Course Descriptions, Administrative Law - Business Associations

Administrative Law

LW 780; 3 hours. This course examines procedures before administrative boards and tribunals as well as their powers and duties and the scope and availability of judicial review of their decisions.
Prerequisite(s): Constitutional Law I.

Admiralty and Maritime Law

LW 735; 3 hours. Admiralty and maritime law is the complex body of federal statutory and common law governing most aspects of maritime commerce and activity. In the United States admiralty and maritime jurisdiction and the associated admiralty and maritime law relates not only to the sea but extends inland to all rivers, streams, lakes, and other navigable bodies of water. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the unique jurisdictional issues and substantive elements of federal admiralty and maritime law such that they will be equipped to litigate a multitude of admiralty and maritime issues competently.
Prerequisite(s): Civil Procedure I.

Adoption

LW 887; 2 hours. This course will cover all aspects of adoption law -- consents of parents; termination of rights; Indian Child Welfare Act; transracial and transcultural adoptions; the Hague Convention on Intercountry Cooperation in Respect to Adoption, access to information; the effects of adoption; and actions for wrongful adoption.
Prerequisite(s): Family Law (recommended prior or concurrent enrollment).

Advanced Evidence: Expert Witnesses

LW 737; 1 hour. In recent years, the use of expert witnesses has proliferated as both civil and criminal litigation have become more complex and technical. This course introduces students to hiring, deposing, and obtaining trial testimony from an expert in a real case. During class, students will prepare a witness to give a deposition, practice voir dire, and prepare a cross examination of an opposing expert. Students will also learn the applicable FRE, FRCP, and case law.
Prerequisite(s): Evidence.

Advanced Intellectual Property Seminar

LW 954; 2 hours. This course focuses on "hot topics" in intellectual property (IP) law, tackling timely IP issues such as the challenges of online copyright enforcement in the Internet age, the patentability of living organisms and genes, and the interactions between trademark law and the ever-expanding Internet domain name system. The course affords opportunities for in-depth discussion about issues that are covered only briefly in the introductory IP course. Students explore specialized topics with the goal of understanding how shifting theoretical and philosophical perspectives on IP impact current debates in the field, and have the opportunity to expound upon particular subjects of interest through completion of a seminar paper and accompanying presentation.
Prerequisite(s): Introduction to Intellectual Property Law.

Advanced Legal Research

LW 800; 2 hours. A survey of legal and law-related research resources not introduced in the first year Legal Analysis, Research and Writing courses. The course emphasizes computer-assisted, Internet and interdisciplinary sources. Each student selects a legal specialty and prepares a written, selective guide (pathfinder) to the legal and law-related research sources for the chosen specialty.

Advanced Oral Argument

LW 859; 1-2 hours. The course builds on the skills introduced in LARW II and allows students to further develop their oral advocacy skills in the context of appellate practice. At the first class session, students will be assigned a pending U.S. Supreme Court appellate case for the remainder of the course. Each student will argue as either the petitioner/appellant or the respondent/appellee. The course is taught primarily through lectures and moot court practice drills. The course focuses on both the preparation needed to succeed at oral argument and sharpening one's presentation. The classroom lectures will discuss the differing roles and duties for those arguing as appellant and appellee, how to prepare and organize one's argument, how to respond to judges' questions, and how to transition back into one's argument. For certain practice drills, students will be able to argue to local appellate practitioners, who serve as practice judges. The final day of the course begins with a short essay test followed by a final graded oral argument. Overall, the course strives to provide students with consistent constructive feedback through the practice drills, allowing them to become stronger oral advocates.
Prerequisite(s): Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing II.

Advanced Natural Resources Law

LW 774; 2-3 hours. Advanced Natural Resources Law explores legal and policy matters not covered in Oil and Gas, Water Law, Federal Indian Law, and Public Lands Law. These include: the environmental regulation of oil and gas and of water rights; "cross-resource" issues such as the water-energy nexus and water-dependent ecosystems; inter-jurisdictional resources issues (interstate, state-federal, and state-tribal); takings issues in oil and gas development and in water law; and property rights and regulation in renewable energy (hydropower, wind, and solar). Students may opt to take the course for three-hour credit, which requires the completion of a research or readings paper. Doing so satisfies the writing requirement for the Natural Resources Law Certificate as well as the upper-level writing requirement.
Prerequisite(s): Oil and Gas Law and Water Law (can be taken concurrently; may be waived by professor). Prior completion recommended: Environmental Law.

Advanced Trial Advocacy

LW 724; 2 hours. This is an advanced litigation skills course. The primary focus is simulated trial experience. Other topics include the use of expert witnesses, innovated demonstrative evidence, the art of oral persuasion and communication science.
Prerequisite(s): Evidence and Trial Advocacy.

