Required upper-level courses

Bar Exam Strategies and Fundamentals
LEX 6850 Cr. 2
This course will provide students with in-depth instruction in legal analysis and exam-taking strategies for the Uniform Bar Exam. Students will receive lectures that review bar exam topic areas and will study strategies to build their skills in preparing for the bar exam and answering bar exam questions. This course will teach students how to approach the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and Multistate Performance Test (MPT) by providing extensive guidance on exam-taking strategies as well as frequent and individualized feedback on all three components of the bar exam. Students will also learn how to organize and execute their personal study plan for the bar exam and be ready to begin JD Advising’s bar prep course upon graduation. We expect that the course will be revised and altered every semester to remain current with the Michigan Bar Examination.

Notes: For those entering in Fall 2024 or later, must be completed for graduation but need not be taken in any particular term; graded on High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, No Credit basis.

Professional Responsibility and the Legal Profession
LEX 6800 Cr. 2
Conflicts of interest; the attorney's standard of care, fiduciary duty; the organization of bar associations; the attorney's duty to the court and the community; the attorney's responsibilities in trial, and in unilateral actions and negotiations. The duty of disclosure of adverse data, the development of group legal services, legal services to the poor and the responsibility of the bar in these areas.

Notes: Must be completed for graduation but need not be taken in any particular term; graded on 1L mandatory curve.

Notes for Summer 2024: Class meets May 20-July 2.  Final Exam July 16.

Upper-level elective courses

Accounting for Lawyers
LEX 7001 Cr. 2
Basic concepts in bookkeeping and generally accepted accounting principles; background to help read and interpret financial statements; auditor's role and accounting issues that arise in business planning, in litigation and in managing financial investments. May not be taken for credit by those who completed more than two undergraduate accounting courses or a graduate course in financial accounting.

Notes: May not be taken for credit by those who completed more than two undergraduate accounting courses or a graduate course in financial accounting.

Notes for Summer 2024: Class meets May 20-June 24, final exam is June 24.  Last day to add/drop for tuition refund is May 27.  Deadline to file Pass/No credit elections for this course is Tuesday, May 28.

Administrative Law
LEX 7006 Cr. 3-4
Functions and behavior of administrative agencies; constitutional and statutory constraints on agency operation. Government role in formulating and enforcing policy, administering public benefit programs and awarding licenses.

Advanced Bankruptcy
LEX 7009 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property, 7756 Secured Transactions and 7051 Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights and 7816 Taxation. 
In this course, students will become familiar with the chapter 11 business reorganization process. By reviewing mock bankruptcy schedules, and cash collateral, relief from stay, and chapter 11 plan and disclosure statement proceedings, the students will develop the necessary substantive knowledge and hone their negotiation and trial advocacy skills. A problem-oriented approach will be used, with students and instructors participating in resolving situations commonly encountered in a business bankruptcy.

Advanced Legal Writing: Appellate Advocacy
LEX 7536 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6400 Legal Research and Writing. May not be taken on pass/no credit basis
Research and analysis of complex legal problems involving legislative history and administrative regulations.Class discussion on advanced research, development of strategy and organization and writing as an advocate. Students write an appellate brief.

Notes: Course may not be taken on a Pass/No Credit basis.  Enrollment limited to 14. When offered in the fall term, preference will be given to Moot Court participants

Notes for Fall 2024: Priority given to Moot Court participants.

Advanced Legal Writing: Legal Drafting
LEX 7520 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6400 Legal Research & Writing
Legal Drafting provides students with an opportunity to develop transactional drafting skills. It focuses on writing techniques involved in drafting transactional documents most often assigned to summer interns and first and second year associates.

Notes: Limit 14 students.

Advanced Sales and Leases under the UCC
LEX 7751 Cr. 2-3
Advanced study in sales areas beyond first-year contracts courses.

Advanced Torts
LEX 7015 Cr. 2
Prereq.: LEX 6600 Torts
This course will focus on torts not involving physical injury, such as misrepresentation, defamation, invasion of privacy, interference with business relations, and misuse of legal procedure. These causes of action, which provide remedies for economic, reputational, or emotional harm, are not ordinarily covered in the four-hour Torts course required in the first year. They have become burgeoning areas of potential liability due to the emergence of electronic communications. An effort will be made to integrate substantive doctrine and practice implications with legal, economic, political and social theory.

Agency and Partnership
LEX 7011 Cr. 2-3
The relationship of principal and agent; the rights, duties, powers, and fiduciary responsibilities associated with acting for the benefit of others. The legal principles associated with conducting business in the partnership form under the Uniform Partnership Act. When offered in a three-credit version, class will also include extensive treatment of Limited Liability Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships and other alternative forms of unincorporated business associations.    

Alternative Dispute Resolution
LEX 7016 Cr. 2
Forms of non-trial dispute resolution: arbitration, mediation and negotiation -- their various permutations and substantive applications. Factors affecting choice between dispute resolution processes; differences in design and structure, relative costs, quality of participant performance, accountability for results, privacy of proceedings, role of legal norms and lawyers, due process considerations, availability of judicial review; tactics and strategies that participants employ in arbitration, mediation and negotiation. Meets the professional skills requirement.

Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course. Course has one section designated for J.D. students and one section designated for LL.M. students. Students must select the appropriate section when registering.

Notes for Fall 2024: Space is limited to 24 students total.

American Indian Law
LEX 7021 Cr. 3
This course explores the foundational principles and doctrines governing the legal and political relationship between the United States and Indian tribes. Major topics in the course include the history of federal Indian law and policy, congressional plenary power, principles of interpretation of laws and treaties regarding Indians, the nature of tribal sovereignty, and jurisdiction in Indian country. In examining these topics, we will discuss laws and policies concerning tribal justice and legal systems, gambling and taxation in Indian country, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

American Legal History
LEX 7020 Cr. 4
(HIS 7280)
Non-technical survey of relationships between private law and a developing American society from earliest settlement to the present. Emphasis on evolving conceptions of civil authority and private right, the legal profession, legal education, the law of slavery, and doctrinal developments touching property, labor, women, children, and others.

Animal Law
LEX 7023 Cr. 3
This course will consider statutory and case law encompassing human-animal interactions, the current status of animals as living property, and balancing of competing interests within the context of traditional areas of the law. Beyond traditional areas of law, this course explores and debates whether the current legal status of animals as living property is antiquated and needs re-evaluation and modification to reflect evolving societal beliefs and values. This course will explore theories and proposals to advance greater recognition of animal interests within the balancing process, whether significant protection can be achieved through expansion of animal interests within the existing property status paradigm, as well as whether it is feasible and desirable to grant rights or personhood status to animals. This course will also discuss groundbreaking laws and constitutional provisions of other jurisdictions as well as certain international laws affecting the interests of animals.

Antitrust
LEX 7026 Cr. 2-4
Government control of trade practices and industrial market structures which inhibit the competitive process; monopoly, oligopoly, mergers, cartel practices, distribution arrangements, resale price control, franchising, patent licensing, foreign commerce and price discrimination under the Sherman, Clayton, Federal Trade Commission and Robinson-Patman Acts.

