Fall 2014 Seminar
This course explores the complex challenges that entrepreneurs, businesses, and other organizations face when trying to address legal issues relating to technology. The seminar's approach is both practical and multidisciplinary, and it encourages students to explore the roles of a wide range of stakeholders (including lawyers, policy advocates and policymakers, businesspersons, and technologists) in developing legal and business strategies. The course draws on a rich set of case studies based on recent legal controversies (including pre-litigation correspondence, pleadings, briefs, and other litigation materials). Students also review, analyze, and critique transactional documents and other legal materials (including contracts and website terms of use and privacy policies), with an eye toward assessing legal and PR risks and protecting client's interests. Using all of these materials, the course condenses and weaves together experiences that lawyers and clients encounter day-to-day with core doctrinal and theoretical principles of relevant areas of law (including IP, speech, privacy, and the like). The class focuses particularly closely on critical and strategic thinking and analysis, complex legal and practical problem solving and decision-making, and clear and persuasive writing and drafting. At various points throughout the semester, the instructors will bring in outside specialists to enhance students' understanding of the interplay between substantive and practical issues.
Cross-Registration: Cross-registrants are strongly encouraged to apply. We would like to have a diverse mix of backgrounds in our seminar this fall and have reserved seats for graduate students from other schools.
Note: Students who previously enrolled in the Practical Lawyering in Cyberspace seminar may not register for this course.