Course Schedule

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom. 

This course covers credit transactions in which the loan is secured by an interest in personal property. Secured credit is a very important part of both consumer and commercial lending. This course will study both contexts, examining how secured transactions are structured and why they are structured that way. These transactions are largely governed by Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The course does not cover loans secured by mortgages on real estate. A secured loan is one in which the debtor and lender agree that if the debtor does not pay, the lender can take specific items of property from the debtor. This property is called collateral, and the lender is said to have a security interest in the collateral. The collateral may be tangible property such as inventory, equipment, and consumer goods, or intangible property such as stocks and bonds or the debtor's right to collect from people who owe money to him. The course examines the mechanics of making secured loans, the rules that govern repossessing the collateral if the debtor doesn't pay, and what can happen to security interests if the debtor goes bankrupt. It also examines the priority rules that rank competing claims to the same collateral. There may be many such claims. More than one secured lender may have a security interest in the collateral; unsecured creditors may seize the collateral to collect a judgment; customers or other third parties may buy the collateral; the collateral may be affixed to real estate and become subject to the claims of people with interests in the real estate. This is also a course in statutory construction. We will devote very careful attention to using and interpreting the Uniform Commercial Code and the Bankruptcy Code. We will progress from relatively simple statutory provisions to quite difficult ones, learning the skills that can be applied to all sorts of statutes. Westbrook sometimes offers a one-hour adjunct to the Secured Credit course. This Secured Credit workshop adjunct course is open only to those taking his regular three-hour Secured Credit course. Requirements include a small number of additional classes and a 15-20 page paper on a Secured Credit topic. A student who takes this adjunct course gets one four-hour grade based on a combination of the student's examination in the regular course and performance in the one-hour course (especially on the paper). Enrollment is limited. Taking the workshop is not required to take the main three hour course. Students who choose the Workshop have included those who want to study advanced commercial law topics and theory, but also those who have no business background and want a cushion rather than putting the whole grade on a final exam.  While the course is not remedial or tutorial, philosophy or art history majors usually find it makes them more comfortable and confident in the main course.

Secured Credit is for students who want to practice commercial law – and for those who do not. Credit is one of the major systems underlying the U.S. and global economies, so understanding it is crucial for all future lawyers, including public interest lawyers. This course covers a breadth of credit systems: consumer, business, secured, and unsecured – with a significant emphasis on commercial secured lending. This course also covers a fundamental question not addressed elsewhere in law school curriculum: once you win that big court case, how do you collect money from the other side? (Or, once you lose that big court case, how do you avoid paying?) Students will engage with real-world-based problems, financial current events, and practical strategies for addressing financial problems in consumer, small business and corporate contexts. The course's primary body of law is Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, but it also touches on bankruptcy topics and real estate law. A secured loan is one in which the debtor and lender agree that if the debtor does not pay, the lender can take specific items of property from the debtor. This property is called collateral, and the lender is said to have a security interest in the collateral. The collateral may be tangible property such as inventory, equipment, and consumer goods, or intangible property such as stocks and bonds or the debtor's right to collect from people who owe money to him. This Secured Credit course examines how secured transactions are structured and why they are structured that way. It covers the mechanics of making secured loans, the rules that govern repossessing the collateral if the debtor doesn't pay, and what can happen to security interests if the debtor goes bankrupt. It also examines the priority rules that rank competing claims to the same collateral. There may be many such claims. More than one secured lender may have a security interest in the collateral; unsecured creditors may seize the collateral to collect a judgment; customers or other third parties may buy the collateral. This is also a course in statutory construction. We will devote very careful attention to using and interpreting the Uniform Commercial Code, the Bankruptcy Code, and non-uniform state law. We will progress from relatively simple statutory provisions to quite difficult ones, learning the skills that can be applied to a variety of statutes.

