Course Schedule

This seminar explores modern legal structures - legislative and judicial - of the Middle East. It introduces students to the process by which traditional Islamic law was transformed into state law in the 19th and 20th centuries CE, by investigating debates on codification, legal modernity, and legal borrowing. With the emergence of the modern nation-states across the Muslim World, many countries accorded constitutional status to Islamic law as “a source” or “the source” of law and some states purport to base their entire systems on versions of Islamic law. The formation of the modern legal regimes in the Middle East was a hybrid product of Islamic and western legal traditions, which raises questions about legal authority, legality, and the creation of modern legal and judicial institutions. The course aims to encourage comparative legal analysis to assess generalizations about law typically formulated with respect to Western legal traditions. The course discusses cases and codes from Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. The topics covered in this course are constitutional law, judicial review, administrative law, obligations, commercial law, family law, human rights, and criminal law.

This seminar focuses on different types of environmental litigation, including: permit hearings and appeals; enforcement hearings and litigation; rule-making and appeals; citizen suits; Superfund litigation; commercial litigation involving environmental issues; and toxic tort litigation. The purpose of the course is to provide practical guidance on litigation aspects of a substantive environmental practice. The course will address procedural and administrative law issues as well as substantive issues. The course will discuss the use of expert witnesses and will touch on public policy and ethical considerations. Grading will be based primarily on a 30-page term paper on a topic selected by the student in consultation with the instructor. For the first ten weeks or so, there will be weekly reading assignments and class discussions based on that reading. From time-to-time, there will be guest speakers representing agency and public interest perspectives; in the remaining sessions, students will present their draft papers. Prior experience or class work in environmental law is helpful, but is not a prerequisite.

This seminar explore the philosophical idea of equality within the liberal tradition as applied to law. We will discuss various concepts of equality and related central debates in modern political philosophy. The discussion of the application to law will focus on non-constitutional law and in particular various private law fields. The grade will be based primarily on seminar papers written by students.

SEMINAR: EXPLORATIONS IN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW & POLITICS AROUND THE GLOBE This seminar will explore some of the most important constitutional issues around the globe today. We will start with fundamental questions of constitutional design. How should constitutions be enacted? Who should participate in the framing and ratification of the constitutional text? How difficult should it be to amend a constitution? One big challenge is the creation of a durable framework for liberal democracy in the context of nations emerging from tyranny and/or violent ethno-racial conflict. Constitution-framers have debated and sometimes adopted direct forms of ethno-racial group representation in national legislatures, as well as federalism arrangements that give rival groups their “own” territorial based states or provinces. What are the pros and cons of such devices for overcoming deep conflicts? Not every effort to constitutionally weld together different ethno-racial groups or “nations” succeeds. The fragility of some efforts gives rise to the recurrent problem of secession. Should constitution-framers make any provision for it? And whether they do or not, how should courts address the issue when it arises – as it has in the recent past, in Canada and in parts of Europe? We will also take up a variety of cutting-edge issues in the domain of constitutional rights and their interpretation and enforcement by courts. Here we will discuss different ways of structuring the judiciary in a number of countries. We will also examine such topics as the ways constitutional systems treat “hate speech,” the ways they address lawmakers’ efforts to outlaw various forms of public religious observance like the wearing of the veil or burka, and the ways that courts seek to enforce so-called “positive” or “social” rights like the rights to health, housing, welfare and education. A further topic concerns the mechanisms democracy can use to protect itself against erosion caused by internal forces. How tolerant should democracy be towards anti-democratic groups? We will also discuss how globalization has affected the ability of national governments to pursue domestic policies for the common good. How should international organizations be structured, and how should they interact with national authorities, to better serve the interests of the people? Note: This seminar will be taught during the first half of the Spring Semester, but the final paper will not be due until the end of the semester.

