Course Catalog

• [Required Courses]
• [Core Courses]
• [Elective Courses]

Required

Basic Legal Skills I/Research

2 semester hours
Skills instruction and exercises in legal research and analysis of common and statutory law, legal writing and reasoning, written and oral advocacy.
Prerequisites: None

Basic Legal Skills I/Writing

0 semester hours
Skills instruction and exercises in legal research and analysis of common and statutory law, legal writing and reasoning, written and oral advocacy.
Prerequisites: None

Basic Legal Skills II/Writing

3 semester hours
A continuation of Basic Legal Skills I (Writing).
Prerequisites: None

Civil Procedure I

3 semester hours
Procedural law governing the litigation of civil actions in federal district courts under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Subject matter and personal jurisdiction, venue, pleadings, motions, disclosure and discovery, pre-trials, trials, post-trial motions, judgments, appeals, and related topics. Some attention may be given to alternative dispute resolution and selected problems of state civil procedure.
Prerequisites: None

Civil Procedure II

3 semester hours
A continuation of Civil Procedure I
Prerequisites: None

Constitutional Law I

3 semester hours
Basic methods of constitutional analysis, constitutional distribution of governmental powers between the states and the federal government and among the three branches of the federal government, judicial function in constitutional cases, jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States, discretionary barriers to judicial review, power of Congress, the commerce clause and taxation, intergovernmental immunity, regulation of economic and property interest.
Prerequisites: None

Constitutional Law II

3 semester hours
Federal constitutional limitation on the power of government to restrict individual liberty, including the application of the Bill of Rights to the states through the 14th Amendment, civil procedural due process, substantive due process and rights of privacy, the meaning of the equal protection clause, congressional power to implement the 14th Amendment, freedom of expression, and religious freedom.
Prerequisites: None

Contracts I

3 semester hours
Forms of contracts, including offer, acceptance, and consideration, interpretation and construction of contracts, third party beneficiaries, assignment, conditions, impossibility, performance and breach of contract, damages and other remedies, the statute of frauds, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code as it applies to basic contract formation, construction and performance issues.
Prerequisites: None

Contracts II

3 semester hours
A continuation of Contracts I.
Prerequisites: None

Criminal Law

3 semester hours
Legal concepts of criminality, sources of criminal law, elements of criminal offenses, criminal responsibility and defenses to charges of crime, parties to crime, and incomplete criminal conduct.
Prerequisites: None

Criminal Procedure

3 semester hours
The standard for criminal prosecution will be considered, with particular attention given to the constitutional limitations upon governmental practices. Selective examinations of issues such as the applicability of the Bill of Rights to the state, searches and seizures, confessions, self-incrimination, right to counsel, informers, eavesdropping and wiretapping, the exclusionary rule, prosecutorial discretion, pleas and plea bargaining.
Prerequisites: None

Evidence

4 semester hours
Federal Rules of Evidence, including relevancy, competency of witness, direct examination, refreshing and reviving memory, opinion evidence and expert witnesses, cross-examination and impeachment, privileged communication and silences, judicial notice, authentication of documents, hearsay and its exceptions.
Prerequisites: None

Introduction to Legal Studies

1 semester hours
Study of legal method and legal systems designed to teach the role and function of courts, legislative bodies, and administrative agencies, techniques of legal argument and reasoning, and sources of law. This course will be graded as Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U). Students who receive a grade of “U” will be given further instruction designed to remedy the deficiencies found.
Prerequisites: None

Professional Responsibility

3 semester hours
The law of lawyering, including legal ethics under the American Bar Association’s Code of Professional Responsibility and Rules of Professional Conduct; legal malpractice and the contract of representational lawyers’ civil and criminal liability; lawyers’ First Amendment rights; judicial ethics under the Code of Judicial Conduct; professionalism in the practice of law.
Prerequisites: None

Property I

3 semester hours
Real and personal property; estates; landlord/tenant relationships; adverse possession; land transfers and mortgages; recording; covenants, easements and licenses; rights and liabilities accruing from possession and ownership of land; fixtures.
Prerequisites: None

