Fall 2022 Course List

This class will be a limited enrollment, 'practice skills' seminar designed to build upon the lessons learned in first-year Contracts and first-year Torts, and to apply those lessons to the world of transactional lawyering. Toward that end, the class will study real-world agreements entered into at the early stages of an M&A transaction and provide opportunities for students to comment upon, draft, and negotiate examples of some of those agreements in class, including LOIs, IOIs, Term Sheets, NDAs and side letters to name just a few. While geared toward the M&A world, contract drafting skills learned in this course will be applicable in any transactional practice. The goal of the course is to better equip students to draft transactional agreements, not only by giving students the opportunity to prepare initial drafts of such agreements, just as young associates in a law firm environment would, but also by examining the situations in which errors or lack of clarity in contract drafting gave rise to disputes requiring judicial determination. In other words, don't let the phrase 'practice skills' fool you into thinking we will not be reading cases too. Indeed, for every type of agreement we practice drafting or reviewing, there will be numerous current and classic cases to analyze in class to understand the 'contort' common law that forms the basis for interpreting and enforcing each contractual agreement we draft. To get the most out of this class attendance, preparation and participation will be critical, not only to your own learning experience but also to that of your classmates. Grades will be based on a combination of class performance/class room exercises, and either a short paper or a few short memos prepared about specific drafting issues.

Prerequisites: You cannot enroll in this course if you have already taken Advanced Contracts or Advanced Contracts Drafting.

This seminar builds on the legal research materials and methods studied in the first-year legal research course and emphasizes effective research techniques. Research topics vary each semester but generally include judicial opinions, statutes, legislative history, court rules, administrative law, secondary sources, foreign and international law, and research databases used in law practice. Students must bring to class their own computer that is capable of connecting to the law school's wireless network.

This seminar builds on the legal research materials and methods studied in the first-year legal research course and emphasizes effective research techniques. Research topics vary each semester but generally include judicial opinions, statutes, legislative history, court rules, administrative law, secondary sources, foreign and international law, and research databases used in law practice. Students must bring to class their own computer that is capable of connecting to the law school's wireless network.

An examination and analysis of materials and skills used in dispute resolution other than litigation. The theory and practice of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and minitrials will be emphasized, with examples and problem simulations drawn from various fields of law.

This course provides an introduction to the dynamic field of animal law. It is not an animal rights class, although the course explores the concepts of human and animal 'rights' in the development of the law. Students will review animal-related cases in such areas as constitutional law, criminal law, intellectual property, and international law. In addition, students will debate topical issues, hear expert speakers, analyze actual cases, and track the legislative process. The course will cover the laws affecting companion animals, farm animals, and wild animals at the local, state, and federal levels.

A survey of the federal antitrust laws as they relate to mergers, monopolization, and price discriminations, and horizontal and vertical restraints of trade, including price fixing, refusals to deal, territorial and product divisions, tie-ins, exclusive dealing, resale price maintenance, and customer restrictions. The course will also cover enforcement and the private treble damage remedy, including the concepts of antitrust standing and antitrust injury.

An introductory course to aviation law covering regulation of domestic and international aviation; deregulation of domestic aviation, the legal regime of the airspace, aircraft and users of the airspace; the liability of the insurance for the airman, manufacturer, services, airline and United States of America; aviation litigation fundamentals and focused issues; criminal law specific to aviation, legal issues governing aviation transactions, aviation labor and the law of space.

Prerequisites: Administrative Law or Insurance Law is recommended

A survey of American business laws for international graduate students. Selected topics may be drawn, from year to year, from the laws of agency, partnership, corporation, securities, antitrust, bankruptcy, and business taxation, and are taught from the perspective of assisting non-U.S. trained lawyers to draw comparative and practical lessons and otherwise to enrich these students upon their return home. Course is normally taught in the fall semester. Enrollment is limited to international, non-U.S.-law-trained graduate students.

Prerequisites: International LLM Students Only; May not take this course and the BE course for JDs.

This is the basic business law course. The emphasis of the first portion of the course is on the closely held business. To be considered are the following: Agency: General principles of the law of agency. Partnerships (general and limited): Formation, control, liabilities, property, dissolution and disposition of business; internal and external relations of partners. Limited Liability Companies and Corporations: Formation, control, allocation concerns; duties, liabilities, and rights of management and shareholders or members; dispute resolution devices; and fundamentals of capitalization and financing (including basic securities financing and securities law concerns, particularly respecting the private exempt offering). The primary emphasis of the second portion of the course is on the widely owned business. In this portion, general corporate governance and capitalization problems (including preferred stock and debt securities structuring) are further explored, along with corporate distributions and repurchases and fundamental corporate changes. Analysis of mergers and acquisitions is emphasized. Depending on available time, emphasis also is placed on the impact of federal securities laws on the corporate governance structure, including discussion of ongoing public disclosure requirements, proxy regulations, and insider trading restrictions and liabilities. The course is transaction-oriented, whereby planning and problem-solving are stressed, and interdisciplinary use of basic taxation, accounting, and finance notions is made. Special attention is given to the modern statutory trends.

This is the basic business law course. The emphasis of the first portion of the course is on the closely held business. To be considered are the following: Agency: General principles of the law of agency. Partnerships (general and limited): Formation, control, liabilities, property, dissolution and disposition of business; internal and external relations of partners. Limited Liability Companies and Corporations: Formation, control, allocation concerns; duties, liabilities, and rights of management and shareholders or members; dispute resolution devices; and fundamentals of capitalization and financing (including basic securities financing and securities law concerns, particularly respecting the private exempt offering). The primary emphasis of the second portion of the course is on the widely owned business. In this portion, general corporate governance and capitalization problems (including preferred stock and debt securities structuring) are further explored, along with corporate distributions and repurchases and fundamental corporate changes. Analysis of mergers and acquisitions is emphasized. Depending on available time, emphasis also is placed on the impact of federal securities laws on the corporate governance structure, including discussion of ongoing public disclosure requirements, proxy regulations, and insider trading restrictions and liabilities. The course is transaction-oriented, whereby planning and problem-solving are stressed, and interdisciplinary use of basic taxation, accounting, and finance notions is made. Special attention is given to the modern statutory trends.