Agricultural Law

LW 706; 3 hours. Agriculture Law is a survey of the law applicable to agricultural production and business. Agriculture Law deals not only with plants and animals but also with land use, environmental rules, and the use of food products. As American agriculture revolutionizes and modernizes farming processes, issues of intellectual property, trade, credit, and commercial transactions arise with greater frequency. The course will be divided into and emphasis placed upon, agriculture related contractual and property issues, agricultural environmental issues, crop and animal production and sales issues and issues related to passing the farm onto the next generation. Included in each of these areas are constitutional issues, statutory and regulatory framework and tort laws uniquely influencing farm agriculture and agribusiness. Students will be evaluated by means of unit exams or assignments.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

LW 753; 3 hours. A foundational course that introduces upper level students to a variety of non-judicial processes for resolving disputes, with emphasis on negotiation, mediation and arbitration. The course will explore these and other hybrid dispute resolution processes by analyzing state and federal statutes, emerging case law, court rules, and standards established by the American Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, and other dispute resolution organizations. Students will compare private alternative dispute resolution systems to traditional adjudication and court annexed systems, and examine ethical problems, societal perspectives and practical limitations on these alternatives.

Antitrust

LW 782; 3 hours. The course examines the Sherman Antitrust Act and related federal legislation. It includes an examination of the legal restraints on monopolies, unfair competition, price-fixing agreements, and corporate mergers.

Appellate Practice

LW 767; 2 hours. A study of appellate procedure in Kansas and federal courts. Topics include perfecting the appeal, jurisdiction, preparation of a brief and oral argument, and principles of appellate review.

Arbitration

LW 854; 2 hours. This course focuses on the adjudicatory dispute resolution process of arbitration. It provides an examination of the legal and practical contexts in which arbitration is used, with specific study of arbitration in the international and securities arenas. The course will consider arbitration systems in international compacts, treaties and conventions and in commercial and labor transactions. This course is designed for advanced law students and may be of particular interest to those with a concentration in business or international law.
Prerequisite(s): Alternative Dispute Resolution (recommended).

Art Law

LW 924; 2 hours. This seminar examines various legal issues in the visual arts, including: artists' rights and copyright; government regulation and funding of art, museums, and artists; authentication of art and cultural property; disputes over the ownership of art; illicit international trade of art; the disposition of art in times of armed conflict and war with emphases on World War II and the Middle East; and First Amendment issues as they relate to museums and artists.

Artificial Intelligence & Law

LW 792; 2 hours. This is a survey and perspectives course about the legal, social, and governance implications of artificial intelligence. Coverage will include subject areas ranging from constitutional rights, criminal justice, public administration, education, torts, privacy, national security, energy and environment, healthcare, finance, intellectual property, agriculture, transportation, employment, and labor. Coverage will also include jurisprudential themes, such as "soft" versus "hard" law, risk-based regulation, behavioral economics, rule of law, personal autonomy, government legitimacy, and the socio-legal challenges associated with disruptive technological innovation. No previous coursework is required. A science or technology background is not necessary to take the course. Interest in AI's intrigue and social implications is all that is needed.

Barbados: Climate Change Law and Climate Justice

LW XX; 2 hours. This course is a seminar that explores the issues of international climate change law and climate justice. The course will begin with a necessarily brief introduction to the nature of the climate change crisis and the development of the international climate change law regime, with a focus on explaining how the concepts of mitigation, adaptation, finance, and loss & damage are understood within that legal regime; and the nature and operation of certain important principles of international law related to the climate change regime. The course will then explore in more detail certain questions regarding what is called "climate justice." The most developed "West" is most responsible for causing the climate change crisis, while many of the countries and societies in the "Global South," which are least responsible for causing the crisis, are the most vulnerable to the increasing harm caused by climate change, and are least capable economically and technologically to adapt in response to the crisis. Who, therefore, should take the lead in mitigating the causes of climate change, and who should be providing the financial and technical assistance to help the less developed countries to adapt? How much should the developed world be paying by way of reparations—so-called "loss and damage"—to compensate for the harm that is caused by the crisis it created? How should these questions be tackled within the context of trying to collectively address a shared existential threat? The course will explore differing perspectives on these and related questions.

Business Associations

LW 703; 4 hours. An analysis of the legal attributes of available business organization forms. Emphasis will be on partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations. The law of agency, as applied to each of these forms will also be emphasized. Rights, duties and liabilities of managers, owners, and agents will be examined. The course also focuses on formation issues, operational powers and fundamental changes in business forms such as dissolution, merger, or acquisition.