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Practical Lawyering in Cyberspace: Seminar - Fall 2010

Fall term, Block I
T 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Clinical Professor Phillip Malone and Mr. Christopher Bavitz
2 classroom credits LAW-98141A
2, 3, or 4 optional clinical credits Fall or Spring, or 2 Winter, LAW-98141C

This course will explore the complex challenges of effectively representing clients in a wide variety of IP, technology and internet-related disputes. Using a rich set of cyberlaw-related case studies drawn from recent legal controversies, including targeted case readings, court filings, real-life testimony, deposition videotapes and other actual demonstrative materials, we will condense and weave together a broad range of experiences lawyers encounter in the actual practice of law in these dynamic fields with the core doctrinal and theoretical principles of the relevant areas of law, including intellectual property, speech, anonymity, privacy, competition, cybercrime and others. We will focus particularly closely on decision-making and counseling skills; clear and persuasive writing, drafting and negotiating and, most importantly; critical and strategic thinking and analysis. At appropriate points, we will bring in outside specialists to enhance our understanding of the com plex interplay between substantive and practical issues. (Previous guests have included Facebook's chief privacy officer, Google's chief competition counsel, a top Justice Department official responsible for cybercrime, a senior Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecutes major high-tech cases, the head of the Massachusetts AG's high-tech unit, and noted computer scientists who have testified as experts in antitrust and patent cases).

This seminar is particularly suited for students who intend to enroll, or have enrolled, in the HLS Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center. Students who would like to participate in the optional clinical must enroll through clinical registration. Refer to the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs website (http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/clinical) for clinical registration dates, early add/drop deadlines, and other information about the clinical.