USC Schedule of Classes

By examining key constitutional moments involving race, rights, and revolutions, students will explore how legal meaning changes over time.

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 lawmaking institutions, judicial processes and contemporary legal issues.

Examines current immigration law in America, the normative debates over immigration policies and the role the government plays in expanding or limiting immigration rights.

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.

An exploration of core aspects of the US legal system (property, contracts, torts, criminal law, civil procedure) from the perspective of basic economics theory.

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

Examination of the capacity of the criminal justice process to produce accurate verdicts. Application of psychological research on witnesses, detectives, suspects, judges and jurors. Recommended preparation: PSYC-100.

Individual research and readings.

Using USC as an example, this research seminar examines the historical relationship between discrimination and higher education.

Intensive experience with a law/social justice related non-profit organization, or public agency.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Examines the role of law and lawyers in the creation of race and racism as ideologies, structures and practices, and the role of race and racism in shaping legal institutions, processes and outcomes.

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

Explores the business of law, legal service delivery as it has traditionally been undertaken and its current transformation, and the primary drivers of change throughout the business of law ecosystem.

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 purpose and form of legal documents and emphasizes effective communication.

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

Explores the communication and presentation skills necessary for persuasive legal advocacy.

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

Explores effective legal communication and professionalism skills.

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.

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.

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.

Legal analysis of the rules of Evidence using problems designed to improve analytic skills and problem-solving. Taken in conjunction with Evidence.

Examines the regulation of employment discrimination under federal law. Pays primary attention to issues of race, sex, age and disability discrimination.

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 examination of how the courts are handling selected, "cutting edge" topics in entertainment law. The topics will include the scope of and limitations on the right of publicity; fair use and parody defenses to copyright infringement; future technology clauses in rights contracts; and copyright and defamation issues arising in the online world. Previous entertainment law courses recommended, but not required.

Examines the legal and policy issues involved with the emergence of cyber crimes and cyber security issues, including government access and privacy issues.

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

Focus on environmental law policy and practice. This course is a combination of regulatory and private law, with a special emphasis on disputes and regulations involving contamination in soil, water and air.

Problems of integrating the corporate, securities, tax, business, antitrust, accounting and contractual aspects of corporate mergers and aquisitions.

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.

Deals with suits against federal and state governments. Intended for aspiring government workers or representatives of plaintiffs who sue a government official or entity.

Gives students operational significance to the abstractions presented in the Constitutional Law courses by investigating civil rights litigation.

Explores how legal, social, racial, cultural and economic factors contribute to health disparities and the role that physicians and lawyers can play in advocating for patients and policy changes to promote health equity.

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

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

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.

Legal and tax considerations important to the lawyers advising their clients on the transmission of wealth from one generation to the next.

Sports law is a blend of contract, labor, antitrust, agency, tax, intellectual property, tort, civil rights and constitutional law. Open only to Law Students.

Legal and economic aspects of corporate finance including capital structure, policy, mergers, takeovers, and freeze-outs; analysis of policy relating to present law and possible reforms.

Explore areas of law that cover children and require students to think critically and practically about childrens role in the legal system.

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.

Explores features of the American criminal legal system and its shortcomings, focusing in particular on the exceptionally high rates of incarceration and racial imbalance. Explores avenues for criminal process reform.

Covered topics include offenses relating to fraud and political corruption, terrorism, narcotics, money laundering, organized crime, false statements and obstruction of justice.

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

Regulation by state and federal agencies of issuance of, and trading in, stocks, bonds, and other securities. Particular reference to SEC regulations.

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.

Problems of adjudication in a federal system. Allocation of authority between federal and state courts and among Congress, the Executive and the Courts; choice of federal and state law; jurisdiction of federal courts and significant rules of practice.

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.