Study

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

Race and the Legal Profession focuses on how the legal profession has interacted with race and applicable racial considerations within the practice of law. The course is grounded in Model Rule 8.4(g) and ABA Standard 303(c) as it relates to the course’s discussion of professional conduct and the practice of law. As a critical study, the course will work to deepen students’ understanding of exclusions and discrimination within the legal profession. The class is discussion-based, with a mandatory attendance policy and a pass/fail grading structure. The class will meet during the first half of the Spring semester. The primary methods of assessment will be class discussion and four reflection papers of two-to-three-page each, focused on the class readings during the semester.

Nearly every term, the U.S. Supreme Court decides a case that alters or entirely remakes the foundational legal relationships between government and religion. And Congress, state legislatures, and public officials at all levels test the bounds of the law, inviting the lower federal and state courts to get into the act also. This rapidly evolving First Amendment doctrine touches on all aspects of people’s lives.

The traditional understanding in the law was that constitutional and statutory provisions relating to religion work together to secure the rights of each of us to believe and practice our faith, or not, according to the dictates of conscience, while also ensuring that general laws are enforceable and apply equally to everyone.

But today, these protections are often viewed as in tension with each other and as irreconcilable with other fundamental rights. Hence, courts, legislatures, and other governmental actors find themselves choosing between the religious practices of some people and the rights and religious freedom of others. As a result, parties’ legal claims and court decisions sounding in religious freedom have far-reaching implications for education, employment, healthcare, housing, social services, immigration, family law, land use, taxation, national security, and criminal law. They go to the heart of our understanding of equal protection and nondiscrimination principles. And they reconfigure social arrangements in fundamental ways, sometimes quite publicly, but often below the radar screen for most Americans.

This course will meet for eight 85-minute sessions, starting the week of January 20 (the second full week of Spring Term) and running through the week of March 24. (There will be no class the week of March 10, which is spring break.)

This one-credit course examines issues in the child welfare system (also known as the family regulation system), including child abuse and neglect, the foster care system, and termination of parental rights. We will discuss critiques of the system, including the system’s impact on Black families, the role of poverty in abuse and neglect cases, and concerns about family surveillance, and will consider potential solutions to these problems, including calls for reform or abolition. We will read Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts, statutory frameworks such as the Child Abuse and Prevention Act (CAPTA), and articles by scholars and practitioners. Students will write and present reflection papers, engage with guest speakers, and evaluate policy proposals.

Meeting Dates: January 16, 23, 30, February 6, 13, 20, March 6, 20 

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of transgender people both historically and in the constantly changing political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine experiences of trans people in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the experiences of transgender people, starting with an overview of transgender history, and discussion of legal rights in identity documents and employment. Subsequent sessions focus on health disparities and access to care, legal rights and restrictions in education, and legal needs of transgender elders. We will also consider transgender people’s experiences with the criminal punishment system and immigration. Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings.

Three short reflection papers will be required. No exam or long paper is required.

Syllabus: 611-11-Fall2024-syllabus.docx51.22 KB

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

Algorithms are everywhere. Governments use algorithms to administer the law—from operating benefits programs to managing voter rolls to detecting and punishing criminal activity. Companies use algorithms to respond to, comply with, or avoid legal requirements: algorithms determine the content you see online, your ability to access credit or housing, and the prices you pay for goods and services.

This one-credit class will introduce law students to algorithms—what they are, and how they interact with law, and what future lawyers need to know about them. Via in-class simulations and short assignments, students will design, use, and critique examples of algorithms deployed in and around the law.

By the end of this course, students will have a foundational understanding of what algorithms are and how they come to be, as both a technical and a social concept. They will be able to recognize issues that may arise as algorithms are deployed in legal contexts: e.g., harm to people, changes in behavior, shifts in power, or unexpected outcomes. And, they will have gained exposure to a wide variety of algorithms in law and legal practice.

No technical background is required to take this class.

This class meets for 8 sessions, from August 27-October 22.

Syllabus: 611-54-Fall2024-syllabus.pdf103.07 KB

China's development without a western-style rule of law raises numerous questions. Does law matter in China? If yes, how does it work? What roles has law played in China’s economic, social and political development? Can China tell us anything different about the nature and function of law? This one-credit reading group invites students to explore such questions together. We will meet two hours every other week during the semester.

We will examine the litigation of ante-bellum freedom lawsuits brought by enslaved people in states from Massachusetts to Missouri and consider what, if anything, these cases tell us about lost judicial opportunities to deal meaningfully with slavery and racial inequality from the 18th century until now. The primary texts for the course will be Supreme Injustice by Paul Finkleman and A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War by William G. Thomas. In addition, we will read the decisions in key freedom suits from Massachusetts, Maryland and the District of Columbia, North Carolina, and Missouri, including the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857. Finally, we will discuss perspectives on some of the Supreme Court’s contemporary race decisions, including essays written by Randall Kennedy. Students will be required to write a 15-page paper on a topic of their choice that is approved in advance by the instructors.

The course will meet every two weeks on Wednesday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Free speech and academic freedom protect the right of faculty and students to research, publish, teach, and learn challenging and sometimes controversial topics; doing so is essential to the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge. At the same time, scholarship and teaching are embedded in university communities that should embody a culture of belonging, one that itself is key to the success of research, teaching, and engagement. Increasingly, campus communities must think creatively about how to ensure that their institutional values and commitments remain clear, and that teachers and learners are able to freely engage in a pluralistic environment that values rigorous inquiry, mutual respect, and belonging. 

It would be a significant understatement to say that some faculty, students, and commentators feel that universities are not striking the right balance(s). From trigger warnings and safe spaces to protests and pickets, from claims of cancellation and coddling to claims of racism and harassment, many have concluded that universities are in crisis.

The purpose of this reading group is, it should go without saying, not to solve all of those issues, nor to problem-solve issues close to home. Rather, the hope is that deep reading and discussion can help illuminate what lies beneath them, along with some potential ways forward.

This “fast-track” class will meet in eight 85-minute sessions starting on September 3 and ending on October 29 (skipping October 15, which is during fall break). 1 credit, CR/NC grading basis.

Syllabus: 611-63-Fall2024-syllabus.docx22.2 KB

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of transgender people both historically and in the constantly changing political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine experiences of trans people in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the experiences of transgender people, starting with an overview of transgender history, and discussion of legal rights in identity documents and employment. Subsequent sessions focus on health disparities and access to care, legal rights and restrictions in education, and legal needs of transgender elders. We will also consider transgender people’s experiences with the criminal punishment system and immigration. Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings.

Three short reflection papers will be required. No exam or long paper is required.

Syllabus: 611-11-Spring2024-syllabus.docx54.7 KB

We will study the law of corporate governance with a focus on several key debates. These debates include shareholder or stakeholder theory,   shareholder democracy, and especially diversity in corporate governance. Within our discussion of diversity, we will consider several underrepresented groups, including but not limited to differences across sex, race, gender and sexual identity, and Indigenous identity. We will consider both voluntary and mandated diversity measures in Canada, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Our examination will incorporate a perspective on how social science has influenced regulation.

