Course Catalog

Formation of contracts; offer, acceptance, consideration. Statute of Frauds, parol evidence rule. Sale of goods under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Continuation of Contracts/Sales I - Statute of Frauds, performance, express and implied conditions, repudiation, impossibility.

Instruction in the use of research materials, in legal writing, in the fundamentals of legal analysis and in the solution of selected legal problems.

Intentional torts and defenses, negligence, causation, duties of occupants of land and manufacturers and vendors of chattels, contributory negligence, strict liability, deceit, defamation, malicious prosecution, interference with advantageous relations.

Basic course in property; possession, gifts, bona fide purchasers of personalty. Estates, uses, easements, and rights incident to ownership.

Historical and philosophical background of the right to sanction an individual for causing harm to the community. Application of these concepts to the federal sentencing framework; exploration of sentencing reform.

This course covers federal white collar crimes, including RICO, mail fraud, political corruption, and money laundering. This course also covers forfeiture and sentencing guidelines.

Jurisdiction; the criminal act, complete and incomplete; criminal intent, actual and constructive; duress and mistake of fact, of law; justification; parties in crime; crimes against the person and crimes against property.

This course covers search and seizure, the privilege against self-incrimination, confessions and identification procedures - in general, the constitutional cases arising out of the conflict between police practices and the Bill of Rights.

An interdisciplinary approach will be taken to examine the effects race has had and continues to have on the administration of criminal justice in the United States. The course begins by exploring the concept of race from different perspectives: biological; anthropological; sociological; psychological; and legal. Then how these legal constructs shaped the role race played in American culture will be examined. The course then delves into how race and the criminal justice system have interacted from historical and contemporary perspectives. Accomplishing this requires probing critical issues encountered at key stages in the process governing the administration of criminal justice. These issues include: the existence of offenses based on racial status(crimes such as rape, capital murder, drug offenses, racial profiling(driving and flying while black); victimology; pre-trial practices(bail); trial practices(misconduct by prosecutors and defense attorneys, urban rage defense, evidentiary issues, such as cross-racial identification and jury deliberations); and post-conviction (incarceration rates, loss of franchise) consequences.

This survey course covers a variety of issues, such as the history of capital punishment, the constitutionality of the death penalty, capital offenses, who is death eligible, the capital litigation process, the execution, and the future of capital punishment in the United States.

This course picks up where Criminal Procedure leaves off. Criminal Trial Process covers the adjudication of criminal cases from the initial court appearance through appeals. Topics may include, but are not limited to, charging, grand jury proceedings, pretrial motions, pleas, sentencing, appeals, double jeopardy, and habeas corpus.

Introduction to the civil action; personal and in rem jurisdiction; service or process and notice; subject matter jurisdiction; venue; choice of law; pleading.

Joinder of claims and parties; discovery; summary judgment; right to jury trial; trials and posttrial motions; res judicata and collateral estoppel.

"Give that back!" "Say you're sorry!" "You broke it, you bought it!" "Sit in the corner!" "That was very bad!" Bring back distant memories? Well, now that you're about to be lawyers, think courtroom instead of playground, think judge instead of teacher, and think replevin, injunction, restitution, contempt, and declaratory judgment. This course provides a survey of the question: "How can the court make it right?" In addition to the aforementioned tools of the plaintiff's trade, we will also explore the defendant's affirmative arsenal--"unclean hands," estoppel, laches, statutes of limitations. And in examining the many ways that courts might accomplish justice, we will uncover the limits on courts' power to do so. Grades will be based on a final exam.

The nature of the federal judicial function and its development; congressional authority to limit or expand the subject-matter jurisdiction of federal courts; constitutional and statutory extent of “arising under” jurisdiction; federal common law after Erie Railroad; distribution of power among federal and state courts; abstention doctrines and the Anti-Injunction Act; sovereign immunity and the Eleventh Amendment; significant treatment of civil rights actions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; and some exposure to federal habeas corpus.

RECOMMENDED: Constitutional Law II (Law 822).

Judicial interpretation of the Constitution; the federal system; powers of the national government; limitations on the exercise of state powers.

The skills of litigation, including trial advocacy, interviewing and counseling, negotiation and pleading. Lecture one hour; laboratory 3-5 hours per week. Litigation Skills is a course in trial practice designed to provide students with experience in the skills necessary for trial work. Both "laboratory" and regular class meetings are involved. Video tape is often used to show the student how she/he is performing and as an aid in classroom discussion. The course covers all phases of trial work from the initial interview to trial. Assignments include interviewing; drafting pleadings and motions; discovery; and all phases of trial work.

The course provides a practical view of the litigation process and should help a student decide whether to seek to become a trial lawyer. Sections may be limited to 16 students.

PREREQUISITE: Evidence (Law 890).

Protection of individuals and organizations by the Bill of Rights, the fourteenth amendment, and other provisions of the Constitution. Constitutional Law II covers civil liberties and civil rights and is designed to complete the review of the basic constitutional law materials that was begun in Constitutional Law I. Constitutional Law II is concerned with the principal guarantees of the first and fourteenth amendments, such as freedom of speech, press, and religion, and the Equal Protection Clause and how it applies to discrimination against minorities, women, and "fundamental interests." The areas covered are considered basic to an understanding of American law. The course will also provide needed background for other substantive courses involving individual rights and liberties.

RECOMMENDED: Constitutional Law I (Law 820) is very strongly recommended for transfer students. 

This course explores three topics: choice of law doctrine, constitutional limits on choice of law doctrine, and enforceability of judgments, including res judicata and collateral estoppel principles. Half of the course is spent on choice of law which provides students an opportunity to consider both the policy and practical justifications that support how courts exercise power over the substance of disputes. It gives students an opportunity to think about the material learned in civil procedure and to gain a better understanding of the way in which principles of jurisdiction, choice of law, and enforceability of judgments relate. Because modern thinking about choice of law gives great weight to the underlying purpose of a rule of law, the course gives students an opportunity to exercise some creative reasoning. While personal jurisdiction is not covered in depth, it is covered in review in many of the cases.

The last decade has witnessed a dramatic national trend toward the use of alternatives to litigation as a method of resolving disputes. Each month new statutes, court rules and administrative regulations require the use of out-of-court procedures to address claims and controversies. In each case the goal is greater fairness, greater efficiency, or greater party control over procedures and results. Some of these processes, such as mediation, mini-trial, and summary jury trial, are aimed at facilitating settlement of controversies prior to trial on the merits. Others, such as binding arbitration, involve private judging of disputes.This course may be used toward the experiential learning requirement.

The course examines the negotiating process in various contexts such as property transfers, domestic relations, employment relations and personal injury conflicts. It reviews the basic techniques of the negotiator, transactional analysis as a negotiator's tool, the elements of bargaining strength and strategy, the role of precedent in negotiation, psychodynamic characteristics of the negotiating process, communications problems of the negotiator, the impact of cultural differentiations on the negotiating process, and ethical norms of the lawyer-negotiator. The course is important for students because most effective lawyers rely on negotiating more than on any other process for resolving their client's or employer's conflicts with others.

The course systematically explores the legal drafting process and drafting techniques. It also provides intensive drafting practice. Students complete multiple drafting-related exercises and projects, many of which become the focus of class discussions or meetings with the instructor. Exercises and projects generally focus upon contracts, statutes, wills, or other typical legal work product. Final grades are based upon performance on the exercises and projects. 

This course provides an introduction to appellate practice and procedure in federal court. This course is designed to provide students the basic substantive knowledge and skills needed to advocate effectively in a federal court of appeals. The course begins with a discussion of the function of the court of appeals and the function and the determination of whether to appeal, including the effect of an appeal. The course discusses initiating and perfecting an appeal from state and federal courts, relief pending appeal, and the record on appeal. The course provides an intensive training in appellate skills and includes written and oral assignments. The writing assignments include the preparation of a notice of appeal, a brief, and various motions, including a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and a motion for panel or en banc rehearing. The course also provides a comprehensive study of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, including the standards and procedures for obtaining a writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court, and the local rules of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, including electronic filing. The course includes instruction on oral advocacy, mock arguments on the briefs, and the options and procedures for obtaining further review of an adverse appellate decision. In addition, federal practitioners and federal appellate judges will be invited to discuss appellate advocacy. This course may be used to satisfy the College of Law’s Professional Skills Requirement OR Substantial Writing Requirement (but not both).