Westbrook often offers this one-hour adjunct to the Secured Credit course. This Secured Credit workshop adjunct course is open only to those taking his regularthree-hour Secured Credit course. It covers the same subject matter. The course has two main purposes: offering especially interested students a look at cutting edge issues beyond what is covered in the basic course; and giving students a chance to be evaluated in part by a paper rather than just an examination. It also provides a small class experience. Requirements include a small number of additional classes and a 15-20 page paper on a Secured Credit topic. A student who takes this adjunct course gets one four-hour grade based on a combination of the student's examination in the regular course and performance in the one-hour course (especially on the paper). Enrollment is limited. Although the workshop is limited to students taking the main, three-hour course, taking the workshop is not required to take the main three hour course. Students who choose the Workshop have included those who want to study advanced commercial law topics and theory, but also those who have no business background and want a cushion rather than putting the whole grade on a final exam.  While the course is not remedial or tutorial, philosophy majors or art hisotry majors usually find it makes them more comfortable and confident in the main course.

Westbrook often offers this one-hour adjunct to the Secured Credit course. This Secured Credit workshop adjunct course is open only to those taking his regularthree-hour Secured Credit course. It covers the same subject matter. The course has two main purposes: offering especially interested students a look at cutting edge issues beyond what is covered in the basic course; and giving students a chance to be evaluated in part by a paper rather than just an examination. It also provides a small class experience. Requirements include a small number of additional classes and a 15-20 page paper on a Secured Credit topic. A student who takes this adjunct course gets one four-hour grade based on a combination of the student's examination in the regular course and performance in the one-hour course (especially on the paper). Enrollment is limited. Although the workshop is limited to students taking the main, three-hour course, taking the workshop is not required to take the main three hour course. Students who choose the Workshop have included those who want to study advanced commercial law topics and theory, but also those who have no business background and want a cushion rather than putting the whole grade on a final exam.  While the course is not remedial or tutorial, philosophy majors or art hisotry majors usually find it makes them more comfortable and confident in the main course.

Westbrook often offers this one-hour adjunct to the Secured Credit course. This Secured Credit workshop adjunct course is open only to those taking his regularthree-hour Secured Credit course. It covers the same subject matter. The course has two main purposes: offering especially interested students a look at cutting edge issues beyond what is covered in the basic course; and giving students a chance to be evaluated in part by a paper rather than just an examination. It also provides a small class experience. Requirements include a small number of additional classes and a 15-20 page paper on a Secured Credit topic. A student who takes this adjunct course gets one four-hour grade based on a combination of the student's examination in the regular course and performance in the one-hour course (especially on the paper). Enrollment is limited. Although the workshop is limited to students taking the main, three-hour course, taking the workshop is not required to take the main three hour course. Students who choose the Workshop have included those who want to study advanced commercial law topics and theory, but also those who have no business background and want a cushion rather than putting the whole grade on a final exam.  While the course is not remedial or tutorial, philosophy majors or art hisotry majors usually find it makes them more comfortable and confident in the main course.

Westbrook often offers this one-hour adjunct to the Secured Credit course. This Secured Credit workshop adjunct course is open only to those taking his regularthree-hour Secured Credit course. It covers the same subject matter. The course has two main purposes: offering especially interested students a look at cutting edge issues beyond what is covered in the basic course; and giving students a chance to be evaluated in part by a paper rather than just an examination. It also provides a small class experience. Requirements include a small number of additional classes and a 15-20 page paper on a Secured Credit topic. A student who takes this adjunct course gets one four-hour grade based on a combination of the student's examination in the regular course and performance in the one-hour course (especially on the paper). Enrollment is limited. Although the workshop is limited to students taking the main, three-hour course, taking the workshop is not required to take the main three hour course. Students who choose the Workshop have included those who want to study advanced commercial law topics and theory, but also those who have no business background and want a cushion rather than putting the whole grade on a final exam.  While the course is not remedial or tutorial, philosophy majors or art hisotry majors usually find it makes them more comfortable and confident in the main course.

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom.

