Course Descriptions
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Partnership Taxation (2)
519
Concentration(s):Tax
(Formerly DCL 316)
Through the use of the problem-solving method, this course will focus on the tax issues associated with the formation, operation, termination and liquidation of partnerships, as well as the sale of partnership interests, related party transactions and classification problems.
EITHER Basic Income Tax A OR Basic Income Tax B, along with EITHER Business Enterprises OR Agency and Partnership, fulfills the prerequesite. Recommended but not required: Business Income Taxation or Corporate Income Taxation
Prerequisite(s):
-Basic Income Taxation A
-Basic Income Taxation B
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Patent Application Preparation (2)
533J
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 556)
This course provides a structure and methodology for preparing a universal patent application suitable for filing in patent offices throughout the world. The course provides: 1) application drafting tools for implementing the requirements of Sections 102, 103 and 112 of Title 35, USC; 2) procedures in drafting the application to avoid issues raised in many litigated patents; 3) steps to be taken before actually drafting the application including inventor interview and searching; and 4) actual drafting of a patent application. An engineering or equivalent degree is recommended, i.e., the technical background required to take the patent agents examination to practice before the US Patent Office. PREREQUISITES OR TAKEN CONCURRENTLY: Intellectual Property Law OR Patent Law OR approval of faculty program chair.
Prerequisite(s):
-Intellectual Property Law
-Patent Law
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Patent Law (3)
533K
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 564)
This course provides a general introduction to patent law, and thus students will learn the basic legal rules and policies that constitute this important field of intellectual property law. Subjects covered include what types of inventions or discoveries fall within the ambit of the Patent Act, including recent hot-button issues, such as computer software, biotechnology and business methods. The substance of the course will be spent studying the specific requirements for patentable subject matter, such as the utility, disclosure, enablement, novelty, and nonobviousness requirements, and the statutory bars of public use, sale and abandonment. If there is time, we will also cover some basics of patent litigation, such as claim interpretation and the doctrine of equivalents. Although patent cases often involve complicated scientific discoveries or technologies, the essential legal principles or policies rarely depend on understanding the underlying science or technology. Accordingly, students with non-technical backgrounds are encouraged to take this course, particularly given that intellectual property assets, such as patents, are increasingly important to commercial clients the world over
Prerequisite(s):
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Patent Litigation (2)
533R
Concentration(s):
This course shall consider strategies and procedures pertaining to patent litigation in the U.S. federal courts. Details of the Patent Act and case law shall be analyzed with regard to discovery, motion practice, trial practice, infringement, invalidity and remedies. No technical degree is required. It is recommended students complete Civil Procedure I and II before enrolling in this course.
Prerequisite(s):
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Payment Systems (3)
501G
Concentration(s):
This course examines negotiable instruments under Article 3, bank deposits and collections pursuant to Article 4, funds transfers under Article 4A, and letters of credit under Article 5 of the UCC. The course also will cover various federal regulations, including those providing rules on check clearing, electronic fund transfers, and improper credit card use. Students who have taken commercial Transactions (LAW 501C) may be ineligible to take this course, so approval from the professor must be obtained to enroll.
Prerequisite(s):
-Contracts I
-Contracts II
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Perspectives on Law for King Scholars (1)
626A
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 602)
This course is a one credit course open only to first year King Scholars. It will be taught in the second semester, when first year students have one less credit than the first, and is an attempt to add first year content of the King Scholars Program. The course will consist of one hour per week sessions in a book discussion format. The books assigned will provide perspectives on the law not regularly provided in the curriculum. For example, for Spring 2005 the book of Carl Bogus's "Why Lawsuits are Good for America" will be used. Books will change from year to year.
Prerequisite(s):
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Plea and Sentencing Clinic I (4)
630P
Concentration(s):
Plea and Sentencing Clinic I provides a framework in which students will assist with representation of indigent prisoner clients who currently have cases in which they are represented by the State Appellate Defender’s Office (“SADO”), and who have issues relating to their sentencing or guilty pleas. Under the supervision of an attorney from SADO, students will interview and counsel with clients, isolate client issues, undertake intensive research relating to the identified issues, prepare legal memoranda, as well as motions and briefs for presentation in Michigan circuit courts, and argue those matters before the circuit court. Students will receive instruction on a variety of matters pertinent to their work, including the structure and overview of the legal system relating to pleas and sentences, plea and sentencing guidelines, client interview techniques, issue spotting and brief writing, and appellate strategy. In participating in this clinic, students will explore and develop fundamental skills and values essential to the ethical and competent practice of law. In addition to class time, enrolled students must work a minimum of 16 hours at the clinic or at SADO’s downtown Lansing location each week (in general, each student likely can expect to expend 16 to 20 hours weekly in addition to class time). Some travel time to clients’ locations or to circuit courts may be required, depending upon the cases assigned to the student. Students are selected to participate through an application process. NOTE: Enrolled students must attend a mandatory two-day clinic “Boot Camp” that takes place on the Saturday and Sunday immediately before the first day of class. Please see the clinics' website for additional information.
