Skills - 2 hours. This course will cover four areas: (1) research; (2) brief writing; (3) appellate strategy; and (4) oral advocacy. The students will be working on actual federal criminal cases in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. They will draft briefs on behalf of criminal defendants. They will also work on amicus briefs and policy papers on critical issues on behalf of clients such as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies. We'll study the various court rules governing the form, substance and timing of briefs.
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.
Skills – 2 units. In this course students will learn from discussion and practice about the range of ways that law, regulation, and government action impact transgender and nonbinary identities. Discussion will be informed by and prepare students for interactions with clients in the student-run Gender and Name Change Project (GNCP).
Seminar – 3 units. This seminar examines the unique status of children in our legal system, and explores the fundamental question of how the law allocates decision-making power and responsibility for children among the child, the family and the State. This course will deeply explore the topics of delinquency and dependency, as well as the varied contexts children interact with the law beyond those two systems.
Lecture - Society’s expectations of companies are changing and companies are responding. Many companies go beyond compliance with the law to address environmental and social issues, from climate change to diversity. This new articulation of corporate purpose raises complex legal, ethical, and business questions. This class uses the case study method to examine this paradigm shift in the business and investment community. Each week we will analyze a particular company or business trend.
Skills - 2 hours. Drafting a Solar Farm Bill is a practicum in which the class acts as an advisory law firm for its client, a solar farm bill solution and its facilitator, the educational non-profit Climate Solutions Advocacy Institute (CSAI). The class objective is to provide the client with a white paper that can advise CSAI in its development of a massive solar farm bill, financed by green bonds.
Discussion – 2 hours. 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.
Seminar - 2 hours. When surveyed, Americans consistently report high confidence and trust in the United States Military and service members. This trust and confidence has come from a history of devotion to the defense of the United States, which includes a culture of teamwork and discipline. To this end, the military has developed laws and regulations tailored to the unique mission. As the United States has seen social change, these unique laws and regulations can be at odds with or promote change within our society.
This clinic provides practical experience in providing legal services to indigent clients who have filed civil rights actions in state and federal trial and appellate courts. Students work on clinic cases under the supervision of the clinic director. Students are required to follow the clinic office procedures and to employ skills such as interviewing, counseling, research, writing, negotiating, taking and defending depositions, and possibly oral and trial advocacy. Students are certified to appear in court. Each unit of clinic credit assumes four hours of work per week.
