Course Offerings

First-year curriculum is standard throughout American law schools. Upper-class students can choose from courses listed in this Course Offerings section.

Not all courses are available each semester. Please plan accordingly. For assistance planning your courses, please contact the Office of Student Affairs.  

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Interest Areas

Corporate and Commercial Law Practice

Administrative Law Law 255

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Legal principles governing state and federal agencies. Particular emphasis is placed on the federal Administrative Procedure Act and judicial control of the administrative agencies.

Antitrust Law Law 314

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Antitrust policy under Sherman, Clayton and Federal Trade Commission Acts. Collaboration in pricing and market-sharing agreements; trade association activities; resale price maintenance; dealer franchises; exclusive dealing; monopolization; mergers and other integrations.

Arbitration: Theory & Practice Law 239

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course covers a variety of aspects of commercial and labor arbitration, includes agreements to arbitrate, judicial review of arbitration decisions and the enforceability of arbitration awards, analysis of both the federal and state arbitration acts, and review of federal and state court decisions relating to arbitration. The course will mostly emphasize doctrinal study and court decisions, but will also devote some time to practical skill-building.

Business Negotiations Law 3016

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

The goal of this seminar will be to apply substantive legal knowledge you already have to crafting an outstanding brief and argument. We will proceed through each step of reviewing, briefing, and arguing a complex business dispute. Students will work in pairs. We will discuss the substantive issues presented in each simulation in-depth, explore the dynamics of briefing a dispute in the context of a law office environment, and focus on crafting both a brief and an argument. Simulations will be drawn from current, pending business disputes and will be selected based on the courses taken and interests of the registered students. Possible subjects include regulation of securities transactions, commercial arbitral award enforcement, the commercial exception to sovereign immunity, bank liability for processing illegal transactions, and determination of secured status in bankruptcy proceedings.

Business Organizations Law 202

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Fundamentals of the various types of business organizations including general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies and partnerships, and corporations. Particular emphasis on closely held corporations and the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of business associates, including agency and fiduciary relationships.

Corporate Finance Law 203

  • Prerequisites: Business Organizations & Introduction to Business Law or instructor's consent
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Capital structure and financing. Issuance of stock and payment of dividends. Provisions of the federal Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 on insider trading, fraud, and "tender offers" (take-over bids) of public-issue corporations.

Debtor and Creditor Law 303

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Emphasis on bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, including liquidation and debtor rehabilitation. Other matters affecting debtor-creditor relations, including judgment liens, executions, attachments, garnishments, fraudulent conveyances and exemptions. Suggested pre-requisite: Secured Transactions.

Environmental Law & Policy Law 223

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This is an experimental class designed to teach you environmental law and policy in context. You will be involved in a series of simulations to expose you to the institutions, law, and policies that create our environmental regulatory systems. The simulations will provide both professional writing experiences and opportunities to engage in oral advocacy in litigation, transactional, and policy contexts. Assessment: simulation problems. No exam.

Federal Income Tax Law 215

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course addresses the federal income taxation of individuals, including the determination of gross income, allowable deductions and the character of gain or loss. Nonrecognition and other common transactions are covered.

International Business Transactions Law 318

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Public and private aspects of international trade, licensing, and investment. Topics include international documentary transactions; letters of credit; exchange controls; NAFTA and the WTO; tariffs; trade barriers and preferences; duties; import and export controls, trade with non-market economies, ethical issues and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; international enforcement of intellectual property rights; foreign investment; double taxation; the European Union; repatriation of overseas profits; and expropriation.

Introduction to Business Taxation Law 360

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Survey of the basic tax rules and principles applicable to the primary forms of business organizations and sole proprietorships: Federal, state, local and payroll taxation of corporations, LLCs, partnerships, independent contractors, mutual funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs). The course will emphasize general legal principles and issues rather than technical details.

Labor Law Law 205

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Role of federal law in labor relations; historical development of labor law; union organization and recognition; duty to bargain collectively; strikes, picketing, and boycotts; administration and enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement.

Land Use Planning Law 222

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Overview of the traditional techniques of land use control including zoning, subdivision controls, planned unit developments and growth management controls. Consideration of the comprehensive plan as a limitation on administrative and political discretion in the decision-making process. Examination of the Due Process and Takings Clause jurisprudence of the Supreme Court with respect to land use regulation.

Mergers and Acquisitions Law 349

  • Prerequisites: Business Organizations, Corporate Finance
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

The course introduces students to the structure, negotiation, and documentation of corporate mergers and acquisitions. Topics covered include basic acquisition structures, fiduciary duties of directors and officers, deal flow and the role of counsel in a transaction, successor liability, due diligence, shareholder appraisal rights, takeover defense mechanisms, risk allocation, and negotiation and documentation of the transaction. The final paper is a client memorandum addressed to a director of the target company from an actual deal that the student selects from the SEC's database of public company deals. This 2-credit course does not emphasize tax or securities aspects of corporate mergers and acquisitions. Updated 10/2014.

Payment Systems Law 338

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Payment Systems involves study of the variety of ways that we pay for goods and services other than cash - and the law, policy, and institutions that govern them. It deals with both older payment systems - credit and debit cards, direct deposits into automatic debits from checking accounts, checks, wire transfers - as well as evolving new payment systems such as E-money, real time payments, and Bitcoins. It also touches upon credit enhancement devices such as letters of credit and liquidity systems such as negotiable instruments. Although there remains a remnant of UCC Articles 3-5, the field is increasingly dominated by federal law and private standards. Payment Systems is generally not tested on bar exams; students should take this course only because they ae interested in representing consumers, banks, or business, or because they are curious about how law adapts to rapidly emerging new technologies. Assessment: CALI exercises, written problems and short objective final exam.

