USC Schedule of Classes

Sources and structure of law; history of Bill of Rights emphasizing effect on criminal justice system; limits of law in solving problems in American society.

Examination of the rules and realities of American politics, and the role politics plays in American life and culture.

Provides a comprehensive analysis of the criminal justice system and an overview of the fundamentals of substantive criminal law.

Introduces the U.S. legal system and its relationship to basic principles of the rule of law. Examines the criminal and the civil law systems, focusing on Supreme Court decisions involving the separation of powers, federalism and contemporary legal issues.

Introduces students to the basic aspects of the legal profession.

The main concepts and topics in American law, in the historical, economic and cultural contexts in which they have developed.

Studies how law, politics and culture interacted to shape the institution of slavery and the development of modern conceptions of race.

Explores issues of responsibility and credibility. Intentional and unintentional behavior. Clinical biases. Topics include witness credibility, confessions, cults, hostages, battered persons, and repressed memories.

Consideration of the participants in litigation; private and public plaintiffs, defendants, and courts. Information exchange, process, outcomes, and costs of lawsuits.

The interpretation and enforcement of promises and agreements.

The crime problem and the legislative response to it through substantive criminal law; administration of criminal justice through police, prosecutorial, sentencing, and penological discretion.

Functions of the lawyer in modern society; history and organization of the legal profession; the adversary system; equal access to justice; other problems of ethics and professional responsibility.

The idea of property as understood through economic and philosophical concepts. Rights in land, water and other natural resources. Forms of shared ownership (e.g., landlord and tenant), and a survey of mechanisms for controlling land use.

Individual's obligation not to harm others; bases for compensating persons who are harmed, either by holding responsible whoever is at fault or by invoking other principles of liability, including the efficiency of resource allocation and the spreading of losses.

Examination of the basic sources of law for federal and California jurisdictions, utilizing a vast array of sources from books to computer-assisted research and analyzing research methodology and techniques. Graded CR/D/F.

Two-semester course focusing on developing analytic and communication skills. Lawyers will analyze legal principles and incisively apply them to facts. Graded CR/D/F.

Focuses on professional writing structure based on audience, tone, form and purpose.

Development of legal research, writing, and advocacy skills. Emphasis on objective legal writing, including memoranda, and researching case law through primary and secondary sources. Registration restricted to Law students.

The basic structure of government in the U.S., including the constitutionally mandated division of power in the federal government and the federal system of power sharing between state and federal systems. A comparative perspective on selected substantive and procedural matters, such as common law reasoning, jury trials, adversary process, and various aspects of civil procedure. Open to incoming LL.M. students only.

This course will provide LL.M. and M.C.L. students with a survey of various topics in American law including criminal law, evidence, family law, constitutional law, torts, wills and trusts, administrative law and property law. Open to LL.M. and M.C.L. students only.

Exposes students to everyday business and finance vocabulary, concepts and modes of analysis. Strongly recommended for students without significant prior business experience. Graded CR/D/F.

Examines constitutional rights particularly ones protected under the Equal Protection/Due Process Clauses and related questions of judicial role and theories of interpretation.

A student-run periodical that publishes student-written and peer-edited articles relevant to the intersection between law and business.

Explores and develops the legal communication and analytical skills necessary to the practice of law.

Explores purpose and form of legal documents and emphasizes effective communication.

Explores the art of public speaking and effective communication in legal settings.

Explores how judicial opinions interact with other sources of law and develop law in the U.S.

Part-time or full-time, practical work experience in the student's field of study. The internship must be located at an off-campus facility. Students are individually supervised by faculty. May not be taken until the student has completed at least one semester of enrollment in the graduate program with a cumulative 3.0 GPA.

Provides an overview of regulatory compliance law and the ways that various organizations ensure compliance with governing laws and regulations.

Federal tax statutes, technical issues and social problems involved in tax planning, tax litigation, and reform of the tax laws.

Requires students to draft legal documents they were not exposed to in the first-year writing course, such as client letters, demand letters and contracts.

Criminal procedure in the courts, and the regulation of lawenforcement by the courts through rules of evidence andinterpretation of the Bill of Rights.

Organization of economic activity especially the modern corporation as institutions of social power. The roles of managers, owners, and regulatory agencies in shaping processes ofdecision making.

Selected problems to supplement LAW 605.

An in-depth look at the most prevalent transactions and finance tools related to both residential and commercial real estate. Topics include: purchase and sale of realty; property valuation; brokerage agreements; land conveyance and the recording acts; escrows, title insurance and closings; investment vehicles and deal structures; mortgage lending and commercial finance; and foreclosures.

