Course Schedule

This course is restricted to upper class students only. APPLICATION IS REQUIRED. Application and/or instructions on how to apply for this internship can be accessed on the web: http://law.utexas.edu/internships/application-information/u-s-attorney-internship/ 

To apply, please e-mail a copy of your cover letter, resume and transcript (unofficial is fine) to AUSA Daniel Castillo at daniel.castillo@usdoj.gov, Prof. Klein at sklein@law.utexas.edu, and the staffing office at usatxw.staffing@usdoj.gov. Students interested in the internship are encouraged to stop by Prof. Susan Klein’s office at TNH 3.207 for additional information. Her office hours are on Wednesdays from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, or by appointment. You may call her at (512) 203-2257 or send an e-mail. You may also contact AUSA Castillo at (512) 916-5858 or via email.

** This course meets the Professional Skills requirement for graduation. **

Course Description:

This program offers four or five students internship positions with the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. Students are expected to work 10 hours per week for each semester. The office is located at 903 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 334 Austin, Texas 78701. Some of those hours can be completed at school or at home. Students will assist in the prosecution of federal criminal cases under the supervision of Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Students will receive two credits "pass-fail" for the internship for each semester, for a total of four credits. Information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office is available at: www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw/.

Students may wish to enroll in Adv. Fed. Crim. Prosecution & Defense, Federal Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure: Investigation, Criminal Procedure: Prosecution (bail to jail) and Evidence. However, none of those courses are required.

The application deadline for the next academic year is Monday, April 6, 2026. Though students will know whether they are selected for the program before fall registration, the unique number for the fall 2026 internship may not be available then. Interviews will be conducted at the Career Services Office or via Zoom.

 Additional Information

 Additional information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office internship program may be reviewed at

 https://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/job/law-student-volunteer-academic-year-0.

This course will examine selected labor law topics, with the primary aim of providing an overview of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, as amended, which, after many decades of American working people’s struggles to devise and establish collective means for improving their wages and the conditions in which they worked, committed the United States to fostering collective bargaining in the private sector. The course will take a look at some tools Congress put in the tool box it set up for workers and unions, including enforcement tools, and whether those tools have yielded as much encouragement of collective bargaining as the Act said that Congress intended. This look will include topics such as the history leading up to the Act’s passage; what, when and how workers and employers are allowed to communicate about working terms and conditions; the Act’s prohibition against company unions; its prohibition against discrimination for exercising the Act’s rights; the ways in which workers can form unions and compel collective bargaining; and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements. The course also will touch on the implications for achieving the Act’s stated purpose that arise from ongoing constitutional attacks on the structure and authority of the National Labor Relations Board. An underlying objective will be to give students a glimpse of what union representatives and labor lawyers actually do. To this end, there will some guest speakers.

The considerable uses of land and water--especially, freshwater--have deep legal, social, ethical, and philosophical taproots. These uses, roots and all, have been blanketed in conflict since long before the founding of the Republic. Conflicts endure, though what's under the blanket keeps colliding, enlarging, and shape-shifting, as if natural resource determinations are animated by the ghosts of the past, the present, and the future.

In this highly-focused short-course, we will consider three of the most consequential of the current conflicts--two involving festering past histories--that demand the extensive and intensive uses of land and water. These conflicts are saturating the economic development and the politics of nearly every U.S. state, forcing confrontations with the capabilities, limitations, and over-all architecture of federal, state, and local sources of law and the fragmented institutional dependencies and inter-dependencies of the legal system itself.

The conflicts we will pursue concern the law, politics, policies, and ethical and philosophical underpinnings and implications of:

(1) forested lands and the broken model of public land use;

(2) farming and ranching, centered on the industrial-scale production of non-domestic livestock and poultry; and

(3) data center development and its federal, state, and local legal controls.

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I have conceived this course as a miniature capstone for Law students and as an invitation to inter-disciplinary learning and collaboration.

There will be one or two written exercises. No AI is to be used in the production of what is turned in, unless under explicit written guidelines to be provided.

"Full attendance" at all four meetings includes both reasonable attentiveness at all times and reasonable active participation in the discussions that are integral to the course. The reasonableness of active participation depends on apt commentary clearly informed by the course readings. The sharing of pertinent outside knowledge, such as that which is derived from other courses, other readings, and from volunteer and professional experience is warmly encouraged.

