This course addresses issues of ownership, regulation, and jurisdiction of Indigenous peoples' environmental relationships and natural resources in the United States. Specific topics include the legal status of: Indigenous religion and spirituality; culture; ownership of land and water; land use and environmental protection; taxation of natural resources in reservation contexts; federally reserved Indian water rights; and off-reservation Indian hunting, fishing, and gathering rights. Comparisons will be made to Canadian legal contexts throughout the course.

Although human rights are formally recognized in visionary documents like the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the many principles tied to human rights have long been debated by philosophers, artists, theologians, and writers. This course studies the evolution of human rights as cultural artifacts, examining how ideas about human rights and humanitarianism were fashioned within literature, philosophy, film, public debate, and various international legal forums over history.

Through readings covering large topics like crimes against humanity, immigration, abolitionism, and universal suffrage, we will ask: How did the world assent to a global culture of human rights? What hopes and dreams have human rights embodied? Conversely, what recurring critiques have been raised about the norms and ideals tied to human rights?

The 'turn to institutions,' particularly the establishment of the UN system after WWII, has had a deep impact on how international law is created, interpreted, and applied. This course examines select examples, involving the 'constitutional' interpretation of the Charters of international organizations, such as peace and security, global health, and human rights, to illustrate changes in the basic 'sources' of international law (treaties, custom, general principles) as well as the rise of institutional 'soft law.' It will examine the recent roles of, for example, the UN Security Council and General Assembly, actors within the WHO during COVID, the expert body under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the International Court of Justice in enabling or resisting legal change.

The course will also examine the larger implications, positive and negative, of the 'institutionalization' of international law. It aims to better prepare those seeking international law careers, whether or not as inside counsel to UN system organizations, as well as those seeking to understand the limits of such organizations in resolving specific current challenges, particularly the persistent one of making states, individuals, and the organizations themselves accountable for violations of international law.

Jewish law is among the most, if not the most, ancient legal systems in the world which remains active in contemporary times. Moreover, doctrines and principles of Jewish Law jurisprudence have had a lasting influence on the Western legal tradition. While some of its innovations have been incorporated into general legal thought to a degree that they seem obvious to most, other conceptions of Jewish Law remain unique, and fundamentally diverge from prevailing legal theories. Thus, the contribution of Jewish Law jurisprudence is not merely historical; it retains the power to challenge our legal world by exposing new directions in legal thought.

In this course, we will focus on two of the formative periods of Jewish law — biblical law and rabbinic law — as well as the transition between these periods. We will highlight some of the main legal themes which were formed and crystallized during these periods and which still possess the power to provoke creative legal thought today. Among the topics we will discuss are the following: the jurisprudential tension between revelation and wisdom; the status of natural law; various theoretical models of legal development; the role of legal pluralism; the difference between a rights-based discourse and a duty-based discourse; and the concept of ownership.

The purpose of the course is to analyze Jewish law jurisprudence on these topics, while comparing it to contemporary jurisprudential theories. In this manner, we shall attempt to provoke new directions of thought on familiar legal issues.

This course engages with the concept of social justice and the challenges a commitment to transformative social change presents for legal activism. What is distinctive about claims of social justice? What are the limits and possibilities of law as mechanism for meeting the political and social challenges of our times? Case studies will anchor discussion and include consideration of such topics as the housing crisis, harm reduction strategies, and the climate emergency.

In this intensive course, we will examine the dialectic between visions of abolition democracy from the Black radical tradition and contemporary left social movement activism in the United States and Canada. Law has structured the neoliberal governance regimes that have given rise to populist authoritarianism, dominance movements (based on race, gender, and legal status), and our era of polycrisis. In the last 15 years, we have seen an awakening of direct action and mobilizations by left social movements against police violence, inequality, and fossil fuel extraction. Left movements have set forth affirmative visions of prospective futures rooted in abolitionism.