The seminar on Food Safety Law will explore evolving concepts of food safety as implemented through federal regulatory programs. During the first eight weeks, seminar participants will read and discuss books and articles on risk assessment and risk management generally and on three regulatory programs aimed at ensuring food safety. After an introductory session on concepts of risk assessment and risk management in the context of risks posed by infectious microorganisms and chemical contaminants in food, the seminar will focus upon the following regulatory programs: (1) the Department of Agriculture's food safety and inspection program for beef; (2) the Environmental Protection Agency's program for establishing pesticide tolerances in foods, with a particular focus upon the risks that pesticides pose to children; and (3) the Food and Drug Administration's program for ensuring food safety and approving food additives, with a particular focus on that agency's program for regulating genetically modified foods. During the remainder of the semester, seminar participants will present seminar papers on a wide variety of topics related to food safety. Participants may draw paper topics from a wide variety of subject matter areas, including federal regulatory programs, state regulatory programs, and tort law.

This class will focus on a variety of subjects relating to the delivery of health care services, including patient safety and health care quality, regulation of health care providers, and the payment system. Readings will be of diverse types, including articles published in law reviews, medical journals, and other outlets; empirical studies; popular writings; and even news articles and blog columns. Because students are required to make in-class presentations and submit short papers, space is limited and attendance is required.

You will be required to read Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much For Health Care by Professor Silver and David Hyman, a professor at the Georgetown Law Center.  Professor Silver receives no royalties on sales of the book, the price of which is extremely low.  Americans are overcharged for health care, but students will not be overcharged for taking this course.

Disclosure:  

In this class, we will debate issues of health care policy robustly.  Students who have strong opinions on these issues, whether because of their religious faith, culture, personal experiences, or other reasons, are hereby informed that all beliefs may be challenged on all available grounds, including lack of scientific support, excessive cost, and immorality.  Examples of practices that may be discussed, criticized, and debated openly in class include female genital mutilation, male circumcision, faith-based healing of children with treatable diseases, honor killings, abortion, prohibitions on contraception and sex outside of marriage, drug laws, policies requiring rape victims to marry their abusers, and mask and vaccine mandates.  If you have strong beliefs on these or other health care matters that you do not wish to have questioned or criticized, you should not take this class.

This seminar, “Inside Texas Government: How It Really Works,” furthers the public service mission of The University of Texas School of Law by endeavoring to help law students who aspire to become lawyers who practice law in and around Texas state government, or enhancing the understanding of those students who are just interested in politics and government. The School of Law already offers courses that deal with the legislative branch of the Texas state government and how to navigate it, and virtually every class at the School of Law studies the judicial branch and decisions made by it and their impact. However, there is no course offering that specifically focuses on the executive branch and its interaction with the other two branches of Texas state government, especially the legislative branch. This seminar seeks to provide such a focus. The course teacher, Adjunct Professor Randy Erben, possesses unique expertise, experience, and perspectives into state government. He served as Gov. Abbott’s first legislative director, has run two state agencies, was a registered lobbyist with a broad variety of clients for over 20 years, and currently serves as a commissioner on the Texas Ethics Commission. The course will study the constitutional and statutory powers of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, and other officials and agencies. Class topics include legislation (including legislative procedure, special sessions, emergency proclamations, and vetoes); separation of powers; the state budget; state agency regulations; appointments to boards and commissions; litigation; orders, proclamations, and opinions; and other topics. This seminar reviews and analyzes the powers and duties of the various executive branch offices and applies them to real-life situations. The seminar consists of fourteen classroom seminar sessions, covering the specific mechanisms the various executive branch agencies utilize to project power within the constitutional, statutory, and regulatory limitations constraining them.

Science and innovation are crucial drivers of economic growth and provide some of humanity’s best hopes for addressing a variety of social, political, and even existential problems. This seminar considers the ways in which different legal regimes and proposed reforms to legal regimes, including IP laws, might help or hinder innovation and scientific progress. Assigned readings will include background material on IP as well as articles by leading scholars. Each student will be expected (1) to participate in class discussion; (2) to complete short writing assignments of about 125 to 250 words that respond to assigned readings; (3) to write a term paper to satisfy the seminar writing requirement; (4) to provide written comments on a classmate’s draft term paper; and (5) to make an in-class presentation of the student’s own paper project. Neither technical training nor any specific course is a prerequisite.

