Second and Third Year Curriculum

First year courses are prerequisites for all of the following courses that have been recently offered to second and third-year students. Additional prerequisites and recommendations are included for some of the courses. The courses are listed here in alphabetical order. Please note that not all courses and seminars are offered every year. Also, many courses can be offered for 2 or 3 credits, even if not explicitly indicated here. The requirements for graduation are set forth in the Student Handbook.

Accounting for Lawyers

( 2 or 3 credits)
This course is an introduction to accounting concepts for law students who do not have an accounting background. Many businesscontroversies are shaped by accounting thinking and business lawyers will operate in an environment where accounting isconsidered a universal language. The primary focus of the course will be on financial statements prepared by corporationsfor their shareholders in accord with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The course will teach the core system ofaccounting: debit-credit entries, balance sheets and income statements, and accrual method bookkeeping, and how these areused to evaluate the financial structure and net worth of a business. There will also be a section on some basic principles ofinvesting and financial planning.

Administrative Law

( 3 credits)
This course explores problems raised by the functioning of administrative tribunals in governmental rule-making,adjudication, investigation, and enforcement. There is a special emphasis upon procedure and the relationship betweenadministrative agencies and the judicial system.

Admiralty Law

( 3 credits)
This course deals with both jurisdictional issues ( in contract and tort, as well as state v. federal questions) and substantivemaritime law. Topics covered include maritime liens, carriage of goods, salvage, collisions at sea, and the law of maritimeaccidents.

Advanced Constitutional Law: Speech, Press, and Association

( 3 credits)
The focus of this course is the history and doctrine of the First Amendment, excluding the religion clauses. Topics includethe history and philosophy of the free speech clause; regulations of political speech; overbreadth, vagueness, and priorrestraint doctrines; content-based restrictions on such speech as false statements of fact, group defamation, commercialspeech, offensive speech, fighting words, and obscene speech; time, place, and manner restrictions on speech; symbolicspeech; the right not to speak; the right of association; and freedom of the press.

Advanced Criminal Law

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Advanced Legal Research

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

( 2 credits)
This course seeks to identify, explore, and appreciate the various processes society has developed to resolve andmanage conflicts; to understand the role of lawyers in these processes; and to acquire skills useful for those takingpart in dispute resolution. The processes covered include the traditional extra-judicial devices of negotiation, mediation,and arbitration, as well as more recent innovations utilized by or with the cooperation of the courts themselves, such asmoderated settlement conferences, summary jury trials, and mini-trials.

American Legal History

( 3 credits) (a "Perspective" course)
American Legal History traces the changes in American law from the colonial era to the 1970's, including examination of the historical development of the Supreme Court, the law of slavery, and the rise of the administrative state. Also explored are the history and evolution of contract, tort, and property doctrine; the history of the legal profession andlegal education in America; and the transformation of American legal thought, including explanation and critique offormalism, realism, reasoned elaboration, law and economics, critical legal studies, and feminist legal thought.

American Legal System, Introduction to the

( 2, 3, or 4 credits)
This course introduces foreign LL.M. students to the key features of the American Legal System.

Arbitration

( 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Negotiation)
This course examines the theory and application of arbitration in the resolution of public and private disputes, in both the international and domestic settings. Role plays will be utilized, and issues of ethics, policy and law will be explored.

Aviation Law Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Bankruptcy I: Creditors' Rights and Consumer Bankruptcy

( 3 credits)
( Prerequisite: Secured Transactions or Mortgages and Real Estate Financing) This course provides an overview of rights, remedies, and procedures available to debtors and creditors under common-lawand Texas statutes. The course engages students in an introductory study of the Bankruptcy Code, including considerationof the liquidation and distribution of a debtor's estate under Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. It is desirable but not required forthe student to have taken Secured Transactions: UCC Article 9.

