Courses

 

In general

 

To assure a shared basic knowledge, Constitutional Law, Litigation and Statutes & Regulations are compulsory courses for all participants. In addition, each participant is required to enroll in at least three elective courses. As the number of participants in an elective course may be limited, applicants are requested to list on the registration form all available electives in order of their preference.

 

The courses offered in 2010:

 

Constitutional Law

(Professor Gillian Metzger)

This course will introduce students to the national constitutional law of the United States using the text of the U.S. Constitution and nine landmark constitutional decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. Half of the course will explore the text of the Constitution and the "structural" aspect of U.S. national constitutional law, that is, the separate powers of the national legislative, judicial, and executive branches in the context of American federalism, where governance is shared between the national government and fifty subnational state governments. The other half of the course will introduce students to the American constitutional law of individual rights. The specific rights to be examined will be the freedom of speech, the rights to racial and gender equality, the right to privacy, and the right against cruel and unusual punishment in criminal cases.

 

Litigation

(Professor Alexandra Carter)

This course provides an introduction to civil litigation procedure and practice in federal and state courts in the United States. We will consider the major steps in the civil litigation process including pleadings, discovery, summary judgment, subject matter and personal jurisdiction, as well as more complex forms of litigation such as class actions.  We will look to a range of sources for the rules of litigation including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, American common law, and the U.S. Constitution and statutes.

 

Statutes & Regulations

(Professor Peter Strauss)

This course will consider some fundamental structural characteristics of the American political and legal system having particular importance for public law. We will examine American approaches to the material of public policy: statutes, regulations and the institutions that create and administer them. Topics will include Congress, the President and the administrative agencies; the process for forming statutes and regulations; and current disputes about the proper materials and techniques of interpretation.

 

Contracts

(Professor Avery Katz)

This course introduces fundamental principles of American contract law, including theories of promise-making, contract formation and interpretation, remedies, and excuses. We are concerned primarily with the costs and benefits of existing doctrines. We will identify the contours of “ideal” contract law and assess the extent to which American law (and the laws of other countries) departs from the ideal.

 

Corporations

(Professor Curtis Milhaupt)

This short course will cover several of the most important topics covered in a full-length U.S. law school course on corporations. Topics include the role of fiduciary duties and judicial enforcement in mitigating agency costs within the firm, regulation of takeovers, and the balance between state and federal law in corporate governance. Topics include the role of fiduciary duties and judicial enforcement in mitigating agency costs within the firm, regulation of takeovers, the balance between state and federal law in corporate governance, and insider trading.

 

Bankruptcy

(Professor Edward Morrison)

 

 

Labor Law

(Professor Mark Barenburg)

This course explores the key elements in (1) U.S. domestic labor regulation, and (2) U.S. trade legislation, trade agreements, and private organizations that promote labor standards in overseas workplaces.  The first half surveys the law of individual employment contracts, union organizing, collective bargaining, and strikes. The second half covers unilateral trade sanctions by the U.S. against governments that fail to enforce basic labor rights; bilateral and regional treaties that require signatories to comply with labor rights; and "private regulatory" initiatives by U.S.-based corporations, labor unions, universities, and non-governmental organizations to enforce labor standards in foreign workplaces.

National Security

(Professor Trevor Morrison)

This course  provides an introduction to selected issues in U.S. national security law that have arisen in the "war on terror". We will consider a range of issues including preventive detention, interrogation, prosecutorial forum selection (i.e., military commissions v. federal civilian courts), and state secrets. We will examine leading Supreme Court and lower court cases addressing these issues and wil also analyze nonjudicial materials such as executive orders, Atterney General guidelines, and Office of Legal Counsel opinions. In addition to the applicable legal rules, we will consider some policy and political dimensions of these issues.