Below is a list of courses that are available for LL.M. students on either a yearly or rotating basis:
This is a skills building course. Increasingly, attorneys who litigate are doing so not before judges or juries, but before regulatory bodies or officers—for example, on issues of planning and zoning, unemployment/social security/workers compensation benefits, environmental permitting, property tax review, and asylum to name just a few. And while this course will sharpen the skills of anyone who wants to do trial work, unlike trial practice the art of advocating for clients in a regulatory arena has differences—oftentimes the adjudicators are laypeople, the rules of evidence do not apply, there may be no discovery, and one must master varying (by agency) procedural rules. This course will begin with a review of the administrative adjudicatory process, with a primary focus upon Maine law, but as a “practicum” will involve the supervised practical application of administrative and environmental law concepts. Students will develop necessary practical lawyering skills by engaging in a variety of written and oral advocacy exercises using a wind power project simulation. You will draft and orally present to classmates a client memo, op-ed, and a recommended decision on the project. Students will also conduct a short direct or cross-examination of expert witnesses, present an opening or closing argument, and address ethical issues.
Much of the world’s commerce moves by water. The admiralty law intersects with domestic civil law at many points, including defining the rights of seamen, passengers, certain landside workers, ship responsibilities, cargo rights, and insurance. The same admiralty framework extends to the fishing industry and pleasure vessels in many instances. This course will survey the general principals of the admiralty law in its many applications.
This course will examine selected legal topics not addressed – or addressed only at an introductory level – in Business Associations regarding the formation, organization, operation, and capitalization of the principal forms of business associations used today, including partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and for-profit business corporations. The content of the course may vary from year to year depending on the instructor and the matters previously covered in Business Associations. However, topics will likely include an examination of customary organizational, and related operational documents for the various forms of business enterprises; issues arising in connection with the issuance of stock, and other ownership interests, dividends and distributions; an enterprise’s redemption or repurchase of its shares or other ownership interests; valuation of a corporate or other business enterprise; the rights and remedies of preferred shareholders, bond holders and others who hold debt (convertible or other senior securities); mergers, acquisitions and other fundamental transactions; the securities regulation process and the exemptions therefrom; and the rights and liabilities of purchasers and sellers of securities. Prerequisite: Business Associations (LAW 601)
Using hypothetical situations based on actual situations, this course will offer students a hands-on journey through a variety of important commercial law transactions that are regularly encountered in today’s business world, including commercial financing arrangements, secured transactions, letters of credit, commercial guarantees, personal property sales and leases, and – time permitting – checks and electronic funds transfers, warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Students will gain experience in the various tasks that lawyers representing parties in these transactions typically undertake and in the preparation and negotiation of relevant commercial transaction documents. In addition, students will see firsthand how transactional lawyers can apply principles of commercial law to the process to make it more likely that their clients will realize their objectives in entering into the transaction. Prerequisite: Secured Transactions (LAW 629).
This course is designed to prepare law students to conduct effective legal research in any setting; while working on a scholarly article or paper, or working as a judicial clerk, as a practitioner in a firm, government, or solo practice. Students will learn about the development of legal research tools and how to evaluate print and electronic resources for currency, authority, comprehensiveness, and utility. By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the entire universe of legal resources, be confident when using online sources, and be able to conduct professional-level legal research in any field, on any legal topic. The course will be divided into two major segments: a lecture and discussion section and a practical “lab” meeting in the library. During these lab sessions the students will use the resources discussed in the lecture portion of the course to conduct hands-on research using traditional print resources as well as electronic resources. Grades will be based on a combination of class participation, research assignments, and two larger writing assignments: a website review and a pathfinder on a topic of the students’ choosing.
Students will be asked to craft individually five writings – letters, memoranda, legal documents, etc. The professor will work with students to edit these writings to final form that would satisfy the boss for whom students will eventually be writing in a real world context. The problems, with appropriate modifications, are drawn from matters the professor encountered as a public university administrator – Law Dean, Provost, University President. Upon the completion of these five individual assignments, we will shift focus. Students will have a separate set of problems and will be asked to demonstrate writing and other skills that young professionals need to have to advance in the workplace. These skills include teamwork, preparation of action agendas, verbal presentations, and the like.
This course considers alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as an important tool for the resolution of civil actions and family matters as well as disputes outside the judicial arena. ADR processes (including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation, and hybrid processes) are examined in a theoretical context and through in-class exercises/simulations.
Animal Law is a rapidly developing area of law and one which demonstrates the challenges of regulating and mediating the complex and sometimes mystifying relationship between humans and nonhuman animals. Tasked with questions such as whether depictions of animal cruelty are protected by free speech; how to regulate massive factory farms; why the Animal Welfare Act exempts so many laboratory animals used in experiments; whether it is proper to bait black bears with buckets of human treats; how to deal with wild horses or your neighbor’s bees; or whether dogs and cats may inherit millions of dollars, Animal Law attempts to balance interests and find workable solutions to problems that range from neighbor disputes and veterinary care to some of the most critical problems facing our species, such as stewardship of our planet, food insecurity, and the moral question of who can be a rights-holder. This course will cover selected topics in the field, including recent thinking about animal intelligence, using animals for research, food, and entertainment, animal activism, and animals as companions.
This course examines the control of private economic power through government enforcement and private damage suits under the Sherman and Clayton Acts. The topics considered include legal and economic concepts of monopoly power and monopolization; collaboration among competitors to restrain trade by fixing prices, allocating markets or customers, or by other conduct with the same effects; vertical relationships among firms at different levels of production that operate to restrain trade; and horizontal, vertical and conglomerate mergers.
This course will focus on federal bankruptcy law and practice. Coverage will include the study of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, as applied to business and consumer cases. The public policy issues implicated by the bankruptcy system will also be examined. A business bankruptcy case simulation will be used to teach the capstone module of the course. Prerequisite: Secured Transactions (Law 629).