This is a survey course designed to cover the entire field of federal antidiscrimination law and thereby provide a "bridge" between Constitutional Law II and the more advanced courses/seminars in specific areas of civil rights law. Topics to be covered include employment discrimination (primarily focusing on race, sex, age, and disability issues); housing discrimination(primarily focusing on race, disability, and family issues); other disability discrimination issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act; discrimination in public accommodations and government programs; litigation issues(such as special defenses, remedies, and how the proof of claims based on direct evidence of intent, circumstantial evidence of intent, and disparate impact differ from one another); and a brief survey of the more important questions that arise in suits brought under 42 USC 1983.

PREREQUISITE: Constitutional Law II (Law 822). 

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the law of state constitutions. Course topics include the framing of state constitutions; state constitutional rights; state governmental powers; the structures of state government; and state constitutional change, including theories of popular constitutionalism and direct democracy. Each of these topics will be addressed in two ways: (1) through comparison of the treatment of the topics in different state constitutions and the federal Constitution; and (2) through focused experimentation of the topics as they are presented in the Kentucky Constitution and interpreted in Kentucky case law.

PREREQUISITE: Constitutional Law II (Law 822). May be taken concurrently.

The field of health law is often divided into three major subject areas: financing (the payor), business and regulatory issues (the provider), and bioethics (the patient). This course focuses on the business/regulatory aspects of the health care industry and Bioethical Issues in the Law focuses on the patient. (See Medical Liability (Law 832) for a related course offering.) In this class, we will examine the means by which healthcare entities organize and the ways that healthcare providers are compensates, which contains the study of private and public means of healthcare insurance, i.e. Medicare, Medicaid and managed care organizations. This will lead us to examine the limitations on uses of reimbursement and the ways that these topics affect patients' access to healthcare.

RECOMMENDED: Business Associations (Law 851) and Administrative Law (Law 920).

The course will cover topics such as legal reasoning in bioethical situations, determination of death, issues in human reproduction, organ transplantation, genetic testing, clinical research with human subjects, and end-of-life decision-making. This second survey course in the health law area will provide students who take this course and the Healthcare Organizations and Finance course with a broad understanding of this increasingly important area of the law.

RECOMMENDED: Constitutional Law II (Law 822).

This course examines the liability issues that arise from the provision of medical care. The course studies the physician/patient relationship, when it begins and how it can be terminated. It examines the extent of the duties owed by providers to patients, including requirements relating to confidentiality, informed consent and records disclosure. The course also provides a detailed treatment of the common law of provider liability, focusing on medical malpractice. The course also examines the question of legislative reform of medical liability

Over 95% of the cases filed in courts today settle or are disposed of by motion. To be prepared properly for the practice of law, students aspiring to be civil litigators will need instruction in pretrial matters. This course is designed to provide the student with a working knowledge of both pretrial advocacy theory and fundamental pretrial skills involved in civil litigation. Students will receive instruction on all aspects of civil pretrial practice, primarily in federal court, including: case evaluation, interviewing, fact investigation and evaluation, client counseling, pleadings, discovery, negotiations, mediation, and motions practice.

The course will typically be based upon mock federal civil case files for which students will be divided into plaintiff and defendant counsel groups. In addition to discussion of pretrial methods, rules and procedures, the students will actually prepare the mock case by evaluating the case, interviewing witnesses, fact finding, and participating in both written and oral discovery as well as motion practice and pretrial conferences and/or mediation. By actively practicing the technique and theory learned, the students will be involved in problem solving, legal analysis, strategy, management of cases and the resolution of ethical problems presented. Students will develop written and oral skills while applying substantive law as required by the chosen case file. Enrollment is limited to 24 students.

PREREQUISITES: Evidence (Law 890). 

Deposition mechanics, including identification of potential witnesses, preparation of pre-deposition outlines, and appropriate deposition technique will be addressed by lecture and application to deposition exercises. Students will also use analysis of the material to conduct a mock deposition from the preplanning stages to the conclusion of the transcript.

An examination of the varying roles played by lawyers in society and the conflicting pressures created by each role. Special attention is paid to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Code of Professional Responsibility as guides for appropriate conduct. REQUIRED FOR GRADUATION.

This course will apply neoclassic economic concepts to the law. The literature in the course is both positive (explaining rules in terms of economics concepts) and normative (arguing that legal rules should promote economic efficiency). The following subject areas will likely be covered: property, contracts, family law, tort law, criminal law, employment law, public utility law, corporate law, securities regulation, and taxation.

PREREQUISITE: Business Associations (Law 851).

This is a three-hour survey course on the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In this course, we will study and discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s major decisions relating to non-establishment and the free exercise of religion. Specific areas of coverage will include: tax exemptions for religious organizations; provision of public services through such organizations; presentation or display of religious text and iconography on public property, including public schools; legislatively granted exemptions from generally applicable laws for religiously based conduct; similar judicially imposed exemptions; constitutionally grounded actions to rectify discrimination on the basis of religion; and judicial management of cases involving intra-denominational disputes. The grade will be based primarily on a final examination.

PREREQUISITE: Constitutional Law II (Law 822). Transfer students who have not completed Constitutional Law I (Law 820) during their first year may take Constitutional Law II concurrently with this course.

Constitutional aspects of gender discrimination; employment discrimination; a criminal law unit covering women as victims and as offenders. 

This course will focus on the mechanics of judicial decision making and opinion writing. Each week, students will read the lower court opinion and merits and selected amicus briefs of selected cases currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The class will focus on these cases and deliberate the merits of each side’s arguments, much like the Supreme Court does during its conferences. We will also explore theories of judicial decision making, interpretation and policy. At the end of each class, we will “vote” as to how we think the decision should come out. Students will be expected to write majority and dissenting opinions in one of the cases we discuss, which must include substantial original thought and research. The grade will be based primarily on these judicial opinions. This course may be used to satisfy the College of Law’s Professional Skills Requirement OR Substantial Writing Requirement (but not both).

PREREQUISITE: Constitutional Law II (Law 822). 

This course presents a survey of various schools of legal philosophical thought with an emphasis on how they help us to understand the nature and function of law, the work of judges and other adjudicators, and our tasks as lawyers. The course will include readings from the natural law/natural rights tradition old and new, legal positivism and critical responses to it, legal realism and its offshoots such as law and economics and critical legal studies.

A basic introduction to social science methodology and research and the interaction of those methods and the resulting research with the law. Students will be introduced to the actual and potential uses of social science in legal analysis and the study of the law, and to the perspective of the law as a social system in addition to its function as a system of rules.

This course is designed to introduce students to certain bookkeeping and accounting principles. In general, class discussion will concentrate on the relevance of accounting judgments to legal problems, rather than focusing on more technical problems. Students will examine income statements, balance sheets, and other accounting documents. Emphasis will be placed on an understanding of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and the abuses of GAAP. Students with undergraduate credit in financial accounting can take this course only with the permission of the instructor.

The foundation for all upper division business courses, both tax and non-tax. Students interested in the business curriculum should take this course in the Fall semester of their second year in order to sequence upper division courses properly. The course includes a study of partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, agency law and corporations. The study of partnerships and limited partnerships involves matters of formation, property rights, fiduciary duties, dissolution and liquidation. The study of agency law is interwoven into the consideration of partnerships and corporations and is generally limited to matters of principals and agents (i.e., to agency principles applied in contractual settings). The study of corporations constitutes the predominant focus of the course and includes the formation and operation of corporations, an introduction to securities laws, proxy solicitation rules, fiduciary duties of officers, directors and majority shareholders, insider trading and antifraud provisions under federal securities laws and derivative suits.

The second half of a student's study of corporation law (the first half is the course in Business Associations). This course is essential for anyone who intends to be involved to any significant degree in a corporate practice and very helpful to those persons intending to practice in other areas as financial and accounting concepts are very much a part of the general practice of law.

The course involves a study of the rights of security holders, including bondholders, preferred shareholders and common shareholders, and a study of dividends, stock dividends, repurchases of outstanding securities, mergers and acquisitions, including freezeouts, leveraged buyouts and tender offers. Time is spent on present value concepts and accounting theory, which are interwoven into the consideration of substantive legal issues.

PREREQUISITE: Business Associations (Law 851).

