| Administrative Law (LAW 650 – 2 units) |
A study of the powers and procedures of federal and state administrative agencies, including rulemaking and adjudication, judicial and legislative control thereof, and the rights of individuals affected by such decision-making. |
| Advanced Appellate Advocacy (LAW 587 – units) |
This course is a program in which students engage in brief writing and oral presentation of sophisticated legal issues. |
| Advanced Legal Research (LAW 562B – 1 unit; Prerequisite: LAW 562A) |
Examines sources and methods of legal research relating to administrative law, legislative history, and selected specialized topics. Particular emphasis is given to online sources. |
| Advanced Trial Techniques (LAW TBA – 2 units) |
Course description TBA. |
| Adversarial Evidence (LAW 642 – 1 unit) |
This course is designed to provide important training with respect to the two most difficult and confrontational trial functions: objections and cross-examination. Traditional Evidence and Trial Practice courses deliver necessary theoretical and doctrinal foundations for the later development of those skills by way of on-the-job experience. In order to accelerate that experience, this course is intended to bridge the gap between doctrinal studies and the practitioner’s real-world courtroom. |
| Alternate Dispute Resolution (LAW 548 – 2 or 3 units) |
A study of alternatives to traditional litigation, including negotiation, mediation, settlement conferences, judicial and contractual arbitration, private judging options, and settlement considerations. |
| Alternate Dispute Resolution Competition Team (LAW TBA – 1 or 2 units) |
The ADR Competition Team is designed to develop and master negotiation and advocacy skills, including effective communication techniques, to take place either within a negotiation setting, a mediation setting, or an arbitration setting. Participation is by invitation only after an intramural competition judged by experienced members of the community and the faculty. After selection students may participate in a regional and/or national competition against other law schools. Potential competitions include:
At least one of the following courses is a prerequisite or co-requisite for the Negotiation, Representation in Mediation or Mediation Competitions: ADR, Negotiation, Mediation, Mediation Practicum, or Mediation Ethics Seminar. Either ADR or Arbitration is a prerequisite or co-requisite for an Arbitration Competition. Members of the ADR Competition Team may not be on academic probation or academic warning in any semester in which they are selected or they compete. |
| Antidiscrimination Law Seminar (LAW 635 – 2 or 3 units) |
This course introduces and explores the variety of forms of antidiscrimination law and policy in the United States. It will be organized around protected categories (impermissible bases of discrimination), and within those categories, will cover topics including employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and so on. Students may elect to take the course as a lecture class for two credits that will be subject to examination, or they may elect to take it as a seminar for three credits with a paper as a final product that will meet the upper-division writing requirement. |
| Antitrust and Trade Regulation (LAW 629 – 2 units) |
A comprehensive review and exploration of the economic and legal principles of antitrust law and trade regulation, including the antitrust system of remedies, the economic basis for antitrust and trade regulation, market power and market definition, monopolization, exclusionary practices, power and power-conduct relationships in monopolization and attempt, horizontal and vertical mergers, horizontal and vertical restraints of trade, distribution practices, vertical distribution restraints, tying arrangements, exclusive dealing and related practices, and the Robinson-Patman Act and its prohibition on price discrimination. |
| Appellate Advocacy (LAW 580 – 2 units) |
Description TBA. |
| Arbitration (LAW 543 – 2 units) |
An introduction to the law and practice of arbitration within a variety of contexts, including labor, employment, construction, and commercial matters. Readings, simulations, and discussion focuses on federal and state statutes relating to the selection of arbitrators, the arbitration process, judicial review, and enforcement of arbitration awards. |
| Bankruptcy (LAW 615 – 2 units) |
An in-depth study of bankruptcy and the consumer debtor, collection and distribution of assets of an insolvent, bankruptcy jurisdiction of the debtor, and creditor rights under Chapters 7, 11, and 13 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code. |
| California Civil Procedure (LAW 549 – 2 units) |
A course designed for students who will be taking the California Bar Exam. It will focus on California rules of civil procedure and common law regarding jurisdiction, venue, service of process, conflict of laws, pleading, joinder, discovery, disposition without trial, jury trial, appeal, and prior adjudications. |
| California Performance Test Strategies (LAW 567 – 1 unit) |
This is a skills focused course designed to introduce students to the performance test portion of the California Bar Exam, to teach students the strategies necessary for success on performance tests, and to provide students with opportunities to practice the skills necessary for the bar exam. (This class is not a substitute for a commercial bar review course.) |
| California Real Estate Practice (LAW 537 – 2 units) |
A course that covers selected issues arising in real estate practice in California. Subjects include the purchase and sale of real property, litigation, title insurance, escrow, brokerages, regulation of brokerages, real estate finance, secured transactions, leasing, land use, subdivisions, eminent domain, boundary issues, adverse possession, and mechanics liens. |
