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This course explores the practice of law from the perspective of an in-house counsel. Students will spend 1-2 days each week in a corporate legal department where they will have work assignments and experience firsthand the inner workings of a legal department. A 2-hour seminar each week will supplement the on-site work with discussions about relevant substantive topics and opportunities to build skills through drafting projects and simulations. In lieu of a final exam, students will prepare an appraisal with critical reflections about their externship and an oral presentation.

A second-semester exploration of the practice of law from the perspective of an in-house counsel. Covers legal and practical issues typically encountered in an in-house practice.

This course teaches concepts and methodologies used by corporations in major financing activities, as well as legal issues that may arise in those activities. Course materials are divided into four parts: equity financing, debt financing, valuation methodologies, and financial derivatives. For equity financing, discussions will focus on the IPO process, ADRs and GDRs, rights offerings and stock repurchases. For debt financing, discussions will focus on bond features and trading environment, bond issuance, valuation and risk management, convertible bonds, key provisions in an indenture and legal implications, characteristics of medium term notes and commercial paper programs. For valuation methodologies, discussions will focus on discounted cash flows, net present values, and dividend discount models. For financial derivatives, discussions will focus on options trading, pricing and risk management, the futures market and interest rate swaps. Securities Regulation helpful, but not required.

This seminar provides an in-depth study of a series of corporate law and governance topics, from both theoretical and practical perspectives. We will focus primarily on the governance of for-profit, publicly traded corporations. The general topics include some or all of the following: theories of the corporation, corporate social responsibility, the role of the board of directors, board composition and structures, institutional investors, shareholder activism, executive compensation, corporate political spending, the financial crisis, and comparative corporate governance.

This seminar provides an in-depth study of corporate law and governance topics from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Focusing primarily on for-profit, publicly traded corporations, topics may include: corporate social responsibility, board composition and structures, institutional investors, shareholder activism, executive compensation, corporate political spending, financial crisis, and comparative corporate governance.

This course explores the inner workings of expedited and summary litigation, problems in the organization and functioning of a corporation, and mergers and transfers of control. Students will be given the opportunity for hands on experience in litigating corporate cases through oral argument. This course will also include discussion of the scholarly theories of corporate law, statutory and judicial law relating to corporations, and Delaware's prominence in corporate law.

The great economist and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman famously stated that a corporation has "one and only one social responsibility - to increase its profits." Is this true today? As evidenced by the passage of the landmark Dodd-Frank legislation in 2010, the conduct and performance of several of America's leading corporations in recent years have seriously undermined confidence in U.S. businesses and their leaders. This course will explore contemporary trends in corporate governance and will examine whether a responsible corporation can integrate relevant societal concerns, such as environmental matters, and actually strengthen long-term shareholder value and the sustainability of both the corporation and the society in which is exists. This course is pass/fail.

Examination of legal structures aimed at promoting environmental, social, and economic sustainability of corporate activities, with particular emphasis placed on how publicly traded companies are governed and regulated in some of the world's leading commercial and financial jurisdictions. The seminar further considers the intersection of corporate law with other legal fields and disciplines that impact corporate sustainability.

This course covers the taxation of corporations and their shareholders. Major topics include: contributions of property to corporations, distributions and redemptions by corporations, and taxable and tax-free mergers and acquisitions.

Examination of problems in the organization and functioning of a corporation, including such matters as disregard of the corporate entity, management and control, federal regulation of insider trading, proxy solicitation and shareholder voting, derivative actions, and special problems of the close corporation.

This course is an introduction to the American judicial system designed specifically to provide future journalists with the knowledge to accurately and responsibly report on legal issues.

This is a class about the carceral state, which is a term used to speak about one particular mode of organizing, distributing, and justifying government power in American society. What is unique about the carceral state is that it uses the criminal punishment system to achieve its goals: Specifically, police, prosecutors, prisons, criminal courts, and sometimes even borders and welfare agencies, work on its behalf. We will examine the carceral state in great detail, with a particular focus on how it came about, how it sustains itself, the role it plays in society, and how and why it may be changing. We will start by looking at the history of policing and prisons in both the North and South, trace its development from the mid-19th century to the present day, and discuss the current debates about abolition.