Gratuitous transfer of wealth, especially the transmission of wealth from one generation to the next as a settlement of family affairs. Comparative analysis of the legal mechanisms of gifts, wills, and trusts. Introduction to problems of fiduciary administration.

The purpose and character of trial. Problems of adversary presentation and the nature of proof. The basis for admission and exclusion of evidence in judicial proceedings.

The lawyer's skills needed to understand the financial affairs of a business client.

Analysis of the constitutional and statutory debates about the meaning of equality, and the recognition and accommodation of differences.

Studies the statutes and cases governing campaign finance in America and the latest research into their effects.

Comparison of the remedial goals of contracts, torts, and property and the impact of procedural devices in law and equity. Damages, injunctions, specific performance and restitution. Remedial theory and transactional application.

Students receive the training required to become professional mediators for civil cases in the L.A. County Superior Court, and mediate these cases.

This course introduces law students to the tools, concept, and language of business. It is premised on the belief that to excel as a business lawyer, one must understand the business world from the perspective of the clients one counsels and assists. The course will cover, in compressed form, the basic subjects from the MBA program which are most useful to lawyers. Open only to law students.

This is a course on Chattel paper and secured transactions involving personal property under Article 9 of the Uniform Commerical Code and some related bodies of law.

Involves issues including loan restructuring; what loan agreements cover; how representations, covenants, default and financial and repayment terms interrelate; and how security documents fit in. Graded CR/D/F.

Bankruptcy of the poor, imprudent or unlucky, and of unsuccessful business. The mechanisms of our law for distributing the debtor's property and discharging his obligations.

Contemporary topics in the field of entertainment law.

An in-depth study of television industry legal concepts, contracts, business structures and economic models.

Principles of international law involving relations among governments. The function of international tribunals and organizations.

An intensive, two-semester course preparing students interested in U.S. trademark and unfair competition law for participation in the annual Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition.

Invitation-only course offered to second-year students as part of the Hale Moot Court Honors Program. Students write an appellate brief.

Evaluation and supervision of the preparation of briefs and oral arguments in the Hale Moot Court honors competition. Graded CR/69/65.

Writing, source-checking, and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Review of Law and Social Justice. For second year students serving as staff members on the Review. Open to law students only. Graded CR/D/F.

Writing, source-checking and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Review of Law and Social Justice.

Develop knowledge and skills associated with the mediation process as a third party neutral. Explore mediation theories, practices, ethical issues and policies.

Supervision of research and writing, and final editing of articles and comments for publication in the Review of Law and Social Justice. For officers of the Review. Open to law students only. Graded IP to CR/D/F.

A one-semester clinical course where students represent non-citizens in appellate matters before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals, and in petitions for writs of habeas corpus before the U.S. District Court.

Learn how to effectively interview child witnesses. Students will practice mock interviews, and may be eligible to conduct actual interviews of child witnesses.

An introduction to the problem of poverty in the United States and to the response of government and the legal system to the problems of the poor.

The law of community property, including disposition of property on dissolution of the marriage and questions of conflict of laws.

Introduces the legal and policy foundations of the global, federal, state and local public health systems in the United States, including pandemic preparation and response.

Covers the fundamentals of reviewing and analyzing business contracts and strategies for negotiating business issues with an emphasis on developing practical skills. Open only to Law students.

Contract drafting and negotiating will teach students the mechanics of drafting and negotiating sophisticated contracts from a variety of legal disciplines including entertainment law, real estate law and general corporate law.

Students present to the class their assessment of assigned contracts, then draft their own contracts, interpret a complex contract, followed by team-based rewrites.

Develops enhanced negotiation skills and a working understanding of ADR processes and procedures in an interactive classroom experience.

This course will address the international law and institutions which have developed since World War II for the protection of human rights.

Exploration of the origin, development, and practice of mediation, arbitration and other forms of ADR, emphasizing the policies underlying these increasingly significant and evolving areas.

Focuses on applied principles of litigation involving software, including mobile and web applications, databases and machine learning.

Continuation of Small Business Clinic I. Open to Law students only.

Focuses on the electronic storage of information (ESI) and how it works in the litigation discovery process.

Intersectionality, deconstruction and critical histoiography; specifically affirmative action in education, hate speech and immigration reform. Open only to Law students.

