Spring 2022 The City University of New York School of Law - Course Descriptions And Program Planning Information - CUNY School of Law
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
The City University of New York
School of Law
Spring 2022
________________________
Course of Study for Second and Third Year Students
Course Descriptions
And
Program Planning
Information
Office of Academic Affairs Room 4/106– Ext. 84370
November 12, 2021
1Fareed Nassor Hayat, Esq.
Interim Senior Associate Academic
Dean and Associate Professor of Law (718) 340-4205 Tel 2 Court Square
fareed.hayat@law.cuny.edu (718) 340-4394 Fax Long Island City, NY 11101-4356
To: Second and Third Year Students
From: Academic Affairs Office
Re: Course Descriptions and Program Planning Information
Date November 12, 2021
This packet "Spring 2022 Course of Study for Second and Third Year Students," contains
descriptions of required and elective courses for second and third year as well as helpful
information about program planning and registration. Please review it carefully. We strongly
recommend that students meet with their academic advisors about course selection to help to
ensure that your course of study prepares you for the area of practice you plan to pursue as well as
for success in law school and on the bar exam. An advisor can help you to choose wisely from
among the available lawyering seminars, clinics, and help you make your elective choices.
General Program Planning Information
Students must have passed 86 credits, be in good academic standing, and have successfully
completed all required courses to graduate. To be in good academic standing a student must obtain
a 2.5 GPA or better at the end of each semester. Generally, students who have an outstanding
grade of “Incomplete” will not be allowed to register for clinic. Waivers will be granted on a case-
by-case basis, by the Academic Dean’s office. Factors taken into consideration for the waiver
include the type of class the Incomplete is in, the amount and type of work the student has left to
complete, and the likelihood that finishing the Incomplete will negatively impact the clinic
experience. Students seeking to graduate in three years are expected to take Property and Public
Institutions during their second year.
No more than a combined total of 10.5 credits towards graduation may be earned in the following
courses: Teaching Assistant, Independent Study, Law Review, Moot Court, and Public
Interest/Public Service (counted as 1.5 credits towards this limit). In general, students may take 3
credits of independent study and 4 electives Credit/No Credit. However, students on probation
may not take courses Credit/No Credit.
Required Courses
All students are required by the American Bar Association (ABA) to take Professional
Responsibility. Students must also take Mastery of Core Legal Doctrine (Core Doctrine), although
students with a 3.3 or higher cumulative GPA at the end of their fifth semester may opt out of this
requirement. Applied Legal Analysis (ALA) is a required co-requisite that runs concurrently with
Core Doctrine and focuses on bar exam taking skills. Core Doctrine may only be taken Credit/No
2Credit if you meet the opt-out requirement, but choose to enroll in Core Doctrine.
Recommended Criteria to Consider
We recommend that you consider the following criteria in developing your program:
• Courses that provide you with the doctrinal coverage necessary for practice and for the bar
exam;
• Courses that enhance practical lawyering skills;
• Courses that prepare you for the particular area of practice you plan to pursue;
• Courses that enrich and round out your law studies and prepare you for public interest
practice; and
• Courses that appeal to your interests and background and that will enable you to
connect intellectually and emotionally to the study and practice of law.
Graduation Requirements
The course of study required of all students for graduation includes:
Passing grades in all required courses;
Successful completion of four bar electives;
Successful completion of Core Doctrine and Applied Legal Analysis;
Completion of a clinical offering; and
Successful completion of 86 credits.
*Please note that in certain rare instances in which a student took all required courses and all 12
allowed electives, the student might be required to take 88 credits to fulfill their graduation
requirements.
Upper-level Requirements
Upper level required courses include:
• Evidence (Lawyering and the Public Interest) (fall or spring 2022 4 cr.)
• Constitutional Structures (fall only, 3 cr.)
• Property (Law and the Market Economy III (fall or spring, 4 cr.)
• Administrative Law: Public Institutions (including Public Institutions in Context) (fall or
spring 3 cr.) *
• Lawyering Seminar III (spring only, 4 cr.)
Part-time 2L students will be administratively registered for Evidence, Constitutional Structures
and Law and Family Relations in their third semester. Each year, several Lawyering Seminar III
classes are offered, each focusing on a different area of public interest practice. Second year
students will receive information about the Lawyering Seminar III offerings during the upcoming
Fall semester.
Credit hour policy
Students should take into account the Law School’s credit hour policy when planning their
schedules. The policy is available here: http://www.law.cuny.edu/academics/academic-
3policies/credit-hours-policy/CUNY-credit-hours-policy-11-4-16.pdf. It provides that students
should expect to spend 42.5 hours per credit of combined direct faculty instruction and out-of-
class student work.
Bar Electives
All students are required to take four bar electives, although students with a cumulative GPA of
3.3 or higher at the end of their third semester may opt out of this requirement. Thus 2L full-time
students should plan their course of study knowing that they must take four bar electives prior to
graduation and also take Core Doctrine and a clinic during their third year. The bar electives are:
Advanced Evidence, Business Associations, Core Doctrine taken with ALA, Criminal Procedure:
Investigation, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication, Federal Courts, First Amendment, New York
Domestic Relations Law, New York Practice, Real Estate Transactions, UCC Survey and Wills
and Trusts. Professional Responsibility is only a bar elective for students who matriculated before
fall of 2015.
All students must take four bar electives. The bar electives are:
Criminal Procedure Investigation (3 cr.)
Criminal Procedure Adjudication (3 cr.)
Business Associations (3 cr.)
New York Domestic Relations Law (3 cr.)
UCC Survey (3 cr.)
First Amendment (3 cr.)
