Elective Courses
Admiralty
The history and origin of maritime law, admiralty jurisdiction, the admiralty courts and maritime law within the federal system, liens, limitation of liability, salvage, collision, general average and maritime personal injury problems are examined. There is a comparative basis for study, contrasting civil law concepts of maritime law with the common law treatment.
Business Planning for International Transactions
This course covers issues that arise when business organizations plan international structures. It will address such questions as selection of entity, financial and ownership structures, steps in the formation of different entities, the rights and duties of different stakeholders, tax issues related to the foregoing and related issues.
Chinese Business and Investment Law
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the legal infrastructure of foreign direct investment in the People's Republic of China. It will approach the subject from historical, economic, and political perspectives, with particular emphasis upon China's moving gradually from a "central planning" economy to an increasingly market-oriented economy open to international trade and investment since its adoption of the "open-door" policy in 1978.
Civil Procedure I
This course will primarily focus on federal courts and will include issues of jurisdiction, venue, forum non convenience and choice of applicable law (the "Erie doctrine"). Res judicata and collateral estoppel concepts with their preclusive effects as the result of prior litigation will also be introduced along with joinder and class actions.
Civil Procedure II
The litigation process from the pleading stage through trial is thoroughly studied. Areas covered in detail include: pleading, preliminary injunctions, motion practice, multi-party litigation, class actions, discovery practice and post-trial motions.
Comparative Antitrust Law
This course will examine competition laws and policies of three jurisdictions: the United States, the European Union, and Japan. As economic globalization progresses, it is becoming more and more important that enterprises of different countries act on the same rules of competition. Yet at present there are significant differences in both substantive and procedural laws of competition in the industrialized world. Thus, in this course the major issues of competition laws in the three jurisdictions will be compared with a view to future convergence of the systems.
Comparative Bankruptcy
This course examines the insolvency systems of the United States and Japan and compares their strengths and weaknesses. It also provides a general overview of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and basic bankruptcy law in Japan, including the costs, benefits, and theories associated with these systems. Studies also include the ramifications of bankruptcy in the U.S. and Japan, including acquisitions, buyouts, and liquidations that occur in the context of bankruptcy. The topic will be approached from the perspective of the various stakeholders in the bankruptcy process, including debtors, creditors, bankers, and investors.
Comparative Corporate Law
In both the US and Japan, the corporation is the overwhelmingly dominant form of business entity. Moreover, given that a good deal the modern Japanese Company Law was derived from Illinois corporate law, it is not surprising that (on the surface at least), Japanese and US corporate law take similar approaches to many of the legal problems which accompany the characteristic fact of the modern corporation the separation of ownership and control. This course seeks to explore many of these doctrinal similarities, while also analyzing some of the differences in the application and enforcement thereof, within the larger context of Japanese and US business practice. It also hopes to elicit some lessons which the corporate law of each country may provide for lawyers and policy makers of the other.
Comparative Constitutional Law
This course focuses on the major doctrinal underpinnings of Japanese constitutional government, which are compared and contrasted with their counterparts in the constitutional system of the U.S. The aim is to expose students to a different legal and constitutional system and, by doing so, enhance their understanding of the U.S. constitutional system.
Comparative Criminal Procedure
This course will compare selected aspects of criminal procedure in common law systems and in civil law systems. It will also examine specific aspects of American and Japanese criminal procedure. Topics to be investigated are arrest, detention, bail, search warrants, arrest warrants, the right to counsel, jury trial, confessions and guilty pleas.
Comparative Employment Law
This course will compare the U.S. and Japanese law on selected aspects of labor and employment law, including hiring/firing and promotion procedures and practices, the role of labor union, employer discretion in job assignments, equal opportunity in employment and sexual harassment.
Comparative Immigration Law
This course surveys the key areas of Japanese and U.S. immigration law, and provides students with a sound understanding of not only the law, but its application in practice in both Japan and the U.S. Cases and articles are used to illustrate the topics and issues that are relevant to both practicing lawyers and students of immigration law. The course will cover traditional areas such as political asylum and refugees, nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, as well as other issues in order to provide an insight into the practice of immigration law as performed in both Japan and the U.S.
