Practical Lawyering in Cyberspace: Seminar - Fall 2011
Fall term, Block
J
W 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Clinical Professor Phillip Malone and Mr. Christopher T. Bavitz
2 classroom credits LAW-98141A
Optional clinical: 2, 3, or 4 Fall or Spring credits, or 2 Winter credits
LAw-98141C
This course will explore the complex challenges of effectively representing
clients in a wide variety of intellectual property, 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 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 IP, online speech, anonymity, privacy, cybercrime, antitrust and
others. We will focus particularly closely on critical and strategic thinking
and analysis, complex legal-practical problem solving and decision-making; and clear
and persuasive writing and drafting. At appropriate points, we will bring in
outside specialists to enhance our understanding of the interplay betw een
substantive and practical issues. (Previous guests have included Microsoft's
head of global IP strategy, Twitter's general counsel, 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, 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. Clinical placements are with the Cyberlaw Clinic
of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Please 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.