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Patent Drafting

LAW 592

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of drafting effective patent applications. Students will acquire an understanding of patent concepts, patentability requirements, different patent types and parts of a patent application, drafting a patent application, and the technical and legal strategies for prosecuting the application before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Options for obtaining worldwide patent protection, patent litigation, and the related licensing and transactional matters may be also covered in less detail.

Patent Law

LAW 703

This course explores the major topics of U.S. patent law, seeking a solid general education in patent law concepts and procedures from a practical and policy perspective. Topics covered include patentable subject matter, requirements for patent validity, patent infringement, and damages.

Patent Prosecution

LAW 710

An introduction to the basics of drafting patent applications and supporting documents, and the prosecution of patents before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Prerequisite: Patent Law (LAW 703).

Poverty Law

LAW 374

You are no doubt by now familiar with the way some law school classes ask you to think about the essential concept at the course’s core: What is a contract? What is a tort? What is Property? This course will ask the same kind of questions, but about something that the law and law school make essentially invisible, poverty. What is poverty? Who are the poor? Why might it be problematic even to use the term the poor? The course explores how poverty is constructed, maintained, and addressed, including the role played by gender and race, and the role of the Law in all of this. The course also contains recurring Constitutional Law concepts such as procedural due process, the unconstitutional conditions doctrine, and the negative Constitution in Poverty Law.

Pretrial Litigation Skills

LAW 605

An analysis of forum selection, pleading, motion practice, investigation, and discovery tactics through courtroom simulation.

Professional Responsibility

LAW 206

Explores the ethical problems faced by lawyers in our legal system, including detailed study of the ABA Model Rules, California Rules of Professional Conduct, and the Code of Judicial Conduct . The course examines the various modes and methods of practice, e.g., criminal and civil practice, public interest law, government service including judging, and "in-house" counseling. In addition, the course explores the ethical problems and dilemmas inherent in each type of practice and the adversary system itself and addresses the larger philosophical and ethical dimensions of the lawyer’s role in society.

Professional Skills I: Litigation

LAW 207B

Professional Skills I is an upper-level writing course featuring a semester-long simulation in which students represent one client from the beginning to the end of a fictitious lawsuit. Students learn the following real world lawyering skills: substantive knowledge of the law, problem-solving, written and oral communication, legal analysis and reasoning, interviewing, factual investigation, counseling, negotiation, knowledge of the litigation process, organization and management of legal work, and recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas. Students draft, among other documents, a representation letter, a complaint and answer, interrogatories, and a motion for summary judgment.

Professional Skills I: Transactional

LAW 207A

Professional Skills I is an upper-level writing course featuring a semester-long simulation in which students represent one client from the beginning to the end of a fictitious transaction or deal. Students learn the following real world lawyering skills: substantive knowledge of the law, problem-solving, written and oral communication, legal analysis and reasoning, interviewing, factual investigation, counseling, negotiation, knowledge of the transactional process, organization and management of legal work, and recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas. Students draft, among other documents, a representation letter, a letter of intent, an asset purchase and/or licensing agreement, and an employment and/or consulting agreement.

Professional Skills II

LAW 208

Professional Skills II is the fourth semester of legal writing that all students must take in either the fall or spring semester of their graduating year. This upper-level writing course reinforces and strengthens the skills learned in Professional Skills I and prepares students to take the performance test increasingly found on bar examinations. Students use performance tests to learn how to read quickly and critically, to analyze law and facts, to follow direction, and to complete assignments under time constraints. Students develop and enhance the skills necessary to pass the bar exam and to successfully practice law.