Credit awarded for a note/comment published in the Connecticut Law Review but not submitted for credit as a special research project.

This course serves as an introduction to the music industry and the role of its various entities, including record labels, music publishers, PROs, and licensing collectives. We will review basic copyright principles (e.g., bundle of rights, infringements, remedies), the Copyright Act (including the DMCA), consent decrees and relevant case law. We will also examine income streams and the various types of contracts for songwriters, recording artists, producers and various licensees of music from film, TV, and streaming services.

Quantum computing aims to provide tools that leverage the principles of quantum mechanics to solve complex problems that are difficult – even intractable – for conventional digital computers. Quantum computers promise revolutionary advancements in medicine, materials science, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, encryption, and financial risk analysis. At the same time, quantum computing – like many disruptive technologies of the past and present – can be expected to impact both quality of life and laws that provide guardrails for the adoption of new tools and techniques. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the variety of ways that the advent of quantum computing may affect – and be affected by – the law, particularly intellectual property law.  This is not a physics or computer science course. However, it is an exercise in what some legal practitioners do every day: Efficiently absorb enough understanding of an emerging technology to be effective and knowledgeable advocates for clients inventing, adopting, or affected by new technologies.  Through a combination of readings, assignments and discussions, students will prepare to engage in the challenge of legal practice aimed at protecting and governing advancements in emerging technologies and their adoption in public and private life.

Students who have successfully completed the Health Equity Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This course will explore ethical, human rights, and policy issues related to the provision of reproductive health care using an interdisciplinary perspective. The course will assess the implications of Supreme Court decisions with reproductive rights implications and how it has affected access to reproductive health care. It will also explore the impact of the Trump administration’s reproductive health policies including an analysis of Project 2025.

This practicum will involve students in the work of the Coalition for Prior Conviction Impeachment Reform. Through policy papers, amicus briefs, collaboration with local stakeholders, and educational outreach, the Coalition seeks to change rules on prior conviction impeachment both at the state and federal level. Prior conviction impeachment is an integral component in the rise of the carceral state and the transformation of the criminal system to a system of pleas. Although it is ostensibly about the truthfulness of witnesses, prior conviction impeachment functions in large part as a witness silencing mechanism, and the witnesses it silences are disproportionately people of color. Research has shown the evidence against a defendant with a prior record appears stronger to the jury. Facing this reality, defendants choose not to exercise the constitutional right to testify in their own defense in order to keep the jury from learning of prior convictions through impeachment. The threat of prior conviction impeachment also encourages those facing criminal charges to waive the right to trial and take a guilty plea. Through this practicum, students will work on policy-oriented, empirical and/or legal advocacy research and writing about prior conviction impeachment and the need for reform. Projects may involve empirical research to enhance understanding of the impact of prior conviction impeachment; drafting of policy documents for or directed to stakeholders, such as state legislatures, evidence rules committees, prosecutors, judges or defense attorneys; participating in and/or presenting at meetings with legal groups in states engaged in reform efforts; and/or identifying cases and drafting amicus briefs on the issue. Students will gain the skills and knowledge lawyers need to play an effective role in reform efforts to transform the evidentiary and criminal legal system.

This seminar examines how systems of hierarchy and inequality have shaped the development of law. It provides both a historical overview and a contemporary assessment of the relationship between law, power, and social structures. The first part of the course covers topics such as colonization and the Discovery Doctrine, slavery, the framing of the Constitution, the Civil War Amendments and Reconstruction, and segregation. The second considers contemporary issues such as mass incarceration, housing discrimination law, voting restrictions, education law, and economic inequality. The final part of the course emphasizes creative thinking about the role of law in society, encouraging students to explore innovative ways that the law might address inequality and to develop thoughtful, forward-looking approaches to complex legal challenges.

Investment advisers and investment companies play a significant role in capital formation within the United States and globally and contribute significantly to the effective and efficient functioning of global capital markets. This course will provide broad exposure to the legal and regulatory framework that governs the operations and activities of investment advisers, investment companies, and other participants in the investment management industry. It will examine how the applicable laws and regulations govern the formation, governance, distribution and operations of advisers, traditional mutual funds, and other types of investment vehicles, such as ETFs, close-end funds, CITs, hedge funds, and private equity/venture capital funds. The course will also familiarize students with the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators in overseeing the industry. While focusing on U.S. law and regulation, the course will also touch on certain international regulatory issues. Finally, students will gain an understanding of the role of the investment-management law practitioner. Suggested Preparation: Business Organizations and Securities Regulation.

This field placement seminar will provide students with training in the legal framework governing prisons, including Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence, the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), and relevant U.S. Supreme Court and Second Circuit precedent. The seminar will also include simulations, skill-building exercises, and guided discussions on the ethical, strategic, and policy issues that arise in carceral advocacy. Students will be expected to critically reflect on their fieldwork and consider the role of lawyers and oversight agencies in driving prison reform and systemic accountability. The Prison Law Field Placement is a required co-requisite. Students who enroll in this field placement will be subject to a criminal background check prior to access to correctional facilities.

Students in this field placement will be assigned to the Connecticut Office of the Correction Ombudsman, where they will work under the supervision of the Correction Ombuds and affiliated attorney staff to investigate complaints, assess facility conditions, and engage in oversight of correctional institutions across the state. Students will assist with legal research and writing, draft memos on constitutional claims (such as deliberate indifference under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments), and may participate in facility tours, interviews with incarcerated individuals, and meetings with Department of Correction officials and policymakers. Students will be expected to complete 8–12 hours of fieldwork per week. The Prison Law Field Placement Seminar is a required co-requisite. Students who enroll in this field placement will be subject to a criminal background check prior to access to correctional facilities.

This asynchronous pre-bar exam course focuses on select components of the NextGen Bar Exam—multiple choice, performance tests, and integrated question sets. Enrollment may be in one or both semesters. The course is designed to give students a significant head start on doctrinal review and academic and exam-taking skills development. The course emphasizes skill development through self-assessment techniques, critical reflection, journaling, and the creation of study tools such as mind maps and flowcharts. The syllabus includes approximately 200 multiple-choice questions, three graded integrated question sets, and two graded performance tasks, along with six self-graded integrated question sets and two self-graded performance tasks. Students will practice with NextGen question types including analytical multiple-choice questions, issue-spotter multiple-choice questions, integrated counseling sets, integrated drafting sets, performance tasks, and research performance tasks. Graders provide comprehensive feedback on both content and structure, along with strategies for future improvement. The course culminates in a final examination designed to help students assess their progress and identify areas for improvement.

This asynchronous pre-bar exam course focuses on the select components of the Uniform Bar Exam—the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). Enrollment may be in one or both semesters. The course is designed to give students a significant head start on doctrinal review and academic and exam-taking skills development. The course emphasizes skill development through self-assessment techniques, critical reflection, journaling, and the creation of study tools such as mind maps and flowcharts. The syllabus includes approximately 200 multiple-choice questions, three graded essays, and two graded MPTs, as well as six self-graded essays and two additional self-graded MPTs. Graders provide comprehensive feedback on both content and structure, along with strategies for future improvement. The course culminates in a final examination designed to help students assess their progress and identify areas for improvement.

This course is used for the rewarding of credit(s) for research, writing and editorial work performed by members of the Connecticut Law Review.

This course is used for the rewarding of credit(s) for research, writing and editorial work performed by members of the Insurance Law Review.

This course is used for the rewarding of credit(s) for research, writing and editorial work performed by members of the Connecticut Journal of International Law.

This course is used for the rewarding of credit(s) for research, writing and editorial work performed by members of the Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal.

This experiential course combines theory and doctrine with practice in the skills involved in strategizing for change in the criminal system. Each semester, students working in a team conduct research, consult with community partners, identify avenues for policy change, and make recommendations on policy issues. Students meet once a week as a class with the instructor and work collaboratively throughout the rest of the week. Student work may include: providing written or oral testimony at legislative hearings, giving presentations to stakeholders, drafting policy briefs for legislators, and writing op-eds or other media materials.

Equity is what courts of equity would do if there were courts of equity (Maitland). We explain the counterfactual, that is, we study (1) equitable remedies and restitution (2) the history of equity (3) theories of equity e.g. equity as a metalanguage whose object language is law (4) equitable practice today, especially injunctions in constitutional litigation. We do not survey (1)-(4). Instead, we select among specificities, from uses on uses to what Justice Barrett says next.

This asynchronous pre-bar exam course focuses on the three components of the NextGen Bar Exam—multiple choice, performance tests, and integrated question sets. Enrollment may be in one or both semesters. The course is designed to give students a significant head start on doctrinal review and academic and exam-taking skills development. The course emphasizes skill development through self-assessment techniques, critical reflection, journaling, and the creation of study tools such as mind maps and flowcharts. The syllabus includes approximately 200 multiple-choice questions, three graded integrated question sets, and two graded performance tasks, along with six self-graded integrated question sets and two self-graded performance tasks. Students will practice with NextGen question types including analytical multiple-choice questions, issue-spotter multiple-choice questions, integrated counseling sets, integrated drafting sets, performance tasks, and research performance tasks. Graders provide comprehensive feedback on both content and structure, along with strategies for future improvement. The course culminates in a final examination designed to help students assess their progress and identify areas for improvement.

This asynchronous pre-bar exam course focuses on the three components of the Uniform Bar Exam—the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). Enrollment may be in one or both semesters. The course is designed to give students a significant head start on doctrinal review and academic and exam-taking skills development. The course emphasizes skill development through self-assessment techniques, critical reflection, journaling, and the creation of study tools such as mind maps and flowcharts. The syllabus includes approximately 200 multiple-choice questions, three graded essays, and two graded MPTs, as well as six self-graded essays and two additional self-graded MPTs. Graders provide comprehensive feedback on both content and structure, along with strategies for future improvement. The course culminates in a final examination designed to help students assess their progress and identify areas for improvement.

AI is reshaping industries, economies, and legal systems—faster than laws can keep up. This course explores the evolving legal and ethical landscape surrounding artificial intelligence, preparing students to navigate the governance challenges that come with increasingly autonomous and intelligent technologies. Taking a modular approach, the course examines AI’s impact across key areas of law, including privacy, intellectual property, cybersecurity, human rights, and corporate compliance. Students will address questions like: Who owns AI-generated content? How should governments regulate AI decision-making? What are the risks of AI in law enforcement, finance, and national security? And how do different global players—the U.S., the EU, and beyond—approach AI regulation (and what are the politics and historical contexts behind those choices)? The course will analyze regulatory frameworks like the EU AI Act and recent U.S. executive orders, while also debating ethical concerns: When should AI be allowed to make high-stakes decisions? What responsibilities do companies and policymakers have in preventing bias, misinformation, or unintended harms? By the end of this course, students will be equipped to contribute to AI governance and policy teams, advise on legal risks in AI development and deployment, and critically assess the intersection of law, technology, and ethics in an AI-driven world. No prior technical knowledge is required.

This seminar explores the structural drivers of inequality across jurisdictions and the role of constitutional and human rights law in shaping—and often reinforcing—those dynamics. We will examine how policies like anti-collective bargaining laws, exclusionary zoning, and healthcare regulations produce material disparities and how constitutional frameworks engage with (or fail to counteract) these forces. Topics will include labor rights, the right to housing, healthcare as a human right, and the broader question of whether constitutions can be tools for economic justice or merely entrench existing hierarchies. As debates over income inequality, housing shortages, and healthcare costs intensify, this course will provide students with a timely and comparative perspective. Through case studies from various jurisdictions, we will assess how different legal systems approach these issues and what lessons can be drawn for the U.S. context. Students will critically engage with legal doctrine, policy choices, and theoretical perspectives on constitutional design and socioeconomic rights. The course will be especially valuable for those interested in public law, human rights, and the intersection of law and political economy.

This course is entered on transcripts for students in the Executive LL.M. Program is US Law completing graduation requirements, but not enrolling in additional credits. It is to be used to signify continuous registration.

From technology to extractive to apparel companies, the relationship between transnational business activity and human rights is at the forefront of the public agenda and has changed the nature of legal practice. This seminar will introduce students to the core themes, and the major regulatory initiatives, in this field. Topics will include: the status of corporate actors under international law, forms of industry self-regulation, transnational litigation against corporations under the Alien Tort Statute, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, human rights impact assessments, shareholder activism, and supply chain disclosure regimes. The course materials are drawn from a number of sources, including documentary film, academic journals, articles in the popular and business press, reports by human rights monitoring groups, petitions filed before courts and administrative agencies, U.N. materials, and the governing documents for voluntary corporate initiatives. Suggested Preparation: Business Organizations, International Law, or International Human Rights, may be helpful. But these courses are not required. [Not open to students who have previously taken Corporate Governance and Sustainability.]

Students will explore the civilian legal system of Latin America besides that of Continental Europe. They will view it, in the company of virtual guests from the foreign regions at hand, through the lens of the United States model. The course will foreground several fields: to wit, constitutional, civil, procedural, and commercial law. It will study them with an eye on the role of codification alongside human rights within them.

This course considers the meaning of justice in light of the unprecedent scale of current environmental destruction. It will begin by reviewing the origins of the U.S. environmental justice movement, which focused on unequal suffering from waste, pollution, and other harmful emissions. The course will then investigate other forms of unjust exposure to environmental harm, starting with large-scale extractivism and the building of hydro dams around the world. The course will then address challenges characterized by their global nature, in particular climate change and loss of biodiversity, discussing what environmental justice can mean when the effects of degradation are delayed and raise questions of global fairness between the so-called Global North and South. Finally, the course will look at remedies and the effect that rights can have in establishing justice, including the human right to a healthy environment and rights of nature.

The Public Interest Fellowship is an experiential learning opportunity in which students perform volunteer legal services at a public interest legal organization, government agency, or court under the supervision of an attorney who provides projects and observational opportunities designed to develop the student’s lawyering skills and to enhance the student’s understanding of public interest law. Students do not receive academic credit for this fellowship.

This course considers how law intersects with visual art, from ancient art and artifacts to contemporary art created with AI. Subjects include artists' rights; the art market and issues of good title and authenticity; the international movement of art and antiquities; and legal issues applicable to museums. Outside of doctrinal concerns, the course confronts the ways that law navigates a series of “Art and...” dualities: Art and Expression, Art and Innovation, Art and Truth, Art and Money, Art and Memory, and Art and Politics. We will consider some of the legal, ethical, and public policy considerations that concern artists, museums, dealers, collectors and others involved in the visual arts and antiquities, addressing art as intellectual property (artists’ rights, copyright and fair use, moral rights, and issues of free expression), as personal property (acquisition of good title, artist-dealer relations, the roles of collectors, auction houses, galleries, and museums); and as emotional and political property (issues of cultural and religious heritage; destruction of cultural and religious heritage in times of conflict; the role of art in personal, communal and family history; and restitution and repatriation issues). Several themes recur throughout the course. How does the law define art? Does the nature of art justify different legal treatment from rules governing other property? Should the expressive nature of art affect how it is owned, protected, or regulated? What legal and ethical obligations, if any, do those involved in the art world have to preserve and protect art for future generations? How do (and should) national, cultural, tribal and familial attachments to art and artifacts affect how it is owned, protected, and regulated?

This 2-credit course, a co-requisite for students participating in the New York Pro Bono Scholars Field Placement, focuses on skills required for direct client representation, and examines the justice gap, the role of public service lawyers, and structural and systemic inequities that exist in the justice system and legal profession.

The New York Pro Bono Scholars Program, an initiative of the New York courts, is designed to prepare students for the practice of law and to provide much needed legal assistance to underserved populations. Participating students must complete at least 74 credits and all graduation requirements (except for the practice-based learning requirement, which can be satisfied by completing this course and the co-requisite seminar) by the end of the fall semester of their final year of law school. Students take the New York bar exam in February of their final semester and then devote the following 12 weeks to providing full-time pro bono legal assistance through an approved field placement. Students earn 10 pass/fail credits* for their fieldwork and 2 graded credits for the co-requisite seminar. Students are selected by application, which includes a statement of interest, current resume, transcript, and a completed degree audit. The course and co-requisite seminar are capped at eight students. * The fieldwork credits for this course count as graded credits when determining compliance with UConn Law’s Pass/Fail grading limits (JD Academic Regulations Sec. 2.14.4). These credits do not count as in-classroom, or regularly scheduled classroom credits, when determining compliance with the direct faculty instruction classroom limits (Sec. 1.1.2.).

The Medical-Legal Partnership Health Equity Clinic (MLPHEC) addresses issues of health in the broader context of people’s lives and seeks to remedy the health inequities and disparities of the region’s most vulnerable populations through joint medical-legal advocacy and interdisciplinary interventions. The MLPHEC will be operated as a partnership with Hartford Hospital, a division of Hartford HealthCare. Students will learn about the complex intersection of poverty, health and law, the concept of health equity and its impact on health outcomes, how the law may be used to improve health, and how healthcare providers and lawyers can work together to create innovative and measurable interventions and remedies for patients and clients. Law students, working individually or in teams, will work in the hospital primary care clinics with medical staff to see patients and conduct intakes and interviews of clients. Additionally, students will identify and address systemic policy issue that affect the core population seen by the MLPHEC. Fieldwork is performed at Hartford Hospital and its community-based clinics on the Hartford Hospital campus. Students must therefore complete the accrediting requirements for the hospital, which include a background check, documentation of vaccination history, and a Tuberculosis test completed within 12 months prior to starting the clinic. Because that process can take several weeks, students should contact the instructor upon enrolling to initiate their background check or risk being unable to fulfill course requirements. Suggested preparation: At least one of the following: LAW7314 – Healthcare Legal Operations; LAW7315 – Disparities to Access in Health Care; LAW7587 – Ethics of Public Health; LAW7592 – Health and Human Rights; LAW7763 – Mental Health Law; LAW7865 – Health Law.

The federal tax code is neutral on its face and does not explicitly benefit one race over another. Yet the tax law is not as color-blind as that neutrality would suggest. Historical racism and continuing racial prejudice and discrimination, through both public policies and private acts, have helped create disparate effects that determine tax liability. Racial barriers to economic opportunity have played a substantial role in determining today’s income and wealth distribution. The tax code, specific tax provisions, and the way the code is administered and enforced can affect different races and ethnicities in widely disparate ways, and changes in tax policy and administration can widen or narrow racial disparities. Unfortunately, the tax changes enacted in 2017 — the most recent major overhaul of the tax code — widen income and racial disparities. This course will identify many of the underlying causes of racial tax inequity and explore tax policy changes that would reverse this dynamic. Pre/co-requisite: Federal Income Tax.

Students who have successfully completed the Transactional Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills they will need to start, scale, and run a thriving law firm from the ground up. Students will cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, develop business plans and marketing strategies, and learn to navigate financial landscapes, harness cutting-edge technology, optimize operations, and refine the art of client service. The course will use real-world case studies and role play scenarios to illuminate the material covered. A special emphasis will be placed on creating and running a healthy law firm.

Federal law provides advocacy organizations with a variety of tools for shaping environmental policy—including the ability to (1) petition agencies for new regulations, (2) comment on proposed regulations, (3) challenge (or intervene to defend) newly finalized regulations, and (4) independently enforce regulations. Through a series of case studies, this seminar will introduce students to the legal frameworks that govern these activities. The course will also help students develop the administrative lawyering skills needed to engage in effective advocacy themselves.

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of the regulation of data privacy, confidentiality, and security. The goals of this are to (1) introduce students to the foundations of and basic principles of information privacy laws and cybersecurity laws, including underlying concepts, policy responses, technical underpinnings, and key regulators; (2) examine in depth key data privacy and cybersecurity regimes by sector (health care, finance, education) and geography (GDPR and state-level comprehensive privacy laws); (3) have the students understand the role of the attorney in preparing for and responding to a data security incident; and (4) examine state and federal information privacy and cybersecurity enforcement, with a specific focus on attorney generals and the FTC.

This course will examine the law relevant to the day-to-day operations of a large health care delivery system and introduce students to the issues that lawyers in a hospital general counsel’s office address on a daily basis. The course will entail (i) an in-class overview of the health care industry and key legal concepts relevant to the day-to-day operations of health care delivery systems, and (ii) a hands-on introduction to how these legal concepts are applied in practice. The course will provide an introduction to the health care delivery industry as well as an overview of different types of health care contracts, key contractual terms, corporate governance models, mergers and acquisitions, patient privacy, clinical research, employment law, and corporate compliance. The course will consist of lectures and simulations, onsite observations of operational practices at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (e.g., corporate board meetings, executive management meetings, corporate compliance meetings, tours of operational facilities), and in-class reflections of observations and learning.

