Criminal Pretrial Litigation This spring semester we will offer an Issues in the Law course which will concern Criminal Pretrial Litigation. The course will meet three hours one time per week and will be taught by Bob Jolley. The course will cover all aspects of preparing a criminal case for trial from investigation through motions practice. This will include discussion and exercises related to investigation, bail issues, preliminary hearings, formal and informal discovery, motions related to indictments and other charging documents, suppression motions, speedy trial issues, and extradition and detainers. Enrollment will be capped at 12. The course will not satisfy perspectives or planning and drafting requirements. American Jurisprudence Course Description: Practicalities: Issues in the Law (990) Seminar: High Tech Deals (3 Credit Hours) This course incorporates a case study approach and simulation method to understand the legal and business issues that arise in strategic transactions for high tech companies like those in Silicon Valley and the Bay State technology sector. The first part of the course will include an introduction of important legal principles and business terms relevant to the substantive material of the course. Two strategic deals will be examined during the course: an acquisition of a privately held company and the licensing of certain technology by the company. Each deal will be introduced by a case study narrative. Students will assume the role of General Counsel in analyzing and proposing solutions to the problems that arise during the course of the deal. They will also gain an understanding of the role of the board of directors, senior management and outside counsel in the successful management of these deals. Students will work in small groups and complete written assignments between classes. Grades will be based on a combination of these written assignments, class participation, and a take-home examination. Prerequisites: Business Associations; Prior courses in Contract Drafting and Intellectual Property are helpful but not required. Animal Ethics and the Law Exposure to ways in which animals influence and are impacted by law, regulation, and ethics; consideration of ways in which both legal and ethical rules are responding and could respond to the burgeoning debate on the moral status of animals; explorations of ways to accommodate concern for animals within legal and ethical traditions that were largely anthropocentric but now are being transformed; assigned materials may involve aspects of (among other disciplines) property law; civil procedure; torts; criminal law; business associations law; veterinary medical regulation; animal behavior; federalism; jurisprudence; legislation; and philosophy; credit hours vary from 1-3 depending on the nature of the course in a given semester; may be co-taught with other UT faculty in and outside the College of Law. 2-hour Interdisciplinary Environmental Independent Study Professor Jacobs is seeking students to enroll in a 2-hour Interdisciplinary Environmental Independent Study that will satisfy the law school’s Perspective requirement. Students will meet on Thursdays from 3:30-5:00 p.m. with graduate students from various disciplines to discuss reasonable assigned readings. During 5-6 of the Thursday meetings, student will attend the forums in the “Baker Center Interdisciplinary Working Group for Environmental and Energy Policy” series, including such speakers as Professor Robert Jackson from Duke, whose study on methane in drinking water near fracking sites has been the subject of articles in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and a piece on NPR. Other speakers are Professor Maxine Burkett from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law; Professor Alex Pfaff, of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy; Professor Mercedes Pascual, on the EEB faculty at the University of Michigan; and Dale Whittington, on the Engineering/Public Health faculty at UNC Chapel Hill. Students will also draft a 10-15 page expository/reflective writing. Please contact Professor Jacobs if you are interested in enrolling. Advanced Gratuitous Transfers (Law 990) – 3 credit hours A detailed study of the non-tax aspects of estate planning and gratuitous transmission of wealth from a counseling and drafting perspective. Topics to be covered include: drafting multi-generational trusts including discretionary distributions and future interests; powers of appointment; powers of attorney; charitable gifts; and fiduciary duties. Students will complete two substantial planning and drafting projects requiring them to design an estate plan for a hypothetical client, draft all of the necessary implementing documents, and explain the plan and the documents in writing to the client. 990 – Issues in the Law – Commercial Leasing Seminar This commercial leasing seminar involves a detailed examination of the substantive and procedural law applicable to commercial leasing, in a practical, practice-oriented course that will include a number of graded, written assignments, of which some will involve hands on negotiation and documentation of a commercial lease of office space. Other written assignments may include negotiation and drafting of a letter of intent, an expansion rights provision, an extension of term provision, an accounting right for rent provision, a lease review letter, and an industrial tenancy agreement or rider to a commercial lease. The course will require close reading and critical analysis of lease provisions, including examining and becoming intimately familiar with the terms of art involved, the motivations of the various parties to the leases involved, and the substantive law that governs their relationship Prerequisites: Property, Contracts I & II, Contract Drafting. To: Students Interested in the Mediation Clinic I am very gratified by the student interest in the UT College of Law Mediation Clinic. Mediation is a sensitive and intelligent alternative dispute resolution process. As commentators have noted, a successful mediation has the potential to transform the lives of the participants and has a powerful influence upon the way that participants perceive our justice system. The Mediation Clinic offers students the opportunity to acquire and enhance their skills as mediators in "live client" disputes. This can be an exceptional and rewarding experience, but it also entails enormous responsibility. Accordingly, students wishing to participate in the Mediation Clinic must satisfy one or more of the following prerequisites: 1. The student must have completed the College of Law's ADR course or a negotiation or similar course; 2. The student must have participated in the College of Law's ABA Representation in Mediation Competition; or 3. The student must have demonstrated to me that she or he previously has had substantial mediation or other comparable skills training for which the student can supply some sort of documentation. Preference will be given to 3L's as they will have only one opportunity to participate. I wanted briefly to alert students to the Clinic's structure in order that each of you can make an informed decision as to whether you wish to participate. The Clinic has two components: (1) a classroom component and (2) an experiential component. 1. The classroom component will require a significant time commitment at the beginning of the semester in order to prepare for the "live client" mediations, perhaps even Saturday sessions. There also will be a regular class throughout the semester that will involve reading assignments, traditional lectures, speakers, simulations, and discussion. 2. The experiential component involves mandatory appearances in the Knox County General Sessions Court and scheduled appearances in other fora. The General Sessions Court docket requires that each student be available at the Court every week during the semester either on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday from 8:00 a.m. until at least 12:00 p.m. While I will make every effort to accommodate student preferences, we must ensure that each of these days is adequately staffed. I realize that this is quite a time commitment for 3 hours. However, given UT College of Law's desire to offer students a meaningful clinical experience, it is a commitment that students must make. At the risk of being redundant, the General Session Courts and other institutions have entrusted UT Law students to engage in this public service and rely upon us to fulfill it professionally, responsibly, and competently. These are not simulations; litigants will rely upon student expertise to guide them through the process and the system and to help them resolve their disputes. You WILL be required to mediate, and you may sometimes be unsupervised. Additionally, attendance in all training sessions, including those held on weekends, will be mandatory, and a student's grade will be severely impacted by even one absence. I urge you to carefully consider whether you are able or willing to make this commitment. One additional caveat: The Clinic satisfies Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31's training requirements for certification as a general civil mediator. However, students seeking to utilize UT's curriculum to satisfy this training requirement must pay an additional $100 fee. I want to conclude by thanking you again for your interest in the Mediation Clinic. I am very proud and excited to be a part of this program, and I look forward to working with those of you who enroll. |