Comparative Law Writing Seminar
A study of Civilian legal systems which surveys selected private law solutions to legal problems occurring in Common Market, Latin American, Asian and African contexts beyond the Anglo-American law orbit. Students will research and write papers on self-selected topics, comparing the solutions of one or more non-US jurisdictions to those offered under the US legal regime.
Comparative Products Liability Law
A comparison of the American, Japanese and European community approaches to liability arising from injuries caused by defective products with special emphasis on manufacturer's strict liability.
Computer Law
This course deals with case law developments in this fastest growing area of the law. A technical background is not required. The course covers copyright law issues regarding the basis, scope and criteria for copyright protection for software and databases, patent and trade secret protection and their relationship to copyright; ownership of intellectual property rights in software, contract law issues including applicability of Articles 2 and 2A of the UCC; enforceability of shrink wrap licenses, measure of damages, waivers of warranty and limitation of liability; rights of privacy involving use of software; and liability issues related to the development and use of software.
Conflicts of Laws
This course covers problems of jurisdiction, enforcement of foreign judgments and choice of law arising within the context of the U.S. and its federal and state courts. This course emphasized conflicts among state laws governing daily transactions as well as principles governing enforcement. Also attention will be given to how these problems are resolved in other countries, including Japan.
Conflicts of Law is a "core" course in U.S. law and is tested on the bar examination in many jurisdictions.
Contracts
This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of U.S. contract law. Areas of principal focus include offer and acceptance, consideration, interpretation and construction, conditions, breach of contract and remedies therefore. Students will also study Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Copyright Law
This course covers the basics of United States copyright law, focusing on a detailed analysis of the US Copyright Act. Topics to be covered include the requirements for obtaining copyright protection for works of authorship, ownership and transfer of copyrights, the elements of infringement and defenses to infringement claims, and remedies for infringement. In addition to the statutory bases of all of the above, we will look at a number of special copyright problems, including (a) special issues regarding copyright protection for computer hardware and software, and (b) the relationship between federal copyright law and both state law and international law.
Corporate Transactions
This course will explore the legal principles involved in analyzing, structuring, documenting and implementing corporate transactions. Students will examine the legal principles and practical considerations of corporate formation; mergers; acquisitions; going public; and takeovers. Consideration will also be given to the ethical considerations involved in representing the corporation, its shareholders, officers and directors.
Corporate Reorganization: Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Problems related to the reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code of financially stressed corporations are considered.
Corporations (a/k/a Business Associations)
Comparison of forms of business organizations, promoting and organizing the business association, allocation of an accountability for management and control of the business organization, problems incident to corporate entity, proxies, and the derivative suit, the issues of shares, going concern and other asset distribution and organic changes are studied.
Criminal Procedure I
Criminal procedure, including various statutory and constitutional rules governing police conduct prior to the institution of formal court proceedings, are studied and formal court-connected proceedings are examined. The major focus is on the federal constitutional rights and restrictions imposed by the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments regarding searches and seizures, police interrogation and identification procedures and the exclusion of evidence obtained in violation of these provisions.
Current Issues in Japanese Law
This seminar is available only to students with a sufficient level of Japanese language ability to enable them to participate in classes conducted in Japanese and to read primary source material in Japanese. Students are not required to write Kanji, but will have to read complex Japanese texts. A sufficient measure of language proficiency required is the ability to read Japanese newspaper articles, with or without using a dictionary. The course covers a variety of subjects including recent legal reforms in Japan. This course is taught in Japanese and is open only to non-native Japanese speaking students.
East/West Negotiation Seminar
This pass/fail course is intended to introduce students to the practical legal and cultural issues encountered when drafting and negotiating international agreements in the Asian context. A particular emphasis will be placed on negotiations involving American and Japanese parties through the examination of actual international commercial transactions. Students will have an opportunity to participate in the preparation of mock agreements and negotiations.
This course has limited enrollment.
