Course Catalog

This course will cover the digital political economy, particularly on the commercial development and use of digital technologies such as AI and digital platforms. The course will pair foundational texts with current legal scholarship on computerization, mass media communication, surveillance, and behaviorism. The aim of the course is to provide historical and theoretical perspective on digital technologies and their social impacts, and to apply that perspective to evaluate legal approaches to understanding and regulating digital society. The course will be organized around major features of digital systems and relevant areas of law. Topics will include some of the following: 1) the datafication of life (and the assetization of data), and how privacy, trade secrecy law, and labor law have facilitated and hampered datafication, 2) attention and engagement maximization, and how these business strategies raise consumer protection and online speech issues, 3) the physical computing hardware of digital life and the geopolitics and supply chain constraints that shape computing power, 4) digital platforms (TikTok, IG, Uber, DoorDash, Amazon)--how they work technically as matching mechanisms, and the possible antitrust issues they raise as well as Section 230 legal immunity platforms enjoy for hosted speech, 5) genAI, the ongoing copyright issues AI raises, and other proposed legal solutions to AI-based harms.

• Type: Seminar

This will for the most part be a traditional course in legal ethics and professional responsibility. We will focus on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, along with other sources of law governing lawyers. Our primary aim will be to identify and analyze ethical issues that arise in the practice of law, including: confidentiality, competence, conflicts of interest, lawyer advertising, multi-jurisdictional practice, litigation ethics, negotiation ethics, and issues arising in the representation of entities. In the process, we will also consider broader questions about what sort of lawyers we want to be and how that might fit into our lives. Those broader questions, valuable for their own sake, will also help us think more clearly about the pragmatic principles and rules we need to know as we prepare to practice law.

• Type: Upper Class

Legal Practice Skills II, a full-semester course, continues the skills- and client-based focus of the first-semester Legal Practice courses. Among other things, one goal of LP Skills II is shifting students into the role of an advocate. As was the case in the first semester, the timing and range of specific skills covered in the course differs from professor to professor. For example, students may develop skills in advocacy and persuasive argument through instruction in pre-trial procedures, pleadings, and drafting pre-trial motions. They then have one or more chances to argue on behalf of a client before a judge or panel of judges. Students may also be introduced to transactional practice and skills, such as learning how to negotiate with other parties in a transactional setting followed by drafting agreements to memorialize the results of those negotiations. As the course progresses, students are repeatedly reminded of how their professional and ethical obligations affect the choices they make when representing clients. Students receive frequent guidance on their assignments via formative feedback from their professors, as well as numerous opportunities for student-driven self-evaluation.

• Type: First Year Required

Are you a forward-looking law student wanting to become a strategic leader in this new era of transformation driven by artificial intelligence, automation, and evolving client demands? The legal world is changing quickly and it's vital to keep pace. This course gives you a head start on your legal career. Our focus will be on the real-world impact of AI and other technologies on every aspect of the legal profession. This isn't about learning specific software or theory through simulations and other nontraditional approaches. It's about strategy. It's about ethics. It's about understanding how technology, people, processes, systems, and data all fit together in today's law practice. And, most important, it's focused on the practical, from the perspective of a legal technology thought leader who also practiced technology law as both outside counsel and in-house counsel. What You'll Learn: * Your ethical duty of tech competence. Not optional anymore. * How AI is already changing the game -- and what's coming next. * What clients and employers expect from tech-savvy lawyers. * Strategies to drive innovation in law firms and law departments. Become a leader and shaper, not just a participant. * How to explore legal services in the AI era, including access to justice and new legal business models. * How to think critically and practically about technology, especially AI. * How to develop a personal framework for continuous technological learning and adaptation. Develop essential leadership skills: You'll gain the knowledge, ethical grounding, and confidence to participate in technology initiatives, advise clients, shape the future of law, and take charge of your own career. Assessment: One major research paper (draft and final submission), a short class presentation, and active participation in group simulations. This course meets both the upper-level writing and practice simulation requirements. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and get practical.

• Type: Practice Simulation

In the modern regulatory state, the rules that most profoundly shape private conduct come not from the common law but, instead, from legislatures and agencies. This class will explore the lawmaking function of these institutions and the virtues and vices of administrative governance. Among other things, the class will cover: the nature of the legislative process; statutory interpretation; the justifications for regulatory intervention; regulatory tools and strategies; the allocation of authority between legislatures and agencies; the varied forms of agency decision-making; and judicial review of agency decisions. In offering a survey of public law, the course will introduce students to the essentials of both statutory interpretation and administrative law.

• Type: Upper Class

For most Americans, their primary interactions with the government are with local government: the schools that care for their children, the police departments that exercise deadly force on their behalf or against them, the zoning boards that decide where and how they can live, and the countless sanitation and transportation agencies on whose services they rely daily. This class examines those local governments. We will both study the law governing local governments' powers generally and explore the specific functions our political system has chosen to entrust to the lowest level of government. In doing so, we will consider what authority and responsibilities local governments have been granted and denied, how that authority may be exercised, how conflicts between local governments and other private and public entities are resolved, and who is empowered and excluded by these governance decisions. We will pay close attention to the institutional structures of local government: with more than 90,000 local governments in the United States, local governments are designed and operate very differently from each other, not to mention from the federal government. And throughout, we will ask how these legal choices about local government affect the most pressing policy issues of today--and how you, as local government lawyers or citizens of local government, can affect them in turn.

