Course Schedule

This course explores emerging issues in sexuality, gender identity, and the law. We will study and discuss the constitutional, statutory and common law that impacts the lived experience of LGBTQ+ people and people living at the intersection of LGBTQ+ identities, including people who are living with a disability, people who identify as BIPOC, and undocumented/under-documented immigrants.  We will also discuss how civil rights organizations are using impact litigation, public policy and education to ensure equality and access to equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ people in society.  The course will conclude with a mock litigation exercise.

Two top litigators teach practical skills and tips on everything from social media to managing massive discovery.  If it's new in litigation they know it. We will be discussing the use of technology in all aspects of litigation, including virtual trials and hearings.

Three key components of the class are;

• Cover various persuasive techniques used in contested matters, with an emphasis on real-world examples of effective advocacy;
• Using factual scenarios from actual cases, we will discuss the use of demonstratives and other methods of visual persuasion in contested matters;
• Each student will learn how to craft effective arguments and will be required to present them to the class as a whole.

Two top litigators teach practical skills and tips on everything from social media to managing massive discovery.  If it's new in litigation they know it. We will be discussing the use of technology in all aspects of litigation, including virtual trials and hearings.

Two top litigators teach practical skills and tips on everything from social media to managing massive discovery.  If it's new in litigation they know it. We will be discussing the use of technology in all aspects of litigation, including virtual trials and hearings.

Two top litigators teach practical skills and tips on everything from social media to managing massive discovery.  If it's new in litigation they know it. We will be discussing the use of technology in all aspects of litigation, including virtual trials and hearings.

Two top litigators teach practical skills and tips on everything from social media to managing massive discovery.  If it's new in litigation they know it. We will be discussing the use of technology in all aspects of litigation, including virtual trials and hearings.

In this advanced property-law class, you will learn about eminent domain—the power of the government (and those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use in exchange for paying just compensation to the property owner. Most lawyers get just one or two days of class about eminent domain in law school. This course aims to fix that shortcoming.

The subject is fascinating as a matter of theory, as it deals with the power of a tribe (the community) to take property away from its members. And eminent domain is becoming more and more important in practice. Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star State is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. The need for infrastructure has skyrocketed, both to accommodate the explosive population growth and to support Texas's ever-expanding oil-and-gas industry. In light of these developments, we as a community need to work out how to deal with growth while still honoring constitutional values and individual rights.

Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework in the U.S. properly protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity and (2) “just compensation," including evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in disputes about compensation. Throughout, the class will explore the relationship between theory and practice.

In this advanced property-law class, you will learn about eminent domain—the power of the government (and those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use in exchange for paying just compensation to the property owner. Most lawyers get just one or two days of class about eminent domain in law school. This course aims to fix that shortcoming.

The subject is fascinating as a matter of theory, as it deals with the power of a tribe (the community) to take property away from its members. And eminent domain is becoming more and more important in practice. Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star State is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. The need for infrastructure has skyrocketed, both to accommodate the explosive population growth and to support Texas's ever-expanding oil-and-gas industry. In light of these developments, we as a community need to work out how to deal with growth while still honoring constitutional values and individual rights.

Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework in the U.S. properly protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity and (2) “just compensation," including evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in disputes about compensation. Throughout, the class will explore the relationship between theory and practice.

In this advanced property-law class, you will learn about eminent domain—the power of the government (and those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use in exchange for paying just compensation to the property owner. Most lawyers get just one or two days of class about eminent domain in law school. This course aims to fix that shortcoming.

The subject is fascinating as a matter of theory, as it deals with the power of a tribe (the community) to take property away from its members. And eminent domain is becoming more and more important in practice. Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star State is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. The need for infrastructure has skyrocketed, both to accommodate the explosive population growth and to support Texas's ever-expanding oil-and-gas industry. In light of these developments, we as a community need to work out how to deal with growth while still honoring constitutional values and individual rights.

Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework in the U.S. properly protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity and (2) “just compensation," including evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in disputes about compensation. Throughout, the class will explore the relationship between theory and practice.

In this advanced property-law class, you will learn about eminent domain—the power of the government (and those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use in exchange for paying just compensation to the property owner. Most lawyers get just one or two days of class about eminent domain in law school. This course aims to fix that shortcoming.

