Professional Skills/Lawyering Skills/Simulation

This course presents an overview of estate planning for individuals and focuses particularly on lifetime and death tax consequences to members of a family. Coverage includes estate, gift, corporate, partnership and individual tax issues. Issues regarding life insurance, trusts, wills, family transactions, investment analysis and other financial considerations are also discussed. Prerequisite: Wills & Trusts (360).

This is a hands-on course designed to train students in how to analyze technology contracts and how to draft some of today's most widely used forms of technology agreements. The course will take a detailed look at every aspect of contract drafting - why some clauses work and why others don't. Common provisions used in technology agreements will be reviewed in detail, particularly those standard, "boilerplate" terms that many lawyers have a tendency to skip over.

This course examines key legal and business aspects of television production. The course is organized according to the chronology of events that lead to the airing of a network television series. During each class, students are introduced to a particular issue, its relevance to the television production process, the legal issues involved, and the problems that must be addressed. Students are divided into teams of law firms, studio departments or network personnel.

This course helps bridge the gap between studying law and practicing law for students interested in joining a big or medium law firm. The course will give students practical skills to succeed as an associate in a big/medium law firm.

This course introduces the student - in the context of theory, simulated practice, and integrated professionalism - to construction law and transactional drafting. It will address client interviewing, negotiation, legal writing, and transactional drafting in the context of issues that arise during the practice of construction law. The class will address the specialized contracts used in the construction industry, as well as claims, disputes, sureties, and alternative dispute resolution.

This is a hands-on course designed to train students in family law litigation in a mock world setting. The course would cover the most common family law issues, beginning with the initial client interview and concluding with a mock family law trial.

This course explores the art of legal writing in a small class setting, enabling students to hone skills developed in their first year legal research and writing class, including legal analysis, organization, rhetorical strategies and writing style. Students will learn to conceive of their writing process from outlining to rewriting as a series of strategic decisions. While emphasis is placed on well-written legal documents, students will read short fiction, essays and journalism to enhance their critical analysis of writing and use of language.

This spring semester course is designed to help students develop lawyering skills that students will need in their legal careers. The course continues to refine students' skills in the legal research, analysis and writing style techniques introduced in the fall semester LAWS I course. In addition, it adds instruction on persuasive legal writing. The course also includes assignments and lessons on professionalism, oral advocacy and client counseling.

This spring semester course is designed to help students develop lawyering skills that students will need in their legal careers. The course continues to refine students' skills in the legal research, analysis and writing style techniques introduced in the fall semester LAWS I course. In addition, it adds instruction on persuasive legal writing. The course also includes assignments and lessons on professionalism, oral advocacy and client counseling. The Appellate Advocacy track of LAWS II instructs students on advocacy in the courts of appeal.

Students who have successfully completed the Immigration Rights Clinic can continue to hone their lawyering skills through direct representation of children and adults in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and U Visa cases. Students will not participate in the Immigration Law Clinic classroom component. The course may be taken for 1 to 3 units upon approval from the Director of the Immigration Law Clinic. Prerequisite: Immigration Law Clinic (680IM).