Real Estate Transactions Law 214

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Contracts for sale of land, including remedies for breach. Security devices, including mortgages, trust deeds and land sale contracts. Real estate development, including subdivisions and condominiums.

Sales Law 246

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

The law concerning sales of goods. Focus is on Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code and related commercial and consumer law. Topics include formation, interpretation, and enforcement of sales contracts; risk of loss; rejection and revocation of acceptance of goods; breach of warranty in commercial and consumer cases; buyers' and sellers' remedies; and issues concerning delivery of good title. Minor coverage is also given to Articles 2A (lease of goods), 5 (letters of credit), 7 (documents of title).

Secured Transactions Law 337

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The law concerning secured transactions in personal property and fixtures (Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code). Topics include the scope of UCC Article 9, creation and perfection of security interests, priorities of claimants to collateral, and default and enforcement procedures. Emphasis is placed on the study of the interrelationship of UCC Article 9 and bankruptcy law.

Water Law Law 356

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course emphasizes basic water law for the lawyer-practitioner, focused on quantitative water law, including state allocation and regulation of water, public interest in water use, and the public trust doctrine. Course content will mesh with other natural resource, property and administrative law courses, providing a practical background of how water rights relate to property ownership, land use planning, real estate transactions, and natural resource regulation.

Criminal Law Practice

Civil Rights Litigation Law 231

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Race, racism and American law. Included are construction and application of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the original civil rights statutes, and modern civil rights legislation. Emphasis on the law's successes and failures in addressing discrimination in housing, education, voting, public accommodations and interracial sex and marriage.

Criminal Procedure I Law 334

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Criminal process from crime to trial. Emphasis upon recent constitutional law cases and current problems: arrest; search and seizure; police questioning; identification; initial appearance; preliminary hearing and release decision; complaint; indictment and information; discovery and disclosure; free press and fair trial; exclusionary rule applications; and plea negotiation.

Criminal Procedure II: Prosecution, Defense & Adjudication Law 391

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course starts where Criminal Procedure: Police Practices ends by looking at the prosecution and adjudication of criminal cases. Topics include the right to counsel, pretrial release and detention, charging, double jeopardy, pleas and plea bargains, confrontation of witnesses, sentencing, appeals and post conviction remedies.

Deposition Skills Training Law 398

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course provides students with hands-on training on how to conduct and defend depositions in a simulated setting. Students learn to build a strong framework for basic deposition techniques as well as how to handle expert witness depositions. They will draft documents related to depositions, including notices, subpoenas, motions, affidavits, and proposed orders. The course will use a simulated case file and will include direct instruction, videotaped performance, team practice, and structured feedback.

Don Turner Criminal Trial Competition Law 426

  • Credits: 1 hour first time competing; 0 hours second time competing. Maximum of 1 hour.

Evidence Law 213

  • Credits: 4 letter-graded hours

Judicial notice; real and demonstrative evidence; direct and circumstantial evidence; witnesses; authentication; hearsay; burden of proof; presumption; relevance; privileges.

International Criminal Law Law 265

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will examine the subject of international criminal law, which sits at the intersection of international human rights law, international humanitarian law (the law of war) and public international law. We will study the development of international norms of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; the jurisdiction and procedure of international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the hybrid tribunals, such as those in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Bosnia, East Timor and Kosovo; and domestic applications of international criminal law and related jurisdictional issues. We will evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of different responses to violations of the laws of war and mass atrocity. We also will explore the distinction between rules governing when to go to war and those governing how it should be fought; the protections afforded by the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols to combatants and noncombatants, including civilians and POWs. Finally, we will discuss the implications of international criminal and humanitarian law for current events, including the crisis in Syria and the “war on terror.” The class will culminate in a research paper of at least 20 pages in length. Updated 10/2016.

Oregon Criminal Procedure & Practice Law 396

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

Advanced study of Oregon criminal procedure and practice. Emphasis on recognizing and litigating, from trial through appeal, criminal/constitutional procedure issues including self-incrimination, right to counsel, search and seizure, and speedy trial. In this course students will study selected cases and articles, prepare written motions and responses and present oral argument on the motions and responses. Grade is based on class participation and quality of written and oral motion practice.

Sentencing Law Law 389

  • Prerequisites: Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure I
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This seminar explores the modern sentencing reform movement. Topics include the origins and critiques of the traditional sentencing system, the philosophical and policy bases for limiting judicial discretion in sentencing laws, sentencing guidelines and commissions, alternatives to incarceration, organizational sentencing, capital punishment, and the impact of race and gender on sentencing. The seminar compares federal and state approaches to these questions and also examines sentencing in other countries. In discussing the issues, we assess competing models of sentencing and current debates about the proper goals of policing, justice, incarceration, rehabilitation, deterrence and retribution.

State Constitutional Law Law 355

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

State constitutions differ from the United States Constitution and among themselves. The course examines these differences, and how courts and lawyers deal with provisions that do and others that do not parallel federal provisions.

Environmental/Natural Resources Practice

Business Organizations Law 202

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Fundamentals of the various types of business organizations including general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies and partnerships, and corporations. Particular emphasis on closely held corporations and the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of business associates, including agency and fiduciary relationships.

Civil Rights Litigation Law 231

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Race, racism and American law. Included are construction and application of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the original civil rights statutes, and modern civil rights legislation. Emphasis on the law's successes and failures in addressing discrimination in housing, education, voting, public accommodations and interracial sex and marriage.

Debtor and Creditor Law 303

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Emphasis on bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, including liquidation and debtor rehabilitation. Other matters affecting debtor-creditor relations, including judgment liens, executions, attachments, garnishments, fraudulent conveyances and exemptions. Suggested pre-requisite: Secured Transactions.