An upper-level, limited-enrollment course for students who have taken or who are in the process of taking the basic Business Enterprise course and who wish to explore in more depth alternative structural forms of governance of the enterprise. The course begins with a series of 10-12 lectures on selective issues on governance, which might include issues of international, comparative, or law-reform significance. From these lectures, students derive a related research topic and theme. These lectures are followed by a period of intense research by the students under the supervision of the professor. The student deliverable is a high-quality, well-documented research paper of some 6000-7500 words (including footnotes).

Introduces vocabulary, concepts, and skills needed to effectively understand how business works so students are able to communicate with and advise business clients (including as regulatory and litigation counsel). The course is not designed to go in-depth, but moves quickly over key business concepts and terminology. Students learn from expert SMU faculty (including from the Cox School of Business) and from industry experts, both lawyers and business professionals. A background in finance, accounting, or business is neither required nor expected

The course develops lawyering skills and analytic methods for developing those skills. Clinic students will represent abused and neglected children in actual child welfare cases and youth who have aged out of state care in connection with legal issues that remain from their time in the system. Topics will include interviewing, counseling, fact investigation and discovery, case planning, negotiation, drafting of pleadings, motions and memoranda, and pretrial and trial advocacy. Special emphasis will be placed on professional responsibility issues and strategic planning methods. Throughout the course, a combination of teaching methods will be employed, including one-on-one case supervision, classroom instruction, class rounds, reflection exercises, simulations, and mock trial/courtroom skills exercises. This course also includes interdisciplinary lectures from various professionals in the child welfare field.

Prerequisites: Evidence may be taken concurrently; Good academic standing; Completion of all first year courses; By selection only

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Child Ad Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Child Ad Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Child Ad Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Civil Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Civil Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Civil Clinic

The course develops lawyering skills and analytic methods for developing those skills. Clinic students represent indigent clients in actual cases involving disputes related to deceptive trade practices, consumer credit and debt, and tenants’ and civil rights, housing and real estate, among others. Classroom instruction uses the actual cases to develop skills such as interviewing, counseling, fact investigation and discovery, case planning, negotiation, drafting of pleadings, motions and memoranda, and pretrial and trial advocacy. Special emphasis is placed on access to justice, professional responsibility, and strategic planning. Throughout the course, a combination of teaching methods are employed, including one-on-one case supervision, classroom instruction, and simulations.

Prerequisites: Professional Responsibility may be taken concurrently; Good academic standing; Completion of first year courses; By selection only

Hands-on advanced civil procedure course covering multi-party, multi-claim litigation, with special emphasis on class actions. Course includes a significant written and oral component including briefing and arguing pre-trial motions based on topics explored in class. Enrollment limited to 14.

The study of conflict of laws analyzes transactions that have elements in more than one state. The course has three parts: the choice of the law applicable to the issues in the case; the enforcement of judgments rendered outside the forum state; and jurisdiction over the out-of-state party. The course focuses on relationships among American states, but also includes choices between state and national law (the Erie doctrine).

Constitutional issues arising in the pretrial stage of a criminal case, such as search and seizure, interrogation, identification, the exclusionary rule, and the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine. Students taking this course may not take Constitutional Criminal Procedure Survey.

Prerequisites: Criminal Law

A study of individual rights including such areas as equal protection of the law and due process of law, with particular emphasis on issues of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and the right to privacy. Depending on the Professor, this course may also include freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Prerequisites: Con. Law I

A study of individual rights including such areas as equal protection of the law and due process of law, with particular emphasis on issues of racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and the right to privacy. Depending on the Professor, this course may also include freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Prerequisites: Con. Law I

This course will address the legal aspects of the construction process. Particular emphasis will be devoted to discussion of the provisions of standard form contracts, and to the liability issues that arise out of the relationships between design professionals, contractors, and owners. Within this framework, the following will be covered: bidding; types of contracts; pricing variations; the rights and obligations of parties involved in the process; construction documents; bonds; insurance; changes; scheduling; delays; unforeseen circumstances; risk allocation of defective work; payments; and remedies for breach.

A study of state and federal regulation of credit and non-credit consumer transactions. Special attention will be paid to state and federal legislation regarding unfair and deceptive trade practices embodied in the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Other areas of study include the federal Truth-in-Lending, Fair Credit Reporting, Equal Credit Opportunity, and Fair Debt Collection Acts, state and federal warranty law, as well as contractual and procedural devices designed to facilitate collection. The course will also include study of traditional private and public remedies and the means of achieving them as well as special problems and issues arising in connection with resolving consumer disputes in the world of e-commerce.

History and development of the common law of contract; principles controlling the formation, performance, and termination of contracts, including the basic doctrines of offer and acceptance, consideration, conditions, material breach, damages, and statute of frauds; statutory variances from the common law with particular attention to Uniform Commercial Code sections.

History and development of the common law of contract; principles controlling the formation, performance, and termination of contracts, including the basic doctrines of offer and acceptance, consideration, conditions, material breach, damages, and statute of frauds; statutory variances from the common law with particular attention to Uniform Commercial Code sections.

History and development of the common law of contract; principles controlling the formation, performance, and termination of contracts, including the basic doctrines of offer and acceptance, consideration, conditions, material breach, damages, and statute of frauds; statutory variances from the common law with particular attention to Uniform Commercial Code sections.

