Required and Foundational Courses
In addition to the required courses listed here, the School of Law recommends additional "foundational" courses designed to make you a well-rounded lawyer. Starting your second year, the School of Law offers a wide variety of elective courses.
Required Courses
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Civil Procedure I
LAW 600, 3 credits
This course focuses on the process and procedures of a civil lawsuit, from the filing of the complaint through the final appeal. The course will provide an introduction to the structure and operation of the state and federal court systems in the United States, and will concentrate on cases brought in the federal courts, conducted pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Topics include pleadings, pre-trial motions, the discovery process, trial by jury, judgments and relief, motions after judgment, and appeals. -
Civil Procedure II
LAW 601, 3 credits
This course covers those advanced topics necessary to a complete understanding of the civil litigation process including: personal jurisdiction and venue, federal subject-matter jurisdiction, the substantive law to be applied by the courts (the Erie Doctrine), complex litigation (including joinder of additional claims and parties and class actions) and former adjudication. -
Constitutional Law I
LAW 650, 4 credits
An introduction to the structure of the U.S. Constitution and the powers, rights, and liberties it defines. Topics include judicial review; limitations on judicial power; nature of and separation of powers; federalism, including the Commerce Clause and the 10th Amendment; state action; procedural and substantive due process; and equal protection. -
Constitutional Law II
LAW 655, 2 credits
An examination of First Amendment doctrine and theory, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the rights of assembly and to petition the government, the free exercise of religion, and the limitation on establishment of religion. -
Contracts I
LAW 602, 3 credits
This course will present an introduction to the formation of contractual arrangements. Among the topics covered will be mutual assent, including offer and acceptance; consideration; promissory estoppel; and the statutes of fraud. -
Contracts II
LAW 603, 3 credits
This course will present an overview of contracts remedies, including expectancy damages, restitution, and specific performance; the techniques of contract interpretation, including the parole evidence rule and the relationship between duties and conditions; as well as excuses and defenses, including, duress, undue influence, misrepresentation, fraud, mistake, unconscionability, impossibility, impracticability and frustration of purpose. -
Criminal Law
LAW 604, 3 credits
Sources and interpretations of and constitutional limitations on substantive criminal law; criminal jurisdiction; criminal act and mental state requirements; burdens of proof; criminal capacity; justification and excuse (defense); accomplice liability; inchoate crimes; crimes against property; crimes against persons; crimes against habitation; punishment. -
Evidence
LAW 651, 3 credits
Rules of evidence governing the proof of facts in civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts; functions of the judge and jury; qualification and examination of witnesses; proof of writing; judicial notice; competence and credibility of witnesses; opinion evidence; hearsay; burdens of proof; presumptions and inferences; real evidence; demonstrative, experimental and scientific evidence. Emphasis is on the Federal Rules of Evidence and Maryland law. -
Introduction to Advocacy
LAW 613, 2 credits
Persuasive legal writing and oral advocacy developed through moot court and other exercises. Students will be introduced to pleadings and other aspects of the pretrial process, preliminary and dispositive motions, and, ultimately, the appellate brief and oral argument. -
Introduction to Lawyering Skills
Civil Procedure I / LAW 612, 6 credits
Integrates rigorous instruction in legal analysis, research, and writing with the substantive law of civil procedure to give beginning law students an opportunity to combine skills and doctrine the way lawyers must in the practice of law. The course is taught by full-time, tenured and tenure-track professors in sections of approximately 45 students with one-on-one conferences. This course focuses on the process and procedures of a civil lawsuit, from the filing of the complaint through the final appeal. The course will provide an introduction to the structure and operation of the state and federal court systems in the United States, and will concentrate on cases brought in the federal courts, conducted pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Topics include pleadings, pre-trial motions, the discovery process, trial by jury, judgments and relief, motions after judgment, and appeals. Students will learn the law of civil procedure through statutory interpretation, case analysis and rule synthesis, print and online legal research, and legal writing projects. Legal analysis, research, and writing skills will be developed through course-work that includes critical case reading, analysis and briefing; common law principles and processes; factual analogy and distinction; rule synthesis and application; objective/predictive writing (office memo); case law and statutory research, print and electronic; citation form; and professional norms and ethics.
