Course Schedule

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom.

The class is designed for law students of all interests, including those who are undecided and those who are focused on a particular area such as litigation, public interest law, family law, regulatory work, criminal law, or business law. Financial Methods for Lawyers covers time value of money, expected value decision making, and investment in enterprises. It also covers the basic financial statement components: balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements. The class is only available on a pass/fail basis. It is designated as a skills course. Students earn points toward a passing grade through online quizzes, Excel spreadsheet and other exercises, and regular attendance.

This new 2-unit course is designed to introduce students to a variety of financial products and related personal and regulatory strategies. It is suitable for both students with no prior background in financial and related legal matters and students who have had pertinent academic or work exposure. From a personal standpoint, some basic knowledge of investment choices offered in our future employer’s retirement plan or available through our broker can help make our lives more secure—e.g., stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), gold, and bitcoins. As an example, the “ETF” is a 11-trillion dollar product that offers a variety of portals to seemingly endless combinations of asset classes, investment approaches, and long, short, inverse exposures—but, importantly, also has limitations. From a regulator’s standpoint, strategies need to respond to challenges from, for example, manias and crashes, investor financial illiteracy and cognitive biases, certain specialized debt products, and state pension fund underfunding. Various innovations (including certain index products and derivatives-based techniques) may undermine corporate governance and world financial stability. This course can deal only with a very limited number of such matters. The course does not offer any get-rich schemes or investment advice, nor does it offer easy nostrums for regulatory challenges. The only prerequisite is having completed either “Business Associations” or “Business Associations (Enriched).”

This one-credit pass/fail offering will meet on four consecutive Fridays this Spring for three hours each session. Each of these meetings will center on a different aspect of the tentacular system by which foods are selected and grown for human or animal consumption both distantly and locally with the benefit of water and other resource entitlements; regulated by some government entity for a public purpose; allocated and distributed by means of markets or public programs; and either salvaged or wasted at the end of the mass market production and consumption cycle. 

Topics that will be laced in may or are sure to include: food equity and food justice; food as health and medicine; early nutrition; animal and lab-made proteins; science, drugs, and politics; and climate transitions, related agricultural challenges and crises, and the human climate niche. 

The course is designed to be highly inter-disciplinary and will emphasize new as well as traditional  experiences that include reading, discussing, sharing, tasting, and collaborative learning in various modes. It will include guest-experts, an optional field trip, and, possibly, an optional off-site dinner to be prepared by class members and me, though you don't have to cook it to eat it.  

Students from non-Law departments and programs may take the course pass/fail or, if a pass/fail course is unavailable to them, for one credit graded on the standard scale, derived from their performance of the requirements below. 

Course requirements:

1--Attendance throughout all four meetings. "Attendance" entails well-focused, pertinent class contributions and may not include the use of devices, including cell phones and laptops, for activities not of direct and immediate relevance to this class. Activities of the latter kind are a sufficient ground for failing this course.

2--Three brief writings, two to be completed in class, one likely to be a group exercise. 

This new one-credit offering will explore topics related to the accelerating food and water challenges facing our country, our community, and people all over the globe. These topics are likely to include: climate effects on arable land and irrigation water; rising soil salinity; nutrified water flows; food waste; food labeling; extensive and intensive industrial agriculture, including for animal production; locovorism; food cultures; “novel” proteins; and future foods. Our topics are sure to include the quickening moral demands for justice for animals; a human “right to food”; and a more equitable, healthy, and secure food system for all. With these emergent drivers spinning the wheel of fortune, American food law and policy are being called on to respond. These responses in the teeth (so to speak) of consumer preferences, scientific developments, political pressures, and market movements will provide key reference points for the course. 

We will draw on work being done in food law clinics and food research institutes housed in law schools around the country. Expert guests, some from these settings, will help to shape the workshop experience.

The course design—a “lab” of experiences, ideas, and ideals--is intended to provide an inter-disciplinary offering to law students and those from a variety of other fields.

There is likely to be an optional field trip (or two) and an optional final dinner, off-site, to be prepared by the instructor, possible guests, and members of the class. These extra meetings won’t count (at all) toward a student’s grade in the course. 

Course requirements:

1--The class will meet in four Friday sessions of three hours each. Full attendance is mandatory.