Federal Courts (3 cr.)
Wills, Trusts & Estates (3 cr.)
ALA with Core Doctrine (6 cr.)
Deciding which of the recommended bar elective courses deserves careful attention. Some of the
courses—Criminal Procedure Investigation and Criminal Procedure Adjudication, and Business
Associations—are courses that are fundamental to the development of the basic legal literacy every
lawyer needs. Others—UCC, for instance—involve areas of the law that many students find
difficult to learn on their own in bar review because the vocabulary, legal concepts, context, and
policy considerations are unfamiliar. Most bar electives are useful not only for bar preparation,
but preparation to practice in particular interest areas.
SECOND-YEAR SPECIFIC PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS
• Planning for clinics: If you plan to pursue a career in criminal law, you should seriously consider
timing your program so that you will be eligible for the Defenders’ Clinic. Defenders’ Clinic
enrollment is limited to students who have successfully completed the Criminal Defense
Lawyering Seminar (one of the Lawyering Seminar III offerings). Only those students who have
successfully completed or are currently enrolled in Criminal Procedure: Investigation or Criminal
Procedure: Adjudication may apply to take the Criminal Defense Lawyering Clinic. Thus, if you
are considering applying for the Defenders’ Clinic down the road, you should plan on taking
4Criminal Procedure: Investigation; first year full-time students should plan on taking it
either in the summer after your first year or in the fall of your second year. If Criminal
Procedure: Investigation is unavailable, please contact the Defender Clinic Director,
Professor Steve Zeidman. Because of scheduling restrictions, Evening Defender Students are
permitted to take Criminal Procedure Investigation as a co-requisite with the Defenders Clinic.
• Electives: If you have a particular area of interest for which a course is offered, it makes sense
to take a course in that area in your second year. Some courses are only offered once a year; others
are only offered once every two years. Therefore, if you see a course offered that is in your
area of interest, you should register for it.
Grades and the Credit/No Credit Option
Courses at CUNY School of Law (except Individual Skills Development, and other specifically
designated courses) use the following grading scale: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D and F. These
grades will be used to determine a student’s academic status. After completing the first year, a
student may elect to take up to 4 elective courses including Individual Skills Development, Moot
Court and Academic Legal Writing for Credit/No Credit. To elect the Credit/No Credit option,
the student must notify the Office of Registration and Records Management no later than the date
designated by the Academic Calendar for each semester.
Here are some factors you might want to consider when deciding to elect the Credit/No Credit
option:
• Keep in mind your individual career goals. Consider whether you want to be able to point
to an “A” or a “B” in an elective course, in a subject matter related to the area in which you
want to practice. Transcript information provided to employers will include a description
of the “Credit” grade as encompassing all passing work.
• Assess your total workload for the semester to determine whether electing the “Credit/No
Credit” option for a particular course is likely to enhance the picture presented on your
transcript or to detract from it. If “Credit/No Credit” in one course gives you the space you
need to do very well in all your other courses, this is certainly a relevant consideration. On
the other hand, if you’re likely to do well anyway, you may want to take courses for a
grade.
• Think about whether during a particular semester you will have a very heavy workload in
courses, extracurricular activities, job search activities, or in outside employment. You may
want to save your Credit/No Credit option for that semester.
• If you are considering electing Credit/No Credit for a bar-related course, you may want to
think about whether you will be motivated enough to have your work in that course
translate into adequate preparation for the bar exam.
5Best of luck as you proceed with your coursework!
Pro Bono Scholars Program
Registration for the Pro Bono Scholars program will take place in the spring as part of the Clinic
Registration Process. Students will have the opportunity to apply for PBS and must additionally list three
alternative clinic preferences. Students who are not accepted into the PBS program will be placed in another
clinic program.
The PBS program will be housed in the Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic. Non-Pro Bono Scholars
will continue to have the option to take HRGJ as a traditional two-semester clinic.
Second year students interested in the Pro Bono Scholars program will, at a minimum, need to meet the
following requirements:
1. Be in good standing, and never have been on academic probation.
2. Have both a third semester GPA of 3.0 or above and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above at the end
of their third, fourth, and fifth semester to enter and continue in the program. Students whose
GPA’s fall below 3.0 after being accepted to the program must meet with Academic Affairs to
determine whether an exception to the requirement can be made.
3. Have successfully completed all required first and second year courses.
4. Have successfully completed all required courses, by the end of the Fall 2022 semester. This
includes the four bar electives requirement unless students have met the grade requirement for
waiving the four bar electives requirement at the end of their third semester.
5. Have successfully completed Professional Responsibility by the end of the Fall 2022 semester.
6. Have completed all graduation requirements except for those that will be satisfied in the student’s
third year.
7. Completed a minimum of 58 credits prior to start of the Fall 2022 semester.
8. Not have any outstanding incomplete grades by the beginning of the Fall 2022 term
The Academic Dean and the Dean of the Clinic will, in consultation with the faculty in the participating
clinics, select the students who will participate in the Pro Bono Scholars Program. The selection will be
guided by 1) our understanding of the likelihood a student will successfully and professionally complete
the entire program, including passing the February 2023 bar exam and managing the minimum of 45 hours
per week commitment during the 12 week period directly after the bar exam; 2) the student’s explanation
of their commitment to the clinic or concentration subject areas; and 3) the openings within each program.
