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Search and explore Duke Law's wide variety of courses that comprise nearly every area of legal theory and practice. Contact the Director of Academic Advising to confirm whether a course satisfies a graduation requirement in any particular semester.

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NOTE: Course offerings change. Faculty leaves and sabbaticals, as well as other curriculum considerations, will sometimes affect when a course may be offered.

JD/LLM in International & Comparative Law

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Clear all filters 75 courses found.
Number Course Title Credits Degree Requirements Semesters Taught Methods of Evaluation

140

Criminal Law 4.5
  • JD 1L
  • IntlLLM NY Bar
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam
  • Class participation

An introductory study of the law of crimes and the administration of criminal justice. One of the purposes of this course is to introduce the students to the nature of social control mechanisms and the role of law in a civilized society.

202

Art Law 2
  • JD SRWP, option
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM writing
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Final Exam, option
  • Research paper option, 25+ pages
  • Class participation

This course will cover a number of intersections between the law and the people and institutions who constitute the world of the visual arts, including artists, museums, collectors, dealers, and auctioneers. The course will also cover non-legal material geared to shaping practices of art market participants, such as codes and guidelines adopted by art-museum associations, as well as some relevant literature from other academic disciplines. Specific topics will include: (1) contexts in which a legal institution must determine whether a particular object is a work of "art" or art of a particular type; (2) artists' rights, including statutory and non-statutory moral rights and resale rights; (3) problems of authenticity; (4) the legal rights and duties of auctioneers, art dealers, and other intermediaries; (5) the legal structure of art museums, including issues of internal management and governance; (6) stolen art, including objects looted during World War II; and (7) developments in law and industry practice relevant to "cultural heritage," the association of particular objects with particular places or societies.

Students will be required to participate in class discussions, and will have the option of writing a 25-30-page research paper OR taking a take-home exam. Paper topics must be approved by the instructor, who will be glad to make suggestions (some of which will involve local field research).

There are no prerequisites for the course. Although some background in intellectual property (copyright and trademark law) would be helpful, none is required. A set of readings will be distributed prior to the first meeting of the class. Before then, a complete updated syllabus will be posted.

203

Business Strategy for Lawyers 3
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) required
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • IntlLLM NVE Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Fall 23
  • Final Exam
  • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 5-10 pages
  • Class participation

This course presents the fundamentals of business strategy to a legal audience. The course is designed to introduce a wide variety of modern strategy frameworks and methodologies, including methods for assessing the strength of competition, for understanding relative bargaining power, for anticipating competitors' actions, for analyzing cost and value structures, and for assessing the potential for firm growth through innovation. Although the case studies will span a variety of different industries, there will be an emphasis on high technology firms. The ideas in this course have relevance to anyone seeking to manage a law firm, advise business clients, engage in entrepreneurship, or lead a large company.

The class sessions include mainly case discussions coupled with some traditional lectures. The lecture topics and analytical frameworks are drawn from MBA curriculums at leading business schools. The cases are selected primarily for their business strategy content and secondarily for their legal interest. We will be hosting a number of general counsels who will discuss the GC's role in the strategies of their own companies.

Students enrolled in Business Strategy must (a) have previously taken or be concurrently enrolled in Analytical Methods OR (b) have taken an undergraduate course in economics. Students that currently hold an MBA or are enrolled in the JD-MBA program may not take this course. THIS IS A FAST TRACK COURSE.

225

Criminal Procedure: Adjudication 2
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM NY Bar
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam

A study of the basic rules of criminal procedure, beginning with the institution of formal proceedings. Subjects to be covered include prosecutorial discretion, the preliminary hearing, the grand jury, criminal discovery, guilty pleas and plea bargaining, jury selection, pretrial publicity, double jeopardy, the right to counsel, and professional ethics in criminal cases.

226

Criminal Procedure: Investigation 3
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM NY Bar
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam
  • Class participation

This course in advanced constitutional law is a study of the legal limitations on criminal investigative practices contained in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. Topics include search and seizure, arrest, the exclusionary rule, electronic surveillance, the privilege against self-incrimination, interrogation, confessions, and the right to counsel.

245

Evidence 3
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM NY Bar
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam
  • Class participation

This course covers the limitations on the information that can be introduced in court codified in the Federal Rules of Evidence. We take up the issue of relevance, including the rules concerning the balance between the probative value and the prejudicial impact of evidence and the special problems of character and credibility. Also addressed are the rules pertaining to the reliability of evidence, particularly the prohibition against hearsay and its many exceptions, the constitutional constraints on the testimony offered during criminal trials, and the screening of scientific and expert testimony. The course concludes with an introduction to evidentiary privileges.

270

Intellectual Property 4
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) required
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • IntlLLM NVE Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam

This course provides an introduction to copyright, trademark, and (to a lesser extent) patent law and trade secrecy. It does not require a technical background of any kind.  The course begins with an introduction to some of the theoretical and practical problems which an intellectual property regime must attempt to resolve; during this section, basic concepts of the economics of information and of the First Amendment analysis of intellectual property rights will be examined through a number of case-studies. The class will then turn to the law of trademark, copyright, and patent with a particular emphasis on copyright, developing the basic doctrinal frameworks and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each. We will focus in particular on a number of areas where the theoretical tools developed at the beginning of the class can be applied to actual problems involving a full panoply of intellectual property rights; these areas include intellectual property on the Internet, the constitutional limits on intellectual property, and innovation, monopoly and competition in the technology sector. The overall theme of the course is that intellectual property is the legal form of the information age and thus that it is important not only for its enormous and increasing role in commercial life and legal practice, but also for its effects on technological innovation, democratic debate, and cultural formation. Much of our doctrinal work will be centered around a series of problems which help students build skills and learn the law in a highly interactive setting. You can also download the casebook for the class here – for free – to give you a sense of the topics that are covered. 

302

Appellate Courts 2
  • JD SRWP
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Research paper, 25+ pages

This course will examine the practices and powers of American appellate courts, with a particular emphasis on the federal courts of appeals.  Our discussion will focus on the goals of these institutions and the extent to which individual components of the appellate decision-making process—including oral argument and opinion-writing—further those goals.

We will begin with an overview of the function of appellate courts—why they were created and what we expect of them today.  We will then move to the specific components of appellate adjudication, including mediation, briefing, oral argument, and judgment, as well as the personnel who contribute to the adjudication process.  Finally, we will consider the ways in which the appellate courts have been affected by an increasing caseload, and proposals for alleviating the strain on the courts.

Ultimately, the goal of the course is to expose you to how appellate courts operate and the purported goals of these institutions.  Over the course of the semester, you should also be evaluating what you think are the fundamental objectives of appellate review and whether the current structure of the courts allows them to meet those goals.

Evaluation in the course will be based on a final research paper, which may be used to satisfy the SRWP.

306

Corporate Crime 4
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Fall 23
  • Final Exam
  • Class participation

This course serves as an introduction to the field of corporate crime, which now covers a large realm of government and law firm practice. The course will give students a first exposure to: (1) the contemporary practice in federal government agencies and medium to large corporate law firms of investigating, sanctioning, and representing corporations and their managers and employees involved in potential criminal violations (and certain civil analogues), and the law that governs those processes; and (2) the debate in the public policy realm over whether, why, how, and when the criminal law should be applied in the corporate and business context.

This field is large, complex, and developing rapidly. This course therefore can cover only a selection of topics, and will emphasize policy and the need to confront gaps and uncertainty in doctrine. As there is no unitary body of black letter law in this field, students should not expect this to be that form of law course. Coverage is likely to include mail and wire fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice, securities fraud (including insider trading and accounting fraud), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, corporate criminal liability, grand jury powers and procedure, representation of entities and individuals, the Fifth and Sixth Amendments in the corporate context, plea and settlement agreements, and sentencing.

The materials consist of a self-published text available in bound book form for approximately $30 through Amazon, or in pdf form at no charge from the course website. There may be occasional handouts. Assigned readings average 30 pages per class meeting, with less case law and more fact-based practice documents, problems, and commentary than with a typical case book. The grade will be based primarily on a floating take home exam, with some weight given to class participation.

307

Internet and Telecommunications Regulation 3
  • JD elective
  • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • IntlLLM NVE Cert
  • PIPS elective
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 23
  • Final Exam
  • Class participation

This course will examine the regulation of technology, and specifically the technology of Internet and telecommunications. We will examine the possible application of antitrust law and more specific forms of regulation, and will consider pending policy proposals. We will also examine the constitutional (principally First Amendment) constraints on any such regulation.

312

Cybercrime 2
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM writing
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Fall 23
  • Reflective Writing
  • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
  • Class participation

The course will survey the legal issues raised by cyber-related crime. The bulk of the course will be organized around two overarching themes: (1) substantive criminal law (i.e., the scope, structure, and limitations of the criminal laws that reach cyber-related crime); and (2) criminal procedure (i.e., the scope, structure, and limitations of the privacy laws and constitutional principles that regulate law enforcement investigations of cyber-related crime).  Along the way, we will also consider topics that frequently arise in cyber-related investigations and prosecutions, such as:  jurisdictional issues (e.g., federal/state dynamics and international cooperation in collecting evidence); national security considerations (e.g., state-sponsored intrusions and IP theft, terrorists’ use of the internet, government surveillance); and encryption.  We will make regular use of contemporary case studies, including several drawn from my own experience in the national security arena. 

314

Federal Habeas Corpus 2
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 23
  • Final Exam
  • Midterm
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation

What is habeas corpus and why has it earned the title of the “Great Writ”?  Habeas corpus allows prisoners to challenge their detentions and it empowers judges to free prisoners that are unlawfully detained.  The writ reaches the most unpopular prisoners: enemies of the state, war criminals, and those convicted of the most heinous crimes.  Due to its historic role as the last resort for prisoners to obtain judicial review, the U.S. Supreme Court has called the Great Writ one that is “indispensable” and one that “indisputably holds an honored position in our jurisprudence.”  Thus, prisoner litigation is the subject of this course, and in particular, the rights and remedies available to prisoners who seek to challenge their detention.

We will use my co-authored casebook: the first to cover federal habeas corpus comprehensively, presenting post-conviction review and executive detention litigation in an accessible way.  It is available on Sakai, along with the rest of our course materials. We will begin with an examination of the writ of habeas corpus, under which federal courts examine whether detentions are authorized.  We will explore the historical evolution of the writ from a common law prerogative writ to the U.S. federal system and the meaning of the enigmatic Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution. We will then focus on habeas litigation by state prisoners convicted of crimes.  We will study the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and how it intersects with the key Supreme Court decisions that define the limits and procedures for habeas corpus, including through the doctrines of exhaustion, procedural default, non-retroactivity, and miscarriage of justice innocence “gateway” claims.

