Courses

Seminars

  • LAW-D - Seminar in Cybercrime (2 cr.) This seminar explores the legal and policy issues judges, legislators, prosecutors and defense counsel confront as they respond to the recent explosion in computer-related crime. In particular, we will consider how conduct in cyberspace challenges traditional approaches to the investigation, prosecution and defense of criminal conduct in physical space. Topics include: the law of privacy, electronic surveillance and the Fourth Amendment in cyberspace, computer hacking, computer viruses, worms and Trojan horses, defining what cyber conduct should be criminalized and identifying appropriate sanctions, data hiding and encryption, online economic espionage and intellectual property protection, cyberterrorism, and civil liberties online.
  • LAW-D - Seminar in Energy Law and Regulation (2 cr.) This course introduces energy industry structure and market mechanisms with a focus upon electricity and natural gas sectors that are the two dominant energy sectors in the Midwest. It explores existing statutory and regulatory frameworks that overlay these two industry sectors and examines institutional arrangements for implementing the frameworks as well as policy considerations that have given them shape. The key enabling statutes for utility regulatory agencies, both federal and state, will be studied in detail. Students will read key orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as well as cases arising from judicial review of agency actions. The course combines directed readings and guided discussion of core topics with independent research, analysis and writing by individual students.
  • LAW-D - Seminar in Judicial Selection (2 cr.) This seminar explores the various methods for selecting judges throughout the United States, including lifetime appointments in the federal system, partisan and non-partisan elections in state courts, and the various iterations of merit selection. The course also addresses the interplay of selection and retention methods on judicial independence.
  • LAW-D/N 639 Seminar in Property Theory (2 cr.) The fundamental concepts and institutions of property are explored in this seminar. The first half (or so) of the semester will be spent discussing readings relating to: definitions, philosophical justifications, and sources of property; various systems of property; theories of intellectual property; property rights and the natural environment; and property regime conflicts. The remaining weeks of the semester will feature student presentations of research into specific issues in the theory of property. Those presentations will lead to papers on which final grades will, in large measure, be based.
  • LAW-D/N 755 Seminar in Illicit International Markets (2 cr.) Will examine the international trade in goods, products, and services (for example, trafficking in human beings, drugs, and money laundering) which have been deemed illicit by societies. We will discuss international coordination of response to such markets -- the choice of eradication, regulation, or suppression methodologies, i.e., legal responses to such markets. In particular, our focus will be the impact of laws, regulations, and other suppression attempts on the specific market and on those societies most affected (with attendant implications for human rights and criminal law), and on whether the regulatory goals have been achieved. The human rights and civil society impact of criminalization will also be examined. Other markets suitable for study include art and national patrimony, and human body parts.
  • LAW-D/N 788 Seminar in Law and Justice: Amnesty, Apology, Reconciliation and Reparation (2 cr.) Do governments have legal or moral responsibility to rectify the injustices of past administrations or leaders? Historic injustices and former human rights abuses burden political and legal systems with difficult claims for redress that typically fall outside of domestic legal norms. This course will examine international and domestic claims for retribution, restitution, redress and reparations and the role of law in their resolution.
  • LAW-D 841 Seminar in Law and Medicine (2 cr.)
  • LAW-D 843 Seminar in Selected Problems of Tort Law (2 cr.) See description of Law of Nonprofit Organizations under Elective Courses.
  • LAW-D/N 850 Seminar in American Legal History (2 cr.) At the option of the instructor, this class will provide a survey of American legal history, or as an alternative, will explore a selected American legal history period or subject. Topics might include, but are not limited to, criminal justice, family law, Indiana legal history, legal profession, and legal theory.
  • LAW-D 854 Seminar in Business and Estate Planning (2 cr.) P: Income Taxation (DN648); Trusts and Estates (DN722); Taxation of Transferors, Fiduciaries, and Beneficiaries (DN725); or permission of instructor. This seminar provides an analysis of individuals' methods for disposing of wealth, using the laws of trusts, estates, future interests, and taxes. Topics include marital deductions, life insurance, powers of appointment, arrangements for minor or other incapacitated children, charitable gifts and devises, qualified retirement plans, non-qualified retirement plans, passive activities, disposing of stock in closely held corporations, estate freezes, and generation-skipping tax transfers. Generally, each student will be required to prepare an estate plan based on statements of facts distributed by the instructor.
  • LAW-D 856 Seminar in Education Law (2 cr.) Selected legal topics related to current education policy are covered with an emphasis on constitutional (federal and state) issues.
  • LAW-D 858 Seminar in Public Utilities Regulation (2 cr.) Concepts of state and federal utility regulation are addressed in this seminar. It also considers current regulatory problems, such as restriction of entry, market requirements, mergers and market structures, and rate making practices and procedures.
  • LAW-D 871 Seminar in Selected Problems of Tort Law (2 cr.) This seminar focuses on issues that arise in tort cases involving multiple defendants. Coverage will include traditional tort concepts, such as contribution and indemnity, as well as novel theories, such as market share liability.
  • LAW-D 880 Seminar in the Legal Profession (2 cr.) This course focuses on an examination of matters relating to the legal profession, with special emphasis on the role of legal education, the current state of the profession, internal and external forces suggesting change in the legal profession, and the future of the legal profession. Note: This course may not be taken in lieu of the law school's required course in Professional Responsibility (DN861).
  • LAW-D 890 Seminar in Church and State Relations (2-3 cr.) This seminar analyzes the traditional doctrine of the separation of church and state and considers current problems, including civil disobedience, conscientious objection, Sunday Blue Laws, religion and education, tax exemption of church property, religion and family law, censorship, and religion and public morality.
  • LAW-D 895 Comparative National Security Law Seminar (2 cr.) This course examines anti-terrorism laws in their political, social and historical context. The course readings will be interdisciplinary in nature and will include backgroung materials on the origins and causes of terrorism, global terrorism networks, and terrorism case studies. The course will investigate the relationship between socio-political factors and the content of anti-terrorism legislation in a number of countries. Students will be asked to weigh the effectiveness of current legislation in preventing and punishing terrorism, as well as how that legislation affects human and civil rights. The specific topics covered will include legal aspects of intelligence gathering, border security, detention and interrogation, and the use of military tribunals vs. ordinary courts. The course readings will be drawn from a variety of disciplines and political perspectives.