This course focuses on planning, drafting, interviewing, negotiating, and strategies involving typical small business clients and problems. Students will work in pairs or small groups drafting and completing documents required to competently represent clients in a business practice. Among the transactions covered are the formation of a new business organization, buying and selling business interests, and combinations. Drafting assignments include detailed legal memoranda, contracts, corporate articles, and partnership agreements. The ethics of representation in each situation will also be addressed. Grades will be based predominantly on written work. 

PREREQUISITES: Business Associations (Law 851), Taxation I (Law 860), Partnership Tax (Law 861) and prior or concurrent enrollment in Corporate Tax (Law 863).

RECOMMENDED: Corporation Finance Law (Law 855) and Securities Regulation (Law 875).

This course introduces students to the laws and policies governing the formation, operation, and dissolution or conversion of nonprofit organizations, including charities, foundations, associations, and clubs. The class will cover the creation and governance of nonprofit organizations, as well as federal tax law relating to charities and other nonprofit organizations. The class will include both lectures and practical exercises.

PREREQUISITE: Law 851 (Business Associations).

This course deals with the fundamental principles of the income tax applied to both individual and corporate taxpayers. The subject matter can be divided into five broad categories: identification and computation of gross income; business and personal deductions; identification of the proper taxpayer with respect to income and deductions; determination of the proper years for including items in income or claiming deductions; and capital gains taxation. On a second level, throughout the course great attention is devoted to the legal process: the interrelationship and relative weight of statutes – the Internal Revenue Code – Regulations promulgated by the Department of the Treasury, and case law.

Although most of the material in the course is presented in the context of transactional problems, throughout the course emphasis is laid on consistent themes and policies to which the legislative, regulatory, and judicial authorities look for the answer to questions in income taxation.

The federal income tax touches almost every transaction in which a lawyer can be involved on behalf of a client, from a divorce action to the sale of a business. A basic understanding of the impact of federal taxes is essential for every lawyer. The course provides that basic understanding and is designed for all students. Those students who have any expectations of being involved in a practice entailing clients with business interests should also take the courses in Taxation of Business Enterprises.

This course focuses primarily on the tax concerns of small businesses organized in the partnership form. Its structure and content is designed to provide the general tax background that any lawyer, whether a general practitioner in a small city or a corporate lawyer in a large city, needs in order adequately to advise clients whether to form a partnership to conduct a business and how to draft the various documents, such as the partnership agreement or buy-sell agreements, in order to secure the most favorable tax treatment. In this sense it is an analog to parts of the Business Associations course. Specific topics covered with respect to both partnerships include formation of the organization, taxation of operating income and distributions of profits to partners, sales of interests back to the entity (liquidation of partnership interests), liquidation of the corporation or partnership entity, and selected topics regarding sales of partnership interests. The course also includes an introduction to corporate taxation. Because the structure and many specific contractual provisions of many corporate transactions and real estate investment arrangements (which are most often organized as partnerships) are very strongly influenced by tax considerations this is a vital curse for anyone planning to practice "corporate" or "real estate" law and a necessary course for anyone engaged in a "general practice" involving a significant number of "business" clients.

PREREQUISITE: Taxation I (Law 860).

This course builds on Partnership Tax (but which is NOT a prerequisite) and focuses primarily on corporations and S-Corporations. It is an essential course for anyone planning to practice corporate law.

PREREQUISITE: Taxation I (Law 860).

This course covers numerous issues related to real estate conveyancing, including contractual issues, title assurance, and financing the transactions. The course focuses on residential real estate transactions, but issues related to commercial real estate will also be addressed.

The primary focus of this course is the federal taxation of wealth transfers, whether those transfers occur during lifetime or after death. We may also briefly examine Kentucky inheritance tax laws. In studying this material, students will gain experience working through statutory interpretation and applying statutes to problems and fact patterns to see the way that the rules work in real world situations. In this course we will also consider the goal of balancing the minimization of clients’ transfer tax obligations with the other non-tax goals clients might have. Examples of non-tax objectives include meeting the financial needs of survivors, providing for management of the property of minors and incompetents, and reducing probate and other expenses of estate administration. Finally, we will examine the policy goals behind imposing a wealth transfer tax, and the statutory and regulatory strategies used by the IRS to respond to impermissible avoidance techniques used by taxpayers.

RECOMMENDED: Taxation I (Law 860) and Trusts & Estates (Law 876) are strongly recommended. 

This is a two-hour, problem-oriented, skills course. Problems will be distributed to the class involving detailed factual situations, e.g., owners of a small, closely held business; a middle income family with three minor children and a fiancé seeking a prenuptial agreement. Students will be expected to draft appropriate wills, trusts, and other legal documents for their clients. Role playing will be used to better simulate realistic situations. Students will learn some of the more sophisticated estate planning techniques, e.g., revocable trust agreements; trusts utilizing unified credit exemptions of both spouses; charitable remainder trusts; prenuptial agreements; post-nuptial agreements; planning for qualified pension plans; etc. Emphasis will be placed on teaching interviewing skills, communicating with clients, ethical considerations, financial planning and drafting skills. Enrollment is limited to a maximum of 16 students. 

PREREQUISITES: Trusts and Estates (Law 876).

This course will cover the legal rules and processes that govern the human use, management, and protection of nature. Topics include the history of resource acquisition and management, current mechanisms for the management, use, and preservation of natural resources, and competing ideas about how and why natural resources should be valued, used, and conserved.

This course will provide an introduction to energy and mineral law, regulation and policy in the United States. It will cover the regulatory environment, state and federal, for natural gas, electricity, coal, and nuclear power. It will explore the generation, distribution and regulation of electricity, coal, oil and gas, and renewable energy sources. Regulation of utilities will also be covered. 

A comprehensive survey of the basic legal devices to control the use of land, theories of land use planning, nuisance, easements and restrictive covenants, zoning and zoning procedure, the role of the state and federal government in land use regulation and environmental protection. There are no prerequisites for this course. Students, however, would benefit from taking Constitutional Law II (Law 822) before or concurrently with this course.

The law governing the issuance, distribution and trading of securities under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "1934 Act"); the obligation to register securities; public offerings by issuers; secondary distributions; registration requirements growing out of mergers; definition of a "security"; the exemptions from registration requirements; and insider trading prohibitions and antifraud provisions under the 1933 Act and 1934 Act. Students enrolled in Securities Regulation should have completed Business Associations.

RECOMMENDED: Business Associations (Law 851) is strongly recommended.

Examination of rules governing intestate distribution of property; formal requirements governing execution, alteration, and revocation of wills; requisite elements of express trusts and requirements for their creation; special rules relating to charitable trusts and spendthrift trusts; rules concerning construction of wills and trusts and general rules governing administration of decedents' estates and trusts.

This course will focus on the basics of payment transactions using checks and other negotiable instruments. The course will cover the concepts of good faith purchase, negotiability, the rights of a holder in due course of a negotiable instrument and risk of loss from theft or fraud. These topics are governed by Articles 3 and 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code and related federal regulations.

This course will focus on secured credit transactions involving both businesses and individuals, and will include an examination of contemporary bank lending practices and questions that arise in analyzing, approving and monitoring loan transactions. Issues arising in the course are governed by Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code; however, there also will be some discussion of bankruptcy and related state and federal laws.

Bankruptcy is the study of what happens to contractual and other relationships when one of the parties simply cannot fulfill duties established under other areas of the law. Thus the course picks up where other courses leave off. The coverage of the course is broad – examining the problems of individual consumer debtors as well as the problems of insolvent multinational corporations. The course will focus on the United States Bankruptcy Code, but will touch on other areas of debt collection law. Because bankruptcy has become a pervasive part of the legal landscape, the course is important for all practicing attorneys.

Nature of contract, insurable interest, making the contract, concealment, representations, warranties, implied conditions of forfeiture, waiver and estoppel, rights under the contract, and construction of the policy.

A comprehensive course in the law that controls the admissibility of evidence in the trial of civil and criminal cases. The Federal Rules of Evidence are addressed extensively, although not at the expense of adequate treatment of state law. The following specific areas are addressed: (1) testimonial qualifications of witnesses; (2) relevancy; (3) lay and expert opinion; (4) credibility of witnesses; (5) direct and circumstantial evidence; (6) the hearsay doctrine; (7) the best evidence rule; (8) the requirements of authentication; (9) the preservation of errors for appellate review; (10) evidentiary privileges; and (11) burden of proof and presumptions.

