Course Schedule

This course offers a unique opportunity for students to become active participants in the evolving field of AI regulation. You will go beyond traditional legal analysis to provide practical, actionable guidance to real-world clients, including government agencies, nonprofits, and tech companies. The course is built around a comprehensive, hands-on approach that merges legal theory with policy practice.

The semester begins with an intensive four-week boot camp on innovation governance, statutory interpretation, and policy analysis, including the strategic and ethical use of AI tools for research and drafting. You will then apply these skills through a series of weekly case studies drawn from current AI policy debates. The course culminates in a substantive, client-facing writing project—a 20-25 page legal and policy analysis that addresses a specific AI governance challenge.

Through guest lectures from leading experts and direct engagement with clients, you will gain invaluable experience in translating complex legal issues into clear, policy-oriented recommendations. This course is designed to equip you with the advanced analytical and professional skills necessary to shape the future of AI and the law.

Law made by administrative agencies dominates the modern legal system and modern legal practice. This course examines the legal and practical foundations of the modern administrative state. Topics include rationales for delegation to administrative agencies; the legal framework (both constitutional and statutory) that governs agency decision-making; the proper role of agencies in interpreting statutory and regulatory law; and judicial review of agency action. The course will cover these topics through a comparative analysis of administrative processes in five federal agencies—the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Labor Relations Board, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Communications Commission. A combination of cases and discussion problems will be used to examine legal issues such as the separation of powers doctrine; the constitutional law of due process; health, safety, and environmental policy; the provision of government benefits; and market regulation. The central theme of the course is how administrative law balances “rule of law” values (procedural regularity, substantive limits on arbitrary action) against the often-competing values of political accountability, democratic participation, and effective administrative governance.

Advanced Advocacy: Jury Selection & Psychology primarily focuses on two critical concepts for jury trial lawyers: jury selection and the psychology of juror persuasion and communication. This class, which is limited to 3L students, is the only class in the law school where you will spend six weeks learning about and ultimately practicing jury selection (voir dire). Here are three key components of this class:

• Learn techniques for jury selection culminating in two opportunities to practice jury selection, including one with “real people” (Austin residents not affiliated with the law school).
• Study advanced jury persuasion techniques by considering the psychology of both your audience (the jury) and yourself (the lawyer), with real-world lessons on attorney well-being and dealing with clients who are victims of trauma.
• Work with licensed psychiatrists to prepare them to testify as expert witnesses and then conduct direct and cross-examinations of the experts.

This is a keystone class for students who have mastered basic and even advanced advocacy skills and are ready to dive into cutting-edge techniques and approaches. The class combines both discussion and practice sessions focusing on both traditional legal exercises and other experimental approaches to advocacy. This class is application-only. Suggested prerequisites: Evidence, Advocacy Survey, and advanced Advocacy work such as appellate advocacy, Intensive Litigation Advocacy Skills, ADR courses, clinics, or interscholastic mock trial participation.

You spent the first year of law school analyzing published cases. The emphasis of much of your reading was on the results of published cases and the legal principles each case teaches. Importantly, while trial court judges can publish written opinions on discreet issues, most of your previous reading focused on appellate court opinions. Every appellate court opinion begins with a narrative of the facts. The facts are critical in developing the legal opinions pronounced by the opinion. The way the facts are recited often allows the reader to begin developing a just result in the case simply by the way the facts are presented. But what does the first year of law school teach you about developing facts? We certainly spend a great deal of time analyzing facts, but how do you produce them? How do facts become evidence? Why do some facts seem to matter more than other facts? At a time in our society when it is hard to find common ground on what constitutes an objective fact, how do current attitudes (and social media) affect our profession where so much of the law depends upon the facts? And nestled somewhere between Evidence and Federal Courts perhaps our Course Catalog will one day have a class devoted entirely to Facts. Because no matter what type of law you practice, you’re going to have to deal with the facts of your case. You’re going to have to deal with the good facts, the bad facts, and the ambiguous facts. Whether you practice Admiralty Law or Wills and Estates, you must wrestle with disputed facts. And mostly importantly you, the lawyer, must find facts. Facts do not announce themselves, and rarely does the judge or jury understand the significance of any fact. Like latent fingerprints, we often see only remnants and traces of facts. These facts are never reviewed by an appellate court unless they are collected, preserved, interpreted, presented, and introduced as evidence. It is our job to find truth and extract justice for our clients by distilling the vapor of nuance from these latent facts. This class is a guide to that process. This class has a mandatory evening skills component (Monday or Wednesday evening). Students must register for both the lecture (376M) and either Monday or Wednesday evening skills portion (176N) of the class. Please note, the evening Skills portion of the class will not begin until week 5 or 6 of the semester and will run for eight weeks. Advocacy Survey is designed for all law students. While focusing primarily on trial skills, the course will also cover topics such as transactional practice, motion practice and alternative dispute resolution. By combining theory through the lecture sessions with technique training in skills sessions, students are able to practice what they learn. Students get hands-on practice in areas such as opening and closing statements, the use and relevance of technology in litigation, transferable skills for a transactional practice, and the basic skills necessary to try a case. The skill sessions will end with the trial of a case. Students will examine a case file from pretrial motions, transactional, ADR, arbitration, voir dire, and trial. This is a 4-credit series (1 credit pass/fail, 3 credits graded). Prerequisite or Concurrent: Evidence.

Students get hands-on practice in areas such as opening and closing statements, the use and relevance of technology in litigation, transferable skills for a transactional practice, and the basic skills necessary to try a case. The skill sessions will end with the trial of a case.

Students get hands-on practice in areas such as opening and closing statements, the use and relevance of technology in litigation, transferable skills for a transactional practice, and the basic skills necessary to try a case. The skill sessions will end with the trial of a case.

This course will examine how the U. S. Supreme Court sets its agenda. It will also examine agenda setting in other legal institutions , e.g, the office of the US. Solicitor General, State Solicitors General, and perhaps private legal practices. Students will be expected to come to class well prepared to discuss readings including weekly 1-2 page papers reflecting on the readings. Students will write a modest research paper on a topic of their choice related to agenda setting that is approved by the professor.

This course focuses on the changing health and supportive care needs of an aging metropolis. We examine the influences of political and economic forces that shape public policies related to health and social welfare policy using Austin as a case example. Potential topics to be covered are affordable housing, homelessness, transportation, medical care, social services, access to electronic media, and income supports. One potential way of addressing this new reality that the instructor has been involved with in recent years is intergenerational day centers (IDC) that combine adult day health care and childcare services.

Alternative asset classes, particularly hedge funds and private equity funds, play an increasingly central role in the global economy. Total alternative assets under management surpassed $10 trillion in 2020, a more than threefold increase from 2008, and are expected to surpass $17 trillion by 2025. Hedge funds and private equity funds represent approximately 75% of these assets. This explosive growth has been accompanied by an increased institutionalization of the industry, an advanced regulatory environment and a significant rise in public scrutiny. This course will provide a comprehensive review of the legal and regulatory framework related to hedge fund and private funds, particularly in relation to structuring, documentation, disclosures, tax considerations and compliance. Areas of focus will include relevant federal securities, tax and pension plan laws, case history and agency actions. This course also will include a critical analysis of related policy issues and topics, including insider trading, environmental/social/governance (ESG) investing, preferential tax treatment, the rise of cryptocurrencies and the economic and societal impacts associated with the alternative investment industry. In addition, the course will analyze the various roles lawyers play throughout the industry.

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (3 HOUR COURSE) The Alternative Dispute Resolution Survey course is designed to provide a broad-based introduction to negotiation, mediation, and arbitration, for students interested in either advocacy or transactional practices. ADR methods are now more common than the courtroom for resolving civil disputes; more than 99% of civil cases are settled before trial, if cases are even filed at the courthouse. Many commercial agreements now contain mandatory mediation/arbitration provisions, and statutory and case law both favor ADR. This course will examine the policy and business reasons for the rise in ADR; explore the various ADR methods; discuss negotiating and why lawyers must learn successful negotiating skills; and provide students with an opportunity to experience these concepts through class exercises. The professor is a 30+year litigation attorney with substantial experience to both trial and ADR disputes, and she brings a practical, real-world approach to the lectures and exercises. There will be no exam, but a final written project is required. Grading will be based upon class participation, attendance, and the final paper. Please note: Students may only miss two classes per semester, additional absences will be reflected in a lower grade.

This course will analyze the origins of arbitration, its use in dispute resolution, and explore tactics for navigating arbitration.  It involves active class participation designed to mimic the arbitration process: drafting and negotiating arbitration clauses; selecting the arbitrator; presenting a claim; and will conclude with a mock arbitration. The teaching goal is to prepare students for drafting clauses for arbitration, engaging in arbitration, and evaluating the decision to resolve disputes through arbitration from the perspective of practicing attorneys and arbitrators.

This course will explore the implications of advances in artificial intelligence for the law and policy of U.S. national security. Students will first learn to understand and classify AI systems. The class will then consider the lawfulness and prudence of current and potential future uses of AI in intelligence, law enforcement, and armed conflict. The course will also explore AI’s potential effects in the online information space, cybersecurity, and terrorism, before considering possible government responses and the applicable legal principles. The class will also situate AI within the broader geopolitical context, including great-power competition with China. Students will be evaluated based on research and writing assignments of modest length, in-class exercises, and class participation.

This course is for students who want to practice bankruptcy - and for those who simply want a fun, challenging course that covers a key legal system underlying the U.S. and global economies. It covers Title 11 of the U.S. Code, the Bankruptcy Code. The course includes both consumer and business bankruptcy and a modest introduction to state law collection issues. Students learn the basic concepts of "straight" bankruptcy liquidation (Chapter 7), in which a trustee is appointed to sell the debtor's assets and pay the proceeds to the creditors. For consumers, that topic includes the fresh start--the discharge of all pre-existing debt--and the identification of exempt assets. Students also study the rehabilitation provisions, under which the debtor attempts to pay all or some part of the pre- bankruptcy debt: Chapter 13 payout plans for consumers and Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings for businesses. Principal attention is given to the substance of the bankruptcy laws, including the "avoiding powers" (for example, preferences and fraudulent conveyances), treatment of secured creditors (including the automatic stay against repossession or foreclosure), and priorities in asset distribution. More than half of the course is devoted to business reorganizations in Chapter 11, including the legal requirements for confirmation of a plan of reorganization and "cramdown" of recalcitrant creditors. Questions of jurisdiction and procedure are introduced, but are not the major focus of the course. The course attempts to give balanced attention to the practice realities of negotiation and leverage within a complex of doctrinal rules and to the social and economic consequences of the bankruptcy system in both its consumer and commercial manifestations. Grading will be primarily based on the exam but there is a class-participation component. Prerequisite: none.

Textbook 1: The Law of Debtors and Creditors: Text, Cases, and Problems (Aspen Casebook) 8th Edition, ISBN: 9781454893516

Textbook 2: 2022 or 2023 statutory supplement Bankruptcy and Article 9.

Side Note: The least expensive way to purchase both textbooks is through the Longhorn Textbook Access Program: Bundle: The Law of Debtors and Creditors: Text, Cases, and Problems, Eighth Edition with Bankruptcy & Article 9: 2023 Statutory Supplement Access Elizabeth Warren, Jay Lawrence Westbrook, Katherine Porter, John A. E. Pottow - $189.36 – Connected eBook digital access code + 2023 Supplement digital access.

This is the basic introductory course in business organizations. It considers issues relating to the selection of business form (partnership, limited partnership, corporation, and limited liability company), as well as the formation, financing, operation, and control of business entities. Primary emphasis is placed on conducting business in the corporate form, including closely-held and publicly-held corporations. Issues discussed in connection with public corporations include registration of securities, proxy regulation, and derivative litigation. Corporate Governance is examined in light of the collapse of Enron and other public companies. Problems in the supplementary materials demonstrate how the statutes and common law principles covered in the course apply in a real world setting. A student may not receive credit for both Corporations and Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched).

This course provides an introduction to the law that governs corporations and unincorporated business associations. Among the topics this course may cover are the law of agency, which provides the foundation for discussion of the most common business associations; legal issues related to partnerships and LLCs; and corporations, including limited liability, piercing the corporate veil, the business judgment rule, fiduciary duties, and basic concepts in securities law.

A student may not receive credit for both Business Associations for LLMs and Business Associations or Business Associations (Enriched) or Corporations.

This course will examine some general jurisprudential and moral issues related to the American system of capital punishment. The course will focus primarily on the development of the law governing capital punishment in the United States since 1970. Some of the main themes include: the legal structure of the Supreme Court's post-1970 death penalty jurisprudence, the scope of available appellate and post-conviction review in capital cases (particularly federal habeas review), the ubiquitous problems surrounding the representation afforded indigent capital defendants, proportionality limits on the imposition of the death penalty for various offenders (e.g., juveniles and persons with intellectual disability), the role of racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty, and the likely trajectory of the American death penalty. The course will be graded on a letter-grade basis for all students. Grades will be based upon an open-book final examination.

Introduction to the civil adjudicative process, primarily that of the federal courts, including jurisdiction, pleading, dispositive motions, discovery, and trial procedure.

Introduction to the civil adjudicative process, primarily that of the federal courts, including jurisdiction, pleading, dispositive motions, discovery, and trial procedure.

ACTUAL INNOCENCE CLINIC IS A 6-HR. CLINIC. Students investigate claims by inmates that they are actually innocent of the offenses for which they are incarcerated. While investigating cases, students typically interview witnesses, research cases and issues of forensic science, and review trial transcripts and other court documents. The weekly clinic class addresses topics relevant to actual innocence law and procedure. An application is required.

This clinic provides students with the opportunity to assist in the representation of indigent criminal defendants charged with or convicted of capital offenses. Students work under the supervision of attorneys on death penalty cases at the trial, appellate, and post-conviction stages of the legal process. Students perform various tasks that are integral to death penalty representation, including visiting clients on death row; interviewing witnesses and conducting field investigations; drafting motions, appellate briefs, and habeas petitions; and assisting attorneys in the preparation for trials, evidentiary hearings, and appellate arguments.

Clinic students are expected to devote an average of 10 hours of work per week to their clinical responsibilities during the semester, though the workload in any given week will vary, depending on the needs of the case to which the student is assigned. Investigative work on some cases may require out-of-town travel. The Clinic meets once a week as a class (two hours) for training and practical skills sessions related to death penalty representation. Attendance at these sessions is mandatory.