In the second part of the course, we will examine the Suspension Clause and how Article III of the Constitution shapes the power of judges to use habeas corpus.  We will explore the use of habeas corpus to remedy unlawful executive detention, including immigration detention, military detention, and national security detention.  We will study recent statutes and Supreme Court decisions relating to persons indefinitely detained or facing military commission trials post-9/11.  We will conclude by studying the intersection of habeas corpus and civil litigation, and with a broader look at the future of habeas corpus.

We will conduct a series of practical exercises based on real cases, during synchronous classes and offline.  Short lectures will often be recorded in advance to focus our synchronous time on engaging with  the material. The goal is for you to understand the doctrine and theory but also develop practical litigation skills, directly applicable to prisoner litigation, and also to litigation generally. Some will be in-class exercises, while others will be written exercises outside of class.  You will be given feedback on your work throughout the semester. Similarly, grading will be based not just on a final  exam, but on class participation (in synchronous classes, in comments on each other’s work, and on the Sakai forum discussion pages), written answers to three review exercises, written comments on classmates’ answer to review exercises, a midterm exam, and a final exam. All midterm and final exam grading is blind.

316

Intro to Cyber Law and Policy 2
  • JD elective
  • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM writing, option
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • PIPS elective
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Fall 23
  • Reflective Writing
  • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages

This course will provide an introduction to the dynamic and evolving field of cyber law and policy.  The course will be team-taught by multiple instructors with expertise in various government and industry sectors. The goal is to introduce students to the legal and policy frameworks that guide lawyers and decision-makers in a world of rapid technological change, with a primary emphasis on cybersecurity and privacy. We will discuss today’s threat landscape and approaches to data breaches, cybercrime by state and non-state actors, and cyberwarfare. We will also consider the legal and policy issues surrounding the collection and use of personal data, with a focus on both domestic and international data privacy protections. Other topics will also be explored, such as the impact of emerging technologies and markets (e.g., machine learning, digital currencies, platform media) and the ethical responsibilities of lawyers. Real-world case studies will be employed to allow students to weigh in on some of the most pressing issues of our time.   This course is introductory in nature and no technical background is necessary.

Note: Students who have taken Law 609, Readings in Cyber Law with Stansbury, may not take Law 316, Intro to Cyber Law. 

317

Criminal Justice Ethics 2
  • JD elective
  • JD ethics
  • IntlLLM NY Bar
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Reflective Writing
  • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 15 pages
  • Class participation
  • Other

Criminal Justice Ethics (2 Credit Seminar) focuses on the professional and ethical laws governing attorneys in the criminal justice system. The course focuses on issues affecting both prosecutors and defense attorneys and the applicable rules of professional conduct. The course will work to deepen students’ understanding of the role and responsibilities of criminal justice attorneys in society. This is a specialized ethics course with a focus on lawyers working in the criminal justice system, as such our focus will not cover the Rules of Professional Conduct in their entirety. The class is discussion-based. The primary methods of assessment will be three (3), two-page reflection papers throughout the semester and a final 15-page research and/or analytical paper.

321

The Law and Policy of Innovation: the Life Sciences 3
  • JD SRWP
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM writing
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Reflective Writing
  • Research paper, 25+ pages
  • Class participation

This course analyzes the legal and policy regimes that shape the introduction of new products, processes, and services in the life science industries. Innovation in biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, health services, and health care delivery is central to the heavily regulated life sciences sector, and thus the sector offers a window into multiple intersections of scientific innovation, regulatory policy, and law.  Innovation in this sector is also shaped by multiple bodies of law (e.g. intellectual property law, FDA law, federal and state-based insurance and professional regulation, antitrust, tax), each with its own private and public constituencies, and therefore offers an opportunity to assess how different bodies of law approach the common issue of innovation.  Although this course focuses on innovation in the life science industries, this focus will produce lessons for innovation policy in other regulated and less-regulated industries. 

322

Copyright Law 3
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam

This is a comprehensive course in copyright law. We will examine the legal rights that cover works of creative expression such as literature, music, film, photography, visual art, and software. The class will cover some of the fundamental pillars of the world of creative expression in which we all live—the economic and legal architecture of our culture. This is because copyright’s rules provide the economic incentives that influence our creative output as well as part of the legal framework that shapes our communications technology. The broad impact of copyright law means that it is of importance to a wide range of legal practice and not merely to the specialist. No technical background is needed.

330

Federal Criminal Law 4
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Take-home examination
  • Oral presentation
  • Practical exercises
  • In-class exercise
  • Class participation

This course examines the role of the federal government in the criminal justice system, focusing on significant federal offenses criminalizing fraud, public corruption, drugs, money laundering, racketeering, firearms, and terrorism. We will also consider prosecutorial discretion, plea bargaining, and sentencing in the federal system. The objective of this course is to master doctrine and to learn how to debate federal criminal law's merits and proper limits. Public policy, theory, critical thinking, writing, and oral advocacy will be emphasized.

Federal criminal law is recommended either for second- or third-year students. It is especially helpful for students who will have a federal judicial clerkship, and those who anticipate a career in litigation. There are no prerequisites.

Each student will participate in two mock appellate cases, once as a judge and once as an advocate. The course grade will be based on class participation, the mock cases, and a take-home examination, allocated as follows:

Points/Approximate percentage of final grade

  • 25 argument #1 28%
  • 25 argument #2 28%
  • 30 take-home exam 33.3%
  • 10 class participation 11%

The maximum for each argument is 25 points, allocated as follows:

Advocates:

  • 15 points: written summary of argument
  • 10 points: for the oral presentation (substance and style)

Judges:

  • 5 points: written questions
  • 10 points: written preliminary disposition
  • 5 points: writing (questions and summary disposition)
  • 5 points: oral questions & final explanation of the decision at the close of the arguments

331

Introduction to Privacy Law and Policy 3
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • IntlLLM NVE Cert
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam
  • Class participation

This course on privacy law and policy examines the ways in which the United States’ legal framework recognizes privacy rights or interests and balances them against competing interests, including, among others: freedom of speech and press, ever-expanding uses of big data, national security and law enforcement, medical research, business interests, and technological innovation. The course will address the ways that torts, constitutional law, federal and state statutes and regulations, and societal norms protect individual privacy against government, corporations and private actors in a variety of areas including: employment, media, education, data security, children’s privacy, health privacy, sports, consumer issues, finance, surveillance, national security and law enforcement. The course will also consider the significantly different approach to information privacy in the European Union and the importance of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which became effective May 2018.  The course may also address briefly privacy issues and laws in an additional country, such as China, for purposes of further comparison.  Students will gain a broad understanding of the breadth, diversity and growing importance of the privacy field.

333

Science Law & Policy 3
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Environ Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Fall 23
  • Final Exam
  • Reflective Writing
  • Practical exercises
  • In-class exercise
  • Class participation

What are the government policies that support science? How is science regulated and controlled? What can science contribute to law and policy? How do the states, the federal government and international agencies interact to set science policy? How do disparate regulations and law impact research and translation? How is scientific research funded? These questions and more will be explored by looking at the interaction of law, science, and policy. The class is a mix of law, ethics and science students, and learning how to talk to one another in a common language is an important element of the course. Classes will include consideration and analysis of cases studies. There are no prerequisites for the course and there is no requirement that students have either graduate or upper-level undergraduate training in the sciences. Course evaluation (i.e. your grade) will be based on class participation and a final exam.

All MA, PhD and JD/MA students should register under BIOETHIC 704 – approval of professor is required. All law students (other than JD/MAs) should register under LAW 333.

338

Animal Law 2
  • JD SRWP, option
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Environ Cert
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Research paper, 25+ pages
  • Oral presentation
  • Class participation

This course will examine a number of topics related to the law of animals, including various issues that arise under the laws of property, contracts, torts, and trusts and estates. It will also examine various criminal law issues and constitutional law questions. The class will consider such issues as the definition of "animal" as applicable to anti-cruelty statutes, the collection of damages for harm to animals, establishing standing for animal suits, first amendment protections, and the nuances of various federal laws.

369

Patent Law and Policy 3
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM NVE Cert
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 24
  • Final Exam

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to patent law and policy. No technical background is required. The course begins by addressing the history of patents as well as the policy arguments for and against using patents as a mechanism for inducing innovation. Following this introduction, students learn the basics of patent drafting and prosecution, patent claims, and claim construction. The class then addresses in depth the central patentability criteria of subject matter, utility, nonobviousness, and disclosure. Other topics of importance that are covered in the class include: the relationship between patents and other forms of intellectual property protection, particularly trade secrecy and copyright; the intersection of patent and antitrust law; the role of the two major institutions responsible for administering the patent system, the Patent and Trademark Office and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; and the role of patents in the two major industries of the knowledge-based economy, information technology and biotechnology.

393

Trademark Law and Unfair Competition 2
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Final Exam

This class offers an introduction to the law of trademark and unfair competition. Whether or not students intend to specialize in trademark law, a basic understanding of its rules will better enable them to advise clients who wish to protect their own marks, as well as those facing claims that they have infringed someone else’s mark. No technical background is needed. Trademarks include brand names and logos, and can also extend to other features that identify the source of a product for its consumers – including colors, packaging, and design – when they meet certain requirements. The course will begin with the requirements for obtaining trademark protection: distinctiveness, use in commerce, special rules for trade dress, and various bars to protection such as genericity and functionality. It will then cover confusion-based trademark infringement, secondary liability, anti-dilution, statutory and common law defenses, false advertising, and cybersquatting. Could a Utah theme park called “Evermore” stop Taylor Swift from calling her album “Evermore”? Did Lil Nas X’s Satan shoes infringe Nike’s trademarks? With the proliferation of craft brews, are we running out of brand names for beer, particularly pun-based “hoptions”? The course will address these and other pressing questions.

399

Forensic Psychiatry 2
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation

This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of the major areas of interface between psychiatry and law. Basic concepts of clinical psychiatry and psychopathology will be highlighted throughout the course. The attorney and the psychiatrist roles in the commitment process, right to treatment and right to refuse treatment, competency to stand trial, and criminal responsibility will be explored using a number of methods. Discussion of assigned readings, short lectures, interviews and observation of patients involved in legal proceedings, films, guest speakers, and field trips will form the basis of the course. The students will periodically be asked to use the information from the course together with independent and group research to complete short projects and class exercises.