This course will cover the legal rules and processes that govern the human use, management, and protection of nature. Topics include the history of resource acquisition and management, current mechanisms for the management, use, and preservation of natural resources, and competing ideas about how and why natural resources should be valued, used, and conserved.

This course will introduce students to the basic sources of foreign and international law and to the techniques students will be able to use to find them. Coverage will include: sources of international law and methods for researching them; introduction to the world’s major types of legal systems, the sources of law that constitute legal authority for each, and methods for finding foreign legal authorities; and specific focus on researching the law of the European Union.

This course will expose students to the research skills used in many areas of the executive branch. Students will work on simulations of realistic problems faced by lawyers in the various administrative agencies or lawyers challenging those agencies.

This course provides an introduction to issues and laws pertaining to the rights of animals, including: the different statutory and non-statutory definitions of the term “animal,” their evolution, and the significance of these changes; the general and specific legal status of animals is considered; the history of the legal status and rights of two other types of property that belong to the tangible sentient personal property category (slaves and minor unemancipated children), and how the criminal law did, and does, intersect with the property owner’s right in this category of personal property. The course will then examine specific contemporary “rights” of animals with respect to freedom from abuse, neglect and cruelty, in situations involving companion/pet animals, sporting (including fighting), racing, hunting, and entertainment. 

This course is directed at students with an interest in developing an in-depth knowledge of current issues in equine law. Equine law is an amalgamation of various areas of the law employed specifically in the advancement of the equine industry. The industry is founded on a tradition of handshake deals (which still take place at the highest level) but is increasingly sophisticated. This course will take a multi-disciplinary approach and investigate current topics, including account wagering, simulcasting, stallion syndications, multiple ownership vehicles, intellectual property, tax and other emerging topics. The course will investigate the legal relationships (rights, duties, and obligations) among and between the constituent parties in horse racing, breeding, ownership and sport horse activities and the laws that to a greater or lesser degree define those relationships.

PREREQUISITES: Law 860 (Tax I); concurrent enrollment is permitted.

This is the law school's independent research course. Law 896 can be taken by anyone after the first year. It may be taken twice. In order to enroll in the course, you must have the approval of a sponsoring professor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Forms are available on the Law Intranet (under “Student Resources” / "Forms") or from the Registrar's Office. Students who plan to take this course must present a completed prospectus about their research and a signed approval form before they will be allowed to sign up for the course. The Associate Dean will not normally approve proposals submitted after the first day of class. A paper 25 pages or more in length, exclusive of footnotes, is required. This course may be used to satisfy the Substantial Writing Requirement, but not in a student's final semester of study at the College of Law.

This course will provide students with an introduction to business and federal tax law related materials and advanced research training on locating and using these materials. Topics covered will include primary sources of business and federal tax law, secondary sources for business and federal tax law, business and securities forms and filings, and competitive intelligence.

This survey course examines the role of the law in protecting the environment. The course provides an overview of the following principal federal environmental statutes: the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource, Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. We will also consider the problem of regulating toxic chemicals, the role of the common law in environmental protection, and the problem of judicial review and enforcement.

This seminar addresses current topics in commercial, bankruptcy, or consumer law, and provides an opportunity for students to round out their experience by performing in-depth research on a topic of their choosing within this area. The first part of the course will provide an introduction to some interesting and emerging areas of bankruptcy, commercial, and consumer law, with an emphasis on areas that are covered only briefly in other courses at the law school. Topics will vary each year but might include consumer protection and access to justice issues, international/cross-border financing, law and technological change, and the dynamics of law reform. Students will then choose a topic to explore in more depth, either from among the topics discussed in the early part of the course or from other related issues that interest the student, writing a paper and presenting their research findings to the class. Depending on availability, guests from outside the law school may attend some classes and provide an opportunity for students to learn from and interact with experts in the relevant fields.

Prerequisite: Either one of the following: LAW 885, Bankruptcy Law or LAW 882, Secured Transactions

This externship will allow the student to obtain familiarity with legal practice in support of a federal agency.  Students will be asked to support a wide range of legal tasks related to the decontaminating and decommissioning of former nuclear facilities in Paducah, KY and Portsmouth, OH.  A primary focus of this externship will be action planning and implementation aimed at the resolution of environmental liabilities existing at both sites under a range of environmental statutory structures including CERCLA, RCRA and the Atomic Energy Act.  Students will gain experience in assisting with representations made by the federal government attorney in regulatory interactions with both state (e.g., Ohio EPA and Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection) and federal (e.g., U.S. EPA) agencies.  Practical legal experiences may also include exposure to areas of legal practice beyond environmental law, including procurement, contracting, real property, and contractor human relations.

PREREQUISITE: Environmental Law (concurrent enrollment OK)

In this seminar, we will explore some of the themes and debates at the forefront of criminal law’s approach to sex crimes. During the first half of the semester, we will discuss at length concepts of agency and consent in the context of various sexual activities that have been criminalized. We will examine how the law constructs gender and sexuality, and discuss what role we think the law should play in regulating such activities. Against this backdrop, we will spend the second half of the semester reviewing some of current cutting edge legal issues in on-the-ground sex crimes law and procedure.

Students may enroll in this class upon selection as Site Supervisor for the College of Law Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) clinic. Students would be expected to: (1) complete full training and certification as a volunteer at the advanced and foreign-student levels, (2) assist in training first–time volunteers, and (3) supervise other volunteers during the VITA clinic’s time of operations for at least three hours each week.

PREREQUISITES: Law 860 (Taxation I) and prior experience as a VITA volunteer.

This course is designed for law students who want to further practice and enhance their skills in effective legal analysis, legal communication, and persuasion that are relevant to a variety of legal documents and practice areas.  Students will also learn the theory behind effective argumentation.  Because the skills and theory will be introduced in the context of in-class exercises and writing assignments that require students to solve problems for hypothetical clients, the course also exposes students to common legal documents beyond those introduced in Legal Research and Writing (LAW 804).  While emphasis of the course, specific assignments, and subject matter involved in assignments will vary depending on the professor who is teaching each semester, students can expect to complete the following:  a closed universe predictive issue analysis (similar to what is required for the Multi-State Performance Test); a major writing assignment that involves substantial independent research and original thought (e.g., a memorandum in support of, or in opposition to, a dispositive pre-trial motion, such as a motion to dismiss or a motion for summary judgment); and exercises designed to emphasize effective oral and written communication with lawyers and clients.  This is not a drafting course.  The course can satisfy a student’s Substantial Writing Requirement or Experiential Credits Requirement (but not both). 

The Institute for Compassion in Justice Externship provides students with the opportunity to combine an interest in case advocacy on behalf of children and young adults with policy reform.  The Externship will focus on the rights of this population of individuals though the lens of the Fourteenth Amendment and state constitutional law principles that recognize the obligation of the state to treat all persons fairly and to ensure structural, implicit, or explicit bias does not limit the rights of children and young adults.  ICJ is a nonprofit organization focused on justice for Kentucky’s youth.

This course will cover the legal rules and processes that govern the human use, management, and protection of nature.  In this course, we will survey the history of resource acquisition and management, current mechanisms for the management, use, and preservation of natural resources, and competing ideas about how and why natural resources should be valued, used, and conserved.  (This course complements Environmental Law and Land Use Planning, but none is a prerequisite for the others.)  Each class will be a combination of lecture and interactive discussion.

The functions of trademarks; what may be protected; how protection is acquired or lost; nature and scope of trademark rights; infringement and defenses; false advertising; jurisdiction and remedies.

Rights of employees to organize labor unions, obligations and prerogatives of employers, questions of representation, privileges and obligations of unions, collective bargaining and dispute settlement. This course also provides an excellent opportunity to observe the varied characteristics of different techniques for conflict resolution and the problems of bridging the gap between legislative policy and the actual impact of the law. There are no prerequisites for this course. However, Constitutional Law (Law 820 and 822) and Administrative Law (Law 920) may give students a better perspective for appreciating some aspects of the course.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the law as it impacts the American primary and secondary education system. Course topics include education as an individual right and a state duty; campus safety; student and teacher rights relating to expression, religion and privacy; educational policy development; copyright issues; education of students with disabilities; educational funding and accountability; and other topics as they timely emerge in the ongoing public debates over education policy and law. Students planning to take the Education Law Seminar (Law 944) are strongly recommended to take this course first.