Property II

3 semester hours
A continuation of Property I.
Prerequisites: None

Torts I

3 semester hours
Civil wrongs and their remedies, intentional torts and defenses, unintentional harms and defenses, product liability, strict liability, and other specific harms.
Prerequisites: None

Torts II

3 semester hours
A continuation of Torts I.
Prerequisites: None

Top

Core Courses

Administrative Law

3 semester hours
Procedural and constitutional law regulating units of government other than legislatures and courts, and legal principles of agency implementations of statutory programs. Selective examination of the powers of administrative agencies, agencies’ exercise of those powers, and legislative, executive and judicial controls on and review of administrative action.
Prerequisites: None

Agency, Partnership, and Limited Liability Companies

3 semester hours
Study of Agency, Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies including issues of creation and termination of agency relationships, powers of agents, rights and duties between agents and principals, and between agents or principals and third parties, creation and dissolution of partnerships and limited partnerships, powers of partners, partnership property, creation and characteristics of other limited liability entities. (Formerly Agency, Partnership and Employment.)
Prerequisites: None

Corporations

4 semester hours
Formation of corporations; powers, rights, and obligations of promoters, shareholders, directors, and officers; ultra vires and de facto doctrines; disregarding the corporate entity; corporate finance, shareholder distributions and dividends; federal regulation; fundamental changes in capital structure; equitable considerations.
Prerequisites: None

Family Law

3 semester hours
Courtship, marriage, husband and wife, family breakdown, annulment, divorce, dissolution, parent-child rights and relationships, custody, and support.
Prerequisites: None

Remedies

3 semester hours
Remedies available in contract, tort, and real and personal property actions, including damages, equitable remedies, specific performance, injunction, constructive trusts, restitution, reformation and rescission.
Prerequisites: Property I and II

Tax-Basic Income Tax Concepts

3 semester hours
Introduction to the basic themes in federal income taxation: what is income and what is deductible (definitional inquiry), when is it income and when is it deductible (timing), whose income or deductions is it (identifying the proper taxpayer), and what type of income or deductible is it (characterization of transactions).
Prerequisites: None

UCC: Payment Systems

3 semester hours
Study of Articles 3, 4, & 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code and other statutes, including negotiability and negotiation of various negotiable instruments, rights and liabilities of all parties, and rights and liabilities in other payment systems such as electronic funds transfers, automated teller machines, credit cards and letters of credit.
Prerequisites: None

UCC: Sales and Secured Transactions

3 semester hours
Study of Article 2, 2A & 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, including sale and lease of goods, warranties, documents, risk of loss, remedies of buyer and seller, bona fide purchaser, and creation and perfection of security interests in personal property and fixtures, and priorities resulting there from.
Prerequisites: None

Wills and Trusts

4 semester hours
Transmission of property while alive and at death, including intestate succession, requirements for wills and trusts, will substitutes, power of appointment, duties and liabilities of fiduciaries, and estate and trusts administration.
Prerequisites: Property I and II

Top

Elective Courses

Admiralty

2 or 3 semester hours
Historical development of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction and procedure and the problems of federalism. Principles of substantive law governing carriage of goods by sea, general average statements, maritime industrial accidents, collision, salvage, maritime liens and limitation of liability.
Prerequisites: None

Advanced Appellate Advocacy

2 semester hours
Advanced work in writing appellate briefs and arguing appellate issues, with particular emphasis on preparing students to compete in interscholastic moot court competitions. This course is required for all members selected to participate on Chase’s Moot Court Board. If space is available, other students may enroll in the course, but they must first obtain permission from the instructor. Students receive a letter grade for completion of this course.
Prerequisites: Basic Legal Skills I and II

Advanced Criminal Procedure

3 semester hours
The course is offered for students who are interested in exploring in-depth the trial and post-trial stages of the criminal justice process. This part of the criminal process, sometimes referred to “from bail to jail,” examines what occurs after the investigative stage has been completed, when an individual has been officially charged with a criminal offense. The following topics may be covered in the course: pre-trial release; the decision whether to prosecute; the preliminary hearing; grand jury investigations and review; the location and scope of the prosecution; the right to a speedy trial, notice, discovery and disclosure; coerced and negotiated guilty pleas; trial by jury; the criminal trial itself; double jeopardy; sentencing; and appeal.
Prerequisites: None