This course will examine the factors that affect health care access and outcomes of the most underprivileged populations in the United States. The course will pay special attention to the socio-economic, racial, ethnic, and gender status of individuals and their relationship with health disparities and inequalities. The topics covered in this course will be wide-ranging and will include the historical roots of health care disparities, social determinants of health, and policies and practices that promote inequities in health care access. The course readings will focus on federal and state legislation, health care systems, payment methods, and provider practices that contribute to disparities, as well as federal and state laws that aim to address disparities in access to health care.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to various facets of judicial decision-making and the judicial process. Using Connecticut's court system as a model (with appropriate references to the federal court system) we will discuss, among other things, fact-finding, judicial ethics, judicial administration, the judge-law clerk relationship, how judges prepare to decide a case, collective decision-making, and the opinion writing process. There will be assigned reading for each class, with an emphasis during the first half of class on group discussion regarding these materials. In addition to the weekly readings and class participation, each student will be required to draft a majority opinion as a final project.

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of private equity transactions. Students will engage in a critical analysis of the financial, economic, regulatory, and legal considerations through a semester-long case study involving the acquisition of a company (public or private target) by a competitor (acquirer). The case study framework will prepare students to analyze and draft deal origination documents, employ due diligence best practices, engage in financial structuring, liaise between key actors in the capital markets (such as banks, private equity, and hedge funds), and assist clients in mitigating post-merger integration issues. Excellence in this area of practice requires not only attention to detail and analytical skill, but also an understanding of the underlying economics of the deal. To that end, this course will address many of the business topics covered in a first-year MBA curriculum (including asset valuation, market sizing, and financial statement analysis), approaching them from both legal and commercial perspectives.

This course focuses on the importance of cross-cultural awareness as a component of competent legal representation, and on the lawyer’s obligation to promote a justice system that provides equal access and eliminates bias, discrimination, and racism in the law. Whether students plan to pursue careers in public interest, Big Law, or other legal practice contexts, understanding the value of diverse perspectives in organizational decision making and innovation, and the ability to communicate effectively with clients, are essential requirements for success in the legal profession. Through large- and small-group sessions, students will critically examine the historical, political, and social contexts in which inequities in the law have been created and perpetuated. Students will also explore how lawyers can and do use advocacy, scholarship, and policy reform to challenge and remedy biases and inequities in law and legal systems. The course will combine doctrinal instruction with exercises designed to encourage reflection and help students strengthen their skills in working with clients from a variety of backgrounds and with different interests.

Students who have successfully completed the Housing/Eviction Defense Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This course addresses how the regulation of privacy and technology affects the work of in-house counsel. Topics will include data privacy, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. Students will learn how companies are using new technologies and how in-house departments manage the compliance demands stemming from the regulation of new legal tech.

This course provides students with experience in the general principles of the drafting of commercial contracts. Through a study of the Model Note Purchase Agreement common to most debt transactions, students will learn to analyze an agreement, connect the language in the agreement to the terms of the deal, and draft protections commonly requested by clients. Knowledge of The Uniform Commercial Code A. 9 is helpful but not necessary.

Insurance law has been important since before the underwriters at Lloyds provided insurance for oceangoing cargo at Edward Lloyd’s coffeehouse on London's Tower Street starting around 1688 (perhaps going back as far as the Phoenicians swapping cargos and one ended up short). Today insurance is a significant financial industry around the globe, but Insurance Law has developed around custom and practice in an industry built on written records. With the advent of process automation, exponential growth in processing power/storage, and easy (and often secure) internet access, technology is changing the fabric of the industry. Now, generative artificial intelligence, Big Data, and highly sophisticated modeling of natural calamities, are attempting to transform insurance and, as a result, Insurance Law.

The course will examine the developments in US mass tort litigation and the role of liability insurance. Using examples of US mass tort litigation including opioids, sexual abuse/molestation, climate change, asbestos, and sports concussion, the course will survey the mass tort and liability insurance landscapes over the last several decades. Students will analyze core issues in the mass tort and liability insurance relationship including: the definition of an accident/occurrence; scope of damages; culpability; and other key liability policy provisions. The course will provide a "real world" understanding of the perspectives of various actors involved in mass tort litigation and their respective motivations and strategies. The course will conclude by examining the evolution of liability insurance markets and rise of new risk spreading mechanisms, and asking whether there are mass tort risks that are just too big to insure. LAW7530, Torts, is a pre-requisite to this course. LAW7675, Principles of Insurance, is suggested preparation.

The focus of this course is on the Connecticut Constitution. The course will address cases in which the Connecticut appellate courts have agreed or declined to expand individual rights under the Connecticut Constitution beyond the federally-guaranteed minimum. The subject area will include both civil issues, such as freedom of speech, the right to education, equal protection of the laws, and the right to bear arms, and criminal matters, such as search, seizure, and arrest, jury selection, and the death penalty. The course will examine both the substantive holdings of the cases as well as the method used (original intent, textualism, contemporary values) to interpret the constitution. The goals of the course are 1) to reinforce understanding of the federal constitution, 2) to examine methods of interpreting the federal and state constitutions, 3) to appreciate the role of the state constitution as an independent charter of rights, and 4) to learn substantive Connecticut state Constitutional law. We will also take an occasional look at other state constitutions.

American Public Education & the Constitution provides an in-depth examination of the legal principles and underlying politics that shape public education in the United States. This course covers the constitutional and public law aspects of education, focusing on the rights and responsibilities of students, teachers, and school administrators within the K-12 education system. Through rigorous analysis of landmark Supreme Court cases, federal statutes, and state laws, particularly in Connecticut, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the legal landscape governing public schools. Topics include student rights concerning conduct, free speech, and search and seizure, as well as teacher rights related to constitutional protections, employment, and collective bargaining. The course will also compare the legal and political environment around public education in the United States with those of other countries in the Global North (like Germany and France) and the Global South (like South Africa, India, and Brazil).

This seminar explores the state and local tax issues raised by interstate transactions and the digital economy. The seminar will be an intensive writing experience. Multiple drafts are expected. Depending on student interests and paper topics, the seminar might cover the taxation of cannabis; off-line gambling; remote vendors; platforms such as EBay, Airbnb, and Amazon.com; digital products and the digital economy; restructuring the taxation of transportation in light of electric vehicles, and hybrids, and new technologies that allow for tracking the location of vehicles; the Internet Tax Freedom Act; the new and controversial Maryland tax on digital advertising; the impact on the state of the reform of the international income tax structure; the sales taxation of food; state wealth taxes; American Indian taxation; recent trends in the interpretation of the Due Process Clause and the Commerce Clause; the Uniformity Clause in state constitutions; racial bias in the property tax; and the personal income taxation of athletes and entertainers.

This course will explore the regulation of strikes, picketing, and secondary boycotts under the National Labor Relations Act. Thus, we will take a close look at the “right to strike”; at the contours of that “right” with respect to different kinds of job actions (e.g., strikes in support of bargaining demands and workplace grievances vs. strikes to protest employer unfair labor practices vs. strikes to protest and avoid unsafe working conditions); and at the lawful counter-measures employers may deploy in response (e.g., hiring replacements for the striking workers). Then we will examine the right to picket and, in particular, the limits imposed by the Labor Act on so-called “recognitional” picketing – i.e., picketing for the purpose of pressuring an employer to recognize and bargain with a union. Finally, we will explore the Labor Act’s general prohibition on secondary boycotts (i.e., economic pressure – like a consumer boycott – aimed not at the target employer but instead at the employer’s suppliers or customers); the major “exceptions” to that prohibition (e.g., when the boycotted firm is engaged by the target employer to perform the work ordinarily done by striking workers); and the considerable tension between the regulation of boycotts and the First Amendment. Pre/Co-Requisite: Labor Law I (LAW7766).

The global practice of corporate law has changed dramatically over recent years. Beyond the traditional doctrinal and theoretical toolbelt provided in foundational business law classes, contemporary corporate practice requires competence in a set of intersecting areas that together have been described as “the most important issue in corporate governance today”: ESG. While the precise definition and scope of ESG is quickly evolving, the concept refers to the environmental, social, and governance considerations that are used in evaluating a corporation’s long-term value, sustainability, and societal impact. This course will introduce students to the core principles and problems associated with ESG and their intersection with corporate law and governance. It will cover the recent wave of ESG-related regulations, statutes, international standards, litigation, and shareholder proposals under federal securities law. Suggested Preparation: LAW7605 Business Organizations.

During the past several decades, criminal justice reform has become one of the nation's most important social justice issues. At the same time, the increasing availability of large administrative datasets has given social scientists the opportunity to produce empirical research that improves our understanding of the causes and consequences of various aspects of the criminal justice system. In this course, students will read a selection of articles from social science, law, criminology, and public policy on the criminal justice system while also learning the basic concepts needed to become an educated consumer of empirical research in general. The course will cover topics spanning the entire breadth of the criminal justice process, including policing, prosecution, sentencing, incarceration, probation, post-incarceration outcomes, and more.

This project-based course explores the law and theory of felony murder with a specific focus on its operation in Connecticut, qualitative and quantitative data research on its impacts, and possibilities for reform. Students in the course will examine the history of felony murder provisions generally and in Connecticut, how Connecticut’s version of felony murder compares to other jurisdictions, and who in Connecticut is charged and convicted of felony murder and under what circumstances. Students will work as a team to obtain and review available data and court records and produce written materials to inform criminal system stakeholders about how the law operates and what reforms should be considered.

The purpose of the course if to study some of the most pressing phenomena in contemporary democracies, usually regrouped under the concept of “democratic backsliding”. As an introduction, a conceptual history of democracy will help explain the implications of the rule of law for liberal constitutional democracies. Then, the course will analyze the main contemporary critiques to representative democracy, as well as the current challenges to the rule of law in democracies such as populism and illiberalism, in various countries (especially Brazil, the United States, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Venezuela). Students will learn through case studies about the most recent proposals to enhance democratic participation (referenda, public consultations, citizens’ conventions, environmental democracy mechanisms) and will be encouraged to critically examine them.

The course will examine the critical yet often unaddressed issues surrounding pretrial release and detention in the United States. Nearly a half million presumptively innocent individuals are incarcerated on any given day. They are awaiting the disposition of their case in a system that relies heavily on the commercial bail bond industry. Critics of the bail system in U.S. argue that such broad pretrial detention deprives people of their liberty without due process, undermines the presumption of innocence, increases crime, and wastes tax dollars by incarcerating people who are not dangerous. Proponents of the existing system argue that it protects the public and assures defendants’ appearance in court. Efforts to make changes in pretrial justice system have proved slow and difficult, leaving jurisdictions with the question how best to achieve pretrial justice. This course will cover the history and purpose of bail; race and socioeconomic effects on pretrial release and detention; and the many levels at which bail is regulated, including state statutes, regulations, court rules, and the U.S. Constitution. We will focus on pretrial justice as a system, considering how American federalism, legislation, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, pretrial agencies, and commercial interests combine to create the day-to-day reality of release and detention of defendants. Each week, students will have an opportunity to hear from guest speakers representing various constituencies involved in pretrial justice including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the pretrial justice agency officials. Students will develop a research project from among the topics covered in class such as legal history, litigation and policy efforts, and black-letter doctrine. Suggested Preparation: Criminal Procedure

This course will explore specific topics under the general area of Trademark Law. Topics presented will vary in each course offering. Students may repeat the course for additional credit so long as different topics are explored. A survey course in Trademark Law is not required, nor does prior enrollment in Trademark Law preclude enrollment in this Topics course.

Researching international law requires materials and methods different from those employed in teaching U.S. law. This course provides an overview of the sources and institutions of international law, with an emphasis on the skills needed to locate and evaluate relevant international materials.

This seminar explores the complicated relationship between lying and the law. Although lying seems antithetical to the rule of law, are there ways in which it is a productive or necessary part of the legal system? Does law itself inevitably engender lying? Where are the boundaries around lying or where should they be? Course materials will include philosophical and literary explorations of these and related questions. The course will also look at some of the multifaceted ways in which the law seeks or fails to regulate lying. Topics may include false advertising laws, the common law of perjury, the use of legal fictions, deceptive interrogation by police, antidiscrimination laws, and the regulation of lying by lawyers.

This seminar will examine the role of the in-house lawyer in a global marketplace chiefly through in-depth discussions with leading practitioners from different types of organizations, including large publicly-traded companies and large public institutions. We will provide a comprehensive overview of the most pressing legal and business issues involved in international commerce with a focus on emerging markets. In this context, we will examine the changing role of the in-house counsel and their growing responsibility within organizations. For example, we will discuss the relationship between in-house lawyers and other organizational leaders such as the CEO, CFO, and Board of Directors and also discuss how in-house lawyers use outside counsel. We will look at the key functions, problems, and industry-related issues that in-house lawyers confront and the ways they handle those issues. Suggested Preparation: LAW7605 Business Organizations. Not open to students who have taken LAW7368 Role of In-House Corporate Lawyer.

This course explores the past, present, and future of laws prohibiting housing discrimination in the United States, from the enactment of the Civil War Reconstruction Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1866, to Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The course examines the role of former and current federal executive and independent agencies, commissions, and state administrative agencies that have shaped housing and discrimination law. The course also centers Connecticut housing discrimination law and the fundamentals of statutory construction and litigation strategy by examining the process of proving and defending against individual and systemic housing discrimination claims. Finally, the course will explore twenty-first century problems arising at the intersection of housing discrimination and online technology. This course is also designed to allow students to engage and reflect on housing-related issues that they may have personally experienced or in which they otherwise have an interest.

What are cyber risks? Are we headed to a day when all risks will be cyber risks? How can the risks of harm from a cyberattack be managed through insurance? This course provides a detailed examination of the legal considerations in effective use of insurance for cyber risk management, including a review of how commercial general liability, property, crime and cyber insurance policies may respond to cyber risks. The course will focus on several subtopics within these areas, such as the differences between first and third party exposures and how they are addressed in cyber insurance coverages, coverage for privacy risks, coverage for regulatory fines and penalties that may be assessed after a cyber breach, how ransomware is handled by insurers, vender relationships and coverage through other people’s insurance, coverage for state-sponsored cyberattacks, terrorism and cyber risk, and common cyber risk exclusions including the debate over the application of war and hostile act exclusions to cyberattacks. The course will also examine the varying perspectives of the interested parties to an insurance dispute.

Google, CBS, American Apparel, Fox News, the Weinstein Company, Wynn Resorts.  These are just a few examples of corporations that faced scandals involving discriminatory corporate cultures, racism, and sexual misconduct allegations against high-ranking executives.  These scandals occur at a time when U.S. corporations are struggling to establish business cultures that are diverse and inclusive more generally.  Set against this backdrop, this seminar will explore the relevance of diversity to corporate law, governance, culture, and theory.  Topics may include:  feminist and critical race engagement with law and economics; corporate diversity-related disclosure obligations required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nasdaq Stock Market; corporate board diversity quotas mandated by the state of California and international jurisdictions; shareholder activism related to diversity issues; the increasing use of so-called “#MeToo representations” in merger and acquisition agreements; and voluntary corporate initiatives such as racial equity audits and tying executive compensation to diversity performance. Suggested preparation: Business Organizations.

Students who have successfully completed the Veterans Law Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This course will examine in depth the procedural rules that govern discovery in civil litigation. Discovery is an enormous part of most litigators' practices, yet the topic typically receives scant if any coverage in introductory civil procedure courses. Specific topics to be covered include: discovery plans, mandatory disclosures, discovery objections, privileges, interrogatories, production requests, depositions, experts, subpoenas, and sanctions.

This course will consider the legal treatment of current issues in biomedical ethics. We will consider the law of the doctor/patient relationship (including informed consent doctrine, medical decision-making in cases of limited capacity, issues surrounding doctors’ obligations to third parties and pregnant women, and legal issues surrounding the use of algorithmic decision-making support tools and social determinants of health in medical decision-making); the regulation of end-of-life care; the regulation of assisted reproduction; and the legal frameworks for public health measures including quarantines, vaccination, and triage policies ("emergency standards of care").

This seminar will explore in depth topics in compliance, and the role of public authorities in improving the behavior of organizations and their agents. The course assumes a basic knowledge of the principles that have been developed in the general corporate context. We will explore specific applications of those principles to new settings, seeing where the lessons of compliance by US corporations can apply to public sector organizations (e.g. police) and cross-national conduct (e.g. climate change, international sports). We will also consider the use of new methodologies to enforce compliance, from surveillance technologies to social media shaming campaigns. The goal of the course is to familiarize students with the range of tools and their creative application to achieve positive social change on any scale, from the local to the global. Suggested preparation: LAW7480, LAW7553, or LAW7554.

This course considers insurance as a business, using concepts from economics to illuminate how insurance markets work (or don’t). Insurance at its most basic is the transfer of risk. But what is risk, and why do individuals and firms want to transfer it? On the other side, why are insurers willing to buy risks? How exactly do informational asymmetries impinge on insurance markets, the regulation of those markets, and the design of insurance contracts? How do and should insurance deal with heterogeneous risks across classes of consumers—when does taking account of such heterogeneity constitute discrimination and when is it fair (or efficient)? After considering these questions in general, we will investigate the business/economics of some particular lines of insurance, including life, cyber, health, catastrophe, etc. Materials will be drawn from the scholarly literature, business-school-style case studies, and some judicial opinions. No prior knowledge of economics is assumed, but some comfort with algebra and graphs would be helpful. In addition to a final exam, students will do an in-class presentation and will be asked to complete two or three ungraded problem sets.

Students will provide research support for the Hate Crimes Advisory Council. Students will conduct legal research on state and federal hate crimes legislation, review best practices in reporting and prosecuting hate crimes in other states, examine non-criminal restorative and juvenile justice measures, and investigate alternative forms of community policing and engagement.

For many of the same reasons that the law is slow and difficult to change, the systems and strategies underlying legal research are similarly limited, and often exacerbate the problem. This research course is designed for students interested in social justice issues and will enable students to critically assess how their own research practices may be limiting their ability to effectively advocate for change. Topics covered include criticisms of standard legal research strategies and technologies as well as alternative and critical legal research practices. Students will be evaluated based on short assignments and a final annotated bibliography and research log. For an additional credit, students may write a paper based on their research. This is a supplement to courses such as Advanced Legal Research and Practice Ready Research; although some background knowledge of legal research resources and strategies is necessary, and advanced knowledge will be helpful, no courses beyond the 1L curriculum are required.

This seminar will explore the United States Constitution from the perspective of children and children’s interests. We will begin by considering the Constitution’s view of children in our liberal democracy. In what ways are children conceived of as persons and citizens in their own right, and in what ways are they viewed as future adults and citizens? How do race, gender, disability and income inequality affect our constitutional understanding and treatment of children? What is the family’s place in the constitutional structure of government, and what is children’s place within the family? As we examine specific constitutional doctrines, we will address several recurring themes: the role of education under our federal and state constitutions; the relationship between the values of pluralism/individual autonomy and parental/state socialization of children; the extent to which broad parental rights obscure children’s interests; the responsibility of the state to provide affirmative goods to children; children’s right to rehabilitation at home, at school, and in the juvenile justice and criminal law systems; and children’s interest in public and political life. Doctrinal areas we will cover include substantive due process, equal protection, free speech, free exercise of religion, procedural due process, the Fourth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment, and, if time permits, Article III.

Insurance influences a wide swath of life. This one-credit seminar presents current topics in insurance law and practice. It will meet once a week for an hour, and will feature guest presentations by scholars, practitioners, regulators and advanced LLM or SJD students, on current topics ranging from cyber insurance to business interruption coverage during the pandemic to the impact of monitoring programs in US auto insurance. Students will write short reactions papers each week; there will be no final exam.

This two-semester course will focus on all Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) topics in their entirety. Enrollment may be in one or both semesters. Three MBE topics will be addressed during the Fall semester and four MBE topics will be addressed in the Spring. Through guided practice of MBE questions and MEE essays, students will develop exam-taking techniques and strategies. Skills workshops will be presented to develop reading comprehension, legal reasoning and analysis, rule mastery and issue identification. Students will also be introduced to the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) and taught the skills and techniques on how to organize and write an MPT response. Simulation and essay review will be provided to improve proficiency in each component. A final exam will be administered. NOTE: UConn Law has contracted with Themis Bar Review to provide the design and instruction for this elective course. This course is distinct from bar preparatory courses designed and offered separately by Themis Bar Review. Our arrangement with Themis precludes any marketing of Themis products or services while engaging with our students in this course. Students are under no obligation to take this elective or any other preparatory course offered by Themis and may wish to seek bar preparation from other sources depending on their situation

The Regulatory contours of the energy industry are being shaped through today's litigation. These battles seek to redefine the jurisdictional boundary between state and federal jurisdiction - a line that, while once fairly clear, has grown increasingly blurred ae our electric grid has advanced. The questions at the center of this debate - who decides what generation is built, how best to incentivize development of renewable energy and demand-side technologies, and how these technologies are compensated - will shape the future of our grid, our environment, and our economy. This course will take a court-centric approach to examining these questions. Through readings, drafting briefs, and a final exam, students will explore the policy questions that will define the future of energy law.