SECOND YEAR REQUIRED COURSES
Constitutional Structures and the Law
3 credits – Professor S. Loffredo
The course examines federalism and national separation of powers as core values and structural elements
of the Constitution. It examines the nature and scope of the powers the Constitution vests in the three
branches of the national government, the interrelationships among those branches, the distribution of
powers among local, state and federal governments, and the ways in which these constitutional structures
and relationships impact democratic processes, individual rights and the advancement (or interference with)
core constitutional values, including democratic governance, equal citizenship, individual liberty and the
6rule of law. The course also attends to questions of constitutional interpretation, historical development of
constitutional doctrines and the role of changing social understandings in the evolution of constitutional
law.
Evidence and Lawyering in the Public Interest
4 credits - Professor N. Chernoff
The goal of this course is for you to develop an understanding and critique of the most important Federal
Rules of Evidence. An understanding of these rules will equip you to counsel and advocate for your future
clients (and will also assist you with the Evidence portion of the Bar Exam). In addition, this course will
sharpen your advocacy skills because you will practice crafting legal arguments, interpreting non-judicial
and judicial law, and you will develop an understanding of the structure of a trial.
Please note that this course requires small-group and paired work in class, and there are extensive reading
and assignments for each class. The course grade will be based on a series of quizzes, completion of
assignments for each class, and a memo.
Property: Law and the Market Economy III (Day)
4 credits – Professor A. White
The law of Property is fundamental to all economic activity in our society. It determines the rights of
individuals and society to use, possess, sell, and exchange land and things, and even intangibles like songs
and shares of a corporation. Our study will cover primarily rules regarding land and buildings, i.e. real
property, leaving topics like intellectual property and sales of goods for other courses.
The objectives of the course, and the competencies that will be assessed, are 1) to learn the basic rules and
principles of property law and to apply them, 2) to identify issues in factual scenarios and develop
arguments to address the issues, 3) to understand and critically analyze the social and political context in
which property law evolves, 4) to learn problem solving skills that lawyers use in advising clients in buying,
selling and leasing property and in protecting their housing tenure, 5) to learn related lawyering skills,
including collaboration, negotiation, drafting, and policy analysis, and 6) to incorporate social justice
lawyering into property law practice.
Property: Law and the Market Economy III (Evening)
4 credits – Professor A. McArdle
This course surveys the fundamentals of property law in a system based in common law. It will focus
attention on rules for (1) creating rights in property (both real and personal), such as discovery, capture,
gift, and adverse possession, (2) holding an interest in property, including possessory estates, future
interests, concurrent ownership, and leaseholds, (3) financing and transferring interests in land, and (4)
setting land-use controls, including the law of easements and servitudes, zoning, and nuisance. The goal
of this course is to develop familiarity with, and opportunities to explain and apply, basic concepts and rules
relevant to property law, including the social, moral, and economic policies, and race- and class-based
hierarchies and privilege, that gave rise to legal rules, and affect their continuing application. The course
will also consider ways in which the concept of property is culturally constructed, including alternative
formulations to market-based property rights.
The class will include regular opportunities to review material. Grading will be based on several short
quizzes during the semester consisting mainly of multiple-choice questions, participation assignments,
including some attention to essay drafting; a short reflection essay on social-justice and policy issues
7implicated in property law; and a final exam consisting principally of essay questions with some multiple-
choice questions.
Public Institutions and Law/Administrative Law (Day)
3 credits – Professor N. Chin
Administrative law factors into every strain of American life. From immigration to commerce; from health
care to housing – administrative agencies This course provides an introduction and overview of
administrative law, the legal rules and procedures that govern administrative agencies. The course will
cover the creation and functions of federal administrative agencies, their rulemaking, adjudicatory and
policymaking functions, executive and legislative oversight and judicial review of agency
action. Throughout the semester, this course will analyze how administrative regulations and hearings often
reinforce white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, and ableism. This course satisfies the CUNY Law School’s
administrative law graduation requirement.
Public Institutions and Law /Administrative Law (Evening)
3 credits – Professor R. Bratspies
Regulatory agencies are the public face of government. This course will focus on three main concepts in
administrative law: Power, Process and Review. Power refers to the sources of authority that agencies
wield, as well as the constitutional constraints on the way that the President, Congress, and Courts interact
with administrative agencies. Process refers to the means that agencies must employ to enact, alter, or
enforce administrative policies. Finally Review refers to the checks and balances on agency action provided
by our tripartite government, most specifically to oversight exercised by the courts. By the end of the course,
students should have a firm understanding of the procedures that govern administrative actions, the extent
and limits to agency powers, and the tools available to regulated parties to challenge agency action that
adversely affects them. Throughout the semester, this course will emphasize how inequality and a legacy
of discrimination shapes and limits administrative process, as well as the ways that public interest lawyering
can challenge that inequity in order to transform administrative decision-making processes.
Lawyering Seminar III
4 credits – (Spring) (Day and Evening)
These seminars, similar in structure to the first-year Lawyering Seminars, provide a framework for studying
the ways that lawyers work and think. Built around specific doctrinal areas and skills, they teach the
fundamental lawyering skills of legal analysis, legal research and writing, fact investigation and
presentation, and advocacy or mediation. Beyond that, the courses introduce students to qualitative skills
such as: listening (to clients, adversaries, others), exercising judgment and reflecting on one's decisions,
and engaging in the process of ethical reasoning. While focusing students' attention on the development of
their skills as lawyers through student work on simulated or real client problems, the courses are also
designed to develop students’ critical awareness of the social, legal, ethical, and psychological content of
their work. Students examine the philosophical, political and psychological premises of the lawyer's status
and role, as expressed in the Code of Professional Responsibility. The objective is to teach what has been
thought of simply as "skills" training in a way that does not fragment skills from values, but combines the
acquisition of skills with the beginning of an inquiry into professional role and responsibility that will be
carried on throughout the three-year program. All seminars are offered for 4 credits and provide students
with the opportunity for substantial legal writing experience.