Employment Discrimination
The course concentrates primarily on Title VII of the United States Code which prohibits discrimination in employment on basis of race, color, sex, religion and national origin. Also, the topics of age discrimination and affirmative action are addressed in this course.
Entertainment Law
This course deals with selected legal issues which affect persons active in various aspects of the entertainment industry. These include pertinent contract, copyright, business association, securities regulation, communications and tax law issues involving the theater, recording, and television industries.
European Union Human Rights Law
This is an in-depth and comprehensive study of the law, policy, and processes of the institutions established by the European Union for the protection of Human Rights as enumerated in the [European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [entered into force September 3, 1953, as amended by subsequent Protocols, including Protocol 11 of November, 1998.] Special study will also be made of the operation, so far, of the Human Rights Act of 1998 of the United Kingdom. Our study will take into account the entire Human Rights regime of the European Union, as it is envisaged to be when it becomes a much larger Union than the current membership of only 15. Human Rights dimensions of conditions for membership of the European Union will be part of this study.
European Union Law, An Introduction
This course surveys the institutions of the European Union, and the EU mechanisms for establishing law and adjudicating disputes, the main bodies of EU law and leading cases. The focus of this course will be on issues of jurisdiction, harmonization and enforcement of the laws of the various European member states and, where relevant, of the WTO.
Evidence
An examination of the rules governing the use of evidence, including problems of relevancy, hearsay, impeachment, burden of proof, presumptions and the function of judge and jury. Evidence is commonly tested on Bar Exams throughout the United States.
Global Workplace, The
(This course has limited enrollment.)
This three-credit writing seminar will strive to be, as one noted American scholar recommends, "comparative in method" and "transnational in perspective." It will compare the laws and legal environments of Japan, the U.S., and the E.U, and it will review the materials and discuss the mechanisms for attempting to achieve global labor standards. In their research, students may choose to focus on one of the following components of an inchoate global labor law: international treaties and conventions, best practices, corporate voluntary codes of conduct, transnational labor unionism, and the role of social movements.
Intellectual Property Licensing
This course covers the basic legal and business features of intellectual property ("IP") license contract arrangements, particularly in the context of international licensing practices of major US and Japanese corporations. Topics will include fundamental aspects of negotiating and drafting IP license agreements as well as the application of related legal issues to the licensing process, such as those involving tax, antitrust, dispute resolution and certain regulatory matters.
International Antitrust
This course will focus on the U.S. case law covering (1) exercise of jurisdiction in antitrust cases over conduct taking place in foreign countries; and (2) the question of whether market share and relevant market should be defined as including sales and producers in foreign countries. The course will avoid complex substantive antitrust problems so that it is not necessary to have taken a standard antitrust course before joining this class.
International Business Planning
International Business Planning addresses the major, recurring issues that confront attorneys in international commercial practice. In particular, the course covers the formation of corporate entities, legal and economic issues to consider when choosing a foreign partner, issues arising out of the purchase and sales of a business, and the major international tax implications arising out of choice of entity and formation of entity issues. Much of the course involves close examination of redacted documents from actual international deals. In particular, students will be asked to negotiate and draft agreements, including a purchase and sale agreement, and work in teams to "present" various issues to their "clients" or to a "senior partner" at their law firm.
International Commercial Mediation and Arbitration
Focuses on the law and practice of international commercial arbitration, including the creation and operation of international arbitration tribunals as well as the role of nations in compelling, facilitating, and enforcing arbitral awards. Special attention will be given to issues involving jurisdiction, choice of law, arbitration clauses in international transactions, presentation of cases before arbitral tribunals, cases on arbitrations and the relationship between international arbitration and court systems.
International Commercial Transactions
This course provides an introduction to transactional work undertaken by international commercial attorneys. Primary areas of study include export sale and financing, the international transfer of technology, compliance issues, and relevant international trade law of the United States. Particular attention is given to the mitigation and avoidance of risks attendant to international transactions.
International Contract Drafting
This course bridges the gap between contract theory and contract practice and offers practical insights into international contracts such as licenses, distributorships and joint ventures. The principal focus will be on the development of skills in drafting these types of contracts, although ancillary preparation exercises may also be undertaken.
