Examines fundamental and practical issues of federal and New York administrative law. Deals with the scope of power of administrative agencies and the relationship of such agencies to other branches of government. ​​​

Critical Race Theory participants will review the multiple ways in which the colorline and the legal system interact, from both a historical and a contemporary standpoint. To this end, we will examine numerous issues concerning racism and justice, including immigration, housing law, voting rights, criminal justice, employment discrimination, affirmative action, and remedies. Participants will complete weekly journals in addition to a term paper. Guest lecturers will appear from time to time. Completion of this course satifies the upper-level writing requirement. There will be no final examination.

Examines evid​entiary topics not covered in the basic Evidence Class, such as judicial power to control presentation of proof, objections and reversible error, the Constitution as a source of evidence rules, spoliation of evidence, missing witness rule, and explores in depth the character evidence rule and various hearsay exceptions, such as the business records and public records exceptions. Prerequisite: Evidence. ​

ALA I is designed as a bridge between first-year classes and third-year bar exam preparation. The course focuses on the following skills, with special emphasis on how to apply these skills on exams like the Uniform Bar Exam: organizing topics within subjects in ways that improve understanding of rules of law; issue-spotting fact patterns more efficiently and effectively; answering multiple choice questions without being distracted by incorrect answers; writing essays that demonstrate mastery of legal analysis; and recognizing arguments on both sides of an issue. These skills will be taught in the context of multiple subject areas that are tested on the bar exam but may not be covered in detail in first-year classes, including defamation and strict liability in Torts, third party rights and duties in Contracts, and rights in land (including mortgages) in Property. The course may not be taken pass/fail.

Note: ALA I is not a prerequisite for ALA II.

ALA II is Albany Law School's dedicated "bar prep prep" course, designed to be taken in a student’s final semester of classes to ease the transition from law school to full-time bar preparation. Students learn strategies for success on the Uniform Bar Exam and practice with real bar exam questions every week, reflecting on lessons learned and developing a comprehensive understanding of at least 5 bar exam subjects (typically: Torts, Crimes, Contracts, Property, and Evidence). All types of questions on the exam are covered (multiple choice, essay, and performance tests) in an interactive environment, and students receive detailed feedback on every assignment. In addition to introducing students to the content and scoring of the bar exam, the course will cover optimal study techniques; critical reading and issue spotting skills; tactics for writing well-organized essay answers; strategies for answering multiple choice questions; time management methods; and stress reduction techniques. The 4-credit version of ALA II is for students who want extra review and practice on a separate day of the material covered in the 2-credit version. Students in the 2-credit and 4-credit versions of the class will be graded separately. The class may not be taken pass/fail.

Note: ALA I is not a prerequisite for ALA II.

The course is designed to prepare law students to become skilled legal researchers. Objectives for the course include: 1) showing students how to evaluate print and electronic legal research sources and using them effectively 2) expanding skills in primary and secondary Federal and NYS legal sources and 3) introducing students to the array of other legal resources that could be useful in legal practice. Topics covered in this course include: statutory codes, administrative codes, case law materials (reporters, digests, records and briefs), court rules, jury instructions, jury verdicts and settlements, restatements, uniform laws, form books, bankruptcy, legal ethics and taxation. ​

Continues from the first year Torts class with additional consideration of duty and proximate cause, strict liability, products liability, nuisance, defamation, misrepresentation and fraud, and additional areas of tort law. The course examines doctrinal trends and integrates policy, theory and law to ensure a fuller understanding of civil liability in the United States. Students will complete writing assignments and take a mid-term and final examination.

​Examines methods other than trial for resolving disputes. Covers negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and group facilitation. Emphasizes practical skills, policy analysis, and theoretical considerations.

​Covers principles and operation of the Sherman Act, Clayton Act and Federal Trade Commission Act and their effect upon conduct, as opposed to structure, of American industry. Examines issues of price fixing, boycotts, exclusive dealing, territorial allocation, tie-ins, franchise terminations, and governmental immunity for anti-competitive regulations.

This course will introduce students to the legal principles, mechanics, and strategy of appellate advocacy, focusing largely on criminal cases. Students will learn about jurisdiction, finality, preservation of error, harmless error, standards of appellate review, the ethical responsibilities of appellate counsel, issue identification, drafting a statement of facts, constructing a legal argument, and oral argument. Using the record of an actual criminal trial, each student will brief and orally argue the appeal, for either the defendant or the prosecution.​

This problem-solving course in health policy will integrate doctrinal instruction with experiential learning.  Students will learn substantive law and skills by participating in a variety of simulated exercises.  Students will also attend meetings held, for example, at Albany Medical Center, the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, and the New York State Department of Health. These meetings will give students exposure to the real-life workings of the health care system and an opportunity to determine how to approach a legal issue and give appropriate, practical advice.

An approved field placement related to government affairs and advocacy

​Considers opportunities for practice in the field, copyright and trademark issues, contractual questions, examples of modern recording and publishing contracts and ownership issues. Actual case studies will be discussed.

Prerequisite: Copyright or Introduction to Intellectual Property

Students enrolled in this will work under the supervision of attorneys at the local office of the Albany office of the New York Attorney General, in different areas of civil defense litigation in State Supreme Court or Federal Court, including Article 78 litigation in State Supreme Court. Attorneys will assign students substantive legal work and provide students with ongoing oversight and guidance.

Students will have the opportunity to attend court proceedings and to be involved in other parts of the litigation process, including researching issues, drafting documents, responding to discovery demands, meeting with witnesses and attending pre-trial depositions. The weekly classroom component will consist of a seminar that will revolve around one of several subject areas of the Attorney General's practice.

The course will also feature guest speakers from the Attorney General's Office with expertise in various areas of law and from the legal community. Interwoven into the lecture will be a discussion of student experiences and professional and ethical issues.

Students enrolled in this will work under the supervision of attorneys at the local office of the Albany office of the New York Attorney General, in different areas of civil defense litigation in State Supreme Court or Federal Court, including Article 78 litigation in State Supreme Court. Attorneys will assign students substantive legal work and provide students with ongoing oversight and guidance.

Students will have the opportunity to attend court proceedings and to be involved in other parts of the litigation process, including researching issues, drafting documents, responding to discovery demands, meeting with witnesses and attending pre-trial depositions. The weekly classroom component will consist of a seminar that will revolve around one of several subject areas of the Attorney General's practice.

The course will also feature guest speakers from the Attorney General's Office with expertise in various areas of law and from the legal community. Interwoven into the lecture will be a discussion of student experiences and professional and ethical issues.

Introduction to rights and obligations of financially distressed debtors and their creditors. Analyzes the Federal Bankruptcy Code and the Code's impact on general non-bankruptcy law.

​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.

Introduces the field and discipline of financial accounting. This course seeks to acquaint the non-financial student with the general purposes of accounting and the role of independent accountants in business and society. Intended for lawyers who have a non-financial background, the student will be introduced to the mechanics and terminology of financial accounting and will learn the basic principles and procedures of accountancy in the preparation of financial statements. With this foundation, the student will learn the purpose behind each of the individual financial statements and how to analyze and interpret the financial statements.​​

​Discusses formation and organization of basic business organizations. Examines structure, finance, management, and control of business enterprises; rights and liabilities of owners, fiduciaries, and third parties; shareholder informational rights, shareholder suits and issuance of shares; and introduces problems of close corporations and state statutory and administrative regulations.

​Refers to a collection of statutory and common law recognized causes of action that arise out of business competition. Surveys these causes of action and analyzes them in the context of providing a source of protection to a business which is subject to potential economic harm from competitors, employees, suppliers, and others. Coverage will include false advertising, business defamation and disparagement, interference with contractual and prospective business relationships, misappropriation of trade values such as ideas, trade secrets, publicity rights, and misrepresentation. Prohibitions against unfair and deceptive practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act will also be covered. Trademark issues fall outside the coverage of this course. Not open to students who have taken Unfair Trade Practices.