Bioethics Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Business Associations

( 3, 4, or 5 credits)
This survey course studies issues relating to the selection of an appropriate business form ( partnership, limited partnership,or corporation), as well as to the formation, financing, operation, and control of business associations. The courseexamines issues that can arise in associations of any size and character, and the topics considered include duties andpotential liabilities of owners and managers, problems in the issuance of shares of stock and other securities, proxyregulation, insider trading, derivative litigation, and the role of corporations insociety. Students may choose the standard four-credit hour Business Associations course, the five-credit hour BusinessAssociations I and II courses, or the three-credit hour Business Associations I course. The five-credit hour BusinessAssociations I and II courses will cover in depth material covered in the standard four-hour Business Associations course.

Church and State see Advanced Constitutional Law: Church and State

Civil and Common Law Systems

( 3 credits) ( a "perspective" course)
This comparative law course dissects the dominant features of the civil and the common law systems. It focuses on thehistory, legal structures and legal actors, the procedures, sources of law, and legal reasoning of the West European andLatin American countries and contrasts them with the legal culture of the United Kingdom and the United States. Inaddition, the course provides an overview of the European Community and the European Human Rights System. It alsoaddresses the legal changes in Central Europe and the newly independent states.

Civil Justice Clinic

( fall/spring, 8 credits; summer, 3 credits) ( limited to third-year students)
The Civil Justice Clinic is designed to introduce students to the actual practice of law, and to the skills and responsibilitiesof lawyering, through the supervised representation of low-income clients in civil cases. Students interview and counselclients, interact with opposing counsel and administrative agencies, draft legal documents, investigate facts to obtain and organize evidence, and tryactual cases. The Clinic's caseload consists of cases in the following subject areas: simple and complex divorce; domesticviolence, protective orders; child custody, visitation, and foster care; social security administrative hearings and federalcourt appeals; housing; probate; wills; real estate transfers, consumer protection, and landlord-tenant disputes. The Clinichandles trial and appellate litigation in state and federal courts.

Civil Rights

( 3 credits)
The Civil Rights course offers students an in-depth exposure to the constitutional and statutory issues that arise as a resultof state and private interference with the rights of persons. Topics covered may include discrimination in education,voting, employment and housing; emphasis will be placed on how the rules have evolved, societal factors influencing thatevolution, and the effects of the law on our society.

Commercial Paper

( 3 credits)
One of the Uniform Commercial Code ( UCC) courses, Commercial Paper is the study of written instruments whichrepresent money, such as promissory notes ( representing promises to pay) and drafts ( e.g., checks, representing orders topay). Topics covered include requirements for negotiability and the manner of negotiation; holder in due course, the bonafide purchaser of commercial paper; liability that may arise with commercial paper, based on contract, warranty, andconversion; checking accounts; the bank collection process; and rights and liabilities of various parties when commercialpaper contains forgeries or alterations.

Commercial Real Estate Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description. ( Bracey 828-1096)

Community Property

( 3 credits)
Community Property deals with the effect of marriage on property rights in states, such as Texas, with a "maritalcommunity" regime of marital property rights. Explored in the course are the nature of title to marital property; the effectof marriage on the management of marital property; the liability of spouses and their property for contractual undertakingsand tortious acts; the disposition of marital property in the event of death, divorce, or annulment; and issues relating to"homesteads" under Texas law.

Comparative Criminal Procedure

( 2 credits)
This course is a comparative study of selected aspects of criminal justice systems and the procedures employed by thosesystems. It will compare institutions and processes of a limited number of other countries, usually including at least oneWestern European country, with those of the United States.

Complex Litigation

( 3 credits)
This is an advanced course in federal civil procedure in complex cases involving multipleparties ( class actions, mass disasters), multiple claims, duplicative or multi-forum litigation and complex tort cases. Topicsto be covered may include the roles of judges ( judicial control of the litigation process), magistrates and counsel ( ethicalconsiderations), personal jurisdiction and due process concerns ( notice), joinder, discovery, settlement, finality, andrecovery of attorney's fees.

Computer Law and the Internet Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Conflict of Laws

( 3 credits)
The Conflict of Laws course addresses the special problems that arise when disputes have a connection with more than onejurisdiction -- problems usually classified under the headings "choice of law," "jurisdiction," and "enforcement ofjudgments." These issues are encountered in almost every area of practice and have constitutional, as well as legislativeand judicial, dimensions. The course thus raises provocative questions regarding the nature of "law" and its role in society.