As a prerequisite to enrolling in the Clinic, students are required to take concurrently, or to have taken previously, the Capital Punishment course (Law 278R / 378R). First-semester second-year students are welcome to enroll in both the Clinic and the Capital Punishment course, which takes as its subject the substantive and procedural law governing death penalty trials and appeals. A background in Texas and federal constitutional criminal procedure is also extremely helpful, but not required, to enroll in the Clinic. Grading is pass/fail. There is no paper or examination.

An application is required.

Students in the Children's Rights Clinic represent allegedly abused or neglected children in Travis County as their attorney ad litem. The cases are brought by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). The state may intervene in a family in a variety of ways, including seeking temporary or permanent custody of a child or termination of parental rights and adoption.

Two very experienced attorneys, Clinical Professors Lori Duke and Leslie Strauch, supervise the representation of clients by the student attorney. The supervising attorneys sign pleadings drafted by the students and accompany them at every court hearing, deposition, and trial on the merits. However, within a week or two, a student can expect to "sit first chair" at hearings, and also is expected to research and prepare the case.

Each student attorney will be assigned a mix of newly filed cases and other cases in various stages of development. If the case goes to final hearing, student participation in the trial will vary from partial to extensive. Each student will have multiple opportunities to appear in court during the semester. Some students will have the opportunity to participate in a bench trial. Occasionally students will participate in a jury trial. Students are likely to participate in mediation.

In representing clients, students meet with a wide variety of persons, including medical and mental health professionals, teachers, foster parents, caseworkers and social workers, attorneys, layperson CASA volunteers who may serve as guardians, and police officers.

Court is generally Tuesday morning. The class meets once a week to focus on substantive law, procedure, and ethics, as well as child welfare policy. In addition to the classroom component, each student should expect to average about 12-15 hours per week on clinic work. The weekly workload varies.

Students are required to visit their child clients. Sometimes these client visits require travel outside of Travis County (with travel reimbursed). There are no prerequisites for the course. Students, however, must meet Texas requirements for the participation of qualified law students in the trial of cases under rules promulgated by the Texas Supreme Court.

The course is pass/fail. There is no paper or final exam. The course counts toward the ABA Experiential Learning Requirement. An application is required.

Students in the Civil Rights Clinic represent clients in civil rights matters. Such matters include police misconduct, jail mistreatment, housing justice, unlawful immigration detention, worker’s rights, and disability discrimination. Students work on cases and law reform advocacy projects with co-counsel from civil rights organizations and attorneys across the country, under the supervision of clinic faculty. Through clinic work, students hone lawyering skills, including fact investigation, drafting pleadings, discovery and depositions, legal research and writing, case development and selection, and client or witness interviewing. Students work on cases in teams, meeting with supervising clinic faculty on at least a weekly basis. Students also participate in a classroom seminar, in which students learn relevant substantive and procedural law, discuss the political and social contexts of civil rights cases, and think through how to resolve legal problems effectively and ethically. The seminar meets twice a week for a total of three hours. The supervising Clinic faculty member is Clinical Professor Lia Sifuentes Davis. The clinic is offered in the fall and spring, for six (6) credits, pass/ fail. The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters. Students should expect to devote an average of 10-12 hours per week for casework and seminar preparation. For more information, see https://law.utexas.edu/clinics/civil-rights/. An application is required.

What is the DRC? 

Students in the Disability Rights Clinic (DRC) represent clients with disabilities in a variety of legal contexts.  Students represent low-income parents of children with disabilities in cases brought against school districts that have violated state and federal special education and anti-discrimination laws. 

What kind of experience will I gain? 

DRC students draft civil complaints, develop expert testimony, mediate their cases, and try them when necessary.  Students work in teams on one to three cases, depending on their areas of interest, client need, and capacity. 

Will I work to resolve disputes?

Significant focus and attention is given to ADR in DRC. Students serve as lead student counsellors in formal mediation of their complaints before mediators on contract with the Texas Education Agency.  Through this model, students develop skills common to both litigation (drafting, discovery, witness prep) and transactional (negotiation, line-editing, creative problem-solving) practices.

Will I have much client contact? 

Yes! Students practice the skills involved in building trust with their child clients and families through regular counselling by phone, zoom, and sometimes through in-person home visits. The DRC emphasizes the art of making the law accessible to nonlawyer parents and, where possible, their children.  

How does DRC get its clients?

Families needing DRC legal services are selected primarily through a medical-legal partnership with the Dell Children’s Medical Group and other state-wide partners.  Many of the children served live in under-resourced rural communities, and a majority are young children of color.  Some children are in foster care or have experienced housing instability, and a large number have been identified as having autism.

What kinds of situations do DRC clients confront?

DRC students have worked on cases in which educators have physically abused or neglected children with disabilities, put into segregated and locked education settings kids whose conduct was driven by unmet disability-related need, and failed to therapies and other critical related services necessary for kids' inclusion in school. Many of our cases have involved kids whose behavior has become challenging because of the lack of appropriate services, and some have involved contested hearings in the suspension and expulsion contexts.  

Who should take this clinic?

Students who want to gain experience in litigation and/or mediation, and those who would like to go on to represent children or people with disabilities in either a pro bono or public interest practice, should consider this clinic.  DRC partners with it several of its graduates in Big Law to broaden its reach. Graduates of DRC have worked in large law firms supporting special education work as a pro bono focus, in mid-size firm practice representing school districts, as lawyers in nonprofit settings representing persons with disabilities, in juvenile and criminal defense work, and in governmental entities requiring expertise in education or disability law.  

What are the course requirements?

The Disability Rights Clinic meets once per week for two hours. Grading is on a pass/fail basis for this four-credit hour clinic. There is no final exam or paper. Students should expect to spend 10-15 hours per week on clinic work, including class time. 

Roughly one-third of class time is devoted to understanding and discussing substantive education law and how it plays out "on the ground" in Texas school districts.  Additional class sessions are used to teach and practice specific skills involved in identifying and analyzing the strength and weakness of legal claims, drafting, working with experts, negotiating, conducting formal mediation, and putting on witnesses at hearing.  Each week, students deepen their understanding of special education law practice by presenting their case developments and giving feedback through case rounds.   

Students are encouraged to apply for the Clinic early as enrollment is limited and faculty permission is required to register. Students should submit an electronic application by the end of the application window. For more information, contact Professor Lucy Wood at lwood@law.utexas.edu or at (512) 626-2060.

Taught by Professor Lucy Wood 4 credits (pass/fail) — offered Fall and Spring The clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters.

 An application is required.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CLINIC IS A 6-HR. CLINIC.  Grading is Pass/Fail.  The clinical component of this course will involve student representation of domestic violence survivors in a myriad of legal problems, including custody, divorce, visitation, housing, protective orders, parole advocacy and occasionally in consumer and public assistance matters. Students will also perform parole advocacy on behalf of survivors of domestic violence who are in prison due to their victimization as well as litigate in Travis County courts. Law students work alongside social work intern partners from the Steve Hicks School of Social Work to provide clients with holistic services for better outcomes.

The class sessions will cover the matters relevant in civil domestic violence cases: safety planning, comprehensive intake, case analysis and handling, investigation, negotiation, trial preparation, discovery, and temporary and permanent orders, including protective orders.   

In addition to regular class time, there are five additional mandatory time commitments for participation in the Domestic Violence Clinic:

1. Mandatory extra class session on Saturday, January 17, 2026 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM. You may not participate in the Clinic if you do not attend the extra class. 
2. A one-hour weekly meeting with the supervising attorney.
3. You will be scheduled for 4 hours per week office hours/phone duty at the Clinic.
4. You will be expected to document an average of eleven hours per week on your cases towards the hours required for clinic credit.
5. This is a litigation clinic, and you will be first chairing your cases. Court appearances may require that you miss class.

Due to these requirements, you may not take another clinic or internship at the same time that you take the Domestic Violence Clinic.  

Prerequisites: Students enrolling should not be on scholastic probation. An application is required.

The EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS CLINIC IS A 6-CREDIT HR. CLINIC. Students in this clinic will represent low-income workers, who labor in Texas, in legal actions to recover unpaid wages for work they have performed, to combat workplace discrimination, and to enforce other basic employment rights. The clinic gives students hands-on experience with civil litigation, basic employment law, public interest practice, and the evolving fields of immigrant employment rights and transnational migrant worker rights.

Clinic students will serve as primary legal counsel representing immigrant and low-wage working people in federal and state employment litigation and administrative actions. Students will get the experience of working inside an independent public interest law firm and will be supervised and mentored by several expert low-wage employment lawyers. Depending on the requirements and the current litigation stage of each case, students will variously: interview and advise clients; investigate cases and develop legal action strategies; initiate and manage active litigation; negotiate with opposing employers and their lawyers; prepare litigation documents in the student's cases including pleadings, motions, and briefs; conduct discovery in the student's cases including written discovery and the taking of depositions; research legal issues; develop damages calculations; represent clients in hearings, court proceedings, and mediation; and negotiate and manage the final legal settlement or recovery of damages in the case.

The Employment Rights Clinic is conducted in partnership with the Equal Justice Center (EJC), a nonprofit public-interest law firm, based in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. The EJC is the leading law firm in Texas specializing in advocating for the rights of low-wage workers.

In this clinic, students devote the bulk of their clinic hours each week to handling active cases for real clients. This case work includes regularly scheduled office hours at the nearby Equal Justice Center office; regularly scheduled remote office hours in the EJC's remote law practice; regular case reviews with supervising attorneys; and essential conferences with clients. During the first week of the course, before starting their casework assignments, students will receive an intensive classroom orientation on low-wage employment litigation practice. Throughout the semester, the students' principal casework will be complemented with a regular classroom session that meets once a week for approximately two hours. The classroom sessions will explore various deeper aspects of employment law, rights of immigrant workers, effective litigation practice, and special topics in employment law practice for immigrant and low-wage workers. Classroom instruction will address the challenges of adapting U.S. law and legal practice to our increasingly transnational labor market. Subtopics include: U.S. labor and immigration policy; wage laws, employment laws, and contract law as they affect transnational workers; the tension between immigration laws and labor rights; rights of transnational "guest workers"; civil litigation and representation skills specific to immigrant worker cases; employment law practice as viewed from the perspective of practicing lawyers; ethical issues in employment rights representation; and evolving mechanisms for the enforcement of worker rights.

The clinic is open to students who have completed the first year of law school. While Clinic clients include U.S. citizens and immigrants from a wide array of continents and countries, a majority of clients are Spanish-speakers from a variety of Latin American countries. Spanish proficiency accordingly is very useful but is not in any way required. Questions about the clinic may be directed to Christopher Willett at christopher.willett@austin.utexas.edu. Please put "Employment Rights Clinic" in the subject line of any communication.

An application is required.

Taught in the Spring by Frances Leos Martinez, Clinic Director, and Miriam Khalifa, Clinical Professor. The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters. 6 credits (pass/fail) — offered in the Fall and Spring.

The Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic provides students with a unique opportunity to develop business law and problem-solving skills while representing clients operating community enterprises -- small businesses, entrepreneurs, creatives, nonprofit organizations, and community groups. Students learn how to represent their clients on a broad variety of transactional business law matters. Typical legal matters include: assisting businesses with choice of entity decisions forming for-profit and nonprofit entities applying to the IRS for tax-exempt status drafting and negotiating contracts providing legal advice to nonprofit boards of directors and staff drafting lending and real estate documents assisting with intellectual property matters assisting with personnel policies Clinic students learn how to represent their clients through clinic classes, in-person teamwork, weekly team meetings with their clinic supervisor, and research and initiative on their cases.

The Clinic classes emphasize the applicable substantive law; the larger social and theoretical context of the Clinic’s work; and the development of practical lawyering skills including interviewing, counseling, negotiating, contract drafting, and public speaking. The Clinic class meets on Monday afternoons 2:30-4:30 pm. Four classes will run to 5:30 pm. There is a mandatory orientation class on the first Friday of the semester, from 12:00-3:30 pm. In addition to class, students are required to keep a weekly schedule of 8 in-clinic office hours, over the course of three days from Monday through Friday, between 8:00 am-5:00 pm.

The Clinic is a significant time commitment. Students are expected to devote an average of 17-19 hours a week to the Clinic, including class time and clinic case work. Attendance is required at the orientation and all classes and case rounds. Students should also note that teamwork is a key component of clinic case work. Students will be assigned to a team partner with whom they will work during the semester. Clinic casework is conducted in teams and students will be assigned to the same team for the semester.

Enrollment is by application only. Students are encouraged to apply for the Clinic during the priority application window as the Clinic fills up quickly. Students may request to be placed on a waiting list if space is unavailable during registration. Grading is on a pass/fail basis for this six-credit hour clinic. There are no prerequisites for this clinic, although a background in business law (such as business associations, real estate, or tax law) will come in handy. An application is required. For additional information, you may contact the Clinic Director Frances Leos Martinez (fmartinez@law.utexas.edu) or the Clinic Program Coordinator (ecdc@law.utexas.edu).

ENVIRONMENTAL CLINIC – 6 credits, pass/fail (application required)

Students in the Environmental Clinic work with clients, including underserved communities throughout Texas, to advocate for reduced pollution, cleanup of existing pollution, access to infrastructure (such as clean drinking water), and climate change adaptation.

Students work on cases in teams, under the supervision of clinic faculty, and should expect to spend approximately 12 hours per week working on clinic cases. Clinic students have worked on civil rights complaints, environmental enforcement actions in federal court, ensuring access to clean drinking water, permitting and rulemaking proceedings before administrative agencies, community education, pollution monitoring, and environmental policy research. Students gain practical experience with factual investigation and analysis, administrative research and advocacy before regulatory agencies, and legal drafting and litigation support.

The weekly two-hour seminar's topics include representing environmental clients, navigating administrative law and agencies, and the efficacy of current laws for protecting health and the environment.

The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters. There is no prerequisite for the clinic. An application is required. For additional information regarding the clinic, contact Clinic Director Kelly Haragan (kharagan@law.utexas.edu, 512-232-2654) or Clinic Administrator Rita Stramel (environmentalclinic@law.utexas.edu).

This is a four-credit hour clinic. It is offered only in the spring.

Students in this clinic represent low-income families on their housing-related legal problems. The primary focus of the work is helping clients to avoid homelessness and to obtain affordable housing. Students represent clients on a myriad of issues related to low-income housing programs. The work includes representing clients in threatened evictions, rent issues, threatened section 8 voucher terminations, and on denials of public housing, subsidized housing, and section 8 voucher housing. The work is especially interesting not only because of the compelling needs of the clients and the often egregious actions of the adverse party, but because of the intersection of federal housing law and federal regulations, state landlord-tenant law and contract law. Moreover, many clients are persons with mental disabilities; representation requires use of the Fair Housing Act and the reasonable accommodation provision -- an area of the law that is rapidly evolving.

