Last update:June 25, 2024
Course Schedules
Spring 2025courses run fromJanuary 13 to April 19. For further information as to courses or scheduling, pleasecontact us.
Course Descriptions
This tentative course schedule is subject to change.
ADVISING MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES ON GLOBAL LEGAL ISSUES (2 credits)
This interactive and participatory course is intended to provide a survey of the types of issues confronting lawyers, and particularly in-house lawyers, who advise multinational corporations on a worldwide basis. The areas to be discussed include topics that will cover corporate law (including M&As), labor and employment law, employee benefits, litigation, and corporate compliance. Practical examples will be used to illustrate the complicated nature yet importance of this type of practice. Further, in addition to the more substantive legal topics to be covered, the course will also be interspersed with practice tips, jurisdictional practice highlights and ethical considerations for the multinational practitioner.
CLIMATE CHANGE LAW & POLICY: WRITING SEMINAR (3 credits)
This seminar will consider the implications of the rapidly unfolding climate crisis for domestic and international law and policy. Can the Paris Agreement still play a meaningful role in shaping climate policy around the globe? How should an international agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions be structured to be both politically feasible and fair? Should such an agreement impose costly emissions reduction obligations on developing nations that are already struggling economically, when the problem has been primarily caused by those in the developed world? Who should pay the costs of adapting to those adverse effects of climate change that have already become inevitable—effects that are likely to fall most heavily on the developing world? What kinds of statutory and regulatory changes are needed at the federal state and local level in order to accomplish the radical restructuring of the U.S. economy that will be necessary in order shift energy production away from our current heavy reliance on fossil fuels? Should governments employ carbon taxes, cap-and-trade systems, or some other regulatory mechanism? How should the costs of transitioning to the new "green economy" be allocated? Should the poor receive subsidies to offset rising energy costs? In the absence of a unified regulatory approach at either the federal (U.S.) or international level, how have advocates already begun to use existing legal structures to try to force action on climate change? We will address these and other questions in the seminar with the help of readings drawn from books, white papers, scholarly articles, and court opinions. Over the course of the semester, students will write a series of short papers based on the readings and will take an active role in facilitating class discussions. This course satisfies the advanced writing requirement for JD and LLM students.
EAST-WEST NEGOTIATIONS (3 credits)
This pass/fail course introduces students to the practical, legal, and cultural issues encountered when drafting and negotiating international agreements in the Asian context. The course particularly emphasizes negotiations involving American and Japanese parties through the examination of actual international commercial transactions. Students have an opportunity to participate in the preparation of mock agreements and negotiations. This course satisfies the skills graduation requirement for JD students.
INTERNATIONAL COMPLIANCE LAW (3 credits)
Increased globalization of commerce has substantially increased the risk of fines, sanctions and costly litigation resulting from the way and manner business is conducted around the world. Governments and Unions have responded to globalization to varying degrees by enforcing existing laws, enacting new laws and regulatory requirements addressing competition, market manipulation, trade, and corruption. Aside from costly fines levied against the Corporation, various legal regimes have begun to impose direct liability on directors, managers and third parties who have failed to implement and oversee reasonable compliance programs. These factors require a vigorous and ever-changing compliance program for corporations. A thorough understanding of compliance issues helps lawyers to craft creative and effective legal solutions for their clients. An excellent compliance program cannot only prevent problems but discover issues at an early stage and can be used to receive credit where a corporation runs afoul of a law.
INTERNATIONAL CONTRACT DRAFTING (3 credits)
This course bridges the gap between contract theory and contract practice and offers practical insights into international contracts such as licenses, distributorships, and joint ventures. Students will focus principally on developing skills in drafting these types of contracts and undertake ancillary preparation exercises. This course satisfies the skills graduation requirement for JD students and advanced writing requirement for LLM students.
INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION (3 credits)
This course looks at the procedural issues which arise in disputes in cross-border business and legal cultures. The key issues in transnational arbitration, litigation, and mediation to be covered include obtaining jurisdiction over foreign nationals, choice of forum and law considerations, serving process and obtaining discovery in foreign countries, enforcing foreign judgments, and using alternative dispute resolution.
INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT LAW (3 credits)
This course deals with selected legal issues which affect persons active in various aspects of the international entertainment industry. Topics will include privacy rights, contract law, copyright law, and labor law which will be discussed in the context of the stages of development of an international entertainment project.
INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE LAW (3 credits)
This course introduces students to Japanese law and the major principles of civil law systems. Students will examine the history, structure, and content of the Japanese legal system, the role of domestic and international law in Japan, the Japanese Constitution, and the major areas of Japanese law. To better equip students for transnational work involving Japanese entities, the course will focus on how Japanese laws, regulations, and culture affect corporations, business transactions, and individual rights in Japan. It will also consider the role of Japanese law in promoting transnational investment, current issues in the practice of law in Japan, and several current social issues on which law has an impact. Students with a law degree from a Japanese university may not enroll in this class.
INTRODUCTION TO TECHNOLOGY IN LEGAL PRACTICE (2 credits)
Technology in the legal field is rapidly evolving. Competence in the use of technology is now an essential skill, whether you work in the U.S., Japan, the EU, or other parts of the world. This course provides the foundation needed to effectively use common technologies in legal practice, including: Creating and managing secure documents, Privacy and security, Legal analytics, Presentation technology, Media literacy, and Artificial intelligence. Students will not only learn to understand and evaluate these technologies but also gain hands-on experience using many of them. Additionally, the course will cover how to identify and evaluate the ethical implications of legal technology from various global perspectives including the U.S., Japan, and the EU.
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (3 credits)
This core course — also known as the “Law of Lawyering” — focuses on the practical and ethical questions that attorneys constantly face. These range from signing up new clients and evaluating complex conflicts of interest scenarios to unrepresented party interaction and attorney advertising. Utilizing select case law excerpts, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, American Bar Association Committee on Ethics opinions, the California Rules of Professional Conduct, relevant sections of the California Business and Professions Code, select state and local bar ethics opinions, and topical news articles, the class takes a real-world approach to Professional Responsibility. It will also help prepare students for the MPRE, as Professional Responsibility is tested on Bar Exams throughout the U.S. The societal role of attorneys in shaping our judicial system is also a focus, particularly issues of racism and wealthism in skewing the scales of justice. This subject is tested on many U.S. Bar Examinations.
This faculty-supervised independent research offers students an opportunity to satisfy the graduation advanced writing and research requirement. Students hone their research, writing and analytical abilities by producing a substantive research or serial writing paper. Students must receive approval from the supervising faculty to take guided research, including their proposed research topic.
BEGINNER JAPANESE LANGUAGE COURSE (non-credit)
This course is intended to give students with little to no Japanese language ability, basic speaking and listening proficiency to be able to live comfortably in Tokyo for the semester. This course also will focus on Japanese communications and cultural practices in business, including practice making self-introductions and job interviewing.
U.S. BAR EXAM STUDY COURSE II (non-credit)
This course is a comprehensive lecture series on techniques and strategies to take a U.S. state bar exam. This class will help prepare you for the various parts of a bar exam, including the multistate/multiple-choice section (“the MBE”), Uniform Bar Exam or state essays, and the multistate performance test (“MPT”) questions. The course will use multiple resources, including doctrinal lectures, classroom discussions, substantive outlines, many practice questions, and individual coaching. In this class, as with the bar exam, what matters most is results, and our goal is to make sure that each of you can use these various inputs to produce successful outcomes.
*Learn more about faculty here