Corporate & Transactional Legal Research is a specialized legal research class designed for students who are interested in practicing corporate and transactional law. Students will develop advanced proficiency in case law and statutory research, regulatory materials, secondary sources, and other fundamental research concepts utilized in a corporate law practice. The course will focus on locating and evaluating primary and secondary sources that can be used to research issues involving business transactions, securities offerings, corporate governance, and a number of related topics. Assignments and in-class exercises will simulate activities frequently performed by transactional attorneys.

The Corporate Counsel Externship Program integrates a weekly, two-hour corporate counsel class with hands-on experience in corporate legal departments. The class provides a broad yet comprehensive overview of substantive areas encountered in an in-house legal department, ethical responsibilities of in-house counsel, as well as professional skills, such as working with outside counsel, conflicts management, contract drafting, and conducting internal investigations. Chief legal officers, general counsels and senior managing attorneys will guest lecture in certain classes. In addition to the class component, students will be assigned to corporate legal departments where they will work approximately 10 hours per week, for a minimum of 120 hours for the semester. Student activities will vary depending on the corporation but may include: attending meetings, observing negotiations, conducting legal research, working on special projects and otherwise gaining an understanding of how law is practiced within a business setting. The externship component will be pass/fail, and the class component will be graded (take-home examination limited to 20 pages). Students must pass both the externship and class components to receive credit for program. Students successfully completing the externship and class will receive four hours credit (based on 2 credits for the externship and 2 credits for the classroom component). Students will be selected through a competitive application process. Interested students may apply through Symplicity by submitting their resume, application, unofficial transcript and brief statement of interest. Application deadlines will be announced. Students who are selected for the program will be notified before registration begins. Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.7 and have taken Business Enterprise. A student may enroll in the Corporate Counsel Externship Program and up to one additional externship program for credit while a J.D. student, including the Federal Judicial Externship Course and the SEC Extern Program. Students may not, however, simultaneously enroll in this program and another externship or clinical program during the same semester. Marc Steinberg, the Rupert and Lillian Radford Professor of Law, serves as the Director of the Program. Stephen Yeager, Director of Career Services and a former general counsel, is the Faculty Supervisor.

Prerequisites: Business Enterprise, Minimum GPA of 2.7

The formation of corporations, corporate capital structure, earnings and profits, dividends, distributions, redemptions, partial liquidations and complete liquidations, and Subchapter S corporations.

Prerequisites: Income Tax

An introduction to federal and state law governing the debtor-creditor relationship: enforcement of judgments; attachment, garnishment, and sequestration; fraudulent conveyances; and bankruptcy as affecting secured and unsecured creditors under the Bankruptcy Code.

Students enrolled in the Crimes Against Women Clinic (also known as the “Hunter Clinic”) provide representation to survivors of gender-based harms, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Students typically represent clients in family law, humanitarian immigration, or postconviction matters. They also work with institutional partners on policy and advocacy projects that seek long-term solutions to the problem of violence against women. Work on real cases, in combination with faculty supervision and the clinic seminar, allows students to hone a wide range of lawyering skills, both practical and analytical.

Prerequisites: Professional Responsibility may be taken concurrently; Evidence & Family Law are recommended; Good academic standing; Completion of first year courses; By selection only

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Crimes Against Women Clinic

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Crimes Against Women Clinic

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Crimes Against Women Clinic

A practice-based period of study involving representation of indigent clients in Dallas County criminal courts. Classroom instruction and skills training are integrated with actual case work.

Prerequisites: Evidence is a required co-requisite class, meaning you must have either already taken Evidence or be scheduled to take Evidence at the same time you would be in the Criminal Clinic. Recommended classes are Professional Responsibility and Texas Criminal Procedure; Good Academic Standing; Completion of all first year courses

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Criminal Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Criminal Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Criminal Clinic

Origins and sources of the criminal law; general principles of criminal law, including actus reus, mens rea, and causation. The elements of some specific crimes, such as homicide and/or theft offenses, may be covered; some conditions of exculpation, such as justification and insanity, may also be considered.

Origins and sources of the criminal law; general principles of criminal law, including actus reus, mens rea, and causation. The elements of some specific crimes, such as homicide and/or theft offenses, may be covered; some conditions of exculpation, such as justification and insanity, may also be considered.

Origins and sources of the criminal law; general principles of criminal law, including actus reus, mens rea, and causation. The elements of some specific crimes, such as homicide and/or theft offenses, may be covered; some conditions of exculpation, such as justification and insanity, may also be considered.

Explains the history and rise of plea negotiations within the American judicial system. Analyzes the two major theories of punishment, the Utilitarian Theory and the Retributive Theory. Students evaluate what they believe about the basis and possible purposes of punishment. Describes the roles and legal and ethical duties of a prosecutor and defense attorney. Explores the various levels and types of offenses contained within the Texas Penal Code. Students then use that knowledge to effectively negotiate a plea agreement as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney on both the misdemeanor level and felony level of case prosecution, specifically focusing on Texas law. Prerequisite: LAW 8341.

Prerequisites: Criminal Law

Examines the role of the law in perpetuating and alleviating racial inequality in the United States.  Several questions animate this course. First, what is the relationship between race, law, and legal institutions? In other words, how have laws and legal institutions shaped racial identity and inequality, and, in turn, how have ideas about race shaped legal institutions? Second, why does racial inequality persist despite the organizing, activism, and legal transformations aimed at reducing racial hierarchy? Our readings excavate the various ways scholars have thought through these questions.  We will consider tensions and debates within and among race theorists including the dominant school of race theory in law, Critical Race Theory.  We will excavate the stakes of these debates and the consequences (intended and unintended) of various legal reform projects designed to address racial inequality. Course evaluation will be based on short reflection papers on certain readings, class participation, a group project and presentation, and attendance.

The course will emphasize constitutional issues in public education law and will include case law and law review articles [discussing current controversies]. Depending on the enrollment, students may be asked to make in-class presentations based on the assigned material.

