Course Catalog

This course provides an introduction to the laws and regulations we use to address environmental harms. It focuses on the major pollution control statutes, particularly the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act, and Toxic Substances Control Act. We will also examine the role of the courts in interpreting these statutes as well as the underlying scientific, economic, and policy rationales for environmental protection. Recurring themes will include the balance of federal and state authority, the influence of interest groups (both industry and environmental organizations) on environmental policy, and the disparate impact of pollution on vulnerable populations. The course will also cover recent developments in administrative and constitutional law that have significant implications for environmental regulation, such as the major questions and non-delegation doctrines.

• Type: Upper Class

The Clinic, which was founded in 1983, teaches students to be effective advocates for the National Wildlife Federation, other environmental justice and conservation organizations, and local governments. The course has both a clinical and a classroom component. For clinical work, students participate in administrative and civil litigation, comment on proposed rules and permits, submit public records requests, and draft legislation. Topics include environmental justice, climate change, natural resources & wildlife management, pollution control, and utility regulation. In the classroom, the focus is on representing organizations, practicing in an administrative law framework, effective client counseling, improving research skills (including through the use of AI), and obtaining public records. Students must enroll concurrently in the 4-credit clinic and the 3-credit seminar. Credits count toward New York's pro bono requirement. There are no prerequisites or corequisites, but having taken courses that cover administrative or environmental law would certainly be helpful.

• Type: Clinic

The Clinic, which was founded in 1983, teaches students to be effective advocates for the National Wildlife Federation, other environmental justice and conservation organizations, and local governments. The course has both a clinical and a classroom component. For clinical work, students participate in administrative and civil litigation, comment on proposed rules and permits, submit public records requests, and draft legislation. Topics include environmental justice, climate change, natural resources & wildlife management, pollution control, and utility regulation. In the classroom, the focus is on representing organizations, practicing in an administrative law framework, effective client counseling, improving research skills (including through the use of AI), and obtaining public records. Students must enroll concurrently in the 4-credit clinic and the 3-credit seminar. Credits count toward New York's pro bono requirement. There are no prerequisites or corequisites, but having taken courses that cover administrative or environmental law would certainly be helpful.

• Type: Clinic

What is the European Union and how does it work? The EU remains our single largest trading partner and our most important regulatory counterpart around the world. The EU is also a key benchmark against which we assess the effectiveness of international legal regimes from trade in goods and services to migration and human rights. And yet, as an institution of governance, the EU itself is often poorly understood. This course assumes no prior knowledge of international, transnational, or European law or politics. It will introduce you to the basic structure of the European Union, and to core substantive law from free trade and the common market to citizenship, migration, and fundamental human rights. The course covers what every lawyer needs to know about the Union and its path from international organization to body politic.

• Type: Upper Class

This course focuses on the procedural rules that regulate the use of evidence at trial. The rules covered include those relating to the competence of witnesses, the mode of examination, relevance, impeachment, character evidence, hearsay, expert evidence, privileges, and judicial notice. Particular attention is paid to the Federal Rules of Evidence.

• Type: Upper Class

For all full semester externship programs, students may add an optional graded paper or project for one, two, or three credits. The total credits for the semester cannot exceed 15 without special permission.

• Type: Externship

This course provides a doctrinal overview of family law, including marriage, cohabitation, divorce, private agreements, intimate partner violence, parenting, child custody and support, and the child welfare system. It is designed around two major areas of law: adult relationships and parent-child relationships. Through a socio-legal lens, this course evaluates how the state constructs, defines, limits, and regulates intimate relationships and families through law.

• Type: Upper Class

This course will examine laws administered by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration with a focus on the regulation of drug development and drug sales. Topics to be covered include the new drug approval process, regulatory obstacles to generic drug competition, regulatory sources of exclusivity in drug markets including the Orphan Drug Act and the Hatch-Waxman Act, reimportation of approved drugs from abroad, internet drug sales, prescription versus over-the-counter drug sales, and regulation of advertising claims made to physicians and consumers. We will also consider the relationship between drug regulation and other laws, including patent, antitrust and tort laws. Time permitting, we will examine recent state legislative measures designed to reduce the costs of new drugs.

• Type: Upper Class

National antitrust policy under the Sherman, Federal Trade Commission, and Clayton Acts. Restraints of trade and monopoly problems including agreements among competitors (such as price-fixing, trade associations, and joint ventures), vertical relationships (such as resale price maintenance and exclusive territories), single firm exclusionary conduct (such as predatory pricing and predatory product innovation), and merger policy. Students do not need to have any prior economic training, but should be prepared to learn some basic industrial organizational theory and microeconomics. Current debates in the field at the level of both theory and policy will be explored.

