Courses

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.

Studies modern practice in civil suits, including rules governing pleading, joinder of parties, discovery, jurisdiction of courts over the subject matter and parties, right to jury trial, appeals, and res judicata and collateral estoppel, with emphasis on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and their Colorado counterpart. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Studies modern practice in civil suits, including rules governing pleading, joinder of parties, discovery, jurisdiction of courts over the subject matter and parties, right to jury trial, appeals, and res judicata and collateral estoppel, with emphasis on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and their Colorado counterpart.

Studies statutory and common law of crimes and defenses, the procedures by which the law makes judgments as to criminality of conduct, the purposes of criminal law, and the constitutional limits upon it.

Examines distinctions between white collar crime and other types of criminal activity and the needs for and arguments against white collar laws and law enforcement. Studies securities fraud, mail and wire fraud, insider trading, money laundering, false statements, conspiracy and criminal forfeiture statutes. Includes use of the grand jury, privileges applicable in the corporate setting, immunity,discovery and the impact of parallel civil proceedings. Examines effect of government policy on corporations and their counsel, pre-trial and trial strategy, jury selection, and victim notification and restitution options. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Focuses primarily on the constitutional limitations applicable to such police investigative techniques as arrest, search, seizure, electronic surveillance, interrogation, and lineup identification. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

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. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Advanced study and practice of written and oral appellate advocacy. Builds on the foundation established in the required first-year course in appellate advocacy, but provides more extensive coverage, practice, and evaluation. Personalized instruction in brief writing, including detailed, one-on-one critique of their work. Include advanced techniques for organizing and writing a brief,and advanced instruction on the strategy and process of oral argument. Required to research, write, and rewrite an appellate brief, and conduct several oral arguments. Attend oral arguments of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and the Colorado Court of Appeals. Prereq., LAWS 7106. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Studies the methods and forms of proof in litigation,including detailed consideration of hearsay, impeachment of witnesses, relevancy and certain restrictions on authentication and best evidence doctrines, and privileges. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Equips students to deal effectively with experts, whether as consultants or as adverse witnesses, and to enable the identification of a quantitative issue. Helps students to become multi-dimensional in quantitative literarcy. Enables students to be comfortable reading statistical arguments, performing basic analyses, writing about statistics, expressing quantitative ideas in graphs, questioning an expert, and understanding the power of computer programming.

Looks at structure and jurisdiction of the federal courts, emphasizing problems of federalism and separation of powers and their relationship to resolution of substantive disputes.

Students deliberate over several important cases as "Justices" of the Supreme Court. Class is divided into three "Courts" with the first hour spent in deliberation and the second hour in discussion of the deliberative process as well as the substantive issues.

Studies the history of the jury from ancient times through the implications of Apprendi, the grand jury from the time of Henry II through modern federal practice, and current jury selection procedures, both federal and Colorado, both civil and criminal. Experienced trial attorneys will work with students to demonstrate jury selection.

Focuses primarily on criminal procedure at and after trial. Looks at bail, prosecutorial discretion, discovery, plea bargaining, speedy trial, jury trial, the right to counsel at trial, double jeopardy, appeal, and federal habeas corpus.

Covers civil procedure in modern complex multiparty suits, including class actions in such settings as employment discrimination and mass torts, and problems in discovery, joinder, res judicata, collateral estoppel, and judicial management in such suits. Offered in alternate years.

Explores the admissibility of forensic science opinion and expert testimony, its use as evidence at a trial, and the challenges that such evidence may pose for the courts and the entire criminal justice system in the future.

Takes an in-depth look at some of the basic features of modern criminal justice systems that share the civil law tradition with the hope that such study will provide a vehicle for a deeper understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the American system of criminal justice. Prereq., LAWS 6045.

Focuses on a particular topic in criminal procedure. Topics include the privilege against self-incrimination, juries, and defense and prosecution ethics.

Develops a comprehensive description of dispute; creates a conflict assessment of the stakeholders in and dynamics of dispute; assess obstacles to and opportunities for mediation; recommend strategy for addressing and managing the dispute. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Contextualizes criminal law by engaging in an in depth study of the legal and social characterizations of victims and perpetrators in U.S. law, politics, and popular culture. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.