Explores the history, procedures, issues, and central legal precedents of eminent domain litigation in Texas; namely, the conflicts that arise between condemnors who are trying to spend as little as possible to acquire private property, while still satisfying the Constitutional requirement to pay just compensation and conversely, the landowners who are trying to maximize their recoveries and obtain what they feel is fair compensation for their loss of private property.

A study of the evolution, theory, and structure of employment-related benefit law. Social, economic, and political considerations and their influence on federal labor and tax law in the area of employee benefits are emphasized, with particular emphasis on the labor provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Also considered is the balancing of authority among several federal agencies in the regulation of employee retirement and medical benefit plans and the interpretation and application of federal statutory law.

Prerequisites: Income Tax is recommended

Examines different strategies lawyers use to effectuate social change in the workplace. Students learn strategies that are used in challenging and advancing employment law, including advocating for or against legislation; individual and class litigation; and changes to private company work policies. Specific strategies used in combating historical workplace discrimination (e.g. race, gender, sexual orientation) are put in a social context. In addition to studying strategies used in the past, this course critically assesses contemporary workplace issues and how best to address them. Topics will include sexual harassment and the “me too” movement, salary and criminal history questions, employee drug testing in light of the changing landscape of marijuana laws, family leave, organized labor, and more.

Examines the theories and processes that underpin our current system of enforcing environmental laws. We will first explore the historical social and environmental justice movements and political theories from which this system of modern regulatory enforcement arose, and track these modes of enforcement into the climate era. We will use material from law, natural and social sciences, literature, and activists to interrogate the ways in which regulatory enforcement mechanisms are being employed to respond to related contemporary environmental, economic, and social problems including climate change, industrial pollution, resource use and land management, economic dispossession, and changing patterns in environmental health. We will also explore the limits of enforcement and how non-regulatory legal tools are being used to fill gaps in our responses.

Principles governing the admission and exclusion of evidence, including functions of judge and jury, examination and competency of witnesses, demonstrative evidence, the hearsay rule and its exceptions, burdens of proof and presumptions, privileges, and judicial notice.

Principles governing the admission and exclusion of evidence, including functions of judge and jury, examination and competency of witnesses, demonstrative evidence, the hearsay rule and its exceptions, burdens of proof and presumptions, privileges, and judicial notice.

The legal problems of the family including marriage, annulment, divorce, legitimacy, custody, support of family members, adoption, and related matters. This course does not include Texas matrimonial property law. If the student plans to take instruction in both courses, this course should be taken first.

Under the supervision of an experienced clinical faculty member, student attorneys in the VanSickle Family Law Clinic represent and provide counsel to low-income clients in matters of family law such as divorce, child custody, possession and access, paternity, modifications, enforcement actions, child and spousal support, and adoption. Through client representation and the clinic seminar, student attorneys have the opportunity to engage in the performance of fundamental lawyering skills necessary for competent representation and zealous advocacy. These skills include but are not limited to, interviewing and counseling clients, negotiating, fact development and analysis, strategic case planning, conflict resolution and decision making, motion and trial practice, drafting legal pleadings and ancillary documents, organization and management of legal work, cultural competency, collaboration and self-evaluation. Student attorneys also collaborate with community-based organizations to provide limited consulting to pro se litigants at organized community legal clinics located in a low-income, culturally diverse area of Dallas.

Prerequisites: Professional Responsibility may be taken concurrently; Good academic standing; Completion of all first year courses; By selection only

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Family Law Clinic

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Family Law Clinic

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Family Law Clinic

Congressional control of the distribution of judicial power among federal and state courts; practice and procedure in the federal district courts including choice of law, federal question and diversity jurisdiction, and state-federal conflicts.

This externship provides opportunities for students to work in the chambers of the U.S. District Court judges, U.S. Magistrate judges, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judges in the Northern District of Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth Divisions. From time to time, students may also have the opportunity to work with federal judges in the Eastern District of Texas, Plano Division and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Students will be paired with an individual judge, and will work approximately 10-15 hours per week under that judge's supervision for one semester for a total of at least 120 hours. The Federal Judicial Externship also includes a Judicial Externship that will meet for at least fourteen 50-minute hours. Students successfully completing the externship and class will receive three hours credit (based on 2 credits for the externship itself and 1 for the classroom component). The students' primary activities will be research, drafting bench memos, drafting opinions, and observing conferences, motion hearings, and evidentiary hearings. Students will occasionally have the opportunity to prepare short articles for publication. The teacher of the classroom component will also serve as Faculty Supervisor for the externships, while the judges will serve as Field Supervisors.

Prerequisites: Students are only eligible for this course if they have not previously received credit for an externship.

Preparation and trial of tax cases in the federal courts; representation of a taxpayer before the Internal Revenue Service; administrative powers and procedures of the Internal Revenue Service; criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code; accumulations of supporting evidence for a tax plan.

Prerequisites: All first year courses, Income Tax

The Tax Clinic is a combination of academic and practical experience. Students represent mostly low-income clients who have tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service. The scope of representation ranges from negotiating settlements and collection plans with the IRS to taking a client’s case to Tax Court or District Court. Participation in the Tax Clinic will provide a unique educational experience in which you will participate in the representation of actual clients before the IRS. In certain instances, students can participate in Tax Court proceedings and even visit with sitting Tax Court judges in chambers.

Prerequisites: Income Tax may be taken concurrently; Good academic standing; Completion of all first year courses; By selection only

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Federal Tax Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Federal Tax Clinic

An examination of constitutional issues and interpretation under the First Amendment focusing on freedom of speech and press, as well as establishment and free exercise of religion.