Automotive Law
LEX 7039 Cr. 2
The automobile industry is facing a dynamic and potentially disruptive decade. New technologies and mobility offerings are reshaping how we use and drive vehicles. New players from the technology and connectivity sectors are entering the business, and the traditional auto value chain is under threat. Winners will be companies that streamline operations, build new capabilities, enter new businesses, and form smart partnerships to seize on market opportunities. The vehicle offerings are also shifting: more vehicles are electric, autonomous vehicles are increasing in number, internal combustion engines are decreasing in popularity and the market continues to become more fragmented and digitalized.  The design, manufacture, advertising, distribution, and sale of   automobiles, as well as the data they generate, give rise to many complex legal issues. To properly understand these issues and how to analyze them, it is not enough to know the law or the ethical implications; one must also know the products, the automotive business, the future strategies and the inner workings of the companies that make them. This course will offer an overview of the automobile industry and related law, and cover the basic theories and legal implications of the automotive franchise system, automotive marketing and advertising, automated, autonomous and connected vehicles, automotive products liability, consumer issues including privacy, cybersecurity and automotive safety, and the over-arching role of artificial intelligence.

Banking Law
LEX 7045 Cr. 2
The class will examine the legal environment of the banking industry. Topics that will be studied include the history and scope of banking in the United States, statutory requirements for chartering and operating banks, regulatory oversight at the federal and state level, commercial and consumer lending, deposit insurance, lender liability, bank failures, and recent developments in banking regulation and legislation.

Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
LEX 7051 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Problems arising when debtors are in financial difficulty, including the principal state remedies of unsecured creditors such as attachment, garnishment and enforcement of judgments; Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation; Chapter 13 wage-earner plans; and Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations.

Bioethics and the Law
LEX 7058 Cr. 3
This course will examine the role of the law in shaping, analyzing, and resolving the conflicts that arise in the interplay between medicine, biotechnology, ethics, social history, and cultural evolution. Key topics to be explored include reproductive rights and genetic technologies, maternal fetal decision making, medical decision making, definitions of death, death and dying decision, regulation of research on humans, interdisciplinary decision making, and access to health care.

Business Planning
LEX 7060 Cr. 4
Prereq: LEX 7156 Corporations; LEX 7761 Securities Regulation; LEX 7816 Taxation; LEX 7821 Taxation of Corporations, or LEX 7146 Corporate Tax I and LEX 7151 Corporate Tax II, or LEX 7203 Elements of Corporate Tax
Problems involving common business transactions, including choice of entity to conduct business; organization, financing, and operation of a corporation; restructuring of business enterprises. Corporate, tax, securities law, and financial matters; role of business lawyer in counseling and planning business transactions. Relationship between the corporation and its shareholders.
Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course.

Business Planning: A Transactional Approach
LEX 7061 Cr. 4 (8 req.)
Prereq.: LEX 7156 Corporations and LEX 7816 Taxation. Not open to students who have taken or are taking former JDC 728 Business Planning and Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders, LEX 7821 Taxation of Corporations, LEX 7761 Securities Regulation, LEX 7146 Corporate Tax I or LEX 7151 Corporate Tax II.
Credit on completion of two terms
Organizational problems for the closely held and the public corporation; operational problems such as stock distributions, issuance of new securities, constructive dividend problems and stock redemptions; corporate acquisitions, other reorganizations, contested take-overs, and liquidation and termination problems. Meets the Experiential Learning requirement.
Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a skills course. Year-long course, must be elected and completed in both the fall and winter terms to receive credit. 

Child Abuse & Neglect
LEX 7070 Cr. 2
This class will introduce students to state and federal laws governing the child protection and child welfare systems. Topics addressed will include: defining abuse and neglect; mandatory reporting; child protection investigations and limitations thereon; emergency removal and less burdensome alternatives; adjudicatory hearings and proof of abuse and neglect; dispositional hearings and powers; permanency planning and long-term placements; termination of parental rights; right to counsel; and the duties of lawyers for children in abuse and neglect cases.

Child, Family & State
LEX 7075 Cr. 3
This course is designed to explore the various aspects of children in the legal system. Discussions focus on the legal relationship between children, their parents, and government (federal, state, local and tribal). What are the rights of these various parties? What should the relationship between them look like? We will explore these questions by examining topics such as education, medical care, children's rights, the concept of legal parenthood, parental rights (including the termination thereof), adoption, and the juvenile justice process. The course will concentrate on constitutional and policy analysis, as opposed to a detailed examination of the various rules and regulations involved in the different areas. Students will be graded on class participation, several short written assignments and a final, take-home examination.
Notes: Not open to students who have taken LEX 8028 Child, Family and State Seminar.

Commercial Systems
LEX 7661 Cr. 2
Prereq. or Coreq.: LEX 7756 Secured Transactions
A capstone course for the contracts/commercial curriculum emphasizing study of the creation, transfer, and enforcement of obligations mostly in the payment, transport, and storage settings.

Communications Law
LEX 7111 Cr. 2-3
Government regulation of radio, over-the-air TV, cable, direct satellite broadcasting and other electronic mass media technologies. Licensing; content control; the respective roles of the regulator and the marketplace.

Comparative Law
LEX 7116 Cr. 2-3
Methods and sources of common and civil law; background and structure of the principal civil codes; analysis and study of problems arising in the context of foreign legal systems.

Conflict of Laws
LEX 7121 Cr. 3
Principles, rules and methods thought to underlie the resolution of multi-state problems. Jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments of other states.

Constitutional Law II
LEX 7126 Cr. 4
Pre-req.:  LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I. Not open to students who have taken or are taking LEX 7829 Law of the First Amendment: Freedom of Speech
Individual rights under the Constitution of the United States. Freedom of speech, religious freedom and equal protection.

Constitutional Litigation
LEX 7127 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I
This course will track the jurisdictional and constitutional basis and the history of claims by individuals against government officials for constitutional violations. It will explore the limits and constraints on the actions of officials and the policies of governments. How must the plaintiffs plead and prove such cases and how can defendants defend their actions and policies. Since 1961, victims of official misconduct -- ordinary private persons -- have had the ability and opportunity to enforce the United States Constitution in federal courts. This has for decades provided American lawyers, courts and litigants with important power, the power to directly shape American democracy in unique ways. The study of this system of constitutional enforcement is essential to an understanding of American constitutional jurisprudence.

Consumer Law
LEX 7128 Cr. 2-3
An introduction to law specially directed at the rights and obligations of consumers. The consumer marketplace is regulated by a series of discrete statutes and regulations, such as the Federal Trade Commission Act (and accompanying regulations), Truth-in-Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and lemon laws. This course provides an overview of these special rules and their interpretation and enforcement. As such the course provides an introduction to the role of administrative agencies and the interpretation of statutes and regulations.

Consumption Based Tax
Prereq./coreq.: LEX 7131 Taxation
This course will examine the foundational principles of a consumption based tax like a sales or value added tax, and will address global consumption tax systems, focusing on value added tax (VAT). The course highlights innovations incorporated in national VATs, including real property, financial, agriculture and the public and non-profit sectors. Students will examine the extent to which a VAT can apply at a national, subnational, and multinational level, and the problems that might be encountered. 

Copyright Law
LEX 7136 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Law of copyright and related doctrines protecting literary, musical and artistic works. Nature of rights and kinds of works protected, doctrine of fair use, preemption problem and problems posed by new technologies. Emphasis on 1976 Copyright Act and its relation to issues such as home videotaping, photocopying and nonprofit performance of protected works.

Corporate Finance
LEX 7141 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 7156 Corporations
Economic and legal problems arising in connection with financing decisions of publicly held corporations, including valuation of the enterprise and its securities, determination of securities structure and dividend policy, capital structure (including problems relating to debt) and acquisition strategies. In connection with certain specific topics, consideration will be given to the application of federal securities regulations.