407

Appellate Litigation Clinic (Fall) 3
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • PIPS elective
  • PIPS experiential
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 23
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

The Appellate Litigation Clinic is a yearlong clinic that offers students the opportunity to work on a federal appeal in a civil or criminal case involving complex, important legal questions. The clinic aims to advance the public interest and help secure access to justice for those who are underserved by the legal system. Because appellate practice focuses largely on legal research, brief-writing, and oral argument, students will receive intensive training in written and oral advocacy as they are practiced in some of the highest courts in the nation. Students will also engage in all the other critical aspects of appellate practice, including: meeting with clients, listening to them, learning to tell their stories, educating them (and co-counsel) about the substantive law and appellate practice, developing effective legal strategy, and identifying and addressing ethical concerns. Skills developed in the clinic will be directly transferable to trial-court litigation, regulatory work, government service, and many other career paths in the law.

Clinic students will work in teams to review the trial-court record, identify legal issues, conduct legal research, prepare research memorandums and outlines of arguments, participate in tactical decision-making, draft and edit briefs, and prepare for oral argument. Students will also collaborate on classmates’ cases and participate in the litigation of a variety of legal issues. Subject to the clients’ permission, court approval, and an argument date during the school year, a student will argue each appeal in court. A weekly seminar will include reflection on case work, instruction in appellate procedure and effective written and oral advocacy, and exploration of how to negotiate workplace power dynamics and ethical issues that new lawyers often face.

Enrollment is limited to third-year students (i.e., students who have completed four semesters of law school).

To allow students to experience the entire life-cycle of an appeal, from filing the notice of appeal through oral argument, the Appellate Clinic is a full-year clinic. Students enrolled in LAW 407 will therefore also be enrolled in LAW 408, Appellate Litigation Clinic (Spring). Students will receive 3 credits each semester.

As with other clinics, students are required to attend the clinic intensive training session, and the course may not be dropped after the first class meeting.

International LLM students who wish to enroll in a clinic must seek the permission of the clinic’s faculty director before the enrollment period. Permission is required for LLM students to enroll but does not guarantee a spot in the clinic.

Clinics Enrollment Policy

Important:

Students are required to attend the clinic intensive training session. Students who have previously completed a clinic may skip some portions of the intensive.

International LLM students who wish to enroll in a clinic must seek the permission of the clinic's faculty director prior to the enrollment period. Permission is required to enroll but permission does not constitute entry into the clinic.

Ethics Requirement

Students are required to have instruction in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct prior to, or during, enrollment in the Appellate Litigation Clinic. Examples of ethics classes that meet the requirement include Ethics in Action: Large Firm Practice (LAW 231), Ethics of Social Justice Lawyering (LAW 237), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering (LAW 238), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering in Civil Litigation (LAW 239), Criminal Justice Ethics (LAW 317) and Ethics in Action (LAW 539).

408

Appellate Litigation Clinic (Spring) 3
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • PIPS elective
  • PIPS experiential
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 24
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

Spring continuation of Appellate Litigation Clinic.

409

Entrepreneurship Immersion 1
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • Summer 2018
  • Summer 2019

Entrepreneurship Immersion provides students with concentrated exposure to the legal, business and regulatory aspects of early-stage company formation. The class takes place in the summer before 2L year for all JD/LLMLE students. The practical application of entrepreneurial skills is paired with classroom instruction each day in the range of business and legal issues likely to be encountered by practitioners. The course addresses the major areas each start-up must consider, from the various perspectives of company founders, investors, customers, and lawyers who represent each constituency.

420

Trial Practice 3
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24

This is the basic trial skills course covering Opening Statement, Direct Examination, Cross Examination, Impeachment, Exhibits, and Closing Argument. Depending on the instructor, Expert witnesses may also be a class topic. 

In sections of 12 students per section, students prepare and perform the skills using simulated problems and case files. Every student performs at every class.  After each performance, each student receives constructive comments from their faculty member.  Students video recordings of each of their performances and at least several are reviewed privately with the student’s instructor. Each faculty member is an experienced trial lawyer.

The course ends with a full jury trial of a civil or criminal case with teams of two students on each side. When the trial ends, the jury deliberates, and students can watch via a video and audio feed. 

Please note: The Trial Practice Intensive is scheduled to begin on the evening of Thursday, January 11, and continue with sessions on the afternoon of Friday, January 12; half day on Saturday, January 13; and half day Sunday, January 14. Attendance is mandatory for each session.

421

Pre-Trial Litigation 3
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Practical exercises
  • In-class exercise
  • Class participation

This practical skills course focuses on the path civil litigators must navigate prior to trial. It is becoming increasingly rare for cases to be decided by a jury.  Lawyers must instead learn to succeed during the pretrial process.  We will examine the key components of the civil pretrial litigation process, beginning with the filing of a law suit.  The class will be divided into law firms on the second week of class. You will work with co-counsel, representing a hypothetical client, for the entire semester.  Law firms will prepare and serve discovery and respond to discovery from opposing counsel. Students will prepare and argue a short discovery motion. The last four weeks of class focus on depositions, with each student taking and defending a deposition. This course will help students synthesize and more deeply understand the strategy and the practical application of civil procedure and evidence rules used in litigation advocacy. 

Topics  include:

  • Drafting pleadings and motions
  • Preparing and responding to discovery
  • Taking and defending depositions
  • Practicing becoming a more effective advocate in the current on-line environment facing all attorneys and courts.

The course grade is based on written and practical skills-based work product and class participation, as described in the syllabus.  There is not a final exam.

422

Criminal Trial Practice 3
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24

This is the basic trial skills course with a focus on criminal litigation. Prof. Maher is an experienced criminal litigator who currently represents clients in state and federal court. The class meets one night each week, and recorded lectures are available for students to view. The course covers Story Telling, Brainstorming, Opening Statement, Direct Examination, Cross Examination, Impeachment, Experts, Exhibits, Trial Preparation, Opening Statement and Closing Argument. The class is limited to 12 students so that each week each student will prepare and perform the various skills using simulated problems and case files, some of which are based on real cases and will allow students to work with actual recordings and other evidence. After each performance, students receive constructive comments both in class and during individual video review meetings. At the end of the semester students, typically in teams of two students, will litigate a mock criminal trial with jurors. Students who have not taken evidence, but who are enrolled in evidence, may take the class.

Please note: The Trial Practice Intensive is scheduled to begin on the evening of Thursday, January 11, and continue with sessions on the afternoon of Friday, January 12; half day on Saturday, January 13; and half day Sunday, January 14. Attendance is mandatory for each session.

425

Pretrial Criminal Litigation 1
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Fall 22
  • Fall 23
  • Oral presentation
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation

This course will focus on the pretrial phase in criminal cases.  We will begin with a defendant’s initial appearance and conclude with a plea hearing.  Class discussions and readings will explore the pretrial practices of effective defense counsel, including conducting a defense investigation, working with experts, and managing clients.  The class will also emphasize oral advocacy skills, so students will be expected to appear as counsel during mock, in-class court hearings. It is anticipated that each class session will be divided into two components: (1) a short lecture/discussion period based on course readings and (2) skills practice.  Finally, this course will provide students with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with criminal case pleadings, including the drafting of at least one motion.  The course grade will be based on classroom participation, performance, and written work.  There is no final exam. 

441

Start-Up Ventures Clinic 4
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Business Cert
  • PIPS elective
  • PIPS experiential
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

The Start-Up Ventures Clinic represents entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses and social ventures on a variety of matters related to the start-up process, including formation, founder equity and vesting, shareholder agreements, intellectual property protection and licensing agreements, commercialization strategies, and other issues that new enterprises face in their start-up phases.

The course incorporates client representation with a seminar and individualized supervision to provide students with a range of opportunities to put legal theory into practice and to develop core legal skills such as interviewing, client counseling, negotiation, and drafting. Students in this course will, among other things, have the chance to deepen their substantive legal knowledge in entrepreneurial law and business law more generally, while at the same time developing critical professional skills through the direct representation of start-up businesses and entrepreneurs. 

Important:

    • See Clinics Enrollment Policy
    • This course may not be dropped after the first class meeting.
    • Students MUST be able to attend the day-long clinic intensive training session to enroll in this course.
    • International LLM students who wish to enroll in a clinic must seek the permission of the instructor prior to the enrollment period. Permission is required to enroll but permission does not constitute entry into the clinic.
  • Business Associations and Advising the Entrepreneurial Client or Start-Up Law are recommended but not required.

Ethics Requirement

Students are required to have instruction in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct prior to, or during, enrollment in the Start-Up Ventures Clinic. Examples of ethics classes that meet the requirement include Ethics in Action: Large Firm Practice (LAW 231), Ethics of Social Justice Lawyering (LAW 237), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering (LAW 238), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering in Civil Litigation (LAW 239), Criminal Justice Ethics (LAW 317) and Ethics in Action (LAW 539).

441A

Advanced Start-Up Ventures Clinic
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • PIPS elective
  • PIPS experiential
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

The Advanced Start-Up Ventures Clinic is for students who have already completed a semester in the Start-Up Ventures Clinic (Law 441) and wish to continue their experiential education in the start-up space, whether it be a to-be-determined project on a specific area of entrepreneurial law, or working with a specific client or in a specific industry. Typically, the course is two credits and permission to take the Advanced Start-Up Ventures Clinic must be approved by the Clinic Director. 

447

Criminal Defense Clinic 4
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • PIPS experiential
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Reflective Writing
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

The Criminal Defense Clinic will center around the direct representation of indigent clients facing prosecution for criminal charges in Durham District Court. The primary focus of student casework will be serving as lead counsel on misdemeanor cases. Students’ trial-level advocacy will be grounded in seminar examination of mass incarceration, the impacts of race and poverty in the criminal justice system, and principles of client-centered and community-oriented defense. Through observation and shadowing, their own in-court experiences, and close faculty supervision clinic students will develop professional skills in client interaction, fact-development, case planning, negotiation, legal writing and argument, and trial advocacy. The semester will conclude with students extrapolating opportunities for systemic reform, derived from their experiences representing individual clients, with an emphasis on creative and interdisciplinary advocacy. Consistent with the law school’s other clinics, the Criminal Defense Clinic will combine a substantive weekly seminar with weekly individual case supervision and preparation meetings, and clinical casework.