2—For Law students, the course is offered pass/fail.

3—Students from non-Law departments and programs may take the course pass/fail or for one graded credit (available only in cross-listed sections that do not allow pass/fail). The latter option will require the satisfactory completion (no bots allowed) of a research and writing assignment that may be administered on a one-time in-class basis, attendance required, at a time separate from the four class sessions.

This course will examine the constitutional, statutory, and jurisprudential principles applicable to the foreign relations of the United States.  Topics include the constitutional allocation of foreign-affairs powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; the power to make and unmake treaties and other international agreements; foreign relations in the federal courts; interbranch disputes over the conduct of foreign relations; the role of the states in foreign relations; the power to declare war and direct military forces in the field; and the status of international law in the American constitutional order.  Students will be evaluated based on class participation (20%) and an open-book final exam (80%).

What happens when a beloved sports team trades one city for another? Dive deep into the legal drama, high-stakes negotiations, and emotional fallout that accompany the relocation of professional sports franchises. In this course, you'll explore the tension between team owners, cities, leagues, and fans through real-life case studies such as the Oklahoma City Thunder's controversial move from Seattle, the Oakland Raiders' storied journey to Las Vegas, and the St. Louis Rams’ departure to Los Angeles.

Through these cases and more, students will unravel the intricate web of legal obligations, from stadium contracts to league relocation policies, and navigate the intense regulatory battles teams face when uprooting a franchise. The course will also examine the ethical dilemmas involved—how does a team balance its financial interests with its responsibility to its fanbase? And what role do city officials play in these high-profile relocations?

Students will engage with topics such as the role of municipal bonds in stadium financing, antitrust considerations, league governance structures, and the impact of relocation on local economies. By the end of the course, you’ll understand the legal frameworks that shape these decisions and be prepared to critically assess the future of franchise movement in the evolving sports landscape.

If you’re passionate about sports or the business of professional teams, this course will provide you with the knowledge and insight to appreciate—and perhaps one day influence—one of the most dynamic aspects of sports law.

This two-credit writing class centers upon the most critical political law controversies that will arise during the course of the 2024 presidential election, from the campaign trail through Election Day! Topics include: the roles and responsibilities of major and minor political parties; campaign lies and election-related misinformation; the influence of — and public transparency around — big money in politics; problems with the electoral college; and the spike in election law litigation generally, including post-election contests. For each issue, students will first learn the relevant foundational law — typically, rooted in the U.S. Constitution and, in particular, guided by the First Amendment. Then, the class will explore modern controversies, drawing heavily from the events of the 2024 election cycle as they unfold and hearing, at times, directly from practitioners.

Students will be evaluated on: (a) their robust participation in class, including debates and hypothetical exercises rooted in real-world dilemmas facing election lawyers and campaign counsel; and (b) a series of 4-5 page essays assigned throughout class.

There are no prerequisites, although as an upper-level offering the class assumes students have successfully completed at least one course in constitutional law. The class is structured to complement, and not duplicate, Professor Marziani’s fall “Election Law and Policy” seminar.

This two-credit writing class centers upon the most critical political law controversies that will arise during the course of the 2024 presidential election, from the campaign trail through Election Day! Topics include: the roles and responsibilities of major and minor political parties; campaign lies and election-related misinformation; the influence of — and public transparency around — big money in politics; problems with the electoral college; and the spike in election law litigation generally, including post-election contests. For each issue, students will first learn the relevant foundational law — typically, rooted in the U.S. Constitution and, in particular, guided by the First Amendment. Then, the class will explore modern controversies, drawing heavily from the events of the 2024 election cycle as they unfold and hearing, at times, directly from practitioners.

Students will be evaluated on: (a) their robust participation in class, including debates and hypothetical exercises rooted in real-world dilemmas facing election lawyers and campaign counsel; and (b) a series of 4-5 page essays assigned throughout class.

There are no prerequisites, although as an upper-level offering the class assumes students have successfully completed at least one course in constitutional law. The class is structured to complement, and not duplicate, Professor Marziani’s fall “Election Law and Policy” seminar.

