This course involves an in-depth study of the law applicable to patents. The patent is the form of intellectual property protecting "inventions.” It is the most important form of protection for enterprises competing on the basis of technological advantage. The course covers patentable subject matter, application for grant, the criteria of patentability, rights of patent holders, causes of action against alleged infringers, defenses, remedies, licensing, the relevant application of competition/antitrust law and patent policy.

This course will explore the law that applies to extracting and transporting oil and gas resources in the United States. The first several days of the course will describe the process of locating minerals underground and drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil, as these processes and technical terms for these processes will arise in many of the cases that we will explore.

This is a 2-credit class surveying the comprehensive law of nonprofit organizations. The course will begin with an overview of the nonprofit sector and provide an understanding of the various dimensions and rationales for nonprofit organizations. We’ll then dissect the legal framework of these organizations, including formation, dissolution, and restructuring; operation and governance; and state and federal requirements for existence.

This course introduces the theory and practice of negotiation in a workshop setting. We will examine the basic stages of a negotiation; the major tensions at play in negotiation; distributive bargaining, value-creating, and problem-solving techniques; the management of communication and emotional elements in negotiation; power dynamics and ethics; lawyer-client relationships, and other topics as time allows.

Prerequisites: Business Associations (or Corporations)

This course examines the broad array of legal and policy-related issues arising out of litigation seeking redress for harms in the context of the provision of medical services. 

This seminar will examine a series of legal issues raised by (1) the flow of personal information through social media, (2) the emergence of business models that make money from those information flows, and (3) the role of social media companies as information gatekeepers. Together we will explore the interplay of law (like the rights and freedoms the media enjoy under the First Amendment), and ethics (the professional responsibilities that historically have cabined the exercise of these rights).

The powers, limitations, and special legal rules concerning state and local governments are studied.

This seminar provides students an opportunity to research and discuss a variety of doctrines that can be employed to enable the contract and tort claimants against one entity to access the resources of another entity. Doctrines in various stages of development include alter ego, fraudulent transfer, integrated business, joint venture, nominee, partnership, principal/agent, successor liability, veil piercing. Students will orally present their papers and write after receiving comment from the instructor.

Pre/Co-requisite: The Law, the Classics, and the Scriptures