This reading course will involve discussing some of the latest research applying social science research methods to legal questions. Over the semester, we will host six speakers presenting cutting-edge interdisciplinary work involving a variety of methods, including quantitative, qualitative, and experimental.  Topics will likely cover both public and private law subjects. Students will be asked to choose three speakers for whom they will prepare, in advance, short reaction papers to the speakers’ work. Students are also expected to participate in discussion of the speakers’ papers. Class will meet seven times for two hours each—once at the beginning for an introduction and then once for each speaker, approximately every other week. Prior study in psychology, economics, anthropology, sociology, statistics, or other social science is likely to prove beneficial but is not required.

Syllabus: 611-52-Spring2024-syllabus.docx13.59 KB

"Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing.  Without stable shelter, it all falls apart.” Professor Matthew Desmond

Drawing on the expertise of various members of Duke Law School’s Clinical Faculty, as well as outside guest speakers, this one-credit C/NC readings class will explore the critical issue of housing from a wide variety of perspectives. Among others, we will use the lenses of criminal law, international human rights, environmental justice, health, land use and religion, wealth, opportunity and social mobility, and racial justice to critically consider the role of housing in our lives and communities. Throughout we will assess the role of law in enhancing or limiting opportunities for housing justice. 

The class will meet 8 times throughout the semester for 90-minute sessions, and will be offered credit/no-credit. Class will be collaboratively taught by Duke Law faculty.  Reflection papers will be required.

Syllabus: 611-53-Spring2024-syllabus.docx13.76 KB

Algorithms are everywhere. Governments use algorithms to administer the law—from operating benefits programs to managing voter rolls to detecting and punishing criminal activity. Companies use algorithms to respond to, comply with, or avoid legal requirements: algorithms determine the content you see online, your ability to access credit or housing, and the prices you pay for goods and services.  

This one-credit class will introduce law students to algorithms—what they are, and how they interact with law, and what future lawyers need to know about them. Via in-class simulations and short assignments, students will design, use, and critique examples of algorithms deployed in and around the law.

By the end of this course, students will have a foundational understanding of what algorithms are and how they come to be, as both a technical and a social concept. They will be able to recognize issues that may arise as algorithms are deployed in legal contexts: e.g., harm to people, changes in behavior, shifts in power, or unexpected outcomes. And, they will have gained exposure to a wide variety of algorithms in law and legal practice.

No technical background is required to take this class.  

Syllabus: 611-54-Spring2024-syllabus.pdf103.07 KB

This course will analyze the environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles underpinning the economic, social and legal aspects of international relations. To that end, the course will aim to define the ESG approach expected from an international corporate lawyer. What makes a law firm qualify as an ESG entity? Which criteria can be taken into account for a law firm to be seen as an ESG entity? What are the differences and similarities between the ESG standards in different countries and how are these differences assimilated in cross-border legal practice? Students will be evaluated on class participation, including participation in a simulated negotiation, and some writing. CR/NC.

This discussion course focuses on the ways in which ownership history matters for works of visual art and other things with cultural significance. Of obvious salience in disputes that follow in the wake of theft, ownership history also bears on determining an object’s authenticity and often its broader cultural or historical importance. We will become acquainted with resources in local museum and archival collections and examine a small number of selected holdings, including manuscripts held by the Rubinstein Library and works in the collection of the Nasher Museum. The course requires participation in class and in any site visits, plus the completion of short response papers. Grading is on a credit/fail basis.

Syllabus: 611-56-Spring2024-syllabus.docx17.1 KB

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

Syllabus: 611-57-Spring2024-syllabus.docx32.89 KB

Race and the Legal Profession focuses on how the legal profession has interacted with race and applicable racial considerations within the practice of law. The course is grounded in Model Rule 8.4(g) and ABA Standard 303(c) as it relates to the course’s discussion of professional conduct and the practice of law. As a critical study, the course will work to deepen students’ understanding of exclusions and discrimination within the legal profession. The class is discussion-based, with a mandatory attendance policy and a pass/fail grading structure. The class will meet during the first half of the Spring semester. The primary methods of assessment will be class discussion and four reflection papers of two-to-three-page each, focused on the class readings during the semester.

Syllabus: 611-58-Spring2024-syllabus.pdf182.83 KB

Police Accountability focuses on issues relating to police accountability such as reporting misconduct, internal investigations, internal disciplinary processes (internal affairs), the process and challenges of police prosecution, to the interplay between city governmental entities and prosecutorial offices. The course will work to deepen students’ understanding of some of the intricacies of police accountability and transparency. This is a specialized readings course with a focus on lawyers working in the criminal justice system and law enforcement. The class is discussion-based, with a mandatory attendance policy and a pass/fail grading structure. The class will meet during the second half of the Spring semester. The primary methods of assessment will be class discussion and four reflection papers focused on the class readings during the semester.

Syllabus: 611-59-Spring2024-syllabus.pdf133.86 KB

This one-credit readings course explores sentencing and punishment.  The class will meet six times on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  The tentative class schedule is August 30, September 13, September 27, October 11, November 1, and November 15.  The readings will provide perspectives on sentencing and punishment, including the perspectives of defendants, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims, and probation officers.  The readings will examine guideline and nonguideline sentencing schemes and other sentencing topics.  Students will prepare brief two-page reflection  papers and participate in class discussion.  Grading will be on a credit/no credit basis. For 3Ls with a deeper interest in this topic, Judge Dever will consider supervising independent study projects, including those with structured Substantial Research and Writing Project requirements.  Any such paper is due no later than December 18, 2023. 

 

Syllabus: 611-30-Fall2023-syllabus.pdf25.38 KB

This discussion course focuses on readings examining legal, political, and economic considerations involved in tax policy and public finance design. The readings are designed to introduce students to the core tax policy and public finance debates of our time, including debates about choice of the tax base, tax fairness, optimal tax design, international tax issues, and income and wealth inequality. Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation and short writing assignments.

This course will not meet every week.

Syllabus: 611-51-Fall2023-syllabus.docx35.56 KB

We will study the law of corporate governance with a focus on several key debates. These debates include shareholder or stakeholder theory,   shareholder democracy, and especially diversity in corporate governance. Within our discussion of diversity, we will consider several underrepresented groups, including but not limited to differences across sex, race, gender and sexual identity, and Indigenous identity. We will consider both voluntary and mandated diversity measures in Canada, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Our examination will incorporate a perspective on how social science has influenced regulation.

This readings course explores the intersection between social justice and business law. How do (and should) companies pursue social and environmental goals? What are companies’ proper role in society? Each week will focus on a different issue affecting companies of all sizes and stages, from early-stage startups to large multinational companies. Topics to be covered include race and gender, worker rights, climate change and the environment, AI/tech, and more.

No prior experience in business law is required or expected, though is certainly welcome. The course will meet once per week for the first seven weeks of the semester.

Students will be required to write and submit short response papers after each class, which are due by 5pm on the Friday following class. Students will also be responsible for co-leading discussion for one class session during the semester.

Likely topics include:

1. Week One: Intro to Course and Social Goals and the Venture-Backed Startup

Course overview and background information on the course of the business lifecycle.

