Law

This one-credit seminar in advanced legal research introduces students to specific sources and strategies for international, foreign, and comparative legal research. It covers key primary and secondary sources in both print and electronic formats – including freely available and subscription-based resources. The subjects examined will include treaty law, the law of international organizations, European Union law, civil law and other foreign legal systems, as well as selected topics in international private law. The course emphasizes the research process, strategies, and evaluation of print and online sources in a rapidly evolving legal information environment.

 This one-credit seminar in advanced legal research introduces students to specific sources and strategies for international, foreign, and comparative legal research.  It covers key primary and secondary sources in both print and electronic formats – including freely available and subscription-based resources.  The subjects examined will include treaty law, the law of international organizations, European Union law, civil law and other foreign legal systems, as well as selected topics in international private law.  The course emphasizes the research process, strategies, and evaluation of print and online sources in a rapidly evolving legal information environment.

 In this course, we will critically examine this intersection by engaging in a 360 degree analysis of entertainment law – in one of the leading creative capitals of the world: Los Angeles.  Students will identify, discuss, coordinate and set the agenda for class sessions with professionals working in diverse aspects of the entertainment industry and impacted by the intersection of law, entertainment and the arts.   Students will utilize direct exposure to industry leaders and veterans to examine: I. legal restraints on entertainment stories, II. Intellectual property in entertainment assets, III. contractual relations in the entertainment industry, and IV. industry organization, power and regulation in the arts and entertainment. 

 In this course, we will critically examine this intersection by engaging in a 360 degree analysis of entertainment law – in one of the leading creative capitals of the world: Los Angeles.  Students will identify, discuss, coordinate and set the agenda for class sessions with professionals working in diverse aspects of the entertainment industry and impacted by the intersection of law, entertainment and the arts.   Students will utilize direct exposure to industry leaders and veterans to examine: I. legal restraints on entertainment stories, II. Intellectual property in entertainment assets, III. contractual relations in the entertainment industry, and IV. industry organization, power and regulation in the arts and entertainment. 

The IRS Externship was founded by renowned tax expert and former Dean of the Law School, Professor Emeritus Alice Gresham Bullock. In the course, students are placed in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service here in Washington, DC. In the seminar, the professor exposes students to the practices, policies and procedures of the IRS, as well as the substantive tax laws that govern the work of the Service. Externs secure a field placement with the IRS’ Chief Counsel’s Office and are assigned to work on a variety of projects. Howard Law externs focus on excellence in governmental and public interest lawyering, social justice issues and professional responsibility. These key components are echoed in the work done at the field placement, as well as during the weekly one-hour required classroom seminars taught by the Professor.

 The IRS Externship was founded by renowned tax expert and former Dean of the Law School, Professor Emeritus Alice Gresham Bullock. In the course, students are placed in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service here in Washington, DC. In the seminar, the professor exposes students to the practices, policies and procedures of the IRS, as well as the substantive tax laws that govern the work of the Service. Externs secure a field placement with the IRS’ Chief Counsel’s Office and are assigned to work on a variety of projects. Howard Law externs focus on excellence in governmental and public interest lawyering, social justice issues and professional responsibility. These key components are echoed in the work done at the field placement, as well as during the weekly one-hour required classroom seminars taught by the Professor.

� This course is an introduction to corporate law and the role of the corporation in society. We will review both the current state of the law and the increasingly rapid changes in the field.

 This course is an introduction to corporate law and the role of the corporation in society. We will review both the current state of the law and the increasingly rapid changes in the field.

 The Corporate Counsel seminar is intended to be the first course for students interested in careers as corporate lawyers or representing public and private entities. We will focus on ethical issues relating to the representation of a corporation, including conflicts and their waiver, confidentiality, and client identity. We will also address the ethical obligations that corporate lawyers owe to the courts and regulators. In addition, we will study the role of lawyers in advising corporate boards and officers with regard to their fiduciary obligations, and corporate governance issues. As a seminar course, this course will be largely interactive, with some lecturing led by the professor to ground learning in salient topic area. Most of the class time will be devoted to discussing issues highlighted in the reading materials. During the second half of the semester, we will focus on preparation for final papers, with student-led lectures and class discussions based on their selected research topics.

 The Corporate Counsel seminar is intended to be the first course for students interested in careers as corporate lawyers or representing public and private entities. We will focus on ethical issues relating to the representation of a corporation, including conflicts and their waiver, confidentiality, and client identity. We will also address the ethical obligations that corporate lawyers owe to the courts and regulators. In addition, we will study the role of lawyers in advising corporate boards and officers with regard to their fiduciary obligations, and corporate governance issues. As a seminar course, this course will be largely interactive, with some lecturing led by the professor to ground learning in salient topic area. Most of the class time will be devoted to discussing issues highlighted in the reading materials. During the second half of the semester, we will focus on preparation for final papers, with student-led lectures and class discussions based on their selected research topics.

This course provides students the opportunity to improve their personal and professional Spanish proficiency, so they can provide effective legal representation to their future or current Spanish-speaking clients. Throughout the course, students will acquire the skills necessary to conduct attorney-client interviews in Spanish; counsel Spanish-speaking clients living in the United States (monolingual and Spanglish speakers); and overcome the obstacles that prevent effective communication with Spanish-speaking clients in a legal setting (e.g. cultural differences, regional language usage, and legal systems variations). The course relies on extensive simulations, exercises and discussions through which students will strengthen their speaking and comprehension abilities. After completing the course, students will be familiarized with Spanish legal terminology in a variety of practice settings such as criminal and civil procedure, immigration, domestic relations, and criminal law.

This course emphasizes the statutes and regulations that form the basis for much of legal practice.

The Developing a High-End Civil Trial Practice course introduces students to the high value civil plaintiff practice world. Students will learn how to obtain, manage, develop and win millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts. The course will include presentations from and conversations with successful trial attorneys. Additionally, the participants will learn about key experts used in high stakes civil litigation. The course will culminate with the students demonstrating their knowledge of developing a high-end civil trial practice by presenting the strategy used to successfully acquire and manage a multi-million dollar case. 

 This course will provide an intensive and strategic analysis of the relationship between labor and management particularly as it pertains to topical illustrations of the nuances and dynamics of spearheading collaborative techniques that contribute to best in class labor-management relations. Critical to any understanding of the ebb and flow in this field is a strong foundational basis of the often confrontational history of unions and management. In this regard the student will be exposed to traditional advocate organizations such as the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). In addition, other organizations in the field will be analyzed and discussed such as the Labor and Employment Research Association (LERA), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). The role that the latter three organizations will be discussed specifically in the context of how they work with both labor and management to achieve best in class results for this rapidly evolving industry. Moreover, the student will be empowered to understand the Page 2 profound impact that federal, state and local laws have had in the field of labormanagement relations. These laws include, but are not limited to the Wagner Act of 1935 which created collective bargaining in the private sector, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 which created right to work states and FMCS and State PERB’s which govern the relationship between and among public employers and municipal employees. Appropriately agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Public Employees Relations Board will also be examined, showcased and dissected. Furthermore, the expanded use of alternative strategies for resolving labormanagement conflicts will provide a critical perspectives and insight for the course. Concepts such as Interest Based Bargaining, Mutual Gains, Mediation and Arbitration and the impact on labor and management will be articulated, emphasized and examined Lastly, another highlight of the course will be an individual inventory which will be administered to determine how engaging each leader could be in the context of labormanagement relations

This course, Entrepreneurship, Law and Policy, will teach law students (and, perhaps, students from other disciplines) how to practically apply the wide and varied body of legal principles involved in establishing and expanding a business venture. The course will primarily explore the role of law in the entrepreneurial process in the following legal areas: corporate law, agency law, contract law, business organizations’ law, intellectual property law, small business administration law, tax law, franchise law and the law which governs efforts to raise capital. The course will also discuss related topics such as how to write a business plan and how to finance and market the emerging business.

The course will examine federal and state cases and legislation which have defined the scope and limitations historically faced by blacks from the point of slavery to modern times. It will also examine how early social and economic realities have shaped society’s and thus the court’s view of the role of blacks in America. An examination of major cases leading to systemic change and the advancement of the cause of equal justice and at times retrenchment will also be explored.