Contracts I / LAW 611, 6 credits
Integrates rigorous instruction in legal analysis, research, and writing with the substantive law of contracts to give beginning law students an opportunity to combine skills and doctrine the way lawyers must in the practice of law. The course is taught by full-time, tenured and tenure-track professors in sections of approximately 45 students with one-on-one conferences. This course will present an introduction to the formation of contractual arrangements. Among the topics covered will be mutual assent, including offer and acceptance; consideration; promissory estoppel; and the Statute of Frauds. Students will learn the law of contracts through statutory interpretation, case analysis and rule synthesis, print and online legal research, and legal writing projects. Legal analysis, research, and writing skills will be developed through course-work that includes critical case reading, analysis and briefing; common law principles and processes; factual analogy and distinction; rule synthesis and application; objective/predictive writing (office memo); case law and statutory research, print and electronic; citation form; and professional norms and ethics.
Criminal Law / LAW 614, 6 credits
Integrates rigorous instruction in legal analysis, research, and writing with substantive criminal law to give beginning law students an opportunity to combine skills and doctrine the way lawyers must in the practice of law. The course is taught by full-time, tenured and tenure-track professors in sections of no more than 45 students with one-on-one conferences. Students will learn criminal law through statutory interpretation, case analysis and rule synthesis, print and online legal research, and legal writing projects. Doctrinal topics may include larceny, burglary, robbery, arson, and rape; murder, manslaughter, and self-defense; attempts and inchoate crimes; principles in the first and second degree; sanity and competency; and conspiracy. Legal analysis, research, and writing skills will be developed through course-work that includes critical case reading, analysis and briefing; common law principles and processes; factual analogy and distinction; rule synthesis and application; objective/predictive writing (office memo); case law and statutory research, print and electronic; citation form; and professional norms and ethics.
Torts / LAW 610, 7 credits
Integrates rigorous instruction in legal analysis, research, and writing with the substantive law of torts to give beginning law students an opportunity to combine skills and doctrine the way lawyers must in the practice of law. The course is taught by full-time, tenured and tenure-track legal writing professionals in sections of approximately 30 students with one-on-one conferences. Students will learn the law of imposed liability for personal, property, and economic harm, through case analysis and rule synthesis, print and online legal research, and legal writing projects. Doctrinal topics will include negligence (including professional malpractice); strict liability (including products liability) and intentional torts; causation and elements of damages; and affirmative defenses and limitations of duties including: assumption of the risk, contributory negligence, comparative negligence, immunity, and limited liability of property owners. Legal analysis, research, and writing skills will be developed through course-work that includes critical case reading, analysis and briefing; common law principles and processes; factual analogy and distinction; rule synthesis and application; objective/predictive writing (office memo); case law and statutory research, print and electronic; citation form; and professional norms and ethics. -
Law in Context
A complete legal education requires more than knowledge of legal rules and proficiency in legal skills. These courses are intended to provide law students with the third element of a complete education: the ability to understand law in a variety of theoretical, social, historical, and philosophical contexts. To complete the Law in Context requirement, students will take one of the following courses as a 3-credit elective. Day students must complete this requirement in their first year. Evening students must complete this requirement in their second year.
American Legal History / LAW 621, 3 credits
This course provides an introduction to American legal history focusing on such topics as the roots of the U.S. Constitution, the effect of changes in politics, economics, and technology on the evolution of law, the historical development of freedom of speech, the paradox of the law of slavery in a nation dedicated to liberty, the conflicting views of the relationship between religion and government, the role of the Constitution in times of war, and the changing views of the purpose of legal education.
Comparative Law / LAW 622, 3 credits
The course provides an introduction to differences and similarities among the world's legal systems. Students will discuss the variety of possible solutions to fundamental legal problems in differing cultures and legal institutions. The class will consider the constitution, litigation, legislation, interpretation and enforcement of justice, and how the United States legal system compares to those of other federations, states and nations.
Critical Legal Theory / LAW 623, 3 credits
This course introduces students to a range of critical approaches to theories of law. These approaches are frequently understood to include theories examining the relationship between law and issues of race, gender, sexual orientation and class. The course will also study more generally the relationship between power and the law, and consider the extent to which law can be considered objective and rational. The course explores the origins of “critical” theories, their basic principles and how they diverge from one another, critiques of these critiques, and their current influence and new applications in recent years.