RECOMMENDED: Constitutional Law II (Law 822). 

Survey of the values at issue and the legal doctrines, statutes and rules (including workers' compensation) that regulate those rights and responsibilities of employers and workers which are not controlled by collectively bargained agreements. The structures for administering the more important areas of such regulation are also studied. Course coverage includes: the law of individual employment contracts, the employer's responsibility for job health and safety, workers' compensation, wage-hour laws, retirement benefits, health insurance benefits, and unemployment compensation. Total employee compensation, including wages, salaries and other benefits, represent about three-fourths of Gross National Income. The law of work, therefore, affects most Americans. Many aspects of employment generate legal problems and the law's intervention inevitably poses difficult policy choices. Often these are resolved through relatively unique administrative processes and involve special legal doctrines. 

This course is designed to help students acquire the research skills needed to be effective practicing attorneys. Moving beyond first year basic legal research, this course integrates manual and on-line resources with emphasis on strategies for cost effective, efficient research. Assignments and a practice oriented research problem which includes a class presentation are required.

This course will focus on the law of products liability. It will cover all the causes of action for products liability, negligence, strict liability and warranty, with detailed treatment of some or all of the following issues: design defects, failure to warn, hybrid transactions, federal preemption, comparative fault and assumption of risk, negligent marketing, causation, punitive damages, toxic tort and class action litigation.

Family Law’s primary focus is the establishment and dissolution of legally binding “domestic” relationships. Historically, the paradigm relationship between adults has been marriage. We will study marriage and its dissolution extensively not only to understand the rights and responsibilities arising from marriage, but also to examine the social policy inherent in limiting certain rights and responsibilities only to the marital relationship. The parent-child relationship is also an important social relationship. We study establishing parentage (paternity), child custody, child support, and termination of parental rights and adoption to examine private disputes over children as well as the state’s right to interdict or reassign the parent-child relationship.

This course covers legal issues related to childhood. The course is divided into three phases. The course first focuses on the relationship between the child, parent, and state. This phase will include discussion of parentage, the constitutional rights of parents and children, and the right of the state to intervene in families with respect to children. The course turns to discussions of civil child neglect and abuse, termination of parental rights, and foster care. The final segment of the course addresses juvenile delinquency, including the basis for the juvenile delinquency system, the constitutional rights of juvenile offenders, and the juvenile delinquency process.

This course is designed to cover in depth some of the important topics of tort law that often are not covered in basic Torts. Those topics include economic torts such as tortious interference with contract and economic advantage and the economic loss rule. The major dignitary torts of Defamation and Right to Privacy are also covered. 

This course is designed to examine and interpret federal immigration legislation and policy. The course will include coverage of such topics as the constitutional origins of immigration legislation, definitions of immigrant and non-immigrant categories, grounds for exclusion and/or deportation, and asylum cases. 

Establishment of administrative tribunals and limits on discretion. Notice and hearing, orders, methods of judicial relief, scope of judicial review. This course covers how administrative agencies fit into the legal scheme, and the extent to which they are subject to the control of the legislature, the executive, and, most importantly, the courts. Careful analysis is given to the nature and extent of substantive and procedural requirements imposed upon agencies by the courts, and, in some cases, by the Congress, notably through the Administrative Procedure Act. Methods of judicial review of administrative action, and obstacles thereto, are also covered.

RECOMMENDED: Transfer students should complete Constitutional Law I (Law 820) before taking this class.

This course looks comprehensively at the law governing the political process and democratic self-government. Topics covered include the constitutional aspects of the right to vote, including voter eligibility; legislative redistricting; nomination of candidates and rights of third parties; campaign practices (including campaign finance); and administration of the voting process (including rules for voter eligibility, casting, counting, and recounting of ballots, and judicial contests of election results). Students interested in government, election law, voting rights, and democratic theory are encouraged to enroll.

RECOMMENDED: Constitutional Law II (Law 822)

This course will allow for the study of the law relating to international environmental degradation. After a brief introduction to the problem of ensuring international environmental quality and the sources and forms of international environmental law, the course will examine a number of issues of international pollution control. In this part of the course, we will study international responses to the problems of global warming, ozone depletion, and trans-boundary pollution. We will also consider issues of international resource management, such as those related to conservation of endangered species and preservation of biodiversity. In considering these issues, we will consider the developing principles of international environmental law (including the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle). We should also have sufficient time to consider the relation between international trade and environmental protection. There are no prerequisites for this course.

This is a survey course on the legal regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which stands at the center of the current international debate about “globalization” and has triggered protests (and worse!) from Seattle to Doha. The course will examine, among other things, the legal structure of the WTO, dispute settlement, most favored nation and national treatment principles, trade in services, trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, and linkages/conflicts between trade regulation and environmental protection, labor standards and other important areas of domestic policy. In addition, depending upon the class’s interests, we will focus on one or two “hot topics” in international trade law chosen from such areas as the threat of globalization – myth or reality; the North-South divide over trade in agricultural products; national restrictions on importation of genetically modified organisms; the availability of patented pharmaceuticals in least developed countries; and “cultural” limits on trade in audiovisual products such as films, videos, and television programming. The grade will be based on a final examination, with a paper option for highly motivated individuals.

This course provides an introduction to public international law with an emphasis on how international law is treated in the U.S. legal system. The course will cover such topics as sources of international law, the status of treaties and custom in domestic law, foreign sovereign immunity, the act of state doctrine, and allocation of legal authority among states.

This course covers the basic legal structure (U.S., foreign, and international) regulating international sales contracts, international finance, international civil litigation and arbitration (jurisdiction, choice of law, enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards), tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, export licensing, international aspects of intellectual property (patents, trademarks and copyrights), regulation of foreign investment, regional trade organization with emphasis on the EEC and North American Free Trade Area and fundamentals of taxation of international transactions.

Professor Healy's comments: This course provides a general introduction to legislation and the legislative process. Its goal is to help students develop a theoretical and practical understanding of statutes so that they have competence in working with the many statutes that are not specifically studied in law school courses. Our study focuses on the federal legislative process both because lawyers will typically be responding to problems arising under federal statutes and because the lessons learned in studying the federal process will also be useful for understanding state statutes.

This course begins with an overview of the legislative process by examining case studies, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that illustrate different models of the legislative process. These introductory materials provide a context for understanding House and Senate procedures, the transactions that often motivate legislators' decisions, and the impact that a court's theory of the legislative process may have on interpreting Congress' work product. Following these introductory materials, the course will turn to a detailed consideration of the concept of representation by a legislature, including relatively brief examinations of one person-one vote, the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering, and campaign finance regulation. The class will then consider legal process theory and the roles that judicial review, implied rights of action, and separation of powers play in that theory. During the last part of the course we will consider statutory construction in detail. We will discuss and critique the rules and canons of statutory construction, as well as the use of legislative history in interpreting statutes.

This course provides a broad overview of federal law governing employee benefits. Topics covered include: origins and fundamentals of the pension system, origins of ERISA, taxation of employee benefits, fiduciary rules, and preemption. RECOMMENDED: Prior or concurrent enrollment in Taxation I (Law 860).

The news is replete with lawsuits challenging the application of conventional copyright laws to modern technology. Indeed, in the Information Age, litigation and transactional attorneys in all sectors face copyright issues with increasing frequency. In this course, you will learn how Napster, Mp3.com, and Kazaa fell. You will learn answers to those questions of the ages: Is this thing copyrightable? How will copyright protect me? What are registration and deposit requirements, and who needs 'em? What the heck is a "bundle of rights"? How does one infringe another's copyright, and--just hypothetically, of course--what can they do to me once I have? What is the "fair" in "fair use"? Intellectual Property is not a prerequisite. 

This course consists of an introduction to antitrust law. One important focus is on unlawful practices by which businesses eliminate competition among themselves, thereby harming consumer and other interests. These practices include price-fixing agreements, trade association activities, and mergers between competitors. The second important focus is on unlawful practices by which businesses exclude competitors from their markets, thereby harming the interests of the excluded firms, consumers, etc. These practices include monopolization, boycotts, price discrimination, mergers between noncompetitors, industrial espionage, and predatory pricing. The course covers criminal and civil liability under the federal antitrust laws, especially the Sherman and Clayton Acts.

