2020-2021 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
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Juris Doctor |
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LAW 6228 - Oil and Gas Contracts
Credits: 2
A survey of basic oil and gas contracts used in exploration and production operations in the United States and internationally. Includes support agreements, farmout agreements, operating agreements, gas contracts, gas balancing agreements, division orders, concessions, production sharing, participation agreements, and technical agreements, with a focus on fundamental principles and current issues. Drafting solutions and alternatives are explored.
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LAW 6229 - Government Procurement
Credits: 2
Explores the basic elements of the $500 billion federal procurement market and the state and local markets estimated to be of roughly equal size. Public contracting presents unique and highly challenging legal issues spanning acquisition planning, bidding, contract performance, administrative law, fraud, litigation, corporate compliance, and complex transactions. Students gain a practical understanding of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, competitive solicitation requirements, sole source awards, and bid protests for application to real-world practice environments. Draws upon Texas and potentially other state procurement laws for comparative purposes. Examines the relationships between private contractors and various government customers, with emphasis on the defense industry and conflict of interest concerns.
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LAW 6230 - Actual Innocence Clinic
Credits: 2
The investigation or litigation of actual innocence claims by persons convicted of serious crimes involves unique and highly challenging legal issues. Students assist in a wide range of postconviction case investigation activities, including any or all of the following: locating and reviewing original trial records, searching for any identifying remaining evidence, analyzing cases for viability, submitting evidence for additional testing, interviewing potential witnesses, communicating with clients, meeting face-to-face at least once with clients in the county jail or the assigned prison unit, interacting with assigned personnel from the District Attorney’s Office, and identifying and communicating with potential experts. Also, drafting briefs, motions, and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law.
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LAW 6231 - International Oil and Gas Negotiations
Credits: 2
Covers transactional law and negotiations in an international oil and gas context through lectures and discussions on negotiation topics. Provides hands-on, practical negotiation experience through participation in a series of simulated negotiations where the student role-plays a lawyer representing a client on one side of an acquisition of oil and gas exploration rights in a foreign country.
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LAW 6232 - Corporate Planning
Credits: 2
Planning and problem course in corporate, tax, securities, accounting, and related fields. Students draft instruments and supporting memoranda in solution of a variety of questions in corporate organization, financing, operation, acquisition, and reorganization - a fairly typical sequence of high-tech company growth and development. Student solutions and simulated negotiations are presented for class critique, and in most instances, for comparison with actual solutions to similar problems.
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LAW 6233 - The Expert Witness in Civil Litigation
Credits: 2
Addresses the role of the expert witness in civil litigation, with emphasis on the development of practical skill in the selection, designation, discovery, direct examination, and cross-examination of experts. Considers examples from trial practice in state and federal courts, as well as expert testimony in the context of tort and commercial litigation. Students participate in drafting Daubert/Robinson motions and in mock examination of experts. Prerequisite: LAW 8355 or LAW 8455 Evidence.
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LAW 6234 - Corporate Compliance
Credits: 2
The field of ethics and compliance has emerged as a new legal focus area with significant opportunities for legal practitioners, and the discipline has taken on an international aspect because of global enforcement and the growing convergence of standards. Regulators have stepped up enforcement of guidelines in key areas such as anticorruption, export, and trade sanctions. It is imperative that U.S. corporations comply with the United States Sentencing Commission’s guidelines for organizations and establish risk management programs and processes to demonstrate their compliance. Using the framework of an overarching hypothetical, this course provides hands-on experience in identifying and reviewing key compliance issues and developing workable tools and solutions to address them, with a focus on the expected components of an effective corporate compliance program, drawing from important statutes, case law, and international treaties.
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LAW 6235 - Securities Regulation
Credits: 2
A study of the securities laws (primarily federal but also state, especially Texas) and the activities and industry they govern, with emphasis on the regulation of issuance, sale, resale, and purchase of securities. Also, disclosure requirements generated by registration, reporting, proxy, tender, and antifraud provisions. Includes civil liability (express and implied), government enforcement, exemptions from registration (especially private placements), insider trading, the meaning of “security,” and the functions of the SEC and state securities administrators. May cover broker-dealer and market regulation if time permits.
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LAW 6236 - Directed Research
Credits: 2
Maximum of 3 credit hours. Research on legal problems in any field of law may be carried on with the consent of the instructor involved. A comprehensive, analytical, and critical paper must be prepared to the instructor’s satisfaction. Open to students who have completed more than one-third of the credit hours required for graduation. Before enrollment for directed research, the student must obtain, on a form supplied by the Registrar’s Office, written approval of the instructor for the research project. Students may not receive more than a total of 3 credit hours of directed research during law school.
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LAW 6237 - Wildlife Law
Credits: 2
Explores the complex body of federal and state laws that protect and regulate wildlife, including those that protect ecosystems and habitats. Wildlife law is centuries old and the course covers its interesting history from English common law to the statutes, policies, and regulations that predominate today. Includes cases, statutory laws, and regulations and addresses enforcement of the laws and the constitutional and tribal issues that arise in wildlife cases.