Deposition Skills Training Law 398

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course provides students with hands-on training on how to conduct and defend depositions in a simulated setting. Students learn to build a strong framework for basic deposition techniques as well as how to handle expert witness depositions. They will draft documents related to depositions, including notices, subpoenas, motions, affidavits, and proposed orders. The course will use a simulated case file and will include direct instruction, videotaped performance, team practice, and structured feedback.

Endangered Species Act Law 277

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will explore the Endangered Species Act, the nation’s most groundbreaking and controversial wildlife protection law. Beginning with an overview of the political and biological landscape that gave rise to the ESA, students will read and discuss the key provisions of the ESA and the most important cases that have interpreted and applied those provisions. Students will learn what events will trigger the listing of a species under the ESA; what constitutes “critical habitat” and how it is designated; how the ESA is enforced; and what steps an agency must take to ensure recovery of a designated species and its habitat.

Environmental Law & Policy Law 223

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This is an experimental class designed to teach you environmental law and policy in context. You will be involved in a series of simulations to expose you to the institutions, law, and policies that create our environmental regulatory systems. The simulations will provide both professional writing experiences and opportunities to engage in oral advocacy in litigation, transactional, and policy contexts. Assessment: simulation problems. No exam.

Federal Courts Law 207

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

An examination into the role of federal courts in our constitutional system by looking at their relationship with other branches and with the state courts. We will learn about the fundamental powers and structure of the federal courts, the extent of and limits to congressional control over those powers, and the procedures that help to define and protect those powers. Includes discussion of subject matter jurisdiction, state law in federal courts (and vice-versa), and the role of state sovereign immunity in federal litigation.

Global Sustainability Law 386

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course examines the philosophy and practice of sustainability and follows the subsequent development of this approach in resolving post industrial problems. After a brief introduction to ecological ethics and thinking, we begin with its origins in the public international law of environmental protection. Through the analytical lenses of risk analysis, economics, land use law and social sciences, we examine how sustainability can engage and resolve complex, post industrial problems through law and the work of lawyers. Throughout the course, we consider how law can engage solutions, and the role of lawyers in implementing sustainable approaches through law and other social forums.

International Law and Dispute Resolution Law 316

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course offers a survey of public international law and dispute resolution. Topics covered include the origins, nature, development, sources, and subjects of international law; recognition of states and governments; treaty interpretations; state and government succession; extradition; human rights; laws of armed conflict; the control of terrorism; the law of the sea; and international cultural heritage law.

Land Use Planning Law 222

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Overview of the traditional techniques of land use control including zoning, subdivision controls, planned unit developments and growth management controls. Consideration of the comprehensive plan as a limitation on administrative and political discretion in the decision-making process. Examination of the Due Process and Takings Clause jurisprudence of the Supreme Court with respect to land use regulation.

Pre-Trial Civil Litigation Law 374

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

A study of the planning, investigation, pleading and discovery lawyers engage in prior to trial and the skills, tactics and strategies necessary to effectively prepare to try a case. Course includes practice drafting pretrial motions, memoranda and declarations and creating a trial notebook.

Real Estate Transactions Law 214

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Contracts for sale of land, including remedies for breach. Security devices, including mortgages, trust deeds and land sale contracts. Real estate development, including subdivisions and condominiums.

Remedies Law 204

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course examines the choices available to litigants who seek judicial remedies. Focus is on private remedies, including specific remedies (injunctions, specific performance, writs), declaratory judgments, and money judgments (tort and contract damages and restitution). Subtext of course reveals the interplay between specific and substitutionary relief.

State and Local Government Law Law 304

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Considers the sources of local government power, the legal relations between local governments and other governmental entities, and local governments' relations with individuals.

Statutory Interpretation Law 216

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Discovery and use of statutes and legislative materials, including federal, state and municipal legislation in representation and litigation before legislative bodies and the courts; interpretation of legislation; insight into the legislative process and its effect.

Sustainable Natural Resources Law Law 348

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course introduces you at a sophisticated level to natural resources law and policy. We first develop an overall framework for understanding the vast array of natural resources subfields -- explicitly considering the substantive goals of the law, the means that may be chosen to implement the substantive goals, how we allocate the power to choose those goals and means, and the processes used to make such decisions. Our framework includes a consideration of the role of law, policy, economics and technical expertise. Next we explore how environmental and natural resources law and policy approaches the problem of nature conservation, sometimes referred to as protecting biodiversity. Then, we examine how environmental and natural resources law structures management of economic resources (e.g. water, fisheries, mineral resources) as well as significant legal doctrines that affect both biodiversity conservation and economic resource utilization (e.g. the public trust doctrine and constitutional takings doctrine).

Water Law Law 356

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course emphasizes basic water law for the lawyer-practitioner, focused on quantitative water law, including state allocation and regulation of water, public interest in water use, and the public trust doctrine. Course content will mesh with other natural resource, property and administrative law courses, providing a practical background of how water rights relate to property ownership, land use planning, real estate transactions, and natural resource regulation.

Wildlife Law Law 375

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This seminar course in roundtable discussion format explores how different subject areas of law fit together to resolve some of the most intriguing problems that arise in natural resource law. Wildlife Law will cover: common law underpinnings of protection of wildlife; who 'owns' wildlife as property (private vs. public); how to manage our remaining natural resources held in common, such as fisheries; wolf management; conservation, including game and habitat protection; perceived conflicts with animal law principles; intersection with water law and other regulatory systems; constitutional and administrative law aspects; biodiversity in the law, with special emphasis on the federal Endangered Species Act and its Oregon counterpart; and inter-sovereign relations (state, federal, tribal, international). One written paper on an assigned topic will be required in lieu of a final exam. Updated 11/2013.