Familiarity with federal and state antitrust principles is important for students planning to enter a general or business practice. The course places emphasis on antitrust considerations relevant to lawyers representing consumers or business clients of all sizes. Familiarity with antitrust principles also is important for students who plan to practice with a government agency that has antitrust responsibilities (e.g., U.S. Dept. of Justice; Federal Trade Commission; State Attorney General; various State and Federal Regulatory Agencies, etc.).

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of state and local taxation, a subject that has become increasingly important as the economy has expanded across state lines and state and local governments have sought new ways to finance government. The course will focus primarily on the constitutional limitations on state and local taxation and the recent Supreme Court decisions in the area. It will also include coverage of the states' various approaches to the taxation of corporate income. The course will generally be offered every other spring. 

This is a survey course on the legal regime(s) governing the Internet. In less than a decade, the Internet has assumed a prominent place in the global economy, facilitating hundreds of billions of dollars worth of business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions annually. At the same time, the Internet has become an important means of person-to-person and intra-organizational communication. This course will focus on many of the important legal questions that have arisen as a consequence of the rapid expansion of Internet use. Topics to be covered will include jurisdiction over, and choice of law in, the electronic marketplace; cybersquatting and protection of domain names; protection of personal information online; electronic contracting and electronic signatures; digital piracy and protection of intellectual property on the Internet, including the Napster case and the debate about open source software; and electronic payment systems. When possible, we will focus on international and comparative legal perspectives on the problem(s) posed by Internet regulation. The grade will be based on a final examination, but depending upon class size and student interest, there may be a paper option for highly motivated individuals.

The Intellectual Property (“IP”) course explores the legal protection afforded to information products of creative activity--ideas and their varied forms of expression (e.g., useful and ornamental inventions; works of authorship such as literature, visual art, computer programs, product designs, and music; trade symbols used to indicate the source or quality of products; confidential business plans). The course surveys federal IP law including the copyright, trademark, and patent statutes. It also surveys state IP law including the law of idea protection, unfair competition, and trade secrecy. Students are required to take a final exam.

This course is a study of the federal income tax implications of investments and business activities undertaken by foreign persons in the United States and of foreign activities undertaken by US persons. There are numerous lesser included subjects such as: the foreign tax credit; international tax treaties; foreign personal holding companies; special taxation of sales to US real estate between US and foreign persons; foreign sales corporations; and the taxation of foreign controlled corporations. It is a three hour course using cases, the Internal Revenue Code and Regulations and study problems.

Pre-requisite: Law 860 (Taxation I)

This is a broad course covering, from the perspective of the in-house intellectual property manager, engineering business unit leader or other executive, the critical areas of intellectual property portfolio management in a variety of business settings in the global economy, including methodologies to evaluate, value and create value from that intellectual property.

This seminar will examine the evolving constitutional and legal rights of the LGBTQ community. We will begin by exploring the historical evolution of the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians, examining doctrines of privacy and equality as they have evolved to protect LGBTQ individuals. The course will explore ongoing legal battles over religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws, the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, employment discrimination, and family law questions. 

This seminar helps answer the question “What makes litigation complex?” by providing an opportunity to study the issues that courts face when trying to resolve, fairly and efficiently, such matters as consumer or business class actions, mass tort litigation involving products such as asbestos and pharmaceutical products, and document intensive commercial litigation. Students will explore all the various phases of litigation and examine ways in which complexity arises and can be addressed. A presentation of your paper topic is required.

This seminar focuses on issues in criminal law and procedure. Topics may vary. Topics may include: juvenile delinquency, status offenses, criminal abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and juvenile victims/witnesses. This seminar is designed to fulfill the substantial writing requirement. Students will writings, perform in-depth research, and complete a supervised and systematized writing process. By the end of the seminar, each student will become an expert on a discrete issue of choice. Students will also present their work to an audience who will critique their research.

PREREQUISITES: Completion of one upper-level criminal law or criminal procedure course (When the focus is on juvenile justice, completion of either Family Law (Law 915) Children and the Law (Law 916) is also required).

This seminar will provide applied education on the business of legal practice, with a particular focus on law firms, the primary form of organization within the legal profession.  In addition to providing students with an understanding of the economics and management of the modern law firm, the course will also look to historical and sociological accounts of development, discrimination, and change among the organizations of the legal profession.  We will also use organizational theory to understand how firms and lawyers respond to the changing environments in which they operate, and look at the regulations that shape, constrain, and influence the structure and stability of professional service firms.

Students in this course may choose to satisfy the upper-level writing requirement by drafting a minimum 25-page research paper in accordance with the rules of the College of Law.  Students who do not wish to use their work in this course to satisfy the upper-level writing requirement may instead choose to draft two shorter papers as an alternative to the longer substantial paper.

This seminar will address current topics in health law and provide an opportunity for students to round out their health law experience by performing in-depth research and writing in this discipline.  In this course you will write and present a paper on a topic in healthcare law, meaning you will have an opportunity to perform in-depth research and to experience an intensive and supervised writing process in the health law discipline.  The point of this seminar and its subject paper is not to survey an area of health law; instead, it is to become an expert on one particular problem through an individual, self-chosen research project.  You will also practice writing well by following a strict schedule to organize your thoughts and then learn about critique by presenting your topic to an audience (skills that all lawyers must develop).  Students may use this course to fulfill the substantial writing requirement. 

PREREQUISITE:  Students must have completed either Healthcare Organizations and Finance (Law 830) or Bioethical Issues in the Law (Law 831) before enrolling in this seminar. 

In this seminar, we will explore some of the themes and debates at the forefront of criminal law, criminal procedure, and criminal justice policy brought to light in the HBO series, The Wire. As sociologist William Julius Wilson noted, “The Wire has ‘done more to enhance our understanding of the challenges of urban life and the problems of urban inequality than any other media event or scholarly publications, including studies by social scientists.’” We will discuss topics such as the “war on drugs,” juvenile justice, wiretaps and other technological issues currently at the forefront of criminal procedure, re-entry and the reintegration of exoffenders, interrogations and techniques, “snitching” culture and its effects on the criminal justice system, poverty and economics, and other topics addressing how criminal law and procedure play out on the ground. In addition to readings, you will be assigned to watch episodes from Season 1 of the HBO series, “The Wire,” that correspond to the topics and readings to be discussed in a given week.

In this course you will write and present a paper on a topic on criminal justice law or policy, meaning you will have an opportunity to perform in-depth research and to experience an intensive and supervised writing process in this discipline. The point of this seminar and its subject paper is not to survey an area of criminal law; instead, it is to become an expert on one particular problem through an individual, self-chosen research project. You will also practice writing well by following a schedule to organize your thoughts and then learn about critique by presenting your topic to an audience.

PREREQUISITE: Criminal Procedure (Law 811)

This seminar will allow students to explore in depth a topic of their choosing in international law or international human rights. Each student is required to write a paper, which can satisfy the substantial writing requirement, and to make an in-class presentation on the topic of the paper. The final grade is based largely on the paper and in-class presentation.

PREREQUISITE: International Law (Law 925), International Trade Law (Law 924), or International Environmental Law (Law 923).

This seminar explores the literary depiction of law, lawyers and the impact of law’s presence/absence as a force for resolution of conflict. The course focuses on critical reading, interpretation, and writing skills. A major task will be to read the assigned fiction, which may include short stories and drama as well as the novels that are the focus of student presentations. Each student reads, at a minimum, the common assigned work as well as his/her chosen novel and the novel of the student to whose paper he/she responds. The amount of required reading is substantial. Students are also required to write a seminar paper on a topic chosen by the student and professor. Professor Graham will provide citations to student works that meet her aspirational goals for the course. All papers in this course must meet the faculty’s “substantial writing requirement” criteria. That is, the paper must be at least 25 pages long and must have appropriate footnotes. I have a reading list of books for the course, although you may propose a book to me for my approval even if the book is not on the list. I should warn you in advance---no John Grisham.

If you plan to sign up for this class, you MUST meet me informally immediately prior to the end of the semester in which you are registering for the course. Students will want to get started reading during the break or over the summer. Luckily, this reading will often be a pleasure as well as a task.