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LAW 6238 - Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
Credits: 2
Introduces key concepts associated with information privacy and security law and covers how these concepts apply to corporate organizations. Information security and its attendant privacy implications have dominated recent headlines in the wake of electronic intrusions at some of the country’s largest and most respected institutions. Broadly reviews the origins and evolution of U.S. information privacy and security law, from constitutional law to common law tort and contract principles as well as modern-day legislative and regulatory privacy and security frameworks. Addresses the latter in the context of recent controversies such as retail data breaches, social media, and domestic surveillance.
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LAW 6239 - Civil Rights Practicum: Police Misconduct Litigation
Credits: 2
The mission of the Civil Rights practicum is to engage students in contemporary civil rights litigation and advocacy from a practice standpoint. Students analyze current civil rights cases highlighted in the national media such as those recently involving George Floyd; Breonna Taylor; the cities of Ferguson, Baltimore, Chicago; and the Waco biker shootout. Students analyze videos of police actions to determine whether there was an abuse of force. Sometimes the videos tell the whole story but other times not. The course offers a unique opportunity for students to learn substantive law about civil rights cases in combination with the advocacy skills that are necessary to win them. Students gain a working knowledge of the civil rights issues involved in police misconduct cases, prisoners’ rights litigation, and other related constitutional violations. Students also learn how to evaluate the merits of such cases and develop advocacy strategies that can apply to any litigation. (*updated* 11/20/2020; effective spring 2021)
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LAW 6240 - Copyright
Credits: 2
A detailed study of the 1976 Copyright Act as well as other means of obtaining legal protection for literary, musical, and artistic works, including unfair competition, tort, and implied contract.
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LAW 6241 - Election Law
Credits: 2
Examines the laws that govern the political process in the United States. Topics include the right to vote, political representation, election administration, political parties, ballot initiatives, and campaign finance, with some coverage of tax issues, administrative and judicial enforcement, and ethics law. The goal of the course is to provide students with a solid foundation in the basic principles of election law in this country.
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LAW 6242 - Consumer Law
Credits: 2
A study of state and federal regulation of credit and noncredit consumer transactions. Special attention will be paid to state and federal legislation regarding unfair and deceptive trade practices embodied in the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Other areas of study include the federal Truth-in-Lending, Fair Credit Reporting, Equal Credit Opportunity, and Fair Debt Collection Acts, state and federal warranty law, as well as contractual and procedural devices designed to facilitate collection. Includes study of traditional private and public remedies and the means of achieving them as well as special problems and issues arising in connection with resolving consumer disputes in the world of e-commerce.
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LAW 6243 - Trademarks
Credits: 2
This course teaches the essentials of U.S. trademark law including what constitutes a protectable trademark, trade dress marks and issues of distinctiveness and functionality, how trademark rights are acquired, how they are enforced in both infringement and dilution actions, and the remedies that are available, both legal and equitable. In addition, the course will cover the federal trademark registration process and the essential steps for filing an application and obtaining a registration.
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LAW 6244 - Trade Secrets and Business Torts
Credits: 2
Are these “secrets,” and if so, whose are they? What separates aggressive free enterprise from unfair competition? We explore in detail the use and protection of “ideas and information” in 21st-century business, particularly the law of trade secrets and confidential information. We also explore the boundary between fair and unfair competition (such as actions for tortious interference, defamation and commercial disparagement, false advertising, common law misappropriation, and conspiracy), and practice under the most prominent trade regulation statutes (such as Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other “Cybertort” statutes, RICO, the Anti-SLAPP Act, civil theft and commercial bribery acts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act). Issues related to data use, contests, cause-related marketing, hidden endorsements, techniques for ethical investigations, and remedies may be included. No technical background is required.
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LAW 6245 - Patent Clinic Deputy
Credits: 2
Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 6218 or LAW 6337 .
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LAW 6246 - Crimes Against Women Clinic Deputy
Credits: 2
Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 7642
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LAW 6247 - Family Law Clinic Deputy
Credits: 2
Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 7643 Family Law Clinic.
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LAW 6249 - Immigration Practice and Advocacy
Credits: 2
Focuses on the “nuts and bolts” of the immigration litigation process, including proper courtroom practices, strategy, and case presentation. Taught with an emphasis on participation, development of advocacy skills in the immigration hearing process, and on obtaining a working knowledge of the procedural rules governing the immigration litigation process as well as relevant ethical standards. Immigration Law is not a prerequisite, but completion or concurrent enrollment in Immigration Law is recommended.
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LAW 6250 - Advanced Criminal Law
Credits: 2
A general writing course that examines hot topics in the criminal justice system such as excessive force and police misconduct, mental health, mass incarceration, and inadequate funding for defense counsel. Topics vary by term and may include recent and recurrent questions in criminal law and criminal procedure. Students write reflection papers on the readings and work in teams to develop concrete solutions to pressing criminal justice problems.
