Course and Seminar Descriptions

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Updated Course Descriptions

Mizzou Law course descriptions are only updated once a year on the University Registrar’s website. Please note, some courses may change before the next course catalog update. The new descriptions will be listed below.

Clean Energy Law & In-House Practicum (Banks, Summer 2022): Mizzou Law alumnus Sundance Banks will teach this new course remotely in Summer 2022 as an adjunct faculty member. This course will provide an overview of the laws and policies impacting the deployment of various forms of clean energy, while also providing a practicum focused on the skills needed to succeed in the role of in-house counsel. Banks serves as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Sunrun, a $15-billion public company in the San Francisco Bay area.

Taxation of Property Transactions (Pelikan, Fall 2022): This course will examine tax laws and policies fundamental to real estate investment. Topics include depreciation and recapture, cash and accrual methods of accounting, installment sales, non-recognition transactions, including like-kind exchanges and bad involuntary conversions, and discharge of indebtedness issues arising out of real estate transactions. This course is designed to provide a detailed analysis of complex tax provisions necessary for advanced tax planning and will be taught using the problem method of instruction.

Intersession Course (January 2023): Professor Frank Bowman will teach Hiring & Firing Presidents: The Electoral College, Impeachment & the 25th Amendment as an intersession course (2 credits), from Jan. 5 to Jan. 13, 2023 (seven class days). It will meet for 3.5 hours per day. On MyZou, this course will appear as a Spring 2023 course. (Note: This course does not appear on the spring course grid to avoid creating confusion. It will not meet when standard spring courses are meeting.)

Conflict and Conflict Management (LAW 5450) (Spring 2023): Professor Wells has provided the following information about her course: “This course examines various aspects of conflict. It helps students diagnose a conflict, learn basic conflict strategies and tactics, how conflicts escalate, sources and uses of power, and various management strategies including de-escalation, problem-solving, third-party interventions, and how to deal with the public and the press in highly-publicized conflicts. The class involves a number of in-class activities and simulations to learn and illustrate these issues. This year, the class will revert back to its normal two day a week schedule and will meet face-to-face.” (Note: LAW 6932, which has the same name, is open only to LL.M. students, not to J.D. students.)

Disability Law (Sperino, Spring 2023): This course provides an overview of disability law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Specific topics include disability discrimination in employment, housing, public services, public accommodations, and education (at all levels). Many of the policy issues that arise in the area of disability law will also be explored. The course also provides an opportunity to work with a well-developed statutory and regulatory structure. The course is relevant to persons interested in general practice, family law, education law, employment law, civil rights, and other fields.

Federal Courts (Lietzan, Spring 2023): Students are strongly recommended to take Constitutional Law before taking Federal Courts. Students enrolling in Constitutional Law concurrently with Federal Courts will be expected to perform significant extra work.

The Promise, Challenges, and Compromises of Progressive Prosecution (Cohen, Spring 2023): This is a new course to be taught by a visiting faculty member. This class identifies longstanding problems in the criminal legal system and the possibilities (and challenges) of criminal justice reform through the work of progressive prosecution. We will spend the first third of the course identifying problems in the criminal legal system and the limited ability of courts to address these problems, including addressing race discrimination, innocence, and mass incarceration. The second part of the semester will focus on how to identify specific challenges within a system, including gathering and analysis of data. In the third part of the course, students will identify a specific problem that is not susceptible to correction through litigation alone, draft a policy for a prosecutor’s office to address that problem, and complete the class with a presentation and paper.

Curriculum Pathways

At Mizzou Law, you can customize your law school experience by selecting a curriculum “pathway” that focuses on an area of law that interests you personally. Doing so can provide you with deeper knowledge of the area and a broader set of relevant skills, as well as relationships with faculty knowledgeable in the field, who may serve as mentors along the way.

The faculty of Mizzou Law has created sixteen pathways for your consideration. Choosing a pathway is not mandatory (and will not be reflected in your transcript). But these pathways are here to help you shape your law school experience.

No pathway is set in stone, of course. Your interests may evolve while you’re in law school, or even later. The pathways we have designed can help you explore different areas, and you may decide to combine courses from different pathways to create your own path to practice.

We offer these pathways:

In some cases, it may be possible to earn a joint degree.

For each pathway, the faculty have listed both foundational courses and recommended courses. The recommended courses may include clinics, practicums, study abroad programs, or participation in one of the school’s specialized law journals. While the Law School may not offer every course every year, you can consult the registrar to determine how often each course is offered. And if a course of interest is not offered when you need it, you may be able to arrange an independent study with a faculty member.

Feel free to reach out to any professor – especially the ones listed for each pathway – to discuss your course selections and career options.