Golden Gate University

This course explores Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for cases involving children and families arising in the juvenile, family and probate divisions of the court. The course will cover techniques such as mediation, arbitration, collaborative law and peer court alternatives in delinquency proceedings. It will also cover preparation and techniques for judicial recommendation and settlement conferences. This is a 2-unit skills course that will count toward the experiential learning requirement for graduation. Co-requisite: Family Law.

Units: 2 , Offered: Spring 2014

The Litigation Center is premised on the notion that trial and presentation skills are honed through repetition and experience. This course is designed to give students an opportunity for additional presentation experience beyond Trial Advocacy. This course provides an experience similar to participating on a mock trial competition team and addresses additional topics in advocacy. In Advanced Trial Advocacy, every student will participate as counsel in several full trials, as advocates, witnesses, and jurors. Outstanding students in this class may also be selected to represent the law school in mock trial competitions. This course (or competing in mock trial) is required for the JD Litigation Certificate. Prerequisite: Evidence and either Trial Advocacy or Trial Evidence & Advocacy

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

The purpose of this course is to help students learn approaches to negotiation and conflict resolution, and to understand various dispute resolution processes, principally mediation and arbitration. Students will be exposed to simulated negotiations and mediations and will be expected to participate in exercises and to act as advocates and/or mediators. Guest lecturers may include a hostage negotiator, an aikido master, a retired superior court judge now serving as a JAMS mediator, and prominent mediators and arbitrators. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement.

Prerequisite: Civil Procedure I and II., Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

This course focuses on the practical and theoretical aspects of preparing for and taking depositions in civil cases. Over the course of the semester, students learn deposition strategies and questioning techniques using a variety of simulations to provide students with a wide array of contexts. Special emphasis is given to deposing hostile witnesses. The course is designed to give students continual practice and feedback in order to maximize skill-development. Co-requisite: Evidence.

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

In this course, students handle every aspect of the pretrial preparation of a civil lawsuit. They proceed from the initial client contact, through formulating client representational strategy, to developing a case theory. They draft all the case pleadings as well as motions challenging the sufficiency of the pleadings. Students also engage in all aspects of fact investigation. The course ends with a pre-trial settlement conference.

Prerequisite: Civil Procedure I and II., Units: 3 , Offered: Spring 2014

This course affords students the opportunity to apply the skills learned in Trial Advocacy in the context of a criminal case. The class is divided into two-person teams. Each team is assigned either the role of prosecution or defense counsel. The class usually begins with the staging of a mock crime. The crime is reported, a suspect is arrested, charges are filed, and the prosecution commences. The class proceeds, week by week, through major phases of a criminal case. The course concludes with the trial of the case, which is conducted in a local courthouse.

Prerequisite: Evidence, and either Trial Advocacy or Trial Evidence & Advocacy., Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

The Environmental Law & Justice Clinic (ELJC) is an in-house clinic, which provides students with intensive training and hands-on lawyering experience. Under close faculty supervision, students provide legal representation on matters addressing environmental justice, including the enforcement of environmental laws and formulating energy justice policies. Clinic students are certified under State Bar of California rules to perform many of the tasks of an attorney: they interview clients, develop legal strategies, draft legal documents, and counsel clients. They may also appear at hearings and negotiate with opposing parties. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Co-requisite: Evidence. Students also must have completed an environmental law course or have the instructors' waiver of this requirement. Special scheduling arrangements can be made on a case-by-case basis for night students.