This seminar provides students with a critical analysis of representations of the law in popular culture. The seminar will usually focus on representations of law in film. Using film as analytical tools, the seminar examines two questions: (1) the difference between the filmatic depiction and the reality of the American legal system; and (2) the various strains of legal and political theory that treat films as texts to be subjected to close reading and interpretation. This course explores important themes in the study of law and politics by contrasting scholarly work against representations of these themes in movies. The seminar will allow for consideration of questions about the relationship between law and justice, the practice of law, and the role of courts and trials in a political system; however, many other issues will arise in the course of these discussions — race/class/gender and the law, legal ethics, legal education, the adversarial system, the relationship between law and popular culture, among others. 

This seminar will explore the various kinds of lawyers' work in our society. American lawyers play a number of critical roles as advocates, as advisers, as participants in business ventures, as officials of public institutions and private organizations. The various roles present different sets of pressures, legal restrictions, potential liabilities, and other professional and personal concerns for lawyers. Through readings, discussions, guest lectures, and work on a paper, this seminar will focus on the various kinds of legal work and the impact of the work the lawyers engaged in it. Particular emphasis will be placed on professional malpractice as well as other potential liability and sanctions facing lawyers. Legal ethics will provide a common theme for the will not be the exclusive focus of the seminar.

PREREQUISITE: Seminar participants must have completed or be concurrently enrolled in Professional Responsibility (Law 835).

RECOMMENDED: Products Liability (Law 914) is strongly recommended.

This seminar offers students the opportunity for in-depth study of a number of topics in property law. The seminar will begin with a study of property theory. It will then address some emerging property law issues, which may include property interests as they relate to genetic advances, return of art work stolen during World War II, property interests of aboriginal cultures, and property issues arising in Eastern Europe's transition from socialism to capitalism.

How is tax policy formed, and what are the central considerations when creating a revenue-raising tax system? This seminar will explore these issues, and will provide you with the opportunity to explore indepth one issue of tax policy. The first several weeks of the course will provide an introduction to some of the areas of U.S. federal tax policy, such as consumption vs. income tax, preferential capital gains rate, equity vs. efficiency, among others. After this brief introduction, students will choose a topic to explore in more depth, either from among the topics discussed in the early part of the course, or from other tax policy issues that interest the student. Students will then perform in-depth research using both primary sources (Internal Revenue Code, cases, IRS rulings, etc.) and secondary sources (law review articles, economic theory, etc.) and will engage in a structured, supervised writing project. The paper for this course will satisfy the University of Kentucky College of Law writing requirement.

PREREQUISITE: Taxation I. 

The role of law within society fuels an ongoing debate. What is its purpose, which groups have it, and what makes law distinctive from other systems of social regulation? The positions taken in response to such questions in turn inform a range of actions from national and international policies on treatment of indigenous cultures to local strategies controlling access to courts.

This seminar explores these issues from the perspective of ethnographic studies undertaken within a number of cultural contexts. The connecting theme shall be to appreciate the variety of legal forms that disparate societies have adopted and to recognize the ways in which study of these alternative systems can inform the development of new approaches within our own. Examples include the influence of Karl Llewellyn’s work among the Cheyenne upon the UCC, and the manner in which the dispute resolution practices of the Zapotec and others served as the model for ADR. Students will be challenged to apply these insights to emerging issues in the current legal environment

This seminar explores current issues in intellectual property law through the lens of intellectual property theory and history. It also provides an opportunity for students to develop their knowledge of intellectual property law by researching and writing a scholarly article on a topic of their choosing. The first part of the course will provide an introduction to current topics in intellectual property theory. Students will read, present, and discuss related scholarly articles addressing a range of areas of intellectual property theory and practice, including history, philosophy, economics, and literary theory, among other things. The second part of the course will provide an opportunity to research and write a scholarly paper on a topic of the student's choosing, related to intellectual property in some way. Students will present their paper proposal and research to the class, prepare a draft, edit a draft written by one of their peers, and prepare a final draft. The course may also include guest lecturers, who will present and discuss their own research in intellectual property theory.

Credit for participation in the Trial Advocacy Board. In the second year all students who successfully complete the intra-school competition and are asked to become a member of the Board will receive one hour of pass-fail credit at the end of the spring semester of the third year for meaningful participation in the activities of the Board, which includes national inter-school competitions and conducting the second year membership competition. Members of a competitive team (the Kentucky Intra-State Trial Tournament, the American College of Trial Lawyers National Trial Competition, and the American Trial Lawyers Association Student Trial Competition teams, for example) receive an additional two hours of credit. Students enroll in this course in the spring semester of the third year. 

Credit for participation in Moot Court competition

Credit awarded for participation on the Journal staff. Credit for two years of Journal work is awarded in the spring semester of third year when the student enrolls in this course.

Credit awarded for participation on the Journal staff. Credit for two years of Journal work is awarded in the spring semester of third year when the student enrolls in this course.

This course allows students to experience the court system by clerking for a local judge. Students can see how the system works, what makes some lawyers better than others, and how judges make decisions.

Each student is assigned to a particular local state or federal judge at the beginning of the semester. Students are required to work 100 hours with their judge and to prepare a typed log with an explanation of their activities. The log must be approved by the judge and submitted to the professor. The judge also evaluates the student's performance on a written questionnaire.

The class meets as a whole approximately every three weeks to discuss the experience. This course is offered on a two-hour pass-fail basis. Enrollment is limited to 18 students. This course may be repeated once with the permission of the instructor, provided the clerkship is before a different judge.

The purposes of the Prosecutorial Externship course are to develop practical litigation skills, to give practical experience in researching legal topics, to increase understanding of the criminal justice system, and to improve writing, advocacy, and negotiation skills.

The class meets on a bi-weekly basis. Students are required to work eight hours per week at their placement, which may be in either the Commonwealth Attorney's office or the County Attorney's office. In their placement, students work closely with prosecuting attorneys assigned to them by the instructor. They assist in criminal prosecutions under the State's third-year student practice rule. Students must maintain a placement activity log, and prepare a short paper evaluating their internship experience. The course is offered on a two-hour pass-fail basis. Enrollment is limited to 12 students.

This externship is only open to students who are eligible for admission to the Kentucky bar under Supreme Court Rule 2.540, the limited student practice rule. A student is eligible for admission under this rule only if, at the time the course is taken, the student will have completed 60 hours of law study (59 hours for students who will be receiving credit for co-curricular courses). Students registering for this course must complete and have notarized a legal intern application form prior to the end of the examination period preceding the semester for which the student will be taking the course The application is available on the law school website (under “Current Students”) and from the Registrar’s office.

Credit for participation on the Moot Court Board

This externship will provide law students practical experience in the areas of humanitarian and family-based immigration law under the guidance of a practicing attorney. By the end of their externship experience, students will be able to meet with potential and existing clients, perform initial and subsequent client interviews, prepare legal research memos on assigned client based topics, and submit factually accurate and complete immigration applications.

This externship provides students guided practical experience in immigration law practice. This experience is provided in a live-client setting requiring students to conduct intake and interview, research and evaluation of claims, follow-up with clients, preparation of immigration applications, and administrative appeals. The work is done under the guidance of attorneys at the Maxwell Street Legal Clinic.

This externship will provide students with the unique experience of the application of law, legal principles and legal analysis at a public, post-secondary educational and academic medical institution. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) advises the administration, faculty, staff and student leaders on legal matters pertaining to the University and UK HealthCare, while striving to minimize the legal risk and liabilities facing the institution.

The OLC is comprised of two offices, one on central main campus and one in the medical center. The OLC provides a wide range of legal services including risk and liability evaluation and prevention, advice on the legal implications of proposed policies and actions, counsel on compliance with state and federal laws and administrative regulations, counsel on clinical enterprise matters including healthcare law and healthcare institutions, regulatory issues, drafting or reviewing of University contracts and coordination of the University’s real, personal, and intellectual property issues.

The extern will be required to complete 100 hours of work per semester. The extern will engage in a variety of activities, including research, analysis and writing on legal issues that arise in a higher-education context; attending administrative proceedings and University committee meetings with counsel; participation in the preparation of materials needed to respond to open records requests and OLC Legal 101 training sessions (and attending the training session); and participation in OLC staff meetings as appropriate. The extern’s activities will be supervised by counsel. Enrollment is limited to two students and is by application only.

