The Colorado Law courses and seminars listed below have been taught in the last three academic years, however, they are not always offered every year. Frequently, faculty develop new seminars to reflect current developments in the law and in their research interests; these seminars may be offered only periodically. The listed courses are taught regularly. Go to "Calendars and Schedules" to find a list of the courses and seminars being offered in the current academic term.
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Labor Law - LAWS 6511
Studies the subjects of evolution of labor relations laws; how a collective bargaining relationship is established; negotiation of the collective bargaining agreement; labor and the antitrust laws; and rights of the individual worker. The course materials frame the issue of how a developed or post-industrial democracy deals with the problems that arise out of the employment relationship: of the choices between laissez-faire, substantive regulation, and the private ordering of the employment relationship through the collective bargaining process. This course is offered at least every other year.
Land Use Planning - LAWS 7154
The course focuses on the regulation of private land use and development, with topics that include planning, zoning and other primary land-use regulatory regimes, as well as the constitutional and statutory limitations on the public regulation of land use. There are no prerequisites for this course.
Law and Finance for Entrepreneurs - LAWS 7451
Study of unique legal problems faced by entrepreneurs, including formation issues (choice of entity, rights of the founders, initial investors), operation issues (governance, key employees, intellectual property, financing), IPOs, and buy-outs.
Law and Mathamatics - LAWS 6270
Covers basic mathematical concepts frequently encountered in the practice of law. Examines the relationships between evidence, calculation, and truth. Intended especially for students who lack confidence in their math skills and/or have not previously studied statistics, but all are welcome.
Law and Religion - LAWS 7085
Uses judicial decisions and historical and theoretical materials to explore significant aspects of the relationship between law and religion. The religion clauses of the First Amendment are a central but not exclusive subject of study.
Law and the Holocaust - LAWS 6420
Explores comparative law, jurisprudence, conflicts of laws and international law. Examines the Nazi philosophy of law emanating from its egregious racial ideology, and how it was used to pervert Germany's legal system to discriminate against, ostracize, dehumanize, and eliminate certain classes of people. Studies the role of international law in rectifying the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a legal system designed to prevent a repetition.
Law Practice Management - LAWS 7609
Studies the establishment of a solo or small-firm legal practice. Topics include the business structure (PC, LLC, etc.) office systems, marketing and development, staffing, liability insurance, managing time, technology, and billing. Course supported by the Section of Law Practice Management of the ABA in memory of Harold A. Feder, CU Law '59.
Legal Analysis - LAWS 5064
Designed to help students develop the analytical skills necessary for success in law school and on the bar exam. Students will strengthen their core analytical skills, written communication skills, and ability to retain information. The ability to engage legal questions at the highest level is a skill that can be practiced and improved.
Legal Ethics and Professionalism - LAWS 6103
Examines the legal profession as an institution, its history and traditions, and the ethics of the bar with particular emphasis on the professional responsibilities of the lawyer. Discusses the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
Legal Ethics and Professionalism: What Kind of Lawyer Do You Want to Be - LAWS 5103
Explores both the kind of law students might decide to practice and the ethical, personal and professional commitments central to the practice of law.
Legal Ethics, Professionalism, and Creative Problem Solving - LAWS 5203
The goal of this course is to help develop reflective, creative problem solving, and ethical legal professionals. To do so, it will touch on a core set of issues that lawyers face, including the duty of confidentiality to clients and the hazard of conflicts of interest, providing students with an opportunity to confront these challenges in an interactive and engaged environment. By working through such issues, as well as methodological approaches for addressing them, the course aims to help students develop of a set of pre-commitments as to what type of professional they want to be and what it means to be a creative problem solver. Moreover, the course aims to provide a rich context on the real pressures and tensions that inhere in practicing law, such as the conflict between being a professional and a trusted counselor and, in most environments, billing clients by the hour.
Legal Imagination - LAWS 7418
Advanced course in reading and writing for law students. Varied literary and other works are read. May be of interest to the student interested in the question: Does my choice to become a lawyer mean the sacrifice of my ambitions to be a serious writer (or person)?
Legal Negotiation - LAWS 7409
Explores the fundamentals of effective negotiation techniques for lawyers. Students engage in simulations of legal disputes, transactions, and other kinds of negotiations.
Legal Reasoning - LAWS 6823
This course aims to present legal reasoning skills crucial to the crafting and criticism of legal arguments. The classes will cover topics that include rules and standards, the art of the legal distinction, dealing with legal contradictions, facts and framing, level of abstraction, baselines, legal interpretation, formalism and realism, policy analysis, the performative character of law, metaphors for law, and others.