The insurance underwriting and pricing process, of necessity, involves making choices among applicants on an individual and group basis. At its core, this process involves discrimination. This class explores such discrimination and considers what are the allowable bounds. Our study will include, how risk is evaluated, what the transfer of risk entails as well as the role of insurers in current society and its historic role in the United States economy. Specific cases of race, geography, age, gender, health and disability will be evaluated, along with changes over time in insurers' treatment of these factors and what has prompted these changes.

This course explores issues related to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, including history, policies, and laws connected to these areas. The course will consider the reasons why diversity and inclusion are a problem within the legal profession, identify ongoing issues and systemic challenges, and survey efforts made to increase diversity and inclusion in various aspects of the legal profession. Topics will include disparities and discrimination related to race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, age, and socioeconomic status. The course will include guest speakers from different areas of legal practice. Students will be evaluated based on a course paper, short response papers, and active participation.

In this field placement students will perform substantive legal work in a qualifying public interest legal organization, public interest organization, or other legal practice in New York City. Students will complete a minimum of 34 hours/week over the 14-week semester and will earn 11 academic credits. Students enrolled in this field placement must be concurrently enrolled in LAW7979 - Individual Field Placement Seminar (1 credit).

In this tutorial, students who are concurrently engaged in paid or unpaid legal work prepare a research paper of no fewer than 15 pages under the supervision of a faculty member. Paper topics must relate to the student's concurrent legal work and may address substantive or procedural law, the role and conduct of legal professionals, the structure and workings of legal systems, or other matters pertinent to the student¿s practice venue. The instructor provides students with guidance and feedback on topic selection, legal research methodology, and scholarly legal writing. Students will hone their legal research, writing and analytical skills while gaining deeper insight into the legal practice venue in which they are engaged, and legal practice and the legal profession generally. Enrollment requires prior permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. This is a one-credit pass/fail tutorial generally offered only during the summer term. It does not satisfy the Upper-Class Writing Requirement, the Practice-Based Learning Requirement, or the LLM Writing Requirement. Students may enroll in it no more than twice.

This course examines the procedural and evidentiary issues that arise in litigation with respect to electronically-stored information. Familiarity with these issues ¿ including the retention, storage, production in pre-trial discovery, and admissibility at trial of such information ¿ is an essential competency for lawyers in an increasingly digital world. Students participate in simulations and role-plays that engage their written and oral advocacy skills in applying the rules of procedure, evidence, and ethics to civil and criminal case scenarios. No special knowledge of computers is needed. Option for third credit with short research paper. Prerequisites: Civil Procedure (LAW 7500, or LAW 7501 and LAW 7502) and Evidence (LAW 7560).

This course will discuss the theory and doctrine of the First Amendment protections for freedom of expression. Topics and questions discussed will include: What are the historical roots of the First Amendment? What individual and societal values does the First Amendment serve? Is the right to speech absolute? Is it appropriate for courts to classify some speech as “high value” (e.g., political speech) and other speech as “low value” (e.g., commercial speech, hate speech, pornography)? How do courts balance expressive liberty with competing concerns like equality, order, and state neutrality? To what extent is First Amendment jurisprudence shaped by power and politics, and how does it resist broader ideological, institutional, and economic forces?

The course will examine the legal, ethical, and practical challenges of investigating, prosecuting, and defending allegations of white collar crime and public corruption. Working from hypothetical facts involving financial transactions and related government actions, the course will explore the investigative avenues and techniques frequently used in such investigations, including the grand jury and electronic surveillance authorization. The course will consider in depth the potential criminal charges that might arise in such matters, including wire and mail fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, theft of government services, and bribery. Recent United States Supreme Court cases that have limited the scope of federal bribery and kickback laws will receive particular emphasis. Finally, the course will consider the legal and ethical responsibilities of both prosecutors and defense counsel during investigations and any subsequent prosecution. Pre/Co-requisites: Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure.

This course is an exploration of the fundamental aspects of the 5th Amendment prohibition against double jeopardy, as first developed in the 19th Century, later applied to the states through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, and since developed and articulated in Supreme Court decisions that influence every aspect of American criminal trials and appeals.

While the study of Administrative Law tends to concentrate on Federal Law, many attorneys will engage with state or municipal administrative agencies with much greater frequency than the federal government. This course, while still teaching the basics of Administrative Law, seeks to fill that gap by preparing the attorney to practice before Connecticut¿s state and municipal agencies. By examining cases reviewing actions of a variety of state agencies and municipalities throughout Connecticut, this course will cover the commonalities and peculiarities that are the reality of state practice. Cases assigned throughout the semester will involve zoning boards, hospitals, towns, cities, the Department of Transportation, the Connecticut Siting Council, and more. Readings will include statutes, regulations, agency decisions, and court decisions reviewing agency decisions. Emphasis will be given to some areas, like environmental, development, or energy law, where Federal and State Administrative law meet in a rich and accessible body of cases.

Preparation of students for the bar review and bar exam process with a focus on improving the analytical and writing skills needed to do well on practice bar exam questions, including essay, multiple choice, and /or performance questions. The course will cover selected specific topics tested on the bar exam with additional emphasis on refining memorization skills and learning how to self-assess writing and understanding of concepts. This course is not a substitute for a commercial bar preparation course, but may be taken before or at same time as a commercial bar prep class.

This course examines broadly the law of confidential information. It explores the ways that businesses deploy trade secret law to protect product information such as chemical formulae, business strategies, technological inventions prior to patents--or as an alternative to the patenting process, and compilations of information such as databases. Taking a comparative approach, the course will address this area of intellectual property law in the European Union, the United States, Canada and Australia, and the United Kingdom. Trade secret law will be understood broadly as information governance. The subject intersects with employment law, privacy, data regulation, commercial morality, duties of confidentiality and non-competes, and other areas of intellectual property law.

This course explores the access to justice movement in the United States and examines the history, policies, and laws related to access to the courts and legal services. The course will consider the reasons why access to civil and criminal courts is limited, including difficulties in using legal services, lack of resources, lack of awareness of legal rights, language, poverty, and others. The course will survey the various ways limited access has been addressed and identify ongoing gaps to access. Topics will include the history of the right to counsel and the provision of legal services to the poor, innovations in legal services, self-represented litigants and courts, access to information, the role of technology in access to justice, and restorative justice. The course will include court observations and guest speakers from legal services organizations, policy organizations, and the courts. Students will be evaluated on a course paper and short response papers.

Students in this clinic advocate for low-income veterans who are in recovery from mental health issues and are represented by the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center. Under the supervision of attorneys accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), students assist clients in obtaining service- and non-service-connected disability benefits, relief from repayment of VA overpayments, and review of discharge status to obtain access to VA benefits. In the seminar portion of the clinic, students receive training in the applicable law, client interviewing, and other applicable lawyering skills. Fieldwork consists of reviewing military and medical records, meeting with clients, researching relevant regulations and case law, and drafting initial and appeal briefs for clients. Scheduling permitting, students may appear at and participate in a VA hearing. Students will also be required to engage in guided reflection on their fieldwork experience. Evening Division students will be given enrollment priority. There are no prerequisites, but some background in veterans' law, disability law and/or military law is helpful but not essential. Current employees of the federal government must contact the instructor or the Associate Dean for Experiential Education before enrolling in this clinic.

How have property law and policy reflected and shaped the treatment of different racialized groups in the United States? How does this history affect property ownership and racial and economic status today? This seminar seeks to explore these questions. We will consider the distinctive experiences of different racialized groups, including American Indians, African Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian immigrants, Native Hawaiians, and Mexicans whose land was transferred to the United States. The materials consider ¿property¿ both narrowly (e.g., through probate, citizenship restrictions on land ownership, access to mortgages, and the Fair Housing Act) and broadly (e.g., through assertion of sovereign authority over territory and arguments that race itself is a form of property). Students will learn to use databases containing historical legal materials, and will write a final research paper on a topic they choose.

This course examines the structure of and the basic legal principles underlying a captive insurance company, which operates within and provides insurance coverage for a controlled group of corporations of which it is a member. In addition to providing a basic knowledge of the law surrounding captive insurance, the course will examine the unique role of a captive insurance company within this controlled corporate group, the evolving nature of enterprise risks that can be insured by a captive insurance company, its special tax position within such group, and the legal and corporate factors which differentiate a captive insurance company from a traditional insurer.

Students in this clinic appear in state courts as court-appointed advocates under Connecticut's "Desmond's Law" to advocate for the interests of justice in cases of animal cruelty. Students investigate facts, interview experts, perform legal research, draft sentencing and other recommendations to the court, and present oral arguments. Students interact with police officers, veterinarians, prosecutors, defense counsel, animal advocates, and court personnel. Students may also assist in developing legislation and interdisciplinary programs related to animal cruelty. Students work collaboratively, with two students assigned to each animal cruelty case, and under close faculty supervision. The classroom component involves a weekly seminar to develop the theoretical and practical foundations necessary for students to handle cases.

Students who have successfully completed the Animal Law Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This is the internal course equivalent to coursework outside the school of law and outside of an ABA approved law or study abroad program.

This course is posted on a law student's transcript to designate completion of coursework from outside the school of law in completion of a certificate program.

Students in this clinic will provide legal advocacy, under the supervision of clinic faculty, for tenants facing eviction, including individual and systemic reform advocacy. Students will also advise pro se tenants and develop resources for tenants facing eviction. Students will participate in a weekly seminar in which they will receive training in substantive housing and eviction law as well as advocacy skills needed to represent tenants. These skills include client interviewing and counseling; legal research; legal writing; civil litigation; and alternative dispute resolution. Students will also learn to incorporate principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their legal representation of clients, and to identify and resolve potential ethical issues that may arise in the course of representation.

Students in this clinic will provide legal advocacy, under the supervision of lawyers at Disability Rights Connecticut (DRCT), for people with disabilities throughout Connecticut on a broad range of disability law issues. These issues include disability discrimination in housing, employment, services and activities provided by governmental entities, and public accommodations; access to healthcare; individual rights; civil and criminal mental health law; abuse and neglect; special education; and others. DRCT’s legal work includes both individual client representation and systemic-reform advocacy. Students will also participate in a weekly seminar in which they will receive training in substantive disability law as well as advocacy skills needed to represent people with disabilities. These skills include client interviewing and counseling; legal research; legal writing; civil litigation; and alternative dispute resolution. Students will also learn to incorporate principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in their legal representation of clients with disabilities, and to identify and resolve potential ethical issues that may arise in the course of representing such clients. This clinic is structured to accommodate evening division students, but some optional activities may require daytime availability.

This course is an introduction to the legal, political, and cultural issues raised by the cannabis industry in the United States. The class examines important legal questions that have emerged in the modern era of cannabis legislation (~26 years), beginning with a historical analysis of the laws of prohibition, which help to shape and define the contemporary cannabis and hemp industries. The class then navigates the state and federal laws that give rise to the conflict between local and national enforcement standards, and touches on the network of federal agencies (HHS, DEA, NIDA, etc.) that oversee the placement of controlled substances on the various schedules in the Controlled Substances Act. The ever-present influence of the United Nations, through the UN Office of Drug Control and its patchwork agencies (UNODC, WHO, INCB, etc.) that regulate the international flow of medical cannabis will also be considered to discern the limits of the global cannabis industry. Finally, the course shifts focus to the nuanced structural inefficiencies in the legacy system like outsized tax liabilities and limited access to equitable protections under federal bankruptcy law. The course will punctuate the learning outcomes through several case studies (failed SPAC transactions, mergers that created new legal terms of art, and uncertain capital raising efforts) and will round out the semester by surveying how historically disenfranchised populations are faring in the “green economy”.

This course is a merger of the courses formerly offered as Legal Spanish I and II. Students who have taken one/either of those courses may also enroll in this one. The course will provide tudents with with instruction that will aid them in learning a basic legal vocabulary in Spanish, some legal grammatical structures, and proper pronunciation in order to improve their conversational skills so that they can communicate more effectively with Spanish-speaking clients. Class activities will include reading and discussion of simple Spanish legal documents and newspaper coverage of legal issues. Students will also compare the Spanish and Latin legal systems to the U.S legal system. Every week, the class will focus on a different area of the law, and on the main legal vocabulary relevant to that practice area and the differences among the legal systems. Reading and writing of legal documents in Spanish as well as discussions of legal issues and attorney-client mock interviews will take place in this course. Pre-requisite: At least two years of high school Spanish or equivalent exposure to written and spoken Spanish.

This seminar deals with topics such as liability for damages caused by space objects, exploration and use of outer space resources, rescue of astronauts launched into outer space, space debris, NASA and the International Space Station, commercial space operations, U.S. Government agencies involved in outer space, military uses of outer space, and the U.N. Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

In this course, through intensive work in legal analysis, writing, and research, students will improve their skills in these areas.

This course examine the compliance function from an ethical and organizational perspective. The multifaceted nature of compliance will be examined as well as how compliance leaders introduce and sustain an ethical culture of integrity in the enterprise. Compliance will also be viewed from a global perspective, incorporating ethical, legal, and cultural challenges and opportunities in a global compliance program. [This course is cross listed with the Business School. Its equivalent is BLAW 5750, Ethics and Compliance in the Global Organization]

All major business decisions have financial implications, and therefore, the financial manager's contribution to directing the operations of the firm has become increasingly critical in the last decade. This course provides an overview of techniques for effectively studying financial decisions and their impact on the company. The course covers the basic concepts and tools necessary to understand the financial decision-making process. The fundamental issues of timing and uncertainty are integrated into the problem of asset valuation. Financial analysis models for determining appropriate sources of capital and effective use of long term and short term assets are discussed. Open to JD-MBA students and to others by permission of the instructor. This course is not open to students who have taken: UCONN FNCE 5181, UCONN FNCE 5182, or UCONN FNCE 5101, or LAW 7484 or LAW 7485.

Accounting is an information system. This course is designed to introduce students to accounting concepts essential to the preparation and interpretation of financial statements issued to management and to external users such as stockholders and creditors. While appropriate consideration is given to procedural aspects of accounting, more emphasis is placed on understanding the conceptual bases of generally accepted accounting principles and the effects of using alternative accounting methods on financial statements. Open to JD-MBA students and to others by permission of the instructor.. This course is not open to students who have taken: UCONN ACCT 5181, UCONN ACCT 5182, or UCONN ACCT 5121, or LAW 7486 or LAW 7487.

Firms must generate sufficient returns for their owners, and new project valuation is an important tool to assess competing use of funds. In this course, students apply the tools and techniques of the time value of money framework to capital budgeting issues and corporate financial policy. They focus on corporate capital budgeting and valuation, investment decisions under uncertainty, market efficiency, and corporate financial policy including financing and dividend decisions. Students evaluate capital investments with a focus on how companies analyze the risk associated with future cash flows and how that risk is incorporated in the required rates of return, as well as how financing choices (stocks and bond issues) and payout policy affect the cost of capital of large projects. Students apply two widely used models, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) to capital budgeting problems. Open to JD-MBA students and to others by permission of the instructor. Not open to students who have taken UCONN FNCE 5182 or FNCE 101. Pre-requisite: LAW 7485 or FNCE 5181.

Managers must understand how the firm is financed and the effects on decision making. In this course, students gain tools and frameworks to analyze financial decisions based on principles of modern financial theory. The course covers concepts such as discounted cash flow techniques, and its applications to valuation of common stock and bonds and lease vs. buy decisions. The time value of money is examined for both personal financial planning and business applications, and is used to value financial instruments, including common stock and bonds. Open to JD-MBA students and to others by permission of the instructor. This course is not open to students who have taken UCONN FNCE 5181 or UCONN FNCE 5101.

This course focuses on financial accounting for certain, specific economic transactions (e.g., debt issuance, granting stock-based compensation). The course objective is to provide students with an introduction to fundamental finance concepts and, in turn, a more nuanced understanding of the financial accounting concepts and procedures that underlie corporate financial statements. Open to JD-MBA students and to others by permission of the instructor. This course is not open to students who have taken UCONN ACCT 5182 or UCONN ACCT 5121.

In order to make effective decisions, managers must be able to understand, analyze and evaluate financial statement data regarding the outcomes of previous decisions. This course is oriented towards "users" (i.e., versus "preparers") of financial statements and aims to help students develop a basic understanding of the financial accounting concepts and procedures that underlie corporate financial statements. The course objective is to provide students with a fundamental understanding of accounting methods and terminology so that the financial statements in corporate annual reports can be analyzed and evaluated. Open to JD-MBA students and to others by permission of the instructor. This course is not open to students who have taken UCONN ACCT 5181 or UCONN ACCT 5121.

This course is assigned to those students in the Exchange/LLM 3+2 Program during those semester(s) in which the student is completing their home school degree.

This course is entered on transcripts for students in the LLM US Legal Studies Program completing graduation requirements, but not enrolling in additional credits. It is to be used to signify continuous registration.

This course is placed on a the enrollment record of a JD student who has received permission to study at another institution for a semester. This is exclusive of students who are taking part in an approved exchange, study abroad or dual degree program. This course allows for the addition of a continuous registration fee on a student's record.

This course serves as a placeholder for students studying in one of the approved exchange programs.

This course is entered on transcripts for students in a dual degree program, but taking all their credits at the other institution. It can be used to signify continuous registration.

This course is entered on transcripts for students in the LLM Insurance Law Program completing graduation requirements, but not enrolling in additional credits. It is to be used to signify continuous registration.

This course will serve as the generic internal course equivalent for pursuit of credits in an approved study abroad program.

This course will serve as the generic course equivalent to transfer courses that are part of an approved dual degree program.

This is the course number designation for those students studying abroad.

This course will serve as the generic internal course equivalent for transfer courses.

This course is used for administrative purposes only. It allows the printing of rank/quintile information as historic transcript text.

This course is an introduction to the principles and rules of civil procedure governing state and federal courts. Topics include: subject matter jurisdiction; territorial jurisdiction; venue, prejudgment remedies; pleadings; discovery; disposition without trial (summary judgment, settlements); right to jury trial; direct verdicts and new trials; judgments and res judicata; and alternate dispute resolution (ADR). The relationship between state and federal court systems will also be analyzed.

This course is an introduction to the principles and rules of civil procedure governing state and federal courts. Topics include: subject matter jurisdiction; territorial jurisdiction; venue, prejudgment remedies; pleadings; discovery; disposition without trial (summary judgment, settlements); right to jury trial; direct verdicts and new trials; judgments and res judicata; and alternate dispute resolution (ADR). The relationship between state and federal court systems will also be analyzed.

This course is an introduction to the principles and rules of civil procedure governing state and federal courts. Topics include: subject matter jurisdiction; territorial jurisdiction; venue, prejudgment remedies; pleadings; discovery; disposition without trial (summary judgment, settlements); right to jury trial; direct verdicts and new trials; judgments and res judicata; and alternate dispute resolution (ADR). The relationship between state and federal court systems will also be analyzed.

This course deals with: offer and acceptance; consideration; contracts under seal; third party beneficiaries; assignments; statute of frauds; contractual situations involving discharge; condition; failures of performances; legal and equitable remedies of damages and restitution in contractual and quasi-contractual situations; reformation; cancellation and rescission for fraud, duress, undue influence and mistake.

This course deals with: offer and acceptance; consideration; contracts under seal; third party beneficiaries; assignments; statute of frauds; contractual situations involving discharge; condition; failures of performances; legal and equitable remedies of damages and restitution in contractual and quasi-contractual situations; reformation; cancellation and rescission for fraud, duress, undue influence and mistake.

This course deals with: offer and acceptance; consideration; contracts under seal; third party beneficiaries; assignments; statute of frauds; contractual situations involving discharge; condition; failures of performances; legal and equitable remedies of damages and restitution in contractual and quasi-contractual situations; reformation; cancellation and recision for fraud, duress, undue influence and mistake.

This course Is an examination of the justification, potentialities and limitations of the criminal law as an instrument of social control. Major considerations are given to the substantive law of crimes and defenses to criminal liability, including such topics as the law of attempts, conspiracy and accessorial liability.

This course develops foundational lawyering skills in legal analysis, research and associated technology, problem-solving, and predictive writing. Students analyze legal issues, design and execute research strategies, and produce clear, objective, and well-supported written work through drafting and revision. The course emphasizes analytical reasoning and effective written communication. Students are also introduced to the roles of lawyers and the lawyer-client relationship.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral advocacy through simulated lawyering experiences. Students deepen their research and analytical skills while learning to craft compelling arguments grounded in authority and present them effectively in written and oral formats. The course also examines the ethical responsibilities and professional standards that guide effective advocacy.

