New and Revised Course for 2010-2011

New and Revised Courses for Spring 2012

Business Immigration Law, L737/490, M, 6-7:40 PM (1 Credit Hours) Professor Leopold

Note: This course will meet from January 9 – March 5, 2012. A final project will be due later in the term.

Constitutional Law Seminar: Court Packing Plan, L707/2, W, 10:45 AM-12:25 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Gelman

This course will focus on the 1937 confrontation between President Franklin Roosevelt and the Supreme Court of the United States. Roosevelt had been reelected by a landslide in November 1936, after the Court had found some important New Deal measures unconstitutional during his first term. Informed observers believed that Court was about to invalidate the Social Security Act and the National Labor Relations Act, too, a development that Roosevelt believed would prevent any effective response to economic and social catastrophes associated with the Great Depression. In February, 1937 Roosevelt proposed what quickly became known as the “Court Packing Plan.” If enacted, it would have enabled the President to appoint up to six new Supreme Court Justices, resulting in a Court of 15 members that would uphold New Deal measures against all constitutional challenges. Although Roosevelt’s plan was rejected by a Senate Committee, two Justices seemed to do an about face in early 1937 on constitutional issues involving the Commerce and Tax and Spend Clauses as well as the Fourteenth Amendment. What resulted were profound changes in Constitutional Law. From that point on, the Court upheld every New Deal measure.

An historical debate has long raged about whether the two Justices responded to “political” concerns when they changed course in 1937. Some historians and legal scholars even argue that there was no abrupt constitutional change in 1937. The seminar will explore these historical questions. We will also consider some basic issues that receive less explicit attention today. If the Justices did respond to political pressures in 1937, were they wrong in doing so? Should Roosevelt have put pressure on the Justices in the first place? What was the proper posture for Justices who believed that Roosevelt’s legislative program threatened basic constitutional limitations?

Such questions seem more salient today than at any time since 1937. An important new book was published this year on the Court Packing Plan, and another major book about the Supreme Court Justices of the Roosevelt era will be published this Fall. Judge Richard Posner has explained this increased interest by noting parallels between 1937 and today. He writes: Like Franklin Roosevelt, Barack Obama is an ambitious and charismatic liberal who took over from a discredited conservative administration and a demoralized Republican Party at a time of severe economic stress. Like Roosevelt, he is passionately hated in some quarters and the subject of vicious, groundless rumors. As with Roosevelt, the election that brought him to power created strong Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, yet also like Roosevelt he faces a politically conservative Supreme Court that is more than willing to invalidate state and federal laws that it does not like. A paper and regular class participation are required. Constitutional Law is not a prerequisite for enrollment in the Seminar. The course will satisfy the upper level writing requirement.

Energy Policy & Law (Current Legal Issues), L699/490, W, 6-9:50 PM (2 Credit Hours) Professor Thomas

Note: this course will meet from January 18- March 7, 2012.

Financial System Integrity Seminar, L743/900, Th, 2:50-4:50 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Richard Gordon

Prerequisites: RCC. Secured Transactions, LAW 603, and Tax I, LAW 607, are recommended but not required.The seminar will consider a broad range of financial sector integrity issues but will focus on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. International standards, US law, and examples from various countries will be considered. The grade for the seminar will be based on class participation and a final paper. Satisfies the upper level writing requirement.

The course will be taught by Professor Richard Gordon of the CWRU law school and will be taught at CWRU. The course will be a prerequisite for students participating in a proposed new CWRU/C|M|LAW Joint Legal Summer Associate Internship Program at KeyBank.

Health Care Fraud & Abuse, L682/61, MW, 8-9:15 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Schweighoefer

Prerequisites: RCC. In this course students will explore the large body of law governing the financial arrangements between health care providers and payors. Students will participate in a detailed examination of (i) The Federal False Claims Act; (ii) The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute; (iii) The "Stark" laws; (iv) the Civil Monetary Penalty Statutes; (v) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA); (vi) the impact of health care reform legislation on these statutes; (vii) current trends in enforcement; and (viii) cases recently decided as examples of the application of these laws, their prosecution and defense.

Health Law Seminar, L790/51, TTh, 4:15-5:45 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Cherry

The course will focus on reproductive rights. Students must be approved by the course instructor and should contact Professor Cherry via email, [email protected], with a brief

of 4 statement of their interest in the course. The course will not satisfy the upper level writing requirement.

Race, Racism & Law, L565/1, T, 10:45 AM – 12:25 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Inniss

Students must be approved by the course instructor and should contact Professor Inniss via email, [email protected], with a brief statement of their interest in the course. The course will satisfy the upper level writing requirement.

Tax II, L697/61, TTh, 7:30-9:10 PM (4 Credit Hours) Professor Ritzert

Note: this is the only section of Tax II: Taxation of Business Enterprises being offered during the 2011-2012 academic year. Students who want to take Tax: Advanced Corporate Tax, L698, next year should be sure to take this course during the Spring.

Tax: Procedures, Penalties and Crimes, L647/1, MW, 2:45-4:00 PM (correction) (3 Credit Hours) Professor Plecnik

Prerequisites: RCC*, Tax I (LAW 607). This course will provide a survey of tax procedure, including the rules for practice before the IRS under Circular 230 and various tax litigation issues. This course will also provide a survey of the tax penalties and tax crimes that transactional and controversy tax practitioners must regularly consider and manage in representing private and government clients. Transactional tax advisors need to consider penalties and crimes when structuring deals and preparing opinion letters to support those deals. Without an understanding of opinion letters and the penalty or crime risks to a client’s proposed deal structure, a transactional tax attorney fails to adequately represent his client’s interest. Indeed, this lawyer and the relevant law firm may themselves be at risk. Likewise, tax controversy attorneys must have a comprehensive understanding of penalties and crimes to effectively represent clients, whether in settlement negotiations, court or administrative proceedings. These attorneys must be able to identify the range of applicable penalties and crimes, address proof convincingly and understand relevant defenses.

Students in this class will examine relevant statutes, regulations and case law. The course will cover both the substantive law and procedural issues. Penalties addressed will include tax shelter, return preparer, responsible person, accuracy-related, delinquency and civil fraud. Crimes addressed will include tax evasion, false returns, false claims, and Klein conspiracies. Methods of proof and defenses to these penalties and crimes are, of course, critical to client representation and will therefore be covered.

Satisfies Administrative Law requirement.

of 4 Theories of the Business Firm in Critical Perspective, L762/1, M, 10:45 AM – 12:25 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Sagers

This course requires instructor permission. Please contact Professor Sagers before registering.

Trademark Law, L653/51, TTh 4:30-5:45 PM (3 Credit Hours) Professor Adams

Prerequisites: RCC; Copyright, Patent & Trademark Law, LAW 658, recommended but not required. This course will cover the constitutional, statutory, and common law attributes of trademark law; the rights and remedies that trademark law provides for producers; the protection that trademark law provides for competitors and consumers; and the intersection of American trademark law with other forms of intellectual property protection, with the First Amendment, and with international law. Students are expected to master the substantive law of trademark, but the major goal of the course is to teach students how to use the law to advance their clients' interests in commercial symbols by requiring students to use their professional judgment in a counseling context. Grading will be based on three short open research memos.