• Type: Upper Class

The Tax & Estate Planning Clinic provides students with an immersive, supervised experience in both income tax controversy representation and foundational estate and incapacity planning. In the tax component, students represent low-income individuals with IRS controversies through administrative advocacy and litigation in U.S. Tax Court. In the process, students develop their practical lawyering skills (investigating facts, statutory and regulatory analysis, client interviewing and counseling, written and oral advocacy, and case management) in the context of common issues that tax practitioners wrangle with (characterization valuation, timing, documentation, and statutes of limitation). Students do not need to have prior tax education or experience. In the estate and incapacity planning component, students counsel clients and prepare documents such as wills, trusts, deeds, financial powers of attorney, and advance medical directives. Drawing on property law, elder law and public benefits law, this work helps clients make informed, legally effective financial and health-care decisions and promotes generational financial and housing stability. The LITC is a 7-credit course and meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. Students must enroll in the 4-credit clinic and the 3-credit seminar, taken concurrently. The 4-credit clinic and 3-credit seminar are mandatory, graded, and ineligible for letter grade conversion to pass ("P") election. The Clinic fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement. The Clinic fulfills the Statutory or Regulatory Course Distribution Requirement for graduation.

• Type: Clinic

Instructor: Professor Debra A. Pinals, M.D. Course Summary: In this course, students will become oriented to common crossroads where law and psychiatry intersect. The course will begin with an overview of mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities from legal and clinical perspectives. A review of case law and legislation pertaining to civil commitment, the right to treatment, the right to refuse treatment, and guardianship will help students gain an understanding of the legal regulation of psychiatric practice. Risk assessment, confidentiality and the duty to protect third parties and related tort claims will be covered. Students will explore mental health assessments and expert witness testimony pertaining to criminal law in areas such as competence to stand trial, competence to proceed pro se, criminal responsibility, and sex offenders. Finally, students will have an opportunity to learn about public systems attempt to address mental health treatment needs in psychiatric hospitals, jails and prisons and other venues such as treatment courts and other models have been developed to limit the redirect individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders from incarceration. The course will provide a forum to review federal legislation, government agencies, and litigation and how they come together to help shape services in public systems. The course will rely on assigned readings, short lectures, video material, and classroom prompts to stimulate discussion. There will be at least one field trip as part of the course. Short written or activity-related assignments, classroom participation and a final brief paper will be the basis for final grades. This class will also have forensic psychiatrists in training in attendance, which provides for a multi-disciplinary learning environment!

• Type: Seminar

This course explores the legal and business aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions, with consideration of corporate takeovers more generally (including proxy fights). The course emphasizes the practical "nuts-and-bolts" of these transactions with respect to both public companies and private companies, as well as from the perspectives of both buyers and sellers. The ultimate objective is to prepare students for deal work by unpacking the jargon and educating them on fundamental transactional inputs, the deal process itself, and the common points of friction and negotiation between the parties.

• Type: Upper Class

Founded in 2009, the Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first innocence clinic in the country to focus exclusively on non-DNA cases. In the MIC's sixteen-year history, it has achieved victories in 45 cases on behalf of clients who had been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit. Students registered in the MIC investigate and litigate cases on behalf of incarcerated people who are actually innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Students work on all aspects of the cases, including researching claims of innocence and the law pertaining to them, investigating new evidence, writing and editing court briefs and motions, and participating in courtroom activities when there are hearings scheduled in their cases. The clinic also features a seminar component, where students explore in class the legal and policy issues underlying wrongful convictions and engage in practical skills exercises such as mock direct/cross exams and oral arguments. There are no exams or papers; students are graded on their preparedness and contribution to class, various in-class exercises, the progress they make in their cases, and the quality of their case-related work product. Students are required to complete six office hours per week in the clinic's office, in addition to class time and the usual outside-of-class time spent doing seminar readings and case-related tasks. The MIC's docket spans both state and federal courts and is quite diverse and novel. No two cases are the same, and non-DNA innocence litigation continues to be a fascinating challenge within the field of criminal litigation. Students work with supervising attorneys to craft legal strategies and explore evidentiary and procedural avenues for obtaining relief, many of which have been expanded in recent years due to the work of the MIC and other such organizations. Students interested in criminal law/procedure, appellate practice, brief writing, public interest work, innocence litigation, or courtroom advocacy would be especially suitable for the MIC. That said, there is also plenty in the clinic that would interest those who don't plan to pursue a litigation career. There are no specific prerequisites (outside of the regular first-year courses), and no prior specialized knowledge of criminal defense or innocence litigation is required or expected. * Clinic spans fall and winter semesters of one academic year. Students may register during winter of 1L or 2L year for enrollment during 2L or 3L year, respectively.