The course connects research, analysis, and advocacy to a client-centered model of lawyering. Students begin by exploring professional pathways and preparing for their capstone simulations. Students then take part in an intensive capstone in client representation that emphasizes interviewing, counseling, negotiation, strategic decision-making, and effective client communication. Throughout, the course highlights the ethical dimensions of client representation and negotiation, reinforcing students’ professional responsibilities and judgment.

This course considers the meaning of the term property; its acquisition through possession; the creation of future interests; the law of landlord and tenant; jointly held interests in property, particularly covenants and easements; and public control of the use of private land.

This course considers the meaning of the term property; its acquisition through possession; the creation of future interests; the law of landlord and tenant; jointly held interests in property, particularly covenants and easements; and public control of the use of private land.

This reading seminar focuses on intellectual property licensing, which is the primary wealth generation and maximization tool available to the owner of an intellectual property. Through theoretical discussions and practical exercises, we will examine the many facets of the licensing process, including basic to advanced licensing concepts and strategies for various types of intellectual properties; royalty analysis and audits; negotiating strategies; and policing and enforcement.

This course is an introduction to the principles of civil liability for personal injuries. Topics include intentionally and negligently inflicted harms, liability without fault and liability for defective and dangerous products.

This course focuses on the fundamental doctrinal, methodological and structural characteristics of the United States legal system. The approach will be comparative in nature and deal with selected topics drawn, inter alia, from constitutional law, the law of torts, contracts, civil procedure, and conflicts of law. American legal education, the judicial system, and the legal profession will be discussed as well. This course is only open to international LL.M. (Insurance and U.S. Legal Studies) and exchange students.

This course is an introduction to American constitutional law. Topics include: the role of the judiciary and other institutions in interpreting and applying the Constitution of the United States; theories of constitutional interpretation; the practice and meaning of judicial review in a political democracy; structural and individual rights approaches to constitutional limitations on government authority; and the public-private distinction in constitutional law.

This course is an introduction to American constitutional law. Topics include: the role of the judiciary and other institutions in interpreting and applying the Constitution of the United States; theories of constitutional interpretation; the practice and meaning of judicial review in a political democracy; structural and individual rights approaches to constitutional limitations on government authority; and the public-private distinction in constitutional law.

This course is an introduction to American constitutional law. Topics include: the role of the judiciary and other institutions in interpreting and applying the Constitution of the United States; theories of constitutional interpretation; the practice and meaning of judicial review in a political democracy; structural and individual rights approaches to constitutional limitations on government authority; and the public-private distinction in constitutional law.

Students who have successfully completed the Center for Energy and Environmental Law (CEEL) field placement may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of an appropriate placement, extern for one or more additional semesters at the original or a different placement. The placement nship will conform to the requirements for individual field placements with respect to the number of fieldwork hours, the reporting of such hours, and faculty supervision and oversight, with the instructor serving as faculty supervisor. Prerequisite: Center for Energy and Environmental Law Field Placement (LAW 7844).

Data is exploding. Approximately 90% of the data in the world was created in the past three years. The sheer volume of data needed for the everyday operations of modern companies is staggering. When combined with the complex patchwork of overlapping, uncoordinated regulations, both domestic and international, that predate contemporary modes of data usage, properly implementing policies for data development, preservation, retention, and security emerges as an essential aspect of corporate governance in the modern era. This course examines the myriad connections implicated by this complex tapestry and how these advances have transformed most modern industries and the work of those who regulate and advise corporate entities. This class will cover many issues around data governance, focusing on the implications for U.S.-based corporations, with a particular focus on two sectors: Finance (Banking) and Healthcare (Hospitals). Topics will include data retention and discovery, cybersecurity and privacy, and regulatory compliance. The course will review existing domestic and international legal frameworks and regulations in the data retention realm (e.g., Dodd-Frank Act, Basel Accord, MiFiD II, Bank Secrecy Act, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, Sarbanes-Oxley, Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014), and in the cyber-security realm (e.g., FTC, HIPAA, CLEA, GLB, Tallinn Manual, DoD, FFIEC IT Handbook, Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, the European Data Directive, the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act, Russia¿s Law on Data Protection and Law on Information). Although the subject matter of this course involves technology, no background in technology is necessary for the class.

Compliance is a rapidly growing area of employment for law school graduates. It provides career paths for those interested in human rights and corporate culture and governance, among other areas of law, and serves as the cutting edge of anti-corruption efforts world-wide. This course uses case studies and in-class oral arguments to explore how organizations succeed and fail to be true to the law and their values. With guests from leadership positions in government and the private sector we will explore settings such as cyberbreaches, securities fraud, bribery and money laundering, police reform, terrorist financing, and Title IX in higher education, while also exploring career opportunities in the field.

This course examines the basic principles, rules, and standards governing the burgeoning field of compliance that cut across particular regulatory domains. The focus will be on the basic legal framework and actors driving the emergence of the compliance function in business organizations. There are no pre/co-requisites for the course, though the advance preparation of Business Organizations (LAW 7605) or Administrative Law (LAW 7600) is strongly suggested.

This course considers the meaning of the term property; its acquisition through possession; the creation of future interests; the law of landlord and tenant; jointly held interests in property, particularly covenants and easements; and public control of the use of private land.

Students in this clinic interview, counsel and draft advance-planning documents for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities, under the supervision of experienced elder-law attorneys. Students receive training in the applicable law and lawyering skills and travel to senior centers, assisted-living facilities, and other locations convenient for seniors in order to meet with clients. Students assist clients with the preparation and execution of simple wills, powers of attorney, advance health-care directives, and, in select cases, special needs trusts for persons with disabilities. In addition, students may provide counseling regarding needs-based public benefits (Medicaid, veterans' benefits, etc.) and when issues of elder abuse by guardians, conservators arise. To accommodate the schedules of students who work or have other full-time commitments during the day (for whom the Clinic is specially designed) the seminar meets in the evening and all fieldwork takes place on evenings and weekends. Evening Division students will also be given enrollment priority. There are no prerequisites but some background in elder law, disability law, and/or a related area is strongly preferred.

This course is a study of the rules regulating the introduction and exclusion of evidence in civil and criminal trials. Specific subjects dealt with are: relevancy of evidence; the burden of producing evidence and the burden of persuasion; presumptions; competency of witnesses; examination of witnesses; privileges; the hearsay rule and its exceptions; demonstrative evidence; writings; judicial notice; functions of judge and jury.

Evidence law and scholarship traditionally has assumed a set of facially neutral rules and principles applied by using logical reasoning by impartial arbiters. This course will focus on what the traditional orientation towards evidence law misses. Evidence rules are neither wholly trans-substantive or neutral in design or deployment. A growing area of legal scholarship, Critical Evidence Law, deploys critical legal theories from critical race, feminism, queer theory, disability studies, and political economy to surface core assumptions and values that shape the legal rules, doctrine, and practice of evidence law. These theories offer epistemic opportunities to reimagine the regulation of proof and, ultimately, address existing inequities in institutional designs and outcomes. This course will foreground scholarship that explores the ways that the system of proof is systematically failing certain groups and benefitting others as well as efforts to reshape evidence rules and doctrines in response to this scholarship.

This course will focus on three important forms of insurance. Life insurance and annuities are contracts that provide protection from the financial risks associated with mortality - life insurance protecting against the financial risks associated with early death and annuities providing for income throughout life. Disability income insurance covers risks associated with morbidity by providing income for those who are disabled. These three forms of insurance provide significant supplements to the guarantees in the Social Security system for retirement income, some level of disability income and death benefits. The course will cover a variety of forms of insurance including whole life insurance, term insurance universal life insurance, immediate annuities, deferred annuities and longevity annuities. These contracts can be offered in group form through employers and others or on an individual basis. Significant issues such as insurable interest, medical underwriting, privacy and insurance company utilization of government data such as the death master file will be included. These forms of insurance are subject to special provisions under the Internal Revenue Code that encourage the use of such insurance. Many of these types of insurance are governed by ERISA and securities laws and regulations. The course will cover on a high level the tax, ERISA and securities law applicable to these contracts.

This course is an examination of: the status and function of the legal profession and of the importance of professional responsibility to the legal profession, to the administration of justice, and to society; the problems faced by the practicing lawyer and the standards he or she should apply in their solution; and the duties of the attorney to his or her client, to other lawyers and to the court, as functions of the adversary system.

The law, like nature, abhors a vacuum. However, into the federal government's climate change policy void have rushed a series of state, local, and international policy and legal initiatives. With law firms creating departments devoted to climate issues, the time seems right to develop across the country a cohesive framework for the study of "Climate Law". The course will study changes in law and policy ranging from the Clean Air Act and the Kyoto Protocol, to the law of nuisance, land use, securities regulation, and energy. The readings will be organized chronologically, beginning with a thorough review of the Clean Air Act, through the successful cap & trade systems for sulfur-dioxide, to the Kyoto Protocol, Massachusetts v. EPA, the current litigation making its way through the federal system, and the area of local and state laws and initiatives that have been enacted over the last several years. Guest speakers in climatology, energy law, and climate practice will, schedules permitting, supplement the syllabus. Given the timing of the course offering (during the first 100 days of a new presidential administration), it is likely that substantial time may be devoted to new federal proposals. Students will be graded in three parts: in-class participation, an in-class project, and a final paper (which accounts for the majority of the grade).

This course is a study of the procedural matters not covered in the basic civil procedure course and a further study of some matters that are covered. Topics will include: remedies; joinder of claims and parties; including class actions; complex litigation; international litigation; and the administration of civil justice including the problems of access, efficiency, ethics and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

This course introduces students to the principles, processes, and techniques for drafting contracts. Among the topics covered will be: the structure of a contract, representations, covenants, conditions, allocation of risk, incentives, remedies, and enforceability. Students will develop skills in reading and writing contracts and will thereby better understand provisions. Students will draft provisions in purchase and sale agreements, employment contracts, leases, and confidentiality agreements. Through negotiation and drafting simulations, students will explore the process of creating contracts as well as ethical issues that arise during the negotiating and drafting process. The goals of this course are: (1) to teach students how to draft clear and effective contracts; and (2) to introduce students to common substantive contract provisions and structure. This course satisfies the experiential requirement of the Certificate in Transactional Practice, but NOT the Practice-Based Learning Requirement, which can only be satisfied through a clinic or field placement with a seminar component.

This 3-hour weekly seminar is taught in Washington, DC. It is required for students enrolled in the Semester in DC program and is available only to these students. The seminar will begin with a four-week "boot camp" in legislative and administrative process designed to ensure that students have the basic knowledge they need to succeed in their government-centered externships and in a government or government-focused job. The boot camp will conclude with a two-hour mid-term exam that will test the students¿ mastery of these basic concepts. Students will then explore a series of more advanced topics that will enrich their knowledge and enhance their effectiveness as lawyers working in or with government. Examples include the role of agency culture, the centuries-long struggle to achieve an effective civil service; the risk of agency capture and techniques for managing it; the role of lobbyists and the controversy surrounding lobbying; issues surrounding White House and Congressional oversight of agency regulations; the controversy surrounding cost-benefit analysis of health, safety and environmental regulation; and the challenge of achieving international regulatory cooperation in an increasingly global economy. The seminar will conclude with a final exam that will test the students' mastery of these more advanced topics.

This two-hour seminar is taught in Washington, DC. It is required for students enrolled in the Semester in DC program and is available only to these students. It offers students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of government-centered lawyering by drawing on three separate sources: (1) readings that examine the special role of the government lawyer and the challenges of operating effectively in the government setting; (2) guest lectures and site visits to agencies during which students meet with senior attorneys drawn from a spectrum of agencies to discuss some of the legal, policy and political issues these lawyers face and the strategies they have evolved for meeting these challenges; and (3) classroom discussions in which students reflect on and share experiences and observations from their externship field placement, drawing upon their field experiences to offer insights into broader, cross-cutting issues that face lawyers in government service. Students will prepare a series of short papers and presentations to convey their emerging knowledge and stimulate discussion of the special role of the lawyer working in or with government.

In this field placement, students will perform substantive legal work in a qualifying government agency, public interest legal organization, congressional office, or other legal practice in Washington, D.C. Students will complete 540 hours over the spring semester, an average of 38.5 hours/week over 14 weeks, and will earn 12 academic credits. Students enrolled in this field placement must be concurrently enrolled in LAW 7577: Role of the DC Lawyer.

The practice of law is a profession. For lawyers working in firms, as sole practitioners, or as in-house counsel, it is also a business. The goal of this course is to introduce students to fundamental aspects of the business of law. This course will teach students about building a practice, law firm structure and economics, client service, practice management, project management, and team management. This course will include guest speakers, case studies of examples from other law and professional service firms, and relevant readings from academic and industry sources.

This class is about the big case: large-scale, expensive and high-value litigation. We will examine the legal issues, practical difficulties, and political controversies arising in class action and other multiple-plaintiff federal litigation, including: "adequacy" of representation by plaintiff and plaintiff's counsel; conflicts of interest among plaintiffs and between plaintiffs and class counsel; manageability of large scale class actions and aggregate litigation; private ordering and court sanctioned administrative regimes for damages distribution; problems in settlements; ethical considerations of class counsel and defendants' counsel; and the federalization of state class actions. Students will be required to complete practical, litigation related exercises.

This course introduces LLM students to the structure and workings of the U.S. legal system and common law analysis and argument. The course provides training in print and electronic legal research and in predictive and persuasive legal writing. In the course, students will complete multiple research assignments and multiple writing assignments, requiring them to write arguments and predictive legal memos using cases, statutes and other legal resources.

This seminar will consider both the normative foundations of public health and ethical issues relevant to formulating public health policy on a series of health issues. Topics it will address include the following: the strengths and limitations of various ethical frameworks for public health ethics; ethical issues related to resource allocation and rationing in a period of relative economic scarcity; why and how should collective choices be made and policies implemented to address health inequalities; justice and access to health care; ethical dilemmas in public health decision-making at the beginning and end of life; the ethics of decision making about proceeding with the development of controversial new technologies and conducting the first-in-human research trials; the ethics of vaccine policy; the ethics of food policy; ethical and privacy issues related to the introduction of electronic medical records and the use of health surveillance technologies; ethical and public policy issues related to quarantines and public health emergencies; the ethical implications and dilemmas of policy making related to genetic screening, testing, and therapy; and a public health ethics perspective on policies relating to alcohol, tobacco, and, and drugs.

Human Rights are rights that every human being possesses on the basis of their common humanity that seek to protect human dignity and well-being. The international community has developed a number of human rights instruments setting out principles and norms which constitute the fundamental rights that individuals everywhere should be entitled to enjoy. These rights identify the specific obligations of states to respect, protect, and realize their contents. This course will explore ways in which human health and well-being are interrelated with human rights. It will study and assess the basic components of governmental obligations related to health under international human rights law. In addition, the course will consider the human rights dimensions of a variety of public health issues. It will also identify the ways in which a human rights approach can be used as an advocacy tool to improve the policies that shape the public's health and evaluate the extent to which litigation is an effective tool.

Magna Carta occupies an iconic place in the Anglo-American legal tradition as the source of many constitutional rights, such as trial by jury. Do we really understand Magna Carta, essentially the treaty that ended a conflict between King John and his barons in 1215? This course will explore the origins of Magna Carta in the context of the English common law, beginning in the Anglo-Saxon period and continuing through the reforms of Henry II. We will study the afterlife of Magna Carta in English law, its impact in the 17th century struggle between the king and parliament, and its survival in early American constitutional and legal culture.

This course is intended to focus on and assist with efforts to revise the zoning ordinance in The City of Hartford. Students will spend a portion of the course studying zoning codes: their legal basis, key provisions, approaches, and recent innovations. They will briefly review principles of statutory interpretation. Students will also discuss and work through specific assignments relating to the zoning needs of the City of Hartford. Students' work will include some or all of the following: researching zoning provisions in other localities, liaising with City officials, giving presentations, drafting ordinance text, and working with peers in small or large groups. Property and Land Use are recommended. This course may be taken in satisfaction of the Practice Based Learning requirement.

This course explores the process by which power is exercised by federal government agencies in the United States, and the mechanisms through which that exercise of power is guided and constrained.  Among the topics to be covered include a number of the principal dilemmas of regulation, the controversies surrounding agency efforts to cope with these dilemmas, and the arguments for and against leading regulatory experiments and proposals for regulatory reform.

An examination of negotiation and mediation as means to settle disputes in our society. Students will survey some of the principal theoretical and practical issues concerning negotiation and mediation. Students will participate in short, mock negotiations and mediation exercises in order to gain a more direct appreciation of the issues presented.

This course is a general introduction to practice in federal and state appellate courts, including writing appellate briefs and making oral arguments. As their primary assignment, students will select (with instructor approval) an actual pending appeal or petition in any federal or state appellate court in the United States. Students will write multiple drafts of a brief suitable to file in the selected pending case. They will also conduct mock oral arguments as well as evaluate other students' brief drafts.

This course analyzes legal issues of the closely held and publicly held corporation. Among the topics considered are: planning for the closed corporation; management and control issues of corporations; the proxy system; duties of officers, directors and controlling shareholders; transactions in shares by directors and others; and public policy implications of the publicly held corporation. Although primary consideration is given to the corporation, the course also includes some materials on partnership law.

This one-semester clinic trains students in Connecticut appellate law and practice skills, the Connecticut penal code, and constitutional criminal procedure. Under the supervision of adjunct faculty from the Division of Criminal Justice, students appear as certified legal interns on behalf of the State of Connecticut in appeals from criminal convictions or other post-conviction proceedings (habeas corpus, etc.) pending in the Connecticut Supreme Court and the Connecticut Appellate Court. Students work collaboratively on the clinic's cases. Opportunities include: reviewing trial files and transcripts, conducting research, writing legal memoranda, and outlining, writing, editing, and filing briefs, as well as preparing for and delivering oral arguments and participating in student and prosecuting attorney moots. Students may have the additional opportunity to argue in the Connecticut Supreme or Appellate Court. Students who enroll in this clinic will be subject to a criminal background check which must be completed before matriculation. Criminal Procedure is a prerequisite; Evidence is recommended.

Students in this clinic represent persons seeking asylum in the United States. Asylum – which provides a path to lawful status and eventual citizenship for individuals who could otherwise face deportation – is available to persons who suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their home country because of their race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Students in this clinic exercise primary responsibility for all aspects of the asylum process, working intensively (usually in teams of two) on one individual’s or family’s case. Students interview and counsel their clients; investigate the relevant facts; prepare asylum and employment authorization applications; draft detailed narrative affidavits presenting their clients’ testimony; develop a legal theory of the case; identify fact witnesses and experts and elicit testimony from those witnesses; conduct legal and country conditions research; prepare an extensive package of supporting documentary evidence, along with an annotated index of exhibits; draft a legal brief and any necessary motions; and represent their clients at trial. Students may also handle post-asylum matters, such as applications for permanent residency, derivative asylum petitions for qualifying relatives, or appeals arising from grants or denials of asylum. Classroom seminars focus on the substantive and procedural law relevant to asylum claims; the lawyering skills that students will utilize in their cases; legal, tactical, and ethical issues that arise in the cases; and critical reflection on the legal system and the lawyer’s role. This is a two-semester clinic, and students must enroll for the entire academic year. Students must enroll in both Law 7609 (seminar component) and Law 7610 (fieldwork component). 9 credits in the fall (4 credits seminar, 5 credits fieldwork), and 5 credits in the spring (2 credits seminar, 3 credits fieldwork).

Students in this clinic represent persons seeking asylum in the United States. Asylum – which provides a path to lawful status and eventual citizenship for individuals who could otherwise face deportation – is available to persons who suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of being persecuted in their home country because of their race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Students in this clinic exercise primary responsibility for all aspects of the asylum process, working intensively (usually in teams of two) on one individual’s or family’s case. Students interview and counsel their clients; investigate the relevant facts; prepare asylum and employment authorization applications; draft detailed narrative affidavits presenting their clients’ testimony; develop a legal theory of the case; identify fact witnesses and experts and elicit testimony from those witnesses; conduct legal and country conditions research; prepare an extensive package of supporting documentary evidence, along with an annotated index of exhibits; draft a legal brief and any necessary motions; and represent their clients at trial. Students may also handle post-asylum matters, such as applications for permanent residency, derivative asylum petitions for qualifying relatives, or appeals arising from grants or denials of asylum. Classroom seminars focus on the substantive and procedural law relevant to asylum claims; the lawyering skills that students will utilize in their cases; legal, tactical, and ethical issues that arise in the cases; and critical reflection on the legal system and the lawyer’s role. This is a two-semester clinic, and students must enroll for the entire academic year. Students must enroll in both Law 7609 (seminar component) and Law 7610 (fieldwork component). 9 credits in the fall (4 credits seminar, 5 credits fieldwork), and 5 credits in the spring (2 credits seminar, 3 credits fieldwork).