Jurisprudence / LAW 620, 3 credits
This course introduces students to the philosophical foundations of law and justice, including some of the main currents of legal thought through the ages. Students will discuss the primary purposes of law, when and whether there is an obligation to obey the law, who has the authority to make or interpret the law, and what law has got to do with morality. This class will consider how laws and legal systems might be made to be more just and how (or whether) it is possible to lead a worthwhile life as a lawyer.
Law and Economics / LAW 624, 3 credits
Development and critical examination of the economic approach to the analysis of law. Study of how laws affect and are caused by individuals’ incentives and behavior, with inquiry into which social goals the laws are attempting to further and the extent the laws succeed at achieving intended and unintended effects. Tort, Contract, Property, and (perhaps) Regulatory and Criminal law will be analyzed. No formal economics background is required or presumed, and students without formal economics training should not hesitate to take this course. -
Professional Responsibility
LAW 652, 3 credits
Study of the ethics and law of lawyering, approaching attorney problems from multiple perspectives. Topics will include: professionalism, the organization of the bar, attorney discipline and disability, the delivery of legal services, the attorney client relationship, the duties of loyalty and confidentiality, fees, and various issues, including conflict of interest and substance abuse. -
Property
LAW 607, 4 credits
Possession and adverse possession; estates in land and future interests; landlord and tenant; concurrent tenancies; easements, covenants, and servitudes; rights incident to ownership of land; conveyancing; title guarantees and recording acts. -
Rules and Reasoning
LAW 615, 3 credits
This upper-level course is to assist students in developing the skills necessary for success in law school, on the bar exam, and in practice. Students will work on (1) learning how to read and analyze legal concepts; (2) synthesizing complicated materials; (3) communicating effectively both orally and in writing; (4) developing the essential skills for the mastery of their law school courses; and (5) improving their writing skills. Professors teaching this course will use a doctrinal subject of their choosing (e.g., agency, remedies, employment law) and teach students the mastery of skills involved in identifying legal issues, understanding and using rules of law, and using and analyzing facts. Students will have multiple opportunities for practice and feedback and will engage in exercises designed to help students master the skill of legal analysis using a doctrinal subject as a framework for doing so. Students whose cumulative GPAs are below 2.80 after the completion of their second semester will be required to take in their third or fourth semester a designated Rules & Reasoning course. [Admission by permission only.] -
Torts
LAW 608, 4 credits
Law of imposed liability for personal, property and economic harm; negligence (including professional malpractice), strict liability (including products liability) and intentional torts; causation and elements of damages; affirmative defenses and limitation of duties including: assumption of the risk, contributory negligence, comparative negligence, immunity, limited liability of property owners.
Foundational Courses
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Administrative Law
LAW 700, 3 credits
Analysis of federal administrative agencies, including their legislative and judicial nature, congressional delegation of powers, promulgation of regulations, adjudication and judicial review. Emphasis will be on the Federal Administrative Procedure Act. -
Antitrust
LAW 700, 3 credits
The study of the federal laws affecting competition between businesses. This course will examine the concepts of competition, market power, monopoly, and practices that might restrain trade. Mergers, boycotts, conspiracies, predation, joint ventures, price discrimination and marketing and other distribution restraints will be analyzed in light of the statutory desire to foster a more competitive economy. -
Business Organizations*
LAW 717, 4 credits
A study of the various forms of business organizations and the laws governing them with an analysis of choice of business entity decisions. Coverage includes the law of agency, partnerships, limited partnerships, professional corporations, limited liability companies (LLC's), limited liability partnerships (LLP's), limited liability limited partnerships (LLLP's), and corporations (with an emphasis on the closely-held and smaller corporations). Topics include formation, governance and dissolution of the various entities as well as a comparison of the roles, obligations, fiduciary duties, rights and remedies of the owners, management and creditors under each business form. In addition, the course may include introductions to the following: the forms of financing the entity--equity (partnership interests, membership interests, corporate stock or shares) and debt (bonds and debentures); and introductions to Federal Tax and Security Regulations, including corporate taxation, Subchapter S and insider trading. -
Constitutional Criminal Procedure I*