This seminar surveys international humanitarian law, also known as the international law of armed conflict. We will study such topics as the regulation of various means and methods of warfare, the treatment of war victims (such as POWs and civilians), the application of the law of war to non-state actors (such as terrorist organizations and corporations), and various enforcement mechanisms (such as international criminal tribunals and US military commissions).

Various sports can be seen as comprising distinct legal systems. Each sport, after all, has its own set of rules, many of which are written and some of which are unwritten. Sports thus present an array of issues that are worthy subjects for legal analysis. And since each sport has its own set of rules, sports are a ripe subject for comparative law analysis. We can look at how similar issues are addressed across different sports. 

Some issues present questions that are readily identifiable as legal in nature. The writing of a particular rule (say, what is a “catch” in football?  in baseball?) requires legal skills. More generally, how should the rule makers decide whether a standard be used (e.g., unnecessary delay) as opposed to a more objective measure (e.g., 25 seconds to serve in tennis); or whether a rule should include a state of mind requirement? What should the standard of review be for replay officials? Should replay even be allowed? If so, when? Should officials be given discretion (like prosecutors) in whether to call a penalty? Should the rules be applied at the end of the game the same as at the beginning?

Other issues are not so obvious. Rule violations have consequences (e.g., runner advances a base, five-yard penalty, free throw). Is it helpful to think of these as the cost of an infraction (think, breach of contract) or a sanction (think, criminal law)? What turns on this? Should a sport employ a no-harm, no-consequence regime or impose a cost/sanction regardless of whether there is any harm (e.g., free throw after a made shot in basketball)? How do/should we think about gamesmanship, cheating, and sportsmanship? Should there be rules about the use of performance-enhancing drugs? If so, what is a performance-enhancing drug? And there’s lots more.

Grades for the seminar will be based on class presentations, participation in class discussion, and a substantial written paper.

This seminar will focus on cutting-edge research in law and economics. In most of the classes, we will host a workshop during which a leading scholar will present a paper. In the weeks in which there is no outside speaker, two groups of students will each present one to the two papers that will be presented by the outside speakers in the next two workshops. All students are required to write short critiques of most of the speakers’ papers. Your critiques will be graded and made available to the speaker.

The legal system of a liberal democracy properly works to secure for all who are subject to its authority the blessings of liberty.  This seminar will be a study of different conceptions and theories of the liberty that such legal systems are supposed to secure.  Among the different conceptions the study will cover are those of negative liberty, positive liberty, and civic republican liberty, and it will cover in association with these the theories of classical liberalism, welfare state liberalism, and civic humanism.  The readings and seminar discussions will focus on both conceptual questions about the nature of these different types of individual liberty and normative questions about which type or types ought a legal system of a liberal democracy secure and, if it ought to secure more than one, in what contexts ought one or another be given greater priority.  Should freedom of contract, for example, prevail over freedom from exploitative labor practices?

The germline editing of the human genome will permanently alter our species biologically, in ways large and small. From the standpoint of political, legal, and humanrights theory, our seminar asks: How might a liberal democratic community today—marked by value pluralism and aspiring to tolerance for different normative cultures—best regulate this confluence of rapid developments in genetic science and technology? Our seminar focuses on the promise of gene manipulation to improve human health andreduce human suffering, as well as on the dangers it poses to both human dignity and human nature.

In modern secular societies such as the USA, traditional theological or metaphysical conceptions of human nature and human dignity compete with contemporary alternatives:natural scientific accounts of what our species is, and social scientific accounts of the individual and social importance of treating members with respect and dignity. Thesecontemporary alternatives deploy post-metaphysical notions of human nature (e.g., as a social construct) and post-theological notions of human dignity (e.g., as the decisionalautonomy of future persons, held in trust by the current generation).

