Course Descriptions

LAW 7099 Louis A. Bedford Jr. Mentorship Program

7099. 0 hours. The Louis a. Bedford Jr. Mentorship program provides students with opportunities to interact with practicing attorneys, begin to develop their professional networks, and gain insight into the Dallas legal market. Required.

LAW 7101 Principles of Accounting and Finance for Lawyers

7101. 1 hour. Focuses on the core accounting and finance principles that lawyers encounter across many areas of practice. Core goals are being able to read, interpret, and use basic financial statements, and understanding and applying basic principles of valuation. Prerequisite(s): For both full-time and part-time students, completion of all courses taken in their first year.

LAW 7106 Legal Skills and Analysis

7106. 1 hour. The purpose of this course is to reinforce and continue to develop core knowledge and fundamental skills for academic success in law school. Required.

LAW 7109 Academic Success Assistant Program

7109. 1 hour. Upper-level students enrolled in the Academic Success Assistant Program will support the Legal Methods course for 1L students by providing supplementary workshops that focus on legal analysis and study skills. ASAP fellows teach weekly workshops to 10-20 1L students that expand on the content presented in Legal Methods and provide 1L students additional opportunities to practice and apply skills presented in Legal Methods and doctrinal courses.

LAW 7111 Dispute Resolution Topics

7111. 1 hour. Course designed to provide advanced coverage by focusing on a narrow topic within a broader area. This course may be repeated if the covered topic has changed. Examples of topics that may be covered in this course include mediation, negotiation techniques, and arbitration.

LAW 7114 Legal Research I

7114. 1 hour. Focusing on bibliographic instruction and application of research skills. Students will learn the various legal resources available to them and will develop the skills necessary to find, evaluate, and use those sources to assist clients. Prerequisite(s): Consent of department.

LAW 7116 Health Care Law Topics

7116. 1 hour. Course designed to provide advanced coverage by focusing on a narrow topic within a broader area. This course may be repeated if the covered topic has changed. Examples of topics that may be covered in this course include bioethics, practitioner liability, and access to health care.

LAW 7119 Advocacy Skills Development

7119. 1 hour. Covers procedure, practice, and strategy. Emphasizes participating and developing advocacy skills and obtaining a working knowledge of procedural rules governing the trial process. A skills course that focuses on the practical application of the civil rules, decision-making, and judgment.

LAW 7121 Transactional and Business Topics

7121. 1 hour. Course designed to provide advanced coverage by focusing on a narrow topic within a broader area. This course may be repeated if the covered topic has changed. Examples of topics that may be covered in this course include international business transactions, corporate and partnership taxation, and real estate law.

LAW 7124 4TH Amendment Electronic Surveillance

7124. 1 hour. This course explores the evolving impact and role that electronic surveillance has on an individual's Fourth Amendment rights in a seminar style setting.  Recommended: Federal Criminal Procedure.

LAW 7202 Oil and Gas

7202. 2 hours. This course will focus on legal issues in mineral interests, development, leasing transactions, and litigation.

LAW 7205 Texas Civil Procedure

7205. 2 hours. Study of the Texas rules of civil procedure focusing on pretrial and trial practice and the differences between federal and state procedures. Prerequisites: Civil Procedure I and Civil Procedure II. Required.

LAW 7207 Texas Family Law

7207. 2 hours. Provides foundation for knowledge and understanding of Texas family law. Core goals include understanding and applying the following: definition of the family; community property; rights and responsibilities among family members; marriage; dissolution of marriage and issues arising as a result (custody, child support); legal status of unmarried individuals; federal law relating to family issues. The emphasis will be on Texas law, but will address key national issues and trends.  Property or Property I.

LAW 7211 Legal Research

7211. 2 hours. Focusing on bibliographic instruction and application of research skills. Students will learn the various legal resources available to them and will develop the skills necessary to find, evaluate, and use those sources to assist clients. Prerequisite(s): Consent of department.

LAW 7213 Property I

7213. 2 hours. Part one of a two course sequence. Introduction to the fundamental principles and doctrines relating to the law of property, including defining rights in property, interests in real property and personal property, transfer of property interests, private and public limitations on the use of real property, and the landlord-tenant relationship. Prerequisite(s): Consent of department. Required.