The course will focus on two sets of issues: First, a range of current medical, legal, ethical issues will be examined – right to die, right to treatment, organ transplant, assisted reproduction (IVF), rights of handicapped individuals, parental control, and the continuing debate surrounding abortion and contraception. Second, we will examine a range of physician and hospital malpractice issues including discussion of issues arising in the context of medical research.
This course reviews principles of agency and the essentials of partnership, limited partnership, and the limited liability company. The primary focus of the course is the legal framework for the governance of the modern corporation. Topics considered include choice of organization, distribution of powers, fiduciary duties, questions of corporate governance, the special problems of closely held corporations, the regulation of securities transactions, mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers.
This course examines the process by which the American legal system resolves civil disputes, with a focus on federal courts. We will begin with the threshold issues of jurisdiction and choice of law, before studying each stage of the litigation process, from pretrial proceedings through the appeal. Throughout the course, we will consider how individual rules and the overall system seek to strike a balance between potentially competing ends such as fairness and efficiency. We will also see how procedural rules interact with substantive law and how the battle over procedure can shape the ultimate outcome of a case.
The course examines the principles used by the courts in choosing the law applicable to events and transactions having contacts with more than one jurisdiction. It also examines the reach of a jurisdiction’s domestic law, rules for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, and limits on jurisdiction to adjudicate in both interstate and international settings. Methods of harmonizing differing rules and policies in multi-jurisdictional transactions are considered.
This course examines issues related to the United States system of constitutional governance. We will cover the scope of federal powers and the structure of government (separation of powers and federalism), as well as the protection of individual rights (focusing on substantive due process and equal protection). A major focus of the course is the role of the judiciary in the American constitutional system. Although our coverage will be necessarily limited, this course will, nevertheless, provide students with the analytical skills needed to examine general questions of Constitutional Law.
This seminar is an in-depth study of cases that (a) were argued and decided in the United States Supreme Court during the 2014-15 term, and (b) were decided by the Supreme Court during the 2013-2014 term. The seminar gives students an opportunity to examine current American legal issues, the political dynamics of the court, and the ways in which cases are argued by lawyers and decided by judges. Rather than simply reading short excerpts of older Supreme Court decisions, we will study 1-2 cases in-depth each week, reading not only the full Supreme Court decisions, but also the parties’ cert petitions and briefs, amicus briefs, and listening to oral argument.
In addition to participating and leading class discussion, students will be required to write 2 papers: (1) a short paper analyzing one of the Court’s decisions from the 2013-2014 terms, and (2) either a brief for a case which has been appealed to the Supreme Court or a hypothetical Supreme Court opinion for a case in which briefs have been filed or in which the Court has denied the petition for certiorari.
This course begins by examining the elements generally required for the creation of an enforceable agreement, including offer, acceptance, mutual assent, consideration, and definiteness. Next, we will explore possible barriers to enforcement, such as unconscionability, duress, the statute of frauds, and capacity. Thereafter, we will study the methods by which the meaning of a contract is ascertained, as well as the various remedies available in the event a party breaches the agreement. In connection with these various topics, the Restatement (Second) of Contracts, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and the common law will be analyzed, compared, and contrasted.
This course examines the nature of the rights protected under federal copyright law and the types of work that qualify for protection, including literary, artistic, and musical works. This course also covers copyright duration, ownership, formalities, remedies for infringement, and principles of international protection. The Copyright Act of 1976 as amended forms the core statutory material covered by the course.
This course examines corporate and other organizational governance, ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility – essentially how institutions organize and operate for the long-term benefit of a broad range of stakeholders and manage their many diverse interests. The content draws on learning from legal and regulatory issues and pressures faced by business corporations, and also focusing on related issues for nonprofit organizations and public and quasi-public agencies. We will discuss accepted and evolving best practices in governance as well as emerging corporate social responsibility trends, and analyze highly publicized organization failures and misdeeds through the lens of governance and ethics; e.g., “where was the board and management, what were they thinking, and how could they have let this happen?”
Topics of study include an overview of corporate and organizational governance (definition, history, rationale and importance, board/management duties and functions, law and regulation, conflicts and tensions); identifying rights and responsibilities of stakeholders and key shareholder issues (shareholder activism, impact investing, conflicts of authority with boards and managers); legal and market forces driving organizations toward greater professed social responsibility and sustainability imperatives; ethics in businesses and other organizations; governance and ethics lessons from the great recession; and gatekeepers, including lawyer as business conscience. Students will have the opportunity to interact with CEOs and other executives, board members, general counsel, and nonprofit government leaders who will participate in class discussions from time to time. Evaluation is based upon class participation and two short writing assignments.
The Framers of the Constitution declared that an important purpose in creating the United States was to “establish Justice.” When it comes to criminal law,what does “justice” mean? How is it to be secured? A useful starting point is to understand that criminal justice is a system for allocating discretion among legislators, judges, juries, the police, prosecutors, and defense counsel and regulating the relationships among them. Our goal is usable knowledge; we “know” the criminal law by knowing how these institutional actors use (or should use) their discretion to seek justice.
This course is designed for students with a strong interest in pursuing a career in criminal law. Each week students examine one area of criminal law, for example: the intersection of technology and privacy; the supposed militarization of the civilian police force; the prevalence of “junk” science in criminal cases; capital punishment; the legalization, prosecution, and sentencing of drug crimes, etc. Throughout the term, students will have several opportunities to draft the sorts of legal documents and pleadings that criminal lawyers typically file. The overall course goal is to encourage future prosecutors and defense attorneys to think critically about the issues they will encounter in practice and to provide a forum for a lively discussion of hopefully diverse viewpoints.
At the heart of the criminal process is discretionary decision-making by prosecutors and defense counsel. The prosecutor has vast, unreviewable power over the charging decision. But with that power comes the responsibility to evaluate the truthfulness of potential testimony by cooperating witnesses, police officers, law enforcement experts, and alleged victims. Law by agreement of the prosecutor and defense counsel is the “law” that settles more than 90 percent of criminal cases, and the most important advocacy of defense counsel is often directed to the prosecutor. Before plea bargaining, the lawyers must evaluate everything that has gone before, such as the results of formal and informal discovery, the amount of time served pending trial, and the likelihood of conviction and of a particular sentence. Mutual trust between prosecutors and defense counsel, or its lack, significantly influences the functioning of the criminal process. Having identified the powers of prosecutors and defense counsel, the course attempts an extended inquiry onto how these powers should be exercised.