This course would offer students detailed practical exposure to the manner in which complex acquisition and disposition (“A&D”) transactions are structured, documented, and consummated. Since the instructor’s practice has focused, for 43 years, on energy-related transactions, the template transaction for the course will be the sale of a substantial package of upstream oil and gas assets.  During the 14 class sessions, we will cover:

(a)     negotiating philosophy and basic contract drafting principles, including the strategic use of defined terms;

(b)     who are the sellers, and why do they sell; who are the buyers, and why do they buy;

(c)      selecting the transaction structure: asset sale v. business combination v. sale of equity, including high level discussions of divisive mergers and federal income tax, securities law, and other considerations;

(d)     overview of financing alternatives for an upstream oil and gas acquisition;

(e)     engaging an investment banker and implementing a data room, including the structure and terms of the confidentiality agreements between the seller and prospective buyers;

(f)      letters of intent and term sheets; and

(g)     the structure and terms of an asset purchase and sale agreement, including:

• the identification and description of the assets to be sold;
• the valuation of the assets and the determination of the purchase price, including the use of an earnest money deposit, adjustments to the purchase price, the structuring and use of earnouts, and allocations of the purchase price for federal income tax and due diligence purposes;
• the assumption of liabilities by the buyer; the retention of liabilities by seller;
• commonly encountered representations and warranties and their purposes;
• the development and performance of a plan of due diligence, with focus on title- and environmental-related due diligence, including title- and environmental-related purchase price adjustments;
• pre-closing covenants of the parties, including the applicability of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and covenants detailing the seller’s obligations regarding preferential rights to purchase, required consents to assignment, and other restrictions on transferability;
• conditions precedent to closing; remedies for breach and other failures to satisfy conditions; and waiver of conditions and consequences of waivers;
• mechanics and logistics of closing, including the use (or non-use) of opinions of counsel;
• selected conveyancing issues;
• post-closing covenants, including the preparation of the final settlement statement, change of operator issues, surviving confidentiality obligations, and obligations of the seller to provide transitional operations and accounting services;
• post-closing indemnification, including limited survival of representations and warranties, scope of indemnities, the “express negligence rule”, and indemnity “thresholds”, “baskets”, and “caps”; and
• the “miscellaneous provisions”, with focus on the assignability of the PSA, the selection of governing law, responsibility for taxes, the role of alternative dispute resolution, and limitations on the types of damages recoverable for breach.

Students will do a full cycle analysis of a net zero-carbon natural gas development.  This will include technical, financial, and legal analyses of the project including geologic assessment of the resource, development of the production facilities, transportation of the gas to a combined cycle power plant, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) of the CO2 emissions.  The country will be specified in class, but it will be a country other than the United States of America. The class is open to students enrolled in the McComb’s School of Business MBA program, graduate students in the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering, JD and international LLM students in the School of Law, and to other graduate students who indicate a special interest in the topic. Students will work in teams from diverse academic disciplines. To assure an appropriate balance of team members, enrollment is subject to application and approval. Students will learn how to evaluate geologic information made available in a bid round package, analyze the fiscal terms offered by the host government as well as the general economics of the project, analyze the legal regime, determine and quantify the risks associated with an investment, and propose a full cycle CCS pilot project to the selected government. Each team will present an oral report and prepare a written report to the Longhorn Petroleum Corp. Board of Directors, consisting of faculty members and guest board members. Both the shorter oral and longer written reports will evaluate risks and designs of the projects, propose a competitive bid, including an exploration plan and a preliminary plan explaining the pilot CCS project, projecting costs, risk analysis, and proposing government incentives to commercialize CCS.

Students will do a full cycle analysis of a net zero-carbon natural gas development.  This will include technical, financial, and legal analyses of the project including geologic assessment of the resource, development of the production facilities, transportation of the gas to a combined cycle power plant, and capture and sequestration of the emissions.  The country will be specified in the early weeks of the class, but it will be a country other than the United States of America. The class is open to students enrolled in the McComb’s School of Business MBA program, graduate students in the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering, JD and international LLM students in the School of Law, and to other students who indicate a special interest in the topic. Students will work in teams of four or more students from different academic disciplines (geology, engineering, business, and law). To assure an appropriate balance of team members, enrollment is subject to application and approval. Students will learn how to evaluate geologic information made available in a bid round package, analyze the fiscal terms offered by the host government as well as the general economics of the project, analyze the legal regime, determine and quantify the risks associated with an investment, and propose a full cycle CCUS pilot project to the selected government. Each team will present an oral report and prepare a written report to the Board of Directors of the Longhorn Petroleum Corp., consisting of faculty members and guest board members. Both the shorter oral and longer written reports will evaluate risks and designs of the projects, propose a competitive bid, including an exploration plan and a preliminary plan explaining the pilot CCUS project, projecting costs, and proposing government incentives to commercialize CCUS.