LAW 7215 Income Tax

7215. 2 hours. The course is intended to provide a basic understanding of federal tax concepts, preparing students to spot issues, do basic tax planning, and know when to consult with a specialist. The course will use basic arithmetic, for which a calculator may be used, but will not require higher math skills.

LAW 7217 Torts II

7217. 2 hours. Second part of a two-course sequence. Study of civil liability for wrongfully inflicted harm to persons and property, with an emphasis on intentional torts and negligence. Core goals include understanding and applying the history, policies, and practice implications of tort law; intentional tort doctrines including battery, assault, and false imprisonment, as well as defenses to these; negligence; damages; and comparative fault in multi-theory and multi-party actions. Required.

LAW 7219 Civil Rights

7219. 2 hours. A study of statutory and judicial protections for civil rights. Coverage includes the post-Civil War civil rights statutes, which have been the basis of much recent civil rights litigation, and more recent civil rights legislation.

LAW 7221 Effective Oral Communication

7221. 2 hours. Focuses on understanding and gaining proficiency in effective oral communication in the range of situations in which lawyers must communicate verbally. Includes extensive performance and simulation. The course empowers students with rhetorical techniques to enable them to give cohesive, persuasive and structured talks. Students learn through lecture and readings how to de-construct communication and an emphasis on extemporaneous talks and elevator talks." Students study the different types of communication styles, how to identify the communication style of others, and engage in exercises on how best to communicate with the preferred style of others.

LAW 7223 Advanced Strategies in Legal Analysis

7223. 2 hours. This course focuses on teaching many of the skills that are critical for success on the Uniform Bar Exam. This is a learn-by-doing class, so the student will write several MPT answers throughout the course and will complete a number of exercises designed to enhance test-taking strategies. The majority of the course will be spent on the MPT but will also spend several classes reviewing strategies for the MEE/MBE portion of the bar exam, and will complete several drills for those parts of the exam. Although this is a skills-focused class, there will be some substantive review.

LAW 7226 Environmental Law

7226. 2 hours. This course is an overview of the key environmental statutes and theoretical foundations for environmental regulation. It considers the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, hazardous waste laws, and natural resource conservation laws. It also addresses mechanisms used by legislatures and agencies to protect the environment, as well as the relationships between states, industries, environmental groups, federal agencies, Congress, and the courts.

LAW 7229 Consumer Law

7229. 2 hours.  This course is designed to provide an introduction to consumer rights against creditors, including rights granted under the Texas Debt Collection Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

LAW 7235 Insurance Law

7235. 2 hours. Covering the principles of insurance law, including indemnity, recovery, and government regulation.

LAW 7285 Sentencing

7285. 2 hours. This course will broadly examine the principles and practices of sentencing. While federal sentencing law has received the most attention in recent years, particularly since the creation of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, it is impossible to understand the current dynamics or the likely future trends of federal sentencing without also looking more broadly. As such, along with federal sentencing, this course will examine state sentencing systems and alternatives to sentencing in both the federal and state systems. Furthermore, as incarceration is the central tenet of American sentencing law, this course will introduce students to the U.S. prison system.

LAW 7287 Remedies

7287. 2 hours. This course is an introduction to the law of Remedies. This course examines the question of what courts do to remedy problems litigants bring to their attention and primarily examines how courts work to achieve goals of corrective justice while also emphasizing the instrumental impact of remedies; that is, how remedies can create incentives for future actors (and potential litigants). We look at both private remedies (tort, contract, etc.) as well as public remedies such as civil rights actions in which plaintiffs seek broad injunctive relief. Topics include: compensatory damages, injunctions, declaratory judgments, punitive damages, restitution, statutory remedies, enforcement of orders and judgments and bars to relief. This course will include a research segment.

LAW 7302 Civil Procedure I

7302. 3 hours. Study of the fundamental procedural doctrines and rules governing civil lawsuits, with an emphasis on the federal rules of civil procedure. Focuses on the right to bring claims, personal jurisdiction, subject matter jurisdiction, and venue.

Prerequisite(s): Consent of department. Required.

LAW 7304 Federal Criminal Procedure (ASP)

7304. 3 hours. This is a semi-skills, semi-doctrinal course.  Substantively, this course is will cover the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution.  Topics include arrest, search and seizure, investigative detentions, warrant requirements, confessions and the right to counsel.  This course will use both essay questions and multiple-choice questions as vehicles to learn the law.  This course is designed to reinforce basic law school skills (reading comprehension, rule synthesis, analysis) while using the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments as a backdrop. This course will include a writing segment.