• Type: Clinic

Founded in 2009, the Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first innocence clinic in the country to focus exclusively on non-DNA cases. In the MIC's sixteen-year history, it has achieved victories in 45 cases on behalf of clients who had been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit. Students registered in the MIC investigate and litigate cases on behalf of incarcerated people who are actually innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted. Students work on all aspects of the cases, including researching claims of innocence and the law pertaining to them, investigating new evidence, writing and editing court briefs and motions, and participating in courtroom activities when there are hearings scheduled in their cases. The clinic also features a seminar component, where students explore in class the legal and policy issues underlying wrongful convictions and engage in practical skills exercises such as mock direct/cross exams and oral arguments. There are no exams or papers; students are graded on their preparedness and contribution to class, various in-class exercises, the progress they make in their cases, and the quality of their case-related work product. Students are required to complete six office hours per week in the clinic's office, in addition to class time and the usual outside-of-class time spent doing seminar readings and case-related tasks. The MIC's docket spans both state and federal courts and is quite diverse and novel. No two cases are the same, and non-DNA innocence litigation continues to be a fascinating challenge within the field of criminal litigation. Students work with supervising attorneys to craft legal strategies and explore evidentiary and procedural avenues for obtaining relief, many of which have been expanded in recent years due to the work of the MIC and other such organizations. Students interested in criminal law/procedure, appellate practice, brief writing, public interest work, innocence litigation, or courtroom advocacy would be especially suitable for the MIC. That said, there is also plenty in the clinic that would interest those who don't plan to pursue a litigation career. There are no specific prerequisites (outside of the regular first-year courses), and no prior specialized knowledge of criminal defense or innocence litigation is required or expected. * Clinic spans fall and winter semesters of one academic year. Students may register during winter of 1L or 2L year for enrollment during 2L or 3L year, respectively.

• Type: Clinic

Course description depends on the mini-seminar topic. https://michigan.law.umich.edu/resource-center/mini-seminars

• Type: Mini-Seminar

The second half of a full-year mini-seminar in the winter term. Course description depends on the mini-seminar topic. One credit is awarded in the fall term upon successful completion of the full course.

• Type: Mini-Seminar

Course description is coming...

• Type: Mini-Seminar

The music business operates under distinct copyright rules that have evolved to accommodate historically contingent marketplace practices, and have grown too complex to treat in any depth in a 4-credit copyright course. This course will focus on the copyright law that applies to musical works and sound recordings, the policies that animate the legal rules, and the competing forces that complicate music copyright law reform. Students will write a research paper on a music copyright law topic. This is an advanced class: students must have completed either Law 633 Copyright or Law 577 Intellectual Property Survey before they may take Law 666.

• Type: Upper Class

Professor Kaye's section: Learning to negotiate effectively involves negotiating, observing, critiquing, and consciously applying effective strategy and skill. This course introduces students to the science, the art, and the practice of negotiation through a sequenced series of simulation exercises, which students will perform inside and outside of class. Class sessions will be used, in part, for negotiations, debriefing results, and discussion. Course readings will include negotiation literature and theory that inform effective practice. Students will be evaluated based on some combination of class participation, negotiation exercises, and periodic reflection papers. Professor Kimball's section: Learning to negotiate effectively involves negotiating, observing, critiquing, and consciously applying effective strategy and skill. This course introduces students to the science, art, and practice of negotiation through readings, discussion, and simulated negotiation exercises performed inside and outside of class. Class sessions are used, in part, for negotiation exercises and debriefing about results. Readings will include negotiation literature and theory that inform effective practice, and application of ethical concepts and rules as they pertain to negotiations in particular, and more generally, to work with clients, other counsel and the courts. Students will write a research paper about an actual negotiation of their choice, applying negotiation concepts to such real world examples as mergers, acquisitions, labor disputes, settlements, treaties, and a variety of transactions and controversies.

• Type: Practice Simulation

Law 990 - This course offers students the opportunity to integrate practical experience in a legal setting outside the Law School with a Law School classroom experience. Each student will spend at least EIGHT (Section 1), TWELVE (Section 2), SIXTEEN (Section 3) or TWENTY (Section 4) hours per week working under the supervision of an attorney at a local or remote non-profit, government agency, or court. Students will arrange their own placements, though interested students who need guidance about how to pursue a placement are welcome to make an appointment with the course professor, Amy Sankaran ([email protected]). Past placements have included the ACLU of Michigan, Family Law Project, Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit, Magistrate, District, and Court of Appeals Judges, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office and Office of the Public Defender, and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, to name a few. Part-Time Externship students will be co-enrolled in the Part-Time Externship Seminar (Law 991, 1 credit). Thus a student participating in the Part-Time Externship, Section 1 will receive 3 credits total, a student participating in the Part-Time Externship, Section 2 will receive 4 credits total, a student participating in the Part-Time Externship, Section 3 will receive 5 credits total, and a student participating in the Part-Time Externship, Section 4 will receive 6 credits total.

• Type: Externship

This contemporaneous, one-credit seminar is held every semester as a required companion to the Part-Time Externship (Law 990). For more information, please visit the course description for Law 990.

