​Explores bioethics issues such as clinical decision making, informed consent, organ donation and transplantation, physician assisted suicide, ethics in managed care, death and dying, and medical research.

Children and the Law examines the distribution of power and interactions among the child, the family, and various state agencies. The course will explore the constitutional, statutory and common law rights of parents and children in various settings, including the child welfare system, the juvenile delinquency system, persons in need of supervision and the foster care system. Students will learn the different approaches for the role of the child’s attorney and analyze best practices for representing children in a wide range of legal matters, including tort law, contract law, criminal law, family law. The classroom is primarily lecture-based with opportunities to participate in classroom simulations, petition-drafting, and small group activities. ​

This paper course examines the triad of rights among the child, the family, and the state. It will delve into constitutional law, statutory and administrative law and policy and case law precedent as the child moves through the court system as a subject infant child all the way to a child as a juvenile facing adult criminal charges. The bulk of the course will center around the juvenile court system, child abuse and neglect proceedings, juvenile delinquency and the emerging rights of children as litigants. Students cannot receive credit for this class and Children and the Law.

Uses a client-centered approach to develop skills in using active listening, dealing with difficult clients, building questioning techniques, developing theories, identifying alternatives and consequences, and engendering client decision-making.

Explores in depth the legal issues and discrete phenomena of domestic violence. Topics generally include intimate partner violence, criminal prosecution of batterers, child abuse and neglect, gay and lesbian battering, elder abuse, and the basis for intervention of the state. ​

​Provides an overview of legal and policy questions relating to aging individuals and an older and aging society.

The number of elderly Americans is projected to increase significantly over the next few decades. Life expectancy is still increasing; the economy and job growth are sluggish; millions of Americans lack adequate health insurance; health care costs are rising at a rate far higher than the general inflation rate; and the Administration and state governments are attempting to implement the Affordable Care Act in the face of budgetary constraints and implacable opposition from certain groups.

The course will cover:

1.      Federal pension law under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code;

2.      Social Security and Medicare coverage and benefits, including policy and financial issues; and

3.      The major new rules under the Affordable Care Act relating to access to health care, how health care is provided and financed, patient protections, employer-provided benefits and quality improvement.

Explores feminist theory, constitutional equality, issues of gender and sexuality, intimate partner and family violence, childhood sexual abuse, reproduction, parenting and children, sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, trafficking and prostitution, and other topics relating to the intersection of gender and the law.

I​nternational child rights will focus on interpretation and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC, adopted by the General Assembly in 1989, is the most-ratified treaty in the world. The CRC addresses a wide variety of themes including discrimination, armed conflicts, prison, family life and education, to list just a few examples. This course will approach the CRC as it is understood by lawyers, by activists, and by academics from all around the world. participants will learn how to research and write in the area of international human rights, with a focus on child rights.

Prior knowledge of International Law and Human Rights is not required. International Child Rights is open to all. Grading will be evaluated on the basis of papers and class participation. There will be no final examination.​

​Studies substantive and procedural law pertaining to marital dissolution, combining conceptual analysis with practical matters involved in representing a client with a matrimonial problem.

​Introduces negotiation skills, offering hands-on experience preparing for and negotiating legal issues.

​Provides exposure to technical skills needed to represent clients successfully in estate matters. Emphasizes procedural aspects of estate work and precise methodology to present the client's case, as petitioner or objectant.

This course provides an introduction to practical topics in estate, long term care, special needs and financial planning, including advance directives for financial management and health care decisions, guardianship for individuals with developmental disabilities, long term care planning, revocable living trusts, special needs planning and trust administration and retirement plans. This course will also cover federal and New York State entitlement programs that support individuals with disabilities in all ages.

​In lieu of an examination, this course involves pop quizzes throughout the semester and a final project. Students form teams of two and three (though it is permissible to work alone) and prepare a plan for a hypothetical individual or family situation, taking into account all relevant factors as taught throughout the semester. The project consists of preparation of an explanatory cover letter to the hypothetical client addressing all factors raised in the client scenario. This course is designed to provide an experience that is directly transferable to practice.

Prerequisite: Trusts and Estates

​Focuses on laws of interstate succession; execution, revocation, probate, and construction of wills; non-probate transfers; nature and creation of express, resulting and constructive trusts; powers of appointment; and fiduciary administration.