Study

While enrolled in Law 242 Social Justice Lawyering, with prior professor approval, students may submit a 30-page research paper and earn an additional one credit for the course. This paper is in addition to all the other course requirements, including the written assignments, but may be related to your case study presentation.

The paper may be used to satisfy the upper level writing requirement, the LLM writing requirement, and/or the JD/LLM writing requirement. You must email Professor Gordon or McCoy by the end of the Registration Period and after enrolling in 242 Social Justice Lawyering if you would like to seek this additional credit; there are very limited spots, which will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

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.

Fraud, mortgage crises, banking regulation, tax evasion – these are bywords of our time but, of course, such concepts and concerns have a long history. Many of the foundations of modern law regarding property and obligation were laid in English courts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries –a period of remarkable commercial expansion, imperial overreach, and stock market plunges. How did developments in legal procedure and doctrine shape the course of socio-economic change in the modern age? And what kinds of impacts did commercialization and colonization have on English law in an era of expanding empire?

Readings will explore such questions through study of the development of the Anglo-American law of contract, mortgage, bankruptcy and trust.  Readings will also include works on the history of colonialism, labor law, welfare, and slavery. In examining some exemplary cases and works of historical analysis, we will consider the different social, political, economic and cultural contexts within which seminal legal changes occurred.

Requirements include class participation and completion of short response papers. 1 credit (graded on a credit/no credit basis). No exam or final paper, however students may, if they wish, receive 2 credits upon successful completion of an additional 15-page paper. Variable Credit.

Students have the option to complete an additional 15-page paper in Law 619 Readings: Commercial Law and Society in Historical Perspective for an additional credit. *LAW 619W MUST be added no later than 7^th week of class.*