Two examples of cases from the clinic:

(1) A student represented a public housing client who had been on the waiting list for a section 8 housing voucher for over four years but consistently passed over because she resided in public housing. Congress has prohibited public housing authorities from penalizing families applying for a voucher because they live in public housing. The student wrote the housing authority demanding a change in the policy and threatening suit. The housing authority changed its policy -- benefiting a number of public housing families. The client was subsequently awarded a voucher.

(2) Another student represented a client who had been denied a subsidized apartment on the basis of a sixteen-year old drug conviction. The student wrote a demand letter to the owner’s attorney. The attorney responded defending the owner’s policy and rejecting the efforts to resolve the case. The student drafted a lawsuit petition and filed suit before the clinic term ended. The suit subsequently settled with the landlord changing its policies and adopting reasonable criminal history “look-back periods.”

These are but two examples. Other students have defended evictions, represented clients in section 8 voucher termination cases, challenged rent calculations by subsidized owners and public housing authorities, and filed bill of review lawsuits challenging eviction judgments. The work is fast-paced and challenging, with a great deal of client and opposing party interaction. Most cases are completed during the semester, allowing the student to see the case from beginning to end.

A weekly class is held at the offices of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. Students must also spend a minimum of eight hours a week working on their clients’ cases at Legal Aid. Those hours must be spread over two or (preferably) three different days during the week. Cases are reviewed and discussed in class. Classroom lectures focus on tenant rights under federal housing programs and Texas landlord-tenant statutes. Significant classroom time is also spent on how to represent clients with the highest possible quality and ethics.

All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis. Participants must have completed their first two semesters of law school. Students register for Law 497C by filling out an application. The application and instructions on how to apply for this clinic can be accessed on the web.

Students in the Immigration Clinic represent vulnerable low-income immigrants from around the world before the immigration and federal courts and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Students gain hands-on experience by taking on the primary responsibility and decision-making authority for their cases under the mentorship of the Clinic faculty.

The Clinic’s caseload varies each semester but focuses on deportation defense and asylum claims, including for detained persons. The Clinic has handled cases for clients from, among other countries, Afghanistan, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Eritrea, Mexico, and Pakistan. The Clinic represents clients of all ages, including unaccompanied children and families.

Students also engage in national and international advocacy projects to improve the rights of immigrants in the United States. Through client representation and advocacy as well as the classroom component of the Clinic, students learn substantive immigration law, develop client relationship skills, and practice a variety of legal advocacy skills and techniques. The Clinic allows students to explore different models for effective and collaborative lawyering, including interdisciplinary practice with social work student interns and expert witnesses from medical, social science, and mental health backgrounds.

Immigration Clinic students work on their cases collaboratively in teams. The Immigration Clinic meets for class two times per week for an hour and a half. As an orientation, the first two classes of the semester are extended (an additional hour), and an extra session is held on Wednesday evening during the first week of classes (1.5 hours).

Grading is on a pass/fail basis for this six-credit hour clinic. There is no final exam or paper; instead, students receive feedback throughout the semester from faculty and peers and conduct a self-evaluation at the end of the semester that is discussed with faculty. Students should expect to spend approximately 10-20 hours per week on Clinic work, including class time and office hours in the Clinic suite. Work on cases and projects may be required over breaks (Thanksgiving or Spring Break). Participation in the Clinic is generally not compatible with participation in moot court or other competitions that require travel during the semester, and personal travel may need to be limited in light of case and project obligations. Students will occasionally travel to area immigration detention facilities and to San Antonio where the Immigration Court and DHS offices are located, sometimes including early morning departures and unavoidable absence from other classes.

An application is required, and students are encouraged to apply for the Clinic during the early registration window as enrollment is limited. For more information about the Immigration Clinic, contact Denise Gilman (dgilman@law.utexas.edu) or Elissa Steglich (esteglich@law.utexas.edu).

JUVENILE JUSTICE CLINIC This program offers litigation experience while exposing students to the operations of the juvenile justice system, by placing them as student attorneys with the Travis County Juvenile Public Defender. Clients are indigent juveniles, aged 10 to 17, who are charged with criminal offenses ranging from Class B misdemeanors to first degree felonies. Student attorneys are assigned a caseload (four open cases at all times and approximately 8-10 cases per semester) for which they have primary responsibility under the supervision of an attorney in the public defender's office. The student attorneys perform all investigation, interview, discovery, plea bargain and litigation functions on their cases.

Student attorneys will likely set hearings for plea adjudications/dispositions on Tuesdays (am or pm), Thursdays (am) and possibly Wednesday as needed with some ability to request specific settings on other days. Contested hearings are usually scheduled for Monday or Tuesday afternoon or Friday morning. The more flexible the student's schedule is the more opportunity for handling a variety of cases within the court’s scheduling of cases. Please take this into account when scheduling other classes and contact Pam Sigman if you have questions about your schedule. Approximately 15 plus hours per week will be required for working cases and for participating in the classroom component. The class usually meets on Tuesdays (all semester) and Thursdays (first half of the semester).

Each Monday (1:00 pm), Wednesday (1:00 pm) and Friday (9 am), Travis County Juvenile Court holds detention hearings to determine if juveniles who are being detained should be released. A public defender is present to provide representation for each juvenile who has a hearing that day. Student attorneys will each take responsibility as the public defender for three days of the semester. You will sign up for specific dates. This teaches students to develop and handle new cases in a very short time, and to think and act quickly in court.

Each student will complete a mock hearing exercise that is recorded and held in the Eidman Courtroom. The exercise teaches the student to prepare for argument and examination of witnesses in the context of a hearing to suppress illegally seized evidence. The mock hearing occurs outside of the regular class meeting.

During the first month of the semester, the class has meetings on Fridays for tours usually between 10 am - 1 pm on the 2nd and 3rd Fridays of the semester. The class travels outside of Austin to tour a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility and meets with juveniles who have been sentenced to TJJD (this is usually 8 am - 3 pm on a Friday about the 4th or 5th week). Please try and keep your Fridays open for the first 4-5 weeks of the semester. If you have a Friday class conflict or other commitment, we can accommodate some situations with alternative assignments/dates. Contact Pam Sigman if you have questions about your schedule.

Additionally, the class speaks to seventh grade students at a local middle school in April about constitutional rights/protections and the consequences of violating the law.

All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis (six hours). The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters.

The Juvenile Justice Clinic provides a meaningful opportunity for students to learn juvenile law, interact with clients, advocate for your clients in court proceedings, and participate in educating children about the law. Please feel free to contact Pam Sigman if you have any questions.

Pam Sigman, Director 512-619-3222

Students in the Law & Religion Clinic represent vulnerable individuals and groups of all faiths who face challenges to their religious liberty. This will involve a diverse array of clients, including, among others: prisoners, mosques, students, employees, churches, teachers, faith-based schools, sanctuary churches, synagogues, and immigrants. Students can expect to work on cases involving the Free Exercise Clause, the Establishment Clause, similar state constitutional provisions, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, its state equivalents, antidiscrimination statutes, Title VII, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Under the direction of clinic faculty, students will have the opportunity to be first chair on some matters or serve as co-counsel with various civil rights organizations and law firms on others. Through that work, they will develop lawyering skills they can apply in nearly any type of legal practice they pursue, including analyzing potential cases, client interviewing, fact investigation, representing and advising organizations, negotiation, drafting pleadings, dealing with opposing counsel, discovery and depositions, trial advocacy, and appellate work.

Students will work on cases in teams and will meet with Professors Greil and Collis as a group multiple times a week: to discuss their cases and in a classroom seminar where they will learn the substance and complexities of religion law (this will include some readings from a packet of key material). They will also have one-on-one sessions with the Professors to discuss how their lawyering skills are progressing and to counsel on other issues.

The Clinic encourages students from all backgrounds, ideologies, religions, and beliefs to join. The clinic is offered in the fall and spring, for six (6) credits, pass/fail. The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters. You can find a broader description of the clinic and the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center at https://law.utexas.edu/first-amendment-center/. There are no prerequisites for this clinic. An application is required.

SUPREME COURT LITIGATION CLINIC IS A 6-CREDIT COURSE that provides students the opportunity to work on cases pending before the United States Supreme Court. Students will be assigned to represent actual clients that are before the Court as petitioners (those seeking review of adverse lower-court decisions), respondents (those defending favorable lower-court decisions), or amici curiae (those participating in other parties' cases because their interests could be affected by the Court's decision). Cases may be at either the certiorari or the merits stage and may be in almost any substantive area of law. Clinic cases may involve a wide range of issues, including federal statutory issues and constitutional issues.

As part of their Clinic work, students will learn about Supreme Court procedures and the strategic considerations relevant in Supreme Court practice. Students will evaluate their clients' substantive positions, research the relevant issues, participate in strategic planning, and help draft the briefs or other documents to be filed with the Court. They also will participate in identifying potential cases for the Clinic to handle. And they may have the opportunity to moot advocates scheduled to argue before the Court.

Students will work closely with other students, and under the supervision of experienced members of the Supreme Court bar (who will assume final responsibility for all documents filed with the Court). An application is required.

Overview: A nationally known, plaintiff’s commercial trial lawyer will provide students with an introduction to complex financial litigation, including claims arising out of financial fraud, Ponzi schemes, business mismanagement, and fiduciary self-dealing. Students will study the common types of financial litigation that are pursued by equity holders, creditors, and other victims of financial wrongdoing as well as litigation professionals, such as bankruptcy trustees, receivers, and foreign liquidators against fiduciaries (e.g., directors and officers), professional services firms (e.g., law firms and accounting firms), banks, and other participants in financial transactions. Although the course will focus on the plaintiff’s side of financial litigation, it will also cover common defenses and the strategies that defendants often utilize in such litigation. Students will review actual complaints and study real cases. Students will have to think strategically through real-world fact patterns, consider potential claims and defenses, develop litigation strategies, and learn how to think like practicing lawyers. In doing so, students will draw on the knowledge they have learned in a variety of other classes, including contracts, torts, civil procedure, business associations, bankruptcy, and remedies. Grading: Each student will be graded their written work product, which will include claims analysis. Course Materials: Course materials will be provided via Canvas. There is no textbook.

This course will focus on the legal and policy issues relevant to conducting complex civil litigation, and in particular on the problem of adjudicating large numbers of closely related cases. One of the most important and controversial issues in civil procedure today is how to achieve the efficient and fair adjudication of large numbers of cases that arise from a common set of events or transactions and exhibit overlapping factual and legal issues. A number of procedural devices have been used for this purpose, including joinder, consolidation, class actions, multidistrict litigation, bellwether trials, case sampling, and bankruptcy. We will study all these devices, but we'll spend much of our time on class actions and multidistrict litigation (MDL). Specific topics to be covered include the requirements for class certification, judicial and attorney responsibilities in class litigation, appointment and compensation of lead lawyers, techniques for coordinating competing litigation in federal and state courts, case management techniques, and approaches to mass settlements. We will also examine the effect of recent Supreme Court decisions on the future of aggregate dispute resolution. 

This course will address the process by which constitutions are designed and the implications of the design choices made. The former raises extremely important issues of political theory (as well as practical politics). That is, how is that that some discreet set of people claim the authority to draft a constitution for the society at large. This is an especially pressing issue for anyone who takes the theory of "popular sovereignty" seriously. Who can legitimately claim to speak for "We the People"? As we will see, actual constitutions have been drafted by a myriad of different processes. Does process matter? For example, how important is popular "ratification, a very common part of the overall process in the contempoary world (but absent, notably, with regard to the United States Constitution proposed in 1787)? But then there is the second question of the actual importance of the design choices made by "framers," whoever they may have been. This part of the course will involve looking at materials drawn from political scientists as well as lawyeers. How important, if at all, is the choice of a "presidentialist" system insead of a "parliamentary" one? Are Bills of Rights ultimately the "parchment barriers" that Madison suggested they would be? The course will compare a variety of constitutions to one another. These will include looking at a number of other national constitutions, but also frequent reference to American state constitutions, which differ from one another and from the United States Constitution in a number of important and interesting ways. All students will be expected to become especially knowledgeable about a foreign constitution and about the constitution of their own state (that being Texas for anyone who is a foreign national). The final grade will be based on two papers written during the course of the semester (one before the spring break, the other afterward) responding to the assigned materials for a given class and subject, which will count for half the final grade, and then a two-hour in-room final examination at the end of the courses. If a student is at the cusp between two grades, then class participation will be used to decide whether to boost the final grade. A student can write a seminar paper in lieu of the final examination, though only with advance approval of the teachers.

Constitutions are about power, what it is to be used for, by whom, and according to what understandings and justifications. Constitutional conflicts concern the reach and limits of government power: state and local power versus federal power; legislative versus judicial power; public governmental power versus private liberty. Constitutional conflicts, at the same time, concern questions of interpretive authority. Who has the right to say what the Constitution means and demands? The courts? The federal or state lawmakers? The people themselves? Constitutions, also, are about political community. Who belongs, in the U.S. Constitution's words, to "We, the People"? Who counts as a full, rights-bearing citizen? And what are his or her rights? These are the main issues of constitutional history; no wonder its currents and conflicts have involved more than the courts. This course will weave together U.S. constitutional history in the courts with the history of constitutional conflicts in American politics, culture and society. At the same time, we will explore the uses of history in constitutional interpretation. What kind of authority should past generations’ constitutional understandings and commitments enjoy in today’s constitutional contests? What does it mean to be “faithful” to the Constitution as a centuries-old text and a centuries-long experiment in self-government? In what ways are we bound by the words and deeds of the past? In what we ways are we free to construct new constitutional meanings and principles? And what can we learn from the ways that past generations addressed these questions? This year, we will focus chiefly on the first century of American constitutional experience. We’ll examine the founding of the republic and the framing and Antebellum history of the Constitution as a great experiment in self-government. We’ll also study the same period as a great constitutional experiment in federalism - in creating and managing a union of states with profoundly different social orders, values and interests. One main theme will be the protracted conflicts and accommodations between North and South. The coming of the Civil War repays careful attention because it remains the most important constitutional crisis in our history. The War and its aftermath, the period known as Reconstruction, and the Civil War and Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments), constituted a Second Founding, no less significant than the first. The authority of the national government over the states was transformed, and with it, the meaning of American democracy. From a slaveholding, racially exclusive republic, America reconstituted itself into a racially inclusive republic of equal citizens. We’ll study this Second Founding, then its unraveling in the constitutional law and politics of the late 19th century, and then its revival in the Civil Rights era of the mid-20th century. Prerequisite: U.S. Constitutional Law I.