Students who have successfully completed the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This clinic is offered by Save the Sound which has been leading legal environmental action in the Long Island Sound region for 50 years. Save the Sound's legal team fights climate change, saves endangered lands, and protects the Sound and its watershed. Students work directly with Save the Sound attorneys on Connecticut and New York matters pending before federal and state courts, administrative agencies, and state legislatures. An on campus bi-weekly (every two weeks) seminar class, run by Save the Sound’s Senior Legal Director, will focus on regional environmental law and advocacy. This clinic requires a minimum of 10 hours of clinical work per week, 8 of which generally occur on-site at Save the Sound’s New Haven office. This is a one semester clinic, but students may continue their work in subsequent semesters through Advanced Fieldwork.

This is a clinic in which students and clinic staff handle criminal and related cases in both state and federal courts. Students primarily are responsible for investigation, including interviews with clients and witnesses, research, and preparation of all pleading. Students also argue motions and conduct trials. Classroom seminars use actual clinic cases as the bases for discussion of tactical, ethical and substantive law problems facing the trial lawyer in criminal cases. Students must enroll for the entire academic year.

Students in this clinic represent individuals facing criminal charges in Connecticut Superior Court. Students appear as certified legal interns under Connecticut’s liberal student practice rule and assume responsibility as the primary advocates on the clinic’s cases. Students interview and counsel clients, design legal strategy and draft motions, create and carry out investigation plans, conduct negotiations with prosecutors, and handle court hearings from arraignments to trials and sentencing hearings. Students learn the fundamental principles of zealous, client-centered representation and explore the role of criminal defense lawyers in the broader criminal legal system. Cases handled by the clinic involve a broad range of charges (such as robbery, assault, sexual assault, stalking, burglary, criminal trespass, larceny, arson, drug possession and sale, and others). Many of the clinic’s cases present issues of considerable factual and legal complexity. Coursework, class discussions, and simulation exercises focus on building the skills inherent in effective lawyering, developing a deep understanding of the constitutional frameworks and foundational legal principles in criminal practice, and exploring the role of race and poverty in the carceral system. Students must enroll for the entire academic year..

Students in this clinic mediate employment discrimination cases under faculty supervision. Cases are selected from among those pending before the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO), the state agency to which most employment discrimination claims arising in Connecticut must be brought as a prerequisite to filing suit in state or federal court. The first half of the semester is devoted to intensive training in the theory, techniques and ethics of mediation. The training is highly interactive and experiential, culminating in two full-dress mock mediations in which students participate- once as a disputant and once as a mediator - before conducting any actual mediations. During this training portion of the curriculum, classes meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Thereafter, classes meet on Thursday afternoons only and are devoted to continued training as well as "case rounds" in which students discuss issues and events of interest arising in their mediations.

This field placement provides training and practical experience in the legislative process. Each student is assigned either to an individual legislator, a legislative committee, or to a member of the legislative staff of the Connecticut General Assembly in accordance with the student's interest or preference. Enrollment limited. All credits are ungraded.

This is a clinic in which students and clinic faculty represent low-income taxpayers at various stages of tax controversies with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS). Students handle all phases of client representation, including: interviewing and counseling, fact investigation, advocating before IRS and DRS auditors, negotiating with the appeals and collections divisions of those agencies, and conducting trials before the United States Tax Court. Classroom seminars use actual clinic cases and other materials to explore the tactical, ethical, and substantive and procedural law problems faced by legal practitioners. Students also participate, in addition to weekly seminars, in regular tutorial meetings to discuss casework. Casework requires a significant time commitment, generally 10-15 hours per week. Open to second and third year students. Credits will be allocated as follows: 2 credits seminar (LAW 7626) and 4 credits fieldwork (LAW 7642). All credits are awarded on a graded basis.

The Criminal Appellate Clinic provides a strong foundation in criminal and appellate practice for students interested in exploring careers in criminal defense or prosecution at either the appellate or the trial level. It is also a good choice for any student generally interested in appellate advocacy (legal research, brief writing, etc.) or who plans to pursue a clerkship at the appellate level. Under faculty supervision, clinic students represent indigent defendants in appeals before the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts, and in other post-conviction proceedings (habeas corpus, parole and pardons, sentence review, etc.). The clinic seminar includes training in the constitutional and non-constitutional rules and principles that animate criminal practice. Students also lead ¿case rounds¿ discussions on issues arising from their client-representation work, which they perform in teams. Tasks include: visiting incarcerated clients, reviewing trial files and transcripts, conducting research, writing legal memoranda, identifying colorable claims of error, outlining, writing, editing, and filing briefs and reply briefs, and preparing for oral argument. Students and clinic faculty frequently moot public defenders and private attorneys preparing for oral argument in their own appellate cases.

This year-long Clinic provides detailed training in Connecticut appellate law and practice, the Connecticut penal code, and constitutional criminal procedure. Under faculty supervision, students appear as certified legal interns on behalf of indigent criminal defendants in cases pending in the Connecticut Supreme Court and the Connecticut Appellate Court, and occasionally in other post-conviction proceedings (habeas corpus, parole, pardons, etc.). Students work collaboratively on the clinic's cases. Tasks include: visiting incarcerated clients, reviewing trial files and transcripts, conducting research, writing legal memoranda, identifying colorable claims of error, and outlining, writing, editing, and filing briefs and reply briefs, as well as preparing for oral argument. We also often moot public defenders and private attorneys preparing their own cases for oral argument. Criminal Procedure is a (fall) co-requisite; Evidence is recommended.

This course is a study of the nature and the disposition of legal problems which arise when significant aspects of a litigation are connected with more than one jurisdiction. It is concerned with theoretical and constitutional bases of choice of law rules in torts, contracts, property and other areas; judicial jurisdiction; foreign judgments; and special problems of federal courts in these regards.

This course is a study of the creation, perfection and enforcement of security interests in personal property under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Topics covered will include the definition of the security interest and the scope of Article 9, the nature of the security agreement, means of perfection of security interests in various types of property, the enforcement of security interests on default and priorities among claimants including the bankruptcy trustee.

This is a course about quantitative techniques for valuing financial assets. Topics include valuation under certainty (discounting, future value), valuation under uncertainty (risk, risk- aversion, diversification), the Capital Asset Pricing Model (the market price of risk), The Efficient Capital Markets Hypothesis, Options and other derivatives, and, time permitting, the Modigliani-Miller Theorem and other matters of corporate financial structure. The class' primary goal is to make lawyers comfortable with modeling real world financial problems. The approach will be similar to a business school finance course, rather than one typically taught in law school. The class will be relatively light on reading, and there will be almost no reading of cases or statutes. Much of the class time will be devoted to solving financial problems using spreadsheets. No familiarity with finance, spreadsheets, or mathematics is assumed and students with previous background in quantitative finance are not eligible to enroll except on a pass/fail basis. Students are required to bring a laptop computer to class. Business Organizations (LAW7605) is not a required pre/co requisite, but it is strongly recommended.

Students who have successfully completed either the Criminal Defense (formerly known as Criminal Trial) or Criminal Appellate Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This course considers the rights and remedies of creditors, their debtors and of third parties who become involved in the collection process principally under the Bankruptcy Code. Topics include the avoiding powers of the trustee in bankruptcy, the protection and discharge of debtors, liquidation under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, reorganization under Chapter 11, and adjustment of debts under Chapter 13.

This is a clinic in which students and clinic faculty represent low-income taxpayers at various stages of tax controversies with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS). Students handle all phases of client representation, including: interviewing and counseling, fact investigation, advocating before IRS and DRS auditors, negotiating with the appeals and collections divisions of those agencies, and conducting trials before the United States Tax Court. Classroom seminars use actual clinic cases and other materials to explore the tactical, ethical, and substantive and procedural law problems faced by legal practitioners. Students also participate, in addition to weekly seminars, in regular tutorial meetings to discuss casework. Casework requires a significant time commitment, generally 10-15 hours per week. Open to second and third year students. Credits will be allocated as follows: 2 credits seminar (LAW 7626) and 4 credits fieldwork (LAW 7642). All credits are awarded on a graded basis.

This course covers areas of criminal procedure often not addressed in basic criminal procedure courses, including appellate challenges to the sufficiency of evidence, double jeopardy, collateral estoppel in criminal cases, severance, joinder, the constitutional right to present a defense, confrontation of adverse witnesses, discovery, overcoming the psychiatric privilege, fair trial/free press issues and the implications arising from the denial of counsel to an indigent criminal defendant. Students brief, argue and decide substantive criminal procedure questions as part of small law firms.

Deals with the law governing the questions involved in the investigation and disposition of persons who may have engaged in criminal behavior, with particular emphasis on the nature and special purposes of the criminal process and the constitutional principles applicable to it.

Students who have successfully completed the Tax Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This course is an introduction to the law of environmental protection, with an emphasis on air and water pollution as well as the control of toxic substances and toxic wastes. It will examine the different strategies for environmental protection, including public regulation, common law doctrines, and economic incentives such as taxes and subsidies. The course will consider the roles of legislative, administrative and executive bodies (local, state and federal) and judicial review of their actions, including federal and state administrative procedures relevant to protecting the environment and intergovernmental problems of control.

Is an introduction to the most advanced system of international law devoted to the protection of human rights. The course explores (1) the European Court and Commission of Human Rights and contrasts the European system to other forms of international legal process, and (2) the rights protected by the European Human Rights Law, e.g., protection against torture, respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, fair trial, and contrasts them to the rights protected in the United States and Canada.

This course deals with the basic treaties of the European Community and their relationship to international law, in particular the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; institutions of the community and sources of community law; the free movement of goods and antitrust law; freedom of establishment and provision of services; free movement of persons; free movement of capital; and external relations of the community.

This course focuses on a rapidly growing aspect of labor and employment law. The course introduces the concept of discrimination by examining Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Section 1981 of the Civil War Reconstruction Statutes. After exploring the process of proving and defending against individual and systematic discrimination claims, the course considers special problems in discrimination law that may include pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual preference, religious discrimination and retaliation. The course also examines the alternative approach to discrimination adopted in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Fundamentals of statutory construction, litigation strategy, and statistical methods of proof are emphasized. Numerous unresolved issues are addressed throughout the course. Procedures and remedies may also be considered.

This course explores how the law allocates and protects both renewable (water, wildlife, fisheries) and non-renewable resources (oil and minerals) that are dwindling. After reviewing the failures of market economies to distribute/protect resources adequately, the course will trace the allocation of water, wildlife and land using common law and state statutes. Next, the course will examine the management of the vast public lands through federal statutes: National Environmental Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection, Fisheries, Antiquities Act, offshore drilling and oceans. This course is a survey of environmental law and complements other courses offered in regulation of pollutants and energy law.

This course is a study of the family as a legal institution-- its organization, functioning and disorganization. Topics include marriage, annulment, divorce, separation, husband and wife, parent and child, and a brief study of problems of adoption and of neglected and delinquent children.

This course looks at jurisdiction of the federal courts and conflicts between the federal and state judicial systems. It includes consideration of: the nature of the federal judicial power in relation to the other powers of the national government and to state powers in a federal system; justiciability; federal question and diversity jurisdiction; application of federal or state law; federal common law; actions against state officers; the abstention doctrines; Supreme Court review of state court decisions. Problems of pendent, ancillary, removal and habeas corpus jurisdiction are addressed as time permits.

This course is a study of the impact of federal estate and gift taxes on the passage of property by gratuitous transfer during life and at death. The course also addresses the generation skipping transfer tax and provides a brief introduction to the income taxation of estates and trusts.

This course looks at the basic concept and policies of federal income taxation of individuals, including "gross income," "adjusted income," deductions, credits, gains and losses, capital gains and losses, certain non-recognition transactions, and some aspects of assignment of income and tax accounting.

This course is a detailed examination of the taxation of C corporations and their shareholders. Topics covered include the tax treatment of cash and stock dividends, redemptions, transfers to corporations, liquidations, taxable asset and stock acquisitions, and tax-free reorganizations. Emphasis will be on rigorous analysis of statutory materials and discussion of tax reform ideas.

The course examines the federal tax treatment of partnerships and other entities eligible to be taxed as partnerships under Subchapter K of the Code. Among the specific topics covered are the tax consequences of contributions of property to a partnership, the allocation of taxable income and loss among partners, the tax consequences of operating and liquidating distributions from partnerships, and the tax treatment of transactions between a partner and the entity.

This course will provide a basic understanding of the issues and principles upon which U.S. immigration law is based as well as the policies underlying those principles. It will examine the legal and social aspects of this administrative agency-based field including visas, detention, exclusion, deportation, relief from deportation, judicial review, and citizenship by birth and naturalization. It will also expose students to the interplay of complex statutes and regulations, policy and ethics issues, international law, human rights law and constitutional law. It is about outsiders and therefore is a key part of the study of civil rights.

This seminar will explore legal and financial issues arising in the alternative insurance markets, emphasizing emerging issues including systemic risk, finite risk and coverage for catastrophic exposures. Traditional insurance products have lost market share to alternative risk vehicles as market and regulatory forces push risk-bearers toward new ways to transfer and spread risk. At the same time, excesses in the unregulated markets and increasing losses due to natural catastrophes threaten the solvency of conventional insurance markets. Together, these forces drive a convergence of banking, finance and insurance, and therefore the emergence of significant legal issues.

This course is a study of the legal principles applicable to the contract of insurance and to the state regulation of insurance. These principles are examined in the light of their institutional setting. Legal and non-legal material is utilized in this course. Topics studied include: formation of a contract; insurable interest; premiums; construction of life, property, accident, liability, and group contracts; concealments; warranties; conditions; exceptions; waiver; estoppel. This course also covers the propriety of federal regulation concentrating on the areas of national health care, no fault, and pension reform.

This course examines the United States tax law and policies relating to non-U.S. taxpayers living or operating in the United States and U.S. taxpayers living or operating abroad. Topics considered include: (1) the tax aspects of international business operations and investments by United States corporations and American individuals; (2) the tax treatment of aliens and non-U.S. corporations; (3) United States tax treaties and the resolution of overlapping of conflicting jurisdictional claims of countries, both developed and developing; and (4) the underlying policy issues as they affect both international activities and domestic programs.

The continuous flow of international business and trade has become a prominent feature of the world economy, and is accompanied by the increasing incidence of transnational business law issues. A grasp of the field of international business transactions is essential for legal professionals practicing in business-related areas. This course explores international business transactions, tracing their progression from the international sale of goods to foreign direct investment. In particular, after a brief introduction on negotiating and drafting commercial contracts, topics covered will include the international documentary sale, marine cargo insurance, regulations of imports and exports, agency and distributorships, technology transfer and licensing agreements, franchising, foreign direct investment, and international litigation and arbitration. The focus will be on the transactional aspects of investment decisions and on how to manage and allocate risks in international business through a wide spectrum of risk-transfer tools ranging from letters of credit to transactional insurance, from commercial terms to insurance programs such as the U.S. OPIC or the World Bank¿s MIGA. Political, economic, and cultural issues affecting international business transactions will be considered as well. The topics are discussed primarily from the U.S. perspective, drawing on a comparative law dimension when particularly relevant to the topic.

This course is a study of the rules and adjudication of international law. Topics include customary international law, treaties, general principles of law and equity, the adjudication of international law by international courts, domestic courts, and international arbitration.

This course examines the contract and commercial rules of civil law (France, Germany) compared to common law (U.S. and U.K.). The international law of contract formation. Negotiating agreements between parties from different cultures. Formation excuse for non-performance, breach, remedies, enforcement in transnational contracts is also explored.

This course provides a detailed examination of the legal principles associated with liability insurance, with major emphasis on commercial general liability, homeowners, commercial and private auto, and umbrella/excess coverage. The course will focus on several subtopics within these areas, such as environmental impairment liability, coverage for intellectual property claims and employment liability, insurer use of litigation management guidelines, and common exclusions to coverage, such as "intentional acts". The course will also examine the varying perspectives of the interested parties to an insurance liability dispute, as well as the tactics these parties utilize to maximize or minimize insurance payouts.

This course reviews the legal and regulatory framework governing health insurance in the United States, including individual health insurance, employer health benefits, Medicare, Medicaid and other government-based plans. The course considers the interplay between state and federal regulation, with a particular focus on the impact of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. The course will trace the evolution of health coverage from traditional indemnity insurance through managed care and toward newer models of health optimization, examining the economic and clinical drivers of these models and well as the regulatory and judicial actions that both enabled and challenged these changes. The future of health coverage in light of clinical, scientific, demographic changes, as well as evolving consumer needs and preferences, will also be considered.

This is a course concerned with the law of education, with primary emphasis on government-supported education at the primary and secondary school levels. The focus is on the institution of education as an enterprise that is highly regulated by state and federal legislatures and the courts. The course traces the evolution over the last thirty years of school law principles that affect the rights of students, teachers and others involved in the educational process. Federal constitutional and statutory rights, as well as the current law in this state and elsewhere, are considered to review the legal obligations that govern our schools.

This course explores the major themes in the legal regulation of elections and politics. We will discuss voting rights, campaign finance, lobbying, reapportionment/redistricting, ballot access, and the regulation of political parties. We will analyze the language of major federal statutes that regulate the political process as well as judicial interpretations of these statutes. We will also discuss competing political philosophies and empirical assumptions at the heart of current attempts to further regulate the political process.

This course introduces students to the theoretical and doctrinal questions raised by the emergence of the global information network. The course considers a series of readings, surveying current academic and popular work in this new area, as well as recent case law on issues such as defamation, free speech, copyright, jurisdiction, and governmental vs. private regulatory power. Attention is also given to the cultural changes brought about by the rise of cyberspace, including its potential impact on the nature and character of political participation and political community. Please note that, because the course takes a cultural rather than technical approach to cyberspace issues, technical expertise or experience is not required.

As cyber threats grow in scale and sophistication, organizations face increasing legal and regulatory challenges in securing sensitive data and responding to breaches. This course offers a practical, compliance-driven approach to cybersecurity, focusing on how lawyers can help organizations navigate security frameworks, regulatory obligations, and incident response. Unlike traditional data privacy courses, which emphasize privacy rights and data protection laws, this course centers on security fundamentals and governance, including the CIA triad (confidentiality, integrity, and availability), risk management, and compliance with cybersecurity standards. We’ll explore frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and CIS controls, as well as sector-specific regulations like GLBA, HIPAA, and the SEC’s cybersecurity rules. Through case studies of enforcement actions and real-world breaches, students will learn how to assess security risks, implement compliance strategies, and support organizations in responding to cyber incidents. Key topics include: Legal and regulatory requirements for cybersecurity governance and risk management; Incident response and breach notification obligations under U.S. and global laws; Cybersecurity frameworks and best practices for compliance; The role of legal counsel in cyber investigations and regulatory enforcement; Understanding threat landscapes and security fundamentals relevant to compliance; and Coordination with security teams, regulators, and external stakeholders during a breach. By the end of this course, students will have a strong foundation in cybersecurity compliance, equipping them to advise on security risks, incident response, and regulatory requirements without needing a technical background. This course complements, rather than overlaps with, existing data privacy courses by focusing on security, governance, and legal risk mitigation in a cyber-driven world, and it is recommended that students also take those courses where offered.

This course will offer a broad-based introduction to the insurance and legal issues intrinsic to various areas of healthcare liability insurance. The course will introduce the students to basic insurance concepts critical to the understanding of healthcare liability insurance and the legal implications of various coverage types and structures. Then, the course will delve into more detail regarding three principal subject areas of healthcare liability insurance: Medical Professional Liability (including physicians and surgeons professional liability, hospital professional liability and long term care professional liability); Managed Care Errors and Omissions; and Life Sciences (including medical device and pharmaceutical products liability; and clinical trials). That detail will include in-depth review of coverages and policy forms within each subject area, discussion of claims and legal issues specific to each subject area, and practical lessons on the underwriting and risk analysis of each subject area. In addition, throughout the semester, we will discuss the impact both long- and short-term of various current/topical issues facing the healthcare liability insurance industry, including tort reform, healthcare delivery reform, and other issues relating to the relationship between providers and payers.