Units: 1 - 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

The Estate Planning Externship is a course, providing students with the opportunity to assist estate planning law firms and practitioners while obtaining hands-on, practical experience working on estate plans, conservatorships, trust and probate administrations. The course consists of two components: class and field work. The instructors are estate planning attorneys. The class will meet approximately every other week, to discuss substantive questions and practical hurdles, arising from their field work. Students are required to maintain and share journals, chronicling their weekly experiences, questions, and concerns. The class culminates with a paper/presentation. In the field component, each student is placed with an estate planning law firm or with a practitioner in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and shall complete 90 hours (2 units) or 135 hours (3 units) of field work over the span of the 15 week semester. The field work involves working on active cases in the areas of estate planning, conservatorships, trust and probate administrations. Prerequisites for LLM students: None. Prerequisites for JD students: Wills & Trusts. All students must receive the approval of the Professors to enroll. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis and offered through the LLM in Taxation Program.

Units: 2 - 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014 , Spring 2014

Open to students who have completed one or more Externship clinics in prior semesters and who wish to work again in the same field of law. The class will meet four times during the semester. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

Capital Post Conviction Defense Clinic introduces students to the representation of indigent defendants challenging their convictions and death sentences on direct appeal and through habeas corpus proceedings in the California Supreme Court. In addition to discussing legal and topical issues concerning death penalty representation at the weekly seminar sessions, students will work under the supervision of experienced capital defense attorneys to represent indigent defendants in their research and drafting of pleadings, the investigation of claims, and the collection and preservation of evidence. GGU law students in the past have drafted appellate arguments and habeas corpus claims, reviewed capital trial testimony, witness statements, and police reports, evaluated crime scene evidence, researched and drafted office memoranda and resource materials on various topics, collected defendant life history documents, and prepared litigation outlines and chronologies. In addition, CAP student externs are encouraged to attend oral arguments, to participate in litigation meetings, and to visit a client on death row. CAP is located at 101 Second Street, Suite 600. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Units: 3

Students work in private or non-profit law offices, government agencies, or business legal departments as law clerks, working on civil litigation or engaging in transactional work. Students also attend seminar class meetings. Students may work in a wide variety of areas such as civil rights, corporate law, entertainment law, family law, intellectual property law, international law, and personal injury law. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis. Application form and consent of instructor required.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014 , Spring 2014

The Consumer Rights Clinic focuses on representation of clients facing debt collection lawsuits and related issues. Students learn interviewing skills, issue spotting and assist attorneys to provide advice, counseling and limited legal representation to clients including drafting letters and basic pleadings such as answers and claims of exemption. To enroll in this clinic, students must be able to attend the Bar Association of San Francisco's legal clinics, on selected Wednesday evenings and also on the last Saturday of the month. For times and locations see the course section scheduling note or the instructor's syllabus. With instructor approval, students seeking a third unit, and certified by the State Bar, may be able to perform additional limited client representation, such as drafting and arguing motions in court. During Priority Registration enrollment in this course will be restricted to evening-part time students. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Units: 2

Students intern with prosecuting attorneys or public defenders on criminal cases in trial or appellate courts in the state or federal system. Students also attend a concurrent seminar covering relevant criminal justice issues. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement.

Prerequisite: Evidence. Strongly Recommended: Criminal Procedure, Trial Advocacy. Also Recommended: Criminal Litigation. Consent of instructor required. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis., Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

Students intern with prosecuting attorneys or public defenders on criminal cases in trial or appellate courts in the state or federal system. Students also attend a concurrent seminar covering relevant criminal justice issues. Students are recommended to take Evidence concurrently. Consent of instructor required. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis. This course is offered only in the summer term.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Summer 2014

This externship is designed to address a vastly underserved population: low income persons and families with urgent family law issues. Students will work with non-profit organizations, government agencies, and private attorneys specializing in Family Law, to handle all aspects of Family Law cases at all stages, from client interview to representation at court hearings, assisting in trials, and writing legal briefs. Students are responsible for obtaining their own placement. For help in finding a placement, please contact Law Career Services, the Externship Director, or the professor well in advance of the start of classes. Eligible students may become certified to argue cases in court. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Corequisites: Students should have taken either Community Property, Family Law, or Family Law Practice, or be taking one of these courses contemporaneously with this externship. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014

Students learn counseling, interviewing, and negotiating skills in class simulations, then work with real clients through the Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP), which is sponsored by the Bar Association of San Francisco Volunteer Legal Services Program. Training is provided in both lawyering skills and substantive law. Under the professor's supervision, students act as advocates for HAP clients in a variety of settings.