| Children and the Constitution Seminar (LAW 630 – 2 or 3 units) |
This course introduces and explores the application of Constitutional doctrine to people under the age of majority in legal arenas other than juvenile justice. Subjects include searches in school, freedom of expression – speech and religion in public schools, curfews and adoption. Students may elect to write a paper that would satisfy the upper division writing requirement or maintain a journal as the evaluation mechanism for the course. The course will include a drafting exercise and may include a practicum involving the area of adoption. |
| Civil Rights Law (LAW 594– 2-3 units) |
This course offers a study of the main themes of Civil Rights litigation and the interplay between statutory and constitutional sources of civil rights law. It includes analytical discussion of theories of constitutional litigation and practical consideration of enforcement strategies. Areas of emphasis include private enforcement of civil rights against state and federal actors, laws against sex discrimination, school desegregation, and rights and remedies in prison cases. |
| Clinical Externship (LAW 690 – 1 or 2 units) |
Externships in which students are placed with local public agencies, including the District Attorney, the Public Defender, various legal aid clinics, County Counsel, and local judges in both the Superior and Appellate Courts. Students work under the supervision of an attorney, learning how to solve practical legal problems in real life situations. |
| Conflict of Laws (LAW 544 – 2 or 3 units) |
A course that addresses the legal problems created when the authority of sources of law are not clearly defined and neatly demarcated, such that a single event or occurrence giving rise to a legal dispute may be subject to control by more than one lawmaker or law enforcer. Conflicts arise between the unclear and sometimes overlapping power of different bodies to make or administer law, and this course is designed to explore the ways these conflicts are resolved. |
| Construction Law and Ethics (LAW 647 – 2 units) |
This course introduces students to the basics of construction law. Throughout the course, students will learn the vocabulary and process of construction law at various stages. Topics covered in the course include participants in the design and construction process, contracting for construction projects, construction scheduling, construction safety, changes, termination and default, mechanics’ liens, insurance and bonds, defective construction, consumer protection liability, economic loss rule, damages, and construction industry ethics. Students will learn relevant provisions in the California Building Standards Code (Title 24). The class will include a practical aspect for drafting and form completion. |
| Corporate Taxation (LAW 634 – 3 units; Prerequisite/Corequisite: Income Taxation) |
This course provides an introduction to Federal taxation of corporations and shareholders, focusing upon areas of corporate formation, taxation of the corporation as a separate entity, taxation of distributions by the corporation to its shareholders, taxation on the termination of a corporation by partial or complete liquidation, and an introduction to taxable and non-taxable acquisitions. |
| Criminal Procedure: Pre-Trial, Trial, and Sentencing (LAW 504 – 2 units) |
A study of constitutional issues presented in the criminal justice system. Emphasis is placed on issues relating to specific procedures in the criminal process, including pre-trial procedures (charging, bail, preliminary hearing, grand jury, and right-to-counsel), trial procedures (effective assistance of counsel, jury trials, and trial publicity), post-trial procedures (sentencing and appeals), and double jeopardy. |
| Disability Rights Legal Center Clinic (LAW 691 – 3, 4, 5, or 6 units; Requires Instructor’s approval) |
This course provides clinical experience to upper-division law students at the Disability Rights Legal Center, focusing on disability rights Litigation and special education issues for low-income and minority families. |
| Discovery Techniques and Practices (LAW 636 – 3 units) |
The course will provide students with the ability to effectively and strategically initiate, enforce, and respond to all forms of discovery (depositions, requests for admissions, interrogatories, notices for production of documents, demands for inspection, and demands for physical examinations). The course will enable students to instantly analyze a situation and prepare the discovery pleadings necessary to obtain summary judgment or spearhead the march to trial. The course will also provide an arsenal of forms, checklists, rules, and cases. Students will be able to communicate these three abilities to prospective employers. |
| Employment Relations (LAW 656 – 2 units) |
A study of wrongful termination and other aspects of the law governing relations between employers and employees, including collective bargaining agreements, strikes, boycotts, picketing, unfair labor practices, and the impact of the National Labor Relations Act and other federal legislation. |
| Entertainment Law (LAW 611 – 2 units) |
This course is an analysis of the many legal problems stemming from the relationships between writers, performers, and other artists, and their agents, managers, promoters, and producers. |
| Environmental Law and Policy (LAW 659 – 2 units) |
A general survey of statutory and case law in the environmental arena and the economic policies behind such law. Consideration is given to remedial devices available for environmental protection. |
| Estate Planning (LAW 524 – 2 units; Prerequisite/Corequisite: Wills and Trusts) |