Legal Research Skills for Practice - LAWS 6876
Focuses on preparing students to research in a transactional law legal practice. Students will learn how to research in transactional law subject areas using practitioner-focused research platforms, including Westlaw Practical Law, Lexis Practice Advisor, and Bloomberg Law. Students will also learn how to research corporate and industry data, property records and dockets as well as acquire other competencies and skills helpful for researching in a transactional law practice.
Legal Writing I - LAWS 5226
Provides an intensive introduction to the resources available for legal research. Students also prepare written material of various kinds designed to develop research skills, legal writing style, and analysis of legal problems.
Legal Writing II - LAWS 5223
Students prepare appellate briefs and related documents and deliver oral arguments before a three-judge court composed of faculty members, upper-class students, and practicing attorneys. Practice arguments are videotaped and critiqued.
Legislation and Regulation - LAWS 5205
Introduces lawmaking in the modern administrative state. Examines the way Congress and administrative agencies adopt binding rules of law (statutes and regulations, respectively) and the way that implementing institutions ? courts and administrative agencies ? interpret and apply these laws. Considers the structure of the modern administrative state, the incentives that influence the behavior of the various actors, and the legal rules that help to structure the relationships among Congress, the agencies, and the courts.
Legislative and Policy Drafting - LAWS 6123
Exposes students to the process of drafting and amending enacted legal texts such as statutes, regulations, and polities of both governmental and non-governmental entities. Students will critically examine lawyers' roles as counselors, advocates, and experts in different legislative and policy-drafting contexts.
LILAC Symposium Course: Leadership in Law and Community - LAWS 6808
Addresses issues in law, community, and leadership, explored through multiple pedagogies in teaching and learning, in a symposium-style setting. After introductory classes on the theme of leadership in law and community, and related topics of professional responsibility and personal identity, social change, creative lawyering, the course will turn to spring service projects in law and community. Uses pass/grading.
LL.M Thesis - LAWS 9856
Provides eligible LL.M students the option to enroll in this 2-credit LLM Thesis
course. The course requires a significant work of original research on a topic
chosen in consultation with a faculty supervisor and other law school faculty with set assignments for topic selection, drafts, and a workshop.
In exceptional circumstances and only after pre-approval, an LLM student may
enroll for a third or fourth credit.
LLM Seminar - LAWS 9846
LLM students study academic legal writing in this 1-credit per semester yearlong course. Topics covered will include: the purpose of academic legal writing; how academic legal writing differs from other forms of legal writing; topic selection; legal research (methods and ethics); first drafts; editing; academic workshops; and publishing. In addition, guest speakers will talk to LLM students about career planning and job seeking. International LLM students will learn about the American legal system. Restricted to Law students only.
Local Government - LAWS 7255
State legislative and judicial control of the activities, powers, and duties of local governmental units, including home-rule cities and counties; some problems of federal, state, and local constitutional and statutory limitations on governmental powers when exercised by local governmental units (e.g., the powers to regulate private activities, tax, spend, borrow money, and condemn private property for public uses).
Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project - LAWS 7285
Teaches students how to educate high school students in the local Denver Metro area high schools about the constitution, public speaking, and logical reasoning. Interested students must apply and requires a commitment teaching once per week in a local high school. Encourages individual development as teachers, writers, and critical thinkers and provides an opportunity to grow as colleagues and teammates.
Mediation - LAWS 7439
Explores mediation, one of the more important methods of alternative dispute resolution, and the legal issues that may arise related to mediation. Considers what kinds of persons and disputes are most appropriate for mediation. Includes role playing exercises.
Mergers, Acquisitions and Reorganizations - LAWS 7411
Studies the planning of corporate mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations, examining the application and integration of state corporate law, federal securities law, accounting principles, tax law, labor law, products liability law, environmental law, ERISA, and antitrust law. Prereq of LAWS 6211.
Mining and Mineral Development Law - LAWS 7122
Addresses major issues affecting the development of mineral resources in the western United States. Includes the regulation of the impacts of hardrock and coal mining and oil and gas development on the environment under federal and state laws. Covers the Mining Law of 1872, the Mineral Leasing Act, 'split estates,' and state regulation of mineral development
Motions Advocacy - LAWS 7169
Provides practical training in preparing and arguing pretrial, post-trial and chambers motions to an experienced federal judge based on materials from actual case files. Assigns some research papers. Limited to students with interest in trial advocacy and willingness to participate in confrontational exercises. Uses pass/grading.
Natural Resources & Environmental Law Clinic - LAWS 7209
In this clinic, students will engage in litigation and advocacy aimed at protecting the natural resources of the Rocky Mountain region. Students will represent clients in matters involving public lands, wildlife, and other resources. The seminar component will focus on practical aspects of environmental litigation, including administrative practice and decision-making, client representation, citizen suits, and ethical issues. No prerequisites necessary.
