Last update: July 25, 2017

Course Schedules

Fall 2017 courses run from September 4 to December 11. Please note that all courses are subject to change. For further information as to courses or scheduling, please contact us.

Course Descriptions

Fall 2017 courses run from September 4 to December 11.

Family Law (Community Property)

Professor:  Zeina Exilus

Credit Hours:  3 credits

Day & Time:  Monday, 18:30 - 21:30

In this course, we will consider the role of the family and its connection with the legal system, focusing primarily on the law governing the behavior of adults in families including the formation of marriage and other intimate partnerships and the legal regulation of ongoing relationships. This course will examine dissolution of marriage, spousal support, and the rights and duties between an adult and child, including parenting time and child support. In addition, we will cover California Community Property issues likely to be raised on the California bar examination.

These substantive areas of family law are issues of procedure, jurisdiction and lawyering. Therefore, how courts deal with marriages, divorces, support and custody arrangements in other jurisdictions is considered, where "other jurisdictions" means both states, such as New York, and countries, such as Japan.

Note:  This subject is heavily tested on many U.S. Bar Examinations.

International Commercial Transactions

Professor:  Julie Miller & Jo-Anne Bigham

Credit Hours:  3 credits

Day & Time:  Tuesday, 18:30 - 21:30

This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to international commercial transactions with an emphasis on managing legal risk and delivering legal services to meet clients' needs. We will begin with an overview of global business and the perspective of business clients. We will then consider the legal and commercial aspects of international sales agreements (including documentary sales and letter of credit law), licensing and franchising, and foreign direct investment (FDI), including joint ventures. Finally, we will explore related issues such as dispute resolution, legal compliance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and the relationship of public international law to private business transactions. 

International Trade Law

Professor:  Grant Stillman & John Price

Credit Hours:  3 credits

Day & Time:  Wednesday, 18:30 - 21:30

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 and rising trade nationalism and protectionism. 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. Recent proposals to renegotiate NAFTA and tax corporations for relocating production outside the U.S. will also be considered. 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.

Torts

Professor:  Director & Professor Tina Saunders

Credit Hours:  3 credits

Day & Time:  Thursday, 18:30-21:30

Torts is the study of civil wrongs, which refers to harm caused by wrongful acts that are non-contractual. This course examines the basic principles governing private remedies for civil wrongs. It covers various theories of liability, including negligence for personal injuries and property damages, strict liability based on fault, and products liability. The course will explore the doctrines and policies that underlie those theories as well as defenses, recoverable damages, and related issues.

Note:  This subject is heavily tested on many U.S. Bar Examinations.

Legal Research and Writing

Professor:  Marc Lassman

Credit Hours:  3 credits

Day & Time:  Saturday, 10:00-13:00

This course explores legal research, writing, and advocacy. After being introduced to the U.S. legal system and basic research techniques (including on-line data bases such as LexisNexis), students work on assigned problems to develop their writing and analytical skills. The program aims to develop basic legal research and writing skills in an informal, hands-on seminar atmosphere.

Note:  This course is required of all LL.M. in U.S. Law Candidates.

Guided Research

Professor:  Director & Professor Tina Saunders

Credit Hours:  2 or 3 credits

Day & Time:  

This independent research offers students an opportunity to (1) satisfy the mandated writing requirement, (2) develop research, writing and analytical abilities through producing a single substantive research paper and (3) work with a faculty member in an area of the teacher's interest or expertise. Students have a Faculty member agree to supervise them and must submit a signed Approval form to the Registrar to request participation.

U.S. Bar Exam Study Course

Professor:  Mason Hester

Credit Hours:  non-credit

Day & Time:  Saturday, 10:00-13:00

This course is a comprehensive lecture series on techniques and strategies to take a U.S. state bar exam. This class will help prepare you for the bar exam, the multistate/multiple-choice section ("the MBE"), state essays, and the multistate performance test ("MPT") questions. The course will use many different resources, including doctrinal lectures, classroom discussions, substantive outlines, many practice questions, and individual coaching. In this class, as with the bar exam, what matters most is results, and our goal is to make sure that each of you can use these various inputs to produce successful outcomes.