Course Catalog

The AI Law and Policy Clinic will put law students at the forefront of innovation, having them partner directly with courts, community-based organizations, legal service providers and others to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technologies to tackle critical justice challenges. Students will represent these institutions to develop, evaluate, and deploy AI-driven tools aimed at enhancing access to justice, streamlining legal processes, and addressing systemic justice issues. Participants will acquire hands-on experience with the ethical implications and practical realities of integrating AI into legal practice, while developing innovative solutions tailored to the specific needs of their institutional clients. This clinic is particularly suited for students interested in making a meaningful impact on social justice through technology, while gaining essential lawyering skills for an increasingly tech-driven legal profession. The AI Law and Policy Clinic fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility graduation requirement, meets the New York Pro Bono requirement, and awards 5 graded credits. It does not, however, fulfill the NY 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.

• Type: Clinic

The AI Law and Policy Clinic will put law students at the forefront of innovation, having them partner directly with courts, community-based organizations, legal service providers and others to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technologies to tackle critical justice challenges. Students will represent these institutions to develop, evaluate, and deploy AI-driven tools aimed at enhancing access to justice, streamlining legal processes, and addressing systemic justice issues. Participants will acquire hands-on experience with the ethical implications and practical realities of integrating AI into legal practice, while developing innovative solutions tailored to the specific needs of their institutional clients. This clinic is particularly suited for students interested in making a meaningful impact on social justice through technology, while gaining essential lawyering skills for an increasingly tech-driven legal profession. The AI Law and Policy Clinic fulfills the Law School's professional responsibility graduation requirement, meets the New York Pro Bono requirement, and awards 5 graded credits. It does not, however, fulfill the NY 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.

• Type: Clinic

This course gives you a chance to experiment with a wide variety of AI tools, including ones specifically designed for lawyers. You don't need any background in coding or computer science to enroll. You simply need an interest in innovation, advocacy, and the changing nature of legal work in the age of artificial intelligence.

• Type: Practice Simulation

From near limitless data collection to state-sponsored cyberattacks, cybersecurity affects us all. Cybersecurity addresses how individuals, companies, and governments attack and defend from each other in cyberspace, using digital devices and networks. This course addresses the wide range of legal (U.S. and international law) and policy issues associated with the rapidly evolving world of cybersecurity. Intended as an introduction to the topic, this course will begin with a brief overview of the internet and the cyber spectrum, from surveillance through destructive attacks. We will then cover the legal and policy dimensions around defensive and offensive cybersecurity. Topics include incident disclosure, data breaches, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, cyber espionage, election interference, and cyberattacks. No technical knowledge is needed.

• Type: Upper Class

Good editors don't just see the sentence that was written. They see the sentence that might have been written. They know how to spot words that shouldn't be included and summon up ones that haven't yet appeared. Their value comes not just from preventing mistakes but from discovering new ways to improve a piece of writing's style, structure, and overall impact. This course will teach you how to be one of those editors. You'll edit briefs. You'll edit contracts. You'll edit all kinds of legal documents. Sometimes this editing will be done with the help of artificial intelligence tools. Sometimes it will be done entirely on your own. But always the goal will be the same: learn and practice a skill that is fundamental to becoming an excellent advocate.

• Type: Practice Simulation

This course will explore the intersection of rights of publicity, trademark, copyright, contract, culture, technology, the "law of ideas," Free Speech, and privacy in the entertainment industries. We will focus on music, film, literature, television, and social media. Through the lenses of negotiation and litigation, we will examine the roles of those who create, collaborate, perform, disseminate, promote, merchandise, and financially support creative properties and celebrities.

• Type: Upper Class

From fingerprints to burn marks, shoe prints to bite-marks, and dozens of other disciplines, our courts certainly have a lot of forensic science thrown at them on a daily basis. But how equipped is our legal system to properly handle scientific evidence? And what about individual lawyers and judges: can they be trusted to properly vet, scrutinize--and when necessary, exclude--forensic science disciplines they scarcely understand? This course will explore the tenuous but necessary relationship between forensic science and the law, which begins with the fundamental difference between ?truth? as defined by science and as defined by law. From that foundation, we will consider how various forensic techniques have come to be accepted, admitted--and in many cases later repudiated--by our judicial system. We will study what goes right, what goes wrong and how we as lawyers can work to improve the system of forensic science in America.

• 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

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

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