The course presents an overview of modern-day capital punishment in the United States. Throughout the semester, students will review the Supreme Court’s key substantive and procedural decisions on capital punishment. Students will also examine the history of the death penalty in America—including understanding its relationship to slavery and lynching—to gain appreciation for the context in which the punishment is currently used. The course will conclude by analyzing arguments for and against the use of capital punishment. At the end of this course, students should understand the basic legal principles of modern-day capital punishment law in the United States.

This course will provide students with a basic understanding of the U.S. federal income taxation of partnerships and partners.

This seminar course is designed to provide an overview of some of the most salient issues in technology law and policy, which is emerging as a critical practice area. The course will discuss how powerful technology tools have become formidable weapons with a view to developing a framework to address some of the thorniest issues attendant to the explosion of technology in the 21st Century, including privacy, cybercrime, the conundrums of Artificial Intelligence, and the impact of social media on democracy. As the field of technology becomes a larger part of legal practice and social policy, it is critical that aspiring social engineers be part of the policy development process to ensure that the rights and interests of historically disenfranchised groups are adequately represented, not leaving the development of laws and policies to others who are not committed to a fair and just society that promotes access and engagement for all.

This course covers a wide range of laws and regulations that govern employment discrimination. This includes an analysis of Title VII, the Rehabilitation Act, the Age Discrimination and Employment Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. The substantive information will be presented in a seminar format. The objective of the course is to empower students to become independent thinkers and to advance the student’s knowledge of equal employment law by encouraging students to formulate, explain, and present ideas orally and in writing.

Program participants will gain practical experience in targeted ADR processes at partner organizations through work assignments and observations. Program participants will be placed and required to work on-site twelve (12) hours per week in both the Fall and the Spring semesters at one of the following partner organizations: U.S. EEOC (Workplace Mediation); U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Mediation); or U.S. Department of Commerce-ITA (International Trade Negotiation).

The course examines the legal framework governing adoptions through an examination of the legal relationships among children, families, and the state. Coursework includes substantive and practical analysis of the status, rights, and obligations of parents and children and current issues impacting the balance between family autonomy and state regulation. Students also will examine how adoption law involves complex issues of race, class, gender, and economic status.

 This is an introductory mediation skills development course. Mediation is one of the alternative dispute resolution conflict management mechanisms. This three-credit experiential course will be approached from the perspective of educating the novice dispute resolver as to what mediation is, how it is different from arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution, what skills are necessary to manage the mediation process and how to utilize the “appropriate skills and dispute resolution tools” to resolve a dispute. The sessions will include lectures, demonstrations (video-taped and/or live), discussions, and simulations. The overall objective of the course is to give students a general understanding of mediation (from the perspective of the mediator and a party). Through simulated exercises, students will learn the basic skills necessary to manage the mediation process. Through discussions and lectures, they will gain a general familiarity with other dispute resolution processes. This course is intended to assist the student in the development of the following lawyering skills: (1) negotiation; (2) fact development and analysis; (3) conflict resolution; (4) collaboration; (5) cultural competency; and (6) self-evaluation.

This seminar explores various aspects of the interaction of Artificial Intelligence and the law including some or all of the following aspects: liability for AI errors (e.g., self-driving cars); bias in AI expert systems and AI analysis and its impacts on minorities traditionally marginalized groups (e.g., setting bail and criminal sentencing); AI and IP (e.g., if patents are intended to teach the art patented, and the art patented is not understood because it is self-learning AI, should patents be issued?); IP social justice aspects of AI including the EU’s General Data Privacy Regulation requiring AI to be explainable for certain critical settings such as medical diagnosis; AI and social media, especially with respect to privacy concerns; AI in law practice and law firm management; implications of AI for employment, the economic system, and legal responses thereto; and applying AI to legal decision-making for claims for benefits such as social security disability or workers compensation.

 This three-credit short-course will explore the theories and skills necessary for the effective use of mediation and arbitration. The course does not presume that the student will necessarily be the advocate representing one side or the other in the actual mediation or the arbitration. Workplace policymakers and administrators, too, should understand the theory and skills of each to be able to construct effective conflict resolution systems and to implement them effectively for their organizations. The course will make a limited use of lectures. Instead, the course will rely heavily on: (1) case studies and problems to permit the analysis and diagnosis of workplace conflicts; (2) role-plays to practice some of the skills required in mediation and arbitration; and (3) small-group-focused exercises on specific problems to permit peer-to-peer, as well as self-learning. *This is not a simulation course as defined by ABA Standards promulgated by the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.

 This seminar explores the many facets of Islamic law in both a domestic and international perspective.

 The course will cover international criminal law and transitional justice through the use of case studies from around the world.  The course will cover international criminal law, and its foundation in international human rights law and international humanitarian law. We will examine accountability for mass human rights violations through war crimes tribunals, beginning with the post-World War II tribunals in Nuremberg and Tokyo.  We will then explore the evolution of international criminal law through treaties and conventions, as well as mechanisms for accountability such as international criminal tribunals and specialized domestic courts. The course will also explore transitional justice, the counterpart to accountability, that focuses on societal reconciliation, through restorative justice measures such as truth and reconciliation commissions and reparations.  We will explore various transitional justice measures such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, as well as remedial measures following state conflict, such as compensation commissions, reparations and amnesty agreements. We will use a new case study each week to explore these various aspects of international criminal law and transitional justice. Case studies include conflicts in Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, South Africa, Colombia, Iraq, and the United States, among others.

This externship gives practice and classroom learning experience for students who are working as judicial interns during the summer semester.

This large survey course provides a broad view of the many issues in intellectual property law.

This course for Masters of Law students establishes a foundational understanding for international lawyers working in or with the United States.

This course for Masters of Law students establishes a foundational understanding for international lawyers working in or with the United States.

This introductory course focuses on the issues raised by the structural parts of the United States Constitution. Consideration will be given to judicial processes in constitutional cases; judicial review; and the federal courts functioning in the constitutional system.

This course is designed to help foreign law students succeed in the JD and LLM programs by focusing on and improving students' legal writing skills. Through various readings and writing exercises, students will learn how to structure arguments, explain the law, and organize information for a variety of legal documents.

This course covers all major areas of real property law, including the nature of real property, types of ownership, real estate contracts, title and insurance, financing, landlord and tenant, land use, environmental law and regulation.

This contract law course, with new materials and updated case examples, is designed to introduce the range of issues that arise when entering and enforcing contracts. It will provide an introduction to what a contract is and also analyze the purpose and significance of contracts.

This course will examine the basic elements of crimes, including actus reus and mens rea; some general doctrines of criminal liability, such as complicity, causation, attempt, and conspiracy; an example of substantive crime grading (homicide); and defenses to crimes.

This course will introduce you to major areas of tort law such as intentional torts, negligence and strict liability, as well as damages issues in tort actions.

This introductory course focuses on the issues raised by the structural parts of the United States Constitution. Consideration will be given to judicial processes in constitutional cases; judicial review; and the federal courts functioning in the constitutional system.

This course considers the implementation of legislative policy through the administrative process and addresses the structure, functions, powers and procedures of administrative agencies and their relationship to the courts, with emphasis upon the regulations consistent with the protection of liberty and property under law.

This course offers a detailed and comprehensive examination of legal research resources. The course combines class lectures with research assignments on general and specialized topics, so that you will learn to develop research strategies and analyze research results.

This course focuses on the policies and legal principles associated with protecting competition and the competitive process through enforcement of the federal antitrust laws, primarily the provisions of the Sherman, Clayton, and Federal Trade Commission Acts. We will study the application of these laws to collusion by rivals, mergers, exclusionary conduct by dominant firms, and various kinds of potentially anticompetitive distribution practices. The course integrates traditional case law study with the use of problems, policy, economic analysis, and consideration of the current antitrust matters in the news, especially those involving the tech-related industries. No prior formal coursework in economics, however, is required. You will quickly come to realize how much of the necessary economic principles you already understand by virtue of your daily encounters with markets.