Units: 3 - 4

In this field placement program, students work in selected courts under the supervision of a judge. Students must complete 45 hours of work for each unit. A full-time externship can require up to 13 units; most students take 3 to 5 units at a time. Arrangements are made on an individual basis with the externship director. In addition to working at the court placement, students must attend a mandatory seminar, the first day of which is just before the start of the term. Students who enroll in this course in a summer session are limited to 8 units of credit. Prerequisite: Students must have completed 40 units and have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 for state trial court and 2.75 for appellate and federal court externships. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement.

Corequisite: Evidence, or consent of instructor. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis., Units: 2 - 13 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014 , Spring 2014

This externship clinic is available to students who are otherwise eligible to enroll in an externship clinic and have obtained an approved placement outside of the Bay Area. Consent of the Director of Externship Programs, or the clinic instructor, is required. In lieu of attending a seminar at the law school, students are required to meet with the instructor prior to leaving the Bay Area, to set up a communication plan with their instructor for the term away from the Law School. Students will create a professional development plan, respond to journal prompts on a regular basis, and complete mid-semester and final evaluations. The course may be taken for 2 to 8 units in the summer or 2 to 13 units in fall or spring.

Units: 2 - 13 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014 , Spring 2014

The goal of this course is to provide students with the lawyering skills, substantive legal knowledge, and training in non-legal areas to prepare them to be attorneys for children and other vulnerable populations. The course consists of a seminar and a supervised practicum, both of which will be held at Legal Services for Children (LSC). Although the work will focus on lawyering for children and youth, the skills and non-legal trainings will be relevant for any student with an interest in pursuing a career in public interest. The weekly seminar will be led by Exec. Director Trillin, who has been representing children since 1995. Topics include discussion of specific cases, substantive legal training in education, foster care, guardianship and immigration, and additional training in non-legal topics relevant to attorneys working with children and other vulnerable populations, focused on advocacy for clients who have been impacted by trauma. The practicum component will include participation in LSC's warmline (a free and confidential help line), school expulsion hearings, guardianship proceedings, and immigration matters. Students will also assist on LSC policy/advocacy projects. Students will improve their skills in interviewing, issue spotting, case presentation and trial techniques, as well as gain familiarity with administrative hearings, state court hearings, federal immigration proceedings and policy work.

Units: 5 - 8 , Offered: Fall 2014

Students are placed in law firms that specialize or do considerable work in real estate. Under the direct supervision of attorneys, students interview clients, draft pleadings and motions, and participate in trial preparations and trials. They also draft provisions for leases, sales contracts, closing papers, loan documents, and other real estate instruments. Students are required to attend classes in the Real Estate Practice - Transactions Seminar or the Real Estate Practice - Litigation Seminar. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Prerequisite: Property I and II (6 units) OR Property (4 units). Consent of instructor required., Units: 2 - 4

This course focuses on the skills necessary to carry on a basic family law practice in California. Students prepare and argue motions, learn trial skills, and practice using the most popular computer programs for setting child support according to the detailed provisions of the Family Code. Students also develop parenting and child visitation plans, calculate spousal support, and learn various methods of dividing community property. Priority is given to graduating students. Prerequisite: Family Law.

Units: 3 , Offered: Spring 2014

Students learn counseling, interviewing, and negotiating skills in class simulations, then work with real clients. Training is provided in both lawyering skills and substantive law. Under the professor's supervision, students act as advocates for clients in a variety of settings. This course is open only to students in the Honors Lawyering Program (HLP).