Our seminar asks: How might the American legal system, with inputs from expert medical and bioethical opinion as well as from informed public opinion, plausibly regulate some forms and aspects of human genetic engineering in the coming decades? To answer this question, students identify and creatively extrapolate possible resources in state and federal law as well as in human rights theory. They will draw on assigned readings for examples of relevant regulatory issues.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will:

• Enhance research skills;
• Improve writing skills in the scholarly genre;
• Refine analytic skills through careful reading, analysis, and discursive argumentation in defense of an original thesis in the term paper;
• Cultivate the capacity to engage in small-group discussion through in-class presentations and participation;
• Learn about cutting-edge thinking on moral and legal challenges of regulating biotechnologies in general, and particularly the future possible germline editing of our species—one of the most significant challenges for human rights in the twenty-first century.

GRADING POLICY

Requirements:

(a) One paper, no fewer than 30 pages and no more than 50, based on directed and supervised research in the course materials, addressing one or more issues of legalregulation, either current or proposed; and

(b) One in-class PowerPoint presentation of the student’s paper-in-progress.

The paper is due at the end of the semester. Each student has been assigned a date for a PowerPoint presentation (and may swap dates with another student after informing theinstructor). During the semester, the instructor will closely review drafts of the paper (not graded) and provide written and oral suggestions for improvements in substance andstyle. Upload drafts and essay to the seminar’s Canvas site as Word documents (.doc or .docx, never PDF). No late submissions accepted.

Course grade: final paper determines 100%; course grade may be adjusted for quality of weekly classroom participation and in-class presentation. Students receive feedback ontheir paper-in-progress multiple times over the semester, in writing and orally.

A+ 4.30, A 4.00 - 4.29, A- 3.70 - 3.99, B+ 3.30 - 3.69, B 3.00 - 3.29, B- 2.70 - 2.99, C+ 2.30 - 2.69, C 2.00 - 2.29, D 1.70 - 1.99, F 1.30 - 1.69

(c) Also required but not graded: brief weekly responses to questions from the instructor about the week’s assigned reading. Students cannot earn an A without submitting alldiscussion posts on time, as well as both rough drafts of the paper, unless excused on warranted grounds.

(d) Also required but not graded: participation in two debates, and organization (as a Debate Committee member) of two general class discussions, as specified below.

In this seminar we will explore the various mechanisms through which the public can regulate and shape the conduct of local police. We will consider the role of both federal and state constitutional law, as well as litigation more broadly in addressing police misconduct (including the role of attorneys and plaintiffs, immunity doctrines, and financial incentives that shape municipal decision-making). We also will consider the role of other actors, including state legislators and state oversight agencies (e.g. licensing boards and state attorneys’ general); local oversight bodies; municipal insurers; and the federal government. Readings will include scholarly articles, judicial opinions, investigative reports, and proposed and enacted policies and legislation. Criminal Procedure (Investigations) is not a formal pre-requisite but is strongly encouraged.

Respect for precedent is a cornerstone of the U.S. legal system. But the details about how precedent works—and how advocates and judges use it to persuade each other—don’t always receive focused attention. 

This seminar will explore the nature of precedent from both theoretical and practical perspectives. In the first part of the course, we will consider theoretical questions about the nature of precedent: Why have a system of precedent? What exactly is precedent? And how does it bind future decisionmakers (…or does it)? In the second part of the course, we’ll take a more practical approach, reading briefs and judicial decisions to see how advocates and judges invoke precedent to justify their positions and persuade others that their views of the law are correct.  

Evaluation will be based on class participation and a final paper. 

The distinction between the public and the private is one of the most fundamental concepts in liberal legal orders, carrying significant legal implications. For example, whether an entity is classified as “public” (or, conversely, as “private”) impacts its rights, powers, duties, and responsibilities. Entities may be permitted or restricted from certain actions simply based on their classification as public or private. Moreover, there are actions that only private entities can undertake or refrain from, due to their private nature. Yet, the public/private distinction is often poorly understood. As a result, some reject it altogether, while others mischaracterize it. The overall purpose of this seminar is to develop a deeper understanding of the public/private distinction by examining relevant legal doctrines and their underlying normative considerations. We will focus on key areas of public and private law, while also analyzing pressing questions such as the role of AI in making binding decisions, the regulation of social media in a democracy, the legitimacy of punitive damages in tort law, and anti-privatization doctrines in property and contract law.