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LAW 6251 - LGBT Rights and the Law
Credits: 2
Covers the main legal and public policy issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the U.S., including the history of the nation’s treatment of LGBT people. Addresses the criminalization and decriminalization of same-sex sexual intimacy, the military’s treatment of LGBT people, public and private employment discrimination, discrimination in public accommodations and housing, religious exemptions from LGBT antidiscrimination law, rights of speech and association for those supporting or opposing LGBT-rights initiatives, parenting by LGBT people, and the controversy over same-sex marriage. Readings include important statutory and constitutional decisions affecting LGBT rights, scholarly writing about LGBT issues, and theoretical discussions of sexuality and sexual identity. Considers a variety of perspectives, including the views of those supporting LGBT rights and those with religious and natural law views that are more traditional. Also addresses the intracommunity debate among LGBT rights supporters on matters like same-sex marriage and the need for antidiscrimination laws. Prerequisites: LAW 6366 - Constitutional Law I , LAW 8311 - Constitutional Law II . (*updated* 11/20/2020; effective spring 2021)
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LAW 6252 - Estate Planning and Practice
Credits: 2
Functional examination of the integration of the federal estate and gift taxes; marital deduction planning and drafting; drafting the bypass trust; desirability of making lifetime interspousal transfers; gifts to minors and other dependents (including the grantor trust rules); techniques of income deflection and estate shrinkage for tax reasons; transferring ownership of life insurance, with emphasis on irrevocable life insurance trusts; and introduction to the generation-skipping tax. Recommended, previously or concurrently: LAW 8395 Wills and Trusts or LAW 6460 /LAW 8360 Income Taxation.
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LAW 6253 - Family Immigration Detention Clinic
Credits: 2
Students travel to the Karnes Family Detention Center over spring break to provide legal support to detained immigrant women and children. Students are accepted into the course on a first-come, first-served basis, however, preference is given to students with fluency in Spanish. All students are eligible to participate; eligibility for or possession of a student bar card is not required. While at the Karnes Family Detention Center, students have regular interaction with the women and children who are detained there. They conduct intakes with newly arrived families. Students work with the women and children to prepare for credible fear interviews, wherein officers from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) make a threshold determination of whether a significant possibility exists that the detainee could establish before an Immigration Court that she is eligible for asylum in the United States. If USCIS makes a negative credible fear determination, students work with the women and children to prepare declarations for an Immigration Judge’s review of the decision and support CARA attorneys representing the clients before the Immigration Court. Lastly, students assist CARA attorneys with pre-release orientations.
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LAW 6254 - Insurance
Credits: 2
Principles governing the nature of insurance law; the principle of indemnity, including insurable interest, measure of recovery, and multiple claims for indemnity (subrogation and other insurance); persons and interests protected; risks transferred, including nature of loss and its causes, warranties, representations, and concealment; limits and duration of coverage; rights at variance with policy provisions; claims processes; and insurance institutions.
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LAW 6256 - Eminent Domain and Condemnation Litigation in Texas
Credits: 2
Explores the history, procedures, issues, and central legal precedents of eminent domain litigation in Texas; namely, the conflicts that arise between condemnors who are trying to spend as little as possible to acquire private property, while still satisfying the Constitutional requirement to pay just compensation and conversely, the landowners who are trying to maximize their recoveries and obtain what they feel is fair compensation for their loss of private property.
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LAW 6257 - Child Advocacy Clinic Deputy
Credits: 2
Deputies help supervise clinic students preparing client representation, and provide assistance in areas such as fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors; students may not enroll before being selected.
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LAW 6259 - Depositions - Questions Answered and Skills Learned
Credits: 2
This experiential short course on depositions is designed for students who plan to practice litigation, though it will also benefit the transactional lawyer by providing insight into the litigation discovery process. Focuses on the practical aspects of taking, defending, and preparing witnesses for depositions, including depositions of corporate representatives and expert witnesses. Students prepare for, take, and defend depositions using simulated cases. Students also review and comment on depositions of people in well-known cases.
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LAW 6260 - Actual Innocence Clinic Deputy
Credits: 2
Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 6230 or LAW 7401 .
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LAW 6261 - Disability Law
Credits: 2
Covers the dynamic and pervasive statutory and regulatory system that touches every business and a growing number of individuals. Provides a broad overview of the widely varied laws concerning disability to help lawyers identify the challenges their clients may face, and to know where to look for more detailed information about those challenges.
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LAW 6262 - Across the Finish Line: Sentence Reductions for Federal Commutees
Credits: 2
Teaches students how to use effective post-conviction strategies, including mitigation investigation, negotiation, and motion practice, in the context of federal criminal defense. Students interview clients, family members, and brainstorm negotiation tactics. Students then assist counsel in writing judicial motions for formerly life-sentenced drug offenders who received term commutations from President Obama, but whose sentences were not completely excised. Lawyers for the Decarceration Collective have final responsibility for filing client motions in court.
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LAW 6264 - Contracts II
Credits: 2
The history and development of the common law of contract; principles controlling the formation, performance, and termination of contracts, including the basic doctrines of offer and acceptance, consideration, conditions, material breach, damages, and statute of frauds; and statutory variances from the common law, with particular attention to Uniform Commercial Code sections.
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LAW 6265 - Energy Finance
Credits: 2
Immerses students in practical business and legal concepts inherent in financing oil and gas and alternative energy development. Students learn the fundamental terms of financing documents and the legal and business issues behind the provisions. In addition, the course provides an historical context for the development of present day financing structures such as lending to oil and gas companies or wind and solar developers in order to develop an understanding of how and why these structures are used. A portion of each class is dedicated to industry-specific knowledge, such as how oil and gas reserve reports are used for financing oil projects, or how tax credits are used to finance wind and solar projects. Guest lecturers include industry experts who discuss specific topics relevant to the course materials.
