Designed to provide an in-depth examination of how to litigate criminal cases in California for those pursuing a career in criminal defense or prosecution. Examining a criminal case beginning with an accused's right to representation at a lineup and ending with counsel's post trial responsibilities, course highlights special problems concerning admissibility of evidence, search and seizure issues, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, jury selection, the death penalty, and the impact of the "Three Strikes You're Out" law. Each student is required to prepare and participate in a series of trial problems and research, write, and argue two motions. Prerequisites: 106 Criminal Law and 310 Criminal Procedure. 320 Evidence is not a prerequisite but highly recommended.

This course is a survey of various dispute resolution alternatives to the traditional trial process. The focus is on arbitration, negotiation, and mediation. Among the objectives for this course are that each student gain familiarity with these processes, with certain skills that might prove helpful in negotiating or mediating the resolution of a dispute, and with certain factors that might be relevant in selecting the most appropriate method or methods of dispute resolution for a client. The arbitration section of the course generally follows a traditional, case-dominated approach. During the negotiation and mediation sections of the course, students have the opportunity to participate in several mock negotiation and mediation exercises that are designed to enhance understanding of the assigned readings. Students also view and critique videotaped portions of one or more negotiations and mediations. The class utilizes extensive group discussion. Finally, each student is required to submit a paper on a topic of her or his choice relating to ADR and is required to present the paper to the class.

Legislative limits on free market transactions. This survey course covers restraints of trade such as price-fixing, market division, exclusive dealing and tying, monopolization, and mergers. A rudimentary knowledge of economic theory is required to understand court decisions, but many students master the few necessary economic principles during the course despite a lack of prior work in economics. Approved IP LL.M. course. 

This seminar investigates legal, ethical, and social problems caused by developments in medicine and the biological sciences.  Particular emphasis is placed on moral reasoning and ethical theory.  Topics include abortion, reproductive technologies, human stem cell research, death and dying, and reform of the American health care system. 

This course will introduce you to the issues encountered when starting up a biotech company and afterwards.  The course examines a variety of legal topics related to the biotechnology industry, such as the initial financing, the regulatory environment, intellectual property, licensing, antitrust and practical uses of biotechnology. Approved IP LL.M. course. 

The Broadband Regulatory Clinic provides students with the hands on experience of providing research, writing and filing policy comments on behalf of clients seeking representation in hearings before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and/or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Over the duration of the one semester clinic, students will interface with community-based, education, traditional civil rights, municipal and/or small business organizations to address timely cutting edge broadband regulatory issues before state or federal legislative and/or regulatory bodies. In addition, students will be required to write a substantive paper on a timely regulatory topic agreed upon by the student and the professor.  Enrollment will be limited.  Students who have taken Mass Communications I or Mass Communications II will have priority for purposes of placement in the clinic. Approved IP LL.M. course. 

Students learn about the functioning of lawyers through practical experience in law offices, governmental entities, nonprofit corporations, or high-tech companies. Concurrently, students' work experience will be critically examined to provide students with insights and concepts for continuing to improve performance as a lawyer. Students work under the direct supervision of a California licensed lawyer, for a minimum of 225 hours during the semester in which the accompanying academic course of instruction is offered. The internship includes observation of/or participation in several of the following activities: interviewing and counseling; fact and law investigation and organization; resolution of client problems in non-adversarial contexts (e.g., drafting contracts, tax advice, estate planning); resolution of client problems in an adversarial context (e.g., negotiation, court appearances in various proceedings, drafting of litigation documents); internal office affairs (e.g., file management, client communications, office policy and procedure). Students also attend a seminar that meets 15 hours throughout the semester. Requirements for the seminar may include assigned readings, journals through which students describe and reflect on the experience and individual consultations with the professor. Course credit will be awarded only on satisfactory completion of both the fieldwork and the seminar. Students must complete both components simultaneously. Graded Credit/No Credit. Prerequisite: 114 Pleading and Civil Procedure

This course provides an overview of the major themes in the contemporary uses of the world's oceans and coastal regions and the legal institutions that govern such uses at the state, national and international levels. Topics covered include: legal mechanisms for delimitation of marine boundaries and jurisdiction; common law and major acts protecting coastal zones and natural resources in the United States. International regimes to protect marine habitats and critical ecosystems, fisheries and marine mammal conservation regimes.