LAW 7307 Texas Criminal Procedure

7307. 3 hours. Study of how the Texas code of criminal procedure is implemented in Texas criminal prosecutions from arrest through trial proceedings. Prerequisite(s): Criminal Law. Required.

LAW 7312 Practice Foundation I: Interviewing and Counseling

7312. 3 hours. Provides foundation for the essential lawyering skills of interviewing and counseling, including principles and concepts relating to these essential skills, but emphasizing simulation and practice exercises. Both litigation and transactional contexts and scenarios will be included. Prerequisite(s): Consent of department. Required.

LAW 7315 UBE Family Law

7315. 3 hours. This course examines the intersection of law and family. In particular it examines how the law creates (and limits) family relationships, regulates their dissolution, and defines the rights and responsibilities of family members. The course focuses on marriage and dissolution of marriage, including who may marry, family privacy, allocation of rights and duties within marriage, and issues incident to dissolution of marriage (property division, spousal and child support, adoption, assisted reproduction, and child custody). The course will also include discussion of jurisdiction, legal status of unmarried parents and their children, the role of the divorce lawyer, and divorce mediation.  This includes a research segment. Property or Property I.

LAW 7318 Evidence

7318. 3 hours. A study of the rules of proof in civil and criminal contexts, emphasizing the most critical issues and doctrines, with regular attention to the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Texas rules. Core goals include understanding and being able to apply rules of admissibility, reliability, hearsay, relevance, expert evidence, examination and impeachment of witnesses, privileges, presumptions, and burdens of proof. This course will include a skills segment.  Prerequisite(s): Criminal Law and Civil Procedure II. Required.

LAW 7322 Commercial Law

7322. 3 hours. Introduction to commercial law as governed by the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.), with a focus on secured sales transactions under Article 9. Course may also address aspects of sale of goods under Article 2 of the U.C.C.  Topics under secured transactions include types of personal property secured transactions, creation of security interest, default and secured party remedies, the perfecting of security interests, and priorities among creditors. This course will include a skills segment.  Prerequisite(s): Contracts or Contracts II. Required.

LAW 7324 Bankruptcy

7324. 3 hours. The rights, duties, and remedies of debtors, creditors and trustees under the U. S. Bankruptcy Code are examined. The course also covers enforcement of money judgments, insolvency proceedings and the use of alternative dispute resolution in bankruptcy. Federal bankruptcy law is emphasized. Prerequisite or Co-requisite: Commercial Law.

LAW 7326 Administrative Law

7326. 3 hours. Study of the law relating to administrative agencies, including federal agencies and state agencies (coverage of state administrative law will focus on Texas administrative agencies). Core goals are understanding the scope and role of administrative agencies; their statutory authority and constitutional boundaries; the promulgation of regulations (including legal authority and legally required methods of promulgation); core regulatory interpretive principles; and key practice issues.

LAW 7331 Employment Law General Principles

7331. 3 hours. This course is designed to provide a broad overview of the rights and limitations relating to the employer-employee relationship. This course also provides advanced study in the laws governing the employer-employee relationship and may discuss topics such as at-will employment, whistleblowing, labor unions, and discrimination.

LAW 7339 Intellectual Property Law

7339. 3 hours. Provides a comprehensive introduction to intellectual property, including an overview of patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright law.

LAW 7352 Legal Writing III: Appellate Drafting

7352. 3 hours. This course will focus on oral and written appellate advocacy with an emphasis on appellate matters in federal court, especially the U.S. Supreme Court. Students will learn techniques of written and oral persuasion, how to structure legal arguments, how to research and cite effectively, how to use proper grammar, and how to comply with ethical responsibilities in appellate advocacy. The course will begin with general principles of argumentation and legal reasoning. Students will then learn how to perform an excellent oral argument and learn the proper structure and method for drafting an outstanding appellate brief. This course serves as a major writing requirement.

LAW 7354 Legal Writing III: Criminal Motions

7354. 3 hours. Legal Writing III is an advanced writing course that combines the teaching of doctrine with the teaching of advanced writing skills.  This course is designed to introduce students to persuasive pretrial advocacy in a criminal case.  The bulk of criminal litigation is handled pretrial through pleadings, discovery, witness interviews, and pretrial motions. The course will prepare students for practice in criminal law by focusing on the application and expansion of their legal writing skills in a criminal law context. Through written assignments and class discussions, students will engage in various pretrial activities found in criminal practice, which may include motions and briefs for trial. This course serves as a major writing requirement.