This course explores the law governing politics and elections in the United States. We will examine a variety of topics, including: the Constitution and its protection of the right to vote, reapportionment, the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering, the constitutional rights of political parties, campaign finance regulation, and election administration. We will also consider the relationship between these topics and partisanship. A serious interest in Constitutional Law is strongly recommended.

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

This course will explore constitutional issues surrounding claims of race and sex discrimination. The course is historical, covering antebellum, Civil War, and post-Fourteenth Amendment controversies. We will examine race and sex in several contexts (e.g., segregation, military policy, education, affirmative action) and consider a broad range of theoretical approaches. The course is designed to provide a close understanding of both historical and contemporary analyses. The materials on race occupy approximately two-thirds of the overall course. Prerequisite: Con Law I.

Federalism is a contient aspect of American constitutionalism.  That being said, it is also important to recognize that literally from the very beginning of the constitutional republic in 1789, the operative meaning of "American federalism" has always been a source of contention, which, of course, became bitter enough by 1860 to trigger secession and a subsequent war that killed approximatly 750,000 combatants (who may or may not be identified as "Americans").  So we will be looking at a lot of the "theoretical" issues surrounding federalism, beginning with the possible meanings of "We the People" that purported "ordain" the new polity.  Is there one singular "American people" (and, if so, who is contained within it?), or is the "united States" (as some copies of the Declaration of Independence spelled the name of the new country) composed of the uneasy joinder of distinctly separate "peoples" living in the different states? The first Supreme Court case we will read--and ponder for at least a full class--will be beginning Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), concerning so called "sovereign immunity" of states from being sued in federal courts.  We'll also be reading the Kentucky and Virgninia Resolutions of 1798-99 and their particular take on the basis of the Union, including the possibilities of "nullification" and even, perhaps, secession.  But, obviously, these "theoretical" issues are complemented by extremely "practical" concerns.  How should one respond to states that attempt to secede; and even after secession is subdued (by force), what might "reconstruction" of a federal union might mean, in both theory and in practice?  Moreover, it will be helpful, in understanding "American federalism," to pay at least limited attention to other forms of federalism around the world.  Should, for example, all sub-national units be viewed as "equal" (symmetcial federalism), or is it both necessary and proper to recognize that some such units are so substantially different from others, as with, for example, language or concentration of natural resources, that it is legitimate to adopt "asymmetical federalism."  

We will pay suitable attention to classic Supreme Court cases and to more recent articlations by the Court as to the complexities generated by subnational-states in a Union.  But "suitable" does not mean exclusive. And, of course, Supreme Court decisions must always be understood in terms of their wider political and historical contexts.  

Distribution of powers between federal and state governments; constitutional limitations on and judicial review of governmental action.

This is the basic course in contract law.  Topics include formation and modification of contracts, the need for a writing (Statute of Frauds), contract interpretation, excuses for non-performance, breach of contract, and remedies for breach.  Alternative theories of recovery, like reliance and restitution, are also covered.  Unlike other 1L Contracts classes at UT, this class addresses sales of goods under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code as well as common law contracts.   

An introductory course on the law of contracts. This course takes up basic questions about the common law principles governing the formation, interpretation, performance, and enforcement of contracts, as well as the basic remedies for their breach.

This is a class about promises, trust, cooperation, profit, risk, agreement, consent, scams, costly mistakes, miscommunication, cold feet, failed expectations, remorse, apologies, the English language, power, justice, the fallibility of human prediction, and the chaos of the world—all as they are mediated by a tool that courts recognize as “contracts."

We’ll approach contracts from the standpoint of clients, and we’ll learn contract law through the lenses of three main real-world contract questions that clients bring to attorneys: What do we have to do? How do we get out of doing it? And what if the other side won't do what they said they'd do?

The course covers the basic elements of copyright law. Special emphasis will be put on the interaction of copyright law with various new technologies including the Internet. In addition to the relevant legal doctrines, the class will survey policy considerations and the normative justifications--economic and others--that underlie these doctrines.

The first objective of the course will be to help prepare future corporate and non-profit Directors to fulfill their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty to the organizations that they will serve. We will do this by examining a wide variety of issues that Directors must deal with on a regular basis. These include balancing efforts between establishing quarterly and yearly performance targets and building strong companies that can sustain above-market financial performance in the future. Directors must also manage business and political relationships, initiate and integrate acquisitions, create/change corporate culture, continually align the organization structure to the business strategy, allocate resources for a variety of corporate initiatives, deal with issues of corporate governance, succession planning, executive compensation, and learn to navigate through potential public relations disasters. We will examine as many of these topics as time permits.

The second objective of this course will be to understand the nature and scope of corporate Boards from the perspective of society, social and economic interest and what can be done to prevent some of the more publicized corporate governance failures. We will examine several of the more highly publicized corporate failures as well as what action Congress has taken to address corporate malfeasance, and the recommendations that have been made by social critics. The course is directed primarily at graduate business students and law students who expect to serve either as advisors to Boards of Directors or on Boards of Directors of public companies or non-profit organizations. While most of the course will focus on established public companies, much of the course content will be useful to those individuals who are primarily interested in entrepreneurial organizations, family corporations, or public sector non-profit entities. This course will have three distinct instructional formats. Professor Cunningham will lecture to the class to help provide all of the students with a fundamental knowledge of how Boards of Directors function in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He will also focus on the different roles the Boards play in both large and small organizations.

The third format of the class will be to invite guest speakers to address the students who are involved in a wide variety of real world governance issues. The guests will be encouraged to provide ample opportunity for questions during their presentations. The individuals that will be invited to speak to the class will include a mix of entrepreneurs, senior executives from major corporations, directors of public and private entities, politicians, leaders of non-profit entities, corporate lawyers and partners of major accounting firms.

Course Overview Few policy issues have had as big an impact on the Texas political or social landscape as criminal justice, and fewer still have such a hold on the popular imagination. Yet it is only in the last decade or so that debate about criminal justice policy has started to take account of the financial and social costs of our state's incarceration policies. Time and again, public officials at all levels and in all branches of government find themselves confronting the thorny problems presented by the policy choices the state has made in the criminal justice arena, and by constantly shifting political winds. This course will force us to go beyond the simplistic debates between "tough on crime" and "soft on crime" rhetoric, and confront the hard policy questions that mirror the daily challenges faced by policy-makers and public officials. For example, how can policy- makers safely and effectively downsize our massive prison system? What role does race play in the criminal justice system, and how should public officials take into account the impact of criminal justice practices on certain segments of the community and on families? How can legislators protect the public from people who have committed serious or violent crimes, especially while facing immense budget pressures? Should the pretrial bail system be based on a person’s risk or their ability to pay money bail? Should any limits be placed on judicial or prosecutorial discretion? When is it appropriate for a court to intervene to improve prison or jail conditions? What steps should policy-makers take to protect people in custody from unsafe conditions of confinement? What forms of external oversight should exist when it comes to prison operations? Are humane prisons possible? Although the course will have a heavy focus on Texas' criminal justice policies and practices, we will often refer to the experiences of other states and other countries to examine a range of practices in this field and to explore alternative options for developing policy.

Goals Students in this interdisciplinary seminar (cross-listed between the LBJ School and the Law School) will gain a firm understanding of the key criminal justice policy challenges facing public officials. Students will begin to appreciate the complexity of these issues; understand how both good and bad policies are developed; understand the financial and social costs of criminal justice policy decisions; recognize the extent to which criminal justice issues have an impact on almost every aspect of government; and explore the relationship between law, constitutional requirements, the administration of justice, and public policy. Students will also learn practical policy research and writing skills.

Course Materials, Outside Speakers, and Legislative Hearings Each topic will be examined critically through a wide range of readings, including empirical studies, essays, books, statutes, legal cases, and official reports, as well as podcasts and videos. The reading load can be very heavy at times, but it is all interesting material. If possible, we will seek to visit prison and/or jail facilities to learn about life inside these facilities and hear from people with lived experience. We may have guest speakers such as a national expert/advocate, a prison agency official, and a person who was formerly incarcerated, all of whom have been deeply involved in policy-making or practice in this area. We also will watch some archived videos of relevant legislative hearings to observe the policy development process.

Course Requirements This seminar is dependent upon an informed and lively discussion. Students are expected to attend all classes, do all the reading, and come to class with thoughtful comments or questions about their reading assignments. Class participation is critical and will be considered in grading. Students will be required to undertake an original research project on a topic of their choice and to write a 10-page issue brief about their topics.  Additionally, students will write two policy memos on designated criminal justice issues. Students will also submit an ungraded reflection essay.

Use of AI to research or write any part of an assignment for this class is strictly prohibited.

Promulgation, interpretation, and administration of substantive laws of crime; constitutional limitations and relevant philosophical, sociological, and behavioral science materials.

Promulgation, interpretation, and administration of substantive laws of crime; constitutional limitations and relevant philosophical, sociological, and behavioral science materials.

This course explores constitutional limitations upon the investigation of crime. Its focus is on the law governing searches, seizures, and police interrogation. Topics include the nature of a fourth amendment search; arrest and investigative detention; warrants and exceptions to the warrant requirement; confessions; and the application of the exclusionary rule. Grades will be based upon a three-hour final examination.

This course deals with the judicial phase of the criminal justice process, from the decision to bring criminal charges through trial and sentencing. Along the way, it covers the charging decision, the grand jury, bail, pretrial detention, the right to a speedy trial, discovery, the right to an impartial trial, the right to effective assistance of counsel, plea bargaining, guilty pleas, and sentencing. Although the course will cover several statutory rights and selected provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the major focus is on federal constitutional limitations on criminal procedure. This course satisfies the Con Law II requirement.

This class will introduce students to the intersection of blockchain technology, law, and policy. This entails a brief overview of blockchains and cryptocurrencies, as well as some of their most popular applications (DeFi, NFTs, etc) - students need not know anything about these technologies (or any technology) in advance. Students will also learn about: (1) the role of various regulators like the SEC and the Treasury Department, and how those regulators might think about cryptocurrencies; (2) the idea of code as a regulating force; and (3) the national security and foreign policy implications of cryptocurrencies. This class is designed to expose students to the breadth of issues coming out of blockchain technology, and will be focused on discussion rather than lecturing or presentations. 

Cryptocurrencies are eating the world. This course explores the evolving legal and regulatory landscape of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts. We will examine the potential of cryptocurrency technology to disrupt traditional financial systems and underlying regulatory regimes and legal doctrine that underpins capital markets today. The course will also weigh the considerations for new legal frameworks and policy considerations. Key topics include the decentralized nature of blockchain, the rise of cryptocurrencies as alternative stores of value, and the challenges of integrating such technologies into heavily regulated areas of payments and financial services. We will also address concerns surrounding market volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and the potential impact on traditional financial institutions and monetary policy.

The past two years have highlighted the growing cyber threat to entities of all types: corporations, hospitals, government institutions and small businesses, to name a few.  The day that attack comes is nothing short of a crisis, requiring all the right teams to assemble and navigate the obstacles such an attack may present.  Cyber response was once thought as the province of the information security department, but it has grown to include leaders from key departments such as law, human resources, public relations, business teams, compliance, risk, and privacy.  Additionally, vendors, such as a technical incident response firm and a crisis communications firm must be identified and engaged to help supplement existing resources.  This is the time for legal counsel to shine, as the lawyer's role is central to many of the most critical workstreams.    This practical skills course will provide an in-depth review of incident response and counsel's role.  Students will partake in a tabletop exercise to kick off the course and identify the areas of incident response.  Subsequent sessions will review each area through group discussions in a small-class setting.   Guest speakers will include seasoned incident response experts from the FBI or Secret Service, crisis communications firms and regulators.

This course will provide a glimpse into the fascinating but complicated realm of jurisdiction over criminal cases in "Indian Country." The course begins by providing an historical context from colonial times to passage of the Major Crimes Act of 1885. Then we consider the Code of Indian Offenses and other developments up to passage of Public Law 280 in 1953. With that background, the course explores recent developments including the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. 894 (2020), and Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, 597 U.S. 629 (2022), as well as the practical impact of enhancements to Indian Tribal Court criminal jurisdiction provided by amendments to the Violence Against Women Act.

This overview course will principally focus on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most important federal law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities. We will discuss the ADA’s place in the disability-rights and disability-justice movements, and its analytical relationship with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with the antidiscrimination provisions in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. We will also explore the Act’s definition of disability (including the subsequent ADA Amendments Act of 2008), and the provisions outlawing discrimination, and requiring accommodations, by employers (Title I), government services and programs (Title II), and private businesses (Title III). To sample the breadth of the ADA, we will discuss the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision guaranteeing community integration, as well as the ADA’s application in the contexts of, e.g., education, housing, healthcare, the criminal legal and carceral systems, immigration, and technology.

This course will provide an in-depth examination of the battered women’s movement and its impact on the legal system’s response to domestic violence. We begin with law and the social context of battering, including how the experience of abuse and the response to abuse is shaped by race, cultural identity, economic status, sexual orientation, and disabilities. Criminal law aspects are addressed within the role of protective orders, prosecution, and defense (including self-defense for victims and ethical representation of batterers). We next view how civil family law recognizes domestic violence in custody, divorce, visitation, and child protection matters. Among other topics, the course will examine specialized areas of the law, which include tort liability for batterers and third parties (police, employers, etc.) and federal remedies under the Violence Against Women Act. The class will discuss emerging issues like violence against women as a human rights violation and evolving sexual assault laws to identify the challenges of theory vs. practice. The focus of the class is to examine current gaps and barriers in the legal response to intimate partner violence and propose systemic change through a social justice lens.

This unique 3-hour course explores the hottest topics in litigation today: electronic evidence and digital discovery (including emerging roles for AI). Evidence is information, and nearly all information is created, collected, communicated and stored electronically. Thus, the ability to identify, preserve, interpret, authenticate and challenge electronically stored information is a crucial litigation skill. This course seeks to reconcile the federal rules and e-discovery case law with the sources, forms and methods of information technology and computer forensics. Students will explore the roots of information technology, learn to "speak geek" see information with "new eyes" and acquire hands-on, practical training in finding electronic evidence, meeting preservation duties, guarding against spoliation, selecting forms of production, communicating and cooperating with opposing counsel and managing the volume and variety of digital evidence and metadata. You will use real world software tools and emerge with an understanding of the nuts and bolts of information technology and discovery, No prior background in law, computing or technology is required to succeed. Grading is based on six self-administered, timed closed-book quizzes via Canvas at roughly two week intervals and class participation. You must also submit written exercises on approximately a weekly basis. There is no midterm or final. Note: the course has been reconfigured for 2025 to scale back the workload and better accommodate competing demands on students' time. If you have questions about the course to decide if it's for you, I can be reached via email as craig@ball.net or by phone at 713-320-6066.

