Bar Course (BAR)

This course focuses on torts not involving physical injury, with substantive and procedural coverage of claims for misrepresentation, defamation, invasion of privacy, interference with contract, and injurious falsehood, along with affirmative defenses to these causes of action. These areas have increased in importance due to the emergence of electronic communications resulting in potential liability.

This course surveys the law of unincorporated business entities. The agency law part of the course will focus on the agency relationship and, more specifically, the duties and obligations of principals and agents to one another and to third parties. Agency law concepts apply to LLCs, partnerships and other business entities. The partnership law part of the course will cover the fiduciary obligations of partners, partners' management and property rights, and partnership dissolutions. The final part of the course will examine limited liability entities, with emphasis on the formation, organization, and dissolution of limited liability companies.

RECOMMENDED PREPARATION: BAR 905 This course provides an introduction to the basic principles of corporate law. The primary emphasis of the course is the body of state law that regulates the activities and internal affairs of business corporations. The course will focus on traditional state law principles of corporate governance, including the fiduciary duties of loyalty and care, the business judgment rule, and shareholder derivative suits. In addition to state corporate law, the course will cover some federal laws that regulate the activities of corporations, focusing on the disclosure requirements and antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The course has two complementary objectives: (1) to provide a strong foundation in corporate law for students who intend to enter practice without taking further courses in corporate and securities law; and (2) to prepare students who plan to take Federal Securities Regulation and other advanced courses in anticipation of a career in business law. Business Entities I: Unincorporated Business Entities is strongly recommended as a prerequisite to this course.

In modern business and personal life, significant events frequently involve more than one state or nation. What law applies to multi-jurisdictional transactions? Which court has the authority to adjudicate any dispute that develops? This course examines the legal rules that have developed for resolving these conflict-of-law problems. Specific topics include: domestic jurisdiction, international jurisdiction, domestic choice of law, extraterritorial application of national law, conflicts between state and federal law, and enforcement of judgments.

This course examines the development of due process and equal protection law under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. It includes examination of the structure of the Constitution's protection of civil rights and civil liberties, as well as substantive and procedural due process, equal protection, and fundamental rights.

This course explores part of the interface between the criminal justice system and the United States Constitution. It introduces students to constitutional analysis by examining the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments as apply to investigation of wrongdoing and police interrogation as well as to circumstances in which indigent defendants are guaranteed the assistance of counsel.

This course covers the presentation of evidence in trials under the Federal Rules of Evidence. We will address substantive topics that include relevancy, hearsay, competency, examination of lay and expert witnesses, judicial notice, privilege, authentication, the best evidence rule, in addition to various Constitutional issues and procedural rules.

This course will examine how the law defines and regulates families and family structures. At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to identify what makes up a family, how families are created, separated, the rights attendant to members of families, and the rights flowing from membership within a family structure. Students should be able to understand the importance of family structure in American society and under what circumstances government can intervene in that structure. This course is national in scope, but will be supplemented with some Pennsylvania statutory and case law readings where appropriate.

This course examines the history, values and function of free expression. It specifically considers Supreme Court decisions regarding advocacy of illegal action, expression that provokes a hostile audience reaction, defamation, commercial advertising, obscenity, hate speech, expression in public places, symbolic speech, and campaign finance laws.

This course focuses on the theory and application of legal and equitable relief. Substantive areas include injunctions, specific performance, damages, unjust enrichment, and declaratory relief, along with affirmative defenses to these causes of action.

Article Two of the Uniform Commercial Code is an integrated body of statutory law that prescribes the rights and obligations of parties involved in transactions in goods. This course emphasizes the special techniques of statutory construction utilized in interpreting a code as opposed to an isolated statute. The course topics are: code methodology (including the history and jurisprudence of Article Two), contract formation and interpretation, performance obligations, breach and remedies.

This course deals with the creation, enforcement, and priorities of personal property security interests under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and related statutes. It addresses: (a) encumbrances on consumer, commercial, and industrial goods, (b) inventory and receivables financing for manufacturers, distributors, and dealers, and (c) personal property agricultural financing. Relevant provisions of other Articles of the UCC and other state and federal statutes are integrated into the course as required.

This course examines the disposition of property at death by intestate succession and by will. The execution, revocation, construction, and contest of wills, as well as limits on the power to dispose of property by will, are studied. This course also examines the creation, purposes and termination of trusts, including informal trusts, and the interrelationship between trusts and wills.