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LAW 6266 - Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
Credits: 2
The proliferation of legal regimes purporting to govern the same activities presents opportunities and conundrums for lawyers dealing with a wide variety of cutting-edge U.S. and/or international law issues that span civil and criminal divides (e.g., free speech on the Internet and intellectual property rights; the geographic reach of antitrust and securities laws; and laws designed to combat terrorism, child sex tourism, piracy, and international human rights violations like torture and genocide). Requires students to write a substantial research paper of publishable quality. The first part of the seminar explores recent cases and scholarship related to extraterritorial jurisdiction in order to raise the students’ awareness of the theoretical and doctrinal issues involved and to develop the students’ ability to evaluate and critique legal scholarship. In the second part of the seminar, students discuss their research proposals and works-in-progress in light of substantive and methodological insights gained from the first part of the seminar.
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LAW 6267 - Principles of Accounting and Finance for Lawyers
Credits: 2
Introduces key accounting and financial principles needed to effectively counsel and represent clients. Students learn to read, understand, and discuss basic accounting statements and basic financial asset valuation principles and methodologies. Also, basic financial instruments and their normal use in major capital markets.
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LAW 6271 - Payment Systems
Credits: 2
Introduces students to commercial paper and concentrates on legal problems that arise with negotiable instruments. Includes some coverage of consumer credit cards, bank-based electronic funds transfers (including debit and ACH), e-payments (such as Paypal), and commercial payments (wire transfers and letters of credit), but not in great detail. Teaches students to recognize and research payment problems as they arise.
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LAW 6275 - Franchising and Distribution Law
Credits: 2
There is a growing recognition and respect for franchising and product distribution domestically and around the world. Franchising had its start in the U.S. around the time of the Civil War, but its growth has been explosive during the last 10 years. Franchising no longer concerns only restaurants and lodging but has expanded to areas such as telecom and automotive. The course provides an overview of the law of franchising and product distribution, both domestically and internationally.
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LAW 6276 - International Environmental Law
Credits: 2
A study of the transnational law concerning environmental protection and the application of such laws to issues facing governments and businesses worldwide. Includes study of major international agreements addressing environmental issues utilizing a problem-oriented approach.
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LAW 6278 - Employment Law
Credits: 2
Legal regulation of work and the workplace in a nonunion environment. The course covers the expansion of employee rights against unjust dismissal; invasion of privacy and defamation; and government regulation of the workplace in areas of health and safety, wages, hours, and benefits. Also, briefly surveys employment discrimination law.
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LAW 6279 - Products Liability
Credits: 2
Covers the concept of recovery for injuries caused by products, the problems associated with hazard identification, and the process of evaluation of risk. Surveys civil actions for harm resulting from defective and dangerous products. Also, government regulation on dangerous and defective products, and current and pending legislation dealing with injuries and remedies in specific areas.
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LAW 6280 - Patent Law
Credits: 2
Introduces patent and trade secret law for the protection of inventions, technical know-how, and other proprietary intellectual property. Includes procedures and approaches to protecting high technology such as computer software, integrated circuitry, and genetic engineering. Also, the law and procedure of developing the rights, as well as licensing and litigation aspects. Trademark law is briefly covered. A technical background is not a prerequisite for the course.
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LAW 6284 - Patent Prosecution
Credits: 2
Substantive and procedural aspects of patent prosecution before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Practical exercises in prosecution practice, such as claim drafting, preparation of amendments, and other prosecution proceedings. Additional prosecution subjects, including dealing with inventors, developing invention disclosures, and preparing patent applications. Prerequisite: LAW 6280 /LAW 6383 Patent Law.
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LAW 6288 - Regulation of Securities and Commodities Markets
Credits: 2
A study of the securities laws as they relate to the securities industry itself. Focuses on the roles of broker-dealers, investment advisers, and stock exchanges within the scheme of self-regulation under federal law, and on activities of underwriters and specialists. Problems addressed include broker-dealer duties and liabilities to customers, market manipulation, price stabilization, margin regulations, and competition in the industry. Paper or examination. Prerequisite: LAW 6420 Business Enterprise.
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LAW 6293 - State and Local Tax
Credits: 2
Selected problems in state and local taxation of individuals and corporations, with particular reference to property, sales, and income taxes. Problems of constitutional authority, intergovernmental conflict and cooperation, economic impact, and administrative review processes.
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LAW 6299 - Federal Taxpayers Clinic Deputy
Credits: 2
Deputies help supervise clinic students preparing client representation, and provide assistance in areas such as fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors; students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 7443 Federal Taxpayers Clinic.
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LAW 6300 - SMU Law Review Association
Credits: 3
Maximum of 5 credit hours. Preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of the “SMU Law Review” and the “Journal of Air Law and Commerce.” Students must be selected for participation before they may enroll.
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LAW 6304 - Administrative Law
Credits: 3
A focus on legislative authority and administrative agencies with special emphasis on administrative process and judicial review.
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LAW 6305 - Election Law
Credits: 3
Examines the laws that govern the political process in the United States. Topics include the right to vote, political representation, election administration, political parties, ballot initiatives, and campaign finance, with some coverage of tax issues, administrative and judicial enforcement, and ethics law. The goal of the course is to provide students with a solid foundation in the basic principles of election law in this country.