Advanced Legal Research

2 semester hours
Advanced Legal Research offers students, particularly those getting ready to graduate, an opportunity to not only review basic research skills, but to delve more deeply into research as it is applied in practice. Particular attention will be given to updating students’ skills in online research. Along with a review of the basics students will get a chance to delve into special topics like administrative law, legislative histories, international law and non-legal sources such as corporate and government information.
Prerequisites: None

Advanced Online Legal Research

2 semester hours
Advanced Online Legal Research offers students an opportunity to review basic research skills, and to delve more deeply into research as it is applied in practice. Particular attention will be given to practical online and computer-assisted legal research skills and tools that are commonly used by practicing attorneys. Advanced Online Legal Research is not available to satisfy the AWR-Research requirement.
Prerequisites: This course will be most beneficial to students that are preparing to practice or clerk in a legal job. To enroll in this course, students must have successfully completed at least 36 credit hours of classes, including “Basic Legal Skills: Writing” and “Basic Legal Skills: Research”. Students who have completed just one academic year of law school are not eligible to enroll in this class the summer after their first year. Students who have taken, or are taking, “Advanced Legal Research” are not eligible to enroll in this course.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

3 semester hours
Introduction to alternative forms of dispute resolution other than litigation, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and specialized forms; application to disputes in both the public and private sector; techniques employed by attorneys and neutrals; ethical, professional and practical problems.
Prerequisites: None

Antitrust Law

3 semester hours
Economic rationale for pro-competitive regulation; survey of Sherman, Clayton, Robinson-Patman and related Acts; development of case law concerning vertical and horizontal price fixing and market division, mergers and acquisitions; potential and probable future competition, monopolization, exclusionary business practices, and the state actions exception; criticisms of the antitrust law.
Prerequisites: None

Bankruptcy

3 semester hours
Course emphasizing personal bankruptcy and surveys creditor’s remedies and consumer credit protection legislation.
Prerequisites: None

Broadcast/Telecommunications/Internet Law

3 semester hours
This course will survey government regulation of facilities of mass communications. Topics to be covered include regulation of: business entity; pricing of services; content; ownership structure; and access to communications facilities owned by others. Industries to be covered include radio and television broadcasting, wireline and cellular telephony, cable and DBS satellite television, the Internet, and emerging new technologies such as Digital Audio Broadcasting (DBA), High Definition Televisions (HDTV), and “Third Generation” Wireless Broadband (3G). While the course will focus primarily on regulation by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), state and local government regulation will also be covered.
Prerequisites: None

Business Technology and Regulation

2 or 3 semester hours
This is an umbrella course that deals with a variety of issues relating to business and controlling new technologies, including computer law. Content of the course will vary. Examples of the subjects that have been taught under this umbrella include: International Environmental Regulation, Cyber Law, Law Practice Management, Not for Profit Corporations, and Mergers & Acquisitions.
Prerequisites: None

Children's Law Clinic

2 or 3 semester hours
Clinical externship in which students: (1) Provide legal representation for children charged with delinquency and status offenses; (2) Serve as special advocates and legal representatives for abused, neglected and dependent children; and (3) Represent children in educational rights cases. Students may also: (1) Assist in preparing appeals; (2) Participate in more complex impact litigation; and (3) Research issues and aid in policy development.
Prerequisites: Introduction to Kentucky Juvenile Law

Clinical Externship Program

2 or 3 semester hours
Offers experience in handling actual cases and learning practical aspects of the law in supervised judicial, civil and criminal law settings. A student must expect to work 50 hours for ever credit hour earned.
Prerequisites: A student must (1) have completed two-thirds of the credit hours required for graduation; (2) have completed Professional Responsibility; and (3) have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.333.

Clinical Externship Program/Local Government Law Center

2 or 3 semester hours
A Local Government Law Center extern works with an attorney supervisor in a city, county, area development district, state agency or local government organization in northern or central Kentucky during the school year and throughout the state during the summer. An extern will gain practical legal experience in issues affecting local governments in a variety of areas including governmental structure and procedures, state and local legislation and legislative bodies, contracts, franchising and business regulation, employment, environment, constitutional law, land use and zoning, criminal law, administrative law and others.
Prerequisites: Generally, students must: 1) Have completed two-thirds of the credit hours for graduation and 2) Have completed or be currently enrolled in Professional Responsibility. These may be waived.

