and understand the dynamics of various crises and controversies that dominate American politics. Second, it hopes to discover what implications, if any, these controversies have for understanding the processes of American democracy. Among the topics for examination are: America’s New War; the 2000 election; the impeachment and trial of President William Jefferson Clinton; gun control; campaign finance reform, racism, sexism, gay rights, and the proper role of religion in American democracy.

LAW 976: SEMINAR: CYBERSPACE LAW (2 credits)
The emergence of the Internet as a means of doing business has given rise to a wide range of new and difficult legal issues. This seminar introduces some of these complex areas of the law, including; copyright; trademark; trade secret; patent issues; privacy concerns; jurisdiction over Internet litigation; domain name dispute; licensing agreements; online contracts, other Internet agreements; and problems presented by online securities trading. The course will open a dialogue on these issues, and each student will contribute to the dialogue by writing and presenting to the class a scholarly paper during the course of the semester.

LAW 940: SEMINAR: CRISES IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (2 credits)
How do we deal with crises in American democracy? This seminar has two general goals. First, it seeks to examine and understand the dynamics of various crises and controversies that dominate American politics. Second, it hopes to discover what implications, if any, these controversies have for understanding the processes of American democracy. Some of the topics to be discussed in the Fall 2009 seminar may include: democratic defects in American constitutionalism, the war on terror, executive power in wartime, signing statements, torture, and the constitutional significance of the current economic crisis.

LAW 6012X: SEMINAR: GLOBAL HEALTH AND THE LAW (2 credits) In Global Health and The Law, we surveyed principles of public health and how the law interacts to promote and protect health. We focused on international laws in the form of treaties from the realms of health, trade, humanitarian relief, corruption and others. This course takes a deeper dive into current topics of global health and international laws including global health governance, diplomacy and health, also trade laws especially as these relate to food scarcity, access to medicines and environmental technologies. Students are assigned readings, they will participate in 8 classes held in the first two months of class on campus and in an online component and are responsible for directed research and a paper on a relevant topic. Prerequisite: LAW 6011X: Global Health Law, Policy & Practice: Hot Topics
LAW 694X: SEMINAR: FREEDOM OF SPEECH (2 credits)
This seminar will cover the basics of First Amendment Law, by considering some of the most cutting edge issues of the day. These may include speech restraints on the Internet, disclosure of journalists, sources, hate speech, campaign finance, and others. Students will make a presentation at the end of the semester on a topic of their choice and will submit a 20-page paper on the same topic (which will satisfy the writing requirement).

LAW 966: SEMINAR: INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW (2 credits)
This broad-ranging seminar encourages students to explore, in-depth, particular topics of interest to them related to international trade while providing them an intensive experience in legal writing and oral presentations. The paper required for the course may be used to fulfill the writing requirement.

Trade has become the focal point for reconciling many of the major international legal issues of our time. Trade has been used to develop an international code for intellectual property, to regulate the environment, to protect foreign investments, to enforce human rights, and to moderate the possible protection effects of national health and safety laws. The first several weeks of the course will be devoted to introducing the key structural and cutting-edge issues of the World Trade Organization, the European Union, and NAFTA. During the latter part of the course students will present papers that they chose in consultation with the professor.

LAW 860: SEMINAR: ISSUES IN PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2 credits)
Students enrolled in this two-credit seminar can fulfill their law school writing requirement. Open to students who have completed Professional Responsibility, timely issues facing the legal profession and lawyers in contemporary practice will be examined. Among the matters to be discussed during the first part of the course may be the following: Multidisciplinary and Multi-jurisdictional Practice; Globalization of the Legal Profession and Foreign Legal Consultants; Misleading Communications and the Internet; Contempt and Perjury; and Judicial Ethics. The second part of the course will be devoted to presentations on material students have selected for their papers.

LAW 872: SEMINAR: LAW & LITERATURE (2 credits)
This course will examine law and lawyers as it is depicted in literature, and law – consisting of arguments, briefs, and opinions – as literature. In doing so, we will study the storytelling and rhetorical strategies used in both literature and law to move readers and listeners to reach moral and legal conclusions on critical socio-legal issues, and we will see how lawyers may use language to justify or resist the legal status quo.