Constitutional Criminal Procedure see Criminal Procedure

Consumer Credit

( 3 credits)
This course focuses on the evolution and current status of consumer sale and loan transactions. Particular attention is givento consumer legislation, including the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Equal Credit OpportunityAct, the Fair Debt Collection Act, the Texas Credit Code, and other applicable state and federal laws.

Consumer Protection Law

( 3 credits)
This survey course touches upon consumer-protection topics that are covered more deeply in other specialized courses. The topics include: strict products liability in tort; the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act; and unfair collection practices. There are no pre-requisites. A student cannot take both this course and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act course. Enrollment in this course does not preclude a student from taking the courses on Products Liability and Consumer Credit.

Copyright Law

( 2 credits)
This course provides a detailed study of federal copyright law and the legal protection it affords for literary, musical, and artistic works.

Criminal Justice Administration

( 2 or 3 credits)

Criminal Justice Clinic

( 8 credits in fall and spring; 3 credits in summer)
The Criminal Justice Clinic provides legal services to indigents of all ages who are charged with crimes ranging frommisdemeanors to capital offenses. A student enrolled in the Clinic may expect to handle five cases during a semester. Inorder to enroll, a student must be eligible to obtain a State Bar practice card.

Criminal Procedure

( 3 credits)
Criminal Procedure is a constitutional law course, with an emphasis on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 14th amendments of the United States Constitution. Topics include arrest; search and seizure; investigative detentions; warrant requirements; confessions and other incriminating statements; and the right to counsel.

Deceptive Trade Practices

( 2 credits)
This course provides an overview of federal and state legislation and case law designed to protect consumers and othersfrom deceptive practices in trade and commerce. The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act is emphasized.

Doing Business with Mexico

( 3 credits)
The purpose of this course is to acquaint the student with the legal framework business transactions in Mexico and Latin America. The course will include an analysis of historical, cultural, political, social and economic aspects of Mexico, as they relate to the legal system.

Elder Law

( 2 credits)
One of the fastest growing areas of law, this course assesses the myriad of legal concerns of the elderly, including healthcare decision-making; living wills and surrogate decision-making for the incapacitated person; issues regarding Medicareand Medicaid; long-term care insurance; social security benefits and supplemental security income eligibility; veterans'benefits; tax issues; pension plans; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ( ADEA); and elder abuse and neglect.

Employment Discrimination Law

( 3 credits)
Employment discrimination law is an important body of civil rights law and is also the fastest growing area of labor law. This course will address methods of proving a case of discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, whichforbids employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Issues covered may include sexualharassment, affirmative action, pay equity, and retaliation against employees who file charges of discrimination. Thecourse will also cover procedural issues concerning enforcement, as well as the types of relief available. Other statutes,such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and the employment discriminationprovision of the Americans with Disabilities Act, may be covered.

Entertainment Law

This is a survey course which focuses on the legal issues and practices common to all areas of theentertainment industry. Practice issues are emphasized, as well as new developments in relevant intellectual property law, and significant business law issues.

Entertainment Law Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Environmental Law

( 2 or 3 credits)
These courses address environmental problems and legal efforts to respond to those problems, including legislation andenvironmental litigation. In addition to surveys of state and federal controls concerning air, water, and solid waste, selectedproblem areas will be explored in detail, with emphasis on trial preparation, gathering of evidence, and strategy in theprosecution and defense of pollution cases.

Environmental Litigation

( 2 credits)
In this companion course to Environmental Law, students will learn in more detail the skills of representing clients inenvironmental litigation. The tactics and realities of prosecuting and defending litigation concerning the environment is thetheme of the course.

ERISA: Employee Benefits Law

( 3 credits)
This course provides a background on the purposes and basic principles of the Employee Retirement Income Security Actof 1974 ( ERISA) and other employee benefit laws. Coverage includes pension taxation, benefit plan reporting, regulationof benefit plans, ERISA fiduciary law, and termination of benefit plans.