Westbrook often offers this one-hour adjunct to the Secured Credit course. This Secured Credit workshop adjunct course is open only to those taking his regularthree-hour Secured Credit course. It covers the same subject matter. The course has two main purposes: offering especially interested students a look at cutting edge issues beyond what is covered in the basic course; and giving students a chance to be evaluated in part by a paper rather than just an examination. It also provides a small class experience. Requirements include a small number of additional classes and a 15-20 page paper on a Secured Credit topic. A student who takes this adjunct course gets one four-hour grade based on a combination of the student's examination in the regular course and performance in the one-hour course (especially on the paper). Enrollment is limited. Although the workshop is limited to students taking the main, three-hour course, taking the workshop is not required to take the main three hour course. Students who choose the Workshop have included those who want to study advanced commercial law topics and theory, but also those who have no business background and want a cushion rather than putting the whole grade on a final exam.  While the course is not remedial or tutorial, philosophy majors or art hisotry majors usually find it makes them more comfortable and confident in the main course.

Securities law is important, not only for litigators and transactional lawyers at law firms and in in-house positions, but also for policy-makers, enforcement lawyers, and others in government service. Corporations, be they small start-ups or long-established entities, raise capital in public and private offerings of securities. The offerings are subject to securities statutes and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and policies. Moreover, whether or not they are raising capital, all publicly held companies must observe a variety of disclosure and related requirements flowing in large part from securities statutes, rules, and policies. Failures to comply can result in highly consequential private litigation and public enforcement. Broadly speaking, federal securities regulation is displacing state corporate law as the primary legal influence on how publicly held corporations function and is also a focal point for the governance of financial markets. Topics will include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, and liability under anti-fraud rules. This course will also consider such related matters as how market forces influence corporate governance and how financial advances (such as the efficient markets hypothesis) and financial innovation are affecting corporations, investors, and capital markets. No prior business or financial background whatsoever is required. The only prerequisite is: Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched).

Virtually any raising of capital implicates the securities laws. The goal of this course, then, is for students to learn the mechanics of public and private offerings of securities, and to understand the reporting and disclosure requirements that issuing securities entails. This course is particularly important for students who expect to work either in business litigation or transactional law. Topics include public offerings, exempt (i.e., private) offerings, public company regulation and exemption, and, to the extent time permits, secondary market issues such as securities fraud, insider trading, and the regulation of financial intermediaries (such as broker-dealers and investment advisers). Please be aware that this course makes use of economics and math (this is not an arbitrary imposition: courts deciding securities cases make use of economics and math, such as net present valuation and the Efficient Capital Markets Hypothesis). No prior background, beyond a reasonable high school education, in these areas is required -- concepts will be introduced as needed -- although a willingness to engage economics and math is absolutely necessary. Absent special circumstances, students are strongly encouraged to have completed “Business Associations” or “Business Associations (Enriched)” before taking this course.

Securities law is important, not only for litigators and transactional lawyers at law firms and in in-house positions, but also for policy-makers, enforcement lawyers, and others in government service. Corporations, be they small start-ups or long-established entities, raise capital in public and private offerings of securities. The offerings are subject to securities statutes and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and policies. Moreover, whether or not they are raising capital, all publicly held companies must observe a variety of disclosure and related requirements flowing in large part from securities statutes, rules, and policies. Failures to comply can result in highly consequential private litigation and public enforcement. Broadly speaking, federal securities regulation is displacing state corporate law as the primary legal influence on how publicly held corporations function and is also a focal point for the governance of financial markets. Topics will include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, and liability under anti-fraud rules. This course will also consider such related matters as how market forces influence corporate governance and how financial advances (such as the efficient markets hypothesis) and financial innovation are affecting corporations, investors, and capital markets. No prior business or financial background whatsoever is required. The only prerequisite is: Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched).

Securities law is important, not only for litigators and transactional lawyers at law firms and in in-house positions, but also for policy-makers, enforcement lawyers, and others in government service. Corporations, be they small start-ups or long-established entities, raise capital in public and private offerings of securities. The offerings are subject to securities statutes and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and policies. Moreover, whether or not they are raising capital, all publicly held companies must observe a variety of disclosure and related requirements flowing in large part from securities statutes, rules, and policies. Failures to comply can result in highly consequential private litigation and public enforcement. Broadly speaking, federal securities regulation is displacing state corporate law as the primary legal influence on how publicly held corporations function and is also a focal point for the governance of financial markets. Topics will include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, and liability under anti-fraud rules. This course will also consider such related matters as how market forces influence corporate governance and how financial advances (such as the efficient markets hypothesis) and financial innovation are affecting corporations, investors, and capital markets. No prior business or financial background whatsoever is required. The only prerequisite is: Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched).

