Intro to US Laws & Methods I

3 units

[Enrollment open only to LLM students who earned their first law degree outside the US and exchange students; visiting scholars, international judges, and JSD students may audit.] This is the first in a sequence of two courses designed to introduce distinctive aspects of the U.S. legal system. Rather than mastery of legal doctrine, the goal is to learn how law is made, found and enforced in the U.S. The objective is to learn partially by assuming the role of a U.S. lawyer resolving problems related to, but significantly distinct from, case precedent. Methods instruction also covers the mixed system of code based and common law, the judiciary and judicial system, the Supreme Court and the Constitution, and effective formats, citation and style for written communication with U.S. educated lawyers. In written comments and personal conferences as well as in class discussion, professors emphasize prediction of probable court holdings through analysis and synthesis of judicial decisions and statutes as well as the use of fact argument and analogical reasoning. Instruction in the research process includes how to locate, update and evaluate varied sources of U.S. and international law. The research classes and homework prepare students for the final, open-research problem, on which the course grade is primarily based. Students meet 3 hours per week with Profs Greenhaw and Koby for methods/writing classes and 1 hour per week (for 8 weeks) with Prof. Luo. [Students are pre-registered for either Research Lab A or Research Lab B; students who have other course conflicts with their section assignment may request to be switched to the other section, space permitting.] Final grading is based on revised drafts previously discussed with the professors and therefore is not anonymous.