This class is also about mass incarceration. You may have heard this term, and may have heard some of the statistics that often accompany its use, including for example the number of people under some form of custodial supervision in the United States and the overrepresentation of people of color in this pool. Nowadays, many people have decided mass incarceration is a serious problem.  A question worth asking, however, is whether the prescriptions put forward to “fix” mass incarceration have any chance of succeeding. One of the many problems with these “solutions” is that they have misdiagnosed the problem. We will work to correctly diagnose the problem and study the various proposals for reform. This course will be reading intensive. You can write one long paper or several shorter papers throughout the course. I expect active and lively debate. My goal is to offer a critical historical and sociological context that will help you better understand criminal law and procedure in operation. Come with an open mind and I can (almost) guarantee a memorable experience.

Examines criminal activities that harm non-human animals, including a review of applicable laws, legislative drafting considerations and practical application, special challenges inherent in working with animal victims who are also legally considered property, managing animals that are themselves dangerous, evidentiary and trial practice considerations, and Fourth Amendment search and seizure.

The Criminal Defense Practicum places law students inside public defender offices throughout Georgia - including the Atlanta, Northern, Northeastern, Piedmont, Stone Mountain, and Western Circuits.  Students perform part-time externships within a selected public defender office under the supervision of one of more staff attorneys.  The externship is coupled with a weekly seminar where a range of issues related to criminal law practice and indigent defense systems are discussed.
 

Criminal Defense Practicum I is an introduction to the inner workings of the public defender system and local courts. Students work part-time with a supervising attorney and assist with client and witness interviewing, case investigation, legal research and writing, and courtroom advocacy under the Student Practice Rule. Admission to CDP 1 is through an application and interview process. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. 4 credit hours.

The Criminal Defense Practicum places law students inside public defender offices throughout Georgia - including the Atlanta, Northern, Northeastern, Piedmont, Stone Mountain, and Western Circuits.  Students perform part-time externships within a selected public defender office under the supervision of one of more staff attorneys.  The externship is coupled with a weekly seminar where a range of issues related to criminal law practice and indigent defense systems are discussed.

Criminal Defense Practicum II is for students who have previously taken Criminal Defense Practicum I. In CDP II, students continue working in a public defender office and engage in the full range of advocacy implicated in criminal defense. Admission to CDP 2 is through an application process and enrollment is through permission of the instructor. 4, 5, or 6 credits. 

The Criminal Defense Practicum – Summer Semester is designed for students who plan to work in a public defender officer and are seeking course credit. Students will arrange their own public defender externship, working at least 20 hours per week over 7 weeks. The program is fully remote and there is no weekly seminar, and so students can work in a public defender office anywhere in the country. There are regular assignments and remote meetings with the instructor throughout the semester. 

There are no prerequisites. CDP – Summer Semester is also available to students who have previously taken CDP 1 or CDP 2. 

2, 3, or 4 credits.  

Enrollment is through application and permission from the instructor. 

Exploration of contemporary criminal justice reform efforts, in particular “progressive prosecutors.”   Prosecutors hold significant discretion to make policy and control the enforcement of criminal law. A movement of “progressive prosecutors” seek to use that discretion in reforming the criminal legal system and reducing mass incarceration. The course will familiarize students with the nuts and bolts of the criminal system and dive deeply into the world of modern prosecutors, who are using varied policy approaches to address violence, substance abuse, and racial disparities in the criminal legal system.  Grading will be based on class discussion and a research paper.

The historical development of criminal law as well as the analysis of the necessary elements of crimes and the consideration of the principal classes of crimes.

The fundamentals of document drafting in the context criminal law. Students will prepare documents that arise in a criminal law setting including charging documents, notices, motions, bench briefs, and orders. Students will examine the function of these documents within the criminal justice system, including applicable statutory and case law. This course will require students to produce various graded documents of increasing complexity. Students will receive feedback from the professor on all graded assignments.

Books about crime often grab the public’s attention, but how much truth do they convey? This course will explore the stories that both crime novels and true crime books tell and the reality of the criminal legal system behind those stories.