Courses

This course focuses on administrative agencies within the United States, rulemaking and adversary hearings, due process in the administrative state and judicial review, the timing of the judicial review, and monetary suits against the U.S. government.

Lecturer - Harold Krent

A study of the general principles of criminal law and procedure, including principles of jurisdiction, accountability for acts of others, concepts of act and fault, defenses such as justification and excuse, procedural rights such as the privilege against self-incrimination, grand jury review, confrontation of witnesses, and trial by jury, and rules of professional responsibility applicable at the investigative and post-charging stages of the criminal justice process.

Lecturer - Edward Carter

This course focuses on the statutes and regulations that promote fair and open competition within different industries and geographic markets. Antitrust laws scrutinize monopoly activity, price-fixing and collusion, bid-rigging, merger plans between businesses, price discrimination, group boycotts, and a range of other business conduct that, depending on the circumstances and the impact on the consumer, may run afoul of the law. There is a core set of relevant statutes –perhaps most central is the Sherman Act – and a little over a century of case law fleshing out the rules; state antitrust laws tend to follow federal statutes.

Lecturer - Olta Andoni

This course provides an overview of the laws and regulations governing blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in the United States. The course will also introduce the fundamentals of blockchain technology, and students will explore various blockchain use cases in the legal profession and the legal industry.

Lecturer – Alexander Rabanal

Business Organizations is essentially the study of Agency Law, as it applies to the rights and obligations of the various artificial entities recognized under state law. In this class, we address employer vicarious liability for the acts of its employees, factors impacting the selection of a particular entity to match owner needs, the nature and scope of fiduciary responsibilities, the business judgment rule, corporate governance issues, and the environment that allows for "piercing the corporate veil", among other topics. 

Lecturer – Prof. Jonathan Decatorsmith

This course aims to explain the basic structures of doing business. These range from the simplest form, which is a single-person business (a “sole proprietorship") to a large corporation with millions of shares traded on a stock exchange (a “publicly held” and "listed” company). This course starts with the simplest structures and works up to the most recent and most complicated ones. Each structure has unique characteristics, but no single structure is best for all businesses. The common law of agency (meaning it is uncodified as a law but merely summarized by legal experts) runs through all business structures. Therefore students begin the course with agency law. 

Students' goal is to understand how each business structure is different in how it is formed, who owns it, who governs it, who has liability for it, how it is taxed, which laws control it, how it gets dissolved, and other factors. You will get a matrix to fill out these factors for each business structure. 

Lecturer - Douglas Litowitz

As for the first course, in the era of globalization, it is crucial for law students to study and compare legal systems and become aware of the differences and similarities of other countries’ legal systems and institutions. With the impact that the flow of goods, services, and technology ideas have right now around the world, lawyers should prepare to analyze and understand the strong relationship between law and society.

Lecturer - Olta Andoni

This course will cover the fundamentals of U.S. copyright law. It will begin by discussing the various theoretical principles underlying copyright law in the U.S. and how that theory drives copyright practice. Students will explore current controversies in U.S. copyright law, including what constitutes infringement and the role of fair use in the Internet age. Students will also discuss the Music Modernization Act of 2018, the Digital Millennial Copyright Act, and current cases and trends as reflected by cases accepted for hearing and recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lecturers - Maurine Neiberg, Edward Lee

This course is about corporate governance and analyzes from a variety of perspectives the three fundamental elements of corporate governance: compliance, disclosure, and materiality. During the two-day course, the following topics are covered: corporate governance models (including the Anglo-US, German, Japanese, Korean, and Polish models); disclosure regimes; the legal and self-regulatory framework for corporate governance; monitoring of corporate performance by institutional investors; the rights and responsibilities of corporate organs, including the annual general meeting of shareholders, the board and management; shareholders’ rights; and the use of governance information by shareholders and stakeholders. Students are exposed to financial, legal, and practical aspects of corporate governance in several jurisdictions by analyzing and discussing a number of case studies about real companies (in France, India, Japan, Poland, Sweden, and the United States). Students read the case studies and then analyze them individually and in small teams.

Lecturer - Prof. Geoffrey Mazullo

This course focuses on equity (common stock, dividends, preferred stock), debt (types of debt, debt instruments, and debt deals), finance calculations (present value, discounting, annuities, perpetuities, and valuing common stock), finance today (stock repurchases, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs, convertible securities, and options).

Lecturer - Ronald Gieseke

This course offers international and comparative perspectives on intellectual property law and policy. It examines the evolving impact of intellectual property on the international stage, especially in respect of trade, economics, and culture.

Lecturer - Graham Dutfield

Professor Wagner's class focuses on various legal and regulatory issues that face in-house legal practitioners in the United States, focusing on issues pertinent to companies in the technology sector. The topics discussed included corporate governance, intellectual property management, antitrust and FCPA compliance, and advertising regulation. The class also covered how to navigate complex scenarios such as raising private funding and setting up employee compensation plans.

Lecturer - Dana Wagner

This course will examine key business and legal issues that arise in international commercial transactions. Students will analyze some typical transactions, such as the complex international purchase and sale transaction; global freight and delivery arrangements, including the INCOTERMS; cross-border joint ventures and alternatives to same, such as distribution arrangements and licensing and technology transfers; and direct foreign investments. 

Financial arrangements will be analyzed, including a letter of credit mechanics; international payment transfers; currency issues; trade credit risks; and sources of financing, such as conventional bank financing, project finance, and unconventional or alternative sources of financing. Students will further review methods of dispute resolution, such as mediation, arbitration, and litigation. 

Finally, a few of the major institutions that impact the international business will be examined, including the WTO and customs regulations; the international monetary regime; expropriation and acts of state; recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments; and the Vienna Convention on International Sales of Goods.