How do you scale social and environmental goals in a startup? We will explore the “growth at all costs” model in startups and its compatibility (or not) with the pursuit of social and environmental goals.

Possible Readings: selections from Venture Predation (Wansley and Weinstein), Venture Capital and Social Change (Aguirre)

2. Week Two: Diversity and Entrepreneurship/Venture Capital

Startups are huge drivers of economic growth and employment. But who gets funded and who is doing the funding? What are the systemic effects of VC funding and the startup landscape, particularly in terms of race, ethnicity and gender?

Possible Readings: TBD

3. Week Three: Workers and Social Purpose

How do workers factor into companies’ pursuit of social purpose? How can (and should) firms address the precarity of work and the prevalence of overwork in today’s society? We will explore this at companies of various types, sectors, and stages.

Possible Readings: Sustainability for People and Planet (Yen et al)

4. Week Four: Millennials, Gen Z and Social Purpose

How do generational shifts affect the pursuit of social purpose, as Millennials and Gen Zers increasingly occupy the largest share of employees, investors, and consumers?

Possible Readings: The Millennial Corporation (Barzuza, Curtis, and Webber)

5. Week Five: The Social Benefits of Control

What happens when we entrench insider control of companies in the name of social good? The use of structures like multi-class shares have raised a lot of controversy over what constitutes good governance. How concerned should we be over these structures, and do they add any value when used to protect the pursuit of social purpose?

Possible Readings: selections from Ousted (Aran and Pollman), The Social Benefits of Control (Aguirre)

6. Week Six: Regulatory Entrepreneurship

Sometimes firm business models entail breaking the law, or trying to change the law to accommodate new technologies, innovations, or changing views of the world. How should we treat law-breaking companies who rely on regulatory entrepreneurship for their business model?

Possible Readings: Regulatory Entrepreneurship (Pollman)

7. Week Seven: Balancing Multiple Objectives Simultaneously

What happens with social purposes come into conflict with each other? How should we manage tradeoffs? We will discuss this topic through the lens of crypto, AI, health, and climate change, among other topics.

Possible Readings: TB

Exploring recent matters in which market forces and client pressures have caused large law firms to be enmeshed in controversies.  Readings will be drawn from such sources as Servants of the Damned by David Enrich, The Caesar’s Palace Coup by Sujeet Indap and Max Frumes, Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, and Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow.

Administrative law is at a pivotal juncture.  The pandemic has undermined trust in government agencies.  Recent presidential administrations have had wildly different approaches to regulation, eroding the possibility of any ambitious, long-term agency action. And the escalating politicization of the judicial appointments process has led to court decisions that severely undermine the functioning of the administrative state.

This one-credit reading course will focus on recent debates about the role of the administrative state in our legal system and whether it upholds rule of law and democratic values.  Example topics include: independent agencies, appointments clause challenges, major questions doctrine, and agency funding.  Reading materials will include book excerpts, cases, and legal scholarship. Students will be evaluated on the basis of short reflection papers.  No prior coursework is required.  Class will meet for six two-hour sessions.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of transgender people both historically and in the constantly changing political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine experiences of trans people in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the experiences of transgender people, starting with an overview of transgender history, and discussion of legal rights in identity documents and employment. Subsequent sessions focus on health disparities and access to care, legal rights and restrictions in education, and legal needs of transgender elders. We will also consider transgender people’s experiences with the criminal punishment system and immigration. Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings. The class will meet in eight, 85-minute sessions, meeting weekly starting on August 23 and ending on November 1, on Tuesdays from 10:55am to 12:20pm online. Three short reflection papers will be required. No exam or long paper is required.

Syllabus: 611-11-Fall2022-syllabus.docx17.69 KB

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

In this one-credit Readings course, we will review the history of contraception and abortion cases and read Dobbs. We will consider both Justice Alito’s leaked majority opinion in Dobbs as well as the official opinion of the Court. We will also look at a variety of state laws that criminalize, ban or otherwise create civil liability schemes in an effort to ban abortion. We will focus throughout on the extent to which the intersection of pre-1973 law and 21st century surveillance compromises or eliminates the physical, decisional, and informational privacy of women and people who can become pregnant. We will discuss the surveillance that is likely to characterize a post-Roe world, and what criminalization of abortion and civil liability schemes (TX, OK) could mean for privacy more broadly. Finally, we will consider how and whether a decision overruling Roe v. Wade may affect other substantive due process rights including those recognized in Griswold, Eisenstadt, Lawrence and Obergefell. Students will be assessed on a combination of reflection papers and a collaborative presentation. 

Class Meets: 8/25; 9/8; 9/22; 10/6; 10/20; 11/3; 11/17; 12/1

This one-credit C/NC readings class will explore the changing landscape of reproductive rights and the implications of those changes in the fight for social justice.  As Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Therefore, drawing on the expertise of various members of Duke Law School’s faculty as well as outside guest speakers, the course will examine the struggle for reproductive justice through the lenses of criminal law, international human rights, health justice, free speech, immigration, racial justice, and more.  We will also examine the difference between reproductive health, reproductive rights, privacy and technology, and reproductive justice frameworks within the social change ecosystem, and the increasing emphasis on centering marginalized voices in advocacy efforts.

The class will meet 8 times throughout the semester for 90-minute sessions, and will be offered credit/no-credit.  Open to 2L, 3L and LLM students.  Enrollment cap is 18.  Class will be collaboratively taught by Duke Law faculty.  Reflection papers will be required.

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

The seminar will meet six times over the course of the semester. In each of the first five meetings, we will watch and discuss an episode of the documentary. The class will be divided into teams of two with each team responsible for leading the discussion of an episode. For the final meeting, we will discuss lessons learned; each team will write a ten-page paper on the topic, which will be due the week before our sixth meeting. I would like to schedule the class meetings for 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday or Thursday. After registration, I will ask students to indicate which time they prefer. I will schedule our meetings at the time that will accommodate the most students, up to the maximum number enrolled in the course.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of the transgender community both historically and in the current political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine transgender experiences in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the experiences of transgender people, starting with an overview and definition of terms, with subsequent classes focusing on transgender history, health disparities, criminal legal system, and transgender children. We will devote two classes to a discussion of legal rights, including employment, education, and bathroom access on both the state and federal level pre- and post the current Trump administration. These classes will tie into the North Carolina controversial HB2 bill.  Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

The detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base has been ongoing for eighteen years. Of the 40 detainees still held at Guantanamo, two have been convicted after trial by military commission, and eight have charges pending for trial by military commission. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the most fundamental constitutional, international-law, and law-of-war questions raised by these detentions and military commission proceedings. This one-credit readings course will focus on those questions. The class will examine the underlying constitutional, policy, and international-relations dilemmas involved, identify the set of potential resolutions, and consider the ramifications of each.

Grades will be based on weekly reflection papers and class participation.

This course will meet for the first seven weeks of classes.

This Readings Course will examine the role race has played since the birth of the nation in driving immigration policy both in terms of who is permitted to enter the United States and who is targeted through enforcement. Topics will include the Chinese Exclusion Act, the national origin quota system, Japanese internment, the Bracero program, post-9/11 registration, expansion of immigration enforcement through the criminal justice system, and the narratives constructed around Latinx, Black, Asian, and White immigration. We will analyze the response to these policies by Congress, the courts, and the public. Students will be required to engage with written and other documentary material through drafting regular blog posts, commenting on other students’ posts, and a final reflection paper.