Prerequisites: Con. Law II is recommended

The First Amendment Clinic (the “Clinic”) will provide assistance to clients defending and advancing the rights of free press, free speech, petition, and assembly. The seminar component will integrate substantive law, theory, core lawyering skills, and legal ethics to provide law students real world law practice experience. Under faculty supervision, student attorneys may handle the following types of cases and matters, among others: Defamation defense/Representation of witnesses in defamation cases, Texas Citizens Participation Act proceedings (anti-SLAPP), Motions to obtain access to civil and criminal court records, Challenges to gag orders and protective orders in criminal and civil cases, Motions to open courtrooms/motions to photograph, broadcast, or stream court proceedings, Issues related to the right to photograph police officers and other government officials in public, Motions to quash subpoenas directed to journalists, Pre-publication review of news articles, Individual or group free speech, right to petition, and right of assembly Claims, Amicus briefs on First Amendment issues, Texas Public Information Act requests/Freedom of Information Act requests. Clinic students are expected to take the lead in all aspects of their casework and to be professionally responsible for the services they provide on behalf of their clients. Through client representation and the clinic seminar, student attorneys will have the opportunity to practice fundamental lawyering skills necessary to provide competent, ethical, and zealous representation. These skills will include, but will not be limited to, interviewing and counseling clients, negotiating and interacting with opposing counsel, developing and analyzing facts and legal theories, developing and planning case strategy, and drafting and arguing legal pleadings and motions. The students will develop these skills in an atmosphere that promotes collaboration, self-evaluation, and self-reflection.

Prerequisites: Evidence & Con. Law II are recommended; Good academic standing; Completion of all first year courses. By selection only

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: First Amendment Clinic

This course examines how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food, drugs, medical devices, and biotechnology. The FDA is the oldest consumer protection agency in the United States, and it regulates a significant portion of the U.S. economy. This course will address the history and scope of the FDA's authority, and how the agency has evolved to deal with modern developments in the biosciences, as well as emerging public health and safety issues, such as bioterrorism and advances in genetic research. Students will learn theories and study examples of risk regulation, statutory interpretation, inter-agency cooperation, public participation, and agency policymaking. We will also focus on the FDA's relationships with Congress, the executive branch, and the industries it regulates.

There is a growing recognition and respect for franchising and product distribution domestically and around the world. Franchising had its start in the U.S. around the time of the Civil War, but in the last ten years franchising's growth has been explosive. It no longer concerns only restaurants and lodging, but has expanded to areas such as telecom and automotive. This course will provide an overview of the law of franchising and product distribution, both domestically and internationally.

Prerequisites: Contracts I & II; (Business Enterprise & either Intellectual Property or Trademark & Business Torts are recommended)

The Government and Public Interest Externship Program is an academic program that combines a weekly public sector law class with hands-on fieldwork in nonprofit and government legal departments. Students who pass both the class and externship components receive one credit for the classroom component and 2-3 hours credit for their field work (depending on the hours worked at the placement).

An examination of the development of the Anglo-American system of civil and criminal justice from the medieval period to the present day. Topics of special interest may include the origins and evolution of the common-law jury; the emergence of rules of procedure and evidence; and the changing roles played by judges and attorneys.

Prerequisites: Int'l LLMs must gain approval prior to enrolling

Immigration law is fascinating, controversial. and inextricably linked to the constitution and history of the United States. This course will address key areas of immigration law - citizenship, naturalization, the bases for noncitizens to immigrate, visit, and work in the United States, grounds of inadmissibility and removability, adjustment of status, relief and protection from removal (in particular asylum), prosecutorial discretion to defer removal, and judicial review of the immigration enforcement and adjudication. The course will also address the jurisprudential basis for legislation and executive power restricting immigration, a brief history of immigration to the United States, and ideas for immigration reform. Grading will be accessed based on two short projects or quizzes throughout the semester and a final exam.

Prerequisites: All first year courses; Con. Law I, Con. Law II, and Administrative Law recommended

Introduction to the federal income tax system; analysis of Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, rulings, and case law; consideration of income, deductions, credits, assignment of income, and accounting periods and methods.

Prerequisites: Property I & II are recommended

Principles governing: the nature of insurance law; the principle of indemnity, including insurable interest, measure of recovery, and multiple claims for indemnity (subrogation and other insurance); persons and interests protected; risks transferred, including nature of loss and its causes, warranties, representations, and concealment; limits and duration of coverage; rights at variance with policy provisions; claims processes; and insurance institutions.

This course will teach research methods to find and evaluate international and foreign legal materials using both electronic and print resources. Its principal purpose is to provide the basic knowledge and skills needed to conduct competent international and foreign legal research. It also has the secondary, but important, goal of expanding on and reinforcing the basic legal research skills that students had earlier gained from the first-year legal research and writing course. In this course, you will become skilled in researching various international and foreign legal sources through practical application in assignments and in-class exercises. In short, this is a course on international and foreign legal research sources and techniques. Students taking this course will need to bring their own laptop computers.

Prerequisites: JDs Only

This is a foundation course that enhances the understanding of financial, monetary, trade and investment law and regulation and related economic development theories/policies in their current global setting, particularly as they directly impact 80% of the world population-that is, that of the Developing World. Against the constantly changing background of economic policy-making, this course examines economic and legal interaction among industrialized state, developing countries, international (e.g., UN economic functions, IMF and World Bank Group) and regional economic institutions (e.g., in Latin America and Africa) and private actors (e.g., multinational corporations, international commercial financial institutions and non-government organizations. The primary aim of the course is to provide an overview of the legal and institutional foundations of the new evolving global international economic order. The course pays particular attention to the issues of sustainable economic development, stable financial systems, and alleviation of poverty in developing/emerging countries. It may cover issues such as the basic legal principles/doctrines governing international economic organizations, official development assistance, the UN Millennium Goals, the Washington Consensus v. the Monterrey Consensus, the WTO Doha Agenda for developing countries, South-South and North-South regional economic integration efforts, sovereign debt reduction and rescheduling, privatization development programs, development of appropriate economic legal and judicial infrastructures for development, and post-conflict economic reconstruction. This course should be of particular importance for domestic and international students seeking an international legal practice with private firms, international and regional bodies and domestic government and private bodies dealing with the international arena.

