Concentrations

The law school offers four concentrations: litigation, business, public interest and general practice. Each student will select at least one area of concentration during their second year. By allowing students to focus in the areas that interest them most, these concentrations should help students maintain focus and direction in their second and third years and prepare them for their most likely career paths. It is expected that the concentration course offerings will be substantially as indicated below; however, the curriculum, particularly the second and third year requirements including concentrations, is subject to change as the Dean and faculty evaluate, develop and make enhancements to the academic program.

Litigation concentration

Advanced Trial Advocacy
This course prepares students to handle all aspects of the preparation and trial of relatively complex civil cases. Each student will prepare and try a simulated case. Students will gain experience with discovery tools and techniques, as well as every facet of a trial, including opening statements, introducing evidence, interrogating witnesses, and closing arguments.

Complex Litigation
This course will focus upon the major procedural and substantive issues that arise in the context of complex civil litigation. For the purpose of this course, litigation is considered complex because of the nature or quantity of information involved. In addition to expanding on the topics covered in the Trial Advocacy course, the course will cover derivative and class actions, joinder and intervention devices, management of complex discovery and massive amounts of information, and refinement of issues and trial techniques.

Pretrial Litigation
This course covers the major steps in the pretrial litigation process. Topics covered include litigation planning, fact investigation, legal research, pleading, discovery, pretrial motions, and settlement strategy.

Advanced Appellate Practice
The study of appellate practice and procedure in state and federal courts. Topics covered include perfecting the appeal, jurisdiction and principles of appellate review, and preparation of the brief and oral argument.

Scientific Evidence
This course will explore the intersection of law and science and the utilization of evidence derived from scientific research. The types of evidence discussed in the course will include DNA evidence, accident reconstruction evidence, data retrieval evidence, and others.

General practice concentration

Accounting for Lawyers
An introduction to the basic concepts of financial accounting. Intended for students with little or no accounting background, the course is designed to equip these students with the fundamental skills necessary to read and critically review a corporation’s financial statements.

Law Practice Management
This course will acquaint students with the data and skills necessary for delivery of legal services today and in the future. Topics and skills addressed include management theory and techniques, interviewing, counseling, negotiations, systems analysis and design, technology and professional responsibility. Lecture, demonstration, and clinical simulations will be utilized.

Advanced Trial Advocacy
This course prepares students to handle all aspects of the preparation and trial of relatively complex civil cases. Each student will prepare and try a simulated case. Students will gain experience with discovery tools and techniques, as well as every facet of a trial, including opening statements, introducing of evidence, interrogating witnesses, and closing arguments.

Introduction to Leadership Theory and Practice
This course will equip students to discover and realize their potential for effective and creative problem solving. In equipping students to develop these skills, the course will enhance their ability to be effective and innovative professional and civic leaders.

Law Firm Planning
A seminar examining the planning process and its application to the development of law firms. A problem method will be utilized and will call for students to engage in planning exercises for a hypothetical law firm.
Organizational Behavior
This course examines the interaction of individuals in formal organizations and explores ways to make these individuals and the institutions of which they are a part more effective. Topics covered include the dynamics of motivation, communication, group decision making, leadership, inter-group relations, power, and conflict.

Technology
This course introduces students to a variety of technologies and software applications they will likely use in the practice of law, integrated with advanced legal research strategies. Topics addressed include law practice management, courthouse technologies, and underlying ethical issues.

Wills and Trusts (LAW 770)
This course explores the gratuitous transfer of property at death, including intestate and testate succession. It also examines the nature, establishment, management, and termination of inter vivos and testamentary trusts.

Administrative Law
A study of the administrative process and practice before administrative agencies at all levels of state and federal government. The provisions of the state and federal Administrative Procedures Acts will be explored. In addition, constitutional issues, such as procedural due process, will be examined.

Family Law
This course will cover the variety of laws impacting the family unit and defining the rights and duties of family members. Topics covered will include marriage, annulment, separation, divorce, support and custody.

Business concentration

Business Planning
This course will equip students to effectively formulate a business plan. The course will cover the legal authority and the techniques involved in this area, including those dealing with the organization, maintenance, and termination of businesses.

Securities Regulation
A study of United States and state legislation and regulations affecting the issuance and trading of corporate securities. The course will focus particularly on the provisions of the 1933 Securities Act and the 1934 Securities Exchange Act. It will also examine the development of the Securities Exchange Commission and its responsibilities and powers in regulating securities.

Bankruptcy
This course focuses on the rights and remedies of debtors and their creditors under the Federal Bankruptcy Code. In addition, the interplay of the Bankruptcy Code and the provisions of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and other provisions of state law are examined.

Corporate Governance
An introduction to the various aspects of corporate governance, including corporate structure, voting rights, duties of directors, derivative suits, indemnification, and transfers of control. In examining these topics, the course will focus on relevant case law, state and federal regulations, best practices guidelines and other standards of practice in this area.

Corporate Taxation
This course will examine the federal income taxation of corporations. Tax considerations for transactions such as incorporation, dividends, redemptions, liquidations and reorganizations will be discussed. State tax implications will also be addressed.

Corporate Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions
This course examines various corporate financing mechanisms, the strategies involved in utilizing such mechanisms, and the legal and regulatory authority governing them. Mergers and acquisitions will be covered, including the corporate and securities law issues relevant to the mergers and acquisitions of large public companies, the accounting and tax aspects of such transactions, and public policy concerns.

Income Taxation
A study of the basic principles of federal taxation of income. This course focuses primarily on the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code addressing taxation of individuals. Concepts such as adjusted gross income, exemptions, deductions, and tax credits will be examined.

Public interest concentration

Constitutional Theory
This course focuses on different approaches to constitutional interpretation and different conceptions of the role of the Supreme Court in the process of constitutional interpretation. Decisions from the court, scholarly writings and commentary surrounding the appointment of Supreme Court Justices will be examined. In addition, the course will compare the role of the courts and the other branches of government in defining and enforcing constitutional values.

State and Local Government Law
A study of the creation and the powers and responsibilities of the state and its branches of government and various agencies, counties, cities, and other municipal corporations and their officers and citizens.

Non-profit Organizations
This course will begin by examining the laws related to the organization and incorporation of non-profit organizations. In particular, the requirements for tax exemption, such as Section 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, will be addressed. In addition, laws and techniques relevant to the operation of non-profit organizations will be examined.

Organizational Behavior
The study of the behavior of organizations and particularly the interaction of individuals in formal organizations. Topics covered include the dynamics of motivation, communication, group decision making, leadership, intergroup relations, power, and conflict.

Introduction to Leadership Theory and Practice (LAW 750)
This course will equip students to discover and realize their potential for effective and creative problem solving and self-actualization. In equipping students to develop these skills, the course will enhance their ability to be effective and innovative professional and civic leaders.

Accounting for Lawyers
An introduction to the basic concepts of financial accounting. Intended for students with little or no accounting background, the course is designed to equip these students with the fundamental skills necessary to read and critically review a corporation’s financial statements.

Strategic Planning
This seminar orients students to the making and implementation of strategy in law firms. Particular attention is devoted to planning models, to the various environments in which lawyers practice, including both small and large law firms, to models of individual and organizational development, to trends in society and the legal profession, and to the interpersonal and cognitive skills utilized in making and implementing plans.