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.

Focuses on prosecuting and defending a civil rights claim brought pursuant to 42 U.C.C. 167 1983. Deals with constitutional theory and interpretation, emphasizing practical aspects and procedural tactics inherent in suing or defending a civil rights claim in federal court.

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.

Students are advised to enroll in Business Organizations and Introduction to Taxation in conjunction with or prior to enrolling in this clinic. Clinic students represent small businesses, worker-owned cooperatives, nonprofit community-based organizations, and other groups supporting low-income, immigrant entrepreneurs on a variety of transactional matters, including business entity formation, governance, leasing, and loan/related financial closings. Students will have the opportunity to work won land use matters including issues related to displacement of commercial tenants, and community benefits agreements. The clinic operates on a partnership model where we join with community-based organizations in the Capital District to advance the interests of low-income, immigrant entrepreneurs through law.

This survey course overviews compliance in the retail customer relationship. The main issues in the myriad of compliance concerns relating to data privacy, information management, anti-money laundering, and items of ongoing concern will be covered.

Studies problems in cases having contact with two or more states or nations. Course has three basic components: jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognition and enforcement of sister-state and foreign judgments.

This is a survey course that deals with issues arising under the United States Constitution. Topics that may be covered include judicial review, separation of powers, scope of federal and state regulatory power, and the protection of individual rights.​

This is a survey course that deals with issues arising under the United States Constitution. Topics that may be covered include judicial review, separation of powers, scope of federal and state regulatory power, and the protection of individual rights.​

​Covers principles governing the formation of the contract relation; reality of consent; capacity of the parties; consideration; legality of subject matter; form required under the Statutes of Frauds; construction and operation of contract; methods of discharge; illegal arrangements; remedies for breach; and statutory modifications of common law principles.

The course will explore the issues concerning protection of intellectual creativity under the United States copyright laws; we will consider such matters as the nature of copyright, the statutory scheme, the kinds of works subject to copyright, and the extent of protection afforded those works. The grade will be based on performance on an end of semester examination.

​The goal of this course is to educate students in business and legal issues which arise in sophisticated corporate transactions. Business and legal considerations will be illustrated by examining the elements which constitute a leveraged buy-out of a publicly held business by the current management team. Considerations examined will include: basic financial projections, loan underwriting and documentation, venture capital terms and documentation, choice of entity considerations, issuance of stock to founders, vesting and Section 83(b) elections, asset acquisition documentation, and federal & state securities compliance.

Prerequisite: Business Organizations.

Suggested prerequisites: Intro to Tax, Securities, Accounting for Lawyers

​The proposed course will entail an intensive study of New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Specifically, the course will examine the Court’s role in law and governance, the Judges, their selection, and the Court’s decision-making process. Students will read briefs of pending cases, prepare bench briefs, attend oral arguments, and draft decisions. Students will also study the Court itself through the literature on the history of the Court, its Judges, its notable decisions, and current developments. In the classroom: instruction, discussion, and written and oral advocacy based on cases before the Court. At the Court: attend oral arguments each monthly session during the semester; arrange meetings with Judges and professional staff.

​Examines the fundamental principles and doctrines of the law of crimes, including the elements of conduct and mind, defenses, justification, parties, and basic institutions and processes.

Examines major steps in a criminal case from commencement of the criminal action through verdict. Focus is upon federal and New York procedure concerning: the decision to prosecute, including diversion; securing orders and pretrial detention; preliminary hearings; grand jury proceedings; subpoenas, immunity and contempt; accusatory instruments; discovery; speedy trial requirements; venue and venue change; pleas and plea bargaining; jury selection, voir dire and challenges; trial procedures; jury charges; and related practice.

This course and Criminal Procedure Under the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments are designed to complement each other in a six-credit study of criminal procedure. Student may elect either course without taking the other.​

Examines basic constitutional constraints imposed on law enforcement in the investigation of crime. Primary topics include search and seizure, interrogation and confessions, right to counsel, fair trial, and self incrimination. 

Professor Breger's class: This course examines - via extensive analysis of landmark federal constitutional cases - the federal regulation of law enforcement investigatory practices including searching and seizing under the Fourth Amendment, compelling confessions under the Fifth Amendment, and deliberately eliciting incriminating statements under the Sixth Amendment. Course themes include controlling police discretion, criminal procedure as Evidence law, class, ethnicity, race, the roles of the lawyers, and the use of social science research.

Professor Farley's class: This course examines - via close readings of landmark federal constitutional cases - the regulation of law enforcement investigatory practices including searching and seizing under the Fourth Amendment, compelling confessions under the Fifth Amendment, and deliberately eliciting incriminating statements under the Sixth Amendment. Course themes will include discretion and ambiguity in the various roles that judges, defense lawyers, prosecutors, police, legal scholars, social science researchers and others play in the production of criminal procedure. Class power and racism will also be topics of discussion. There will be no final examination. In lieu of a final examination, each participant will keep a weekly journal and write a term paper.

Professor Bonventre's class: The course examines the constitutional principles governing law enforcement in the United States through the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and of American State Supreme Courts. The course will emphasize the competing arguments, interests, and concerns involved in the various issues and in the different ways in which those issues are resolved by federal and state high courts. Students will be encouraged to understand the evolution, fluidity, and necessarily ideological character of constitutional criminal procedure law, and the importance of studying courts, judges, policy and politics, both to understand the case law and to be competent criminal law advocates. ​

Professor Sundquist's class will include: The intersection of criminal procedure law with evidentiary rules, the impact of bias on the administration of justice, and the role of technological advancements (including DNA data-banking, facial recognition software, digital surveillance, and the use of artificial intelligence software for predictive policing and sentencing purposes) on legal conceptions of privacy and individual rights.

This graduate-level course focuses on U.S. and international law governing offensive and defensive cyber effect operations, including those that constitute espionage, sabotage and subversion, as well as those that could lead to physical destruction of property and the loss of human life. In addition, this course addresses the role of various military and intelligence apparatuses in different countries in conducting cyber operations in opposing nations. In addition, this class will examine the interplay between the laws and the practices and policies of the United States Intelligence Community and national security system, both foreign and domestic. While discussion of the history of intelligence activities and laws dating from the origins of our colonial days will necessarily shape the framework of the class, the focus shall particularly be on current debates and challenges faced by the United States in the 21st Century.

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the legal, social, and technical impact of global "cybercrime." Cybercrime is loosely defined as a set of illegal activities that are facilitated through the use of computers or other technology devices. Examples of cybercrime include not only "traditional" crimes (e.g. identity theft or stalking) being carried out in a new medium, but a new set of activities in which the computer or computer network itself is a target of the attack. Topics will include the various state, federal and international laws, investigative measures and techniques used to identify, investigate, arrest and prosecute cybercriminals and cyberattacks, and the preventive measures that can be utilized to provide a secure environment for computer hardware and software. Active elements of the cyber underworld, including organized crime, terrorists and state sponsored activity, will be discussed. Students will become familiar with legal processes they may find themselves a part of, litigation, depositions and expert reporting. In addition, this course will address issues impacting the Fourth Amendment, forensics, electronic surveillance, computer hacking and cracking, intellectual property crimes, espionage, cyberterrorism, privacy, "forced disclosure," and the challenge of cross-jurisdiction enforcement.

This course primarily focuses on the intersection of U.S. public policy and cybersecurity at the local, state, and federal levels, broadly covering e-government and policy implications as viewed through a constitutional lens.