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LAW 6307 - International Humanitarian Law/Law of Armed Conflict
Credits: 3
The essential concepts of international humanitarian law (also known as the law of armed conflict) as derived from international treaty law, customary law, and the experience of history, with a focus on the law applicable to today’s conflicts, whether internal, transnational, or international or whether involving armed opposition groups or the armed forces of nation-states. Students explore the law of armed conflict by surveying its history and sources and by examining its principles and application. The course covers specific areas of interest such as the obligations and protections afforded combatants and noncombatants, permissible means and methods of warfare, the law of occupation and neutrality, the definition and prosecution of war crimes, and the implementation of the law of war in U.S. domestic law and policy.
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LAW 6308 - Advanced Family Law Seminar
Credits: 3
Edited writing seminar that covers selected family law topics in greater depth. The topics may vary by term and may include international and comparative family law, adoption, assisted reproduction technology, and domestic violence. Students are required to write a paper on a family law topic within the covered material. Prerequisite: LAW 6347 Family Law, LAW 6495 Trusts and Estates, or LAW 8302 Children and the Law.
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LAW 6309 - Constitutional Criminal Procedure: Investigation
Credits: 3
Examines constitutional issues (e.g., search and seizure, interrogation, identification, the exclusionary rule, and the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine) that may arise in the pretrial stage of a criminal case. Students taking this course may not take LAW 6320 Constitutional Criminal Procedure: Survey.
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LAW 6310 - Transnational Law
Credits: 3
An introduction to the international legal order as it presents itself to the legal practitioner at the beginning of the 21st century. Drawing on elements of public international law, private international law, and comparative law, the course lays the foundation for more specialized courses in these traditional disciplines.
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LAW 6311 - Alternative Dispute Resolution
Credits: 3
An examination and analysis of materials and skills used in dispute resolution other than litigation. Emphasizes the theory and practice of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and mini-trials, with examples and problem simulations drawn from various fields of law.
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LAW 6313 - International Petroleum Transactions
Credits: 3
A survey of basic principles and contracts used internationally in petroleum exploration and production operations. Topics include concessions, production-sharing contracts, participation agreements, and technical agreements such as study and bidding agreements, confidentiality agreements, and dispute resolution agreements. Focuses on fundamental principles and current issues, and explores drafting solutions and alternative structures.
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LAW 6315 - Advanced Criminal Law
Credits: 3
An edited writing seminar that covers selected criminal law topics in greater depth. Topics vary by term and student interest, and may include recent and recurrent questions in comparative criminal law, professional responsibility in criminal law practice, and evidence in criminal law practice. Students write up to four papers on the same or different topics to fulfill the edited writing requirement. Prerequisite: LAW 8341 Criminal Law.
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LAW 6316 - Disability Law
Credits: 3
Covers the dynamic and pervasive statutory and regulatory system that touches every business and a growing number of individuals. Provides a broad overview of the widely varied laws concerning disability to help lawyers identify the challenges their clients may face, and to know where to look for more detailed information about those challenges.
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LAW 6318 - Banking Law and Regulation: Domestic and International
Credits: 3
Often conducted as a writing seminar. Introduces the federal laws governing commercial banking activities, with primary emphasis on the regulation (and deregulation) of national banks and related policy considerations. Lecture topics vary from year to year but generally include key domestic, regional, and international issues with respect to banking, the banking industry, and the overall financial services industry. Uses interdisciplinary subject matter in economics, finance, and business, and may use comparisons to regulation of other financial institutions. When taught as a regular course, assessment may be by examination and/or paper or series of papers satisfying the writing unit requirement. When taught as a third-year writing seminar, course structure and assessment are consistent with other LAW courses described as writing seminars.
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LAW 6319 - Public Health Law and Ethics
Credits: 3
Discusses questions of legal structure, legitimacy, design, and implementation of policies to promote public health and reduce the social burden of disease and injury. Topics include public health issues in the news: mass shootings; drug overdoses; new disease epidemics; school BMI “report cards”; data mining to evaluate health care quality and cost; religious objections to immunizations; access to contraceptives; drunk driving; contaminated food, water and drugs; electronic cigarette regulation; mental health treatment; and hospital patient injuries.
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LAW 6320 - Constitutional Criminal Procedure: Survey
Credits: 3
A survey of criminal procedure, including topics such as investigation, right to counsel, bail, discovery, trial procedure, sentencing, double jeopardy, and postconviction challenges. Intended for the nonspecialist. Students taking this course may not take LAW 6309 Constitutional Criminal Procedure: Investigation or LAW 6390 Constitutional Criminal Procedure: Adjudication.
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LAW 6321 - Admiralty
Credits: 3
Addresses some or all of the following topics: jurisdiction of maritime cases, practice in admiralty cases, maritime property, chartering, cargo, personal injury and death, marine insurance, and limitation of liability.
