LLS | International LL.M. Program | 2007-2008 Course Listings

International LL.M. Course Listings

Academic Year 2007-2008

Fall 2007:
Bologna Campus
Classes begin September 7 and end December 1, 2007.

Required courses for international students:
(Graduates of ABA accredited law schools are not eligible to enroll in these courses.)

American Contract Law (4 units)
American Trial Process (2 units)
Introduction to American Law (2 units)
Legal Writing and Research (4 units)

Fall 2007:
Los Angeles Campus
Classes Begin August 20 and end November 29, 2007

Required courses for graduates of American law schools.
Students must complete a minimum of 9 units in the fall but are strongly encouraged to complete 12 units to maximize their ability to obtain the LLM degree in one year. Students who have previously taken equivalent coursework at Loyola Law School or other ABA accredited law schools may petition in writing to be waived from completing a required LLM course. However, any waiver of required courses will not reduce the 24-unit requirement for the LLM degree. Students who receive a waiver of a required course need to substitute advanced coursework to complete the 24-unit requirement.

Comparative Law or Introduction to the Civil Law Legal Systems (3 units)
European Union Law (3 units)
International Law (3 units)

Note: Comparative Law will not be offered in Fall 2007. This information is subject to change and/or expansion. Please refresh this page and double-check the information to be sure you have the latest updates.

Students can choose the fourth course to complete 12 units from the following courses:

Conflict of Laws (3 units)
Immigration Law (3 units)
International Business Transactions (3 units)
International Commercial Arbitration* (3 units)
International Conflict Resolution (3 units)
International Environmental Law (3 units)
Law of Sales: Domestic and International (3 units)
Law of War (3 units)

* These classes will also be offered in Bologna in the Spring.

Spring 2008:
Bologna Campus
Classes begin January 11 and end April 5, 2008

Elective Courses--Both international students and graduates of ABA accredited law schools are eligible to enroll in these courses. However, all students must enroll in at least one of the two courses from List A and must enroll in at least one of the two courses from List B.

List A courses

International Civil Litigation
International Protection of Human Rights

List B courses

International Trade
International Intellectual Property

Students must enroll in additional coursework in order to satisfy the 24-unit requirement for the LLM degree. These additional courses may be selected from List A or List B or from the following list:

International Commercial Arbitration (3 units)
Comparative Constitutional Law (3 units)

Other courses to be announced.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Fall 2007 - Offered in Bologna

American Contract Law (4 units)
Professor Peter Tiersma, Loyola Law School

This course studies contract formation and interpretation, defenses to enforceability, conditions, performance and breach, discharge and third party rights and obligations. Students will learn both American common law and the Uniform Commercial Code.

Introduction to American Law (2 units)
Professor Peter Tiersma, Loyola Law School

This course provides an introduction to the common law and the essential characteristics of the United States legal system: basic constitutional structures and the judicial function, the structure of the American judicial system, the role of federal courts, the basics of legal methodology, the role of the legal profession in an adversary system and some core legal principles.

American Trial Process (2 units)
Professor Judy Fonda, Loyola Law School

This course covers the theory, procedure and style of trials in U.S. courts. It addresses: (1) pretrial rules and procedures, (2) the roles of the judge, jury, and lawyers, (3) the structure of the trial, (4) the rules governing the admissibility of evidence, (5) the basics of trial advocacy and (6) post-trial rules and procedures.

Legal Writing and Research (4 units)
Professor Judy Fonda, Loyola Law School

This course teaches students the basics of legal research and writing. Research topics covered include: ethical obligations to research, court structure, stare decisis, case reporting and precedent, digests, state and federal statutes and administrative law, periodicals, encyclopedias and treatises, citations form, research strategies and computerized legal research. Students learn the fundamentals of drafting objective and persuasive legal documents. Students will prepare an office memorandum, a brief or memorandum of points and authorities and other written work. The professor will extensively critique student written work and meet individually with students to review their papers.

Fall 2007 - Offered in Los Angeles

Required Courses

European Union Law (3 units)

This course will provide an introduction to the law of the European Union. The course will examine fundamental principles of EU law and its relationship to national law, including direct effect and supremacy. The course will also review the provisions on free movement of goods which limit Member State power and confer regulatory authority on EU institutions.

International Law (3 units)

This course surveys the basic concepts of international law. International law deals with the rules and procedures governing the relations of nation-states - and increasingly disciplines the relations between states and their nationals. The course will cover both customary and conventional (treaty-based) international law as well as other less formal ways by which international norms can be formed and enforced. The course also examines the role of states, international organizations and non-state actors in the international legal order and the relationship between international and domestic law. The course will introduce specific fields within international law, such as international human rights law, trade and investment law, environmental law and the law of war.

Introduction to Civil Law Legal Systems (3 units)

The course will introduce the students to the legal systems of Western Europe that have most influenced the civil law legal systems in the world. The course will cover the application and development of Roman law in Europe to the making of the national codes and their influence in the Spanish colonies of the new world (Latin America and parts of the United States). The main features of civil and criminal procedure in the civil law countries will follow, as well as recent and current reforms of the criminal systems in Latin America. Selected topics in European law will also be discussed, including a comparative analysis of legal provisions and court decisions in France and Germany.