Units: 2 , Offered: Summer 2014

The IRS Litigation clinic provides the opportunity to defend the Internal Revenue Service before the United States Tax Court. Students will be assigned cases (with the supervision of IRS attorneys) under the Small Case Procedures of the Tax Court which are set for a trial session toward the end of the semester. The trial preparation work may include communicating and meeting with taxpayers (or their representatives), drafting court documents and identifying litigation hazards for settlements. The culmination of the course is the representation of the IRS in Tax Court. Courtroom work may include presenting settlements, arguing motions, or a trial. The clinic is for CR/NC. There are no course prerequisites. US Citizenship, a criminal background check, and a tax compliance check are required, with applications due approximately one month before the start of the semester.Open to JD students with the permission of the LLM Tax Program Director. JD students are required to concurrently register for LAW 896A Externship: Civil Field Placement.

Units: 1 - 3 , Offered: Fall 2014

This course is designed to develop your abilities to succeed as an extern and a first year attorney by simulating typical assignments and providing extensive professor feedback of your work. This course will focus on written and verbal communication skills to help you advance more quickly in your legal career and familiarize you with the types of work typically assigned to new lawyers. The professor feedback will assist you to meet and exceed the expectations of future employers. This course is a Practice Intensive (PIC) course which provides two credits towards the experiential learning requirement.

Units: 2 , Offered: Fall 2014

In practice and in our lives - negotiation is a critical skill. This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of negotiation. Students will acquire a systematic framework for understanding negotiations, develop negotiation skills to create and distribute value through simulation exercises and discussion, and develop awareness of their strengths and opportunities for growth as a negotiator. There will be required readings for each class and a number of short written assignments related to particular classes and simulation exercises. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement.

Prerequisite: Civil Procedure I and II., Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2014

The Pro Bono Tax Clinic provides students with the opportunity to assist low-income individuals in certain tax disputes before the California Board of Equalization ("BOE"). Under the direct supervision of a BOE attorney, the students provide legal assistance to taxpayers with claims involving California tax issues. The students meet regularly with a BOE attorney on campus who instructs them about the relevant law and assists them in the development of their clients' factual and legal arguments. The students draft procedural letters, legal memoranda and briefs that are submitted to the BOE. Students may also have the opportunity to argue the client's case at a BOE hearing. Recommended: Characterization of Income & Expenditures or Federal Income Tax. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis. (Offered through the LLM in Taxation Program. JD students seeking to enroll must obtain the approval of the program director.)

Units: 1 - 3 , Offered: Spring 2014

The Sales and Use Tax Clinic is a hands-on clinic where students will gain real world experience, allowing them to apply what they are learning in the classroom to actual client cases. Under the supervision of an attorney, students will represent clients who are appealing Sales and Use Tax assessments issued by the Board of Equalization (BOE). Students will have the opportunity to gain practical legal skills including: client interview and counseling, gathering evidence, preparing legal briefs, performing case strategy, as well as negotiating with auditors and settlement attorneys from the BOE. Furthermore, when necessary, students will have the opportunity to represent clients in a litigation setting at Appeals Conferences (informal hearings) and Oral Hearings (similar to a court trial). And although the cases involve tax issues, students do not need to be focused on tax law to participate.This course is graded credit/no credit. You must receive permission from the Program Director to enroll.

Units: 1 - 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014

Under supervision of an attorney from the Board of Equalization's Taxpayer Rights Advocate Office, students assist taxpayers with state income tax disputes against the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). Students receive legal practice skills training, including gathering and identifying evidence, drafting legal briefs, and representing clients/taxpayers in negotiations with the FTB and at oral hearings before the BOE. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis. You must receive permission from the Program Director to enroll.