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LAW 6322 - LGBT Rights and the Law
Credits: 3
Covers the main legal and public policy issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the U.S., including the history of the nation’s treatment of LGBT people. Addresses the criminalization and decriminalization of same-sex sexual intimacy, the military’s treatment of LGBT people, public and private employment discrimination, discrimination in public accommodations and housing, religious exemptions from LGBT antidiscrimination law, rights of speech and association for those supporting or opposing LGBT-rights initiatives, parenting by LGBT people, and the controversy over same-sex marriage. Readings include important statutory and constitutional decisions affecting LGBT rights, scholarly writing about LGBT issues, and theoretical discussions of sexuality and sexual identity. Considers a variety of perspectives, including the views of those supporting LGBT rights and those with religious and natural law views that are more traditional. Also addresses the intracommunity debate among LGBT rights supporters on matters like same-sex marriage and the need for antidiscrimination laws. Prerequisites: LAW 6222 , LAW 8311 Constitutional Law I, II.
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LAW 6324 - International Protection of Human Rights
Credits: 3
Selected topics, including the protection of individuals and groups against violations by governments and private institutions of their internationally guaranteed rights, and the promotion of these rights. Presentation and discussion of student papers may be required.
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LAW 6325 - Intellectual Property and Business Organizations
Credits: 3
Students examine the role of intellectual property as a business asset by studying the critical events in a hypothetical business as it progresses from startup to a terminating event such as bankruptcy, merger, or acquisition. Includes identifying intellectual property at the startup phase, protecting intellectual property interests in the employment relationship, and managing an intellectual property portfolio. Also, trade secrets, licensing, antitrust issues, and intellectual property at the termination of a business. Evaluation is by exam, and possibly with problem sets. Recommended: LAW 6356 Intellectual Property or two other intellectual property courses. Prerequisites or corequisites: LAW 6420 Business Enterprise and LAW 6356 Intellectual Property , or instructor permission. These requirements may be waived, with the instructor’s permission, in unusual circumstances when a student brings extensive business experience involving practice with intellectual property issues.
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LAW 6327 - International Commercial Arbitration
Credits: 3
Provides reasonably in-depth coverage of the basic concepts and issues of international commercial arbitration. Students review the arbitration rules of the primary institutions and the arbitration laws of the primary arbitration sites, and draft basic arbitration clauses. The course does not cover international litigation.
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LAW 6329 - Consumer Law
Credits: 3
A study of state and federal regulation of credit and noncredit consumer transactions. Special attention is paid to state and federal legislation regarding unfair and deceptive trade practices embodied in the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Includes the federal Truth-in-Lending, Fair Credit Reporting, Equal Credit Opportunity, and Fair Debt Collection acts. Also, state and federal warranty law, contractual and procedural devices designed to facilitate collection, traditional private and public remedies and the means of achieving them, and special problems and issues arising in connection with resolving consumer disputes in the world of e-commerce.
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LAW 6330 - Conflict of Laws
Credits: 3
An analysis of transactions that have elements in more than one state. Covers the choice of the law applicable to the issues in the case, the enforcement of judgments rendered outside the forum state, and jurisdiction over the out-of-state party. Focuses on relationships among American states but also includes choices between state and national law (the Erie doctrine).
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LAW 6331 - Pretrial Practice and Advocacy
Credits: 3
Covers pretrial civil litigation procedure, practice, and strategy. Emphasizes participating, developing advocacy skills in the pretrial process, and obtaining a working knowledge of procedural rules governing the pretrial process. A skills course that focuses on the practical application of the civil rules, decision-making, and judgment.
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LAW 6333 - Creditors’ Rights
Credits: 3
Introduces federal and state law governing the debtor-creditor relationship: enforcement of judgments; attachment, garnishment, and sequestration; fraudulent conveyances; and bankruptcy as affecting secured and unsecured creditors under the Bankruptcy Code.
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LAW 6334 - Law and Behavioral Economics
Credits: 3
Economic analysis of law is an increasingly important mode of legal analysis involving the application of microeconomic tools (and assumptions) to the study of legal rules, legal institutions, and legal compliance. The field of behavioral economics employs theoretical and empirical insights from psychology (and other fields) in an effort to critically evaluate and build upon economic models. Students learn the basic microeconomic toolset used in traditional law and economics analyses, and a handful of psychological findings that challenge and refine the economic assumption of “rationality.”
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LAW 6335 - Aging and the Law Practicum
Credits: 3
Introduces the physiological, psychological, sociological, and legal realities that shape the experience of aging in society today. This experiential course focuses on ways lawyers act collaboratively to solve problems, including contextualizing and expanding basic doctrinal analysis of applicable law and how it can be used to constrain or facilitate human action. Includes solving problems, using law as a tool of advocacy, collaborating with firm members, developing fact-based expertise, using cognitive capacity assessment tools, and exploring varied paradigms of legal thinking. Students work with federal and state laws and judicial processes that impact aging individuals. Special projects and exercises, including collaborative work in small firms and fieldwork in the Dallas area, exposes students to the legal systems addressing competency and independence, such as consumer protection and guardianship, aging in place, and the array of income and health benefits programs. Provides a foundation to pursue a legal practice incorporating the special concerns of the aging.
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LAW 6336 - Directed Research
Credits: 3
Maximum of 3 credit hours. Research on legal problems in any field of law may be carried on with the consent of the instructor involved. A comprehensive, analytical, and critical paper must be prepared to the instructor’s satisfaction. Open to students who have completed more than one-third of the credit hours required for graduation. Before enrollment for directed research, the student must obtain, on a form supplied by the Registrar’s Office, written approval of the instructor for the research project. Students may not receive more than a total of 3 credit hours of directed research during law school.