• Type: Upper Class

In the Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic, second- and third-year law students will gain hands-on experience in various stages of federal appellate litigation. Under the supervision of their clinic instructors, students will prepare and file briefs on behalf of criminal defendants and/or habeas petitioners in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Each student will manage an appeal from its inception, and will gain hands-on experience by reviewing the district court record and identifying issues for appeal, developing a theory of the case, researching substantive law, and preparing the client's merits brief. When appropriate in view of timing and subject matter considerations, students will have an opportunity to write reply briefs and conduct oral arguments in Cincinnati before a panel of judges on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Weekly class meetings will include case discussions and instruction on how to litigate effectively a federal criminal appeal. Students will meet frequently with instructors who will provide individualized feedback as students prepare their appellate briefs and oral arguments. In addition to developing their written and oral advocacy skills, students can expect to gain an understanding of the practical aspects of federal appellate litigation. While the clinic will be relevant to all students of law, it will be particularly valuable to students who plan to pursue federal clerkships or who have an interest in criminal or appellate litigation. The Federal Appellate Litigation Clinic meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. FALC is a 5 credit course of which all credits are graded. The Clinic fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement. For students who matriculated in or after May 2016, the Clinic can either fulfill the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, fulfill the upper-level writing requirement, or the credits can count toward the Experiential Learning requirement -- it cannot be used to fulfill more than one of these three particular requirements.

• Type: Clinic

An intensive and critical examination of the role of federal courts in maintaining a constitutional order in the United States. Among the topics considered are justiciability, the power of Congress to control the jurisdiction of federal and state courts, Supreme Court review of state court decisions, federal habeas corpus for state prisoners, and suits challenging official action.

• Type: Upper Class

This class explores the substantive law of federal crime by examining the structure, scope, and limits of federal criminal law and prosecution. Topics include general aspects (e.g., foundations of federal criminal power, the structure and culture of the Justice Department, prosecutorial discretion, and sentencing) as well as specific areas such as white collar crime, drug and firearms offenses, criminal Civil Rights violations, child protection/sexual abuse, and obstruction statutes. The class will cover theories of joint liability such as RICO, as well as special areas of jurisdiction such as in Indian Country. A recurring theme of the class is the federalization of criminal law and resultant political, institutional, and doctrinal tensions. This class will prepare participants for judicial clerkships as well as careers in federal prosecution, federal defense, as legislative staff, or in "Big Law" white collar or compliance practice. No prior coursework in criminal law or procedure beyond the first-year requirement is necessary.

• Type: Upper Class

This course explores the foundational principles and doctrines governing the legal and political relationships among the United States and Indian tribes. Major topics in the course include the history of federal Indian law and policy, congressional plenary power, tribal sovereignty, and jurisdiction in Indian country. In examining these topics, we will discuss laws and policies concerning tribal justice and legal systems.

• Type: Upper Class

The ability to give and receive quality feedback plays a major role in every lawyer's career trajectory. Yet few of us are ever taught how to develop this important skill. "Feedback Loops" is designed to help change that. We'll learn better ways to deliver feedback, better ways to receive feedback, and better ways to solicit feedback. We'll also experiment with a new kind of feedback: AI-generated feedback.

• Type: Practice Simulation

This course examines the law made by The Supreme Court concerning the freedom of speech, and the freedom and establishment of religion.

• Type: Upper Class

This course examines the early history of the English Common Law and explores various approaches to legal history. We will study both medieval documents and key works of modern historical writing in order to obtain an overall picture of the chronology, processes, and causes of legal development. Following an introduction to the history of the period (no prior study of history is required) and to the use of historical sources, a combination of chronological and thematic approaches will be adopted. Key issues will be the role of royal authority in legal development; the impact of changes in literacy; changes in the nature of legal knowledge and thought; the separation of legal from other social norms; the degree to which legal change works by its own internal logic.

• Type: Upper Class

The Full-Time Externship Program offers an exciting opportunity to augment classroom study with real-world work experience. Students (under the guidance of both a Law School faculty member and a field placement site supervisor) immerse themselves full-time in legal work with local, state, and federal governmental agencies, and with nonprofit organizations located throughout the country and world. The externship is expected the complete the student's personal agenda of study, complementing courses carefully chosen at the Law School and enabling the student to pursue sophisticated work and research in a particular field beyond our curricular offerings. Students will receive twelve credits total, eleven for the field work portion and one for the accompanying seminar (Law 941). Since field placement proposals must be approved in advance, EVEN IF A STUDENT DOES NOT HAVE A PLACEMENT FINALIZED, the student must apply for a Full-Time Externship by the deadline, which is April 1 for a Fall Externship, and November 1 for a Winter Externship. If a student's placement is not secured, the student is welcome, even encouraged, to propose a few potential placements for consideration. For more information, visit our website at https://michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning/externships or contact [email protected]. We are happy to meet with students to answer questions, give guidance on potential placements, provide information on how to apply, etc. Please note that if students are interested in the Geneva, India, or South Africa Externship Programs, they should visit the websites for each of those programs separately, as their details and deadlines are different.