Securities law is important, not only for litigators and transactional lawyers at law firms and in in-house positions, but also for policy-makers, enforcement lawyers, and others in government service. Corporations, be they small start-ups or long-established entities, raise capital in public and private offerings of securities. The offerings are subject to securities statutes and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and policies. Moreover, whether or not they are raising capital, all publicly held companies must observe a variety of disclosure and related requirements dictated in large part by securities statutes, rules, and policies. Failures to comply can result in highly consequential private litigation and public enforcement. Broadly speaking, federal securities regulation is displacing state corporate law as the primary legal influence on how publicly held corporations function and is also a focal point for the governance of financial markets. Topics will include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, and liability under anti-fraud rules. This course will also consider such related matters as how market forces influence corporate governance and how financial advances (such as the efficient markets hypothesis) and financial innovation are affecting corporations, investors, and capital markets. No prior business or financial background whatsoever is required. The only prerequisite is: Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched).

Virtually any raising of capital implicates the securities laws. The goal of this course, then, is for students to learn the mechanics of public and private offerings of securities, and to understand the reporting and disclosure requirements that issuing securities entails. This course is particularly important for students who expect to work either in business litigation or transactional law. Topics include public offerings, exempt (i.e., private) offerings, public company regulation and exemption, and, to the extent time permits, secondary market issues such as securities fraud, insider trading, and the regulation of financial intermediaries (such as broker-dealers and investment advisers). Please be aware that this course makes use of economics and math (this is not an arbitrary imposition: courts deciding securities cases make use of economics and math, such as net present valuation and the Efficient Capital Markets Hypothesis). No prior background, beyond a reasonable high school education, in these areas is required -- concepts will be introduced as needed -- although a willingness to engage economics and math is absolutely necessary. Absent special circumstances, students are strongly encouraged to have completed “Business Associations” or “Business Associations (Enriched)” before taking this course.

Securities law is important, not only for litigators and transactional lawyers at law firms or in in-house positions, but also for policy-makers, enforcement lawyers, and others in government service. Corporations, be they small start-ups or long-established entities, raise capital in public and private offerings of securities. The offerings are subject to securities statutes and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and policies. Moreover, whether or not they are raising capital, all publicly held companies must observe a variety of disclosure and related requirements dictated in large part by securities statutes, rules, and policies. Failures to comply can result in highly consequential private litigation and public enforcement. Broadly speaking, federal securities regulation is displacing state corporate law as the primary legal influence on how publicly held corporations function and is also a focal point for the governance of financial markets. Topics will include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, and liability under anti-fraud rules. This course will also consider such related matters as how market forces influence corporate governance and how financial advances (such as the efficient markets hypothesis) and financial innovation are affecting corporations, investors, and capital markets. No prior business or financial background whatsoever is required. The only prerequisite is: Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched).

This course will be taught entirely online via Zoom.

Virtually any raising of capital implicates the securities laws. The goal of this course, then, is for students to learn the mechanics of public and private offerings of securities, and to understand the reporting and disclosure requirements that issuing securities entails. This course is particularly important for students who expect to work either in business litigation or transactional law. Topics include public offerings, exempt (i.e., private) offerings, public company regulation and exemption, and, to the extent time permits, secondary market issues such as securities fraud, insider trading, and the regulation of financial intermediaries (such as broker-dealers and investment advisers). Please be aware that this course makes use of economics and math (this is not an arbitrary imposition: courts deciding securities cases make use of economics and math, such as net present valuation and the Efficient Capital Markets Hypothesis). No prior background, beyond a reasonable high school education, in these areas is required -- concepts will be introduced as needed -- although a willingness to engage economics and math is absolutely necessary. Absent special circumstances, students are strongly encouraged to have completed “Business Associations” or “Business Associations (Enriched)” before taking this course.