• Type: Externship

This course covers the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that deal with partnerships including such items as: the definition of a partnership for tax purposes; the utilization and importance of a "balance sheet" analysis of partnership activities; the question of whether a partnership is treated as an entity or as an aggregate of separate interests; the transfer of assets to and from a partnership; the allocation of partnership tax attributes; the special treatment of recourse and nonrecourse liabilities; the operation of a partnership; the determination of a partnership's basis in its assets and a partner's basis in the partnership interest; the restrictions on the deductibility of a partner's share of partnership losses; the effect of a change in partnership interests; and the disposition of partnership interests.

• Type: Upper Class

Conflict involving youth, family, communities and institutions inexorably finds its way into state court justice systems. Once there, litigants find that institutional pathways available to them not only effect legal consequences to their actions, but more importantly, have longstanding affects on their lives, as well as the lives of others. This class introduces students to the emergence of one such path in state court justice systems: peacemaking. The introduction begins with the exploration of the roots of peacemaking from indigenous nations within our national border. Students will learn from nationally renowned native guest lecturers about world views, tribal justice systems, tensions between native justice systems and western-model court systems and the opportunity for nurturing communication, collaboration and finding common ground between the two. Thereafter, students will engage in exploring the practical application of peacemaking in state justice systems in family, probate, civil and criminal proceedings. As part of that engagement, students will first conduct a mock trial in a subject area of their choosing through a traditional adversarial model, and then through a peacemaking approach. Finally, students will explore emerging branches from peacemaking in state justice systems. This exploration will include current models around the country, as well as inspiration from models outside of our borders such as South Africa, Canada and Ireland. The class is co taught by a trial attorney with criminal and family court experience, and a state court presiding judge of a peacemaking court. In addition to the mock trial, a final paper will serve in lieu of a final exam.

• Type: Practice Simulation

Philosophical Approaches to Ethical Decision Making A moral philosophy course on the nature of ethical decision making, with some attention to applications in law and statecraft. Topics will include the leading theories of normative ethics; the Trolley Problem; the doctrine of double effect; the problem of "dirty hands"; the morality of abortion, self-defense, torture, and warfare; whether aiding others is ever morally obligatory; whether harming someone to help another is ever morally permissible; whether doing evil is worse than failing to avert it; and the challenges of acting ethically under conditions of factual and moral uncertainty. Class sessions will be conducted seminar-style, with mini-lectures and guided discussions.

• Type: Upper Class

This course provides a survey of the law of property. We will examine what it means to "own" something: what can be owned (Animals? Air? Body parts?); in what configurations (What changes when ownership is shared among groups or across time?); and what rights and responsibilities flow from ownership (Who can be excluded from property and who has a right to access it? When may an owner destroy their property or pollute and when must they protect it?). We will also study how those rights can and cannot be redefined: by the state through regulation and eminent domain and by neighbors through use and custom. The focus will be on property in land, in order to facilitate a sustained exploration of how the legal treatment of physical space shapes social and economic life, and to allow particular attention to questions of land use and housing.

• Type: Upper Class

Public Lands and Natural Resources Law studies the expansive body of federal and state constitutional provisions, statutes, rules, customs, and processes governing the ways individuals; corporations; and federal, state, and local governments interact with federal public lands, state lands, private lands, water, air, wildlife, minerals, and other natural resources. In this course, we will study: (1) the history and status of U.S. federal public lands and the past and present conflicts governing those lands; (2) the laws and regulations governing national parks, national monuments, national forests, grazing lands, energy resources, wildlife, and other natural resources; and (3) ownership interests and rights relating to public and private lands and resources. In addition, the course will help students gain an appreciation of our relationship with the natural environment from cultural, historical, and economic perspectives in addition to a legal perspective.

• Type: Upper Class

Public-Sector Structural Reform in K-12 Education Externship Participants in this program will engage in: A comprehensive seminar in the design, governance, regulation, democratic operation, and equitable transformation of PK-12 school systems and allied public- and social-sector organizations. A high-priority, professionally guided consulting project on which an interdisciplinary team of graduate students provides research, design, strategic planning, and/or implementation support on matters that combine legal, regulatory, management, policy, governance, and/or technological issues crucial to the mission of the client organization -- typically, a state department of education, school district, charter management organization, social-services agency, advocacy organization, philanthropy, or other non-profit serving children. CPRL projects aim to advance education by pursuing systemic changes and co-creating sustainable, innovative, and responsive approaches with those most affected by the issue. Application Procedure Students should submit on the CPRL Website (https://cprl.law.columbia.edu/content/how-apply). CPRL will invite a select number of applicants for an interview with CPRL staff over zoom. A limited number of scholarships are available for exceptional students to apply to their semester's tuition in return for a legally enforceable commitment to work full time for three of their first five years after graduation in a public or nonprofit job supporting the PK-12 education sector. For more information, including a course FAQ, names of Michigan Law students who have taken the previous version of the course, or lists of past projects in which students have engaged in the Course, please email [email protected] or Professor Amy Sankaran at [email protected]. *This description was adapted from Columbia Law School's own course description, which can be found on Columbia Law School's web site: https://www.law.columbia.edu/ (search on L8016).

