Course Schedule

The course will be a study of central question in the philosophy of law: What is the nature of law? What distinguishes a legal system from other systems of norms? What place if any does morality have in a legal system? Do the norms of a legal system determine the decisions judges make in the cases before them? Are judges, that is, constrained by legal norms in reaching decisions in those cases? Are there norms or methods of legal reasoning that judges should follow in reaching decisions? Readings for the course will be a mix of historical and contemporary writings, including those of Aquinas, Hobbes, John Austin, H. L A. Hart, and Ronald Dworkin. No previous study of philosophy will be assumed.

An introductory lecture/survey course about general jurisprudence, which purports to answer questions like, "What is law? What distinguishes legal institutions from other ones? And what makes a true legal claim true?" Readings will cover John Austin, HLA Hart, Ronald Dworkin, and other participants in these debates. Where time permits, we will also address how these abstract questions come to bear on concrete controversies about legal interpretation.

The course will be a study of central question in the philosophy of law: What is the nature of law? What distinguishes a legal system from other systems of norms? What place if any does morality have in a legal system? Do the norms of a legal system determine the decisions judges make in the cases before them? Are judges, that is, constrained by legal norms in reaching decisions in those cases? Are there norms or methods of legal reasoning that judges should follow in reaching decisions? Readings for the course will be a mix of historical and contemporary writings, including those of Aquinas, Hobbes, John Austin, H. L A. Hart, and Ronald Dworkin. No previous study of philosophy will be assumed.

Most of the time when judicial opinions are handed down the focus is narrowly on the facts of the case and references to large philosophical questions are either absent or perfunctory. Big questions like “What is law?” “What is the source of law’s legitimacy?”, “How is law distinguished from force?”, “What is the relationship between law and morality?”, “Is the law an autonomous system?”, and “Is the law gendered?” are not taken up explicitly or at length in the course of a ruling. Yet these questions and the various answers given to them underlie and give shape to the specific arguments judges engage in. Jurisprudence is the study of those big questions and of the traditions of inquiry that have been set in motion by the attempts to answer them. In this course we shall survey the major traditions of inquiry with a view to understanding how even the most minute and apparently local issues in law reflect long-standing and unresolved controversies.

Topics of investigation will include Natural Law, Positive Law, Legal Realism, Law and Economics, Legal Interpretation, Feminist Jurisprudence, Critical Race Theory, Gay Legal Theory, Postmodernism and the Law, Legal Pragmatism.

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom.

The course will be a study of central question in the philosophy of law: What is the nature of law? What distinguishes a legal system from other systems of norms? What place if any does morality have in a legal system? Do the norms of a legal system determine the decisions judges make in the cases before them? Are judges, that is, constrained by legal norms in reaching decisions in those cases? Are there norms or methods of legal reasoning that judges should follow in reaching decisions? Readings for the course will be a mix of historical and contemporary writings, including those of Aquinas, Hobbes, John Austin, H. L A. Hart, and Ronald Dworkin. No previous study of philosophy will be assumed.

The course begins by developing my position on legitimate and valid legal argument in the United States. That position is based on (1) the postulate that to be morally legitimate the use of a legal argument must be consistent with the moral commitments of the society in which the legal argument is being made and (2) an "empirical" conclusion that the United States is a liberal, rights-based society (i.e., a society whose members and governments draw a strong distinction between moral-rights discourse and moral-ought discourse, are committed to moral-rights conclusions) trumping moral-ought conclusions when the two conclusions favor different outcomes, and derive their moral-rights conclusions from a basic commitment to treating all moral-rights- bearing entities for which they are responsible with appropriate, equal respect and concern. The combination of the above postulate and empirical finding lead me to conclude that (1) arguments derived from the liberal principle just articulated are not only inside the law but are the dominant mode of legitimate and valid legal argument in the United States (dominant in that they operate not only directly but also by determining the legitimacy, legitimate variant of, and legitimate weight to be given to the other modes of legal argument that are actually made in our society) and relatedly (2) there are internally-right answers to all legal-rights questions in our society. The second part of the course then explores a variety of moral-philosophical and jurisprudential alternatives to my own. The third part analyzes from my and various alternative moral and jurisprudential perspectives a variety of various judicial opinions that deal with these issues. The fourth part executes parallel analyses of a variety of "appropriate, equal concern"- real Constitutional Law issues and judicial opinions. I expect to focus particularly on affirmative action, the right to die, right to a liberal education, and the possible right to a minimum real income or minimum share of the societal-average minimum real income.