• Type: Externship

This contemporaneous, one-credit seminar is held every semester as a required companion to the Full-Time Externship (Law 940). For more information, please visit the course description for Law 940.

• Type: Externship

Professor Leah Litman's section: The writ of habeas corpus is often used to test the legality of a prisoner's detention to bring his corpus (or body) before a court for adjudication. This course will primarily focus on the writ as a post-conviction remedy for illegal detentions resulting from flawed state criminal convictions. Providing defendants with an opportunity to relitigate federal claims in federal courts is thought to protect against potential state court bias and ensure that those in prison are actually guilty of the offenses for which they have been incarcerated. Balanced against those goals are concerns about federalism, finality, and conservation of judicial resources. This course will consider the purpose of the writ of habeas corpus and examine the ways in which courts and legislatures have expanded and contracted the writ over time. It will provide an overview of various procedural barriers to federal court review including statutes of limitations, harmless error doctrines, exhaustion and procedural default requirements, retroactivity limitations, and successive petition limitations. Professor Eve Brensike Primus's section: The writ of habeas corpus is typically used to test the legality of a prisoners detention to bring his corpus (or body) before a court for adjudication. This course will examine three different forms of the common law writ of habeas corpus: (1) the writ as a check on Executive detentions; (2) the writ as a post-conviction remedy for illegal detentions resulting from flawed federal criminal convictions; and (3) the writ as a post-conviction remedy for illegal detentions resulting from flawed state criminal convictions. Although we will discuss all three forms, the course will focus primarily on the use of the Great Writ as a means of challenging state criminal convictions in federal courts. Providing defendants with an opportunity to relitigate federal claims in federal courts is thought to protect against potential state court bias and ensure that those in prison are actually guilty of the offenses for which they have been incarcerated. Balanced against the desire to ensure fairness, however, are concerns about federalism, finality, and conservation of judicial resources. Consequently, for each expansion of the writ's scope to increase fairness to defendants, there has been a concomitant contraction elsewhere. These contractions often take the form of procedural barriers to federal court review including statutes of limitations, harmless error doctrines, exhaustion and procedural default requirements, retroactivity limitations, and successive petition bans. This course will consider the purpose of the Great Writ and examine the ways in which the courts and legislatures have expanded and contracted the writ over time.

• Type: Upper Class

This course serves as an introduction to: (1) the major areas of law governing the health care sector malpractice, licensing, credentialing, problems of patient rights, and professional prerogatives; (2) the organization of the health care sector and how major institutions within it function (hospitals, licensing and accrediting bodies, professional associations, health maintenance organizations, etc.); and (3) the tension between legal, scientific, and clinical styles of thinking, all of which come to bear on subjects such as malpractice liability, right to die, and admissions to hospital staff privileges.

• Type: Upper Class

High stakes litigation matters raise complicated and unique issues, especially in the discovery phase, where the lawyers spend most of their time and the case is either won or lost. In recent years, modern discovery practices have emerged to change how litigators represent their clients, and how judges expect the parties and counsel to achieve compliance with discovery requirements. This seminar will focus on how litigators should address the major themes of discovery, using the tools provided in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in pharmaceutical class action, toxic tort, white collar, copyright and trademark and antitrust litigation. In addition to lectures from the instructor, who has managed discovery in high stakes litigation for more than 25 years, and class discussions, students will explore cutting edge issues with judges and practitioners who were involved directly in the cases assigned for reading. This will allow us to appreciate and analyze the considerations and issues that drove the cases behind the scenes. This seminar will give students the knowledge they need to have a competitive advantage in conducting modern discovery in high stakes litigation.

• Type: Upper Class

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights was pivotal in popularizing the use of "human dignity" in human rights discourse; human rights are increasingly seen as based on the concept of "human dignity." But what does the concept of "human dignity" mean? In the legal context, it has become increasingly clear that "human dignity" is a vital yet increasingly contested term. Apparently rival conceptions of the human person and the common good of society are emerging from this concept. This seminar will study the use of "human dignity" in modern constitutional and human rights law, in the U.S. and elsewhere, and consider its historical and philosophical background. We shall consider whether "human dignity" possesses a basic minimum core, and whether it provides a universalistic, principled basis for judicial decision-making in the human rights context, or whether the meaning of dignity is context specific, varying significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and over time within particular jurisdictions. Potential students may prepare for this class by reviewing Professor McCrudden's article "Human Dignity in Human Rights Interpretation," 19 EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 655 (2008), available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1162024.