This course exposes students to management practices for assessing the risk of cybersecurity in the supply chain across many industries and processes. Supply chain processes account for a significant portion of a company's costs ultimately resulting in delivery of goods or services to customers. Critical supply chain metrics and processes are required to make supply chain decisions. The Course will also investigate topics, such as vendor supply chain design logistics and security planning. Threats to the global supply chain are significant and costs billions of dollars per year. The Course will examine the cybersecurity threats to the supply chain and develop risk strategies in working with vendors as part of the supply chain. Key issues include organizational cyber intrusion incident response planning in the supply chain, developing a risk planning methodology, and cost associated with corporate breaches.

This is the capstone course for the cybersecurity and privacy program. Students successfully completing this course will generate real-world cybersecurity documents including: a risk assessment, risk management strategy, needs analysis, GAP analysis, and risk treatment plan. This graduate-level course outlines the challenges surrounding critical infrastructure sector security and explains how implementing a security program based on the different cybersecurity frameworks can help organizations mitigate these issues. Students will critique the strengths and weaknesses of frameworks such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, COBIT 5, NIST 800-53, ISO 270001, and CIS critical security controls for cybersecurity.

This course is designed to expose students to the issues involved in cybersecurity law, both from a national policy standpoint and from a corporate counsel view. Cybersecurity is the protection of electronic data and systems from attack, loss, or other compromise. Electronic data and systems include governmental records, and investor and private firm information, and the hardware and software systems used to generate and maintain that data.

This course is designed to expose students to the issues involved in cybersecurity law, both from a national policy standpoint and from a corporate counsel view. Cybersecurity is the protection of electronic data and systems from attack, loss, or other compromise. Electronic data and systems include governmental records, and investor and private firm information, and the hardware and software systems used to generate and maintain that data.

​Focuses on the legal requirements of electronic commerce including issues of electronic contracting, tort, defamation, constitutional law, intellectual property, procedural, domestic and international conflicts and regulation.

Students who have taken Internet Law will not receive credit for this class.

Data privacy is a fast developing field, relevant to all companies and many government agencies. This course covers the legal framework of the field, including: SEC Interpretive Guidance, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the New York Cyber regulation of financial Institutions, California’s data privacy framework, and recent cases and developments.

In this graded one semester experience, students will be given the challenging opportunity to prosecute domestic violence crimes while acquiring basic lawyering and courtroom skills. Students will learn to interview victims and witnesses, analyze appropriate charging of crimes, engage in fact investigation and fact-gathering and, when appropriate, to conduct oral argument, hearings, and/or trials. Under the joint supervision of Professor Lynch and a specialized prosecutor, students will be assigned to work in specialized domestic violence courts in the Capital Region and begin practicing the skills learned in class. There are some opportunities for students to continue into a second semester for 3 credits and to concentrate on jury selection and advanced witness examination skills.

Pre/Co-Requisite: Domestic Violence Seminar (must register separately)​​​

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. ​

The course is a practice-oriented, simulated course that satisfies the substantial skill instruction requirement for graduation. The course initially considers the relevant tax systems, including transfer taxes (gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes) and income taxes (individual income taxes and the income taxation of trusts, decedents’ estates and beneficiaries). Thereafter, students will learn how to draft wills, revocable trusts and advance directives taking into account the relevant non-tax and tax rules. Students will also learn how to effectively communicate with clients. Ethical considerations are emphasized throughout the course. In lieu of a final examination, students will submit a comprehensive project for a hypothetical client. Typically students work as a team of two students (unless a student prefers to work alone).

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

This course examines federal and state law governing the conduct of elections and the financing of campaigns. It considers ways in which the law governing the political process affects and reflects political power relationships. Topics that may be covered include the right to vote, redistricting, administration, the Voting Rights Act, political parties, party governance, political action committees, the role of the courts, and campaign financing.

​This course is an introduction to the legal and practical issues related to electronic discovery and the use of electronic evidence in legal proceedings. Attorneys engaged in litigation must ensure compliance with the amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure through the preservation and production of electronically stored information. Firms nationwide are struggling with the practical challenges of electronic discovery and the law is continuously evolving. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the legal rules governing modern discovery and develop practical knowledge and key analytical skills that can be carried into practice. Each student is expected to read the assigned materials and contribute to the class discussion. In addition to the assigned readings, we will examine current legal issues involving electronic discovery, as they unfold in the courts and in the media.

​Surveys legal approaches to employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, and age. Examines Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other federal civil rights statutes.

This course is designed to familiarize students with the matrix of legal protections available to employees and employers from the hiring process to the termination of the employment relationship. It encourages students to examine common law and statutory rights of the parties while considering policy implications of the employment law system. The substantive areas to be covered include hiring/firing, wages, hours, and benefits, conditions of employment, employment security, and occupational health and safety. Unlike labor law which can be roughly organized around one federal statute (National Labor Relations Act), employment law is found in hundreds of separate cases and statutes.

This course offers students the opportunity to work with faculty and students from the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University at Albany and will expose them to the science, art and law of entrepreneurship and emerging technologies. Students will not only receive grounding in the law of business development and intellectual property, but will also be steeped in the science behind nanoscale technologies so that they can practice effectively in this rapidly emerging field.

​Focuses on developing general analytical framework for understanding environmental law, including development of common law, with emphasis on statutory and regulatory techniques for pollution control.

​This course will examine the underpinnings of environmental and natural resources law by exploring the foundational ideas governing the use, protection and allocation of the environment and natural resources.  Among the subjects covered will be competing theories of entitlement, including those represented in the concept of property in the common law tradition, humans as conquerors or citizens of nature, the public trust, and nature as an economic resource. Drawing from both legal and non-legal sources, students will examine the historical circumstances of laws governing nature, will consider the modern application of those laws, and will investigate in depth the social, political and economic policy implications of regulating nature.

​Focuses on general lifetime estate planning and estate planning at death based on the study of the relevant federal wealth transfer and income tax rules.

Prerequisite: Trusts and Estates

Drafting and planning techniques of general application (for both married and unmarried persons and for persons of moderate and little wealth) are emphasized throughout. The course also covers important lifetime directives, including durable powers of attorney for property, health care proxies and living wills. In lieu of an examination, Estate Planning II involves a project. Students form teams of 2 and 3 (although you can work alone should you so choose) and prepare a will and trust for a hypothetical married person, taking into account all relevant tax and non-tax factors. The team or individual can select New York or any other state law in doing the project. The project is designed to give you an experience transferable to actual practice.

Estate Planning I is a prerequisite for Estate Planning II. ​

​Presents detailed study of the rules governing the admissibility and use of evidence in trials and other legal proceedings.

​Examines the presentation of expert and scientific proof in civil and criminal cases under the common law and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Among the topics covered are the basic foundation requirements, such as appropriateness of expert testimony, requisite qualifications to provide expert testimony, proper bases of expert testimony, Frye and Daubert requirements, trial issues, such as use of learned treatises and demonstrative evidence, and issues relating to pre-trial discovery.

​Students will examine fact investigation in a variety of contexts through simulated exercises, class discussion, and lecture to identify sources of fact, obtain facts through formal and informal means, apply law to facts, develop case plans, and advise clients based on fact investigation in hypothetical cases.

​Family Law examines state regulation and intrusion into the family and the constitutional limitations and rights therein. The course will introduce students to the primary triad of interests: the parents, the child and the state. Additionally, the course will introduce students to the evolution of families and how family law has responded to social change. Topics will include the varying definitions of a "family", the legal relationships between parent and child, the nature of marriage and civil unions, family after separation or divorce, child custody, paternity/maternity, child support, child abuse and neglect, termination of parental rights, the foster care system, adoption, domestic violence, reproductive rights, privacy, gender and caretaking, and the role of the family court system. Further, the course will examine issues of intersectionality based upon race and socioeconomic class. The classroom is primarily lecture-based with opportunities to participate in classroom simulations, petition-drafting, and small group activities.