8SECOND/THIRD YEAR
ELECTIVE COURSES
Academic Legal Writing
2 credits - Professor A. McArdle
Scholarly legal writing produces new knowledge and insights about a legal issue and contributes to a larger
body of ideas and discussion. It promotes intellectual engagement with a legal topic, contributes to the
development of analytic rigor, and offers an outlet for one’s creativity as a legal thinker. This two-credit
seminar provides structured assistance to students for developing and workshopping a publishable piece of
scholarly writing approved for credit by the instructor (such as a law review note or comment) of
approximately 30 pages. It requires that enrolling students (1) enter the course with a substantial draft of
writing previously produced for a class or independent study, or (with appropriate permissions) from an
internship, which they will continue to develop during the semester and that (2) before the class begins,
students have received feedback from the faculty member or other supervisor under whose direction the
draft was written.
Seminar discussions will include the following topics: framing a specific and novel thesis or claim; avoiding
preemption of a thesis/claim; developing an appropriate research archive; choosing and evaluating sources;
engaging with the work of other scholars; demonstrating rigorous analysis and support for a thesis; scholarly
ethics, including the parameters of human subjects research; assessing the function, and relationship
between, text and footnotes; rhetoric and scholarly voice; identifying an audience; choosing where to
publish; the process for submitting scholarly writing to academic journals. The seminar will offer ongoing
opportunities for instructor and peer feedback.
This seminar is included in the Credit /No Credit category of electives. Given the writing-intensive,
workshop-oriented focus of the course, enrollment will be set at 12.
Prerequisite: Faculty permission required.
https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-
assets/students/registration/AcademicLegalWritingRegistrationForm.pdf
Advanced Clinic
2-4 credits
Is 2-4 credits and requires prior approval of the Clinic Director, Clinic Dean, and Academic Dean.
Advanced clinic is limited by a 4-1 student-faculty ratio and by the case and project docket of the individual
clinic. In addition, student selection is based on several factors including fourth semester cumulative gpa,
work in the fall clinic, consistent level of performance in doctrinal and experiential courses, and the number
of bar electives the student has successfully completed.
https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-assets/students/registration/Advanced-Clinic-
Registration-Form-.pdf
9Business Associations
3 credits – Professor G. Louis
Through the reading of cases, statutes, organizational documents and agreements, and government
forms, students in this course will gain an understanding of why people choose to conduct business
as sole proprietorships, associations, partnerships, limited liability companies, or corporations,
what are the consequences of choosing a particular form, and how each form is brought into
existence. This study will also enable students to evaluate whether the law adequately reflects
these considerations. After taking this course, students will acquire information enabling them
succeed on the bar examination and analytical tools that will serve them as practitioners
representing clients in direct services, serving as counsel to organizations, legislators, or other
policy makers, or representing regulatory and enforcement agencies.
Criminal Procedure Adjudication
3 credits - Professor B. Howell
This course will examine the criminal process after the police investigation ends and the criminal
prosecution begins, roughly from post-arrest through sentencing. It will focus on the constitutional,
statutory, and other protections afforded to criminal defendants in relation to the actions of prosecutors,
judges, defense attorneys, and grand and petit jurors. The goal of the course is to develop an understanding
of selected, core topics in criminal procedure adjudication, as well as to develop legal reasoning skills in
this area of law. The topics covered will likely include the charging process, the right to the effective
assistance of counsel, bail and pretrial release, discovery, speedy trial, jury selection, expert testimony, plea
bargaining, confrontation, double jeopardy, and sentencing. Topics will be examined through Supreme
Court cases, as well as the rules of criminal procedure, statutes, lower court cases, and applicable rules of
professional responsibility. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which these rights are or are not
enforced when gang allegations and conspiracy charges are made. Criminal Procedure I, which focuses on
the investigative process, is not a prerequisite.
Criminal Procedure Investigation
3 credits – Professor J. Kirchmeier
This course explores the investigatory techniques used by law enforcement in gathering evidence, including
discussion of their effectiveness and propriety in a democratic society. The course will focus primarily on
the constitutional rights protected by the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. Topics covered
include arrests, searches, stops, police interrogations, Miranda warnings, the right to counsel, identification
procedures, and the “exclusionary rule” as a means of deterring unconstitutional police conduct. This
elective is highly recommended as preparation for the bar exam.
Criminal Procedure: Investigation
3 credits – Professor B. Howell
This course explores the various investigatory techniques used by law enforcement in gathering evidence,
including analysis of their effectiveness and propriety in a democratic society. The course will focus
primarily on the rights protected by the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment. Subjects covered include
stops, arrests, searches, police interrogations, Miranda warnings, the right to counsel, identification
procedures, and the “exclusionary rule” as a means of deterring unconstitutional police conduct.
10Disability Rights, Justice, and the Law
*2-3 credits – Professor S. Yakren and Professor N. Chin
This course will examine current issues impacting individuals with physical and mental
disabilities. We will study statutes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as well as case
law interpreting these statutes. Issues covered will include: disability-based discrimination in
public accommodations, employment, and education, discrimination against infants on the basis
of congenital characteristics, eugenics, institutionalization, community-based integration, and
lawyering and advocacy for people with disabilities. We will use social science resources to
contemplate the role of cultural and sociopolitical forces in shaping the law and the lives of
individuals with disabilities.
*Students have the option to register for two or three credits. The three-credit option entails
fulfilling the requirements of the two-hour weekly seminar, plus either: (1) writing an additional
10 pages for the final paper (i.e., for a total of 25 pages instead of 15 pages); or (2) participating
in a placement approved by the instructor at an outside organization. However, placement
opportunities are limited and may not accommodate all student demand.
