Course Catalog

Professor Chaney's section: This course will explore the practical, conceptual and procedural mechanics of civil rights practice through mock litigation of one or more simulated case studies. Students will engage the stages of litigation, including claim and defense development, preparing and answering pleadings, crafting written discovery, conducting effective depositions, and presenting oral argument, while exploring the nuanced issues that arise in civil rights practice. Professor Steinberg's section: This course examines how civil rights lawyers use federal civil rights litigation to address contemporary social problems. Students will develop and litigate a simulated case based on an actual controversy in Detroit where police officers "removed" unhoused individuals from tourist-friendly areas against their will. Students will gain experience in client interviewing, public records requests, writing demand letters, drafting complaints, responding to motions to dismiss, oral argument, depositions, and negotiations. They will also learn how to overcome the many procedural obstacles to justice posed by 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and explore the ethical issues faced by public interest lawyers when representing clients in civil rights cases. The course will emphasize how litigation can be most effective in achieving social change when it is a part of an "integrated advocacy" campaign that includes public education, legislation, and/or community action.

• Type: Practice Simulation

Students litigate civil rights cases addressing issues such as: racial justice, police misconduct, voting rights, fair housing, student rights, free speech, women's rights, LGBT rights, immigrant rights, ethnic and religious discrimination, disability rights, and the right to privacy. Taught by the former long-time legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, the goal of the course is to prepare students to use the law to advance social justice. Students will have the chance to litigate civil rights cases on behalf of individuals as well as larger impact cases. Students, under faculty supervision, will gain experience in many of the following areas: working with impacted communities to identify injustices; researching and developing winning legal theories; interviewing potential clients; writing public record requests and demand letters; drafting complaints; researching and writing briefs; arguing motions; taking depositions and engaging in other discovery; negotiating settlements; trying cases; drafting appellate briefs; and arguing appeals. It is anticipated that students will work primarily in federal court and will learn how to avoid the many procedural minefields that civil rights litigants face when seeking injunctive relief or recovering damages under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. The course will also emphasize how litigation can be most effective in achieving change when it is part of an "integrated advocacy" campaign that includes public education, legislation and/or community action. Students will be encouraged to work in coalitions and with community groups to win not only in the court of law, but also in the court of public opinion. Although the Civil Rights Litigation Practicum (Law 807) is not a prerequisite, students who take the class will generally be given preference in enrollment. Students must take the Initiative for a letter grade; it is ineligible for letter grade conversion to pass ("P") election. The Initiative meets the New York Pro-Bono requirement. Students must enroll concurrently in the 4-credit clinic and the 3-credit seminar. The seminar fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility requirement for graduation but does not fulfill the New York State Bar ethics requirement.

• 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

White Collar Crime Policy and Practice This course will examine the field of white-collar criminal law, in terms of both policy and practice. We will start by covering the key theories, definitions, and statutes that create the substantive legal framework. The focus will be not only on what the laws proscribe, but also how the federal government interprets and applies the statutes to further administration objectives. We will also cover the biggest issues facing white collar criminal law prosecutors and defense attorneys, including privilege, ethics, investigations, negotiations, and development of effective theories of a case. Much of our analysis will be on current cases. Active class participation is a vital part of the course and will impact a student's grade.

• Type: Seminar

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