465

Patent Claim Drafting and Foundations of Patent Strategy 1
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 24
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation

Scope of patent protection is controlled by definitions of the invention known as patent claims. The role of intellectual property protection in the economy has caused attention to be given to the precision of claim drafting. Focus on skills used in patent claim writing across a variety of technical fields and developed through exercises, problems, and competitions. Discussions of client counseling and patent application drafting in conjunction with the skill-oriented sessions provide a background in the practical issues that control the approaches taken to claim writing, as well as a basis for discussion during particular problems. This course is especially useful for students interested in patent preparation, prosecution, and litigation, or corporate law involving intellectual property transaction.

Students are required to attend the first class in order to remain enrolled in it.

468

Child Advocacy Lab 1
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Reflective Writing
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises

There is significant lack of understanding between the fields of medicine and law, as well as missed opportunities to advocate for children’s rights and improved health outcomes. The Child Advocacy Lab offers a unique opportunity to join a dynamic, collaborative learning environment bringing medical and law students to the forefront of child advocacy.  Students will engage in team projects and conduct research related to current child advocacy issues, with particular focus on recent changes in mandated reporting laws that have greatly affected all professionals working with children.  The lessons learned from working cooperatively with other disciplines will directly translate to enhance career skills for interdisciplinary practice.

471

Science Regulation Lab 2
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntlLLM Environ Cert
  • Spring 21

SciReg Lab teaches students about the use of emerging science and technology in the regulatory agencies through the drafting and submission of comments to federal rule-makings. The comments will be unaligned with any party and are intended to provide the regulatory agencies with unbiased, current, accurate and coherent information about the science underlying the proposed rule. The course is cross-listed in the Law School and Graduate School and the students will be drawn from the sciences, ethics, policy and law to work in interdisciplinary teams. The course will begin with a brief overview of notice-and-comment rulemaking, and how to translate scientific information into the language of courts and agencies. The ethical issues presented by this process will be an important component of the course content. With the assistance of faculty, the students will track pending rulemakings and select proceedings in which to file a comment. A background is science is recommended, but not required.

472

Amicus Lab 2
  • JD elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Simulated Writing, Litigation
  • Group project(s)

A wide range of cases raise novel scientific issues, which judges can struggle to resolve. One way to provide courts with independent information and insight regarding complex scientific issues is through the filing friend of the court, or amicus curiae briefs. The purpose of the Amicus Lab is to teach students about the use of emerging science and technology in the courts through the drafting such amicus briefs. We will draft a number of amicus briefs, including to submit to state and federal appellate courts and the US Supreme Court, on topics and in cases where independent expert views could play a useful role. These amicus briefs will be unaligned with any party and are intended to provide the court with unbiased, current, and coherent information about the scientific issue in the case.

We will meet weekly at a time convenient for all of the students in the lab. Students will initially focus upon the preparation of background memoranda on the selected scientific issues. These memoranda will be used to develop draft amicus briefs over the course of the semester. No scientific background is required, but it would be helpful, as would the basic Evidence course.

476

Ethical Technology Practicum 3
  • JD elective
  • LLM-LE (JD) elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • IntllLLM IP Cert
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Group project(s)
  • Oral presentation
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation

Technological developments have greatly outpaced the legal, ethical, and policy developments in many areas of emerging technology.  As a result, these developments raise important questions on the legal and policy frameworks and practices most appropriate to build an ecosystem of trust that will help ensure citizens and other stakeholders that these innovations will benefit them and are being developed and deployed in an ethical, safe, reliable and responsible manner.  Policymakers and other stakeholders around the globe are grappling with these questions.  As the policy discussions unfold, organizations also are developing their own practices for operationalizing trustworthy or ethical technology.  To do this, organizations often assemble cross-functional teams and develop policies and practices to guide their organization, drawing on myriad sources such as existing and proposed laws, “soft law,” and other resources.  When it comes to the development of individual or novel technologies or platforms, those teams often include ethical guidance to inform “ethics by design” that can help direct developers, and the development of products themselves. The goals of this Practicum are to provide (a)the foundational legal, ethical, and policy frameworks, drawing upon the growing body of existing and proposed laws, ethics by design approaches, and other literature and resources, and (b) practical experience working in a cross-functional team to help an organization design a plan to help manage ethical development of an emerging technology or technological platform in their portfolio. Students will be evaluated on various steps in developing their plans, working with their client, their completed plan, and presentation of their work. 

493

Wrongful Convictions Clinic 4
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • PIPS experiential
  • Fall 20
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Fall 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Practical exercises
  • In-class exercise
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

The Wrongful Convictions Clinic pursues plausible claims of legal and factual innocence made by incarcerated people in North Carolina convicted of serious felonies. 

Students in the clinic study the causes of wrongful convictions, including mistaken eyewitness identification, false confessions, faulty forensic evidence, “jailhouse snitches,” and race. Student-attorneys work under the supervision of faculty to develop, manage, and litigate cases by carrying out a wide range of legal activities, including communicating with our clients, locating and interviewing witnesses about facts, gathering documents and records, drafting a range of legal documents and memos, working with experts, and helping to prepare for evidentiary hearings and oral arguments in state and federal courts. Most clinic cases do not involve DNA.

Many former students describe their time in the clinic, working to exonerate individuals incarcerated for crimes they didn't commit, as their most rewarding experience during law school.

494

Advanced Wrongful Convictions Clinic
  • JD elective
  • PIPS experiential
  • Spring 21
  • Fall 20
  • Fall 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Fall 23
  • Spring 24
  • Group project(s)
  • Practical exercises
  • Live-client representation and case management
  • Class participation

The Advanced Clinic builds on the lectures, training, and work of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic. Students will be assigned to Clinic cases, working more independently than Clinic students, though still under faculty supervision.  Depending on the status of the case, students will interview witnesses, draft legal documents, work with experts, prepare for court, and otherwise take the steps necessary to prove the Clinic client’s claim of innocence and related constitutional claims.  Prerequisite: Wrongful Convictions Clinic or, in the exceptional case, permission of the instructor.

 

502

Forensics Litigation 1.5
  • JD elective
  • JD experiential
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
  • Spring 21
  • Spring 22
  • Spring 23
  • Spring 24
  • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
  • Group project(s)
  • Oral presentation
  • Practical exercises
  • Class participation

Forensic evidence, from DNA to fingerprints to ballistics, has never been more important in criminal cases. However, litigating scientific evidence in the courtroom is not like it appears on TV shows like CSI it is challenging and requires some specialized skills. We are again offering a short course to provide those skills. By the end of the course you will be able to handle sophisticated scientific evidence in the courtroom. While the focus is on forensics used in criminal cases, many of the same principles and skills apply when litigating scientific evidence in any type of case. The course is a practicum: a scientific evidence trial advocacy course. We will begin with introductory lectures both on forensics and how to prepare for trial, so that students will be fully ready for their parts in the last third of the course, which will focus on the trial simulations. During the simulations, the prosecutors will first interview their forensic experts (one of your instructors), and talk to them about their case file documents, which are taken from real cases. The class will break into groups to brainstorm potential motions to exclude expert testimony or limit language and discuss collectively as a class, both sides will conduct mock trials with direct and cross-examination of forensic experts before a judge, and finally, we will conduct closings. These sessions will be spread out over several weeks, to permit watching video of prior sessions to prepare for the next portion of the trial. We will also exchange feedback in between each session to talk about what worked and what did not. Each student will have a chance to present in these simulations. The course will also be to open to a select group of experienced practicing criminal lawyers who will collaborate with students throughout the simulations. Students will be graded on a memo written reflecting on their portion of the trial; their draft questions finalizing their planned questions; and on their participation and oral advocacy in the simulations. While having taken evidence or trial advocacy is helpful, it is not a prerequisite.

505

Criminal Justice Policy Lab 2
  • JD SRWP, option
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
  • PIPS elective
    • Reflective Writing
    • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
    • Oral presentation
    • Class participation

    The growth in incarceration in the United States since the early 1970s has been “historically unprecedented and internationally unique,” as the National Research Council recently put it. This lab seminar will explore current debates about how best to improve our criminal justice system. The focus will be on concrete research projects with the potential to improve criminal justice outcomes in North Carolina. Students will learn how to conduct policy-based research on criminal justice problems, and students will choose projects and write research papers studying possible reforms. Visitors to the seminar will include leading lawyers, policymakers, and scholars to speak to the class, and to assist with the research efforts.  Students will better appreciate the challenges of designing a sound criminal justice system and also learn how as lawyers they may participate in successful and well-researched policy reform efforts.

    507

    Federal Indigent Defense in Practice 3
    • JD elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • PIPS elective
    • Fall 21
    • Fall 22
    • Spring 24
    • Simulated Writing, Litigation
    • Reflective Writing
    • Practical exercises
    • Class participation

    The Sixth Amendment guarantees “the right of the accused to require the prosecution’s case to survive the crucible of meaningful adversarial testing.”  United States v. Cronic (1984).  Most individuals prosecuted with federal crimes cannot afford an attorney, and thus, rely on the assistance of federal defenders and other lawyers in the community appointed to defend them.  This course provides an in-depth introduction to the substantive law and professional skills needed to represent an indigent defendant.  The course will be equally valuable to students interested in working as a federal prosecutor or as a prosecutor or defender in state court.  

    Effective representation in a federal criminal case requires an understanding not just of the substantive and procedural federal law, but also of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the interaction between federal and state law.  The attorney needs to understand the practical problems involved in representing a true underdog facing the power and endless resources of the United States government, develop sharp advocacy and negotiation skills, and possess deep empathy for individuals who would not otherwise have a voice.

    Students will study these issues from the perspective of appointed attorneys representing a defendant based on an actual federal criminal case.  Substantive areas of focus will include federal firearm and drug laws (the government’s bread and butter charges in indigent cases), challenging the guilty plea and sentence, overcoming waivers and unpreserved errors, constitutional issues including common Fourth Amendment concerns arising from police searches and seizures, and the practical considerations involved in obtaining the best outcome for the client.  The course will also necessarily consider the intersection of race, poverty, and systemic discrimination in our system of justice. 

    Professor H. Jefferson Powell will focus on relevant constitutional issues.

    511

    International Criminal Law 3
    • JD elective
    • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • PIPS elective
    • Fall 20
    • Fall 21
    • Series of Short Analytical Papers
    • Practical exercises
    • Class participation

    “An international crime,” wrote eminent legal scholar George Schwarzenberger in 1950, "presupposes the existence of an international criminal law. Such a branch of international law does not exist." This course will begin by probing the concept of international criminal law. What does it mean to say that certain conduct constitutes an "international crime"? What are the objectives of such a legal regime? We will then examine the law of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression, as well as “treaty crimes,” such as terrorism offenses. Particular attention will be focused on the question of jurisdiction over such offenses in national courts and international tribunals,” and on immunities to such jurisdiction.