This course provides students with a foundational understanding of Latin American legal traditions. It is designed for those who may encounter Latin American law in their professional paths as lawyers, international civil servants, business executives, or diplomats, among others. For too long, the dominant perception from north of the Rio Grande has been that Latin American legal institutions are, if not wholly irrelevant, at least extremely weak. Such conventional wisdom often fails to distinguish among countries and overlooks significant recent developments in many of them. The course pursues three objectives: (1) to provide future U.S.-based practitioners with a realistic, historically and politically informed perspective on Latin American legal systems; (2) to offer future Latin American practitioners a comparative framework through which to view their own legal systems; and (3) to give any interested student a solid grounding in contemporary legal developments in the region. Rather than attempting to cover every substantive legal area, the course introduces the overarching approaches and defining characteristics of Latin American law. Students will be introduced to civil law regimes, recognizing that common law education alone is insufficient to grasp the complexities of Latin American legal systems. This perspective is particularly relevant given the challenges faced by many American corporations and investors when navigating domestic legal risks without expert counsel. The course also emphasizes the importance of effective communication with Latin American peers. To achieve these goals, topics will include the civil law tradition in Latin America, constitutional law, human rights, civil and commercial codes, remedies in civil law, criminal law, civil and criminal procedure, and business law. The course will use Oquendo, Latin American Law, 3d ed. (Foundation Press 2017), complemented by additional reading materials.

This course is designed to expose students to the Multi-State Performance Test (MPT), one of the components of the NCBE Uniform Bar Exam, and to provide both strategies to approach the MPT and also practice opportunities to implement those strategies. Students will be expected to complete work both outside of and during class time. A heavy emphasis will be placed on self-scoring and on how the strategies and skills developed for approaching the MPT translate directly into legal practice.

Prerequisite: Legal Analysis and Communication This course is restricted to upper division students who have completed the first year, two semester, Legal Analysis and Communication course or who otherwise obtain the permission of the instructors. LLM and Exchange Students interested in taking the course should first contact the instructors to discuss whether their prior coursework includes instruction similar to a first year, two semester, Legal Analysis and Communication course. This one credit, pass-fail, seven week course will solidify and build upon legal research skills acquired during the first year of law school. It will focus on the identification and evaluation of relevant primary and secondary sources and efficient information retrieval. Students will learn how to design a research strategy that effectively integrates using online tools with an underlying understanding of traditional print resources. Students who successfully complete this course will gain a thorough understanding of the use of legal information and research resources in diverse contexts. Emphasis will be placed on U.S. federal sources, but Texas materials will be referenced in the course, and will serve as a model for research in the legal materials of other states. Students will be required to complete both in- and out-of-class exercises throughout the course, but there is no final examination.

This one credit, pass-fail course focuses on research resources used in business law and corporate transactional practice. The emphasis of the course is on identifying sources and efficiently undertaking corporate, securities, and general business law research. It is not a class on the substantive aspects of corporate and securities law except as those aspects relate to the finding and interpretation of legal materials. Aspects of professionalism will also be addressed in the course. Students will be be evaluated on take-home and in-class research assignments.

This seven-week course will focus on the resources and methodology used in performing legal research in Texas. Through a series of lectures and assignments, students will become familiar with the various types of legal research, including statutory law, case law, administrative regulations, and secondary practice materials. The course is offered on a Pass/Fail basis. Students are required to complete in-class and out-of-class exercises throughout the course, but there is no final exam.

This course aims to familiarize students with Spanish-language legal concepts and terminology and to better prepare them for the use of Spanish in the practice of law. It is designed for students who are proficient in Spanish, but have limited exposure to its use in legal settings. The course will include lectures, readings, and written exercises, primarily in Spanish. The course size is limited to allow students ample opportunities to participate in classroom discussions and exercises, with an eye toward being comfortable communicating with clients or third parties in professional settings. The course will cover general concepts relating to the civil law tradition, as well as specific areas of law, including employment law, immigration law, civil procedure, M&A, and others.

There is more to legal writing than the appellate brief. Legal Writing, Adv: Litigation introduces the types of documents used in civil litigation, such as the complaint and answer, discovery requests and objections, and jury instructions. All students will be required to write several litigation documents, evaluate documents written by others, and lead class discussions.

The course focuses on the structure and style of contracts and agreements with a focus on modern drafting conventions. Students will practice revising and drafting various kinds of transactional documents.

The course focuses on the structure and style of contracts and agreements with a focus on modern drafting conventions. Students will practice revising and drafting various kinds of transactional documents.