Estate Planning Practice

Elder Law Law 352

  • Prerequisites: Trusts & Estates
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

Estate planning for the elderly client. Topics covered include an introduction to the aging population and the aging process, delivery of services to the elderly, ethical issues, income maintenance programs (Social Security, Disability and Supplemental Security Income), health care entitlement programs (Medicare and Medicaid), nursing homes and other residential alternatives, guardianships and conservatorships, planning techniques for long-term health care, and health care decision-making. Writing component includes reports on field activities, interview with a "client" and drafting an advice letter, and drafting of guardianship and conservatorship pleadings. Class meets once a week on "flex time" schedule, not exceeding 3 hours for any one session.

Introduction to Business Taxation Law 360

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Survey of the basic tax rules and principles applicable to the primary forms of business organizations and sole proprietorships: Federal, state, local and payroll taxation of corporations, LLCs, partnerships, independent contractors, mutual funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs). The course will emphasize general legal principles and issues rather than technical details.

Trusts & Estates Law 234

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Basic estate planning and administration concepts. Emphasis on lifetime transfers, wills and will substitutes, trusts, drafting and construction of estate planning documents, and planning for minor and disabled family members, for old age, and for illness and death.

Will and Trust Drafting Law 366

  • Prerequisites: Trusts & Estates
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course builds the skills needed to draft estate planning documents for clients who require primarily non-tax planning. The semester begins with required computer exercises covering grammar and document organization, which allow each student to tailor lessons to areas needing improvement. Students then apply these basic skills to draft both portions of and entire estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts for minors, durable powers of attorney, advance medical directives, revocable living trusts, and client letters. On some exercises, students will critique each other's drafts. Students also will receive ample feedback from the professor about their performance, together with specific suggestions for improvement. Class meets once a week for two hours and satisfies the practical skills writing requirement.

Health Care Law

Health Care Law & Policy Law 248

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The course considers selected topics related to health care in the United States, with particular focus on issues relating to the financing of health care services and access to such services.

Medical Malpractice Law 270

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

Some 75,000 hospital patients die each year because of negligence. Just in the past month, a hospital in Texas mistakenly discharged a patient who subsequently developed Ebola. Many hundreds of people were placed on movement restricts and two health care workers who cared for the patient subsequently contracted the disease. Why do mistakes like this occur and what are we doing to prevent medical errors? The healthcare industry has become perhaps the most regulated in the United States. As clinicians, hospitals, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and other players respond to this regulatory environment, the health law field has become a dynamic and complex area. And it is one evidencing a marked growth in legal employment. Indeed, health law has become such a specialized area that some state bars have developed board certification programs in healthcare. This class is unified around two main themes: (1) legal mechanisms to assure medical quality and (2) legal mechanisms to protect and promote patient autonomy. Among the many areas we will examine some of the most interesting include: - why medical malpractice occurs; - what the health care industry is doing to improve patient safety; - how licensure and credentialing process failures can lead to significant patient injuries; - the elements of a malpractice claim and corresponding defenses; - why apology and early offers to pay are bringing about huge changes in our compensation system; - the discovery, trial and settlement processes; - how liability insurance works; - the impact of litigation on clinicians. Updated 10/2014.

Public Health Law Law 397

  • Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. It is useful, but not necessary, for students to take this course after or in conjunction with Administrative Law (Law 255), State & Local Government (Law 304), and/or First Amendment (Law 381).
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This seminar will focus primarily on the authority of government to regulate for the public health and constitutional restrictions thereon. The class surveys major public health issues like vaccines, fluoride, tobacco, drug use, cannabis, vaping, obesity, and firearms.  It examines the horizontal separation of powers that impacts regulation in these realms, including delegations to the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the vertical division of power among the federal, state, and local governments.  Updated 11/2019.

Individual Rights Practice

Internet and Social Media Law 276

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

As individuals, companies, and state actors exchange vast amounts of information via social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Twitter, the law has struggled to mediate competing social, economic, and regulatory interests. This course will examine a series of legal issues raised by (1) the flow of personal information through social media, (2) the emergence of business models premised on such information flows, and (3) expanded opportunities for law enforcement and government surveillance. It will also examine strategic and ethical issues surrounding lawyers' use of evidence derived from social media. Topics covered may include consumer privacy, online harassment, advertising and securities law regulations, copyright and user-generated content, electronic discovery, and the free speech interests of businesses, employees, and students. Each class session will focus on a particular facet of an emerging body of social media law, and students will read and discuss related case law, scholarship, and policy proposals. Grading will be based upon class participation, two short response essays, and a final paper.

Family Law

Administrative Law Law 255

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Legal principles governing state and federal agencies. Particular emphasis is placed on the federal Administrative Procedure Act and judicial control of the administrative agencies.

Constitutional Law II Law 252

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Study of the following issues arising under the United States Constitution: freedom of expression and association; religion clauses (free exercise of religion; bar on establishment of religion); equal protection clause (suspect and semi-suspect classifications; fundamental rights); state action doctrine; and congressional enforcement of civil rights.

Disability Law Law 233

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course examines the ways in which modern disability laws are changing the cultural and physical landscape of our society. We will explore issues such as: disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation in the workplace, the obligation of government and private businesses to become accessible, and the requirements of housing providers to accommodate renters with disabilities. This class is team-taught by two attorneys: one who investigates civil rights complaints and another who represents plaintiffs in disability cases. In order to maximize our efforts to bring the real world into the classroom, we will also have several attorney guest speakers.

Elder Law Law 352

  • Prerequisites: Trusts & Estates
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

Estate planning for the elderly client. Topics covered include an introduction to the aging population and the aging process, delivery of services to the elderly, ethical issues, income maintenance programs (Social Security, Disability and Supplemental Security Income), health care entitlement programs (Medicare and Medicaid), nursing homes and other residential alternatives, guardianships and conservatorships, planning techniques for long-term health care, and health care decision-making. Writing component includes reports on field activities, interview with a "client" and drafting an advice letter, and drafting of guardianship and conservatorship pleadings. Class meets once a week on "flex time" schedule, not exceeding 3 hours for any one session.

