Course Descriptions

Discussion - 1 unit. The first week of law school constitutes a basic introduction to the concepts of the law, the historical roots of common law and equity, the precedent system in its practical operation, the modes of reasoning used by courts and attorneys, and the fundamentals of statutory interpretation.

Grading Mode:  Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Discussion - 2 hours. Course is only offered to LL.M. students. History and fundamental principles of the United States legal system. Important current legal issues, developments and trends. Required for LL.M. students who have not attended a U.S. law school. Fall semester only.

This course is the laboratory companion to Law 200S and must be taken in conjunction with Law 200S. This course is taught by an experienced legal professional who lead interactive activities as well as assess, and provide constructive feedback on, the lawyering skills addressed in Law 200S. Units for this course count towards the skills requirement for graduation.

Classroom Policies: The course has a no-laptop and an attendance policy.

This course introduces students to different types of interactive skills needed for effective litigation and transactional work. Students will gain a better appreciation for the varied tasks in which different types of lawyers engage. In conjunction with the companion laboratory course (Law 200L), this course provides simulation-based opportunities to hone basic skills in negotiation, client interviewing, networking, and other important skills that are critical determinants of’ professional success. The benefits of honing these skills as early as the 1L year are emphasized. Units for this course count towards the skills requirement for graduation.

Classroom Policies: The course has a no-laptop and an attendance policy.

Discussion - 4 hours. Study the doctrines and concepts of property law with primary emphasis on real property. Course topics include the estates in land system, the landlord-tenant relationship, conveyancing and private and public land use control.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 4 hours. This course examines the sorts of promises that are enforced and the nature of protection given promissory obligations in both commercial and noncommercial transactions. Inquiry is made into the means by which traditional doctrine adjusts or fails to adjust to changing social demands.

Final Assessment: Exam

Course is only offered to LL.M. students. Seminar -2 units. This course is specifically designed for foreign attorneys who are familiar with contractual law in their home countries. The course will serve as an overview of American contract law and the application of American case law to interpret contractual concepts.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam 
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar – 3 units. Designed for foreign attorneys who are familiar with contractual law in their home countries. Overview of American contract law and the application of American case law to interpret contractual concepts.

Final Assessment: Exam 
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 5 hours. A study of civil actions including the methods used by federal and state courts to resolve civil disputes. Among the topics covered are the relation between federal and state courts; the power of courts over persons, property and subject matter; the scope of litigation; preparation for trial through pleading, discovery and pretrial; devices for resolving actions and issues before and during trial; functions of judge and jury; and the finality of the trial court's disposition.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 4 hours. Familiarizes students with legal rules, concepts and approaches pertinent to the recovery for personal injuries, property damages and harm done to intangible interests. The course covers claims for assault, battery, false imprisonment and other intentional torts, as well as negligence and strict liability.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 4 hours. Learn the principles, doctrines and controversies regarding the basic structure of and division of powers in American government. Specific topics include judicial review, jurisdiction, standing to sue, federalism, federal and state powers and immunities and the separation of powers among the branches of the federal government. Individual rights under the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments will also be covered.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course studies the bases and limits of criminal liability. It covers the constitutional, statutory and case law rules that define, limit and provide defenses to individual liability for the major criminal offenses.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 2 hours. Integrated legal research and writing skills course.  Basic legal research resources and strategies are introduced and practiced.

Skills – 1 unit. Course is only offered to LL.M. students. A description of the evolution and use of sources of law and secondary authority. This is an experiential class.

Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Skills Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar - 2 hours. Satisfies Professional Skills Requirement. The course will introduce students to advanced legal research tools and techniques used in practice. Includes coverage of legal research methodology, strategies and sources introduced in the first year Legal Research and Writing course. Requirements include the completion of several graded exercises.

1 unit. The course is designed to develop professional level research skills using intellectual property print and online materials. A brief lecture will start each class with the remaining class time spent researching real-world fact patterns and discussing findings in class.

Final Assessment: Combined scores from several graded exercises
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for first 7 weeks only.

Discussion – 1 unit. This course is designed to give students an introduction to the tools and research strategies needed for the practice of transactional law. Students will learn the methods, databases, and specialized materials available for transactional law research. Topics include company research and industry data, corporate formation and organization, SEC filings, regulatory research, contract drafting tools, precedent documents, and specialized practice tools. This course will include a combination of lectures, demonstrations, in-class exercises designed to enhance the understanding of the concepts presented, and discussion.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for 7 weeks of the semester only.

Final Assessment: Other – (Final Research Assignment)
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 2 hours.  Persuasive writing and oral advocacy.  Students will complete integrated research and writing assignments, including a complaint, a strategic defense office memorandum, a motion to dismiss in federal court, and an appellate brief, with oral arguments by all students.

Lecture/Discussion - 2 hours. Persuasive writing and oral advocacy. LL.M. section students complete integrated research and writing assignments, including a complaint, a strategic defense office memorandum, a motion to dismiss in federal court, and an appellate brief, with oral arguments by all students.

Course is only offered to LL.M. students.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours. Course is only offered to LL.M. students. This course is designed to provide foreign and other students with background skills necessary to succeed in both law school and legal practice. In addition to gaining a working knowledge of how the litigation system works, students will learn how to effectively brief cases, write memoranda, understand legal terminology, produce legal essays and exams, and speak in a legal context. Students will be placed in the course by Associate Dean Beth Greenwood.

Course is only offered to LL.M. students. The objective of this class is to improve legal writing skills, with a focus on law school essay exams. The class focuses on the following skills: 1) how understand the goals of a US law school exam and the expectations of the professor; 2) how to structure an answer logically; 3) how to write clearly; 4) how to explain reasoning and discuss complex legal issues. This is an experiential class.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Course is only offered to LL.M. students. The objective of this class is to improve legal writing skills. This class will focus on bar essay exams. The class focuses on the following skills: 1) how to understand the goals of a US bar; 2) how to structure an answer logically; 3) how to write clearly; 4) how to explain reasoning and discuss complex legal issues. This is an experiential class.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours. This course covers all essential aspects of patent law, including: prosecution, post-grant proceedings, patentable subject matter, utility, enablement and description, novelty, statutory bars, nonobviousness, infringement, and remedies.  Students will examine legal doctrine as well as the patent system's public policy objectives and theoretical foundations.  This course is designed for both the non-patent specialist as well as the future patent attorney.  No scientific background is required.

Prerequisites: 274 Intellectual Property or instructor consent.
Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy.
Final Assessment: Exam.
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Seminar - 2 hours. This skill-based course examines the core requirements and strategies for drafting and prosecuting a patent application before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (US PTO). We will examine the theory and practice of drafting patent claims and their supporting disclosure, conducting inventor interviews, and performing patentability searches and other preparatory fact investigations. A major objective of the course will be in helping students draft and prosecute a complete patent application in a real-world setting. Students will interact with real inventors and US PTO examiners to gain the experience of getting a patent issued – through interactions with an inventor to develop an idea and draft a patent application, responding to rejections and office actions from the US PTO after filing the patent application, through interactions with a US PTO examiner to interview the office action and getting the application issued. Students are evaluated on participation, in-class and take-home exercises, and projects relating to the drafting and prosecution of a patent application.

Class taught on accelerated, non-traditional schedule. Class will meet 7 times:
Thursdays: August 24, September 7, September 21, October 5, and October 19 from 4:10-7pm
Saturdays: November 4, and November 18 from 9-4pm

Prerequisites: 274 Intellectual Property or instructor consent.
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Skill – 1 unit. This skill-based course focuses on advocacy skills in the context of patent litigation. With minimal lectures, students will learn by doing and receiving real-time feedback. The class will be taught as a series of collaborative projects, negotiation simulations, brief writing, and mock court arguments. Among other things, students will learn how to effectively advocate on their feet and distill highly technical material into content more easily understood by a judge and jury – skills that are useful beyond patent litigation. Students will gain the skills needed to become effective “claim construction” advocates. In patent litigation, courts construe the meaning of patent claims during a “claim construction” hearing. This hearing is often a critical inflection point in a patent case because patent claims define the protected invention. Over the semester, students will identify patent claim terms for construction, craft proposed claim constructions, mine patent specifications and prosecution histories for evidence supporting their constructions, negotiate with opposing counsel over claim construction issues, draft claim construction briefing, and craft and deliver effective claim construction oral argument.

No scientific or technical background needed. This course will be taught in a 9-week accelerated format.

Prerequisite: 274 Intellectual Property or instructor consent.

Final Assessment: Skills Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Seminar - 2 units. This seminar course will evaluate the privacy and cybersecurity issues that arise from technological advancements. The course will primarily focus on corporate surveillance and consumer data trade arrangements with corporate actors. Likely topics that the course will cover include the Internet of Things and legal responses to privacy related problems, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. Other possible topics include the discriminatory implications of companies’ commodification of consumer generated data.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar - 2 or 3 hours. This seminar explores the ways political units in different countries attempt to maintain social order and advance criminal justice. Students examine the people, policies, and institutions responsible for adjudicating alleged criminal law violations around the globe. They also learn about how rules of professional responsibility and legal ethics guide the behavior of the institutional actors who participate in these criminal processes. Students will engage in research, practice formal presentation skills before their classmates, and produce a publishable final written project.

Law 227A Criminal Procedure is recommended.
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission; Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar - 2 hours. The Criminal Justice System continues to evolve as perceptions regarding judges, law enforcement officers and criminal attorneys (both prosecution and defense) change.  This class will analyze how our sense of justice is formed and what it looks like in the actual practice of criminal law. The class will discuss the legal standards for arrest, charging, and conviction along with the ethical conduct required of prosecutors and defense attorneys. The goal of the class is to take a global view of the criminal justice system through a focus on policy and practice issues, using actual case specific facts. We will question and discuss the systemic issues in case outcomes, ethical prosecutorial charging and bargaining discretion, and sentencing -- aspects of the criminal process that affect huge volumes of cases and require more thought in global terms.

Prerequisite: Criminal Law and prior or concurrent enrollment in Criminal Procedure
Final Assessment: Take-home exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

3 units - In this class, we will review files of incarcerated people serving long prison sentences and make recommendations to California prosecutors about making a motion under California Penal Code (CPC) § 1172.1 or other laws to resentence the person to a lesser term.  We will discuss: (1) the basics of criminal sentencing as a matter of principle, based on California law, and from the perspective of participants in the system; (2) how to review a “Central File” (C-File), the incarcerated person’s record in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR); and (3) the considerations prosecutors and judges use to evaluate appropriate sentences.  Each student will prepare one or more recommendation memoranda to prosecutors proposing that relief be sought or recommending against action.  In addition, students may also prepare motions for the Yolo and/or Amador County Superior Court.  Students will have the opportunity to submit drafts for review before turning in a graded document.  Students will research, discuss, and prepare documents collaboratively.

Law 206 Criminal Law, Law 227A Criminal Procedure and Law 219 Evidence are recommended.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Skills Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading.

Discussion - 2 hours. This skills course teaches theoretical and empirical approaches to negotiation strategy for the purposes of making deals and resolving disputes. Students participate in simulations to hone their negotiation skills, and write analytical papers. Because most of the learning is experiential, attendance at all classes is mandatory and there is a "no laptop open" policy during class discussions.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy and a no-laptop policy.
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. This course will be a semester long negotiation simulation intended to produce a multinational convention on a topic that is timely and meaningfully contributes to real-world discourse on the subject matter.  We will begin by introducing the fundamentals of treaty and international agreement practice under U.S. and international law.  Then students will go through the steps necessary to obtain authorization to initiate negotiations from the Secretary of State.  This will be followed by written and oral simulation exercises for every stage of drafting, negotiating, problem-solving, and finally concluding a multinational convention.  Students will get exposure to, among other things, the careful drafting of treaty provisions, the nuances of negotiation, and the strategic thinking that is essential to achieving conclusion of a complex international instrument.

Law 248 International Law is recommended
Final Assessment: Oral Exercises and Papers
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement. 

Skills – 2 units. This seminar will introduce students to the theory and practice of negotiation, mediation, and other forms of consensual dispute resolution, with a special emphasis on cross-cultural negotiation and mediation related to international business transactions. Theoretical content will be provided through course readings, occasional lectures, and guest presentations from non-U.S. lawyers, mediators, and business professionals. But a primary focus of the class will be simulated negotiation and mediation exercises in small groups.

Law 202 Contracts is recommended.

Final Assessment: Skills Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency Requirement.

Skills – 2 units. Students in environmental negotiations will practice identifying the most relevant facts in controversy, and based on the facts, what legal theories are likely to apply, what remedies are available and likely to be sought, and potential defenses. Components of the course include exercises relevant to statutory interpretation and agency rulemaking. Students will practice analysis of applicable rules, statutes, jury instructions, and case precedent, development of a negotiation framework consistent with the law, ethical duties, and a client's objectives. Specific outcomes include developing or enhancing skill in interpretation of environmental rules, statutes, and case precedent, active listening, framing open-ended questions, re-framing challenging conversations, developing negotiation objectives, and mutually agreeable, sustainable outcomes. Students will work in teams to analyze one or more environmental problems on behalf of an assigned, hypothetical client, develop a negotiation strategy, and implement the team's strategy in live negotiations.

Law 285 Environmental Law is recommended. 

Final Assessment: Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 3 or 4 hours. Students who have previously taken Law 215C Business Associations may not take this course. This course provides a broad survey of the legal rules and concepts applicable to business associations, both public and closely held. Principal attention is given the corporate form of organization, although partnerships and other associational forms are also treated briefly. Topics surveyed include the planning of business transactions, the process of incorporation, the financing of corporations, the roles of management and shareholders, the federal securities laws, and social responsibility.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Final Assessment: Exam

Students who have previously taken Law 215, Business Associations, or who plan to take Business Associations for 4 units may not take this course. The course begins with an introduction to the law of enterprise organization.  It then discusses three basic business structures:  agency, partnership, and corporation.  This overview is followed by consideration of creditor rights.  Focus then shifts to understanding a series of complex restraints on public corporations, including shareholder voting, fiduciary obligations, shareholder litigation, control transactions, and mergers & acquisitions.  The course concludes with an introduction to disclosure and insider trading laws.

Final Assessment: Exam

Lecture - Society’s expectations of companies are changing and companies are responding. Many companies go beyond compliance with the law to address environmental and social issues, from climate change to diversity. This new articulation of corporate purpose raises complex legal, ethical, and business questions. This class uses the case study method to examine this paradigm shift in the business and investment community. Each week we will analyze a particular company or business trend. The companies we will examine include Salesforce, Patagonia, Nike, Uber, Unilever, Amazon, ClifBar, and Clorox, among others. Students will get a “file” for each week which includes lectures, podcasts, and readings. Class time will be used primarily for discussion and debate.

Attendance Policy: This class is very interactive and attendance is mandatory.
Prerequisite: Prior or concurrent enrollment in Law 215 Business Associations
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final assessment: Take home final will account for 60% of the grade. Other assessments include a brief written assignment (blog post), attendance and participation, and a group presentation. 

Seminar – 3 hours. Climate change is redefining the business and investment community's business norms and transforming traditional corporate law paradigms. This highly interactive seminar will use case studies to explore the current intersection of business law and climate risk. We will discuss and debate the following questions:1) Do corporate boards have a fiduciary duty to oversee climate risk? In all industries or only "high impact" ones?2) Will the evolution of "green" or sustainable investing minimize or exacerbate the impacts of climate change?3) What is the role of national and global securities regulators in the transition to a greener economy?4) How do existing corporate and securities laws enable and constrain the ability of boards and investors from mitigating the climate crisis?5) What corporate law reforms can address existing limitations?6) What is the role of local, national, and global governments in addressing the climate crisis through corporate law reforms?