This course explores emerging issues in sexuality, gender identity, and the law. We will study and discuss the constitutional, statutory and common law doctrines that impact the lived experience of LGBTQ+ people and people living at the intersection of LGBTQ+ identities. We will examine the expansion and retraction of rights under substantive due process and equal protection frameworks, as well as under Title VII, the American with Disabilities Act, and other federal statutes.  The course will conclude with a mock litigation exercise.

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

Three key components of the class are;

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

In this advanced property-law class, you will learn about eminent domain—the power of the government (and those with its delegated authority) to take private property and convert it into public use in exchange for paying just compensation to the property owner. Most lawyers get just one or two days of class about eminent domain in law school. This course aims to fix that shortcoming. The subject is fascinating as a matter of theory, as it deals with the power of a tribe (the community) to take property away from its members. And eminent domain is becoming more and more important in practice. Take Texas, for example. The Lone Star State is home to eight of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities and boasts five of the top 10 cities in the total number of new residents. The need for infrastructure has skyrocketed, both to accommodate the explosive population growth and to support Texas's ever-expanding oil-and-gas industry. In light of these developments, we as a community need to work out how to deal with growth while still honoring constitutional values and individual rights. Class discussions and reading assignments will explore whether the current eminent domain framework in the U.S. properly protects property owners and the public. The subject is generally divided into two interrelated parts: (1) the origins of eminent domain, public use, and public necessity and (2) “just compensation," including evidentiary and procedural issues that arise in disputes about compensation. Throughout, the class will explore the relationship between theory and practice.

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

This course examines in detail the regulatory regimes governing the sale and delivery of energy in American energy markets. Students will develop a working understanding of electricity and gas markets, how federal and state regulatory commissions regulate price and competition in those markets under the Federal Power Act, the Natural Gas Act, and analogous state laws. We will also address topical issues associated with the rapid technological and economic changes underway in the electricity and gas markets, including the effects of the rapid growth in renewable generation, disputes over the pricing and regulation of distributed energy resources (such as rooftop solar or demand response), the move toward increasing competition and market pricing, legal rules governing the siting of natural gas and electric transmission lines, and more. This class will be based in the Law School, but also open to students from the McCombs School, the Jackson School, and the LBJ School, and will mix traditional lecture and discussion with small group work in multidisciplinary teams. This is a companion course to (but not a prerequisite for) Energy Law: Regulating Energy Production.

The Energy Ventures Practicum is an opportunity for teams of law students, business students, policy students, and technologists to build up skills, capabilities and contacts to create a new venture in the energy sector. Objectives of the class are to provide a framework for commercializing innovations in the energy sector, and the tools that entrepreneurs need to frame and build businesses for this purpose.

Students must submit a complete application, attend an information session and be selected to participate in the Energy Ventures Practicum. Full course requirements and qualifications will be reviewed with students during information sessions offered before the registration period for each semester.

This is a full semester course that can only be taken for a grade. The course requires meeting during the scheduled class time and work to be conducted in between classes. For more information and details on this course, visit the website (https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/centers-initiatives/brumley-institute/energy-ventures-practicum/).

Entertainment Law: Content Licensing is a course that explores the legal and business frameworks governing the licensing of creative works across film, television, music, publishing, gaming, and emerging digital platforms. Students will examine core contract structures, standard provisions, negotiation strategies, and risk allocation in licensing transactions, with attention to both traditional and cutting-edge issues such as evolving standards of fair use, streaming, and "open-source" licensing and content licensing in the age of AI. Through case studies, drafting exercises, and class discussion, the course emphasizes practical skills and critical thinking necessary for advising clients in an evolving entertainment marketplace.

The ETA & Search Fund Practicum is designed for graduate students interested in pursuing a path of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). The course will utilize a combination of lectures, in-class exercises, guest speakers, case studies, and interactive evaluation of real acquisition opportunities. Students will gain experience formulating an investment thesis, engaging in deal sourcing, conducting due diligence, and building requisite financial models. The intended goal of the course is to provide students with both the knowledge and practical experience needed to embark on a successful acquisition search following completion of the class. The course culminates in a Capstone Project, where students will pitch a real acquisition opportunity to experienced investors and get valuable feedback. 

Students must submit a complete application, attend an information session and be selected to participate in the ETA & Search Fund Practicum. Full course requirements and qualifications will be reviewed with students during information sessions offered before the registration period for each semester.

This is a full semester course that can only be taken for a grade. The course requires meeting during the scheduled class time and work to be conducted in between classes. For more information and details on this course, visit the website (https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/centers-initiatives/brumley-institute/eta-search-fund-practicum/).

We will be offering two virtual AMA/info sessions for students who want to learn more about the course.  Times and links are below:

Monday, Oct 27th at noon: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/85450274841

Thursday, Oct 30th at noon: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/82292019602

This course will begin with an introduction to pollution control, the common law antecedents, and early statutory developments. The remainder of the course will be devoted to an intensive study of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. The student will become familiar with the substantive provisions of those statutes and will gain a knowledge of how the statutes are implemented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the relevant state agencies. In addition, the course will expose the student to scientific and engineering concepts relevant to regulating the "conventional" air and water pollutants.  Finally, the course will examine ongoing regulatory attempts to address climate change under the Clean Air Act and the prospect for climate change legislation.

A course on the Federal Rules of Evidence, with an emphasis on the application of the rules in court. 

4 hour course covering both the Federal and Texas rules of Evidence with emphasis on application of the rules in litigation. Topics include include relevance, hearsay, the Confrontation Clause, character evidence, impeachment and rehabilitation of witnesses, the best evidence rule, lay and expert opinion, and privileges.

Federal Courts is an essential practical tool for future litigators, future government attorneys (at the federal, state, or local level), and future judicial law clerks. It is also a genuinely exciting field of academic study for any law student. 

This course investigates one of the most fascinating and often misunderstood features of American law: how our legal system distributes power within the federal government and between the federal government and the states.  The course also explores whether (and how) individual litigants can turn to the judiciary to enforce rights created by constitutional or statutory law. These fundamental questions are related.  Principles that shape and limit the power of federal courts determine not just how but whether those courts (rather than other participants in our system of government) can resolve disputes, ranging from the relatively mundane to the gravest allegations of injustice.  

These issues raise questions about the role that the federal courts play in our constitutional democracy.  Such issues are of utmost importance today.  Many pressing questions—from the scope of presidential power to the conduct of local police—wind up in federal court.  And these disputes often turn on legal issues that we will explore in this course.

The assigned case book is the tenth edition of Low & Jeffries' The Federal Courts and the Law of Federal-State Relations (2022).   

This is a one-semester three-unit course about substantive federal criminal law. This course will detail the prosecution and defense of criminal offenses in federal court, focusing on the more frequently employed and complex areas, and on current hot topics. Class time will be devoted to mail, wire, bank, and health care fraud, public corruption, money laundering, administration of justice offenses, the Controlled Substances Act, immigration offenses, and terrorism and weapons offenses. Students will be alerted to the manner in which federal sanctions can be employed against lawyers, banks, and corporations, and the bases of federal criminal jurisdiction. If time permits, we will review the federal plea bargaining and sentencing systems. Your grade will be based primarily upon a floating open-book essay exam, and in small part upon class participation.  If we have no more than 14 students, the grade in this class will not be on a curve, and you will be required to complete at least one in-class group project. Second-year students interested in the United States Attorney’s Office or Federal Public Defender's Service internships for their third year should consider taking this class first. This class does not significantly overlap with my Advanced Federal Criminal Prosecution & Defense seminar, Judge Pitman's Fed. Crim. Law seminar, or Mr. DeGuerin's Adv. Fed. Defense seminar.

This course uses a problem-based method to study core federal income tax doctrine.  It explores the policy choices presented by an income tax system, including equity, efficiency, administration, and political considerations.  Federal Income Tax develops the universal lawyering skill of working with a core statute in conjunction with administrative guidance and cases.  The course is a gateway to further tax offerings.

For any student pursuing a transactional practice or needing to learn the knowledge and skills necessary for actually doing finance deals and working with credit agreements, this is the class for you. After taking this course, students will understand the fundamental legal principles of finance transactions as well as the practical know-how of being an associate on a deal team. This class is designed for students interested in transactional groups at large law firms but any student wanting to understand transactional work would benefit from this course. There are many contract law, property law, commercial law and secured credit concepts that every young finance transactional attorney needs to know when starting their practice, and this class will arm you with what you must know from case law, statutory and scholarly readings and lectures. But in addition, this course will go beyond the fundamental legal knowledge that most classes only provide by doing a deep-dive into the actual documents that finance lawyers are routinely tasked with preparing and negotiating. So that with this class, each student will be ready to excel in the start of their careers by already having experience with the documents they will be responsible for preparing and reviewing.

The class is designed for law students of all interests, including those who are undecided and those who are focused on a particular area such as litigation, public interest law, family law, regulatory work, criminal law, or business law.  Financial Methods for Lawyers covers time value of money, expected value decision making, and investment in enterprises.  It also covers the basic financial statement components: balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements.  The class is only available on a pass/fail basis.  It is designated as a skills course.  Students earn points toward a passing grade through online quizzes, Excel spreadsheet and other exercises, and regular attendance.

This new 2-unit course is designed to introduce students to a variety of financial products and related personal and regulatory strategies. It is suitable for both students with no prior background in financial and related legal matters and students who have had pertinent academic or work exposure. From a personal standpoint, some basic knowledge of investment choices offered in our future employer’s retirement plan or available through our broker can help make our lives more secure—e.g., stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), gold, and bitcoins. As an example, the “ETF” is a 11-trillion dollar product that offers a variety of portals to seemingly endless combinations of asset classes, investment approaches, and long, short, inverse exposures—but, importantly, also has limitations. From a regulator’s standpoint, strategies need to respond to challenges from, for example, manias and crashes, investor financial illiteracy and cognitive biases, certain specialized debt products, and state pension fund underfunding. Various innovations (including certain index products and derivatives-based techniques) may undermine corporate governance and world financial stability. This course can deal only with a very limited number of such matters. The course does not offer any get-rich schemes or investment advice, nor does it offer easy nostrums for regulatory challenges. The only prerequisite is having completed either “Business Associations” or “Business Associations (Enriched).”

This course explores the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)—a U.S. law that prohibits bribery of foreign officials and requires accurate corporate financial records. We will examine how the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforce the FCPA and what’s at stake for companies and individuals, including large fines and criminal penalties. The focus will be on FCPA compliance: how to design and implement an effective compliance program based on U.S. government guidance. Students will learn the key elements of such programs and how to assess the risk profile of a multinational company using practical research tools.

What happens when a beloved sports team trades one city for another? Dive deep into the legal drama, high-stakes negotiations, and emotional fallout that accompany the relocation of professional sports franchises. In this course, you'll explore the tension between team owners, cities, leagues, and fans through real-life case studies such as the Oklahoma City Thunder's controversial move from Seattle, the Oakland Raiders' storied journey to Las Vegas, and the St. Louis Rams’ departure to Los Angeles.

Through these cases and more, students will unravel the intricate web of legal obligations, from stadium contracts to league relocation policies, and navigate the intense regulatory battles teams face when uprooting a franchise. The course will also examine the ethical dilemmas involved—how does a team balance its financial interests with its responsibility to its fanbase? And what role do city officials play in these high-profile relocations?

Students will engage with topics such as the role of municipal bonds in stadium financing, antitrust considerations, league governance structures, and the impact of relocation on local economies. By the end of the course, you’ll understand the legal frameworks that shape these decisions and be prepared to critically assess the future of franchise movement in the evolving sports landscape.

If you’re passionate about sports or the business of professional teams, this course will provide you with the knowledge and insight to appreciate—and perhaps one day influence—one of the most dynamic aspects of sports law.

Students will do a full cycle analysis of a net zero-carbon natural gas development.  This will include technical, financial, and legal analyses of the project including geologic assessment of the resource, development of the production facilities, transportation of the gas to a combined cycle power plant, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) of the CO2 emissions.  The country will be specified in class, but it will be a country other than the United States of America. The class is open to students enrolled in the McCombs School of Business MBA program, graduate students in the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering, JD and international LLM students in the School of Law, and to other graduate students who indicate a special interest in the topic. Students will work in teams from diverse academic disciplines. To assure an appropriate balance of team members, enrollment is subject to application and approval. Students will learn how to evaluate geologic information made available in a bid round package, analyze the fiscal terms offered by the host government as well as the general economics of the project, analyze the legal regime, determine and quantify the risks associated with an investment, and propose a full cycle CCS pilot project to the selected government. Each team will present an oral report and prepare a written report to the Longhorn Petroleum Corp. Board of Directors, consisting of faculty members and guest board members. Both the shorter oral and longer written reports will evaluate risks and designs of the projects, propose a competitive bid, including an exploration plan and a preliminary plan explaining the pilot CCS project, projecting costs, risk analysis, and proposing government incentives to commercialize CCS.

This is a course about the ideas, historical developments, and places that shaped American natural resource law and policy. We will read excerpts written by the philosophers that influenced the Founding Fathers, as well as writings by influential Native Americans. We will read about the circumstances that led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the repercussions of the removal process. Through a review of legal cases, regulations, and treatises, and historical events such as the Gold Rush of 1848, completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and the Homestead Act of 1862, we will examine the historical and legal framework that underlies public lands policy and the extent to which the framework facilitates or impedes the policy changes needed to address modern challenges, such as climate change and the extreme polarization of the American electorate and policymakers. 