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LAW 6337 - Patent Clinic
Credits: 3
Students provide pro bono legal services to individual and small-business clients seeking to protect their inventions using the patent system. This work may involve counseling clients regarding patent-related matters, conducting inventor interviews, conducting patentability searches, preparing patentability opinions, drafting and filing patent applications, and drafting and filing responses to office actions received from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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LAW 6338 - Small Business and Trademark Clinic
Credits: 3
The Small Business Clinic provides free legal services to new and existing small businesses and nonprofit organizations that cannot afford to pay legal fees. The clinic provides students real-word training and experience in the transactional practice of law. Student lawyers advise clients in the startup phase of their businesses, form and advise nonprofit organizations, assist in preparing necessary legal documents, and learn ways to assist clients involved in transactional business law. In the Trademark Clinic, which is part of the Small Business Clinic and a member of the USPTO Law School Clinic program, student lawyers gain specific experience in advising clients about basic trademark matters as well as experience in drafting, filing, and handling trademark applications with the USPTO. Prerequisites: LAW 6420 Business Enterprise . Students must be in good academic standing and have completed 50 percent of all course requirements.
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LAW 6339 - Appellate Advocacy
Credits: 3
An advanced skills course designed to build upon the first-year persuasive writing experience, to explore issues common to appellate advocacy (including preservation of error, assessment of the trial record, appellate jurisdiction, and standards of review), and to practice and refine advocacy skills through writing persuasive briefs and making oral arguments.
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LAW 6340 - Employment Law
Credits: 3
Legal regulation of work and the workplace in a nonunion environment. Covers the expansion of employee rights against unjust dismissal, invasion of privacy, and defamation. Also, government regulation of the workplace in the areas of health and safety, wages, hours, and benefits. Briefly surveys employment discrimination law.
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LAW 6341 - Advanced Legal Research
Credits: 3
An experiential learning course that builds on the legal research systems and methods covered in the first-year legal research course. Through a series of assignments and in-class research simulations, students will develop proficiency in locating and evaluating statutes, case law, secondary authority, administrative regulations and decisions, legislative history, court rules, and local law. Emphasizes advanced research strategies and processes to build research skills in a variety of legal practice areas.
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LAW 6342 - Issues in Contracts Used in International and Domestic Petroleum Transactions
Credits: 3
Focuses on legal issues that arise in the oil and gas industry in exploring, developing, and marketing petroleum. Specific topics will include issues that arise from so-called “granting instruments” (leases, concessions, production-sharing agreements, and service contracts), “intra-industry contracts” (such as confidentiality agreements, study and bid contracts, assignments and farmouts, operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, and contracts for the sale of production), as well as from the transfer of mineral rights and royalty rights.
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LAW 6343 - Estate Planning and Practice
Credits: 3
Functional examination of the integration of the federal estate and gift taxes; marital deduction planning and drafting; drafting the bypass trust; desirability of making lifetime interspousal transfers; gifts to minors and other dependents (including the grantor trust rules); techniques of income deflection and estate shrinkage for tax reasons; transferring ownership of life insurance, with emphasis on irrevocable life insurance trusts; and introduction to the generation-skipping tax. Recommended, previously or concurrently: LAW 8395 Wills and Trusts or LAW 6460 /LAW 8360 Income Taxation.
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LAW 6344 - Environmental Law
Credits: 3
A survey that introduces basic elements of federal environmental law. Includes analysis of environmental regulatory policy; statutory control of air, water, and hazardous waste pollution; and allocation of the costs of cleaning environmental contamination.
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LAW 6345 - IP and the Creative Entrepreneur
Credits: 3
In this hands-on experiential course, students will have the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills needed to represent entrepreneurs whose businesses include intellectual property rights. Topics include entity formation, trademark and copyright applications, launching the business, employment contracts, company IP policies, dispute resolution, and exit strategies. Students will negotiate and draft a number of key documents and work on case studies involving graphic design firms, film production companies, and performing arts groups.
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LAW 6347 - Family Law
Credits: 3
The legal problems of the family, including marriage, annulment, divorce, legitimacy, custody, support of family members, adoption, and related matters. Does not include Texas matrimonial property law. If the student plans to take instruction in both courses, this course should be taken first.
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LAW 6349 - Federal Courts
Credits: 3
Congressional control of the distribution of judicial power among federal and state courts. Also, practice and procedure in the federal district courts, including choice of law, federal question and diversity jurisdiction, and state-federal conflicts.
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LAW 6350 - Crimes Against Women Clinic Deputy
Credits: 3
Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 7642
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LAW 6351 - Family Law Clinic Deputy
Credits: 3
Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected. Prerequisite: LAW 7643 Family Law Clinic .
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LAW 6352 - Corporate and Transactional Legal Research
Credits: 3
Designed for students who are interested in practicing corporate and transactional law, this course helps develop advanced proficiency in case law and statutory research and knowledge of regulatory materials, secondary sources, and other fundamental research concepts utilized in a corporate law practice. Focuses on locating and evaluating primary and secondary sources that can be used to research issues involving business transactions, securities offerings, corporate governance, and a number of related topics. Assignments and in-class exercises simulate activities frequently performed by transactional attorneys.