Prerequisite: Prior or concurrent enrollment in 215 Business Law
Final Assessment: Other – (series of papers and an oral argument)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar – 3 units. The course will cover the fundamentals of the corporate governance theory, discussing the most important topics on a worldwide perspective focusing on the 2023 version of the “G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance”. We will discuss the challenges in the implementation of such principles depending on the characteristics of the region and other relevant factors. In this sense, students will assess some cases of countries where these difficulties are higher than others, as well as examples of good practices that have been implemented with success. Historical, social, political, economic, legal, and cultural factors will be discussed considering the wide background and origin of the students and the professor.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission. 
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar – 2 units. As both an area of academic inquiry and legal practice, business law routinely undergoes rapid evolution and change. That dynamism has seen punctuated acceleration in recent years. Many of the fundamental precepts of business law have been critically interrogated, questioned, and litigated. This seminar seeks to expose students to these recent development in business law with a focus on modern issues in corporate law, securities, and antitrust. Students will leave the class with a better understanding of the issues in business law situated at the frontier of academic research and legal practice, as well as a better understanding of the pressure points in business law that can be expected to be the subject of future evolution and development. The course will be structured around a set of readings drawn from the academic literature, as well as more practice-oriented work. Student assessment will be based on a research paper to be presented to the class and in-class participation.

Prerequisite: Law 215 or Law 215C Business Associations; prerequisite will not be waived.
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Discussion - 2 units. This is an introductory course into the role of governance, risk management and compliance in business organizations. It will provide a foundational understanding of this increasingly growing and complex area, and of the common legal and regulatory frameworks underpinning effective corporate risk and compliance programs.

This course will examine the characteristics and elements of a good risk management and compliance program using case studies to understand effectiveness of compliance programs. Examples of case studies may include: Enron and the collapse of Arthur Anderson, Wells Fargo bank account scandal and subsequent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigation, Boeing 737 Max plane crashes and subsequent U.S. Justice Department’s Investigation. The course will also consider public policy and social responsibility issues as well.

Pre-requisite/Co-Requisite: Law 215 Business Associations

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Discussion - 4 hours. This course principally covers the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause. The First Amendment materials and discussion involves an examination of freedom of speech and assembly: focusing on how the protection provided speech changes depending on the kind of speech that is regulated, the location where speech occurs, and the nature of the regulation that limits expression. The Equal Protection materials and discussion examine suspect class doctrine, including discrimination on the on the basis of race, gender, alienage and other characteristics, affirmative action, and the problem of invidious motive. State action doctrine will also be discussed.

Students who completed either Law 218(A) Constitutional Law II—Equal Protection or Law 218(B) Constitutional Law II—First Amendment may not take this course.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 2 hours. Students who have previously taken Law 218, Constitutional Law II, or who plan to take Constitutional Law II for 4 units may not take this course.  Students are not required to have taken Constitutional Law II- First Amendment to register for this course, although priority will be given to those students.  This course focuses on the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Class materials and discussion will examine, among other things, suspect class doctrine, including the judicial treatment of classifications based of race, gender, alienage, sexual orientation and other characteristics, so-called "affirmative action," the constitutional treatment of laws and policies that have a disparate impact along racial or gender lines, and the related problem of invidious government motive. "State action" doctrine will also likely be discussed.

Final Assessment: Exam

Students who have previously taken Law 218, Constitutional Law II, or who plan to take Constitutional Law II for 4 units may not take this course. 

Lecture - 2 hours.  This course principally covers the free speech clause of the First Amendment. The course will cover issues relating to freedom of speech and assembly: focusing on how the protection provided speech changes depending on the kind of speech that is regulated, the location where speech occurs, and the nature of the regulation that limits expression.

Lecture - 3 hours.   This course principally covers the free speech and religion clauses of the First Amendment. The course will cover issues relating to freedom of speech and the press: focusing on how the protection provided speech changes depending on the kind of speech that is regulated, the location where speech occurs, and the nature of the regulation that limits expression. It will also cover the free exercise of religion as well as the Establishment Clause:  focusing on the circumstances in which religiously motivated conduct will be exempted from generally applicable laws, and the extent to which the Constitution permits religious institutions to receive government benefits.

Final Assessment: Exam

Seminar - This discussion-based course will focus on academic articles, mostly drawn from critical race and critical feminist traditions, that examine the theory and doctrine covered in 218A: Constitutional Law II--Equal Protection. The choice and sequence of readings will be tied to those assigned in 218A in order to create dialogue between Equal Protection doctrine and critical perspectives on that doctrine. Topics will include race, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination, affirmative action, disparate impact, and the erasure of Native Americans from the traditional Equal Protection canon.

Prerequisite: Must be taken concurrently with 218A: Constitutional Law II--Equal Protection or, with permission of the instructor, by a student who has previously taken 218 or 218A.

Final Assessment: Other – (class presentations and reflection papers)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading 
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. Many of the most important developments in California law and politics have been the result of reforms made in 1911 granting voters the power of initiative, referendum, and recall.  This course will explore how these mechanisms work, both in theory and in practice.  We will study some of the most consequential initiatives in California history, focusing on the initiatives themselves, challenges to them, and how they have impacted law, public policy, and politics in California.  We will then turn to the impact of the recall power on executive and judicial branch officials.  Finally, we will take a step back and consider whether these tools of direct democracy have functioned as intended and explore whether they can be improved upon.  

Prerequisite: 205 Constitutional Law I 
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement. 
Final Assessment: Students draft an initiative, title and summary, and arguments in favor and opposition for a class voter information guide.

Seminar - 2 hours. Discrimination in the workplace has taken center stage in the country's legal and political arena. Despite extraordinary progress for women and minorities since the first state and federal anti-discrimination laws were enacted, we have recently seen an uptick in litigation, lawmaking, and government agency enforcement designed to address today's more subtle and nuanced forms of discrimination, including implicit bias. The goal of this course would be to analyze these modern forms of discrimination, evaluate the perspectives of both employers and employees, and explore effective ways to address these issues through the law.

Law 260 Employment Discrimination and/or Law 260A Employment Law is recommended but not required. 
Final Assessment: Paper 
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading 
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency Requirement.

Discussion – 2 units. An inquiry into the way the various constitutions of the fifty States are structured and interpreted. Topics to be covered include: the history of state constitutionalism; state constitutional structural division of powers, both horizontally and intra-state; state enumeration of individual and group rights' judicial review by state courts; state constitutional regulation of voting, election districting and direct democracy; home rule, charter cities and preemption; state taxation and finance (including of public schools); and the relationship between state constitutions and the U.S Constitution. Examples and cases will come from California under its constitution, but also from state constitutions throughout the nation.

Law 205 Constitutional Law I is required. Law 218 Constitutional Law II (in any form) may be helpful but is not required.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Lecture/Discussion - 3 or 4 hours. This course covers rules regarding the admissibility of testimonial and documentary proof during the trial of civil and criminal cases, including rules governing relevancy, hearsay, the examination and impeachment of witnesses, expert opinion, and constitutional and statutory privileges.

The 3-hour version of the course is a faster-paced course that will cover only the Federal Rules of Evidence, and students intending to do trial work in California are advised to take the 4-hour version.

The 4-hour version of the course covers primarily the Federal Rules of Evidence with some discussion of the California Evidence Code by comparison and reference

Final Assessment: Exam.

Discussion – 2 units. This course will train students to recognize and effectively respond to those evidentiary issues most common in trials, including common issues of relevance and threshold admissibility, character and habit evidence, hearsay and its exceptions, evidentiary foundations, privileges, lay and expert witness opinion testimony, and the handling of real and demonstrative evidence. While primary focus will be given to the Federal Rules of Evidence, selected California Evidence Code provisions will be discussed and contrasted. Lecture and discussion will be coordinated with skills exercises in which students will argue, oppose or rule on objections in selected portions of witness examinations presented by students or utilizing video excerpts of actual trials. Students will also prepare, argue and oppose motions in limine applying the highlighted evidentiary rules. This in-depth evaluation of both the scope and the limitations of those rules which frequently challenge litigators in both civil and criminal trials, enhanced with technical skills training in the form of classroom exercises simulating courtroom scenarios, will afford students a very practical working knowledge of the rules of evidence and focused and effective training as advocates. 

Prerequisite: 219 Evidence and 263A Trial Practice
Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Lecture/Discussion - 3 or 4 hours. This course covers rules regarding the admissibility of testimonial and documentary proof during the trial of civil and criminal cases, including rules governing relevancy, hearsay, the examination and impeachment of witnesses, expert opinion, and constitutional and statutory privileges.

The 3-hour version of the course is a faster-paced course that will cover only the Federal Rules of Evidence, and students intending to do trial work in California are advised to take the 4-hour version.

The 4-hour version of the course covers primarily the Federal Rules of Evidence with some discussion of the California Evidence Code by comparison and reference

Final Assessment: Exam.

Discussion - 4 hours. There are no prerequisites, although this course is a prerequisite for most other tax courses. This course surveys the federal income tax system, with consideration of the nature of income, when and to whom income is taxable, exclusions from the tax base, deductions and credits, and tax consequences of property ownership and disposition. Our objective will be to explore and critically evaluate the concepts and policies underlying the federal income tax, as well as to learn to interpret the statutory provisions by which these concepts and policies are implemented.

Taxes touch every aspect of our lives, from cradle to grave, from the child tax credit to what the ill-informed call the "death" tax. Taxes raise revenue, to be sure. But they also stimulate and stunt economic growth; redistribute and concentrate wealth; reward and punish families; influence and distort economic and social behavior. Indeed, taxes reflect and reinforce societal norms and values. Thus, while you will be exposed to the elegant and chaotic intricacies of the Internal Revenue Code ("the Code") in this class, you will also be exposed to the peculiarities of U.S. society, economics, politics, culture, and government. This course is geared to the future general practitioner as well as the future tax and business law specialist.

This course is not particularly numbers or math intensive and prior knowledge of accounting is not necessary (if you can add your fingers together, you'll be fine).

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 units. This class will provide a foundation to working with state and local tax systems.  We will begin with a discussion of the main rules from federal constitutional law that govern state and local taxation.  Then, we will discuss the mechanics of the three main state and local taxes (income, sales, and property).  Finally, we will also address non-tax mechanisms for raising revenue, such as assessments and fees.  In working our way through the complex doctrine, we will keep the underlying policy issues in mind.

Final Assessment: Exam.

Seminar - 3 hours. This seminar presents tax policy as an exploration in public finance, politics, special interests, and sociology as well as a reflection of society’s biases, priorities, perceptions of distribution and redistribution, and justice in the most fundamental sense of fairness and opportunity. It embraces the view that tax law is constructed and contingent. And it exposes students to a generation of “critical tax” scholarship, which has been influenced by critical legal studies and its progeny, including critical race theory, feminist legal theory, and queer theory.
The course contains a writing requirement that students can satisfy in one of two ways: (i) four “reaction” papers (of at least 5 pages) on issues covered in class; or (ii) a long research paper (at least 20 pages excluding footnotes) on a topic that may or may not have been covered in class and that, at a student’s choosing, can qualify for the law school's upper-level writing requirement as well as the Tax and Business Certificates.

Final Assessment: Other: Participation, Presentation, Paper (s)
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May meet Advanced Writing Requirement with the instructor's permission; Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar – 2 hours. This course focuses on the practical and procedural aspects of tax controversy before state and federal tax authorities. We will provide a mix of theory and practical skills for students wishing to engage in controversy practice before the IRS and the various California tax agencies (FTB, CDTFA, BOE, and OTA). We will cover the entirety of the lifecycle of a tax controversy, beginning with the filing of a return through the completion of an audit and ending with administrative appeals or litigation. We will also cover settlement procedures and methods to achieve negotiated settlements in tax disputes. This course will also provide practice tips and go over the variety of tools that are available to assist the modern-day tax practitioners.

Prerequisite/Co-requisite: Law 220 Federal Income Taxation.
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Final Assessment: Paper

Discussion - 2 hours.  This streamlined version of Trusts, Wills, and Estates is designed for students who are mainly interested in taking the course to prepare for the bar exam. It covers the basics of intestate succession and the creation and interpretation of wills and trusts under the Uniform Probate Code and the California Probate Code. Although it does not delve deeply into these issues, it sets the stage for students to master them during the bar review period.  

Discussion - 3 hours. The general public assumes that all lawyers can do two things: try a case and write a Will. Most lawyers can’t do either. This course is designed to rem­edy that situation in part by introducing students to the basics of estate planning and ad­min­is­tration. It should be taken by most students--if for no other reason than that it is a Bar course. The course will cover: the changing nature of the family; the law of intestate succession; statutory Family Protection schemes; re­stric­tions on Testation; the role, preparation and construction of Wills; the uses, cre­ation, construction and termination of Trusts; rudimentary tax consid­era­tions in the estate planning process; the use of future inter­ests and pow­ers of appointment; the mechanics of Estate Administration (in­clu­ding an examination of Probate and of alter­natives to Probate); the role and responsibil­ities of fiduciaries; the role of the attorney in the Estate Planning process; and the Rules of Profess­ional Respon­sibility as they apply to the estate attorney.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Laboratory/Discussion - 2 hours. This hands-on, experiential course is designed to provide the students the practical skills and familiarity needed to practice law in the area of estate planning and probate/trust administration. Through discussion and drafting of documents, the students will learn the basic laws, practices, resources, and techniques commonly utilized today. The class will follow a typical estate planning client from initial client interview through end of life administration, enabling the students to draft actual estate plan documents including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and transfer documents required to establish funds, and administer the estate plan during the client’s lifetime and then through post-mortem administration of the estate, including drafting formal probate and non-court administration documents. A series of related topics will be explored, including issues of capacity, elder abuse, end of life decision making, non-probate transfers of wealth, and litigation involving will/trust contests, creditor claims, recovery of assets, and accounting disputes.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Prerequisites: Trusts, Wills & Estates recommended.

Discussion - 2 hours. This course examines the relationship between racial power and the law.  Contrary to the dominant legal paradigm which contends that racial subordination is a deviation from the liberal legal ideal, the Critical Race Theory movement views the U.S. legal apparatus as complicit in upholding white supremacy, capitalism and heteropatriarchy.  We will begin the course by focusing on the origins of Critical Race Theory and its relationship to Critical Legal Studies.  Throughout the semester, we will examine CRT's relationship with other radical legal movements, including Feminist Legal Theory and Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), as well as evaluating critiques of CRT from the right. Course materials will include case law and theory, in addition to some legal history.  As part of the class, students will attend and participate in the Aoki Center Interdisciplinary Research Seminar Series on Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00 PM, where a range of scholars will discuss their research.

Discussion - 3 hours. This course examines the relationship between racial power and the law through the lens of Critical Race Theory. As an intellectual movement that began in the late 20th century, Critical Race Theory has provided an oppositional perspective on race and racism that challenges traditional race discourses found in doctrinal and civil rights discussions. This seminar explores Critical Race Theory's contributions and limitations by examining its history, concepts, and applications to contemporary issues in law and society. Students will examine the role played by legal rules and doctrines in creating the conditions for persisting systems of racial subordination and privilege that shape people's lives. The seminar will also cover the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality and the ways in which law responds (or fails to respond) to discrimination along multiple dimensions of human identity. Special attention will be paid to contemporary theories of colorblindness and post-racialism and their roles in re-framing race and racism in the 21st century.

Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.
Final Assessment: Paper

Seminar – 2 hours. This seminar explores the position of Latinos (Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, and other groups descending from Latin America) within the U.S. legal system. Students will explore how the legal system treats Latinos in specific areas of law, including education, immigration, employment, and voting rights.

Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: Paper 
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion – 2 hours. This course will examine major cases, statutes, and events in the law, both on the books and in action, dealing with nonwhites. The course will include discussion of the situation of African Americans, Asians, Indigenous People, and Latinx People, from the Colonial era to the present. In addition to examining legal doctrine and policy, it will explore how the contemporary United States has been shaped by racial discrimination.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading 
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission. 
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion - 2 hours.  This course covers the California community property system, including the property rights of marital and registered domestic partners during the ongoing relationship, and upon the end of the relationship by death or divorce.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours. This course examines the federal constitutional limits on government authority to gather evidence and investigate crime. Topics to be covered include Fourth Amendment limits on search, seizure, and arrest; the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination; and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. While the course emphasizes current law and the evolution of Supreme Court doctrine, it also considers related policy questions on the role of police in a democratic society.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 4 hours. This course will focus primarily on criminal procedure at and after trial. It examines such topics as charging decisions and the grand jury, the right to counsel, discovery, plea bargaining, jury trials, double jeopardy, sentencing, and appeals. It will concentrate primarily on federal constitutional law with some coverage of state procedure. It is helpful to have taken Evidence but it is not required. The final grade will depend on the individual student’s class participation, a motions exercise, and a final exam. 

Discussion  - 3 hours. This course examines a range of issues, including bail, charging decisions, preliminary hearings, discovery, statute of limitations, venue, joinder and severance, pleas, plea bargaining, assistance of counsel, trial, double jeopardy, sentencing, appeal and collateral remedies. This course will have a short essay assignment, midterm exam, and a final exam.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course will take a practical approach to mergers and acquisitions, with an in-depth look at the planning, negotiation, documentation and completion of mergers and acquisitions.  Areas explored will include the mechanics of alternative acquisition methods and transaction structures, the application of state corporate laws (focusing on Delaware and California), applicable federal securities laws, and fiduciary duties in both friendly and hostile transactions.

Discussion - 3 hours. Introduction to fundamentals of statistical analysis and how statistical analysis is used in the law and public policy. Course goal is to help students become excellent consumers of statistical information and evidence. No prior background in statistics will be required or assumed. The class will begin by introducing students to the basic tools of statistical analysis (mean, variance, correlation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression analysis, etc). Thereafter, the course will cover various topics including how statistical evidence is used in legal cases (for example, employment discrimination cases, death penalty cases, antitrust cases) and how statistical evidence is used to make public policy arguments and decisions.

Discussion - 3 hours.  In addition to examining the evidence law governing the admission of scientific testimony, this course considers related procedures as well as trial advocacy in presenting and attacking such testimony. The scope of the course is broadly conceived;  the coverage includes not only instrumental scientific techniques but also soft scientific expert techniques including mental health testimony and social science expertise. Each student is required to both make an oral class presentation and prepare a research paper dealing with a particular forensic technique. Class limit: 20 students.

Prerequisite: 219 Evidence
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Discussion - 3 hours. Elective Course for Environmental Law Certificate Program.  This course provides an overview of the structure and basic principles of international environmental law and policy. The course considers the challenge of addressing global environmental problems in a system characterized by multiple sovereign governments, the regulatory limitations of U.S. law, and the basic structure and principles of international environmental law, as well as substantive areas such as climate change, biodiversity and wildlife protection, and the intersection of international trade and the environment. The course grade for this class is based primarily on a student paper and also has a significant class participation component.

Prior course work in International Law (248) and/or Environmental Law (285) is helpful, but not required.
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Seminar - 1 hour. The wine industry is the subject of intense activity in many legal subject areas, including constitutional law, intellectual property, environmental and land use regulation, trade protectionism, and internet commerce. This reading group is designed to serve as an introduction to this complex legal landscape.  We will focus specifically on examining America's complicated relationship with the wine industry.  We will chart the country's early support for wine, the moral and religious fervor that resulted in Prohibition, and the governmental controls that followed Repeal.  We will end the course with an examination of the broader contemporary regulation of alcohol and drugs.  Students will complete a series of written reactions to the weekly readings.  

Final Assessment: None

3 units - Seminar. Cases and Places focuses on a four-day trip to world-class teaching locations throughout California. The course approaches the locations from two distinctly different perspectives: law and environmental science. Participants will learn hands-on water, environmental, and public lands law.

Accelerated Schedule/Meets on Saturdays: This course will have two Saturday meetings and four day trip.
First Saturday class: 8am-5pm August 30
Field trip: 7am September 25 - 7pm September 28
Last Saturday class: 8am-12pm October 25

Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours. This course will examine the legal and social regulation of sexual orientation and gender identity.  The course will analyze various legal principles, including statutory, constitutional, and public policy doctrines, which might be used to limit the ability of government and other institutions to disadvantage people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We will look at how courts have used these doctrines to help - or to harm - lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in critical aspects of their lives including employment, schools, family relationships, and parenting.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May meet Advanced Writing Requirement with the instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar - 2 hours. When surveyed, Americans consistently report high confidence and trust in the United States Military and service members. This trust and confidence has come from a history of devotion to the defense of the United States, which includes a culture of teamwork and discipline. To this end, the military has developed laws and regulations tailored to the unique mission. As the United States has seen social change, these unique laws and regulations can be at odds with or promote change within our society. This course will look at social change in the areas of race, gender, and LGBTQ identity though the eyes of military law and regulation. The course will explore those area where the military promoted positive change and where it hindered change. Students will have the opportunity to analyze the issues using military law, provide their personal perspective, and discuss ideas for change.
 

Final Assessment: Paper and Presentation
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission

Skills – 2 units. In this course students will learn from discussion and practice about the range of ways that law, regulation, and government action impact transgender and nonbinary identities. Discussion will be informed by and prepare students for interactions with clients in the student-run Gender and Name Change Project (GNCP). Over the course of the semester, students will be asked to examine specific areas of law that intersect with the name and gender change process, including identification documents, health care, parenting, immigration, employment, criminal legal system involvement, and special circumstances faced by young people under the age of majority. Students will be asked to read and prepare case studies for class meetings. Additionally, students will participate in monthly name and gender change clinics. Clinic components include developing client relationships, performing intakes, and preparing name and gender change forms under attorney supervision. Course credit will be based on biweekly discussion sections (2 hours every other week) and approximately 6 hours of Clinic preparation and participation throughout the month. Prior coursework related to gender and sexuality is recommended. Prior participation in the name and gender change clinic as a 1L counselor is required; or similar demonstrated commitment to and experience working with transgender and nonbinary clients. The course will have limited enrollment. Students already registered in a clinic or planning an externship for the spring 2024 semester may enroll in this practicum after consultation and permission from Dean Scivoletto.

Final Assessment: Other – (Combination of paper and skills assessment)

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar - 3 hours.  This seminar will cover some of the bedrock legal principles that inform U.S. asylum and refugee laws, policies and practices in the last 50 years. Informed by international norms, the U.S. adopted its domestic legal regime in this area of law in the 1980s. Through significant advocacy and litigation, asylum and refugee protections expanded over decades to include victims of persecution by non-state actors. The U.S. also retracted important protections based on national security, fraud, floodgate concerns, and most recently, pandemic. At the same time, ongoing global crisis and unrests continue to push new waves of forced migration adding to a backlog of displaced persons, many of whom fall outside existing asylum and refugee protections. We study the transformation of this area of the law and the strategies and efforts to  preserve and expand protections.

Law 235 Administrative Law and 292 Immigration Law and Procedure are recommended

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.
This course is a foundation course for the immigration law certificate and satisfy the writing requirement for the certificate and/or the advanced writing requirement.

Seminar - 2 units. Forced displacement is a phenomenon that can occur within a nation’s borders or across international borders. By far the largest trend of forced displacement is internal. Under international law, a person’s crossing of an international border is legally significant. Refugees (and asylum seekers) especially are protected by important international treaties, including the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. In addition, humanitarian laws or the laws of war, human rights treaties, and other specialized treaties seek to prevent forced displacement or dictate protections when these do occur, including the right of return. And while there is also an important emerging body of norms focused on IDPs, in general, the more widely accepted international norms focus on nation’s obligations to safeguard the right of people forced to flee their homes to seek protection in another country.
This course will focus on five active (meaning these are ongoing situations) case studies involving the plight of five people who have been forced to flee their homes either due to civil or international wars or based on significant internal human rights violations or climate change. This course studies five of the largest displacements of people in the world today. I selected these cases studies based on the scope and their regional diversity, in addition to their relevance to U.S. interests and degree of U.S. involvement. Based on these criteria: Our focus will turn to: Afghanistan (Central Asia); East Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia), Palestinians (Middle East), and Ukraine (Eastern Europe), Venezuela (the Americas).

Recommended pre or co-requites can include Asylum and Refugee Law and Human Rights

Final Assessment: Final Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

This course satisfies the immigration certificate and may be used to satisfy the writing requirement for the certificate and/or the advanced writing requirement.

Lecture - 3 hours. Course examines how the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act constrain and regulate decision making by government agencies and officials. Topics include administrative due process, separation of powers, delegation of authority to agencies, procedural requirements for agency adjudication and rulemaking, and the extent and limits of judicial review. This course is highly recommended for anyone intending to practice in any public law area or at the intersection of public/private law.

Core course for Environmental Law Certificate Program. 

Final Assessment: Exam

Seminar – 2 hours. Much of our modern federal government relies on administrative agencies exercising authority delegated to them by Congress. Federal courts have traditionally deferred to agencies’ implementation of the statutes they administer, although these courts also set aside (or “vacate”) agency actions they find to be unlawful. In recent years, however, several justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have openly called for revisiting several administrative law doctrines that underlie this system. They have questioned, for example: Congress’s constitutional capacity to delegate regulatory authority to federal agencies, whether courts should defer to agencies’ interpretations of statutes, and whether a district court has the power to strike down unlawful agency actions. Each of these topics may have profound implications for the separation of powers and the practice of law in fields ranging from immigration to financial regulation to the environment and public health. And debates over these topics are playing out, in real time, in the Supreme Court. This course will critically assess each of these topics, exploring the existing doctrines’ origins and seeking to understand arguments both for and against revisiting them.

Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours.  Regulation of the distribution of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 and SEC Rules adopted thereunder, registration and reporting provisions of the 1934 Securities Exchange Act. Coverage includes detailed examination of the registration process, definitional problems, exemptions from registration, resale of restricted securities, civil liability, indemnification and contribution.

Prerequisite: Prior or concurrent enrollment in Business Associations (215 or 215C) is recommended.
Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 2 hours.  This course uses history to answer the question, “Why does the United States have the legal system that it does?”  Why do we operate under the common law rather than the civil law?  How have legal rules and institutions changed over time?  The course traces the development of the common law from its origins in medieval England through the twentieth-century.  Topics include the development of substantive doctrine in areas such as property, contract, and torts; the development of civil and criminal procedure; the rise of the jury trial; the role of judges; the history of the legal profession and legal education; and the origins of constitutional government in England.

Final Assessment: Exam

Seminar - 2 hours. The history of Athenian democracy is entwined with our own – often as the negative example that our founders wished to avoid in designing our political institutions.  This critical view of Athenian democracy, and particularly its lawlessness, largely derived from the critical views of contemporary elite authors, such as Plato.  More recent analysis of Athenian democracy has demonstrated that in fact the democracy was a success across many dimensions and that it was particularly lawful rather than lawless.  This observation raises a number of important questions that we will address in this class.   The Athenian legal system was very different from our own and in particular was far less formal.  How did it work and why did it work?  More profoundly, why have political and legal theorists misunderstood Athens for so long and what can we learn from that failure? 

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion. The focus of this interactive course is on attorney representation of clients in mediation. Through reading, discussion, role play, and interaction with local practitioners, students will develop the ability to effectively combine advocacy skills and collaborative problem-solving tools, learning to think and act strategically from the beginning of any dispute.

Mediation has become an integral part of the litigation process.  At both the trial and appellate levels, court-sanctioned mediation programs have become the rule rather than the exception.  In some cases, mediation is strongly encouraged.  In others, participation is ordered by the court.  In still other contexts, wise attorneys may be able to utilize the mediation process to resolve disputes in ways that leave their clients with greater satisfaction than they could have achieved through trial.  As a result, becoming an expert in the use of mediation is essential to effective client representation. The course will examine (1) ethical issues in representing clients in mediation, (2) practical issues in preparing both the case and the client for mediation, and (3) strategies involved in representing clients effectively in a mediation session.Students will be graded on preparation, participation, and several short papers.  Class limit:  24 students.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 2 hours. This two-credit, skills-based course will offer students hands-on training in the fundamentals of negotiation and mediation, in the specific context of federal court-sponsored mediation. Although it is hardly news that most of today’s law school graduates will spend far more time negotiating than they will trying cases, the need for ADR training continues to outstrip supply. There is a particular need for trained negotiators and mediators in federal court, where it can take a half-decade for civil litigants to reach the courtroom. Increasingly, federal courts are not only encouraging parties to take advantage of court-sponsored mediation, but are mandating it. And mediation in federal court presents particular, recurring issues, including assigned mediators (i.e., not chosen by parties), mediator-judges, rules set by court order, strict time constraints, sophisticated parties with entrenched positions, and less straightforward confidentiality protections than under state law. This course will begin with fundamental concepts, including an analysis of why negotiated resolutions can make economic sense. We will then use simulations, lectures, and reading assignments to build students’ understanding. Students will have the opportunity to draft, and to receive feedback on, mediation statements. In the later portion of the course, as students’ skills grow, we will consider the role of irrationality and critical perspectives.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Seminar - 2 hours. This seminar will explore the right to vote under the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act of 1965. The course will explore voter eligibility issues that are brought to light by current social movements such as Black Lives Matter and immigrant rights movements.  Students will learn about contemporary voting rights issues including efforts to both expand and suppress the vote; efforts to eliminate noncitizens in the U.S. Census and redistricting processes; and efforts to dilute the vote through redistricting and gerrymandering.  Students in the seminar will learn how apportionment, gerrymandering and redistricting are affected by VRA claims; and how current discussions over voting procedures (e.g., mail-in ballots, voter ID   laws) affect VRA protections. Students will demonstrate their knowledge through activities such as creating redistricting maps; writing activities about specific policies and procedures; and class participation. This course will be held in conjunction with students from Texas A&M Law School, and will concentrate on comparative voting rights issues in Texas and California.

Prerequisites: None

Final Assessment: summative memo, writing assignments throughout the semester, and class participation will make up the grade for the semester.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for 12 weeks.

Seminar - 2 hours. This seminar investigates the right to vote as a matter of constitutional and statutory law, with particular emphasis on the voting rights of racial and ethnic minorities, and the relationships among law, electoral structures, and the risk of authoritarianism. It covers the Warren Court cases that established the right to vote as a fundamental right under the Equal Protection clause; the emergence and transformation of the right of racial minorities to an “undiluted” vote under the Equal Protection clause and the federal Voting Rights Act; and the limits of the non-dilution principle, as reflected in partisan gerrymandering cases. Finally, we consider the law of disputed elections, and the incentives of candidates and co-partisan legislators to accept and legitimate their own losses.   

Prerequisites: None. (This course may be taken before or after “Law 241B Election Law: Campaign Finance, Political Speech, & Rights of Political Association.”)

Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission. 
Final Assessment: Paper.

Seminar - 2 hours. This course investigates the constitutional and statutory frameworks that channel and regulate the efforts of individuals, corporate and nonprofit entities, and political groups to convey their ideas to the electorate, to mobilize voter turnout, and to get their preferred candidates on the ballot and elected to office. We will examine the legal status of contributions and expenditures of money and other goods—whether directly to candidates, or through intermediary political groups—and the line between political influence and political corruption. We will also consider political groups’ claims to autonomy with respect to their “internal” affairs, to autonomy in the selection of nominees for elective office, and to a place on the ballot for their nominees.