This course is concerned with the legal regulation of mental products. It affects such diverse subjects as the visual and performing arts, new plant varieties, electronic databases, advertising, insulin producing bacteria and video games. Five intellectual property regimes form the core of the course's focus: trade secrets, trademarks, rights of publicity, copyright and patent law. This course seeks to mix practice-directed material with public policy concerns. It will approach intellectual property as a regulatory system, balancing incentives to foster human creativity while at the same time seeking to unduly restrict its diffusion. Since intellectual property is such a dynamic, rapidly changing area of law, many of the cases and statutes discussed are of quite recent vintage. In order for the course material not to become obsolete within just a few years, the organizing focus of the course is conceptual, linking the core doctrines of intellectual property with one another. Our discussion will directly confront the question of legal change itself: how are intellectual property regimes evolving? What new judicial and legislative developments are in the works? And how should we respond?

This course provides students with an opportunity to study the substantive patent law issues which constitute conditions for patentability. Specifically, this course explores the case law which has evolved in connection with the interpretation of several key statutory sections of Title 35 (the 1952 Patent Act), including sec. 101 (eligible subject matter and utility), sec. 102 (prior art, novelty, and loss of right), sec. 103 (non-obviousness), and sec. 112 (disclosure). Additional topics include: infringement, claim interpretation, patent misuse/antitrust law and a broader analysis of the social trade-off underlying this unique form of intellectual property protection. No technical background or degree is required.

This course presents a topical and historical overview of insurance regulation, with an emphasis on the economic and social underpinnings of insurance institutions and the problems presented by the dominance of state level regulation of a multi-national industry.

This course will evaluate the means 'formal/legal and informal/non-legal' by which landowners, developers, architects, planners, neighbors, private organizations, and government may shape the use of land. Close attention will be paid to: the tension between regulation and landowners' rights; aesthetic controls and historic preservation; planning concepts; constitutional issues; building codes; environmental concerns; and the role of markets.

This course will provide students with an understanding of the legal structure and practical issues involved in the purchase and sale, leasing, and mortgage financing of real estate, with the skills learned applied to a simulated real estate development. Transactions will be viewed from the competing perspectives of the parties (i.e., seller-buyer, landlord-tenant, lender-borrower), and will cover the purchase and sale of a single-family house, and all transaction types for commercial properties. Consideration will be given to the impact of contemporary issues such as Covid-19, climate change, changing lifestyles, technology, and social equity on these transactions. Emphasis will be placed on the use of careful drafting to limit transaction risks, and on developing lawyering skills.

This course involves the study of the Federal Securities Laws. It deals in part with the Securities Act of 1933 and analyzes the coverage of the Act and exemptions therefrom, the method and process and registering securities for public sale, corporate acquisitions and the civil liability provisions. The course also focuses on the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It covers tender offers, the regulation of broker-dealers, civil liability under Rule 10b-5, obligation of officers and directors, the nature and regulation of security makers, and professional responsibility in securities practice.

This course will focus on the law and mechanics of business combinations, covering friendly and "hostille" transactions, the duties of directors and officers, and strategic considerations (including defensive measures). The course text will be spiced with discussions of the full text of certain decisions and real world examples of valuation and other materials.

In this course, we will examine the law and policy that affect hedge funds and private equity funds. These two types of private investment funds figure prominently in contemporary debates about corporate governance, financial stability, market efficiency, financial innovation, and even income inequality. We will cover the foundational issues of organizational, securities, tax, and fiduciary law. We will examine the regulatory framework and the industry practices that govern fund structure, fund managers and sponsors, fund offerings, and fund investments. We will also critically assess the current regulation of private equity and hedge funds and evaluate proposals for reform.

This course studies how the changing world has affected state taxation. The premises that underlie a traditional state tax system are under severe attack. Many state tax systems developed in a far simpler time--a time when substantial sectors of the economy, such as transportation, communications, banking, and power generation were either regulated or subject to significant federal controls. State tax systems evolved when the economy was dominated by mercantile and manufacturing activities, and little thought had to be given to the tax treatment of services. Multinational corporations and conglomerates were yet to emerge, and few corporations had substantial amounts of foreign income. It was a world in which corporations did not electronically transfer funds around the globe, 800-telephone numbers were not widespread, large mail-order houses had not yet proliferated, video shopping was still a fantasy, the Internet was not a household word, and the pace of federal tax reform was comfortingly slow. In addition, state taxes were typically low enough to discourage much litigation. Part of the course focuses on the economic, administrative, political, and constitutional constraints on state and local taxation. Specifically addressed are the commerce clause, the equal protection clause, the due process clause, and the privileges and immunities clause. Part of the course focuses on specific state and local taxes. The course does not concentrate on the laws of any particular state nor is any other prior course in taxation required.

We live in an age of statutes: common-law rules and constitutional principles have largely given way to statutes as the primary source of law for modern government. This seminar investigates how statutes get enacted, interpreted, and implemented. We cover how legislatures (primarily Congress) enact statutes, then look at how other government institutions bring them to life. Courts interpret statutes in litigation. We study the theories, rules, commitments, and materials meant to guide that process, and critically evaluate the results. Agencies work with statutes to produce regulations. We cover the relevant practices and procedures, interrogating the relationship between agencies, legislatures, courts – and the public they govern. Throughout the semester, students engage in projects that apply the material we cover. For instance, students research statutory enactment materials to produce their own statutory interpretations, analyze live questions of statutory interpretation in the courts, and draft amendments to existing laws.

This course offers a comprehensive survey of United States copyright law with reference to both its conceptual framework and its practical implementation. It will examine the substantive requirements that literary, musical, pictorial, and digital works of authorship require to meet the standards for copyright protection, the procedures for obtaining protection, the scope and duration of copyright, exceptions and limitations such as fair use, infringement and remedies for infringement, and copyright policy in a global perspective.

This seminar explores advanced topics in patent law, practice and procedure, from the conception, disclosure, claim drafting, and prosecution of a patent, to patent licensing, opinion drafting, and litigation. Other potential topics include patentability, clearance search strategies, Patent Cooperation Treaty procedures, and foreign filling considerations. Principles introduced in Patent Law (which is a prerequisite for the seminar) are examined in greater depth through simulated interviews and studies of actual prosecution case files from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Students are exposed to the complex interplay of the statute, regulations, Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), and case law, and learn how to integrate these sources in actual patent practice. Assessment is based on a research paper and optional class presentation. Prerequisite: Patent Law (LAW 716).

This course is a survey of the common law and statutory regulation of the competitive practices and industrial structure of American business. Particular attention is devoted to the interpretation and administration of the Sherman, Clayton and Federal Trade Commission Acts.

This course is designed to give students an opportunity to coordinate their knowledge of procedure and evidence with their knowledge of substantive law in a realistic and dramatic setting, with the aim of developing some facility in the techniques of trial practice. Problems demonstrated or otherwise raised for consideration include the following: interviews with clients; investigation of a case, personally and through investigators; use of experts such as physicians, engineers, and photographers; evaluation and settlement of cases; choice of court and method of trial; initiating the action; depositions, disclosures, discovery, and other pretrial preparations; selection of jury; opening statements; order of trial; effective presentation of evidence; selective trial tactics; arguments to the jury; requests to charge the jury; use of motions before and after trial. Throughout the course, stress will be placed on the proper discharge of the attorney's functions and responsibilities in a professional manner. At the discretion of the instructor: some sections require: Pre or co-requisite: Evidence (7560).

his course is an advanced course in trial advocacy done in partnership with the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association that culminates in a national trial competition sponsored by the American Association for Justice in early March.  Students in this course are afforded the opportunity to strengthen their trial skills by working in a small group with experienced trial lawyers to prepare and try a case (an experience modeled to simulate a law firm environment).  Enrollment is by permission of the instructors only; candidates are recommended by the executive board of the UCONN Mock Trial Society. Pre or co-requisite: Evidence (7560).

This is a basic course designed to consider the transfer of property at death and to focus on the roles of clients, lawyers, legislatures, courts and fiduciaries in the process. Students become familiar with the law relating to wills and trusts and consider their use in our society for the purpose of preserving, accumulating and disposing of property. Also considered are techniques for drafting, execution, integration, and revocation of wills and codicils; the nature of a trust, its creation and elements; the nature and transfer of a beneficiary's interests; the termination and modification of trusts, charitable trusts; resulting and constructive trusts; the fiduciary's position in probate and trust administration; intestate succession; contract to will; will substitutes, estate and gift taxes; and probate procedures. Existing rules and procedures are compared with alternative suggestions for reform. The role of the lawyer and his or her professional responsibility in planning estates is emphasized. Basic tax materials and planning devices are surveyed, including the use of a marital deduction, gifts, and insurance, to prepare students for advanced work in estate planning.

This course will offer students both formal instruction and on-the job training on legal advocacy for low income children and youth. Students will assist legal staff at the Center for Children's Advocacy in representing individual children in cases involving abuse/neglect, juvenile justice, special education, youth homelessness, and medical/mental health care. Students will also assist on the Center's ongoing impact litigation, and engage in state-level legislative advocacy. Students may assist with the Center¿s mobile office, visiting community locations to help youth with legal rights issues. Legal research and writing will be assigned as needed for the cases and projects. Readings and class discussion will cover substantive law issues, as well as the trial skills necessary to advocate effectively for children and youth. Attendance at various community and state task force meetings will be expected.

This course will offer students both formal instruction and on-the job training on legal advocacy for low income children and youth. Students will assist legal staff at the Center for Children's Advocacy in representing individual children in cases involving abuse/neglect, juvenile justice, special education, youth homelessness, and medical/mental health care. Students will also assist on the Center's ongoing impact litigation, and engage in state-level legislative advocacy. Students may assist with the Center¿s mobile office, visiting community locations to help youth with legal rights issues. Legal research and writing will be assigned as needed for the cases and projects. Readings and class discussion will cover substantive law issues, as well as the trial skills necessary to advocate effectively for children and youth. Attendance at various community and state task force meetings will be expected.

This course primarily covers legal and equitable remedies available under American law. Topics include the types and theories of damages, temporary and permanent injunctions, declaratory relief, restitution, equitable defenses, civil and criminal contempt, judgment collection, and attorney fees.

This seminar explores, in depth, the life cycle of a patent infringement action from a hands-on practical perspective. The course will cover how to conduct a pre-suit investigation, prepare a complaint and answer, and select jurisdiction. The course will also cover how to prepare claim charts and contentions, together with motions on the pleadings and letters to clients. An exploration of the different facets of fact and expert discovery, including damages and related motion practice will follow. After a discussion of pretrial hearing procedures in U.S. District Courts and procedures for challenging patent validity at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (inter partes review, or IPR), the course culminates with a Markman hearing based on a real-world patent and a hypothetical fact pattern. The hearing will include briefing and oral argument. By practicing the actual mechanics of patent litigation, students will develop writing, analysis and oral advocacy skills. No prerequisite: Patent Law preferred.

This course provides an introduction to the law regulating human interaction with animals, an area of growing practical and conceptual interest. Specific issues considered include: the definition of "animal" in anti-cruelty statutes; tort liability for injuries caused by and to animals; veterinary malpractice; trusts and estates issues arising from efforts to direct disposition of animals; the problem of standing in animal-related litigation; constitutional protections for animal owners and animal protection groups; the nuances of various federal laws including the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act; and legal issues surrounding animal experimentation, recent efforts at animal cloning and other advances in genomic and neuroscience.

This seminar is a study of war crime trials held in the aftermath of World War II, in their legal and social contexts: from the law of the late Weimer Republic (c. 1928-1933) and the Third Reich (1933-1945); through the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949) and that of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961; to related domestic litigation under the Alien Tort Claims Act and otherwise.

This seminar examines intersections between law and the mental health system, focusing particularly on the ways in which American law responds to evolving conceptions of mental disorder. Topics will include the implications of mental disorder for crime and punishment, such as determinations of criminal responsibility and competency to be tried and sentenced; civil commitment; the right to treatment and its refusal; protection against discrimination for the mentally ill; legal regulation of the psychotherapist-patient relationship; and the legal treatment of mentally disordered sex offenders. Readings and discussions on these issues will incorporate medical, historical and cultural perspectives as well as analysis of legal doctrine.

What do unions do? In the private sector, they negotiate and enforce contracts (“collective-bargaining agreements”) that govern wages, hours, and working conditions for employees who work in unionized firms. From an employee’s perspective, the contracts unions secure are typically superior to those governing non-union workers in at least four respects. First, they provide a wage-and-benefit package of significantly greater value than what’s on offer from similarly situated non-union firms. Second, they afford employees a collective voice in securing the particular mix of wages and benefits – as well as in improving the conditions under which they labor – rather than leaving those matters to the unilateral determination of the employer. Third, union contracts provide guarantees of job security – typically prohibiting discipline or dismissal in the absence of “just cause” – whereas the vast majority of non-union workers are employed “at will” and can be fired at any time for any reason not proscribed by positive law. Finally, union contracts come with their own enforcement mechanism: i.e., union representation in a dispute resolution process that is far faster, cheaper, and more effective than the judicial alternative. These and other benefits of union representation may help explain why more workers are actively seeking union representation today than has been the case since the turn of the century; why union win rates in representation elections are at a historic high; and why the icons of contemporary capital – including Starbucks, Chipotle, REI, Amazon, Apple, and Tesla – are among the most frequent targets of these efforts. Yet despite this recent spate of energetic organizing, it is fair to ask why so few U.S. workers have sought and successfully secured the benefits of union representation. (Currently, about 6% of the private-sector workforce belongs to unions, down from a post-World War II high of nearly 40%.) This course will explore that question and suggest a variety of possible legal, social, political, and economic explanations as we examine in some detail the contemporary union organizing campaign; the prohibitions under the National Labor Relations Act against employer interference with such campaigns; and the mechanisms available under the Labor Act for establishing a union as the legal representative of an employer’s workforce for purposes of collective bargaining.

This course introduces the subject of Islam, capital, and social responsibility. We begin with an brief overview of Islamic law and ethics and proceed to study how Islam countenances the relationships among earning, investing, and production and social and environmental welfare. We will review Islam¿s long standing legal tradition vis a vis the natural and built environments, good governance, and social welfare concerns, such as human and labor rights, as well as philanthropy. We will study Muslim scholars' views on debt, particularly as a tool to create participatory, inclusive and more equitable markets. We will also study contemporary Islamic venture capital and private equity, real estate and insurance transactions and products. Students should be interested in business and wealth and passionate about questions of inclusivity, social responsibility, and equality.

This course is about laws other than labor law that regulate the employment relationship. Topics include the employment contract; termination; discrimination and harassment; arbitration of employment disputes; employee speech and privacy; occupational health and safety; wage and hour regulation; and unemployment insurance.

Covers the major issues that arise in connection with fidelity and surety bonding through a detailed analysis of representative types of bonds. The surety bond section of the course will focus on public and private construction bonds. The fidelity bond section of the course will focus on employee dishonesty and financial institution bonds.

The central focus of this seminar is the way racial hierarchy has played a role in the development of American law, and it will provide a historical overview and a current assessment of race and the legal system. The seminar will provide students with critical analytic tools that they can use in their legal education and future practice. The ways in which white supremacy intersects with other forms of oppression, such as sexism and ableism, will necessarily be explored. The seminar is divided into three frameworks: Historical Origins of White Supremacy; Systems of Racism; and Going Forward. The Historical Origins module covers Colonization and the Discovery Doctrine; Slavery; the Framing of the Constitution; the Civil War Amendments/Reconstruction; and Segregation and Land Ownership. Systems of Racism covers Mass Incarceration; Housing Discrimination; Voting Suppression; Public Education; and Legal Education. In the Going Forward section, the seminar will take a critical look at how racial hierarchy in the law could be dismantled. Students will acquire tools to think critically about our nation’s legal framework and students will be encouraged to explore their professional identities and future impact within the existing system of laws.

This course examines the fundamental structural issues that confront nations as they attempt to impose income taxes on cross-border transactions involving the movement of goods, services, capital, and individuals. The course deals with specific policy issues in international taxation such as methods of eliminating or mitigating international double taxation; the jurisdictional basis for international taxation; methods of taxing transactions within multinational enterprises (transfer pricing); the interaction of differing corporate/shareholder tax regimes; the role of bilateral tax treaties; and international tax avoidance.

Parties to insurance disputes increasingly resort to litigation. This course examines a variety of cases and issues, some of them on the front pages of today's papers. Cases studied will involve disputes stemming from environmental disasters, the destruction of the World Trade Center, fallout from the sub-prime meltdown, corporate scandals and major insurance company failures, and the asbestos liability crisis. The course will examine commonly disputed liability insurance issues, exploring their strategic implications in the contexts of coverage litigation, arbitration and settlement negotiation.

This seminar explores the extent to which legal protection should be afforded to the preservation of historic buildings. We will discuss federal statutes governing preservation, religious land use, and archaeological treasures; constitutional issues ranging from the First Amendment to takings law; innovations in building codes that encourage rehabilitation; environmental policy; tax credits; and the utility of nonprofit organizations, stateside and worldwide. We will also survey state and local laws across the country with a focus on Connecticut, a state with a magnificent historic building stock. In lieu of writing a paper, students may with the permission of the instructor construct a policy or legislative project to satisfy course requirements

Federal courts are vested with full, but not exclusive, jurisdiction over all cases of admiralty and maritime matters. Much of the law is in a state of flux, and could even be termed arcane. The course involves the laws affecting maritime rights and obligations. The legal issues presented involve, inter alia, the carriage of goods by sea, maritime personal injuries, salvage, and collision.

This seminar is a comprehensive review of the law of ocean marine insurance. While intended as a practical introduction to the topic, the course is also a thought-provoking examination of a broad range of concepts underlying property-casualty insurance which will be relevant to all students. Much of the law governing ocean marine insurance in the United States today was developed as common law centuries ago and an important focus of the course is the continued viability of these principles as applied to international maritime commerce in a modern world. Students will consider conflicts between traditional admiralty doctrines and contemporary state insurance law as well as jurisdictional and choice-of-law issues arising out of disputes involving ocean marine insurance. The course includes in-depth examination of concepts unique to ocean marine insurance, including the doctrine of ubberrimae fidei, the imposition of implied warranties and the concept of general average. Students will survey physical risks presented by various maritime industries and analyze the coverage provided under hull, cargo, protection & indemnity, pollution liability and other specialized policies to address those risks. The course will also explore regulatory aspects of ocean marine insurance and unique features of the organization and capitalization of ocean marine insurers.

This course covers the basic institutions and principles of reinsurance, together with an examination of the legal regulation of reinsurance, procedures developed for the resolution of reinsurance disputes, and problems related to reinsurance insolvency. Principles of Insurance must be taken prior to or concurrently with this course

In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of first party property insurance and will include an analysis of how these fundamentals have been applied to claims arising out of some of the major catastrophes in recent American history, including the COVID pandemic, the 911 attack on the World Trade Center, wildfires in the West, the major hurricanes over the past two decades and the tragic breach of the levees in New Orleans arising out of Hurricane Katrina. Coverage topics will include the concepts of fortuity, policy language and its evolution, business interruption coverage, the handling of suspicious claims, and bad faith.

Street Law is a community oriented legal education program. Law students meet weekly to review substantive areas of law for presentation the following week in public high school classrooms. They work with cooperating teachers to bring practical law to students at varying academic levels. Law students are responsible for providing background materials and facilitating substantive discussions, as well as organizing field trips to legal institutions, and/or teen participation in mock debates. All students develop weekly lesson plans and provide weekly written reflections of their experience.

Students in this field placement will be placed with state prosecutors in various venues throughout the state. Students will perform lawyering tasks and be certified to appear in court, where they may argue motions, examine witnesses and perform other lawyering functions under appropriate supervision. Students will be encouraged to reflect upon their performance and will receive detailed feedback from their supervisors. A weekly, two-hour seminar will provide training in the relevant law and skills, as well as guided discussion on tactical, ethical and other issues arising in students' actual cases. In addition to the seminar, students will be expected to perform 8-12 hours of field work per week. Criminal Procedure is a prerequisite; it is also helpful, but not required, to take Evidence before or simultaneously with this clinic. Students must also be enrolled in LAW 7797, the fieldwork component of the course. Students who enroll in this field placement will be subject to a criminal background check before matriculation. Prerequisite: Criminal Procedure (LAW 645).

Students in this field placement will be placed with state prosecutors in various venues throughout the state. Students will perform lawyering tasks and be certified to appear in court, where they may argue motions, examine witnesses and perform other lawyering functions under appropriate supervision. Students will be encouraged to reflect upon their performance and will receive detailed feedback from their supervisors. A weekly, two-hour seminar will provide training in the relevant law and skills, as well as guided discussion on tactical, ethical and other issues arising in students' actual cases. In addition to the seminar, students will be expected to perform 8-12 hours of field work per week. Criminal Procedure is a prerequisite; it is also helpful, but not required, to take Evidence before or simultaneously with this clinic. Students must also be enrolled in LAW 7797, the fieldwork component of the course. Students who enroll in this field placement will be subject to a criminal background check before matriculation. Prerequisite: Criminal Procedure (LAW 7645).