When intangible property crosses imagined borders, it becomes subject to competing cultural concerns, economic interests, and protective regimes. This seminar focuses upon the international regulation of intellectual property and the resolution of disputes through institutions such as the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization, multinational and regional treaty agreements, and national responses. Policy issues include the perspectives of developing and industrialized countries, problems generated by emerging biotechnologies and the growth of cyberspace, and future trends in harmonization of IP protection.

The basic course in public international law includes (with varying emphasis depending on teacher preference) such topics as: nature, history, and sources of international law; customary international law; law of treaties; the relationship between municipal law (especially of the United States) and international law; recognition and subjects of international law; law of the sea; air and space law; environmental law; human rights; jurisdiction; state responsibility; state succession; dispute settlement; and regulation of state use of force.

Law review experience involving preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of The International Lawyer and NAFTA: Law and Business Review of the Americas. Students must be selected for participation before they may register. [Available only for J.D. students.]

Prerequisites: By selection

Law review experience involving preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of The International Lawyer and NAFTA: Law and Business Review of the Americas. Students must be selected for participation before they may register. [Available only for J.D. students.]

Prerequisites: By selection

Law review experience involving preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of The International Lawyer and NAFTA: Law and Business Review of the Americas. Students must be selected for participation before they may register. [Available only for J.D. students.]

Prerequisites: By selection

This course is intended to provide students with practical exposure to transactional law and transactional negotiations in an international oil and gas context, through a combination of lectures and discussions on negotiation topics, as well as hands on practical negotiation experience through participation in a series of seven (7) simulated negotiations where the student role-plays a lawyer representing a client on one side of an acquisition of oil and gas exploration rights in a foreign country.

A basic course for U.S. and international students focusing on foreign citizens, residents, and business entities conducting business or investment in the United States -- so-called inbound transactions.

Prerequisites: All first year courses, Income Taxation

Prepares students to counsel early-stage companies and investors through a myriad of startup related transactions and situations. Begins with a brief history of venture to understand the foundation of the practice, and then explores, in detail, aspects of structuring a venture backed company, raising capital, interacting with investors, and typical commercial agreements. Students are expected to read, interpret, and draft common venture financing documents and identify and provide counsel on typical founder and early-stage company issues.

Prerequisites: Business Enterprise is recommended

This Edited Writing course will focus on legal issues that arise in the oil and gas industry in exploring, developing, and marketing petroleum.  Specific topics will include issues that arise from so-called “granting instruments” [leases, concessions, production-sharing agreements, and service contracts], “intra-industry contracts” [such as confidentiality agreements, study and bid contracts, assignments and farmouts, operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, and contracts for the sale of production], as well as from the transfer of mineral rights and royalty rights. Students will choose a topic from a list prepared by the instructor or negotiate a topic with the instructor, prepare an outline and short bibliography, prepare a draft and review it with the instructor, and ultimately complete a minimum 30-page high-quality paper.

A survey of major theories of legal philosophy.

Prerequisites: Int'l LLMs must gain approval prior to enrolling

This course provides a detailed study of the National Labor Relations Act and its interpretation by the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts. The course covers the rights and duties of individuals and institutions in the labor-relations context, as well as concerted activity, including strikes, boycotts, and picketing.

Planning; zoning; subdivision; takings; zoning and discrimination; and administrative process in public land use planning.

An examination of the application of law and legal process to the resolution of problems and the development of policies relating to health and health care services. The course is intended to develop an understanding of the social, business, policy, and ethical implications of legal rules and procedures, as well as an understanding of how the law shapes the financing, organization, and delivery of health care in America. Topics usually include tax, antitrust, insurance, and tort law; medical and hospital licensure and accreditation; Medicare and Medicaid; and state and federal health care regulation.

An examination of the legal and economic aspects of medical malpractice, including elements of the prima facie case, defenses, and problems of proof. From time to time, the course also focuses on the potential liability of the individual practitioner and of health care institutions; tort reform legislation; the structure of insurance markets; negligent nondisclosure risks and treatment alternatives; forensic medicine and the use of medical and scientific evidence in the courtroom; and legal and ethical aspects of the professional-patient relationship.

This course will examine the role of the corporate lawyer in the counseling and litigation settings. Subjects addressed will include the role of the lawyer in the close corporation, client fraud dilemmas, conflicts of interest, internal corporate investigations, litigating with the SEC, the role of inside counsel, business relationships with clients, and related party transactions.

Prerequisites: All first year courses, Business Enterprise may be taken concurrently, Professional Responsibility & Securities Regulation are recommended

The MPT is 20% of the Texas Bar Exam and closely mimics the practice of law.  In the MPT, you use basic lawyering skills in a real-life simulation to complete an activity that a new lawyer would be assigned (e.g. memo, brief, or client letter). Using the MPT as our foundation, this course focuses on developing critical lawyering skills including: separating relevant and irrelevant information; extracting relevant legal principles from cases, statutes, and other authorities; applying legal principles to facts to solve a client’s problem; and explaining the law and its application in a clear and well-organized document. The course will be a combination of lecture, class participation, hands-on drills, and peer editing. You will also receive specific feedback on the documents you submit, and be able to meet with the professor one-on-one to continue improving your skills. This course is by invitation only.

Examines the lawmaking function of legislatures and agencies, as well as their interaction with the courts. Drawing on examples from a variety of substantive areas, the course covers the legislative process, statutory interpretation, administrative processes, various forms of agency action, and judicial review of agency decisions.

Examines the lawmaking function of legislatures and agencies, as well as their interaction with the courts. Drawing on examples from a variety of substantive areas, the course covers the legislative process, statutory interpretation, administrative processes, various forms of agency action, and judicial review of agency decisions.