Students will do a full cycle analysis of a net zero-carbon natural gas development.  This will include technical, financial, and legal analyses of the project including geologic assessment of the resource, development of the production facilities, transportation of the gas to a combined cycle power plant, and capture and sequestration of the emissions.  The country will be specified in the early weeks of the class, but it will be a country other than the United States of America. The class is open to students enrolled in the McComb’s School of Business MBA program, graduate students in the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering, JD and international LLM students in the School of Law, and to other students who indicate a special interest in the topic. Students will work in teams of four or more students from different academic disciplines (geology, engineering, business, and law). To assure an appropriate balance of team members, enrollment is subject to application and approval. Students will learn how to evaluate geologic information made available in a bid round package, analyze the fiscal terms offered by the host government as well as the general economics of the project, analyze the legal regime, determine and quantify the risks associated with an investment, and propose a full cycle CCUS pilot project to the selected government. Each team will present an oral report and prepare a written report to the Board of Directors of the Longhorn Petroleum Corp., consisting of faculty members and guest board members. Both the shorter oral and longer written reports will evaluate risks and designs of the projects, propose a competitive bid, including an exploration plan and a preliminary plan explaining the pilot CCUS project, projecting costs, and proposing government incentives to commercialize CCUS.

In this class, students will do a full cycle analysis of a net zero-carbon natural gas development.  This will include technical, financial, and legal analyses of the project including geologic assessment of the resource, development of the production facilities, transportation of the gas to a combined cycle power plant, and capture and sequestration of the emissions.  The country will be specified in the early weeks of the class, but it be a country other than the United States of America. The class is open by application to students enrolled in the McComb’s School of Business MBA program, graduate students in the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering, JD and international LLM students in the School of Law, and to other students who indicate a special interest in the topic. Students will work in teams of four or more students from different academic disciplines (geology, engineering, business, and law). The students will learn how to evaluate geologic information made available in a bid round package, analyze the fiscal terms offered by the host government as well as the general economics of the project, analyze the legal regime, determine and quantify the risks associated with an investment, and propose a full cycle CCUS pilot project to the selected government. Each team will present an oral report and prepare a written report to the Board of Directors of the Longhorn Petroleum Corp., consisting of faculty members and guest board members. Both the shorter oral and longer written reports will evaluate risks and designs of the projects, propose a competitive bid, including an exploration plan and a preliminary plan explaining the pilot CCUS project, projecting costs, and proposing government incentives to commercialize CCUS.

This course examines the constitutional and legal framework governing governmental investigations, with a particular focus on congressional investigative powers–both over the private sector, and over the executive branch. Students will explore the separation of powers doctrine as it applies to investigations and the inherent tension it creates between the executive and legislative branches, the scope and limits of congressional oversight, executive privilege, and the investigative authority over private entities. Through analysis of landmark cases, practical applications, and case studies of major congressional investigations, students will gain a sophisticated understanding of this complex, growing, and evolving area of law. Students will be evaluated based on research and writing assignments of modest length, in-class exercises, and class participation.

This is a survey course covering legal issues in health care delivery, health insurance financing, and the responsibilities of health care professionals to patients. Students will be introduced to the legal and policy considerations that have shaped the relationships between providers (physicians and hospitals), payers (public and private), and patients and how different areas of law have developed when applied to the healthcare industry.  We will consider implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ongoing reform efforts for healthcare law and policy. In addition to presenting essential material for those intending to represent health care providers and payers, serve as health care regulators and policymakers, or advocate on behalf of individuals, the course offers students of all backgrounds an introduction to the legal governance of one-sixth of the U.S. economy. 

