Core Foundation Courses
- Business Associations
Professor: Nitzan Shilon
This course surveys the role of legal controls on business organizations, with an emphasis on executives, directors and controlling shareholders of public corporations. Aspects of the law of agency, partnership, and closely held corporations are reviewed to highlight continuities and discontinuities with the publicly held corporation. Topics include basic accounting and basic corporate finance, limited liability, creditor protection, shareholder voting, executive compensation, fiduciary duties, shareholder lawsuits, and control transactions. The emphasis throughout is on the economic analysis of legal rules as a set of constraints on corporate actors.
- Civil Procedure I and II
Instructor: Ray Campbell
This course looks at civil legal procedure – the process through which private legal rights are enforced – with a particular focus on the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. While the course covers the same subject matter as would be covered in a typical US law school civil procedure course, it gives additional, particular emphasis to those aspects of the US civil justice system that are most relevant to non-US lawyers.
- Constitutional Law I and II
The first half of this two-quarter course introduces participants to historical, political, and legal developments in U.S. constitutional law, principally in the areas of individual rights and liberties and judicial review. The second quarter covers Federalism and Separation of Powers. Both provide an introduction to U.S. constitutional history with special emphasis on the historical, political, economic, and social circumstances under which American constitutional law has developed. The course explores some of the fundamental ideas underlying the American Constitution as well as the factors and processes that have shaped and changed American constitutional law over the years. A further dimension of understanding is achieved by referring to comparable developments in European, and in particular German, constitutional law.
- Contracts I and II
Instructor: Mark Feldman
This two-quarter course examines the formation and interpretation of contractual agreements under U.S. law (common law and Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)) and international law (United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG)). The course also explores issues concerning the avoidance of contractual obligations and remedies for the breach of contractual obligations.
- Criminal Law I and II
Through the study of individual cases from multiple jurisdictions, this course develops understanding of the key elements of American criminal law: actus rea, (intent), mens rea (the act) concurrence and causation. The course examines the evidence and factors that courts and juries consider in determining the culpability of a defendant, and possible defenses a defendant might raise to a particular accusation. The course pushes students to think about the principles that have led the U.S. to structure its criminal justice system in the way that it has, and whether or not it is effective in realizing those principles.
- Criminal Procedure
The course will survey the entire American criminal process from investigation and arrest to sentencing. The course will cover the Bill of Rights and a comparison of adversarial vs. inquisitorial systems and will present a broad overview of criminal procedure, including arraignment, pretrial detention and release, discovery, right to counsel, right to trial by jury, pretrial motions, trial, and the roles of judge and jury. The course will also concentrate on search and seizure, interrogation and confession, and suppression of evidence under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, following the case of a single defendant from arrest to conviction and sentencing.
- Deal Documentation
Professor: Douglas Levene
This course teaches the basic elements of a business contract and provides students with writing exercises in which they apply the materials presented. There is one class session each week with Professor Levene; students then meet in small groups sessions with a C.V. Starr Lecturer. In the small group sessions, the C.V. Starr Lecturer goes over the homework assignments and gives additional exercises for the students to practice drafting skills.
- Professional Responsibility
Instructor: Ray Campbell
Professional Responsibility is a required upper-level course concerned with the ethical standards, professional responsibilities, and regulation of attorneys and judges. The course prepares students to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), as well as providing a basis for making professionally responsible decisions in actual practice. The course draws upon comparative and international material when relevant.
- Property I and II
Instructor: Norman P. Ho
This course covers the major concepts and issues of Anglo-American property law. Topics to be covered in the first quarter include the concept of property in Anglo-American property law, property theory, the ownership of real property, adverse possession, the ownership of personal property, estates and future interests in land, concurrent ownership, and marital property. Topics to be covered in the second quarter include the leasing of real property (e.g., nonfreehold estates, assignments, subleases), private land use planning (e.g., easements, real covenants, equitable servitudes), land use regulation, eminent domain, and takings.
- Torts I and II
This two-quarter course covers the law of civil injuries and liabilities. The goal of Torts I is to focus in depth on the areas in torts that are the highest-stakes litigation areas, namely the theory of negligence, medical malpractice and emotional harm. Torts II focuses on developing critical thinking skills, so as to provide the intellectual foundation for more advanced torts topics such as products liability, and for new legal areas beyond torts.