​The Family Violence Litigation Clinic offers students challenging and rewarding opportunities to argue cases in court on behalf of persons who have been victimized by violence by intimate partners or family members.  Students will learn about domestic violence dynamics and the substantive law and procedure of Family Court.  Students will be admitted to the limited practice of law under the Student Practice Order of the Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department.  Under direct faculty supervision, students will interview and counsel clients; conduct fact investigation and discovery; draft pleadings, correspondence, motions, stipulations and orders; perform legal research and analysis; regularly appear with clients in court; negotiate cases with opposing counsel as well as the lawyer for the children involved; and conduct full evidentiary trials.  Students may also have the opportunity to write or argue an appellate case, conduct administrative hearings, and engage in community outreach. 

Pre/Co-Requisite: Domestic Violence Seminar (Must register separately)​

This course provides a survey of the common law, statutory and Constitutional foundations of federal civil procedure and the policy choices that underlie access to the Courts. It covers the procedures followed by the federal courts in civil (noncriminal) disputes and examines the ways in which common understandings of fairness shape the design of the civil procedural system. It is designed to familiarize students with the fundamental constructs of the federal civil judicial system. These constructs require an understanding of jurisdiction and venue, the law applied by the federal courts, pretrial procedures, jury trials, motions, and verdicts and judgments.

Explores the foundational principles and doctrines governing the legal and political relationship between the United States, the states, and Indian tribes.  Examines the history of federal Indian law and policy, tribal property rights, congressional plenary power, the trust doctrine, tribal sovereignty, and jurisdiction in Indian Country.  Focuses on current issues in Indian Law, including gaming, reservation economic development, fishing and hunting rights, cultural resource protection, and tribal rights in natural resources.

​This course examines the proper role of the federal courts in the American political system. The ability of a litigant to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts is regulated by a variety of constitutional, statutory and judge-made doctrines. As such, topics explored will include: the case or controversy limitations contained in Article III, advanced topics in subject matter, diversity and supplemental jurisdiction, the availability of habeas corpus review, state sovereignty and the Eleventh Amendment, the abstention doctrines, the power of federal courts to create common law, removal actions, and 42 U.S.C.§1983 and Bivens civil rights actions.  Exploring the themes of federalism and separation of powers addressed in the basic Constitutional Law course, this course at its core examines the power of Congress to allocate judicial power among the federal courts, federal agencies and States. This course should prove to be particularly valuable to students who anticipate clerking for a federal or state judge, who plan to litigate before federal and state courts, or who are planning for a public interest or public sector career.

​Studies the rules governing federal taxation of corporations and their shareholders. Covers tax consequences to corporations and shareholders of corporate formations, distributions, redemptions, and liquidations.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Taxation

​Studies the rules governing the federal taxation of pass-through business entities, including partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, etc. Topics include tax consequences of the formation of pass-through entities, allocation of tax items to partners and members, distributions by pass-through entities, and sales of interests in these entities.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Taxation

Dozens of field placement opportunities exist for second- third-year students. They spend a minimum of 10 hours per week​​ at their field placement site and participate in a one-hour weekly seminar.

Note that most field placement​s need to be topic related and approved by a concentration advisor to count toward a degree.

This course focuses on the evolving world of financial crimes. The course will cover topics such as Anti-Money Laundering and the Bank Secrecy Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, insider trading, market manipulation, and the ever-developing world of securities fraud.

​This course provides an introduction to practical topics in estate and financial planning, including advance directives for financial management and health care decisions, long term care planning, revocable living trusts and retirement plans. In lieu of an examination, Financial Planning for the Elderly involves a project. Students form teams of two and three (though it is permissible to work alone) and prepare a plan for a hypothetical single person, taking into account all relevant gift and income tax and non-tax factors. The project includes draft documents and an explanatory cover letter to the hypothetical client. This course is designed to provide an experience transferable to practice.

Prerequisite: Trusts and Estates

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.

​The seminar will examine the theoretical and legal treatment of men's and women's labor in the public and private spheres, informal and formal sectors, unionized and non-unionized sectors and the international arena. The seminar is designed for students who are interested in examining the law's impact on the work that women and men do. It will draw on materials from labor history and theory, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, and domestic and international labor and human rights law.

​Describes the medico-legal paradigm within which genetic technologies are presently pursued or restricted. Discusses the scientific basis of the genetic technologies providing students with basic appreciation of potential issues and a guide to the scientific, rather than the legal, literature related to the growing area of genomics. The course will be organized along six areas of the law: criminal law, family and property law, tort law, insurance law, labor law, and intellectual property law. No science background is required.

This graduate-level course examines global data protection and privacy issues, with particular focus on the balance between an individual’s control of his/her personal information and the right of others to collect and use the individual’s personal information. The aim of the course is to understand the cultural, social, economic and political factors that influence data privacy and data protection laws around the world, including the European Union, Russia, China, Australia and Canada. The course will examine issues that include collection of data for commercial and governmental purposes, including but not limited to marketing. Attention will be paid to the new European General Data Protection Regulation, new data localization laws in China and Russia, and other current developments. US data privacy law will be addressed only in comparison to non-US approaches. Note: This course does NOT focus on US data privacy, which is instead the focus of Technology Privacy and the Law.

Understand and identify ethical issues faced by members of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches at the federal, state and local levels. Examine real current events and hypothetical issues to consider both prosecution and defense processes raised by ethical transgressions. Understand the components of individual action, organizational structure, organizational culture, rule of law and societal expectations to gain best practice knowledge. Learn ethical responsibilities of attorneys in government service and the ethical obligations of government employees who are not attorneys.

​This survey course covers several topics essential to an understanding of the health-care system and the issues confronting health-care lawyers today. The topics are: health-care delivery systems; quality of and access to health care (including medical malpractice, institutional liability, and allocation of health-care resources); health-care professionals' rights and responsibilities (including professional licensure/discipline and institutional peer review); and patients' rights (including informed consent, advance directives, surrogate decision-making, research involving human subjects, determination of death, and anatomical gifts).​

The Health Law Clinic is designed to teach student interns to identify and address the legal issues which poor individuals living with chronic health conditions often face.  Through faculty supervised representation of clients living with, or affected by, HIV or cancer, participating students acquire a broad range of practical lawyering skills in the areas of client interviewing, factual investigation, case planning, client counseling, and litigation advocacy.  Student interns are admitted to practice under the Student Practice Rule which allows them to help clients access necessary health care, obtain public benefits, secure or maintain stable housing, establish court-approved emergency plans for the future care of children, and develop proxies which authorize health care agents to make health decisions.  Participating interns typically take from this experience both a heightened confidence in their lawyering abilities and a broader perspective of their role in ensuring access to justice for the needy.  Clinic clients typically report that the legal services provided relieve stress and allow them to focus their limited energy on their underlying health problems.

Pre/Co-Requisite: None​​​​

This course explores the legal aspects of health care compliance. At both the federal and state levels, the course addresses the statutory, regulatory, and case law that comprises the complex legal backdrop in which the healthcare industry operates. The course introduces the history, purpose, and substance of healthcare regulatory compliance programs and addresses legal doctrines concerning protected information, patient's rights, HIPAA security and breach, compliance issues in healthcare business transactions, and special topics related to substance use, mental health, HIV, genetic information, and minors.

This course allows students to explore multiple layers of HIPAA compliance as it covers the entities and information to which HIPAA applies, consent, types of health information requiring heightened protection, individual rights required under the Privacy Rule and administrative, physical and technical safeguards under the Security Rule. Classroom exercises give students the opportunity to apply newly obtained knowledge to facts and analyze whether the situation meets the standards for compliance with HIPAA. Upon completion of this course, students will have an in-depth understanding of the federal law designed to protect the privacy and security of health information.