Students must take this course, or U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law (LAW 351), prior to or during enrollment in the Immigrant Rights Clinic.

This one-credit readings class will allow students who are interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to learn more about them and the associated legal and policy issues. We will explore the emerging legal landscape around cryptocurrencies, looking at crypto’s use in crime; the application of money transmission laws; the Initial Coin Offering phenomenon and Bitcoin-based investment products; the CFTC’s classification of Bitcoin as a commodity; taxation of cryptocurrencies; governance and accountability challenges for decentralized systems like cryptocurrencies; and other emerging legal issues, such as how to regulate decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. This course will be of interest to students who want to advise fintech/crypto startups or who are otherwise just interested in learning more about the fascinating world of cryptocurrency.

The class will meet in eight 95-minute sessions, weekly starting on August 25 and ending on October 13. One short writing assignment is required to be submitted at the end of the class.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the rise and fall of Theranos under the leadership of its founder, Elizabeth Holmes. Through readings and discussion, students will examine the story of Theranos, primarily through Wall Street Journal writer John Carreyrou’s book, Bad Blood, and consider the decisions made both by the company’s leadership and affiliated lawyers. We will look at the company’s corporate governance model (including investor base and board composition), consider the ethical obligations and conduct of the lawyers and analyze Elizabeth’s Holmes’ leadership using Frances Frei and Anne Morriss’ “leadership trust triangle.” Particular attention will be given startup culture, the cult of the founder and our own sense of ethical lawyering in challenging circumstances. This course should be particularly interesting to students planning to practice in the emerging companies/venture capital space and for anyone interested in serving as corporate counsel.

Prerequisite: Business Associations.

The class will meet in [eight, 85-minute sessions, weekly starting on August 25 and ending on October 13, on Tuesdays from 10:55am to 12:20pm.] Three short reflection papers will be required. No exam or long paper is required.

Course Overview: In the United States, the school-to-prison pipeline is a national crisis wherein students have been increasingly funneled from schools into the criminal legal system. The policies and practices that fuel the school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities, as well as students facing poverty and other social factors. This readings course will examine the school-to-prison pipeline and related topics such as school discipline, school policing, mass incarceration, and juvenile justice. Students will also discuss and evaluate legal and policy solutions to dismantling the pipeline.

Class Format & Participation: This class will meet weekly to discuss the assigned readings. Students are expected to attend all seven classes and participate in discussions and class activities.

Class Format & Grading: Grading is Credit/No Credit, and there will be no final paper or exam, but attendance and participation at each session is mandatory. To help prepare for our discussions, students are required to write a brief (1-2 page) reaction paper in advance of each class. Reaction papers should engage with some of the themes in the assigned readings, and they offer an opportunity to raise a question, curiosity, or observation that can jump start our class discussion. Reaction papers should be uploaded onto the course’s Sakai site before 7:00pm the evening before class.

Syllabus: 611.36.Fall2021-syllabus.docx25.31 KB

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

Review specific section descriptions to see if they can be used towards a specific degree or certificate requirement.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of the transgender community both historically and in the current political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine transgender experiences in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the experiences of transgender people, starting with an overview and definition of terms, with subsequent classes focusing on transgender history, health disparities, criminal legal system, and transgender children. We will devote two classes to a discussion of legal rights, including employment, education, and bathroom access on both the state and federal level pre- and post the current Trump administration. These classes will tie into the North Carolina controversial HB2 bill.  Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Syllabus: 611.11.Fall2020-syllabus.docx17.37 KB

This one-credit readings course will focus on the doctrinal and theoretical issues surrounding state constitutional law and localism. We will address issues such as interpretation of state constitutions; state constitutions as the source of both negative and positive rights; the "new preemption" of local government; the role of mayors and municipal government is setting public policy, political polarization and localism, and related topics. Class will meet every other week. Evaluation will be based on class participation and reflection papers. C/NC.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Law and governance are often conceptualized as a means of controlling violence. But law also channels, approves, and even inflicts violence. This reading group will explore some of the foundational thinking about the intersection of law, violence, and justice—particular topics include state-directed violence, the resistance of tyranny (including public and private racial oppression), management of private violence (including self-defense), and other issues suggested by student participants.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Despite spending more per capita on healthcare than any other nation, the United States exhibits more health inequality—across class, race, and geography—than any other industrialized country.  The Covid pandemic has exacerbated many of these structural inequalities. This course will examine sources of structural inequality that are associated with propagating health disparities, inspect how these inequalities have shaped the Covid pandemic, and explore potential reforms that might mitigate inequality in a post-Covid world.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Some populations in this country, particularly low-income communities and communities of color, experience disproportionate environmental burdens and enjoy fewer environmental amenities. These communities are described as suffering from a lack of ‘environmental justice.’  This readings course will focus on both environmental justice and environmental injustice, and consider advocacy options for achieving equity.  Through readings and discussions, students will explore the importance of collective responsibility and community-driven efforts to pursue environmental justice. A central tenet of this course is that environmental justice is achievable through the remedying of systemic and structural conditions, including racism and privilege, that lead to inequity.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

This Readings Course will examine the role race has played since the birth of the nation in driving immigration policy both in terms of who is permitted to enter the United States and who is targeted through enforcement.  Topics will include the Chinese Exclusion Act, the country quota system, Japanese internment, the Bracero program, post-9/11 registration, expansion of immigration enforcement through the criminal justice system, DACA recission, the Travel Bans, border policy, and the narratives constructed around Latinx, Black, Asian, and White immigration. We will analyze the response to these policies by Congress, the courts, and the public. Students will be required to engage with written and other documentary material through drafting regular blog posts, commenting on other student’s posts, and a final reflection paper.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Class will meet for the first ten weeks.

The coronavirus pandemic upended American capitalism and forced the Federal Reserve (Fed) and central banks around the word to take drastic steps to keep money flowing throughout the financial system. The Fed dusted off its 2007-09 financial crisis playbook and expanded it with unprecedented lending facilities that target corporate America directly. What is the purpose of these programs, how do they work, and what tools remain in the Federal Reserve's toolbox to help aid the economy during these unprecedented times? This  half-credit reading course will attempt to answer these questions. The course will meet in-person, with an online option for those who cannot attend physically, on Thursdays at 7pm. Students will be evaluated based upon class participation and a short writing assignment due at the end of the course.

Class will meet 5 times throughout the semester for 75 minutes each class.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

This readings course will use current articles in the financial press as a jumping-off point for deeper explorations of issues at the intersection of law and corporate finance.  Students will take the lead in selecting both the topics and readings, with guidance from the instructor.  The goal is to sample relevant readings from a wide range of sources, including law and finance scholarship, government reports, court cases, first-hand accounts from market participants, etc.  No prior coursework or experience in this area is required for students wishing to enroll in the course.