“Agency, Partnerships, and Other Unincorporated Business Organizations”, a fundamental and foundational course in the study of Corporate and Business Law, depends heavily on enacted state statutes and adopted uniform or model statutes. Accordingly, state statutory law and common law rulings govern this study. In this course, you will learn agency law, the indispensable substantive law on which all businesses, regardless of how they are organized and structured, depend. Once we’ve have understood this foundational legal framework, we will carry that understanding through the study of Partnership Law and Limited Liability Companies. Although corporate entities, joint ventures, trusts, s-corporations, and c-corporations will make appearance throughout the drama of the substantive materials, we will devote our focused learning to agency law, partnerships, and LLCs, fiduciary duties and the Business Judgment Rule (“BJR”).

Evidence is the study of what parties to a criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit may introduce at trial. During the course, you should develop greater understanding of litigation. When you receive a case (real or a fact pattern) you should now be able to spot the evidence issues, know what testimony and physical evidence the judge will admit, what the judge will exclude, and what issues require further research. You will know how to object and how to argue in favor and against admissibility. You should comprehend how the evidence presented connects to the lawyers’ final summations to a jury. The bar examination in every state contains multiple evidence questions, creating a direct link between your study habits in this course and your future ability to retain the substantive law necessary to pass the bar.

Evidence is the study of what parties to a criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit may introduce at trial. During the course, you should develop greater understanding of litigation. When you receive a case (real or a fact pattern) you should now be able to spot the evidence issues, know what testimony and physical evidence the judge will admit, what the judge will exclude, and what issues require further research. You will know how to object and how to argue in favor and against admissibility. You should comprehend how the evidence presented connects to the lawyers’ final summations to a jury. The bar examination in every state contains multiple evidence questions, creating a direct link between your study habits in this course and your future ability to retain the substantive law necessary to pass the bar.

This course is designed to help foreign law students succeed in our JD and LLM program by focusing on and improving students' legal writing skills. Through various readings and writing exercises, students will learn how to structure arguments, explain the law, and organize information for a variety of legal documents.

This course will introduce the concept and practice of alternative dispute resolution. We will focus on the primary ADR processes - negotiation, mediation and arbitration - (among others) and examine these processes in the context of different areas of the law and the judicial system.

Nearly every person and company in America has debt. Debt finances home purchases, educations, business investment, and more. But what happens when households or businesses do not pay their debts? This course focuses on the state and federal laws that govern the relationships between borrowers (debtors) and their creditors when debtors cease paying their debts. Consumer bankruptcy under chapters 7 and 13 of the Bankruptcy Code is one the largest social insurance programs in the United States. Empirical research suggests that bankruptcy protection increases annual earnings and employment, and decreases mortality rates. Yes, bankruptcy saves lives! Come learn how.

Criminal Procedure (Crim Pro I) will improve your skills in constitutional analysis. Students will develop educated views about a subject fraught with controversy and challenges. The problem method used in this course should improve your skills in problem-solving and rule-application and help you to think tactically and strategically. Hopefully, the problems will help you see the relationship between the doctrine handed down by the Court and how this plays out in the practice of law. The bar examination in every state contains multiple criminal procedure questions, creating a direct link between your study habits in this course and your future ability to retain the substantive law necessary to pass the bar. A student who completes this course will come away with an understanding of the basic doctrines of constitutional criminal procedure and will understand how courts determine whether a search or seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment has taken place, the rules governing when a search warrant is required, the rules governing arrests, whether and when evidence is likely to be excluded at trial, whether and when a criminal defendant has a right to counsel, and the various doctrines governing police interrogations, including the Miranda rule, the Fifth Amendment voluntariness test and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Students will be able to read a police report and spot the issues or read a report issued after a DOJ investigation of a police department and understand the underlying legal principles. This course will prepare students for bar questions and a clinic or externship where the subject matter includes criminal matters or civil rights lawsuits on police misconduct.

This seminar more fully explores the myriad issues of criminal procedure, including arrest, search and seizure, grand juries, etc. The course helps prepare students for the bar exam.

How has the law constructed families? What are the common law, statutory, and constitutional principles that affect the formation and dissolution of families? What are the differences between public and private regulation of the personal and financial relationships of married and unmarried couples and parents and their children? In this course, we explore the laws and public policies governing marriage and other non-marital relationships; the economic consequences of marital and non-marital “break-ups” for adults and children; the law regarding child custody and visitation; the ethical responsibilities of lawyers who practice in these areas; and other possible topics to be determined.

This course is a detailed exploration of the federal law implications in the criminal justice system.

This course will cover intestate succession (when a decedent dies without a will); requirements for the execution, revocation, and revival of wills and codicils; problems in the interpretation of wills; grounds for will contests; requisites for the creation and termination of private trusts; and inter vivos transactions that serve as will substitutes and that relate to testamentary dispositions. Relevant tax aspects are considered on a limited basis. This course will also address the ethical and professional responsibilities of lawyers representing clients in this area. In addition, we will consider how discrimination based on race, gender, class, and sexual orientation has contributed to the wealth disparity in this country.

This course will explore environmental problems or issues addressed by the law. Students will understand environmental law (Domestic & International) and explore how environmental justice law supplements and enhances environmental law to ensure justice for disadvantaged peoples confronting disproportionate burdens of environmental harm is caused by human conduct. This course will explore the specifics of Federal and selected state constitutional rights and remedies, Federal Statutory Rights, and major proposals for additional rights and remedies.

This survey course provides students a broad view of environmental law and policy with a particular focus on environmental issues facing marginalized communities.

The second part of the LRRW Program is Legal Writing II (LWII), a required two- credit, semester-long course which must be taken either in the fall or spring of the student’s second year unless the student failed LRRW, in which case the student must take LW II in the year immediately following successful completion of LRRW. LW II is designed to reinforce and deepen the students’ knowledge of and ability to perform factual analysis, legal analysis, legal reasoning, legal research, and writing. The primary project is writing and rewriting an appellate brief on relatively difficult legal Issues.

The second part of the LRRW Program is Legal Writing II (LWII), a required two- credit, semester-long course which must be taken either in the fall or spring of the student’s second year unless the student failed LRRW, in which case the student must take LW II in the year immediately following successful completion of LRRW. LW II is designed to reinforce and deepen the students’ knowledge of and ability to perform factual analysis, legal analysis, legal reasoning, legal research, and writing. The primary project is writing and rewriting an appellate brief on relatively difficult legal Issues.

The second part of the LRRW Program is Legal Writing II (LWII), a required two- credit, semester-long course which must be taken either in the fall or spring of the student’s second year unless the student failed LRRW, in which case the student must take LW II in the year immediately following successful completion of LRRW. LW II is designed to reinforce and deepen the students’ knowledge of and ability to perform factual analysis, legal analysis, legal reasoning, legal research, and writing. The primary project is writing and rewriting an appellate brief on relatively difficult legal Issues.

The second part of the LRRW Program is Legal Writing II (LWII), a required two- credit, semester-long course which must be taken either in the fall or spring of the student’s second year unless the student failed LRRW, in which case the student must take LW II in the year immediately following successful completion of LRRW. LW II is designed to reinforce and deepen the students’ knowledge of and ability to perform factual analysis, legal analysis, legal reasoning, legal research, and writing. The primary project is writing and rewriting an appellate brief on relatively difficult legal Issues.

The second part of the LRRW Program is Legal Writing II (LWII), a required two- credit, semester-long course which must be taken either in the fall or spring of the student’s second year unless the student failed LRRW, in which case the student must take LW II in the year immediately following successful completion of LRRW. LW II is designed to reinforce and deepen the students’ knowledge of and ability to perform factual analysis, legal analysis, legal reasoning, legal research, and writing. The primary project is writing and rewriting an appellate brief on relatively difficult legal Issues.

The second part of the LRRW Program is Legal Writing II (LWII), a required two- credit, semester-long course which must be taken either in the fall or spring of the student’s second year unless the student failed LRRW, in which case the student must take LW II in the year immediately following successful completion of LRRW. LW II is designed to reinforce and deepen the students’ knowledge of and ability to perform factual analysis, legal analysis, legal reasoning, legal research, and writing. The primary project is writing and rewriting an appellate brief on relatively difficult legal Issues.