In the ILC, under the direct supervision of an Albany Law School faculty member, law students are trained to provide direct representation to both detained and non-detained immigrants, including immigrant victims of domestic violence, intimate partner violence and sexual assault. The cases may include special immigrant juveniles, applications under the Violence Against Women Act, representation of victims of violent crime in U-Visa applications, adjustment applications, bond applications, and any other claim for immigration relief that may be available. Students will learn and practice essential lawyering skills and draft correspondence, pleadings, motions and forms central to the application for an immigration benefit.

A qualifying Independent Research Paper (or Papers) allows a student to earn two, three or four academic credits for research and writing that produces a substantive paper, note, article or series of white papers on a legal topic. At least 12 or more pages of writing are required per credit. For LL.M. students, the written product must rely on the student’s original research, be of publishable quality, and include proper legal citation. For M.S. students, the written product must rely on the student’s original research, be of publishable quality, and include proper APA, MLA, Chicago-style or blue-book citation. To register for an Independent Legal Research Paper (or Papers), the student must draft a description of the proposed writing project; confer with, and secure the consent of, a supervising faculty member; and complete the Independent Legal Research Paper form (PDF). The completed Independent Research Paper form must be signed by the faculty member and submitted along with the project description to the Registrar for enrollment. Students completing an Independent Legal Research Paper must submit timesheets to the supervising faculty member every two weeks and must demonstrate a total of at least 42.5 hours per credit were devoted to the research and writing of the paper (or papers).

This experiential program affords Albany Law students an immersive opportunity to work on-site in SUNY Polytechnic’s laboratories and partner with interdisciplinary teams to understand and work within the technology commercialization process in a university setting. With a heavy focus on intellectual property law and the regulation of new technologies, students will be on the cutting edge of both the law and such rapidly evolving areas as nanotechnologies, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. Students will enroll in a 2-credit classroom component as well as participate in one of two experiential options: a 5-credit, 15-hour-per-week option and an option to participate in the Intensive through the 11-credit, 33-hour-per-week, Semester-in-Practice (SIP) program (with additional 1-credit classroom component for SIP-enrolled students).

​Focuses on statutes and decisions governing transfer and risk distribution of potentially harmful events. Examines contract law and considers the business of insurance from the standpoint of regulators, courts, insurers and consumers.

​This course will explore the role of intellectual property in business, addressing legal strategies, problems and opportunities related to founding, expanding, and terminating business organizations. The course will also focus on IP issues that commonly arise in the development, marketing and licensing of products. Much of the learning will be centered around business case studies. There will be group exercises and class presentations during the semester that will count toward a portion of the final grade. One exercise related to negotiations and licensing will allow for collaboration with business school students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  The final exam will be in take-home format.

​Examines topics related to conduct of international business: international private trade, U.S. and international regulation of trade, international private investment, international financial markets, international regulation of monetary affairs, and dispute resolution.

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.​

​This seminar examines the origin, scope, and protection of international human rights both internationally and in domestic litigation. Students write a research paper on a topic of their choice. The paper is eligible to satisfy the upper year writing requirement, and the course satisfies the international law requirement.

​An understanding of the fundamental principles and doctrines of international law that govern the use of force and the responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Among the topics covered are the limitations on the use of force and the resort to force, both nation-state and collective action, the treatment of combatants and civilians, and the recognition and prosecution of international criminal law including war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as international cooperation, institutions and criminal liability.​

​This course will address modern forms of international law-making and regulations, as well as enforcement and dispute settlement, emphasizing especially the impact of institutions. It will examine how intergovernmental or international organizations, from those of the UN system to the World Trade Organization (WTO), have changed the traditional sources of international obligation, namely treaties, customary international law, and general principles.

A nation's participation in world trade is often viewed as key to its economic growth and development. This seminar provides an introduction to international trade law with a primary focus on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its regulation of trade in goods, services, intellectual property, and foreign direct investment.  Students analyze problems of law and policy of their choice in a research paper.  Students are invited but not required to focus the research paper on a problem relevant to developing countries, which comprise two-thirds of the membership of the WTO. 

No background in international law or economics is required. The paper may be used to satisfy the upper year writing requirement, and the class satisfies the international law requirement.

This course examines privacy as an individual’s right under the law to have the freedom to make both meaningful decisions, and control the use of personal information held by others. The course will explore how the law is used by the government, at both the state and federal levels, to protect privacy in commercial organizations as new technologies and institutional practices emerge. The course traces the origins of the right to privacy in American law, and case studies of landmark privacy legislation help illustrate how expectations of privacy are translated into legal frameworks that affect daily life and commerce. The course also discusses the factors that help privacy professionals develop organizational frameworks and controls in order to provide private sector organizations with an approach to meeting regulatory requirements. Lastly, the course considers the impact of the growth of the Internet, the availability of cryptography, and other privacy-enhancing technologies on the future of private-sector privacy law in the United States.

​Introduces fundamental components of intellectual property law, focusing on patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

This course introduces students in the M.S in Legal Studies program to the basics of the U.S. Legal System, including the structure of the federal courts, use of precedent, and methods of reading, analyzing and synthesizing case law. Basic terminology and principles of common law subjects - including torts, contracts and property - are introduced and explored through case law readings. In addition, the course will provide experience in the research and writing skills necessary for effective legal analysis and clear oral and written communication, including hands-on experience using Schaffer Law Library and electronic resources.

This course is an introduction to the Federal Income Tax particularly as it relates to individuals. We will study the Income Tax Code and Regulations, learning the basic principles of taxation. Included in the studies in this course are the connections of tax to business, family, criminal, and other areas of law. We also consider the interaction of tax law, social policy, and current legislation. No background in accounting is necessary, and the only math is basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division).

Issues in Law and Society: Bread and Roses will focus on the Lochner Era, the Red Scare, the 8-Hour Day Movement, and the theories and practices of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W. or "Wobblies"). The theories and practices of the I.W.W. will be used as reference points for an examination of present-day legal debates including but not limited to globalization, civil liberties after 9/11, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and problems with prisons.

This class is for students placed in judicial chambers and focuses on judicial decision making, the role of judicial law clerks, the litigation process, and professionalism.

​This seminar considers the relationship between law, justice, and morality.  Questions considered include: what is law? What are legal rules? What are rights?  What is the relation of law to justice in the modern regulatory state? Readings include historical material (e.g., ancient Greek and Roman writers) through to contemporary legal theory (e.g., law and economics, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, and postmodernism).  Students apply these perspectives to particular problems of law and policy in a research paper.  The paper may be used to satisfy the upper year writing requirement.

​Covers the developing body of law governing relationships among employers, employees, and unions. Considers the impact of collective bargaining on rights of individual employees, management's prerogatives, and public welfare.

This course will provide an understanding of the legal and administrative tools that local governments employ in regulating land use. Land use law involves the interests of developers, environmentalists, homeowners, interest groups and other political actors, all of whom participate in creating the character of a particular community. This course will focus on actual and simulated case studies to identify the often-contentious politics of urban growth. We will cover basic legal structure of the decisionmaking process relating to the constitutional limitations on development, environmental controls on land use, zoning and planning, the impacts of development on public infrastructure and smart growth responses, and environmental justice. Because politics, economics and social norms play critical roles in the development of land, we will also examine the different, often diverging influences of land use patterns.

This course will focus on the landlord-tenant law. While it will be national in scope and will use the URLTA, it will use largely cases arising under New York Law And will include discussion of the RPAPL. The class will focus on residential landlord-tenant law, with some discussion of commercial leases.

​This course explores the role of the lawyer as creative problem solver.  In it, students assess the strategies and tools lawyers use to promote social innovation and solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.  Students put the skills they have developed throughout law school to use in contexts where those skills are most desperately needed.  They also hone additional skills that every lawyer needs: e.g., the ability to work effectively in groups, run a productive meeting, collaborate on document drafting and production, think creatively to construct elegant solutions to complex problems, “pitch” ideas, and conduct group presentations.