• Type: Externship

Public-Sector Structural Reform in K-12 Education Practicum Participants in this program will engage in: A comprehensive seminar in the design, governance, regulation, democratic operation, and equitable transformation of PK-12 school systems and allied public- and social-sector organizations. A high-priority, professionally guided consulting project on which an interdisciplinary team of graduate students provides research, design, strategic planning, and/or implementation support on matters that combine legal, regulatory, management, policy, governance, and/or technological issues crucial to the mission of the client organization -- typically, a state department of education, school district, charter management organization, social-services agency, advocacy organization, philanthropy, or other non-profit serving children. CPRL projects aim to advance education by pursuing systemic changes and co-creating sustainable, innovative, and responsive approaches with those most affected by the issue. Application Procedure Students should submit on the CPRL Website (https://cprl.law.columbia.edu/content/how-apply). CPRL will invite a select number of applicants for an interview with CPRL staff over zoom. A limited number of scholarships are available for exceptional students to apply to their semester's tuition in return for a legally enforceable commitment to work full time for three of their first five years after graduation in a public or nonprofit job supporting the PK-12 education sector. For more information, including a course FAQ, names of Michigan Law students who have taken the previous version of the course, or lists of past projects in which students have engaged in the Course, please email [email protected] or Professor Amy Sankaran at [email protected]. *This description was adapted from Columbia Law School's own course description, which can be found on Columbia Law School's web site: https://www.law.columbia.edu/ (search on L8016).

• Type: Externship

Public-Sector Structural Reform in K-12 Education Seminar Participants in this program will engage in: A comprehensive seminar in the design, governance, regulation, democratic operation, and equitable transformation of PK-12 school systems and allied public- and social-sector organizations. A high-priority, professionally guided consulting project on which an interdisciplinary team of graduate students provides research, design, strategic planning, and/or implementation support on matters that combine legal, regulatory, management, policy, governance, and/or technological issues crucial to the mission of the client organization -- typically, a state department of education, school district, charter management organization, social-services agency, advocacy organization, philanthropy, or other non-profit serving children. CPRL projects aim to advance education by pursuing systemic changes and co-creating sustainable, innovative, and responsive approaches with those most affected by the issue. Application Procedure Students should submit on the CPRL Website (https://cprl.law.columbia.edu/content/how-apply). CPRL will invite a select number of applicants for an interview with CPRL staff over zoom. A limited number of scholarships are available for exceptional students to apply to their semester's tuition in return for a legally enforceable commitment to work full time for three of their first five years after graduation in a public or nonprofit job supporting the PK-12 education sector. For more information, including a course FAQ, names of Michigan Law students who have taken the previous version of the course, or lists of past projects in which students have engaged in the Course, please email [email protected] or Professor Amy Sankaran at [email protected]. *This description was adapted from Columbia Law School's own course description, which can be found on Columbia Law School's web site: https://www.law.columbia.edu/ (search on L8016).

• Type: Externship

Race, Sex, and Religion in U.S. Prisons. This seminar will examine the lived experience, statutory and constitutional law, and resulting litigation involving race, sex (including gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, and sexual abuse), and both religious exercise and religiously-focused rehabilitation in American jails and prisons. Students may write a case study of a case or legislative effort, conduct an oral history interview, or do a different paper on a topic approved by the professor. An additional credit is available for particularly in-depth papers or oral histories.

• Type: Seminar

What would it take to tackle racial inequality in America? In this course, we will explore the role of law, policy, and social movements in creating -- and sustaining -- change, with a particular focus on education, voting rights, and criminal justice. Among the questions we will consider: What are the "ingredients" for successful and sustained change in law and policy? Why do movements succeed or fail? What is the role of leadership? Is meaningful progress possible?

• Type: Upper Class

Regulating by the Numbers: Benefit-Cost Analysis and OIRA Review --- With Congress perennially at a virtual standstill, most new federal legal requirements come from administrative agencies. And these regulations touch on some of our most fundamental values and challenges: human health, climate change, societal inequities, and so on. Over decades, agencies have developed standardized ways of incorporating these values, with benefit-cost analysis ("BCA") and review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs ("OIRA") often taking center stage. This seminar will zoom in on these vital steps in the regulatory process, helping unlock a critical skillset for regulatory advocates. Topics will include the legal nuts and bolts of agency BCA and OIRA review, BCA's philosophical and economic underpinnings, deep dives on particular issues (valuing lives, climate-change costs, distributional considerations, future people, the environment, nonhuman animals, etc.), and alternative decisionmaking frameworks. We will touch on current events and live controversies in this space. Grades will be based on class participation, short reactions to the readings, and a semester-long term paper taking a stance on one of the technical or ethical issues raised in class. Previous or concurrent exposure to administrative law (e.g., taking Legislation and Regulation or Administrative Law) is recommended but not strictly required, and no economics background is expected.