In this course you will learn, from organizational meeting through opening trades on the stock exchange, the roles of the company, investment banks and law firms as well as the SEC process, documentation and securities laws involved in completing Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”). The class will follow the actual SEC filings and IPO documents for a very recent IPO transaction with which I was involved. In addition to this case study, the course will include drafting assignments for the hypothetical initial public offering of “LUMI” a transition energy IPO featured in Season 3 of the Max series 'Industry' with Kit Harrington in the role of LUMI’s Chief Executive Officer, Sir Henry Mack. For new attorneys concentrating on transactional work, IPO assignments are one of the best sources of training for capital markets, private equity, and M&A practices – IPOs serve as a “Rosetta Stone” for the practical application of federal securities laws, providing a crash course into a broad range of disclosure requirements applicable to all publicly traded companies. Private equity firms see IPOs as one of two basic paths for realizing returns for their investors. Public M&A filings are likewise fueled by these disclosure rules and related concepts. Finally, you will also gain insight to the financial importance of IPOs and public company practice to law firm economics.

Insurance is one of the most important tools for the management of risk by both private and public enterprises. Insurance law is a hybrid of contracts and administrative law: parties enter contractual relationships which are regulated by the state. The course introduces students to the core principles and institutions of insurance. We will approach insurance law from a law and economic perspective, aiming to understand how insurance institutions affect economic behavior of insureds, insurers and their lawyers. Broad issues to be covered include fraud, moral hazard, adverse selection and other types of divergence of incentives. We will build on these theoretical issues and attempt to understand the various doctrines developed by common law courts as strategies to deal with these problems. In addition, the course provides knowledge of basic insurance law governing insurance contract formation, the interpretation of insurance contracts, insurance regulation and more, especially in areas such as property, life, health, disability, automobile (including uninsured motorist coverage), professional and liability insurance.

In the global economy of the 21st century, arbitration is the dispute resolution procedure of choice for many international business transactions. This course teaches the principles of effective client representation in international arbitration. The course will employ a real world dispute in which the students will become counsel from initial consultation with the client to litigating the case. The semester will focus on developing the practical skills needed to represent your client in an international arbitration. The practical exercises–including writing a claimant’s and respondent’s brief, and presentations of oral arguments will all be centered around the same hypothetical, but quite detailed and real, international contractual dispute. Grading will be based on class participation, writing assignments and presentations of oral arguments. There is no mid-term or final exam. The final 6 weeks of classes will be participating in a mock arbitration. 

The course will examine the development and current state of International Criminal Law. Among other topics, it will explore the history of international criminal justice from the aftermath of World War II to the recent establishment of the International Criminal Court, the “core crimes” of international criminal law, theories of criminal liability, and available defenses. It will also investigate a number of other topical issues in international criminal law, including the crime of international terrorism, U.S. policy towards the International Criminal Court, and dilemmas of transitional justice.

The course considers some of the most pressing global issues of our time through an overview of the history, theory, and practice of international human rights law, as well as the related fields of international humanitarian and criminal law. It identifies decades-long tensions about the legitimacy and meaning of human rights, with a focus on how those tensions are manifested in the national, regional (Latin American, European, and African), and international case law. Much of the course is organized around in-depth and comparative study of the adjudication of human rights claims about matters including racial, gender, and sexual equality; rights to property, housing, and health; rights of indigenous peoples; religion and culture; and humanitarian law. Students will be exposed to a broad spectrum of approaches to human rights—from conservative, libertarian, and liberal to critical, feminist, Third World, and abolitionist. As a part of the course, students will work in teams to select, edit, analyze, and present a legal case on human rights to the rest of the class. This course is also open to non-law graduate and professional students with relevant background. The course contains the requisite coverage of Latin American materials for students pursuing MAs in Latin American Studies.

Course content and description: International Petroleum Transactions considers the legal issues and transactions relating to the exploration, production, and marketing of petroleum—the most important commodity traded worldwide and hence the most politically charged. Coverage includes how countries establish and allocate sovereignty over petroleum, how countries settle competing claims to oil and gas reserves, how host governments or state-owned oil companies contract with private companies to explore and develop oil and gas resources, how companies contract with each other to share risk, how companies contract with drilling contractors and services providers; how petroleum is marketed; and how disputes are resolved. The course offers a unique mix of both public and international private law.

Professor's goals: Help students develop better analytical skills--especially the ability to critically evaluate contracts and host government law. Help students gain a basic understanding of how crude oil and gas are exploited and marketed worldwide. Help students learn about the unique aspects of acquiring valid exploration and development rights in a foreign country, about pursuing those rights, and the legal ramifications of, and risks associated with, an upstream petroleum investment in a foreign country.

Prerequisites, co-requisites, and sequencing: None.

Materials: Anderson, Weaver et al., International Petroleum Transactions (RMMLF [FNREL] 2020). Additional materials will be posted on Canvas.

The corporate counsel internship course has two components: (1) a weekly class, and (2) an internship with a corporation or business that involves delivering in-house legal services and performing other law-related tasks under the supervision of an experienced lawyer employed by the organization. Students engage in legal work on substantive issues commonly encountered by in-house counsel, gaining hands-on experience that they reflect upon and analyze in class through discussions, presentations, exercises, and real-world case studies. Assignments address topics relevant to the legal profession and professional identity, including ethics and advocacy skills, professional self-development, and effective communication in the business context. 

Specific topics may include: identifying the client, confidentiality and preserving privilege, transaction matters, corporate governance, effective communications compliance issues, and statutory/regulatory hot topics. 

In their internships, students will develop practical lawyering skills important to their current stage of professional development. Placement supervisors are experienced attorneys who broadly expose students to the activities of their offices, oversee varied and demanding assignments, and provide regular feedback on student performance. Students are required to work at least 150 hours at their internships during the semester, and students may not receive financial compensation for their internship work. The internship must involve the student and the supervising attorney working in person at the placement office, and most of the student’s internship work must be completed at the placement.

The classroom component of the course is designed to enhance the educational experience of students by giving them the opportunity to reflect on their internship and to understand the broader landscape in which their internship is situated. Through the seminar, students will deepen their understanding of in-house lawyering, ethical issues that confront in-house lawyers, and how the role of in-house lawyers blends both law and business. 

Application Requirements: Students must submit an application for permission to register for the course. The course is open to students who have completed the first two semesters of law school. Before applying for the course, a student must first arrange a qualifying internship based in the Austin area. The instructor is available to consult with students about possible placements, and some organizations post opportunities on TEX. Each placement and supervising attorney must be approved by the instructor prior to registration. A student who wishes to participate in the course must obtain the internship and apply to the instructor before the first class meeting.

Students who have previously received credit through any of the other internship courses (nonprofit, legislative, judicial, etc.) are eligible to enroll in this course. Credits: 4 (graded pass/fail)

Students will arrange their work schedules with their supervisor. They are expected to work about 10 hours per week per semester.

Exams:        None

Registration Information:

This course is restricted to upper class students only. Federal Public Defender Internship – APPLICATION REQUIRED: https://law.utexas.edu/internships/federal-public-defender-internship/course-information/

To apply, please email a copy of your cover letter, resume and transcript (unofficial is fine) to Prof. Susan Klein at sklein@law.utexas.edu and to Assistant Federal Public Defender Horatio Aldredge at horatio_aldredge@fd.org. Students interested in this internship can obtain additional information by stopping by Prof. Klein’s office at TNH 3.207 (her office hours are Wed. 4:00 – 5:30 pm), or calling or texting her at (512) 203-2257. They may also call Mr. Aldredge at (512) 916-5025.

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

** Course Description:

This internship program offers students the opportunity to apply for “for-credit” internship positions with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Texas, Austin Branch. Students will assist in the defense of federal criminal cases under the supervision of Mr. Aldredge and other assistants. Information on the Federal Public Defender Office is available at: http://txwd.fd.org/austin. The office is located downtown at 504 Lavaca St., Suite 960, Austin, TX 78701. The internship requires a 10 hour per week commitment, but not all those hours need to be completed at the Fed. Public Defender Office. Students should expect to spend at least one day per week at the office or in federal court.

Students earn 2 credits (pass/fail) for the fall semester and, if they enroll in the spring, they earn another 2 credits (pass/fail) for spring semester. Students are encouraged to commit to a full academic year of internship study, but one semester applications will also be reviewed. This internship program is not available during either summer session.

Students may wish to enroll in Adv. Fed. Crim. Prosecution and Defense seminar, co-taught by Prof. Klein and Aleza Remis. They might also consider enrolling in Fed. Crim. Law, taught in the spring by Prof. Klein and in the fall by Judge Robert Pitman. Applicants may also benefit from having completed one or both Criminal Procedure courses, Evidence, any upper-level criminal justice course, and any internship or clinical program in the criminal justice field. None of those courses are required.

The application deadline for the next academic year is Mon., March 25th, 2024. Interviews are conducted at the Career Services Office or via Zoom. Though students will know whether or not they are admitted before fall registration, the unique registration number for the fall 2024 internship will not be available until April 15, 2025.

The Judicial Internship Program lasts for one semester and includes a weekly class and a concurrent internship in an approved court placement. Students research complex legal questions and draft memoranda, opinions and orders under the supervision of judges and their staff attorneys and law clerks. Students apply and extend their substantive legal knowledge and further develop their analytical, research, writing, and oral communication skills. Students also observe court proceedings and learn about court procedure and legal advocacy. A fall or spring internship must extend over a period of at least 10 weeks between the first and last class day of the semester. Students work at the internship placement for at least 150 hours. Students who also enroll in the 1 credit Judicial Internship Program Supplement complete an additional 50 hours of work at the internship placement, for a total of at least 200 hours. Within these parameters, each intern arranges a mutually agreeable work schedule with the court. The internship must involve the student and the supervising attorney working in person; regular remote work is not permitted. Students and supervisors are expected to work together at their placement offices. The weekly class covers a variety of topics relevant to the judicial process and working at a court, such as goal setting and reflection, judicial ethics, writing and communicating in chambers, judicial decision-making, statutory construction, and the organization and operation of the courts. Course requirements include reading assignments, class presentations, court observations, short reflective writing assignments, self-assessments, and timesheets. There will be a course packet available for purchase at the start of the semester. In addition to class meetings, students meet individually with the instructor several times during the internship to discuss their goals and review their progress. Application Requirements: An application for approval to register is required. A student may not register until the instructor has approved the application. Before submitting an application to the instructor, a student must first apply for and obtain a judicial internship with an approved court in Austin. The student must be assigned to a specific judge on the court who agrees to participate in the Texas Law program. Approved courts include the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Third Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court (including the active and senior district court judges and the magistrate judges), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Travis County Probate Court. Many of these courts post internship openings on the Career Services Office's Job Bank on Symplicity. Others post information about internships on the court's website. Apply as soon as possible. Most courts accept applications and select interns for the fall semester during the prior spring semester, some as early as March. A few make their selections closer to the start of the semester. A student who wishes to intern for academic credit must obtain the internship and apply to the instructor in time to attend the first class meeting. For the application for approval to register and more information about the Judicial Internship Program, go to https://law.utexas.edu/internships/judicial-internship/. This program is open to students who have completed the first two semesters of law school. Interns who receive academic credit may not be compensated. Students may enroll only once in a judicial internship for academic credit.

The Judicial Internship Program lasts for one semester and includes a weekly class and a concurrent internship in an approved court placement. Students research complex legal questions and draft memoranda, opinions and orders under the supervision of judges and their staff attorneys and law clerks. Students apply and extend their substantive legal knowledge and further develop their analytical, research, writing, and oral communication skills. Students also observe court proceedings and learn about court procedure and legal advocacy. A fall or spring internship must extend over a period of at least 10 weeks between the first and last class day of the semester. Students work at the internship placement for at least 150 hours. Students who also enroll in the 1 credit Judicial Internship Program Supplement complete an additional 50 hours of work at the internship placement, for a total of at least 200 hours. Within these parameters, each intern arranges a mutually agreeable work schedule with the court. The internship must involve the student and the supervising attorney working in person; regular remote work is not permitted. Students and supervisors are expected to work together at their placement offices. The weekly class covers a variety of topics relevant to the judicial process and working at a court, such as goal setting and reflection, judicial ethics, writing and communicating in chambers, judicial decision-making, statutory construction, and the organization and operation of the courts. Course requirements include reading assignments, class presentations, court observations, short reflective writing assignments, self-assessments, and timesheets. There will be a course packet available for purchase at the start of the semester. In addition to class meetings, students meet individually with the instructor several times during the internship to discuss their goals and review their progress. Application Requirements: An application for approval to register is required. A student may not register until the instructor has approved the application. Before submitting an application to the instructor, a student must first apply for and obtain a judicial internship with an approved court in Austin. The student must be assigned to a specific judge on the court who agrees to participate in the Texas Law program. Approved courts include the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Third Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court (including the active and senior district court judges and the magistrate judges), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, and the Travis County Probate Court. Many of these courts post internship openings on the Career Services Office's Job Bank on Symplicity. Others post information about internships on the court's website. Apply as soon as possible. Most courts accept applications and select interns for the fall semester during the prior spring semester, some as early as March. A few make their selections closer to the start of the semester. A student who wishes to intern for academic credit must obtain the internship and apply to the instructor in time to attend the first class meeting. For the application for approval to register and more information about the Judicial Internship Program, go to https://law.utexas.edu/internships/judicial-internship/. This program is open to students who have completed the first two semesters of law school. Interns who receive academic credit may not be compensated. Students may enroll only once in a judicial internship for academic credit.

APPLICATION REQUIRED. Instructors: Robert Kepple and Erik Nielsen. The objective of this course is to educate students on the law and legal issues commonly encountered in criminal prosecution, and to familiarize the students with the unique duties and responsibilities of a criminal prosecutor not simply as an advocate, but as a minister of justice.

The course consists of a 2-credit classroom component and a 3-credit internship program in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. All credits are pass/fail. The course is open to students who have completed the first two semesters of law school, but enrollment is limited and preference is given to students who have completed 43 credit hours or who are in their second semester of their second year of law school, and who would be eligible to appear in court for the State under the supervision of a licensed prosecutor. It is recommended that students have completed Evidence prior to this internship.

The classroom component of the course will require students to study substantive and procedural law and issues commonly-encountered by criminal prosecutors, covering topics such as charging instruments, discovery, search and seizure, jury selection, public integrity prosecution, trial tactics, evidence, post-conviction DNA, and oral advocacy. Students will also spend significant time discussing the unique ethical responsibilities and duties of a public prosecutor, with focus on the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the National Prosecution Standards.

Each student will also be assigned to a trial court prosecution team or to the Special Victims Unit in the District Attorney's office and will be supervised by prosecutors assigned to the court and the Unit. Students can expect to gain active experience in all aspects of the day-to-day functions of the public prosecutor, including the charging decision, pleading, discovery, motions to suppress evidence, motions to revoke probation, and the trial of the case. Commensurate with experience and opportunity, students may have the opportunity to actively participate in the courtroom proceedings.

