Seminars Courses
Corporate Issues Seminar LAW 521.01
2 Hours
The seminar focuses on the theoretical and practical nature of the corporate entity (with occasional attention to other business forms), its historical development, sociological and political influence, and social responsibility. In spring 2019, the seminar will focus on selected cases of corporate wrongdoing, such as the massive accounting and securities fraud perpetrated by Enron. This will require some attention to federal securities law. Students will write and present a research paper on a related topic of their own choosing. (Note: This material is not just for those contemplating a career in transactional law. It is also pertinent for future litigators. A very high percentage of cases filed in Georgia’s courts involve a corporate or business party.) Pre-requisite: Business Associations. Enrollment limited to 15. Graded.
Environmental Law Seminar LAW 649
2 Hours
This course will supplement the introductory environmental law course and will provide an opportunity for students who have an interest in environmental law to develop a broader understanding of issues that are either not addressed in the introductory course, or are not addressed at the level of detail that is possible in a seminar setting. Topics will vary from year to year and may include: public resource management, natural resource management, toxic torts, pollution, prevention, environmental justice, international environmental law, regulation of hazardous waste and toxic substances, and regulation of air and water pollution. Research paper required. Enrollment limited to 15.
Federal Tax Policy Seminar LAW 2003
2 Hours
This course examines the effects of tax law on the public. It looks at tax treatment, such as the preference for capital gain income and the use of deductions to encourage certain preferred behaviors. In addition, the course will consider the enactment and regulation of tax laws. The course will culminate with student presentations and papers.
Great Trials Seminar LAW 675
2 hrs
This seminar serves as a capstone course for students interested in becoming trial lawyers. Through in-depth study of famous trials and the lawyers who tried them, students will draw out the lessons that can be learned about trial practice and procedure, trial techniques, the law of evidence and ethical issues. The seminar also will expose students to some of the history of the trial process and the legal profession. With the advice and consent of the instructor, each student will select a significant criminal, civil, foreign or international trial to study. Each student will write a paper about the trial and make a presentation to the seminar class. Enrollment limited to 15. S/U (Pass/Fail). 3Ls only.
Law & Literature Seminar LAW 497
2 Hours
This course will examine the links between two bodies of discourse: law and literature. Law and literature are intimately related in two essential operations: interpretation and composition. Generally, law school courses in law and literature have explored these two operations by using one of two approaches: “Law as Literature,” or “Law in Literature.” Both methods draw on literary criticism and theory to gain new perspective and insight into the law. The “Law as Literature” school applies literary theory to legal texts. The “Law in Literature” school reads literary works dealing with legal themes or issues to help us understand the law and our role as lawyers in new ways. This course explores both of these approaches, with the goal of increasing student capabilities in both interpretation and composition. Enrollment limit of 15.
Legal Ethics Seminar LAW 511
2 Hours
This seminar explores a wide variety of issues in legal ethics selected, in consultation with the professor, by each enrolled student to respond to his or her anticipated future employment situations or own personal questions about the role of the lawyer. The issues explored in these research projects can vary from philosophical or theological matters to very specific ethical regulatory questions and all areas in between. A general theme, attempting to unite these research projects, will be offered by the professor through lectures, in class exercises, and round table discussions. Attendance is required. The class is numerically graded on the basis of the quality of the student’s participation in discussions, several required work-in-progress presentations of the projects, weekly or bi-weekly journaling with the professor regarding the student’s project, and one paper or formal presentation of the project to the class. Enrollment limit of 15. 2 credit hours. Category: Seminars
Selected Topics in Modern Family Law Seminar LAW 500
2 Hours
This seminar will provide an in-depth examination of a number of today’s most salient family law issues. Early in the semester, each student, after consulting with the professor, will select a modern family law issue about which he or she will become the “class expert.” Each student will then prepare materials for and lead a one-hour class session on the legal issue he or she has chosen. In addition, students will write a substantial paper on a topic that falls within his or her chosen modern family law issue. A wide variety of topics are available to students, including marriage and alternative relationships, intra-family violence and abuse, assisted reproduction, parental rights and duties, how family law addresses issues related to gender, race, class, and sexual orientation, and more. The course will be numerically graded. Enrollment limit of 15.
Sexuality and the Law Seminar LAW 397
2 Hours
The class will examine laws and regulations relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, and the effects of other laws on sexual minorities. We will review the history of persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people; the legal and social struggle for recognition of LGBT rights; and social phenomena such as “passing” and gender and sexual identity as reflected or constructed by laws and legal doctrine (e.g., constitutional and statutory protection or denial of rights, familial recognition, and comparative legal treatment of sexual minorities.) In the process, the course will examine how social movements are reflected in legal development and vice versa. Ideally, this will provide students with a model for achieving social or legal change in this and other contexts. This course will also provide some practical guidance to future attorneys who may represent members of sexual minorities after graduation, by offering creative approaches to couples and individuals whose needs are not recognized under current legal paradigms. (Entitled Sexual Orientation and the Law through spring 2010.) This course will satisfy the Advanced Writing requirement. Limit 15.
The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment Seminar LAW 2002
2 Hours
This seminar provides both an introduction to, and a detailed examination of, the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. The issues that arise under the Religion Clauses–prayer in public schools, state aid to parochial schools, religious displays on public property, religious claims for individual exemptions from generally applicable laws, and more–have been among the most heavily litigated and hotly contested constitutional issues of the past fifty years. In the early part of the semester, the seminar meets to discuss assigned readings, which primarily include the key U.S. Supreme Court cases in the area. The class meetings in the latter part of the semester are devoted to discussions of each student’s seminar paper. Each student is required to submit a substantial paper on an approved topic, which may include topics not specifically covered in the assigned readings. In addition, each student is assigned to write brief written critiques of two other students’ papers and to lead, with one other student, the class discussion of those papers. Enrollment limited to 15.
Tort Law Seminar LAW 656
2 Hours
The seminar will focus on selected current issues in the law of torts in the context of the classical principles of civil liability. Reading assignments will include in-depth analytical treatments of landmark judicial decisions in the law of torts, as well as contemporary cases and statutes. Students will prepare individual research papers on topics chosen with the approval of the instructor and will present the results of their research to the class in the latter weeks of the course. Grading will be based on the quality of the research paper, the oral presentation of that paper, and class participation. Graded. Enrollment limited to 15. Seniors only.
Transportation Law & Politics Seminar LAW 527
2 Hours
This course explores how transportation laws tend to structure road wars, sprawl fights, pork-barrel politics, and community planning. The course highlights the real people who help make hard transportation decisions about such things as where the rubber meets the road. Open to second- and third-year students. Numeric grading. Enrollment limit of 15.