• Type: Seminar

Student pursues independent research project under faculty supervision. J.D. PROGRAM--Second and third year students with an honor point average of at least 2.0 may enroll for 1 to 3 credits of independent research under any member of the Law School faculty who is willing to supervise such work. The credit to be given, as well as the scope and subject matter of the project, will normally be determined by the faculty member who undertakes to supervise and grade the student's research. If more than 3 credits is to be given for the project, both the project and the completed product must be approved by a committee of three faculty members, one of whom must be the faculty member responsible for supervising the research. A student may not offer more than a total of 6 credits earned for independent research in satisfaction of the requirements for the J.D. degree. M.C.L. or LL.M. PROGRAM--Students may enroll for 1 to 6 credits of independent research under any member of the Law School faculty who is willing to supervise such work. The credit to be given, as well as the scope and subject matter of the project, will be determined by the faculty member who undertakes to supervise and grade the student's research. A student may not offer more than a total of 6 credits earned for independent research in satisfaction of the requirements for the M.C.L. or LL.M. degree. If a student wishes to receive more than a total of 6 credits of independent research toward the MCL or LLM, he or she first obtains the approval of the Global Affairs Committee through the Assistant Dean for International Affairs. LL.M./S.J.D. PROGRAM--Students may enroll for 1 to 6 credits of independent research under any member of the Law School faculty who is willing to supervise such work. The credit to be given, as well as the scope and subject matter of the project, will be determined by the faculty member who undertakes to supervise and grade the student's research. If more than 6 credits is to be given for the project, both the project and the completed product must be approved by a committee of three faculty members, one of whom must be the faculty member responsible for supervising the research.

• Type: Research

At any given time, several members of the faculty sponsor ongoing research projects that include opportunities for student research. You can get 1-3 independent research credits (pass/fail or graded, as determined by each professor) for participating in such a project, depending on the amount of time you spend. (For students interested in spending fewer hours than is required to earn credit, pro bono participation is also an option. The hours of pro bono participation would count towards fulfilling the Law School's Pro Bono Pledge but would not count towards fulfilling the New York's Pro Bono Bar Admissions Requirement.) The project requirements vary, and enrollment requires the pre-approval of the sponsoring faculty member. Interested students should contact that faculty member directly. If permission to enroll is granted, students should follow the directions in the online registration instructions (Enrolling for Research Credits). CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION CLEARINGHOUSE: This website, at https://clearinghouse.net, collects documents and information from civil rights cases in over a dozen case categories ranging from jail and prison conditions to same-sex marriage to deinstitutionalization. It is used by scholars, teachers, students, policymakers, advocates, and the public, to facilitate greater understanding of civil rights litigation. 2 or 3 credits, only, unless you've previously worked on the Clearinghouse for credit, in which case you can sign up for 1 credit. Faculty Sponsor: Margo Schlanger, [email protected] DATA FOR DEFENDERS: Data for Defenders (https://datafordefenders.org) is a publicly-available database with sample briefs and motions that incorporate social science into criminal defense advocacy. MDefenders partners with public defender offices and organizations, MDefenders alumni, and indigent defense providers around the country to incorporate motions and briefs into the database that will be used by defense attorneys to inject social science research into criminal courtrooms. A few students each year work with Professors Primus and Nelson to research and draft motions and briefs for inclusion in the database and to review submissions to the database. Faculty Sponsors: Eve Brensike Primus, [email protected], and Sofia Nelson, [email protected] MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW: Students serving in positions on the Editorial Board of the Michigan Law Review, the University of Michigan's flagship journal that publishes 8 issues per year, discuss how to evaluate and edit legal scholarship; the functions of legal scholarship; organizational and project management techniques; and approaches to leadership. Faculty Sponsor: Leah Litman, [email protected] TRIBAL COURT CLERK: Students working as tribal court clerks for faculty member who serves as a tribal appellate judge will research pending tribal court cases, draft bench briefs that summarize the legal questions and offer preliminary recommendations, and prepare draft opinions. Students may also be involved in tribal court improvement and infrastructure development projects such as drafting tribal codes and court rules, or work related to entities such as the Michigan Tribal-State-Judicial Forum. Faculty Sponsor: Matthew Fletcher, [email protected]

• Type: Research

How should we respond to wrongdoing? The law has several tools, most prominently punishment and compensation. In our personal lives, we have other tools, like apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Some would like to see those tools play a larger role in law, perhaps to the exclusion of punishment. In this class, we'll consider the many ways we respond to wrongdoing, as individuals and as societies. We'll study theories of punishment, repair, revenge, apology, and forgiveness. We'll investigate restorative justice and reparations for historical wrongdoing. The readings will be primarily philosophical, but no background in philosophy is required.