Prerequisites: None. (This course may be taken before or after “Election Law: Voting Rights.”)
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Final Assessment: Summative memo, reading response papers, and class participation.

This course will examine the process of selecting Presidents of the United States within the structure created by Article II and other provisions of the U.S. Constitution, as well as federal and state enactments. Among the topics to be considered are: the creation of the electoral college and modern reform possibilities; so-called "faithless" electors; the Bush v. Gore dispute; the so-called "Independent State Legislature" theory; presidential succession; vice-presidential selection; Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and various presidential immunities that might bear on ability to serve. The course will examine, among other things, Supreme Court caselaw, academic commentary and state-law reform efforts.

Prerequisite: Law 205 Constitutional Law I is required.
Law 218 Constitutional Law II is recommended.

Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy.
Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion - A study of how law operates across state and national borders. The topics covered include choice of applicable law in transactions involving multiple jurisdictions, recognition of judgments, and the exercise of jurisdiction.  Particular emphasis will be given to conflicts analysis in transnational cases.  The course deals with problems practitioners frequently encounter in a wide variety of fields, from commercial law to family law to law in cyberspace.

Final Assessment: Exam

Lecture/Discussion - 2 or 3. The course starts with an overview of the law of debt collection when the debtor is not in bankruptcy, including both the tools for collection and some of the restrictions on use of those tools. It then moves into Chapter 7 individual bankruptcy, where the debtor's nonexempt property is liquidated for the benefit of creditors and debts are discharged. This is the simplest and most common type of bankruptcy. It then covers Chapter 13 individual bankruptcy, in which the debtor keeps their property but must complete a payment plan to discharge debts. Finally, it addresses several aspects of business bankruptcy in Chapter 11, which is designed to allow businesses to restructure debts by proposing plans on which creditors vote. Students should be aware that basic math (through fractions and percentages) is used extensively in bankruptcy and will come up a lot in class. The final will require some calculations (calculator allowed).

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Discussion - 2  hours. This course covers the law of conspiracy, corporate criminal liability, mail and wire fraud, the Hobbs Act, RICO, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and other white collar crimes and their associated defenses.

Final Assessment: Paper

Seminar - 2 hours. Course offers an overview of the constitutional law governing the death penalty in the United States with an emphasis on Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. After an initial look at the history of capital punishment, the course will consider the following topics: early challenges to the death penalty; different statutory attempts to enact constitutional death penalty schemes; execution of offenders who commit non-homicide crimes and who are felony murder accomplices, juveniles, the intellectually disabled, insane or possibly innocent; jury selection in capital cases; the effect of race on capital sentencing; the roles of the defendant, defense counsel, the prosecutor, and the trial judge; the procedural requisites and evidentiary limits for capital sentencing trials; penalty trial instructions and arguments; and international standards regarding capital punishment. 

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Discussion - 3 hours. A study of the subject-matter jurisdiction of federal courts. The constitutional and statutory grants of authority to federal courts to adjudicate actions arising under federal law or between parties of diverse citizenship are examined in contemporary detail and from the perspectives of history and the Constitution. The course begins with a close examination of the scope and sources of the rules governing the jurisdiction of the federal district courts, and proceeds to develop a general theory of federal jurisdiction that includes federal appellate jurisdiction, writs of habeas corpus, abstention, justiciability, and state sovereign immunity. Fundamentally this course seeks to elaborate the constitutional themes of separation of powers and federalism as guides to critical understanding and evaluation of the Supreme Court's leading cases on the scope of federal jurisdiction.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion- 2 hours. This course involves a practical, hands on approach to learning California Civil Procedure through case studies, drafting common litigation documents, and studying the application of the Code of Civil Procedure to practical case scenarios.  Typical discussion topics will include jurisdiction and venue, parties, claims, analysis of appropriate causes of action for common civil litigation cases such as personal injury, contract disputes, property disputes, and governmental claims, discovery process, settlement strategy, use of CCP Section 998 settlement demands and offers, mediation, pre-trial preparation for both jury trials and bench trials.  Required documents to be drafted include summons, complaint, answer, affirmative defenses, demurrer, case management conference statements, discovery requests (form interrogatories, special interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admission, notice of deposition. We will also study the required documents for a summary judgement motion, general law and motion, and jury instructions and verdict forms.  The documents prepared will include use of mandatory Judicial Counsel Forms applicable to civil litigation, as well as individually drafted documents.

Prerequisite: Civil Procedure
Final Assessment: Other – (Graded assignments and their revisions take place on a weekly basis. The last class will consist of a creative review of the entire semester)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. This course will introduce students to the international aspects of taxation and how the regime bears on broader social debates. The course will begin by discussing the idea of worldwide taxation, particularly as applied to individuals and as intersecting with immigration law. Then the course will proceed to discussing source of income definitions in American tax law; concepts in inbound taxation i.e. the U.S. taxation of foreign persons; and then concepts in outbound taxation i.e. the U.S. taxation of foreign income. We will conclude with a discussion of international agreements like tax treaties.

Core course for Tax Law Certificate Program.

Pre-requisites: Law 220 Federal income taxation is highly recommended though not required.
Final Assessment: Take-home Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Lecture - 3 hours. This course is an examination of the federal income tax relationship between corporations and their owners. The class will cover the transfer of funds into a corporation on formation and the re-transfer of money and property from the corporation to its shareholders. The course also considers taxable and non-taxable corporate restructuring in the form of sales, mergers, acquisitions, and divisions of corporations. 

Prerequisite: Law 220 Federal Income Taxation
Final Assessment: Exam

Lecture - 4 hours. This class is an introduction to the federal income taxation of business entities including corporations and partnerships. This course will examine the federal income tax relationship between corporations and their owners and will cover the transfer of funds into a corporation on formation and the re-transfer of money and property from the corporation to its shareholders. This course will also examine the federal income tax treatment of partnerships and partners (including entities classified as partnerships), including the treatment of contributions to and distributions from partnerships, the manner in which income and loss items can be allocated among the partners, the treatment of transfers of partnership interests, the taxation of carried interests, terminations, sharing of liabilities and special basis adjustments.

Prerequisite: Law 220 Federal Income Taxation; prerequisite will not be waived.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course examines the fundamentals of public international law in the context of contemporary world affairs. Topics covered include sources of international law, treaty formation and interpretation, recognition of states and governments, jurisdiction and immunities, the relationship between national and international law, the international obligations of states, individuals, and other actors, the role of the United Nations, international dispute settlement, the use of force and law of armed conflict, and international criminal law. We will study how and by whom international law is made, interpreted, and applied; how it constrains (or fails to constrain) the behavior of nation-states and other actors; and how it interacts with domestic law and policy. Students who complete this course will have a better understanding of the international legal system and be better prepared to work in areas of law that cross international borders.

Final Assessment: Exam.
Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Classroom Policies: This course has a no-laptop policy.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading.

Discussion - 2 hours.  This seminar will provide an overview of the theory and practice of human rights law. The course requirements include weekly discussion responses, a seminar paper (which can fulfill the writing requirement), and active class participation.  Topics covered include the major human rights treaties and institutions; the universality of human rights; women’s human rights; human rights and digital technology; and human rights advocacy and enforcement.

Law 248 International Law is recommended as a pre-requisite.

Final Assessment: Paper
Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Classroom Policies: This course has a no-laptop policy.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion - 2 hours. The course will provide a brief review of basic Spanish and then move into more complicated grammatical structures, all within a legal context, which includes various areas of California law.  The focus of the course is to acquire specialized vocabulary and develop the capacity of students to provide direct legal representation to Spanish-speaking clients. Students will practice both oral and written communication and will learn how to conduct various types of interviews and meetings with clients. The course will also address issues surrounding cultural competency, translation and interpretation, and ethics in the representation of Spanish-speaking clients. Students will be encouraged to develop the vocabulary they will need for their own areas of interest/specialization.

Prerequisite:  Students must speak Spanish proficiently. Native or full fluency not required.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Seminar - 3 units. This course provides an opportunity for students who are first in their family to go to college, or first in their family to go to law school, to reflect on their own educational journeys and to see how their trajectory of formal education is similar to and/or different from the journeys of famous First-Gen lawyers (e.g., Michelle Obama, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, J.D. Vance). Readings include scholarly studies of first-generation students, as well as memoir and fictional accounts.

Final Assessment: Students have the option to write a Final Paper or to write several shorter papers/assignments.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.
 

Seminar - 3 hours. This class will focus on two questions. The first question to be considered is: What is law and, in particular, what is the relationship between law and morality? Topics to be covered include natural law, legal positivism and legal realism. The readings related to this question will be drawn primarily from legal philosophy. The second (related) question to be considered is: What are the main traditions in current American legal thought as to the role of law in society? Topics to be surveyed include law and economics, critical legal studies and formalism. The readings related to this second question will be drawn primarily from legal academics. Coverage of the first question will occupy approximately two-thirds of the class, though the two questions overlap considerably.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam.

Discussion - 3 hours. Survey of the legislative, administrative, and judicial regulation of labor relations under federal law. The course focuses on the historical development of labor law, the scope of national legislation, union organization and recognition, the legality of strikes, picketing, and the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements.

Final Assessment: Other (Short Writing Assignments)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Practicum - 2 hours. Students will develop a theoretical and practical understanding of the labor movement, and the ways in which lawyers support and interact with the movement. Students will be placed in labor organizations, labor-related law firms, and non-profits where they will gain experience with different aspects of labor organizing, labor campaigns, and collective bargaining.

Prerequisite: Prior or concurrent enrollment in 251 Labor Law.
Final Assessment: Skills Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief).
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. In today’s world, disputes increasingly involve foreign parties, foreign laws, and foreign courts. Such disputes raise questions that go beyond those covered in the first-year course on Civil Procedure. This course explores the resolution of international disputes involving private parties, with a focus on doctrines that apply in U.S. courts. Topics covered include jurisdiction, foreign sovereign immunity, the act of state doctrine, service of process abroad, parallel litigation, the discovery of evidence abroad, choice of law, extraterritoriality, the enforcement of foreign judgments, and international commercial arbitration. Because the course assumes familiarity with the topics covered in Civil Procedure, students who have not taken that course must obtain the permission of the instructor to enroll.

Prerequisite: Civil Procedure or instructor consent.
Final Assessment: Exam

This course utilizes experiential learning techniques to teach advocacy skills during the life of a criminal case and simulates critical stages of the proceedings by conducting mock hearings throughout the semester.

Recommended Co-requisite: Law 219 Evidence and Law 227A Criminal Procedure.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Other.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours. International Public Interest Law and Advocacy is a proposed new simulation course to introduce students to the applied legal and policy skills necessary to become effective lawyers and advocates in the international public interest/non-governmental organization community.  The course will use individual and group roleplaying exercises and written assignments that will require students to plan and execute legal and policy campaigns to influence multilateral negotiations, international organizations, individual governments, and the public.  Non-Governmental Organizations are important actors in shaping international law and policy.  Students will participate in several individual and group roleplaying scenarios to guide them in thinking strategically about the most effective ways to affect governments (multilaterally and individually) and public opinion on issues of great international consequence.  The course will consider several approaches to achieving these goals: (1) national and international litigation; (2) national and international lobbying campaigns; (3) mobilization of worldwide public opinion (using traditional media, social media, civil disobedience, etc.).
 

Final Assessment: Other – Simulations/Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading.
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Seminar - 3 hours. This seminar considers rural manifestations of various legal, social and economic phenomena. We survey various subfields of legal study, e.g., criminal justice, poverty, environment and land use, local government, family, constitutional, agricultural, access to justice, as they relate to the rural-urban continuum. We debate rurality as an aspect of identity and consider its intersections with race, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability and other identity variables.

Our multi-disciplinary approach features scholarly literature in law, rural sociology, geography, and other fields. Readings also include reports from reputable media sources, and we view and discuss excerpts from movie and television programs depicting rural people and places. We consider various aspects of rural-urban difference, along with the challenges of getting law-makers and policy-makers to attend to these differences. All these tools are used to debate current events that have particular implications for rural people and places, e.g., Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, deaths of despair, abortion restrictions, and work requirements for public benefits.

Please note: students who have already taken the White Working Class and the Law Seminar are not eligible to take this course. 
Final Assessment:  Students may choose Final Paper or series of short papers. 
Classroom Policies: This course has a no-laptop policy. 
Grading Mode:  Letter grading.
Graduation Requirements: May meet Advanced Writing Requirement with the instructor's permission. 
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar - 2 hours. We will study a variety of barriers that impede the access of unrepresented litigants to the courts--including poverty, racial bias, limited English proficiency and the digital divide--and critically examine existing solutions. Students will have an opportunity to develop and propose their own solution to an access barrier.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Discussion - 2 hours. This course addresses administrative, legislative, and judicial applications of California’s wide range of land use planning and development laws. It also covers the local agencies, developers, environmental groups, businesses, and countless others who shape decisions about land use in California. Topics include zoning, general plans, local government land use regulation, tribal interests, the California Environmental Quality Act, and related areas of litigation.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading 

Discussion - 2 hours. The course covers fundamental elements of federal and state legislative process, including legislative procedure, with a focus on statutory interpretation.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Seminar - 3 units.  This course teaches the theory and practice of statutory interpretation through the body of rapidly evolving California law concerned with locally-erected barriers to the supply of new, higher density housing (a/k/a “exclusionary zoning”). Students will develop a working, practical understanding of the principal theories of statutory interpretation; as well as substantive foundations in land-use law, the relationship between the state and local governments under California’s constitution, and the statutes California has enacted and repeatedly amended over the past forty years to prod local governments to allow more housing—especially affordable housing and high-density housing near transit. The course comes in three modules. Module one concerns the nature of the housing-supply/affordability problem, and the traditional structures of local land-use regulation. Module two is about theories of statutory interpretation. The third module teaches the California housing-framework legislation through a series of statutory interpretation exercises, interspersed with guest lectures from leading land use attorneys, agency officials, and local government lawyers. Grades will be based on class participation and the set of writing assignments.

Final Assessment: Other (multiple writing assignments + class participation) 
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
 

Discussion - 2 hours. Legislative Drafting at UC Davis School of Law provides practical experience in researching, analyzing, and drafting legislative measures in the State of California, including bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments. The course is one semester in length, offered during the fall semester, and worth 2 credits. The course is offered to both 2Ls and 3Ls, with priority going to 3Ls. This is a skills-based course for students to be trained in drafting and amending legislative measures. As such, we have a limit of 12 students.

Legislative drafting is a particular genre of legal writing. It has been called the most difficult form of legal writing because it often addresses complex, societal problems. This course will provide insight into the California legislative process and students will develop extensive research and writing skills related to legislative drafting. They will engage in constitutional and statutory research, including federal and state laws, and draft and revise legislative measures. Students will read and study about the theoretical and practical aspects of legislative drafting, how statutory law is created, constitutional limits to lawmaking, and more. This academic work will be combined with a few guest speakers and numerous drafting exercises, with at least one drafting assignment due each week throughout the semester.

Among the goals of the course are for students to gain a deeper understanding of the state legislative process, legislative drafting, theories of statutory interpretation, and constitutional restrictions on lawmaking, and to develop the tools needed to craft effective legislation. Drafting guidelines and techniques are studied and applied in practical exercises each class.