Clinical Internship Program/Local Government Law Center

2 or 3 semester hours
A Local Government Law Center intern: 1) Researches and drafts answers to requests for legal advice received by the Center from local governments and other practitioners of local government law and 2) Assists in the development and drafting of model ordinances for cities and counties. An intern additionally may have the opportunity to 1) Research and write short legal articles for the Center’s newsletter exploring issues of interest to the student and 2) Assist in the development and production of local government practice guides. LGLC provides legal information and advice to local governments in varied subject areas, including contracts, franchising and business regulation, employment, environment, constitutional law, land use and zoning, criminal law, administrative law, and others.
Prerequisites: None

Close Corporation Problems

3 semester hours
A workshop in which a given set of facts (revised periodically during the semester) forms the basis for discussion of problems and consideration of alternative approaches to resolve them, from the formation of the close corporation, through its operations over a period of years, to its ultimate sale. The problems include both legal and commercial issues and are not limited to the traditional corporate law area. Client consultation and the drafting of documents are included.
Prerequisites: None

Conflict of Laws

3 semester hours
Principles of selecting the law to govern transactions and events that occur or have effects in multiple states, including common law traditional choice of law and modern approaches; constitutional aspects of choice-of-law theory, including special problems in federal courts; recognition and enforcement of judgments; and special choice of law problems such as those arising in family law or in international law contexts.
Prerequisites: Students must complete 30 hours of courses before enrolling in this course.

Constitutional Law Seminar

2 or 3 semester hours
This umbrella course offers in-depth examination of particular issues in constitutional law. Specific course content varies. Examples of the subjects that have been taught under this umbrella include: Kentucky State Constitutional Law, Legislation and Statutory Interpretation.
Prerequisites: Constitutional Law I and II

Corporate and White Collar Crime Law

3 semester hours
This course is designed to familiarize students with the developing area of controlling corporate and individual business criminal misconduct. There are two primary objectives: first, understanding the general legal principles which underlie the imposition of criminal liability upon both the corporate entity itself as well as the individuals within it; second, discussing the particular criminal statutes most often utilized in these prosecutions. The course addresses the basis for imposing criminal liability upon corporations for acts of their employees and directors, as well as personal criminal liability of these individuals for their own conduct as well as conduct of those they supervise. Federal and state statutes such as those sanctioning mail fraud and securities fraud, environmental and work-place crimes, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) will be covered, as will punishment of the corporate entity and individuals within it.
Prerequisites: None

Crimes Against Justice

3 semester hours
This course focuses on crimes that endanger the truth necessary for justice for all: perjury, contempt, bribery, forgery, jury-, witness-, and evidence-tampering, and mail and wire fraud in the obstruction of justice. In this course, students confront the special obligation of lawyers to promote and maintain honesty within our legal profession. Crimes of lawyers in their roles as officers of the court are of special concern.
Prerequisites: None

Criminal Law/Criminal Justice Seminar

2 or 3 semester hours
This umbrella course provides the opportunity for in-depth study of criminal law and criminal procedure issues in a seminar setting. Specific content of the course varies. Examples of subjects that have been taught under this umbrella include: Criminal Trial Practice, The Practice (Civil), The Practice (Criminal), The Practice (Appellate).
Prerequisites: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence.

Cultural Property Law

3 semester hours
This course will explore the legal and moral arguments in favor of various repatriation requests concerning property that is the object of Cultural Heritage, as well as the legal, moral, and practical arguments commonly raised by those on the receiving end of repatriation requests. For example: What balance should be struck between conceptions of morality and ethics, legal statutes of limitation, and the legal right to possession after paying for an object? The course will not over-simplify these issues and will allow students to form their own conclusions about the correct way to handle various repatriation requests.
Prerequisites: None