This is a survey course covering legal issues in health care delivery, health insurance financing, and the responsibilities of health care professionals to patients. Students will be introduced to the legal and policy considerations that have shaped the relationships between providers (physicians and hospitals), payers (public and private), and patients and how different areas of law have developed when applied to the healthcare industry.  We will consider implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ongoing reform efforts for healthcare law and policy. In addition to presenting essential material for those intending to represent health care providers and payers, serve as health care regulators and policymakers, or advocate on behalf of individuals, the course offers students of all backgrounds an introduction to the legal governance of one-sixth of the U.S. economy. 

This is a survey course covering legal issues in health care delivery, health insurance financing, and the responsibilities of health care professionals to patients. Students will be introduced to the legal and policy considerations that have shaped the relationships between providers (physicians and hospitals), payers (public and private), and patients and how different areas of law have developed when applied to the healthcare industry.  We will consider implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ongoing reform efforts for healthcare law and policy. In addition to presenting essential material for those intending to represent health care providers and payers, serve as health care regulators and policymakers, or advocate on behalf of individuals, the course offers students of all backgrounds an introduction to the legal governance of one-sixth of the U.S. economy. 

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom.

This is a survey course covering legal issues in health care delivery, health insurance financing, and the responsibilities of health care professionals to patients. Students will be introduced to the legal and policy considerations that have shaped the relationships between providers (physicians and hospitals), payers (public and private), and patients and how different areas of law have developed when applied to the healthcare industry.  We will consider implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ongoing reform efforts for healthcare law and policy. In addition to presenting essential material for those intending to represent health care providers and payers, serve as health care regulators and policymakers, or advocate on behalf of individuals, the course offers students of all backgrounds an introduction to the legal governance of one-sixth of the U.S. economy. 

Health care represents approximately one-sixth of the American economy, as skilled personnel provide life-saving services using advanced technology. But the fairness and efficiency of the health care system remain controversial. Enacted a century after universal health coverage was first proposed in the United States, the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) intensified public policy debate rather than resolving it. After years of sustained opposition, the Republican party now seeks to “repeal” and “replace” Obamacare after its victory in the 2016 national elections. But why? And how?

This course considers some of the toughest problems in current health law and policy.  Which countries have the best health care systems, and why? What roles should government play in health care, and what roles should it avoid?  Does the U.S. make too many social problems into medical ones, or too few? What is the best way to support the cost of care for those who are too sick or too poor to afford it themselves?  How can we spend less on health care and get more for our money? To what degree should the future health care system be controlled by physicians? How can individuals and communities become healthier? How can racial disparities in health care and health be reduced? How can the health care system best serve an aging population? What policies would most effectively further innovation? Finally, how has law defined these problems and how can legal change facilitate their solution?

Health care represents approximately one-sixth of the American economy, as skilled personnel provide life-saving services using advanced technology. But the fairness and efficiency of the health care system remain controversial. Enacted a century after universal health coverage was first proposed in the United States, the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) intensified public policy debate rather than resolving it. After years of sustained opposition, the Republican party now seeks to “repeal” and “replace” Obamacare after its victory in the 2016 national elections. But why? And how?

This course considers some of the toughest problems in current health law and policy.  Which countries have the best health care systems, and why? What roles should government play in health care, and what roles should it avoid?  Does the U.S. make too many social problems into medical ones, or too few? What is the best way to support the cost of care for those who are too sick or too poor to afford it themselves?  How can we spend less on health care and get more for our money? To what degree should the future health care system be controlled by physicians? How can individuals and communities become healthier? How can racial disparities in health care and health be reduced? How can the health care system best serve an aging population? What policies would most effectively further innovation? Finally, how has law defined these problems and how can legal change facilitate their solution?

In this course we will examine the nature of disease and its impact on developing and developed societies. We examine the potential security threats posed by diseases like COVID 19 and investigate how nations respond to those threats.  We will review the demographic, economic, political, and social costs of illness for individuals across the life course, institutions, governments, nations, and the world as a whole.  We will learn how disease spreads and how organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other national and multilateral organizations respond to diseases that do not respect national borders. The class will follow a fairly standard seminar format and consist of readings with group discussion and presentations related to specific areas of health and global security.