Family Law Law 208

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Survey of laws governing marriage and divorce. Includes jurisdiction; consequences; economic relations; alimony, support and separation agreements; status of the child; juvenile court proceedings as they affect child custody and the parent-child relationship.

Juvenile Law Law 325

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

Legal rights and status of children. Rights regarding economic activity, family, school, health care and sexuality. Analysis of key bases for juvenile court jurisdiction: abuse/neglect; status offenses; and crimes. Due process rights in police, court and agency procedures. Issues raised by placement in foster care, juvenile detention facilities, adult jails, and state training schools. Additional rights of special population children: poor, handicapped, migrant, Native American.

Oregon Family Law Practice Law 395

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will offer students an opportunity to put into practice what they learned in the basic family law course. The course will operate much like a practical skills course, but will focus on Oregon family law, and will include substantial preparation of written work. Students will participate in motions regarding their cases, custody evaluations, mediation and a trial of contested issues. In addition, students will learn how property is divided; child support is determined; what factors are significant in a custody evaluation and how a qualified domestic relations order is created.

Remedies Law 204

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course examines the choices available to litigants who seek judicial remedies. Focus is on private remedies, including specific remedies (injunctions, specific performance, writs), declaratory judgments, and money judgments (tort and contract damages and restitution). Subtext of course reveals the interplay between specific and substitutionary relief.

State Constitutional Law Law 355

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

State constitutions differ from the United States Constitution and among themselves. The course examines these differences, and how courts and lawyers deal with provisions that do and others that do not parallel federal provisions.

Will and Trust Drafting Law 366

  • Prerequisites: Trusts & Estates
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course builds the skills needed to draft estate planning documents for clients who require primarily non-tax planning. The semester begins with required computer exercises covering grammar and document organization, which allow each student to tailor lessons to areas needing improvement. Students then apply these basic skills to draft both portions of and entire estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts for minors, durable powers of attorney, advance medical directives, revocable living trusts, and client letters. On some exercises, students will critique each other's drafts. Students also will receive ample feedback from the professor about their performance, together with specific suggestions for improvement. Class meets once a week for two hours and satisfies the practical skills writing requirement.

Immigration

Civil Rights Litigation Law 231

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Race, racism and American law. Included are construction and application of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the original civil rights statutes, and modern civil rights legislation. Emphasis on the law's successes and failures in addressing discrimination in housing, education, voting, public accommodations and interracial sex and marriage.

Immigration Law Law 350

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The administrative structure and substantive legal doctrine of immigration law, including the bases for permanent resident alien and non-immigration status; exclusion and deportation, and the international law of immigration; constitutional constraints on the Immigration and Naturalization Service and other governmental agencies; the rights of undocumented aliens, refugees and asylees; and employment rights of aliens.

Remedies Law 204

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course examines the choices available to litigants who seek judicial remedies. Focus is on private remedies, including specific remedies (injunctions, specific performance, writs), declaratory judgments, and money judgments (tort and contract damages and restitution). Subtext of course reveals the interplay between specific and substitutionary relief.

Civil Rights

Civil Rights Litigation Law 231

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Race, racism and American law. Included are construction and application of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the original civil rights statutes, and modern civil rights legislation. Emphasis on the law's successes and failures in addressing discrimination in housing, education, voting, public accommodations and interracial sex and marriage.

Employment Discrimination Law 339

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course focuses on workplace claims involving employment discrimination and harassment. State and federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and disability are explored. Topics include disparate treatment, disparate impact, harassment, bona fide occupational qualifications, and the business necessity defense. Updated 04/2014.

First Amendment Law 381

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

First Amendment is a topical seminar in First Amendment law (speech and religion). Students are expected to have a basic understand of First Amendment doctrine and analysis. Using that knowledge as a foundation, the seminar will focus on theory and application of First Amendment principles on particular issues (e.g.: hate speech). Class evaluation will be based on a book/article review (3-5 pages), a final paper (25 +/- pages), a class presentation of the draft paper during the final week of the semester, an oral and written critique of a classmate's paper (2-3 pages), and class participation. Updated 3/2016.

Remedies Law 204

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course examines the choices available to litigants who seek judicial remedies. Focus is on private remedies, including specific remedies (injunctions, specific performance, writs), declaratory judgments, and money judgments (tort and contract damages and restitution). Subtext of course reveals the interplay between specific and substitutionary relief.

Sexuality & Discrimination Law 388

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will explore the contemporary legal, social, medical, and psychological issues of sexuality, both from a domestic legal perspective as well as from international vantage points. The focus of the course will be on discrimination based on sexual orientation, considering contexts of employment, family law, education, housing, and immigration. There will also be an exploration of the civil rights of people with AIDS, and the discrimination that attends it in the same contexts as well as in the availability of insurance and medical and dental treatment. Finally, the course will look at the phenomenon of discrimination with respect to pregnancy and related issues. A substantial writing project will be required, and evaluation will be partially based on contribution to class discussion.

State Constitutional Law Law 355

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

State constitutions differ from the United States Constitution and among themselves. The course examines these differences, and how courts and lawyers deal with provisions that do and others that do not parallel federal provisions.

Torts

Remedies Law 204

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course examines the choices available to litigants who seek judicial remedies. Focus is on private remedies, including specific remedies (injunctions, specific performance, writs), declaratory judgments, and money judgments (tort and contract damages and restitution). Subtext of course reveals the interplay between specific and substitutionary relief.

Workers' Compensation Law 209

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will examine how workers' compensation laws apply to workers in Oregon and other states. Subjects include the basic features of the workers' compensation system, exclusive remedy, employment status, defining compensability, benefits available, and litigation practice and tips. The course will include guest speakers consisting of attorneys who current practice in the system, state regulators, and judicial officers.