LAW 829: SEMINAR: LAW AND PSYCHOLOGY (2 credits)
This seminar covers mental illness and mental retardation in various legal contexts, such as criminal law, institutions, and the community, including torts and employment.

LAW 862: LAW IN SOCIETY (2credits)
The seminar rests on the premise that law does not exist in a vacuum but, rather, originates and operates in a social system. The ramifications of the premise are illustrated by three of the questions that the seminar will explore. First, what benefits does the social system derive from law? Conventional wisdom suggests that law serves a society by producing or allowing conduct desired by the society; however, a substantial body of quantitative social science research indicates that regulatory law often does not solve the problems it targets and/or has unwanted, unintended consequences. Second, what are the mechanisms by which law benefits the social system? The seminar will consider the frequently noted but poorly understood contribution of symbols. Third, why does law employ certain doctrines at one point in history but not at another? Otherwise stated, why do the established doctrines of law shift over time?
In considering these and other law-related questions, the seminar will delve into the social and behavioral sciences. Quantitative studies in the social and behavioral sciences will be reviewed, because the research techniques and evidence of these disciplines are far more exacting than those in conventional law school scholarship. Moreover, the statistical tests and data sets of the social sciences have improved markedly during the last several decades, and perhaps not coincidentally, an appreciable number of U.S. law schools recently have started to develop expertise in the quantitative research methods of these disciplines.
The seminar can be used to satisfy the Writing Requirement.

LAW 695X: SEMINAR: LLCs & STATUTORY TRUST
This course will examine statutory and case law developments for the limited liability company (“LLC”) and the Delaware Statutory Business Trust. The course is organized by topics, including formation; management; fiduciary duties; liability; financial rights; doing business in foreign jurisdictions; nature and transferability of ownership interests; period of duration; dissolution, merger, conversion or other extraordinary entity events; applicability of other business laws; and general organizational tax issues. The course will involve discussions of current events in the areas of LLCs and statutory trusts as well as drafting LLC and statutory trust documents. The course is designed to meet law school writing requirements.

LAW 6012X: SEMINAR: MONEY MATTERS, INTIMACY, AND LAW (2 credits)
Like it or not, money matters play an important role in intimate relationships. This seminar will investigate the ways in which the law involves itself in the interactions of money and intimacy and to what effect. Topics for discussion will include money matters in marriage and cohabitation (during and upon termination of the relationship); the dynamics of monetary power in domestic violence; parenthood and economics (including balancing work and family obligations); the commodification of reproductive capacity; and possible gender and race implications for these topics.

LAW 821: SEMINAR: NATURAL RESOURCES (2 credits)
This course introduces students to the law of natural resources. It examines the legal, historical, political, and intellectual influences that shape natural resources development and conservation, including land, oceans, species, minerals and energy management and conservation.

LAW 663: SEMINAR: NEGOTIATING & DRAFTING BUSINESS CONTRACTS (2 credits)
This course is a seminar designed to provide the students with three legal skills: (1) knowledge of substantive law in four topical areas of closely held business entities; (2) negotiation of contract terms for those entities; and (3) drafting those contracts once the terms have been negotiated. The four substantive topical areas of business organization law include: (1) formation of business entities; (2) the contractual and fiduciary duties of owners and managers, and the ability of those persons to modify or eliminate those duties by law or contract; (3) the financial structure of the enterprise, including the property rights of owners and manager, the rights of those person to transfer or to restrict the transferability of ownership interests, and the remedies for breach of agreements on transferability; and (4) exit rights in the entity, including dissolution, merger, conversion, buyout rights, expulsion, division or domestication. Taxation issues after the 2003 Tax Act and ethics issues will also be discussed as they arise in the materials. The entities to be examined are general partnerships, limited liability companies and closely held corporations. The course grade is determined by student performance on four problems in which students must negotiate favorable terms for their clients and then draft those terms into a contract based upon the substantive law presented for that area. Each problem corresponds to one of the four core substantive areas of the law.
Prerequisites: LAW 508: Contracts and LAW 631: Business Organizations