    Grades will be based on the quality of weekly (3-page) briefings, practical simulations, and class participation.

    512

    Bail Reform 1
    • JD SRWP with add-on credit
    • JD elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • IntlLLM writing option with additional credit
    • PIPS elective
    • Spring 22
    • Reflective Writing
    • Class participation

    Bail practices define who is held in jail in the United States.  Most people held in jails are awaiting trial, and in turn, most of those people cannot afford to pay a cash bond to secure their release.  This seminar will examine the unique system of pretrial detention in the United States, from historical, legal, social, and policy perspectives. We will read leading Supreme Court cases, recent civil rights challenges and judicial rulings regarding bail practices, bail reform legislation, and empirical literature regarding the impacts of pretrial decisions and supervision on people's lives and social outcomes. Students will write short reaction papers regarding each of week's reading, and may also choose to write a more substantial research paper if they wish to earn a second credit. 

    512W

    Bail Reform, Writing Credit 1
    • JD SRWP
    • JD elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • IntlLLM writing
    • PIPS elective
    • Spring 22
    • Research paper, 25+ pages

    While enrolled in LAW 512 Bail Practice, students who plan significant research projects on related topics may register for LAW 512W in order to satisfy the JD Substantial Research and Writing Project.

    520

    Climate Change and the Law 2
    • JD elective
    • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • IntlLLM Environ Cert
    • PIPS elective
    • Spring 21
    • Spring 22
    • Reflective Writing
    • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 5-10 pages
    • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 15 pages
    • In-class exercise
    • Class participation

    This 2-credit seminar will examine global climate change and the range of actual and potential responses by legal institutions – including at the international level, within the United States and other countries (such as Europe, China, and others), at the subnational level, and at the urging of the private sector.

    We will compare alternative approaches that have been or could be taken by legal systems to address climate change: the choice of policy instrument (e.g., emissions taxes, allowance trading, infrastructure programs, technology R&D, information disclosure, prescriptive regulation, carbon capture & storage, reducing deforestation, geoengineering, adaptation);  the spatial scale; the targets of the policy and criteria for deciding among these policy choices.  We will examine actual legal measures that have been adopted so far to manage climate change:  international agreements such as the Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), its Kyoto Protocol (1997) and Paris Agreement (2015), plus related agreements like the Kigali Amendment (on HFCs) and ICAO (aviation) and IMO (shipping); as well as the policies undertaken by key national and subnational systems.  In the US, we will study national (federal) and subnational (state and local) policies, including EPA regulation under the Clean Air Act, other federal laws and policies relevant to climate change mitigation, state-level action by California, RGGI states, and North Carolina. We will also explore litigation involving tort/nuisance civil liability and the public trust doctrine to advance climate policy. 

    Questions we will discuss include:  How effective and efficient are the policies being proposed and adopted? What actions are being taken at the local, national and international levels, and which reinforce or conflict with one another?  Can current institutions and legal frameworks deal with a problem as enormous, complex, long-term, uncertain, and multi-faceted as climate change?  What roles do scientific research, technological breakthroughs, and economic realities play in shaping legal responses?  How should the legal system learn from new information over time? How should we appraise the United Nations climate negotiations, and are there other models for international cooperation?  How should principles of equity, just transitions, and intergenerational justice guide efforts to address climate change? Should greenhouse gas emitters (countries, businesses, consumers) be directly liable or responsible for climate change impacts and compensate victims for their losses?  What is the best mix of mitigation and adaptation policies?  How will climate policy be influenced by geopolitical changes such as the rise of China?  How should the law address extreme catastrophic risk?  How should geoengineering be governed? What is the best path for future climate policy? 

    Students must read the assigned materials in advance of class, and participate in class discussion. Each student will submit a short (5-6 page) paper, addressing the week's readings (and adding outside research), for three (3) of the 12 class sessions (not counting the first class session). A sign-up sheet will be circulated at the beginning of the course for students to select the 3 topics/class sessions for which they will submit these 3 short papers (so that these papers are spread across the semester). In addition, each student will write a longer research paper (15 pages), due at the end of the semester. Grades will be based on: 33% class participation, 33% the 3 short papers, and 33% the longer paper.

    525

    Artificial Intelligence Law and Policy 2
    • JD SRWP
    • JD elective
    • LLM-LE (JD) elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • IntlLLM writing
    • IntllLLM IP Cert
    • IntlLLM NVE Cert
    • Spring 22
    • Research paper, 30 pages
    • Oral presentation
    • Class participation

    Artificial intelligence is on a tremendous growth trajectory and is being developed, adopted and used for many purposes throughout society.  From a legal and policy perspective, AI presents many interesting and complex issues because the technological developments have greatly outpaced the legal, ethical, and policy developments.  One of the important questions centers on what legal and policy frameworks and practices are appropriate to build an ecosystem of trust that will help ensure citizens and other stakeholders that artificial intelligence will benefit them and is being developed and deployed in an ethical, safe, reliable and responsible manner (the “Legal and Policy Framework Question”).  Policymakers and other stakeholders around the globe are grappling with this Legal and Policy Framework Question.  As the discussions unfold, organizations also are designing their own practices for operationalizing trustworthy or ethical artificial intelligence.

    The goal of the seminar is to give students a foundation in the emerging AI laws and policies and insight on the broader process of how laws and policies need to adapt for significant technological changes.  This seminar will explore in detail several approaches currently being considered to answer the Legal and Policy Framework Question, including regulatory approaches, standards, soft law, and self-regulation. As the students study various approaches, they will be asked to consider several sub-questions, such as (a) how the AI legal and policy framework should be calibrated to address risk, (b) the extent to which the framework should be sector specific or apply across industries, (c) which frameworks enable society to capitalize on AI’s benefits and mitigate potential risks, and (d) what is the optimal level of cross-border harmonization and how best to achieve it.   The course also will explore certain other legal issues arising in connection with AI, such antitrust and competition law and intellectual property and proprietary rights matters.

    526

    Jury Decision Making 2
    • JD elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • IntlLLM writing, option
    • Spring 22
    • Spring 23
    • Spring 24
    • Reflective Writing
    • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 20+ pages
    • Class participation

    This course is intended as an introduction to experimental research, legal theory, and caselaw on jury decision making.  Although the topic overlaps considerably with areas of basic decision making--e.g., the heuristics and biases literature--the focus will be mostly on applied research looking at the decisions of real (or simulated) jurors.

    530

    Entertainment Law 3
    • JD elective
    • LLM-LE (JD) elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • IntllLLM IP Cert
    • Spring 23
    • Spring 24
    • Project(s)
    • Class participation

    Law 530 (“Introduction to Entertainment Law”) introduces students to the practical aspects of working as a lawyer in the entertainment industry.  The course explores the legal issues encountered in the production, marketing and distribution of literary, musical and artistic properties and the negotiation and drafting of related contracts, to provide a comprehensive, “nuts and bolts” introduction to working as an entertainment lawyer.  The course focuses on learning practical legal and business skills such as dealmaking, drafting and negotiating financing, development, production and distribution agreements in the motion picture and television industry, as well as management and agency agreements, live performance agreements, and highlights technology and digital media concerns.  Law 530 will also examine current disputes and litigations that affect the entertainment industry, how intellectual property rights are acquired and transferred, and how relationships within the entertainment industry are structured. The goal of this course is for students to gain knowledge of the types of contracts that are negotiated within the industry, and to apply traditional legal principles of intellectual property, contract law, media law, and labor law to entertainment industry-specific agreements and/or disputes.  The final course grade will be based on (i) class attendance and participation (25%), (ii) drafting and negotiating assignments (50%), and (iii) a final project, which will include an oral presentation and a written project on a specific legal issue related to the entertainment Industry (25%).

    533

    Government Enforcement and Global Corporate Compliance 2
    • JD elective
    • JD experiential
    • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
    • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
    • Fall 21
    • Fall 22
    • Fall 23
    • Practical exercises
    • In-class exercise
    • Class participation

    Students will learn about white collar criminal law principles, today’s climate of government enforcement against corporate wrongdoing and the important role that compliance programs can play in preventing, detecting and resolving those compliance issues.  The course will involve substantive lectures and classroom exercises.  The Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) will be utilized as the substantive basis to discuss the various principles and conduct the practice simulations. The FCPA will also help demonstrate the global nature of white collar and compliance and the legal issues multi-national corporations face. 

    Students will engage in classroom exercises to develop skills frequently used in practice – analysis, drafting materials, preparing for and conducting interviews, and developing a work plan.  Students will learn to advise a client on dealing with a government enforcement action, conduct a global internal investigation, and build a corporate compliance program.  This learning combination of substantive lectures and doing simulation exercises regarding “real world” issues will provide students with practical skills in an area that is in high demand for lawyers.

    534

    Advising the Entrepreneurial Client 3
    • LLM-LE (JD) elective
      • Group project(s)
      • Practical exercises
      • Class participation
      • Other

      The goal of Advising the Entrepreneurial Client is to prepare students to assist in the representation of a start-up venture/angel backed company. This course takes students through the legal issues likely to present themselves in the lifecycle of a typical technology company from inception/incorporation through acquisition (the typical liquidity event). Advising the Entrepreneurial Client exposes students to the types of issues, questions and documentation that they encounter and the lawyering skills that they need as a lawyer for an entrepreneurial venture. The course is a survey of entrepreneurial law considerations and does not attempt to invoke policy considerations.

      Students are graded on class participation, weekly group homework, and three major drafting assignments.

      Class is open to students pursuing the LLM in Law & Entrepreneurship.  Students not in this program should consider Law 540: Startup Law: Representing the Company.

      540

      Startup Law: Legal Considerations for Entrepreneurs and Counsel 3
      • JD elective
      • IntlLLM NVE Cert
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • IntlLLM Business Cert
      • Fall 20
      • Fall 21
      • Fall 22
      • Fall 23
      • Final Exam
      • Class participation

      This course takes students through the legal issues likely to present themselves in the lifecycle of a high growth company from inception through acquisition (the typical liquidity event). Startup Law exposes students to the types of issues, questions and documentation that they encounter as a lawyer for an entrepreneurial venture, but also looks at legal and business concepts from the perspective of the entrepreneur. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of legal issues, including but not limited to, intellectual property, securities, entity formation, business operations, human resources, and tax. The course is a survey of entrepreneurial law considerations and will discuss policy considerations as the material and current events dictate. Students who have taken Law 534 may not take this class. Business Associations is highly recommended as a prerequisite but may be taken as a co-requisite. Final grade is based on a final exam and in class participation.