Structured around consumer transactions; studies contemporary consumer law; examines consumer law statutes in the context of the common law, primarily tort and contract.

Source-checking and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Interdisciplinary Law Journal. For second-year students serving as staff members on the Journal. Graded IP/CR/NC.

Students will write journal notes as members of the Interdisciplinary Law Journal.

Supervision and final editing of articles and comments for publication in the Interdisciplinary Law Journal. Graded IP to CR/69/65.

Survey of legal aspects of international trade and investment transactions, including tax considerations.

Special seminars to provide a forum for students who wish to produce a paper for academic publication to receive guidance and feedback.

Writing, source- checking, and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Southern California Law Review. For second year students serving as staff members on the Review. Graded IZ..

Writing, source-checking and preliminary editing of articles and comments for publication in the Southern California Law Review.

Supervision of research and writing, and final editing of articles and comments for publication in the Southern California Law Review. For officers of the Review. Graded IP to CR/69/65.

Provides law students with the ability to represent clients (under the supervision of the professor) in cutting-edge issues of intellectual property and technology law. Corequisite: LAW 772 or LAW 841. Graded CR/NC.

The protection of intellectual property and encouragement of creativity. Explores copyright, trademarks, patents, and selected state law theories.

Students represent clients before Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Immigration Court, and certain law enforcement agencies in cases including applications for relief under the Violence Against Women Act, for asylum, and for relief against deportation. Open only to LAW students.

Legal principles subject to judicial control and the alternative ways in which agencies can be organized to serve their purposes.

An externship allows a student to gain hands-on legal experience in legal settings. Students will be assigned to a legal services program, government agency, or state or federal judge under faculty supervision. All externships include a classroom component.

Advanced externship. All externships include a classroom component.

Emphasizes strategies and tactics in asking and objecting to questions at a deposition in a civil case. Students will conduct mock depositions.

Patent laws, litigation, and the process of prosecuting the patent application. The concept of invention and ownership of rights under patents.

Provides law students, lawyers and professional neutrals with an in-depth examination of the rules guiding our behavior in various dispute resolution processes. Open only to law students.

Examines conceptual and practical aspects of interviewing, counseling, negotiation, settlement, drafting and formal advocacy in the handling of legal cases.

Examines decicion-making by counsel in the litigation of cases. Emphasis is given to decisions involving tactics, strategies, and their implications for the functioning of legal institutions and substantive doctrine. Extensive use of simulated trial practice exercises.

Explores a variety of contract provisions, and teaches students the important drafting skills necessary to achieve a clients goal.

Provides hands-on experience in mediation of the complex issues of disability, wage and hour, sex and sex harassment, age, race, religion, and national origin.

Brings an international perspective to understanding the impact of culture in the most commonly used international and domestic dispute resolution practices (negotiation, mediation, and arbitration).

Allows students to hone their legal skills while representing veterans of the United States Armed Forces in administrative proceedings.

Develops students' negotiating skills through role plays, reflection and instructor feedback.

Students work under close faculty supervision on cases and projects that involve the application of international law to address human rights violations.

Introduction to negotiation and mediation from an international perspective. Development of essential skills for effective client representation in negotiation and mediation. Open only to Law students.

Explores the spectrum of interrelated legal and policy issues known as "homeland security" since the events of September 11, 2001.

Assist in teaching writing and advocacy. Responsibilities include helping prepare lesson plans and drafting writing assignments and sample answers; leading class exercises; and judging first-year moot court practice rounds. Graded CR/D/F.

Freedom of expression (political speech, symbolic expression, obscenity, commercial speech, defamation), rights of access to the media, religious protection and prohibition of establishment of religion.

Seminar course devoted to different methods of reading the Constitution.

Comparative look at the legal treatment of religious, racial, cultural, gender and sexual differences and differences in physical and mental ability.

Students interested in business law and other transactional practice areas will develop the skills to communicate clearly, concisely and correctly in a business law setting.

One CR/D/F unit for a research proposal approved by a full- or part-time faculty supervisor; up to four graded units with academic deans approval of proposal by LLM or third-year JD student to produce a publishable paper under full-time professor.

A year-long clinical program where second and third year students provide legal representation to men and women serving life terms in California prisons. Under faculty supervision students represent clients on a variety of post-conviction matters, including parole hearings, state and federal habeas petitions, clemency applications and resentencing hearings and appeals. Experiential units.

For third-year students who wish to continue their clinical training.

Students learn mediation skills, conduct live mediations and help to run the regular Mediation Clinic.