Estate and Gift Tax see Federal Estate and Gift Tax

Estate Planning

( 2 or 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Wills & Estates or Wills, Estates, and Trusts. Trusts is also highly recommended.)
Estate Planning focuses on the process by which individuals make comprehensive arrangements for their property andpersonal needs which remain in effect during disability and after death. Topics covered in this course includedisability planning for property and health care needs; planning for the physical aspects of death; the use of non-probatetechniques; the preparation and execution of wills, trusts, and other documents; and the fundamentals of federalgift and estate taxation.

Evidence

( 4 credits) or Evidence I & II ( 2 credits each) (Required)
The Evidence course explores the process of preparing and presenting evidence in trials. Topics covered may includeexamination of witnesses; competency of witnesses; privileges; relevancy; demonstrative evidence; the burden ofproducing evidence; presumptions and the burden of persuasion; judicial notice; the hearsay rule; and proof of documents,recordings, and writings.

Evidence I and II cover the same topics as the four-hour Evidence course, but permit students to enroll in two 2-hoursegments each semester. The Evidence requirement is satisfied through successful completion of the four-hour Evidencecourse, or of both Evidence I and Evidence II.

Family Law

( 2 or 3 credits)
This course is a survey of a wide variety of legal issues concerning the family unit, with an emphasis on the policies andchanging nature of family law. Topics explored may include marriage requirements and consequences, divorce grounds,property division at divorce, child support, custody, non-marital children, domestic violence, parental rights, adoption, andnon-traditional families.

Family Law Mediation

( 2 credits)
Please contact instructor for course description.

Federal Criminal Procedure

( 2 credits)
This is a survey course of the procedure used in the federal criminal justice system from arrest and indictment ( or information) through trial and sentencing. Topics covered include: grand jury practice, bail and pretrial release, pretrial motions, discovery, joinder and severance, guilty plea procedures, and trial.

Federal Courts

( 3 credits)
This course builds on the first-year Procedure course and provides a more detailed exposure to the limited judicial power ofthe federal courts. Topics may include the distribution of judicial power among federal and state courts, the originaljurisdiction of the federal district courts ( including cases arising under the United States Constitution and statutes, andjurisdiction based on "diversity of citizenship"), federal litigation, and emerging legislative proposals concerningjurisdiction of the federal courts.

Federal Estate and Gift Taxation

( 2 or 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation)
This course is closely related to Estate Planning and is essential for those who will help clients plan the transmission ofwealth from one generation to another through wills and related legal arrangements. Topics studied include the concepts ofgross estate and valuation of property; exemptions, deductions and credits allowed under federal law; and problems ofpayment, collection, and apportionment of taxes.

Federal Income Taxation

( 3 credits)
The Federal Income Taxation course, a prerequisite for all other tax courses, provides an introduction to the basic policiesand principles of federal income taxation, which are encountered in many areas of practice, including real estate,bankruptcy, family law, and personal injury. It provides a vehicle for learning to work with statutes and regulations, anddoes not require a business or accounting background.

Federal Pretrial Practice

( 2 credits)
This practice skills course focuses on pretrial motions and proceedings in the federal courts.

Gender Discrimination

( 2 or 3 credits)
Please see the professor for a course description.

Global and National Security Law

( 3 credits)
This survey course addresses the definition of domestic and international conflict; its modalities ( e.g., armed conflict, terrorism, economic coercion, and environmental degradation); types of threats ( e.g., nuclear, biological, and chemical); the public law of conflict management; and the U.S. response to external conflict within the confines of domestic and international legal principles recognized by the United States ( including constitutional issues). The course has an interdisciplinary character but is ultimately guided by the international and domestic rule of law.

Health Law

( 3 credits)
This survey course covers the major legal issues involved in health care delivery and financing in the United States. Thecourse gives students a working knowledge about the legal relationships among the actors in the health care delivery system and examines public and private health care delivery andreimbursement systems. The course covers legal issues related to health insurance, hospital governance, managed care,physician organizations, and competition in the health delivery system. The course will also examine the current debate forhealth care reform.

