Course Descriptions

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2012 Summer Legal Institute Course Descriptions

Community Property (3 units/credits)

This course deals exclusively with the California community property system.  Topics considered include classification of property as separate or community, management and control of community property, liability of property for debts, and division of property on termination of the community by death or dissolution. 

Criminal Procedure (3 units/credits)

A study of fundamental aspects of criminal procedure. Emphasis will be given to judicial control of police practices by means of the exclusionary rule, including search and seizure, and police interrogation. Consideration also will be given to fundamentals of procedural due process, including defendant's privilege against self-incrimination, the right to counsel, right to jury trial, and former jeopardy.  Additional topics may include pretrial and trial processes, such as the decision to prosecute, grand jury, preliminary examination, joinder and severance, bail, discovery, plea bargaining, and the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses.

Students contemplating obtaining judicial externships in their fourth to sixth semesters should be aware that many judges require externs to have completed Criminal Procedure.

Evidence (3 units/credits)

The law of evidence, including relevancy, hearsay, judicial notice, burden of proof, and presumptions; functions of judge and jury; competency and privileges of witnesses; principal rules of admissibility and exclusion of testimony of witnesses and documents.  Special emphasis is given to the California Evidence Code and the Federal Rules of Evidence.

Conflict of Laws and the International Protection of the Environment (3 units/credits)

This course is intended to provide a basic overview of the conflict of laws between Italian/European Union environmental statutes and the environmental laws of other public and private legal systems.  The first part of the course will analyze the relationship between the environment and the market and how that relationship is regulated by various levels of international and European law.  Various public and private legal tools, including licenses, environmental impact reports, and emission cap-and-trade systems will be discussed.  The second part of the course will focus on the conflict of law mechanisms in both a national (Italian) and a European Union context.  The final part of the course will examine the concept of "environmental damage" and the various compensation actions used in environmental disputes from the viewpoints of juristiction, applicable law, and the enforcement of rulings.  This course will be taught by Paola Mariani and Fabrizio Fracchia, who are visiting law professors from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.  Visiting Italian students from Bocconi will also be enrolled in the course, which willl be taught entirely in English. 

Legal Ethics and the Practice of Law (3 units/credits)

An introduction to basic California and ABA rules.  The course focuses on principles of ethics that are required knowledge in order to obtain a license to practice law in California.  Ethical principles are presented and analyzed as real-world dilemmas faced by attorneys as they practice law.  This course emphasizes the practical and economic realities that can affect a lawyer's conduct and choices, and explores tensions between traditional notions of ethical behavior, modern-day ethical standards of the legal profession, the role of morality, loyalty to one's client, public service, and personal values.  The course includes lectures and exercises in active learning to keep instruction lively.

This course provides broader coverage than the two-unit Professional Responsibility course.

NOTE: UC Hastings students who enroll in this course may not subsequently enroll in Professional Responsibility (2 Units), or Roles & Ethics in Practice (4 Units).

Negotiation and Settlement (3 units/credits)

Satisfies professional skills requirement.

This course is an introduction to the theory, process, and practice of negotiation to help students improve their skills as negotiators and develop a framework for self-learning in the future. In addition to group discussions, classroom instruction will rely heavily on simulation and video tape review. There will be required readings for most classes and a number of short written assignments related to particular classes and simulation exercises.

NOTE: UC Hastings students who enroll in this course may not enroll in Negotiation & Mediation: Process & Practice