This course will focus on the investigative phase of criminal proceedings. We will examine the law that governs police conduct, including search and seizure, arrest, and interrogation of suspects. The class will emphasize the interplay between abstract constitutional principles as interpreted by the courts and law enforcement on the street.
In preparation for the course, students will be required to read selected course materials which will be sent to them a week or two in advance of the first class. It is expected that students will spend at least 7 hours and 35 minutes of time on out-of-class work including but not necessarily limited to reading. Students will spend some class time at the Maine Cyber Security Cluster to get hands on experience with the technology fundamentals.
This course provides an introduction to the law of data breach response, focusing on the nuts and bolts of how to plan for and deal with cyber security incidents. The course also covers technology fundamentals needed to be able to assess privacy and cyber security risks and to analyze the legal implications arising from cyber security incidents. We will use as case studies actual security incidents such as the ones reported by Yahoo! Inc. in 2016.
This course presents a survey of the driving forces revolutionizing the practice of law, examines the impact of Facebook, Google, Amazon, and IBM Watson on legal search strategies, evaluates the growing threat from cyber terrorism, and highlights the changing employment landscape for practicing attorneys.
It is said that there are two kinds of companies today; those know they have been hacked, and those that do not know (yet). 98% of all data are now created electronically, in the form of social media, big data, new communication forms that can create, and destroy, messages in seconds, and monitoring software that collects, synthesizes, reports, and stores an unimaginable volume and type of data about a company, its employees, their activities, intellectual property, business processes, and client data. An increasing number of actors want access to that data, including government agencies, regulatory bodies, international policing institutions, audit committees, marketing organizations, outside counsel, opposing counsel and hackers, state sponsored or otherwise. Companies (small, mid- size and large) are turning to machine learning, artificial intelligence and related technologies to monetize data and capture it for compliance needs, research and development, and driving efficiencies across all business units. Newly minted attorneys must develop real world capabilities to confront the fast pace of technology apparent in nearly every aspect of business operations and growth. Some of the subjects examined will be ediscovery and cybersecurity practices, lawyers’ ethical obligations vis-a-vis electronic data, changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to take into account electronically stored information, and advising clients in this environment.
This course will cover the fundamental principles of constitutional, federal and state law governing public education in the United States. Topics will include allocation of authority for educational decision-making, school governance, student and parent rights, and teacher employment. The course will address both the development of Supreme Court jurisprudence under the Constitution (e.g., free speech, religion, due process, equal protection) and the state law framework for education, with an emphasis on Maine state law where it illustrates the role of states in public education.
This course will explore professional issues involved in representing elderly clients as well as key statutes and regulations of particular importance to seniors. Topics of study will include, among other things, ethical issues in representing elders; age discrimination; income maintenance and the social security system; access to health care and the role of Medicare and Medicaid; senior housing (including nursing home and assisted living issues); advance planning and guardianship; and elder abuse and neglect. Particular attention will be paid to the impact that cognitive and physical impairments can have on legal rights and the ability to exercise those rights.
This course provides an introduction to the law of employee benefits. We will examine federal regulation of employer-sponsored benefit plans with respect to retirement and health care, and the underlying public policy issues. From time to time, we will discuss related topics such as profit-sharing plans, cafeteria plans, family and medical leave, executive compensation, workers’ compensation law, and collective bargaining. This inquiry necessarily implicates reference to selected provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. Class discussion will be supplemented with selected problem sets and simulations in class. In the context of an employee stock ownership (ESOP) transaction and other workplace settings, we will explore ERISA “qualified plan” operation and administration, employer obligations and fiduciary duties, and rights and responsibilities of employees. In addition to participation in classroom discussions, students will be required to produce several short writing projects during the semester, with the option to expand one assignment into a full-length term paper to satisfy the upper level writing requirement and earn a third credit. Grading is based upon class participation and results of the writing projects.
This course will cover issues related to employment from hiring to firing. It will provide an overview of the statutory, constitutional, and common law rules that regulate employment relationship. We will cover a variety of topics, focusing on the at-will employment doctrine, wrongful discharge, employment discrimination based on race, sex, age, religion, disability, harassment, retaliation, covenants not to compete, unemployment insurance, employee privacy, workplace freedom, wages and hours regulation, and some other topics. We will also spend significant time discussing issues that commonly arise in employment litigation and client counseling.
The course will examine the theoretical and practical issues in energy law and markets, with particular emphasis on electricity. This course will explore the legal, political and market structures that govern the production, transmission and distribution of electricity, and how various activities (including efficiency programs, demand response and renewable energy production) are “monetized” within those structures. The course will also address some of the interrelationships between and among the various principles and influences shaping the electricity market and administrative law and practice.
Illicit extraction of natural resources is financing armed conflicts. The opening of the Arctic passage because of climate change has created new geopolitical conflicts. The legal extraction and transportation of oil and natural gas is undermining the security of local residents. And climate-induced migration and congested refugee camps represent a significant new source of domestic insecurity and cross-border tension. Many of the proposed solutions to these tensions between ecosystem resilience, economic control, and perceived security concerns are legal agreements. A complementary response is to redefine ‘environmental security’. This course will examine a series of environmental security crises and their proposed solutions to understand better the social, ecological, political, and security processes involved. The six week short course will open with a methodological overview of “security concerns,” “economic drivers,” non-linearity of ecosystems, and international environmental legal frameworks. The core of the course will be three classroom-based case studies and a student self-selected case study. The last week of course will look at a redefinition of ecological security. Students will also be expected to prepare short commentaries on the prime legal instruments cited in the classroom-based case studies.