Law 257 Legislative Process is recommended, but not required.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Take-home

Discussion - 2 or 3 hours. This course covers the ethical duties of lawyers in a variety of different contexts.  Students will examine topics such as client control over the major decisions in a case, the duty of zealous advocacy, representation of organizations, and the unique role of government attorneys. This course will also cover the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the California Rules of Professional Conduct, which are tested (respectively) on the MPRE and the California Bar Exam. Students who take Law 258A Legal Ethics and Corporate Practice are not eligible to enroll in this course.

Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Professional Responsibility graduation requirement.
Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course explores the formal rules of ethics governing the legal profession, including the affirmative duties reflected in different states’ Rules of Professional Conduct (RPCs), which, in turn, largely reflect the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. These rules are tested on state bar exams and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). We discern how the RPCs in various jurisdictions differ, particularly with respect to the California RPCs. Furthermore, we apply these different rules to real-life situations encountered on the above examinations and in your legal practices, particularly in the context of working for and within organizations, by far the most common attorney-client relationship.

Students who take Law 258/258H Professional Responsibility are not eligible to enroll in this course.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Professional Responsibility requirement.
Final Assessment: Exam

Skills – 1 unit - This course will introduce students to the practice of conscious lawyering, including concepts in professional and personal identity, self-awareness, focus, emotional intelligence, cultural and personal values, mindfulness, meditation, and mind-body connection. This course will help train students to be mindful and aware while engaging in the practice of law including litigation, negotiations, transactional deals, client management, and day-to-day work in a law practice.

Student learning in this course will be supported by assigned readings, discussion and practice of the skills taught, including somatic breathwork and meditation. Students will read a selection of supporting materials each week and come to class ready to discuss and put the reading into practice. Students will also respond to weekly prompts on Canvas in order to demonstrate synthesis of the material and to document their experiences. Students should be prepared that the practices in this course may involve non-sexual touching of hands (e.g. handshake, “high-five”, holding of hands) and/or ritualistic or socially accepted expressions of gratitude (e.g. pat on the shoulder, hug or embrace, light touch on the arm).

This course is graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory (“pass/fail”) basis primarily due to the personal and subjective nature of the course. Therefore, attendance and meaningful participation in the readings, practice and writing exercises will be required to complete the course satisfactorily.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Final Assessment: Small papers each week
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 2 units. Using real practice examples, in this discussion/simulation-based course learn how to open and successfully run a small law practice, and hear from guest speakers who opened their own law practices. Included topics: structure and organization, office set-up, billing, fees, time management, client handling, overseeing office staff, trust accounting, and ethical rules.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Final Assessment: Attendance and participation.

Lecture - 3 units. This course will provide an overview of business concepts for law students. The first part of the course will cover accounting, including what the major financial statements are and how to read them, as well as basic financial analysis ratios (e.g., return on equity, return on assets). The course will then cover basic financial concepts, such as risk versus return and the time value of money and the application of these concepts to business valuation. It also covers the use of financial and accounting concepts in common business contract terms such as loan covenants and leasing and M&A agreement provisions. Time permitting, additional topics in finance will be addressed. Students should be aware that the course will make use of Excel, although instruction will be provided. The course makes heavy use of basic math (through fractions and percentages).

Final Assessment: Final Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Discussion - 2 hours. This course covers the ethical duties of lawyers in a variety of different contexts.  Students will examine topics such as client control over the major decisions in a case, the duty of zealous advocacy, representation of organizations, and the unique role of government attorneys. This course will also cover the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the California Rules of Professional Conduct, which are tested (respectively) on the MPRE and the California Bar Exam. Students are not eligible to take this course if they have taken Law 258 Professional Responsibility and Law 258A Legal Ethics and Corporate Practice.

Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Professional Responsibility graduation requirement.
Final Assessment: Exam

Seminar – 2 hours. Seminar exploring lawyer's roles, ethical obligations and critical choices regarding maintaining and preserving the rule of law and democracy. Will examine scenarios from historical crossroads and current circumstances, reviewing narrative, primary and statutory source materials. Participants will take turns, as assigned, helping to lead class discussions. A well-researched original reflection piece of 20 pages, not including bibliography, will be required at the end of the semester. Graded on class participation and final paper.

Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy.
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Discussion - 3 or 4 hours. Examination of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and section 1981.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours.  This course provides an overview of employment law, labor law and employment discrimination law and aims to serve as a foundation for understanding the law and policy (statutory and common law) that surround the employer-employee relationship.   Rather than focusing on the various statutes that govern workplace relationships, this course is organized topically around the areas that tend to create tensions between employer and employee interests.   The course will focus on the interests of the parties as much or more than their legal rights as they currently exist in the law.  The questions we focus on in this course include the following:How should law mediate conflicts between employer and employee rights?What is the significance of constructing disputes as individual versus collective? What is the effect of increasing racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the workplace on law and policy? Is law the most effective way of mediating employer and employee interests?  What is the role of organizing, self-help efforts, and other employee initiatives?

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Discussion - 2 hours. The seminar examines a variety of issues concerning the judicial process. The focus is on the judge's role in the legal process, the administration of justice, ethical issues, decision making, bias, and critical examination of the strengths and weaknesses in our current judicial system.

Final Assessment: Paper

Seminar – 2 units. A comparative law class focused on judicial institutions and judicial decision-making around the world. The course will study the following questions: How are cases decided in different legal systems? What can we learn from the way other countries or legal institutions (such as international courts) decide cases? How can the knowledge of other legal systems and methods of adjudication inform the understanding of the US legal system? How can this knowledge help lawyers who will practice in an international context (foreign clients, international litigation, practice of law abroad, interaction with foreign professionals, etc.)?

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission; Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. The principal focus of the course is the federal antitrust laws, concentrating on basic substantive areas of the Sherman and Clayton Acts.  Specific topics include: agreements among competitors (including cartels) to restrict competition; price uniformity and other parallel behavior in the absence of agreement; distribution relationships having collusive and exclusionary effects (resale price maintenance, geographical and other restrictions on resale, exclusive dealing, tying contracts); monopolization; and mergers.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 2 hours. Evening laboratory - 2 hours (held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings). An introduction to the mechanics and preparation of trial. The class features lectures, demonstrations, assigned readings, and trial drills. The emphasis throughout the course is on the formulation and implementation of trial strategy, theory and theme of the case and practical techniques. Students will conduct all phases of a trial, including opening statements, direct and cross examinations, and closing arguments.

Recommended: Prior or concurrent enrollment in 219 Evidence. 
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement. 
Grading Mode:  Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Lecture - 2 hours. Combining lecture and student presentations, this advanced skills course trains students on the organization and presentation of a complex trial. Pretrial preparation, jury selection, strategy, effective openings, and witness examination, using technology, evidentiary issues, jury instruction preparation, advocacy skills, closing, post-trial, ethics and effective handling of both plaintiff and defense cases through verdict will be covered.

Skills - This course is designed to teach students (1) the law that restricts and supports jury selection in criminal law trials (2) the most effective methods of engaging in jury selection (3) how to think critically and strategically about voir dire questioning and juror challenges.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for first 7 weeks only.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Final Assessment: Other (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. Property rights in surface waters, including riparian rights, prior appropriation, the public trust doctrine, and public rights; federal, state and local allocation and regulation; environmental constraints; groundwater rights and management; state and federal projects; interstate allocation; federal reserved rights; water supplies and land use planning; water transfers; contemporary challenges.

Elective course for Environmental Law Certificate Program. 

Final Assessment: Take-home exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
 

Seminar - 2 hours. This seminar is devoted to in-depth coverage of various state and federal environmental laws and their relationship to federal constitutional principles that are increasingly invoked by regulated persons and business groups to block, narrow or invalidate the application of those environmental laws. Constitutional principles we’ll be examining in an environmental/natural resources setting include the Supremacy Clause (federal preemption); the Takings Clause (private property rights); the scope of federal authority under the Commerce Clause; Dormant Commerce Clause principles; the Privileges & Immunities Clause; and the Foreign Affairs Doctrine and Treaty Clause. These related seminar topics will include integrated study and analysis of legal, policy, scientific and governance issues affecting the natural resources in question.  Enrolled students are expected to regularly attend class sessions, and oral participation will be factored into students’ final course grades.

Elective course for Environmental Certificate Program.
Prerequisite: 285 Environmental Law or 256 Land Use Planning are recommended but not required.
Final Assessment: Final Paper

Discussion - 3 units. The course presents a survey of the law of commercial transactions under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The course will cover a number of topics under Articles 2, 3 and 9 of the UCC. These topics include attachment and perfection of security interests in personal property and general principles of negotiability. The primary goals of the course are to provide students with foundational knowledge and understanding of several articles of the UCC and improve students problem-solving skills in this area. Accordingly, this course will be taught with an emphasis on solving problems. Cases are used to supplement the problems, but the main focus is on solving problems utilizing the UCC.

Law 202 Contracts is recommended.
Final Assessment: Final exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Seminar - 2 hours. This course examines from a globalized perspective a broad range of internet governance issues, ranging from free speech ideologies, criminal speech regulations, copyright, digital intermediary liability, administrative censorship online, online anonymity regulation, “right to be forgotten”, privacy and data protection, net neutrality, MLAT, cybersecurity, intersection with AI, etc., drawing from established cases and practices of constitutional law, antitrust law, communications law, and international human rights/economic law around the world. Unlike the mainstream scholarship which focuses on the gap between the U.S. jurisprudence and international human rights law, the seminar attempts to identify a globally consistent set of theories and arguments that have gained normative and prescriptive traction in the relevant regional or international debates. This course will prepare students for a career in international media/digital law practice. Grading will be based 90% on a final paper and 10% on class participation (NO CURVE). Each student will pick a topic with the instructor early in the semester and will be asked to present and defend their paper in class.  The paper will be a form of amicus brief that will be filed in a court in the US or Southeast Asia or an international forum in support of a real or virtual constitutional challenge to state action or a real or virtual civil suit against corporate action, using the US case law and the international human rights law.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Discussion - 2 units. Artificial intelligence ("A.I. ") plays an increasingly prominent role in our lives and multiplies our ability to innovate and produce. But if society fails to create meaningful legal rules for A.I., innovation can come at a high cost for individuals' rights and liberties. This course looks at A.I.'s seemingly infinite possibilities and discusses where should the legal boundaries begin and end, including: What risks should be evaluated and mitigated when building A.I. systems? Who should "own" the knowledge derived from personal information, and how should it be used? What rights should individuals have in the context of A.I.? This course's core lecturing centers on the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and the proposed E.U. A.I. Regulation requirements.

This course will meet every other week.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion – 2 hours. This course focuses on litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the federal civil rights statute which provides the primary vehicle for claims by individuals that their federal rights have been violated by state or local officials.  We will address the substantive legal doctrines that govern § 1983 cases, the doctrines that govern the constitutional claims most frequently arising in the § 1983 context, affirmative defenses, and related civil procedure and practice considerations.  There will  be a single, final exam; class participation counts heavily in grading.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam

Lecture - 3 hours. This course examines efforts to ensure a “fair” financial marketplace. These efforts include focusing on the Dodd-Frank Act and its creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; disclosure requirements; prohibitions on unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices; and other regimes enacted to protect consumers. Students will study salient contemporary markets for consumer credit, residential mortgages, and student lending. The course will also address how the concept of financial “fairness” has evolved and been influenced by social movements.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Lecture - 2 hours. This course will explore public finance issues from a theoretical and practical perspective. Initial readings will be theoretical as we consider what the government should do and why. We will then move on to the various bodies of law that govern public finance practice: local government law, federal securities law and federal tax law.

Final Assessment: Other.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May meet Advanced Writing Requirement with the instructor's permission. 

Discussion - 2 hours. A consideration of select legal problems arising from international business transactions. Transactions covered include transnational sales, licensing of intellectual property, joint ventures and dispute settlement mechanisms. The course aims to provide advanced legal knowledge on how international law (i.e.international trade and regional agreements -NAFTA-, international treaties on dispute resolution) and how transnational-global law (i.e. uniform commercial law) influence the dynamics of commercial and business relations.

Recommended courses: Law 202 Contracts and Law 248 International Law
Final Assessment: Take-home exam

Discussion - 3 hours. A consideration of select legal problems arising from international business transactions. Transactions covered include transnational sales, agency and distributorship agreements, licensing of intellectual property, foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, concession agreements, and international debt instruments.

Final Assessment: Exam

3 units - Complete complex contracts. Students learn various approaches to completing contracts (from term sheet to final document) and complete exercises and assignments to hone contract skills. Students build a contract skills toolbox with the tools needed for completing and drafting contracts.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Final Assessment: Other 
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Skills - This skills-based course introduces students to practical application of legal concepts in client counseling and drafting of effective business documents. Students will engage with each other in real-life problem solving, drafting, and textual analysis in the context of a multiple rounds of review and redlining. The emphasis is on dynamic commercial negotiations and expectations of lawyers common in the tech industry, but the core skills are transferrable to other areas of practice. Students will also be exposed to other areas of legal doctrine (such as ethics, intellectual property, litigation and torts) that necessarily arise in context of transactions.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: Other – (Skills Class Final Assignment – e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion - 3 hours. An introduction to the legal regulation of the family. Coverage will include laws and public policies governing marriage and non-marital relationships; parentage; the economic consequences of marital and non-marital dissolutions; child custody and visitation; child support; and interstate jurisdictional issues.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Seminar - 3 hours. This course will examine the complex relationship between K-12 education policy and the law, with a focus on the use of litigation to advance educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. We will begin with a brief overview and discussion of the problems facing American K-12 students, concentrating on the inequitable educational opportunities afforded to low-income children and children of color. We will then explore several policy interventions that advocates have advanced before legislative bodies and in the courts. Among the topics we will investigate at length are (1) integration, (2) school finance litigation, (3) teacher quality reform, (4) the standards & accountability movement, and (5) school choice. The course will also touch on legal issues in the fields of (6) special education, (7) education of immigrant children, and (8) students’ rights under Title IX, the First Amendment, and the Fourth Amendment.

Classroom Policies: This course has a no-laptop policy.
Final Assessment: Paper
Graduation Requirements: May meet Advanced Writing Requirement with the instructor's permission.

Discussion - 3 hours. This course provides a broad survey of intellectual property law. Areas covered include trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and trademarks. We will examine legal doctrine as well as the theories and policies animating the intellectual property system. In exploring these topics, we will frequently consider the challenges posed by recent technological advances. No technical background is required.

Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy.
Final Assessment: Exam

Lecture - 2 units.  This course focuses on the law of trade secrets, including the Defend Trade Secret Act (DTSA), the Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA), restrictive covenants and covenants not to compete, current case law developments, and overlap between trade secret laws and employment laws.  There is also discussion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and computer forensics. No technical background is required.

Prerequisites: 274 Intellectual Property or instructor consent is required. Prior coursework in Property, Torts, Evidence and Contracts is recommended.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for 9 weeks, starting with the first week of the semester.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy.
Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course examines the international regulation of intellectual property rights and explores the place of the United States in the international IP community. We will discuss international treaties and legal harmonization efforts, legislation and case law from different jurisdictions, and the role of technology.