This course explores the fundamental public policy favoring the devolution of property from generation to generation and continues with the elements of a will, the goals of estate planning, and drafting estate planning documents. The course also includes analysis of the concept of bifurcation of title; the elements of a trust, its formation, types of trusts, and their characteristics; the law of powers of appointment and its application to trusts; the Rule Against Perpetuities; charitable trusts; and the fiduciary responsibility of trustees. |
| Family Law (LAW 523 – 2 units) |
This course is designed as a study of the law pertaining to the formation and dissolution of domestic relations, including the law of marriage, annulment, separation and dissolution, alimony, custody, and spousal and child support. |
| Federal Courts (LAW 547 – 2 units) |
A course exploring the division of jurisdiction between state and federal courts, original jurisdiction of district courts, federal questions, diversity of citizenship, jurisdictional amount and removal, Supreme Court review of state court decisions, and habeas corpus. |
| Federal Income Taxation (LAW 624 – 3 units) |
This course examines Federal Income Taxation of the individual. It includes basic principals of the federal income tax including concepts of gross income, exclusions, deductions, elements of tax procedure, judicial review, and tax research. Tax concepts and theories of tax policy are discussed throughout the semester. Practical application of economic theories relevant to transactional law practice are framed throughout the course. |
| First Amendment Freedoms (LAW 591 – 2 units) |
An overview of rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, including the freedom of speech and assembly, the right to petition the government, the right to be free of governmental control of the press, freedom from governmental control of nonverbal expression, and the right to practice religion and the prohibition against government sponsored religion. |
| Health Care Law and Policy (LAW626 – 3 units) |
An examination of important legal issues in health care. The course covers legal aspects of the doctor-patient relationship (such as informed consent, duty to treat, confidentiality, and malpractice liability), financing and delivery issues (such as insurance coverage, managed care regulation, and Medicare/Medicaid reform), and selected issues in bioethics (such as organ transplantation and physician-assisted suicide). |
| Immigration Law (LAW 655 – 3 units) |
A survey of immigration law and procedure, with emphasis on exclusion and deportation proceedings, judicial review, nationality, and citizenship. |
| Independent Research (LAW 699 – 1 or 2 units) |
A course designed to enhance the student’s research and writing skills and to acquaint the student with a topic or issue of particular interest. Course work consists of a written paper involving legal research and analysis of substantial depth. A faculty member closely supervises the student’s work. The student’s topic must be pre-approved and not covered in detail by any other offered course. The student will receive one or two units of credit for the particular project, based on the amount of identifiable time spent in researching and writing the paper. |
| Insurance Law (LAW 614 – 2 units) |
A course that gives an overview of insurance law principles, insurance marketing, coverages, and public policies. Case law and statutory materials studied give an understanding of contract formation and interpretation, as well as familiarity with specific types of insurance coverage commonly encountered in the general practice of law. |
| Intellectual Property Overview (LAW 610 – 2 or 3 units) |
An examination of common law and statutory, copyright, and artistic property, including such topics as originality, types of work protected, publication formalities, the nature of the rights protected, duration and renewal of assignments, infringement actions, and remedies. The course also considers trademarks and trade names, appropriation of competitors’ products, and interference with contractual relations. |
| International Law (LAW – units) |
This course examines the nature and law of the international legal system, role of major participants, and relation of public and private international law. It covers selected issues of international economic law, with particular emphases on the influence of transnational corporations, regulation of foreign direct investment, and dispute resolution, and surveys the role of international courts and tribunals, and standards and professional responsibility of lawyers, judges and arbitrators. |
| Issues in Constitutional Law Seminar (LAW 595 – 3 units) |
This seminar addresses contemporary issues of Constitutional Law, either recent Supreme Court decisions or cases likely to come before the Court. Subjects are selected by the students, in collaboration with the instructor. A paper is required. |
| Journal of Law, Business and Ethics Seminar (LAW TBA – 2 units) |
Description TBA. |
| Justice and Immigration Clinic (LAW 692 – 6 units; Prerequisite: Immigration Law and Instructor’s approval) |
This is a live-client clinic. Students represent clients before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Immigration Court, Board of Immigration Appeals, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection in cases including applications for asylum and other relief from removal. Three hours of class per week, one hour weekly case team meetings, and approximately 25-30 hours of case work per week, on average. |
| Juvenile Law (LAW 679 – 2 units) |
Will focus on the origins and changing philosophies of Juvenile Delinquency Courts throughout the U.S. with an emphasis on California. Will examine the rights afforded to minors who have been caught up in the delinquency system and the procedural path of delinquency cases through the court system. Time will be spent discussing current issues, such as appropriate sentencing and the move toward treating minors as adult criminals. Guest speakers will highlight the course. |