• Type: Seminar

Human trafficking encompasses all forms of forced labor and it occurs around the world. Migrants are significantly more vulnerable to forced labor. The Human Trafficking and Immigration Clinic (HTC) works to combat human trafficking by: (1) providing direct representation to survivors of forced labor; and (2) developing disruptive, systemic solutions to reduce vulnerability to exploitation, specifically in the area of assisting responsible business entities in reducing the risk of forced labor in their operations. Law students enrolled in the HTC will engage in a combination of individual representation, compliance, and systemic reform work. The direct representation work of HTC is best described as a poverty law practice on behalf of survivors of human trafficking and their families. The clients are predominantly immigrants and thus the practice is almost exclusively in the area of immigration but we also assist clients with post adjudication criminal relief, access to public benefits, and victim-witness advocacy. The reform work of HTC focuses on understanding current and prospective human rights due diligence-aligned legislation and developing tools for use by companies (and organizations that advocate for responsible business conduct) to comply with these regulations. Overall, students in the HTC will learn and practice collaboration, problem solving, fact investigation, legal analysis, counseling, and advocacy skills. Students are responsible, under supervision, for all of the cases and projects within the HTC. The HTC is a 7 credit course and meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement.

• Type: Clinic

Human trafficking encompasses all forms of forced labor and it occurs around the world. Migrants are significantly more vulnerable to forced labor. The Human Trafficking and Immigration Clinic (HTC) works to combat human trafficking by: (1) providing direct representation to survivors of forced labor; and (2) developing disruptive, systemic solutions to reduce vulnerability to exploitation, specifically in the area of assisting responsible business entities in reducing the risk of forced labor in their operations. Law students enrolled in the HTC will engage in a combination of individual representation, compliance, and systemic reform work. The direct representation work of HTC is best described as a poverty law practice on behalf of survivors of human trafficking and their families. The clients are predominantly immigrants and thus the practice is almost exclusively in the area of immigration but we also assist clients with post adjudication criminal relief, access to public benefits, and victim-witness advocacy. The reform work of HTC focuses on understanding current and prospective human rights due diligence-aligned legislation and developing tools for use by companies (and organizations that advocate for responsible business conduct) to comply with these regulations. Overall, students in the HTC will learn and practice collaboration, problem solving, fact investigation, legal analysis, counseling, and advocacy skills. Students are responsible, under supervision, for all of the cases and projects within the HTC. The HTC is a 7 credit course and meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement.

• Type: Clinic

Spend a semester working with other law students and upper-level undergraduate students to support lawyers from the Michigan Immigration Rights Center on asylum cases here in Michigan. Under faculty supervision, students will learn to draft asylum briefs, summarize and translate historical texts, research effective legal arguments, and contribute to developing a national research database for use in asylum cases. Students will also deepen their understanding of immigration law and policy, develop historical and legal research skills, and explore the history of violence and migration through work on real-life asylum cases. This class is ideal for students who are eager to work conscientiously and ethically with others in teams to benefit a non-profit community partner. Instructor permission required.

• Type: Practice Simulation

In this course, students will explore the immigration consequences of criminal activity. Through class projects that will engage with the criminal bar and bench, students will create and improve resource materials to assist practicing attorneys with analysis of Michigan and federal criminal statutes as they apply to noncitizens in various immigration postures, including issues of deportability, admissibility, mandatory detention, as well as eligibility for naturalization, bond, waivers, and various forms of relief from removal. No prior knowledge of or coursework in immigration law is required.

