Law School Catalog | 2006-2008

Advanced Courses (continued)

350C. Enterprise of Technology: Laboratory to Market. Study of the activities involved in commercializing a technology from conception to profitable enterprise. Law 350C and 379M (Topic: Enterprise of Technology: Lab to Market) may not both be counted.

250G, 350G, 450G. Intellectual Property, Introduction. General overview of intellectual property law. Analysis of competing policies underlying intellectual property laws. Fundamentals of trade secrets, patent, copyright, and trademark law. Law 250G, 350G, 450G and 479M (Topic: Intellectual Property, Introduction) may not both be counted.

250H. Enforcement of Intellectual Property. Selected issues in the enforcement of intellectual property through litigation in federal and state courts and administrative tribunals; emphasis is on patent infringement litigation.

250J, 350J. International Intellectual Property. Selected issues involving the international protection of intellectual property, with emphasis on copyright.

250K, 350K, 450K. Copyright. Literary and artistic property, the law related to trade identity, and other rules of the competitive game.

250L, 350L. Patent Law. The substantive law of patents in the United States. Designed for individuals interested in practicing in the field of intellectual property law. Law 250L, 350L and 379M (Topic: Patent Law) may not both be counted.

350M. Computer Law. Various forms of intellectual property protection as they have been applied to computers; emerging issues in the law of computer networks; antitrust issues in the computer industry. Prerequisite: Law 350G, 250K, 350K, 450K, 250P, 350P, or 450P.

250N, 350N. Trademarks. Nature of marks, distinctiveness, acquisition of rights in marks, registration, loss of rights, infringement, defenses, remedies, trade dress, federal unfair competition, dilution, licensing, protection of marks outside the United States.

250P, 350P, 450P. Patents and Trade Secrets. Survey of patent law, which is related to science and technology and concerns useful solutions to real problems. It concerns manufactured structures and substances and manufactured processes affecting structures and substances. Patents depend upon a federal statute; trade secrets are state law analogs of patents.

250R, 350R. Patent Litigation. Analysis of the case law and statutes governing patent enforcement, and comparison with the most recent decisions of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Includes study of infringement and remedies. Prerequisite: Law 250P, 350P, or 450P is recommended but not required.

250T, 350T. Patent Prosecution Workshop. An overview of the rules of practice before the Patent and Trademark Office, and an introduction to the practical considerations in preparing and prosecuting a patent application. Offered on the pass/fail basis only. Prerequisite: Law 250P, 350P, or 450P, or concurrent enrollment in Law 250R or 350R.

250U. Internet Business. Explores and covers a wide range of legal and policy issues related to starting and operating an Internet-based business, with particular emphasis on the legal implications of evolving Internet business models. Law 250U and 279M (Topic: Internet Business) may not both be counted.

251C, 351C, 451C. History of American Law. History of law in the United States, from the colonial period to the twentieth century.

251K, 351K. Criminal Procedure: Investigation. Rules governing police conduct and the effect of these rules on admission of evidence; search and seizure, lineups, confessions, and similar matters.

252K, 352K, 452K. Texas Government. The structure and process of Texas government, including constitutional, administrative, and local government law.

253L, 353L, 453L. Economic Analysis and the Common Law. The allocative efficiency of various torts, contract, and property doctrines.

353M. Financial Markets and Institutions. How financial markets are organized and function. Includes debt equity and foreign exchange markets, primary and secondary market operations, and investment banking. Law 353M and 379M (Topic: Financial Markets and Institutions) may not both be counted.

254, 354. Corporate Finance. Advanced corporation law; topics include enterprise and securities valuation, capitalization, senior securities, distributions to shareholders, voluntary reorganizations, and business combinations. Prerequisite: Law 274K, 374K, 474K, or 574K.

254C, 354C. Tax and Business Strategy. The effect of tax on business decisions. Prerequisite: Knowledge of algebra.

