Business Law

Seminar — 3 units. This seminar presents tax policy as an exploration in public finance, politics, special interests, and sociology as well as a reflection of society’s biases, priorities, perceptions of distribution and redistribution, and justice in the most fundamental sense of fairness and opportunity. It embraces the view that tax law is constructed and contingent. And it exposes students to a generation of “critical tax” scholarship, which has been influenced by critical legal studies and its progeny, including critical race theory, feminist legal theory, and queer theory.

Discussion — 3 units. This class will provide a foundation to working with state and local tax systems.  We will begin with a discussion of the main rules from federal constitutional law that govern state and local taxation.  Then, we will discuss the mechanics of the three main state and local taxes (income, sales, and property).  Finally, we will also address non-tax mechanisms for raising revenue, such as assessments and fees.  In working our way through the complex doctrine, we will keep the underlying policy issues in mind.

Discussion — 3 units.  This course provides an overview of employment law, labor law and employment discrimination law and aims to serve as a foundation for understanding the law and policy (statutory and common law) that surround the employer-employee relationship.   Rather than focusing on the various statutes that govern workplace relationships, this course is organized topically around the areas that tend to create tensions between employer and employee interests.   The course will focus on the interests of the parties as much or more than their legal rights as

Lecture — 2 units.  This course focuses on the law of trade secrets, including the Defend Trade Secret Act (DTSA), the Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA), restrictive covenants and covenants not to compete, current case law developments, and overlap between trade secret laws and employment laws.  There is also discussion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and computer forensics. No technical background is required.

This course will be taught as an accelerated course. Class will meet for 9 weeks, starting with the first week of the semester.

Discussion — 2 units. This class will explore the foundational principles of Entertainment Law, as well as emerging developments in this area of law and practice. We will study the application of intellectual property rights and rights of personhood (copyright, trademark, publicity, etc.) to artists/creators, famous individuals, and the industry at large, with surveys into the various sub-industries within the general category of Entertainment (music, TV, film, gaming, etc.) and the assorted laws that apply to each.

Discussion — 3 units. Introduction to fundamentals of statistical analysis and how statistical analysis is used in the law and public policy. Course goal is to help students become excellent consumers of statistical information and evidence. No prior background in statistics will be required or assumed. The class will begin by introducing students to the basic tools of statistical analysis (mean, variance, correlation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression analysis, etc).

Skills - 2 units. The class examines the structuring, negotiation, and documentation of commercial real estate transactions. Working both individually and in groups, students will learn the requisite skills for drafting and negotiating letters of intent, options, purchase and sale agreements, property diligence, and related closing documents. Classes will be a mixture of lectures and individual/group review and work on relevant project documents. The class will be split into several groups, each representing a seller/buyer for a mock transaction.

Lecture/Discussion — 2 or 3 units. The course starts with an overview of the law of debt collection when the debtor is not in bankruptcy, including both the tools for collection and some of the restrictions on use of those tools. It then moves into Chapter 7 individual bankruptcy, where the debtor's nonexempt property is liquidated for the benefit of creditors and debts are discharged. This is the simplest and most common type of bankruptcy. It then covers Chapter 13 individual bankruptcy, in which the debtor keeps their property but must complete a payment plan to discharge debts.

Skills — 3 units. This seminar will provide students with an introduction to the theory and practice of international arbitration and familiarize them with the framework of international treaties and national laws that undergird the international arbitral system. We will analyze the elements of an international arbitration clause, and examine the relevance of the stipulated arbitration rules, the agreed-upon place of arbitration, and contractual options concerning arbitrator selection.

Lecture — 2 units. This course will explore public finance issues from a theoretical and practical perspective. Initial readings will be theoretical as we consider what the government should do and why. We will then move on to the various bodies of law that govern public finance practice: local government law, federal securities law and federal tax law.

Final Assessment: Other
Grading Mode:  Letter Grading