• Type: Upper Class

The INHR Geneva Student Legal Advisor Program is an externship opportunity in public international law for selected LLM and JD students, with a possible "Spring Break" visit to Geneva Switzerland for the February/March UN Human Rights Council. Selected students will work with a Michigan law grad and former U.S. diplomat to serve as virtual interns for a member state to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Students will be paired with a small UN member state that lacks resources to have legal support for their delegation to the UN Human Rights Council. The students will provide legal, policy and administrative support to that government to facilitate its participation in the UN Human Rights Council and possible other UN agencies in Geneva. During the fall semester, students will be required to join a weekly 90-minute online class with students from other law schools. The live online course will provide an overview of relevant UN and international human rights law and procedures; tradecraft skills in drafting, research and negotiation; and otherwise lay the foundation to prepare students to serve in their virtual internship. In the winter term, students will be expected to review draft resolutions, conduct research and produce interventions for their employer/member state UN delegation to use and deliver during the January Universal Periodic Review and March UN Human Rights Council (HRC) sessions and related meetings. Further details on the INHR Virtual Internship Program expectations, and the type of developing country delegations whom students may work for is available at https://inhr.org/student-legal-advisors. Past students have traveled to Geneva for a week-long, self-funded, first-hand glimpse at providing diplomatic and legal work at the UN Human Rights Council. The HRC session each March usually aligns with Michigan Law's spring break and the HRC Universal Periodic Review session in May often occurs immediately after Michigan Law's exam period. Travel to Geneva and living expenses are not funded by INHR and travel cannot be guaranteed given past challenges provided by COVID-19, issues regarding receipt of a visa to Switzerland and demands of the employing delegation. Applicants interested in the Spring Break or May visit MUST be eligible for visa-free entry to Switzerland. How to Apply: To apply for the two-semester student legal advisor program, please complete this form (https://forms.gle/HsK79eKe8XBj2mSf7) by July 10th, 2023. Your application should include a copy of your transcript, resume, passport cover page, and a cover letter explaining your interest. Students selected for an interview will be contacted during the week of July 24th by Alissa Cammarata ([email protected]) Administrative Assistant for Experiential Education to set up a Zoom interview with INHR program director Eric Richardson for late July or early August. If you have any questions about the application process please contact Alissa ([email protected]). Those who pass the interview will be notified of their acceptance into the program by August 14, 2023. Delegations will be assigned around the end of October and student interests in particular regions, issues, and language skills are taken into account in pairing with an employer-delegation but cannot be guaranteed. How Credits Will Be Determined: Student participants are enrolling in a two-semester class/externship combined experience and are expected to participate for the entire school year. One credit will be given each semester, which will cover class time and preparation/assignments for the class (including practice research projects, sample interventions, negotiations and a final project of up to 10 pages that deploys the student's negotiation and resolution drafting skills). Because the amount of work facing students in the second semester may vary depending on the demands of the particular delegation/Ambassador, an additional one or two credits may be authorized in the winter semester. Students seeking additional credit units will be evaluated based on a timesheet logging hours spent on behalf of their delegation to track hours over and above a baseline expectation that all students will provide at least 20 hours of work requested by their delegations in the second semester. Under the ABA standard for externships, if more than 42.5 additional hours are requested and logged (total of 62.5 hours including the baseline 20 hours), the student may receive a third credit and if more than 85 additional hours are logged (total of 105 hours), a fourth credit may be awarded (four credits is the maximum possible). Because the volume of work requested by an Ambassador/delegation depends on a range of factors and is impossible to predict, students should not count on receiving more than the baseline total of two credits for the combined two-semester seminar/virtual externship experience.

• Type: Externship

Innovation in the Life Sciences The life sciences generate tremendously exciting new innovations--drugs to cure cancer, algorithms to predict disease and recommend treatment, and medical devices that can pull individual cells out of the bloodstream for analysis. These technologies are the object of a complex array of laws that govern their invention, development and deployment. This seminar will provide an introduction to this set of laws, focusing on how they provide incentives for and shape the process of innovation. We will likely consider some combination of intellectual property, FDA gatekeeping and regulatory exclusivity, insurance reimbursement, prize systems, and potentially other regimes. While there are no prerequisites, including no requirement for a technical background, students should be prepared to grapple with both biomedical technologies and with the mix of law and policy questions presented.

• Type: Seminar

This class will be comprised of different tracks that will allow students to explore ways to work in various innovation fields. The weekly class component will examine various legal and business principles related to innovation and support the students' field work, with the fall term focused on the intricacies of venture capital and the winter term focused on the role of institutional capital. The students will spend significant time working on their projects in the field. Track 1 -- Social Venture Fund (SVF): Students will work as a law student advisor to the Ross School of Business's Social Venture Fund. Students will be required to attend the weekly SVF meeting (typically on Sunday afternoons) and actively participate in SVF. Once the fund selects potential companies in which to invest, students will join at least one due diligence team and be responsible for the legal due diligence on potential investments. For companies in which SVF votes to invest students will review the financing deal documents. This track is a year-long track, so students will be required to take this course both semesters. Track 2 -- Michigan Climate Venture (MCV): Students will work as law advisors to Michigan Climate Venture, a University-wide initiative. Students will be required to attend the weekly meetings and actively participate in all educational activities. Once MCV selects potential companies in which to invest, students will join at least one due diligence team and be responsible for the legal due diligence on potential investments. For companies in which MCV votes to invest, law students will review the financing deal documents. This track is a year-long track, so students will be required to take both semesters. Track 3 -- Innovation Partnerships: Students will provide legal research support to the Innovation Partnerships team. Students will immerse themselves in the legal and regulatory issues related to innovation partnerships. Enrollment in this Track is allowed only with the permission of Bryce Pilz ([email protected]), the Executive Director of Licensing & Strategic Alliances. Track 4 -- Startup or Venture Capital Immersion: Students may arrange to work for a startup company or venture capital fund and participate in this course. While some opportunities to work with startups may be announced through Professor Ohmer, students may also arrange their own startup work and propose the arrangement to Professor Ohmer. Note: Because participating students will work with proprietary information related to their field work, as a condition of participating in this program, all students may be required to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements particular to their tracks. Enrollment in this class is allowed only with permission of Professor Adrian Ohmer.