Labor Law:  The NLRA, Unions and Workers’ Rights in a Post-Pandemic World

In this time of unparalleled job market insecurity in the wake of an international pandemic, employee workplace protests and strikes have proliferated in a manner not seen since the 1930s. While surveys show that 68% of Americans approve of labor unions--the highest since 1965--unionization rates are at an historic low of 6-10%. President Biden describes himself as “the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history.” In this critical moment in history, does the 85-year old National Labor Relations Act adequately protect employees who wish to organize and protest, particularly when many of these employees are daily risking their lives to provide essential services?

This seminar style course (limited to 20 students) will be an untraditional introduction to labor law with an emphasis on participation and debate. In addition to studying the NLRA, the structure of the NLRB and the foundational case law interpreting the Act, we will discuss the reasons for the decline in unionization, current obstacles to union representation, as well as the PRO Act, the legislative proposal backed by the Biden Administration and organized labor. We will also debate current labor topics, such as: the proliferation of workplace demonstrations and organizing campaigns (particularly in the tech, fast food, education, healthcare and childcare industries), unionizing in the gig economy; whether graduate students and/or college athletes should be entitled to unionize; protected speech in the workplace; whether the collective bargaining regime adequately offers workers the ability to address racial and gender injustice in the workplace; and collective bargaining among law enforcement officers and other public sector employees.  Throughout the course, we will examine the history and values underlying the law, including the economic and political interests that have influenced its development.

Students will prepare a final project and paper of their own choosing (in lieu of a final exam) and be tasked with weekly debate topics. 

• Guest speakers will include NLRB officials, as well as union and management side labor counsel. 
• Professors Spielberg and Avendano collectively have more than 50 years experience in the field of labor law, having worked for the NLRB, for union and union-side firms, and in the private sector.

  Students will gain exposure to and familiarity with how labor law manifests in the contemporary legal and organizing landscape through interactions with individual practitioners/partner organizations focused on workers’ rights. 

In this time of unparalleled job market insecurity in the wake of an international pandemic, employee workplace protests and strikes have proliferated in a manner not seen since the 1930s. While surveys show that 50% of non-managerial employees polled would vote for a union (given the opportunity), unionization rates are at an historic low of 6-10%. Does the 85-year old National Labor Relations Act adequately protect employees who wish to organize and protest, particularly when many of these employees are daily risking their lives to provide essential services?

This seminar style course (limited to 20 students) will be an untraditional introduction to labor law with an emphasis on participation and debate. In addition to studying the NLRA, the structure of the NLRB and the foundational case law interpreting the Act, we will discuss the reasons for the decline in unionization and current obstacles to union representation. We will also debate current labor topics, such as: the proliferation of workplace demonstrations and organizing campaigns (particularly in the tech, fast food, education, healthcare and childcare industries), unionizing in the gig economy; whether graduate students and/or college athletes should be entitled to unionize; protected speech in the workplace; whether the collective bargaining regime adequately offers workers the ability to address racial and gender injustice in the workplace; and collective bargaining among law enforcement officers and other public sector employees.

• Students will prepare a final project and paper of their own choosing (in lieu of a final exam) and be tasked with weekly debate topics. • Guest speakers will include NLRB officials, as well as union and management side labor counsel. • Professors Spielberg and Avendano collectively have more than 50 years experience in the field of labor law, having worked for the NLRB, for union and union-side firms, and in the private sector.

This course will cover the traditional areas of platting and zoning, and will also consider the roles of utility supply, transportation, federal and local environmental law and the offer of public financial assistance as incentives or disincentives to developments or the location of developments. The course will be a three credit hour course and will meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Traditional textbooks available in this area are of minimal help or are obsolete.  We will discuss the use of a textbook and if students desire, we may include materials from a textbook, but in any case the majority of course materials will be a collection of materials written or edited by the teacher to be sent out in PDF from the professor to the students (free!). Class sessions will include visits by lawyers, public officials and others involved in development issues, with informal meetings with the speakers over beer to follow if that can be scheduled.

The 27875 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 27876 section of this course, which is identical but web-based.

This course will cover the traditional areas of platting and zoning, and will also consider the roles of utility supply, transportation, federal and local environmental law and the offer of public financial assistance as incentives or disincentives to developments or the location of developments. The course will be a three credit hour course and will meet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Traditional textbooks available in this area are of minimal help or are obsolete.  We will discuss the use of a textbook and if students desire, we may include materials from a textbook, but in any case the majority of course materials will be a collection of materials written or edited by the teacher to be sent out in PDF from the professor to the students (free!). Class sessions will include visits by lawyers, public officials and others involved in development issues, with informal meetings with the speakers over beer to follow if that can be scheduled.

This course introduces you how to use economic reasoning to analyze legal issues. The course will focus on the common law areas of property, contracts, and tort as well as the legal process and criminal law. Economic analysis of law analyzes legal rules with one main question in mind: how will people and firms respond to a given legal rule? That is, rather than look at the inherent "fairness" or "justness" of a legal rule, law and economics focuses on the incentives that a legal rule creates. The normative aspect of law and economics then asks how legal rules should be structured to create the most desirable incentives.

