The College of Law is fortunate to have a large and high quality faculty and a diverse and well-balanced upper level curriculum. Second and third year courses are grouped by substantive areas to allow students the flexibility to choose among the many offerings. What follows are major groupings of College of Law courses. Many courses are relevant to study in more than one area. Information on course selection and sequencing is provided by the faculty in the spring of the first year.
I. Business, Commercial and Labor
Many elements of business and commercial law appear in Contracts and to a more limited extent in Torts. The core upper level courses include
Corporations and Labor Law.
Coverage of the Uniform Commercial Code is divided between Secured Transactions.
II. Property
Students are introduced to this area of the law in the first year Property course. Upper level courses cover the use and transfer of property as well as special forms
of property. Wills, Trusts, and Future Interests is the basic course on transfer of property at death. Real Estate Transactions covers transfer of real property.
III. Individual Rights and Liberties
Constitutional Law II serves as an introductory course to this area of the law. Major portions of criminal procedure are covered in Criminal Procedure I and II.
Courses covering special areas of statutory law and advanced courses in constitutional law and criminal law and procedure and in protecting constitutional and statutory
civil rights are also provided.
IV. Tax
The major tax course is Federal Income Tax. The other two major areas of tax are Gift and Estate Tax (Estate Planning) and Corporate Tax.
Other federal tax courses cove other taxable entities and planning and procedure courses.
V. Litigation and Skills
The fundamental skills of legal analysis, legal research and writing, and oral and written argument are covered in the first year substantive courses Legal Research and
Writing and Advocacy. Civil Procedure I and II introduce basic pre-trial and trial procedure. In the upper level courses Evidence covers the broad area of the factual
proof that can be introduced at trial, while in Trial Practice the essential skills of a trial lawyer are explored through simulation. Appellate Practice and Procedure
covers the appellate level proceedings.
Remedies gives an overview of the various types of relief a court can award and the steps it can take to make its judgments effective. Additional courses offer students exposure to actual clients or real life settings in which lawyers perform their various functions.
LitigationVI. Perspective
Students are first introduced to looking at the law as an institution and the role it and the courts play in society in Constitutional Law I and Criminal Law in the
first year. The courses included in this classification provide additional opportunities to look at the law and legal institutions historically, philosophically, and
comparatively by examining other legal systems.
VII. Specialty
By definition, the courses under this heading have no underlying connection with each other. These courses are included in the curriculum because they cover an
unusual area of the law of special significance.
VIII. Government
In the government area, the basic course is Constitutional Law I taken in the first semester. This course covers separation of powers between federal and state
government. Civil Procedure I also covers the jurisdiction of federal and state courts. Administrative Law provides a broader upper level course. The other courses in
this classification deal with more limited areas of the broader subjects.
IX. International
In the area of international and comparative law, the basic course is International Law, usually offered in the Fall semester. Other advanced course offerings involve
specialties that overlap domestic law or that cover other systems of law.