• Type: Practice Simulation

The Intellectual Property Workshop will feature presentations from scholars conducting research on intellectual property law and policy. Students will prepare for these sessions by reading the papers to be presented and writing short critiques. The Workshop will also be open to faculty from the Law School and other University departments. Although there are no prerequisites, priority will be given to students who have previously taken one or more courses in the field of intellectual property.

• Type: Seminar

This seminar will examine selected topics of international commercial transactions. The seminar will begin with a discussion of the international commercial environment and proceed with a discussion relating to how businesses operate in that environment. Choosing the correct business vehicle for establishment of overseas business operations will be discussed, including such alternatives as establishing a branch vs. a subsidiary or utilizing a distribution network or technology transfer or joint venture. The seminar will cover U.S. export regulations and special legislation such as economic sanctions and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Finally, the seminar will consider some of the issues involved in doing business in particular regions such as the Middle East, ASEAN and European Union and how to approach disputes in the international business arena. Students will be expected to present research on these issues and the topics of their papers.

• Type: Seminar

This course provides an introduction to the international legal regime for the regulation of foreign investment and the resolution of disputes between foreign investors and states before international arbitral tribunals. Investor-state arbitration is an ever-evolving and politically charged field, often involving high-stakes, complex, multi-million-dollar disputes. International investment law is comprised of thousands of bilateral and regional investment treaties, which typically provide investors with similar substantive protections and procedural rights to compel host states into binding international arbitration. This course will include an examination of: the history, objectives, and structure of the investment treaty regime, including the main institutional rules for dispute settlement; jurisdictional requirements of investment treaties; the main substantive investment treaty protections (including guarantees against expropriation without compensation, fair and equitable treatment (FET), non-discrimination, and others); the assessment of damages; and challenges to and enforcement of arbitral awards. This course will also consider the interactions between international investment law and other areas of international law, including human rights. Completion of International Law or an equivalent course prior to (or concurrently with) taking this course is recommended but not required.

• Type: Upper Class

This class offers a general introduction to the international legal system. We will explore how international law is made through treaties, custom, and other processes; the roles of different actors (e.g., states, NGOs, international organizations, and corporations) in making and applying international law; how violations of international law are identified and remedied by international institutions or actors; and how international law intersects with domestic legal systems, like the one in the United States. The class will cover a range of substantive areas of law, including human rights, the use of force, economic relations, and regulation of the global commons (with some variations across sections). Each topic will be discussed through examination of a real ongoing or recent incident, controversy, or conflict. Students will be encouraged to think about how law can be made, enforced, and interpreted in an environment lacking a single legislature, executive, or judiciary. This course will prove highly useful to preparing students for more specialized courses in international law.

• Type: Upper Class

This is an introduction to U.S. taxation of U.S. and foreign persons engaged in international activities. Topics will include U.S. jurisdiction to tax, tax treaties, allocation of income, transfer pricing, foreign tax credits, etc. The class will also addresses some of the important procedural mechanisms by which international tax issues are resolved -- e.g., advance pricing agreements and Competent Authority negotiations. The goal of the class is to provide an overview of the relevant law, giving due respect to its complexity and the policies underlying it, and to identify and wrestle with the types of issues that most frequently arise.

• Type: Upper Class

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the international legal framework for the regulation of international trade in goods and services. This course will include: an introduction to the economics and politics of trade; an examination of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its dispute settlement machinery, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS); the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and related instruments; and discussions of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, conflicts between trade policy and other concerns (such as human rights, environment and development), and the recent proliferation of bilaterial and regional trade agreements.

• Type: Upper Class

The International Transactions Clinic (ITC) does good by doing deals. The ITC concentrates on teaching students skills that are critically important to their professional development as they enter into practice areas that involve international transactions. The transactional work of the ITC is focused on negotiating and documenting cross-border deals, particularly in emerging markets. This includes developing drafting and negotiation skills as applied to cross-border transactions, exposure to ethical issues that arise in the international commercial context, structuring and documenting investments in enterprises that primarily work in emerging markets, and an understanding of international economic and financial policy. The ITC is a full-year clinic with four credits in the Fall semester and four credits in the Winter semester. Both terms are letter graded. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the ITC for at least two semesters so as to allow them to provide legal support in the negotiation and documentation of multiple international transactions. To the greatest extent possible, students will have significant client exposure in the course of working on transactions, although in some cases due to the international context of these transactions such client exposure may be "virtual" making use of email, skype, and other means of electronic communication. The ITC also makes use of practicing attorneys to help supervise the work of its student clinicians. These practicing attorneys also may be physically remote from the students. The ITC clientele is very diverse. It ranges from not-for-profit organizations to for-profit organizations, from start-ups to well-established businesses, and from social enterprises to impact investors. What all of the ITC clients hold in common, however, is an international focus and a passion to change the world for the better. This diversity also means, however, that not every project of the ITC will meet the New York bar pro bono requirement. Students wanting to satisfy that requirement through their participation in the ITC should make that preference known to the ITC Director before first client assignments are made in the fall. 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 can either fulfill the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation or the credits can count toward the Experiential Learning requirement, but not both. The Clinic fulfills the International or Comparative Law Distribution Requirement for graduation.