LAW 616: SEMINAR: OWNERSHIP OF THE HEALTH CARE ENTERPRISE (2 credits)
Students in this course will collectively structure a model for a hypothetical joint venture between health care professionals and business persons. The project will involve identification and resolution of any legal problems presented by the model, with due consideration to cost and quality of care concerns. Among the matters students may expect to address as the project unfolds are (i) choice of entity issues (including consideration of the attributes of nonprofits, professional corporations, joint ventures and other business forms); (ii) regulatory issues (including licensure, Medicare/Medicaid Fraud and Abuse regulations, state corporate rules and state fee-splitting and anti-kickback regulations); (iii) mergers and acquisitions in the health care context; (iv) provider contracting (employment agreements, restrictive covenants, structures for a “captive P.C.”); and (v) equity and debt financing issues. This course will take a “hands-on”, problem-solving approach to its subject matter; students can expect to undertake research (case law and regulatory), present their findings in written form, and draft and negotiate contracts, as if in a practice setting. Students should be in a position by the end of the project to assess critically the existing state and federal regulatory programs. They will also have had the experience, in simulation, of taking a legal project from the drawing board into the marketplace. The course should be of interest to those inclined towards corporate law generally as well as to anyone specializing in health care law.

LAW 696X: SEMINAR: PUBLIC CORRUPTION (2 credits)
This course will examine the phenomenon of public corruption. We will use recent and current corruption prosecutions – from federal officials and lobbyists in Washington to local public officials in the region – as the focal point for discussion of the nature of public corruption, its costs, and efforts to combat or curtail it. Much of our focus will be on enforcement tools, including both relevant federal criminal statutes and investigatory techniques. Students will make a presentation at the end of the semester on a topic of their choice and will submit a 20-to-30 page paper on the same topic. The paper may be used to satisfy the writing requirement.

LAW 6003X: SEMINAR: PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERING (2 credits)
This seminar intended to explore major lawyering themes that confront public interest lawyers and that cut across substantive practice areas and settings. The course is designed to integrate academic theory and analysis with common practice themes arising in public interest law advocacy. Students will discuss assigned readings, interact with guest speakers, conduct court observations, complete a seminar paper on an approved public interest lawyering topic, and deliver a short oral presentation on their paper while it is still a work in progress. There will be no final examination. Students will be graded on a 20-page final paper that will satisfy their writing requirement.

LAW 630: SEMINAR: PUBLIC HEALTH LAW (2 credits)
Legislatures, state and federal agencies, and courts charged with protecting the public health are governed by requirements of law: constitutional, statutory and regulatory, and common. In a variety of contexts, this course explores the responsibility, actions and decisions of these entities in their efforts to safeguard the public health. We will explore the public health response to the problems of infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, accidents, and death and dying. Central to this examination will be consideration of the state’s power to encroach on the liberties and decision-making of individuals, where such encroachment is argued to serve a greater, public good. Time permitting; we may also explore such issues as civil commitment, procreation, and human experimentation and clinical research.

LAW 717: SEMINAR: RACE, GENDER, & SPORTS (2 credits)
This seminar will address the role played by race and gender in various aspects of professional and amateur sports. Among the topics to be discussed will be the establishment of the women’s baseball league, the breaking of the color barrier in Major League Baseball and other professional sports, the scope of Title IX and its impact upon intercollegiate athletic programs, opportunities for woman and minorities in league, team and university hierarchies, the influence of the media, the impact of fan attitudes upon sporting events and tournament purses, and related issues. Issues will be addressed from a legal as well as social science standpoint. The course materials will consist of cases, statutes, law review excerpts, and items from non-legal publications.

LAW 674: SEMINAR: REGULATING PATIENT SAFETY (2 credits)
This seminar will look at the new Patient Safety movement in health care, as a response to the growing problem of medical errors in hospitals, drug delivery systems, and physician office practices. The Institute of Medicine report, To Err Is Human, estimated in 1999 that nearly 100,000 people die each year as a result of medical errors, and thousands more suffer negative heath consequences. We will explore the nature of medical errors, its causes and cures, and the role of the legal system in better regulating health care delivery in order to reduce errors. Topics to be examined will include: the role of the malpractice system in systematically reducing errors; state regulation that mandates disclosure of errors, particularly the new Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority and the Minnesota disclosure regulations; the Veterans’ Administration approach to error disclosure to patients; the role of private accreditation of health care institutions; and the nature and extent of drug-related patient harms. Course materials will include social science and medical articles, case law, statutes and regulations, and some law review excerpts. Guest lecturers will provide insights into medical errors from health care provider perspective.