Corporations
LEX 7156 Cr. 2-4
Relationships between owners and directors of a corporate enterprise; different types of stock ownership and the corresponding rights in profits and control; consolidation and merger; distinctive features of the closed corporation.
Notes: Course has one section designated for J.D. students and one section designated for LL.M. students. Students must select the appropriate section when registering. Required course for LL.M.  Corporate and Finance majors who must take it for 2 credits.

Criminal Pretrial Advocacy
LEX 7160 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6300 Criminal Law
This course will cover the court rule, statutes and Constitutional principles implicated in pre-trial criminal advocacy. The topics that will be covered include arraignment, discovery, pre-preliminary examination, preliminary examination, motion practice, and pleas. The course will focus both on the structural rules and principles of the process, and the practical application of those rules and principles. Students will participate in mock arguments, client meetings, and witness interviews and draft the documents that would be filed in a criminal case. Meets the professional skills requirement.

Criminal Procedure: Investigation
LEX 7161 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I recommended
Constitutional requirements for arrests, searches, seizures, electronic surveillance and interrogations.
Notes: Not open to students who have taken former title, Criminal Procedure I.

Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
LEX 7166 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I recommended
Operation of the criminal justice system from the defendant's first appearance in the court through the trial to post-conviction remedies, including a study of bail, the preliminary hearing, the grand jury, voir dire, discovery, double jeopardy, joinder and habeas corpus.
Notes: Not open to students who have taken former title, Criminal Procedure II.

Developing the Commercial Real Estate Project
LEX 7172 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
The subject matter of the course is real estate development. It will address the laws and requirements affecting the development of commercial properties, including the law of contracts, real estate interests, such as mortgages, easements and encumbrances, zoning laws, environmental laws, building codes and requirements and other regulatory laws. Topics will include purchase and sale contracts, title and survey matters, due diligence investigations, closing processes, construction, financing and leasing.

Directed Study
LEX 7990 Cr. 1-2
Prereq.: Prior consent of the professor directing the study, and for LL.M. students prior consent of the Director of the Graduate Program; for J.D. students prior consent of the Assistant Dean of Students. Subject matter and procedure are to be arranged prior to registration.
Notes: Supervising instructor to be selected by student. Authorization for Directed Study forms are available on the Law School website and in the Law School Records and Registration Office. Forms must be submitted to the Law School Records and Registration Office by the last day of the add/drop period.

Disability Law
LEX 7185 Cr. 3
This course surveys American law as it relates to people with disabilities, with particular emphasis on the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The focus of the course is on access to employment, government programs and services, places of public accommodation, housing, healthcare, education, and insurance. Other topics addressed include civil commitment; guardianship, conservatorship, and less restrictive alternatives; and income support programs.

Domestic Violence and the Law
LEX 7190 Cr. 2
Grounded in the historical and social context of domestic violence, as well as the dynamics of abusive relationships; this course will examine the response of the legal system to complex issues raised by domestic violence.  The course will focus on criminal and family law issues and their intersections. Also explored will be current issues in the law as well as cultural contexts of interpersonal and gender-based violence. 

Education Law
LEX 7201 Cr. 3
Survey of the field of education law with emphasis on public education. An examination of the historical development of education law in the United States as well as topics of current interest and importance. Topics may include tenure, academic freedom, school discipline, school financing, home-based schooling, state regulation of private schools, church-state education relationships and desegregation in public education.

Effective Oral Communication for Lawyers
LEX 8067 Cr. 2
Prereq: consent of instructor
This course is aimed at helping students become more comfortable with, and more skillful at, oral communication (speaking) in all the forms that skill is employed by a lawyer. Some of what lawyers do involves public speaking in the classic sense - making a speech to a bar group or oral argument to a court. But much of the function of a lawyer is to use the lawyer's voice to interview, to explain, to persuade, to educate in far less formal settings. This course will provide students techniques that will be applicable to communication in all these contexts. Topics to be covered will include the physiology of speech and sources of speech pathology (including respiration, phonation, resonance and articulation); aspects of non-verbal communication; techniques designed to deal with nervousness or "stage fright"; developing an understanding of oneself, one's material and one's "audience"; establishing rapport; organizing one's materials; use of humor and anecdotes; making communication interesting; active listening; and impromptu speaking. This course satisfies the professional skills requirement for graduation.

Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course.   Grading is Honors, Pass, Low Pass, No Credit basis. Space is limited to 8 students. Consent of Instructor required.

Employee Benefits Law
LEX 7205 Cr. 3
This course is a survey course to provide students with a strong grounding in the major laws affecting employment-based benefits plans, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. The course will address both retirement plans (including traditional defined benefit plans and common types of defined contribution plans such as 401 (k) plans) and welfare benefit plans (including health and life insurances and disability plans).

Employment Discrimination
LEX 7216 Cr. 2-3
Federal constitutional and statutory guarantees of freedom from invidious discrimination in employment. 13th and 14th Amendments, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Reconstruction Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.§1881, et seq., the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.

Employment Law
LEX 7221 Cr. 2-3
Legal rights and responsibilities of employees (excluding rights provided by anti-discrimination laws and the N.L.R.A.); statutory and common law limitations on the employer's right to discharge; protection of employee privacy and reputation; laws governing wages and hours, occupational safety, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation and employee benefits.

Energy Law
LEX 7228 Cr. 3
This course provides an introduction to energy law and regulation in the United States, including principles of rate regulation of public utilities, the division of jurisdiction between federal and state governments, and emerging trends such as promotion of energy efficiency and renewable energy. This course does not cover traditional law and gas law.

Entertainment Law
LEX 7226 Cr. 2-3
This course will explore various legal and business issues in the entertainment industries, including those relating to sound recordings, music publishing, literary publishing, films, television, the Internet and other new media.  The readings and discussions will also examine the topics of representing talent, drafting and negotiating contracts, remedies for breaches, and rights of publicity.  Because the continuing clash of art and commerce requires an entertainment lawyer to understand not only the law, but the art and business of entertainment as well, this course will include an analysis of how the entertainment industries and their economics work.

Environmental Law
LEX 7231 Cr. 2-3
Environmental law in common law, statutes, constitutional issues, administrative and international law. Coherent legal analysis of environmental problems and active legal remedies, rather than specialized instruction in pollution controls.

Equitable Remedies
LEX 7236 Cr. 2-3
Survey of the equitable remedies available for the vindication of substantive rights, which include injunctive and restitutionary relief, as well as the general treatment of equitable relief in contract, tort and criminal actions.

Estate, Gift and Inheritance Taxation
LEX 7241 Cr. 2
Prereq.: LEX 7816 Taxation. May not be taken by students who have completed LEX 7246 Estate & Gift Tax & Estate Planning Workshop
Federal and state transfer taxes and income taxation of fiduciaries and beneficiaries.

Evidence
LEX 7266 Cr. 3-4
General principles relating to the proof of questions of fact in civil and criminal trials, including competency, relevancy and materiality of evidence; judicial notice; presumptions; burden of proof; competency of witnesses; rules relating to examination and cross-examination of witnesses; weight and sufficiency of evidence.

Family Law
LEX 7301 Cr. 2-3
Entry into marriage; legal treatment of couples in marital and nonmarital relationships; divorce, including custody, alimony and property distribution, and the role of the attorney; procreation; illegitimacy; rights and responsibilities of children and parents with respect to each other and to the state; child abuse and neglect; adoption. When offered for two credits, considerably less time is devoted to children's issues.