354D. Corporate Governance. The issues faced by CEOs and those who report directly to them as they balance their time between achieving quarterly performance targets and building strong companies that can sustain above-market financial performance in the future. Law 354D and 379M (Topic: Corporate Governance) may not both be counted.

254J, 354J, 454J, 554J. Federal Income Taxation. An overview of the federal income tax, mostly as it applies to individuals.

254N, 354N. Federal Income Taxation A. Taxation of personal income and some typical personal investments.

254P, 354P. Federal Income Taxation B. Taxation of commercial investments and operations. Prerequisite: Law 254N, 354N, or the equivalent.

354Q. Partnership Tax. Prerequisite: Law 254J, 354J, 454J, 554J, 254N, or 354N. Law 274K, 374K, 474K, or 574K and a course in corporate income tax are recommended.

254R, 354R, 454R. Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders. The system of double taxation of C corporations, in which both the corporation and its shareholders are taxed on their earnings. Prerequisite: Law 254J, 354J, 454J, 554J, 254N, 354N, 254P, or 354P.

354S. Tax Controversy and Litigation. Civil and criminal tax litigation. Prerequisite: Law 454J, 554J, both 254N and 254P, an undergraduate course in tax, or related work experience.

354T. Federal Income Taxation of Corporations. Formation, operation, mergers, and liquidation of corporations, and the taxation of shareholders on different kinds of distributions. Prerequisite: Law 454J, or 254N and 254P.

254U, 354U. Federal Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates. Federal income taxation of estates, trusts, grantors, and beneficiaries, as prescribed by subchapter J of the Internal Revenue Code. Law 254U, 354U and 279M (Topic: Federal Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates) may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Law 254J, 354J, 454J, or 554J.

255C, 355C. Public School Law. Legal and practical doctrines governing the creation and operation of school districts; employment relations between professional and nonprofessional employees and local school districts; and regulation of students and limitations on the right of school districts to discipline children.

255L, 355L, 455L. Higher Education and the Law. Academic freedom and tenure; related constitutional issues; employment discrimination and collective bargaining in the university context.

256, 356, 456. Estate Planning. Advanced problems in estate planning: marital deduction trusts; planning for community and separate property; inter vivos gifts and trusts; closely held business interests; farm and ranch properties; income taxation of estates and trusts. Prerequisite: Law 289N, 389N, 489N, or 589N.

257, 357, 457. Texas Marital Relationships and Divorce. All aspects of divorce; premarital contracts, marriage, annulment, and ongoing family relationships.

258K, 358K, 458K. Labor Law in the Public Sector. The labor and constitutional issues posed by collective bargaining in public employment.

258N. Texas Legislature: Process and Procedure. The ways the Texas Legislature works, both officially and otherwise. Consideration of a wide range of procedural and substantive topics, with emphasis on the regulation of citizen conduct through statute, rather than on the purely political aspects of the institution.

260K, 360K, 460K. Antitrust. Federal and state law dealing with concerted action in unreasonable restraint of trade; monopolization; price discrimination, exclusive dealing arrangements, and other unfair competition; permissive resale price maintenance; mergers and joint ventures; limitations on the patent legal monopoly.

361, 461. Administrative Law. Forms of law governing jurisdiction and procedure of state and federal agencies; right and scope of judicial review; relation of administrative agencies to legislature and chief executive.

361E. Administrative Law, Texas. The law of and about administrative agencies; comparison between federal and Texas administrative law.

261J, 361J, 461J. Employment Law. An examination of legal doctrines governing employment relations outside the collective bargaining arena: development of the common law doctrine of at-will employment, the doctrine of free market control of employment, and problems raised by new employee rights, including affirmative action, pregnancy disability, and comparable worth.

261K, 361K, 461K. Labor Law. Collective bargaining and government intervention; functions of labor unions; settlement of labor disputes; rights of employees and of union members.

