Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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- LAW AM 700: Introduction to American Law
The class covers the basic structure and function of US legal institutions: the congress, the president, and regulatory agencies, and, especially, the federal courts. It examines the role of state law and state courts in the American system of federalism. The course also studies the American judicial processes of constitutional analyses, interpretation of statues, and development of common law. Some attention is paid to court procedures, including trial by jury. Finally, students study a few topics that are illustrative of the treatment of individual rights in American law, such as freedom of speech, anti-discrimination law, and protection of private property. The class grants two credits towards the American Law degree. - LAW AM 701: Professional Responsibility for International LLMs
This course offers an approach to the lawyer's responsibilities to clients, the profession, and the public. Topics addressed will be problems of disclosure, conflict of interest, advertising, adversary tactics, competence, attorney fees, and fiduciary duties. GRADING NOTICE: This course does not offer the CR/NC/H option. - LAW AM 702: Property for LLMs
This course exposes LL.M. students to the basic principles of real property law, including possession, ownership, rights in land, conveyances, estates, future interests, real estate contracts, easements, land use disputes, landlord-tenant issues, and land use controls, among others. The course is designed to provide a fundamental understanding of the essential doctrines of real property law for LL.M. students interested in taking a U.S. bar exam. - LAW AM 703: Evidence for LLMs
This course provides LL.M. students with an overview of the substantive rules governing the admissibility or exclusion of evidence at trial. Subjects include competency of witnesses, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, the rule against hearsay and its exceptions, expert and lay opinion testimony, privileged communications, relevancy, procedural considerations, judicial notice, burden of proof, presumptions, form and type of objections, authentication, the best evidence rule and the use of demonstrative and scientific evidence. The course is designed to give students a fundamental understanding of evidentiary rules in anticipation of taking a US bar exam. - LAW AM 704: Research and Writing Seminar for LLMs
This two-credit Legal Research and Writing seminar is required for LL.M. students in the American Law program and optional for students in the LL.M. programs in Banking and Financial Law and Taxation. It is specifically designed to introduce foreign lawyers to the basic principles of American legal writing. In small class settings and individual conferences, students receive guidance on drafting and editing memoranda and agreements. Their work is critiqued and rewritten. The research component of the seminar trains students to locate cases, statutes and secondary material through indexing systems and the latest computer technology. Research assignments are integrated into writing assignments -- exposing students to the methods of US legal analyses -- so that by the end of the term, students obtain the skills needed to write memoranda appropriate for submission to US law firms. - 拉
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- LAW AM 708: Civil Procedure for LLMs
This class introduces internationally-trained LLM students to the rules, standards, and values that govern the procedures used in civil cases in the federal district courts of the United States. Drawing from constitutional and statutory texts, and focusing on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the class covers such civil litigation issues as: jurisdiction, choice of law, venue, pleadings, discovery, pre-trial motions, trial through judgment, joinder of parties and claims, and finality of judgments. The course will meet 1/13/2020-2/26/2020. A final exam will be scheduled for a Friday afternoon prior to spring break (date/time TBD). - LAW AM 709: Fundamentals of U.S. Constitutional Law for LLM Students
This class provides an introductory level survey of U.S. constitutional law. Topics will include: the Constitution's impact on fundamental concepts of criminal and civil law; the delineation of spheres of power between the branches of the national government; the role of the judiciary and other institutions in interpreting and applying the Constitution; individual rights; substantive due process; theories of constitutional interpretation; and the practice and meaning of judicial review in a political democracy. Enrollment is limited to LLM students who obtained their law degree outside the U.S. and to students not currently enrolled in the JD four-credit constitutional law class. - LAW AM 710: Criminal Law for LLMs
This class will introduce internationally trained LLM in American Law Program students to the basic doctrines and principles of substantive criminal law, including the justifications for punishment, objective offense elements, mental states, mitigating and exculpating defenses and various forms of criminal liability. - LAW AM 715: Essential Bar Skills for LLMs
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- LAW AM 790: Intellectual Property for LLMs
In our modern global information economy, the law of intellectual property has taken on enormous importance to both creators and users. This course introduces students to the principles of trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark law, and explores the ways in which those principles are shifting and adapting in response to new technology. The course will also focus on the international comparative aspects of intellectual property and address the practical application of key IP concepts for global practitioners. The course is open to LLM students in the ALP and IP programs, without prerequisite. No scientific or technical background is required. - 拉
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- LAW AM 812: Contracts for LLMs
This course will use the case method to examine legal and equitable remedies for enforcing contracts, determining what promises are enforceable, elements of assent, standards of fairness and restrictions on bargaining process, and tests for performance and breach. Designed for students preparing to sit for the bar, this course will focus on those areas emphasized on the multi-state, New York, and Massachusetts bar exams. GRADING NOTICE: This class will not offer the CR/NC/H option.