This course is a focused examination of mediation processes. We will take the topics from the Alternative Dispute Resolution course and extend our understanding with practical exercises. The student should leave this course better equipped to represent clients at mediation. This is a skills-oriented course that requires active participation, with the goal of immersing you in the developing realities of mediation.

 This course is designed to give students an introduction to the real world experience of the dealmaking process, from the first contact between the parties to drafting and negotiating the documents that govern transformational corporate transactions. Over the course of the semester, we’ll break down the main agreements involved in a hypothetical deal with a view to developing a fundamental understanding of how those components interact with the overall business arrangement and deal dynamics. You will analyze and learn to understand how the key provisions of these transaction agreements are negotiated with a view to value maximization for the client and appropriate risk allocation among the parties to a deal. We will also discuss the less tangible aspects of dealmaking that take place outside the four corners of the transaction agreements but are no less important, including the economic and personal motivations of the various parties involved and the psychology and group dynamics of a deal process. As the deal world is an ever changing environment, we’ll look to bring current real world examples into the classroom. Students will engage in-class group practice assignments, including drafting (or “marking up”) transaction documents and preparing issues lists in the context of a prepared fact pattern. Subject matter experts from K&E will be presenting special topics, including financing strategies, navigating deal litigation and public disclosure issues.

Moot Court Advocacy is a course focusing on the appellate advocacy skills used in moot court competitions. Open to students who are on an interscholastic moot court team this year, the course will be co-taught by Texas Law’s interscholastic moot court coaches.

Students will perform skills weekly on different aspects of appellate advocacy focusing on oral and written advocacy skills. Students will have multiple in-class oral advocacy skills assignments and will have one written appellate advocacy assignment, as well as the opportunity to read multiple real and moot appellate briefs to improve their written advocacy skills. 

The course is a short course [first 7 weeks of the spring semester].

The course is pass/fail.

This course will introduce students to the different avenues and theories movement lawyers can utilize to conceptualize and achieve social change. Through readings, discussion, engagement with speakers and project development, we will explore past, present, and future movement lawyering strategies and concepts. We will examine the ways social justice lawyers engage with communities, clients, and political causes, as well as the ethical issues that may arise when advocating on behalf of class members with divergent interests. We will discuss the role of law in social change, its effectiveness and limitations. This course will help students articulate goals for movement lawyers and the need to work in partnership with communities, organizers, and policymakers to achieve justice. To that end, discussion will include how legal assistance is funded and delivered; different substantive legal arenas in which movement lawyering is pursued; the civil rights movement; emerging legal scholarship on Afrofuturism; and the diverse ways in which individuals can work in and outside the courtroom.

### Music Law: Contract Negotiations and AI This practice-based course explores music industry transactional dealmaking, regulation, and the rapidly evolving impact of artificial intelligence on creators and streaming platforms. Students develop practical original drafting and negotiation skills through a recording artist deal memo, while examining how artist, union, producer, publishing, and distribution agreements interact in the music business. We will consider selected current AI legislation and litigation, with particular attention to the exploitation of personhood signals and the implications for artists, session musicians, and songwriters. Students will also examine AI industrial policy and compare developments in the United States, United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions concerning AI regulation, biometric privacy, and rights of personality. The course also reviews the ongoing Copyright Royalty Board's Phonorecords V rate-setting proceeding in the context of the role of the CRB, the Copyright Office, mechanical royalty licensing and rate setting, and the MLC. Weekly discussions of current events connect legal developments to real-world industry practices. The course includes guest speakers, a team-based negotiation simulation, and a final exam. No prior music law experience is required. This is a course in music industry practice, not a general copyright law course. Required Text: All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Eleventh Edition by Donald S. Passman

Professional athletes have had a right of publicity – the right to profit from their name, image, and likeness – for decades.  Until recently, college athletes did not have this right, but recent court cases and state laws have changed this.  This course will analyze the new rights granted to college athletes, how the athletes can benefit from their name, image, and likeness, and how the new rules - including the portal allowing transfers - have changed and may in the future change the landscape of college sports. This course will also address the history and role of the NCAA, the role of the government in college sports, and how lawyers and lawsuits have dramatically affected the changes in college sports.

This course will provide an introduction and overview of the “new” and expanding use of the traditional tools of economic statecraft -- including sanctions, export controls, and investment reviews -- to protect and defend the national security of the United States against foreign adversaries. Students will learn how the Treasury and Commerce Departments have joined forces with more traditional national security actors in the Intelligence Community like the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense to advance U.S. national security interests abroad and to isolate and undermine foreign threats. Students will consider the impact of laws like the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Arms Export Control Act, the Export Controls Reform Act, and the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, as well as other regulations and authorities, and will be prepared to recognize and participate in the growing use of these tools in our post-September 11 world. No textbook required; course will reference articles and cases.