Securities law is important, not only for litigators and transactional lawyers at law firms or in in-house positions, but also for policy-makers, enforcement lawyers, and others in government service. Corporations, be they small start-ups or long-established entities, raise capital in public and private offerings of securities. The offerings are subject to securities statutes and Securities and Exchange Commission rules and policies. In addition, all publicly held companies must observe a variety of disclosure and related requirements dictated in large part by securities statutes, rules, and policies. Failures to comply might result in highly consequential private and public litigation. Broadly speaking, federal securities regulation is displacing state corporate law as the primary legal influence on how corporations function and is also a focal point for the governance of financial markets and institutions. Topics will include the preparation of disclosure documents, exemptions from disclosure requirements, and liability under anti-fraud rules. This course will also consider such related matters matters as how market forces influence corporate governance and the evolution of new financial products and trading systems. No prior business or financial background whatsoever is required. The only prerequisite is: Business Associations, Business Associations (Enriched), Business Associations for LLM's, or Corporations.

This is a Business School course, cross-listed with the Law School. Students interested specifically in the legal regulation of securities should pay special attention to the Law School's courses Securities Regulation and Capital Markets. This course will be taught in person. Contact the professor for details.

This course provides a general framework – both theoretical and practical – to identify, analyze, and understand the tradeoffs that government regulators make when deciding financial and securities markets policy. You will develop the tools to understand the market failures and inefficiencies that lead to these choices, as well as their consequences on capital raising, investor welfare, securities trading, corporate governance, and financial stability.

At the end of the course you should understand how the legal and economic boundaries between investors, companies, and financial intermediaries give rise to incentives and behaviors that (1) fuel financial innovation, (2) lead to market abuses and fraud, (3) engender systemic risk, and (4) drive the need for continuous regulatory calibration to promote and maintain orderly and efficient markets. 

General topic areas are fixed, but the learning exercises and assignments will be guided by current market developments and practices among asset managers, securities dealers, banks, public corporations, and investment companies. Students are expected to carry a significant reading and writing load throughout the semester.

Topic areas covered     

• A brief history of financial markets
  • Evolution of banking, from Medici to Morgan; development of public securities markets; panics, crises, and the rise of capital market regulators
• The policy and politics of making rules
  • Congress, regulatory agencies, and the courts; identifying market failures; understanding the policy tradeoffs
• Securities fraud and misconduct
  • Insider trading, offering fraud, and financial misreporting; defining abusive market practices; detection methods and market surveillance
• Financial market stability
  • Causes and consequences of systemic risk; private market finance and shadow banking; international regulatory cooperation
• Technology disruptions and financial innovation
  • Approving new financial products; algorithmic trading and machine learning risks; FinTech and democratizing finance
• Social responsibility in securities regulation
  • Disclosure of ESG factors; pursuit of human rights; promoting diversity and inclusion

This course is intended for students in their third years at the School of Law.  Although not a requirement to register for the course, it would be ideal for students taking the course to have completed the basic Oil and Gas Law course.  Students taking the course will also likely find it helpful to have completed the Business Associations and Federal Income Taxation courses.   

This course will 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 more than 45 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 diverse array of topics, including: (a) basic contract drafting principles; (b) transaction structuring; (c) the structure and content of common agreements preliminary to the sale transaction, such as confidentiality agreements and letters of intent; and (d)  a deeper dive into various aspects of the asset purchase and sale agreement (“PSA”), including (i) identifying and describing the assets to be sold, (ii) determining and adjusting the purchase price, (iii) the obligations ordinarily assumed by the buyer and those retained by the seller, (iv) common representations and warranties, (v) the different types of fraud and how parties try to insulate themselves from resulting liability, (vi) termination of the PSA for failure to satisfy the conditions precedent, (vii) post-closing indemnity obligations, and (viii) categories of damages and proper structuring of damages limitations provisions.