      542

      AI and Criminal Justice 2
      • JD elective
      • IntlLLM writing
      • IntllLLM IP Cert
      • PIPS elective
      • Spring 24
      • Reflective Writing
      • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 15-20 pages

      Artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly is used to make important decisions that affect individuals and society. A particularly pressing area of concern has been in criminal cases, in which a person’s life, liberty, and public safety can be at stake. In the United States and globally, despite concerns that technology may deepen pre-existing racial disparities and overreliance on incarceration, black box AI has proliferated in areas such as: DNA mixture interpretation; facial recognition; recidivism risk assessments; and predictive policing.

      This two-credit seminar will include academic work regarding several of those types of uses of AI in criminal justice, as well as some of the early judicial opinions ruling on such evidence. We will read leading work on the rules of evidence implicated by AI, what constitutional criminal procedure rules are at stake, and we will engage with how these technologies work and are evolving. We will also attend, and comment on, a portion of a timely judicial conference on expert evidence on Friday, Jan. 26, and a longer set of discussions with EU experts on AI on Saturday, January 27.

      There are no prerequisites, but a course in evidence or in criminal procedure would be helpful. Students will write a 3-5 page response paper to the portion of the conference that they attend and a 20- page research and policy paper, with presentations in class on each student’s work at the end of the semester.

      546

      International Law of Armed Conflict 3
      • JD SRWP, option
      • JD elective
      • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • IntlLLM writing
      • PIPS elective
      • Spring 21
      • Spring 22
      • Spring 23
      • Spring 24
      • Reflective Writing
      • Research paper, 25+ pages
      • Oral presentation
      • Class participation

      This seminar will examine the international law of armed conflict, and it focuses on the jus in bello context. Students will consider the rationale for the key concepts of the law of armed conflict and examine their practical application in various contexts. Case studies (to include the wars in Ukraine and Israel as well as other contemporary and historical conflicts) will be examined in conjunction with the topics covered. This historical context for the law of armed conflict agreements, the status of conflicts, combatants, and civilians, targeting, rules of engagement, war crimes, are all included among the topics the class will address. Students are encouraged to relate legal and interdisciplinary sources to better understand the multi-faceted interaction between law and war. There is no examination for this course but a 30-page paper (constituting 60% of the grade) is required on a legal topic chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. Students desiring to use the course paper to fulfill Substantial Research and Writing Project (SRWP) and possibly other writing requirements must obtain instructor approval. The remainder of the grade (40%) is based on the quality and frequency of class participation. Students should be aware that this course may include discussion and visual depictions (still and video) of armed conflict and other acts of extreme violence. The textbook for this course is Gary D. Solis's The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War (3rd ed., 2021). Students are required to attend part of the 29th Annual National Security Law Conference 23-24 February 2024 at the Law School. This course is only offered in the spring.

      550

      Legal Issues of Cybersecurity and Data Breach Response 2
      • JD elective
      • JD experiential
      • LLM-LE (JD) elective
      • IntlLLM NVE Cert
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • IntllLLM IP Cert
      • PIPS elective
      • Fall 20
      • Fall 21
      • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
      • Practical exercises
      • Class participation

      This course will cover the dynamic and rapidly evolving legal field of cybersecurity and data breach response.  The course will focus on the workflow during the aftermath of any sort of data security incident, a rapidly growing legal practice area, where legal professionals have emerged as critical decision-makers. Every class will begin with a 15-20 minute discussion of current events.  The course will be broken up into two parts.   The first part of the course will cover the foundation of the legal aspects of data breach response, in the form of traditional discussion.  The second part of the course will involve a fictional fact pattern/simulation of a data security incident at a financial firm, with student teams conducting various tasks, with “real-life” outside legal experts playing various roles.  The tasks will include: intake; board briefing; law enforcement liaison; federal/state regulatory interphase; insurance company updates; and vendor/third party/employee briefings.

      562

      Sentencing & Punishment 2
      • JD SRWP
      • JD elective
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • IntlLLM writing
      • IntlLLM Business Cert
      • PIPS elective
      • Fall 20
      • Fall 21
      • Fall 22
      • Research paper, 25+ pages
      • Class participation

      This seminar will focus on the process of imposing sentences in criminal cases, administering punishment, and attempting rehabilitation of convicted criminals. The course will first provide background regarding the purposes of punishment and the history of mandatory sentences, presumptive sentences, and sentencing guidelines, and focus on some of these issues in more detail through the use of a expert guest lecturers and a tour of the Federal Correctional Facility in Butner, NC. Students will be expected to participate meaningfully in the lectures, guest speakers and field trip, and produce a research paper on a related topic.

      570

      Criminology and Criminal Procedure 2
      • JD elective
      • PIPS elective
      • Fall 21
      • Spring 23
      • Spring 24
      • Class participation

      In this seminar, we will read social science research to examine the empirical assumptions of rules, systems, and practices of criminal law and procedure. We will cover a series of empirical questions, which may include: (1) Does stop and frisk policing reduce crime? (2) Can body cameras change police behavior? (3) Does the death penalty deter? (4) Are there alternatives to incarceration that can keep us safe? (5) Is there racial disparity in sentencing, and if there is, what can we do about it? (6) What is the right age of majority to separate the juvenile and adult justice systems?

      While some background in social science and statistics may be helpful, it is not a requirement for the course. Students will be evaluated based on class participation and a series of reaction papers. Students will also be asked to lead discussion of some of the readings.

      576

      Agency Law in a Changing Economy 2
      • JD SRWP, option
      • JD elective
      • IntlLLM NY Bar
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • IntlLLM writing
      • IntlLLM Business Cert
      • Spring 21
      • Spring 22
      • Spring 23
      • Spring 24
      • Research paper, 25+ pages
      • Oral presentation
      • Class participation

      Agency law encompasses the legal consequences of consensual relationships in which one person (the “principal”) manifests assent that another person (the “agent”) shall, subject to the principal’s right of control, have power to affect the principal’s legal relations through the agent’s acts and on the principal’s behalf. As the principal’s representative, an agent owes fiduciary duties to the principal. Agency doctrine applies to a wide range of relationships in which one person has legally-consequential power to represent another, populating the category, “agent,” with a variety of exemplars: lawyers, brokers in securities and other markets, officers of corporations and other legal entities, talent and literary agents, auction houses, and more. Usually, agency relationships contemplate three distinct persons: agent, principal, and third parties with whom the agent interacts, with legal consequences for all three. Agency law also governs the relationship between a principal and its agents, including its employees. The pervasiveness of agency means that its implications remain relevant despite changes in business structures and economies more generally.  This seminar covers the legal doctrines that make agency a distinct subject with in the law, in particular those differentiating agency from general contract and tort law. It also covers a number of contemporary examples in which agency doctrine may—or may not—apply with significant consequences. These may include the status of Uber drivers and other actors who perform services via platforms; the duties of commodities brokers, including merchants in financial derivatives products; the consequences of imputing an agent’s knowledge to the principal; agency as a vehicle for the imposition of vicarious liability; and the consequences for the agent and third party when a principal is undisclosed, unidentified, or undetermined.

      The seminar will meet weekly with assigned readings. Each student will write a research paper on a topic to be chosen with the instructor’s consent and will make brief presentations to the seminar as work on the paper proceeds

      577

      Emerging Issues in Sports and the Law 2
      • JD elective
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • IntlLLM writing
      • IntlLLM Business Cert
      • Spring 24
      • Reflective Writing
      • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
      • Class participation

      The course will examine the regulation of NCAA athletics and the enforcement of NCAA rules. It will examine in detail several high profile NCAA cases including those involving Penn State, Miami and UNC-Chapel Hill.

      578

      Crimmigration Law 3
      • JD elective
      • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
      • PIPS elective
        • Simulated Writing, Litigation
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
        • Oral presentation
        • Class participation

        Immigration law and criminal law are increasingly intertwined.  From the moment of arrest through completion of any sentence, the criminal justice system functions differently for noncitizens, with significant immigration consequences flowing from decisions at every stage.  Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys must be aware of these consequences and prepared to address them in the course of criminal proceedings.  Immigration attorneys must be able to advise defense attorneys on the best resolutions for their clients. Lawmakers must account for the results of merging these two systems.

        Through readings, discussion, and independent research projects, students will learn to analyze constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions concerning immigration, as well as procedural and substantive requirements in criminal proceedings as they affect noncitizens. Participants will also explore the public policy choices surrounding the use of local law enforcement agencies in immigration policing.

        588

        Investigating and Prosecuting National Security Cases 2
        • JD SRWP with add-on credit
        • JD elective
        • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • IntlLLM writing option with additional credit
        • PIPS elective
        • Spring 21
        • Spring 22
        • Spring 23
        • Spring 24
        • Reflective Writing
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
        • Class participation

        National security cases present unique challenges to prosecutors and defense attorneys. From the outset of an investigation, and before charges are brought, prosecutors and investigators must take into account a number of considerations, including coordination with the intelligence community and potential conflicts that may arise between law enforcement and intelligence gathering. After a case is charged, such cases frequently present other challenges, such as complying with discovery obligations while protecting classified information and obtaining testimony from foreign witnesses who may be beyond the reach of the U.S. government. This course will provide an in-depth examination of the unique issues that lawyers face in national security prosecutions and the substantive and procedural tools used to navigate those issues.  We will also examine the advantages and limitations of civilian prosecutions and consider the effectiveness of current procedures and criminal statutes in addressing modern national security threats.  An emphasis will be placed on case-specific examples and hypotheticals, drawing in part on the instructor’s experience and pending public cases.  The course will culminate in a simulation in which students are presented with a rapidly unfolding national security incident in which they are asked to address various hypotheticals at different stages of the case.

        Students will be expected to complete a final paper of 10-15 pages in length on a topic approved by the instructor. JD or LLM students who wish to use the paper to satisfy the substantial writing requirement of their degree should enroll in a 1 credit independent study with Professor Stansbury and will be expected to write a final paper of 25-30 pages in length. The Independent Study will be graded on a credit/no-credit basis.

