Course Offerings
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Winter 2024▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Introduction to Law, Justice, and Society
LJS 101 - Dean, Nathaniel
An introductory seminar providing a broad, historically grounded foundation in concepts and frameworks of law, along with basic familiarity with a range of forms of law in practice. Beginning with general questions regarding the nature of law, students then move to a survey of American law, focusing on direct student engagement with landmark cases. The seminar concludes with attention to law in international and comparative settings.
Introduction to Jury Advocacy
LJS 231 - Belmont, Carlys E. (Beth)
Graded Pass/Fail only. Introduction to the jury system, federal rules of evidence, and trial practice. Participants are introduced to the legal, practical, and policy implications of jury advocacy in the United States, and put that learning into practice through role plays as both witness and advocate. Members of the intercollegiate mock-trial team are selected from those who complete the courses successfully.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Voting Rights
LJS 295AA - Edobor, Maureen A.
This course surveys the law and policy governing voting access, political representation, and contested elections. The course will explore political, philosophical, and constitutional conceptions of the right to vote and how the electorate is defined in constitutional text, statute, and in practice. Readings will cover leading Supreme Court voting rights decisions from South Carolina v. Katzenbach, Baker v. Carr through Shelby County v. Holder and Allen v. Milligan. The course will begin with the development of the “right” to vote as a matter of constitutional law under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments during Reconstruction, then explore the multiracial coalitional movement precipitating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while parsing its' main provisions (dormant and active).
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Federal Income Tax of Individuals
LJS 295N - Drumbl, Michelle L.
A general study of individual income tax problems, including what is gross income, what is excluded from gross income, when and to whom income is taxable, tax aspects of divorce and separation, personal and business deductions, tax-free exchanges, capital transactions, with some consideration of the policy for various tax provisions and the growing complexity of tax law.
Topics in Law & Legal Studies: Family Law
LJS 295Q - Belmont, Carlys E. (Beth)
A study of legal problems of the family (including non-marital families). Topics discussed include the relationship of the parent, the child, and the state, with emphasis on adoption, child custody, and neglect; the creation and dissolution of marriage; the rights of family members to property, support, and service; and, reproductive decision making.
Topics in Law: Global Environmental Governance: Law, Economics, and Policy
LJS 295S - Drumbl, Mark A.
This course examines challenges to the integrity and well-being of the global environment. Its approach is primarily legal, drawing from international law, but also incorporating perspectives from economics, philosophy, and ecology. The class begins by setting out core legal principles. It then moves though a series of case studies, that include climate change; trade and globalization; biodiversity and intellectual property; deforestation and poverty; marine resources; environment and war; and transboundary movement of hazardous substances. Assessment is by thought-piece research paper and every student teaching a specific case-study.
Law, Justice, and Society Research Capstone
LJS 395 - Dean, Nathaniel
This capstone builds upon the foundations developed in LJS 101 and the courses taken as electives for the LJS minor, emphasizing interdisciplinary exchange and education. It incorporates peer-to-peer learning, including opportunities for students to educate each other on topics and issues from their selected research topics and major disciplines. The central element is a significant independent research project. This project is carried out with continual mentoring by a faculty member. Students document their research in a formal paper and in an oral presentation summarizing their research results.
Law, Justice, and Society Experiential Capstone: The Legal Clinical Experience
LJS 396 - Boaz, Matthew S.
A capstone building upon the foundations developed in LJS 101 and the courses taken as electives for the LJS minor. The central element is participation within or alongside one or more of the Washington and Lee Law School clinics, each of which provides direct legal services to low-income persons in Virginia or West Virginia. The work is carried out with continual mentoring by faculty and third-year law students. Students document and reflect upon their work in writing throughout the term and submit a final oral and written presentation summarizing and reflecting on their experience.
Tutorial in Trial Preparation and Procedure
LJS 431 - Belmont, Carlys E. (Beth)
Graded Pass/Fail only. Preparation for and participation in intercollegiate mock-trial competitions. Participants prepare a case based on an assigned set of facts and assume roles of both lawyer and witness in the classroom and competition.
Fall 2023▲
See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.
Introduction to Law, Justice, and Society
LJS 101 - Dean, Nathaniel
An introductory seminar providing a broad, historically grounded foundation in concepts and frameworks of law, along with basic familiarity with a range of forms of law in practice. Beginning with general questions regarding the nature of law, students then move to a survey of American law, focusing on direct student engagement with landmark cases. The seminar concludes with attention to law in international and comparative settings.