The course will introduce students to the broad and deep field of Environmental Law. Environmental Law is practiced at the local, statewide, national, and (increasingly) international level. It contains elements of energy law, natural resources law, and land use law. It also crosses disciplinary lines with science and engineering, business and finance, and public policy. The course will introduce students to five of the major federal environmental statutes and regulations and the case law that interprets them. The five statutes are the Clean Air Act; the Clean Water Act; the National Environmental Policy Act; the Endangered Species Act; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (a/k/a as the Superfund Law). In addition, we will briefly introduce students to several other of the three dozen or more extensive federal statutes addressing environmental issues. Student performance will be measured by student class participation and by the completion of one research paper of 25-35 pages to be selected by joint agreement of student and instructor.
This course provides: (1) an orientation to the key rules, concepts, and controversies concerning the presentation and admission of evidence in criminal and civil trials; and (2) an introduction to the specific skills used by attorneys in litigation as proponents and opponents of evidence. Specifically, we will examine: the overall structure of trials; how evidentiary disputes are raised and resolved; the examination and impeachment of witnesses; relevance; character evidence; hearsay; and opinion testimony. The goal is to gain a solid grounding in the key rules, concepts, and controversies to enable you to use the rules strategically and effectively in your own cases (whether in Trial Practice, a clinical or externship course, or your practice), to critically evaluate the evidence rules and their application, and to understand how the rules operate in conjunction with substantive law (i.e. criminal law, tort law, etc.). Accordingly, we will study not only the rules’ explicit requirements and prohibitions but also the policy goals and assumptions underlying the rules. The Federal Rules of Evidence will be our primary focus for the course; however, you are also responsible for learning some important distinctions between the Federal and Maine Rules of Evidence. This course is a co- or prerequisite for Trial Practice (LAW 650). This course is a prerequisite for the General Practice Clinic (LAW 663), Prisoner Assistance Clinic (LAW 712), Juvenile Justice Clinic (LAW 724), and several Externship offerings.
Externships offer second-year and third-year students the opportunity to gain legal experience and receive feedback on their work from seasoned professionals with guidance and support from a faculty member. Externship students earn 6 academic credits, spend approximately 18 hours per week over the course of the semester at their placements, and also participate in a mandatory course, which runs contemporaneously.
Prerequisites: All placements require the successful completion of all first-year courses as well as good academic standing. Some placements also require eligibility for certification as a student attorney or specific coursework.
This course focuses upon basic legal issues relating to marriage, family, and the termination of marriage. One segment of the course emphasizes jurisprudential and constitutional issues underpinning the institutions of marriage and family. A second segment emphasizes major doctrinal developments, including the laws of marital property, support, and child custody.
The course addresses the most important, interesting, and controversial functions of the federal courts: federal court enforcement of federal constitutional law limiting state action. It focuses on the need to see federal constitutional rights and their enforcement system of jurisdiction and remedies as an integrated whole, in historical context. The course is approached as a system of relationships. There is a set of relationships between federal courts and state courts; sometimes federal courts review judgments of state courts, sometimes there is a jostling among the courts for the exercise of initial jurisdiction. There is a set of relationships between federal courts and state governments and officers, raising questions of who are proper parties and what are proper remedies. The policies which underlie not only the enforcement system but the rights themselves travel under the code word “federalism.” Federalism is all about balance. It is about balancing the need for federal court enforcement of federal constitutional rights with the need not to unduly interfere with legitimate state interests. The course will inquire into the meanings of “federalism” in its jurisdictional, remedial, and historical contexts. Our tour through over two centuries of federal jurisdiction, rights and remedies law hopefully will engender a deep understanding and appreciation of the marvelous uniqueness and resilience of our federal system.
Providers of health care operate within a complex set of federal laws and regulations governing their delivery of care and relationships with other providers. This course will explore the practical application of some of the major federal laws affecting health care providers, including fraud and abuse laws, legal obligations to provide care, and constraints on private health insurers. It will also seek to place these laws in a historical context that considers the perceived problems they seek to address, their implications (foreseen or otherwise) for providers and payors, and how they have evolved over time, up through and including the Affordable Care Act.
This course will focus on several areas. First, it will explore the federal regulation of products covered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) including food, drugs, and medical devices. Second, it will review the state, local, federal, and common law regulation of food, stressing both historical evolution and cutting edge policy issues such as GMOs, ‘fair trade’ regulations, and legal issues connected with the locavore movement (such as conflicts between local and state regulations).
Upper-class students may form a group under the guidance of a professor for the purpose of studying an area of the law that is not the subject of a currently-offered course. Group studies may not be composed of fewer than four or more than fourteen students. Such groups must be approved by the Curriculum Committee at least four weeks prior to the beginning of the semester. The members of the group must conduct weekly meetings and each member must submit an individual paper at the end of the semester.
The course examines the goals of the U.S. health care system, which is designed to provide high-quality, affordable, and accessible health care. We will explore the regulation of health care professionals and institutions. The course will also discuss the contract, tort, and administrative law issues that come up in cases of informed consent, liability, malpractice, and end-of-life care. The course will also examine legal efforts to make health care affordable and accessible. We will study the regulation of both public and private insurance systems and use basic insurance principles to explore this area of law. Health law is complex for many reasons, including because it involves the interactions of state and federal statutes (and regulations) with longstanding principles of contract and tort law. The intersections between state and federal statutes and policies are also challenging. The 2010 Affordable Care Act will of course be a focus of the course.
This course surveys the legal, historical, and political considerations that shape U.S. immigration law. The course will review the constitutional basis for regulating immigration into the United States, and, to some extent, the constitutional rights of non-citizens in the country; the contours of the immigration bureaucracy, including the roles played by various federal agencies in immigration decisions; the admission of non-immigrants (i.e., temporary visitors) and immigrants into the U.S.; the deportation and exclusion of non-immigrants and immigrants; refugee and asylum law; administrative and judicial review; citizenship and naturalization; undocumented migration; and comprehensive immigration reform.
