Comparative Professional Responsibility
Professor Peter Tague. 3 credits
9:00-11:00 am, Monday-Friday
This course concentrates on the position of American lawyers to typical problems concerning our professional responsibility to clients, courts and third parties. When possible, it also explores the different position taken by legal actors, in particular barristers, in England. Two examples: Who is responsible for preparing the client’s case? Should the advocate be concerned about the truthfulness of the client’s position? Barristers’ answers to those questions differ from lawyers’ in interesting ways.
Corporations
Professor Michael Diamond. 3 credits
9:00 - 11:00 am, Monday-Friday
Students should note that Corporations is a prerequisite for Advanced Corporate Law, Comparative Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, Securities Regulation, Business Planning Seminar, and corporate law seminars.
This is a basic course in business corporations. Brief coverage is given to factors bearing on choice of organization, including partnership attributes, process of corporate formation, corporate privileges and powers, corporate capital structure, and limited liability. Close examination is given to the governance structure of the corporation and the fiduciary obligations of directors and officers. The particular nature of the public corporation is explored. Topics studied may include stock trading by corporate insiders, transactions in corporation control, and the procedural problems in stockholder derivative suits. Along with a focus on such policy questions as federal-state jurisdiction, the nature of the corporate governance system, and the role of the corporation in modern society, the course deals with the role of the lawyer in corporate matters.
European Union Law
Professor Alexander Turk. 3 credits
9:00-11:00 am, Monday-Friday
This course will focus on the constitutional principles and institutional structures which underpin the EU and examine some of the substantive areas of the law of the EU. This law is a vast area encompassing commercial law and the four freedoms which underpin the internal market, social policy, financial services, and many other areas in which domestic law is, in effect, set by the EU's institutions. This course will look at case studies of particular branches of substantive EU law, and the advances made by the EU in the area of equal rights.
International Climate Change Law and Litigation
Professor Armin Rosencranz
11:30 am-1:30 pm, Monday-Friday
This course examines the role of international legal and policy institutions in confronting global climate change, focusing on international agreements and on litigation in judicial and quasi-judicial forums. After four classes of introductory readings and the Gore film to establish a common base of knowledge about global climate change, we will enact or reenact five international climate change lawsuits, using briefs from the opposing lawyers when available. Class members will rotate roles of plaintiffs’ counsel, defendants’ counsel and judge. Members will be evaluated on the strength of their preparation and argument, and on questions from the bench. All readings and briefs will be posted on the class website.
Class members will also prepare, from materials available online, a roughly six page written argument on behalf of the climate negotiator of a self-chosen country – referring to the chosen country’s energy and climate laws, strategies and policies, as well as expected climate change impacts. The paper will be submitted during the last week of class, and in the final two classes, members will orally advocate their chosen country’s position at the forthcoming (12-09) climate negotiations at Copenhagen. The litigation and negotiation advocacy will be in lieu of a final exam.
International Law I: Introduction to International Law
Professor Ralph Wilde. 3 credits
11:30 am -1:30 pm, Monday-Friday
The course provides an introduction to the nature and operation of the international legal system, and the substantive content of certain key areas of international law. We begin by considering what is meant by “international law.” We then consider who the participants in the international legal system are and review the changing treatment of the individual in this system with the introduction of international human rights law and international criminal law. We identify the criteria by which the two other main participants in the system – states and international organizations – are defined, and clarify the juridical nature and effect of the self-determination entitlement. We identify how the substantive rules of international law are formed, and what mechanisms exist to adjudicate or otherwise scrutinize compliance with these rules. We then address one key area of substantive international law: the use of military force by states and the United Nations, including ‘humanitarian intervention.’
International Trade
The Honorable Timothy Stanceu and Professor Gary Horlick. 3 credits
11:30 am-1:30 pm, Monday-Friday
This course will survey international law topics relevant to international trade, concentrating on the institutions and agreements that have emerged since the end of the Second World War to further global commerce and investment. The course will examine the disciplines established by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and later expanded under the Uruguay Round negotiations, which gave rise to the World Trade Organization. In analyzing the effectuation of these disciplines in U.S. law, the course will begin with the constitutional framework for the respective roles of the legislative and executive branches in the regulation of foreign commerce and consider the deference given by courts to administrative actions in this field. It will then examine implementing statutes and regulations, introducing basic features of customs and tariff law, rules of origin, “safeguard” measures, preferential trade programs, regulation of exports, and measures to address unfair trade practices, including antidumping and countervailing duties and tariff laws protecting intellectual property.
Professor Horlick will teach for the first two weeks of the course and Judge Stanceu will teach for the second two weeks. Recommended: International Law I or another basic course in International Law; background in administrative law principles is also helpful but not essential.