Death Penalty: Policy and Procedure

3 semester hours
This seminar will explore the statutory and constitutional rules regarding implementation of the death penalty in the United States. The course will begin with a brief discussion of arguments by proponents and opponents of the death penalty. We will then address the development of Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment restrictions on the use of capital punishment, including categorical exemptions from the death penalty for the insane, the mentally retarded, juveniles, and certain felony-murderers. We will examine the unique hallmarks of a capital trial including the selection of a “death-qualified” jury, the use of aggravating and mitigating evidence in the punishment phase of the trial, and issues created by the use of victim impact evidence. Issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation and their relation to the death penalty will also be addressed.
Prerequisites: None

Domestic Violence Law Prosecution and Trial

3 semester hours
This is a skills-based course which explores the impact and application of domestic violence issues and theories to the preparation and presentation of a case for trial. The course uses a case file specifically designed for domestic abuse issues, produced by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the students are required to prepare various exercises, motions in limine and to conduct a full jury trial.
Prerequisites: None

Domestic Violence Law Seminar

3 semester hours
This seminar will explore the current state of domestic violence law in the United States and other selected countries; the complex issues of domestic violence from the perspective of the victims, perpetrators, the legal community and governmental policies; and the manifestations of domestic abuse in different cultures and same-sex relationships.
Prerequisites: None

Elder Law

3 semester hours
Elder law presents an overview of legal practice and policy relating to aging individuals and an older society. Topics may include: An aging population, the challenge to the law, ethical issues and legal assistance, age discrimination in employment, income maintenance, health care, long-term care, housing, guardianship, property management, healthcare decision-making, elder abuse, neglect and crime.
Prerequisites: None

Employment Discrimination

3 semester hours
Examination of the basic doctrines protecting individuals from employment discrimination, principally Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (race, color, sex, religion, national origin), and also the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and 42 U.S.C. sections 1981 and 1985(c).
Prerequisites: None

Employment Law

3 semester hours
An examination of many of the federal and state statutes and common law doctrines that affect the employment relationship, including the employment-at-will doctrine, contract and tort incursions into that doctrine, privacy issues, wage and hour legislation, unemployment insurance, the regulation of employee benefits such as pensions and health care, and the regulation of workplace safety. The class will not contain in-depth coverage of issues involving unions, employment discrimination, or worker’s compensation.
Prerequisites: None

Environmental Law I

3 semester hours
Statutory, administrative, and common-law regulation at federal, state, and local levels of activities affecting the environment, including selected constitutional issues.
Prerequisites: None

European Union Law

3 semester hours
A study of the four EC institutions, Commission, Council, Parliament and Court of Justice, with emphasis on the lawmaking process. Progress toward fulfillment of the 1985 White Paper is studied with emphasis on business law on interest to U.S. practitioners. Featured are Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty of Rome dealing with competition law, as well as directives and regulations flowing from them. As time permits, certain industry sectors in the Community are studied, such as banking, transport, automobile, and biotechnology.
Prerequisites: None

Federal Courts

3 semester hours
Study of the role and function of the federal courts, selected from the following topics: justiciability of disputes, abstention and related doctrines; Congress, Article III jurisdiction, and non-Article III tribunals; federal question and diversity jurisdiction, federal common law; review of state court decisions; civil rights and the Eleventh Amendment; federal habeas corpus for state prisoners.
Prerequisites: None

Federal Trial Practice Seminar

2 or 3 semester hours
Clinical externship with a United States District Court Judge or Magistrate. Each extern is given various assignments for research and preparation of a bench memorandum concerning a particular issue currently pending before the court. A classroom session is held each week to discuss problems and questions relating to the assignments. Students are also permitted to observe court proceedings. For each credit hour received, the student must document 60 hours of work during the course. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: None

History of Anglo-American Law

3 semester hours
History of English law from Anglo-Saxon times to the mid-19th century and of American law from colonial period to present. An interdisciplinary course taught by history and law professors.
Prerequisites: None

Immigration Law and Policy

3 semester hours
The constitutional basis for citizenship; the source and limits of Congress’s power to regulate the entry, conditions of residence, and naturalization of non-citizens; the evolution and application of the Immigration and Naturalization Act’s provisions regarding non-citizens; the special problems and procedures for dealing with refugees and asylees; federal and state government power to differentiate between citizens and non-citizens in providing benefits; and other significant current legal and policy issues.
Prerequisites: None