On occasion an upper-class student may wish to pursue independent study, leading toward a paper of publishable quality, in an area not covered by a previous paper or the student’s upper level writing paper, or participation in Law Review, Ocean & Coastal Law Journal, or Moot Court. If the student secures faculty supervision and the approval of the Dean, two course credits may be given. Among the factors which the Dean will consider are whether the study and the resultant paper will be of substantial educational value and whether the study will not be duplicative of the student’s other efforts. In exceptional circumstances the Dean may approve the granting of one credit for reworking a previous paper toward publication.
Information privacy is one of today’s critical legal subjects. The rapid pace of technology development has raised far-reaching questions about the future of privacy. The role of law is central to answering many of these questions. In the past few decades, many new laws have been passed, hundreds of cases have been decided, and fascinating new issues have arisen. This class is designed to provide you with an introduction to the study of information privacy law and to equip you with the broad issue-spotting and other practical skills needed to navigate the complex array of legal, business, and public policy issues in this area. Students in this class will be eligible to take the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) exam following completion of the course.
This course focuses on the essential role of insurance as an institution in the United States. Substantively, the course focuses on insurance contract interpretation, regulation, and various types of insurance including liability, health, life, and disability insurance. The course will deal with both theoretical issues involving the law and policy of insurance and with practical issues such as how to read insurance contracts. The role of insurance in litigation will receive particular emphasis.
This course provides a broad survey of the three main branches of intellectual property law, namely trademark, copyright, and patent law. We will explore the similarities and differences among these varied systems of intellectual property protection, as well as examine the challenges brought about by new technologies. This course provides a foundation for advanced intellectual property courses but is also appropriate for students who seek only a general understanding of intellectual property law. A science or technical background is not necessary.
This course is a broad scope introduction to how the global financial system operates. It is anticipated that topics covered in the course will include international aspects of U.S. capital markets, international aspects of U.S. banking markets, the European Monetary Union and its recent crisis, capital markets generally, clearance and settlement systems, Euromarkets, emerging market debt, and financing of terrorism. Other topics will be covered if there is time available. Each student taking the course will write a paper on a topic approved by the instructor.
This is a research seminar in international human rights law. It covers the fundamentals of the international human rights system, including standards and drafting, human rights treaties, fact-finding and reporting, non-state actors, complaint procedures, charter-based procedures, women’s human rights, refugee and asylum law, humanitarian intervention, regional human rights systems, domestic remedies, and special problems in human rights such as cultural relativism, capacity building and accountability.
This seminar will cover a variety of issues related to the protection of intellectual property on a worldwide basis. Topics to be covered include (1) the extraterritorial protection of intellectual property rights, including the concept of globalization; (2) international mechanisms for the acquisition of intellectual property rights; (3) international enforcement of intellectual property rights by rights holders, including parallel imports and gray market goods; (4) disputes between states; and (5) the future of international intellectual property law and policy, in particular issues related to domain names and Internet websites.
This is a foundation course in public international law that is primarily, though not exclusively, concerned with legal relations among states and public entities in the global system. The course explores the dynamics by which international law is made and applied by appraising trends and outcomes in international decision bearing on problems of world public order. The goal is to equip students to understand why past decisions were made, to devise methods for predicting future decisions, to develop methods for inventing decision alternatives both at the structural or constitutive level, and to identify the conceptions and skills necessary for influencing future decisions in the range of arenas in which international law is made and applied: parliamentary, diplomatic, judicial, and arbitral in national and international settings. Topics covered include: origins of international law, sources of international law, establishment and transformation of states and other actors, state recognition, diplomatic protection, jurisdiction, international courts and tribunals, international organizations, international human rights, resort to and use of force, nation-building, the regulation of international agreements, sovereign immunity, and enforcement of foreign judgments.
This course focuses on three aspects of the law of international trade. First, the basic elements of transnational commercial transactions will be examined. Second, the GATT and various other multinational trade agreements will be considered and discussed. Finally, United States domestic trade legislation will be reviewed and compared to approaches taken by other countries. If time permits, a number of discrete issues in international trade will be considered, including the transfer and protection of technology, the regulation of foreign investment, and the resolution of international commercial disputes.
This course provides a broad survey of the numerous issues arising from the rapid growth of the Internet and other online communications. We will explore whether the application of existing legal rules to new technologies is appropriate or if completely novel approaches are necessary when dealing with problems that arise in cyberspace. Topics to be examined include jurisdiction, the domain name system, regulation of online service providers and digital content creators, freedom of speech as well as privacy.
This course is intended to introduce foreign-trained lawyers and law students to the American legal system. The American legal system is different in many significant respects from the civil law system which developed in continental Europe and then spread to large parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The principal goals of the course are to introduce students to the way that Americans think about law, to learn how American lawyers and judges perform legal tasks (like legal analysis, legal argumentation, finding and using legal authority, etc.), and to understand the role that law and lawyers play in the American economy and public life.
Students will learn about the American legal system by reading landmark cases in different areas of public and private law (e.g., Marbury v. Madison, Erie v. Tompkins, Brown v. Board of Education, Pierson v. Post, Palsgraf v. The Long Island Railroad Company) and canonical legal documents (e.g., the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution) and texts (e.g., The Federalist Papers, Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, Holmes’ The Path of the Law). Students will do a number of writing assignments that replicate the work of the American law student and lawyer (e.g., memorandum of law, opinion letter to client).
The course will also feature visits to a law firm and to courts to observe the actual practice and application of the law. Since the course is intended for foreign students, for almost all of whom English is not their native language, considerable emphasis will be placed on improving English-language skills, particularly reading English-language legal materials (cases, statutes, law review articles, and other types of legal documents) as well as written and oral expression in a legal context.
*All foreign students are required to take Introduction to U.S. Law (LAW 785).
Juvenile Law is a non-traditional course blending lecture and discussion with a significant skills component. This course will examine the procedural and substantive parameters on juvenile courts and the court’s authority to intervene in children’s lives. We will analyze issues in juvenile justice in the broader context of youth policy, developmental psychology, and the legal status of children.
