Last update: April 3, 2025

Course Schedules

Summer 2025 courses run from May 12 to August 8. For further information as to courses or scheduling, please contact us.

Note: The schedule is subject to change. Hybrid courses are held in-person and synchronously online.

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Course Descriptions

This tentative course schedule is subject to change.

EVIDENCE (3 credits)

This course is a survey of the rules and underlying theories governing the admission, exclusion, and sufficiency of evidence emphasizing the Federal Rules of Evidence. Learning the Rules of Evidence is key to both effective litigation practice and out of course practice because non-litigation matters such as drafting a contract, giving legal advice, or engaging in settlement negotiations all involve evaluating and creating information that may be considered in litigation should disputes arise. This course covers relevance, character evidence, impeachment, competency, hearsay, authentication, and privileges. This subject is heavily tested U.S. Bar Examinations.

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INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEMS (3 credits)

This Course is intended to provide the student from a non-common law background with an introduction to the basic concepts, structures, and institutions of the American Legal System. Topics to be covered include historical origins of the common law system; common law method; the structure of the United States government, Federal and State; the Constitution; judicial review, structure, organization and operations of courts in the United States, civil litigation, case analysis and precedent: the legislative branch: statutes and legislative history; and the executive branch: administrative law.

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CRIMINAL LAW (3 credits)

This course involves a basic study of criminal law and examines the elements of a number of major crimes. It will also analyze various principles and historical trends that influence important prerequisites to the government's taking of one's liberty through incarceration. In this crime and punishment course, the effect of an alleged criminal actor's mental state, affirmative defenses, and responsibility for other's actions will be covered. This subject is tested on many U.S. Bar Examinations. Selected four classes (TBA) are held in-person. Remaining classes are held online

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW (3 credits)

This course will introduce legal, business and policy aspects of international trade and investment transactions 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 inside and 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.

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GUIDED RESEARCH (1-3 credits)

This independent research offers students an opportunity to (1) satisfy the graduation advanced writing and research requirements for LLM students; (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. This course has limited enrollment.

*Learn more about faculty here