Federal Courts and the Federal System
LEX 7306 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I
Interrelationship of state and federal law in our legal system from the point of view of the federal courts and Congress. Emphasis on the politics, history and philosophy of federalism, rather than on procedure.

Federal Income Taxation of Partnerships
LEX 7311 Cr. 2-3
See Taxation of Partnerships

Firearms Law and the Second Amendment
LEX 7319 Cr. 2
This course focuses on legal issues affecting weapons.  We will explore the origins, dynamics, and evolution of the Second Amendment, and discuss Heller, McDonald, and the difficult questions that have arisen in their wake. This course also considers other topics, including First Amendment issues, state constitutions, and various state and federal laws that limit who can own weapons, where they can be carried, and how they must be treated. 
Notes: Enrollment limited to 12 students total.

Food and Drug Law
LEX 7321 Cr. 2-3
This course is designed to provide students with a basic working knowledge of domestic laws regulating food, drugs, cosmetics/biologics/blood, and medical devices. It has an administrative law overtone, providing an understanding of the legislative and regulatory processes through an in-depth look at the relationship between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), industry, consumer interest groups, and Congress.

Foreign Direct Investment
LEX 7326 Cr. 3
Prereq.: Although students would benefit from some prior exposure to international law, international business transactions, international commercial arbitration, or international trade, any second or third-year law student can take the course without prerequisites or co-requisites.
This course addresses the history of, and policy justifications for, protection of foreign direct investment (FDI); the substantive international law regarding the protection of FDI; the process for resolving disputes between foreign investors and host states through international arbitration; and critiques of the existing legal framework for protection of FDI.

Franchise Law
LEX 7331 Cr. 2
This course provides an examination of the franchise relationship, including the rule of trademarks, the statutory hallmark and remedy provisions, and the government regulations that comprise the system for distributing goods and services known as franchising.

Health Care Organizations & Finance
LEX 7353 Cr. 3
This survey course examines legal responses to problems of health care costs, access and financing from both public and private perspectives. On the private side, topics include regulation of insurance and managed care, developments in federal ERISA preemption, changing business structures, and antitrust enforcement. On the public side, students will be introduced to Medicare and Medicaid financing, rules prohibiting self-referrals and standards policing fraud and abuse.

Health Care Quality, Licensing & Liability
LEX 7354 Cr. 3
This survey course explores legal responses to problems of health care quality and medical errors. Topics include state licensing of health care professionals and institutions, self-regulation, and tort liability for physicians, hospitals and managed care organizations. The course gives a basic introduction to health care institutions, the particulars of malpractice litigation and proposals for tort reform.

Health Policy: The Firm, The Market and The Law
LEX 7360 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6200 Contracts and LEX 6600 Torts
This course explores problems of health law and policy from the perspective of modern institutional economics, including Coase's theory of the firm and Ken Arrow's work on Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Health Care. The course examines trends towards prepayment, vertical integration and the development of managed care networks. Legal questions include constructing a competition policy, defining physician rights and responsibilities within an integrated firm structure, the significance of social norms, and patient protection in a world of managed care. The course should be valuable to students interested in law and economics and contemporary policy analysis, as well as students interested in the health care industry.

Immigration and Nationality Law
LEX 7371 Cr. 2-3
Immigration, its history and development; entry into the United States, alien status and adjustment to status; deportation and relief from deportation; exclusion and relief from exclusion; nationality and citizenship.

Insurance Law
LEX 7381 Cr. 2
General principles, including indemnity, subrogation, reinsurance, insurable interest and classification of risks such as personal business and legal liability. Michigan insurance law and no-fault legislation examined; contractual rights and liabilities of the insurer, insured and third-party beneficiaries.

International Aspects of U.S. Taxation
LEX 7401 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 7816 Taxation
United States taxation of nonresident aliens and foreign entities, foreign tax credit, determination of source of income, impact of tax treaties, earned income exclusion, tax effect of mode of operation and country of incorporation, and statutory and nonstatutory tax devices available for international operations.

International Business Transactions
LEX 7404 Cr. 3 
This course introduces a wide range of problems and issues that private business entities may encounter in doing business across national borders. Topics include international sales, import and export regulations, cross-border IP protection and technology transfer, foreign direct investment, business ethics, and dispute settlement.

International Commercial Arbitration
LEX 7384 Cr. 3
Although students would benefit from some prior exposure to alternative dispute resolution, international law, or international business transactions, any second or third-year law student can take the course without prerequisites or co-requisites. This course follows the life cycle of an international commercial arbitration, including: Drafting and enforcing arbitration agreements; appointment and challenge of arbitrators; conduct of the proceedings; drafting of awards; review and enforcement of awards by courts at the seat of arbitration and beyond.

International Finance: Transactions, Regulation and Policy
LEX 7406 Cr. 3
This course studies legal problems associated with the flow of capital across national borders. Topics include various types of international financial transactions, regulations of international capital markets and international banking, emerging market debt problems, and reform of the international financial system. While there is no prerequisite, it is recommended that students have taken a basic course of economics in college or corporations in law school.

International Law
LEX 7408 Cr. 3
Basic legal concepts applied by international tribunals and courts of the United States to the relations between independent nations. The nature and sources of international law; the use of treaties; international organizations; practices respecting recognition, territory, nationality and jurisdiction.

International Litigation
LEX 7409 Cr. 3
This course examines issues arising in civil cases in American courts in which international parties, evidence and issues are present. Subjects covered included personal jurisdiction, service of process abroad, conducting discovery abroad suing foreign sovereigns and governmental officials, forum non conveniens and international arbitration.

International Organizations and Public Health
LEX 7410 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6200 Contracts and LEX 6600 Torts
This course has two objectives. The first is to give students a working understanding of the structure, functions and mission of the international organizations that increasingly impact modern life: the WTO, WHO, World Bank, IMF and UN. The second objective is to explore the effects of globalization on public health. Topics covered will include WHO control of infectious diseases such as SARS, the impact of the WTO on pharmaceutical pricing of AIDS drugs and the sale of genetically modified foods, international conventions for tobacco control, and the influence of World Bank and IMF privatization requirements on health sector reform in developing countries.

International Prosecution of State Actors
LEX 7413 Cr. 3
This course will examine legal and political aspects of the new processes by which one-time state officials such as former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and former East German leader Egon Krenz and their followers have been subjected to prosecution in international and foreign legal systems. The course will cover the basic elements of transnational criminal law, and will explore the controversial questions of principle and policy, such as United States opposition to the new International Criminal Court, concerns about retroactive punishment, and the question of respect for amnesties that have contributed to ending civil conflicts.
Notes: Cross-listed with PS 5999 001.

International Protection of Human Rights
LEX 7411 Cr. 2-3
The main international and regional legal instruments and procedures for the protection of human rights.
Notes: Cross-listed with PS 5999.

International Trade Law
LEX 7418 Cr. 3
Limitations.: Not open to students who have taken LEX 8185 International Trade Law Seminar.
This course examines regulation of international trade relations. It focuses on the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its interaction with domestic regulation of international commerce.

Interviewing & Counseling
LEX 7419 Cr. 2-3
This course introduces students to interviewing and counseling theory, and helps students develop skills needed to effectively and efficiently interview and counsel clients in both litigation and transactional matters. Topics addressed and skills developed include active listening, phrasing and sequencing questions, eliciting timelines, probing for details, clarifying objectives, identifying options and discussing their consequences, and helping clients make final decisions. The course makes extensive use of role-playing exercises. Each student conducts a full-length simulated interview at mid-semester, and a full-length simulated counseling session towards the end of the semester. When offered for three credits, the course will include a forty-hour fieldwork component in which each student will interview and counsel actual clients who are seeking free legal help from one of the Law School's clinics or from a faculty-approved public interest externship field placement.