LAW 683: SEMINAR: RELIGION, LAW, AND MEDICINE: AFTER SCHIAVO (Seminar) (2 credits)
Whereas the last 50 years or so has generally featured a relatively orderly emergence of legal and ethical principles, always allowing for differences of opinion, regarding such divergent topics as abortion, cloning, stem cell research and end of life situations, recent powerful and religious movements have attempted to bring a different perspective to these areas.

The increasing influence of fundamentalism, often with attitudes in concert with Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Judaism, has brought to center stage a powerful public debate on these complex issues. The recent deaths of Terri Schiavo and the deeply conservative Pope, John Paul, has heightened the controversy and exposed the fault lines in our already fractured society.
The course will feature a detailed analysis regarding the current influence of religion on our legal and ethical approaches to these various Health Law matters. Constitutional principles will be raised as an introductory topic, to form the underlying floor for further discussions. The seminar will also feature several religious leaders to give their perspectives on these often hotly debated issues

LAW 714: SEMINAR: REPRESENTING THE ELDERLY CLIENT (2 credits)
This seminar surveys legal problems of senior citizens, including guardianship, issues in nursing homes, living wills, widow(er)’s benefits, Social Security and other public entitlements, and age discrimination.

LAW 846: SEMINAR: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS (2 credits)
Our ideas about reproduction and legal rights attendant to procreation have changed tremendously over the past several decades. This course will explore the development of laws affecting decisions surrounding reproduction, including: contraception and abortion; technological advancements which have created new legal challenges to the definitions of parenthood; infertility treatments and the legal issues created by the use of new technologies; and “conflicts” between women and the fetuses they carry.

LAW 724X: SEMINAR: RIGHT TO DIE AND OTHER END OF LIFE DECISIONS (2 credits)
This course focuses on several key patient care issues, but will also cover some important finance, regulation, and bioethics doctrines and principles. Recently, a significant body of law, both judicial and statutory, has developed around end of life decision making. This course will address the legal issues engendered by our increasing control over the end of life. In particular, this class will consider: (i) the definition of death; (ii) informed consent; (iii) the refusal and withdrawal of life sustaining interventions by competent patients, (iv) the refusal and withdrawal of life sustaining interventions by incompetent patients through both advance directives and surrogates; (v) formal and informal dispute resolution mechanisms, including ethics committees and health care provider liability; (vi) physician assisted suicide; and (vii) medical futility. The course will not cover special issues pertaining to newborns and children.

LAW 676: SEMINAR: SECURITIES FRAUD (2 credits)
The seminar furnishes an introduction to federal law that is directed at fraud involving securities. Most of the reading during the semester will focus on section 10 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act and section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act. The seminar requires completion of a paper, which may be used to satisfy the Writing Requirement of the law school. There is no prerequisite to enrollment in the seminar.

LAW 887: SEMINAR: SECURITIES LITIGATION (2 credits)
This course teaches how to bring and defend securities litigation from the practitioner’s standpoint. We focus on the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1934. While the course teaches substantive law, the focus is on mastering the arguments that securities’ litigators make. We role play and use hypotheticals extensively.
Prerequisite: LAW 631: Business Organizations (May be taken in conjunction with Law 629: Securities Regulation)

LAW 875: SEMINAR: SELECTED TOPICS IN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (2 credits)
This seminar focuses on Congress in relation to the other branches of government. It examines a number of current separations of power and civil liberties issues, with an eye toward fleshing out the scope of congressional authority, power and competence vis-à-vis the Judiciary and the Executive.
Prerequisite: LAW 601: Constitutional Law

LAW : SEMINAR: SELECTED TOPICS IN LAW & LITERATURE (2 credits)
This course will examine law and lawyers as it is depicted in literature, and law – consisting of arguments, briefs, and opinions – as literature. In doing so, we will study the storytelling and rhetorical strategies used in both literature and law to move readers and listeners to reach moral and legal conclusions on critical socio-legal issues, and we will see how lawyers may use language to justify or resist the legal status quo.

