Author: misty

The American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers is sponsoring a writing competition for students. The award includes a $1,000 stipend for the best student note or comment on a topic dealing with consumer financial services law. In addition, the award includes a travel stipend to attend the Spring 2017 meeting of the College. Eligible entries will address a topic on consumer financial services; papers on securities regulation, insurance, or the safety-and-soundness aspects of banking regulation are not included. Papers must have been written or published between November 15, 2015 and December 1, 2016; unpublished papers must be in law-review format. The deadline to enter is December 1. For more information, please visit www.accfsl.org.

9200: 643- 001 Federal Jurisdiction & Procedure (3 cr.) (Genetin) TTh 9:00A-10:30A

Grading Method:

Prerequisite: Civil Procedure I & Civil Procedure II

The course Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure is a good course for those who want to obtain a Litigation Certificate; review Civil Procedure concepts for the bar exam; or prepare for litigation in practice.  The course will include an emphasis on hot topics in litigation, including issues currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as an examination of how the lower federal courts are implementing the new federal discovery rules.  The course will also include a comparison of major differences in the Ohio and federal civil rules, which is important information for the bar exam since the federal rules are tested on the multi-state portion of the bar exam and the Ohio rules are tested on the essay portion.  As the federal rulemakers have continued to amend the federal rules, the differences between the Ohio and federal rules has grown.  Finally, the course will also include discussion of various procedural issues, including the due process right to be heard, supplemental and removal jurisdiction, abstention doctrines, and class action issues.

International Law (3 credits – Tues./Thurs. – 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. – Prof. Johnson)

Public International Law is designed to provide students with a basic foundation in the role of governments in international law in four basic areas: Global Trade, Involvement in Domestic Matters of other Countries, War on Terror, and in Global Problem Solving in areas affecting the Environment. The course is a practicum, which means students will study real life problems through case studies, will role play and be asked to devise strategies for addressing them, either by critiquing what was done, or deciding how best to address the issue. Students will be required to draft a short paper and make a short presentation on one of the problems; and draft a 15-page scholarly writing paper (excluding footnotes) that will satisfy the scholarly writing requirement on any topic of interest in public international law. Class will be taught by lecture, with a heavy emphasis on class discussion and small group interaction. The learning outcomes for students  include to 1) demonstrate a basic knowledge and understanding about the actors, processes and regulations that impact on government engagement in global issues; 2)  demonstrate how to engage in critical and analytical thinking and problem-solving skills in complex international matters; 3) demonstrate  effective research and drafting of  a scholarly writing paper with a thesis, argument, discussion, conclusion with footnotes; and 4) demonstrate oral advocacy skills on a topic of interest.    

 Please note also Professor Johnson’s innovative – and cheaper – use of online materials instead of a traditional casebook. Coursebook Info for International Law. She will be using an online workbook called CyberWorkbooks. It will include all of the reading in module lessons with self-directed questions. You will receive an invoice to obtain the account information to access it, which can be purchased with a credit card. The license  will be significantly cheaper than the textbook. Stay tuned.

 

Trade Secrets (3 cr.) (Hrdy)                                  TTh 10:45A-12:15P

Grading Method: Free slot exam/other

Prerequisite: None, though introductory IP is recommended

The law of trade secrets is an unusual, often misunderstood, and increasingly important field of intellectual property. Despite state and federal statutes governing trade secrecy, the law of trade secrets still works much like common law. It relies heavily on policy and practical matters and is especially amenable to good lawyering.

This course has two purposes. The first is to give students a strong practical grounding in the law of trade secrets and help prepare them to enter trade secret practice. To this end, we will read a lot of cases, and we will conduct exercises throughout the semester to apply the ideas we learn in the readings and in-class discussions. The second purpose is to obtain a deeper understanding of the theory behind an area of law that is under theorized compared to its patent and copyright brethren. What is the purpose of legally protecting companies’ trade secrets? Is it to prevent the unethical “theft” of information generated on others’ dime? Is it to preserve fair competition in the marketplace? Or is it to provide an economic incentive to innovate, similar to patent law? What does it mean for society that trade secret laws, alone among IP regimes, prevent rather than promote the disclosure of information? We will also discuss the underlying federalism tensions in this area. Until recently, trade secrets remained almost entirely the arena of state law. However, the United States has now adopted a federal civil trade secrets statute, ostensibly to deal with the increasing threat of cyber attack and a “growing scourge” of trade secret theft by foreigners.

This class is three credits. There will be an in-class exam. Credit will also be given for class exercises and participation.