Human Rights Clinic see Immigration and Human Rights Clinic

Immigration and Human Rights Clinic

( 8 credits fall and spring, 3 credits in the summer)
The Immigration and Human Rights Clinic engages students in the representation of indigent foreign nationals in a varietyof immigration cases, and in the advocacy of human rights. Students file political asylum applications and advocate onbehalf of clients before administrative tribunals; seek suspension of deportation for undocumented individuals who havelived in the United States for at least seven years and who have relatives who are U.S. citizens or are legally residing in theUnited States; and seek Section 212© waivers and adjustments of status for immigrants who are longtime U.S. residents. Students also work on cases involving INS abuses, detention center problems, and human rights issues, especially as theyaffect residents along the U.S.-Mexico border. Students enrolled in this Clinic in the fall and spring semesters must havecompleted, or be concurrently enrolled in, the Immigration Law course. Students in the summer session need not complywith this requirement. Second- and third-year students can enroll in this course.

Immigration Law

( 3 credits)
This survey course covers the source of immigration power and constitutional protections for aliens. It addresses theadmission of aliens as immigrants and non-immigrants; grounds of removal and waivers as well as removal procedure;refugees; and asylum. To complete the overview, it also addresses issues pertaining to citizenship, its loss and its acquisition. The course must be taken either prior to or concurrent with the Immigration Clinic.

Import/Export Law see United States Customs Law

Independent Study

( 1, 2 or 3 credits)
Students are permitted, with the approval and under the supervision of a member of the faculty, to engage in a course ofindependent study on a subject determined by the student and supervising faculty member. No student may receive credit toward graduation for more than 3 hours of independent study,and the course may be taken on either a graded or pass/fail basis, subject to the approval of the supervising faculty member.

Insurance Law

( 3 credits)
The Insurance Law course focuses on the special nature of insurance contracts and the insurance industry. Included iscoverage of governmental supervision and control of the industry; organization and agents; making of the contract,including insurable interest and binders; construction of insurance contracts, including coverage provisions, exclusions, andother conditions; parties with interests in the contract; the company's rights and duties upon the happening of the insuredevent; and rights at variance with the contract.

International Business Transactions

( 2 or 3 credits)
This survey course is a study of international economic intercourse and interdependence,and the roles played therein by law, lawyers, and legal institutions. The overall objective of the course is to examine legalprinciples and processes concerning international economic relations and specific business transactions. Effects on thedecisions of individual citizens, private corporations, and government officials will be analyzed. The course will focuscritically on what lawyers do in international trade, licensing, and investment ( with some special attention given to transactionsinvolving developing countries, such as Mexico), and on the various regulatory regimes which affect international business. Written assignments, in lieu of or in addition to a final exam, may fulfill the Writing Requirement.

International Environmental Law

( 3 credits)
Please see professor for a course description

International Intellectual Property

( 2 credits)
Please see professor for a course description

International Labor Law

This course will review the U.S. federal and state labor laws with a view to extraterritorial effect. The problems faced by foreign employers in the U.S. and those faced by U.S. employers in othercountries will be examined. Sources of international labor law other than the laws of nation states will be covered, as well as the NAFTA labor agreement. Prerequisite: Labor Law

International Law: Human Rights

( 2 or 3 credits)
This course provides an overview of the unique nature, history, and philosophies of international human rights law. It compares United Nations, European, Inter-American, and African systems of human rights, and also the roles of governmental and non-governmental organizations.

International Law: Public Law

( 2 or 3 credits)
This basic International Law course is a survey of the law of nations and includes the nature, history, and philosophies of public international law; sources of public international law, including treaties, custom, general principles of law, adjudication, and doctrinal writings; international legal personality and recognition; territory; jurisdiction and jurisdictional immunities; state responsibility and state succession; peaceful dispute resolution; use of force; and international organizations.

International Organizations

( 2 credits)
Please see professor for a course description

Jessup Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please see the professor for a course description.

Jurisprudence

( 3 credits)
The term "jurisprudence" is defined in a broad and all-inclusive manner as "the scienceor philosophy of law." Jurisprudence has sometimes been used as a label for several course offerings that vary somewhatfrom one semester to another, depending on the instructor. In general, the Jurisprudence course introduces students toimportant schools of thought about the origins, purposes, and workings of law through the reading and discussion of editedworks of legal philosophers. It focuses on the development of ideas about the nature of law and the judicial process, andthe relationship between those ideas and the working of law; in other words, students will see how philosophies of lawinform the practice of law. Sections of the Jurisprudence course may focus on particular aspects of jurisprudence. Examples include Jurisprudence:Critical Lawyering Theory and Jurisprudence: Gender and the Law.