| Law and Terrorism Seminar (LAW 651 – 3 units) |
This course examines the ways in which United States and international law deals with the problem of terrorism. The course first asks what terrorism is. From there, it examines the international law of war, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law relating to terrorism; enforcement and prosecution under United States law and the laws of selected other countries; legal issues associated with government information gathering about suspected terrorism, including the legal aspects of intelligence operations, surveillance, interrogations, secrecy and profiling. The course covers privacy and other civil liberties issues associated with government investigations of suspected terrorism. The course covers the law relating to military and other detentions without trial and the operation of military tribunals. Finally, the course covers civil litigation relating to compensation of victims of terrorism. The course does not cover only criminal law and procedure, but takes a comprehensive approach, showing how civil, administrative, and international law are relevant. |
| Law Practice Management (LAW 648 – 2 units: Pre-requisites – Business Organizations and Professional Responsibility) |
This course is designed to introduce the student to the challenges and issues involved in setting up and running a law office. Reviews theory, examples, attitude, client relationships, and other practical problems, and explores how all of these things relate to a successful practice. |
| Law Review (LAW 595, 597, and 598 – 1 or 2 units; By invitation only) |
Offers students with demonstrated high scholastic ability an annual opportunity to participate in the publication of the University of La Verne Law Review. As a member of the Law Review staff, a student has the opportunity to write a scholarly article and/or serve in an editorial or administrative capacity. Students earn one credit for Law Review Production, and two credits in the Law Review Seminar. |
| Mass Media Law (LAW 632 – 2 units) |
This course will cover the legal, regulatory and ethical constraints imposed on the mass media. Also, students will learn the purpose and philosophy underlying these constraints through the study of case law. This course will also cover the broad historical background under which such constraints have developed and continue to develop. Protection of the Mass Media through the First Amendment will be emphasized. |
| Math and Physics for Lawyers (LAW 529 – 2 units) |
This course provides an informative introduction to those principles of math and physics most commonly employed in forensic settings. |
| Mediation (LAW 546 – 2 units) |
A study of the process in which a third-party mediator assists others in reaching consensus. Through discussions, simulations, and case studies, students explore the theory, practice, policies, and ethics of mediation, including the role of lawyers in mediation. |
| Mediation Ethics Seminar (LAW 556 – 3 units) |
This is an in-depth study of mediation ethics. Through discussions and case studies, students explore the theory, practice and policies of mediation ethics, with an emphasis on party self-determination, mediator impartiality, confidentiality, quality of the process and of the outcome, mediator competence, and conflicts of interest. Students will be expected to participate actively in class dialogue and will be asked to ponder ethical dilemmas as they analyze mediation ethics from an abstract and experiential basis. Students will research and write a paper that qualifies as an upper division writing requirement. |
| Mediation Practicum (LAW 555 – 3 units) |
This course encompasses the regular mediation training, a process in which a third-party mediator assists others in reaching consensus, combined with a practical component that affords students the opportunity to mediate cases in which lawyer representatives are not involved. |
| National MOOT Court Competition Team (LAW 588 – 1 or 2 units; Prerequisites: LAW 580 and LAW 587; By invitation only) |
Provides the opportunity for selected students to represent the law school in ethnic-based and subject-based national advocacy competitions. |
| Non-Profit Corporate Governance (LAW 638 – 2 units; Co-requisite: Business Organizations) |
This course introduces students to the important legal principles governing not-for-profit organizations, including relevant corporate, trust, and tax principles associated with not-for-profit organizations. Not-for-profit organizations have many legal issues that are distinct from the legal issues of for-profit organizations and they comprise a significant sector of the economy. The course conveys a basic knowledge of the law relating to non-profit organizations, introduces some of the basic practice issues associated with non-profit organizations, and facilitates awareness of the distinctions between the laws of for-profit versus non-profit organizations. |
| Race and Law (LAW 593 – 2 units) |
This course will provide an overview of the legal treatment given to race in the United States, from Founding Era concerns about the Native American conquest and African slavery, to current debates about reparations for slavery. Materials will cover the legal and historical experiences of the five major racial groups in this country: African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos/as, Native Americans, and White Americans. Students will have the opportunity to study and assess a variety of issues, including: (1) the meanings of race and racism, as well as their manifestations in the law; (2) the relationships among race, citizenship and the construction of our political community; (3) the development of legal doctrines pertaining to race, with a specific emphasis on doctrines of equality; and (4) the relevance of race in a post-Civil Rights world. There is no examination for this class. Instead, over the course of the semester, students will have to write four short, analytical papers, 4-5 pages in length, which will closely examine issues that arise in the readings and class discussions. |