Intellectual Property

Copyright Law 260

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This a comprehensive introduction to U.S. copyright law, and begins with an analysis of copyright?s underlying policies and theoretical framework. It then examines the substantive and formal requirements for copyright protection, the exclusive rights (reproduction, adaptation, etc.) accorded to authors and copyright proprietors, the fair use defense, issues involving copyright ownership, renewal, duration, transfer and termination of transfers, moral rights, possible Constitutional limitations to copyright holder rights, contributory and vicarious liability (focusing on music file trading and peer-to-peer services like Napster, Kazaa and Grokster), and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Patent Law and Policy Law 354

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The students will learn the fundamentals of U.S. patent law, patent practice, and the governing policy concerns. The course will concentrate on the practical rather than the theoretical, without being of interest solely to technically trained future patent practitioners. The professor will teach by lecture and demonstration with significant student classroom participation. A science or engineering background is preferable but not required.

International Law Practice

Comparative Law Law 320

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

A general introduction to the nature of law and legal institutions outside the United States and to the comparative method of studying law. The principal focus is on the civil law tradition in Europe, Latin America, and East Asia and on selected countries characteristic legal structures and processes. The importance of indigenous law traditions in Latin American and Asia may also be reviewed, as well as the American lawyers practical problems in pleading and proving foreign law.

Conflict of Laws Law 313

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course will teach you how to detect and handle legal disputes that implicate the laws of more than one state or country, thus potentially presenting conflicts of laws. The course allocates more time on intra-U.S. or interstate conflicts, which are the most frequent, but also covers international conflicts between U.S. state or federal laws and foreign laws. It covers the criteria for choosing the state or country whose law will govern the merits of the dispute (choice of law) and the requirements for recognizing and enforcing a judgment in another state or country. Updated 10/2016.

Global Sustainability Law 386

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course examines the philosophy and practice of sustainability and follows the subsequent development of this approach in resolving post industrial problems. After a brief introduction to ecological ethics and thinking, we begin with its origins in the public international law of environmental protection. Through the analytical lenses of risk analysis, economics, land use law and social sciences, we examine how sustainability can engage and resolve complex, post industrial problems through law and the work of lawyers. Throughout the course, we consider how law can engage solutions, and the role of lawyers in implementing sustainable approaches through law and other social forums.

Immigration Law Law 350

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The administrative structure and substantive legal doctrine of immigration law, including the bases for permanent resident alien and non-immigration status; exclusion and deportation, and the international law of immigration; constitutional constraints on the Immigration and Naturalization Service and other governmental agencies; the rights of undocumented aliens, refugees and asylees; and employment rights of aliens.

International Business Transactions Law 318

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Public and private aspects of international trade, licensing, and investment. Topics include international documentary transactions; letters of credit; exchange controls; NAFTA and the WTO; tariffs; trade barriers and preferences; duties; import and export controls, trade with non-market economies, ethical issues and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; international enforcement of intellectual property rights; foreign investment; double taxation; the European Union; repatriation of overseas profits; and expropriation.

International Criminal Law Law 265

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will examine the subject of international criminal law, which sits at the intersection of international human rights law, international humanitarian law (the law of war) and public international law. We will study the development of international norms of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; the jurisdiction and procedure of international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the hybrid tribunals, such as those in Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Bosnia, East Timor and Kosovo; and domestic applications of international criminal law and related jurisdictional issues. We will evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of different responses to violations of the laws of war and mass atrocity. We also will explore the distinction between rules governing when to go to war and those governing how it should be fought; the protections afforded by the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols to combatants and noncombatants, including civilians and POWs. Finally, we will discuss the implications of international criminal and humanitarian law for current events, including the crisis in Syria and the “war on terror.” The class will culminate in a research paper of at least 20 pages in length. Updated 10/2016.

International Law and Dispute Resolution Law 316

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course offers a survey of public international law and dispute resolution. Topics covered include the origins, nature, development, sources, and subjects of international law; recognition of states and governments; treaty interpretations; state and government succession; extradition; human rights; laws of armed conflict; the control of terrorism; the law of the sea; and international cultural heritage law.

International Law Moot Court Competition Law 416

  • Credits: 1 hour first time competing; 0 hours second time competing. Maximum of 1 hour.

Selected Problems in International Law Law 359

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This course will examine a range of current issues at the intersections of the environmental and cultural heritage, human rights, international economics and sovereignty. The class will also consider international legal aspects of any late-breaking events that merit attention.

Willamette Journal of International Law and Dispute Resolution Law 420

  • Prerequisites: International Law & Dispute Resolution or Negotiation I
  • Credits: 0 hours first semester; 1 hour second semester. Maximum 2 hours

Advanced research, writing and editing of scholarly legal articles concerning international law and international dispute resolution. Cooperative work with students, professors, lawyers and other authors.

Labor and Employment Practice

Arbitration: Theory & Practice Law 239

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course covers a variety of aspects of commercial and labor arbitration, includes agreements to arbitrate, judicial review of arbitration decisions and the enforceability of arbitration awards, analysis of both the federal and state arbitration acts, and review of federal and state court decisions relating to arbitration. The course will mostly emphasize doctrinal study and court decisions, but will also devote some time to practical skill-building.

Deposition Skills Training Law 398

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course provides students with hands-on training on how to conduct and defend depositions in a simulated setting. Students learn to build a strong framework for basic deposition techniques as well as how to handle expert witness depositions. They will draft documents related to depositions, including notices, subpoenas, motions, affidavits, and proposed orders. The course will use a simulated case file and will include direct instruction, videotaped performance, team practice, and structured feedback.