Juvenile Law

( 2 credits)
In Juvenile Law, students study the encounters of children with our legal system, including delinquency adjudication;proceedings to determine whether children are in need of supervision; rights of juveniles; and the role of attorneys inrepresenting juveniles.

Labor Law

( 2 or 3 credits)
Please see the professor for a course description.

Language Rights Seminar

Legislatures and courts are called upon ever more frequently to determine how to respond to the challenges placed upon us by citizens and residents who speak languages other than English. Throughout the seminar we will consider two issues: ( 1) Is there such a thing as "language discrimination?" ( 2) If language discrimination does exist, what rights should the legal system recognize in responding to such discrimination?

Law and Literature

( 3 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Law in Radically Different Societies

( 3 credits) ( a "Perspective" Course)
This comparative law course addresses the crucial components of legal systems in radically different cultures. It comparesWestern law with a religious, a traditional, and an Eastern legal system; the examples used are California, Egypt, Botswana,and China. The analysis focuses on "law in action" and centers around issues of succession, crime, contract, andpopulation control.

Legal Malpractice Seminar

( 2 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

Legal Spanish and Mexican Legal Systems

( 3 credits)
This course provides a foundation in legal terminology and proper usage in the different areas of Mexican law. Students are exposed to the nuances associated with the Mexican legal system, fundamental legal concepts, key Latin phrases, and to the teaching techniques that characterize legal instruction at Mexican law schools.

Mediation

( 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Negotiation)
Mediation explores those situations in which an impartial person, the mediator, facilitates communication among parties topromote reconciliation, settlement, or understanding among them. The course will explore all forms of mediation, whetherconducted by consent or court order ( court annexed mediation), and will include extensive training in mediation andnegotiation. Issues concerning qualifications, confidentiality, liability, and ethics will be covered.

Medical Malpractice Litigation

( 2 credits)
Medical Malpractice Litigation, a study of the law and procedure governing medical malpractice actions in Texas, willprepare students to evaluate properly and manage effectively a medical malpractice lawsuit. Practical applications of thecourse include deposing medical witnesses, motions for summary judgment, and effective use of medical resources.

Mortgages and Real Estate Financing

( 3 credits)
This "real property" course covers the rights and interests of the parties to mortgages and other security devices, as well asthose of transferees and of innocent third parties. Topics covered include the deed of trust; the vendor's lien and superiortitle; mechanic's and materialman's liens, both constitutional and statutory; and remedies such as foreclosure, redemption,and marshaling of assets.

N.A.F.T.A. Seminar

( 2 credits)
This course will introduce the student to the North American Free Trade Agreement ( "NAFTA") and survey a variety ofissues surrounding the accord, including controversies relating to free trade, labor, the environment, dispute resolution, andeconomic integration of the Western Hemisphere. The first half of the seminar to will focus on substantive NAFTA issues. The second half will be spent on research, writing, and presentation of seminar papers.

Negotiation

( 3 credits)
Please contact the professor for a course description.

North American Legal Systems

( 3 credits) (a "Perspective" course)
This course introduces the student to the legal systems of North America. The course opens with a comparative survey ofthe legal institutions, legal actors, and legal traditions ( Civil Law and Common Law) of Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. Thecourse then focuses on the legal cultures of the three nations, including topics such as comparative views of the sources oflaw, legal education, preferences for conflict resolution, and judicial review and independence. The course closes with astudy of attempts to unify North America through law, with some emphasis on NAFTA.

Oil and Gas

( 3 credits)
This course is the study of the law governing interests in oil and gas, with an emphasis on Texas law. Topics exploredinclude the nature of interests in oil and gas; oil and gas leases; lease covenants, express and implied; title andconveyancing problems; transfers; and pooling and unitization.

Patent Law

( 2 credits)
This course examines the nature of patent protection. Circumstances under which this method of protecting inventions and other original works is appropriate, and the steps necessary to secure, maintain, and enforce the protection, are emphasized.

