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The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
  2. Course Schedule

SMNR: Legislative Process

  • Semester: Spring 2013
  • Course ID: 397S
  • Credit Hours: 3
  • Unique: 29820

Course Information

  • Course Type: Seminar

Registration Information

  • Upperclass-only elective

Meeting Times

Day Time Location
FRI 10:30 am - 12:20 pm TNH 3.129

Evaluation Method

Type Date Time Location
Paper

Description

9-27-2012 Law Course Description ‘Legislative Process’ Spring 2013 This seminar takes advantage of the fact that during Spring Semester 2013 the 83rd Texas Legislature meets a little more than a dozen blocks from the Law School. The seminar is limited to students who will be employed part-time or full-time in conjunction with the session, e.g., committee clerk, legislative aide, or in a related industry, e.g., lobbyist, trade association, law firm with legislative clients, state agency with a legislative package, attorney general's office, etc. Note that the seminar meets on Fridays at 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM to accommodate the schedules of students engaged in the legislative process ( to the extent that history predicts the future, the legislature will primarily meet on a Mon.-Thur. schedule through April). Each student will concentrate on a pending legislative proposal and prepare a scholarly paper on a subject approved by the professor. Topics likely to stir debate and advance (or retard) the law are much to be preferred. The student will first investigate the topic, become familiar with present Texas law and current nationwide trends, if any. The goal is to prepare a seminar paper that provides a comprehensive analysis of the proposal. The student may well be involved in the same topic through his or her employment (this is usually the case). The emphasis in the seminar, however, is on legal analysis, not advocacy of the proposal (although advocacy is not uncommon because working on a project usually is viewed as worthwhile by its sponsors). As an aside, two papers written for the 2011 seminar were published in law journals. PREREQUISITES. Approval of the instructor: without regard to 2L or 3L status, twelve (12) students who will have a current legislative connection in Spring Semester, 2013, as described above, will be given absolute preference for enrolling in the seminar. Please do so during pre-registration; a list will be compiled and the instructor will contact each applicant. Students who do not intend to work at the legislature but have taken Senator Brown's Legislative Process class, or students with a prior legislative connection who will not be actively engaged in the 83rd session, may sign-up for a waiting list after pre-registration. Please contact Professor Sampson by email at jsampson@law.utexas.edu.

Instructors

Headshot of Sampson, John J. Sampson, John J.
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