Insurance

3 semester hours
Types of insurance contracts, definitions, governmental supervision, insurable interests, measures of indemnity and rights of subrogation, rights and obligations of parties, use of particular clauses to control risks, adjustment of claims, no-fault automobile plans, new areas of insurance.
Prerequisites: None

Intellectual Property Survey Course

3 semester hours
This course surveys the three basic areas of intellectual property law, with particular emphasis on trademark and copyright law and, to a lesser extent, patent law. Students will read and analyze illustrative cases and will study fundamental doctrines and statutory provisions regarding these three areas of intellectual property law. This course also explores the historical development of trademark, copyright, and patent law in England and the United States.
Prerequisites: None

Inter-School Competition (Appellate Advocacy/Moot Court)

1 or 2 semester hours
This course is reserved for those students competing in interscholastic moot court competitions. Students must join the Chase Moot Court Board and complete Advanced Appellate Advocacy in order to enroll in this course. Additionally, students must receive the approval of the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor to enroll. This is a graded course, with the final grade determined by the student’s brief and the student’s final oral argument prior to attending the competition. Students will receive two credits if they help write the brief and participate in the oral argument, and students will receive only one credit if they serve only in a writing capacity.
Prerequisites: None

International Business Transactions

3 semester hours
Study of a variety of topics selected from the following subject matter: sale of goods (including letters of credit), tariffs, the GATT system and non-tariff barriers to trade, subsidies and countervailing duties, antidumping duties, export licensing, franchising and trademark licensing, importation of counterfeit and “gray market” goods, unfair import practices, foreign direct investments; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Arab nations’ boycott, resolution of international disputes, and an introduction to the European Community legal system and doing business in EC nations.
Prerequisites: None

International Law

3 semester hours
An introduction to public international law as applied between independent nations and in American courts; making, interpretation, enforcement and termination of treaties; the act of state doctrine; recognition; territory; nationality; jurisdiction and international organizations; international claims; and certain aspects of war, including war crimes.
Prerequisites: None

Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiating

3 semester hours
Development of skills required of lawyers in interviewing clients, witnesses, and others to obtain relevant information, counseling clients, and negotiating such matters as case settlements and contracts. Role playing, simulation and videotaping will be used.
Prerequisites: None

Jurisprudence

3 semester hours
Philosophy of the law, its purposes and its relation to the social order. Statements of the various philosophers who have attempted to rationalize the purposes and policies of law.
Prerequisites: None

Juvenile Law

3 semester hours
Legal and philosophical bases for a separate juvenile court system, and of the state’s right as parens patriae to interfere in the parent-child relationship; juvenile court jurisdiction over the delinquent child, the status offender and the dependent and neglected child through the entire court process from investigation and arrest or summons, to adjudication and disposition, including continued supervision by the court or social workers. Students can receive credit towards the minimum of 90 hours required for graduation for either Juvenile Law or Introduction to Kentucky Juvenile Law, but not for both.
Prerequisites: None

Labor Relations

3 semester hours
Rights, duties and liabilities of employers and organized labor under the applicable federal and state legislation.
Prerequisites: None

Land Use Planning

2 semester hours
Evolution and problems of city planning, zoning and variances, subdivision development, problems in urban renewal.
Prerequisites: None

Law and Religion

3 semester hours
Examination of the respective roles of religion and law in one another’s domains, through a selection of one or more topics from among the following: historical and future role of religion in the pluralistic and democratic society of the United States; constitutional principles affecting government and religion under the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses; religious and legal principles underlying modern social debates and current events; legal structures and governmental regulation of religious institutions; religion in schools, workplaces, and courtrooms; spiritual and religious beliefs in the practice of law; selected topics not listed above.
Prerequisites: None

Law and Social Problems Seminar

2 or 3 semester hours
This umbrella course addresses the impact of the legal system on various social problems such as poverty, sexism and family violence. Specific course content varies. Examples of the subjects that have been taught under this umbrella include: Domestic Violence Seminar, Domestic Violence Prosecution & Trial, Gender & the Law, Immigration, Law & Religion, National Security Law.
Prerequisites: None