Introduction to the Legal System of the United States
LEX 7424 Cr. 2
Limitations.: Not open to J.D. students 
This course offers a general introduction to the institutions and processes involved in lawmaking and legal interpretation in the United States, with a focus on lawmaking at the federal level. The topics to be covered include the federal legislative process, precedent and the common-law method, federal administrative rulemaking, separation of powers, and judicial review. The course also introduces students to the sources of law produced by these processes and how to develop research strategies with respect to these sources. Finally, the course is designed to provide foreign LL.M. students (all of whom write a Master's Essay in order to complete the LL.M. program) with an overview of the principal forms of legal scholarship in the American academy.

Islamic Law
LEX 7422 Cr. 3
This course will survey the universe of Islamic law from the vantage point of a beginner to the field. The readings and class discussions will broadly cover the following: (1) classical Islamic jurisprudential theory, (2) substantive aspects of family and criminal law, (3) the intersection of Islamic law and the American legal system, and (4) the place of American-Muslims in the framework of American constitutionalism. Because law of any variety does not operate in a vacuum, discussions will proceed with reflection on prevailing sociopolitical realities such as global terrorism, jihadist movements, Islamophobia, misogyny, and racism. The student will also be asked to draw from the offerings of philosophy, critical race theory, postcolonial studies, security studies, and feminism. The aim is for course participants to develop a more textured understanding of Islamic law and to be better positioned to understand the debates surrounding its relevance and practice.

Jurisprudence
LEX 7426 Cr. 2-3
Analysis of important legal notions such as law, sanction, rule and sovereignty; relations between law and morals as seen particularly in the development of natural law and legal positivism and in the development of the notion of legal responsibility.

Juvenile Delinquency
LEX 7435 Cr. 2
This course will introduce students to the juvenile justice system. Topics addressed will include: juvenile court jurisdiction over delinquents and status offenders; pretrial criminal procedure in the juvenile justice context; screening and diversion; pretrial detention; waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction; procedural rights at trial; and dispositional decisions.

Labor Law
LEX 7501 Cr. 2-4
Legislative, administrative and judicial regulation of labor relations. The scope of national labor legislation; the protection of the rights of self-organization and the designation of bargaining agents; the negotiation and administration of the collective agreement; the legality of strikes, picketing and boycotts; employer interference with concerted activities; the relations between unions and their members.
Notes: Course has one section designated for J.D. students and one section designated for LL.M. students. Students must select the appropriate section when registering. Required course for LL.M.  Labor and Employment Law majors, who must take it for 2 credits.

Labor Law in the Public Sector 
LEX 7506 Cr. 2
State (and some federal) regulation of labor relations in the public sector. Establishment of representative status, negotiation and administration of the collective agreement, strikes and impasse reso­lutions.

Land Use
LEX 7511 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Allocation of land use in the urban environment by both private agreement and governmental order. Problems involved in the development and effectuation of community planning; goals by means of conservation, clearance, and renewal; zoning, variances and exceptions; housing code enforcement, subdivision control, eminent domain; relocation.

Law, Policy and International Development
LEX 7517 Cr. 3
This course explores various law-based strategies for achieving economic and political development in poor countries. One influential school of thought claims that capitalism will not flourish in developing nations until there is a long-term, national commitment to reform property laws. Other scholars and development specialists insist that instituting the rule of law is the linchpin to attaining international development. Yet others insist that all law reform efforts are pointless unless access-to-justice issues are first addressed. This course is designed to investigate these claims and allow each student to come to their own conclusions about how law is most effectively used as a strategy for promoting political and economic development.

Law Practicum Research
LEX 7995 Cr. 1
The Law Practicum Research incorporates a practical work experience in a student's field of legal study. Students enrolled in the Law Practicum Research participate in an employment experience directly related to their academic studies and concurrently consult with a supervising member of the full-time Law School faculty. The goal of the Law Practicum Research is to advance Law School students in their legal academic program in a specific and definable way. Substantial time must be devoted to professional skills instruction and to facilitated discussion and analysis of the student's fieldwork observations and experiences. To receive full credit for the course, an enrolled student must submit written work (separate from and in addition to any written work product generated as part of the student's employment experience) to the supervising faculty member. Although the detailed content and format of such written work will be determined by agreement between the student and the supervising faculty member and is expected to be highly individualized, such written work must relate the employment experience to the student's academic studies at the Law School and must include consideration of the roles and responsibilities of practicing attorneys and strategic and ethical issues in the applicable field of law.
Notes: No scheduled class meeting times; enrollment limited to F-1 Visa students satisfying CPT requirements. 

Law and Economics
LEX 7515 Cr. 3
Not open to students who have taken LEX 8246 Law and Economics
This course surveys the application of economic analysis to the selection of legal rules. After a brief introduction to foundational economic concepts, the course revisits the first year curriculum (torts, contracts, property, criminal law) and demonstrates the pervasive influence of economic thinking in these foundational areas of law. The course then examines the application of economics to a variety of legal topics, such as discrimination, business organizations, federalism, and definitions of justice. The course assumes no background in economics and requires no mathematical training beyond high school algebra.

Law, Authority, and Resistance
LEX 7514 Cr. 3
Cross-listed with PS 5999
This course addresses, in both theoretical and practical terms, the relationship between legal and political obligation: When, if ever, do individuals have a moral obligation to obey the law because it is the law? What count as valid justifications of civil disobedience, conscientious refusal, or insurrection? When can governmental authority justifiably depart from "the rule of law"? When can individuals be held criminally accountable for egregious acts committed under unjust prior regimes? The course combines classics of the history of political thought with contemporary theoretical writings and contemporary discussions of topical questions (e.g., jury nullification, emergency measures, transitional justice). Particular attention will be paid to the special obligations of lawyers who are asked to validate immoral practices (e.g., "enhanced interrogation methods" in the Global War on Terrorism).

Law of Armed Conflict
LEX 7518  Cr. 3
This course examines history and current state of the law governing recourse to force (jus ad bellum) and the law governing the application of force (jus in bello).With respect to the contemporary jus ad bellum, the class will discuss the general prohibition of the use of force in international relations, self-defense, unilateral intervention in internal conflicts and humanitarian crises, as well as collective action relating to security and humanitarian crises.With respect to the contemporary jus in bello, the class will discuss obligations relating to targeting, selection of weapons, status and treatment of prisoners, and protection of civilians during hostilities and occupation.

Law of Elections and Political Organizations
LEX 7516 Cr 3
This course will explore ways in which the law governing the political process in the United States affects and reflects political power relationships. It will examine the way the law and other forces have shaped the structure of American political participation, and will consider alternative directions American democracy might take. Topics will include the 2000 presidential election dispute, the individual right to vote, the Voting Rights Act, redistricting, minority vote dilution, political and racial gerrymandering (including majority-minority districts), campaign finance reform, and direct democracy through the initiative process. In addition to a final examination, students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and to prepare very short assignments throughout the semester.

The Law of Electronic Commerce
LEX 7828 Cr. 3
This course addresses the new legal and policy issues that arise when businesses and consumers use the Internet to conduct their commercial transactions. We will address a broad range of subject matters, such as history and technology of the Internet, regulatory paradigms, trademarks, copyright, jurisdiction over online disputes, spam and other online intrusions, clickwrap and browsewrap contracting, liability of online intermediaries, privacy, taxation of Internet commerce, and consumer protection.