        592

        Frontier AI & Robotics: Law & Ethics 3
        • JD SRWP, option
        • JD elective
        • LLM-LE (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • IntlLLM Business Cert
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • IntlLLM NVE Cert
        • Fall 20
        • Spring 21
        • Spring 22
        • Spring 23
        • Spring 24
        • Reflective Writing
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 20+ pages
        • In-class exercise
        • Class participation

        Robots, with us for several generations already, were long confined to narrow uses and trained users, assembling our vehicles and moving our products behind the scenes. In recent years, robotic tools have begun to step out of the back room and take center stage. Even more, these tools are fueled by constantly advancing artificial intelligence and machine learning tools that allow them to participate in the world of the mind as much as the world of muscle. Are we ready? Probably not. In order to capture the full opportunities and benefits of AI & robotics, surely our legal systems and ethical frameworks must evolve. We must find ways to ensure that human-robot interactions occur in ways that are safe and are consistent with our cultural values. We must take care that our policies and laws provide artificial intelligence tools with the direction we need without quashing or hindering the innovations that could improve our lives.

        The course will bring together three core areas: (1) law, (2) ethics, and (3) applied technology. Because frontier technologies challenge existing legal regimes and ethical frameworks, this course and its assigned project encourage law, ethics, and policy students to interact with networks of experts who are actively thinking about ethical technology development and with technology policy networks that explore the social implications of a world increasingly inclusive of AI.

        Beyond time spent for class preparation and in-class time, each student in Frontier AI & Robotics: Law & Ethics will be required to complete a substantial research-based Report that demonstrates a deep, research-based understanding of a topic about which the student shall become knowledgeable such that he/she could take part meaningfully in and contribute to present-day discussions of law, policy, and ethics in the topic area. This Report may qualify for the JD SRWP degree requirement or the International LLM writing requirement upon permission of the instructor.

        NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR TECHNOLOGY IS NEEDED FOR THIS COURSE.

        599

        Race, Bioethics and the Law 2
        • JD elective
        • PIPS elective
        • Spring 23
        • Reflective Writing
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s) option, 10-15 pages
        • Class participation

        Much of the mainstream dialogue regarding medicine, technological advances, and healthcare has relied on the premise of fairness and equality. However, this is not the entire story. Many of the advancements we take for granted were produced at the expense of racially marginalized individuals. Though these challenges can feel insurmountable, we have the tools to develop solutions. The goal of this course is to teach students the shared history of racism in medicine and to empower them to address these disparities through bioethics and the law. The course will cover historical bioethical incidents that shaped racially marginalized individuals’ relationships with healthcare and science. It will also examine healthcare, bioethics, and the law through the lens of racially marginalized peoples and anti-Blackness in law and policy. Lastly, it will also cover various approaches to integrating anti-racist principles into the practice of law.

        644

        Bass Connections 1-3
        • Other

        About Bass Connections

        Bass Connections is a university-wide program that offers graduate and undergraduate students immersive research opportunities through more than 60 year-long project teams each year. On Bass Connections teams, graduate and professional students, postdocs, and undergraduates work together with faculty and outside experts to conduct cutting-edge research on important issues such as health inequality, environmental sustainability, human rights, educational opportunity, and medical ethics.

        Teams generally work together for nine to 12 months. Participating students usually receive academic credit (see below for crediting options for Law students), although students in specialized roles may sometimes serve in a paid role.  

        Team members blend their diverse skills and expertise, allowing students of all levels to learn and contribute. Their work results in policy recommendations, journal articles, new datasets to inform future research, health interventions, novel modes of delivering social services, prototypes, museum exhibits, future grants, and more.

        Opportunities to Participate in 2023-2024

        For more information about how to apply, please visit the Bass Connections website. Details about other 2023-2024 project teams open to law students are available here.

        Crediting Options for Law Students

        Law students who are interested in participating in Bass Connections have the following crediting options:

        • Teams led by a Duke Law Faculty Member: If a Duke Law faculty member leads a Bass Connections team, Law students are eligible to receive Law School credit (up to three credits per semester). Upon being accepted to join a team, students must apply for approval to receive Law School credit by documenting the law and policy work (research, drafting, etc.) they will be undertaking as part of the team and the amount of time they will spend on the project. Such students should contact Dean Lacoff or James Lambert.
        • Teams without Duke Law Faculty Members: Some Bass Connections team are grappling with legal matters but do not include a Duke Law faculty leader. While Law students are encouraged to participate on these teams, students would not be eligible for Law School credit. Such students could opt to use their non-Law credit, noting that each student is only permitted three such credits. Students may also petition the Law School’s Administrative Committee for permission to apply up to three additional credits. Such appeals must demonstrate the rigor of the project and the connection to legal matters. Students interested in participating in these projects should contact Dean Lacoff or James Lambert.
        • Other options: Some students participate on Bass Connections teams in a paid capacity, particularly if they are serving in a leadership/project management role on the team. Each team is structured differently. It is at the discretion of faculty team leaders whether they offer paid roles. Law students may not earn academic credit if they are paid for their work.

        Some students also participate on Bass Connections teams in an extra-curricular capacity because they are passionate about the topics, see sufficient professional benefits to participation, and/or because the topic aligns with their own research/career interests.

        In some circumstances, Duke Law students may also document leadership or other skill development through a Bass Connections team experience that may count toward the professional development graduation requirement. Please contact a career counselor if you are interested in pursuing this option.

        Benefits of Participation for Professional Students

        Project teams offer professional students an exciting opportunity to apply coursework to a concrete problem, access professional development resources, expand academic and professional networks, and build career-enhancing skills to stand out on the job market. Professional students play a crucial role on Bass Connections teams, often serving as subject area experts, project managers or sub-group leaders, and mentors for undergraduates. In recognition of the important leadership role that professional students play on teams, Bridget Eklund JD’ 21 was awarded the 2021 Bass Connections Award for Outstanding Mentorship

        Bass Connections teams offer professional students the opportunity to plan and implement complex projects, work in teams, mentor and lead others, and communicate across boundaries to find solutions to complex challenges – skills that are crucial for successful careers in almost any field.

        Duke Law Participation and Testimonials

        Past Law students have participated on a wide range of teams, including those working on issues related to ethics, the environment, privacy and security, intellectual property, labor, health, and education.

        Among many research outcomes, these teams have:

        • collaborated with federal and state policymakers on Medicaid reform;
        • developed cybersecurity guidelines to protect individuals’ and families’ personal data;
        • examined incentive-based approaches to endangered species conservation on private lands;
        • explored how governments and professional associations set and enforce codes of ethics in competitive industries such as law, athletics and business;
        • produced documentary films on the environment and peacebuilding in post-conflict zones; and
        • written policy proposals to inform animal waste management practices in the United States.

        Here’s what a few Duke Law alumni have had to say about their Bass Connections experience:

        The best thing about my Bass Connections project was that, much like in the real world, the “problem” we sought to address had never been answered – it was not an assignment generated to test a skill set, but rather a totally open-ended question.
        -
        Anna Johns Hrom JD ’16, PhD ’18 (Law Clerk, U.S. Courts)
         

        As a result of having worked with a multidisciplinary team, my writing changed and improved my goal of reaching wider audiences…Back in Brazil, my experience with Bass Connections is also informing how I am building and leading teams of researchers and policy analysts.
        -Daniel Ribeiro, SJD ’18 (Prosecutor, Ministério Público of the State of Rio de Janeiro)
         

        Through Bass Connections, I had the chance to meet with highly specialized practitioners that have been doing fascinating work on environmental peacebuilding. The [experience] also gave me an opportunity to step out of my usual activities…and do things I had little experience with, like drafting a script for a documentary or thinking about how certain images might help communicate the environmental impact of armed conflict in different regions of the world.
        -Xiao Recio-Blanco, SJD ’15 (Director of the Ocean Program, Environmental Law Institute)
         

        Bass Connections provided [our team] with an opportunity to work across disciplines to solve a complex and multifaceted problem and to develop a meaningful solution to that problem—one that has the potential to have tangible benefits in the real world. It is exactly the type of opportunity that I had been looking for when I decided to apply to Duke in the first place: to take my education beyond the classroom to make a difference in the wider world.
        -Matthew Phillips JD ’20 (Founder, Phillips Admissions)

         

        716

        Cybersecurity and National Security Law and Policy 3
        • JD elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • Fall 21
        • Fall 22
        • Reflective Writing
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
        • Group project(s)
        • In-class exercise
        • Class participation

        The acquisition, management, analysis, dissemination, and security of data are increasing important issues for individuals, commercial enterprises and governments.   New technologies create a more connected and personal digital society.  Every day, transactions engaged in by individuals generate ever expanding amounts of personal information, including credit card transaction information, purchasing histories, bank and other financial transaction information, location information, health information, real property ownership information, information relating to interactions with the criminal justice system, information shared on social media and other types of information.  Not only is the volume of personal information escalating rapidly; much of it is revealed in on line transactions, enabling it to be acquired for multiple uses, and much resides on servers and storage media where it can be accessible or potentially accessible to commercial enterprises and government agencies. New cybersecurity risks are demanding responses from governments as they address attacks on critical infrastructure, election interference and the potential for manipulation of the data used to train artificial intelligence tools.

        In both the commercial sector and the government sector, the legal and policy issues associated with data, cybersecurity and surveillance are growing in importance.   Discussion of these issues in either sector cannot ignore the others, because the issues frequently intersect.  They also transcend national boundaries. For example, in President Obama’s proposals to revise government policy towards signals intelligence collection, he states that such policies implicate “the cooperation we receive from other nations on law enforcement, counterterrorism, and other issues; our commercial, economic, and financial interests, including a potential loss of international trust in U.S. firms and the decreased willingness of other nations to participate in international data sharing, privacy, and regulatory regimes …”[1]  This intersection of issues creates particular challenges for existing constitutional, legislative and international governance models.

        In the government sector, increased risks such as nation state cyber threats now create new priorities to add to those efforts spurred by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  Combating and preventing terrorist and cybersecurity attacks relies heavily on the collection of information through electronic surveillance.  The tension between these efforts and individual privacy creates frictions that are forcing reconsideration of existing methods of mediating these interests.  This tension then creates challenges for long accepted ideas of nation state use of signals intelligence interception and other information gathering operations (such as the gathering of intelligence about potentially hostile governments).  Similar reconsideration is occurring in the commercial sector, where consumers’ desire for confidentiality in the data that relates to them can conflict with markets for information and commercial and entrepreneurial interests that wish to take advantage of such data to provide new goods and services that consumers value.  