261M, 361M. ERISA: An Introduction to Employee Pension and Health Plans. Pension taxation, antidiscrimination rules, fiduciary duties arising from employee benefit trusts, and the regulatory tension between federal and state governments regarding health benefits. Prerequisite: Law 454J or 254N.

262L, 362L, 462L. Remedies. Compensatory, restitutionary, and exemplary damages for breach of contract or for injury of personal and property interests; injunctions and other equitable relief. Law 262L, 362L, 462L and 479M (Topic: Remedies) may not both be counted.

362P. Restitution. The law of restitution (unjust or unjustified enrichment), presented as the third heading of private, civil liability in the legal system, along with contract and tort. Law 362P and 379M (Topic: Restitution) may not both be counted.

263T, 363T, 463T. International Energy Transactions. International business transactions in the energy and natural resource industries.

264C, 364C, 464C. Medicine and the Law. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: As announced for each topic.

Topic 1: Bioethics. Legal issues arising from the development of biomedical technologies that extend life and manipulate its creation. Law 264C focuses on death and dying and reproductive issues. Law 364C covers additional material on human experimentation and organ transplantation.

Topic 2: Regulation of the Health Care System. Medicine as an industry; the types of legal regulation that control the medical profession and regulate the health care system.

264D, 364D. Medical Practice and Law. The language and structure of the medical profession; the process of establishing medical diagnoses and treatments; the concept of standard of care as applied in medicine; and the legal validation and use of medical information.

364G. Indian Law, Federal. Federal law governing Indian tribes and Indian people. Contemporary original tribal source material.

264S, 364S. Construction Law. Issues in general United States law that affect commercial and industrial construction, with emphasis on significant Texas cases. Overview of the construction process, examining roles of various parties, followed by consideration of the legal problems frequently encountered.

264T, 364T. Construction Litigation. Analysis of theories of liability and defense in the area of construction litigation, with emphasis on Texas law. Law 264T, 364T and 279M (Topic: Construction Litigation) may not both be counted.

265M, 365M. Land-Use Regulation. Legal aspects of government programs for controlling land use, emphasizing urban problems.

267M, 367M, 467M. Estate and Gift Tax. Federal gift, estate, and generation-skipping taxes. May not be counted by students with credit for Law 256, 356, or 456. Prerequisite: Law 289N, 389N, 489N, or 589N.

368C. Introduction to Mexican Law. A general study of the Mexican legal system, including public, social, and private law.

268N, 368N, 468N. Employment Discrimination. Issues related to the elimination of discrimination and the promotion of equality in employment.

269, 369, 469. Insurance. Solicitation and sale of insurance; persons and interests protected by insurance; selection and control of risks; disposition of claims.

269P, 369P. Texas Insurance Litigation. Detailed review of consumers' rights and remedies in insurance litigation. Emphasis on practical applications of substantive law, including actionable conduct, statutory and common law theories, standing, persons and entities that may be liable, remedies, defenses, presuit considerations, pleadings, discovery, trial practice, and ethics.

269R, 369R. Regulated Industries. Law 269R, 369R and 279M (Topic: Regulated Industries in a Deregulated World) may not both be counted.

270G, 370G. Mass Torts and Class Actions. Issues practitioners deal with in mass torts and class actions such as the tobacco, AIDS/hemophilia, breast implant, and asbestos cases; the procedural hurdles of certifying and settling these cases. Law 270G, 370G and 279M (Topic: Mass Torts and Class Actions) may not both be counted.

270J, 370J. Criminal Defense, Advanced. The basics of criminal defense, from a practical perspective.

270M, 370M. Criminal Procedure: Prosecution. The litigation of a criminal case, from the defendant's initial appearance in court through pretrial matters and the trial itself.

270N, 370N. Communications Torts. An advanced torts course. Covers harm committed by means of communication rather than by physical acts, including defamation, invasion of privacy, and interference with commercial and familial relations. Prerequisite: Law 227 and 327, Law 427, or Law 527.