LAW 711, 3 credits
An examination and analysis of constitutional principles governing the admissibility of evidence in criminal proceedings and regulating the conduct of criminal prosecutions, primarily focusing on the pre-trial stages. Subjects include the exclusionary rule; probable cause; arrest; search and seizure; electronic surveillance; compelled self-incrimination, immunity, and confessions, identification, right to counsel, preliminary hearing and pre-trial motions. -
Constitutional Criminal Procedure II*
LAW 740, 3 credits
A continuation of the study, begun in Constitutional Criminal Procedure I, of constitutional principles governing the conduct of criminal prosecutions, with special emphasis on the trial and post-trial stages. Subjects include the charging process; bail and pretrial release; discovery; double jeopardy and collateral estoppel; speedy trial; public trial; jury trial; guilty pleas and plea bargaining; right to confrontation; sentencing; appeals; and collateral post-conviction remedies. Constitutional Criminal Procedure I is not a prerequisite. -
Family Law*
LAW 716, 3 credits
This course will explore legal issues relating to the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of family relationships. These issues include state and federal regulation of marriage and nonmarital cohabitation; legal, social, and economic consequences of marriage and divorce; parentage, custody, and support of children; domestic violence; and the processes for resolving family disputes. The course includes related constitutional issues. -
Federal Income Tax
LAW 723, 3 credits
Structure of the income provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended, including their applicability to individuals; capital gains and losses; identification of the taxpayer; timing of tax liability; certain deferral and non-recognition problems; and the basics of federal tax procedure. -
Federal Courts*
LAW 724, 3 credits
The relationship of the federal courts to Congress and to the states. Topics may include judicial review; standing and justiciability; congressional power to regulate jurisdiction; legislative courts; federal question, diversity, removal, civil rights, and habeus corpus jurisdiction; state sovereign immunity; Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction; abstention; federalism doctrines; and federal common law.
Required: Civil Procedure II Recommended: Constitutional Law. -
International Law
LAW 729, 3 credits
Examination of the nature and sources of international law; procedures for handling disputes and claims; sanctions (e.g., economic, political, war); the roles of the individual, state, region and world organizations (United Nations); law of the sea and space; and an analysis of current problems and trends. Emphasis on substantive law. -
Maryland Civil Procedure
LAW 751, 3 credits
Students enrolled in this course will be introduced to the procedure required when litigating civil cases in Maryland District and Circuit Courts. In addition to Maryland Rules, this course will cover personal and subject matter jurisdiction and venue, as well as appellate jurisdiction, which are codified in the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Students will learn and interpret the Rules and applicable sections of the Courts Article by reading and analyzing them and appellate court decisions regarding procedure. They will be discussed in class and applied to written hypotheticals. Students may select this course or the limited enrollment Maryland Civil Procedure Workshop, but may not receive credit for both. Prerequisites: Civil Procedure I and II -
Sales & Leases*
LAW 743, 3 credits
Study of Articles 2 and 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code, including formation of sales and lease agreements, performance, warranty, risk of loss, remedies, and international issues under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG). -
Secured Transactions*
LAW 770, 2 credits
This course will study Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, including the creation, priority and enforcement of security interests in personal property. Certain provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code will be included. Prerequisite: First-year required courses. -
Trusts and Estates*
LAW 758, 3 credits
Intestate succession; wills, including formalities of execution, revocation and revival; incorporation by reference and related doctrines; problems of construction and interpretation, including class gifts, rule against perpetuities; non-probate transfers, including intervivos and causa mortis gifts; probate and administration of estates; trusts, their nature, creation, modification and termination; rights of beneficiaries; express, resulting and constructive trusts; honorary trusts. Prerequisite: Property
The subject matter of most of the required courses is tested on various components of the Maryland Bar Examination (including the Uniform Bar Exam and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam).
*These foundational courses include subject matter that can be tested on either the Multistate Bar Exam or the Multistate Essay Exam, components of the Uniform Bar Exam.
We invite you to view our Course Descriptions page to view a full listing of all the courses offered at the School of Law.