        [1] Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-28, p. 1 (January 17, 2014).

         

        745

        Trade Secrecy: Doctrine, Policy, Frontier Issues 2
        • JD SRWP, option
        • JD elective
        • LLM-LE (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • Spring 23
        • Research paper, 25+ pages
        • Research paper option, 25+ pages
        • Oral presentation
        • Class participation

        This seminar introduces trade secrecy doctrine and examines the most important policy contexts in which trade secrecy are arising today. No background knowledge is required. However, students must be prepared to be quick studies of various areas of technology and law. Of the various U.S. intellectual property regimes, trade secrecy is perhaps the most doctrinally elusive. Historically a common law tort that also borrowed from property and contract, trade secrecy has become codified in state, federal, and international regimes. The codification of trade secrecy doctrine has coincided with increasing recognition that it is often the most important mechanism by which firms protect returns on innovation and/or business investment. Notably, trade secrecy (and secrecy more generally) is becoming increasingly important not only for private firms, but also for national and regional innovation and security strategies. This seminar begins with an introduction to the trade secret doctrinal canon (including a discussion of how trade secrecy intersects with patent, copyright, and data exclusivity protection). It then discusses empirical evidence on uses of trade secrecy. Next, it considers various policy contexts, ranging from cybercrime and data regulation to employment and public administration. The seminar concludes by examining frontier technology areas in which trade secrecy plays a prominent role. These include machine learning and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

        754

        IP Transactions 2
        • JD elective
        • LLM-LE (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • IntlLLM Business Cert
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • Spring 21
        • Spring 22
        • Spring 23
        • Spring 24
        • Final Exam
        • Class participation

        Patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets are the currency of an innovation economy. Each of these forms of intellectual property may be bought and sold, licensed, or used as security. How each is used will depend on the business context; the needs of a start-up company being far different from those of a multinational corporation. This course will focus on intellectual property transactions in various business contexts, including: maximizing value and assessing risks; using intellectual property in financing start-ups; protecting trade secrets; employment issues related to intellectual property; intellectual property licensing; and intellectual property in mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcy.

        755

        Data Governance and Data Sharing 2
        • JD SRWP, option
        • JD elective
        • LLM-ICL (JD) elective
        • LLM-LE (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • Spring 23
        • Research paper option, 25+ pages
        • Class participation

        Data often is referred to as the “new oil” or the “new gold,” given its potential to help unlock many economic and social benefits ranging from making industries more innovative and efficient to aiding in drug discovery, combatting climate change, and identifying and addressing social disparities.  The exponential growth of data has enhanced the need to develop robust data governance and data sharing practices, which can implicate a broad range of legal and policy issues, including privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, antitrust, corporate, and emerging AI policies.  Since many U.S. organizations collect and process data in multiple countries, data governance and sharing systems often need to factor in the laws of multiple jurisdictions.The goal of the seminar is to give students a foundation in the key legal and policy issues shaping data governance and data sharing practices, and insight on how organizations are operationalizing data governance and data sharing in the quickly evolving legal environment.  The course addresses relevant US laws and policies as well as select international laws and policies in order to help prepare students to address data governance and sharing practices that extend across certain jurisdictions.  To accomplish these learning objectives, the seminar begins with an overview of data governance and a series of classes focusing on legal and policy issues implicated by data governance.  Next, the seminar includes a series of classes focused on data sharing, including emerging laws and policies promoting data sharing and contractual strategies and challenges for implementing data sharing.  Finally, the course will explore how policymakers are turning to certain technology solutions to help address competing legal and policy concerns such as protecting privacy, on the one hand, and promoting data sharing and transparency, on the other.

        764

        Privacy in a Post-Dobbs World: Sex, Contraception, Abortion and Surveillance 2
        • JD elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • PIPS elective
        • Fall 23
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
        • Oral presentation
        • Class participation

        This two-credit seminar will examine the extent to which the criminalization of abortion in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), together with 21st century surveillance, compromises or eliminates the physical, decisional, and informational privacy of women and people who can become pregnant.

        We will review the history of the Supreme Court’s contraception and abortion cases and carefully read Dobbs. We will learn about the historical criminalization of abortion and pregnancy outcomes in the US and related surveillance. We will then examine current state laws criminalizing abortion, defining a fetus as a person, and creating civil liability schemes, and discuss how these laws affect privacy. We will learn about the laws that protect (and fail to protect) privacy in our modern information economy and consider the ways privacy law intersects with abortion law. In this context, we will consider both commercial surveillance and surveillance by law enforcement.  Other topics will include: the privacy implications of medication abortion and the current litigation that threatens its continued availability in the US; the extent to which providers, aiders and abettors, and women who self-manage abortion may be subject to prosecution in ban states; the increasing legal conflicts between shield states and ban states; the effects of criminalization on the privacy of the physician-patient relationship and the associated disincentives for seeking reproductive health care; the implications of laws purporting to control, limit or prohibit access to or dissemination of information about abortion in ban states; and attempts to affect or restrict individuals’ movement within and between states to obtain care.

        Both privacy and abortion law are rapidly changing environments in the United States, and attention to current developments in both arenas will be part of the class. We will make every effort to address and incorporate developments as they occur. Assignments will include interactive online comments and responses about the readings, a research project and presentation on the developing law in a particular state, and a writing assignment. There is no final exam.

        This course is not open to students who took Law 611.45 - Readings: Privacy in a Post-Dobbs World in Fall 2022.

        767

        Advanced Legal Research Workshop 1
        • JD elective
        • JD experiential
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • Spring 22
        • Spring 23
        • Fall 23
        • Practical exercises
        • Class participation

        This one-credit fast- track advanced legal research workshop will provide students with hands-on research practice across a spectrum of topics, using assignments designed to simulate legal practice in a real-world setting. In addition to primary legal sources, students will practice using litigation documents and analytics products, statutory interpretation and legislative history materials, corporate and contract drafting resources, regulatory materials, interdisciplinary and data research resources, intellectual property materials, and legal history and jurisprudence resources. In-class exercises and take-home assignments will be based on current and recent legal disputes illustrative of those matters students are likely to encounter in practice. Ethical and efficient research methods will be emphasized. Students should come away prepared to tackle research in a variety of legal work settings, including law firm, court, or public interest practice. Successful prior completion of LARW or equivalent is required.

        769

        Design Law 2
        • JD SRWP, option
        • LLM-LE (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • Spring 23
        • Spring 24
        • Research paper, 25+ pages
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 5-10 pages

        The law regulates the design of almost all of the artefacts that we experience. It establishes intellectual property rights that incentivize the creation of new design and that restrict the ability of other designs from being made. And a host of other legal fields regulate the shape, efficiency, safety, and accessibility of virtually everything around us. Sometimes these different laws work together; while at other times they work at cross purposes. This seminar will explore the various ways in which law regulates design. We will begin with examinations of the intellectual property doctrines that do so, including design and utility patents, copyright, and trade dress. Then we will consider other areas of the law that influence design, including, possibly, tort law, disability law, environmental law, administrative law, and tax law. We will read traditional legal doctrinal materials, including cases, statues, and regulations. And we will also read contemporary scholarship in law, design, and business. Ideally, the course will also include presentations by designers and attorneys in order to give students a richer understanding of the field.

        Methods of evaluation:  class participation, and either 30-page SRWP or six 4-5-page papers >

        781

        Music's Copyright: A Historical, Incentives-Based, and Aesthetic Analysis of the Law of Music 3
        • JD SRWP
        • JD elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • Fall 20
        • Spring 23
        • Fall 23
        • Reflective Writing
        • Research paper, 25+ pages
        • Oral presentation
        • Class participation

        This course will begin by exploring the historical structure of incentives in music and the changing economics of music production, including the preconditions for thinking of music as "property" and the gradual shift from patronage to a market-oriented system. It will then proceed to examine music's unusually complex and increasingly fraught relationship with copyright law. The fundamental notions of originality and illicit copying are at odds with both functional limitations and long-standing aesthetic practices in music, such as the long history of accepted borrowing. As a result, there is an unusual body of music-specific case law that features intriguing circuit splits, vigorous disputes about expert testimony and prior art, and specialized doctrinal issues. Students will gain an in-depth knowledge of these issues, and their application in prominent cases involving the songs "Blurred Lines," "Stairway to Heaven," and Katy Perry's "Dark Horse," as well as pending disputes over Lizzo's "Truth Hurts" and "Baby Shark," and then apply this knowledge in a mock trial. The course will also cover the complicated licensing schemes that attach to different uses of music, from traditional revenue streams to fresh disputes regarding royalties for new uses such as ringtones and streaming services. This portion will include a discussion of the new Music Modernization Act. Finally, the class will conclude with an in-depth examination of the ongoing debates about how both the law and business practices might adapt to the new musical forms (such as sampling and remixing) and business models (such as do-it-yourself distribution) enabled by digital technology. Throughout the semester, the course will include a special focus on current and ongoing disputes, issues, scholarship, and proposals.

        The writing for this course may be used to satisfy the JD Substantial Research and Writing Project Requirement.

        783

        Emerging and Challenging Issues in Evidence Law 2
        • JD SRWP, option
        • JD elective
        • IntlLLM writing
        • PIPS elective
        • Spring 24
        • Reflective Writing
        • Research and/or analytical paper(s), 15-20 pages
        • Class participation

        This seminar will focus on the most important and most controversial aspects of evidence law, including new technologies like AI, and electronic/digital evidence. The seminar also explores controversial areas of the evidence rules where change has been called for (sometimes for decades) but has not yet occurred.

        786

        Media Law 2
        • JD elective
        • LLM-LE (JD) elective
        • IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
        • IntllLLM IP Cert
        • Fall 20
        • Fall 23
        • Simulated Writing, Litigation
        • Class participation

        Today, thanks to the internet, everyone is a publisher. This class will examine the regulation of communications media, including newspapers, broadcast media, social media, and internet content generally. It will survey the First Amendment principles underpinning protection for speech and address current events and ongoing debates about the media, including “fake news,” blockbuster defamation cases, and social media content moderation. This class will also cover topics specific to the practice of media lawyers, such as pre-publication review, prior restraints on speech, defending subpoenas, reporters’ privilege, and access to information. Students will be assessed on their completion of three written projects.

        Course Credits

        Semester

        JD Course of Study

        JD/LLM in International & Comparative Law

        JD/LLM in Law & Entrepreneurship

        International LLM - 1 year

        Certificate in Public interest and Public Service Law

        Areas of Study & Practice