This Readings section may count as an LLM-LE elective.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

This readings course will examine selected topics in bankruptcy law and policy, focusing on bankruptcy law's response to the coronavirus crisis.  The pandemic has already lead to a sharp acceleration in business bankruptcy filings, and analysts warn of a coming wave of consumer bankruptcy cases.  How should the bankruptcy system deal with these cases?  Can bankruptcy law effectively address the economic fallout from the pandemic?

This course will be evaluated on a CR/NC basis.  Students will be awarded credit based on class participation and three short reflection papers addressing the assigned readings. 

Class will meet 4 times for 90 minutes each class meeting.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

In recent years, there has been growing pressure on profit-seeking corporations to pursue social goals. In light of the pandemic, social inequalities, and growing concerns about climate change, this trend will likely increase. This reading group will survey the different legal mechanisms for combining profit and social missions, including the recent IPO of the special benefit corporation, Lemonade, California’s law requiring the appointment of women to corporate boards, and Opportunity Zone funds, the recent government program for increasing investment in low-income communities. The inquiry will focus on what types of structures best align investors’ interest in profit-making with different social purposes.

This Readings section may count as an LLM-LE elective.

This one-credit readings course explores sentencing and punishment.  The class will meet six times on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  The tentative class schedule is September 2, 16, and 30, October 14 and 28, and November 11.  The readings will provide perspectives on sentencing and punishment, including the perspectives of defendants, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims, and probation officers.  The readings will examine guideline and nonguideline sentencing schemes and other sentencing topics.  Students will prepare brief two-page reflection  papers and participate in class discussion.  Grading will be on a credit/no credit basis. For 3Ls with a deeper interest in this topic, Judge Dever will consider supervising independent study projects, including those with structured Substantial Research and Writing Project requirements.  Any such paper will be no longer than 25 pages and is due no later than December 21, 2020. 

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Each of the eight sessions will meet for 45 minutes to discuss a circulated set of materials focused on an emerging legal issue in the field of corporate or securities law. There is no prerequisite that you have been previously enrolled in either of those classes in law school.  Readings for each class will be approximately 10-15 pages. The award of credit will be based on equal weighting of class participation and a memo addressed to a policy maker briefing him/her on the reasons for the position you recommend the policy maker take in the new regulatory administration regarding the issue raised in the circulated readings.

This Readings section may count as an LLM-LE elective.

This Readings section counts as a PIPS elective.

Syllabus: 611.31.Fall2020-syllabus.docx12.87 KB

Description:  This .5 credit credit/no credit readings course will discuss three recently-published books that analyze why, when, and how civil society groups choose to litigate cases before international human rights courts as a way to promote legal and social change.  The focus will be on advocacy strategies before two regional human rights tribunals—the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—and the extent to which the judgments of these courts have led governments in each region to improve their human rights practices. 

Prerequisites:  Completion of one or more courses relating to international law, international human rights, and/or international adjudication, or by permission of instructor.

Requirements: 

• Read and be prepared to discuss excerpts of the following three books, all of which are available for download from the Duke library catalogue:
  • Heidi Nichols Haddad, The Hidden Hands of Justice: NGOs, Human Rights, and International Courts (2018)
  • Lisa Sundstrom and Valerie Sperling, Courting Gender Justice: Russia, Turkey, and the European Court of Human Rights (2019)
  • Jillienne Haglund, Regional Courts, Domestic Politics, and the Struggle for Human Rights
• Attend six class meetings on Thursdays from 7PM to 8 PM on dates to be determined.  We will read approximately half of the except assigned for each book for each class.  Whether the class will meet in person or on Zoom is to be determined.
• For one class meeting, prepare at least three (3) questions based on the assigned readings to be circulated to all participants at least one day in advance.  These questions should critically engage with the author’s arguments, identify strengths and weaknesses, and suggest alternative explanations for the phenomena the described in the book.

This one-credit readings class will explore the ongoing opioid crisis. Drawing on the expertise of various members of Duke Law School’s clinical faculty, the course will examine the origins and impacts of the opioid crisis from a variety of perspectives. Students will examine the relation of opioids to criminal justice, impacts on children and youth, and health impacts, including treatment, prevention and insurance access. Additionally, students will explore environmental and international human rights connections. The course also will examine issues of corporate responsibility and the role of data in addressing the crisis. Finally, we will examine how lawyers can address the crisis through medical legal partnerships and policy solutions. Throughout the course, students will use the lens of race and class in examining the origin, response, and impacts of the opioids crisis. The class is pass/fail and students will be evaluated through several reflections papers and class participation.

Description to follow.

One credit, C/NC

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

This one-credit readings course will focus on the doctrinal and theoretical issues surrounding state constitutional law and localism. We will address issues such as interpretation of state constitutions; state constitutions as the source of both negative and positive rights; the "new preemption" of local government; the role of mayors and municipal government is setting public policy, political polarization and localism, and related topics. Class will meet every other week. Evaluation will be based on class participation and reflection papers. C/NC.

The detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base has been ongoing for seventeen years.  Of the 40 detainees still held at Guantanamo, two have been convicted after trial by military commission, and eight have charges pending for trial by military commission.  The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the most fundamental constitutional, international-law, and law-of-war questions raised by these detentions and military commission proceedings. 

This one-credit readings course will focus on those questions.  The class will examine the underlying constitutional, policy, and international-relations dilemmas involved, identify the set of potential resolutions, and consider the ramifications of each.

Reading Summaries, Issue Introductions, and Discussion Questions

At the start of each class, one student will give a brief (< 5 min.) summary of the readings for that week and provide a brief (< 5 min.) introduction of the major legal issues posed. 

All students other than the one presenting the session’s reading summary and issue introduction will email a discussion question arising from the readings to me (morris@law.duke.edu) and my assistant (Leanna Doty, leanna.doty@law.duke.edu), by 4:30 on the day of the class.

Final paper:  Carefully define, and then address in a ten-page essay, a question arising in or from the course readings and discussion.  The paper will be due on the last day of exam period.

This reading course considers the history of the Fourteenth Amendment, starting with the early stages of Reconstruction (1862-65) and ending with the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and the implications of that history for constitutional theory. The course is based on a book project arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment failed, for at least the first half of its life, to entrench the principle of equality for black Americans secured by the Civil War and Reconstruction. We will explore the reasons for this failure and for the eventual revival of the Amendment’s principles in Brown and the Civil Rights Movement. That exploration will focus both on the original meaning of the Amendment and the various modes of living constitutionalism – changes in public opinion and electoral outcomes, the activities of social movements, and common law constitutional evolution in the courts – that altered the Amendment’s meaning over time. The course will offer students both a window on a crucial but generally neglected period of constitutional history and the opportunity to participate in the development of a major scholarly project. Students will be expected to do 3 or 4 response papers over the course of the semester.

Grading Basis: Credit/No Credit

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of the transgender community both historically and in the current political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine transgender experiences in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the experiences of transgender people, starting with an overview and definition of terms, with subsequent classes focusing on transgender history, health disparities, criminal legal system, and transgender children. We will devote two classes to a discussion of legal rights, including employment, education, and bathroom access on both the state and federal level pre- and post the current Trump administration. These classes will tie into the North Carolina controversial HB2 bill.  Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings.