Pre-requisite: Completed or simultaneously enrolled in Law 274 Intellectual Property, and/or Law 296 Copyright is required.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: Exam

Seminar - 2 hours. This two unit class provides an overview of the major juvenile delinquency procedural hearings: detention, jurisdiction, disposition and transfer hearings.  The class will discuss the recent United States Supreme Court decisions on life without the possibility of parole for minors and how these decisions are influenced by recent scientific findings on brain development in young adults. The constitutional rights of students while in school will be reviewed in the context of mandatory drug testing and police interrogations and searches of students while on campus. The class will attend a tour of the Yolo Juvenile Hall. A professor from the UC Davis Medical School will lecture the class on the physical and psychological issues surrounding puberty.  While the primary focus of the class will be on juvenile delinquency, the course will have a segment on the constitutional rights of parents to make decisions about parenting their children and when the state can intervene. A professor from the UC Davis Medical School will lecture the class on how investigations are handled when child abuse is alleged. The class is organized around a series of weekly power points that will be provided before class for review. A research paper, a minimum of 12 pages, on a juvenile topic is required.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Seminar - 2 hours. This course focuses on the welfare and legal rights of children, especially the most at-risk in society including those in foster care and victims of crime and civil torts. Students will learn the substantive law of juvenile dependency and the special duties of lawyers representing children in dependency and civil cases, as well as child witnesses in criminal cases. Juvenile dependency law has been historically under-resourced in society. The goal of this class is to prepare the next generation of child advocates and to do our part in closing the resource gap.

Final Assessment: Paper
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Seminar – 1 unit. This seminar examines the unique status of children in our legal system, and explores the fundamental question of how the law allocates decision-making power and responsibility for children among the child, the family and the State. This course will deeply explore the topics of delinquency and dependency, as well as the varied contexts children interact with the law beyond those two systems. Topics to be discussed include: defining the parent-child relationship, the psychology of adolescence, representing children, constitutional rights of children, international perspectives on children’s rights, children as decision makers, and children’s privacy issues given emerging technologies. Each student will prepare one in-depth research paper related to the class subject matter.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar - 3 hours. Elective course for Environmental Law and Public Service Certificate Programs. The seminar focuses on legal relations between Native nations and the federal and state governments in the United States. The course will consider tribal sovereignty in light of the jurisdictional conflicts that dominate this area of law, including specific areas such as land rights, hunting and fishing rights, family law, gaming regulation, taxation, sacred sites, and criminal law. The course will also consider historical and critical perspectives, constitutional issues pertaining to tribes, and questions of federal policy.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Simulation/discussion - 2 hours.  Students will sharpen lawyering skills basic to pretrial legal practice through readings, discussion, role-playing exercises, videotaped simulations, and related projects. Client interviewing, witness interviewing and depositions are emphasized; other topics include written discovery and organizing facts. The class is largely experiential, so class attendance is mandatory and preparation for, and participation in class is expected. Students will be graded on participation, several short written assignments, and performance during recorded simulations of a client interview, taking a deposition, and defending a deposition. All graded simulations and possibly some practice simulations will be conducted with partners outside of the scheduled class sessions. Students need to provide an adult volunteer from outside of the class to play the witness in one 30-minute deposition.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement. 
Final Assessment: Deposition Simulation Project. 
Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance and participation policy. 
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading. 
Class limit: 20 students.

Discussion - 2 hours. 2L’s only. This course will focus on skills critical to law school success, and ultimately, bar exam success. The skills include effective case reading, briefing, outlining, and exam writing. Selected subjects from the first year curriculum, specifically remedies-based issues in Contracts, Torts, and Property, will be used as a substantive context for the class. By using these first year subjects as a basis for the course, students will have the opportunity to revisit core law school principles that are always tested on the multiple choice portion of the bar exam and frequently tested on the essay portion. Students will receive individualized feedback on each of their written assignments.

PLEASE NOTE: 2L students who would benefit from assistance with exam writing and law school study skill development are encouraged to enroll in this course.

Attendance and Laptop policies: Students must attend all classes and submit all assignments.  Limited-laptop use policy. 
Enrollment: Limited to 20 students.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Discussion -2 hours. 3L’s only. This course will help students develop the skill of essay writing typically employed on the bar examination. Students will receive substantial feedback on their written work, and learn analytical and persuasive writing skills transferable to the bar exam and legal practice. Each student will complete 4-6 as outside homework and in class under timed exam conditions. Grading is satisfactory/unsatisfactory but students may be withdrawn from the course or given an unsatisfactory grade for having more than one unexcused absence or failing to complete an assignment.

Attendance and Laptop policies: Students must attend all classes and submit all assignments.  Limited-laptop use policy. 
Enrollment: Limited to 25 students.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Discussion - 2 hours. 3L’s only. A skills course focused on the development of analytical and organizational methods essential to successful completion of the Performance Test [PT] and MBE (multiple choice) components of the California Bar Exam. It will include PT writing assignments such as legal correspondence, different styles of office memoranda, trial briefs, and pleadings and motions. Students will receive individualized feedback on each of their written assignments. The course will also assign and review MBE questions in various substantive law areas, such as Torts and Criminal Law.

Attendance and Laptop policies: Students must attend all classes and submit all assignments.  Limited-laptop use policy. 
Enrollment: Limited to 25 students.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Discussion - 3 hours There are roughly 80,000 local government entities in the United States which provide essential services and spend billions of dollars. This course takes a broad approach to state and local government law, both practically and theoretically. Topics to be covered include: federalism, relations between states and localities, governmental liability, zoning, educational equity, and public finance. Readings will be drawn not only from case law and statues, but from history, theory and public policy.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

2 hours. This course explores the history, law, and public policy of energy regulation in the United States, emphasizing economic and environmental regulation. Competitive restructuring of the natural gas and electric utility industries is emphasized. The basic regulatory schemes for other energy sources—hydroelectric power, coal, oil, and nuclear power—are explored depending on class interest. This seminar is recommended to anyone interested in the energy sector, various models of economic regulation, or regulated industries.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam

Elective course for Environmental Law Certificate Program.

Discussion - 2 or 3 hours. The emphasis of this course is to provide real world civil litigation experience and prepare students for a remedies bar exam question. The course provides an overview of the most important legal and equitable remedies available in both private and public law contexts.  The topics covered include money damages, punitive damages, equitable remedies such as injunctions, contempt, restitution, and specific performance.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours. This course introduces students to the economic analysis of law. Students will learn to use the tools of economic analysis (marginal cost and benefit, supply and demand, opportunity cost, etc.) to illuminate and critique familiar areas of law, including property, contracts, torts, and criminal law. Throughout the course, students will consider how economic analysis complements and conflicts with other concerns of the legal system, including fairness and efficiency.  The course does not require any background in economics.

Discussion - 4 hours. An introduction to environmental law, focusing primarily on federal law.  Includes coverage of the historical development of environmental law, including the transition from common law to statutory law; the role of courts, the legislature, and the executive branch in the development and implementation of environmental policy; allocation of authority among different levels of government; the role of market forces in environmental decisions; and the major regulatory strategies that have been applied to control environmental harm. Major statutes considered include the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Core course for Environmental Law Certificate Program.

Discussion - 2 hours.  The "nation-state" of California has for many years been a national and global leader in environmental law and policy. This seminar course will provide a survey of key California environmental law and policy issues. Those issues include the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); coastal planning and regulation; renewable energy law and policy; California's leadership role regarding the law of global warming/climate change; property rights and the environment; the ecosystem crisis affecting the California Delta; Proposition 65 (the Safe Drinking Water & Toxic Enforcement Act); the public trust doctrine; and environmental federalism (i.e., the respective California and federal roles in environmental regulation). A special feature of this course will be a number of guest speakers on the above topics, including practicing environmental attorneys, judges, policymakers and non-legal experts (e.g., scientists and economists). The course grade for this class will be based primarily on a student paper, in lieu of a final exam. The course will likely include a field trip to UC Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center at Lake Tahoe to bring students into direct contact with some of the resources and issues being studied.

Classroom Policies: This course has an attendance policy.
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with professor's permission.

Discussion - 2 Hours. Introduction to the field of environmental justice. We will cover the origins and history of the Environmental Justice movement; Environmental Justice’s distinctive approach to lawyering, with an emphasis on building power rather than winning cases; and an introduction to important topics in environmental justice, including siting of locally unwanted land uses; community-based research; the connections between Environmental Justice and the planning and public health professions; and global climate change. Guest speakers will be invited when available and appropriate.

Final Assessment: Paper
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency Requirement.

Skills - 2 hours. Drafting a Solar Farm Bill is a practicum in which the class acts as an advisory law firm for its client, a solar farm bill solution and its facilitator, the educational non-profit Climate Solutions Advocacy Institute (CSAI). The class objective is to provide the client with a white paper that can advise CSAI in its development of a massive solar farm bill, financed by green bonds. Students in this class will work together like attorneys providing advice to a client by acting as investigator, organizer and evaluator of the key modular elements needed for a solar farm bill: green bond financing, regulatory oversight, power purchase agreements and land leasing. Students will investigate other renewable energy projects in the USA and abroad, as well as business agreements between solar farm operators, utilities, and land owners. They will consult with legislators & legislative experts, and incorporate feedback from various stakeholders, advancing their knowledge of legal investigation, collaboration and memo drafting. Professor recommends LAW 285 Environmental Law as a pre- or co-requisite.

Final Assessment: Other – (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Seminar - This course will cover the law of biodiversity, with a focus on the laws of the United States. We will review the science of biodiversity and biodiversity loss, and then examine laws addressing biodiversity at the federal, state, and local levels. We will cover biodiversity law, ecosystem management, and emerging challenges like climate change and renewable energy development. The course will be graded based on short response papers and participation in class discussions.

Law 285 Environmental Law is recommended
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: 1 or 2 smaller papers during the semester

Seminar – 1 unit. The Food Innovation, Law and Policy Seminar introduces students to the exciting world of new food discoveries and their relationship to food law and policy. UC Davis, ranked no. 1 in the world for agriculture, including food science and technology, produces innovative food products and processes through various campus centers. The seminar examines how new food products/processes are developed and how the campus navigates the legal landscape to facilitate, protect, and reward new food products and processes through the transfer of technology as new discoveries move into the marketplace. The seminar uses the campus as a laboratory to explore the fast-paced, changing food environment that is working to achieve sustainability and environmental protection of domestic and global food resources, and legal issues arising from the changing environment.

Final Assessment: Other – (short response papers and blogs)
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours.  The course addresses law and policy issues in health care financing and access to health care. Course materials and discussion draw from current events as well as case law, statutes and regulations. Course design contextualizes issues to surface role of structural, institutional, and cultural inequalities in health care. Likely topics include the public health insurance, federal and state regulation of private health insurance, alternative health care payer systems, including single-payer proposals, and role of civil rights law in leveraging access to health care.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Seminar - 2 hrs. Public health law, seen broadly, is the government's power and responsibility to ensure the conditions for the population's health. The use of this power results in a series of trade-offs between the collective good of public health and the individual's interests in liberty and property. We will look at the debate over paternalism, as well as issues raised by methods such as surveillance, health education campaigns, immunization and testing, quarantine, and criminal prosecution. We will do case studies of specific topics, including issues related to the response of government and public health officials to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3 hours.  This course examines the ethical, legal, and social issues that arise from research on and use of biomedical technologies.  The course introduces and critically evaluates the dominant principlist approach to Western bioethics. It uses interdisciplinary methods, including critical theory and science and technology studies to consider the role of law on issues arising from biotechnology and science-based knowledge systems that implicate social norms and personal values. The curriculum may include issues arising from human subject research, end-of-life care, assisted reproductive technologies, genetic and regenerative medicine research, human cell and tissue use, and emerging biotechnologies. Completion of the course requires a substantial research paper.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfied Advanced Writing Requirement.

Seminar - 3 units. This course uses both reproductive rights and reproductive justice frameworks. It also incorporates critical race and feminist theory to examine a wide range of laws and practices that impact reproductive rights in the United States. The course syllabus focuses on domestic law and policy, but research projects on international topics is encouraged.  Discussion topics may include abortion, contraception, sterilization, religious restrictions in sectarian hospitals, refusal clauses, assisted reproductive and genetic technology use, public and private funding restrictions, medical standards, and emerging issues.  Completion of the course requires a substantial research paper. 

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Seminar - 2 hours. This course explores current topics at the crossroads of neuroscience and the law.  The course introduces foundational bioethics and some basics of cognitive science.  It examines the relationship between social science and the law, notably how empirical research findings are used to design legal institutions.  It considers the role of scientific models of human cognition and motivation in the context of legal policy creation or sentencing decisions. It covers topics that include neuroscience evidence at sentencing, brain-based lie detection, tort liability for brain injuries, brain-based enhancement and the boundaries between life and death.
 

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Seminar - 2 hours. Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals are two of the fastest growing industries in the U.S., and the legal issues that arise in connection with representing them are complex and evolving. This seminar will focus on the transactional, intellectual property, and regulatory legal issues that challenge lawyers working with clients in these industries.

Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
Final Assessment: Paper

Seminar – 2 units. As California moves into its second decade of criminal justice reform, we now turn our focus to how those with mental health conditions interact with law enforcement and the justice system. This class will explore the work of crisis intervention teams, collaborative courts, and California's new CARE courts. Our effort will build on a foundational study of competency, insanity, protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, hospital holds, forced medication, and conservatorships. Special attention will be given to children and the elderly. The class is a broad survey of the law as it relates to mental health and the courts. It is designed to educate future leaders on how to better serve those with mental health needs, their families, and our communities.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Seminar – 2 units. This seminar examines health and health care through a social justice lens. It focuses on health risks disproportionately experienced by marginalized communities and individuals. The course critically assesses the role of law in both maintaining and challenging structural inequalities that allocate health risks, impose barriers to health care, and impair quality of care. While the course focuses on health care law, it also addresses the interactions between health law and other areas of law (e.g. immigration law).

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency Requirement.

Discussion - "Public lands" refers to national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and other lands owned and managed by the federal government.  These lands comprise approximately half of the land in California and the western U.S.  Various natural resources are found on public lands: timber, water, hard-rock minerals, oil and natural gas, renewable energy resources, wildlife, and wilderness.  This course covers the legal aspects of managing these lands and their resources, including the history of public land law, the scope of federal and state authority over the federal lands, and the allocation of public land resources among competing uses, including consumption, recreation, and preservation. The course grade will be based primarily on a final exam.

Elective course for Environmental Law Certificate Program.

Law 235 Administrative Law or 285 Environmental Law is recommended.
Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Seminar - 3 hours. In this course, students will take on the role of Justices of, and advocates before, the Supreme Court of the United States. The 16 students in the course will be divided up into two panels of 8 Associate Justices (with the instructor to serve as the Chief for both panels). The course will begin with a short unit on the certiorari process, the crucial procedure through which the Supreme Court decides the cases it will hear. Each panel will review the materials for a case pending before the Court at the certiorari stage and debate whether to grant review.
The course will then transition to our primary undertaking: a series of between four and eight oral arguments involving actual cases before the Supreme Court. The cases will involve a mix of statutory and constitutional issues, as well as criminal and civil issues. Between two and four students will argue each case to the panel of Justices on which they do not sit. Arguments will be based on the briefs that have already been filed in the Court as well at least one class session previewing and preparing students for the substance of each case. After argument, the panels of Justices will meet to vote on argued cases, with the instructor assigning majority and dissenting opinions for each case. The written opinions will represent the final work product for the class, and constitute the primary portion of each student’s grade.

Classroom Policies: This course has a no-laptop policy.
Final Assessment: Skill Class Final Assignment (e.g. Trial, Mediation, Brief)
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement OR count towards the Professional Skills Requirement, student must choose one.
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Lecture - 2 hours. This course explores the what and how of national security. Specifically, what does national security mean and how does it play out institutionally, jurisprudentially, and policy-wise in the United States? Combining historical, legal, and normative perspectives, this seminar explores how the meaning of national security has shifted and expanded over time. Rather than being exclusively limited to notions of war and foreign policy, the concept of national security also intersects with a wide-range of domestic legal and policy issues, from civil rights and immigration, to private law, business, and environmental and economic issues. Instead of presenting a rigid notion of national security, this course aims to chart the term’s complexity, malleability, and capacity to serve ends that are both corrosive and supportive of the public good. 