Participants in this are placed with the Department of Public Advocacy’s Kentucky Innocence Project. Students are assigned one or more cases involving claims of factual innocence. The clients are individuals convicted of serious criminal offenses who received sentences of twenty years or more. The experiential component of the will give students the opportunity to learn a variety of practical skills, such as developing, organizing, and conducting case investigations, interviewing clients and witnesses, researching legal issues, drafting legal documents and correspondence, and working with experts. The component provides instruction on the above topics and other topics such as DNA and problems with eyewitness testimony. The class generally meets every other week. Enrollment is limited to ten students. Students are required to work on their cases for a minimum of one hundred hours each semester and must maintain a case log documenting their activities. This course is only available as a full-year . Credits will not be awarded for participation in the Fall only and students will not be permitted to register for the course in the Spring unless they have met the course requirements for the Fall semester. The course is worth four credits: 2 for the Fall semester and 2 for the Spring semester.

RECOMMENDED: Evidence (Law 890) and Criminal Procedure (Law 811). 

The clinical experience is open only to students who qualify under the third-year practice rule. The clinic provides third-year law students with a unique opportunity to advise, counsel, and represent needy clients on a variety of legal matters. Under the Kentucky Supreme Court's legal internship rule and supervision of the clinic director, students represent clients in negotiations with federal and state agencies, in administrative hearings, or in court proceedings. Students also interview clients, draft legal documents, file pleadings, and conduct discovery. Students must complete eight to ten hours of clinical work per week throughout the semester. Students enrolled in the course for the first time earn three credits and receive a grade for the course. The clinic director may permit up to two students who have taken the course in one semester to take the course again for two pass-fail credits. These students assist the clinic director in providing supervision and assistance to other students.

This externship is only open to students who are eligible for admission to the Kentucky bar under Supreme Court Rule 2.540, the limited student practice rule. A student is eligible for admission under this rule only if, at the time the course is taken, the student will have completed 60 hours of law study (59 hours for students who will be receiving credit for co-curricular courses). Students registering for this course must complete and have notarized a legal intern application form prior to the end of the examination period preceding the semester for which the student will be taking the course. The form is available on the law school Intranet (under “Student Resources”) and in hard copy from the Registrar’s office.

This externship develops students’ litigation, counseling and research skills under the supervision of the Litigation Director of the Lexington office of the Children’s Law Center, a 20-year-old foundation based in Northern Kentucky. The Center  provides direct representation to children involved in high conflict custody cases, to children who are victims of sexual abuse and must be a witness in criminal proceedings, to children with disabilities in educational matters, and children who are homeless or have other dependency issues. Students will assist their supervising attorney on these cases. Students will be expected to work at least 100 hours during the semester, in addition to classroom time discussing substantive law, roundtable discussions and case status conferences. Enrollment is limited to three students.

Practice in court in this externship is only open to students who are eligible for admission to the Kentucky bar under Supreme Court Rule 2.540, the limited student practice rule. A student is eligible for admission under this rule only if, at the time the course is taken, the student will have completed 60 hours of law study (59 hours for students who will be receiving credit for co-curricular courses). Students registering for this course must complete and have notarized a legal intern application form prior to the end of the examination period preceding the semester for which the student will be taking the course The application is available on the law school website (under “Current Students”) and from the Registrar’s office.

The goals of this externship course are to develop practical litigation skills; to give practical experience in researching legal topics; and to increase understanding of the criminal litigation process, especially as it relates to how lawyers representing defendants in that system develop the case, identify a strategy for litigating the case, and implement that strategy. Students will be expected to complete 100 hours of work under the supervision of the Lexington DPA Directing Attorney in addition to a classroom component. The expectation is that a very significant proportion of student work will be accomplished under the student practice rule in cases before the Family Court and Juvenile Court, and in District Court misdemeanor cases. Enrollment is limited to three students and is by application only.

PREREQUISITE: Law 890 (Evidence).

Practice in court in this externship is only open to students who are eligible for admission to the Kentucky bar under Supreme Court Rule 2.540, the limited student practice rule. A student is eligible for admission under this rule only if, at the time the course is taken, the student will have completed 60 hours of law study (59 hours for students who will be receiving credit for co-curricular courses). Students registering for this course must complete and have notarized a legal intern application form prior to the end of the examination period preceding the semester for which the student will be taking the course The application is available on the law school website (under “Current Students”) and from the Registrar’s office.

Students will develop practical interviewing, counseling, strategic legal planning, litigation, and legal research skills as interns in the University of Kentucky Healthcare (University Hospital) Risk Management Office, under the supervision of the Risk Management Director. Students will be expected to complete legal research and writing projects, attend legal proceedings and hospital committee meetings, and review clinical investigations. Each student must sign an externship agreement covering, among other things, compliance with all statutory requirements governing patient confidentiality, including HIPAA, and an anticipatory conflict agreement, which will include an agreement that the participant will be bound by SCR 3.130(1.9) and SCR 3.130(1.10) as if the participant were a practicing attorney at the time of the internship. Enrollment is limited to two students and is by application only.

PREREQUISITES: Second-semester, second-year status; Evidence (Law 890); transfer students must have completed Torts (Law 805).

RECOMMENDED: Bioethical Issues and the Law (Law 831), Medical Liability (Law 832).

This Externship course will allow students to develop an understanding of legal issues arising from environmental protection in Kentucky, and to increase their understanding of the role played by attorneys in the Energy and Environment Cabinet. Student work at the Cabinet will be supervised by a full-time attorney at the Cabinet. Students will also meet together with the Environmental Law instructor every two weeks to discuss and reflect on their work at the Cabinet.  The two-credit externship is limited to two students.

Scheduling note: Students planning to enroll in this externship should be sure to have half- or full-day time slots to allow for travel to Frankfort on working days. Students who enroll must contact John Horne, General Counsel of the Cabinet, immediately after enrollment to begin the process of approval to work. This takes a long time and you cannot complete the externship without approval. He may be reached at john.horne@ky.gov.

PREREQUISITE: Environmental Law (Law 898) or concurrent enrollment.

The Child Advocacy Today Externship is a 2 credit hour pass/fail externship, requiring 100 hours of student work, that offers students the opportunity to develop their legal skills while providing free, quality representation to low-income pediatrics patients and their families. CAT is operated in partnership with the Equal Access to Justice Foundation and Kentucky Children’s Hospital and is located in General Pediatrics at Kentucky Clinic. CAT Externship students become part of the healthcare team at Kentucky Children’s Hospital in order to assess patients’ legal needs. The students engage in interviews with patients and their families, and identify legal issues that adversely affect the health of the patients. Students will then have the opportunity to assist these clients and prepare the matter for referral to outside counsel, where appropriate. Students will conduct legal research, write memos and prepare legal documents under the supervision of staff attorneys. Students will analyze and implement case strategies and prepare work plans for their cases. In addition, because the mission of the medical-legal partnership is to educate healthcare providers to recognize legal issues that are detrimental to their patients’ health, students will prepare a presentation on a topic of their choice to be presented to UK’s pediatrics residents.

This course is open only to third-year students. Completion of any of the following courses is helpful, but not required: Administrative Law, Constitutional Law II, Professional Responsibility, Healthcare Organizations and Finance, Children and the Law, and Education Law. This course is limited to three students.

Students in the advanced clinic course will continue their supervised casework from the previous semester, take on additional and more complex civil legal matters, including cases likely to go to trial, while helping the director supervise the new clinic students. Advanced clinic students will continue to develop their legal skills, improve their leadership and supervisory skills and increase their substantive and practical knowledge.

This course provides the extern with an introduction to the practice of in-house counsel for a local government. The Law Department of the Urban County Government acts as counsel for the Mayor, the Urban County Council, and for all of the Urban County Government’s Departments and Divisions. The department drafts all legislation (ordinances and resolutions) and handles a majority of the Urban County Government’s litigation. The extern will research, analyze and write on legal issues that arise in a local government, attend court proceedings and witness meetings, participate in preparation of materials to respond to motions, briefs and appeals, and attend and participate in Urban County Government staff meetings as appropriate. Specific assignments and activities will be determined by supervising attorneys. Enrollment is upon application only; limit is two students per semester. 

This develops students’ interviewing, counseling, legal research and litigation skills under the supervision of the attorneys in the Fayette County Attorney’s Office. Students will be expected to do legal research and writing, contact and interview witnesses, attend court sessions and assist the prosecutors therein, and assist in maintaining electronic case files. Students will support their supervising attorney in all areas related to the representation. Enrollment is open to both second- and third-year students, is upon application and interview only, and is limited to three students per semester.

Scheduling note: Although not required, students should plan to have one full morning available for work to accommodate court appearance schedules.