6330 Modern Real Estate Transactions (3)
Basic course in conveyancing. Current problems in purchase and sale of residential real estate; legal and equitable rights, responsibilities, liabilities, and remedies of buyer, seller, broker, escrow agent, conveyancing attorney, title examiner, abstractor, and lender; interim and permanent mortgage finance, discounts, points, “subject-to” and “assumptions,” remedies on default, including foreclosure processes; process of examination and assurance of title and other interests in realty, including recording and title insurance systems; settlements and closings, warranties of title, encumbrances on title, and clearing of title; emerging problems related to cooperatives, condominiums, and property owners associations. (Examination)
6332 Land Use Law (2) Feola, Gordon, Silber
Problems, solutions, emerging concepts, and constitutionality of land use regulations, including zoning, subdivisions, historic preservation, exactions, vested rights, transfer of development rights, growth management, and urban and regional planning. (Writing assignments and take-home examination)
6334 Law of Real Estate Financing (2) Ginsburg, Stuart
Types of lenders, choice of entity, construction loans, permanent financing; lenders’ obligations, remedies, and liabilities; title insurance, survey, and liens; ground lease and commercial lease/leasehold mortgage; joint ventures; alternate capital formation; opinion letters. (Examination)
6338 Housing Law and Policy (2) Geno
Federal, state, and local laws that in effect constitute housing policy in the United States. Judicial interpretation of such laws. The roles the various levels of government play in the housing industry. Political and policy implications of various housing programs and how they affect communities across the country. (Research paper and writing assignments)
6340 Property and Real Estate Law Seminar: Property and Poverty (2) E. Brown
This seminat is for those who are interested in property and poverty. Since the time of Bentham, we have understood that the poor, like others, are more likely to invest in property if they own it. Hernando De Soto has famously argued that non-transparent legal systems, and titling systems in particular, pose severe impediments to the participation of the poor in capitalist economics. Without title, the poor are less likely to invest in their properties and are often unable to access credit. De Soto estimates that for the developing world, the total value of real estate held by the poor (but not formally titled) is more than 20 times foreign direct investment and more than 90 times all foreign aid for the last three decades. The extent of De Soto's influence can hardly be overstated. In the policy world, his work has inspired decades of World Bank-funded titling programs across several continents. In the academic world, his work has inspired soul-searching among economists and legal scholars across the methodological spectrum. Some have argued for communal systems of collective land tenure. Others dispute his estimates of property currently owned by the poor, and argue that granting legal title has not improved credit access. Others have argued that titling systems simply replicate current inequalities. Moreover, in societies where women work the land but do not have equal status, their claims are unlikely to be recognized. Others have criticized De Soto’s emphasis on titling arguing that land titling by itself is unlikely to make a significant impact on poverty reduction without parallel reforms such as improving judicial systems, bankruptcy codes, and business regulations. Yet others such as Judge Posner have rightly raised questions as to whether extensive investments in legal systems represent a prudent investment in the conditions of extreme economic scarcity that characterize many developing countries, suggesting that in such circumstances, a more “modest” approach to legal reforms may be more prudent. This seminar will focus on De Soto’s work and the critiques. (Class participation and research paper)
6342 Trusts and Estates (3 or 4) Cahn, Carter, Davis, Edmisten, R. Palmer
Noncommercial transfers of wealth at death or during life; essential elements and formalities for creation of trusts and execution of wills, revocation and alteration, grounds for contest, limits on property owner’s power to control, intestate succession. Credit may not be earned for both Law 6342 and 6343. (Examination and problem assignments or drafting projects)
6343 Trusts, Estates, and Professional Responsibility (4)
Integration of legal ethics with the trusts and estates course. Noncommercial transfers of wealth during life or at death. Essential elements and formalities for creation of trusts and execution of wills, revocation and alteration, grounds for contest, limis on property owner's power to control, intestate succession, and planning for incapacity. Ethical problems involved in civil and criminal counseling and litigation. Rules of Professional Conduct and the role of bar associations and courts in regulating lawyer conduct. Credit may not be earned for Law 6343 and Law 6218 or 6342. This course satisfies the Professional Responsibility and Ethics requirement for the J.D. degree. (Examination)
6346 Estate Planning (2) Nudelman
Effective acquisition, management, and disposition of wealth by lifetime transactions and testamentary transfer. Emphasis on federal income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxation. Problem assignments address probate avoidance, interspousal transfers, jointly owned assets, transfers to minors, irrevocable trusts, closely held family and business interests, post-mortem estate planning, retirement planning, and charitable giving. Enrollment is limited. Prerequisite: Law 6342. (Drafting assignments) (Skills)
6348 Family Law (3 or 4) Cahn
Survey of family law, including statutory law of domestic relations and constitutional restraint on state regulation of the family. Topics include marriage, divorce (including child custody, property division, alimony, and child support), domestic violence, reproductive rights, and family privacy. The course draws on historical and interdisciplinary materials and involves discussion of public policy issues as well as current law. (Examination)
6349 Family, Child, and State (2 or 3)
The allocation of power and responsibility among parent, child, and state. Freedoms under the First Amendment, education, health care including procreation, child abuse and neglect, custody, adoption, and juvenile delinquency. Sociological/psychological perspectives on the parent–child relationship. Enrollment is limited. (Take-home examination)
6350 Domestic Violence Law (2 or 3) Nagpaul
Historical perspective on legal and public policy approaches to domestic violence; contemporary civil and criminal justice systems approaches to domestic violence; and analysis of relevant federal and state laws. (Research paper)
6352 Family Law Seminar (2) Ridder
Historical and contemporary problems in the theory and practice of family law. Specific topics to be announced. Enrollment is limited. Prerequisite: Law 6348 or 6349. (Examination or research paper with permission of the instructor)
6353 Elder Law (2 or 3)
Topics may include Medicare and Medicaid, financing health care, and related policy issues; health care decision making, including informed consent and advance health care directives; issues related to the right to die, including euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide; long-term health care issues, including nursing homes and other alternatives, insurance, monitoring, and quality of services; guardianships and other procedures in the event of age-related disabilities; Social Security and -Supplemental Security Income; housing issues, including tax incentives, retirement communities, and continuing care facilities. (Examination)
6354 Products Liability (2 or 3)
Theory and practice of product liability litigation. Compensatory and punitive damages; competing strategies pursued by plaintiffs and defendants. Affirmative defenses and defense strategies. Failure-to-warn and defective design cases. Discovery techniques. Settlement strategy and mediation of product liability cases. Class actions and multidistrict litigation involving defective products. -Differences between U.S. product liability litigation and other countries’ systems. (Examination or research paper with permission of the instructor)