Prerequisite(s):
-Criminal Law
-Research, Writing and Advocacy I
-Research, Writing and Advocacy II
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Practice and Procedure Before the IRS (2)
572A
Concentration(s):Tax
(Formerly DCL 464)
This class will present a comprehensive analysis of practice and procedure before the Internal Revenue Service. Specific topics of instruction will focus on the organization of the IRS and administrative and judicial practice before the IRS. The conduct and defense of audits will be studied, as well as the administration of the collection function and strategies on behalf of taxpayers. A practical exercise in the form of a protest will be completed as an introduction into the study and strategies before the IRS Appeals Division. A brief overview of the criminal investigation function of the IRS will be undertaken. Litigation before the U.S. Tax Court and other available forms will be studied in detail. In addition to the analysis of the applicable rules of practice and procedure, a review and analysis of key Tax Court pleadings such as the petition, stipulation of facts, brief and decision documents will be reviewed. The goal of the course is to prepare students to properly spot issues and advise clients with respect to all matters dealing with the IRS and administration of the U.S. Tax Code. In addition to the final exam, students will take a pro-active approach to the studies in this class by preparing a protest for an administrative appeal in a hypothetical tax situation and drafting an appropriate strategy to a hypothetical case study.
Prerequisite(s):
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Problem-solving Approaches to Conflict Resolution (2)
505C
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 553)
(Formerly ADR Survey)
This interactive course will cover the following topics: critical perspectives of ADR, negotiations (strategies, positioning for influence, and truthfulness), mediation (structuring enforceable agreements to mediate, confidentiality, mediator liability, and professional responsibility issues in mediation), third party evaluation and fact-finding, settlement perspectives, including the use of class actions, arbitration (preemption, enforceability of agreements to arbitrate, defenses to arbitration, due process, remedies and judicial review, judicial immunity), and alternative dispute resolution in state and federal courts. Teaching modalities will include lecture, simulations, video and exercises, along with selected book readings.
Prerequisite(s):
-Civil Procedure I
-Civil Procedure II
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Problem-solving in Contracts (1)
600E
Concentration(s):
Using a problem format, the course will review major contract topics including: contract formation, consideration, defenses, third party beneficiaries, assignment & delegation, parol evidence, breach and remedies. The course is recommended to students who want to improve their mastery of material covered in the first-year Contracts course. Only graduating third year students are eligible to enroll in this course.
Prerequisite(s):
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Problem-solving in Property (1)
600D
Concentration(s):
Using a problem format, the course will review major property topics including: estates, easements, covenants, adverse possession, conveyances, recording statutes, and mortgages. The course is recommended to students who want to improve their mastery of material covered in the first-year Property course. Only graduating third year students are eligible to enroll in this course.
Prerequisite(s):
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Products Liability (2)
522
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 514)
A study of the sources, development and limits of the law of product liability, with particular attention to theories rooted in negligence, fraud, warranty and strict liability in tort as they are applied to the problems of a technological society. This course examines problems of evidence and proof and focuses on an in-depth study of a current major problem area, such as automobile design.
Prerequisite(s):
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Professional Responsibility (3)
500Q
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 260)
A course designed to acquaint the law student with many of the obligations owed by the lawyer, both individually and as a member of the legal profession, to the society in which he/she lives. In addition to a discussion of ethical problems involved in the practice of law, an overview of all phases of the profession will be undertaken, including disciplinary proceedings, the functions of Bar organizations and unauthorized practice.
Prerequisite(s):
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Property (4)
500G
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 113)
This is a survey course of the fundamentals of property law. Possessory interests of real and personal property including findings, bailments and adverse possession are discussed and analyzed. Topics also include future interests, concurrent ownership, lease holds, transfers of land and land use controls.
Prerequisite(s):
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Property and its Theoretical Foundations (2)
533T
Concentration(s):
This seminar is devoted to an examination of the theoretical issues underlying the concept of property. General topics of discussion will include: the philosophic definition and justification of property, the relationship of property to positive law, the relationship of the right to property to other rights, and the place of property in a just society. Class discussion will focus on close readings of the natural rights philosophers-Hugo Grotius, Samuel Pufendorf, and John Locke-as well as Jeremy Bentham, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Karl Marx, the early twentieth-century Progressives, the legal realists, the Critical Legal Studies movement, Law and Economics, and others. The purpose of this seminar is to gain a better understanding of the theoretical foundation-and criticism-of the concept of property.
Prerequisite(s):
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Public Employment Labor Law (2)
608
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 336)
This course reviews labor relations law in the public sector with a detailed review of public sector unionism: the right to join and form unions in the public sector; the establishment of a collective bargaining relationship in the public sector, including the obligation and duty to bargain; union security in public employment; the right to strike and picket in the public sector; the techniques of settlement of collective bargaining impasses in the public sector without the use of strikes; the enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement; and the political and civil rights of public employees.
Prerequisite(s):
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Public Health Law (2)
558G
Concentration(s):
(Formerly DCL 568)
This course will examine the structure of public health law. We will examine the history and origins of government responsibility and power concerning the public's health, individual rights within the public health care system, and the relationship between laws concerning population health and individual health. Topics will include such issues as responses to threats of bioterrorism, infectious disease, environmental threats such as tobacco and lead, immunization programs, quarantine, and privacy concerns. We will also examine the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and other proposed public health law reforms.
Prerequisite(s):
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Public International Law (3)
548N
Concentration(s):Int'l & Comparative Law
(Formerly DCL 341)
This course involves the study of the international legal system, sources and organizations. It also examines the relationship of individuals and states in international law and transnational legal and economic problems.
Prerequisite(s):
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[A-B, C-D, E-F, G-H, I-J, K-L, M-N, O-P, Q-R, S-T, U-V, W-X, Y-Z]
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