Products Liability

( 2 credits)
This course focuses on the need for, philosophy of, and historical development of modern products liability law. Emphasisis placed on the causes of action available to a person injured by a defective product, defenses available to responsibleparties, damages sustained as a result of the defect, and the various situations in which litigation of this type arises.

Professional Responsibility

( 2 credits) (Required)
Professional Responsibility explores the legal, ethical and moral responsibilities of lawyers to clients, courts, thecommunity and the legal profession. The current professional rules of professional conduct, and the policies underlyingthem, are examined. However, consistent with ABA standards, students should be aware that the course in ProfessionalResponsibility does not prepare students for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination ( MPRE). As with allother bar examinations, students intending to take the MPRE should plan to take a commercial bar preparation course priorto taking the MPRE. Information on such courses will be provided to all students enrolled in the ProfessionalResponsibility course.

Race and Racism in American Law

( 3 credits)
This course is a policy course -- it is not a Title VII or employment discrimination course. Rather, this course addresses themany and various ways in which the issue of race and the American legal system interact. As a survey course, the classwill deal with various topics ranging from affirmative action, the criminal justice system, and racist/hate speech tointerracial adoption, issues of minority women, and housing discrimination. There is no course book for the course. Instead, the course materials are both traditional ( law review articles, cases, and statutes) and non-traditional ( Ebony, Hispanic, and various videos). While not a basis for grading, the format of the class nevertheless anticipates andnecessitates the full participation of each class member. The class will offer invigorating and lively (if not heated)discussion and analysis of historical and contemporary issues of race and the law.

Remedies

( 3 credits)
In Remedies students explore the various types of judicial relief, equitable and "at law," available to people who havesuffered or might suffer a substantive wrong, such as a tort or breach of contract. Students examine the maxims of equityand equitable remedies, including an in-depth study of injunctions; substitutionary money damages, includingcompensatory and punitive damages in contract and tort cases; and restitution-based causes of action such as "quasi-contract," subrogation, and constructive and resulting trusts. The course presumes the violation of a substantive right andattempts to answer the question, "What relief should the injured party seek from the court?"

Sales: UCC Article 2

( 2 credits)
Sales is a Uniform Commercial Code ( UCC) course. Article 2 of the UCC is explored, including the creation of salescontracts, the relationships between buyers and sellers, the rights and obligations of the parties, and the remedies availablefor breach of the contract. Other areas explored include risk of loss on shipment or storage, commercial impracticality,letters of credit, and documents of title. A student who takes this course may not also take the combined course on Sales and Secured Transactions.

Sales and Secured Transactions

( 4 credits)
This course will focus on Articles 1, 2, and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, the provisions governing the sale of goodsand security interests involving or related to goods. We will examine some history of sales law and practice and somerecent judicial decisions interpreting the Uniform Commercial Code. Along the way we will note some generalcharacteristics of the Uniform Commercial Code as "reform" legislation and the large influence that the Code has had evenbeyond its defined areas of application. This course combines topics covered in the Sales and the Secured Transaction courses. Therefore students who havecompleted either Sales or Secured Transactions will not be permitted to enroll in this course.

Secured Transactions: UCC Article 9

( 3 credits)
One of the UCC ( Uniform Commercial Code) courses, Secured Transactions is the study of using personal property ascollateral for a loan or grant of credit. Topics considered include methods of creating and perfecting security interests;issues of priority; interrelationships between federal bankruptcy law and the UCC; and creditors' rights and obligationsafter debtors' default. A student who takes this course may not also take the combined course on Sales and Secured Transactions.

Securities Regulation

( 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Business Associations)
This course focuses on the federal and state regulation of securities and the securities industry. Topics covered includeregistration, exemptions from registration, and liability under the Securities Act; reporting, proxies, tender offers, fraud,short-swing profits, market manipulation, and broker regulation under the Exchange Act; and litigation and lawyerresponsibility.

South Texas DTPA Seminar

( 2 credits)
In this writing seminar, students will select and write on a topic involving the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, with an emphasis on issues of special interest to the needs of South Texas.