The subject is fascinating as a matter of theory, as it deals with the power of a tribe (the community) to take property away from its members. And eminent domain is becoming more and more important in practice. Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star State is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. The need for infrastructure has skyrocketed, both to accommodate the explosive population growth and to support Texas's ever-expanding oil-and-gas industry. In light of these developments, we as a community need to work out how to deal with growth while still honoring constitutional values and individual rights.

Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework in the U.S. properly protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity and (2) “just compensation," including evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in disputes about compensation. Throughout, the class will explore the relationship between theory and practice.

In this advanced property-law class, you will learn about eminent domain—the power of the government (and those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use in exchange for paying just compensation to the property owner. Most lawyers get just one or two days of class about eminent domain in law school. This course aims to fix that shortcoming.

The subject is fascinating as a matter of theory, as it deals with the power of a tribe (the community) to take property away from its members. And eminent domain is becoming more and more important in practice. Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star State is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. The need for infrastructure has skyrocketed, both to accommodate the explosive population growth and to support Texas's ever-expanding oil-and-gas industry. In light of these developments, we as a community need to work out how to deal with growth while still honoring constitutional values and individual rights.

Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework in the U.S. properly protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity and (2) “just compensation," including evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in disputes about compensation. Throughout, the class will explore the relationship between theory and practice.

This course will focus primarily on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In addition to learning the doctrinal machinery of employment discrimination claims, students in this course will learn the competing theories of discrimination that are the heart of this area of the law. You will develop the conceptual tools to understand litigation not only under Title VII itself -- which now makes up a significant portion of the entire civil docket of the federal courts -- but also under related employment statutes that build on it such as the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and state laws such as Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code. The course covers controversies among litigants, courts and legislatures about such questions as: what counts as intentional discrimination; how the law should treat discrimination that is not intentional; what a plaintiff ought to have to prove in order to make out a claim of discrimination; how the Constitution interacts with employment discrimination statutes; what actions employers are required or permitted to take in order to avoid discriminating; and affirmative action. We will also discuss the legal treatment of discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, national origin and language, sexual orientation and gender identity, and religion, as well as retaliation claims. We will supplement the case law with relevant secondary materials that provide perspectives from disciplines such as sociology and psychology.

This course explores the foundational pieces of employment law, including (1) Distinctions between “employees” and other types of workers, and why they matter; (2) The "default rule" of employment-at-will and the ways it can be modified; (3) The additional rights and responsibilities of government employees (e.g., free speech & due process rights, limitations on political rights); (4) Laws protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics (e.g., race, national origin, sex, sexual harassment, age, disability), and their enforcement schemes; (5) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its minimum wage & overtime premium protections; (6) A look at employees’ duties to their employers, including the duty of loyalty, duties involving trade secrets, and obligations not to compete.  It will also explore a host of contemporary employment law issues.   

This course explores the law surrounding the relationship between employers and individual employees, focusing primarily on the following areas: (1) Distinctions between “employees” and other types of workers, and why they matter; (2) The "default rule" of employment-at-will and the ways it can be modified; (3) Statutory and common law exceptions to at-will employment, including whistle-blowing, public policy and tort exceptions; (4) Employee privacy & drug testing issues; (5) The additional rights and responsibilities of government employees (e.g., free speech & due process rights, limitations on political rights); (6) Laws protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics (e.g., race, national origin, sex, sexual harassment, age, disability), and their enforcement schemes; (7) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its minimum wage & overtime premium protections; (8) The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its protections for employees with serious health conditions; and (9) A look at employees’ duties to their employers, including the duty of loyalty, duties involving trade secrets, and obligations not to compete. Please note that Employment Law is distinct from Labor Law, which generally governs the relationship between employers and labor unions representing their employees, dealing with topics such as collective bargaining, strikes, labor contract enforcement, and similar matters.

TEXTBOOKS:

Employment Law, Cases & Materials, Willborn, Schwab, Burton & Lester (7th Ed.)

