Legal Studies

Master of Legal Studies

This course explores the legal process and procedures followed in our systems of civil and criminal justice.  Topics include the components of due process, the adversarial system, stages of a case, and the roles of attorneys, judges, prosecutors, and professional ethics, and the core elements of civil and criminal procedure.

This is one of two courses conveying what is distinctive about the common law approach as a legal methodology and as a reflection and commentary on the history and politics of the American experience, from the early colonial period to the 21st century world of globalized commerce, human rights concerns and environmental and social justice. The course examines the history and sources of the common law, common law modes of legal rhetoric, argument, and communication skills, and transformation and adaptation of the common law achieved through social justice and law reform movements.  The weekly discussion sections focus on the development of legal writing, research, and critical reasoning skills necessary to solve legal problems, particularly in the context of predictive written communications to various audiences.  The American Common Law System I topics focus primarily on Contract Law and Tort Law in the American legal system.

In addition to the innovative and immersive approach described in American Common Law I, this course focuses primarily on Property Law and its intersections with Torts and Contract Law in the contemporary American legal system.

Broadly speaking, public law is concerned with the organization of government and the relationship between the government and its citizens. In the United States, the foundation of public law is the Constitution, but that document merely provides a framework, which later legislatures, presidents, and courts have filled in over time. This course introduces students to the law that has emerged from those efforts and the distinctive modes of argument lawyers and judges employ in shaping that law for the future. Subjects covered include the constitutional law of federalism; executive power, including presidential war powers and the role of administrative agencies; and civil liberties, with particular emphasis on the freedom of speech.

This course teaches Masters of Legal Studies students how to find legal authorities relevant to legal problems; how to analyze a legal issue using facts and law; and how to communicate legal analysis logically and concisely. This course consists of research exercises; writing exercises, including letters and legal memoranda; and more complex research and writing assignments. Students work in groups and individually to learn the fundamentals of good writing and editing skills.