 

Advertising is intended to persuade. The ultimate goal is to prompt recipients to take action.  If successful, ads produce a relationship that, among other things, implicates the law. Usually the result is a contract.  A recurring, but largely under-analyzed, issue is whether the content of pre-contract ads has legal significance.  The historical trend of the law has been to be dismissive of the arguments that statements in ads are actionable.  Often it is found that the content of ads is not specific enough or, alternatively, that effect on any given consumer is uncertain.

This Readings course explores interdisciplinary sources to provide more information about the cultural role of advertising and the actual behavioral impacts of the medium. There is, for example, a significant question whether any individual ad actually affects behavior.  On the other hand, advertising exists because of a belief that it is an effective tool to influence consumer preferences.

We will also examine how advertising messages intersect with the law of contracts.  The relevant concepts are those that relate to the topics of effective consent, misrepresentations, and warranties.

The assignments in the course will include readings, short written submissions, projects, and discussions.  The instructor is very attentive to the fact that this is only a one hour course and that the total workload should be limited accordingly.

The class will meet in two-hour segments and will not extend over the entire semester.  The class will end before the examination period.

 

Financial technology companies (FinTechs) have disrupted the financial industry, challenging the conventional roles of financial regulators and institutions in the provision of financial services. Scholars have evaluated the underlying technologies and assessed how this new industry fits within existing regulatory regimes. However, few focus on what might be the most transformative promise of FinTechs – creating greater access to affordable financial services. This promise may or may not be curtailed by trying to fit FinTechs within existing regulatory regimes. 

This readings seminar will (i) explore the impact of the U.S. financial system on financial inclusion throughout history and (ii) re-imagine a financial system that contemplated FinTechs at the outset. Would the system be completely different or only slightly tweaked as the current trends in reform suggest?  In this readings seminar we will answer: What are FinTechs? What is financial inclusion? How has the existing financial system and regulatory regime operated to advance (or inhibit) financial inclusion? How can FinTechs serve the goals of financial inclusion? If given a clean slate that contemplated FinTechs, what would our regulatory regime be? Certain topics this readings course will cover include: the history behind and effect of the dual-banking system, consumer protection financial legislation (including the Community Reinvestment Act), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, public banking and securities regulations (including Regulation A+).

This 1-credit course will be open to 12 students and meet for 2-hour sessions bi-weekly. This course is assessed on a credit/no credit basis, which will be determined by the quality of each two-page analysis of assigned class readings and participation in class discussions. Business Associations is the only pre-requisite for this course, but it is recommended that students take Securities Regulation, FinTech Law and Policy and/or Big Bank Regulation.

 

Is law like love, as W.H. Auden famously suggested? This reading groups wants to explore relations between law and love: is love anathema to law? is it its necessary foundation? Can the law incorporate love? What do we mean by love, what do we mean by law? In other words, this is not a class about the regulation of love or sexuality, it is a class about relations between two important things in our lives. We may look at the role of love in commercial law, we may look at Christian love as an idea underlying civil disobedience in Gandhi and King, we may look at truth and reconciliation commissions as potential expressions of love, we may look at feminist approaches to law that are based on ideas of love and care, we may look at the idea of love for the law (just look at Psalm 119:97ff). I have ideas, but I also look forward to ideas coming from students.

We will have five class sessions at mutually arranged times, in which we will discuss readings on these or other topics. Students will be expect to have read the assigned texts, have responded to them in brief (2-3 page) reaction papers, and to discuss them.

The detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base has been ongoing for sixteen years.  Of the 40 detainees still held at Guantanamo, two have been convicted after trial by military commission, and eight have charges pending for trial by military commission.  The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the most fundamental constitutional, international-law, and law-of-war questions raised by these detentions and military commission proceedings. 

This one-credit readings course will focus on those questions.  The class will examine the underlying constitutional, policy, and international-relations dilemmas involved, identify the set of potential resolutions, and consider the ramifications of each.

The course will be graded on a credit/no credit basis, with the assessment based on attendance, active participation in class discussion, and a 10--page paper.  

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of the transgender community both historically and in the current political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine the transgender experience in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the transgender experience, starting with an overview and definition of terms, with subsequent classes focusing on transgender history, health disparities and transgender children. We will devote two classes to a discussion of legal rights, including employment, education, and bathroom access on both the state and federal level pre- and post the current Trump administration. These classes will tie into the North Carolina controversial HB2 bill.  Students will write three short reflection papers focused on the class readings.

 

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

In 1985, Günter Frankenberg called comparative law the “Cinderella of the legal sciences.” At the time, comparative law was marginalized as a discipline, and thoroughly undertheorized. Since then, both have changed: comparative law has received more attention, and there has been a healthy, if at times disorganized, debate on questions of method and theory.

The hope of the seminar is to provide an introduction into this methodological debate. Instead of treating method as a matter dealt with at the beginning of a comparative law study and then forgotten, we will make grappling with concepts like functionalism, transplants, and legal paradigms our main occupation. We will do so through a combination of seminal texts, overview articles, and brief examples of certain positions. After the seminar, students should have a clearer understanding not just of existing methods but also of their advantages and disadvantages; they should also feel better equipped to engage in methodologically sophisticated comparison themselves.

This one-unit readings course will meet on Thursdays from 4-5:50 PM during the first half of the spring semester. Students will have the opportunity to study and discuss ideas about leadership in a number of settings and law-related fields. Topics will include: (1) leadership within a law school (the respective roles of the Dean, administration, faculty, and student leaders); (2) the need for legal education to train future leaders (and ways to do it); (3) leadership in the judiciary; (4) leadership in the corporate law firm; (5) leadership in governmental institutions; and (6) leadership (or its absence) in American politics.
This one-unit readings course will meet on Thursdays from 4-5:50 PM during the first half of the spring semester. Students will have the opportunity to study and discuss ideas about leadership in a number of settings and law-related fields. Topics will include: (1) leadership within a law school (the respective roles of the Dean, administration, faculty, and student leaders); (2) the need for legal education to train future leaders (and ways to do it); (3) leadership in the judiciary; (4) leadership in the corporate law firm; (5) leadership in governmental institutions; and (6) leadership (or its absence) in American politics.

Readings will likely include excerpts from Deborah Rhode’s 2013 book Lawyers as Leaders; excerpts from Jean Edward Smith’s biography of Chief Justice John Marshall; contributions to a recent Stanford Law Review symposium on Lawyers and Leadership; academic work on judicial statesmanship; news articles about relevant current events; and an article Professor Siegel is writing that seeks to develop a restraining role morality for presidents and members of Congress that is similar to what constitutional law scholars have come to expect of federal judges (even if they are frequently disappointed).

This one-credit C/NC readings class will explore the continuing crisis of mass incarceration.  Drawing on the expertise of Duke Law School’s clinical faculty, the course will examine the causes of the explosion of the U.S. penal population, including the public and private structures and incentives that have enabled the crisis.  Students and faculty will trace the path of a prison inmate from the school-to-prison pipeline, to life and health care in prison, and ending with the problems faced after re-entry.  We will also examine mass incarceration under an international human rights framework, and discuss how the effects of mass incarceration are exacerbated by technological decision-making tools that implicate everything from sentencing to parole, and the search for housing and jobs.