LAW 7356 Legal Writing III: Judicial Writing

7356. 3 hours. Students will research and write drafts of court orders as if they were law clerks to federal district court judges. The various writings will include summary orders, memorandum opinions, and full-dress orders.  This course serves as a major writing requirement.

LAW 7358 Legal Writing III: Transactional Writing

7358. 3 hours. This upper level writing course will teach principles of contemporary commercial contract drafting and give students an introduction to issues that arise in negotiating, drafting, and litigating over contracts. The skills and issues covered will be applicable to a transactional practice and will also be useful to litigators. Through a review of case law, real world examples, and in-class exercises, students will learn the business purpose of each contract concept, how to translate a proposed business deal into an effective and enforceable contract, how to draft contracts clearly and unambiguously, how to work through the drafting process, and how communicate with a client about a contract and its terms. This course will also address practical issues that you will encounter in a transactional legal practice, including effective non-legal communication and ethics. This course serves as a major writing requirement.

LAW 7359 Legal Writing III: Regulatory Drafting

7359. 3 hours. This upper-level writing course teaches the principles of regulatory law interpretation and drafting and gives students an introduction to federal regulatory rulemaking. The skills and issues covered will enable students to effectively draft client memorandums and/or other written correspondence that aid organizations in developing policies and procedures in accordance with implementing regulations (once Congress has passed a bill and the President has signed it into law.)

LAW 7387 Bar Exam Skills and Strategies II

7387. 3 hours. This course is intended to improve readiness for the bar exam by using drills and other skills exercises to reinforce the bar exam preparation and execution skills learned in Bar Exam Skills and Strategies I. Several highly tested rules from three subjects mentioned will serve as the springboard for skills development work. The focus is on all three sections of the Uniform Bar Exam, but the bulk of the time on the MBE.

Students complete several drills that deepen their understanding of selected rules with and will have many opportunities to deepen reading comprehension, issue identification, rule mastery, critical thinking and legal analysis skills and abilities.  Students will gain a strong conceptual grasp of several highly tested rules. Furthermore, students will continue to refine the strong flexible analytical framework they have been using to answer MBE, MPT, as well as essay questions.  Time and attention are devoted to the finer points of effective bar exam preparation such as how to personalize and manage your commercial bar exam schedule with emphasis on how to tweak the commercial bar schedule to maximize success. There will be discussions how to prepare for the simulated exams, how to run their own simulations, how to effectively assess essay and MPT answers and how to manage time to avoid burnout.  This course will include a writing segment.

LAW 7401 Torts

7401. 4 hours. Study of civil liability for wrongfully inflicted harm to persons and property, with an emphasis on intentional torts and negligence. Core goals include understanding and applying the history, policies, and practice implications of tort law; intentional tort doctrines including battery, assault, and false imprisonment, as well as defenses to these; negligence; damages; and comparative fault in multi-theory and multi-party actions. Prerequisite(s): Consent of department. Required.

LAW 7411 Property

7411. 4 hours. Study of the fundamental principles and doctrines relating to the law of property, including defining rights in property, interests in real property and personal property, transfer of property interests, private and public limitations on the use of real property, and the landlord-tenant relationship. Required.

LAW 7414 Constitutional Law

7414. 4 hours. Introduction to the structure, provisions, history, and interpretation of the United States constitution. Core goals include understanding and applying the following: structure of government and allocation of authority in the three branches of government; role of federal courts and principles for judicial review of decisions of the executive branch or congress; and extent of and limits on powers of the federal government and powers of the states. The course also includes introductory study of the bill of rights, in particular the 14th amendments due process and equal protection provisions. Throughout, the course will consider historical and theoretical dimensions of constitutional law. This course will include a research segment.  Required.

LAW 7V30 Special Topics in Legal Education

7v30. 1-9 hours. Focused study in an identified area of law. Content will vary and course may be repeated if the material is not duplicated.

LAW 7V93 Clinic

7v93. 1-6 hours. Representation of clients under the supervision of a faculty member. Clinics include classroom sessions, assignments on cases, and meetings with faculty member. Prerequisite(s): 1L classes and other courses as specified in the particular clinic listing.