Lecturer - Thomas Hill

This course provides an introduction to copyright, trademarks, and patents. The emphasis is on the interaction between traditional intellectual property law, digital media, and the Internet. The course contrasts the economic orientation typical of American approaches with the less economic-focused approach typical in the European Union.

Lecturer - Richard Warner

From the Nuremberg trial to the case against Saddam Hussein, from the prosecution of Al-Qaeda terrorists to the trial of Somali pirates – no area of law is as important to world peace and security as international criminal law. Taught by one of the world’s leading experts in the field, this course will educate students about the fundamentals of international criminal law and policy. We will explore the contours of international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, terrorism, and piracy. We will examine unique modes of international criminal liability and specialized defenses. And we will delve into the challenges of obtaining custody of the accused and maintaining control of the courtroom.

Lecturer - Adam Weber

The course provides international students with an overview of the American legal system and gives a description of distinguished American legal institutions. Students' attention will be focused on the U.S. governmental structure: U.S. legislative and judicial systems, U.S. sources of law and its hierarchy, specifics of the American legal way of thinking, and introduction to the main legal terminology. Students will take part in discussions on court jurisdiction, the role of the jury, legal professionals in the U.S., legal education in the U.S., etc.

Lecturers: Douglas Wm. Godfrey, Jonathan Decatorsmith, Edward C. Harris.

This course presents a general overview of U.S. intellectual property law. It will begin with analyzing the competing policies underlying intellectual property laws. The course covers the basics of copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secrets law. It will explore current controversies in intellectual property law, including patent protection for software and business methods and the role and difficulties of protecting trademarks in the Internet Age. We will also discuss current cases and trends in intellectual property law as reflected by cases accepted for hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lecturers - Maurine Neiberg, Edward Lee

This course examines the latest issues relating to the management and licensing of intellectual property. It includes analysis and simulated hands-on management of real-world intellectual property portfolios, from identifying portfolios that are ripe for extraction of unrealized value to formulating plans for delivering that value in the form of incremental revenue to the intellectual property owners.

Topics covered include the importance of maximizing portfolio value; identifying the right (and the wrong) reasons for adopting a strategy of portfolio management; the teams required for effectiveness at various stages of portfolio management; monetizing a portfolio of intellectual property assets; avoiding the traditional pitfalls encountered; and identifying, anticipating and meeting the challenges that will arise.  While all forms of intellectual property will be discussed, the primary focus of this particular course is on the “soft” intellectual properties (i.e., everything other than patents).

Lecturer - Joe Bogdan

This course examines recent developments in US online contracting law. Doctrines covered include offer and acceptance, unconscionability, the reasonable expectations doctrine, and the obligation of good faith and fair dealing. As time permits, I will discuss the implications for privacy and cybersecurity.

Lecturer – prof. Richard Warner

In our class, we will discuss what financial products and transactions are viewed as securities, including investment contracts and notes and the recent uncertainties about crypto currencies;  the regulatory consequences of being viewed as a security; the basic securities exemptions utilized to avoid these regulatory consequences, including the recent growth of the private Unicorn markets; anti-fraud liabilities under the securities laws; and insider trading restrictions and liabilities, including a comparison of the US and non-US laws and holes in the US regulation.

Lecturer - James Carlson

This course is about sustainable finance.  It analyzes the development and evolution of sustainable finance in the European Union (EU), individual European countries and the USA.  It explains the similarities and differences among corporate social responsibility (CSR); environmental, social and governance (ESG); socially responsible investment (SRI); and sustainable finance.  It presents different methodologies/themes of sustainable investment and a range of investment projects.  Students are exposed to financial, legal and practical aspects of sustainable finance by analyzing and discussing a number of case studies – real and theoretical – about sustainable finance methodologies and products.  Students read each case study, analyze it in breakout groups and then present their findings to the entire call, for debate, discussion and synthesis.

Lecturer – Prof. Geoffrey Mazullo

This course aims to provide students with an overview of corporate transactions (mergers, acquisitions, licenses, and so on), and explore how such transactions can be structured and executed to address complex technology issues that commonly arise.

Lecturer - Peter Hanna

This course considers issues involved in determining whether the law should require a person to compensate for harm intentionally or unintentionally caused. These problems arise in situations as diverse as automobile collisions, operations of nuclear facilities, and consumption of defective food products. Among other considerations, the course explores various resolutions in terms of their social, economic, and political implications. The basic objectives are to develop an understanding of the principles, concepts, and purposes of private law governing injuries and of the common-law method of adjudication.

Lecturer - Richard Wright

The first course explains in detail some of the main topics within the WTO regime from the perspectives of both developed and developing countries. It starts by tracing the post-World War Two origins of the GATT regime which still forms the basis for the current global trade regime overseen by the WTO. Particular attention is paid to trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, sustainable development, and the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

Lecturer - Graham Dutfield

This course provides an introduction to American contract law. It emphasizes aspects of American contract law that differ from the European civil law approach. These include the doctrine of consideration (concerning the enforceability of promises), the parol evidence rule (concerning the interpretation of written contracts), and certain aspects of remedies for breach of contract.

Lecturers: Edward Harris, Richard Warner.

During this course, students will discuss similarities and differences of various corporate entities, corporate formations, liability issues, practice tips, and traps for the unwary, all as they relate to those corporate forms. Students will also cover basic fiduciary principles and obligations (and related liability) of officers and directors of corporate entities. They will discuss various funding mechanisms for private companies as well as public company registration and regulation, including insider trading and conflicts of interest/related person transactions. Students will explore current regulations of public companies, including Sarbanes-Oxley, some current hot topics, and common misconceptions of US corporate law.

Lecturer - Jane E. Freedman