Elective Courses:

Conflict of Laws (3 units)

This course examines laws applicable to cases having interstate and international elements; which court may have jurisdiction; which substantive law may determine a case outcome; when sister-state or foreign country udgments must or may determine a local litigation; and the extent to which considerations of due process, full faith and credit, and other constitutional provisions shape answers to these questions. Attention is given to choice of law developments which underlie and form a framework for adjudicating such interstate and international cases.

Immigration Law (3 units)

This course explores the American immigration system from constitutional, statutory, and policy perspectives. Immigration plays a central role in contemporary American life and raises in acute form some of the most basic problems that the legal system must address. Topics considered include ource and scope of Congressional power to regulate immigration; procedures for entry, exclusion and deportation; special emphasis on the refugee issue and political asylum; business visas; and current immigration law reform.

International Business Transactions (3 units)

A survey of the legal aspects of international business transactions. Specific topics include international finance; technology transfer and the licensing of intellectual property; international sales; international trade regulation; and foreign investment.

International Commercial Arbitration (3 units)

Arbitration is the dispute resolution system most often chosen by lawyers nvolved in international business transactions. This course is designed to introduce students to both the theory and practice of international commercial arbitration. The "theory" portion of the course will examine the legal basis for international commercial arbitration, emphasizing the Federal Arbitration Act, the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards and the UNCITRAL Model Law and Rules, which form the basis for the rules used by most international arbitration tribunals. The "practice" component will involve participating in a mock arbitration with other students.

International Conflict Resolution (3 units)

International conflict presents a severe test for those committed to peaceful resolution of disputes and maintenance of world peace. Violence is no stranger to such conflicts. They more often than not involve collision of identities, competing political philosophy,opposing versions of history, religious intolerance to the point of genocide, different versions of morality, and a multitude of nationalities. This seminar will explore the relevance of negotiation principles (especially "game theory") to the prevention, improvement, management, and resolution of such conflicts by studying in depth theCyprus problem, with special emphasis on the potential for reunification of the island currently divided between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and the larger issue of intercommunal work in the face of conflict intractability. Applicability of mediation approaches and the efforts of citizen peacebuilding (Track III diplomacy) will beconsidered along with the pros and cons of the various aspects of the U.N. Annan peace plan for Cyprus. The course will provide students with foundational information in the applicable areas of negotiation theory, conflict resolution processes, and peacebuilding approaches.

International Environmental Law (3 units)

This course studies global environmental threats and the way international law deals with them. It also reviews the treaties and other international law on climate change, ozone depletion, biodiversity, trans-boundary pollution, rainforests, sustainable economic development and related issues. The international public and private institutions shaping global environmental policy will be addressed.

Law of Sales: Domestic and International (3 units)

This course will explore and compare the principle laws governing sales of goods both within the United States and internationally, namely Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). In addition, some of the laws governing financing of sales transactions will be covered, such as Article 5 of the UCC for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). In addition, some of the laws governing financing of sales transactions will be covered, such as Article 5 of the UCC.

Law of War (3 units)

This course will introduce students to the full scope of the contemporary law of war. Although public discussion is typically limited to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the full corpus juris also includes substantial customary practice, numerous other treaties, and rulings in hundreds of war crimes trials, and reflects a unique mix of humanitarian and pragmatic concerns. Class sessions will cover both the historic development and current state of the law, and participants will discuss current issues of national concern such as the Bush Administration's preemptive war doctrine and the applicability of the law of war to the war on terrorism. Recent examples of criminal and civil litigation invoking law of war issues will also be presented, and each student will explore a topic of personal interest in a substantial research paper.

Spring 2008 - Offered in Bologna

International Commercial Arbitration (3 units)
Professor Chiara Giovannucci Orlandi

Arbitration is the principal alternative form of dispute resolution to civil litigation. The course will cover the major differences between arbitration and other methods of alternative dispute resolution, and will focus on issues relating to International Arbitration. Special attention will be given to the Federal Arbitration Act, the European laws on International Arbitration and to the rules of the most influential International Arbitration institutions (eg, The American Arbitration Association, The International Arbitration Chamber of Milan, The International Chamber of Commerce of Paris and The London Court of International Arbitration). Special regard will be given to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and its application in the United States and Europe.

International Intellectual Property (3 units)
Professor Jeff Atik, Loyola Law School

This course will survey the international system for intellectual property. This system includes international treaties that enable the recognition of intellectual property interests across borders, such as the Berne Convention (copyright) and Paris Convention (patent and trademark), as well as TRIPS, the IP-specific agreement binding on all WTO members. The course will also examine contemporary topics, such as the treatment of traditional knowledge, compulsory licenses for essential medicines, disclosure of test data, and the use of IP rights to limit parallel trade.

International Civil Litigation (3 units)
Professor Nicolo Trocker, University of Florence

As international transportation and communication expands, more disputes involve parties from two or more countries. Using a hypothetical problem case approach, this course explores how the United States courts deal with cases involving US and foreign parties, as both plaintiffs and defendants. The cases used range from commercial disputes to personal injury to human rights cases. Problems of forum selection, including personal jurisdiction and service on foreign countries, and forum non conveniens; discovery in foreign countries; sovereign immunity; and enforcements of US judgments abroad will be covered. Although the course focuses primarily on litigation in US courts, the course also covers examples of litigation in foreign courts.

International Trade (3 units)
Professor Jeff Atik, Loyola Law School

This course examines the regulation of international trade in goods and services, with an emphasis on the World Trade Organization and corresponding U.S. trading rules. Customs classification and valuation and export controls will also be covered.