This course introduces you how to use economic reasoning to analyze legal issues. The course will focus on the common law areas of property, contracts, and tort as well as the legal process and criminal law. Economic analysis of law analyzes legal rules with one main question in mind: how will people and firms respond to a given legal rule? That is, rather than look at the inherent "fairness" or "justness" of a legal rule, law and economics focuses on the incentives that a legal rule creates. The normative aspect of law and economics then asks how legal rules should be structured to create the most desirable incentives.

This course introduces you how to use economic reasoning to analyze legal issues. The course will focus on the common law areas of property, contracts, and tort as well as the legal process and criminal law. Economic analysis of law analyzes legal rules with one main question in mind: how will people and firms respond to a given legal rule? That is, rather than look at the inherent "fairness" or "justness" of a legal rule, law and economics focuses on the incentives that a legal rule creates. The normative aspect of law and economics then asks how legal rules should be structured to create the most desirable incentives.

This course introduces you how to use economic reasoning to analyze legal issues. The course will focus on the common law areas of property, contracts, and tort as well as the legal process and criminal law. Economic analysis of law analyzes legal rules with one main question in mind: how will people and firms respond to a given legal rule? That is, rather than look at the inherent "fairness" or "justness" of a legal rule, law and economics focuses on the incentives that a legal rule creates. The normative aspect of law and economics then asks how legal rules should be structured to create the most desirable incentives.

This course introduces you how to use economic reasoning to analyze legal issues. The course will focus on the common law areas of property, contracts, and tort as well as the legal process and criminal law. Economic analysis of law analyzes legal rules with one main question in mind: how will people and firms respond to a given legal rule? That is, rather than look at the inherent "fairness" or "justness" of a legal rule, law and economics focuses on the incentives that a legal rule creates. The normative aspect of law and economics then asks how legal rules should be structured to create the most desirable incentives.

This course focuses on intermediaries in the capital markets -- those who trade, facilitate structure, or manage securities investments.  Modern capital markets are dynamic and innovative, as creative and highly paid bankers, investment managers, and their lawyers attempt to navigate an ever-changing economic and regulatory environment.  Students will gain an understanding of the institutional workings of the securities business and its legal regulation, with an eye toward recent developments and interesting economic problems. Topics include:

·         Pre-IPO trading, IPO underwriting, SPACs, and other IPO alternatives;

·         Investment companies, investment advisers, and broker dealers.

·         Efficient markets theory and implications for investment advising;

·         Structure and marketing of asset-backed securities, such as CDOs; 

·         Banking, shadow banking, and the demand for safe assets;

·         Banking competitors, such as crypto/stablecoins and money market mutual funds;

·         Market making, payment for order flow, and “gamification” of retail trading.

The course utilizes a case study approach, with examples drawn from (relatively) recent events, which include Facebook’s pre-IPO trading, Tether, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, Goldman’s ABACUS trade, the Lehman collapse, Robin Hood, and GameStop.

Evaluation is based on class discussion/participation and student group presentations.

This course is aimed at students who are planning to work as investment bankers, investment managers, broker/dealers, or legal advisors thereto, and the goal of this course is to equip students with an overview of the economic concerns that drive much capital markets activity and the consequent legal regulation that attempts to improve capital markets operation.  This course is intended to be an accessible survey for all business and law students; no prior knowledge of economics, securities markets, or law is assumed.

This course focuses on intermediaries in the capital markets -- those who trade, facilitate structure, or manage securities investments.  Modern capital markets are dynamic and innovative, as creative and highly paid bankers, investment managers, and their lawyers attempt to navigate an ever-changing economic and regulatory environment.  Students will gain an understanding of the institutional workings of the securities business and its legal regulation, with an eye toward recent developments and interesting economic problems. Topics include:

·         Pre-IPO trading, IPO underwriting, SPACs, and other IPO alternatives;

·         Investment companies, investment advisers, and broker dealers.

·         Efficient markets theory and implications for investment advising;

·         Structure and marketing of asset-backed securities, such as CDOs; 

·         Banking, shadow banking, and the demand for safe assets;

·         Banking competitors, such as crypto/stablecoins and money market mutual funds;

·         Market making, payment for order flow, and “gamification” of retail trading.

The course utilizes a case study approach, with examples drawn from (relatively) recent events, which include Facebook’s pre-IPO trading, Tether, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, Goldman’s ABACUS trade, the Lehman collapse, Robin Hood, and GameStop.

Evaluation is based on class discussion/participation and student group presentations.