Introduction to Jury Advocacy
LJS 231 - Belmont, Carlys E. (Beth)
Graded Pass/Fail only. Introduction to the jury system, federal rules of evidence, and trial practice. Participants are introduced to the legal, practical, and policy implications of jury advocacy in the United States, and put that learning into practice through role plays as both witness and advocate. Members of the intercollegiate mock-trial team are selected from those who complete the courses successfully.
Topics in Law: Decedents' Estates and Trusts
LJS 295B - Light, Matthew W. (Matt)
A study of the gratuitous transfer of property by will, by intestate succession, and by the use of testamentary and inter vivos trusts.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Mass Media Law
LJS 295D - Murchison, Brian C.
A study of legal issues involving First Amendment protection of the mass media. Issues include prior restraint, the libel tort and current legislative reform efforts, the torts of invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, press access to government proceedings, reporter’s privilege, and selected problems relating especially to the electronic media, particularly the regulatory role of the Federal Communications Commission.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Corporate Social Responsibility
LJS 295F - Vinayagamoorthy, Kishanthi (Kish)
This seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) introduces students to environmental and social concerns relating to the conduct of transnational corporations worldwide and the different approaches proposed for integrating beneficial environmental and social policies into transnational business operations. As part of the course, students will examine the impact of transnational corporate activity on a broad spectrum of stakeholders and evaluate international, national, and sub-national efforts to promote corporate social responsibility, including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. This course also challenges students to consider the prospects for regulation of international public goods by private actors. Students will evaluate whether CSR objectives are better achieved by (a) a traditional governance framework dominated by government actors, (b) “self-regulation” by transnational corporate society, or (c) public-private partnerships between these two sets of actors. By evaluating these questions, students are invited to consider the potential role of transnational civil society in making, interpreting, and enforcing international law.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Intellectual Property
LJS 295G - Seaman, Christopher B.
This course is an introduction to intellectual property (IP) law. IP law involves legal protection for “creations of the mind,” including inventions, discoveries, artistic and creative works, brand identifiers, and product design. This course will introduce students to the major doctrines that govern IP — patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret law — and the competing policies behind them. It is intended both for students who are interested in a general overview of IP and for students seeking a gateway to more specialized IP courses.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Mass Atrocities
LJS 295K - Drumbl, Mark A.
This interdisciplinary course touches upon criminal law, international law, film, literature, psychology, jurisprudence, and political science. One aim is to think about the role of law and legal institutions in societies that have suffered gross human rights violations. Another aim is to consider what sorts of legal responses are appropriate to deal with perpetrators and also meet the needs of victims and survivors. Case-studies include: Nazi Germany, Bosnia, Rwanda, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, the U.S. post-9/11; as well as complex themes such as child perpetrators, sexual violence, and the defense of “following orders.”
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Law of Money in Politics
LJS 295L - Haan, Sarah C.
2020 marks the ten-year anniversary of Citizens United v. FEC . This 2-credit seminar will provide an in-depth look at the problem of money in American politics, and the evolution of laws (and private ordering) to address it. Special consideration will be given to the role of the corporation in electoral politics, and to matters that arise during the 2020 federal election. Subjects covered will include: the Tillman Act, the Buckley framework, McCain-Feingold, corporate political speech rights, Citizens United v. FEC , Super PACs, corruption and bribery, the rise of digital advertising and surveillance capitalism, foreign election interference, the role of virtual currencies in electoral politics, and campaign finance disclosure.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Federal Income Tax of Individuals
LJS 295N - Pollard, Randle B.
A general study of individual income tax problems, including what is gross income, what is excluded from gross income, when and to whom income is taxable, tax aspects of divorce and separation, personal and business deductions, tax-free exchanges, capital transactions, with some consideration of the policy for various tax provisions and the growing complexity of tax law.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Jurisprudence Seminar
LJS 295T - Bell, Melina C.