Selected Federal and State Statutes, Willborn, Schwab, Burton & Lester

This course explores the law surrounding the relationship between employers and individual employees, focusing primarily on the following areas: (1) Distinctions between “employees” and other types of workers, and why they matter; (2) The "default rule" of employment-at-will and the ways it can be modified; (3) Statutory and common law exceptions to at-will employment, including whistle-blowing, public policy and tort exceptions; (4) Employee privacy & drug testing issues; (5) The additional rights and responsibilities of government employees (e.g., free speech & due process rights, limitations on political rights); (6) Laws protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics (e.g., race, national origin, sex, sexual harassment, age, disability), and their enforcement schemes; (7) The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its minimum wage & overtime premium protections; (8) The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its protections for employees with serious health conditions; and (9) A look at employees’ duties to their employers, including the duty of loyalty, duties involving trade secrets, and obligations not to compete. Please note that Employment Law is distinct from Labor Law, which generally governs the relationship between employers and labor unions representing their employees, dealing with topics such as collective bargaining, strikes, labor contract enforcement, and similar matters.

This course explores the law surrounding the relationship between employers and individual employees, focusing primarily on the following areas: (1) Distinctions between “employees” and other types of workers, and why they matter; (2) The "general rule" of employment-at-will and the ways it can be modified; (3) Some statutory and common law exceptions to at-will employment, such as whistle-blowing, public policy and tort theories; (4) Employee privacy & drug testing issues; (5) The additional rights and responsibilities of government employees (e.g., free speech & due process rights, limitations on political rights); (6) A general overview of the laws protecting employees from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics (e.g., race, national origin, sex, sexual harassment, age, disability), and their enforcement schemes; (7) A general overview of the Fair Labor Standards Act and its minimum wage & overtime premium protections; (8) A general overview of the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the duties of employers/employees thereunder; and (9) A look at the duties an employee can owe the employer, such as those involving trade secrets and obligations not to compete. Please note that Employment Law is different from Labor Law; the latter generally governs the relationship between employers and labor unions representing their employees, dealing with topics such as collective bargaining, strikes, labor contract enforcement, and similar topics.

This interdisciplinary course will introduce students to the legal, business, and technical facets of energy development and entrepreneurship. The course is structured around five potential development sites—two wind development projects (a coastal and a north Texas site), a west Texas solar project, and two natural gas combined-cycle plants (a new combined heat and power plant in Houston and a conventional plant in San Antonio). The key stages of project development will be covered, including site selection, life cycle analysis, due diligence, permitting, contracting, and financing. The case studies are designed (1) to provide real-world conditions for understanding project development, (2) to allow students to engage in practical problem solving, and (3) to enable government policies to be evaluated in context. Course work will be complemented by regular discussions with leading experts in the utility and renewable-energy sectors. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from law and business to develop a project proposal based on a mix of renewables and natural gas generation. In addition to short exercises during the semester (e.g., permitting negotiations, financial modeling), each student team will prepare a project prospectus and presentation on the business and legal aspects of their project proposal. The course will culminate with each team presenting their proposal to a corporate investment panel, which will be made up of local energy experts. Course evaluation will be based on class participation, a mid-semester project memo, and the final team presentation and project prospectus.

 This interdisciplinary course will introduce students to the legal, business, and technical facets of energy development and entrepreneurship. The course is structured around five potential development sites—two wind development projects (a coastal and a north Texas site), a west Texas solar project, and two natural gas combined-cycle plants (a new combined heat and power plant in Houston and a conventional plant in San Antonio). The key stages of project development will be covered, including site selection, life cycle analysis, due diligence, permitting, contracting, and financing. The case studies are designed (1) to provide real-world conditions for understanding project development, (2) to allow students to engage in practical problem solving, and (3) to enable government policies to be evaluated in context. Course work will be complemented by regular discussions with leading experts in the utility and renewable-energy sectors. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from law, business, and engineering to develop a project proposal based on a mix of renewables and natural gas generation. In addition to short exercises during the semester (e.g., negotiations, financial modeling, technical analysis), each student team will prepare a project prospectus and presentation on the technical, business, and legal aspects of their project proposal. The course will culminate with each team presenting their proposal to a corporate investment panel, which will be made up of local energy experts. Course evaluation will be based on class participation, a preliminary project memo, and the final team presentation and project prospectus.

