International Law and Organizations (3)
This introductory course in international law, surveys the sources of international
law and some contemporary global issues and challenges. The course introduces concepts
of international law and how they achieve legitimacy through United Nations organizations
and conferences, the International Court of Justice, the International Law Commission,
treaty bodies, and state practice, as well as through other actors. The law of foreign
sovereign immunity and the act of state doctrine are considered along with the role
of international law in the U.S. legal system and the allocation of foreign affairs
powers between the President and Congress. Selected topics that may be explored include
international claims (including expropriation law), human rights, norms governing
the use of force, and the law of the sea and environmental issues.
International Business Transactions (3)
This is a three-credit survey course designed to acquaint students with some of the
issues involved in the conduct of international business transactions. We will examine
the various methods of doing business abroad, moving from relatively simple to progressively
more involved transactions -- for example, beginning with a basic sale and financing
of goods across national borders to the establishment of a productive operation abroad
through foreign franchisees, technology licensing arrangements and finally, direct
investment in foreign enterprises. The last part of the course will focus on the resolution
of international commercial disputes.
We will study these transactions in a variety of political and economic settings --
economically developed nations, developing-country markets and non-market economies
in transition. Even though there will be some discussion of national controls and
international regulation of trade, for example, the World Trade Organization and the
North American Free Trade Agreement, the primary focus of the course is on private
international business law (sales contracts, trademark licenses, intellectual property
infringements, investment contracts, etc.). We will touch on an extensive range of
substantive laws, such as the law of corporations, commercial transactions and the
uniform commercial code, antitrust, intellectual property (copyright, trademark, patent),
conflict of laws, civil procedure, contracts, international trade as well as public
international law. Any knowledge or background in some of these areas will be helpful.
However, there are no prerequisites for this course.
The course is designed to help students become “practice-ready.” That is, students
will learn transactional skills and work with actual contracts. In addition to learning
substantive laws and legal doctrine, students will also learn different strategies
of negotiation. Negotiation skills will be incorporated into and seamlessly mesh with
the substantive laws in different sections of the course. In this respect, students
will not only learn how to draft and mark up different types of contracts but will
also be exposed to different approaches to negotiation by engaging in simulated negotiations.
These simulated negotiations play out in different settings – transactions, dispute
resolution and other situations lawyers encounter in practice.
OR
International Business Litigation (2)
This course deals with the litigation process in the United States when the subject
of the litigation involves a transnational business transaction. We will examine the
following topics: U.S. jurisdiction and other aspects of forum selection and forum
non conveniens; service of process of a U.S. lawsuit abroad; international discovery;
sovereign immunity; act of state; and enforcement of foreign judgments in American
courts. Emphasis will be on acquiring practical skills in both prosecuting and defending
international business litigation suits.