2L-3L Upper Level Lesson Topics

The is the third lesson on voidable or fraudulent transfers under the 2014 Uniform Voidable Transactions Act (a slightly amended Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act) and section 548 of the Bankruptcy Code. This lesson deals with applications in leveraged buyouts (LBOs).

This is an introduction to Securities Act Rules 164 and 433 and the requirements for free-writing prospectuses under Rule 433.

This lesson focuses primarily on the federal Freedom of Information Act. The lesson begins with an overview on the origins of the Act and its basic structure. The lesson then examines threshold questions that a user of the Freedom of Information Act must consider, and key questions for analysis and application. This lesson examines which agencies are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, whether the document sought is a "record" under the Act, and finally, are any exemptions applicable.

This lesson addresses freedom of speech issues for public school employees at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels.

This lesson will cover the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine, its application, and its three exceptions.

This lesson offers an introduction to the doctrine of functionality, which operates as a defense prohibiting anyone from claiming an exclusive right in functional shapes, elements, or aspects of a product or product packaging. The protectability or registrability of a trademark depends on a factual determination of a design's functionality. The functionality doctrine attempts to weigh the public and private interest in copying design features against a trademark owner's inherently anticompetitive objective to avoid consumer confusion.

This lesson serves as background and foundation for other lessons on damages for harms to personal property. It deals with general principles and basic measures of damages recoverable for harms to personal property.

Because copyright creates ownership rights in original expression, the private property interests of copyright owners sometimes come into conflict with the public's interest in disseminating knowledge, expressing ideas, or simply enjoying, sharing, and building upon the protected expression. This lesson introduces the basic concept of fair use in copyright law, and offers numerous examples to test the student's ability to apply the balancing test of 17 U.S.C. § 107.

The General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 (GARA) has reshaped the landscape of tort law in American, non-commercial aviation. This lesson provides an overview of the statute of repose under GARA as well as some of the defining case law and limitations of the Act.

This program takes the student through the basics of a particular area of trademark law — the geographic scope of trademark protection. It includes the general common law principles as enunciated in early Supreme Court cases (Hanover, Rectanus) as well as zone of natural expansion. The program also contains complete coverage of Lanham Act principles including constructive notice, constructive use, section 33 and the limited area defense, concurrent use, and the need for confusion (Dawn Donut).

Over the last century, the administrative bureaucracy has grown dramatically in size and influence. In this lesson, we examine some of the reasons for that growth. This lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to refine and enhance their knowledge.

In this podcast, Professor Cohen discusses the formation of a partnership and how to master related sections of the Uniform Partnership Act (UPA) and the Revised Uniform Partnership Act (RUPA). Professor Cohen offers practical tips for students to incorporate in their study plan to help them learn this material.

This exercise is designed to introduce students to the broad range of exceptions available under the Federal Rules of Evidence. Using hypothetical fact situations, students are asked to assume the role of the judge and to rule on the applicability of Federal Rules of Evidence 803 and 804. The exercise requires students to know the proper application of each exception and to also understand the reason underlying each exception to the federal rules. Each section covers a separate sub-rule of either F.R.E. 803 or 804.

This lesson deals with the definition of hearsay under the Federal Rules of Evidence. It is a self-contained exercise that requires no prior knowledge or reference to outside material. It can be used as preparation before the topic of hearsay has been reached in the classroom, or as review after hearsay has been covered in class.

This exercise is based on a simulated trial in which the user is asked to rule on hearsay objections and to give reasons for the rulings.

This lesson provides a basic history of equitable remedies. The student need not have read any particular materials or taken any particular law school courses in order to complete the tutorial. It can be used to provide background in courses where equity is especially relevant or to review the history of equity for use in a remedies course. 

The lesson reviews the historical development of the federal laws governing wetlands, including regulatory laws and the laws that provide incentives for preservation of wetlands, and the federal agencies that are involved in administering those laws.

In this lesson, we examine the hybrid rulemaking process.

This lesson examines identification procedures in criminal cases through a short exploration of problems that can arise in making an identification, a primer on basic constitutional rules and the problem of suggestiveness, and a simple criminal case in which you act as an investigator and see the legal consequences of choosing different identification procedures.

This exercise begins with a transcript of the direct examination of a government witness in a criminal action. The direct examination will be followed by a crossexamination, and the student is asked to rule on objections to impeachment questions by the crossexaminer. The lesson focuses on permissible and impermissible impeachment concepts under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The exercise was composed under a grant from the Federal Judicial Center as part of its training program for incoming federal judges.

This lesson is intended for students who have studied equity and, in particular, in personam remedies in class, and who wish to obtain a further and deeper understanding of the topic.

This lesson teaches about the concept of incontestability: what it is, and what benefits it confers on trademark owners. This lesson can be used either for teaching the subject or for review.