Course Offerings

This course will examine the enforcement of the federal securities laws and related white-collar crimes from the perspectives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff, the Department of Justice, and defense counsel. An important focus of the course will be discussing the relevant statutes, regulations, case law, and other legal principles, and applying them to practical situations that arise in government investigations. The required weekly reading will consist of securities enforcement cases, statutes, regulations, and other relevant documents. Given the highly evolving subject matter, many classes will include a short discussion of recent developments. As events occur during the semester, we may supplement or replace the reading materials to account for current events and changes in the law. Additionally, at points throughout the semester, we will have 'practical' classes that will involve workshops in which students will be expected to demonstrate their understanding of the course material in simulated real-world settings.

This overview of the federal securities laws focuses primarily on the Securities Act of 1933. Topics covered include the definition of a security, the registration of securities offerings with the Securities & Exchange Commission, exemptions from registration, secondary distributions, and civil liabilities.

Selected areas of judicial administration and judging that are too narrow for a full-semester course. Topics may include judicial case management, the judicial role in criminal and civil matters, the role of judges or courts in society and literature, comparative approaches to judging in different legal systems, etc.

This one-week course will examine various aspects of the sentencing process, with an emphasis on the federal system. We will cover a variety of topics, including an overview of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, how the federal system contrasts with non-guideline sentencing systems, the legal and societal objectives underlying the imposition of sentences, and the factors deemed relevant to sentencing decisions.  We will also discuss various aspects of sentencing from the perspectives of the key players involved: the prosecution, defense, the court, and victims. Last we will cover the forms of punishment that comprise sentencing; the role of mandatory minimums; and sentencing policy reform.

This semester you and your classmates will engage in class discussions and exercises related to case preparation, pre-trial procedure, jury selection, opening and closing statements, witness examinations, and the appeals process.  The goal will be to learn more about how to persuasively argue cases before judges and juries.

International Civil Litigation - This class builds upon concepts developed in the basic civil procedure course and explores their implications in the transboundary setting.  Topics include international human rights litigation, personal jurisdiction over foreign corporations, suits against sovereign governments, foreign forum selection clauses, foreign antisuit injunctions, international discovery, and foreign judgment enforcement.  Additionally, the course offers a brief comparative assessment of international litigation and international arbitration as various forms of dispute resolution.

This seminar will explore the criminal regulation of sexually-based offenses and sexualized violence. The course aims to examine the rationale for the criminalization of certain sexual behaviors, the definitions of harm, and the collateral consequences for sex offenders. We will explore the theoretical and historical underpinnings of the development of sex crime laws and their interconnection with race, class, power, and privilege. We will also reflect on issues relating to agency and consent as well as the balance between protecting the public and comporting with constitutional due process in the context of surveillance and registration of sex offenders. Class topics will include rape, sexual assault law, human trafficking, prostitution, child sexual abuse, revenge porn, sexting, and sex offender registration laws. Students will gain an understanding of the unique issues facing prosecutors and defense counsel, such as rape shield laws, how to work with victims, how to defend the accused, the admissibility of hearsay evidence in limited circumstances, and how to work with experts. Students will debate policy issues concerning victimization, redressing harm, and the role of sex crime laws in the context of mass incarceration.

This course will examine the evolving constitutional and legal rights of the LGBTQ community. We will begin by exploring the historical evolution of the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians, examining doctrines of privacy and equality as they have evolved to protect LGBTQ individuals. The course will explore ongoing legal battles over religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws, the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, employment discrimination, and family law questions (including parentage, adoption, divorce, and alternatives to marriage). We will examine these issues critically, including by addressing concerns over federalism, free exercise, the democratic process, and the proper role of the courts. Throughout the course, students will explore key due process and equal protection concepts and learn how to frame and develop constitutional arguments. This course will focus on numerous procedural and justiciability issues that are critical in civil rights litigation.

Characterized by a scientific rather than normative emphasis, legal sociology focuses on empirical patterns of legal behavior, such as initiation and winning of law suits, origins and content of rules, and the development of legal institutions. Most literature has addressed case-level variation and the course will reflect this. But instead of analyzing cases in terms of the applicable rules and policies, lectures and readings will invoke the social characteristics of participants (e.g., social ties, status, marginality, reputation and organizational affiliations) to predict and explain case outcomes. Sociological techniques by which social differentials in cases (discrimination) might be minimized will also be studied. Modern American materials will be emphasized.

This course teaches the skills and prioritized steps necessary to thrive either as a solo practitioner or a young associate in a small firm. It will focus on efficient, daily tasks that cover all eight departments of a law firm essential for success. Students will learn how to pick the right practice area, create a blueprint for growth, which reports to monitor and how to read them, how to originate client work by increasing the value of client service, how to know the return on investment for all marketing verticals offered to law firms and how to delegate to technology through workflows and automation. Students will study how to profitably build their own virtual law firm, combining theory, pragmatic implementation and real life examples from small firm owners.