Much of what lawyers do on a day-to-day basis involves negotiation. This negotiations course will provide you with effective, negotiation skills that may benefit you throughout your legal career.  This is a “student-participation,” experiential learning course that blends law, social science, and ethics toward the development of practical negotiation skills in a small classroom environment.  Topics covered will include negotiation theory and literature regarding negotiation of both transactional-based and litigation-based problems. The class is structured to include both classroom presentation and classroom exercises that will be performed in small groups under the instruction of your professor.  You will leave this negotiations course with greater knowledge and understanding of dynamics involved in negotiations and provide you with the skillset to successfully navigate them.

Negotiation is the pathway to agreement. Much of what lawyers do involves negotiation -- the structured process of communicating toward an agreement. This is an "audience participation," experiential learning course that blends law, social science, and ethics toward the development of practice skills. Topics covered will include both transaction and legal claim negotiations. This class will immerse students in the reality of contemporary negotiations.

This class provides an overview of U.S. oil and gas law. Students will gain an understanding of basic oil and gas law principles, derived from a combination of property, contract, administrative, tort, and constitutional law. The course provides an opportunity to take a law course that cuts across several core law-school subjects and from the perspective of a particular business—oil and gas, a business that deals with the most widely traded and strategically important commodity and that has important customs and practices that influence both contract and law. The law of all producing states will be considered with some emphasis on Oklahoma and Texas, the two states with large bodies of oil and gas case law and that most often provide divergent views on various oil and gas issues.

Oil & Gas Taxation covers the United States federal income taxation of domestic oil and gas operations and transactions. The course examines taxation associated with the operational life cycle of oil and gas operations including exploration, development, production and abandonment. The study of transactions involving oil and gas interests analyzes acquisition, disposition, structuring and investment. Course participants learn the historical context and development of oil and gas provisions found in U.S. tax law. Current tax legislative proposals or enactments that affect the oil and gas industry are addressed if warranted. Although emphasis is on federal income taxation of domestic oil and gas transactions, the international tax aspects of the oil and gas business also are surveyed. It is helpful if students have taken Federal Income Tax or Oil and Gas Law, but I will teach the class so that students will not need to have taken these classes as prerequisites to this course. This class is open to Accounting and Petroleum engineering students.

Guns and gun control are woven into the fabric of our Republic. On September 1, 1774, British Redcoats seized gunpowder in Massachusetts in the so-called “Powder Alarm.” That prompted the mobilization of tens of thousands of American militiamen, King George’s ban on importation of firearms into America, and widespread British gun-confiscation efforts—culminating in the bloody efforts to disarm Americans at Lexington and Concord. The Revolutionary War started with a literal battle over gun control.

Today, 250 years after our Declaration of Independence, guns remain at the forefront of American law. The Supreme Court’s approach to the Second Amendment is deeply originalist. And federal statutes governing gun ownership are the font of endless litigation in the federal courts more generally.

This course will explore three main themes. First, we will study the history and tradition of gun ownership in America. Second, we will examine the history of gun control in America—from the Powder Alarm to the various federal statutes passed by Congress. Third, we will explore the original meaning of the Second Amendment and the Supreme Court’s approach to it.

Our textbook will be JOHNSON, KOPEL, MOCSARY, WALLACE, AND KILMER’S FIREARMS LAW AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT (Aspen, 4th ed., 2026). We will have various distinguished guests throughout the semester, including Prof. Mocsary (who co-authored our textbook) and other experts in the field.

Grades will be determined by a paper.

This course will explore the legal and institutional conflicts that arise among federal, state, local, and sub-local governments in the United States. We will consider how constitutional structure, statutory design, and intergovernmental politics shape the allocation of authority across these levels of government, with particular attention to doctrines such as preemption, anti-commandeering, and home rule.

We will explore how these questions emerge in a range of contemporary settings—ranging from state and local implementation of federal regulatory programs, to state takeovers of local institutions. Throughout, we will consider the role of courts, legislatures, executives, and administrative agencies in structuring and mediating these disputes. Readings will include judicial opinions, statutes, scholarly articles, government reports, and selected policy materials. Grades will be based on a combination of short response papers and a 2-hour in-class exam.