Employment Discrimination Law 339

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course focuses on workplace claims involving employment discrimination and harassment. State and federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and disability are explored. Topics include disparate treatment, disparate impact, harassment, bona fide occupational qualifications, and the business necessity defense. Updated 04/2014.

Labor Law Law 205

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Role of federal law in labor relations; historical development of labor law; union organization and recognition; duty to bargain collectively; strikes, picketing, and boycotts; administration and enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement.

Selected Topics in Labor & Employment Law Law 399

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

This seminar provides an opportunity for intensive study of the law of the workplace. While addressing the legal doctrine governing key components of the relationships between employers and employees, the seminar emphasizes the role current legal regimes play in structuring workplaces and workplace behavior. The topics addressed include the social and economic significance of work, the decline of unionism, the rise of the individual rights model versus the collective, and the incentives for hiring and workplace governance created by various antidiscrimination statutes, wage protections and employment entitlements.

Law and Government Practice

Civil Rights Litigation Law 231

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Race, racism and American law. Included are construction and application of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the original civil rights statutes, and modern civil rights legislation. Emphasis on the law's successes and failures in addressing discrimination in housing, education, voting, public accommodations and interracial sex and marriage.

First Amendment Law 381

  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

First Amendment is a topical seminar in First Amendment law (speech and religion). Students are expected to have a basic understand of First Amendment doctrine and analysis. Using that knowledge as a foundation, the seminar will focus on theory and application of First Amendment principles on particular issues (e.g.: hate speech). Class evaluation will be based on a book/article review (3-5 pages), a final paper (25 +/- pages), a class presentation of the draft paper during the final week of the semester, an oral and written critique of a classmate's paper (2-3 pages), and class participation. Updated 3/2016.

State and Local Government Law Law 304

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Considers the sources of local government power, the legal relations between local governments and other governmental entities, and local governments' relations with individuals.

State Constitutional Law Law 355

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I
  • Credits: 2 letter-graded hours

State constitutions differ from the United States Constitution and among themselves. The course examines these differences, and how courts and lawyers deal with provisions that do and others that do not parallel federal provisions.

Statutory Interpretation Law 216

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Discovery and use of statutes and legislative materials, including federal, state and municipal legislation in representation and litigation before legislative bodies and the courts; interpretation of legislation; insight into the legislative process and its effect.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice

Alternative Dispute Resolution Law 3018

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course is a survey of the major mechanisms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The class will focus on arbitration, mediation and negotiation through relevant legal framework and practical skills. Litigators, transactional lawyers, and public practice lawyers will find this course useful in understanding the effective use of alternatives to resolve disputes outside of trial. Less than 5% of all filed civil cases are resolved through courtroom adjudication. Clients expect lawyers to have a broad range of knowledge regarding ADR. Effective client representation demands that lawyers use creative methods to resolve disputes that do not rely solely on expensive and time consuming litigation. This course will give students numerous opportunities to draft relevant documents to satisfy professional writing requirements and to participate in role playing scenarios to simulate practice situations.

Arbitration: Theory & Practice Law 239

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course covers a variety of aspects of commercial and labor arbitration, includes agreements to arbitrate, judicial review of arbitration decisions and the enforceability of arbitration awards, analysis of both the federal and state arbitration acts, and review of federal and state court decisions relating to arbitration. The course will mostly emphasize doctrinal study and court decisions, but will also devote some time to practical skill-building.

Civil Rights Litigation Law 231

  • Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Race, racism and American law. Included are construction and application of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the original civil rights statutes, and modern civil rights legislation. Emphasis on the law's successes and failures in addressing discrimination in housing, education, voting, public accommodations and interracial sex and marriage.

Conflict of Laws Law 313

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course will teach you how to detect and handle legal disputes that implicate the laws of more than one state or country, thus potentially presenting conflicts of laws. The course allocates more time on intra-U.S. or interstate conflicts, which are the most frequent, but also covers international conflicts between U.S. state or federal laws and foreign laws. It covers the criteria for choosing the state or country whose law will govern the merits of the dispute (choice of law) and the requirements for recognizing and enforcing a judgment in another state or country. Updated 10/2016.

Criminal Procedure I Law 334

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Criminal process from crime to trial. Emphasis upon recent constitutional law cases and current problems: arrest; search and seizure; police questioning; identification; initial appearance; preliminary hearing and release decision; complaint; indictment and information; discovery and disclosure; free press and fair trial; exclusionary rule applications; and plea negotiation.

Deposition Skills Training Law 398

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course provides students with hands-on training on how to conduct and defend depositions in a simulated setting. Students learn to build a strong framework for basic deposition techniques as well as how to handle expert witness depositions. They will draft documents related to depositions, including notices, subpoenas, motions, affidavits, and proposed orders. The course will use a simulated case file and will include direct instruction, videotaped performance, team practice, and structured feedback.

Evidence Law 213

  • Credits: 4 letter-graded hours

Judicial notice; real and demonstrative evidence; direct and circumstantial evidence; witnesses; authentication; hearsay; burden of proof; presumption; relevance; privileges.

Federal Courts Law 207

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

An examination into the role of federal courts in our constitutional system by looking at their relationship with other branches and with the state courts. We will learn about the fundamental powers and structure of the federal courts, the extent of and limits to congressional control over those powers, and the procedures that help to define and protect those powers. Includes discussion of subject matter jurisdiction, state law in federal courts (and vice-versa), and the role of state sovereign immunity in federal litigation.

International Law and Dispute Resolution Law 316

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course offers a survey of public international law and dispute resolution. Topics covered include the origins, nature, development, sources, and subjects of international law; recognition of states and governments; treaty interpretations; state and government succession; extradition; human rights; laws of armed conflict; the control of terrorism; the law of the sea; and international cultural heritage law.

