Courses

Engages 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 ethnical issues. Restricted to Law students only. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Examines basic regulatory and legal challenges of our information economy and digital age. Emphasizes the "Networked" information industries, the proper role of "Unbundling" policies to advance competition, and how intellectual property and antitrust rules should be developed. Restricted to Law students only. Prereq., LAWS 7201, 7241 or 7301. Same as TLEN 5620. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Stresses statutory interpretation of the various federal statues regulating the issue of corporate securities and the cases and regulations that have arisen out of those statutes. Restricted to Law students only. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Explores the fundamentals of effective negotiation techniques and policies for lawyers. Students engage in mock negotiations of several legal disputes. Restricted to Law students only. Credit is not given for LAWS 741 and this course. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Examines the law of the World Trade Organization and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Examines rules restraining national restrictions on trade that addresses tariff and non-tariff barriers, discrimination, regionalism, anti-dumping, countervailing duties, and safeguards. Considers the relationship between trade and other regulatory areas or social values, such as environmental protection, health and safety standards, human rights, intellectual property protection. Restricted to Law students only. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Explores the legal aspects of owning, managing, and participating in a successful family business system, including corporate structure, legal issues, succession planning and estate management, internal capital markets in private enterprise, ownership issues in private businesses, how lawyers can assist with family governance, planning for and managing family philanthropy, gender issues in family business, and conflict resolution. Restricted to Law students only. Recommended prereqs., LAWS 6104, 6157, 6211, and/or 7409 Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Examines the science of climate change and the broader role of science in public policymaking. Reviews the changing legal landscape to abate greenhouse gas emissions, and key issues in policy design. Reviews the Supreme Court's April 2, 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, overturning EPA's refusal to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from motor vehicle tailpipes, and the aftermath in the courts, Executive Branch and Congress. Restricted to Law students only. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Provides an introduction to energy law and regulation in the United States. Covers basic principles of rate regulation and public utilities, the division of jurisdiction between federal and state governments, and the key federal statues and regulatory regimes governing natural gas, electricity, and nuclear power. Focuses on the basic federal frameworks for natural gas and electricity regulation, with an emphasis on understanding the messy and uneven transition to wholesale competition in these sectors and, in the electricity context, the experience with state restructuring and retail completion. Restricted to Law students only. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

Investigates the legal history and current legal status of Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. Addresses other current topics such as tribal water rights, tribal fishing and hunting rights, tribal justice systems, religious freedom, and tribal natural resource and environmental management. Restricted to Law students only. Prereq., LAWS 7725. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

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. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.

LL.M students are required to write a thesis in order to graduate. Requires significant work of original research on a topic chosen in close consultation with advisors and other law school faculty, and assignments include due dates for topic selection, drafts, and workshop delivery. Thesis is worth two credits. In exceptional circumstances and only after pre-approval, an LL.M student may enroll for a third or fourth credit. Prerequisites: Restricted to Law students only.