Law Review

3 to 6 semester hours
Academic performance at the College of Law or a writing competition determine which students are selected as members of the editorial staff of the Northern Kentucky Law Review, which trains students in disciplined legal research and writing. A maximum of 6 semester hours can be received in this course.
Prerequisites: None

Legal Drafting

2 semester hours
Practice in the drafting of basic documents encountered in the general practice of law; course may focus on litigation documents, transactional documents, or a combination thereof.
Prerequisites: None

Legislation and Statutory Interpretation

3 semester hours
This course will examine both the legislative process and the interpretation of statutes. Students will study various tools of statutory interpretation, including the uses of legislative history materials and the doctrines and textual canons of statutory construction. In addition, specific topics to be covered may also include: qualifications and selection of legislators; legislative organization and procedure; legislative hearings; legislative veto; regulation of lobbying activity; severability of statutory provisions; statutory stare decisis; executive/administrative interpretation of statutes; the process of codification; direct democracy (ballot initiatives and referenda); and retroactivity of statutes. Although Congressional legislation is the primary focus of the course, the work of state legislatures will also be addressed.
Prerequisites: None

Modern Real Estate Transactions

3 semester hours
Brokers, commissions, duties to buyer and seller, contracts of sale, financing, damages, specific performance, warranties, recording acts, abstracts of title, title insurance and Torrens registration, cooperatives and condominiums, closing a real estate transaction, drafting of real estate instruments.
Prerequisites: Property I & II.

National Trial Advocacy Competition

1 to 3 semester hours
Interschool mock trial program, with membership selected through an intra-school competition in August/September of each year. The top four students make up the Trial Advocacy Team, and the top twelve students make up the Trial Advocacy Board. The National Team will compete in an intra-state competition in September/October, and one or two national competitions during the spring semester. Credits vary depending on participation. National team members receive two credit hours for competing in the intra-state competition in the Fall Semester and one additional credit hour for competing in one or more national competitions during the Spring Semester. Alternates to the national team will receive one credit hour for participation in one or both of the national competitions. Board members who do not participate in a competition do not receive academic credit.
Prerequisites: Students must complete 30 hours of courses before enrolling in this course. Evidence is prerequisite or (with permission of the professor) co-requisite.

Not for Profit Corporations

2 semester hours
The course is a two credit-hour introduction to the law and policy of not-for-profit organizations. Specific topics include formation and dissolution, operation and governance, regulation, tax exemption and charitable contributions, and “unrelated” commercial activities. More generally, the course considers why nonprofit organizations exist in the first place, what their place is in the social and economic order, and whether the law should accord them special status. The course will look broadly at the not-for-profit sector and more specifically at segments such as health, education, and religion in which nonprofits play a large role. It will also examine important distinctions among the various types of not-for-profit organizations, from religious entities to traditional charities to advocacy groups and private membership associations.
Prerequisites: None

Patent Law

3 semester hours
This course focuses exclusively and intently on patent. It covers the history, theory, and constitutional basis of the U.S. patent system; patentable subject matter; rights, obligations, and liabilities of investors, patentees and infringers.
Prerequisites: None

Pretrial Litigation

3 semester hours
Study of complex litigation matter using the case simulation method from inception to beginning of trial. Students will act as litigation associates, one-half representing plaintiffs and one-half representing defendants, and will perform drafting and other assignments.
Prerequisites: None

Race, Racism, and American Law

3 semester hours
Study of race in American law from historical, sociological, philosophical, and jurisprudential perspectives, slavery and abolition, interracial marriage, segregation of public facilities, voting rights, racial discrimination in jury selection, the civil rights movement and civil disobedience, school desegregation, fair housing laws, and race discrimination in employment.
Prerequisites: None

School Law

3 semester hours
Laws relating to public and private education in the State of Ohio, including student rights, responsibilities, and discipline; employment and labor relations; and general operation of boards of education.
Prerequisites: None

Securities Regulation

3 semester hours
Study of primary and secondary securities markets under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and related rules and regulation; definition of a “security”; registration requirements relating to offerings, secondary distributions and resale of restricted securities; exemptions from registration requirements; obligations of issuers, directors, underwriters, attorneys, and accountants; tender offers; proxy solicitations; civil liabilities to purchasers and sellers of securities.
Prerequisites: None