Non-Profit Law - LAWS 7251
Examines the legal and policy issues raised by non-profits. Topics may include the formation of a non-profit, qualification for federal tax exemption, the rise and role of private foundations, fiduciary duty issues, restrictions on political activity and private benefit, and the unrelated business income tax. Also focuses on broader social questions raised by giving, charities, and philanthropy.
Oil and Gas - LAWS 7102
Deals with the legal problems associated with private arrangements for the ownership and development of oil and gas: deeds and leases to oil and gas rights, trespass, adverse possession, implied covenants in leases, conveyances of fractional interests, and the interaction of private rights and conservation regulation.
Parent, Child and State - LAWS 7135
This course will examine the legal rights of parents and children in a constitutional framework, as well as the state's authority to define and regulate the parent-child relationship. This course will be offered every other year.
Partnership Taxation - LAWS 6167
Examines the federal income taxation of partnerships and other pass-through entities, which represent most small businesses in the United States. Topics may include the allocation of operating income and deductions among owners, contributions and distributions of property, and acquisitions and dispositions of partnership interests by partners. Prerequisite: Income Taxation (LAWS 6007).
Patent Drafting & Prosecution - LAWS 7321
This course will provide an in depth look into the strategic development and procurement of patents. Each class will include both substantive and experiential portions to give the student the opportunity both to learn and to practice patent preparation and prosecution skills.
Patent Law - LAWS 7311
Covers selected topics such as patentable subject matter, patentability, and utilization of patent rights through licensing and infringement litigation. Practice and procedure of the Patent and Trademark Office will also be covered.
Patent Litigation - LAWS 7323
Focuses on unique aspects of patent litigation: substantive patent law, civil procedure, federal jurisdiction and litigation strategy; includes claim construction, infringement, anticipation and obviousness defenses, unenforceability challenges, declaratory judgments, injunctions, damages, settlements, licenses and trial strategy. Of interest and useful to those interested in intellectually property generally, not just patents or litigation.
Philosophy of Law - LAWS 6508
Questions the nature of law, characteristics and considerations of a legal system, rights and from where they come; thinking like a lawyer, basic techniques of legal reasoning, difference between doctrinal and normative legal analysis. Explores law's frontier and what distinguishes law from morality or politics. Focuses on influential texts from the end of WWII to the end of the Cold War.
Post-Conviction Criminal Procedure - LAWS 6055
Addresses sentencing process and schemes, direct appeals, probation modification and revocation, parole revocation, pardon and commutation processes, post-conviction litigation and appeal in both state and federal court, federal review of state convictions through habeas and/or the AEDPA, and ethical issues that arise in post-conviction proceedings.
Poverty Health and Law Practicum - LAWS 7555
Interdisciplinary class involving students in medical-legal partnerships (MLP). Readings introduce law students to substantive areas of health and poverty law, while introducing public health students to legal and policy advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations. Students will work in MLP teams providing services to low-income patients to directly impact their social determinants of health by legal representation and public health advocacy. Students will also help to transform health care delivery model for low income patients by educating health care providers to identify social determinant issues and refer for legal and public health professionals. Legal services, provider education, and advocacy topics include the role of law and public health advocacy in addressing health disparities, standards of care for vulnerable populations, relationships between income, employment, housing, education, and health. Students will staff cases under the supervision of a Colorado Legal Services staff attorney or a pro bono attorney working on behalf of CLS, and will develop competency in community based advocacy, case planning, collaborative problem solving, cooperative decision-making, and client counseling.
Poverty Law - LAWS 7515
Explores the legal and policy responses to poverty in the United States and addresses how the law shapes the lives of poor people and communities. Examines the extent of poverty in the United States, the root causes, and the historical development of social welfare policy. Focuses on the rights-based aspect of poverty law and various policies that attempt to ameliorate poverty.
Poverty, Health and Law - LAWS 7535
Introduces students to the substantive areas of health and poverty law. Topics include health disparities and the role of law, cultural competence, standards of care for vulnerable populations, relationships between income, employment, housing, education, and health. Students will also help with intake of clinic patients and support client representation by the attorney of record.
Poverty, Health and Law Practicum - LAWS 7545
A service learning course in which students draw from the substantive materials studied in LAWS 7535 (Poverty, Health and Law) to develop competency in case planning, problem solving, cooperative decisionmaking, and client counseling. Students will staff cases under the supervision of a Colorado Legal Services (CLS) staff attorney or a pro bono attorney working on behalf of CLS. Prerequisite: Poverty, Health and Law.
