Course Descriptions

Below is a list of currently approved courses in the Law School that may be offered. Click on the name of the course to see the years in which the course has recently been offered.

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Labor Law - LAWS 6511
Relates to labor unions and other collective aspects of employment, including the right of workers to form and join unions, to provoke collective bargaining and to strike and engage other forms of protest. Focuses on domestic law at the federal level and with a particular statute, the National Labor Relations Act, and the workings of particular agency, the National Labor Relations Board. Engages other sources of law, including constitutional law, as well as judicial decisions and other statues. 3 credits, letter graded.

Land Use Planning - LAWS 7154
Explores mechanisms for public control of private land uses, such as planning, zonin, and regulation of land development; including consideration of federal and state constitutional and statutory limitations on local governments. Offered in alternate years. 3 credits, letter graded.

Law and Finance for Entrepreneurs - LAWS 7451
Studies 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. Same as BADM 6910. 3 credits, letter graded.

Law and Mathematics - 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. 1-2 credits, letter graded.

Law and Religion - LAWS 7085
Uses judicial decisions as well as 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. Offered in alternate years. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 1 credit, letter graded.

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. (This practice course counts toward the 14 credit hour maximum of practice hours.) Course supported by the Section of Law Practice Management of the ABA in memory of Harold A. Feder, CU Law '59. 1-2, letter graded.

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. 1-2 credits, pass-graded.

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. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

Legal Ethics and Professionalism: Ethics and the Law of Lawyering - LAWS 6113
Continuation of LAWS 5103. Focuses on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Provides the nuts and bolts of the ethical rules needed to begin to explore externships, clinics, pro bono projects and other practice experiences during law school. prequires prereq of LAWS 5103. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 1 credit, letter graded.

Legal Ethics, Professionalism, and Creative Problem Solving - LAWS 5203
Developing reflective, creative problem solving and ethical legal professionals by touching a core set of issues facing lawyers, 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. 1 credit, pass-graded.

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). 2 credits, letter graded.

Legal Negotiation - LAWS 7409
Explores the fundamentals of effective negotiation techniques and policies for lawyers. Students engage in mock negotiations of several legal disputes. 3 credits, letter graded.

Legal Reasoning - LAWS 6823
This course of seven 100-minute classes aims to present legal reasoning skills crucial to the crafting and criticism of legal arguments. The classes will cover seven topics: rules and standards, the art of the legal distinction, dealing with legal contradictions, facts and framing, level of abstraction, baselines, and legal interpretation. 1-2 credits, letter graded.

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. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 2 credits, letter graded.

Legal Writing II - LAWS 5223
Students prepare appellate briefs and related documents and deliver oral arguments before a three-judge court composed of faculty, upper-division students, and practicing attorneys. Practice arguments are videotaped and critiqued. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2 credits, letter graded.

Legislative and Policy Research and Writing - LAWS 6323
This class aims to give students opportunities to develop and apply a variety of practical skills relevant to the legislative process. Weekly classes will cover the theoretical and practical aspects of law-making bodies: how statutory law is created through a variety of examples and in-class exercises, constitutional limits to law-making, ethical responsibilities for those involved in the process, and how lawmakers anticipate and shape the way the public and courts will interpret their work product. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

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. 1 credit, pass-graded.

LL.M Thesis - LAWS 9856
Provides eligible LL.M students the option to enroll in this two-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. 1-4 credits, letter graded. 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. 1-2, letter graded.

Local Government - LAWS 7255
Studies state legislative and judicial control of the activities, powers and duties of local governmental units, including home-rule cities and counties, and 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). 3 credits, letter graded.

Marijuana Law and Policy - LAWS 7618
Covers three distinct but interwoven topics: substantive law governing marijuana; policy rationales behind and outcomes produced by different approaches to regulating the drug; and the legal authority to regulate the drug. The objective is to prepare to handle legal issues that arise in practice but also to provide informed counsel on proposed an future reforms to the law. 1 credit, letter graded.