Students are required to fill out applications for admission to the course and will consult with the instructors in advance regarding their court placement. Students must complete 150 hours of placement work for their internship. Each student will arrange a mutually convenient work schedule with their supervising attorney. Students may not receive compensation for their internship.

This public service internship course has two components: (1) a weekly class, and (2) an internship with a government or nonprofit organization that involves delivering legal services and performing other law-related tasks under the supervision of an experienced lawyer employed by the organization. Students engage in legal work in public service offices, gaining hands-on experience that they reflect upon and analyze in a weekly class. Assignments address topics relevant to the legal profession and professional identity, including ethics, advocacy and communication skills, and professional self-development.

In their internships, students will develop lawyering skills important to their current stage of professional development. Placement supervisors are experienced attorneys who broadly expose students to the activities of their offices, oversee varied and demanding assignments, and provide regular feedback on student performance. Students are required to work at least 150 hours at their internships during the semester, and students may not receive financial compensation for their internship work. The internship must involve the student and the supervising attorney working in person; regular remote work is not permitted. Students and supervisors are expected to work together at their placement offices.

The classroom component of the course is designed to enhance the educational experience of students by giving them the opportunity to reflect on their internship and to understand the broader landscape in which their internship is situated. Through the seminar, students will deepen their understanding of public service lawyering, ethical issues that confront public sector lawyers, and the role of lawyers in increasing access to justice.

Application Requirements: Students must submit an application for permission to register for the course. The course is open to students who have completed the first two semesters of law school. Before submitting an application to the instructor, a student must first arrange an in-person government or nonprofit internship based in the Austin area. The instructor is available to consult with students about possible placements, and some organizations post opportunities on TEX. Each placement and supervising attorney must be approved by the instructor prior to registration. A student who wishes to intern for academic credit must obtain the internship and apply to the instructor before the first class meeting.

Students who have previously received credit through any of the other internship courses (nonprofit, legislative, judicial, etc.) are eligible to enroll in this course. Credits: 4 (graded pass/fail)

No scheduled meeting time.

Internship – APPLICATION REQUIRED. Contact the instructor for information about applying. Students must register for both Semester in Practice internship courses (one for 8 credits and one for 2 credits – for a total of 10 credits). Students must intern in-person at their field placements for this course, no remote internships will be approved.

Students in this clinical internship immerse themselves in practice, developing their professional skills and studying the role of lawyers and legal institutions. The course addresses topics relevant to public service lawyering in varied settings, including professionalism, ethics, advocacy, access to justice, the legal profession, and legal institutions. 

For placements in the U.S., students intern have the opportunity to intern full-time in government, nonprofit and legislative offices located outside of the Austin area.

For placements outside the U.S., students have the opportunity to intern full-time with specialized courts, international institutions, and nongovernmental organizations. 

Placement supervisors are experienced attorneys who expose students to the legal activities of their offices, oversee varied and demanding assignments, and provide regular feedback on student performance. Each student consults with the instructor to arrange his or her field placement, and each placement and supervisor must be approved by the instructor prior to registration. An international placement may be arranged in consultation with the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice or arranged independently

Students are required to intern for 500 hours and may not receive a salary for their internship work, although they may receive a modest stipend to offset unusual living or travel expenses. Students are expected to complete a number of written assignments and maintain close contact with the instructor during the internship.

Interested students should review the course website (https://law.utexas.edu/internships/application-information//) and then email the instructor (Eden Harrington, eharrington@law.utexas.edu) to arrange a time to discuss the course.

No scheduled meeting time. Internship – APPLICATION REQUIRED. Contact the instructor for information about applying. Students must register for both Semester in Practice internship courses (one for 8 credits and one for 2 credits – for a total of 10 credits). Students must intern in-person at their field placements for this course, no remote internships will be approved. Students in this clinical internship immerse themselves in practice, developing their professional skills and studying the role of lawyers and legal institutions. The course addresses topics relevant to public service lawyering in varied settings, including professionalism, ethics, advocacy, access to justice, the legal profession, and legal institutions. For placements in the U.S., students intern have the opportunity to intern full-time in government, nonprofit and legislative offices located outside of the Austin area. For placements outside the U.S., students have the opportunity to intern full-time with specialized courts, international institutions, and nongovernmental organizations. Placement supervisors are experienced attorneys who expose students to the legal activities of their offices, oversee varied and demanding assignments, and provide regular feedback on student performance. Each student consults with the instructor to arrange his or her field placement, and each placement and supervisor must be approved by the instructor prior to registration. An international placement may be arranged in consultation with the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice or arranged independently Students are required to intern for 500 hours and may not receive a salary for their internship work, although they may receive a modest stipend to offset unusual living or travel expenses. Students are expected to complete a number of written assignments and maintain close contact with the instructor during the internship. Interested students should review the course website (https://law.utexas.edu/internships/application-information//) and then email the instructor (Eden Harrington, eharrington@law.utexas.edu) to arrange a time to discuss the course.

Instructors: Captain Andrew Lane and Prof. Susan R. Klein

This program offers students the opportunity to apply for “for-credit” externship positions with the United States Army Trial Defense Service or Prosecution Service, Fort Hood Field Office. Students earn two-credits “pass-fail” for the semester. While this program is not available during either summer session, students are welcome to apply for non-credit summer internship positions directly with that office. Students may apply for the externship for a single semester.

Students will assist prosecutors or defense counsels (and paralegals) in administrative separations and criminal proceedings pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The Fort Hood Legal office is the largest and busiest office in the Army. Attorneys there have federal felony jury trials monthly, similar to those seen in a Federal District Court but often with crimes and facts unique to the military. Army JAG officers regularly change jobs, working as prosecutors, magistrate judges, defense attorneys, national security attorneys, and trial/appellate judges. This creates a level of collegiality and rapport not seen in criminal justice practice elsewhere.

Applicants may benefit from upper-level criminal law courses such as Adv. Fed. Crim. Prosecution & Defense, Federal Criminal Law, National Security Law, Cybersecurity Law, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence. None of those courses are required.

The externship requires 10 hours per week for the 14-week semester, though most hours can be completed outside of the office. Students should expect to spend one day every other week at Fort Hood Trial Services, 330 761st Tank Battalion Ave., Fort Hood, Tx 76544, working in the office or in court. Ft. Hood is located about halfway between Austin and Waco, a bit over an hour’s drive from the law school or about 50 minutes from Georgetown.

The application deadline for Spring 2026 is October 20, 2025. Interviews are conducted at the Career Services Office or over Zoom. 

Additional information about the U.S. Army Trial Defense Service, is available at: Trial Defense Service Public (army.mil).

No class meeting information is available for this class. Students will arrange their work schedules with their supervisors. They are expected to work about 10 hours per week during the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters.

Exams:            None

Registration Information:

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

To apply, please e-mail a copy of your cover letter, resume and transcript (unofficial is fine) to Professor Klein and AUSA Daniel M. Castillo. Please also send copies of the above to usatxw.staffing@usdoj.gov. Students interested in the internship are encouraged stop by Prof. Klein’s office at TNH 3.207 (her office hours Wed. from 4:00 to 5:30 pm). You may call or text her at (512) 203-2257, or send her an e-mail at sklein@law.utexas.edu. Alternatively, you may call Daniel Castillo at (512) 916-5858, or send him an e-mail.

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

Course Description:

This internship program offers students the opportunity to apply for “for-credit” internship positions with the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. This course offers students a two-credit internship to be completed over the fall 2024 semester and a two-credit internship to be completed over the spring 2025 semester, resulting in a total of 4 credits (pass/fail) for the academic year. This internship program is not available during either summer session. Students are required to commit to a full academic year.

Students may wish to enroll in the fall three-unit Adv. Fed. Crim. Prosecution & Defense seminar, co-taught by Prof. Klein and Aleza Remis. Students may also be interested in the three-unit Federal Criminal Law course taught by Prof. Klein in the spring and the seminar taught by Judge Robert Pitman. Applicants may benefit from having completed either Criminal Procedure course, Evidence, any upper-level criminal law course, and any internship or clinic in the criminal justice field. None of those courses are required.

The internship component requires a commitment to work 10 hours per week for each semester, though not all hours must be completed at the office. The U.S. Attorney's Office is downtown at 903 San Jacinto Blvd., Suite 334, Austin, Texas, 78701. Students will assist in the prosecution of federal criminal cases under the supervision Daniel M. Castillo and other Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Students should expect to spend at least one day per week at the office or in federal court.  Students must commit to both semesters.

The application deadline for the next academic year is Monday, March 25, 2024. Interviews are conducted at the Career Services Office or over Zoom. Though students will know whether or not they are admitted before fall registration, the unique registration number for the fall 2023 internship will not be available until April 15, 2024.

Additional information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office is available at: www.usdoj.gov/usao/txwd/.

Students may also review https://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/job/law-student-volunteer-academic-year-2024-2025.

Jurisdiction & Judgments is a course in Conflict of Laws. Conflict of Laws addresses issues that may arise when a dispute or transaction has connections with more than one state or country. The subject is generally divided into three interrelated topics: (1) territorial jurisdiction (and related doctrines), (2) choice of law, and (3) recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. This course focuses on the first and third topics: specifically, territorial jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, forum selection clauses, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments rendered by the courts of other states and countries. Choice of law is the focus of a separate course titled “Conflict of Laws,” and is covered in Jurisdiction & Judgments only to the extent necessary to fully understand the topics that are the focus of this course. At the end of the semester, students should have developed a sound understanding of the law governing jurisdiction and judgments, including policy considerations that may shape further development of the law.

An introductory survey course about general jurisprudence and the rule of law, which asks questions like, "What is law? What distinguishes legal institutions from other ones? What, if anything, makes a legal claim true? And what does it mean to be governed by the rule of law?" Readings will include HLA Hart, Lon Fuller, and Ronald Dworkin.

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 recent Supreme Court and Appellate Court decisions, from cases pending before the Supreme Court in its 2025-2026 term, and from a recent Executive Order.

A secondary aim will be to provide a look at some of the laws and tactics public sector unions rely upon to represent workers, particularly public sector unions in Texas where collective bargaining is statutorily forbidden for most public sector workers.

An underlying objective will be to give students a glimpse of what union representatives and labor lawyers actually do. To this end, there will be some guest speakers.

Data-centers, including their extreme water-use, in the Arizonan desert or in arid West Texas or in rural Tennessee or in all of the above?

Alfalfa grown west of Phoenix for export for Saudi cattle or the Minnesota dairy industry or metastatic residential development?

Groundwater retention for East Texas communities or the long-haul conveyance of massive groundwater volumes from there to Dallas-Fort Worth and the north?

West Texas frack water ("produced water") for irrigation re-use? Fracking or watershed protection in Pennsylvania and New York?

Hydropower for Idaho and Nevada or dam removals for the long-delayed benefit of certain tribes?

Extravagant land and water uses for industrial hog and poultry production in Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina, and Texas or potable water protections (and clean air) for cities and towns?

Off-shore "farming" or pollution controls in the sea?

Compact- and treaty-based water entitlements or the radical remaking of rights regimes from the past? "Buy-and-dry" covenants, silent deeds, tort invocations, statutory restrictions, Commerce Clause delineations--new-fangled legal strategies or nay?

As you can see, the dominant speech-part powering these capsule illustrations of our field of inquiry in this Workshop is the conjunction "or". It is here to reflect that land and water use in our times is, increasingly, and at an accelerating pace, the site of conflicts arising from lessening supplies against increasing demands for land and water: This is a story of our times and, as the outcomes of these conflicts shape alternative paths of growth and development for localities and regions, of the future, as well.

In grappling with the attendant issues, we'll make use of familiar conceptual and practical frameworks: visions pertaining to social and economic welfare, global capital markets and their influential appetites, private versus public goods, states' versus federal rights, the quickening pulse of populist preferences and the failing pulse of regulation; technocratic problem-solving-- and the shifting dynamics of conflict-resolution and justice-seeking that are playing out in many of these settings on account of the sought-for interventions of  public and private law.   

As to the law: I have conceived of this short course as a miniature capstone for law students, as our subjects will mirror the kaleidoscopic ways that law, its ideals and structures and institutions (note the use of "and"), come to bear on the infinite doings of everyday, conflict-generative life.

Beyond the law: I have also conceived of this short course as a welcome landing place for insights and knowledge from a diversity of the disciplines outside of the law from which our appreciation of these challenging social, economic, and geophysical issues might gain.  

                                  I hope the work will be interdisciplinary to the core. That's why students from other university departments and units are being invited to join.

                                                                                               *

Course requirements:

1--The class will meet in four Friday sessions of three hours each. Full attendance at every class is mandatory.

     "Full attendance" includes reasonable attentiveness to the contributions of others involved in class discussions, as well as active participation in them on a reasonable basis that consists of apt commentary clearly informed by the course readings. The sharing of pertinent outside knowledge, such as that derived from other courses, other readings, and from volunteer and professional experience is encouraged.

2—For Law students, the course is offered pass/fail.

3—Students from non-Law departments and programs may take the course pass/fail or for one graded credit.

4--All students will complete a very brief written exercise. No AI is to be used in the production of what is turned in.

     Credit will also be given for class participation, so long as it meets the expectations described above at (1).

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.

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 is designed to acquaint students with the various genres of legal scholarship that can contribute both to the understanding of our legal system and to the practice of law. Three broad categories of legal scholarship will be read and discussed: (1) jurisprudential scholarship about the correct way to determine the internally-right answer to any legal-rights question in our legal system as well as about the existence of internally-right answers to legal-rights questions in our legal system, (2) analyses of the internally-correct answer to particular legal- rights questions or more general doctrinal questions, and (3) external-to-law analyses of the causes, consequences, "nature," or attractiveness of given bodies of law or legal-decisionmaking processes. To a significant extent, the course will be concerned with the contribution that philosophical, historical, sociological, and economic approaches can make to the study of these issues. The class will meet for three hours once a week. Each session will be divided into two 75-minute, related halves. Most weeks, the two halves will be taught by different presenters or sets of presenters who will discuss articles typically that they have written or occasionally that someone else has written that fall into a particular category. (In addition to the listed instructor, the course will be taught by something like 20 members of the law faculty and possibly some members of other faculties.) Each session will address not only the articles assigned themselves but wider issues the relevant genre of scholarship raises—for example, the jurisprudential assumptions behind a particular doctrinal article, the circumstances in which economic or historical analysis is internal-to-law and external-to-law, the prescriptive-moral relevance of economic-efficiency conclusions. In addition to having an obligation to participate orally in the class, students will be required to write four five-to-ten-page papers on the readings for particular weeks (that can address questions the presenters will pose in advance) and a longer (15-25 page) paper at the end of the course on one or more issues raised during the semester, on how (if at all) and why the course has or has not changed their view of legal education or their professional plans, and/or on anything else related to the course to which the instructor agrees. Within limitations associated with the value of spreading each student's writing evenly throughout the semester and the goal of having the same number of papers written each week, short-paper assignments will be based on student preferences. Short papers will not be assigned for the first two sessions or the last session of the course.