This course has limited enrollment. Enrollment in this class is limited to 16 students.
International Criminal Law
This course will introduce issues related to current developments in war crimes prosecution and transnational law enforcement. Following an overview of the historical and theoretical basis for international criminal law, the course will examine more specific issues of procedure, evidence, and crime definition. The course will explore general concepts of jurisdiction and extraterritorial application of domestic laws as well as more practical problems of investigating international crime, obtaining evidence from abroad, and extradition. Specific crimes discussed include money laundering, drug trafficking, terrorism, and human rights atrocities.
International Dispute Resolution
As worldwide trade increases, the instances in which disputes cross national borders increase as well. This course introduces the types of issues private international lawyers encounter. Major features of international litigation will be considered, such as uses of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), jurisdictional and discovery questions, and enforcement of arbitration and forum selection clauses. Leading U.S. Supreme Court cases will be analyzed, as well as major treaties.
International Enforcement of IP Rights
This course will compare and contrast a party's right to enforce intellectual property rights, primarily in Japan and the U.S. The focus will be on the relative procedures and remedies available in each country. The course will use four hypothetical situations to achieve this objective. The first hypothetical will concern the response to a notice of infringement letter; the second will concern litigation of a patent claim; the third will address civil procedure issues that impact international enforcement, including discovery, the effects of collateral litigation, the effect and enforcement of a judgment in a foreign jurisdiction and jurisdictional issues; the fourth hypothetical will address common defenses available in litigation in Japan and the U.S. The class will cover enforcement issues in the patent, copyright and trademark areas, primarily focusing on patent.
International Entertainment Law
This course deals with selected legal issues which affect persons active in various aspects of the international entertainment industry. Topics will include privacy rights, contract law, copyright law, and labor law which will be discussed in the context of the stages of development of an international entertainment project.
International Environmental Law
This course critically examines the legal response to a variety of transborder and global environmental problems. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of legal norms in specific contexts such as protection of endangered species, nuclear accidents, ozone depletion and global climate change. The course will also examine legal principles regarding natural resource management and the relationship between trade and environment. Special attention will be given to the practice of Environmental Law in an Asian context.
International Finance
A survey of regulatory and transactional aspects of international finance, which is an area of increasing significance to all commercial lawyers. Topics will include an examination of banking and securities regulation in the United States, Japan and the European Union, major areas of international regulation and private ordering, derivatives, and international transactions such as syndicated loans and project finance.
International Human Rights Law
This course is designed as an introduction to issues of law, policy and institutional machinery for the promotion of human rights in the world community. Are nations bound by human rights laws (such as treaties, customary international law, U.N. Charter, European Convention, etc.)? Are the courts of a nation so bound? Where there is violation of human rights law, when and under what circumstances may diplomatic intervention, economic sanctions or military force be used to redress wrongs or to cause compliance with human rights guarantees?
International Intellectual Property Law
This course will cover the broad outlines of the four major branches of intellectual property law—patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret law—and will consider the following topics: obtaining rights by registration in the U.S. and other typical examination countries; exploitation of intellectual property rights with a focus on technology transfer including compulsory licensing, foreign ownership requirements in ventures and antitrust considerations; protection of rights with a focus on the difficulties of protecting intellectual property rights by litigation, policing property rights, preventing international distribution, international trade piracy, and gray market goods; and other topics as time permits.
International Law
This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of international law. Areas of principal focus include the nature and sources of international law; treaties and customary international law; international dispute resolution; international organizations (including the United Nations, European Union, and the GATT); and the application of international law in United States courts.
International Taxation
This course covers fundamental concepts in the inter U.S. taxation of international transactions, both inbound (U.S. taxation of income received by foreign individuals or entities) and outbound (U.S. taxation of the foreign operations of United States taxpayers). The course will address questions of residence, jurisdiction to tax, source of income, the foreign tax credit, tax treaties, transfer pricing, and the operations of the controlled subsidiaries of United States corporations.