Sample Syllabus

​This course is a general introduction to the body of domestic and international law developing daily to grapple with catastrophic anthropogenic climate change. The course is practice-oriented, and includes simulated climate treaty negotiations and litigation of a climate change-related case. Several practitioners of climate change law and a practicing climate scientist will join us as guest speakers. The course begins with a general overview of current climate science, and the policy, economics, and legal framework of the law of climate change. The next module covers an introduction to international environmental law, including the climate treaties and current negotiations. We will explore the international human rights to a clean environment and stable climate, and the attempts to locate and enforce these rights in international and U.S. law. Turning to domestic law we will examine the sources of law that govern the principal sources of greenhouse gases, both federal judicial and administrative law. Our exploration begins with the Clean Air Act, public nuisance theory, and current litigation concerning transportation and energy generation, two of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. The course will then turn to regional, state and local initiatives to mitigation of and adaptation to the effects of climate change.

This course will introduce students to fundamental topics in the law of government that are essential for lawyers in public service and lawyers who work closely with government. Topics covered include strategies for making law and policy; structure of government, including state and local government; oversight and governmental investigations; legislative processes; public finance; the Freedom of Information Law and other government-transparency statutes; criminal statutes applicable to government officials; and how to sue government officers.

You will be working for an organization after you graduate from law school. It may be a law firm, corporation, nonprofit, government or educational organization. At some point you will take a leadership role and it will be essential to provide positive guidance to the people with whom you work for the benefit of the organization. This course examines effective leadership, as well as challenges to effective leadership, such as effective and persuasive communication, credibility, articulating and inspiring a vision for the future, building and leading a team through collaboration, making timely and sound decisions to strengthen your organization and enhance your value to the organization.

Focuses on in-class presentations by students on legal and ethical issues present in the medical records of hypothetical obstetrical or gynecological patients. Law students work in teams with resident physicians in obstetrics and gynecology.

​An examination of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Model Rules of Professional Conduct; a study of the organization of the bar and the function of the organized bar; and consideration of the individual attorney's professional responsibility for public service. ​

This course is designed to introduce the basic principles of American legal research, legal analysis, and legal writing. Assignments include research exercises which train students to locate cases, statutes, administrative rules and decisions, and secondary material. Assignments also include exercises that allow students to use their research to write legal memoranda. (Open only to International LLM students and AJD students beginning in the spring semester)

Focuses on professional liability and cases concerning numerous health-care professionals, including physicians. In addition, students study statutory reforms enacted to modify the common law so as to decrease the costs of malpractice liability. Explores the relationship between malpractice and professional misconduct. Institutional liability is addressed as a complement to (and possibly a future replacement for) professional liability.

This course examines the criminal law issues and regulatory issues that arise from marijuana use and distribution. It covers federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, including investigation, intelligence gathering, and eradication programs. It covers state and local laws seeking to regulate the use and distribution of Marijuana and examines generally the approach taken by states around the country. It also explores sentencing and other enforcement mechanisms, such as asset forfeiture. It explores a variety of defenses and other criminal law rules, including medical necessity and constructive possession. The course examines how the Supreme Court's Fourth Amendment jurisprudence has been shaped by aggressive enforcement tactics. The course also looks at criminal issues and professional responsibility issues related to representing marijuana-related businesses.

This course focuses on the private equity and hedge fund market. Various investment products will be discussed and explored, such as: options, packaged products, ETPs, REITS, IC (mutual fund) shares, municipal bonds, SWAPs, and US Treasuries. Various trading strategies and rules will be covered, such as: wholesalers, Voelker Rule, high frequency trading, and “bona fide market making.” The course will also look at the evolution of equities, fixed income, and now crypto currencies.

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

​Provides 25 hours of training equivalent to the New York State Unified Court System training program for community mediators. Prepares students to serve as court-affiliated mediators and to counsel clients more effectively regardless of their area of law.

Studies the Constitutional, statutory, and international law framework within which the U.S. conducts foreign relations and international law enforcement. Considers allocation of authority over foreign affairs and national security among the agencies of government, and selected contemporary issues such as responses to terrorism, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the Classified Information Procedures Act, and the legal relationship between law enforcement, the intelligence community and the military. JD students cannot receive credit for this class and Cyberwar, Intelligence and National Security

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

​Covers civil procedure in New York courts, concentrating on the supreme court, but with references, as necessary, to differentiated practices in lower courts of civil jurisdiction. Examines practice and procedure in the New York courts in detail, from commencement of the action through pleadings and parties.

​Continues New York Practice I, covering service of pleadings, pretrial motion practice, pretrial discovery, provisional remedies, calendar practice, judgments, appeals, enforcement of judgments, and special proceedings.

Prerequisite: New York Practice

This course is a survey of the law related to civil litigation in New York.  The course highlights the main topics covered in New York Practice I and New York Practice II.  The course will familiarize students with the ature, purpose, and content of the Civil Practice Law and Rules and, through statutory and case law analysis, develop a foundation for civil practice. The treatment is essentially in chronological order, beginning with subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, venue, statutes of limitation, parties, pleadings, motion practice, pre-trial discovery, provisional remedies, judgments, and appeals. This course will overlap with New York Practice I and New York Practice II and offers a one-semester, four-credit survey option for coverage of the New York CPLR.  Students who take either New York Practice I or II may not take this course.  Students who take this course may not take New York Practice I or New York Practice II. 4 credits. Exam.

It will be helpful to any law student graduating in December and planning to take the February 2016 Bar Exam as it covers topics in both NYP1 and NYP2.

The objectives of the course include learning the fundamentals of U.S. Patent Law; exploring the policies underlying those principles; and discussing the assigned cases to develop skills in critical reasoning and advocacy. We will study what types of discoveries are contemplated under the Patent Act, including recent hot topics such as Computer Software and Biotechnology. The objectives include covering the specific requirements for patentable subject matter, such as the utility, disclosure, enablement, novelty, and nonobviousness requirements, and the statutory bars of public use, sale, and abandonment. Also covered will be the recent statutory changes, such as the American Invents Act, as well as recent patent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This survey course will cover historical and contemporary policy debates about poverty in the U.S. Topics will include the constitutional treatment of poverty, as well as the legal and policy treatment of questions of access to specific social goods, such as housing, healthcare, education, and legal services. We will also discuss "hot topics" in the field, such as criminalization of poverty, international perspectives on poverty, wage theft, immigration and access to justice. Materials will include practice-derived materials, contemporary commentary as well as scholarly treatment of the issues. Students with a range of backgrounds and perspectives on the issues are encouraged to enroll.

This course examines privacy as an individual's right under the law to have the freedom to make both meaningful decisions, and control the use of personal information held by others. The course will explore how the law protects privacy rights in online environments, with particular regard to web technologies and digital advertising. The course examines today's information security and data breach laws, including notification requirements at both the federal and state level. We will read and discuss materials designed to increase your understanding of medical privacy laws, such as 42 CFR Part 2, HIPAA, GINA, and the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, so that you can gain an appreciation for how personal protected health information must be maintained and secured.

We will examine the financial privacy laws that control how your credit report and banking information can be used, such as FCRA, FACTA, and GLBA, and how the government and commercial entities collaborate to ensure the safe use and accuracy of your virtual assets. Lastly, the course will address the protections afforded to educational records by laws such as FERPA and the PPRA, and how such laws are enforced in the local, regional, and collegiate educational systems. The last part of the course will explore emerging issues in the area of individual privacy law, such as Big Data, surveillance, and the Internet of Things, and how these emerging technologies are quickly becoming key aspects to being well-informed, and capable of providing meaningful consent to data use.