Prerequisites: Constitutional Law. A prior law course or background in Public International Law is recommended
Classroom Policies: This course has a participation policy
Final Assessment: Simulation exercises and written assignments
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

Seminar - 2 hours. While there is no fixed definition of privacy, most experts would agree that technology now makes it easier than ever for private and public actors to exploit it.  Our personal information can be found in massive databases as well as in multiple places on the Internet. Not only do advertisers, creditors, and employers want this information, so do law enforcement agencies.  This course examines several topics that arise in field of information privacy law, with a special emphasis on government access to this information.

Discussion – 3 hours. This course surveys approaches to privacy regulation around the globe, including a comparison of regulatory frameworks and different policy solutions. The course also introduces the major international privacy regulatory and enforcement institutions. Core lecturing will focus on the European General Data Protection Regulation and how it compares with US law. Core concepts include controller/processor, personal data/personal information, data subject/consumer, cross-border transfers and processing which will be approached through lecture from a comparative perspective.

Final Assessment: Take-home exam
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Discussion - 3 hours. China has become factory to the world, India its back office, and the United States its information intermediary. Our lives are increasingly intertwined with international trade. Trade law affects what goods we can buy, the safety of the foods we consume, and the conditions under which our clothes are produced. This course will review the existing landscape of trade regulation from the World Trade Organization to regional organizations such as NAFTA. The course will consider the implications of international trade law for developing economies and analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of the current international trade order.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 3  or 4 units. This course will cover legal issues and policies pertaining to foreign nationals seeking to migrate permanently or temporarily to the United States, including the regulation of their admission and removal or deportation. This course will examine critically how and why the rights of foreign nationals who are in U.S. territory differ from the rights of citizens. These topics will be covered from various perspectives, including constitutional law, human rights, ethics and morality, and history.

Law 235 Administrative Law is recommended.

Final Assessment: Take-home writing assignments
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.
This course satisfies the immigration certificate.

Seminar - 2 hours. This course examines the history of immigration-related prosecutions, explores how they are currently conducted, and looks at the streamlined proceedings that happen in districts along the southern border.

Prerequisite: Law 206 Criminal Law. Law 292 Immigration Law is recommended.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement..
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar – 2 units. This course will study local government laws and practices that seek to regulate the lives of immigrants living within their jurisdiction. These areas include housing, labor and employment, driving and professional licenses, health, public benefits, and even immigration crimes and enforcement. We will study the range of laws and their differences across jurisdictions as well the factors that may explain why these laws yield both positive or negative results for immigrants in different localities. The course will also study how principles of federalism and the federal immigration power (preemption) try to resolve political struggles for power as between localities and the federal government in their efforts to expand or restrict rights and benefits for immigrants. The course will also consider equal protection and other fundamental rights restrictions on state powers over immigrants.

Law 292 and Law 205 Con Law I are recommended.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Letter
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement. 
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency Requirement.

Seminar – 2 hours. This class will examine issues and challenges associated with providing legal services to individuals and communities who cannot afford legal representation from the private bar. Class discussions and readings will address the definition, history and development of public interest law; current trends and strategies in public interest advocacy; different venues for public interest lawyering, including non-profit, government, and private sector settings; the role and/or obligation of the private bar (and law schools) to contribute to public interest law; professional responsibility and ethics in public interest practice; and public interest career development. The course will explore issues in contemporary public interest practice through sessions led by practicing public interest lawyers and student presentations.

Final Assessment: Evaluation is based on class participation, short reflections, a written project, and class presentation.
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading.
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Seminar - 2 hours. The business of professional sports has evolved significantly over the past decade, driven by both urban development trends, along with an explosion in technology, and social change. These forces, along with others, have dramatically influenced the economic shape and arc of professional sports teams, which in turn impacts all aspects of professional sports. This course focuses on providing the students with a basic understanding of (1) how sports teams are legally structured, (2) the diversification of business lines (e.g., real estate, hospitality, non-profits, venture capital, marketing), (3) the role, structure, and importance of the arena/facility as the modern community campfire,  (4) legal areas of focus (e.g., contracts, intellectual property, finance, legislation, and risk management), and (5) the cutting edge legal issues on the sports landscape today (e.g., music license rights and sports betting).

Law 215 Business Associations is recommended
Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Discussion - 2 hours. We will take an intensive look at important issues in Trademark Law, including the nature of trademarks, the acquisition and loss of trademark rights,  trademark registration, trademark infringement, federal aspects of unfair competition law,  defenses to infringement, and expressive uses of trademarks.  We will also explore the legal frameworks surrounding actions for false advertising, false endorsement, and rights of publicity.

Discussion - 3 hours. We will thoroughly examine the law of copyright, including its application to literature, music, films, fashion, architecture, television, art, computer programs, and the Internet. Issues addressed include: what works are eligible for copyright protection, the copyright owner's rights, the term of protection, copyright ownership and transfer, infringement, and defenses to infringement.

Final Assessment: Exam

Discussion - 2 units. This class will explore the many facets of Entertainment Law. We will study the application of intangible rights (publicity, copyright, trademark, moral rights) to the industry, the various sub-industries within the general category of the Entertainment Industry (TV, motion picture, music, digital media, gaming, publicity, etc.) and the various laws that apply to each.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Lecture - This course examines the law surrounding art and cultural heritage. The focus will be on copyright, cultural property, and cultural heritage laws. Students will have the opportunity to consider U.S. law, international regulation, and the laws of other countries in order to broaden their perspectives on the issues, explore what the United States and other countries can learn from each other to improve the status of art and culture, and grapple with the cross-border dimensions of problems such as art forgery, theft or illicit export of cultural property, and the restoration of artworks confiscated during World War II. The class will also explore interdisciplinary perspectives, considering the issues involved for artists, cultural institutions such as museums, and the local, national, and international public. Finally, it will consider the implications of technology, including digitization and the advent of innovations such as 3D printing, for this area.

Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: Take-home exam

Discussion. This course will introduce students to a wide variety of alternative dispute resolution procedures, with an emphasis on negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Although basic skills and effective strategies for each procedure will be discussed, the course will focus primarily on the laws and policies that affect how the procedures are structured and conducted. Successful completion of the course will prepare students for the widespread availability and growing popularity of ADR in almost every area of modern legal practice.

Classroom Policies (Instructor expected to elaborate on Syllabus): This course has an attendance policy.
Final Assessment: Exam

Skills - 3 units. This seminar will provide students with an introduction to the theory and practice of international arbitration and familiarize them with the framework of international treaties and national laws that undergird the international arbitral system. We will analyze the elements of an international arbitration clause, and examine the relevance of the stipulated arbitration rules, the agreed-upon place of arbitration, and contractual options concerning arbitrator selection. Students will also gain a practical, in-depth understanding of each of the principal stages of the arbitral process, including: enforcement of the arbitration agreement; initiation of proceedings; pursuit of provisional remedies; and conduct of the arbitration itself – from the pleading stage, through the exchange of written submissions, to the handling of the merits hearing. We will conclude by examining procedures for enforcing and challenging the arbitral award. Sessions dedicated to legal theory will be complemented by classes devoted to practical simulations and skills development, with special focus on oral advocacy and cross-examination.

Law 202 Contracts is recommended. 
Final Assessment: Other
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Skills – 2units. ADR and Social Entrepreneurship provides students with a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and social entrepreneurship. This course equips students with essential skills in conflict resolution, negotiation, and system design, applying them to pressing social challenges. Through real-world case studies, social business creation, and interactive simulations, students will learn how ADR principles can drive innovative, sustainable solutions. The course emphasizes experiential learning through presentations, group work, and guest speakers. A significant portion of class time is dedicated to developing ADR-focused social enterprises, complemented by in-depth discussions of assigned readings.

Final Assessment: Final Paper and Final Presentation
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

Discussion. For Fall 2024, enrollment in this course is limited to those with a significant role within a student organization or Law Student Association officer/committee member.  Please add yourself to the waitlist during registration or contact Senior Assistant Dean Emily Scivoletto for admission to the course. NOTE: Course day/time indicates Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m., but there are only three Tuesday meetings during the semester.  However, students must be available Friday, September 6, 2024 from noon to 5:00 p.m. for the Leadership and the Law Retreat.

This course allows students to study and apply methods of leadership, conflict resolution and ethical decision-making to their current work at King Hall and in their future practice areas in the law and government. Lawyers are frequently asked to take on leadership roles in law firms, government, non-profit and business settings, and political, social and educational organizations.  Yet many of our law students graduate from law school without studying methods of effective leadership or assessing their own leadership traits and capabilities.  This course will help prepare students for responsible leadership and service in the many roles that lawyers perform both in and out of legal practice, and in their roles as social change agents. Students will assess their own leadership skills and abilities and critically examine the leadership traits, styles and decision-making processes of prominent leaders who are lawyers.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for the first five weeks of the fall semester, including the Leadership Retreat on Friday, September 6, in addition to small group meetings with the instructor.
Final Assessment: Other
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar – 1 unit. Recent developments in neuroscience and psychology support the contention that we live in a world impacted by trauma. But lawyers are not often trained in recognizing how trauma affects our work. Trauma-informed lawyering is an approach to the practice of law that equips students with the knowledge and skills to navigate these difficult environments. We will discuss what lawyers need to know about the science behind traumatic experiences; the various forms of trauma, including vicarious trauma, which can afflict those who are exposed to the stories of trauma that others have endured; and how our own trauma may be triggered or amplified in the experiences we encounter as legal professionals. We will learn evidence-based approaches to identifying trauma, whether in our clients, opposing counsel, employers or ourselves. We will further develop strategies for working with trauma, including recognizing our own limitations and scope of work (lawyers are not therapists), and adapting communication, advocacy, and legal strategies when dealing with victims of trauma. Most importantly, we will construct a toolkit for safeguarding our own mental health from the effects of vicarious trauma.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for 4 hours on August 27, September 3 and September 10.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading

Seminar – 3 hours. An increasingly popular trend in legal scholarship is the use of quantitative data to inform legal theories and socio-political debates. Indeed, it is rare today to come across a law review article or Supreme Court opinion that does not reference or rely upon some analysis of data to make a legal argument. Therefore, being able to be a critical consumer of empirical legal analysis is a skill that every lawyer should have. In this class, you will learn to be *both* a critical consumer and producer of empirical legal scholarship. This class is geared toward students who already have a basic understanding of statistics at the undergraduate level. (Students who have taken Law and Statistics (Law 228C) qualify). The class has two parts. In the first part, you will learn about research design by reading a series of scholarly papers within empirical legal studies. In the second part of the class, I will lead you through the process of completing your own empirical research project. In the process, you will define your research question, conduct a review of the relevant literature, collect your own data, analyze your data using the statistical analysis software STATA, and finally write up your results in a non-technical way for lay audience. Your final product will be a research prospectus that will include two or three original tables or charts that directly respond to your research question. All students will present their research prospectuses to the class.

Law 228C Law and Statistics or a previous undergraduate class in statistics is highly recommended.

Final Assessment: Paper
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.
 

Semester away study abroad at the University College Dublin, Ireland. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain a global legal educational experience. Taught abroad.

Semester study abroad at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain a global legal educational experience. Taught abroad.

Semester-away study abroad at the China University of Political Science and Law. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain a global legal educational experience. Taught abroad.

Semester-away study abroad at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain a global legal educational experience. Taught abroad.

Semester-away study abroad at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, Spain. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain a global legal educational experience. Taught abroad.

Semester-away study abroad at the Universite Paris Nanterre, Paris. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain a global legal educational experience. Taught abroad.

Semester-away study abroad at Newcastle University, U.K. Enhance knowledge of international legal regimes and obtain global legal educational experience.

Basic appellate practice and procedure. Beginning instruction in oral advocacy skills and an opportunity to practice these skills in front of a moot court. Students compete in four rounds of oral arguments which, combined with the second semester of the program, determine the rankings for selecting participants in the annual Neumiller Competition and other interschool competition teams and for membership on the Moot Court Board. Both courses 410A and 410B must be taken in order to qualify for most interschool competitions.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

This course is a continuation of Course 410A. Focuses on the development of effective appellate brief writing skills and the refinement of oral advocacy skills. Participants research and write two appellate briefs and argue the cases before a moot court. The first appellate brief and arguments are judged for selection of interschool competition teams, participants in the annual Neumiller Competition, and membership on the Moot Court Board. The second appellate brief, requiring independent individual research, is written and edited under the supervision of the professor, and may satisfy the writing requirement.  

Prerequisite: Law 410A Appellate Advocacy I.
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards the Professional Skills Requirement.
Enrollment: Limited to 40 students.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

The UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy publishes semi-annually and strives to contribute pertinent and interesting scholarly works to the field of international law. The following student positions comprise the enrollment of this journal:

• Editor-In-Chief (EIC) 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. If there are two EIC, they have to decide who takes the units in the fall and who takes the units in the spring. EICs cannot each receive 1 unit each term.
• Managing Editor (ME) 3 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. ME positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.
• Senior Articles Editor (SAE) 2 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. SAE positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester. It is recommended that SAE positions not be filled by the same person in both fall and spring.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Editor 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. DEI position can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

The Social Justice Law Review is a biannual publication of the UC Davis School of Law that addresses the unique concerns of youth in the American legal system.  The following student positions comprise the enrollment of this journal:

• Editor-In-Chief (EIC) 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. If there are two EIC, they have to decide who takes the units in the fall and who takes the units in the spring. EICs cannot each receive 1 unit each term.
• Managing Editor (ME) 2 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. ME positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.
• Senior Articles Editors (SAE) 3 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. SAE positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester. It is recommended that SAE positions not be filled by the same person in both fall and spring.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Editor 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. DEI position can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

• Editor-In-Chief (EIC) 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. If there are two EIC, they have to decide who takes the units in the fall and who takes the units in the spring. EICs cannot each receive 1 unit each term.
• Managing Editor (ME) 1 position each semester, 1 unit per semester. ME position can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.
• Senior Articles Editor (SAE) 2 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. SAE positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester. It is recommended that SAE positions not be filled by the same person in both fall and spring.
• Executive Editors (EE) 2 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. EE positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester. It is recommended that EE positions not be filled by the same person in both fall and spring.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Editor 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. DEI position can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

The Immigration and Nationality Law Review (INLR) is in part a reprint journal and serves as an anthology of seminal articles in immigration, nationality, and citizenship law.  The INLR also creates space for student Notes.  The following student positions comprise the enrollment of this journal:

• Editor-In-Chief (EIC) 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. If there are two EIC, they have to decide who takes the units in the fall and who takes the units in the spring. EICs cannot each receive 1 unit each term.
• Managing Editors (ME) 2 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. ME positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.
• Executive Editors (EE) 3 positions each semester, 1 unit per semester. EE positions can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester. It is recommended that EE positions not be filled by the same person in both fall and spring.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Editor 1 position each semester, 2 units per semester. DEI position can be filled by the same person each semester or a different person each semester.

 Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy Advanced Writing Requirement with instructor's permission.

Named after the late Justice Frances Carr. Students participate in mock trials presided over by judges and critiqued by experienced litigators. A preliminary round is followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final round. Competition is open to second and third year students.

Enrollment: Limited to 40 students.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Participation in interschool moot court and lawyering skills competitions. Enrollment is limited to students actually representing the school in the interschool competitions. Competition must be authorized by the appropriate faculty advisor. The faculty advisor may condition the award of academic credit for any particular competition on the performance of such additional work as may be reasonable to justify the credit.