Law of the First Amendment: Freedom of Speech
LEX 7829 Cr. 2
Prereq: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I. Not open to students who have taken or are taking LEX 7126 Constitutional Law II
In-depth coverage of the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, press, association and petition. Emphasis on the "law of the First Amendment" as it has developed through the decisions of the Supreme Court; how the "law of the First Amendment" operates in the context of actual litigation. First Amendment issues likely to arise in the United States today and tomorrow.
Note: Taking this course will preclude you from taking LEX 7126 Constitutional Law II. 

Law of Policing
LEX 7519 Cr. 2
This course is an introduction to the law of policing. In this course, students will study the development of laws and policies related to policing in the United States. In addition to the regular course work, students will be asked to conduct focused research on a particular facet of modern policing and write a 30-page final paper on their selected topic.  

Legislation
LEX 7541 Cr. 3
This course addresses the legislative process and its use as an instrument of change, as well as legislative drafting revision, interpretation and implementation.  Other topics of focus include the appropriations process, the role of and control of lobbying, the operation of the legislative process and its effect on policy formulation, the conduct of Congressional investigations, and the effects of separation of powers doctrines.  

Local Government Law
LEX 7581 Cr. 2
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Law as an instrument for governing urban areas. Distribution of decision-making power between private and public persons, between state and local governments and among various local governments. Local finance, decentralization, annexation and municipal incorporation. Exploration of possible reforms by means of metropolitan government or federal assistance. The lawyer's role in formulating governmental policy in major urban complexes.

Master's Essay Direction
LEX 8999 Cr. 1-2
Prereq.: consent of adviser
Notes: Authorization for Master's Essay Direction forms are available on the Law School website and in the Law School Records and Registration Office. Forms must be submitted to the Law School Records and Registration Office by the last day of the add/drop period.

Mergers and Acquisitions
LEX 7603 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 7156 Corporations and LEX 7816 Taxation
Mechanics of an acquisition, including: (1) state corporate codes relevant to acquisitions, dissenting shareholder remedies, listing requirements, and federal security law affecting the mechanics (proxy, tender offers, public offerings); (2) successor liability, transfer of assets: (3) acquisition documents (confidentiality agreements, letters of intent, basic agreements, closing); (4) legal duties of board of directors and dominant shareholders (decision to sell or acquire, conflicts of interest, attempts to block takeovers, shareholder value); (5) disclosure requirements of federal and state securities law; (6) accounting and tax issues (definition of tax-free reorganization, accounting for mergers and acquisitiveness) (Y).

Movement Lawyering 
LEX 7606 Cr. 2
Prereq.: Consent of Instructor required.
This course is for students interested in learning how to create social change through collective action.  The dual aims of the course are to enrich our understanding of the mechanics of social change and to critically examine the relationship between law, lawyers, and social movements.  Together, we will develop a nuanced understanding of law as a complex tool that has the potential to both co-opt social movements and support liberation.  We will take a historical and theoretical case-study approach, with emphasis on the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the United States.  We will also draw lessons from contemporary movement-building efforts.  During the semester, guest speakers on the front lines of racial and economic justice movements here in Michigan will join us to share their insights and ground our discussion.
 

The 2 credit course is a comprehensive examination of various legal principles that affect negotiations, such as rights assessments, custom and practice, rule of contract construction, concepts of condonation, proper and improper conditions, as well as the effective use of evidence in the negotiation process. The course also explores strategic methods and techniques in which attorneys are frequently involved that affect the outcome of negotiations. Students will participate in mock negotiations.  The 3 credit course will cover the material described above and will additionally address (1) the reintroduction of several topics (e.g., contract drafting, collaborative lawyering, use of mediation in negotiation), (2) the expansion of other topics (e.g., multicultural negotiation, the law of settlement), (3) enhanced processing of simulations, and (4) one or more contract drafting exercises. Both the 2 and 3 credit classes meet the experiential learning requirement.

Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course. Space is limited. Course has one section designated for J.D. students and one section designated for LL.M. students. Students must select the appropriate section when registering.

Notes for Fall 2024: Space is limited to 10 students total. Priority will be given to students graduating in December 2024, May 2025 or August 2025 in J.D. section.

No-Fault Insurance Law
LEX 7631 Cr. 2
Prereq.: LEX 6200 Contracts; LEX 6600 Torts
Comprehensive review of Michigan's No-Fault Automobile Insurance Law, which governs all motor vehicle accidents in the State of Michigan. Topics include questions of coverage, medical and work loss benefits, coordination of benefits, exclusions, priorities, subrogation, and claims procedures. Negligence claims under the No-Fault law will also be reviewed.

Nonprofit Leadership for Lawyers 
LEX 8665 Cr. 2

Patent Enforcement
LEX 7651 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6100 Civil Procedure A and LEX 6101 Civil Procedure B; Prereq. or Coreq.: LEX 7656 Patent Law
Unique aspects of patent litigation. Policy issues; practice considerations in enforcing patents. Issues in approaching a patent infringement suit (who can file; when and where to file).

Patent Prosecution
LEX 7657 Cr.3
Prereq.: LEX 7656 Patent Law
The Patent Prosecution course not only teaches students the art of writing patent applications, but also addresses the many aspects of practicing before the PTO.  The first part of the course focuses on rules and techniques for investigating what is legally considered the background of the invention ("prior art").  The course introduces students to basic claim drafting concepts, techniques for writing a written description (or specification) of an invention, along with learning how to respond effectively to PTO Office actions according to PTO regulations found in the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP).  In order to draft patent claims and respond effectively to PTO Office Actions, it is important to understand the MPEP rules as well as the relevant case law.  This course will also explore the inter partes post-grant proceedings and derivation proceedings available under the new America Invents Act.  In addition, ethics and licensing will be briefly covered.  This course will also provide a good foundation for students who wish to take and pass the patent bar exam to become registered to practice before the PTO.

Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning requirement as a simulation course.

Peacemaking in State Court Justice Systems
LEX 7658 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 7266 Evidence
Conflict involving youth, family, communities and institutions inexorably finds its way into state court justice systems. Once there, litigants find that institutional pathways available to them not only attach legal consequences to their actions, but more importantly, have longstanding effects on their lives, as well as the lives of others. This class introduces students to the emergence of one such path in state court justice systems: peacemaking. The introduction begins with the exploration of the roots of peacemaking from indigenous nations within our national border. Students will learn from nationally renowned native guest lecturers about world views, tribal justice systems, tensions between native justice systems and western-model court systems and the opportunity for nurturing communication, collaboration and finding common ground between the two. Thereafter, students will engage in exploring the practical application of peacemaking in state justice systems in family, probate, civil and criminal proceedings. As part of that engagement, students will first conduct a mock trial in a subject area of their choosing through a traditional adversarial model, and then through a peacemaking approach. Finally, students will explore emerging branches from peacemaking in state justice systems. This exploration will include current models around the country, as well as inspiration from models outside of our borders such as South Africa, Canada and Ireland. 

Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course. Limited to 12 graduating students (December, May or August of current academic year).  

Political Theory of Public Law
LEX 7659 (P S 7580) Cr. 3
Legal restraints on exercise of public power as conceived in works of early modern theorists (e.g., Machiavelli, Locke, Montesquieu, and Madison), and as applied in constitutional arrangements that have emerged in a range of historical settings. Topics include: role of law in totalitarian political systems; emergency rule; comparative approaches to judicial review.