Students who have successfully completed the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

Who watches over the financial condition of insurance companies in the United States? Who takes care of cleaning up the mess if an insurance company can¿t meet its obligations? The last few years have seen an unprecedented battle for the soul of insurance solvency regulation between state insurance regulators, federal banking/insurance regulators and insurance regulators in countries overseas, and unprecedented cooperation between these three. Traditionally, insurance has been regulated by the various states, but the Dodd Frank Act brought a number of federal regulators into the mix, while regulators in foreign countries have been changing the way they view overseas operations of U.S. insurers. These regulators employ approaches and regulatory philosophies that differ in many material respects, while they all share a strong commitment to protecting the insurance buying public. The Insurance Solvency course will explore solvency regulation in the United States through a series of high profile guest speakers from state and federal insurance regulators and insurance companies who will speak about the day to day financial regulation of insurance companies and the challenges of winding up insurance companies when things go wrong. The course will conclude with a number of case studies demonstrating differing approaches to the resolution of insolvent insurance companies and a dialog with those who have lead and are leading these cases.

This course introduces students to scientific developments, ethical dilemmas and legal disputes surrounding assisted reproduction and the family arrangements that reproductive technologies have made possible. Courts face increasingly complicated claims regarding parental rights and responsibilities in an age where reproductive technologies such as in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy distribute conception, gestation and parenthood among a variety of participants. Topics will include the science and medicine of human procreation, including new and emerging technologies; markets for gametes; the rights and responsibilities of sperm and egg ¿donors¿; reproductive genetics, including the testing of embryos for medical and social purposes; surrogacy and gestational carrier arrangements; reproductive tourism and cross-border reproductive care; posthumous reproduction; the regulation of reproductive medicine and the fertility industry; as well as international and comparative approaches to reproductive technologies and the law.

Mankind has known for over fifty years that it is capable of destroying the planet through war. What we have learned in the last thirty years is that productive and peaceful human behavior is also capable of ravaging the planet: depleting the planet's ozone shield, warming the climate, flooding coastal habitats, poisoning humans and animals through exposure to toxic compounds, depleting fisheries and forests, obliterating indigenous cultures, and decimating the global heritage of biodiversity. These ailments are caused, in part, by the ever-expanding scale, and toxicity, of production by private companies. These harms are also caused, indirectly, by trans-national rules which promote the mobility of goods and capital, thereby deterring and impeding strict national and local regulation of companies. Devastating environmental impacts thus form a large part of what critics have in mind when they complain of the evils of "globalization." There are two broad approaches the world might adopt to respond to such evils. One is to try to reverse the historic trend towards bigness and return to small scale production marketed at the local level and regulated by local jurisdictions. This will never happen, for the simple reason that competition, economies of scale, free trade, and mobile capital have also brought with them economic benefits which most governments, and many people, value even more than they fear the adverse consequences of globalization. This leaves the other approach, which is to develop a globalized regime of regulation that is up to the challenge of controlling globalized capital. This course is about mankind's efforts to implement the second solution in the environmental realm, by developing a truly global regime of treaties and regulations which seeks to control the pollution, the resource depletion and the ecological degradation that has hitherto accompanied globalized trade and commerce. We will study the origins, design, interpretation, achievements, and limitations of the great treaties that have joined nations in combating common problems facing the planet: the ozone treaty, climate change treaty, biodiversity treaty, a series of international fisheries treaties, and the treaty on control of persistent organic compounds. We also will examine the the conflicts that have arisen between the goals of environmental protection embodied in such treaties, and the goals of free trade and investment pursued by the World Trade Organization and other free trade agreements. Students will be invited to explore ways to reconcile these conflicts in ways that promote both prosperity and environmental protection.

This course will examine the law, policy, and economics of renewable energy both in the United States and internationally. A major focus of the course will be the state and federal laws affecting the use of each major source of renewable energy. Specific topics will include renewable portfolio standards, subsidies, feed-in-tariffs, siting, and project financing. Class discussions will be held against the backdrop of climate change, energy security, nuclear power policy, and the market disrupting rise of ¿fracked¿ natural gas and shale oil.

This course is an introduction to federal Indian law, the body of law recognizing and limiting the sovereignty of tribal governments. The course covers the origins of this law, founded in the conflict between colonialism, constitutionalism, and tribal resilience, as well as the modern doctrines governing tribal, federal, and state jurisdiction, the scope of federal power, equal protection, statutory and treaty interpretation, and the borders of Indian country. Students will gain a critical understanding of the contemporary challenges facing Native peoples, and the directions courts, tribes, and Congress may take in addressing them. In lieu of an exam, students will research and write a mock judicial opinion on a problem assigned by the instructor.

Finding a way to more sustainably power societies around the globe may be one of the biggest challenges of our time. Focusing on the regulation and design of energy systems (i.e., the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity) and markets, this course will provide an introduction to the economic, social, environmental and policy issues raised by the current systems of energy use. We will examine the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in evaluating and choosing different energy options and provide a framework for developing and assessing sustainable policy and regulatory solutions. (Formerly Offered as: Energy and Sustainability).

Millions of people worldwide are forced to flee their homes as a result of persecution, war, or other factors. This course will focus on legal responses to the problem of refugees, on both the international level and in United States law. The course will examine the development of international norms concerning the protection of refugees under the U.N Refugee Convention and Protocol and the Convention Against Torture, and consider in depth the laws and institutions that address claims for asylum and related forms of protection in the United States. The course will examine issues such as the legal standards for qualifying for refugee status, the challenges of assessing applicants' credibility, and the complex and controversial issues raised by the increasing numbers of refugees fleeing from gender-based harms (such as domestic violence, forced marriage, and female genital cutting) and gang violence.

This seminar will examine the differing conceptions of intellectual property rights by comparing and contrasting the protection given to trademarks, patents, copyrights and neighboring rights as established by the European Union, Britain, the Commonwealth Cluster and the United States. Some attention will also be given to core international agreements governing intellectual property such as the TRIPs Agreement and the Madrid System.

Will analyze the past and present intellectual property policies of the Commission of the European Communities and the European Court of Justice. Topics for discussion may include the concept of international exhaustion, the problems of parallel imports, and European Union harmonization efforts in the area of intellectual property. Readings for discussion will be taken from Commission decisions, Court of Justice opinions and law review articles.

Students will also be required to meet synchronously, remotely with the instructor. In this course, students will practice and improve their legal writing and editing skills by drafting and workshopping amicus briefs in pending Supreme Court cases. Each student will pick their own project, with input from their professor and peers, which will simulate the type of writing and collaborative engagement typically required of attorneys. Some assignments will be evaluated by the professor and some by the student through self-evaluation.

A complex web of agricultural and food laws substantially influences what ends up on our plates, and ultimately affects the health of individuals, communities, and their ecosystems. These policies, and the regulatory mechanisms supporting them, play a vital role in determining health outcomes for our nation and the level on environmental impact to shared natural resources such as air, water, soil and biodiversity. In the context of these policies, this course will cover diverse ecological issues through the lens of federal environmental statutes. The course will also cover key public health issues related to food production and distribution as the U.S. Farm Bill, nutrition assistance programs, food access, obesity and malnutrition, food safety and foodborne diseases, genetically engineered foods, organic and other certification schemes, and the debate about food systems and sustainability.

This placement will be offered through the Center for Energy and Environmental Law (CEEL). Students will work as policy Interns for the Legislative Environment Committee and the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. This placement requires a minimum of 12 placement hours work per week. An on campus bi-weekly, (every two weeks) seminar class is also required. Depending on placement, suggested preparation includes: Environmental Law (Law 7650) or Administrative Law (Law 7600) or Energy Law (Law 7811). Enrollment is limited and instructor permission is required. Credits are ungraded.

Is a detailed study of the practical problems (including, but not limited to, tax problems) that arise in advising clients as to the best means (and the several alternatives) available by which they may transfer property and/or income during their life and at their death. Taught as a seminar, students engage in research and prepare actual documents which are reviewed and individually critiqued.

This practicum focuses on litigation concerning civil rights, anti-discrimination, and work law in the United States. As their primary assignment, students will select (with instructor approval) an actual pending case (in any federal or state court in the United States) that raises a civil rights, anti-discrimination, or work law issue. Students will assume the role of the local, state, or federal government agency charged with enforcing the underlying law at issue (e.g., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Labor). In that role, each student will write multiple drafts of an amicus brief suitable to file in the selected pending case. In turn, students will present and defend their amicus arguments via oral argument in a moot court. Each student will also evaluate other students' amicus brief drafts. Course readings will be structured around evaluating the litigation strategies in instructor-selected pending lawsuits in the United States.

This course is a one term version of Contemporary Legal Theory I and II and is an introduction to the philosophy of law. It will examine contemporary analyses of the nature of law and of the resources for judicial decision-making. In considering the role of judges, the relation of law and morality and theories of textual interpretation will be discussed. In the latter part of the course critical theories of law, including critical legal studies, feminism, critical race theory and legal pragmatism will be examined.

Workers' compensation laws in every United States jurisdiction provide benefits to employees who are injured or become ill on the job irrespective of fault, while generally barring such employees from suing their employers and fellow workers (but not others) for their injuries. This course presents an historical perspective on the development of workers' compensation systems in the United States and also examines recent trends in the law. Topics to be considered include: the theory of workers' compensation as social insurance whose purpose is the delivery of compensation and medical treatment to injured workers; the contract of employment (who is an employer, who is an independent contractor and who is a covered employee); when does an injury arise out of and in the course of employment; the differences between accidental injuries and occupational diseases; prior existing conditions and post injury independent causes; compensation for non-fatal injuries and death benefits; recent changes in the delivery of medical treatment and the administration of workers' compensation laws; the rehabilitation of injured workers; and other issues.

This course will be a survey of health law topics designed to introduce students to some of the basic concepts, regulatory systems, and legal issues. Subjects covered include health care access, public health, the organization and financing of health care, quality of care, health care policy and reform, and ethics.

This course explores some of the legal, business and policy issues which lawyers encounter in the music, film, television, and sports industries. Topics include, but are not limited to, intellectual property issues in the entertainment industry; conflict of interest and other legal ethics issues; contractual rights and relations among entertainment industry workers, including agency and management agreements; analysis of the economic structure of the entertainment industry; film and television financing, production and distribution arrangements and agreements; a survey of the unions and guilds having jurisdiction over personnel in the entertainment industry, including the Writers Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, American Federation of Musicians, and Actors' Equity. Students will participate in a simulated negotiation relating to the entertainment industry.

From a human-rights and international-litigation perspective, the course will deal with constitutional law as well as specific areas of private law such as civil law, civil procedure, and business law. It will first introduce the civil-law tradition, along with the legal history of Continental Europe and Latin America. With a focus on the latter region but constant references to the former, the discussion will then shift to constitutional law: to the notion of constitutionalism, basic principles, the vindication of rights, and second- and third-generation entitlements. Thereafter, it will likewise zero in on civil law¿in particular, civil codes, interpretation, codified sexism, and civil remedies as well as on civil procedure specifically, the conception of procedure, procedural guaranties, and collective actions. The class will close with an analogous exploration of corporate law. Throughout, it will contrast legal institutions from the United States.

Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Law Clinic students represent individuals, small businesses, and non-profit organizations in a broad range of intellectual property (patent, trademark, and copyright) and related business law issues. The clinical experience provides intensive training in both the relevant law and practical skills relevant to intellectual property law practice. The clinic's law students are involved in all aspects of client matters, including but not limited to conducting interviews, legal research, and drafting documents. Under the guidance of supervising attorneys, they have advised clients regarding numerous legal issues including patent, trademark and copyright searches/clearances and applications; licenses and related contract drafting; nondisclosure and employee confidentiality agreements, and business entity formation. Patent Law (Law 7716) is a pre-requisite for students with science or technology backgrounds who will be doing patent work while enrolled in the clinic, but it may be taken as a co-requisite if the student has already completed Intellectual Property (LAW 7715). For students who will not be doing patent work while enrolled in the clinic, either one of the following pre-requisites is sufficient: Intellectual Property (LAW 7715) or Trademark Law (LAW 7939).

This course analyzes the essence of human rights in comparison with other rights of citizens. Human rights shall be considered from the viewpoint of international regulation (the United Nations Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights), regulation in different parts of the world and in different countries (United States of America, western European countries, Russia and eastern European countries). Concrete cases of human rights violations and concrete means of protecting human rights will be discussed.

This course will focus on international arbitration as a method of settling commercial disputes and on the general principles of law which apply to this field. The course will analyze the formation and validity of international arbitration agreements as well as the role of national courts in the enforcement of awards. The legal framework for international commercial disputes in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations will be discussed, as will some of the most widely used arbitration rules, e.g., the International Chamber of Commerce, London Court of International Arbitration, American Arbitration Association, and UNCITRAL. The course will also examine international arbitration disputes involving States and selected current issues in international commercial arbitration.

This course is a discussion of legal topics, made concrete by cases. Additional reading will come from secondary legal materials. There will be a focus on neuroscience and the philosophy of science with possible additional topics selected from among the following: the nature of law and legal institutions, legal reasoning, law and ethics, law and social science – driven by student interest.

How do countries cope with periods of massive human rights abuses committed in the past? What role should the international community play in promoting accountability and reconciliation for such abuses? What is the role of courts, either domestic or international, in such processes? Should countries pass amnesty laws and pardons for human rights offenders to facilitate the consolidation of democracy and should these laws be binding on international courts? This seminar will explore a range of approaches that countries have used, including truth commissions and criminal trials. The seminar will focus on a number of case studies, including South Africa, Guatemala, Rwanda and the Balkans, as well as the impact of international lawsuits such as the Pinochet extradition proceedings between Britain and Spain. We will look at the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court and examine the issues raised by a court with its jurisdiction. Drawing on these examples, students will compare the advantages and disadvantages of international and domestic solutions in each context. Students will be required to write a short book review, a 6-8 page midterm paper and a final paper of 15-20 pages.

Whether you practice commercial litigation, employment law, transactional law or work in house, most attorneys find themselves involved with a distressed business at some point in their practice. As a result, it is essential for attorneys of all levels and in all practice areas to become familiar with the fundamental tenets of corporate bankruptcy law. This course will provide an in-depth analysis of selected topics in bankruptcy law, with a focus on Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code and corporate insolvency and restructuring. Topics will include: options for the financially distressed organization; operation of a corporation during a Chapter 11 case; confirmation of Chapter 11 business reorganization and liquidation plans, including common issues contested by creditors and parties in interest; the scope and limits of bankruptcy court jurisdiction; conflicts between the Bankruptcy Code and other federal and state laws and regulations, including labor laws, environmental laws, and securities laws; treatment of intellectual property rights in bankruptcy; and the treatment of secured claims. The course will also cover issues regarding corporate governance, business organizations, and distinctions between secured and unsecured forms of debt. Students will be expected to complete short, practical writing tasks during the course of the semester. In lieu of a final exam, students will prepare a final written research memorandum based on a model case problem.

This seminar will examine existing laws governing children's lives as well as proposals for law reform. The focus will be on those laws that regulate children's lives separate and apart from laws governing adults or persons generally. The course of study will be organized in terms of six interrelated spheres of children's experience: (1) children's relationships with caregivers; (2) children's protection from maltreatment; (3) children's educational experiences; (4) children's experiences in the criminal and juvenile justice systems; (5) children's interactions with the market and civic life, as consumers, workers, and citizens; and (6) children's peer relationships, including sexual relationships and the reproductive consequences that may flow from such relationships. Consideration will be given to the interconnected themes of adult responsibilities for children, children's rights, children's developmental needs, and children's intrinsic experiences as children.

Is a study of the law, both civil and criminal, pertaining to juveniles. Attention is given to the roles of the attorney, the social worker, the juvenile court, and other state institutions and sources in relation to the juvenile. The respective rights and obligations of the state, the parents, and the juvenile also are examined in relation to each other.

Focuses largely upon public law issues surrounding the legal regulation of art, assigning particular attention to the problem of balancing the interests of owners, visual and performance artists, and the public in creating a system of legal governance. Among the topics examined are the protection of art works through existing intellectual property regimes; obscenity, parody, and defamation; artists' moral and economic rights; museum board fiduciary responsibilities and deaccession; government funding for the arts; reparation of stolen art; cultural property and issues of cultural identity; and the challenge of new technologies for art law. International and comparative aspects of art law will be addressed. The seminar is neither an entertainment law course nor a survey of private art law practice.

Looks at the intersection of law and literature, and more generally law and art in several ways. Topics include: (1) the right to creative expression under the Constitution, including consideration of the notion of pornography and critical responses (feminist, conservative, and other) to artistic "license;" (2) theories of interpretation, including the comparison of literary and legal texts as communicative and expressive media; (3) the forms and limits of artistic approaches to legal and political issues, including novels, short stories and movies.

This seminar explores several fundamental issues in the theory of criminal law using literary examples and insights. The first topic is the question of what should be criminalized; the question of when a private act becomes a matter of urgent public concern. Secondly, we assess the adequacy of the legal picture of the human mind and experience, using what we know about the complexity of psychological states. We also consider ethics in the context of trial practice and modes of punishment. Among the authors included in the course are Camus, Hawthorne, Kafka, and Burgess.

This course will introduce students to the promises and pitfalls of applying economic reasoning to central questions of law. In addition to traditional topics in Contracts, Property and Torts (optimal contract remedies, liability vs. property rules, the Coase Theorem, strict liability vs. negligence), we will also explore the use of economics to analyze some non-traditional areas such as contract design (incentives for good teaching) and political economy (the economic analysis of political outcomes). We will focus on three broad (and highly inter-related) questions: (1) What are the legal rules and why do they take the form they do? (2) What criteria should we use for choosing between competing legal rules, and which rules should we choose? (3) What effects (if any) do the rules have on the behavior of those subject to them? While law and economics has traditionally been content to offer answers to this last question based on theoretical models, the class will also stress the importance and difficulty of empirical tests that evaluate how laws actually work in practice. We will also devote some time to the study of behavioral law and economics, which attempts to marry cognitive psychology and economic theory.

Cognitive science is the study of mind. It bridges such fields as psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, linguistics, and neuroscience. This course will orient students to various facets of cognitive science that are relevant to learning, practicing, and thinking about law. Representative topics will include dual process theories of cognition, perception and visual processing (and their relevance to advocacy skills), inferential reasoning in linguistics as applied to legal texts, human and machine consciousness (can computers perform legal reasoning?), and free will as it relates to criminal law. Students should expect this seminar to expose and destabilize assumptions that lawyers make many legally relevant concepts, among them personhood (how we understand persons as the agents and the subjects of legal reasoning), rationality, and neutrality.

The Transactional Clinic is a new, in-house legal clinic, the successor to the clinic previously offered in partnership with Connecticut Urban Legal Initiative (CULI), which has ceased operation. The Transactional Clinic offers students experience performing transactional work for nonprofit and entrepreneurial clients, including small businesses, community-based organizations, and student athletes. Students work under the supervision of clinic faculty and apply their lawyering skills when performing transactional work, including client interviewing and counseling, reviewing and drafting contracts and other documents, and assisting in other legal matters. The classroom component involves a weekly two-hour seminar that provides the theoretical and practical foundation necessary to perform transactional legal work.

Students who have successfully completed the Transactional Clinic may, subject to instructor permission and the availability of appropriate matters, continue to work on such matters under the supervision of Clinic attorneys for one or more additional semesters.

This survey course will cover many of the current areas of concern in elder law. Topics will include selected legal issues raised for elders in areas such as housing alternatives (including care at home, assisted living and nursing home placements); capacity and substituted decision making; end of life decision making; and access to health care (including Medicare and Medicaid). Ethical considerations will be presented throughout this course. Students will be exposed to the interactive and holistic problem-solving approach of elder law practitioners to the legal and public policy issues presented by clients. A research paper and class participation will be required.

Is a seminar that reviews the basic methods of legal research in the areas of case law, legislation and constitutional law. It also explores interdisciplinary research methods and assists students in the use of the latest research techniques including computerized systems such as Lexis and Westlaw. Individual students, through research papers, have an opportunity to become thoroughly familiar with research in a specialized area such as taxation, international law, etc. or to evaluate and develop computerized legal research programs.