Federal Courts
3 credits – Professor F. Deale
This class examines the federal judiciary, with particular emphasis on the Supreme Court, to determine how
the federal system has been used as a site of struggle for progressive political, social and economic change.
Issues covered will include: federal habeas corpus, governmental immunities, the various abstention
doctrines, using the federal courts to establish human rights, prisoner’s rights litigation in the federal
system, and carving out private rights of action from federal statutes. Although the class is heavy on case
analysis and discussion, we will also discuss litigating techniques and strategies for lawyering that are
designed to assure that the federal courts remain vehicles for obtaining progressive reform.
There will be a midterm and a final.
First Amendment
3 credits – Professor R. Robson
This course will consider the historical, theoretical, doctrinal, and practical contours of the First
Amendment including free speech and association, free press, and the religion clauses. The course is a Bar
Elective and includes bar exam preparation, but also stresses current controversies in First Amendment
doctrine and theory.
Free speech issues addressed will include political speech, commercial speech, obscenity and pornography,
hate speech, money as speech (including campaign finance), unconstitutional conditions, “time, place, and
manner” and the regulation of forums. Free association issues include questions regarding discrimination
by the government against members of certain groups as well as discrimination by private groups against
others based upon race, gender, or sexuality. Freedom of the press issues include personal privacy,
discrimination against the press, and press “leaks.”
The Religion Clauses issues begin with interrogations of the meaning of “religion.” The Establishment
Clause issues include prayer or other religious observance in government and public schools, religious
monuments on public land, and religious foundations for specific laws. The Free Exercise Clause issues
11include specific religious practices (polygamy, peyote), accommodation of religious belief and practices,
as well as religious objections to laws promoting equality or liberty.
The exam is a take-home essay exam based on the current controversies discussed in class. There is a
substantial class participation component.
Government Misconduct
2 credits - Professor J. Moore and Professor F. Siegel
An important feature of our legal system is remedies people can pursue to address illegal or arbitrary polices
and practices by government officials. The class will examine selected topics involving government
misconduct, including the historical evolution of constitutional and statutory remedies such as 42 U.S.C.
1983, as well as litigation techniques for framing claims. Reflecting major themes of the last decade, police
misconduct and racial profiling will be a focus of the class. If time permits other topics may include federal
and state freedom of information laws and the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Prof. Jonathan C. Moore is a partner in the firm of Beldock, Levine & Hoffman LLP, and a founder of the
National Police Accountability Project, Inc. Jonathan was one of the lead counsel and the lead trial counsel
in Floyd v. City of New York, the class action known as the “stop and frisk” case which in 2014 resulted in
a historic federal court ruling finding the New York City Police Department engaged in racial profiling
targeting minority youth without reasonable suspicion. He was lead counsel for four of the Central Park 5
in their civil suit arising from their wrongful conviction in what became known as the Central Park Jogger
case, and he represented the family of Eric Garner in their civil claims arising from Mr. Garner’s chokehold
death which propelled the #BlackLivesMatter movement. In other litigation Jonathan was lead counsel in
litigation against chemical companies who manufactured and sold to the United States government
herbicides, including Agent Orange, used on civilian populations during the Vietnam War which contained
excessive and avoidable amounts of the carcinogen dioxin. A federal judge appointed him lead counsel for
the certified class of all those wrongfully arrested and excessively detained during protests at the Republican
National Convention in New York City in August 2004. www.blhny.com/jonathanmoore
Immigration and Citizenship Law
3 credits – Professor J. Calvo
This course is designed to give students an overview of immigration and citizenship and the legal
consequences of non-citizen status. The course will also focus on the current controversial
changes in immigration policy and the litigation and proposed legislation in response. The course
will selectively address some of the underlying race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation issues
in immigration and citizenship laws. It will cover topics such as, Citizenship by Birth and
Naturalization, Dual Nationality, Family Based Immigration, Employment Based Immigration,
Refugees//Asylees, the Process of Becoming a Permanent Resident, Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals, the Constitutional Basis of Immigration Regulation, and an Overview of
Exclusion and Deportation. The course will also address some of the state attempts to limit or
expand the rights of non-citizens, especially in the areas of access to health care, education and
professional licensing including bar membership. Evaluation in this course will be based on a
final take-home examination, class participation and a weekly written reflection on the issues in
the assigned reading.
12Independent Study
1, 2, or 3 credits
(Faculty Permission Required)
To meet the credit requirements for graduation a student, with the permission of the Academic Dean, may
take up to 3 credit hours of independent, faculty-supervised study. (A student may take fewer than 3 credit-
hours of independent study at a time and may do so more than once, as long as the total number of independent
study credit hours during the student's tenure at the Law School is not more than 3 or meets the requirements
outlined below.) A student may also register for more than 3 credits of Independent Study, if the credits are
not used to meet the credit requirements for graduation.
In exceptional circumstances, the student may, with the permission of the Academic Dean, register for up to
3 additional hours of Independent Study credits to meet the credit requirements for graduation. Exceptional
circumstances exist when the student has made satisfactory progress in the curriculum, taking advantage of
the recommended elective course offerings, and when additional Independent Study credits will enhance the
student’s education.
A judicial clerkship, internship, or a law office clerkship does not satisfy the requirements of an Independent
Study. However, these experiences may form the basis of further research for an independent study project.
This research and writing must be done under direct faculty supervision in order to gain Independent Study
credit.