This course examines how land use is regulated and controlled. It begins by discussing why and when government regulation, rather than private market ordering, might be necessary to control land use and development patterns. It considers different regulatory and market-based tools that are available to control land use, including flexibility devices such as transferable development rights, contract zoning, and planned unit development. It then explores land use from the perspective of a project proponent, or developer. It examines the rights that an owner of land has if a particular land use regulation is inefficient, unfairly burdensome, unfairly disruptive of the owner’s settled expectations, or an infringement upon the owner’s civil liberties. The course then looks at land use issues from the other side, examining the rights of those who oppose the landowner’s plans (these project opponents are often neighbors). Finally, the course focuses on particular problems that plague the land use regulatory system, such as exclusionary zoning, the equitable distribution of undesirable land uses, sprawl, and smart growth.
The Law Review provides students with an invaluable two-year research, editing, and writing experience that allows each to explore in-depth a legal issue of particular interest. Recent editions have contained student notes examining diverse issues of Maine law, such as the enforceability of local food ordinances, gestational surrogacy contracts, and the extent to which Miranda applies to matter-of-fact-communications with arrestees. Membership on the Law Review is by invitation based on academic performance and writing skills. The Law Review’s staff and board members usually total a combined 29 students. In general, the top six students from the rising second-year class are invited to join the Law Review based on their academic performance, leaving 9 membership positions available for those individuals who are selected after participating in an extensive summer writing competition.
This course provides an introduction to American legal history. This course begins by considering the general question of what is history, and, more specifically, what is legal history. It then looks at the ways legal history is used (and/or abused) in contemporary legal discourse and considers the use of historical analysis more generally. The course then considers the English and colonial background to American legal history. The course then moves on to consider the development of public and private law during the antebellum period. The third part of the course considers public and private law during post-Civil War America.
In this course, the student develops the essential skills of legal research, writing, and analysis by completing research and writing assignments focusing on writing for different audiences. These assignments include a series of structured research exercises, a case brief, two legal memoranda (one written for the court and the other for a law partner), and a client letter.
This course requires the student to integrate and apply the legal research, analysis, and writing skills developed in Legal Writing I from the previous semester. In a moot court exercise, the student assumes the role of an advocate, who writes an appellate brief in an actual United States Supreme Court case and argues it orally before a panel of judges drawn from the Law School faculty and the Maine bench and bar.
One of the fastest job growth areas for new lawyers is the focus of this course. Throughout law school and your legal career, you frequently will be required to interpret statutes and regulations when advising clients and crafting strategy. Moreover, the vast majority of attorneys who litigate are doing so not before judges or juries, but before regulatory bodies or non-judicial officers without the Rules of Evidence or Civil Procedure, and that have special standards for issues like standing and finality. The American Bar Association estimates that 65 to 70 percent of the practice of adjudication actually occurs in an administrative setting, rather than a courtroom. Moreover, “Virtually every aspect of public policy is addressed by one administrative agency or another. Topics include immigration, telecommunications, energy projects, environmental protection, food safety, securities and commodity trading, banking regulation, building codes, zoning, social security, utility rates, customs, and so on.”
This course will first introduce you to the principles of legislative interpretation, including exercises in drafting and interpreting. We then examine work that federal and state agencies do, the procedures they utilize, and the ways in which the political judicial branches seek to control administrative actions. Students will undertake practical exercises on relevant issues throughout the semester to best develop your oral and written advocacy skills, and to better learn and remember the legislative and regulatory doctrines. The goal is to better enable students to address issues in their other courses, and in their legal jobs during and after law school.
*Legislative and Administrative Law MUST be taken by 2Ls in the fall of their 2L year (or the summer between their 1L and 2L year if it is offered).
Although barely touched upon in many law school courses, states and local governments play an important role in our everyday lives. They enjoy substantial law-making power; are responsible for financing and providing many public goods and services; and are the location of a great deal of political participation. This course will examine the theory behind and sources of local government power as well as the advantages and disadvantages of decentralized decision-making. Specific topics include: voting rights, local government formation and boundary change, state-local relations and local home rule, interlocal conflicts, school finance reform, and regional governance.
This seminar explores claims to the seas as asserted by states and other actors. The theme is how such claims are shaping, and will shape, the contemporary world public order of the oceans. The seminar covers principally three categories of ocean claims: (1) Claims related to maritime navigation posed by state and non-state actors; (2) Claims related to maritime sovereignty and boundaries; (3) Claims to assert jurisdiction over maritime zones under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Within these categories the following topics will be covered: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), marine wildlife, maritime ports, baseline determination, maritime zones, the arctic, shipping, international straits, the regime of islands, piracy and counter-piracy, the Gulf of Maine, and the South China Sea. Our shipping law meeting will be held at Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping firm operating from the Portland container port. During several sessions we will interact via teleconference with a Maritime Law Class in Hong Kong.
The Mediation Practicum provides students with the opportunity to learn and practice mediation skills. Mediation is an important form of dispute resolution in Maine and many other jurisdictions both in legal and non-legal disputes. In the Mediation Practicum, students learn basic skills of mediating and go to the courthouse to mediate Small Claims cases in Maine District Court (with supervision). In class meetings, students also analyze their mediation experiences and discuss best practices and ethical challenges for mediators.
The American military is widely regarded as the most impressive in the world. It performs missions that have worldwide implications both in times of peace and in times of war. The United States Constitution contains 18 provisions specifically centered on the armed forces. They provide the basis for the wide number of domestic missions of the armed forces.
Military Law will examine the overall governance structure of the military and the roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in that governance. Among the topics are entry into the military by commissioning, enlistment, or conscription and departure from the military by retirement, involuntary termination, end of service agreement. A considerable portion of the course will examine the distinctive military criminal justice system (the court-martial process). In addition to its specific application to the military, study of the court-martial system provides an excellent comparative basis for studying American criminal justice systems.
This course surveys the laws governing the ownership, conservation, exploitation, and preservation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources, including wildlife, fisheries, wilderness, parks, water, forests, and energy. It examines the constitutional, historical, political, and economic underpinnings of natural resources law and the means by which public policies are formulated, implemented, challenged, and revised.