LAW 6014X: SEMINAR: SPECIAL TOPICS IN LIFE SCIENCES (2 credits)
This Life Sciences and Health Law seminar will explore dietary supplements, biologics, veterinary products, biotechnology, and specialized legal issues specifically under the United States Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and related laws. This seminar may examine litigation issues, regulatory matters and current topics. For example, the issue of the duty to warn may be examined.
Other subjects that may be explored include legislation, jurisdictional issues concerning the regulation of tobacco by FDA, advertising and promotion, industry accountability, constitutional issues, ethical questions, economic matters, product liability and the political milieu. This seminar affords students the opportunity to become directly involved in practical, hands on, various interactive legal exercises. This seminar may satisfy the writing requirement upon the requisite approvals.

NOTE: This is an online course; however, there will be face to face sessions scheduled (teleconferenced to HRBG.) where students will be required to meet in DE or HRBG. The dates for these meetings are June 16th and July 14th.

LAW 885: SEMINAR: SUPREME COURT (2 credits)
This seminar will explore the institutional role played by the Supreme Court in our legal system. Topics will include the nomination and confirmation of justices; the shaping of the Court's docket through the certiorari process; the authorship of majority and minority opinions; and selected landmark cases in which the Court has dealt with issues of critical importance to the nation.
Prerequisite: LAW 601: Constitutional Law

LAW 615: SEMINAR: THE ROBERTS COURT (2 credits)
In light of the 2006-2007 session of the new Roberts Court, it seems more useful for the seminar to attempt to grasp some of the highlights of the current Roberts Court rather than to review the Rehnquist Court era, as was customary in previous years. The seminar will focus on the full text of a single case in each of ten sessions. Each student will be asked to play the role of the same single Justice during the entire semester. Considerable emphasis is placed on the paper; each student will be asked in his/her paper to focus on a single United States Supreme Court case (including historical development of the law set forth in the case) and will be asked to submit an outline, give an oral presentation and be given an optional opportunity to submit a draft for the professor’s review prior to final submission of the paper. Given the new dynamic on the Supreme Court, it is hoped that the seminar will fill a gap for graduating seniors who have completed the basic constitutional law courses. Maximum Enrollment 18.

LAW 975: SEMINAR: THEMES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW (2 credits)
This course will examine the nature of international law with a special emphasis on where it comes from, how it has changed over time and its likely development in the future. Grading will be based on student participation and a final 20 page paper which satisfies the Widener University School of Law writing requirement.

LAW : SEMINAR: TOBACCO & THE LAW (2 credits)
This seminar will focus on the legal issues involving tobacco. The course will examine litigation issues, regulatory matters as well as current topics. The landmark United States Supreme Court decision of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. v. FDA will be analyzed. Other subjects that may be explored include jurisdictional issues, current and proposed legislation cultural issues, ethical questions, economic matters, product liability and the political milieu. This seminar affords students the opportunity to become directly involved in practical, hands on, various interactive legal exercises including “firm” projects involving court and Congressional proceedings. This seminar may satisfy the writing requirement upon approval of the professor.

LAW 852: SENTENCING (2 credits)
This course explores both the moral theories and practical implementation of sentencing. Topics covered include deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, capital punishment, and education, as well as the Federal Sentencing Guidelines of 1987.

LAW 816: SEMINAR: TRUST PLANNING, DRAFTING & DISPOSITION (2 credits)
Trust Planning and Drafting is a skills-based seminar that gives students practice in the planning of various types of trusts and the drafting of basic documents useful to the wills and estates practitioner, such as the power of attorney, the health care directive and basic will. Grades will be based on several short drafting projects throughout the semester and a final drafting project. There is no exam. Prerequisite: LAW 834: Wills and Trusts

LAW 6010X: SEMINAR: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (2 credits)
This seminar is a two-credit seminar which explores the history of violence against women in our society, as well as the social and legal responses to abuse and exploitation of women. Specific topics covered include: intimate partner violence; domestic homicide and risk assessment; stalking; sexual assault; human trafficking; prostitution; the mail order bride industry; sexual harassment; immigration issues; pornography; as well as remedies, treatment and intervention. The goals for this course are accomplished through selected law review articles, cases, legislation, guest speakers, student presentations and a written paper submitted by each student. The required paper for this class will satisfy the Law School’s writing requirement.