This is an LBJ School course, cross-listed with the Law School. This course will be taught online. Contact the professor for details.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is a large, complex and consequential enterprise. It spends nearly $600 billion a year, employs almost three million people and conducts activities that have major domestic and international ramifications.  

This graduate level seminar deals both with results and with processes—what our defense policy is, and how it is made and implemented. The objectives of the course are to (a) use DoD as an example of the way in which policies are developed and carried out in large organizations, and (b) help graduates who take defense-related jobs to orient themselves within the national security establishment, whether they are working in the Pentagon, at OMB, on Congressional staff or in defense-related corporations.

Course Outline

Because most students have not had experience with the military, the seminar will start with an overview of military terms and organizing principles. Students will become familiar with the basic documents that shape the institution, beginning with Title 10 of the United States Code. Following that, the course will follow a logical progression from the articulation of national security strategy, through decisions about military organization and resources to responses to current security issues. 

The course is organized around my belief that the Defense Department, like all organizations, must focus on five basic concerns: purposes, money, people, things and information. An organization’s success in addressing those concerns—in this case, DoD’s ability to achieve its mission—is determined by a sixth key concern: the quality of its leaders. These topics make up the “meat” of the course. Students will spend one or more class sessions on each of the following themes:

Background: overview of DoD and of the military services; the difference between war fighters and resource providers; the roles of key leaders.

Purposes: what are we defending ourselves against (or fighting for)?

National Security Strategy: who writes it, what influences it?

National Defense Strategy: threat-based v. capability-based approaches.

Money: the defense budget.

The budget development process.

Budget trends.

People: recruiting, training and rewarding the force.

From conscription to the all-volunteer force.

Who should serve (and who should not)?

Pay and benefits.

Things: acquisition and logistics.

Figuring out what to buy and how to buy it.

Maintaining the defense industrial base.

Information: management, public relations and intelligence.

Internal communication and coordination.

Communication with the public.

Intelligence–information about the external environment.

Leadership: developing the officer corps.

Special topics: cyber war, terrorism, U.S.-Russia relations

Thinking about the future: anticipating threats, determining roles and missions, adapting to a shrinking Defense budget.

Because this is an election year, students will have an opportunity to study and critique the major candidates’ positions about national security issues.

Readings

NOTE: All of the class readings except those listed below will be posted on Canvas.

Amos A. Jordan, William J. Taylor, Jr. and Michael J. Mazarr, American National Security, Sixth Edition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009). Buy.

Sneaker Law: Legal Issues Involving Apparel, Trademarks and Endorsements will provide students with an overview of the $70 billion-dollar annual sneaker industry, focusing on its main legal and business components.  This course prepares students to think and act as lawyers and business professionals in anticipating and addressing the legal and business issues faced by sneaker companies, designers, manufacturers, and other parties involved in the sneaker / apparel industry.

This course will include a review of major sneaker deals, entity types and formation, endorsements, manufacturing and distribution, licensing and collaborations, marketing, intellectual property, employment law, standard clauses, counterfeit goods, and the changing landscape of NCAA college athletics with Name, Image and Likeness.  Supplementing the rich case law on these topics are a group of highly accomplished professionals that will guest speak during the semester.

Required Text: Sneaker Law – V1 – Anand & Goldstein – ISBN: 9781735782003

Required Supplemental Text: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike – Phil Knight – ISBN: 1501135910

Required Supplemental Text: Black Market - Merl Code - ISBN: 9781335425775

Required Supplemental Text: Sneaker Wars - Barbara Smit - ISBN: 9780061246579

Sneaker Law: Legal Issues Involving Apparel, Trademarks and Endorsements will provide students with an overview of the $70 billion-dollar annual sneaker industry, focusing on its main legal and business components.  This course prepares students to think and act as lawyers and business professionals in anticipating and addressing the legal and business issues faced by sneaker companies, designers, manufacturers, and other parties involved in the sneaker / apparel industry.