Problem Solving, Professional Judgment, and Decision Making - LAWS 6813
Drawing from materials in psychology, behavioral economics, and mathematics, the course studies a range of patterns, fallibilities, and best practices concerning the complex problems commonly encountered by attorneys. Topics include general problem-solving strategies, techniques for operating in environments of uncertainty and complexity, empirically supported cognitive biases and errors, and strategies for recognizing and overcoming those errors.
Problem-Solving and Writing - LAWS 6816
Enhances students' ability to solve problems and writing concise coherent memos to clients or other legal documents outlining their legal analysis and strategic thinking. Uses diagnostic exams in which students are given multiple documents for fact patterns to begin their analysis.
Property - LAWS 5624
Topics include personal property, estates and interests in land, landlord-tenant, basic land conveyancing, and private land use controls.
Public Health Law & Ethics - LAWS 7465
Explores rules of law pertaining to the American public health care system and the ethical issues raised by federal, state, and local government efforts to protect the health of the American people through mandatory reporting, quarantine, health promotion, health surveillance, and other powers that necessarily challenge individual liberties. To be held at Health Sciences Campus.
Public Land Law - LAWS 6002
Deals with the legal status and management of resources on federal lands, including national forests, parks, and BLM lands. Explores federal law, policy, and agency practice affecting the use of mineral, timber, range, water, wildlife, and wilderness resources on public lands. Prereq. LAWS 6112.
Real Estate Planning - LAWS 7024
Considers various contemporary legal problems involved in the ownership, use, development, and operation of real estate, with particular emphasis on the federal income tax aspects of these issues. Topics may include sales, leases, and loans; choice of entity; leveraged partnerships; tax credit financing, foreign and tax-exempt investors; and real estate investment trusts. Prerequisite: Income Taxation (LAWS 6007).
Real Estate Transactions - LAWS 6004
Focuses on legal issues that arise in all phases of real estate transactions, with an emphasis on the role of the lawyer in the business of real estate as well as on the regulation of real estate markets.
Refugee and Asylum Law - LAWS 7605
Focuses on protections offered under international and domestic law for persons who are threatened by persecution or other adverse conditions in their country of origin. Covers who is a refugee and the protections they have or do not have under United States and international law.
Regional Human Rights Protection - LAWS 7450
Examines how human rights law and policy is created, interpreted and enforced within regional systems. Explores the main sources of human rights law including treaties, international customary law, constitutional law, municipal law, comparative law and principles; the jurisprudence of regional courts and tribunals, the institutions that support human rights advocacy and the cultural perspectives of affected communities and peoples.
Regulation of Financial Institutions - LAWS 7031
Focuses on the core banking law and works outward to cover a broader spectrum of bank-like financial institutions. Covers bank licensing, restrictions on bank business, regulating safety and soundness of banks, consumer protection of depositors and other bank customers, and regulatory examination and enforcement.
Remedies - LAWS 7433
Examines the types of relief available to vindicate various rights. Covers damages, specific performance, injunctions, and restitution. Emphasizes the planning aspect of enforcement, in view of the limitations and problems of proof associated with specific remedies.
Remote Externship Component - LAWS 7949
Accompanies remote externship placements and provides and opportunity for structured and interactive reflection on the educational experience afforded by the externship placement.
Renewable Energy Project Finance and Development - LAWS 6732
Examines renewable energy and how legal topics impact financing projects. Reviews structure, regulation, and functioning of electric energy industry and laws applicable to development, ownership and operation of renewable energy projects across technologies. Addresses legal policy, economic and financing issues associated with expansion and improvement of the transmission grid to support renewable energy development.
Representing Spanish-Speaking Clients - LAWS 6115
This course is a survey of the substantive law of matters likely to be encountered by attorneys representing Spanish-speaking clients in Colorado. Topics may include, among others, family law, criminal law, employment law, wage theft, and consumer rights. The course will not only introduce legal Spanish vocabulary, but more importantly, it will teach students how to communicate legal concepts so as to be understood by the clients.
Research and Writing in the Regulatory State - LAWS 6223
Focuses on developing the research, writing, and analytical skills necessary to operate within highly-regulated fields, focusing on topics chosen from those fields, such as environmental, natural resources, and energy regulation, food law, and health law regulation. Weekly research and writing assignments will focus on exposing students to the kinds of research (both regulatory and legislative) and the formal and informal writing produced by practitioners in these fields.
Rothgerber Moot Court Competition - LAWS 7106
Intensive involvement in legal research, appellate brief writing and oral arguments in a competitive context. Student finalists may continue involvement in regional and national competitions. Credit is limited to students who complete two rounds of the competition.