This course is aimed at students who are planning to work as investment bankers, investment managers, broker/dealers, or legal advisors thereto, and the goal of this course is to equip students with an overview of the economic concerns that drive much capital markets activity and the consequent legal regulation that attempts to improve capital markets operation.  This course is intended to be an accessible survey for all business and law students; no prior knowledge of economics, securities markets, or law is assumed.

This course focuses on intermediaries in the capital markets -- those who trade, facilitate structure, or manage securities investments.  Modern capital markets are dynamic and innovative, as creative and highly paid bankers, investment managers, and their lawyers attempt to navigate an ever-changing economic and regulatory environment.  Students will gain an understanding of the institutional workings of the securities business and its legal regulation, with an eye toward recent developments and interesting economic problems. Topics include:

·         Pre-IPO trading, IPO underwriting, SPACs, and other IPO alternatives;

·         Investment companies, investment advisers, and broker dealers.

·         Efficient markets theory and implications for investment advising;

·         Structure and marketing of asset-backed securities, such as CDOs; 

·         Banking, shadow banking, and the demand for safe assets;

·         Banking competitors, such as crypto/stablecoins and money market mutual funds;

·         Market making, payment for order flow, and “gamification” of retail trading.

The course utilizes a case study approach, with examples drawn from (relatively) recent events, which include Facebook’s pre-IPO trading, Tether, the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, Goldman’s ABACUS trade, the Lehman collapse, Robin Hood, and GameStop.

Evaluation is based on class discussion/participation and student group presentations.

This course is aimed at students who are planning to work as investment bankers, investment managers, broker/dealers, or legal advisors thereto, and the goal of this course is to equip students with an overview of the economic concerns that drive much capital markets activity and the consequent legal regulation that attempts to improve capital markets operation.  This course is intended to be an accessible survey for all business and law students; no prior knowledge of economics, securities markets, or law is assumed.

This course uses economic analysis to understand the institutional workings of the securities and investment business and its legal regulation (especially recent developments therein). The main focus of this course is on securities intermediaries -- those who trade, facilitate trade, or manage investments on account of others -- as opposed to primary offerings (which are covered in a typical Securities Regulation class). Topics include securities trading and market regulation, banking and shadow banking, securitizations and asset-backed securities, broker-dealer duties and conflicts, and investment advisers and investment company regulation. The course utilizes a case study approach, with examples drawn from recent events. The class will be a combination of lecture, class discussion, and student group presentations. The goal of the course is to ensure that students have a good economic understanding of how and why the law applies to them once they are (or are representing) investment bankers, traders, or investment advisers.

The materials for this one-hour pass-fail course are still being worked out.  What is most likely is that each week will focus, for the two-hour class period, on one or, at most, two, stories or a short novel that raise issues relevant to the law.  For example, under what circumstances do we properlyaccept private revenge, because, for example, a working legal system that provides adequate "justice" is lacking?  Does Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" offer any useful lessons about "the rule of law" and/or "fidelity to law"?   We might also assign some legal opinions or essays that are thought to be of particular literary merit and analyze what that may (or may not) be true.  Each student will be required to provide three short essays (of roughly 500-600) words responding to the pieces assigned during particular weeks of your choice.  They will be ungraded, but we hope that they will provide the agenda for much of the class discussion for those weeks.

The materials for this one-hour pass-fail course are still being worked out.  What is most likely is that each week will focus, for the two-hour class period, on one or, at most, two, stories or a short novel that raise issues relevant to the law.  For example, under what circumstances do we properlyaccept private revenge, because, for example, a working legal system that provides adequate "justice" is lacking?  Does Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" offer any useful lessons about "the rule of law" and/or "fidelity to law"?   We might also assign some legal opinions or essays that are thought to be of particular literary merit and analyze what that may (or may not) be true.  Each student will be required to provide three short essays (of roughly 500-600) words responding to the pieces assigned during particular weeks of your choice.  They will be ungraded, but we hope that they will provide the agenda for much of the class discussion for those weeks.

The legal framework of commercial real estate finance and development, including basic real estate law concepts, legal aspects of financing techniques and instruments, subdivision land-use controls, environmental regulation of real estate development, and other topics.

The legal framework of commercial real estate finance and development, including basic real estate law concepts, legal aspects of financing techniques and instruments, subdivision land-use controls, environmental regulation of real estate development, and other topics.

A survey of a range of core legal practice areas, including copyright, trademark, insurance, employment, immigration, contracts (with artists, sponsors, vendors and others), and working with municipalities using the backdrop of a live festival event. Expect guest lecturers from within the industry. 

A survey of a range of core legal practice areas, including copyright, trademark, insurance, employment, immigration, contracts (with artists, sponsors, vendors and others), and working with municipalities using the backdrop of a live festival event. Expect guest lecturers from within the industry.