 This course includes an overview of the law and legal issues associated with public ethics (federal, state and local government officials and employees) with specific emphasis on such issues such as: conflicts of interest; sexual misconduct; acceptance of gifts, gratuities, and honorariums; use of title, prestige, and position to influence, to steer contracts or for personal benefit and gain; post- employment restrictions; lobbying, financial disclosures, selective enforcement of ethical investigations, and the specific ethical codes applicable to executive, legislative and judicial officials and public employees. There is also a review and analysis of the enforcement of ethical standards and requirements. The course also examines the ethical responsibilities imposed upon the President, Governors, and executive officials; prosecutors; law enforcement officials; public defenders; judges and others in connection with their role in the administration of criminal justice. The Course is open to JD students, LLM students and Divinity Students.

This course surveys the legal, historical, and political considerations that shape U.S. immigration law. The course will review the constitutional basis for regulating immigration into the United States, and, to some extent, the constitutional rights of noncitizens in the country; the history of U.S. immigration law and policy, including present-day debates; the contours of the immigration bureaucracy, including the roles played by various federal agencies in immigration decisions; the admission of nonimmigrants (i.e., temporary visitors) and immigrants into the United States; the deportation and exclusion of nonimmigrants and immigrants; the intersection of immigration and criminal law; and citizenship and naturalization. Much of the course focuses on the comprehensive immigration law, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952, as amended by numerous laws and the implementing regulations. Although comparisons to immigration law and policy of other countries, as well as various sources of international law, are drawn upon from time to time, the primary focus of his class is immigration law in the United States.

This seminar give students a learning and writing experience focused on the myriad international law issues.

This course provides a survey of the federal income tax system as it relates to individuals and business activity. Topics such as the internal revenue code, treasury regulations, and case analysis; tax policy, economics, and public finance; and tax legislation will be covered. Specific concepts include income, exclusions, deductions, credits, tax accounting, and tax procedure. In addition, we will consider the role that race, gender, class, and sexual orientation play in the federal income tax system.

This course introduces the rules and principles governing procedure in civil litigation. Topics include personal jurisdiction; subject-matter jurisdiction; and choice of law in the federal courts.

This seminar provides an opportunity for students to learn about the international law of corporate operations.

*note to students: this was previously known as Advanced Corporate Problems. Students cannot take this class if they took the other.

This seminar explores the topics of labor law in the United States through regulatory and common law experiences and learning.

 This course provides students an in-depth view of the federal court system and explores practice in federal courts.

This course will teach you the principles of contemporary commercial drafting and introduce you to documents typically used in a variety of transactions. The skills you gain will apply to any transactional practice and will even be useful to litigators. Upon finishing the course, you will know the business purpose of each of the contract concepts; how to translate the business deal into contract concepts; how to draft each of a contract’s parts with clarity and without ambiguity; how to add value to a deal; how to work through the drafting process; and how to review and comment on a contract.

This course provides an introduction to the state and its local governments in all their many variations across the U.S.. Topics include presentation of; the constitutional, political, and legal debates about the allocation of power among the various levels of government, the predominant normative assessments of local government law, several models of local government law as reflected in current (U.S. and state) Supreme Court, including lower federal court decisions, and the basic state-local relationship and the rules that govern it.

This practice seminar gives students significant experience in the key lawyer methods of interviewing clients and others, negotiating and counseling for all key constituencies.

Topics to be covered in the course include patentable subject matter, utility, novelty, non-obviousness, disclosure, enablement, infringement, and remedies.

Professional Responsibility: Advocacy and Ethics in Practice is a two-credit course in which through simulation involving interaction with clients, fact-finding, negotiation, and litigation, students will learn how ethical and values dilemmas arise in advocacy and practice settings and how ethical rules and other forms.

This is a required upper level course that teaches the traditions of the legal profession. It provides an understanding of the essential elements in the business aspects of law practice, including authorized practice, fee determinations, bar organization and functions, and the rules of legal ethics and disciplinary action. It also includes an understanding of the relationship that exists between an attorney and her client, with all its complexities. To the extent that questions of professional responsibility arise in the context of procedural or evidentiary issues, the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence will also be taught.

This is a required upper level course that teaches the traditions of the legal profession. It provides an understanding of the essential elements in the business aspects of law practice, including authorized practice, fee determinations, bar organization and functions, and the rules of legal ethics and disciplinary action. It also includes an understanding of the relationship that exists between an attorney and her client, with all its complexities. To the extent that questions of professional responsibility arise in the context of procedural or evidentiary issues, the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence will also be taught.

 This course examines the idea of race as a constitutive element of modernity, focusing specifically on its impact on the intellectual underpinnings of historical and contemporary American legislative and judicial doctrine and public policy. In this context, our course considers a broad range of comparative judicial, legislative, administrative, policy and political concepts and strategies that might be most effective in vindicating and advancing human and civil rights.

This course focuses on teaching the four major categories of remedies- Damages, Equity, Restitution, and Declaratory remedies- along with an exploration of various types of ancillary remedies.

See Student Handbook for information on enrolling in an Independent Study. Verify the deadlines for independent study, which are noted in the Howard University School of Law Academic Calendar. Once you have completed these steps, see Dean Olivares for information on how to continue the faculty and committee approval process.

 This course is an introduction to the practical, procedural, and substantive planning engaged in by lawyers helping to develop remedies for violations of the rights of minorities and women. These remedies include litigation, legislative and regulatory advocacy, demonstrations, and public information campaigns. Students will write a research paper on the strategy and tactics of civil rights lawyering, based not only on library work but also on interviews with civil rights practitioners. Our focus for this year will be “trouble spots” like racial profiling, hate crimes, discrimination against consumers, employment discrimination, voting rights, housing discrimination and discrimination in public education.  We will also look at citizen action and access to local government.

This seminar is devised to complement your externships. Because students have chosen a wide variety of placements, a key objective of this class will be to explore topics within the public interest community from policies and practice to the treatment of the poor. You will be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Students who successfully complete the seminar and externship placement will receive either 3 or 4 credit hours depending upon the number of hours per week they work at their placement.

This course is designed to examine the regulatory framework of brokers and dealers imposed through the federal securities laws and the regulations and rules adopted by self‑regulatory organizations (SROs). The course will cover the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") and its oversight responsibilities with respect to SROs, with an emphasis on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"). The rules of FINRA will be examined to determine how the securities industry regulates itself. This course will also evaluate the appropriate role of securities industry organizations in the regulatory framework of the US financial markets.

The Fair Housing Clinic functions as a small nonprofit law firm within the law school. Accordingly, the expectations for class are similar to the expectations in a legal work environment.

 The Civil Rights Clinic litigates on behalf of indigent clients in civil rights and social justice cases. Cases include a range of civil rights matters such as employment and housing discrimination, police brutality, denial of full voting rights, unconstitutional prison conditions, and procedural barriers that preclude indigent litigants from effective access to the courts. The pedagogical goal of the clinic is for students and faculty to critically examine the analytical and linguistic challenges of effective courtroom advocacy, the legal and strategic considerations of the appellate process, the ethical and professional obligations of client representation, and the social and political implications of civil rights advocacy.

This seminar provides students a deep exploration in the intellectual property topics of trademark.

The SEC Externship Program provides an exceptional opportunity for students to work as interns in the Washington, DC Headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Students work on many complex securities law matters under the close supervision and guidance of SEC staff lawyers, who also provide mentoring for students. Students attend educational seminars at the SEC led by senior Commission staff and prominent members of the securities bar and industry. Students also participate in classroom discussions regarding various securities market and securities law topics with an experienced securities lawyer one day each week.

This course will focus on the constitutional and statutory law that both constrains and empowers public elementary and secondary schools. The course will explore public education from two perspectives: that of the school and that of the student. General topics will include the parameters of public education, the legal and practical aspects of public school governance, and the rights and responsibilities of students.