Examines the lawmaking function of legislatures and agencies, as well as their interaction with the courts. Drawing on examples from a variety of substantive areas, the course covers the legislative process, statutory interpretation, administrative processes, various forms of agency action, and judicial review of agency decisions.

Successful completion of this course will provide foreign-trained law students with an introduction to general principles of U.S. legal research, common law legal analysis, and objective writing, which will be geared to enable students to (a) recognize and distinguish primary and secondary levels of authority, (b) locate, read and understand rules of law available in constitutions, judicial opinions, and statutes, (c) update different types of legal authority, including the process of Shepardizing (d) recognize and use acceptable citation forms for legal authority and (e) complete legal research/writing assignments to explain the law pertaining to a legal question.

Prerequisites: International LLM Students Only

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

The primary objective of the course is to synthesize legal doctrine, lawyering skills, and professional responsibility for the first-year student. Meeting in small groups and using simulated exercises, students engage in client counseling, interviewing, negotiating, drafting, and advocating. Grades are based on the evaluation of written and oral performances throughout the semester.

Participation as a member of a mock trial team representing the School of Law in one of several inter-school competitions in which the School of Law participates each year. One hour for each competition up to a maximum of two hours can be earned. However, students must be selected for participation on a competition team by the faculty coach before they can register for credit.

Prerequisites: Approval form must be signed and submitted to Registrar's Office

Satisfactory work as a member of the Moot Court Board. Maximum of one hour credit.

Prerequisites: Approval form must be signed and submitted to Registrar's Office

Participation as a member of an appellate advocacy team representing the School of Law in one of several inter-school competitions in which the School of Law participates each year. One hour for each competition up to a maximum of two hours can be earned. However, students must be selected for participation on a competition team by the faculty coach before they can register for credit.

Prerequisites: Approval form must be signed and submitted to Registrar's Office

Ownership in oil and gas; correlative rights and duties in a common reservoir; instruments conveying mineral interests; partition; pooling and unitization. Special emphasis on the rights and duties of the oil and gas lessee and lessor in leasing transactions.

Students provide pro bono legal services to individual and small-business clients seeking to protect their inventions using the patent system. This work may involve counseling clients regarding patent-related matters, conducting inventor interviews, conducting patentability searches, preparing patentability opinions, drafting and filing patent applications, and drafting and filing responses to office actions received from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Prerequisites: See pre-registration materials

Includes assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Patent Clinic

An introduction to patent law. Analyzes the goals and costs of the patent law system. Studies substantive and procedural aspects of obtaining patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and enforcing patents through licensing and litigation. Covers patentability, validity, enforceability, claim construction, infringement, and remedies. Does not require a technical background as a prerequisite for the course.

This course (which is integrated with an optional legal writing, research, and exam-taking tutorial component) is required for and designed to provide international graduate students with an introduction to the U.S. legal system. The primary emphasis of the course is to examine the nature of the U.S. judicial system, the common law system of case law development, and the trial and appellate processes (in part through a study of selected tort cases). The interrelationship of law and U.S. society is explored. The course further attempts to develop basic U.S. legal writing, research, and exam-taking skills through the optional tutorial component. The course is taught in the fall semester. Enrollment is limited to international, non-U.S.-law-trained graduate students. All international, non-U.S.-law trained graduate students must take at least the first one-credit-hour component of this course.

Prerequisites: International LLM Students Only

Introduces key accounting and financial principles needed to effectively counsel and represent clients. Students learn to read, understand, and discuss basic accounting statements and basic financial asset valuation principles and methodologies. Also, basic financial instruments and their normal use in major capital markets.

An analysis of principles and rules governing the conduct of lawyers. Topics include the client-lawyer relationship, competence, confidentiality, loyalty, the roles of lawyers as counselors and advocates, public service, advertising, admission to practice, and professional discipline.

This seminar explores the legal issues that surround the conservation and use of natural resources, focusing on property ownership of and regulatory structures over public lands, mines and minerals, wildlife, wind, and other resources. These issues include the often competing claims of the public interest versus private property rights; the role of private contracts, judicial oversight, and agency management in land use decision making; and stakeholder conflicts in natural resource management. The seminar uses case studies, primary and secondary materials, and interdisciplinary approaches to analyze ownership, use, and regulation of natural resources. Students have an opportunity to write a paper on topics of interest within the fields of property, natural resources, and land use.

Transfer, finance, and development of real property; the real estate sales contract; the duties and remedies of sellers, purchasers, and brokers; conveyancing; title protection, including recording laws, the mechanics of title search, clearing titles, and title insurance; real estate finance, including mortgages and federal programs; condominiums, cooperatives, and shopping centers. Some emphasis on Texas law.

Uses viewings and discussion of the Netflix series Black Mirror as an entry point for comparison of current global privacy law and how the legal, technological, and ethical choices of today shape our future. Students develop conceptual and practical understandings of privacy law.

Law Review experience involving preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incidental to the publication of the SMU Science and Technology Law Review. Students must be selected for participation before they may enroll. Available to J.D. students only.

Prerequisites: By selection

Law Review experience involving preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incidental to the publication of the SMU Science and Technology Law Review. Students must be selected for participation before they may enroll. Available to J.D. students only.

Prerequisites: By selection

Law Review experience involving preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incidental to the publication of the SMU Science and Technology Law Review. Students must be selected for participation before they may enroll. Available to J.D. students only.

Prerequisites: By selection

A study of the securities laws (primarily federal but also state, especially Texas) and of the activities and industry they govern. The principal emphasis is on the regulation of issuance, sale, resale, and purchase of securities, and on the disclosure requirements generated by the registration, reporting, proxy, tender, and antifraud provisions. Other important subjects are civil liability (express and implied), government enforcement, exemptions from registration (especially private placements), insider trading, and the meaning of 'security.' Also treated are the functions of the SEC and of state securities administrators. Broker-dealer and market regulation may be covered if time permits.