State Pretrial Practice

( 2 credits)
This practice skills course focuses on motions and pretrial proceedings in Texas state courts. Taxation of Business Entities ( 4 credits) ( Prerequisite: Federal Income Taxation)
This course covers major issues relating to the taxation of corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and othertypes of business entities. Topics to be considered include entity formation, capital structure, operating distributions, saleof interests, mergers and other reorganizations, and liquidations. Subchapters C, K, and S of the Internal Revenue Codewill be explored.

Texas Civil Procedure I

( 3 credits)
This course offers a detailed examination of pre-trial procedure, using the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure as a model, withcomparisons to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Topics covered may include preservation of error; the Texas courtsystem; impleader; intervention; suits on a sworn account; parties; and discovery. Students who plan to practice in Texas are required to take Texas Civil Procedure I.

Texas Civil Procedure II

( 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Texas Civil Procedure I)
This course offers a detail examination of trial, post-verdict, and appellate procedure, using the Texas rules of CivilProcedure as a model, with comparisons to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Topics covered include continuances;recusal; summary judgments; jury selection; directed verdict; jury argument; jury change and verdict; post-verdict motions;findings of fact and conclusions of law; jury misconduct; res judicata and collateral estoppel; and introduction to appellate procedure.

Texas Criminal Procedure

( 2 or 3 credits)
This course focuses on the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and the cases interpreting the Code. Students analyze thevarious provisions of the Code as it relates to the prosecution and defense of criminal defendants from arrest throughconviction.

Texas Land Titles

( 3 credits)
Texas Land Titles builds upon the first-year property course, and explores in more detail the basic tools and steps necessaryto examination of title to real property, as well as the procedural and substantive methods of clearing or eliminating titledefects. Also included in the course are methods of title assurance, mineral title, and the Texas adverse possession statutes.

Trademark and Unfair Competition

( 2 credits)
This intellectual property and business course examines the nature of the legal protection afforded to those who usetrademarks. Also included are problems relating to trade secrets, franchising, false advertising, commercial bribery, andunfair trade practices and competition.

Trial Advocacy

( 3 credits) ( Prerequisite: Evidence)
Trial Advocacy classes are designed to give students an introduction to specific trial advocacy techniques such as voir direexamination of jury panels, opening statements, and direct examination of witnesses. The techniques are demonstrated byinstructors and students are given opportunities to perform, and receive instruction concerning, exercises in many aspects ofthe trial of civil and criminal cases. ( Prerequisite: Evidence)

Trusts

( 3 credits)
Trusts are one of the most frequently used and beneficial of the tools available to the modern estate planner. A trust is aspecial type of property transfer which separates the equitable interest in property from the legal interest. The holder of thelegal interest, the trustee, manages the property according to the directions contained in the trust instrument and state lawfor the benefit of the beneficiaries who own the equitable title. The trustee is a fiduciary and must deal withe the propertyexercising a high standard of care and with the utmost degree of loyalty. This course deals with the creation,administration, and enforcement of private and charitable trusts under the Texas Trust Code. Coverage of resulting trustsand constructive trusts is also included.

United States Customs Law

This course will review federal law, legal research and procedure associated with import/export issues. Various specific import and export legal issues will be presented and discussed, including enforcement of the laws. ( approved through spring 2003)

Water Law

( 2 credits)
Water Law explores the subject of rights and interests in water, with an emphasis on the unique law of Texas. The topicscovered include the two major ways of determining water rights in surface streams and lakes in the United States ( "riparianrights" and "prior appropriation"), as well as issues concerning ground water.

Wills and Estates

( 3 credits)
Wills & Estates is the study of the disposition of property at death, whether by non-probate transfers, intestate succession,or will. The course examines the different types of inter vivos transfers that have testamentary effect, such as multiple-party bank accounts and life insurance; analyzes how property passes if a person does not have a will; and details variousaspects of wills including validity, revocation, interpretation, and construction. The estate administration processconsisting of collecting the decedent's property, paying debts, and distributing property to heirs or beneficiaries, is alsostudied. The course also provides brief coverage of other estate planning issues such as professional responsibility,planning for incompetency and death, and the drafting of wills.