This seminar will review the evolutionary process by which the civil right to receive a free and appropriate public education has been expanded to include people with disabilities. The class will discuss issues such as the standards used to define "disability," physical access to schools and other buildings/grounds, appropriate classroom instruction, the provision of ancillary services in the least restrictive environment, and topics such as discipline and safety in the special education setting. The readings and discussions will include cases involving special education, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Every Student Succeeds Act, pending legislation, and a review of the international perspective toward special education and related services.

This course explores key laws and legal concepts applicable to U.S. institutions of higher education. With particular emphasis on the principle of academic freedom, as well as the educational mission and other unique features of such institutions, the course focuses on how the law balances the rights and responsibilities of colleges and universities and their many and varied constituencies - including faculty, staff, students, and the public at large. The course also explores the increasingly complex regulatory environment facing colleges and universities, and the relationships of these institutions to all levels of government. Specific topics of discussion include (among others): the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students in and outside the classroom; freedom of expression; freedom from discrimination; affirmative action; ownership and use of intellectual property in the academic environment; and the regulation of intercollegiate athletics.

State legislative process is replacing to a significant degree development of the law through the case-by-case decisional method. This course considers the role of state legislation in the development of the law, state legislative process and procedure, and the dynamics of a legislative session. The course emphasizes how mastery of the legislative process leads to effective influence within legislative committees and political parties. It also looks at the art of legislative draftsmanship including understanding of the substantive issues and creativity in the development of legislative alternatives when compromises must be made to attract votes necessary for passage. Instruction focuses on case studies of certain key pieces of legislation..

This seminar will explore what many regard as the "greatest hits" in American legal thought, essays and articles that have significantly influenced the development of law and legal theory in the U.S. since the early 20th Century. The essays exemplify the principal schools of modern legal thought including legal realism, law and economics, the law and society movement, and various branches of critical legal theory and feature legal thinkers from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Karl Llewellyn to Duncan Kennedy and Catharine Mackinnon. Each week, we will analyze and critique selected essays, most of which will be found in the textbook, The Canon of American Legal Thought (David Kennedy & William W. Fisher III, eds. 2006); a handful of additional readings will be available via pdf. Grades will be calculated in the following manner: 1/3 = class participation; 1/3 = cumulative performance on weekly quizzes; and 1/3 = final exam.

This course, intended for those who plan to practice in Connecticut, will focus on the fundamentals of Connecticut civil procedure. Its goal is to provide new practitioners with a general knowledge of how to bring and defend civil lawsuits in Connecticut state courts. The course will address both the Practice Book rules and statutes governing service of process, pleadings, motions, discovery, evidence and perfecting appeals.

Is a seminar that begins with an exploration of the First Amendment background of free press, primarily through the body of case law that has developed over the past two centuries. The unique place of the media in relation to traditional First Amendment concepts is examined. The seminar then proceeds to an examination of such areas as the differences in the law's treatment of the print and the electronic media; issues such as fair trial-free press; the question of access by the media to the sites of newsworthy events; the rights, and responsibilities of the media and their personnel in such matters as compelled testimony and disclosure of notes and other work product; the question of access to the media by elements of society, such as the "equal time" requirement as opposed to the Tornillo decision on the press; the right of the public to know versus the right of the individual to privacy; legal limits on cross-ownership; and the ever-changing area of the law of defamation.

Many parts of the typical legal system - contract law, criminal law. testamentary succession law - presuppose free will. Recent scientific research on elementary particles, mirror neurons in the brain, and other topics may have implications concerning the possibility or nature of free will. This course considers a selection of these and other scientific developments and their relevance to the foundations of law. In particular, organic brain damage that causes criminal behavior appears to absolve a defendant from responsibility. The law slides easily from damage to abnormality, and with increasing understanding of the brain more or less tautologically will attribute more and eventually all aberrant behavior to abnormality. Again, what brain states and mental states are and how they relate to may affect issues in criminal law and the law of evidence. A unifying explanation of these matters may therefore shed light on these legal areas.

Concentrating on the period from the adoption of the Constitution through the end of Reconstruction in l877, this course is about law in action (thus the meaning of law) --how lawyers, judges, and legislators created a system of law based on race that enslaved millions -- and then attempted to dismantle the system they created. The slavery provisions in the Constitution, along with leading state and national judicial decisions concerning slavery are located in the context of history. The course also considers resistance to slave law on the part of slaves. Some attention is given to the Civil War Amendments (13, 14, 15) and why they failed to deliver meaningful freedom Black Americans.

Students assist in investigating and litigating civil rights and other matters in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. The year-long clinic will include six weeks of classroom seminars in the fall followed by field assignment in both semesters. In the spring, a weekly class meeting, at which we discuss cases, takes the place of the seminar. Students will receive instruction on various topics related to the USAO’s work, such as: official misconduct; educational access; human trafficking; hate crimes; language access; rights of institutionalized persons; rights of service members and veterans; voting rights; and federal investigation techniques and procedure. Field work is performed under supervision of Assistant United States Attorneys, investigators, and paralegals, and consists of investigation, evidence gathering, pleading drafting, hearing preparation, attendance at court hearings, legal research, litigation strategy, and settlement negotiations in federal cases, including civil rights matters as well as other criminal and civil cases. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll for the full year; single semester enrollment by instructor permission. 3 graded credits each semester. To perform fieldwork, all students must pass a background check. Because that process can take several weeks, students must contact the instructors upon enrolling to initiate their background check or risk being unable to fulfill course requirements. Field work is performed at one of the three USAO offices in Connecticut: New Haven, Hartford, and/or Bridgeport. Office availability depends on various factors and students’ first-choice selection cannot be guaranteed. At least two trips to New Haven are required to obtain an identification badge. One or more of the following must be taken as a pre or co requisite: Administrative Law, Evidence or Connecticut Administrative Law.

This seminar will explore the theoretical, statutory, constitutional, and historical dimensions of law's regulation of sexuality and gender. Course materials will address constitutional doctrines of privacy, equal protection, freedom of expression and freedom of association, as well as aspects of criminal, employment and family law that construct and enforce social norms around gender and sexuality. Topics may include sexual privacy and its limits; sex and consent; discrimination in the military on the basis of gender and sexual orientation; government policies on pornography, sex education, and sexually explicit art; sex work and its regulation; gender identity and sexuality in the workplace and in educational institutions; and state control of family relationships, including marriage, custody and adoption.

This seminar explores the legal regulation of sport. The unique legal problems of professional sports, including the nature of player contracts, league structure and rules, franchise agreements, broadcast licensing, and relationship to the anti-trust and tax laws are examined. One segment focuses on the formal organization of professional (and amateur) sport, another examines the relation between the athlete and the formal structure, with specific focus on the role of agents and of union representation in professional athletics.

In this course we will study ERISA and the profound effect it has had on American society, particularly with respect to its regulation of retirement income and health care. To understand the multi-trillion dollar ERISA world, we will examine what a benefits plan is, how plans are operated and administered, the difference between pension and welfare plans, what plan administrators' fiduciary duties are to plan participants, the variety and availability of remedies for ERISA violations, the degree to which federal benefits law preempts state benefits law, the interaction between ERISA and the Affordable Care Act, and the policy debates that animate contemporary discussions of benefit reform.

This course will address core concepts and controversies that shape modern tax systems, including vertical and horizontal equity, ability-to-pay principles, democratic accountability, and the choice to tax income, consumption, or wealth. The course will consider how tax rules affect racial, gender, and intergenerational inequality, and whether taxes should be used to influence behavior. The course also explores key federal and state debates—wealth taxes, estate and inheritance taxes, corporate taxation, Social Security and Medicare financing, tax subsidies versus direct spending, state conformity decisions, incentives for innovation and caregiving, climate policy, cryptocurrency taxation, declining gas-tax revenues, apportionment and Ellingson, road-use taxation, taxation of activities on the moon and mars, and the treatment of American Indians and those doing business with them. Prerequisites: Federal Income Tax or Multistate Tax or an undergraduate major in public finance or economics.

This course is designed to provide students with the research skills to be successful in their summer work and beyond. The course focuses on advanced research techniques in sources frequently used in the practice of law and will expose students to free, low-cost and for-free online legal and non-legal resources. This course is not open to students who have successfully completed or are currently enrolled in Advanced Legal Research.

This course examines the property tax and its role in local government finance. The basic methods of property valuation are explored as well as procedural and jurisdictional issues in the administration of the tax. The course will also address the distinction between real and personal property for purposes of taxation, the identification of taxable interests, and the effect of intangibles on value. Case study will be supplemented by review and analysis of state property tax statutes corresponding to the topics covered in the course and practical exercises to help students develop effective approaches to litigation of property tax cases.

Considers legal and policy problems in the law of trademarks through case analysis and examination of the Lanham Act. Topics include marks subject to protection, the federal registration process, likelihood of confusion, "palming off," and remedies.

A student who participates in an interscholastic advocacy competition is eligible to earn up to 2 pass/fail credits. The Associate Dean must approve the competition in advance of a student's participation. A faculty member or a lawyer approved by the Associate Dean, who serves as competition advisor, must confirm satisfactory completion.

Examines the various legal and philosophical interests that have been characterized as privacy rights by courts and legislators. The course examines the right of privacy in three contexts: constitutionally protected rights of privacy, including the right to be free from government intrusion, the right to personal autonomy in certain intimate decisions and conduct, and the right to control the acquisition and dissemination of personal information about oneself; common law privacy, including the various forms of torts characterized as the right of privacy; and statutory rights to privacy, with a focus on such laws as the Privacy Act of 1974, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1974, the Freedom of Information Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Student grades will be based upon final examination and class participation.

A student who participates in an interscholastic mock trial competition that requires the submission of a brief is eligible to earn up to 2 pass/fail credits. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or the Associate Dean for Clinical and Experiential Learning must approve the competition in advance of a student's participation. A faculty member or a lawyer approved by the Associate Dean, who serves as competition advisor, must observe at least one pre-competition mock trial. The student seeking credit must provide the advisor with a written evaluation and self-critique reflecting on his or her competition experience, on a form approved by the Associate Dean for Academic affairs or the Associate Dean for Clinical and Experiential Learning, and meet with the advisor to discuss that evaluation.

This seminar involves participation in a reading group led by a full time faculty member. A minimum of three students and a maximum of eight students is allowed. The seminar may be on any subject of mutual interest to the faculty member and students. Students may initiate a reading seminar by approaching a faculty member or a faculty member may initiate a reading seminar by approaching a group of students or by listing the seminar as a course during registration. The reading seminar will meet for at least one hour per week per credit, and can be scheduled in the alternative to meet on an every other week basis. Students will be expected to do reading for the seminar which equals one substantial law review article every week, or a book every other week. One ten-page reflection paper is required. Students are limited to one reading seminar per semester, and may enroll in different seminars again in subsequent semesters. Grading is on a pass/fail basis.

This course examines the growing field of international trade compliance law and investigations. The course will introduce students to the fundamentals of international trade compliance law, including complex U.S. regulations controlling exports and imports of commercial and military commodities and associated data; U.S. anti-boycott laws; U.S. sanctions regimes restricting transactions with specific countries and individuals; and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The course will also provide a primer on conducting internal investigations into violations of these legal regimes, and disclosing the findings of such investigations to government agencies, whether voluntarily or in response to directed inquiries from enforcement agencies.

This course will discuss the theory and doctrine of the First Amendment protections for freedom of expression and religion. Topics and questions discussed will include: What are the historical roots of the First Amendment? What societal values does the First Amendment serve? Is the right to speech absolute? Should the law distinguish between types speech when deciding whether speech enjoys First Amendment protection? For example, should political speech enjoy greater constitutional protection than commercial speech? Can the government require religious organizations to provide contraception insurance coverage for their employees?

This is in support of the candidate's academic degree of Doctor of the Science of Law presenting the author's research and findings.

This course is entered an a student's record as work progresses on the SJD dissertation. Students enrolled in SJD continuous registration are considered enrolled in a full time load.

Is a special research and writing project required to complete the LL.M. program. Each LL.M. student works with a faculty advisor in defining a thesis topic, preparing a working outline, conducting the required research and drafting the written project. The student is expected to undertake a project that entails intensive research and writing of an analytic character, pursued through several drafts to produce a substantial and original work of high quality. Academic credits are assigned to each semester at the faculty advisor's discretion based upon a judgment as to a suitable proration of the student's time.

This is an optional seminar for students concurrently enrolled in an individual field placement, but it is required for any student seeking to have the field placement satisfy the Practice-Based Learning Requirement. The seminar will explore practical, ethical, and professional-role issues that students are likely to encounter in their field placement. Through assigned readings, class discussions and role-play exercises, students will learn to navigate a legal office environment; to detect, diagnose and effectively respond to problems that arise; to form and nurture rewarding professional relationships; and to derive the maximum possible educational benefit from their field placement. Students will be required to reflect critically on their field placement experience and systematically evaluate its effectiveness in developing their substantive knowledge, practice skills, and professional identity. The seminar will also help students use their field placement to maximize opportunities for subsequent employment placement and career advancement. In order to participate in this seminar, students must simultaneously enroll in an individual field placement of at least three (3) credits. The seminar instructor will serve as the faculty advisor for the student's individual field placement. Enrolled students must attend the mandatory field placement orientation program. Co-requisite: Individual Field Placement (LAW 7996).

This course will explore the development, importance and enforcement of both the Federal Trade Commission Act and "Little FTC Acts", focusing at the state level upon the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), which has the largest body of unfairness case law of any state in the United States. Little FTC Acts are state analogues to the Federal Trade Commission Act, and are linked to the substantive provision of the FTC Act, Section 5(a)(1), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 45(a)(1), which prohibits unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts and practices. The course will explore the substantive and procedural similarities and differences between the FTC Act and Little FTC Acts. The course will also cover other types of state consumer protection statutes. In many states, such as Connecticut, Little FTC Acts have become all-purpose business litigation statutes, not merely strictly consumer protection statutes, and often involve class actions. Most Little FTC Acts provide for government enforcement in addition to private enforcement. The course will explore both the nature and the scope of such government enforcement, including the states' investigatory authority, and importantly, multistate consumer protection initiatives. The course will also cover the manner in which states coordinate their activities with the Federal Trade Commission and/or other federal consumer protection agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

This course will provide students with instruction that will aid them in learning a basic legal vocabulary in Spanish, some legal grammatical structures, and proper pronunciation in order to improve their conversational skills so that they can communicate more effectively with Spanish-speaking clients. Class activities will include reading and discussion of simple Spanish legal documents and newspaper coverage of legal issues. Pre-requisite: At least two years of high school Spanish or equivalent exposure to written and spoken Spanish.

This course will provide students with instruction in Spanish legal terminology for the purpose of enabling them to represent Spanish-speaking clients. In this course, students will compare the Spanish and Latin legal systems to the U.S legal system. Every week, the class will focus on a different area of the law, and on the main legal vocabulary relevant to that practice area and the differences among the legal systems. Reading and writing of legal documents in Spanish as well as discussions of legal issues and attorney-client mock interviews will take place in this course. Requisite: At least three years of high school Spanish or equivalent exposure to written and spoken Spanish. Having successfully completed Spanish for Lawyers I is not a requirement for students who have three or more years of Spanish.

Lawyers and judges are linguistic interpretation specialists of sorts, yet few legal professionals have any formal training in the workings of language. This seminar will consider whether and how insights from the cognitive sciences (especially linguistics and philosophy of language) might inform the interpretation of speech and text in various legal contexts, such as statutory construction, contract, and witness testimony.

This seminar course explores the transformative impact of technology on the legal profession, examining how innovation is reshaping the role of lawyers and legal service delivery. Balancing theoretical knowledge with practical skills, students will delve into key topics like legal practice management software, e-discovery, digital evidence, AI in law, cybersecurity, data privacy, blockchain, smart contracts, legal analytics, and virtual law practice. Through hands-on experience with legal tech tools, students will gain insight into current trends and potential future developments in the digital legal landscape. The course covers the fundamentals of technological innovation and legal system design, emphasizing real-world applications in legal settings. Students will develop critical thinking skills for evaluating and implementing new technologies, while also considering the ethical implications of their use in law. The course culminates in a capstone project where students propose a technology-based solution to a contemporary legal challenge. No prior technical experience is required.

This course provides students with a foundational and systematic introduction to the world of legislation, regulation, and administration that creates and defines so much of our legal order. As such, it is a natural statutory-regulatory counterpart to the common-law courses that dominate much of the first-year curriculum. The aim is two-fold: first, it seeks to introduce students to processes and structures of government; and second, it tries to stimulate thinking about how these processes and structures influence and affect legal outcomes, not just in courtrooms, but in legislatures, regulatory agencies, and among regulated interests and regulatory beneficiaries. The course naturally leads into, and enables students to get more out of, advanced courses in administrative law, legislation, interpretation, as well as a wide range of regulatory subjects (e.g., environmental law, health law, land use, or securities law). Topics covered will include some mix of the following: the separation of powers; the legislative process; statutory interpretation; delegation and administrative agency practice; and regulatory tools and strategies. The course is designed for first-year law students but will also be open to upper-level students who have not taken Administrative Law, Statutory Interpretation, or Legislative Process.

Is a review and a discussion of traditional and modern legal doctrines governing the admissibility and proper uses of scientific evidence, the criminal defendant's right to discover and challenge the results of government-sponsored procedures for the collection and analysis of scientific evidence, and the indigent defendant's right to hire his own scientific experts at government expense. In addition, students receive training in the forensic techniques and procedures used to develop several of the more common forms of scientific evidence, including fingerprinting, hair and fiber analysis, ballistics, body fluid analysis, toxicology and forensic pathology, and are instructed in the methods by which such evidence is prepared and presented at trial. A paper is required.

This workshop is for Teaching Assistants in the Legal Practice Program. In the fall semester, the workshop prepares Teaching Assistants to help in teaching legal research, analysis and writing. In the spring semester, the workshop prepares Teaching Assistants to help in teaching interviewing, counseling, oral advocacy and written advocacy. Teaching Assistants will assist with classroom teaching, facilitate course exercises and assist in the development of course materials, all under faculty supervision. Restricted enrollment.

Students may serve as teaching assistants for first-year and upper-level courses. (Teaching assistant positions in the Legal Practice program and U.S. Law & Legal Institutions: Research and Writing course are also available but are handled differently and are not covered under this description.) Teaching assistants must successfully have completed the course for which they are applying (though not necessarily with the same professor) and must receive written permission of the professor whom they would assist. Teaching assistants are required to attend classes and complete all reading assignments. In addition, teaching assistants will (1) undertake at least two meaningful teaching experiences (e.g., conducting review sessions, classroom exercises or other form of direct instruction), (2) devote at least 21 hours during the course of the semester to the holding of meetings with individual students taking the course, (3) at least twice during the semester take the lead in drafting educational materials, and (4) attend tutorial sessions with the professor who will provide feedback on the student's work. Teaching assistants are prohibited from involvement in formulating, drafting, or grading the final exam, or participating in any other way in the grading of students. Teaching assistants will receive one credit fewer than the number received by students taking the course, to be graded on a pass/fail basis. These credits count toward the maximum number of ungraded credits (12) that may be applied toward graduation. Students are charged for these credits as they are any other.

Is a special research and writing project required to complete the LL.M. program. Each LL.M. student works with a faculty advisor in defining a thesis topic, preparing a working outline, conducting the required research and drafting the written project. The student is expected to undertake a project that entails intensive research and writing of an analytic character, pursued through several drafts to produce a substantial and original work of high quality. Academic credits are assigned to each semester at the faculty advisor's discretion based upon a judgment as to a suitable proration of the student's time.

These placements are semester or year long student placements with organizations or individuals out the law school. In these placements, the first level of student supervision is conducted at the placement by an individual designated as the placement supervisor. Requires consent of the instructor, associate dean of experiential learning (or designee) and associate dean for academic affairs (or designee). For Juris Doctor students: a total of 8 credits is allowed (3 credit maximum per semester, 4 credit maximum per summer session). For Master of Laws students: a total of 5 credits is allowed (3 credit maximum per semester, 4 credit maximum per summer session). All credits are ungraded.

A student who participates in an interscholastic moot court competition that requires the submission of a brief is eligible to earn up to 2 pass/fail credits. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs must approve the competition in advance of a student's participation. In order to receive credit, the student must author or co-author a substantial portion of the brief. A faculty member or a lawyer approved by the Associate Dean, who serves as Moot Court competition advisor, must confirm satisfactory completion of the brief and must observe at least one practice argument.

Is research, writing and editorial work performed by members of the Connecticut Law Review, the Connecticut Journal of International Law , the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, and the Connecticut Public Interest law Journal as approved by the respective faculty advisors.

Is an opportunity for advanced investigation and discussion of specific problems in the law. Requires consent of the instructor and associate dean for academic affairs. A total of 8 credits is allowed (3 credit maximum per semester, 4 credit maximum per summer session).