​Provides a comprehensive overview of the rules of legal ethics and an opportunity for in-depth study of a particular professional responsibility issue selected by the student.

An alternative to the required course, the Legal Profession.

Surveys theory and doctrine involving ownership, possession and transfer of real and personal property. Topics covered may include: discovery, creation, capture, adverse possession, transfers of land, and recording acts.

Continues the survey of property law.  Topics covered may include: present and future estates; co-ownership, leaseholds, nuisance, servitudes, zoning, and takings.

​Explores role of government in protecting and promoting public health and safety. Examines legitimacy of public health activities and explores sources of authority for public health action. Introduces the sciences of biostatistics and epidemiology.

​This course will explore the origins of the current healthcare crisis, systematically examine some of the current methods for containing healthcare spending, and probe whether those methods are successful and equitable. The course will also explore the government's role in dealing with bioethical issues regarding, inter alia, physician assisted suicide, reproductive technologies, cloning, stem cell research, and organ transplantation.

​Introduces students to major components of public international law. Topics include the nature, sources, and modes of application of international law; jurisdiction of nation-states over persons and territory; sovereign immunity; recognition and state succession; international claims and agreements; and authorized and unauthorized use of force. ​

Race, Rape Culture, and the Law is cross-listed between the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Albany Law School. The seminar will examine the extent to which law and social attitudes contribute to normalizing and/or trivializing sexual harassment and assault against women. The changing social landscape in which rape law in the United States has been defined and enforced exposes both hostility towards women’s dignity and physical integrity, and fear and misunderstanding of black sexuality. This seminar is designed to familiarize students with the fundamentals of sexual harassment and sexual assault law and the ways in which race, gender, and identity are implicated in the legal treatment of these issues. Utilizing case studies and historical examples through the lens of intersectional analyses, this course will address the difficult questions of how to move toward an anti-racist and anti-rape society while also examining the social and cultural causes preventing this progression. This seminar is interdisciplinary and will approach the subject matter through slave narratives, novels, autobiographies, film, music, law review articles, legislation, and case law.

​Examines standard residential and commercial real estate transactions, including consideration of brokerage arrangements, contracts of sale, methods of financing, methods of title protection, mortgage markets, construction loans, permanent financing, and federal income tax issues. The course will include instruction in drafting and one or more other professional skills.

This course will explore and expand your understanding of the fundamental principles of contract formation, performance, and enforcement that you learned in your first year of law school, primarily as these principles relate to the sale of goods. The course will focus on Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code but will touch on the law of promissory notes and security instruments, as well, as these topics often arise in sales contexts and facilitate an understanding of how contracts differ from other types of obligations. We will also regularly contrast rules for the sale of goods with rules for land sale and service contracts, as this method of presentation will prepare you for success on the bar exam and in the practice of law.

Focuses on secured transactions under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Explores issues relating to the creation and perfection of security interests in personal property and analyzes a wide range of priority disputes involving secured parties and competing claimants.

Not open to students who have taken Commercial Law Survey. ​

Studies registration and prospectus requirements and exemptions for public and private offerings and sales of securities; regulation of securities transactions; regulation of corporate transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, and tender offers; regulation of securities broker-dealers, exchanges and associations; and civil liabilities under the federal securities statutes.

Prerequisite: Business Organizations ​

Students who have completed their first year or two semesters of law school have a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in exceptional judicial, governmental and public interest offices for an intense summer semester-long placement experience. Under the direct supervision of highly experienced Supervising Attorney/Mentors, students participate in and conduct the legal work of their chosen office. Depending on the placement, students may be involved in witness interviewing, trial preparation, legal research and writing, drafting of opinions, fact investigation, depositions and conducting trials or hearings. Students participate in the related field placement class, and maintain a daily journal of their placement experiences, and meet periodically with the course instructor.

HOW MANY CREDITS ARE AWARDED? Students earn 5 credits by working a total of 212.5 hours at their placement over the course of the seven week summer term.

WHAT ARE THE OTHER COURSE REQUIREMENTS? Students must register for the Summer in Practice Class (one credit), attend a weekly class at Albany Law School, and complete all assignments. Students are required to maintain daily reflective journals of their placement experiences and submit the journals weekly to the course instructor; track their time at their placement and submit weekly time sheets; and complete other faculty directed assignments and meetings. Students with placements away from the Capital District may attend the class by distance technology.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE? All students who have completed their first year or two semesters of law school by the beginning of summer session are eligible to participate in this program. Applicants will need to interview with and be accepted by a participating employer.

This module will prepare students to sit for the Securities Industry Essentials Exam (offered by FINRA). Students will use materials (including online lectures, review and assessment materials) made available through Securities Training Corp., a well-regarded provided. This module is an add-on to the Financial Crimes and Topics in Financial Market Regulation Seminar.

​This course will examine environmental regulation and enforcement by state and local governments relating to stormwater and erosion control, forest and groundwater resources, essential public facilities siting, habitat protection and open space provision, among others.  The course will consider sources, scope and limitations in the authority of local governments to pursue an environmentally protective regime, the potential constitutional liabilities of government in regulating the use of the natural environment, and the conservation potential of the traditional tools that local governments wield (including planning and zoning, exactions, eminent domain, building codes).  This course will also look to emerging trends in local environmental law, including green buildings, sustainable development ordinances, environmental planning and climate change strategies.

Introduces the structure, powers and functioning of local governments and their interaction with the state. Topics include police and municipal liability, home rule powers, emergency preparedness, Indian law, land use regulation, open government laws, gun control and pertinent hot topics. Course includes in class exercises, outside speakers and various experiential assignments.

This course examines the legal foundation for states and local governments to incur debt (municipal securities) and finance infrastructure. It reviews the federal law regulating the sale of municipal securities and disclosure requirements for investors, and federal law which permits interest on municipal securities to be tax-exempt. These fundamentals are examined through various financing structures employed by Wall Street investment bankers, together with case law and think-tank policy which guide the development of the modern municipal securities marketplace.​

Examines state and local tax issues with emphasis on New York tax issues.

Students who have completed their first year or two semesters of law school have a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in exceptional judicial, governmental and public interest offices for an intense summer semester-long placement experience.  Under the direct supervision of highly experienced Supervising Attorney/Mentors, students participate in and conduct the legal work of their chosen office. Depending on the placement, students may be involved in witness interviewing, trial preparation, legal research and writing, drafting of opinions, fact investigation, depositions and conducting trials or hearings. Students participate in the related field placement class, and maintain a daily journal of their placement experiences, and meet periodically with the course instructor.
HOW MANY CREDITS ARE AWARDED?  Students have the option of a full-time placement for six credits or a part-time placement for four credits. Students opting for a full-time placement must work 35 hours per week at their placement for a total of 245 hours over the seven week summer term. Students in a part-time placement must work 24 hours per week for a total of 168 hours over the seven week summer term.
WHAT ARE THE OTHER COURSE REQUIREMENTS? Students are required to attend a weekly class at Albany Law School, and complete all assignments. Students are required to maintain daily reflective journals of their placement experiences and submit the journals weekly to the course instructor; track their time at their placement and submit weekly time sheets; and complete other faculty directed assignments and meetings. Students are required to participate in a weekly class conducted at Albany Law School but using distance learning technology, and complete all assignments.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?  All students who have completed their first year or two semesters of law school by the beginning of summer session are eligible to participate in this program.  Applicants will need to interview with and be accepted by a participating employer.