Sports Law

2 semester hours
Discusses and treats each of the three divisions of sports activities: amateur, regulated and professional sports. Covers labor, tort, antitrust and contractual issues.
Prerequisites: None

State and Local Government Law

3 semester hours
Addresses state and local government structure, authority, and responsibilities, as well as legal issues affecting local government units including constitutional law, contracts, franchising and business regulations, employment law, land use and zoning, criminal law, administrative law, ethics and others. Compliments an internship or externship with the Local Government Law Center, but not required for either.
Prerequisites: None

Supervised Independent Research

2 to 3 semester hours
Preparation, including both research and writing, of a research paper of at lease 20 pages for 2 hours credit or 30 pages for 3 hours credit, excluding footnotes; professor may require more than the minimum number of pages. Page requirements are 8.5” x 11” with 1-inch margins of 10 cpi type and at least 26 lines per page, or 5/6 the number of pages if 12 cpi type is used. The footnotes must be appropriate to the subject matter of the paper, and proper Bluebook form is mandatory.
Prerequisites: None

Tax-Advanced Income Tax Concepts

3 semester hours
Study of advanced principles of federal income taxation not covered in Federal Taxation 1A, including tax accounting and other timing issues, choice of taxable year, time value of money, disallowances and restrictions of losses and deductions, charitable contributions, and the minimum tax.
Prerequisites: Tax-Basic Income Tax Concepts.

Tax-Business Entities Taxation

3 semester hours
Addresses tax consequences that flow from the dealings and transactions between a corporation and its shareholders and a partnership and it partners. Topics studied include formation, operation, distributions, redemptions, liquidations, taxable and tax-free acquisitions.
Prerequisites: Tax-Basic Income Tax Concepts.

Tax-Estate and Gift Tax

3 semester hours
Substantive provisions of federal estate and gift taxation statutes, including compensation and valuation of the gross estate, deductions, credits, computation of payment of estate tax, determination of a taxable gift, transfers with reservations of powers and interests, exclusions, deductions, valuation, computation and payment.
Prerequisites: Wills & Trusts.

Tax-Estate Planning

3 semester hours
Methods of creating, conserving and disposing of small and large estates; use of insurance, employment, inter vivos trust, inter vivos gifts and wills as methods of achieving testamentary objectives of the client and maximum distribution to the objects of the testator’s bounty. Impact of federal income and estate taxes on the distributive estate and methods of minimizing those taxes.
Prerequisites: Wills & Trusts and Tax-Estate and Gift Tax.

Tax-IRS Legal Counsel Externship

2 semester hours
Clinical externship with the IRS regional office in Cincinnati dealing with tax issues.
Prerequisites: None

Tax-State and Local Taxation

3 semester hours
Various state and local, real and personal property taxes, sales and use taxes, corporate income and franchise taxes, personal income taxes, gross receipts taxes, and death and gift taxes. Federal and state constitutional limitations. Relevant Kentucky and Ohio taxes.
Prerequisites: Tax- Basic Income Tax Concepts

Tax-Tax Moot Court Inter-School Competition

0 semester hours
Preparation for inter-school appellate moot court tax competition. This competition is known as the Muegel Tax Competition.
Prerequisites: None

Tax-Tax Policy Seminar

3 semester hours
This seminar will explore the basic issues in tax policy dealing with the design and requirements of a good tax structure, the approaches to tax fairness, efficiency and simplicity, and the development and composition of the U.S. tax system. The course will focus on these issues from a legal, historical, political, sociological, and economic perspective.
Prerequisites: Tax – Basic Income Tax Concepts

Tax-Tax Writing Workshop

1 semester hours
The Tax Writing Workshop is a 1-credit hour upper-level writing course that offers students a writing experience in the field of taxation. The course is offered each semester as a writing lab component to whichever of the two advanced tax courses – Advanced Income Tax Concepts or Business Entities Taxation – is offered that semester. To be eligible to enroll in the course, the student must also be enrolled in the advanced tax course offered that semester.
Prerequisites: None

Trial Advocacy

3 semester hours
Development of the skills involved in the conduct of a trial. Role playing, simulation and videotaping will be used.
Prerequisites: Evidence and Civil Procedure I and II

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