This course examines the body of jurisprudence that delineates the legal rights and relationships that arise in connection with the development, use, and protection of expressive intellectual endeavor which qualifies for protection within the federal copyright law. In addition to exploring the common law and statutory framework that embodies American copyright law, the course also emphasizes the social policy objectives of copyright property protection, including the stimulation of creative enterprise and the beneficial dissemination of such achievements. Students are especially encouraged to consider the unique questions that arise in connection with the application of traditional copyright principles to new technologies, including any special implications for the African American community and similarly dis-empowered or disenfranchised groups.

This course will focus on the basic principles and structure of securities regulation in the U.S. Specifically, the course will cover federal cases, statutes, rules, and regulations that govern the federal securities markets, including the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

This externship gives practice and classroom learning experience for students interested in working with or in the IRS agency.

 Howard University School of Law’s Externship Program provides students the opportunity to partner with leading environmental institutions throughout the United States, including established collaboration with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). NRDC is a nationally recognized environmental advocacy and litigation firm with a variety of initiatives in many areas of environmental and public health.  EDF is an organization guided by science and economics with a global mission to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends.  

 This Sales Law course combines the law of sales and its application to transactions and problems. Often attorneys must advisie clients about buying, selling, exporting, importing and financing the sale of goods, as well as about dispute settlement. This course offers a basic overview of US sales law (primarily Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code and the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods) and recent developments. For an informed familiarity with sales law, several supplemental resources will be consulted, e.g., UNIDROIT, UNCITRAL, OHADA, and the Hague Conference . The course will use selected Problems in the casebook to analyze the law and its application to resolve issues confronting practicing attorneys. These exercises will involve reading, understanding, analyzing and applying the statutory texts and supporting authorities, then presenting the results in class discussions or in individual presentations.

The Advanced Externship Program is an option for students who have already successfully completed the General Externship Program (either during the academic year or summer) and are interested in pursuing a second externship placement. Students who wish to remain at the same placement must submit a brief memo to the Director of Experiential Learning explaining how their learning goals will differ from their prior semester and why their learning goals cannot be achieved through doctrinal or clinical offerings at the law school.

In Civil Trial Advocacy students participate directly in three civil trials using fictitious case files. on planning, trial strategy and tactics, opening statements, direct and cross examinations of witnesses, in limine and 403 motions, and closing arguments. In all sessions students are divided into plaintiff and defense teams. Students unassigned as counsel in class trial sessions function as witnesses and jurors and may be called on to perform skill drills. Judges preside over in-class trials and the concluding full-day trial. Cases will be deemed to take place in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia and will be tried under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Evidence must be taken as a pre or co-requisite course.

Advanced Legal Writing is an intensive writing lab that builds on the skills you acquired in your first-year legal writing courses, using shorter and more varied assignments from transactional, litigation, and legislative practice.

This seminar will discuss and explore past and present legal formulations in Family Law and its treatment of gender, sex and sexualities. The course will focus specifically in marriage, families, reproductive rights, constitutional protections, criminalization practices and emerging fields of state regulation. The course will combine class discussions, written reflections, debates, and lectures. At the end of the semester, students must submit a paper examining a current family legal issue in terms of its social implications for gender, sex and sexual policies.

Organizations” is the second course that develops your substantive foundational course in business law. The principal course is Agency, Partnerships, and LLC. Apart from common law business organizations, statutory organizations like LLCs are statutory. Despite a federal regulatory presence, state statutory law and common law rulings govern this study. In this course, agency law, the indispensable substantive law on which all businesses, is a substantive core of business law. Once we’ve understood this substantive core, we will carry that understanding over to partnership, corporations, and limited liability companies. Although corporate entities, joint ventures, trusts, s-corporations, and c- corporations will be present in the substantive materials, we will exclusively devote our focused learning to agency law, partnerships, LLCs, and publicly traded and closely held corporations, and securities regulations and litigation.

This seminar provides a deep learning and writing experience for students interested in all aspects of national security law and practice.

This is a survey course examining the legal issues arising in the sale of goods (UCC Article 2), and the legal relationship between debtors and creditors whose credit transactions are secured by personal goods (UCC Article 9). This course also covers bankruptcy law, which is closely related to Article 9. Related areas of law and aspects of commercial and business practices will be discussed, as appropriate. This course is intended to provide a broad overview of commercial law for students who do not intend to practice commercial law, but who nevertheless wish to obtain a significant exposure to the structure and operation of the Uniform Commercial Code, as well as to fundamental commercial law and business practices. 

This is a survey course examining the legal issues arising in the sale of goods (UCC Article 2), and the legal relationship between debtors and creditors whose credit transactions are secured by personal goods (UCC Article 9). This course also covers bankruptcy law, which is closely related to Article 9. Related areas of law and aspects of commercial and business practices will be discussed, as appropriate. This course is intended to provide a broad overview of commercial law for students who do not intend to practice commercial law, but who nevertheless wish to obtain a significant exposure to the structure and operation of the Uniform Commercial Code, as well as to fundamental commercial law and business practices. 

This course covers the constitutional and historical development of the most significant Federal Criminal Civil Rights statutes that are used to prosecute police brutality, and studies other applications of those statutes to other forms of misconduct that warrant criminal prosecution. (e.g. a state judge that coerced female litigants into sexual activity). The course also covers the origin and development of the Federal Hate Crimes statutes. In addition, the course explores the stated discretionary policies of the US Department of Justice concerning inter alia, under what circumstances should federal protection go forward after the matter has been judicially resolved or otherwise determined by the state court system.

This seminar offers students an opportunity to work to understand topics of education law, including aspects of constitutional law and criminal justice.

 The course examines the history and legal framework governing the juvenile legal system in the United States. Coursework includes substantive and practical analysis of the juvenile legal system, including status offenses, delinquency matters, intersectionality of delinquency and child welfare, diversion programs, and restorative practices. Coursework also includes an analysis of the causes, dynamics, and consequences of juvenile delinquency, an understanding of adolescent brain development, systemic and structural influences on delinquency, prevention and intervention considerations, and the cradle-to-prison pipeline. Students also will analyze and research current legal and systemic issues and propose alternative responses to micro- and macro-level injustices. Students also will examine issues of race, class, gender, and economic status in the juvenile legal system.

The IP Patent Clinic is a course where students interact with inventors or designers, and prepare actual patent applications which will be filed for inventors under the supervision of licensed a Patent Attorney. The students will be assigned an invention disclosure. They will work directly with the inventor(s) to draft a patent application covering the invention. The patent application worked on by the student can include design patents. The inventors or designers in need of the preparation of a patent application are generally from the local community in need of pro bono representation. Students will be instructed as to best practices with regard to meeting with the inventor(s) and drafting the patent applications. They will then be critiqued regarding their written applications. The patent applications will be written in stages, including drawings, claims, and specification, with critique on each step in the process.

The Program is a unique collaboration between the Law School ADR Clinic and the General Externship Program, to provide Howard Law students with a capstone ADR experience. Through this program, students are afforded an experiential opportunity to learn how alternative dispute resolution mechanisms function in an international organization. Activities include engagement in mediation services, internal investigations, neutral administrative dispute resolution, and leadership building.

Students represent indigent members of the community charged with misdemeanor offenses in DC Superior Court. Students are responsible for all aspects of the representation of the client, under the direct supervision of the CJC faculty, including preparation for presentation of the case at all stages of the proceeding. Such preparation includes, but is not limited to, client and witness interviews, interaction with the Office of the United States Attorney and the Metropolitan Police Department, legal research and the drafting and filing of litigation pleadings. Students also appear in court at pretrial hearings, trials, sentencing proceedings, and parole revocation hearings.

Founded in 1955, the Howard Law Journal is a student-managed, faculty-supervised academic program of the Howard University School of Law. The Journal is the principal scholarly publication of Howard University School of Law. The Journal is published in one annual volume consisting of no less than three issues that contain articles, essays, and book reviews authored by legal scholars, as well as notes and comments authored by Howard Law Journal members. Consistent with the mission of the law school, the Journal is dedicated to promoting the civil and human rights of all people, in particular those groups who have been the target of subordination and discrimination. During their two-year membership, Journal members are afforded a unique scholarly and analytical experience by performing substantive and technical editorial work. Student editors make all editorial and organizational decisions and, together with a professional business manager, carry out the day-to-day operations. Journal membership also allows students the opportunity to produce thoughtful, intelligent legal analysis and the ability to communicate that analysis through excellent legal writing.