370R. Torts, Advanced. Issues that arise in a sophisticated tort practice. Personal injury litigation is considered from both the plaintiff's and the defense's viewpoint.

370S. Commercial Torts. Torts that protect purely economic interests and the interplay of tort and contract law. Includes misrepresentation, interference with business relations, defamation in a private context, the theory of prima facie tort, and the insurance torts.

370T. Mass Tort Litigation. Problems in complex mass tort litigation that emerged during the 1980s and have become a permanent part of the litigation landscape. Prerequisite: Law 233 and 333, or 533; and Law 227 and 327, or 527.

270U, 370U. White Collar Crime. Conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, RICO, bank fraud, health care fraud, and tax fraud.

371G. Constitutional and International Law. The relationship between constitutional and international law: the origin of the latter in the former, the historical succession of constitutional archetypes that arose because of international conflict, and the future of international law as its constitutional basis changes.

371K, 471K. International Legal Process. Legal organization of the international community; sources of and modes of applying international law; jurisdiction and treatment of nationals and aliens; extradition; war and peace.

271M, 371M, 471M. Accounting for Lawyers. Introduction to the theory of financial accounting and its numerous applications to the practice of law.

471N. National Security Law. Survey of topics relating law and security: strategic arms and arms control, economic sanctions, intelligence. Prerequisite: Completion of first-year law courses.

371P. Economics and National Security Policies. The art and science of economic and national security policy-making, including the selection of policymakers, and the theory, implications, and consequences of policy decisions. Offered on the letter-grade basis only.

371R. Perspectives on Public Policy. Policy formation in the areas of economics, national security, science, technology, and trade.

271S, 371S. United States Law and National Security. Review of federal legal efforts and authority related to national security.

171T. Accounting for Lawyers, Basic. Introduction to the theory of financial accounting and its numerous applications to the practice of law. Law 171T and 179M (Topic: Accounting for Lawyers) may not both be counted. Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in Law 271M, 371M, or 471M.

371U. Politics and Process. Introduction to how public policy is developed and adopted in government systems. Covers the role of politics and institutions in implementing and managing policy. Law 371U and 379M (Topic: Policy Development) may not both be counted.

372G. International Affairs: President, Congress, and Courts. Powers of the three branches of federal government over foreign affairs; the extent to which domestic and international law constrains the exercise of these powers.

274G, 374G, 474G. Corporations. Introduction to the basic legal rules and principles governing the relations among managers, shareholders, and creditors in the business enterprise. Emphasis is on public corporations, Delaware corporation law, an ex ante "planning" perspective, and an overall "law-and-economics" approach to the study of economic institutions. Only one of the following may be counted: Law 274G, 374G, 474G, 274K, 374K, 474K, 574K, 479M (Topic: Corporations).

374H. International and Comparative Business Organizations. Study and comparison of the different business organizations in civil law systems (France and Mexico) and in common law systems (United States). Law 374H and 379M (Topic: International and Comparative Business Organizations) may not both be counted.

274J, 374J. Mergers and Acquisitions. Legal issues involved in the acquisition of business enterprises by multinational corporations: initial negotiations, documentation, financial structuring of the purchase, and sale of business enterprises.

274K, 374K, 474K, 574K. Business Associations. Basic course in the organization, management, financing, and dissolution of business associations and their creditors. Although some attention is given to agency principles governing the representation of business associations and to partnership law, emphasis is on the business corporation with particular attention to the problems of the closed corporation. Only one of the following may be counted: Law 274G, 374G, 474G, 274K, 374K, 474K, 574K, 479M (Topic: Corporations).

374N. Taxation of Natural Resources. Special application of the federal income tax to oil, gas, and solid mineral extractive industries.

274R, 374R, 474R. International Tax. Overview of ways the United States taxes (1) nonresident aliens and foreign corporations on income from United States sources and (2) United States persons and corporations on income received from international sources. Prerequisite: Law 254N or 354N.