• Type: Clinic

Only international LL.M. students may enroll in this course. It is a special LLM survey course, which will expose students to the structure and basic ideas of the most important areas of US constitutional law, in historical and political context. The course considers a selection of fundamental cases in Constitutional law, the questions they raise, and the modes of thought and criticism appropriate to this field. Major questions include: What is the justification for judicial review? What are appropriate occasions and standards for the exercise of this power? How has the power been used throughout our history? These questions are considered in the context of doctrinal fields chosen for variety of issues and to allow consideration of historical development over the full life of the Constitution. These fields usually include: the scope of federal powers; powers of the President; relations between branches of the federal government; basic principles of equal protection and due process; and Congressional enforcement power under the Reconstruction Amendments.

• Type: Upper Class

This course introduces the student to certain fundamental cases in Constitutional law, to the questions they raise, and to the modes of thought and criticism appropriate to this field. There is necessarily a large historical component to the work, for the Constitution has acquired its meaning over time. Major questions include: What is the justification for judicial review? What are appropriate occasions and standards for the exercise of this power? How has the power actually been used throughout our history? These questions are considered in the context of doctrinal fields chosen for variety of issues and to allow consideration of historical development over the full life of the Constitution. These fields include: the scope of federal powers; preemption; state regulation of interstate commerce (in some sections); powers of the President; relations between branches of the federal government; basic principles of racial equal protection; Congressional enforcement power under the Reconstruction Amendments; and justiciability.

• Type: First Year Required

Introduction to the Income Taxation of Business Enterprise This course provides an overview of the income taxation of the various legal forms of business activity. Thus, the course will review the income tax treatment of corporations, S corporations, partnerships, LLC's and sole proprietorships. The breadth of the material will dictate a survey approach, in contrast with the more intensive coverage provided in such courses as Corporate or Partnership Taxation.

• Type: Upper Class

This seminar will study how judges (and courts) make decisions and the factors that help shape the content of judge-made law. Questions for study may include: To what extent are judges constrained by law, and how? When judges have discretion, what factors influence how they exercise it? What role does precedent and stare decisis (both horizontal and vertical) play? Who helps set the judicial agenda? How can judges affect which cases they hear and when? How does judging change on multi-member courts? To what extent does public opinion matter?

• Type: Seminar

The course deals with jurisdictional issues generally, as well as the special problems arising in cases involving more than one jurisdiction (state or nation), i.e. cross-boundary disputes. More specifically, it addresses three major areas. The first is the question of jurisdiction, i. e. the power of the courts to hear and decide a case; this question arises both among the several states and between state and federal courts. The second area is choice of law, i.e. the question which law should apply; this is, again, an issue both among states or nations and between state and federal law. Finally, the course covers the recognition of judgments rendered by one sovereign (state, federal, or foreign court) in the courts of another sovereign. In most law schools, some of these issues (especially jurisdiction) are covered in first-year civil procedure. At Michigan, we believe that they are better understood as part of the package described above and in an upper class setting.

• Type: Upper Class

In the Juvenile Justice Clinic, students will represent minors charged with violations of the criminal law and status offenses in Michigan's family courts. While primarily a litigation clinic, students may from time-to-time handle appellate matters and may be involved in public policy issues such as analyzing proposed legislation. In the course of clinic, students will develop litigation skills including case investigation, trial preparation, and presenting evidence and argument in the courtroom. Casework, which is supervised by a clinical professor, may involve client interviewing and counseling, legal research and motion drafting, negotiation with prosecuting authorities, and courtroom presentation of the case. In addition to trial advocacy and casework, classroom sessions will also focus on legal ethics, the basics of child development and other topics. The Juvenile Justice Clinic meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. JJC is a 7 credit course of which all credits are graded. The Clinic seminar fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement.