This seminar will explore feminist and queer theories of law and their implications for contemporary controversies. Issues addressed are likely to include some of the following. How are gender, sexual identity, and sexual orientation socially and legally constructed? Is American law intrinsically patriarchal, androcentric, heterosexist and/or transphobic, and how might it protect more inclusively the rights and interests of persons living in the United States? What do inclusive theoretical frameworks surrounding legal rights and responsibilities look like? How do intersecting marginalized identities based on race, ethnicity, ability, religious identity, etc. interact within these frameworks? How would inclusive, fair, and just basic institutions of society be structured? For example, how would law regulate and/or support marriage, parenthood, market work, care work, education, health care, sexual autonomy, and reproductive rights? How would it address various forms of public and private discrimination, including violence that is gender-based, homophobic, or transphobic?
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Comparative Constitutional Law Seminar
LJS 295U - Miller, Russell A. (Russ)
This course provides both grounding in the methodology of comparative constitutional law and in-depth exposure to the comparison of the United States (common law tradition) and German (civil law tradition) constitutions. The comparison is conducted by reference to key features of all constitutional arrangements, including: constitutional foundations (the locus of sovereignty; the State and the law); organization of power (separation of powers; federalism); rights of citizens (models of rights protection; judicial review). The course focuses on two countries as points of comparison in order to fully develop the theory that constitutionalism is deeply a matter of social context.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Election Law and Voting Rights Seminar
LJS 295V - Seaman, Christopher B.
This seminar will examine the constitutional and statutory law governing elections and voting rights in the United States. We will first study the doctrinal development of voting rights as a matter of federal constitutional law under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The next major topic will be the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including minority vote dilution litigation under Section 2 and federal review of voting procedures under Section 5, as well as recent constitutional challenges to voting rights remedies. We then will examine state laws related to elections and voting rights, including legislative redistricting, voter and citizenship identification laws, and felon disenfranchisement. Finally, we will discuss the federal campaign finance system and the First Amendment.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure
LJS 295W - Trammell, Alan M.
Federal courts, at both the trial and the appellate levels, are limited in the cases they can properly decide by the explicit language of the Constitution and the implications of the concept of federalism embodied in the Constitution. The essence of this course is the examination of the jurisdiction of the federal courts in the light of these limitations, the study of specific procedures, e.g., removal, is a distinctly secondary concern. Examined are the development of the federal judicial system, congressional control of the distribution of judicial power among the federal and state courts, review of the state court decisions by the Supreme Court, federal common law, federal question jurisdiction in the federal district courts, and control of state official actions by federal courts.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: Healthcare Law
LJS 295X - Lee, Tiffany A.
This course broadly examines healthcare law in the United States. Topics include (1) the organization and finance of the healthcare industry; (2) the complex system of laws and regulations governing the delivery of, and payment for, healthcare services; (3) the problems of access to healthcare and control of healthcare costs, including the impact of the Affordable Care Act, state and federal managed-care regulation, the effect of ERISA on health insurance, the Medicare and Medicaid Programs, and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act; (4) issues presented by the organization of the healthcare enterprise, including medical staff privileging, labor and employment problems, fraud and abuse, and antitrust; (5) ensuring quality in the healthcare system via the licensure of healthcare providers and the enforcement of quality standards through medical malpractice actions against both individuals and healthcare institutions; and (6) the manner in which acceptable healthcare outcomes depend upon responsible bioethical decision-making in the face of changing technology and increased consumerism.
Topics in Law and Legal Studies: National Security Law and Practice
LJS 295Y - Mackie, Arthur W. (Will)
This course will cover the United States national security legal framework and how that framework is manifested across fields of law. There have been important legal changes in the post-9/11 environment and those changes continue to evolve rapidly. From a foundational perspective, the course will examine the real or perceived prerogatives of the President and the distribution of power among the three branches. There will be a focus on the tension between national security and key civil liberties - such as the First and Fourth Amendments, Due Process, Privacy, the Writ of habeas corpus, and statutory protections. Topics covered will include intelligence gathering; terrorism; detention; the PATRIOT Act; espionage; role of the military; cybersecurity; telecommunications; and legal processes. In addition, we will review topics with practical implications for attorneys across all branches of government and the impact of national security law on criminal prosecutions.
Tutorial in Trial Preparation and Procedure
LJS 431 - Belmont, Carlys E. (Beth)
Graded Pass/Fail only. Preparation for and participation in intercollegiate mock-trial competitions. Participants prepare a case based on an assigned set of facts and assume roles of both lawyer and witness in the classroom and competition.
Spring 2023▲
We do not offer any courses this term.