LAW 6025X: : SEMINAR: CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM (2 credits)
More than perhaps any other time in American history, contemporary American constitutionalism controls the direction of the nation. To understand American constitutionalism one must understand constitutional theory and the controversies that define its scope and limits. Without at least a modest appreciation of the theoretical framework behind constitutional reasoning, one cannot understand constitutional law or the government the Constitution established. Yet, even judges and attorneys often fail to appreciate this framework and consequently suffer an almost fatal disability as participants in the dialogue over constitutional meaning. This course tries to remedy this disability by examining the critical theoretical elements that define contemporary American constitutionalism and by understanding how these elements are tied to substantive constitutional controversies.

LAW 699X: SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN LEGAL ETHICS (1 CREDIT)
The advanced problems course will take a more in-depth look at the very real and very serious professional responsibility challenges which arise in everyday practice of law. We will move the consideration of professional responsibility from the theoretical study of moral codes to the application of those codes in light of other law, moral and professional considerations and the individual student’s own sense of proper action. The ultimate purpose of the course is to arm the student with a sophisticated understanding of the workings of the moral and professional rules applicable to law practice, to train the student in identification of the ethical questions which frequently arise in law practice and thus to enhance the value of the student to him/herself and to the employing firm or organization. (Inter-semester; 2-days, 1 credit)

LAW 773: STATE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (2 credits)
This course examines the significance of state constitutions, their role in our federal system, and competing approaches to their interpretation. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of state declarations of rights in providing guarantees in addition to, and different from, federal guarantees of individual rights, and on separation of power issues. Other topics include local government, public education, state and local taxation, limits on debt and expenditures, and the processes of amending or revising state constitutions.
Prerequisite: LAW 602: Constitutional Law

LAW 957: TAX PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE (2 credits)
Learn to navigate your way through the Internal Revenue Service’s adversarial system and bring your case to the United States Tax Court. Topics include (1) Organization of the IRS and Tax Division of the Justice Department; (2) The three areas of the IRS: Examination and Audit of Tax Returns; Collection, including settlement negotiations and offers in compromise; Criminal Investigation Division, including criminal investigation and prosecution; (3) How to appeal within the IRS administration; (4) Statute of Limitations issues including the impact on refunds and collection; (5) How and where to litigate, including choice of forum, U.S. Tax Court, District Court or U.S. Court of Claims. We will also explore the attorney’s role in the tax area and job opportunities in tax law. The grade in this course is based on a final exam.
Prerequisite: LAW 610: Federal Income Tax

LAW 6002X: TAXATION OF MERGERS AND ACQISITIONS (3 credits)
This course introduces the federal income tax aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions. The course will cover both taxable and tax-free acquisition techniques. On the taxable side, issues covered may include allocation of purchase price and basis and the use of debt instruments. On the tax-free side, issues covered may include tax-free mergers, stock-for-stock acquisitions, assets-for-stock acquisitions, related party acquisitions, changes in capital structure, and takeovers of corporations in bankruptcy.

LAW 6013X: TECHNOLOGY AND EVIDENCE (2 credits)
This two credit course is intended to educate students in the application and strategy of technology as it pertains to how attorneys are leveraging the same to assist with preparation and presentation of their cases.

LAW 518: TORTS (4 credits)
This course examines and analyzes the general theories of tort liability for injuries to persons or property; intentional misconduct, negligence liability. The course may also introduce principles and theories of strict liability. Defenses to all theories of liability are also covered.

LAW 753: TOXIC TORTS (3 credits)
The rapid growth of hazardous substance litigation raises unique legal questions. This course examines both the substantive and procedural problems related to toxic tort litigation, with emphasis on toxic product litigation and hazardous waste sites; occupational exposure; causation and scientific evidence; new theories (e.g. claims for increased risk of disease); government liability; and mass torts. Substances addressed may include asbestos, DES and other prescription drugs, chemical exposures, cigarettes, blood products, radiation, lead paint, pesticides, and silicone gel breast implants. The focus of the course is on preparing students to be familiar with new claims and strategies as they enter the world of toxic substances litigation.

LAW 735: TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES (3 credits)
This course analyzes the law of unfair commercial practices. It covers trademarks, service marks trade names, trade dress, infringement, interference with contractual relationships, appropriation of intellectual values created by another (appropriation of business ideas, trade secrets, and the right of publicity), defamation, disparagement, false advertising, unfair methods of competition, unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and remedies.