In this minicourse, students will learn the legal and practical considerations concerning the welfare of companion animals. The course covers approaches to animal welfare taken by animal sheltering organizations; state and local laws governing the care of companion animals; and current topics in animal welfare. Students will complete short written assignments both during the term of the course and as a final project. Note: This is an undergraduate course.

In this minicourse, students will learn the legal and practical considerations concerning the welfare of companion animals. The course covers approaches to animal welfare taken by animal sheltering organizations; state and local laws governing the care of companion animals; and current topics in animal welfare. Students will complete short written assignments both during the term of the course and as a final project.

Analysis of any kind first depends on the ability to research and evaluate sources effectively.  This course will provide students with skills and vocabulary necessary for basic research in the modern American setting. In addition to providing students with skills that will help them on any research paper, this class will also expand upon other courses that discuss current laws or politics, including Modern American Legal Theory – JURI 4199/6199; Bureaucracy and the Law – PADP 4690; Sociology of Law – SCOI 4830; and any of the “Law as Professional Practice” courses.  

This course will cover legal issues concerning “sports law,” a wide-ranging topic that will include sessions on antitrust issues relating to sports league structures, stadium-development transactions, professional team counsel priorities (e.g., stadium operations), labor and employment issues (including collective bargaining agreements, strikes and lockouts), insights into broadcasting and media agreements in sports, athlete representation and agency law, NIL regulations for collegiate athletes, and intellectual property matters in sports law and related issues (e.g., rights of publicity).

Judge Britt Grant of the Eleventh Circuit will lead students in consideration of a range of issues in modern standing jurisprudence. The course will culminate with a class-wide mock oral argument of a recent case raising cutting edge questions concerning the law of standing.

This course explores common principles of state and local government with a strategic focus on key aspects of Georgia law. The course will combine practical advice with some theory. Issues addressed include organizational structures of local governments, authority granted to them by the U.S. and Georgia Constitution, and various ways they exercise (or attempt to exercise) their power. The class may explore these concepts generally and in the context of specific subject areas including but not limited to annexation, home rule, immunity, incorporation, intergovernmental agreements, employment, service delivery strategies, regulatory authority, taxation, and zoning. This course will introduce students to varied forms of writing and research associated with a professional practice in this area and reflect on professional roles and responsibilities.

This course will consider the role of state constitutions in the development of U.S. constitutional law. Particular attention will be paid to Judge Sutton's book, 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. Justices Blackwell, Nahmias, Peterson and Warren of the Georgia Supreme Court will lead sessions focused on the Georgia Constitution. Students will write short papers and make presentations based on their research. The course will be graded on a pass/fail basis.

The Summer Externship supports students working in governmental, judicial and private non-profit placements through a focused program of reading, reflection and professional development. Students gain direct exposure to the skills and methods of legal practice, focused application of legal concepts to real conflicts, and reflective appraisal of their own skills and abilities. each student engages in an ongoing conversation with the clinic supervisor through journals and interviews; together with readings, this contact expands and deepens the practical and jurisprudential learning gains in the field. Register for both 5965E (graded portion) and 5966S (pass/fail portion).

Supervised Research involves an in-depth written analysis of a legal issue under close faculty tutoring and supervision. It requires significant legal research, original thinking and analysis, and must produce final paper of a kind and quality similar to that found in law review articles.

Criminal tax investigations and prosecutions; constitutional defenses to the compulsory production of evidence; attorney-client privilege, confidentiality and other defenses available to taxpayers and third parties.

This course is a tax policy speaker series. It will feature presentations of works-in-progress by leading academics on a wide range of contemporary tax policy topics. Students will write a seminar paper related to the topics explored in the course.

This course will cover federal individual income tax issues that lawyers often deal with in practice. It will also cover tax policy issues that relate to incremental and fundament tax reform proposals that are under consideration at the time of the course.

The course will cover the taxation of various business entities, including (1) Partnerships (2) C Corporations, and, to a lesser extent, (3) S Corporations. The course will examine the tax consequences of formations, operations, distributions, and liquidations of these entities.

A focused, hands-on exploration of the use of technology in the practice of law. The course will cover the impact of technology on law and practice and the specific technology understanding and skills required of the modern lawyer. Students will complete hands on projects using practice management, document assembly, presentation and office productivity software.

Explores the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in the modern death penalty era beginning with the court’s decision in Furman v. Georgia. Specific focus will be on the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments’ heightened requirements in the capital sentencing context. Students will also discuss systemic failures and challenges in the administration of capital punishment.