Procedure for Registration for Independent Study:
1. Student obtains an Independent Study Form
https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-
assets/students/registration/independent_study_registration_form.pdf
2. Student identifies a tenured or tenured track faculty member willing to supervise the student’s work
3. The student and teacher fill out the sections on the form
4. The student obtains the signature of the Academic Dean.
5. The Office of the Registrar administratively registers the student for the Independent Study.
The faculty recently voted to adopt new independent study requirements. This updated independent study
policy is designed to:
1. Respond to student interest in receiving credit for work associated with non-clinic based placements;
2. Ensure that students get the maximum benefit from their placements and independent study work;
3. Regularize the work associated with course-linked placements and with independent study work and
ensure consistency with the law school’s Credit Hour policy and ABA requirements.
The independent study policy addresses three categories of credit-bearing placements and independent study
work:
1. Model A, course-linked placements (where students are enrolled in a course and receive additional
credit for work associated with a placement arranged by the faculty member);
2. Model B, independent study based on work associated with a placement (generally student-generated
placements);
3. Model C, other independent study work with no placement (e.g., directed research; drafting or
completion of paper, note or article; continuation of Moot Court or other faculty-supervised student
work).
Note: Students must complete the registration process for this course during the regular registration and
add/drop periods for the semester during which they hope to obtain credit for the course.
13Labor Law
3 credits – Professor C. Huq
This course primarily introduces students to the core provisions and principles of the National Labor
Relations Act, which regulates the right of employees to organize a union, as well as collective
bargaining between unions and employers in the private sector. We will also explore other aspects
of labor law including state labor relations laws, international laws related to organizing and
emerging trends in the field. Throughout the course, we will examine the history and values
underlying the law, including the economic and political interests that have influenced its
development. Students will gain exposure to and familiarity with how labor law manifests in the
contemporary legal and organizing landscape through interactions with individual
practitioner/partner organizations focused on worker rights.
Law Review Editing
1 credit - Professor A. McArdle
A CUNY Law Review Editor who is leading a Law Review editing session or, as determined by a Law
Review Faculty Advisor, CUNY Law Review editors, as well as general staff editors, who are substantially
editing a writing for publication with the CUNY Law Review in either its print or digital format, are eligible
to receive one credit. One of the Faculty Advisors will review the work of enrolled students during and at
the end of the semester. This credit opportunity is offered in the Credit/No Credit category and currently is
available to eligible students for a single semester.
Prerequisite: Enrolled students must be third- or fourth-year students in good standing and have
completed two semesters on the CUNY Law Review staff.
https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-assets/students/registration/Law-Review-Editing.pdf
Mastery and Application of Core Doctrine/Applied Legal Analysis
6 credits – TBD
This course is an intensive bar exam preparation program designed for the self-motivated student. This
course will cover some of the most frequently tested doctrine on the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). Subjects
covered may include contracts and UCC sales, criminal procedure, real property, secured transactions, and
torts. This course will have a heavy skills focus - working through skills for completing each component
of the UBE – The Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), and the Multistate
Performance Test (MPT). This course will require significant work outside of class time including
synthesizing doctrinal material, writing and rewriting several essays and MPTs, and doing sets of multiple
choice questions, along with an MBE process tracker and learning journals. While the course focuses
primarily on the UBE, students preparing for another state bar exam will benefit, as much of the material
and skills learned are transferable to other bar exams.
This course will meet once per week for a three-hour in-person skills workshop. Doctrinal lectures
will be done online, outside of class time.
You must register for both Core Doctrine and Applied Legal Analysis separately. They are two courses
that are co-requisites.
14Moot Court
2 credits – Professor J. Kirchmeier
(Faculty Permission Required)
This two-credit course features structured assistance to students who wish to improve their advocacy skills
through participation in a moot court competition. The course requirements include the completion of an
appellate brief and oral argument of professional quality prepared for an external competition or the
equivalent thereof. While students will meet regularly as a group and individually with the instructor, each
student is expected to work independently toward completion of the course requirements, including regular
participation in oral argument practices. Before registering for a competition and for credit, students must
have successfully completed the CUNY Moot Court summer training program and competition to earn
membership in Moot Court. Students must obtain permission from the Moot Court faculty advisor before
enrolling in this course. This course is graded Credit/No Credit.
https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-assets/students/registration/Moot-Court.pdf
New York Domestic Relations Law
3 credits – Adjunct Professor J. Rosenthal
This course will familiarize you with the doctrine of family law and divorce as practiced in Family and
Supreme Courts of New York. We will cover portions of the New York Domestic Relations Law, the
Family Court Act and case law that affect marriage, divorce, spousal and child support, parentage, parenting
plans, distribution of property, family offense, child protective and adoption proceedings. You will learn to
counsel clients on the processes that best suit their objectives including mediation, collaborative law, and
litigation. Throughout the semester, we will examine and critique the way that prevailing attitudes, norms
and social policies shape and change laws that affect New York families.
Pre Bar Seminar Guided Study (Pro Bono Scholars only)
1 credit – Professor L. Mott
The Pre Bar Seminar II builds upon the skills and doctrine students learn in Core Doctrine. Each student
will meet with a professor individually at least once per week for two hours. During these sessions, students
will complete an essay, performance test, and/or series of MBE questions. Students will then get immediate
feedback on their work, will discuss doctrinal areas of concern, and will go over study schedules and
strategies. The course is designed to keep students on track with their bar study and prepared for the
February bar exam pursuant to the Pro Bono Scholars program requirements.
Pro Bono Scholars Clinic (PBS Students Only)
12 credits – Professor C. Soohoo
Students must be participants in the Pro Bono Scholars Program to enroll in this clinical offering. Client,
project work, and a seminar component are combined in the clinic. Students are expected to work full-time
for indigent clients under the supervision of the placement supervisors to whom they have been assigned.