This course is offered to all students who compete and are accepted on to the CHH National Moot Court Team. The course examines various appellate issues and prepares students for appellate writing and oral argument. Once on the team, students will be provided with appellate training in the form of course work over the Summer and Fall semesters. This training will prepare them for competing in external competitions in the Spring semester.

This course prepares various international moot court teams competing on behalf of Howard University School of Law around the world. The course includes lectures on developing trends in contemporary international human rights law. The course also focuses on developing the oral, writing, and research skills needed to compete in some of the world’s toughest international moot court competitions. Howard University School of Law’s International Moot Court Team competes in some of the world’s largest and most prestigious competitions during the spring semester Competitions include The Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition, which is the largest moot court competition dedicated to public international law in the world as well as the U.S. Nepal International Moot Court Competition hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu.

Student Attorneys are assigned investor cases and pursue claims against some of the largest financial services companies in the nation, as well as their brokers and investment advisers. Students will handle cases involving a variety of financial products and transactions including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, stock options, Real Estate Investment Trust (“REITs”), variable annuities, limited partnerships, and initial public offerings. Students also work as a team with other Student Attorneys to develop and conduct investor education programs around Washington, DC area. Students the one semester IJEC program, can return as an Advanced Student in the IJEC II program for a second semester.

 Howard University School of Law participates in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Law School Clinic Certification Program (Trademarks). As a result, this 3-credit semester-long course was created, for which a maximum of ten (10) students will be selected. The IP & Trademark Clinic course includes a classroom seminar and actual client representation. The one time per week, two-hour classroom seminar includes a review of trademark law & federal registration procedures. The practice includes the representation of individuals and small businesses in their efforts to secure federal trademark registrations with the USPTO. Student-attorneys are responsible for all aspects of representing clients, under the direct supervision of the IPTC faculty. The practice includes, but is not limited to: adhering to the USPTO’s ethics rules; client interviewing and counseling (e.g., gathering information; reviewing & reporting-out Office Actions & Notices); trademark selection and clearance (e.g., conducting searches; ordering & reviewing search reports; rendering availability opinions) and all aspects of preparing, filing & prosecuting trademark applications before the USPTO (e.g., reviewing Office Actions and drafting responses thereto, and legal research). Students are also required to meet with IPTC faculty once per week for 30 minute supervisory meetings.

This course discusses the unique laws surrounding international trade and the development of global economies.

Founded in 2015, Howard Human & Civil Rights Law Review [“HCR”] is a student-managed, faculty-supervised law review published by the Howard University School of Law. HCR focuses on issues related to human rights, civil rights, and international law. HCR holds an annual Symposium related to these issues, with the keynote speaker giving the C. Clyde Ferguson Jr. Lecture. HCR publishes an annual volume of the lectures given at the Symposium, together with articles from eminent scholars and practitioners, a student Note written by the winner of the Pauli Murray Prize, a nationwide competition for the best student Note on human and civil rights. 

This course is designed to help students develop the problem solving and analytical skills necessary to maximize scores on each portion of the bar exam. It will assist students in developing writing and multiple choice testing competency sufficient for any bar exam. This course is a skills-based course, and not a course in substantive law. For substantive review, consult substantive outlines and coursework.

This course is an overview of the structure and function of court systems in the United States. Emphasis will be placed on the relationships between state and federal courts within the context of judicial decision making.

This seminar provides students a broad view of business law and economics.

This advanced seminar gives students an in-depth learning experience in corporate law practice.

This seminar provides a practice-based learning experience for students interested in the broad array of litigation opportunities in civil rights law.

This course provides students an opportunity for students to put into practice the material they have learned in their environmental law courses.

This clinic gives students an opportunity to practice many aspects of civil rights law in both local and national settings.

The Movement Lawyering Clinic advocates on behalf of clients and communities fighting for the realization of the civil and human rights guarantees promised by the United States Constitution and International Human Rights treaties. Projects address a range of matters, including police brutality, racial justice, mass incarceration and unconstitutional prison conditions, and other concerns that implicate core constitutional and human rights. This clinic focuses on advocating for systemic change using policy projects, advocacy in front of domestic and international tribunals, and other movement lawyering techniques.

This clinic gives students an opportunity to practice many aspects of civil rights law in both local and national settings.

A continuation of LAW-841. This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the theory and practice of "movement lawyering," and is designed to assist lawyers and law students in becoming better equipped to participate within mass movements and support grassroots organizing. Topics to be covered include: what is movement lawyering and why is it necessary, working with grassroots organizers, lawyering for power-building, how lawyers often fail social movements, how legal strategies fit alongside other social change strategies, and the disconnect between conventional legal training and the skills needed to support social movements. Several of the most effective movement lawyers and grassroots organizers in the country will participate as guest speakers.

This course covers the law applicable to mergers and acquisitions, including takeover law.  We will often use cases as much as vehicles to become familiar with deal terms and practices as for their substantive holdings.  The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with what transactional lawyers do, i.e., what their clients negotiate about, what resolutions are achieved, how clients choose who they wish to contract with, and who they wish to spurn.  What transactional lawyers do is informed as much by norms in the broader transacting community, economic principles of relationships, and bargaining, as it is by law. 

This seminar explores a range of topics affecting families and the neurobiological foundations that affect Black families, in particular.

 The Reentry Clinic combines individual representation with policy work around the central theme of mass incarceration. This course investigates some of the drivers, including long sentences and collateral consequences of arrests and convictions. Under direct supervision, this course affords the opportunity to represent clients in record sealing matters in D.C. Superior Court and participate in policy advocacy as well. This semester students will focus on a new law that increases access to occupational and professional licensing for returning citizens in the district. Students will work on community outreach including designing a community step-by-step education guide or designing an educational video to inform the community regarding the new occupational licensing statute in DC. Under direct supervision, this course affords the opportunity to represent clients in record sealing matters in D.C. Superior Court and participate in policy advocacy as well. This semester students will focus on a new law that increases access to occupational and professional licensing for returning citizens in the district. Students will work on community outreach including designing a community step-by-step education guide or designing an educational video to inform the community regarding the new occupational licensing statute in DC. Students can expect to develop an extensive array of lawyering skills, including interviewing and counseling clients, developing case histories, maintaining case files, investigating cases, and developing effective oral and written advocacy. You will gain an expertise in how to read statutes, particularly the District’s record sealing regime and new occupational licensing law. The classroom component of the clinic will focus on skills development such as storytelling, problem-solving and developing case theories, but will also focus on broader systemic reentry challenges due to race and social inequality in the criminal justice system. Individual case rounds are designed to develop oral advocacy skills. Students will work collaboratively with local and national reentry groups to identify and promote effective reentry strategies.

 The Reentry Clinic combines individual representation with policy work around the central theme of mass incarceration. This course investigates some of the drivers, including long sentences and collateral consequences of arrests and convictions. Under direct supervision, this course affords the opportunity to represent clients in record sealing matters in D.C. Superior Court and participate in policy advocacy as well. This semester students will focus on a new law that increases access to occupational and professional licensing for returning citizens in the district. Students will work on community outreach including designing a community step-by-step education guide or designing an educational video to inform the community regarding the new occupational licensing statute in DC. Under direct supervision, this course affords the opportunity to represent clients in record sealing matters in D.C. Superior Court and participate in policy advocacy as well. This semester students will focus on a new law that increases access to occupational and professional licensing for returning citizens in the district. Students will work on community outreach including designing a community step-by-step education guide or designing an educational video to inform the community regarding the new occupational licensing statute in DC. Students can expect to develop an extensive array of lawyering skills, including interviewing and counseling clients, developing case histories, maintaining case files, investigating cases, and developing effective oral and written advocacy. You will gain an expertise in how to read statutes, particularly the District’s record sealing regime and new occupational licensing law. The classroom component of the clinic will focus on skills development such as storytelling, problem-solving and developing case theories, but will also focus on broader systemic reentry challenges due to race and social inequality in the criminal justice system. Individual case rounds are designed to develop oral advocacy skills. Students will work collaboratively with local and national reentry groups to identify and promote effective reentry strategies.