• Type: Upper Class

Organized sports are governed by quasi-legal systems in the sense that formally promulgated rules enforced by impartial adjudicators and informal norms regulate behavior to achieve a complex set of objectives. This seminar will explore various rules and norms governing sports and related competitions, raising a rich array of questions that are both interesting for their own sake (if you enjoy sports) and are useful for analyzing similar issues underlying the domestic U.S. legal system. This is not a "sports law" seminar primarily exploring the regulation of sports by domestic law. Rather, this seminar explores "sports as law" and draws lessons from organized sports as legal systems in their own right. Examples of topics include: (1) How should competition be structured? For example, what is/are the goal(s) of competition, and what metrics should determine a winner? (2) How should the bounds of acceptable conduct be determined? For example, are certain non-prohibited tactical behaviors (e.g., deception or stalling) nonetheless "inappropriate" and worthy of condemnation? Are certain prohibited tactical behaviors (e.g., intentional fouls) nonetheless "appropriate" and considered "fair game"? (3) How and why should prohibited conduct be punished or sanctioned? Are those the same thing? (4) How should rules governing play be fashioned (e.g., based on players' mens rea components such as knowledge or intent vs strict liability; based on objective rules vs. subjective standards; based on behavior or outcomes (consider "no harm no foul"))? (5) What are appropriate rules or norms for officiating? When and how should officiating errors be correctable/appealable? Course requirements include regular attendance, a final paper, and periodic brief reaction-to-reading papers.

• Type: Seminar

This course covers the regulation of securities offerings and trading under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It examines offerings and the registration process under the Securities Act, along with reporting requirements under the Exchange Act. The course will also cover fraud, insider trading and civil liabilities under both Acts.

• Type: Upper Class

Inquire at the Center for International and Comparative Law for more information.

• Type: Study Abroad

Student writes a research paper related to previously approved international external studies program under faculty supervision. Inquire at the Center for International and Comparative Law for more information.

• Type: Study Abroad

Student obtains faculty permission for direct faculty instruction to receive additional credit. Course is taken in conjunction with a specific seminar in the same term.

• Type: Seminar

In the Senior Judge Seminar students work closely with Legal Practice professors in connection with various aspects of the first-year Legal Practice course. Each Legal Practice professor interviews, chooses and supervises the Senior Judge Seminar students for the Legal Practice section taught by that professor.

• Type: Upper Class

The Senior Judge Seminar II is a graded course intended to allow selected students who have excelled in the Senior Judge I seminar to work in greater depth with a Legal Practice professor in connection with the Legal Practice course. Each Legal Practice professor interviews, chooses and supervises the Senior Judge Seminar II students for the Legal Practice section taught by the professor.

• Type: Upper Class

This seminar explores the jurisprudential, philosophical, and practical lessons that students of the law can draw from the life and works of William Shakespeare. We will consider some key characteristics of the law in Shakespeare's time, how Shakespeare's personal experiences shaped his understanding of the law, how our interpretation of Shakespeare's work raises questions of originalism similar to those we encounter in the law, how his plays portray the law, lawyers, those who enforce the law, and those who sit in judgment, what his plays have to teach us about the art of persuasion and argument, what his plays tell us about individual responsibility within a social structure, how the plays explore the effect of mental illness on that responsibility, and how the plays help us think and talk about difficult issues like misogyny, racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism. Reading assignments in this course will be heavy and energetic engagement in classroom discussions will be expected. Students will be required to prepare four five-page papers in the course of the term. Final grades will be based on the quality of classroom discussion and the quality of the papers.

• Type: Seminar

<p>The South Africa Externship offers students the chance to spend the Winter semester working for a non-profit, government agency, or court. Since 1996, Michigan Law has placed over 150 students in full-semester externships, including positions at the Human Rights Commission (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban), Legal Resources Centre (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Grahamstown), University of Cape Town, Refugee Law Clinic, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Johannesburg), Centre for Environmental Rights (Cape Town), Scalabrini (Cape Town) and Lawyers for Human Rights (Johannesburg) to name a few.</p> <p>Before they arrive, in odd years, students take a course in Constitutionalism in South Africa, taught by Karthy Govender of Durban in person in Ann Arbor, MI, giving them a good grasp of the seminal South African cases so students can "hit the ground running" upon their arrival, as well as a companion seminar meant to enrich their experience (Law 939). In odd years, the students only take the companion seminar and spend longer at their placements in South Africa. Students apply in the Winter before the program begins the following January.</p> <p>For more information, visit our <a href="https://michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning/externships">website</a> or contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>. We are happy to meet with students to answer questions, give guidance on potential placements, provide information on how to apply, etc. Further, every January we hold an informational meeting for all of our international externship programs, so please watch for that announcement.</p>

• Type: Externship

South Africa Externship Seminar This contemporaneous, one-credit seminar is held every Winter as a required companion to the South Africa Externship (Law 938). For more information, please visit the course description for Law 938.

• Type: Externship

Student Directed Work (SDW) credit is a category of mandatory pass/fail graded credit, available through an application and approval process for student work done outside the classroom in connection with student-run activities. To qualify for SDW credit, student work must provide substantial academic enrichment and skills development. Students may earn up to two SDW credits for any one particular activity, up to a maximum of four SDW credits during their law school career.