Community Economic Development (CED) is a broad-based strategy designed to help communities redress identified economic and social needs.   The goals of CED include: (1) the development of business and economic institutions which increase the income of community residents; (2) the provision of more and better economic opportunities both inside and outside the community; (3) the participation in ownership and management of economic and social institutions by the residents of communities in which they are located; and (4) the development of economic and social institutions which the community residents can view with pride and which will be responsive to their real needs.  This course will explore the history and present status of CED strategies, focusing on the role of lawyers, economist, planners, social scientist, and others in using CED strategies to improve the economic and social conditions of communities throughout America.   Subject areas to be covered include: community based organizations and tax issues; representing nonprofit organizations; housing and commercial development strategies and CED; job creation/access strategies and CED; finance strategies and CED; Asset Development and Wealth Building, and CED remedies in litigation.   Students will have an opportunity to hear from Bay Area experts and practitioners working on these and other CED strategies, as well as from community based organization representatives who are improving their communities by providing housing, jobs, and social services to the neighborhoods in which they work.  

This interdisciplinary policy course addresses selected issues in some government benefit programs,  such as agricultural subsidies, Social Security, parental leave, and Medicare.  To enlighten and enrich the discussions of the policy implications of these programs and proposed revisions of them,  students will compare them to programs in foreign countries.  This course may be of special interest to Public Interest and International Certificate students.  Students will write a final paper and make interim policy reports. 

The course integrates practical experience gained from working in public agencies that prosecute or defend individuals accused of crimes (e.g., district attorney, public defender) with a seminar focusing on selected issues in the administration of justice. Such issues include the organization and administration of prosecutor and public defender offices, prosecutorial screening, and relations with police agencies, plea bargaining, and sentencing.

Students work in an appropriate public agency, under the direct supervision of a California licensed lawyer. Students must also attend a seminar that meets intermittently during the semester.

Requirements include assigned readings, participation in seminar meetings, and the preparation of a paper on an assigned topic. A minimum of 150 hours of work in the public agency is required. This work may be undertaken in the fall, spring, or summer of an academic year. Students must complete the fieldwork and the seminar simultaneously. Course credit will be awarded only on satisfactory completion of both the fieldwork and the seminar within the time frames described above. A student earns 3 units of credit for 150 hours of fieldwork with the seminar and 4 units of credit for 225 hours of fieldwork with the seminar. Graded Credit/No Credit. Prerequisite: 106 Criminal Law.

Students will be placed at the Santa Clara County Public Defender Office. Students will be given the opportunity to represent real clients and work on their cases at arraignments, pre-trial conferences, the motion calendar and if necessary, at trial. The first week students learn all facets of misdemeanor practice from arrest through sentencing and probation. The second weeks, students being supervised work in a courtroom and will be required to prepare the files before court with a senior attorney. This means the student must perfect discover, direct investigation, write and argue motions and assist clients in the settlement of their cases. Whether a student is permitted to conduct a trial, depends on their experience, profess and aptitude. If there is a trail, a senior member of the Public Defender Office would help prepare the case and accompany them, at counsel table, throughout the proceedings. The program requires a great deal of commitment by a student to be able to take advantage of the opportunity to work on real cases. The lessons learned in this clinic will be invaluable for any students would expect to practice in the criminal justice system. Students may not participate in this clinic while working in law enforcement or in the district attorneys office. Graded credit/no credit only. Prerequisites: 106 Criminal Law. 

This advanced seminar introduces students to key writings in critical race theory. The class explores critical race theory’s central themes, including the permanence of racism; the role of rights and civil rights laws; and the relationship between race, gender, sexual orientation and law.

The Death Penalty Clinic provides students with the opportunity to be involved in the defense of a capital case. Each student will be paired with an attorney who represents a person either charged with or convicted of a capital offense. The student will be involved in the preparation of both the guilt phase and the penalty phase including gathering of physical and forensic evidence, preparation of discovery requests and responses, investigation and preparing life histories and mitigating evidence and maintaining regular client contact.

Students in the Death Penalty Clinic must sign up in the spring semester and make a one-year commitment. They must work during the summer as well as during the fall and spring semester. Students earn 3 units of credit in the fall and 2 units in the spring semester (1 unit for each 50 hours of work) for a total of 5 units of Law Clinic credit during the year.

Covers a number of areas largely, but not completely, left uncovered by Labor Law and Employment Discrimination, including: background material on employees' rights under common law, early case law, and why certain rights have developed; hiring methods (tests and screening devices); terms and conditions of employment (wage and hour issues, fringe benefits [ERISA, COBRA], medical leave, etc.); conditions of employment (grooming, sexual harassment, privacy, etc.); workplace safety and health (OSHA, workers' compensation, etc.); wrongful termination (erosion of the at-will doctrine, the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, public policy, ADEA, FEHA, whistle-blower protection, public employee protection, constructive discharge, covenant not to compete, trade secrets issues, etc.); and unemployment and retirement issues (employer bankruptcy, plant closings under WARN, unemployment insurance benefits eligibility, private pensions protection under ERISA and rights to social security pensions). While Employment Discrimination is not a prerequisite, it is helpful.