Labor Law Law 205

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Role of federal law in labor relations; historical development of labor law; union organization and recognition; duty to bargain collectively; strikes, picketing, and boycotts; administration and enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement.

Negotiation Law 278

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The goal of this course will be to explore the theory and practice of transactional advocacy in the context of business negotiation. You will simulate a complex multi-part transaction, beginning with reviewing the legal and non-legal background, anticipating issues, and considering possible solutions. You will then meet with your client, meet with attorneys representing the other party, and attempt to reach an agreement that will meet with your client’s approval. You will then memorialize your agreement (and perhaps engage in further negotiation that the drafting process frequently entails). 

Pre-Trial Civil Litigation Law 374

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

A study of the planning, investigation, pleading and discovery lawyers engage in prior to trial and the skills, tactics and strategies necessary to effectively prepare to try a case. Course includes practice drafting pretrial motions, memoranda and declarations and creating a trial notebook.

Remedies Law 204

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course examines the choices available to litigants who seek judicial remedies. Focus is on private remedies, including specific remedies (injunctions, specific performance, writs), declaratory judgments, and money judgments (tort and contract damages and restitution). Subtext of course reveals the interplay between specific and substitutionary relief.

Secured Transactions Law 337

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The law concerning secured transactions in personal property and fixtures (Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code). Topics include the scope of UCC Article 9, creation and perfection of security interests, priorities of claimants to collateral, and default and enforcement procedures. Emphasis is placed on the study of the interrelationship of UCC Article 9 and bankruptcy law.

Real Estate Development Practice

Business Organizations Law 202

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Fundamentals of the various types of business organizations including general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies and partnerships, and corporations. Particular emphasis on closely held corporations and the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of business associates, including agency and fiduciary relationships.

Debtor and Creditor Law 303

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Emphasis on bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, including liquidation and debtor rehabilitation. Other matters affecting debtor-creditor relations, including judgment liens, executions, attachments, garnishments, fraudulent conveyances and exemptions. Suggested pre-requisite: Secured Transactions.

Environmental Law & Policy Law 223

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This is an experimental class designed to teach you environmental law and policy in context. You will be involved in a series of simulations to expose you to the institutions, law, and policies that create our environmental regulatory systems. The simulations will provide both professional writing experiences and opportunities to engage in oral advocacy in litigation, transactional, and policy contexts. Assessment: simulation problems. No exam.

Federal Income Tax Law 215

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course addresses the federal income taxation of individuals, including the determination of gross income, allowable deductions and the character of gain or loss. Nonrecognition and other common transactions are covered.

Introduction to Business Taxation Law 360

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Survey of the basic tax rules and principles applicable to the primary forms of business organizations and sole proprietorships: Federal, state, local and payroll taxation of corporations, LLCs, partnerships, independent contractors, mutual funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs). The course will emphasize general legal principles and issues rather than technical details.

Land Use Planning Law 222

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Overview of the traditional techniques of land use control including zoning, subdivision controls, planned unit developments and growth management controls. Consideration of the comprehensive plan as a limitation on administrative and political discretion in the decision-making process. Examination of the Due Process and Takings Clause jurisprudence of the Supreme Court with respect to land use regulation.

Real Estate Transactions Law 214

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Contracts for sale of land, including remedies for breach. Security devices, including mortgages, trust deeds and land sale contracts. Real estate development, including subdivisions and condominiums.

Secured Transactions Law 337

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

The law concerning secured transactions in personal property and fixtures (Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code). Topics include the scope of UCC Article 9, creation and perfection of security interests, priorities of claimants to collateral, and default and enforcement procedures. Emphasis is placed on the study of the interrelationship of UCC Article 9 and bankruptcy law.

State and Local Government Law Law 304

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Considers the sources of local government power, the legal relations between local governments and other governmental entities, and local governments' relations with individuals.

Tax Practice

Business Organizations Law 202

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Fundamentals of the various types of business organizations including general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies and partnerships, and corporations. Particular emphasis on closely held corporations and the rights, responsibilities and liabilities of business associates, including agency and fiduciary relationships.

Corporate Finance Law 203

  • Prerequisites: Business Organizations & Introduction to Business Law or instructor's consent
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Capital structure and financing. Issuance of stock and payment of dividends. Provisions of the federal Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 on insider trading, fraud, and "tender offers" (take-over bids) of public-issue corporations.

Debtor and Creditor Law 303

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Emphasis on bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978, including liquidation and debtor rehabilitation. Other matters affecting debtor-creditor relations, including judgment liens, executions, attachments, garnishments, fraudulent conveyances and exemptions. Suggested pre-requisite: Secured Transactions.

Federal Income Tax Law 215

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

This course addresses the federal income taxation of individuals, including the determination of gross income, allowable deductions and the character of gain or loss. Nonrecognition and other common transactions are covered.

Introduction to Business Taxation Law 360

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Survey of the basic tax rules and principles applicable to the primary forms of business organizations and sole proprietorships: Federal, state, local and payroll taxation of corporations, LLCs, partnerships, independent contractors, mutual funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs). The course will emphasize general legal principles and issues rather than technical details.

State and Local Tax Law 217

  • Prerequisites: Previous course primarily devoted to taxation - recommended
  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Principal legal issues arising out of state and municipal taxation in the Pacific Northwest, contiguous states and Alaska: taxes on personal and business income, property, sales, resources and estates.

Trusts & Estates Law 234

  • Credits: 3 letter-graded hours

Basic estate planning and administration concepts. Emphasis on lifetime transfers, wills and will substitutes, trusts, drafting and construction of estate planning documents, and planning for minor and disabled family members, for old age, and for illness and death.

Willamette University

Office of Student Affairs

Address
College of Law
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Salem Oregon 97301 U.S.A.
Phone
(503) 370-6380

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