Immigration

Immigration Federalism

Seminar — 2 units. This course will study local government laws and practices that seek to regulate the lives of immigrants living within their jurisdiction. These areas include housing, labor and employment, driving and professional licenses, health, public benefits, and even immigration crimes and enforcement. We will study the range of laws and their differences across jurisdictions as well the factors that may explain why these laws yield both positive or negative results for immigrants in different localities.

Conscious Lawyering

Skills — 1 unit. This course will introduce students to the practice of conscious lawyering, including concepts in professional and personal identity, self-awareness, focus, emotional intelligence, cultural and personal values, mindfulness, meditation, and mind-body connection. This course will help train students to be mindful and aware while engaging in the practice of law including litigation, negotiations, transactional deals, client management, and day-to-day work in a law practice.

Professional Responsibility

Discussion - 2 units. This course covers the ethical duties of lawyers in a variety of different contexts.  Students will examine topics such as client control over the major decisions in a case, the duty of zealous advocacy, representation of organizations, and the unique role of government attorneys.

Race and the Law

Discussion — 2 units. This course will examine major cases, statutes, and events in the law, both on the books and in action, dealing with nonwhites. The course will include discussion of the situation of African Americans, Asians, Indigenous People, and Latinx People, from the Colonial era to the present. In addition to examining legal doctrine and policy, it will explore how the contemporary United States has been shaped by racial discrimination.

Administrative Law

Lecture — 3 units. Course examines how the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act constrain and regulate decision making by government agencies and officials. Topics include administrative due process, separation of powers, delegation of authority to agencies, procedural requirements for agency adjudication and rulemaking, and the extent and limits of judicial review. This course is highly recommended for anyone intending to practice in any public law area or at the intersection of public/private law.

Final Assessment: Exam

Advanced Criminal Procedure

Discussion — 3 units. This course examines a range of issues, including bail, charging decisions, preliminary hearings, discovery, statute of limitations, venue, joinder and severance, pleas, plea bargaining, assistance of counsel, trial, double jeopardy, sentencing, appeal and collateral remedies. This course will have a short essay assignment, midterm exam, and a final exam.

Final Assessment: Exam

Criminal Procedure

Discussion — 3 units. This course examines the federal constitutional limits on government authority to gather evidence and investigate crime. Topics to be covered include Fourth Amendment limits on search, seizure, and arrest; the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination; and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. While the course emphasizes current law and the evolution of Supreme Court doctrine, it also considers related policy questions on the role of police in a democratic society.

Critical Race Theory Seminar

Discussion — 2 units. This course examines the relationship between racial power and the law.  Contrary to the dominant legal paradigm which contends that racial subordination is a deviation from the liberal legal ideal, the Critical Race Theory movement views the U.S.

Employment Discrimination

Discussion — 3 or 4 units. Examination of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and section 1981.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading
Graduation Requirements: Satisfies the Bias, Antiracism and Cultural-Competency requirement.

Family Law

Discussion — 2 or 3 units. An introduction to the legal regulation of the family. Coverage will include laws and public policies governing marriage and non-marital relationships; parentage; the economic consequences of marital and non-marital dissolutions; child custody and visitation; child support; and interstate jurisdictional issues.

Final Assessment: Exam
Grading Mode: Letter Grading