Notes: Cross-listed with PS 7580

Pretrial Advocacy
LEX 7666 Cr. 3
Adversary strategy and practice skills in the pretrial stages of litigation. The course focuses on the preparation of pleadings, interrogatories, requests for admission and document production requests. Students will negotiate settlement of disputes, draft and argue motions and take and defend depositions. Meets the professional skills requirement.

Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course. Limited to 12 graduating students (December, May or August of current academic year).

Privacy Law
LEX 7669 Cr. 2-3
The subject matter of this course is the law of information privacy. It addresses the law and policy applying to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.  Relevant law includes state laws founded in tort and property, federal laws addressing specific privacy issues and constitutional limitations on government.  Topics may include use of personal information by the media, government surveillance aimed at combating terrorism, the privacy of health care information, the collection and use of personal information by businesses, privacy in schools and at the workplace and international privacy issues.

Public Finance Law
LEX 7676 Cr. 2
Introduction to the legal principles involved in public finance transactions, particularly municipal borrowing and debt; state law considerations, including sources of authority for borrowing and repayment; the effect of ultra vires borrowing, procedural defects, municipal debt limitations and other factors relating to the power to incur municipal debt; traditional financing techniques; selected federal tax and securities law considerations; consequences of default and municipal bankruptcy; functioning of the municipal bond market.

Public Health Law
LEX 7680 Cr. 3
Prereq. or Coreq.: Students must have completed LEX 6600 Torts and LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I
This course focuses primarily on how the law regulates and promotes public health.  Students will explore the legal foundations of the American public health system and the struggle between individual liberties and the government's interest in providing for its citizen's collective health and well-being. The course will examine these conflicts in many of the important realms of public health theory and practice.

Race and the Law 
LEX 7686 Cr. 3
The course will explore the impact of law on race relations and vice versa. The course will cover a range of topics and issues such as history and legal history, civil rights and equal protection, criminal law, affirmative action, employment, hate speech, education, interracial marriage and adoption, housing discrimination, and the emergence of Critical Race Theory in contemporary jurisprudence. Historical problems and developments will be used to shed light on contemporary issues and solutions.

Race, the Law, and Social Change in Southeast Michigan
LEX 7689 Cr. 2
Detroit is the most segregated Metropolitan Area in the country. This course examines the role and limits of law in addressing issues of race, discrimination and equality in Southeast Michigan. From a legal and anthropological perspective, students will study the efforts that attorneys have made over the past century to create a region more consistent with American values of inclusiveness. The course will examine individual and class action lawsuits and other forms of policy advocacy, all addressing legal problems in Southeast Michigan, examining litigation tactics and the role of expert testimony. The history and social problems of the region are examined from the perspective of the courtroom.

Real Estate Financing
LEX 7701 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Methods of financing the acquisition and improvement of residential and commercial real estate through the use of private sources of funds.

The Regulatory State
LEX 6900 Cr. 3
This course is designed to introduce the student to modern methods of legal analysis. Most law today is in the form of statutes and administrative regulations dealing with problems and risks for which the common law method has proven inadequate. As a consequence, a significant part of 21st century legal practice requires the skills associated with the modern regulatory state including familiarity with administrative structure and procedure, the ability to interpret statutes, and the capacity to assess arguments and materials from other disciplines such as economics, rational choice theory, psychology, linguistics, and the sciences. The course looks beyond the details of legal doctrine to see the "big picture" of how law is organized. The course compares different institutions for dealing with risk the market, the common law, criminal law, and the administrative state introducing the student to the tools of comparative institutional analysis. It examines criminal law and tort law, identifying the doctrinal problems arising in efforts to use these techniques to deal with environmental and workplace injuries. It develops the advantages and limitations of relying on the market, considering the Coase Theorem along with alternative perspectives such as those based on unequal bargaining power, paternalism, and the appropriateness of commodifying certain aspects of human relations. The course also explores the ways in which regulation can fail, including a discussion of so-called regulatory paradoxes, and considers the value of and the problems with cost-benefit analysis. The advantages and disadvantages of several different regulatory designs for addressing risk, including information provision and health-based standards, technology-based standards, and trading regimes, are presented. The course is designed to equip students with the tools necessary to deal with the difficult choices that face legislators, judges, and lawyers alike.

Religious Liberty in the United States
LEX 7725 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I
This course examines the relationship between Church and State in the United States. It addresses the First Amendment's Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses, as well as some related state and federal statutes, giving regard to matters of history, legal doctrine, and public policy.

Secured Transactions
LEX 7756 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Basic study of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code with particular attention to the law governing the creation and perfection of security interests in personal property and the relative priorities of interested parties; attention to some or all of the following: goods- oriented remedies in Article 2, financing leases in Article 2A, bulk sales, effects of the Bankruptcy Code on secured transactions and documents of title in Article 7.

Securities Litigation
LEX 7758 Cr. 2-3  
Prereq: completion of first year courses; LEX 7156 Corporations
Public and pri­vate actions under Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Investors Act of 1940; pleading requirements for a cause of action; vicarious liability; liability of attorneys, accountants and directors; congressional limitations on state and federal securi­ties claims; damages in private actions; public enforcement proceed­ings (SEC civil suits and criminal prosecutions).

Securities Regulation
LEX 7761 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 7156 Corporations. Not open to students who have taken LEX 7061 Business Planning: A Transactional Approach.
Analysis of current problems in federal and state regulation of transactions in securities.

Special Topics
LEX 7999 Cr. 2-4
This course will cover areas of current interest in the law.

Sports and the Law
LEX 7766 Cr. 2-3
This course will survey a range of legal issues presented by sports in America. Students should be prepared to learn and apply basic principles of antitrust law and labor law. Constitutional law, administrative law, contract law and tort law will also be applied. Topics will include the regulation of the professional sports labor market, drawing from contracts, antitrust and labor law. The course will also treat the regulation of agent representation of athletes, the regulation of sports franchises and sports leagues, including the powers of commissioners' offices in major sports leagues and the regulation of intercollegiate sports.

State and Local Taxation
LEX 7771 Cr. 2-3
Prerequisite: Taxation (LEX 7816). Not open to students who have taken Multistate Taxation in the Digital Age (LEX 7605).
Sales and use taxes and corporate and personal income taxes imposed by states and other subnational governments, including Indian tribes. Extensive treatment is given to the constitutional limitations on cross-border taxation under the Due Process Clause and the Commerce Clause. Methods for apportioning income among jurisdictions are covered from a theoretical and practical perspective. The course addresses the special income tax and sales tax issues that arise from electronic commerce.

State Constitutionalism
LEX 7800  Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I. 
This course will address some of the distinguishing features of state constitutions not shared with the parallel federal document. Among these features are elected judiciaries, part-time legislatures of plenary power, non-unitary executive branches, frequently employed amendment and revision procedures, and state powers over political subdivisions. Significant attention will be devoted to state judiciaries as the interpreters of state constitutions, including state courts' inherent powers, advisory powers, and relationships with federal and sister-state courts. State constitutions also protect civil liberties differently from the U.S. Constitution, both in kind and degree; these differences will be reviewed through readings in constitutional litigation. The course is not a survey of fifty different constitutions. Instead, it is designed to illuminate the common areas of inquiry in a theoretical field remarkably distinct from the study of the federal Constitution.