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LAW 6353 - Immigration Law
Credits: 3
An analysis of the Immigration and Nationality Act and relevant regulations with respect to the immigration of aliens, the substantive and procedural aspects of deportation, and exclusion proceedings. A review of nationality law with respect to citizenship and expatriation. Special problems of refugees in the U.S. may be considered.
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LAW 6354 - Insurance
Credits: 3
Principles governing the nature of insurance law; the principle of indemnity, including insurable interest, measure of recovery, and multiple claims for indemnity (subrogation and other insurance); persons and interests protected; risks transferred, including nature of loss and its causes, warranties, representations, and concealment; limits and duration of coverage; rights at variance with policy provisions; claims processes; and insurance institutions.
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LAW 6355 - International Law
Credits: 3
The basic course in public international law includes (with varying emphasis depending on teacher preference) such topics as nature, history, and sources of international law; customary international law; law of treaties; the relationship between municipal law (especially of the U.S.) and international law; recognition and subjects of international law; law of the sea; air, and space law; environmental law; human rights; jurisdiction; state responsibility; state succession; dispute settlement; and regulation of state use of force.
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LAW 6356 - Intellectual Property
Credits: 3
An overview of intellectual property law for students with a general interest in the area and for students who are pursuing specialized fields with IP. Includes an analysis of the competing theories underlying IP law and outlines the basic principles of patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret protection. Also, current issues in software protection, biotechnology, and competition policy.
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LAW 6357 - Child Advocacy Clinic Deputy
Credits: 3
Deputies help supervise clinic students preparing client representation, and provide assistance in areas such as fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors; students may not enroll before being selected..
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LAW 6358 - Selected Issues in Sports Law
Credits: 3
Explores various important and topical case law and transactional issues in the area of sports law, such as free speech issues for athletes, sports gambling and daily fantasy sports, the Commissioners’ authority to discipline in professional sports, and the viability of the NCAA’s amateurism model. Students will be expected to delve deeply into a sports law related topic by researching and writing a substantial research paper which will meet our edited writing requirements.
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LAW 6359 - Criminal Plea Negotiations
Credits: 3
Explains the history and rise of plea negotiations within the American judicial system. Analyzes the two major theories of punishment, the Utilitarian Theory and the Retributive Theory. Students evaluate what they believe about the basis and possible purposes of punishment. Describes the roles and legal and ethical duties of a prosecutor and defense attorney. Explores the various levels and types of offenses contained within the Texas Penal Code. Students then use that knowledge to effectively negotiate a plea agreement as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney on both the misdemeanor level and felony level of case prosecution, specifically focusing on Texas law. Prerequisite: LAW 8341 .
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LAW 6360 - Labor Law
Credits: 3
Provides a detailed study of the National Labor Relations Act and its interpretation by the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts. Covers the rights and duties of individuals and institutions in the labor-relations context, as well as concerted activity, including strikes, boycotts, and picketing.
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LAW 6361 - Technology, Innovation, and Law - Designing Legal Apps
Credits: 3
Exposes students to the varied uses of computer technologies in the practice of law. Familiarizes students with various innovative software platforms that are being adopted in law practice to enhance access to justice, capture legal expertise, interface with clients, manage litigation and transactional processes, and increase the efficiency and quality of legal services. Introduces students to justice/social justice issues through readings and guest speakers. Students learn teamwork, an understanding of the relationship among the rules and doctrines that apply within a particular legal regime, and visual literacy skills. Students work in small teams for a law school clinical program or a legal service organization to develop a platform, application, or automated system that increases access to justice and/or improves the effectiveness of legal representation. Culminates in an app design competition, which is judged by outside experts in the field. The goal is that, by the end of the semester, each team will have built a functional app that is adopted by the legal clinic or legal service organization and put into use for the organization or its clients.
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LAW 6362 - Selected Topics in Gender Law
Credits: 3
Edited writing seminar that covers selected topics in gender law. Topics may vary by term and may include women and violence, reproductive rights, workplace equality, intersectionality, educational equity, and women in the justice system.
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LAW 6363 - Land Use
Credits: 3
Planning, zoning, subdivision, takings, zoning and discrimination, and administrative process in public land use planning.
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LAW 6364 - Legal Research and Writing for International LL.M. Students
Credits: 3
Introduction to the general principles of U.S. law research, legal analysis, and objective writing. Successful completion of this course enables students to recognize and distinguish primary and secondary levels of authority; locate, read, and understand rules of law available in constitutions, judicial opinions, and statutes; demonstrate the ability to update all types of legal authority, including the process of Shepardizing; demonstrate the ability to recognize and use acceptable citation forms for legal authority; and complete legal research/writing assignments to explain the law pertaining to a legal question.
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LAW 6365 - Legislation and Regulation
Credits: 3
Examines the lawmaking function of legislatures and agencies, as well as their interaction with the courts. Drawing on examples from a variety of substantive areas, the course covers the legislative process, statutory interpretation, administrative processes, various forms of agency action, and judicial review of agency decisions.
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LAW 6366 - Constitutional Law I
Credits: 3
Examines methods of constitutional interpretation, the role of judicial review, federal power, separation of powers, federalism, and justiciability.
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