This interdisciplinary course will introduce students to the legal, business, and technical facets of energy development and entrepreneurship. The course is structured around five potential development sites—two wind development projects (a coastal and a north Texas site), a west Texas solar project, and two natural gas combined-cycle plants (a new combined heat and power plant in Houston and a conventional plant in San Antonio). The key stages of project development will be covered, including site selection, life cycle analysis, due diligence, permitting, contracting, and financing. The case studies are designed (1) to provide real-world conditions for understanding project development, (2) to allow students to engage in practical problem solving, and (3) to enable government policies to be evaluated in context. Course work will be complemented by regular discussions with leading experts in the utility and renewable-energy sectors. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from law, business, and engineering to develop a project proposal based on a mix of renewables and natural gas generation. In addition to short exercises during the semester (e.g., negotiations, financial modeling, technical analysis), each student team will prepare a project prospectus and presentation on the technical, business, and legal aspects of their project proposal. The course will culminate with each team presenting their proposal to a corporate investment panel, which will be made up of local energy experts. Course evaluation will be based on class participation, a preliminary project memo, and the final team presentation and project prospectus.

This interdisciplinary course will introduce students to the legal, business, and technical facets of energy development and entrepreneurship. The course is structured around five potential development sites—two wind development projects (a coastal and a north Texas site), a west Texas solar project, and two natural gas combined-cycle plants (a new combined heat and power plant in Houston and a conventional plant in San Antonio). The key stages of project development will be covered, including site selection, life cycle analysis, due diligence, permitting, contracting, and financing. The case studies are designed (1) to provide real-world conditions for understanding project development, (2) to allow students to engage in practical problem solving, and (3) to enable government policies to be evaluated in context. Course work will be complemented by regular discussions with leading experts in the utility and renewable-energy sectors. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from law, business, and engineering to develop a project proposal based on a mix of renewables and natural gas generation. In addition to short exercises during the semester (e.g., negotiations, financial modeling, technical analysis), each student team will prepare a project prospectus and presentation on the technical, business, and legal aspects of their assigned technologies / locations. The course will culminate with each team presenting their proposal to a corporate investment panel and the class and the creation of a project portfolio based on all of the teams' input and analyses. Course evaluation will be based on class participation, a preliminary project memo, and the final team presentation.

The 28095 section of this course will be taught in person but with the option of occasional remote participation via Zoom.  If students require all remote participation, they must register for the 28114 section of this course, which is identical but web-based.

This interdisciplinary course will introduce students to the legal, business, and technical facets of energy development and entrepreneurship. The course is structured around five potential development sites—two wind development projects (a coastal and a north Texas site), a west Texas solar project, and two natural gas combined-cycle plants (a new combined heat and power plant in Houston and a conventional plant in San Antonio). The key stages of project development will be covered, including site selection, life cycle analysis, due diligence, permitting, contracting, and financing. The case studies are designed (1) to provide real-world conditions for understanding project development, (2) to allow students to engage in practical problem solving, and (3) to enable government policies to be evaluated in context. Course work will be complemented by regular discussions with leading experts in the utility and renewable-energy sectors. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from law, business, and engineering to develop a project proposal based on a mix of renewables and natural gas generation. In addition to short exercises during the semester (e.g., negotiations, financial modeling, technical analysis), each student team will prepare a project prospectus and presentation on the technical, business, and legal aspects of their project proposal. The course will culminate with each team presenting their proposal to a corporate investment panel, which will be made up of local energy experts. Course evaluation will be based on class participation, a preliminary project memo, and the final team presentation and project prospectus.

Title:  Energy Finance and Transactions

Catalogue Description:  Highly relevant for any lawyer in energy or finance practice, this course will immerse students in practical business and legal concepts inherent in oil and gas financing by teaching a working knowledge based on actual loan documents relevant to financial and M&A transactions. Through discussion of actual loan provisions, the class will demonstrate how the client’s business concepts are manifested in the financing documents drafted by lawyers.  In addition, the course will provide a historical context of the dependent relationship between producers and bankers illustrating the evolution of loan documentation from the early beginnings of the US oil industry through current times.