This course will include a review of major sneaker deals, entity types and formation, endorsements, manufacturing and distribution, licensing and collaborations, marketing, intellectual property, employment law, standard clauses, counterfeit goods, and the changing landscape of NCAA college athletics with Name, Image and Likeness.  Supplementing the rich case law on these topics are a group of highly accomplished professionals that will guest speak during the semester.

Required Text: Sneaker Law – V1 – Anand & Goldstein – ISBN: 9781735782003

Required Supplemental Text: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike – Phil Knight – ISBN: 1501135910

Required Supplemental Text: Black Market - Merl Code - ISBN: 9781335425775

Required Supplemental Text: Sneaker Wars - Barbara Smit - ISBN: 9780061246579

Sneaker Law: Legal Issues Involving Apparel, Trademarks and Endorsements will provide students with an overview of the $70 billion-dollar annual sneaker industry, focusing on its main legal and business components.  This course prepares students to think and act as lawyers and business professionals in anticipating and addressing the legal and business issues faced by sneaker companies, designers, manufacturers, and other parties involved in the sneaker / apparel industry.

This course will include a review of major sneaker deals, entity types and formation, endorsements, manufacturing and distribution, licensing and collaborations, marketing, intellectual property, employment law, standard clauses, counterfeit goods, and the changing landscape of NCAA college athletics with Name, Image and Likeness.  Supplementing the rich case law on these topics are a group of highly accomplished professionals that will guest speak during the semester.

Required Text: Sneaker Law – V1 – Anand & Goldstein – ISBN: 9781735782003

Required Supplemental Text: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike – Phil Knight – ISBN: 1501135910

This course will cover important legal issues relating to social media platforms and user interaction.  Social media has revolutionized how we share, consume, and interact with all forms of digital content. These changes brought by social media touch on all aspects of our life—including our legal system. This course will discuss the spectrum of legal topics being impacted by social media: terms of service, platform liability, marketing, intellectual property, employment, privacy, free speech, and fund raising. You will also explore the role that lawyers in law firms and within organizations face when addressing these changes and the emerging risks. From Facebook to Pinterest, Foursquare to Quora, Instagram to Snapchat. We will explore how these platforms are changing our application of existing laws. The objective of this ready group course is to introduce students to the social media legal issues and the methods being used by attorneys to address these risks and how to identify the next area of social media that will challenge our existing legal norms.  Students will be expected to post regularly on Canvas reactions to the reading material by finding a new and recent example of the issues raised.  The grade will be based upon student reaction papers, student participation, and a 15-20 page research paper due at the end of the semester.

Come explore emerging space-related issues currently under discussion internationally and domestically! The course will blend lecture, discussion, and group work in a seminar-like format. We will examine the following topics:

Module 1: Lecture, Introduction to the course and the basics of space law

Norms Development: Bottom up, top down, and points in the middle

Bilaterals, Multilaterals, and the role of consensus  

Module 2: Discussion of readings and lectures

Module 3: Application to Emerging Issues

teams to pick from a list of topics and prepare a mixed media presentation.

Possible topics:

The Yin & Yang of Space: Peaceful Purposes and National Security issues

Can we get there from here? Orbital Debris, Space Situational Awareness, and Space Traffic Management

Micro -> Macro: very small sats and very large constellations

In Situ Resource Utilization  

Students will be graded on group presentations and an exam in Canvas.

Come explore emerging space-related issues currently under discussion internationally and domestically! The course will blend lecture, discussion, and group work in a seminar-like format. We will examine the following topics:

Module 1: Lecture, Introduction to the course and the basics of space law

Norms Development: Bottom up, top down, and points in the middle

Bilaterals, Multilaterals, and the role of consensus  

Module 2: Discussion of readings and lectures

Module 3: Application to Emerging Issues

teams to pick from a list of topics and prepare a mixed media presentation.

Possible topics:

The Yin & Yang of Space: Peaceful Purposes and National Security issues

Can we get there from here? Orbital Debris, Space Situational Awareness, and Space Traffic Management

Micro -> Macro: very small sats and very large constellations

In Situ Resource Utilization  

Students will be graded on group presentations and an exam in Canvas.