- Transnational Law
Instructor: Stephen Minas
This course focuses on the growing interaction between national and international legal norms and processes, the importance of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the world economy, and the rise of large global law firms engaged in international practice. The course provides an introduction to basic principles of public international law, comparative law, transnational commercial law and private international law (conflicts of law), and mechanisms of international dispute resolution.
- Transnational Legal Practice
Instructor: C.V. Starr Lecturers
Transnational Legal Practice helps acclimate students to law school and to the basic tasks required for the first year of legal writing: understanding the relationships between judicial opinions, reading judicial opinions (critically), deriving legal rules from judicial opinions, and applying legal rules to new sets of facts. Students learn the basics of good legal writing, from the contexts in which legal writing is used, to the use of rubrics (IRAC and CREAC) to help structure writing, to the effective use of analogies to construct legal argument.
- 中国公司法 (Chinese Company Law)
主讲教师: 朱大明 (Zhu Daming)
本课程主要围绕中国公司法法的内容展开。主要内容包括总论、公司设立、公司治理、公司资本制度等部分。
- 中国刑事诉讼法 (Chinese Criminal Procedure)
法学核心课程之一。本门课程旨在对刑事诉讼的基本原理、中国刑事诉讼的基本原则、基本制度和诉讼程序进行理论分析和系统解释。从理论上阐述诉讼法律关系、诉讼主体、诉讼结构、诉讼模式等刑事诉讼基础理论；阐述我国刑事诉讼法的基本原则和主要制度；论述刑事诉讼证据和证明的基本理论和制度；用规范解释方法阐述我国刑事诉讼法规定的主要内容与重要的诉讼程序规范。刑事诉讼法分总论和分论两编，教学内容既以现行法律为依据，又不拘泥于法律条文本身，意在通过现行法文本之解释阐发刑事诉讼的一般理论和基本制度，并结合刑事司法实践解读基础知识和基本理论。课程采取专题讲授和研讨方式进行。
- 中国刑法 (Chinese Criminal Law)
主讲教师: 曹斐（Cao Fei）
通过本课程的教学，使学生全面、系统地掌握刑法学的基本理论，具备运用所学知识分析案例与解决问题的能力，并为今后的进一步学习打下坚实基础。要求学生牢固掌握的内容有：刑法的概念、特点和我国刑法的基本原则；犯罪的概念；刑法的任务；刑法的解释；犯罪构成理论；客观不法构成要件；主观不法构成要件；违法性及正当化事由；错误理论；犯罪的停止形态；共同犯罪；竞合形态；刑罚的概念、目的与我国刑罚的种类；各项量刑制度、行刑制度；刑法分则中的重要犯罪。
- 中国宪法 (Chinese Constitutional Law)
主讲教师: 黄卉 (Huang Hui)
本课程以教授中国宪法（学）的基本框架和主要内容（宪法基本决策、公民基本权利、国家机关、宪法监督和实施）为核心内容，在此基础上，结合相关的宪法案（事）例，培养学生解释和适用宪法规范的技能。 课程要求学生投入阅读和专研时间，进行宪法评注和宪法案例分析的练习。
- 中国民事诉讼法 (Chinese Civil Procedure)
主讲教师: 刘哲玮 (Liu Zhewei)
本课程旨在传授关于中国民事诉讼法的通识性知识，让学生对民事诉讼程序和相关原理有基本认识。课程目标具体有二：