This course will provide students a head-start on their transactional legal training by providing students with useful knowledge on energy transactions and financing documentation. Students will learn the basic architecture of financing documents, and, importantly, learn the legal and business issues and historical foundation behind the provisions. The professors, who collectively have over 60 years of energy lending experience, will also provide their insight on energy lending negotiation strategy. In addition to class participation and the final exam, students will complete a short client memorandum on a topic of their choice related to the energy finance transactions.

Grading: Students will be graded on class participation (20%), client memorandum (30%) and final exam (50%).

The final exam will be a timed, short answer open-book format exam.

Prerequisites: 1L contracts and property. The professors are accustomed to training associates with no exposure to oil and gas or finance.

Credit Hours:  Two hours.

Proposed Schedule:  12 weeks, consisting of 12 two-hour classes. 

Learning Outcomes:  Students will gain an understanding of basic principles of energy lending and energy transactions, and how those principals are embodied in loan documentation.  In addition to the practical substantive knowledge, students will gain insight into a career path.  This course is tailored for students interested in pursuing a career in sophisticated energy transactions of all types.  Students who have already chosen this career path will be better prepared, having completed part of the training of a first-year associate.

Hands on practical business and legal concepts in financing oil and gas development and application of current market issues through negotiation and loan documentation. The course will provide historical context for the commercial and legal development of present day commercial bank lending to oil and gas producers illustrating the evolution of loan documentation between producers, private equity, and energy lenders. The tools and concepts taught in class lectures will be implemented by students in practice through negotiation and drafting of select loan provisions utilizing current real world example of a syndicated energy credit agreement and term sheet. Reading for the course has been selected to provide both the historical perspective and a technical analysis of common loan provisions. For the negotiation component, students will be divided into banker and producer teams serving to negotiate key provisions in a Term Sheet and Credit Agreement for an oil and gas loan through email and conference call interactions with their clients. The ‘clients’ will be Haynes and Boone, LLP energy finance lawyers who will be acting as bankers or producers, respectively. With client input, teams will negotiate and agree on the final Term Sheet and Credit Agreement. Some negotiations will be in class and the professors will lead a class discussion on the teams' work product. By the end of the course students will have negotiated high points in the term sheet and incorporated their negotiated changes into revisions to the model form credit agreement. The final work product will be the negotiated provisions of the Credit Agreement redlined against the form. In our final class, each group will discuss the final “deal” that was struck and three principal points of contention and how they drafted compromises in the documents. 

Students will be graded on class participation, drafting and negotiation exercises, a final work product, and a final exam (short answer).

This course will immerse students in practical business and legal concepts in financing oil and gas and alternative energy development and demonstrate how those issues manifest themselves in the negotiation and loan documentation. In addition, the course will provide an historical context for the development of present day commercial bank lending to oil and gas companies illustrating how loan documentation between producers and energy lenders has evolved since the early 1900’s. The tools and concepts taught in class lectures will be implemented by students in practice through negotiation and drafting of an energy loan utilizing current real world example of a syndicated energy credit agreement and term sheet. The first half of the course will lay the groundwork for how and why today’s energy loans are structured drawing upon the historical analysis in Oil Capital, The History of American Oil, Wildcatters, Independents and Their Bankers written by one of the professors, Buddy Clark. Alongside this historical perspective, the course will cover the principal provisions of an energy loan based upon assigned readings from The LSTA's Complete Credit Agreement Guide, Second Edition. In the second half of the course, students will be divided into banker and producer teams serving to negotiate key provisions in a Term Sheet and Credit Agreement for an oil and gas loan through email and conference call interactions with their clients. The ‘clients’ will be Haynes and Boone, LLP energy finance lawyers who will be acting as bankers or producers, respectively. With input from their client, groups will negotiate and agree on the final Term Sheet and Credit Agreement. The final work product will be a Credit Agreement redlined against the form. At the end of the course, in class, each group will discuss the final “deal” that was struck and three principal points of contention and how they drafted compromises in the documents.In addition, the second half of the course will cover renewable energy project development and transactional issues based on assigned readings from Energy & Environmental Project Finance: Law & Taxation available on Lexis and selected articles addressing major renewables transactional documentation.

Students will be graded on class participation, drafting and negotiation exercises, a final work product, and a final exam (short answer).