Course Offerings

This course will consider the role of state constitutions in the development of U.S. constitutional law. Particular attention will be paid to Judge Sutton's book, 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. Justices Blackwell, Nahmias, Peterson and Warren of the Georgia Supreme Court will lead sessions focused on the Georgia Constitution. Students will write short papers and make presentations based on their research. The course will be graded on a pass/fail basis.

The Summer Externship supports students working in governmental, judicial and private non-profit placements through a focused program of reading, reflection and professional development. Students gain direct exposure to the skills and methods of legal practice, focused application of legal concepts to real conflicts, and reflective appraisal of their own skills and abilities. each student engages in an ongoing conversation with the clinic supervisor through journals and interviews; together with readings, this contact expands and deepens the practical and jurisprudential learning gains in the field. Register for both 5965E (graded portion) and 5966S (pass/fail portion).

Supervised Research involves an in-depth written analysis of a legal issue under close faculty tutoring and supervision. It requires significant legal research, original thinking and analysis, and must produce final paper of a kind and quality similar to that found in law review articles.

Criminal tax investigations and prosecutions; constitutional defenses to the compulsory production of evidence; attorney-client privilege, confidentiality and other defenses available to taxpayers and third parties.

This course will cover federal individual income tax issues that lawyers often deal with in practice. It will also cover tax policy issues that relate to incremental and fundament tax reform proposals that are under consideration at the time of the course.

The course will cover the taxation of various business entities, including (1) Partnerships (2) C Corporations, and, to a lesser extent, (3) S Corporations. The course will examine the tax consequences of formations, operations, distributions, and liquidations of these entities.

A focused, hands-on exploration of the use of technology in the practice of law. The course will cover the impact of technology on law and practice and the specific technology understanding and skills required of the modern lawyer. Students will complete hands on projects using practice management, document assembly, presentation and office productivity software.

Explores the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in the modern death penalty era beginning with the court’s decision in Furman v. Georgia. Specific focus will be on the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments’ heightened requirements in the capital sentencing context. Students will also discuss systemic failures and challenges in the administration of capital punishment.

This course examines legal, social, and political issues surrounding the death penalty. History, race, mental health, geographical disparities are a few of the issues to be addressed. Capital punishment also affects individuals, perpetrators and victims, whose lives are forever altered. Individual cases illustrate issues raised by the death penalty.

This course deals with the ethical and legal principles that govern the legal profession. Topics covered include, among others, the attorney-client relationship, the duty of confidentiality, the attorney-client privilege, conflicts of interest, ethics in advocacy, ethical issues in representing organizational clients, admission to practice, the professional identity of lawyers, and advertising and solicitation. Particular emphasis is given to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers.

Examination of the United States health care delivery system as a regulated industry. A survey of a variety of legal issues affecting health care providers and their interactions with commercial insurers, government health care programs, and state and federal regulators.

MSL students will learn how a civil lawsuit plays out from beginning to end.

This course will take an in-depth look at the current United States Supreme Court. Topics of discussion will include the role of the Court, Court traditions and procedures, the selection and confirmation process, the backgrounds and jurisprudence of the current justices, and the attributes of effective Supreme Court advocacy. The class will also study several cases on the Court’s docket by having the students participate in mock oral arguments and by having them write their own appellate opinions. This course will satisfy the practical skills requirement.

Covers intentional torts, which may include battery, assault, and possibly false imprisonment, trespass to land, and others. Certain defenses to intentional tort, such as consent and self defense, may also be covered. The bulk of the course is devoted to the tort of negligence, including the content of the duty of reasonable care, issues bearing on whether the defendant has breached that duty, the requirement that the plaintiff establish a causal connection between the breach and the plaintiff's harm, and proximate cause limits on liability.

This course covers advanced topics in tort law, building on the coverage in the first-year Torts course.  Students are expected to increase their foundational understanding of the policy foundations of tort law, as well as how judges’ reason from common law principles in order to justify their holdings in tort cases.  In Spring 2025, this course will engage in a detailed exploration of the legal doctrines of privacy and defamation, including intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light, and appropriation of likeness along with defamation. This course will also examine how modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are reshaping these traditional torts, the influence of social media platforms on the evolving legal landscape, and important First Amendment considerations. Reading assignments will include landmark privacy and defamation cases, along with select scholarly articles.