Prerequisites: All first year courses, Business Enterprise may be taken concurrently, (Business Planning, Corporate Finance, Law and Accounting are recommended)

Edited writing seminar that covers selected topics in gender law. Topics may vary by term and may include women and violence, reproductive rights, workplace equality, intersectionality, educational equity, and women in the justice system. *Fall 2017 Semester: The focus will be on reproductive rights issues, including, but not limited to, fertility, contraception, abortion, pregnancy, and maternal & infant health.

An examination of the role of sentencing in the criminal justice system, including a study of the purposes of punishment and sentencing, and the history, philosophy, and administration of the criminal sentencing process. Includes exploration of judicial decision-making, the use of sentencing guidelines, the role of discretionary decisions by prosecutors, the effects of credit for acceptance of responsibility, and alternatives to incarceration in light of criminal justice philosophies, scarce resources, and political support. Also includes examination of the death penalty from historical and contemporary perspectives, justifications for it, evolution of constitutional standards for its imposition, review of empirical data on deterrent effect and demographic distribution of death sentences.

The Small Business & Trademark Clinic provides free legal services to individuals, small businesses and non-profit organizations who likely cannot afford to pay legal fees, while providing law students (Associate Members of the State Bar of Texas) with training and experience in transactional law and trademark law. Clinic students advise clients on the formation of business and non-profit entities and assist in preparing necessary legal documents to form these entities. Students in the Small Business Clinic will experience the transactional practice of law with real clients who have real issues in the business world, such as contract drafting and revising. Clinic students will also work on trademarks matters in the Trademark Clinic, which is member of the USPTO Law School Clinic program. Clinic students gain specific experience in advising clients about basic trademark matters as well as drafting, filing and prosecuting trademark applications with the USPTO. Clinic students accepted for the Small Business & Trademark Clinic should expect to handle both business and trademark matters.

Prerequisites: Business Enterprise; Good academic standing; Completion of all first year courses; By selection only

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Small Business & Trademark Clinic

Assisting in preparing and supervising clinic students in client representation, including fact investigations and analysis, legal research and writing, litigation training, and court appearances. Deputies are selected by the clinic instructors. Students may not enroll before being selected.

Prerequisites: Small Business & Trademark Clinic

Preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of the SMU Law Review and the Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Students must be selected for participation before they may register.

Prerequisites: By selection

Preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of the SMU Law Review and the Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Students must be selected for participation before they may register.

Prerequisites: By selection

Preparation of comments on topics of current interest, notes on cases of significance, and editorial work incident to publication of the SMU Law Review and the Journal of Air Law and Commerce. Students must be selected for participation before they may register.

Prerequisites: By selection

Timing of income and deductions for federal income tax purposes, including accounting periods, the cash receipts and disbursements and accrual methods, installment sales, interest income and deductions, time value of money provisions, depreciation, and recapture.

Prerequisites: Income Tax

A study of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and its implementation in the Texas courts from the point of arrest through the appellate stage of the proceedings.

Prerequisites: Criminal Law; Constitutional Criminal Procedure is recommended

Texas civil procedure prior to trial, including establishing the attorney-client relation; the prelitigation aspects of civil controversies; jurisdiction; service of process; pleading; joinder of parties and claims; venue; res judicata and related principles; discovery; summary judgment practice; and settlement.

Civil liability arising from breach of common law and statutory duties as distinguished from duties created by contract, including coverage of intentional wrongs, negligence, and products liability. The methods and process of the American legal system are discussed, with attention paid to legislation, as well as to the common law.

Civil liability arising from breach of common law and statutory duties as distinguished from duties created by contract, including coverage of intentional wrongs, negligence, and products liability. The methods and process of the American legal system are discussed, with attention paid to legislation, as well as to the common law.

Civil liability arising from breach of common law and statutory duties as distinguished from duties created by contract, including coverage of intentional wrongs, negligence, and products liability. The methods and process of the American legal system are discussed, with attention paid to legislation, as well as to the common law.

This course explores in detail the law of trade secrets, confidential information, and 'ideas' in 21st-century business. It also explores the boundary between fair and unfair competition, including actions for tortious interference, defamation and commercial disparagement, false advertising, common-law misappropriation, and conspiracy, and practice under the most prominent trade-regulation statutes such as Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other 'Cybertort' statutes, RICO, the Anti-SLAPP Act, civil theft and commercial bribery acts, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act. Issues related to data use, contests, cause-related marketing, hidden endorsements, techniques for ethical investigations, and remedies may be included. No technical background is required.

This course teaches the essentials of U.S. trademark law including what constitutes a protectable trademark, trade dress marks and issues of distinctiveness and functionality, how trademark rights are acquired, how they are enforced in both infringement and dilution actions, and the remedies that are available, both legal and equitable. In addition, the course will cover the federal trademark registration process and the essential steps for filing an application and obtaining a registration.

A general survey of the law relating to family wealth transmission, taking into account transfers within the probate system - wills and intestate succession - and transfers outside it, with special attention to trusts. Topics include the legal definition of family relationships; formalities required for execution and revocation of wills and other donative documents; mental capacity and volition; drafting pitfalls, post-execution events, and difficulties of interpretation; legal protections offered to a decedent's spouse and children; will substitutes such as life insurance, pension plans, and rights of survivorship; planning for incapacity and other changes in circumstances; obligations and powers of fiduciaries; rights of creditors and beneficiaries; trust creation, supervision, modification, duration, and termination; charitable purposes; and the impact of tax policy on estate planning.

This course will survey the law and regulatory regimes that govern groundwater and surface water (lakes, rivers, and streams). We will spend approximately half our time studying Texas law, Texas statutes and Texas regulatory structures in some depth, and then we will survey major legal principles that apply in other states, including riparianism and the doctrine of prior appropriation. We will also study methods for interstate allocation of water, as well as concepts of the public’s rights in water.