International Trade Law
This course will introduce legal, business and policy aspects of international trade with a focus on U.S. trade law in the context of the WTO-GATT agreements. The class will consider tariffs and tariff negotiations, quotas, most favored nation clauses, domestic standards, industrial safeguards, export regulation, regional trading blocks, national treatment clauses, adjustment assistance, antidumping and countervailing duty law, international rules on intellectual property, trade services and other topics. The underlying goal of this course is to provide a rounded understanding of the interplay between national and international trade regulation and its impact on private international transactions.
Introduction to Asian Legal Systems: Traditional Values and Governance
This course is an interdisciplinary study of the history of the legal systems of China, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. The role of law in these societies, the influence of cultural values and religions, the consequences of colonialism, the changes caused by economic development and the impact of international human rights are studied.
Introduction to Chinese Law
This introductory course provides students with a basic understanding of the Chinese legal system with a focus on China's domestic laws and their implementation. The role of Chinese as well as foreign lawyers in Chinese legal system will also be discussed.
Introduction to International Business Law
This course provides an introduction to transactional work undertaken by international business attorneys. The course focuses on international sales, and is taught based on realistic problems that clients in international transactions might face. We use simulations and other interactive techniques in an attempt to show students what it would be like to practice law in this area. The course has a cultural component as well, through which students consider how local culture affects the way that business is conducted throughout the world.
Law and Governance of the Internet
This course examines the rapidly changing legal position of the Internet, including free speech issues, defamation, misinformation and threats, obscenity issues, intellectual property, copyright and trademark issues, encryption, commercial transactions, jurisdiction and practicing law on-line.
Law of Cyberspace
The emergence of the global network--the "Internet" and its constituent networks--and the associated "digital revolution"--the ability to access, store, and transmit vast amounts of information in digital form--presents an array of new problems and opportunities for lawyers preparing to practice in the 21st Century. It is becoming increasingly evident that the process of "extending" existing legal concepts and tools into this new domain is not straightforward, and that a number of familiar legal concepts will need to be rethought before they can be efficiently applied in the new environment. This course will introduce a representative subset of the legal problems that lawyers are addressing and will continue to address in this new environment.
Law of Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce)
This course will focus on key issues confronting businesses as they migrate to an electronic environment and engage in "E-Commerce." The course will exam the problems confronting the application of existing law to on-line commerce and then explore possible solutions to those problems. Authentication and integrity issues in cyberspace, electronic contracting, privacy, click wrap contracting, warranty liability in cyberspace, controlling the use of information in cyberspace, electronic payment models, marketing on the Internet, data mining - using customer information/lists, employer/employee relationships on the Internet, raising capital in high-tech businesses, and negotiability in electronic commerce are examples of topics to be covered.
Legal Decision Making
Examination of theory and operation of the main institutions and processes of the American legal system. Techniques of case and statutory analysis are featured, along with consideration of the impact of social, economic, historical and jurisprudential factors on the development of the law. Although judicial and legislative processes receive most attention, students are also introduced to the role and methods of administrative agencies.
Patents
The scope of the law of trade secrets and patents under US law, including a consideration of the nature of patentable subject matter, is examined.
Property
This basic U.S. law class is open to non-J.D. students. It explores the basic relationships in systems of ownership of personalty and realty, and the devices for transferring ownership are considered. Private and public planning, regulation of land use, the estate system and the new property theories are also examined.
Regulation of Business in Japan
Various aspects of the administrative law process in Japan are considered including: structure and function of administrative bodies in Japan; rule-making and enforcement of regulations; the use of "gyosei shidou" or administrative guidance by the major Japanese ministries; lobbying; and the administrative (Ministry) and legislature relationships.
Remedies
Important and contemporary problems in compensatory and punitive damages, equity and contempt, restitution, and declaratory judgments are studied from a functional and practice standpoint. This subject is tested on many U.S. Bar Examinations.
Secured Transactions
This course considers the creation, perfection, and enforcement of security interests in personal property under Article Nine of the Uniform Commercial Code. A major component of this offering concerns the interaction of Article Nine with the Federal Bankruptcy Law and the effect of the bankruptcy law upon a lender's decisions and expectations. Comparative aspects are considered.