Together, we will work to sharpen our understanding of those visions of abolition democracy and, through case studies of contemporary social movements, pay attention to the role of law and lawyers in systems of domination and liberation. To the extent possible, this course will be run as a seminar in which we will co-generate knowledge through reflection papers, discussion, and final papers. We will hear directly from movement organizers and lawyers when possible.

In 1926, J.M. Keynes wrote that the political problem of his time was "to combine three things: Economic Efficiency, Social Justice, and Individual Liberty." This course will explore the question of what, if anything, law has to do with Keynes's problem. To that end, the course will explore the connections between different understandings of law, different conceptions of justice, and different modes of economic ordering.

Is there an inherent connection between legal ordering and any particular conception of justice, or between legal ordering and specific modes of economic ordering; or, on the other hand, can law serve any conception of justice or any type of economic system?

Readings may include texts by Engels, Hayek, Kornai, Luxemburg, Marx, McCloskey, Nussbaum, Polanyi, Raz, Ripstein, Rothschild, Sen, Weinrib, and others.

This course introduces the use of rhetorical techniques in advocacy, bearing in mind the core orientations of judges, advances in cognitive science and psychology, the use of narrative, the margins of manoeuvre open to judges in our legal system, and the constraints imposed by the rule of law and by the modes of judicial responsibility.

Advances in cognitive science and psychology have led more sophisticated persuasive techniques. In response, the task of judges is to detect the use of these rhetorical techniques and avoid being lured away from doing justice according to law.

To these is added the filter of ethics — judicial and lawyerly. How do judges and lawyers meet their obligations, in the course of a lawsuit, to first, do no harm; then, do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way, at the right time, and in the right words, while resisting the lure of cognitive biases and personal prejudices? Do rule of law constraints work to ensure principled advocacy and adjudication?

By the end of the course, students will be familiar with and competent in identifying the use of the rhetorical techniques in decided cases, and in developing strategies for their use in advocacy within the constraints imposed by a good understanding of the judicial function and the rule of law.

This course will provide a basic introduction to Intellectual Property law, focusing on copyrights and patents, with some discussion of trademarks, and some comparative examples from other jurisdictions. The course will discuss theoretical foundations and key concepts and doctrines, including some of the tensions between IP laws, freedom of expression, and free competition.

This interactive, experiential, and reflective course will provide an introduction to what it means to center relationships in the way we practice law and other aspects of our work as legal professionals. Relational lawyering promotes habits of mind and practices rooted in interconnectedness and mutuality. This approach translates into a focus on three overlapping spheres we are constantly engaging with as legal professionals and as human beings: the personal; the interpersonal; and the systemic.

At the personal level, students will be invited to bring their authentic selves into the classroom, including their dreams and aspirations alongside their questions and uncertainties about their professional paths. They will be introduced to tools that can improve their self-awareness and well-being and support them in building a fulfilling career in a profession that can often take a toll on mental health and well-being.

Interpersonally speaking, as legal professionals we are often engaged in conflict, both formal and informal. Students will become more aware of their communication and conflict styles, and will learn compassionate, mindful, and trauma-informed ways of communicating and transforming conflicts across differences.

Finally, at the systemic level, students will be introduced to alternative ways of conceptualizing the law — such as restorative and transformative justice, and conscious contracts — that challenge fundamental assumptions in areas such as criminal and contract law. In this sphere we will explore possibilities for reimagining legal systems and processes, so they align more closely with our core values and aspirations.

The legal profession, for all its complexity, is one of the least understood labour markets. Much of how lawyers practice on a daily basis — irrespective of their area of specialization — is unobservable to clients, to regulators, even to one another. This opacity makes ethical issues challenging, but also limits our understanding of the profession more broadly.

Over the semester we will spend time exploring select ethical rules (e.g., conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and privilege) and also how the legal profession works, examining different types of practice (e.g., large law firms; public interest; government), the training of lawyers (e.g., law school, clerkships), and their regulation (e.g., disciplinary committees, procedural rules). In many instances, the ethical challenges play out differently across different practice settings and areas of law. Throughout the term guest speakers will provide their unique perspectives.