• Type: Externship

The Tax & Estate Planning Clinic provides students with an immersive, supervised experience in both income tax controversy representation and foundational estate and incapacity planning. In the tax component, students represent low-income individuals with IRS controversies through administrative advocacy and litigation in U.S. Tax Court. In the process, students develop their practical lawyering skills (investigating facts, statutory and regulatory analysis, client interviewing and counseling, written and oral advocacy, and case management) in the context of common issues that tax practitioners wrangle with (characterization valuation, timing, documentation, and statutes of limitation). Students do not need to have prior tax education or experience. In the estate and incapacity planning component, students counsel clients and prepare documents such as wills, trusts, deeds, financial powers of attorney, and advance medical directives. Drawing on property law, elder law and public benefits law, this work helps clients make informed, legally effective financial and health-care decisions and promotes generational financial and housing stability. The LITC is a 7-credit course and meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. Students must enroll in the 4-credit clinic and the 3-credit seminar, taken concurrently. The 4-credit clinic and 3-credit seminar are mandatory, graded, and ineligible for letter grade conversion to pass ("P") election. The Clinic fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement. The Clinic fulfills the Statutory or Regulatory Course Distribution Requirement for graduation.

• Type: Clinic

The professor of this practice simulation will submit cutting-edge problems which he has faced in practice. The students will resolve those problems by structuring transactions to accomplish the client's business goals within the framework of non-tax legal requirements, without incurring unnecessary tax liabilities and in a manner that otherwise optimizes the client's tax posture. Typically, the students will be assigned to work in teams. With each problem, the students submit their solutions in writing, and one team will present its solution to the class orally. The professor will discuss and evaluate the teams' solutions in light of the one that was employed in practice. Prior to the students preparing and submitting their solutions, there will be lectures and discussion of the tax issues involved in each problem. The goal of the practice simulation course is to immerse the students in the process of approaching problems from a transactional perspective. The students will be given a set of facts and objectives, and will be required to determine what steps should be taken to achieve those objectives. An additional goal is to provide the students with exposure to the manner in which experienced lawyers utilize their skills to solve complex problems. The principal issues on which the problems will focus are corporate tax issues, but other areas will likely be covered. For example, partnership tax issues and issues involving the taxation of financial instruments have played a significant role in certain case studies. In recent semesters, problems have involved, among other matters, complex tax-free corporate mergers, corporate divisions (spin-offs), acquisitions of controlling interests in non-U.S. corporations, and transactions designed to illustrate the difference between legitimate tax planning and abusive corporate tax shelters.

• Type: Practice Simulation

This seminar will examine many of the most important tax questions confronting policymakers. The likely topics will include, among others, whether income is the right tax base; the future of the corporate income tax and taxes on capital more broadly; whether tax should be the exclusive legal tool for redistributing income; and how the tax system should treat marriage. Seminar readings will focus on legal and empirical tax scholarship, including behavioral economics. Students will write a research paper on a topic of their choice (with the instructor's approval).

• Type: Seminar

This is the basic course in federal income taxation. It is a statutory course, and the principal source of law will be the Internal Revenue Code. The topics covered will include the definition of gross income and the determination of permissible deductions from gross income. The class will also analyze numerous Code provisions and doctrines that raise issues of tax timing (that is, in what year should a given item of income or a given deduction be taken into account) and income attribution (that is, to whom should a given item of income or a given deduction be attributed). The bulk of the course will be devoted to learning basic statutory analysis. In addition, however, the class will spend some time studying the policy rationales underlying the structure of the current federal income tax laws and will consider the pros and cons of alternative systems. This course is a prerequisite to a number of other courses, including Corporate Taxation, Partnership Tax, Business and Estate Planning, and International Tax.

• Type: Upper Class

The Right to Bear Arms in Criminal Practice --- This course studies Second Amendment doctrine with a focus on its application in criminal cases. Students will study foundational cases -- from Miller through Heller, Bruen, and Rahimi -- alongside historical materials, statutes, and scholarship on public health, constitutional interpretation, race, and carcerality. This course may be of particular interest to students pursuing a career in criminal law, as it examines how the Second Amendment and state constitutional corollaries are being litigated in contemporary criminal cases.

• Type: Upper Class

This seminar will explore a series of legal questions related to the United Nations. The class will start by considering the way the UN Charter structures the organization, its relationship to its member states, and the organization's status and authorities under international and national law. (Why was the United Nations established? Can the United Nations legally reject the Palestinian application for membership? Why is the United Nations immune from suit in national courts -- and should it be? Under what circumstances can member states withhold financial contributions?) The class will then turn to the United Nations' role in maintaining international peace and security -- and the legality, legitimacy, and effectiveness of the United Nations' efforts. Topics covered will include sanctions, peacekeeping, and territorial administration.

• Type: Seminar

This seminar will introduce students to the nature and function of the military justice system and contemporary issues in military law. Selected topics will include an introduction to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the law of armed conflict, rules of engagement, court-martial jurisdiction, unique military offenses and defenses, First Amendment rights of military personnel, conscientious objection, the special role of commanders in the military legal system, efforts to reform the military justice system, Guantanamo and military commissions, military vaccination requirements, and military ethics. Throughout the course we will analyze and evaluate tensions among individual rights, military standards, and national security requirements; think critically about the similarities and differences between civilian and military justice; and, reflect on the vitality of military law in the 21st century. Class will be centered on robust discussion informed by readings, response papers, and occasional media presentations. This class is open to all students interested in engaging the subject matter -- a military or national security background is not required.

• Type: Seminar