Selected Issues in International Securities Regulation
This course will provide a basic overview of international securities regulation to the extent required to form a foundation for the selected issues explored in this course. Students will first learn what comprises international securities law and where it can be found. Building on this foundation, the course will introduce 3 primary discussion topics: capital raising, cross-border mergers & acquisitions (M&A), and the extraterritorial application of securities laws. The capital raising element will explore the various methods employed by Japanese firms to access U.S. capital markets. Cross-border M&A will look at the issues encountered with international joint ventures, mergers, partial and complete acquisitions, and tender offers. Finally, the course will explore the extraterritorial application of U.S. securities laws, reporting obligations, and problems faced when U.S. securities laws are enforced abroad. The course will accommodate students who have not taken corporations, securities regulation, finance, or international business transactions.
Taxation of US / Japan Transactions
This course considers the taxation of the expatriate or dual national, whether an individual or a company, and the role of double tax treaties in determining which jurisdiction has the right to tax. The course will use case study problems to examine such issues as jurisdiction to tax, dual residence, permanent establishment, transfer pricing and the impact of taxation regimes on international investment decisions. Problems will be resolved looking first to domestic law and then to the double tax treaty. (No specific knowledge of U.S. tax law is required.)
Telecommunication Law
As a result of technological change, what used to be called "mass communication" law is now better characterized as "telecommunication" law. Airwaves, satellite signals, cable television lines, and telephone cables are being used by all kinds of content providers to reach both mass and limited audiences. The emphasis in this course is on how regulation may differ based on the delivery system, the content, and the content provider. For example, should a newspaper story that appears on a printed page and on a web site be subject to different standards? Should similar content sent by an individual "speaker" be treated the same as that generated by the "institutional press"? Indeed, with international access open to all, how is the "press" to be defined? We also will consider rules for allocation of means of telecommunications, such as airwave frequencies, and the competing interests at stake. As the class is being held in Japan, it will include comparisons of the American and Japanese systems, and to some extent those found in other nations.
Torts
The study of legal remedies in civil proceedings for interference by others with one's person, property and intangible interests. Historical and theoretical bases of the principal theories of tort liability are examined to develop an understanding of current law and a sensitivity to changing patterns of tort responsibility emerging from a dynamic society.
Trusts & Estates
Surveys the principal devices used in the transmission of accumulated family wealth, concentrating primarily on the requirements for creating, modifying and terminating wills and trusts. Also considers intestate succession, will substitutes and selected issues concerning future interests, powers of appointment and fiduciary administration. The course explores the often clashing policies of effectuating donative intent and restraining dead-hand control.
US Antitrust
The relevant federal statutes which regulate the competitive process and their interpretation by the courts are considered. Classroom discussion also covers the policy rationale for such regulation and economic conditions are examined.
US Contract Law
This is a fundamental course concerning the law governing contractual relations between private parties. The course will utilize a casebook commonly used in classes for first year J.D. students in the United States. Topics include offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity, and other elements critical to the formation of a contract, calculation of damages and the role of specific performance in the event of breach of a contract.
U.S. Constitutional Law
This core law course examines American constitutional law in historical and modern context; the allocation of decision-making authority among government institutions; and guarantees of individual rights stemming from the due process, equal protection, and other clauses in the Bill of Rights and other amendments. Attention will also be given to the relationship of the three federal government branches as well as federalism and the roles of national and state governments.
US Copyright Law
This course covers the basics of United States copyright law, focusing on a detailed analysis of the US Copyright Act. Topics to be covered include the requirements for obtaining copyright protection for works of authorship, ownership and the transfer of copyrights and the elements of infringement, defenses to infringement claims and remedies for infringement. In addition to the statutory bases of all of the above, we will look at a number of special copyright problems, including (a) special issues regarding copyright protection for computer hardware and software, and (b) the relationship between federal copyright law and both state and international law.
Please contact us for more information
E-mail: tujlaw@tuj.temple.edu / Tel: 03-5441-9841