Negotiation is explored in two ways: readings are assigned on interpersonal communication skills, bargaining theory, and negotiating techniques; and a series of problems assigned which students negotiate. The negotiations are critiqued. A wide range of the types of negotiations in which lawyers participate will be examined in the course. Students in the course will develop a conceptual understanding of the theory behind the negotiation process and practice the skills needed to apply their knowledge.
This course explores nonprofit corporations and related organizational forms of nonprofit enterprise. We examine state corporate law and federal tax law affecting the nonprofit sector, with attention to formation and dissolution, operation and governance, tax exemption, political and commercial activity, and regulatory constraints. We also compare nonprofit corporations with government, for-profit, and limited equity entities and identify public policy arguments for tax exemption and other differential treatment of nonprofit organizations. Class discussion is supplemented with selected problem sets and simulations in class, and students are required to produce several short writing projects during the semester.
This course examines the world public order of the oceans from the classical origins of the law of the sea to the post-September 11, 2001 security environment. It will appraise contemporary oceans law and policy including the goals and common interests of the world community and the United States including Maine. A framework for analysis of contemporary oceans law problems and claims will be considered before proceeding to a detailed appraisal of specialized topics. Subjects covered include sources of oceans law, United States oceans policy, the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, maritime navigation, maritime zones, coastal law and policy, land-locked and geographically disadvantaged states, fisheries, straddling stocks and highly migratory species, weapons testing, the continental margin, protection of the marine environment, marine scientific research, maritime boundary delimitation, deep seabed mining, national security and international incidents, polar and exploration claims, settlement of disputes, and the future of oceans policy.
Federal income taxation of partners and partnerships (and other business entities such as limited liability companies that are treated as partnerships for tax purposes) is governed by a tax regime that is separate and distinct from those that govern the taxation of individuals (Taxation I) and corporations and their shareholders (Taxation II). The course focuses on various aspects of this unique tax regime including the considerations that affect choice of entity and qualification as a partnership, and the tax consequences to the partnership and its partners in connection with the formation, operation and termination of a partnership, the sale of partnership interests and property, distributions from the partnership to its members and allocations of income, losses, deductions and credits. Taxation I (Law 649) and Business Associations (Law 601) are prerequisites.
This course examines the major issues of the substantive patent law of the United States. Topics include patentable subject matter, utility, novelty, statutory bars, priority of invention, non-obviousness, scope and content of the prior art, disclosure and enablement, reissue and reexamination, infringement, misuse, remedies, and the relationship between trade secret and patent law. The process for obtaining a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will not be covered in depth, but there will be an introduction to this process.
The course will expose students to pre-trial practice and procedure through materials and exercises fashioned to familiarize them with civil proceedings’ procedural landscape, including, but not limited to drafting and responding to initial pleading interlocutory, and dispositive motions. In addition, students will learn effective use of available discovery devices and other important aspects of the pre-trial process.
This course examines the major provisions of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, common law, and statutory law that regulates lawyers’ conduct. We will also consider the policy underpinnings for the rules, the role of a lawyer in today’s society, and ethics issues likely to be encountered by students during their careers as lawyers. The problem-based approach this course uses is designed to encourage thoughtful discussion of ethical issues in law practice.
The course will explore the law regulating the rights of private property. We will consider why we call some resources property, how we allocate those resources, why we regulate an owner’s use of a resource, and the strategies we use to maximize the economic value of resources. We will cover both theory and doctrine addressing ownership, possession, and transfer of real and personal property. Aspects of property law that are covered include discovery, creation, capture, the estates system, landlord-tenant law, adverse possession, transfers of land, private and public law systems for regulating land use (including easements, covenants, zoning and eminent domain) and the constitutional protections of property.
Constitutional law in the U.S. (based on both the federal and state constitutions) has played active roles in framing issues related to race, gender, and sexual orientation and legal equality in the last sixty years. The course will examine cultural ideas and constitutional theories that relate to civil rights litigation of various types related to these categories. The course will also analyze critiques of those ideas and theories, and consider alternative viewpoints.
This course is concerned with the acquisition, financing, development, operation, and disposition of real estate. The course provides an introduction to the essential material that a lawyer needs for participation in sophisticated real estate practice, including relevant doctrines and principles of the law of contracts, property, conveyance, mortgages, and leases. Attention is also devoted to financing techniques for the acquisition and development of real estate.
The Refugee and Human Rights Clinic provides an exciting opportunity for students to advocate on behalf of low-income immigrants in a broad range of cases and projects. Clients include, for example, asylum applicants who have fled human rights abuses in their home countries and are seeking refuge in the United States, immigrant survivors of domestic violence, immigrant victims of certain crimes, and abandoned or abused children seeking legal status in the United States. Under faculty supervision, student attorneys not only develop their substantive knowledge of immigration law and human rights laws and norms but they also build core legal skills relevant to the general practice of law. Students’ clinical work includes interviewing clients and witnesses and preparing their testimony, conducting factual and legal investigation and marshaling of evidence, analyzing and presenting human rights documentation, developing case strategies, writing legal briefs, appearing in administrative hearings, and participating in human rights advocacy projects. Along with regular work with the faculty supervisor on the cases, students also participate in a weekly one-hour seminar to discuss ongoing cases, ethical issues, lawyering skills, and substantive and practical aspects of immigration law. This course is open to both second- and third-year students. Prerequisite or co-requisite: Professional Responsibility (Law 632).
Students who have taken Immigration Law (Law 681) will be given priority in the application process.
The study of judicial remedies focuses on the legal, equitable and restitutionary relief available for breach of contract, breach of duty in tort, violation of statute, unjust enrichment and other causes of action, as well as on the limits of such relief. The approach of this course combines the theoretical with the practical in exploring the social values that inform remedial principles as well as the nuts and bolts of remedies practice in federal and state court.