Acquisition of trademark rights, registration, infringement, false advertising, dilution, remedies, and international aspects of trademark law. Students in the class of 2013 and later are encouraged to take the IP Survey course before taking this course. NOTE: One cannot take the IP Survey (JURI 5050) after having taken any two of the following courses: Copyright Law (JURI 4430), Patent Law (JURI 4920), or Trademark Law (JURI 4930). If the IP Survey course is taken first, any or all three of the advanced intellectual property courses can be taken.

Team members prepare for oral negotiations, practice negotiation techniques, and draft transactional documents under the direction of a faculty advisor for regional and national competitions. A student selected to compete is eligible for credit in the semester in which the competition is held. The faculty advisor(s) will approve course registration and assign a grade. Course is graded S/U.

How do law school, the bar exam, and legal practice connect? This course will review legal concepts and skills learned in law school through the lens of applying those skills to the bar exam and to legal practice. This class is pass/fail. 3L students only.

This course concerns crimes that, though ordinarily domestic, become "transnational" when some aspect crosses national borders. To be studied: extraterritorial jurisdiction; obligations of law enforcement officers operating overseas; substantive law of crimes like trafficking, public corruption, money laundering, and terrorism; and procedural matters like extradition, rendition, evidence gathering, and judgment-enforcement.

A study of trial methodology, including jury voir dire, opening statements in jury and bench trials, introduction of proof and pre-trial as well as trial objections to evidence, and delivery of final arguments. Problems in civil and criminal litigation are analyzed, with emphasis upon demonstration of techniques by students in the course. Course is graded S/U.

Substantive and procedural rules concerning holding and gratuitous disposition of wealth, including intestate succession, wills, will substitutes and inter vivos and testamentary trusts; substantive law of express and charitable trusts; remedies for wrongs relating to disposition of wealth; fiduciary powers, duties and liabilities; construction problems relating to future interests and powers of appointment.

Students will earn credit through participation as members of the University of Georgia Mock Trial Team. Participants in the course will assume roles as lawyers, witnesses, and/or student coaches preparing for and competing in tournaments sponsored by the American Mock Trial Association. Limited to members of the UGA Mock Trial Team.

The Veterans Legal Clinic enlists students to help veterans, to learn about veterans' needs and experiences, and to learn about advocacy in administrative and judicial forums. The Veteran's Clinic represents veterans and their dependents in claims for VA and military benefits. The Clinic serves the entire state of Georgia. Students interview and advise clients, advocate for them before the VA and other agencies, and engage in public outreach. Students work in collaboration with other related professionals, including psychologists, social workers, and other providers who work with veterans. A weekly seminar teaches the law related to the practice, offers perspectives on the experience of veterans, and includes regular assessment of ongoing cases. Students can earn between 4 - 6 credits depending on the hours they work.

Through simulation exercises, this course examines present trends in wage-and-hour litigation, a significant subject area in current labor and employment law. The course examines the history of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and also treats wage-and-hour law in the states, both statutory and common law. Because multi-plaintiff litigation under the FLSA proceeds on a collective, or opt-in, basis, the course will examine the differences between opt-in and Rule 23 opt-out class actions, including increasingly successful efforts to use the two approaches simultaneously in wage-and-hour claims. There are no prerequisites for this course.

The course will examine the legal structures that govern water allocation and use in the United States beginning with an understanding of the riparian doctrine, undergirding water rights in the Eastern U.S., and the prior-appropriation doctrine, applicable in Western states.  Focus will be given to Georgia’s regulated riparian system with key statutory frameworks governing surface water and groundwater allocation and supply.  Additional topics include the Endangered Species Act and its impact on water rights and allocation; the Federal Clean Water Act and issues of water quality, including navigable waters, regulation of point and non-point source pollution, Section 401 water quality certification, water quality standards under Section 303 and regulatory tools to bring bodies of water back into compliance with water quality standards, and Section 404 and its intersection with water supply planning and development.  In addition to providing a survey of key water law topics, the course will introduce students to contemporary water issues facing the Southeast and provide students with exposure to specific examples of the types of legal work that one could expect to pursue in an environmental law practice in the Southeast.