Over the course of the 12-week program, students are expected to devote at least 45 hours per week to work
related to their placement and the seminar component. Seminar coverage will include relevant doctrine,
ethical and professional responsibility, practical legal skills, and case rounds.
This course is only open to those who fulfilled the Fall PBS class requisite. The course runs from Feb. 28
- May 20, 2022.
15Professional Responsibility
2 credits – Adjunct Professor S. Riley
Professional Responsibility examines the ethical decision-making in the context of representing
underserved clients in social justice cases and causes. Using the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
and the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, in addition to other sources, this course will explore the
ethical and moral challenges that are unique to social justice lawyering. Particular focus will be given to
considering how power dynamics and differing socio-cultural values impact ethical problem
solving. Students will practice effective lawyering skills and reflect on the development of their emergent
professional identities.
Professional Responsibility
2 credits – Professor Franklin Siegel
This class will explore the requirements and the limitations of the ethical practice of law. While not an
MPRE course, it will provide an overview of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and will
emphasize concepts of professionalism, professional judgment, and some of the tensions inherent in social
justice lawyering. The goal of the course is to allow students to discuss the ethical complexities that exist
in practice, especially when representing clients who may be marginalized by our society or when engaging
in social change litigation. Students will be evaluated based on an in-class midterm examination, a take-
home final examination and if the Spring 2022 semester is held in-person, also on class participation.
Rights of Low-Wage Workers
2 credits – Professor S. Lung
The restructured economy has had deleterious consequences for workers. This trend accelerates and
deepens as businesses, government, and courts gut worker protections. Today’s U.S. workforce is
comprised of ever-expanding numbers of unemployed and under-employed workers, and overworked
workers in low-wage jobs, often non-unionized, and lacking the most basic protections and benefits. The
roles of contingent, subcontracted, incarcerated, and immigrant workers are key features of a “flexible”
sweatshop economy. Employers rely increasingly on these groups of workers to circumvent laws on wages
and hours, anti-discrimination, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and the right to organize.
This course examines the laws governing employment relationships and the legal obstacles that marginalize
and exclude workers of color, immigrants, women, and contingent workers from many protections. We
will examine how racist narratives, and racialized and gendered hierarchies figure into judicial opinions
and labor laws. Employment laws rest on restrictive regulatory and judicial definitions of who is an
employee and who is an employer. Similarly, employers have claimed that the National Labor Relations
Act and Fair Labor Standards Act do not cover various immigrant workers because they do not qualify as
“employees.” Employers also try to shed their legal status as “employer” by claiming that those performing
services for them are independent contractors instead of employees. At the same time, the law has treated
the labor of certain workers -- incarcerated workers and the work of women as domestic and companionship
care workers -- as not work or less than work.
Throughout the course, we will identify how employers use race, ethnicity, gender, class, and citizenship
to divide workers, how current labor and employment laws perpetuate these divisions, and how
communities are fighting back to overcome these divisions. As well, we will discuss the role of slavery in
shaping the jurisprudence of labor and employment laws. We will explore the role of progressive lawyers
in pushing back against repressive laws and court decisions in the context of labor and employment.
16Even when employment and labor laws apply, weaknesses in the enforcement regulatory schemes
abound. This will be another area of our study. The resources for enforcement are scarce, penalties on
employers are lax, and the obstacles that confront workers who assert their rights are onerous, especially if
they are undocumented, isolated, marginalized, or viewed as “disposable.”
The focus of the course is to (1) explore gaps in our current regime of labor and employment laws for
advancing the rights of workers; and (2) examine litigation strategies, legislative proposals, and organizing
campaigns for expanding the rights of immigrant workers, workers of color, women workers, and other
low-wage workers, and for redefining relations between workers and employers. We will study the
intersections between immigration and labor/employment laws by examining the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986, Fair Labor Standards Act, and National Labor Relations Act, and the relevant case
law; and brainstorm and strategize responses to the legal, social, and political challenges of representing
low-wage workers who fight for their rights and dignity. We will also study selected provisions of the New
York Labor Law.
Small Firm Practice
3 credits – Adjunct Professor L. Gentile
Students will design a law practice and draft a business plan for their firm. Students will interview an expert
in a specialty relevant to the planning and running of a law practice, summarize their findings in writing
and make a brief presentation of their findings in class. Drawing on the experience of CUNY graduates
and others who have started small community based practices, and experts who provide services to law
firms, students identify and manage the legal, business, ethical, and professional considerations that
confront small firm practitioners. Topics include: identifying the type of practice, locating a practice,
finding space, identifying the right partners and drafting partnership agreements, financial management,
risk management, client management, employee management, stress management, management, ethical
considerations (including the management of escrow accounts), choosing the right malpractice insurance,
billing and collections, among other issues. Students draw on readings, lectures, discussions, and outside
sources to develop the business plan for starting each student’s unique profit or non-profit law firm. In the
past, the business plans have been used to apply for grants, loans, and as a blueprint for new practices. 10%
of grade is based on class participation.
Class attendance is required. If class is remote then video cameras must be on for the entire class.