This seminar will explore the rapidly evolving fields of information privacy and data security law, with an emphasis on consumer rights, theories of consumer harm, and the role of technology in both exposing and protecting personal information.

This course will cover international and U.S. refugee law, with a focus on asylum law in the United States. The course will examine the history of the U.N. Convention on the Status of Refugees, the implementation of that convention through the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980 and subsequent related legislation, political and judicial efforts to define the extent of the protections afforded under international and domestic law, current proposals to amend the laws, and the practices of asylum law in the United States. It examines the international origins of Refugee Law, the meaning of well-founded fear, and the definition of persecution. It analyzes the protections against persecution on account of political opinion, religion, race of nationality, and a social group. The central goal of this course is to help students understand the legal and policy issues affecting asylum-seekers. We will make connections throughout the semester between local asylum issues and national and global issues. By the end of the course, students will understand U.S. and international law and procedures concerning refugees, identify and practice the skills you will need in order to meaningfully engage with clients seeking asylum, and identify issues in law and policy that your generation of lawyers must struggle with, and hopefully resolve.

 In this class, you will learn the many ways that money managers, portfolio managers, asset managers and other investment advisers can get themselves into trouble with the SEC and criminal prosecutors. Better yet, the class is also about how investment advisers can avoid getting themselves into trouble.

 This upper-level seminar will cover subjects including the following: (1) constitutional race, sex, and gender equality; (2) employment discrimination and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (3) race, sex, and voting rights (including the Fifteenth and Nineteenth Amendments and the Voting Rights Act of 1965); (4) juries (both jury service and fair trial rights); (5) intersectionality/multidimensionality and the law; (6) identity; (7) feminist legal theory; (8) Black feminisms (including Critical Race Feminism); (9) civil and human rights; (10) education (including Title IX); (11) poverty; (12) parenting, reproduction, and morality; (13) public accommodations; and (14) social justice lawyering. This course will reinforce the law of constitutional equality covered in Constitutional Law II and present Pauli Murray’s words and work as part of the larger narrative about equality as a matter of contemporary legal doctrine and theory.

 The federal Freedom of Information Act (usually referred to as FOIA) was originally enacted in 1966 as an amendment to §3 of the original Administrative Procedures Act. The FOIA imposes on federal agencies three types of disclosure requirements, codified in §552(a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3). Section 552(a)(1) requires federal agencies to publish certain information in the Federal Register. Section 552(a)(2) requires federal agencies to make certain other information "available for public inspection and copying." Section 552(a)(3) requires federal agencies to disclose, "upon any request," information that has not been made available under subsections (a)(1) or (a)(2). Section 552(a)(3) is what entitles people to file what are called "FOIA requests" and the statute establishes nine exemptions from this requirement in §552(b). The course will, however, focus primarily on those exemptions deemed controversial. It will, therefore, examine and analyze the approach taken by the Trump administration in both complying with §552(a)(3) and invoking the exemptions of §552(b) by reviewing the President’s Executive Orders and the guidelines issued by the various government agencies. It will also review the role of the judiciary by examining and analyzing several recent Supreme Court and other federal court decisions. Consequently, the required seminar papers will be focused on analyzing the federal government’s approach to transparency during the Trump administration, and the role, if any, that “politics” played in the interpretation and the application of the statute.

 The Regulatory State course explores how administrative agencies make law. It focuses on political control and influence over administrative agencies, and how political control and influence affects the content of the law that agencies produce. But to understand the politics of administrative agencies, one first has to understand something about the law that governs them.

This experiential course focuses on developing the foundational expertise required for proficiency in handling legal issues specific to the entertainment industry.  We will examine principles of contract, tort, employment, labor, copyright, and trademark law, as applied to television, film, music and other segments of the entertainment industry.  Students will analyze real and hypothetical case scenarios in the context of exploring legal strategies for meeting client objectives and drafting pertinent agreements and/or litigation pleadings throughout the semester.  Readings will be drawn from the required text and selected supplemental materials to be provided. Course performance is primarily measured by performance on final drafts of interim assignments and on the capstone assignment.

This 2-hour course explores Advanced Torts with a Product Liability emphasis. Product Liability is the principle governing damages for wrongs that are non-contractual (i.e., legal responsibility for losses not grounded in contract).  This course will comprehensively review and explore the circumstances and theories under which liability and damages may be imposed upon those who sell products that are unreasonably dangerous because they are defectively designed, manufactured, or have inadequate warnings or instructions.   Components of this course will include reading, class discussion and practical exercises that develop and shape legal analysis, reasoning, strategy and advocacy from the perspective of both Plaintiffs and Defendants.  Practical exercises will be comprised of oral (and written) presentations that, among other things:  1) focus on skill sets and techniques to present extremely complex information to juries; 2) explore jury selection strategies; and, 3) address the challenges that arise when trial testimony is largely dependent on doctors, scientists and engineers as witnesses.

In the seminar, students will be introduced to basic aspects of habeas law, a unique field that uses civil law to challenge wrongs in the criminal and immigration sectors of the American legal system. All students will be expected to attend a weekly 2-hour seminar via Zoom that will introduce basic habeas concepts. The seminar will incorporate hands-on learning to teach the theories of habeas law to prepare students for their work in the practical component of the course. As part of the seminar, students will be asked to work on a practice problem based off a real case. Throughout the course, students will need to submit an outline of their work, an initial draft, and a final draft of the pleading. Christina and Emily will work with students to provide individualized feedback on the outline and first draft of the problem. In addition, we will provide some time at the end of the seminar sessions to discuss the problem and how it relates to either students’ practicum work or the theoretical work of the seminar.

In this seminar we will delve into the philosophical underpinnings of intellectual property law and examine moral conflicts and questions that arise in the context of granting, enforcing, and disallowing intellectual property rights and related intangible rights.  Sample topics include:  patent law impact on access to healthcare, farming, and food supply; privacy issues and ownership of rights relating to medical innovations derived from patient tissues; and the scope of moral rights granted under the Copyright Act.  Other topics selected by students for their required scholarly paper may be incorporated into the seminar by student-led discussions.  Readings will be drawn from selected cases, articles, and essays, in addition to the required text on scholarly writing for law students. Course performance is primarily measured by timely submission of milestone assignments and quality of final draft of scholarly paper.

This course focuses on the importance of social justice activism and its intersection with the legal and sports industries. This course will address contemporary Sports and Social Justice topics and case studies based on historical examples of athletes who leveraged their personal brands and platforms anchored primarily in sport to promote racial equity and social justice in the United States. The course has four key objectives: (1) to provide an historical overview of the athlete as a social activist, (2) to highlight the power of sport to drive social justice, racial equity, and civic engagement, (3) to examine the power of the partnership between athletes and lawyers as social engineers, and (4) to provide law students with historical legal perspectives, foundational legal skills, and new capabilities to best serve and amplify the voice and impact of the athlete activist client.

This co-curricular course focuses on developing trial lawyers and preparing students to compete against other law schools in trial competitions. There is a strong emphasis on the application of Federal Rules of Evidence, developing persuasive arguments and trial advocacy skills. Students will be required to have a basic understanding of both civil and criminal procedures and how they apply to trial practice.

Thesis guidance for students.

 This course is an introduction to the practical, procedural, and substantive planning engaged in by lawyers helping governments and nongovernmental organizations that seek to balance economic and social development with conservation of natural resources and also promote environmental stability in developing countries and in underdeveloped regions of developed countries. Students will write a research paper on the strategy and tactics of lawyering for sustainable development, based not only on library work but also on interviews with practitioners. Our focus for this year will be the widening gap between rich and poor and the social conflict and escalating environmental disturbance associated with it.