Units: 1 - 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014

The Street Law Project operates in conjunction with approximately 25 Bay Area high schools and several middle schools and their respective school districts. Law students, working under faculty supervision, serve as student instructors and teach a course entitled "Street Law" which annually reaches 2,000 predominately inner-city school students. The program seeks to promote legal literacy among young people to ensure that they possess that minimum amount of practical, legal knowledge needed to understand the system as a whole and how it can work in their behalf. Law student instructors deliver units in Housing, Consumer, Family, Criminal, and Constitutional Law at their assigned school sites. They also participate in weekly seminars and research and develop additional material on California law to be used in their classes. Prerequisite: completion of first-year courses. Street Law is taught by the University of San Francisco School of Law, with classes meeting at their campus. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. This course is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis. Students must have approval from the associate dean for student services to enroll in this course.

Units: 3

This is the entry course for the litigation program, and it teaches the basic skills needed by every lawyer going to court: conducting a direct examination of a witness, introducing documents and physical evidence, cross-examining witnesses, making and answering objections, and preparing opening statements and closing arguments. Much of the students' work is videotaped. The final examination for this course is a full trial conducted in a local courthouse. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Prerequisite/Corequisite (depending on the instructor): Evidence.

Units: 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Summer 2014 , Spring 2014

Specifically-designed for the Summer Trial and Evidence Program (1st STEP), this course combines the courses of trial advocacy and evidence in the courtroom, as well as presentation and acting techniques from a theater instructor. In the trial advocacy part, students learn the basic skills needed by every lawyer going to court: conducting a direct examination of a witness, introducing documents and physical evidence, cross-examining witnesses, making and answering objections, and preparing opening statements and closing arguments. In the evidence in the courtroom part, students learn that the rules of evidence dictate the manner of criminal and civil trials. Students will learn how arguments under the rules of evidence and evidentiary rulings play out in the courtroom. This course connects the rules of evidence and evidentiary determinations with the skills of trial advocacy. The final examination for this course is a full trial. Corequisite (within 1st STEP): Evidence. This course counts toward completion of the JD Upper Division Experiential Learning Requirement.

Units: 5 , Offered: Summer 2014

Students in this multi-disciplinary clinic will learn veterans disability law and procedure and will aid military veterans in the filing, adjudication, and appeal of their disability claims with the Veterans Administration. Students will engage in client interviews and factual investigations, draft and submit motions and briefs, and advocate for their client both in writing, and, possibly, in person before administrative boards and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Students will also work on military discharge upgrade applications, on administrative appeal and in U.S. District Court, including other-than-honorable discharges of service members discharged under the militarys repealed dont ask, dont tell policy and those who have suffered military sexual assault and undiagnosed PTSD. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Application form and consent of instructor required. Co-requisite: LAW 776D Veterans Legal Advocacy Seminar.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Spring 2014

Students in this multi-disciplinary clinic will learn veterans disability law and procedure and will aid military veterans in the filing, adjudication, and appeal of their disability claims with the Veterans Administration. Students will engage in client interviews and factual investigations, draft and submit motions and briefs, and advocate for their client both in writing, and, possibly, in person before administrative boards and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Students will also work on military discharge upgrade applications, on administrative appeal and in U.S. District Court, including other-than-honorable discharges of service members discharged under the military's repealed "don't ask, don't tell" policy and those who have suffered military sexual assault and undiagnosed PTSD. This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Co-requisite: LAW 776D Veterans Legal Advocacy Seminar.

Units: 2 - 4 , Offered: Fall 2014

Students represent low-income clients with employment-related problems in areas including unpaid wages, discrimination and harassment, pregnancy disability, family and medical leave, and unemployment benefits. The clinic operates as a law office, with students practicing under direct faculty supervision. Clinic students must simultaneously enroll in the Women's Employment Rights Seminar (LAW-885S). This course counts toward completion of the Experiential Learning Requirement. Prerequisites: All first-year courses.

Prerequisite: All first-year courses. Corequisite:Evidence. Consent of the instructor is required for Clinic enrollment., Corequisite: Evidence. Consent of the instructor is required for Clinic enrollment., Units: 1 - 3 , Offered: Fall 2014 , Spring 2014