Master of Laws Classes (LWLLM)

This course will provide LL.M. students with an overview of the United States legal system and U.S. legal education. The course covers will introduce students to the fundamental aspects of American law, including the structure of the Constitution, civil proceedings in the federal court system, and case analysis.

In this course, students develop and hone essential lawyering skills: analyzing a client's case by researching the relevant law, including cases, statues, consitutional provisions, and administrative regulations; explaining and applying the law to the client's situation using two of the most common written forms (objective or predictive writing in an office memorandum, and persuasive writing in a trial brief); and presenting oral arguments. Because research, analysis, writing and oral argument skills improve only with practice, students will work through a variety of exercises and client problems, receiving individualized feedback from their professor during the course. Throughout the semester, we will remain mindful of the relationship between the concepts of law, order and justice - and will continually examine the role of the lawyer in the relationship.

This course is an introduction to the essential concepts, skills, and practices used by lawyers when conducting U.S. legal research. In this course, students will learn: (1) how to identify and locate the law created by each branch of U.S. government; (2) how to evaluate and select appropriate sources of U.S. law for use in legal argument; and (3) research planning skills. Students will work through a series of iterative exercises and a final project designed to reinforce and apply legal research concepts.