Advanced Legal Writing Research Courses

ADVANCED LEGAL WRITING/RESEARCH COURSES SPRING 2005 The Advanced Legal Writing/Research courses are limited-enrollment seminars taught in a "workshop" format to facilitate in-class drafting and editing exercises. Students also prepare a variety of documents outside of class. Each advanced course is taught by an adjunct professor who is a specialist in the given field. None has any pre- or co-requisites with the exception of Commercial Drafting. Important: A student may enroll in only one Advanced Legal Writing/Research course each semester. In addition, a student may not repeat any advanced Legal Writing/Research course (all sections of Commercial Drafting and Advanced Legal Research Workshop count as the same course). None of the courses offered in Spring 2005 satisfies the Upper-Class Writing Requirement. Rules for dropping Advanced Legal Writing/Research courses: Please note that the Registrar’s office maintains a wait list for all closed drafting, writing/research courses on the web. For policy information, please review the information below or the schedule information section posted on the web pertaining to closed courses. 1. Students may not drop an Advanced Legal Writing/Research course after January 3 except with the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Such a request must be made no later than 24 hours after the first class meeting. 2. Students who drop an Advanced Legal Writing/Research course may not take another such course in Spring 2005 except with the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. SPRING 2005 COURSE OFFERINGS: Advanced Legal Research Workshop (2 sections). This course reviews basic legal research techniques and develops skills with newer research tools in order to do competent legal research in a timely and cost-effective manner. Since research tools are changing rapidly, the chief focus of the class is to develop critical skills for evaluating research tools, in order to choose the most cost-effective approach for each research job. All students will be registered for the 2 credit version of this course to start; students who wish may opt to add an additional credit before the end of the Drop/Add period, Professor approval required . The basic 2credit class will focus on a series of shorter research exercises done during and outside of class time. Students choosing the 3 credit option should expect a longer class period, and will prepare a web-based research guide on a topic of interest, choosing and evaluating the best information sources for that topic; the research guide will be worth 35% of the total grade. Professor Falkow; Professor Kreilick. 2 credits. Advanced Legal Writing Seminar. This course provides advanced training in analytic and persuasive legal writing. It focuses on clear writing as the natural extension of organization and thorough analysis. The writing exercises use hypotheticals based on actual cases in a variety of

practice areas. Students draft and edit short and long documents including letters, litigation documents, memoranda, and legislation. Professor De Palma. 3 credits. Appellate Drafting. This seminar covers the preparation of an appeal from the notice of appeal to the submission of the brief. Students review and prepare various federal and state appellate court papers including notices of appeal, motions for leave to appeal, writs of certiorari, and appellate briefs. The major project of the course involves an actual case pending in a federal or state appellate court. Students analyze the record on appeal, assess the legal issues, develop strategies for the case, and prepare a brief. Through related readings, students also conduct a critical analysis of the appellate judging process. Professor Cohen. 3 credits. Civil Litigation Drafting. This seminar covers the preparation of civil litigation papers in a trial court. Students analyze the legal issues raised by hypothetical fact patterns, develop litigation strategies, and prepare various litigation documents including complaints, answers, discovery requests and responses, affidavits, and memoranda of law. Professor Berne. 3 credits. Civil Rights Litigation Drafting. Based on a hypothetical fair housing case, this course is designed to teach students how to draft documents common to civil rights cases. The course will be of special interest to students who contemplate a career in civil rights law, but it also trains students in general civil litigation drafting skills. Students draft pleadings, discovery requests and responses, letters to clients, settlement agreements, and summary judgment motion papers. This offering differs from Civil Litigation Drafting (above) only in being somewhat more specialized in its substantive focus. Professor Cott. 3 credits. Commercial Drafting Seminar: Acquiring a Business. This seminar deals with the role of the lawyer in transactional work and the functions of a contract in a transactional setting. The seminar is a practical exercise built around the acquisition of the assets of a business from initial negotiations through closing. Students assume many of the usual roles of junior lawyers in transactional practice, including drafting substantive portions of the acquisition agreement and many collateral documents involved in a typical transaction. The course assists students in sharpening drafting skills, gaining insight into how commercial agreements of all types perform, and learning to recognize and develop solutions to business problems that arise in the process of doing a deal. Students in the seminar attain drafting and business analytical skills that can be utilized in all types of commercial transactions. Required pre- or co-requisite: Corporations. Recommended: Courses in Corporate Finance or Accounting. Professor McAuliffe. 3 credits. Commercial Drafting Seminar: Business Contracts and Transactions (3 sections). This seminar introduces the basic drafting principles that govern agreements and other instruments used in business transactions. The course focuses not only on business acquisition agreements but also on a broad range of other instruments including employment contracts, commercial leases, license agreements, loan agreements, and statutory filings. The course covers how to structure an agreement, draft clearly, and deal with both business and legal issues. Weekly assignments require each student to draft an agreement or other instrument according to the instructions of a hypothetical client. Students then revise certain of these assignments to reflect the professor’s comments and changes in the deal. Required pre- or co-requisite: Corporations. Recommended: Courses in Corporate Finance or Accounting. Professor V. Kobak; Professor Shaw; Professor Soden.