LAW 781: TRIAL METHODS (3 credits)
Trial Methods is a semester-long course focusing on oral trial practice skills and on strategy and planning for civil or criminal trials. One hour each week will be devoted to lectures and demonstrations of trial skills. Two hours each week will be devoted to simulation exercises under the supervision of experienced practitioners and judges. The course will conclude with a short jury trial. Trial Methods is graded pass/fail. Students may not earn credit for both Trial Methods and I.T.A.P.
Prerequisite: LAW 836: Evidence (Pre-trial Methods is not a prerequisite for Trial Methods.)

LAW 912: VETERANS LAW CLINIC (3 credits)
The Veterans Law Clinic is a one or two semester administrative disability law clinic. Students represent disabled veterans and/or their dependants before the Department of Veterans Affairs in disability compensation cases. The clinic integrates administrative law, health law, and forensic medicine. Interns will do intake interviews for new clients, investigate, and develop the law and facts for VA compensation cases, including forensic medical research, and present cases before the Board of Veterans Appeals. Interns may register for one or two semesters. An Intern is obligated to spend an average of ten hours per week doing clinical work.

Interns meet weekly for a classroom component that consists of instruction on interviewing and investigating techniques and substantive veteran’s disability law. In addition, each intern keeps a reflective journal that will be reviewed by the director at the end of the semester. An intern earns three (3) credits per semester for a total of six (6) credits for two semesters. The instructor may approve a two-credit load per semester.
Prerequisites: LAW 72: Professional Responsibility and LAW 836: Evidence

LAW 892: WHITE COLLAR CRIME (2 credits)
This course surveys white collar and business entity offenses in the federal system, such as conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and RICO. The responsibility of corporations and their directors and officers for crime will be examined in this post-Enron legal environment, as will the roles of the prosecutor and the defense attorney in the investigation, prosecution, and disposition of business crime.

LAW 770: WIDENER JOURNAL OF LAW, ECONOMICS & RACE BOARD (1 OR 2 credits)
Please contact Widener Journal of Law, Economics, and Race for more information.

LAW 762: WIDENER JOURNAL OF LAW, ECONOMICS & RACE NOTE (1 credit)
Please contact Widener Journal Law, Economics, and Race for more information.

LAW 763: WIDENER JOURNAL OF LAW, ECONOMICS & RACE STAFF (1 credit)
Please contact Widener Journal Law, Economics, and Race for more information.

LAW 770: WIDENER LAW REVIEW BOARD (1 OR 2 credits)
Please contact Widener Law Review for more information.

LAW 762: WIDENER LAW REVIEW NOTE (1 credit)
Please contact Widener Law Review for more information.

LAW 763: WIDENER LAW REVIEW STAFF (1 credit)
Please contact Widener Law Review for more information.

LAW 834: WILLS AND TRUSTS (4 credits)
The course covers intestate succession; testamentary capacity; execution, revocation and component parts of wills; interpretation of wills; constructive trusts; will substitutes; creation and interpretation of intervivos and testamentary trusts; future interests; the Rule Against Perpetuities; and ethical and practical considerations in drafting wills and trusts. If time permits, the course may cover charitable trusts; powers of appointment; fiduciary responsibility; administration of trusts and estates; introduction to estate and gift tax law.

LAW 807: WOLCOTT FELLOWSHIP (3 credits)
Wolcott fellows are appointed each spring for judicial clerkships which begin the following fall. They are chosen from among regular division students entering their third year and extended division students entering their third and fourth year. Fellows receive credit and a scholarship to clerk for justices of the Delaware Supreme Court during the school year. Successful applicants demonstrate excellence in academic performance and possess substantial experience in research and writing.

LAW 745: WORKERS' COMPENSATION (2 credits)
This course studies the development and application of workers' compensation statutes, combining theoretical and practical approaches. Among the topics that will be covered are: statutory elements of a claim for an accident to be work related and compensable; defenses, burdens of proof, and procedure; distinctions among occupational injury, disease, and stress claims; different types of compensation available; effect of workers' compensation on civil actions and related claims for damages and disability; and current legislative proposals.