Prerequisite: Permission of the faculty advisor.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Members of the Moot Court Board assist in the administration of the School of Law’s Moot Court Program by performing a variety of tasks under the supervision of the course instructor. Members receive one credit for each semester of service on the board, up to a maximum of two. Credit is awarded only after approval by the instructor. Students must sign up to take both semesters.

Prerequisite: 410A and 410B Appellate Advocacy
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Members of the King Hall Negotiations Board assist in the administration of the King Hall Negotiation Team by performing a variety of tasks under the supervision of the course instructor. Members receive one credit for each semester of service on the board, up to a maximum of two per academic year. Credit is awarded only after approval by the instructor.

Enrollment by instructor permission.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Members of the Trial Practice Honors Board administer the Frances Carr Intraschool Trial Advocacy Competition. Members are nominated by their individual Trial Practice I adjuncts. Students receive one credit for service on the board. Credit is awarded upon approval of faculty advisor.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Completion of a law review writing project under the editorial supervision of editors of the UC Davis Law Review, and under the active and regular supervision of a faculty member if satisfying the Advanced Writing Requirement. Members must perform substantial support of production of the UC Davis Law Review (including but not limited to Bluebooking and cite-checking upcoming articles). In the spring semester, credit is obtained only upon making substantial progress towards completing the writing project and satisfactory production work. Credit for both semesters is awarded only after certification by the Editor in Chief and approval of the law review faculty advisor(s). 

Application through the UC Davis Law Review Write-On required for enrollment.
Graduation Requirements: May meet Advanced Writing Requirement with the instructor's permission.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Editors of the UC Davis Law Review are nominated after successful completion of 416 Law Review Member, and may receive four credits over two semesters for service as an editor. Credits are awarded on a deferred basis upon completion of both semesters. Editors must perform editorial duties requiring a substantial time commitment. Credit is awarded only after certification by the Editor in Chief and approval of the law review faculty advisor(s).

Editorship nomination through the UC Davis Law Review required for enrollment.
Prerequisites: 416 Law Review Member must be completed prior to enrolling in this course.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Environs is a biannual environmental law and policy journal which supports an open forum for the discussion of current environmental issues. Articles explore environmental issues, particularly those pertaining to the state of California. The editor in chief of Environs receives two unit of credit for each semester of service. Managing editors receive 1 unit of credit.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Environs is a biannual environmental law and policy journal that provides an open forum for the discussion of current environmental issues, particularly those pertaining to the state of California. Grading is on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis. The following student positions comprise the enrollment of this journal:

• Editor in Chief: 1 position, 2 units per semester. Position may be held by the same person for both semesters, or a different person each semester. If there are two Editors in Chief, they have to decide who takes the units in the fall and who takes the units in the spring. They cannot be split each semester.
• Managing Editor: 2 positions, 1 unit per year (will perform work both semesters, but receive credit only one semester)
• Executive Editor: 8 positions, 1 unit per semester

The completion of a writing project under the active and regular supervision of a faculty member in satisfaction of the legal writing requirement. The writing project must be an individually authored work of rigorous intellectual effort of at least 20 typewritten, double spaced pages, excluding footnotes. At least one draft of the paper is required to be exchanged between student and professor and feedback should be incorporated before the final submission of the paper. The project may take any of several forms; for example, a paper, a brief, a memorandum of law, a proposed statute, a statutory scheme or set of administrative regulations (with explanatory comments), or a will or agreement (with explanatory comments). The advanced writing project may also be undertaken in connection with another course or seminar to satisfy the advanced legal writing requirement. The number of units for the writing project is approved by the faculty supervisor and depends on the scope of the writing effort.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (Law 419)*
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies Advanced Writing Requirement.

*Unless a request for letter grading is made in advance (Law 419A).

 This clinic provides practical experience in providing legal services to indigent clients who have filed civil rights actions in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Students work on clinic cases under the supervision of the clinic director. Students are required to follow the clinic office procedures and to employ skills such as interviewing, counseling, research, writing, negotiating, taking and defending depositions, and possibly oral and trial advocacy. Students are certified to appear in court. Each unit of clinic credit assumes four hours of work per week. In any one semester, a minimum of two units (eight hours) of clinic work is required; this clinic work is required in addition to any credit received in the skills component of this program.

Prerequisite: Prior or concurrent enrollment in 219 Evidence. 
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement. 
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

2-6 units. King Hall’s Corporate Counsel Externship Program allows students to earn academic credit in the fall and spring semesters in in pre-vetted and approved corporate counsel offices for-profit and non-profit companies. Approved placements may be remote, hybrid or in-person. Field supervisors oversee assignments and feedback for students to build their legal skills and knowledge in this important legal sector. Students will learn how in-house attorneys collaborate and communicate with the company client, and how they incorporate the client’s unique mission, business, and industry context into their legal advice. 

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

Skills – 1 unit. Students who are concurrently enrolled in an externship will participate in guided discussions about issues that arise during their placements and explore professional development and professional identity topics. Through reflections, assigned readings, written exercises, and simulations, this course will help students develop key lawyering competencies and professionalism skills, as well as provide opportunities for them to draw on their externship experiences to advance their understanding of the role of lawyers in society. This seminar is optional for students participating in a concurrent externship/field placement.

Seminar will meet 4 times over the 13-week semester. Zoom options will be available for students doing full-time away field placements.

Prerequisite: Students must be concurrently enrolled in a field placement/externship.

Final Assessment: Attendance, participation, assignments, final reflection paper.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. See the externship website for more information. Students may enroll for part-time or full-time placements. Externs work in state and federal chambers, such as the California Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as well as all trial courts. Students may also work in administrative hearing offices. Students research legal issues, evaluate legal arguments, write judicial memoranda, draft opinions and orders and observe courtroom activity including motions, hearings and trials. As appropriate, students will take part in meetings and discussions in chambers.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. Each externship class has a syllabus outlining those requirements. See the Externship website for more information. Student externs work with the Internal Revenue Service or other governmental tax agency, such as the California Franchise Tax Board and the California Office of Tax Appeals. Assignments include legal research, analysis and writing, and observation of administrative appeals hearings when possible.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Fall semester only (2025-2026): Students provide holistic, client-centered civil legal assistance and representation to survivors of gender-based violence primarily by staffing a community walk-in pro per restraining order clinic; providing consultations to survivors of gender-based violence participating in Title IX cases and related civil matters responsive to clients’ individual goals; and creating a community outreach or research project. The clinic begins with an all-clinic orientation the Friday before Fall classes resume and an intensive orientation during the following Saturday focusing on gender-based violence, working with victims of trauma, and office procedures. Subsequent two-hour seminars are held throughout the year. In addition, student teams meet weekly with their supervising attorney. Clinic students engage in an average of 12 hours of work per week.

Prerequisite: Law 203 Civil Procedure and Prior or concurrent enrollment in Law 219 Evidence. 
Prior or concurrent enrollment in Law 272 Family Law is recommended.

Final Assessment: Other.
Grading Mode: Letter Grading.
Graduation Requirements: May satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement OR count towards the Professional Skills Requirement, student must choose one.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

The Immigration Law Clinic (ILC) provides legal representation to indigent non-citizens in removal proceedings before U.S. Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and federal courts,including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The ILC provides this necessary service to Northern California's immigrant communities, offering education and legal services to low-income immigrants facing deportation while enabling students to gain practical, real-world experience. ILC students take on all major aspects of litigation, including interviewing clients and witnesses, preparing legal briefs, drafting pleadings and motions, and arguing complex legal issues. ILC students regularly conduct naturalization and other legal workshops in the community, engage in broader advocacy projects related to the detention & deportation of immigrants, and provide know your rights presentations in local ICE detention centers.  Responding to the increased collaboration between criminal and immigration enforcement agencies, the ILC has also been at the forefront of indigent detention and deportation defense.

Each student is required to enroll for two semesters, receiving four units each semester for total of eight units. 

Recommended: Law 292 Immigration Law and Procedure and Law 219 Evidence are recommended. 
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

Clinic - 4 units. The Aoki Water Justice Clinic partners with residents, community organizations, and drinking water providers to address the need for clean, affordable drinking water. Through weekly lecture, case rounds, and practical experience, students will gain an understanding of state and federal water governance and regulation, local government mechanisms for delivering drinking water, and the legal and financial barriers to implementing safe drinking water projects. Under the supervision of the clinic director and staff attorney, students will work together in teams to advise clients on potential governance structures, funding options, and rate policies; design and present community education trainings; draft consolidation agreements and property agreements between water systems and local governments; research and draft comment letters to administrative agencies and State and local governments on issues affecting drinking water; develop and implement media strategies on issues affecting drinking water; and provide technical assistance to communities that seek state funding for water system and capital improvement projects. Students participating in the Clinic are required to attend a full day orientation in mid-August, as well as all clinic seminars, case rounds, and supervision meetings.

Application required for enrollment. Each student is required to enroll for two semesters, receiving four units each semester for a total of eight units. 

Final Assessment: Other
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency Requirement.
Class limit: 8 students

Clinic - 3 to 5 hours. Students who have successfully completed one semester with the Water Justice Clinic may enroll in the Advanced Water Justice Clinic. Students must attend all case round and supervision meetings, complete at least 9 hours of clinical work per week, and undertake a significant research project. Depending on the nature of the project, students may also be able to satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement.

Application required for enrollment.

Clinic – 3 to 5 hours. Groundwater is an essential resource for California’s billion-dollar farm economy. Historically, groundwater has been largely unmanaged in many parts of the state, which has led to declining groundwater levels, land subsidence, and reduced groundwater quality. In 2014, the Legislature passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to regulate groundwater use in California statewide for the first time through local groundwater agencies under state supervision. SGMA is a complicated, dynamic water rights regulatory law that is not easy to follow nor to comply with, especially for small farmers. Small farmers are essential to the nation’s food supply, including through their participation in farmers markets and producing organic food. This clinical class will help small farmers manage their groundwater resources under SGMA and protect their water rights so that they can continue to farm effectively. Among the clinical skills that will be developed, students will have the opportunity to work with and represent small farmers, educate the small farmer community about SGMA and legal developments, participate in local and state administrative proceedings relating to water, and advocate for small farmers in court and legislative hearings relating to SGMA.

Application required for enrollment.
Final Assessment: Paper
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Letter Grading

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. Each externship class has a syllabus outlining those requirements. This program is designed to provide students with hands-on lawyering experience in a legislative office, with a legislative committee, or with a government or nonprofit office engaged in legislative and policy work. The underlying purpose of the program is to enable students to become familiar with governance and policymaking in California, including how laws are made, and the role of attorneys in their interpretation and enforcement.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. See the Externship website for more information. Students gain hands-on experience with a variety of environmental law settings. Past placements have included a large number of California state agencies such as the Department of Water Resources, the state EPA, the CA Governor’s Office, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. See the Externship website for more information. Students gain practical experience in employment relations, including employment discrimination and public sector labor law. Students work under the direct supervision of a lawyer and may join in in a range of activities, with emphasis on observation and participation in actual investigation, interviewing, drafting pleadings, and attendance at hearings. Past placements have included the EEOC, the Legal Aid Society’s Employment Law Center and various CA Attorney General Divisions.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. See the externship website for more information. Students work with and under supervision of practitioners in a wide range of settings in the non-profit sector including advocacy groups, legal aid offices, and federal, state, county and city government offices. Assignments include client interviewing and counseling, research and writing, observation of administrative and judicial proceedings, attendance at client meetings, etc. Past placements have included Legal Services of Northern California, California Lawyers for the Arts, the ACLU, the US Department of Justice, California Attorney General and Agency offices, and civil placements with the US Attorney General.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

All King Hall externships have two components. Students perform substantive legal work at a field placement, and under the supervision of a faculty advisor, complete professional development assignments. See the externship website for more information. Intellectual property externs work for government, academic, and nonprofit entities. Assignments relate to evaluating, obtaining, and licensing intellectual property. Such activities may include assisting in patent prosecution, prior art searches, freedom to operate analyses, license drafting, and license negotiations. Prior placements have included the UC Davis Innovation Access office, the UC Davis PIPRA office in the Department of Plant Sciences and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

All King Hall externships have two components. At the field placement, students handle legal assignments under supervision of an attorney. Under the supervision of a faculty advisor, students complete professional development assignments. See the Externship website for more information. Students gain practical experience working full or part time in a District Attorney's or Public Defender's office or another appropriate placement in one of several surrounding counties or in a federal Public Defender or US Attorney's office.  Students participate in the office’s many activities: observation, interviewing, research, writing, counseling, motion practice, and trials under State Bar rules. There is a cap of 15 students so you should apply early. Students wishing to practice must qualify for certification by the relevant state or federal jurisdiction.

Prerequisite: Completion of or concurrent enrollment in 219 Evidence. 
Recommended course: 263A Trial Practice I
Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

This seminar is the companion seminar to the Washington UC-DC Externship and is designed to enhance the externship experience in three principal ways:

1. Teach students about the process of federal lawmaking directly from leading government lawyers, lobbyists, public interest advocates, and journalists.
2. Allow students to explore new career opportunities unique to the lawyering in Washington as they enhance their skill sets for success in any career path.
3. Have students investigate the unique roles of lawyers in making and changing federal law and policy.
   Class sessions generally include guest speakers and class discussion based on students' questions submitted in advance. Part of each session will be devoted to a "grand rounds"-style exchange to facilitate peer-to-peer learning about lawyering at the broad range of externship sites. Each student will write a final paper, typically on a legal topic selected in consultation with the instructor and the externship supervisor for educational value and salience to the office. The final classes of the term will be devoted to presentation of papers in progress. Each student will make detailed written comments on one fellow student's draft paper, and where possible will share those comments as a discussant when that paper is presented in class. A sample syllabus for the seminar is available.

Seminar - Companion seminar to a remote/part-time Externship where the organization or the supervisor is based in Washington DC. Designed to enhance a part-time/remote Washington D.C. experience. Taught in via Zoom with instructor in Washington, D.C.

Grading Mode:  Letter Grading
Final Assessment: None

During a semester's total immersion in a structured environment that integrates the theory and practice of Washington lawyering, students will have contact with all three branches of the federal government, independent regulatory agencies, advocacy nonprofits, and the media. The Program currently includes law students from several UC schools. The program is housed at the University of California Washington Center, a UC facility centrally located just minutes from the White House and most government departments and agencies.

There is a required companion seminar, Law 475B "Law and Lawyering in the Nation’s Capital (1). The Program is open to 2L and 3L students.

Graduation Requirements: Counts towards Professional Skills Requirement.
Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Groups of students (not fewer than four and not more than 10) with a common interest in studying a stated legal problem may plan and conduct their own research and seminar program, subject to the following six regulations: (1) the program extends over no more than two semesters; (2) the program plan and the list of group members are submitted to the dean’s office at least four weeks prior to the opening of the semester in which the program is to begin; (3) a three member faculty board is appointed for each group with the authority to approve or disapprove the program and the amount of credit sought; (4) any changes in the program or in the group’s membership is approved by the faculty board (normally, these changes are only approved prior to the semester in which the program begins); (5) the members of the group conduct a weekly seminar session at a time and place to be arranged by them; and (6) each member of the group submits an individual paper or an approved alternative based on the seminar subject to the faculty board.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

*Unless the entire group asks in advance for letter grades.

Students may receive credit for individual projects, subject to the following five regulations: (1) the project extends over no more than two semesters; (2) each project is supervised by a faculty member; (3) an outline of the project is approved by the supervising faculty member; (4) normally, no faculty member is permitted to supervise more than five students working on individual programs during any semester; and (5) each student submits an individual paper or approved alternative to the supervising faculty member.

Grading Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (Law 499)

*Unless a request for letter grading is made in advance (Law 499A)