Upon taking the Lawyer's Oath, a newly admitted attorney faces three significant sets of conflicts. First, there is the conflict between one's persoal morality and one's professional obligations. There are things that lawyers must do for clients that may be personally offesnive. Second, there is the conflict between a lawyer's duty to the client versus duties owed to the court, opposing counsel, and society in general (obligations to justice). Third, there are conflicts between the rules of ethics and a lawyer's zealous advocacy for a client. At minimum, the lawyer must meet the legal standard of reasonable care in order to avoid committing malpractice, and the ethical standard of competence to avoid being disciplined. At the other extreme, a lawyer's zeal is bounded by the laws of evidence, rules of ethics, and codes of civility. This course will focus on the ethical limits of advocacy in a variety of settings, including engaging in negotiatons, responding to discovery, coaching witnesses, offering evidence at trial, and the presentation of opening and closing arguments. In essence, the course focuses on trial tactics and persuasion. The central question will be: "What is the lawyer's commitment to truth?" Social justice issues permeate the materials. Class presentations and a final paper will also be required. Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate course.

A comprehensive introduction to the legal regulation of the family. The course focuses on contemporary legal issues, supplementing case material with historical and social science research and drafting, interviewing, and other exercises that require application of the materials. Coverage includes marriage, non-marital relationships, divorce, custody, support, and the legal issues posed by nontraditional families.

Examination of discrimination and privilege based on sex. The course evaluates the legal doctrines, litigation strategies, and theoretical debates that have resulted as women have sought to emerge from the historic status of legal subordination. All women, since women encompass different races, sexual orientations, classes, and cultural backgrounds, must necessarily be part of this discussion. The subject matter includes the constitutional right to equal protection; sex discrimination in employment and public accommodations; equal access to education; sexual violence, including rape, domestic violence, pornography, and sexual harassment; discrimination and privilege in family law; and reproductive freedom. Limited enrollment. (3 units)

This unique seminar gives students a chance to explore with faculty contemporry, cutting-edge issues in health care law.  Course may require a paper, an exam, or both.  Check the current semester schedule for current topics and course descriptions.

Exploration of the scope of discrimination in housing in the United States and the nature and adequacy of the legal remedies created to prevent it. The course will focus on primarily on federal statutory law, but will also examine some state statutes and some historical materials. Important themes of the class will be differences between the kinds of categories protected by state and federal statutes (e.g., race, sex, disabilities, and marital status) and continuing issues of residential segregation. Topics covered will include proving discrimination, discriminatory advertising, the meaning of race under the 1866 Civil Rights Act, the meaning of “handicap� under the Fair Housing Act, accommodation of persons with disabilities, and discrimination to achieve integration. Discrimination in lending, sexual harassment, marital status discrimination, and claims that enforcement of certain fair housing provisions violates the free exercise rights of landlords may also be covered.

This course gives students an opportunity to enhance their advocacy skills through representation of individual clients in immigration cases pending before the United States court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Students will represent clients under the Ninth Circuit's Pro Bono Program, which appoints counsel for certain applicants appearing pro se before the Court. Cases selected for the Pro Bono Program present issues of first impression complex issues of fact or law, or meritorious claims warranting further briefing. The Ninth Circuit's Pro Bono Coordinator has requested that Santa Clara University School of Law participate in the Pro Bono Program.  Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate course.  ( 2 units).

Examination of the Department of Justice, State Department, and Labor Department as they affect immigration and naturalization. Immigrant and non-immigrant visa problems; the exclusion, deportation, and naturalization processes. (3 units)

This course in many respects will operate as a specialized criminal law course, undertaking an elemental analysis of international crimes as they have developed and evolved in international law, and focusing on the challenges of interpreting and applying these norms in a criminal prosecution. The jurisprudence of the various war crimes tribunals and the text of and deliberations surrounding the new ICC statute will be scrutinized with an emphasis on understanding the prosecution’s burden, available defenses, and sources of proof. In addition to the substance of international criminal law, this course will also serve as an introduction to international legal reasoning and law-making.

The course examines domestic and international data privacy from a corporate compliance perspective. The aim of this course is to understand the laws and regulations protecting an individual's right to control his or her personal information and how companies comply with those laws and regulations.  This course will begin with a review of the origins of data privacy law from an international as well as American perspective. The course will cover current international, domestic, and sector specific laws and regulations. Throughout the course current trends and compliance challenges will be discussed with examples and hypothetical problems coming from a corporate high-tech perspective. Approved IP LL.M. course.