3 credits
Issues of risk management and compliance are attracting increasing focus and attention throughout society and legal practice. Government regulation and regulatory oversight, industry-based codes of ethics, and standards of social responsibility and conduct all have been proliferating in recent years. These developments raise many issues for lawyers. This course will explore the law and practice relevant to these issues, principally from a transactional lawyer’s perspective. After a general introduction to risk and risk management, we will address a number of specific topics such as the reputational, operational and enterprise implications of risk, the transactional lawyer’s role in helping clients develop and manage appropriate and effective risk management and compliance programs, the tools available to the transactional lawyer to identify and help manage risks in the client’s transactions and business operations, and the transactional lawyer as “whistle blower” or “gate keeper.” Finally, we will examine the transactional lawyer’s own management of the risks she or he encounters in client representation (including the “bad actor” client, conflicts of interest, engagement letters and advance waivers, theories of attorney liability, transactional legal opinions, audit letter responses, and dealing with wayward partners and associates). We will use actual case studies to supplement our discussions.
This course examines the provisions of Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code which specifies the elements generally required for the creation of an enforceable agreement involving a sale of goods. The subject matter of this course is heavily tested on bar examinations. Topics to be covered include contract formation, enforceability, interpretation, warranties, and remedies. Additionally, we will examine more modern concepts of contract formation in the age of electronic commerce, including the impact of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (“UETA”), Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (“E-SIGN”), and the widespread use of terms that appear inside the packaging of goods (“terms in the box”), often not seen by the purchaser until after the goods are delivered. The format of this class will be problem based, providing a more hands-on and practical approach to applying the UCC code provisions.
This course examines the system of secured transactions as governed by Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Students are asked to analyze issues that arise in secured and unsecured financing transactions from both the perspective of the debtor and the creditor. Students will have multiple opportunities to analyze legal problems and draft legal memorandum and letters to clients outlining their analysis. The course also examines the effectiveness of security interests in bankruptcy. This course is a prerequisite for Bankruptcy (Law 625).
Taxation I is a basic federal income tax course dealing with taxation of the individual. It covers the questions of what income is, what expenses are deductible, when such income and deductions are realized or allowed, at what rates the income is taxed, and whether income can be assigned to another. Both policy and practical concerns will be discussed. This course is a prerequisite for Business Planning (Law 662), Estate and Gift Taxation (Law 678), Estate Planning Practicum (Law 643), Taxation II (Law 654), Partnership Taxation (Law 688), and Taxation Law Seminar (Law 670).
A study of the taxation of corporations (including S corporations) and their shareholders, with principal emphasis on the tax consequences of forming, operating, terminating, and selling an interest in a corporation, as well as some exploration of issues arising when one corporation acquires another corporation. Taxation I (Law 649) and Business Associations (Law 601) are prerequisites.
This course is designed for students who intend to practice tax law, whether in tax planning or in tax controversy work. The course will develop the student’s proficiency in conducting tax research, and will cover major aspects of federal tax practice and procedure that are of importance to tax counsel (i.e., from properly characterizing a transaction on a tax return to defending the transaction in an IRS audit and court). Topics include: Advising tax return positions and preparing returns; IRS audits; administrative resolution of tax disputes; tax litigation and settlement of tax cases; civil tax penalties and interest on underpayments and overpayments; administrative and judicial collection procedures; criminal tax investigation and prosecution; and special ethical issues in tax practice. Students will develop important practical lawyering skills by engaging in several research and drafting exercises, such as a tax opinion letter, a private letter ruling request, an IRS administrative appeals protest letter, a Tax Court petition, and an Offer-in-Compromise. Prerequisite: Taxation I (LAW 649).
This course explores the tax consequences of creating, acquiring, exploiting, and transferring various intellectual property (IP) assets (including patents, trade secrets, know how, copyrights, trademarks, and computer software) in both domestic and international transactions. The course also explores popular tax-planning strategies used in connection with IP (e.g., the use of domestic and foreign IP holding subsidiaries) and raises interesting tax policy questions. Valuation of IP, the use of IP by non-profit organizations, and special business and estate planning considerations involving IP are also addressed.
The United States grants a broader right of freedom of speech than other Western Democracies. The first part of this course will examine the cases and underlying theories of free speech in American Constitutional Law. The second part of the course will examine the development of the Equal Protection Clause since World War II. Race, gender, and other forms of discrimination will be analyzed.
This course examines civil liability, including intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability. The elements of various torts are studied, together with policy issues, and issues relating to insurance and damages. The course also deals with historical and theoretical developments, such as the rise of comparative fault and insurance, and the development of theories such as law and economics and corrective justice as they relate to tort law.
This course offers students an introduction to acquiring and protecting trademarks. Students learn how to counsel clients on what may serve as a proper trademark, how to register a mark with the state and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the nature of an infringement lawsuit, and defending trademarks against domain name “cybersquatters” in US courts and through international arbitration systems. This course is designed to give students a practical rather than theoretical view of trademark law and as such frequently incorporates local practitioners in delivering course materials and answering students’ questions. The final grade is based upon class participation, a paper, and an in-class presentation.
This course will introduce students to the lawyer’s role in transactional practice and provide practical experience in the dynamics of a corporate “deal.” Students will examine a hypothetical, Maine-based transaction that includes a business acquisition component, a financing component and an equity component. Students will “represent” the various parties to the transaction and work through the required tasks and challenges to bring the transaction to fruition, resulting with a “closing” at the end of the course. Deliverables will include negotiated “deal documents” and other related closing items. Focus of the sessions will alternate between an examination of the substantive issues and their practical application in a “deal” context. Enrollment will be limited to 10 students.
Course Prerequisites: Business Associations, Tax I
This course offers the opportunity to develop the basic skills necessary to conduct a trial, including developing a case theory and theme, opening statements, direct and cross-examinations of witnesses, use of exhibits, evidentiary objections, and closing arguments. The study of trial techniques is primarily through use of simulations, role-playing, demonstrations, and individual evaluation and feedback.
This course examines the law of gratuitous transfers and decedents’ estates. Topics to be considered are intestate succession, wills, trusts, and problems of construction. Special attention is given to the Uniform Probate Code. This course is a prerequisite for Estate Planning Practicum (Law 643) and a co- or prerequisite for Estate and Gift Taxation (Law 678).