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 examines the problems and issues that arise when state and federal legislative bodies exercise their power to conduct oversight and investigations of the public and private sector by focusing on the scope and nature of formal and informal processes such as oversight hearings, specialized studies, citizen and select study committees, legislative agency activity, subpenas and examinations, legislative review of administrative rules, and the removal of executive and judicial officers by the legislature. The course includes an examination of how legislative fact-finding compliments and collides with other law enforcement investigations and prosecutions and unique attorney-client privilege issues.

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 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 focuses on a deep dive into the practice of mediation, with specific regard to mediations as part of family law litigation. We will discuss the rules, procedures, and ethical responsibilities associated with participating in mediation, as both a practicing attorney representing family law case litigants and certified mediator. We will also study the specific interpersonal dynamics involved in mediating a family law case, including situations involving custody battles, complicated marital estates, and domestic violence. This course is intended to enhance negotiation and case management skills, and so will require active and consistent participation in class exercises throughout the semester.

 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 is a practice-based course designed for law students interested in music law, tech policy, and entertainment business affairs. Students explore the legal, economic, and policy dimensions of key music industry agreements—recording artist, producer, publishing, and digital platform deals—while developing hands-on skills in drafting and negotiation. Students will also gain a working knowledge of the key regulations governing the functioning of the music industry, particularly for mechanical royalties and the role of the Copyright Office and the Copyright Royalty Board.  The course features team-based simulation exercises, in-class deal memo drafting, and a final paper focused either on the Copyright Royalty Board’s 2026 Phonorecords V proceeding or emerging AI licensing frameworks. Topics include mechanical royalty rate-setting, collective rights management, metadata, and the impact of AI on copyright and NIL rights. Students will also examine real-world copyright litigation against AI platforms and leading legislation to regulate AI. Guest speakers provide practical context. No prior music law experience is required. This course is ideal for future music attorneys, policy advocates, or startup counsel in the music-tech ecosystem.

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 survey the bodies of law and government institutions involved in counterterrorism. These include intelligence and surveillance law, criminal law, international humanitarian law (including rules for detention and targeting), public international law and U.S. Constitutional law relevant to the use of military force against terrorist groups, and others. It will also consider contemporary debates over domestic terrorism, online content moderation and mandatory takedowns, and encrypted communications, while enriching these discussions with international comparisons and guest speakers from the world of practice. Students will be evaluated based on a final exam and class participation.

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.

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.

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.

Lawyers and especially litigators are professional problem solvers. Negotiation is an integral part of crafting solutions. This class is a learn by doing experiential class helping students master the negotiation skills essential for a modern litigation practice. Expect an interdisciplinary approach to finding solutions, discovering your style, managing others, reaching resolution, and maintaining personal balance. 

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.

This class covers practical aspects of the U.S. oil and gas legal regime, focusing on the relationship between energy companies and between energy companies and regulatory authorities. Topics of discussion include contracts and transfers by oil and gas lessees such as assignments, farmouts, operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, and master service agreements. Oil and gas development on federal, state, and American Indian lands will be considered, as well as environmental regulation of the petroleum industry. Bankruptcy, energy finance, and land use control will also be covered, as well as purchase of domestic oil and gas assets by foreigners. The law of all producing states will be considered with some emphasis on Oklahoma and Texas, the two states with largest bodies of oil and gas case law and which most often provide divergent views on various oil and gas issues. May be taken concurrently with Oil and Gas (LAW 390).

Prerequisite: Law 254J, 354J, 454J, 554J, (Federal Income Taxation) 254N, or 354N (Federal Income Taxation A). The course covers the taxation of partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations, the most common forms of business organizations that involve a single level of tax. Most business entities with non-publicly traded interests take one of these forms; almost all such entities should take one of these forms. The rules on partnership tax also are increasingly relevant to a corporate and international practice as partnerships are used for corporate and international joint ventures and as vehicles for mergers and acquisitions. The course is essential for anyone who intends to practice in tax. It is useful for anyone who intends to practice in an area involving significant business planning.

This course examines the doctrines of and policies animating United States patent law. Topics include: the structure of the patent system, requirements of patentability, claim construction, infringement, defenses, and remedies. There are no prerequisites. The course is designed to be accessible to students without a background in science or engineering. Though a technical degree is required to practice at the Patent Office, many patent lawyers--especially patent litigators--do not have technical backgrounds. The casebook is Masur & Ouellette's Patent Law: Cases, Problems, and Materials, which you can download for free at https://www.patentcasebook.org.

This Patent Litigation course will cover major issues in a typical patent litigation from pre-suit evaluation through trial and appeal (time permitting).   Students will be divided into two roughly equal groups, one representing the plaintiff (and patent owner), the other will represent the defendant. Students will develop a patent litigation between two fictional companies. The phases of litigation covered will include: pre-suit analysis, complaint/answer, early motion practice, discovery, claim construction, expert reports, pretrial/trial, and appeal.  The course will also cover inter partes review and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.  We will also discuss mediation and settlement.

This course covers practical aspects of preparing and prosecuting patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and non-U.S. patent offices.  Hands-on experience will be obtained with analyzing invention disclosures, preparing claims, preparing patent applications, responding to restriction requirements, responding to office actions, filing appeal briefs, filing continuing applications, etc. 

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

This course introduces persuasive legal writing and oral argument. The course covers building a persuasive legal document using arguments about text, intent, tradition, precedent, and policy. The course also covers other practical legal skills, including consideration of audience and purpose in persuasion, oral communication, and researching to support persuasive arguments.

POLICY MAKING/LEADERSHIP "ADVANCED PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: Policy Making and Leadership The purpose of the course is to expose students to contemporary policy challenges in the national security arena and, in doing so, provide the student a framework for making future decisions across the entire public policy spectrum. Students will be exposed to a variety of geopolitical scenarios and working in conjunction with a “national security team” they will develop a list of options for government leaders. The course goes beyond the theoretical and analytical to understanding exactly how national security policy is made in the most complex and politically sensitive environments. In the scenarios, students will be confronted with the challenges of whether to conduct a drone strike in a denied area, address the development of nuclear weapons in Iran, a potential conflict between Russia and NATO, whether to intervene in a potential Global contagion and several other current international problems. Students will learn to understand the implications of U.S. actions on both international and domestic policy. Throughout the course we will also examine the role of leadership in policy making."

This course is for 3Ls who will be clerking for a federal district or magistrate judge.

On your first day in your new clerkship, you will inherit the responsibility of overseeing a docket of 100 or more cases, all of which have ongoing motion practice, upcoming trial dates, and a lot for a law clerk to do. And most of the things you will need to do are things you have never done before, like preparing a bench memo for a hearing, or an order denying a 12(b)(6) motion. The first few months in a clerkship can be pretty overwhelming. This class is intended to provide you with enough knowledge and insight into the nuts and bolts of a district or magistrate judge clerkship to allow you to hit the ground running on your first day. It covers everything from how to read a docket sheet and find the pleadings in your cases, to drafting a memorandum opinion. It is a two-credit, pass/fail, small and collaborative class.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a basic background in historic preservation law. Whether you choose to work in the historic preservation field or in another field related to preservation such as architecture, building conservation, planning, archeology, or history, this course will equip you to recognize when legal issues might impact your work, and assist you in achieving a successful outcome.

Course Overview

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country on earth, with more than 1.9 million people in custody on any given day. Prisons and jails are places that cause tremendous harm to the people who live and work in these settings, and it has become increasingly clear that environmental factors contribute to the risks they face. For example, incarcerated people and corrections staff are exposed to extreme temperatures, contaminated water supplies, hazardous chemicals, toxic air quality, and climate-change induced events, such as flooding, wildfires, and other natural disasters. At the same time, the carceral institutions themselves can create hazardous environmental conditions. It is no coincidence that these environmental risks disproportionately impact low-income people and people of color.

This course examines the range of environmental risks in the carceral setting by focusing on specific case studies of environmental harm suffered by incarcerated people in several instances over the last ten years. We will hear directly from people who have been incarcerated who can speak to the impact of these environmental hazards. We will examine some of the practical challenges that arise when it comes to addressing these environmental risks, such as the politics of funding infrastructure improvements, the complexities of the policy development process, and the difficulties of mass evacuations. We will explore the laws and policies in place to protect incarcerated people from environmental impacts, and the gaps in protection that exist. We will also delve into the legal obstacles people in custody face when they seek redress for the environmental harms they have suffered. And we will consider potential strategies and opportunities for advocates seeking to address these challenges.

This course, cross-listed between the LBJ School and the Law School, approaches these issues from a highly interdisciplinary and practical perspective. It will be co-taught by two professors, one with expertise on prison policy and practice and the other with expertise on environmental law. We will also have guest speakers with lived experience relevant to these issues.

Course Requirements This course is dependent upon an informed and lively discussion. Students are expected to attend all classes, do all the reading, and come to class with thoughtful comments or questions about their reading assignments. The course will have a heavy reading load. Class participation is critical and will be considered in grading. There will be two short research and writing assignments and one longer research and writing assignment as the major projects for the course. Students may also be asked to help lead class discussion or to conduct some outside research on a specified week’s topic. Students may be assigned to teams to conduct some of these assignments.  

The process of forming and capitalizing private equity and venture capital funds is a foundational first step to an understanding of how private companies are financed globally. Over the course of the semester, students will develop an understanding of each player in the fund formation process (e.g. limited partners, general partners, lawyers, placement agents, etc.), each party’s leverage points, and how each party is necessary for a successful fundraise. We will also walk through all of the necessary documents in a fundraise (e.g. limited partnership agreements, private placement memorandum, side letters, etc.) and, through the use of example provisions, learn the various negotiation points that each party is focused on.

This class is intended to be interesting and fun, and to encourage you to explore an interesting corner of the world  through the lens of your experience in studying and thinking about law.  It will be a learning experience for all of us.

The basic idea is that while we study only governmental legal systems (or in the case of international law, a system of rules that means to emulate  governmental legal systems), we are surrounded by private systems of rules which we could think of as eccentric legal systems. If we think of private systems of rules in this way, we may be able both to understand them better and to learn things from them that may improve our understanding of governmental legal systems. I want to set you loose to find and study the private system of your choice.

I have in mind the broadest possible range of private systems of rules. Here are just a few examples:

• The cattle farmers of Marin County who have their own rules of trespass, repair and remuneration.
• The lobster fishermen of Maine, who sawed in half the boat of one of their cohort who violated their rules about the location and ownership of traps (I’m not sure whether they sawed the boat length-wise or width-wise).
• Sports leagues, with their external rule-making and adjudication, and their internal games.
• Informal pick-up basketball games, some of which are populated by very serious players and precise rules, but no referees.
• Organized churches with elaborate rules and hierarchies.
• The internal content of some religions, in which figures like the devil seem to be part of an enforcement mechanism.
• Street vendors and how they enforce their respective locations and territories.
• The actual Mafia, or the fictive Mafia of the Sopranos or of the Godfather series. Other organized criminal organizations, like the drug cartels.
• Home owner associations.
• Large companies; trade unions.
• I’m not sure what to think about this, but possibly complex insect colonies like honeybees…there is a fascinating book called Honeybee Democracy, which is about the extraordinary process by which hives of bees choose new homes.

I am just scratching the surface. But I hope the point is obvious: I mean to encourage consideration of as wide and as imaginative a variety of systems of rules as possible from which you will choose one to study.

The class will be divided into four phases.  In the first phase we will discuss common features of governmental legal systems. In the second phase we will read some studies of private systems of rules. In the third phase we will discuss your project, helping you choose and focus your research. In the fourth phase, you will present your early findings to the group.

The class will not be graded on the curve. Your grade will be based on class participation and on your paper describing and analyzing the private system of rules you study.

This course will introduce students to core concepts and doctrines in the field of professional responsibility. It will touch on all of the subjects needed to prepare for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. The class will be taught through case examples and problems. Students will take an in-class examination. This course fulfills the Professional Responsibility requirement for graduation. 

This survey course on lawyers' professional responsibilities is centered on two premises: (1) The practice of law is a business as well as a profession, and economic incentives therefore matter; and (2) more than 90 percent of all lawsuits settle. Thus, we will give special attention to the economic aspects of the attorney-client relationship and the various incentives that existing ethical Rules provide both lawyers and clients. We will also pay particular attention to a wide range of ethical issues surrounding the settlement process. The course will cover approximately 85% of the material that is typically tested on the MPRE. In previous years, students all reported feeling well prepared for, and doing well on, the MPRE. The "short course" format, with our final class meeting scheduled for November 3, means that the course will be completed prior to the November 13/14 MPRE testing dates. This course fulfills the Professional Responsibility requirement for graduation. The exam format will be an in-class, 3-hour, exam consisting of 2-hours of objective questions (multiple choice and true-false) and a one-hour, word-limited essay question. The exam will be closed note, closed internet, but open "Professional Responsibility Rules."

This is a specialized class for students who expect to spend their careers (at least in part) representing clients in civil lawsuits. If that's not you, I encourage you to take a different class that will better prepare you for the practice you expect to have. If yo'ure not sure about your future field of endeavor, consider taking the introductory survey course. It's taught every year.

This is NOT an MPRE prep course. From my own experience and that of hundreds of law students, I know that one can pass the MPRE with a week or two of study. Consequently, there's no reason to spend an entire semester getting ready for the exam. But there are good reasons to spend a term studying the law governing lawyers, which you will have to understand and deal with throughout your professional life. Take my word on this: I get calls from lawyers with professional responsibility problems all the time. In this class, you will receive a thorough education in the basics that will both give you a leg up on the MPRE and prepare you to think about the ethical problems you'll encounter in practice.

Attendance is mandatory. Students who miss more than two class sessions will be asked to drop the course. Role will be taken each day.

A survey of interests in land and limited topics involving chattels, estates, cotenancy, landlord and tenant issues, conveyancing, private and public control of land use.

A survey of interests in land and limited topics involving chattels: estates, cotenancy, landlord and tenant issues, conveyancing, private and public control of land use.