Teaching Assistant
1, 2, or 3 credits
(Faculty Permission Required)
A student may TA for any required course, except Clinics or Concentrations. No student may
enroll in more than 3 credits of TA, except students who are TAs for both semesters for LME I
and LME II who may earn up to 2 credits for LME I TA and up to 2 credits for LME II TA. All
TAs must meet at least one hour per week with the course teacher. All TAs must have at least one
contact hour per credit per week with students. To earn credit, each TA must submit at least one
written work product. Examples of such work product include a journal, teaching observations,
lesson plans, periodic submissions, and an independent research paper. TA’s do not take part in
grading students. Grading in any course that utilizes TA’s, grading remains the responsibility of
the course teacher. TAs may not grade student work product, nor may the teacher substantially
17rely on a TAs feedback in grading. Regarding grading in any course which utilizes TAs, in
compliance with our policy requiring at least two graded evaluative devices in each course and
encouraging faculty feedback (either individual feedback or group feedback) on all evaluative
devices, in addition to any feedback given by TAs, the course teacher must grade and give feedback
on at least one evaluation device other than the written work product.
https://www.law.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/page-assets/students/registration/Teaching-
Assistant-Registration-Form-1.pdf
TIL: Asian Americans in the Law
3 credits – Adjunct Professor K. Yau
This course will explore the rich topic of Asian Americans and the law. This course will explore civil
rights jurisprudence, legal history, and America’s involvement in Asia through an analysis of the
historical and contemporary experiences of Asian Americans.
The seminar focuses on Asian Americans; however, many themes in the course are applicable to other
racial and ethnic groups. Often Asian American history is immigration history; it is also labor history.
Thus these themes include citizenship, equal protection, immigration, immigrants' rights, institutional
racism, racial profiling, language access, poverty, and hate crimes. This course is particularly timely in
light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of anti-Asian sentiment and violence.
We will learn from case law, historical materials, legal scholarship, social science research, advocacy
documents, commentary, documentaries, and social media.
TIL: Law and the Abolition of Modern Day Carceral Systems
3 credits – Adjunct Professor S. Paltrowitz
The carceral system is a brutal and racist system that causes devastating individual and societal
harm. In this seminar, we will first discuss the nature, scope, and roots of the overall carceral
system; its interconnection with slavery, segregation, racism and white supremacy; and the day-
to-day harm it inflicts on individual people, families, and communities. We will then explore the
theory and practice of efforts to abolish this carceral system and build a society without prisons,
jails, or police. From there, we will focus on developing concrete lawyering skills in support of
campaigns and movements for abolition led by people who have lived through incarceration or
had or lost loved ones to the carceral system, with a specific focus on movement-oriented
legislative and administrative advocacy, as well as litigation. Finally, we will place efforts to
abolish the carceral system in the context of efforts to abolish other interconnected forms of racist
state violence, including the deportation and exclusion systems and the war machine. We will aim
to have robust discussions and explorations that create space for us all to learn from one another
and develop concrete lawyering skills in support of movements for abolition.
TIL: Technology, Law, & Access to Justice
2 credits – Professor J. Rosenberg
This two-credit, will enable students to develop an understanding of technology in law. No particular
technological skill or expertise is required and all students are welcome.
For better and worse, technology is fully integrated into our personal and professional lives, a process
accelerated in the age of COVID-19. More than ever, we are “lawyering in the digital age” and, as part of
18professional responsibility, lawyers need to understand the risks and benefits of technology we use in
practice and that impacts our clients.
“Advances” in technology, for example, surveillance tools, algorithms, and automated decision making
systems, have transformed law and society. Technology has amplified fundamental problems related to
racism, oppression, equity, privacy, the digital divide, access to justice, public policy, government
regulation, and public health.
Big tech corporations, including social media, rely on a capitalist model that monetizes the data and
attention of consumers. Corporations are facing increasing scrutiny in the U.S. and globally as we confront
critical issues related to data privacy and the ownership of information. Marginalized and vulnerable
communities continue to be oppressed by digital injustice, technology that is rooted in structural racism,
and the lack of meaningful oversight of the tech industry.
This course will be interactive and include guest speakers who are experts in various areas related to
technology, law, and justice. There will be short readings and/or multi-media assignments for each class
designed to prepare students to engage meaningfully with the material, speakers, and each other.
Evaluations will be based on student engagement, short reflection memos, and a final project or paper on a
topic of your choice: for example, a paper analyzing a relevant legal issue, a proposal or prototype for an
app or website, or other activity or work product.
UCC Survey
3 credits – Professor A. White
The class will cover articles 2 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, as well as related statutes and rules
governing credit systems and secured lending. The course objectives include learning 1) the meaning and
application of the UCC rules, 2) to work more generally with complex and technical statutes and apply
them to transactional problems, and 3) to analyze factual problems and present, orally and in writing,
potential legal consequences and options for the parties under the applicable law. Assessments will call for
students to explain and apply rules to hypothetical cases (disputes) as well as to present planning and
transactional advice in hypothetical cases. The class uses a problem approach. In each class session, after a
brief review of the day’s material, most of the time will be spent working through problems that apply the
statutory material to specific fact situations (litigation disputes or advice and planning scenarios).
UCC topics that will be covered are based on the needs of clients of a typical legal services program or
community-based general practice.
Wills, Trusts & Estates
3 credits – Adjunct Professor T. Brown
(Pre-requisite: successful completion of Property)
This course examines the law regulating the devolution of property on the owner's death through intestacy,
testamentary succession (including testamentary trusts) and will substitutes. It also covers the creation and
administration of inter vivos trusts, the obligations of fiduciaries, and the primary instruments used to plan
for one's incapacity. Our discussion of examples and hypotheticals will challenge you to use statutory
provisions and case law from various jurisdictions to hone your problem-solving skills and to wrestle with
the special ethical issues arising in this area of practice. As the greatest emphasis in the course is on the
mastery of the relevant legal doctrine and an understanding of the underlying public policies, this is an
elective that is highly recommended as one prepares to take the bar exam in any jurisdiction.
19You can also read