The class will meet 8 times throughout the semester for 90-minute sessions, and will be offered credit/no-credit.  Open to 2L, 3L and LLM students.  Enrollment cap is 18.  Class will be collaboratively taught by faculty of the Duke Law Clinics.  Reflection papers will be required.

This seminar will provide an opportunity to reflect on the multiple causes of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.  Some clearer pathways to crisis are beginning to emerge, and studying these is timely given the constant demand for reform in financial regulation. 

Material for the seminar will consist of about three or four recent books that attempt to tie the events, dynamics and causes together.   We will also consider new pressures that could trigger another financial crisis.

Prior completion of Big Bank Regulation or Securities Regulation is highly desirable.

The seminar group will have an organizational meeting at the law school and subsequent meetings at Professor Baxter’s home in early evenings that work for everyone’s schedule.  Participants will be assigned in groups to one of the books and will be asked to prepare book reports for discussion at our meetings.

This discussion course focuses on readings that explore connections between the law, the practice of law, the legal system, and issues of current societal importance or interest. Each section of the course is expected to have a different specific focus and different readings.

Readings courses focused on public interest may count towards the Public Interest and Public Service Certificate.

This one-credit Readings class will focus on the evolving political and legal rights and experiences of the transgender community both historically and in the current political environment. Through readings and discussion, students and faculty will examine the transgender experience in both the personal context and in the political context of the broader LGBTQ and re-thinking gender movements. Each class session will focus on different aspects of the transgender experience, starting with an overview and definition of terms, with subsequent classes focusing on transgender history, health disparities and transgender children. We will devote two classes to a discussion of legal rights, including employment, education, and bathroom access on both the state and federal level pre- and post the current Trump administration. These classes will tie into the North Carolina controversial HB2 bill.  Students will write two reflection papers focused on the class readings.

This course will meet for 8 weeks beginning September 13, 2017.

Advertising is intended to persuade. The ultimate goal is to cause recipients to take action.  If successful, ads produce a relationship that, among other things, implicates the law. Usually the result is a contract.  A recurring, but largely under-analyzed, issue is whether the content of pre-contract ads has legal significance.  The historical trend of the law has been to be dismissive of the arguments that statements in ads are actionable.  Often it is found that the content of ads is not specific enough or, alternatively, that effect on any given consumer is uncertain.

This Readings course explores interdisciplinary sources to provide more information about the cultural role of advertising and the actual behavioral impacts of the medium. There is, for example, a significant question whether any individual ad actually affects behavior.  On the other hand, advertising exists because of a belief that it is an effective tool to guide consumer preferences.

We will also examine how advertising messages intersect with the law of contracts.  The relevant concepts are those that relate to the topics of effective consent, misrepresentations, and warranties.

The assignments in the course will include readings, short written submissions, projects, and discussions.  The instructor is very attentive to the fact that this is only a one hour course and that the total workload should be limited accordingly.

The class will meet in two-hour segments and will not extend over the entire semester.  The class will end well before the examination period.

This one-credit class will use the crisis in Flint, Michigan – in which lead was allowed to leach into the drinking water of an entire city -- as a case study to allow students to explore the social and racial justice implications of a contemporary American tragedy that disproportionately affected mostly low-income, African-American residents. Through reading and discussion, students and faculty will study how institutions (government, corporate, nonprofit, etc.) contributed to the problem and how they should contribute to the solutions. Each class session will take a different approach so that the environmental, health, educational, and human rights implications can be seen. The role of lawyers – both in creating and solving the situation – will be examined.

This one-credit readings class will use the water crisis in Flint, Michigan as a case study to allow students to explore the social justice implications of a modern American crisis.  Through various lenses, students and faculty will read relevant materials and discuss topics such as: 

• How have institutions (governmental, corporate, nonprofit, etc.) contributed to the Flint crisis, and what roles should they play in creating solutions?
• What are the responsibilities of federal, state and local governments to protect the health of their citizens and to mitigate the health impacts of crises such as those faced by the citizens of Flint, Michigan?
• What role do scientists play in uncovering problems such as those found in Flint?  How can attorneys help residents get expert help in uncovering, confronting and resolving problems with their environment?  What incentives are acting to prevent scientists from pursuing the public good?
• Given the potential health consequences of early lead exposure, such as lower IQ, ADHD, learning disabilities and behavioral disorders, what might the impact be on educational outcomes for affected children?  What legal obligations does a just government have toward the children whose lifelong intellectual capacity may have been stunted due to exposure to lead? 
• Is there a disproportionate burden of lead exposure (and other environmental toxins) borne by low-income African American children, and what is the impact of this exposure on educational outcomes and the persistence of the achievement gap?
• What do international human rights law and its institutions say about Flint (including issues from right to water, right to health, right to education, non-discrimination and looking at how the UN  and regional bodies have/have not engaged with the crisis)?  How does a human rights lens changes how we assess the problems, solutions, and social change strategies in Flint?

The class meets in eight, 90-minute sessions. Two reflection papers will be required; other assignments may be required. No exam or long paper required. Course is taught collaboratively by the Duke Law clinic faculty.

Degree Requirements

• JD elective

• IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective

Pre/Co-requisites

None

This readings course will focus on the two central issues in contemporary telecommunications – net neutrality and the opening up of additional electromagnetic spectrum for new services. On net neutrality, we will address both its legality and its possible application to a variety of new services. On spectrum, we will consider different forms of spectrum usage rights (such as licenses, which have been the traditional form of usage rights) and the possibilities raised by technologies that can use ever-higher frequencies. Given the evolving nature of these issues, students in the course will be asked to do some research to contribute to the readings considered in the course, and to contribute actively to discussion in each class. We will have six class meetings during the semester at a time convenient to those registered for the course.

This course will convene a discussion around some of the many pressing issues facing the American criminal justice system that implicate race.  Our primary focus will be on the criminal trial, and we will use the recent documentary, OJ: Made in America, as our initial text for framing some of these issues.  Students will be expected to participate actively and candidly in each class.  The class will hold six meetings of two hours each, to be held on dates to be determined.

Financial market regulation, including Glass-Steagall and breaking up the banks, is a central platform for both parties in the 2016 presidential election; even though we are over eight years removed from the catastrophic 2007-2008 financial crisis.  If presidential and congressional candidates are to be taken seriously, there could be a substantial impact on the U.S. financial regulatory framework.  This readings course will begin with a survey of the current financial regulatory landscape before proceeding to analyze the relevant positions of the presidential candidates.  Our analysis will also incorporate bills currently being considered by the House and Senate that, if passed, would significantly reform portions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  As we assess potential changes to financial market regulation, we will strive to understand how these changes may impact the structure, activities, and profitability of regulated financial institutions.  Given the evolving nature of these issues, students in the course will be asked to do some research to contribute to the readings considered in the course, and to contribute actively to discussion in each class.