在诉讼程序方面，学生通过学习本课程，能够基本了解我国民事诉讼法典的结构和内容，理解民事诉讼的一般流程，能运用民事诉讼法解决一般的民事纠纷，基本达到通过司法考试水平。
在诉讼法理方面，学生通过学习本课程，能大致了解民事诉讼法学基础理论，并能够运用某些基础理论分析我国立法和司法解释的问题；部分优秀学生能够综合运用民事诉讼法和民事实体法，解决复杂诉讼的问题。
- 中国民法一 (Chinese Civil Law I)
主讲教师: 茅少伟 (Mao Shaowei)
本课程主要涉及民法学中具有共通性的部分（包括传统的民法总则和部分合同法内容），是学习债权法、物权法和民事特别法的重要基础。课程主要采用讲授和讨论的方式，学生需要课前阅读材料、参与课堂讨论，并完成课后作业。通过本课程的学习与训练，学生应当对民法的体系和范围有基本的了解，对民法思维方法有较为扎实的掌握，对涉及的各项民法制度在法学原理和现行法律规定上有全面的掌握，初步掌握在相关制度问题上针对具体案例寻找法律、解释与适用法律的能力，包括进行政策分析的能力。
- 中国民法三 (Chinese Civil Law III)
主讲教师: 茅少伟 (Mao Shaowei)
本课程主要涵盖物权法相关内容（包括物权基础理论、所有权、用益物权、担保物权以及基本的信托法知识）。物权法是民法学课程的重要组成部分，涉及民法学中最基础的概念和理论，与债权法和许多民事特别法都有密切的联系，理论与规范复杂、实用性强、适用面广。本课程的目标，是让学生具备扎实的物权法基础，对于基本的理论框架、我国现行法上的基本规定有比较深入的了解，熟练掌握针对具体案件寻找法律、解释与适用法律的能力，包括进行政策分析的能力。
- 中国民法二 (Chinese Civil Law II)
本课程的内容包括债权法、物权法的基本制度与理论，是民法学的核心内容，在民法学诸领域中规则和理论最复杂、实用性最强、适用面最广。
本课程的目标是，让学生具备扎实的债权法与物权法基础，对于基本的理论框架、我国现行法上的基本规定有比较深入的了解，熟练掌握针对具体案件寻找法律、解释与适用法律的能力，包括进行政策分析的能力，并初步接触作为律师提供法律意见、草拟合同条款的技巧。
- 中国行政法 (Chinese Administrative Law)
主讲教师: 金自宁 (Jin Zining)
本课程旨在传授中国行政法学通说，在尽可能覆盖重要知识点的同时，通过实务案例研习训练学生实际应用相关知识的能力，包括行政法的概念、渊源体系、基本原则、行政主体的内涵和外延、行政行为及其成立、生效、无效、撤销和废止、行政立法、行政处罚、行政强制、行政许可与确认相关概念、制度和规则以及行政诉讼受案范围、原告资格、审查标准、裁判方式等。
- 中国行政诉讼法 (Chinese Administrative Litigation Law)
主讲教师: 金自宁 (Jin Zining)
本课程旨在传授中国行政诉讼法学通说，在尽可能覆盖重要知识点的同时，引导学生探讨相关疑难问题，并通过实务疑难案例研习训练学生实际应用相关知识的能力，课程学习重点包括行政法案例研习方法、我国行政诉讼特色、行政诉讼受案范围、原告、被告、第三人、举证责任与证据规则、司法审查原则和标准、裁判方式等。
- 中国高级法律检索与写作 (Chinese Advanced Legal Research & Writing)
主讲教师: 茅少伟 (Mao Shaowei)
本课程主要以我国现行民商事法律制度为基础，通过实例的研习，训练学生准确、全面、有效地进行法律检索和法律研究的能力。课程采用讲授与讨论相结合的方式，学生课前需要阅读相关材料、课上需要积极参与讨论、课后需要完成必要的作业。通过本课程的学习与训练，学生应当对我国的法律体系与法律渊源（尤其是民商事法律）有更全面的了解；能够更准确地识别、界定与描述不同类型的法律问题，并基于不同的研究目的，较为熟练地使用常用的检索工具与检索方法，进行专业的法律检索、分析与写作；同时，在更一般的意义上，对法律思维方法和解释、适用法律的能力有较为扎实的掌握。
- 民法案例练习 (Case Exercises of Civil Law)
本课程希望通过完整、系统的民事案例练习，训练学生形成法律人应具有的民法思维和技能，提升分析实务案例的能力。课程要帮助学生学习各门基础性的法律部门所包含的法律知识和应用能力，如援引、解释和适用法律条文，并训练学生在这个过程中学会利用判例、学说和比较法，还要训练学生对不同的利益进行权衡的能力，对不同法律理由、法律观点进行权衡和评价的能力。从技能的角度，请求权基础方法以及法律解释方法的训练是本课程的重点。
本课程采用作业、讨论、讲授相结合的教学方式。每次课程之前布置一定的阅读材料，并要求学生在课前完成一定的作业。教师在阅读作业后，有针对性地组织课堂讨论，最后总结性地对相关的民法知识进行讲授，并以对法律解释、适用的方法进行总结、深化。教师会对部分作业在课后提供参考答案，供学生参考。