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. 2-3 credits, pass-graded.

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. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

Mergers and Acquisitions - LAWS 7411
This course provides an introduction to the legal rules and principles governing mergers and negotiated acquisitions. We will begin with an examination of the deal structures used in most common transactions. We will then typical provisions negotiated in merger agreements. Finally we turn to questions of the fiduciary duties of selling directors in the context of mergers and in negotiating the sale of the corporation. Requires LAWS 6211 or LAWS 7621. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

Moot Court Competition - LAWS 7106
Offers an 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. 1-2 credits, pass-graded.

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. 2 credits, pass-graded.

Natural Resources & Environmental Law Clinic - LAWS 7209
Offers hands-on experience in the practice of natural resources law in the Rocky Mountain region to a select number of clinic students. The clinic's docket of active cases focuses on public land law and the environmental statutes protecting those lands and their resources. Students participate in projects that test the full range of lawyering skills, including traditional litigation, administrative advocacy, legislative drafting, and the conduct of complex negotiations and settlements. 4 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

Parent, Child and State - LAWS 7135
Examines 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. Addresses rights of parents and children to freedom of expression and religious exercise, termination of parental rights and adoption, paternity orientation and culture in defining the family. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. Degree credit not granted for this course and ACCT 6430. Requires prereq of LAWS 6007. 3 credits, letter graded.

Patent Drafting & Prosecution - LAWS 7321
Covers transactions, and often high-tech deals involving intellectual property rights. Studies IP ownership; assignment or rights; commercialization transactions (licensing, distribution, strategic); antitrust; emerging issues. Gives students essential tools to draft and analyze technology contracts. Requires prereq of LAWS 6301 or 7301. 1-2, letter graded.

Patent Law - LAWS 7311
Covers selected topics, such as patentable subject matter, patentability and utilization of patent rights through licensing and infringement litigation. Covers practice and procedure of the patent and trademark office. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

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 intellectual properly generally, not just patents or in litigation. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

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. 1 credit, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

Poverty Health and Law Practicum - LAWS 7555
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 staff cases under the supervision of a Colorado Legal Services (CLS) staff attorney or a pro bono attorney working on behalf of CLS, and will develop competency in case planning, problem solving, cooperative decision making, and client counseling. 4 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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, health, violence, and immigrants. Students will also help with intake of clinic patients and support client representation by the attorney of record. 2 credits, letter graded.

Poverty, Health and Law Practicum - LAWS 7545
A service learning course in which students draw from the substantive materials studied in LAWS 7535 to develop competency in case planning, problem solving, cooperative decision making, and client counseling. Students will staff cases under the supervision of a CO Legal Services (CLS) staff attorney or a pro bono attorney working on behalf of CLS. Requires prereq of LAWS 7535. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 1-2 credits, letter graded.

Professional Communication in Business - LAWS 4226
Aims to teach students the rhetorical principles and writing practices necessary for producing effective business letters, memos, e-mails, reports and collaborative projects in professional contexts. The curriculum is informed by current research in rhetoric and professional writing and is guided by the needs and practices of business, industry and the professions. 3 credits, letter graded.

Property - LAWS 5624
Topics include personal property, estates and interests in land, landlord-tenant, basic land conveyancing, and private land use controls. 4 credits, letter graded.

Public Health Law & Ethics - LAWS 7465
Explores the legal and ethical dimension of public health. Focuses on topics that generate legal and ethical controversies, including governmental duties to protect citizens, nature and the extent of the government's ability to regulate conduct and responses to epidemics. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. Requires prereq or coreq of LAWS 6007. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2 credits, letter graded.

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. 3 credits, letter graded.

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. 2-3 credits, letter graded.

Research and Writing in the Regulatory State - LAWS 6223
Focus on developing in students the research, writing and analytical skills necessary to operate within any highly regulated field. Students will work broadly on research and writing skills required in a regulatory practice and narrowly on how that applies to particular areas of expertise, to gain an understanding of a particular area of the law. 3 credits, letter graded.

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