Contracts and Commercial Law

This seminar explores the ways contract law interacts with social issues. Conventional conceptualizations of contract law portray it as unrelated to such issues, depicting it, instead, as focused on (minimal) regulation of the relationships between the contractual parties, regardless of who they are. This position has critical consequences, which the reading materials and class discussions will uncover and explain, helping students develop individual papers that illuminate how relevant and impactful the law of contracts can be to the project of building a healthier society.

This course is an overview of the present fundamentals of NFT and the Metaverse (Web 3.0) related entertainment transactions and litigation. The course is taught by currently practicing attorneys handling NFT and Metaverse related transactions and with a deep understanding of current relevant litigation claims. Students will obtain an understanding of current entertainment industry deals and contracts regarding NFTs and the Metaverse and various litigation claims involving NFTs. During the course, students will be introduced to the relevant intersection of copyright, trademark, tort (e.g.

Gambling law is a relatively unique body of law. Historically, gambling has been both prohibited and criminalized on the one hand and legalized and regulated on the other hand. Gambling law addresses the legalized and regulated aspect of gambling; the course would only lightly touch on the prohibited and criminalized aspect of gambling. This course will provide an overview of public policy issues involving legalized gambling.

This course deals with practical and substantive aspects of doing business abroad, and with the domestic international law of import-export, especially U.S. trade remedies and GATT. Topics include: international contracting; the International Convention on the Sale of Goods; documentary sale of goods; choice of law and forum problems; forms of direct and indirect foreign investment; transfer of technology problems; business immigration issues; transnational litigation, arbitration and other forms of dispute settlement; and the ethical aspects of choosing and employing foreign lawyers.

This is a survey course which examines the legal rules and principles associated with the formation, interpretation and enforcement of insurance contracts. The course covers basic law applicable to all insurance contracts as well as more specific legal doctrine applicable to special lines of insurance, such as property; liability; and life, health and disability. The course also covers the rights, duties and obligations of both insurers and policyholders under both the law of contract and the law of tort.

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.

The U.S. capital markets, the legal complexities involved in raising capital, and the concurrent responsibilities assumed when a company "goes public" are focused upon in this course. The role and responsibilities of corporate counsel, underwriters counsel, SEC counsel, "directors," "controlling persons," and "insiders" are explored. The course material includes federal and state legislation, administrative action, and case law. The Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the SEC are examined.

This general overview of federal antitrust law concentrates on basic substantive areas of the Sherman and Clayton Acts such as: horizontal restraints of trade including price fixing, boycotts, bid rigging, allocations of customers and territories, and trade associations; vertical restraints including resale price maintenance, allocation of territories, exclusive distributorships, tying and termination dealers; monopolization and attempts to monopolize under Section 2 of the Sherman Act; and mergers (horizontal, vertical and conglomerate) under the Clayton Act, Section 7.

This is a basic course dealing with contracts for the sale of goods under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Its goals include the development of skills in statutory analysis and an in-depth understanding of the process of contract formation and performance.

This course involves the study of the formative process of contracts; mutual assent, consideration, effect of the statute of frauds, and parole evidence rule; the remedial process applied to contracts, including measure of damages and other remedies; and the examination of problems of breach of contract, anticipatory breach, and exploration of defenses to contract actions, including conditions, impossibility of performance, frustration of purpose, and discharge. Emphasis is also placed on the Uniform Commercial Code.