Course Schedule

This course provides an introduction to legal doctrines and policy questions relating to the organization and operation of the administrative state. The focus is on federal administrative law, with significant attention devoted to judicial review of agency action, structural constitutional questions of separation and balance of powers, and procedural requirements under the Due Process Clause and Administrative Procedure Act. Students are required to participate in class on "on call" panel days. Grading will be based on satisfaction of the panel requirement and performance on a one-day, take-home examination.

This course will take a criminal case from its inception through trial, plea or dismissal. Students will perform skills weekly on different elements of the case such as intake evaluation, pretrial motions, plea negotiations, witness preparation and trial. Ethics will also be included. The course is recommended for those with an interest in a career in criminal law, especially those considering employment in either a prosecutor's or public defender’s office.

The class will be a combination of remote and in person exercises.  No student will be required to appear in person, but students will be given the option of doing so on some of the class days.  The hope is to give students the chance to perform in ways that are currently being used in different jurisdictions around the country.    Obviously this is evolving and subject to change.  The plan is also to involve guest appearances by some former students who took this class and are now working in public defender or prosecutor’s offices.

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 class is limited to 3L students. It is for students who have mastered the basic and advanced advocacy skills and will focus on cutting-edge advocacy theories and techniques. The class combines both discussion and practice sessions focusing on both traditional legal exercises and other experimental approaches to advocacy. Students will also spend several weeks learning and practicing how to conduct a voir dire examination and will perform a full voir dire using independent jurors.  Students will work with doctors from the Dell Medical School on a trial. This class operates in a seminar fashion as well as focusing on skills-based training. The class has an extensive reading/discussion list in addition to the skill work and outside research. 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 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 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.

Is there a place in the law for the consideration of the interests of animals? Throughout the semester, we will examine the jurisprudential basis and theoretical underpinnings of the current status of animals in our legal system. Students will read a diverse cross-section of legal theory and case law delving into controversial moral, ethical, and public policy considerations in balancing the interests of animals and humans. Thus, we will study animal law through the prism of traditional legal disciplines, including tort, contract, criminal, regulatory, administrative, and constitutional law. This is not an animal rights course. Rather, students will be expected to come to class prepared and ready to challenge one another to consider whether the law has a place for animals, and if so, where we should draw the line. From time to time, guests with expertise in relevant legal areas will be invited to address the class. One-third of each student’s course grade will be based on regular class attendance and substantive participation demonstrating thoughtful review of the assigned materials prior to class. (Students who arrive substantially late or leave early may not be credited for having attending class. Anyone experiencing or anticipating excessive absences is strongly encouraged to contact the instructor.) As a final project, students will apply their knowledge from the course to prepare an original law review-style research paper at least 20 pages long on an approved topic of their choosing. The paper, which is not graded anonymously, will constitute two-thirds of the course grade. Each student also will make a brief presentation on his or her paper during one of the final two class sessions, which will be considered in evaluating class participation.

This pass-fail course teaches students to do the work of an appellate clerk. We will analyze briefs and record excerpts, write sample bench memos, and draft and edit opinions. I expect students to attend every class unless excused. The class is limited to twelve students, but students who have accepted an appellate clerkship will have priority.

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.

Prerequisite: Secured Credit. The prerequisite may be concurrent, that is, taken during the same semester.

This course covers Title 11 of the U.S. Code, the Bankruptcy Code. It 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, fraudulent conveyances, and rejection of executory contracts), 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 [cases like Sears, Hertz and Neiman Marcus], 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.

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 is an introduction to the basic legal rules governing corporations. The course will focus on publicly held corporations. Among the topics covered will be fiduciary duties, conflict-of-interest transactions, reorganizations and control transactions, shareholder voting rights, and shareholder derivative suits. Issues relating to partnerships and securities law may also be reviewed. Corporations and Business Association, Business Associations, and Business Associations (Enriched) may not be repeated for credit.

This course is an introduction to the basic legal rules governing corporations. The course will focus on publicly held corporations. Among the topics covered will be fiduciary duties, conflict-of-interest transactions, executive compensation, reorganizations and control transactions, shareholder voting rights, and shareholder derivative suits. Issues relating to partnerships and securities law may also be reviewed. 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 mental retardation), 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.  This course will satisfy the constitutional law II requirement.

The ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Cases (2003) state that “the responsibilities of defense counsel in a death penalty case are uniquely demanding, both in the knowledge that counsel must possess and in the skills he or she must master.” This advanced death penalty course studies various aspects of capital trial defense that must be mastered to meet contemporary standards of practice. The course addresses defense counsel’s duty to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the client’s social history; counsel’s duty to identify and investigate issues of trauma, race, culture, and mental health presented by the client and the case; counsel’s duty to pursue a negotiated settlement of the case; and counsel’s duty to develop an integrated theory of the case. Classes alternate between traditional lectures and class discussion of assigned readings, presentations by occasional guest speakers, and workshops in which students will apply course reading and instruction to a series of lawyering assignments related to an actual pending capital case.

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 screen and 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.