Resilience has become a powerful lens across disciplines—from ecology and psychology to economics and political science—and it now shapes debates in policy, governance, and even popular culture. Yet legal scholars have only begun to grapple with resilience as a concept for understanding legal institutions, doctrines, and remedies. This seminar explores how resilience might illuminate core questions of legal design and practice: How do legal systems absorb shocks? How should law respond to disruption, crisis, and change? How do lawyers stay resilient despite the intense demands of their profession? Students will engage cutting-edge scholarship and develop original research at the intersection of resilience and law. The course culminates in a substantial written work, giving students the opportunity to make a genuine contribution to an emerging field of legal thought.

The technology of constitution-making has evolved substantially since the writing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. A constitution enacted today almost anywhere in the world would look considerably different—unrecognizable in relation to rights and freedoms, for instance—from the U.S. Constitution. This contrast raises a fundamental question: can we learn anything useful from other constitutions to help us address the challenges of modern law and society here in the United States? Students in this seminar will learn primarily about the U.S. Constitution, with comparisons to constitutions in the 50 states and in every region of the world. Readings will be made freely-available on Canvas. Evaluation will be based on class participation, three response papers (graded complete/incomplete), and one final term paper. Dinner will be served at every class session, sponsored by the Constitutional Studies Program and the Center for Law and Democracy, both housed here at the University of Texas at Austin.

In this seminar, legal realism meets securities regulation. Perhaps you have wondered how it could be determined that trading in meme stocks crosses a line? Or when crypto is subject to securities regulation? Or what stock trade might amount to illegal insider trading? The objective of this course is to illuminate such questions by giving students a practical appreciation of both the process through which securities law enforcement decisions are made, and the powerful role they have in shaping securities law. The course has two main components. First, we examine the process of securities enforcement: how cases are investigated, what leads to enforcement action, and the respective roles of government lawyers, defense counsel, the Commission, and the courts. Students will gain an insider’s perspective on how enforcement decisions are made and how they drive the development of substantive securities law. Second, we will explore key areas of securities regulation that are particularly influenced by the enforcement process, including insider trading, financial fraud, market manipulation and foreign corrupt practices. A consistent theme will be the utility and consequences of developing law through ad hoc enforcement decisions. The seminar is taught by a professor with 35 years of securities enforcement experience, including service as a senior SEC enforcement official and as a partner in a global law firm representing clients in major investigations—offering students a unique perspective from both sides of the table.

This is a writing seminar designed to teach key features of the doctrines developed in connection with 42 U.S.C. 1983, the primary vehicle for federal civil rights litigation in connection with constitutional violations by state and local officials. The readings and class content will be aimed at teaching the mechanics of Section 1983 litigation, and also with exposing students to scholarly assessments of the doctrine. Topics will include state-action doctrine, qualified and absolute immunity, municipal liability, damages and attorneys fees, and additional issues. Class sessions will include discussion of cases and scholarship pertaining to the assigned topic, as well as sessions with practitioners in the field. Students will be evaluated based on their weekly preparation and active participation in discussion, and on their completion of a work of original research related in some way to Section 1983 litigation. This content of the course will be useful to any students contemplating work in civil rights litigation, a federal clerkship, or government lawyering (particularly in state attorney general or city or county attorneys' offices), or with general interest in federal courts or remedies for constitutional violations.

Course content and description:This seminar will examine topics in the law of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence.  

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: 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. The objective of this seminar 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. 

Artificial Intelligence is the use of machines to generate reasoning and problem solving, knowledge representation, and planning and decisionmaking. AI has been available in many forms for years but its use is becoming more commonplace in the practice of law. The delivery and use of AI presents many important legal and policy questions for society.

Prerequisites, co-requisites, and sequencing: None.