This course will provide theoretical groundwork and experiential opportunities for students interested in serving as in-house counsel in professional sports for companies like unions, leagues and teams, as well as media companies in television, live events and social media. We will cover topical issues ranging from states legalizing sports gambling, to the impact of social media on celebrities and the organizations that represent and employ athletes. Each class meeting will be split between, first, substantive business and legal issues pertaining to sports, media and entertainment, and second, skills-based exercises, workshops and guest lecturers. The latter will include live mock negotiations, oral advocacy, presentation of executive strategic plans and real-time business problem solving. This course is designed to provide relevant knowledge and hands-on experience for students interested in sports, media and entertainment. It is also designed for students who simply have an interest in the topics and would like to gain negotiation, drafting and advocacy experience.

The Workforce Development seminar/skills course considers the question: What does it take to build a pipeline from “poverty” to prosperity for historically economically disadvantaged people? The course does not presuppose that there is one correct answer. Instead, by exploring the problems that have created and maintained economic disparities and the tools that traditionally have been used to address it, the course aims to begin to equip students with the skills to develop models for possible solutions. Students in the course will have an opportunity to volunteer to participate in the Inside/out portion of the class, in which 5 classes will be held inside the DC jail and attended by incarcerated individuals. “The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program is an educational program with an innovative pedagogical approach tailored to effectively facilitate dialogue across difference. It originated as a means of bringing together campus-based college students with incarcerated students for a semester-long course held in a prison, jail or other correctional settings. While those core Inside-Out Prison Exchange courses have been replicated across the United States and in multiple countries since its inception nearly 20 years ago, the program has expanded into a variety of other forms of educational and community-based programming. It also has grown into an international network of trained faculty, students, alumni, think tanks, higher education and correctional administrators, and other stakeholders actively engaged with, and deeply committed to, social justice issues.” http://www.insideoutcenter.org/about-inside-out.html

 Howard Law’s Child Welfare Clinic (CWC) is designed to introduce students to a broad array of advocacy and advisory skills and substantive law to enable them to provide direct legal representation to parents who have or are alleged to have neglected or abused their children in a way that has resulted in state intervention. The Clinic is an eight (8) credit, year-long course and enrolls up to 12 students per year. Admission preference will be given to those students currently participating in our previously established Family Law Certificate Program. CWC combines classroom instruction with case work. Students will attend three hours of classroom instruction per week, to include the necessary law, legal, ethical and advocacy training and skills required to successfully represent adults involved in child abuse and neglect cases, including Client Interviewing Skills, Trial Advocacy Skills, Family Division Practices and Procedures, DC Rules of Professional Conduct, DC Code Title 16 and Child Abuse & Neglect Attorney Practice Standards. Classes will also include case rounds, analysis of ethical, strategic and client representation issues, litigation planning and litigation skill development. Students will work on cases appointed to the Clinic by the Family Court Division of the District of Columbia Superior Court and accepted by the Supervising Attorney. Students will work on actual court matters with assignments to include interviewing clients by telephone and in person, case analysis and adherence to Child Abuse and Neglect Practice Standards. Case work includes factual investigation and research of various issues and claims, court appearances, team meetings with other service providers, and community outreach projects, as well as research and preparation of pleadings, motions, memoranda, and oral arguments on relevant pending cases. Students staff the intake system (which is an integral component of the clinical program at Howard Law) by devoting in-office hours each week to the Clinic and which include interviewing and triage of requests for representation which come from write-ins, walk-ins, e-mails via our clinical program’s Web site www.law.howard.edu, and referrals from outside organizations.

This Food Law & Policy course will familiarize students with the basics of food law (e.g., standards, labeling and date marking, quality and safety) and today’s principal food law and policy issues (e.g., food and health, access to adequate food and food deserts, emerging technologies and developments). In studying these issues, the class will learn the legislative, regulatory and judicial responsibilities of federal and state governments, and the roles and responsibilities/liabilities of food companies, civil society and public private partnerships. All are influenced by the global nature of the food supply, international regulations and food cultures. Students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of food law to address a current practical issue, either domestic (e.g., advising a business interested in opening a small retail food store or farmer’s market in a food desert in Washington, D.C.) or international (e.g., advising an exporters’ cooperative planning to export a spice or fish product to the U.S.) The contributions of each student in the group will include a short legal memorandum (750-1000 words) delivering legal advice about an assigned issue, to be presented in a classroom presentation. In addition each student must submit a 12-15 page legal research paper developing the student’s legal memorandum. 

This course is designed to prepare you for the bar exam by focusing on skill development. Specifically, you will receive in-depth skill instruction on reading comprehension, issue identification, rule mastery, critical thinking, legal analysis and recognition of distractors.

*note to students that this course was called Modern Law of Arbitration. Students cannot take this course if they took that course.

This seminar provides students a detailed look into the issues surrounding the law of patents and other topics in intellectual property.

This course is designed to prepare you for the bar exam by focusing on skill development. Specifically, you will receive in-depth skill instruction on reading comprehension, issue identification, rule mastery, critical thinking, legal analysis and recognition of distractors.

This course will provide students with strategies and tactics needed for success on the essay portion of the Bar Exam. It will also enhance essay writing skills for law school. This course will begin with an overview of the essay portion of the Bar examination, followed by specific writing approaches, outlining and issue spotting techniques, time management strategies and essay writing using actual bar exam essays. Essays will be reviewed in class and submitted for grading. This course will also serve as a refresher to selected subjects tested on the essay portion of the Bar exam.

This seminar provides a full exploration of environmental justice issues affecting communities.

This course provides students with an opportunity to delve more deeply into the areas surrounding discrimination in housing law and policy.

Family Law will provide the student with a practical analysis of family law through a study of case law and in class discussion.

Family Law will provide the student with a practical analysis of family law through a study of case law and in class discussion.

In this course, we’ll examine the socio-legal and neurobiological issues that arrise when parents or other guardians and the state disagree about decisions involving the care, the conduct, disciplinary approaches, and the well-being of children. We’ll also consider the dynamics that arise when children become old enough to take responsibility over their decisions in which the state and the parents take an interest, and when a guardian ad litem or other representative speaks for/as the child. Seminar issues may include: the allocation of power between parents and state; the authenticity of a child’s voice; protecting children from abuse and neglect; adolescent (mental) health care; adoptions; and state-enforced limitation of the liberty of minors; juvenile delinquency. But we cannot best understand these issues, unless we also fold in the social, cultural, psychological, and neurobiological contexts, which form the multivariate factors in which parents and children live. Such factors suggest ecology, and apart from legal and interdisciplinary readings, we’ll also read neuroscience, which tells us that the architecture of children’s brain is positively affected by specific experiences of love and security, fear and threat. Likewise, a child’s brain development can be negatively affected by early childhood adversities like loss, abandonment, fear, rejection, pain, violence, etc. Basically, then, these issues and factors flow from the earliest attachment experiences between caregivers and children, issues that remain throughout the adult’s entire life. Accordingly, in this course, we’ll take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the issues and factors that affect families and the lives of parents and children.

In this course, we’ll examine the socio-legal and neurobiological issues that arrise when parents or other guardians and the state disagree about decisions involving the care, the conduct, disciplinary approaches, and the well-being of children. We’ll also consider the dynamics that arise when children become old enough to take responsibility over their decisions in which the state and the parents take an interest, and when a guardian ad litem or other representative speaks for/as the child. Seminar issues may include: the allocation of power between parents and state; the authenticity of a child’s voice; protecting children from abuse and neglect; adolescent (mental) health care; adoptions; and state-enforced limitation of the liberty of minors; juvenile delinquency. But we cannot best understand these issues, unless we also fold in the social, cultural, psychological, and neurobiological contexts, which form the multivariate factors in which parents and children live. Such factors suggest ecology, and apart from legal and interdisciplinary readings, we’ll also read neuroscience, which tells us that the architecture of children’s brain is positively affected by specific experiences of love and security, fear and threat. Likewise, a child’s brain development can be negatively affected by early childhood adversities like loss, abandonment, fear, rejection, pain, violence, etc. Basically, then, these issues and factors flow from the earliest attachment experiences between caregivers and children, issues that remain throughout the adult’s entire life. Accordingly, in this course, we’ll take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the issues and factors that affect families and the lives of parents and children.