​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 focused survey course examines U.S. privacy laws in several significant contexts, including (1) telecommunications and marketing, (2) workplace and employment, and (3) civil litigation and governmental law enforcement investigations. The course will explore how commercial marketing activities that involve telemarketing and email are regulated, and we'll examine laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act, the CCPA, and the VPPA to understand how they are intended to protect consumers. We will examine the privacy concerns that affect employees in the workplace, both private and public, and identify those areas that are important for prospective employers and employees alike to be aware of in today's work environment. Where civil litigation and government investigations affect specific privacy concerns for individuals, the course will examine to what degree disclosures and discovery are allowable in the civil litigation context, and will review the roles of privacy professionals in the realms of law enforcement and national security. Lastly, the course addresses emerging issues in the topics covered throughout the class, and will consider insight and reflections from industry practitioners to equip students with actionable, relevant, and timely concepts by which to evaluate current or future privacy policies.

Financial markets are rapidly changing, and new products, strategies, and investment vehicles are popping up everywhere. This course will examine emerging products, strategies and technologies such crypto currency, blockchain and initial coin offerings; algorithmic trading; high frequency trading; new digital payment systems; and robo advisors, with a focus on what the future of the industry holds and how we can prepare today for future developments.

The class will be a technology survey class which emphases the pragmatic use of technology in the legal profession. The mission of the class would be both to educate students as to the technological advances that are changing the legal profession as well as how technology is changing the world we live in, and, significantly, the legal ramifications of such new technologies in both traditional and emerging areas of law. One goal of the class would be for young lawyers to be able to walk into their first job being sufficiently sophisticated to be able to spot technology issues that more senior lawyers may not appreciate.

This course examines the impact of technology on information privacy law, while examining the evolution of the right to information privacy and personal autonomy under Constitutional, tort, statutory and international law. This course will explore how the law should balance privacy rights with national security concerns, given the advent of new technologies and information structures. This course will examine modern privacy developments involving, inter alia, social media, video surveillance, “big data” practices, DNA databanking, the collection of health information, cybersecurity, airport body scanning, drone technology, and Internet privacy and cryptography. This course is required to complete the Concentration in Law and Cybersecurity.

This course focuses on the critical function of Compliance Officers at financial institutions. The legal framework and strategies relevant to the position will be explored. This includes supervision, risk management, Extraterritorial application, and a discussion on the Committee of Foreign Investments in the United States.

This course will address the constitutional basis for and history of paid lobbying; the legal and ethical restrictions a lawyer-lobbyist needs to consider; the role of money and politics in lobbying; and practical elements of how to be an effective lawyer-lobbyist. Both the Federal and State level will be examined. The goal of the course will be to combine the study of legal and constitutional principles governing lobbying and the enactment of legislation with exposure to practical issues faced by the lawyer who participates in the legislative process.

This course would expand upon a course previously offered at the law school that covers both the federal and state law covering exempt organizations, but will expand to cover the law of corporate formation as it might otherwise affect social entrepreneurs, including covering Benefit Corporations, Limited Liability Corporations and other basic corporate forms. It will also cover the law of exempt organization and Benefit Corporation finance.

This course provides students with instruction in the legal, policy and practical aspects of Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS, also known as drones). The course will provide students not only with an opportunity to learn the law and regulatory structure of UAS controls, but also to fly UAS and to earn their airman's license from the Federal Aviation Administration. Approval of professor is required for enrollment in this class. Please contact Professor Heverly for details.

The Thesis class is the capstone of the MSLS and LLM program. Students will learn about research, writing and proposal frameworks specific to Thesis projects. Then, each student will 1) Propose a topic; 2) Outline and research the paper; 3) write and submit the Thesis; 4) orally present on the submission. Students will have a choice to write a Thesis paper on a topic of their choosing within the concentration, or conduct an approved project through their work.

​Covers elements of intentional torts, including battery, assault, conversion, trespass, false imprisonment, privileges and defenses; elements of negligence, including duty, breach, causation, and damages; contributory negligence and comparative fault; and vicarious liability

The course deals with the creation, enforcement, and limitation of trademark rights, including the impact of technological change (such as the use of the internet) on traditional concepts, and related unfair competition issues. The grade will be based on performance on an end of semester examination. ​

​This course focuses on trial-court methodology, commencing with voir dire, opening statements of counsel, direct and cross-examination of parties and witnesses, closing arguments, and jury instructions.

*Not open to a student who has taken or is currently taking Trial Practice.

​Exposes students to a progression of pretrial skills necessary to represent a client from client interview up to the actual trial. Students are assigned to represent either the plaintiff or the defendant in a simulated case and take the case through every stage of the pretrial process. Students conduct a client interview, perform informal fact investigation, draft a complaint and an answer, serve interrogatories and answers to interrogatories, conduct a deposition and draft a Motion for Summary Judgment and memorandum of law based on the discovery that they have done. Students are required to attend a weekly on-hour lecture and participate in a two-hour lab where pretrial skills are practiced.

​Exposes students to a progression of pretrial skills necessary to the defense and prosecution of a criminal case.  Students are assigned to represent either the prosecution or the defendant in a simulated criminal case and take the case through every stage of the pretrial process. Students conduct a client/victim interview, perform fact investigation and legal research, draft and respond to criminal charges, demands to produce, motions for discovery, and requests for suppression of evidence.  Students will draft a memorandum of law based on their legal and factual  investigation. Students may also draft and respond to demands for inspection of Grand Jury Minutes, engage in plea negotiations, conduct oral advocacy on arraignment and bail issues, and perform other pretrial matters as time and the selected problem allows. Students are required to attend a weekly one-hour lecture and participate in a two-hour lab where pretrial skills are practiced.

Exposes students to a progression of pretrial skills necessary to the defense and prosecution of a criminal case. Students are assigned to represent either the prosecution or the defendant in a simulated criminal case and take the case through every stage of the pretrial process. Students conduct a client/victim interview, perform fact investigation and legal research, draft and respond to criminal charges, demands to produce, motions for discovery, and requests for suppression of evidence. Students will draft a memorandum of law based on their legal and factual investigation. Students may also draft and respond to demands for inspection of Grand Jury Minutes, engage in plea negotiations, conduct oral advocacy on arraignment and bail issues, and perform other pretrial matters as time and the selected problem allows. Students are required to attend a weekly one-hour lecture and participate in a two-hour lab where pretrial skills are practiced. ​

Using the same simulated case from the fall semester Trial Practice I: Criminal Pretrial Skills class, students learn the trial skills necessary to conduct the trial of the case.  During the weekly two hour labs each student will prepare and conduct the following: introduction and use of exhibits, making and responding to objections, direct and cross-examination of lay witnesses, impeachment, refreshing recollection and past recollection recorded, direct and cross of an expert, opening statements, and summation.  At the end of the semester, the students team up to conduct a trial of the case in which each side presents at least two lay witnesses and an expert witness.  Students are required to attend a weekly one-hour lecture and participate in a two-hour lab where trial skills are practiced.

Recommended:  Evidence & Trial Practice I: Criminal Pretrial Procedure ​

​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.

This course will address the legal framework and policy issues raised by asylum seekers in the United States. It examines the preparation and defense of asylum claims at the affirmative level and in immigration and federal courts. It will examine current trends in the evolving ground of “particular social group”. It includes materials on fact-finding in the asylum process, Withholding of Removal and the Convention Against Torture, statutory bars and discretionary factors in the adjudicatory process.​

Students will role-play the justices on cases currently in front of the Court, examine pressing issues in constitutional law from each justice’s perspective, and explore the impact of the justices’ competing approaches both for emerging law and for counsels’ strategy in preparing and presenting cases. The Roberts Court is having a major impact on American law and students will get to see it up close. We plan to go to Washington to observe oral arguments in the cases studied. In past years, students' analyses of the justices have been published.

Covers techniques for the direct and cross-examination of lay and expert witness by means of simulated exercises; introduction and use of exhibits; dealing with failed recollection; impeachment; and the making of and responding to objections during witness examinations. This class has a limited enrollment and preference will be given to students who have tried out and been selected for the competitive trail teams. The simulated exercises will cover both civil and criminal cases. There will be a one hour lecture class and a two hour lab per week.