Course requirements: The goal of a seminar is to write a 30-35 page paper with over 120 footnotes and with over 30 sources in a topic related to social media or artificial intelligence. Students will need to find a topic within the first two weeks, prepare an outline, a first draft, and a final draft. In the last several classes, students will deliver a 20 minute presentation to the class. The paper will count 80%, the presentation will count 10%, and class participation (including attendance) will count 10%.

Materials: Two online books available for free on the Tarlton Library website. Additional materials will be posted on Canvas.

This seminar will be divided into courts of nine students each.  Each court will take up the same selection of important and interesting cases pending before the Supreme Court in this term. You will act as a justice of the Supreme Court, deliberate with your fellow justices on the basis of the actual briefs and records before the Court, and decide each case. In the course of the semester, you will be expected to write at least two major opinions (for the court, concurring, or dissenting), and two brief opinions (concurring or dissenting separately). You and your colleagues on your court will be the center of conversation and judgment. My role will be secondary, as a sounding board, gadfly and consultant on your work. This is an exciting and demanding seminar, at a moment of great stress within, and attention to, the Supreme Court and its cases.

This is a one-semester three-unit seminar that will review the cases the SCOTUS has accepted for certiorari in the 2022-2023 Term, which of course begins in Oct. of 2022. We will focus on those cases concerning criminal law and procedure and related civil topics, such as immigration and civil rights actions. We will meet once a week for two hours. The only prerequisite is first-year criminal law. However, it would no doubt be helpful to have taken one of our criminal procedure or upper-level criminal law-related courses or seminars, or one of the criminal law clinics or internships. Each week, for the first hour, two of you will argue a pending SCOTUS case representing the government or plaintiff and two will argue representing the defense. The class and I will act as the Justices and question you, the attorneys, from the bench. For the second hour, we will dissect the arguments we heard, and perhaps attempt to predict what the Court will do. Two or three students will write a majority, dissenting, and perhaps a concurring opinion, which they will submit to me the following week. You will not be required to draft more than two opinions each. You will rewrite one of your opinions (your choice) after receiving feedback from your fellow students and from me. Your roles will constantly shift. You may not select which side of an argument you are on, but you can request particular cases. If you don't see a case you are following on my list, please ask! I will be flexible based upon student interest.

There is no casebook.  Please read the briefs of the parties posted posted on the SCOTUS blog for the assigned cases (or the cert. petition and opposition to cert., if that is all there is), and the opinion below. I will also post those on Canvas for your convenience. Reading the briefs of amici is not required. Please check Canvas every week for your written and oral assignments. I will try to get those sorted out and posted after the first week of class. There is no final exam. Your grade is based 50% on your oral arguments, questioning, and other class participation, and 50% on your written opinions. Obviously I cannot blind grade. However, this seminar is limited to 16 students, and therefore I will not grade on a curve.

PREREQUISITE: Federal Income Tax (354J or 454J or 393Q or 493Q). This seminar will examine some fundamental features of the U.S. federal income tax system and will focus on various tax policy considerations including fairness, efficiency, complexity/simplicity, the Executive Branch and legislative processes, and taxpayer behavior. The assigned readings and class discussions will focus on several key topics, including the proper timing for taxing income, progressive versus flat tax rates, the income tax treatment of property transferred at death or by gift, tax expenditures, the taxation of corporate income, and capital gains and losses. You and I will need to agree on your paper topic during the first month of class or so, and thereafter you must complete an outline of your paper that you submit to me for review and comment, then you must do a substantial draft of the paper that you will present in class and that I will give you comments on, and, finally, you must submit your final paper to me approximately two or three days before the deadline for spring grades (the precise deadline for the final paper will be given to you during or before the first week of classes in the spring semester). Your grade will be based on the final paper submitted (approximately 85 percent of the final grade) and class participation (approximately 15 percent of the final grade), including discussion of the assigned readings for 6 or 7 weeks of the seminar class sessions, the PowerPoint presentation of your draft paper in class, and your discussion of other students' draft papers during their PowerPoint presentations of them.