Concurrent or prior registration in either Big Bank Regulation or Securities Regulation may be helpful

In his book The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts, Richard Susskind proclaims “[the] end of the professional era” and then identifies numerous challenges that face the doctors, accountants, and, yes, the lawyers of tomorrow. Rapid technological change is making many uneasy. The legal community fears job loss, diminished service quality, loss of professional community, and much more. But this same technological change also offers tremendous potential opportunity for those willing to imagine a brave new era of legal practice. And, as Susskind himself invites, “professionals should become directly involved in the development of the systems that handle and deliver practical expertise.” This course aims to help us do exactly that: to understand, re-imagine, shape, and lead the next generation of legal practice.

 “Frontier Technologies of Legal Practice” is a one-credit, fast-track course meeting for 6 weeks of the fall semester (see dates below). Each class will include guest speakers and will focus on different aspects of the rapidly evolving technological landscape and the ways it will shape the practice of law in the next generation. Technologies will include those that are existing (e-discovery; big data, expert systems, etc.), emerging (artificial intelligence and machine learning; semantic systems, etc.), and those that have the potential to revolutionize the law and other industries in decades to come (blockchains and DAOs, etc.).

Of three primary ways of analyzing law tech—(1) the law of technology, (2) the technology of practicing law, and (3) the technology of the clients/industries lawyers serve—this course will focus on the latter two. Those interested in the law of technology (for example, how the law must respond and reshape in light of driverless cars), please consider the companion course, The Law of Robots & Exponential Technologies, which meets at the same time on weeks when this course does not meet (In other words, the courses were designed to allow you to enroll in both).

SPECIAL NOTES FOR STUDENTS:

*This 1-credit fast-track course meets only on the days noted above. Students will be responsible for careful class preparation, participation in class, and periodic response papers. Evaluation will be on a CR/NC basis. No prerequisites.

• Thursday 8/25
• Thursday 9/8
• Thursday 9/29
• Thursday10/20
• Thursday 11/3
• Thursday 11/17

Artificial intelligence technologies are advancing rapidly. Just recently, Google DeepMind’s artificial-intelligence program, AlphaGo, beat the greatest player in the world, Lee Sedol, at the ancient game of Go, a game in which there are:

208,168,199,381,979,984,699,478,633,344,862,770,286,522,453,884,530,548,425,639,456,820,927,419,612,738,015,378,525,648,451,698,519,643,907,259,916,015,628,128,546,089,888,314,427, 129,715,319,317,557,736,620,397,247,064,840,935

possible moves (in case you’re wondering, that’s more possible moves than there are atoms in the universe!). Self-driving cars (and delivery trucks, and motorcycles, and passenger planes) are being tested on highways around the world. Robots are providing nursing home care to seniors, fighting our wars, manufacturing and testing our everyday goods, and even providing emotionally responsive companionship. Cross-border transactions are happening with virtual currencies, without the use of any bank or, in many cases, the knowledge of any government.

All of these evolutions (if not revolutions) raise significant challenges for the law. And the pace of change in all of these areas is only growing more rapid. How will the law respond to exponential change? What happens when a self-driving car causes an accident? How do the rules of professional responsibility for lawyers respond when we augment our intelligence with rapid machine learning?  When a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) breaches a contract, upon whom do we serve process to initiate legal action? If a robot kills someone, can it possess the criminal intent to be charged with murder? And, even if so, would our current penal system matter to the robot at all?

The Law of Robots & Exponential Technologies aims to explore these questions through a survey of various exponential technologies and the legal regimes they disrupt. The course is meant as an introduction to these issues and, while some questions might be answered and some legal solutions might be found, the aim will be to help students develop a framework for answering these questions now and in the years to come. Students will also consider policy responses in light of the vast changes that may occur in our economic order as machines increasingly displace human labor.

Of three primary ways of analyzing law tech—(1) the law of technology, (2) the technology of practicing law, and (3) the technology of the clients/industries lawyers serve—this course will focus on the first. For those interested in how technology is causing rapid changes in the ways we practice law and the core industries we serve,  please consider the companion course, Frontier Technologies of Legal Practice, which meets at the same time on weeks when this course does not meet (In other words, the courses were designed to allow you to enroll in both).

SPECIAL NOTES FOR STUDENTS:

*This 1-credit fast-track course meets only on the days noted below. Students will be responsible for careful class preparation, participation in class, and periodic response papers. Evaluation will be on a CR/NC basis. No prerequisites.

• Thursday 9/1
• Thursday 9/15
• Thursday 9/22
• Thursday10/6
• Thursday 10/27
• Thursday 11/10

This course will convene a discussion around some of the many pressing issues facing American criminal justice that involve interactions between state actors and persons of color.  Primary focus will be on street-level policing, with some focus also on prisons.  A goal will be to examine some of the current legal problems involving race and criminal justice in their relevant social, economic, and psychological contexts.  Readings likely will include authors such as Michelle Alexander, Ta-Nehisi Coates, James Forman, Alice Goffman, Jonathan Pfaff, and William Stuntz, as well as materials relating to New York City’s stop-and-frisk litigation, the U.S. DOJ’s investigation of policing in Ferguson, Missouri, and other recent notable controversies involving police use of force.  One credit.  Six meetings of two hours each, to be be held on the following Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 7:00pm:  January 28, February 11, February 25, March 10, March 24, and April 7. 

This readings course uses fiction to explore the concept of difference and privilege in contemporary society, particularly in the context of race and gender. Among the themes explored are: what are the sources of privilege and how is it maintained; where do the unwritten rules by which people live their lives come from; why are these rules followed, even by those whose interests they do not serve; and why do some people challenge them and what happens when they do.  Four books will be chosen by the class from a list of novels by authors who include Ta-nehisi Coates, Toni Morrison, Ursula Hegi, Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, Nella Larsen, Valerie Martin, James Baldwin, Ernest Gaines, Edward Jones, Alice Walker, and Rohinton Mistry. There will be an organizational meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13 from 6-6:45 pm. to select books.  Thereafter, the class will meet from 6-8:30 pm on Jan. 27, Feb. 3 & 17, and March 16 & 30 (all Wednesdays); dinner will be available.  Brief (1-2 page) reaction papers are due before each of the 5 class meetings. This is a one-credit course, with additional 1-2 credits available for a longer paper.  The class is led by Professor Katharine Bartlett.

The list of books (with short summaries) from which the assigned novels will be chosen is available by e-mailing Professor Bartlett at bartlett@law.duke.edu. During the organizational meeting on Jan. 13, students are free to propose additional books.

 

Race and Federalism.  This course will use race a lens through which to view “the oldest question in constitutional law:” how we in the United States divide power and authority between the states and the national government.  We will examine the way that race has influenced the historical foundations and normative underpinnings of our federalism, and will explore how these understandings have evolved throughout American history. We will look at four moments in our constitutional history: the Founding; Reconstruction; the New Deal; and the modern federalism revival. Our aim is to better understand the impact that race has had and continues to have on federalism and federalism on race.  We will read some articles, some cases, and some public commentary.  This is a one-credit pass/fail course.  We will meet on the following six Fridays from 8:30-10:30 am: 1/29; 2/12; 3/4; 3/25; 4/8; and 4/15.  Brunch will be provided.  The class is led by Professor Charles and will meet at his house.