| Remedies (LAW – units) |
A survey of the legal and equitable remedies available for various injuries. Topics include actions for injuries to persons, property, businesses, and reputations, and the grounds for choosing between alternate remedies. |
| Special Education Law (LAW – units) |
This course covers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as other relevant state and federal statutes pertaining to the practice of special education law. It is a practical course that teaches students how to navigate a special education case from inception through a due process proceeding. Students who participate in this course are eligible to apply as Student Directors in the DRLC Clinic. |
| Sports Law (LAW 619 – 2 units) |
An examination of many present-day issues that arise when professional and college sports confront the legal system. The course analyzes the basic legal relationships among player, agent, union, team, league, and commissioner within professional sports and among athletes, colleges, and the NCAA in college sports. Discussions focus on a number of contemporary conflicts within the sports world, such as drug use and domestic violence by players, free agency, franchise movements, stadium subsidies, representations by sports agents, eligibility for collegiate competition, and the role of Title IX in women’s sports. |
| Strategic Legal Methods (LAW 566A and B – 1 unit each semester; Mandatory for students with a GPA of 2.7 or lower. May be taken as an elective for all other students.) |
Strategic Legal Methods Workshops (SLM) is a series of workshops for law students to continue to enhance and master analytical skills. Through SLM, students cultivate and practice essay exam-taking skills such as critical reading, using IRAC, writing analytically and essay organization. In addition to practicing exam-taking skills, students learn to monitor and evaluate their skills so that they can continue to progress independently after the course ends. SLM workshops also helps students improve their time-management and productivity skills such as note taking, case briefing, case synthesizing and properly utilizing study aids. Students also participate in one-on-one meetings with the instructor where the instructor reviews students’ work and study aids and also offers additional instruction and counseling that is specific to each student’s needs.
The SLM workshops are linked to substantive courses students are taking during the current semester. Connecting doctrinal courses with SLM enhances students’ overall performance in both courses because students are learning the black letter law in their doctrinal courses while contemporaneously practicing critical reading, legal analysis, rule synthesis, essay organization and other skills in the SLM workshops. Linking SLM with doctrinal courses reinforces subject matter content and gives students an opportunity to practice multiple choice exam-taking skills using Barbri’s AMP program and licensed questions from the National Conference of Bar Examiners. This allows students, the SLM instructor and the doctrinal professor to identify areas where students need improvement before they take a midterm or year-end examination in their doctrinal courses. Strategic Legal Methods (SLM) is a year-long course divided into two semesters for second year law students so they can continue to enhance and master analytical skills. Through SLM, students cultivate and practice essay exam-taking skills such as critical reading, using IRAC, writing analytically and essay organization. In addition to practicing exam-taking skills, students learn to monitor and evaluate their skills so that they can continue to progress independently after the course ends. The SLM course also helps students improve their time-management and productivity skills such as note taking, case briefing, case synthesizing and properly utilizing study aids. Students also participate in one-on-one meetings with the instructor where the instructor reviews students’ work and study aids and also offers additional instruction and counseling that is specific to each student’s needs. |
| Trial Competition Team (LAW TBA – 1 or 2 units) |
Course description TBA |
| Video Game Law Seminar (LAW 623 – 2 or 3 units) |
Encompasses all relevant legal aspects (both fundamental and controversial) of a rapidly expanding multi-billion-dollar, global industry. Topics include asset acquisition, intellectual property issues, trade secrecy, contracts and licenses, end-user rights, anti-competitive practices, and governmental regulation of games with respect to sex, nudity, and violence in addition to products liability, negligence, and misappropriation claims arising from the sale and distribution of modern computer games. |
| White Collar Crime (LAW 502 – 2 units; Prerequisites: Criminal Procedure I or II, Business Organizations recommended) |
This course provides an overview of the investigation and prosecution of white collar crime. The course will cover many of the key federal criminal statutes aimed at white collar crime, including conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, bribery and extortion, money laundering, false statements and perjury, obstruction of justice, and RICO. The course will also include a brief overview of some procedural issues particularly relevant in the area of white collar crime such as grand jury proceedings and immunity. |
| Workers Compensation (LAW 658 – 2 units) |
A study of the policies behind and the operation of Workers Compensation statutes. Such matters as the compensability of accident-caused injuries arising in the course of employment, benefits payable, and the relationship of common law tort theories will be included. |