• Type: Clinic

In the Juvenile Justice Clinic, students will represent minors charged with violations of the criminal law and status offenses in Michigan's family courts. While primarily a litigation clinic, students may from time-to-time handle appellate matters and may be involved in public policy issues such as analyzing proposed legislation. In the course of clinic, students will develop litigation skills including case investigation, trial preparation, and presenting evidence and argument in the courtroom. Casework, which is supervised by a clinical professor, may involve client interviewing and counseling, legal research and motion drafting, negotiation with prosecuting authorities, and courtroom presentation of the case. In addition to trial advocacy and casework, classroom sessions will also focus on legal ethics, the basics of child development and other topics. The Juvenile Justice Clinic meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. JJC is a 7 credit course of which all credits are graded. The Clinic seminar fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation, but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement.

• Type: Clinic

The Law, Philosophy and Social Theory Colloquium is jointly presented by the University of Michigan Philosophy Department and the School of Law. Accordingly, the class is composed of a mix of philosophy graduate students and law students. Additionally, the public session will welcome faculty members from the philosophy department, the law school, the history department, the Ross School of Business and the African-American Studies department, among others. The Colloquium convenes each week on Wednesday afternoons. In one week, students and the conveners will meet for close discussion of a work in progress by leading or emerging voices in the fields of legal theorist, moral or political philosophy. The follow week, the authors will join the Colloquium in the public session to present the paper to the group, which consists of students, faculty from the Law School and other departments of University of Michigan and faculty from other universities. The choice of subject is left to the paper's author, within the general boundaries of the Colloquium's subjects, and the discussions are therefore not connected by any structured theme for the term as a whole, though in past years certain central topics were canvassed in several weeks' discussion. The Colloquium aims, not to pursue any particular subject, but to explore new work in considerable depth and so allow students to develop their own skill in theoretical analysis. The Colloquium is also ideal for students considering future academic work or careers.

• Type: Seminar

This course, structured in a lecture/discussion format, is about the interaction -- in both directions -- between law and various theories or conceptions of the market. As such, it involves examining basic economic ideas (all of which will be built up from scratch), as well as broader ideas about the market that may surface in the law. The course will include some history of economic thought, and some examination of the formation of relevant legal ideas (e.g., the modern idea of the business firm). The ultimate goal of the course, however, is to equip participants to think critically about how the law interacts with economic concepts in concrete ongoing situations, including current policy debates. Legal and policy areas or issues from which we are likely to draw in the second half of the semester may include: contracts, property, antitrust, labor, the law of money and banking, recent economic crises, and international questions. The course does not require any background in economics; relevant concepts will be built up from scratch. At the same time, students with such a background should not find the course repetitive, and ideally will find it enriching.

• Type: Upper Class

This seminar will explore scholarly literature covering a range of issues in the law of American federalism. We will study both theoretical material relating to the design of federal systems and specific issues relating to the allocation of power between the federal government and the states in this country. We will attempt to develop a sophisticated understanding of the merits and demerits of different approaches toward dividing power between the federal and state governments and to apply insights from the relevant theoretical literature to specific doctrinal problems.

• Type: Seminar

Only foreign national students in either the JD program or LLM/SJD program are eligible to enroll for this course after receiving permission from the Office of Student Life. A student who enrolls for this course must complete a research project based on a practical work experience related to the student's field of study. The student must consult with and have the project graded by a faculty advisor. Eligible students may enroll for either 1, 2, or 3 credits.

• Type: Research

What does it mean to lawyer for communities unlikely to advance their rights through impact litigation? What legal skills can you use when the law is against you and taking a test case to the Supreme Court will likely make it worse? This seminar explores legal strategies when dominant legal structures actively harm or exclude your clients from protection. It will feature guest speakers who have worked alongside incarcerated people, trans people, and people without U.S. citizenship. From examples of real-world movements and the lawyers within them, students will learn which tools in a lawyer's toolkit can help build power for marginalized groups.

• 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 I concludes the second half of the first semester of Legal Practice by building on the skills to which students were introduced in Legal Practice: Writing & Analysis. The course gives students the chance to further develop their core analytical and writing abilities while expanding their legal repertoires to include other essential lawyering skills. Throughout LP Skills I, students are placed in the role of a lawyer representing a client in assorted factual circumstances, and are then taught how and why lawyers might bring to bear various skills in those situations. For example, students might have the opportunity to learn how to conduct client interviews to help determine whether a client has a viable potential claim. (In some sections, this could culminate in interviews of real clients.) Students might also receive their first opportunity to act as a counselor, helping clients choose between possible ways to try to resolve a legal problem. Students may also be exposed to fact investigation and assessment, via taking depositions or other discovery and forensic techniques. Further, students may be exposed to additional types of customary legal work product, such as client letters and professional emails. Students will also continue to expand their knowledge of legal research sources and strategies, learning how to find the law they need to adequately advise and represent their clients. Professors provide frequent feedback to students as part of all of these assignments, which may include the chance to re-write particular written projects. Students are also expected to self-assess what they're learning and where they might need to continue developing particular skills.

• Type: First Year Required