Commercial Drafting Seminar for LL.M.s. (new). This seminar teaches LL.M. students basic principles of commercial drafting. Students learn how to take a business deal and turn it into a clear, unambiguous statement. The course is taught through a combination of lectures, hands-on drafting exercises, and extensive out-of-class writing assignments. Each week students draft an agreement or other instrument in accordance with the instructions of a hypothetical client; they then revise certain of these assignments to reflect the professor’s comments and changes in the transaction. Among the assigned documents are an acquisition agreement, lease, employment agreement, and trademark licensing agreement. Although LL.M. students have priority for this course, J.D. students can enroll if space permits. Recommended pre or co-requisite: Corporations. Professor Stark. 3 credits. Drafting for Regulated Industries. This course introduces students to both litigation and transactional drafting skills in the context of regulated industries. Students learn about the administrative rulemaking process, write comments on regulations proposed by an administrative agency, and seek waiver of enacted regulations; they also draft contract provisions for transactions in a regulated industry setting. In the litigation portion of the class, students prepare various pleadings to be filed before an administrative agency and conduct cross-examination of witnesses in an administrative hearing. Particular agencies covered may include SEC, Patent and Trademark Office, FCC, FDA, EEOC, FERC and Dept. of Transportation. Professor Milberg. 3 credits. Family Law Drafting. This course provides students with a firm grounding in understanding and drafting documents most often encountered in matrimonial practice. To facilitate the students’ understanding of the use of particular provisions, there is significant classroom discussion of substantive matrimonial and tax law. The principal focus of the course is on drafting portions of separation agreements including provisions on custody and visitation, child and spousal support, and equitable distribution. Students also prepare prenuptial agreements. Professor Florescue. 3 credits. Healthcare Law Drafting. This courses focuses on healthcare law issues such as the legal aspects of consent to medical treatment and related topics. Written assignments include a general consent form, a living will, a healthcare proxy, legislative memoranda and advocacy letters. The content of the documents ranges from routine elective medical procedures to refusals of lifesaving treatment and anti-psychotic medication to physician-assisted suicide. The advanced legal writing skills taught in the course are applicable to many types and areas of legal practice. Professor Linville. 3 credits. International Human Rights Drafting. In this required seminar for the Crowley Scholars, students will write a research paper relevant to the forthcoming human rights mission. Enrollment is limited to students in the Crowley Program. Professor Requa. 1 credit. Legislative Drafting. This course teaches basic techniques of statutory and regulatory drafting. Students engage in a series of redrafting and editing exercises and then undertake the original drafting of a series of increasingly complex statutes. Through related readings, the class also explores how the legislative process and principles of statutory interpretation (including the canons of statutory construction and the use of legislative history) affect the drafting process. Professors Younkins and Vorspan. 3 credits.

Media Law Drafting. In this course students learn to draft documents related to the practice of media law, from traditional media (print publishing, television and film) to new media (internet and digital distribution). The assignments include pre-publication review of articlesand scripts for potential defamation or disparagement claims; copyright and trademark-related drafting (including "lawyer's letters" to clients, advising on the risks of pursuing a particular mark, applications for copyrights/trademarks, and "cease and desist" letters); content licenses; freelance rights agreements; and media-related litigation and mediation documents (including letters demanding retraction/correction, complaints, motion practice, and settlement agreements). The course exposes students to practical drafting situations through real-world fact patterns. Professors Feinberg & Hoffman. 3 credits. Principles of Legal Drafting. This course introduces students to basic drafting skills and familiarizes them with drafting a variety of legal documents. It is broader in scope than the other drafting courses and is oriented toward students who have not yet selected an area of specialization. It covers such documents as entertainment law contracts, residential and commercial leases, corporate bylaws, judicial opinions, and legislative and regulatory instruments. Professor Master. 3 credits. Real Estate Drafting. In this seminar students learn to draft documents used in basic real estate transactions. The assignments are based on a hypothetical sequence of events and include opinion letters; real estate brokerage contracts; contracts for sale of homes and cooperative and condominium apartments; closing statements for residential property; residential and commercial leases; and agreements between landlord and tenant. The course is useful to students who plan careers in real estate, landlord/tenant law or general practice. Professor Sandercock. 3 credits. Trusts and Estates Drafting. This course focuses on drafting documents used in estate planning and administration. Substantive law discussions are integrated into exercises in drafting documents commonly used by estate and trust practitioners. These documents include wills, trusts, petitions to the Surrogate’s Court, and beneficiary designations for life insurance policies and retirement funds. Professor Racanelli. 3 credits. 1 credit: Kreilick & Falkow LTGL0319051, call #13910