Taxation
LEX 7816  Cr. 2-4
Interrelation between income tax policy and basic governmental and social institutions. Introduction to the law of federal income taxation concentrating on the taxation of individuals. Basic application of these taxes: problems involved in the variety of transactions and situations which confront the lawyer in general practice; analysis and use of materials which will permit their solution. Underlying problems of policy which have led to the tax law of today and which may be expected to require change in the tax law of tomorrow.

Notes: Course has one section designated for J.D. students and one section designated for LL.M. students. Students must select the appropriate section when registering. Required course for LL.M. corporate and finance law majors, who must take it for 4 credits. Required course for LL.M. taxation majors, who must take it for 2 credits. 

Notes for Fall 2024: Sections taught by Professor Schenk will meet an additional 5 minutes early, at 1:45 p.m., to make up for classes that may be canceled during the term.

Taxation of Corporations
LEX 7821 Cr. 4
Prereq.: Taxation (LEX 7816). Not open to students who have taken Business Planning (LEX 7060), Business Planning: A Transactional Approach (LEX 7061), Corporate Tax I (LEX 7146), Corporate Tax II (LEX 7151), or Elements of Corporate Tax (LEX 7203).
A detailed exploration of the federal income tax problems of corporations and their investors; an analysis of the statutory rules governing transactions between corporations and their shareholders, including tax-free incorporations, property and stock distributions, constructive dividend problems, stock redemptions; corporate reorganizations with a focus on corporate recapitalizations, dispositions of the assets of a corporation or of investor's interests in a corporation; liquidation problems; and the impact of judicial doctrines on corporate tax planning.

Taxation of Corporations: Acquisitions and Restructuring
LEX 7014 Cr. 4
Prereq.: LEX 7821 Taxation of Corporations or LEX 7061 Business Planning (second semester of the two-semester course can be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor.
This course, which satisfies the professional skills requirement, explores the tax rules for corporate stock or asset acquisitions and restructurings (including reorgs, spins and loss carryovers),  and S corporations or consolidated returns through the lens of a simulated firm tax group working on a series of client projects (using an actor as client). Each student will work on at least two team projects during the semester, preparing written and oral presentations for, and briefing the client on, issues related to the team project topic. Team projects include: prepping a client for and negotiating an acquisition, drafting a private letter ruling request, preparing an internal memorandum outlining the pros and cons of restructuring choices, researching and writing a tax opinion letter, and outlining advantages of various entity choices for future transactions. In addition to class meetings, each student team will be required to meet with the instructor at a mutually convenient time prior to its presentation on a team project. Students will also make at least two individual presentations on assigned topics during the semester. There is no final exam. The class normally meets one evening a week, and is limited to 12 students, unless waived by the professor.

Taxation of Partnerships
LEX 7311 Cr. 2-3
Prereq.: LEX 7816 Taxation
This course covers the federal income taxation of partnerships and partners, with significant focus on the governing statutory provisions and regulations and the mechanics of partnership tax accounting. Topics will typically include the transfer of property to a partnership; determination of partners' distributive shares of items of income, gain, loss and deduction; partnership recourse and nonrecourse debt; partnership cash or property distributions; and transfers of interests in partnerships. The course will also cover more general policy issues, including such topics as the concepts motivating the aggregate or entity approach, concepts of tax avoidance and the ethical issues arising in connection with the use of partnerships in tax shelter transactions, and the advantages and disadvantages of partnerships compared to alternative forms of business taxation such as C corporations and pass-through S corporations.

Tax-Exempt Organizations
LEX 7806 Cr. 2
Prereq.: LEX 7816 Taxation
This course will examine tax problems arising from activities of non-profit associations of a type usually subject to taxation.

Teaching Law in High School
LEX 7826 Cr. 3
Pre-req.: Second or third year student. Consent of Instructor required.
Students teach 20-25 sessions to a class of high school students, using a widely recognized high school text, Street Law. Students attend a weekly seminar which deals with teaching methods. Students will participate in and present model lessons in the seminar, prepare lesson plans and have field supervision of their teaching in the high school.
Notes: Limit 12 students

Trademarks and Unfair Competition
LEX 7831 Cr. 2 or 3
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
The course focuses on the federal trademark statute, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq., state statutory and common law unfair competition, and the federal law of unfair competition and false advertising under 15 U.S.C. §1125(a).

Trial Advocacy
LEX 7836 Cr. 3
Prereq.: LEX 7266 Evidence
Basic trial techniques taught through student performances of role play exercises followed by critique. The greater part of the course is devoted to mastering the major trial skills in isolation: direct and cross examination, introduction of exhibits, impeachment, expert witnesses, opening and closing statements. This culminates in a full simulated criminal or civil jury trial in which these skills are applied. Meets the professional skills requirement.

Notes: Notes: Meets the Experiential Learning Requirement as a simulation course. Limited to 12 graduating students (December, May or August of current academic year).

Trusts and Decedents' Estates
LEX 7841 Cr. 4
Prereq.: LEX 6500 Property
Intestate succession, wills and trusts, requisite elements of wills and express trusts, and procedural requirements for their creation; administration of decedents' estates and trusts; special rules relating to charitable and spendthrift trusts; trust forms as equitable remedial devices under resulting and constructive trust rules.

Topics in Advanced Legal Research
LEX 7827 Cr. 2
Prereq: Completion of two semesters of LEX 6400 Legal Research and Writing course or equivalent first-year course of study for transfer or visiting students.
This course builds upon the foundational legal research skills learned in the required 1L Legal Research and Writing course (LEX 6400). It covers complex research topics essential to successful legal practice and scholarship. The course is results-oriented and emphasizes research skills, techniques and principles. Its problem-solving approach gives students practical research experience that will enhance their ability to use legal, archival and social science information persuasively and cost-effectively. The scope is primarily limited to researching United States federal and state law.
Notes: Limit 15 students. Cross-listed with INF 7850.

United States Foreign Relations Law
LEX 7888  Cr. 4
Prereq:  LEX 6700 Constitutional Law I.  LEX 7408 International Law is recommended.
This course examines the constitutional and statutory doctrines that regulate the conduct of United States foreign relations.  The topics to be covered include the distribution of foreign affairs powers between the three branches of the federal government, the status of international law in U.S. courts, the scope of the treaty power, the validity of executive agreements, the preemption of state foreign affairs activities, and the political question and other doctrines regulating judicial review in foreign affairs cases.  Attention will also be paid to political influences on, and policy effects of, legal doctrines in this field.
Notes: Cross-listed with P.S. 6870.

Water Law
LEX 7931 Cr. 2 or 3
Categories of water bodies and public and private rights under the riparian and the prior appropriation systems. Consumptive and nonconsumptive uses, management and protection of the resource. Intergovernmental relations with respect to water resource allocation and management.

White Collar Crime
LEX 7941 Cr. 3
Study of the substantive and investigative issues related to federal prosecution of business crimes. The course will focus on the balance between the government's power to investigate white collar crime and the rights of corporate and individual investigatory targets in connection with criminal prosecutions of federal economic crimes (conspiracy, money laundering, RICO, criminal anti-fraud statutes, false claims against the government and environmental statutes) and problems related to parallel civil enforcement actions involving the same underlying conduct.

Workers' Compensation Law I
LEX 7951 Cr. 2
This course begins with an overview of the Michigan statute followed by a discussion of "arising out of' and "in the course of employment" including the going to and from work doctrine. It continues with an analysis of the occupational disease provisions of the statute as compared to single event personal injury provisions, and concludes with the study of specific loss.