Law (LAW)
LAW 705 - First Amendment Law Seminar (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 711 - Federal Jurisdiction (3 hours)
Offered: Resident
A study of state constitutional law, with special attention given to the texts, history, nature, and interpretation of state constitutions; state constitutions in the federal system; state bills of rights as separate guarantees of individual rights; the distribution of powers among the separate branches of government; local government; taxing, borrowing, and spending; public education and state institutions; and the processes for amending state constitutions.
Offered: Resident
LAW 721 - State and Local Government (3 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 725 - School Law Seminar (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
Offered: Resident
LAW 740 - Israel and Middle Eastern International Law and Policy (1 hour) This course will cover a wide range of topics including the historical and biblical history of Israel leading up to the British Mandate (1920-1948), the Zionist Movement, and the Declaration of Independence in 1948. Students will learn about the foundation of Israel and the history of the United Nations in relationship to Israel, including the history of the land and the 1967 and 1973 conflicts. The course will overview Arab-Israeli conflicts and co-existence. Students will be exposed to the geo-political issues Israel faces with its neighbors and the rest of the world, including the conflicts between radical Islamic factions and the West with specific focus on Israel. This course is Pass/Fail.
Offered: Resident
LAW 743 - International Human Rights (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 745 - International Business Transactions (2 hours) A study of selected international legal issues affecting or regulating multinational enterprise, foreign investment, the banking system, trade in goods and services, labor matters, intellectual property, sales transactions, transportation, and trade financing.
Offered: Resident
LAW 747 - Immigration Law and Policy (2 hours) This course is an overview of immigration law and policy in the United States. Migration policy has long provoked controversy and has become even more contentious in the new era of homeland security since September 11, 2001. Immigration bills in Congress have been the subject of heated debates, particularly in recent years. However, to have a truly informed opinion on the subject, one must understand the history of immigration law in the United States, the statutory framework into which any new legislation must fit, and the legal process used to enforce U.S. immigration law. This course will examine federal immigration law and policy in a variety of its aspects--contemporary and historical, substantive and procedural, statutory and regulatory and constitutional--including the criteria for admission to the United States on a temporary or permanent basis, the grounds and process of deportation, the peculiar constitutional status of foreign nationals, the role of the courts in ensuring the legality of official action, and an introduction to refugee law.
Offered: Resident
LAW 755 - Bioethics and the Law (3 hours) This course involves the study of law, policy and litigation issues relating to stem cell and cloning research, abortion, reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization, and euthanasia. Course material includes case study, legislative and regulatory reviews, the reports of specialized task forces and professional panels and historic analysis. The course will also review litigations and policy developments in these respective areas.
Offered: Resident
LAW 760 - Public Policy Lawyering Skills (2 hours) A study of selected law skills involved in the public policy arena, drawn from the following areas: drafting legislation; drafting memoranda in support of legislation; planning and creating legal structures necessary to operate election campaigns, to comply with on-going campaign finance and disclosure laws, and to dissolve campaigns; planning and operating political campaigns and lobbying organizations; and complying with disclosure requirements by organizations that involve themselves in public policy matters.
Offered: Resident
An introduction to public policy that examines the effect of worldview on both the objects and means of creating public policy. The course will use substantive public policy, policy initiatives, bills, legislative history, case law, white papers, and public relation campaigns to provide an understanding of the various methods, tactics, and strategies used in transforming ideas into governing policy and will prepare students to analyze both the substance of public policy and the policy creation process.
Offered: Resident
LAW 765 - Sexual Behavior and the Law (2 hours) A survey of the relationship between various types of human sexual behavior and law, including employment law, education law, criminal law, family law, civil rights legislation, and the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and freedom of religion, speech, and association. The course will explore sexual behavior and notions of sexual morality through a biblical, historical, and anthropological prism and consider how the law, public policy, and culture approaches the sexual choice people make.
Offered: Resident
LAW 771 - Administrative Law (3 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 775 - Environmental Law (3 hours) A survey of statutory regulations applicable to the protection of the environment. Attention is directed to the role of the EPA and other administrative agencies in the development and implementation of environmental policy.
Offered: Resident
LAW 781 - Employment Law (3 hours) A survey of common law and federal and state statutes regulating the relationship between an employer and an employee. Subjects include the hiring process, termination, terms and conditions of employment, disability unemployment, and retirement.
Offered: Resident
LAW 785 - Land Use and Zoning (2 hours) A selective examination of governmental regulation of the use of real estate and of the land development industry. It is fundamentally a course in applied Constitutional and administrative law. While it includes the law of nuisance, zoning, density, growth, and subdivision controls, it is a vehicle for exploring the public regulation of business behavior in general, including various strategies for deregulation.
Offered: Resident
LAW 801 - Remedies (3 hours) A study of the law of judicial remedies, both legal and equitable, focusing on the nature and scope of relief as distinguished from substantive and procedural law. The four major categories of remedies are addressed: damages, including measurement issues for both compensatory and punitive damages, and limitations on the damages remedy; restitution, including measurement issues and issues related to rescission, constructive trust, and equitable lien; injunctions, including issues relating to requirements for obtaining preliminary and permanent injunctive; and declaratory relief, including ancillary remedies to effectuate the relief obtained, and legal and equitable defenses.
Offered: Resident
LAW 803 - Virginia Civil Procedure (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 804 - Virginia Criminal Procedure (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 805 - Insurance Law (3 hours) A study of the regulation of the insurance business, insurable interest, the insurance contract, the interests protected by contracts of insurance, construction of policies, rights under the policies, subrogation; and processing of claims and suits for insureds, claimants, and insurers.
Offered: Resident
Offered: Resident
LAW 815 - Law Office Management (2 hours) An introduction to the establishment and management of a law office. It is designed to prepare the student for entry into the private practice of law, including ethical and personal pressures related to private law practice.
Offered: Resident
LAW 825 - Advanced Trial Advocacy (3 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 826 - Real Property Litigation (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 831 - Appellate Advocacy (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 832 - Advanced Appellate Advocacy (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 851 - Constitutional Litigation Clinic (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
Students will work under the direct supervision of a faculty supervisor and the Bedford (Virginia) Commonwealth Attorney's Office and will be involved in all aspects of criminal prosecution. Students will be exposed to the role and responsibilities of a prosecutor while engaging in the hands-on experiences of a working prosecutor. Students will be encouraged to think critically about the prosecutor's role in the criminal justice system. The Clinic will also contain a classroom component where students will cover subject matter that includes: the role of the prosecutor, ethics, plea bargaining, motions and hearings, discovery and examination of witnesses. Students may conduct legal research and writing, write motions and briefs and give oral arguments.
Registration Restrictions: Permission from the Bedford Commonwealth Attorney and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; and Virginia Third-Year Practice Certificate required.
Offered: Resident
LAW 861 - Externship (2 hours)
Note: The normal externship is for two credit hours. Three credit hours are approved only in special circumstances.
Offered: Resident
LAW 862 - Criminal Law Externship (2 to 3 hours)
Note: The normal externship is for two credit hours. Three credit hours are approved only in special circumstances.
Offered: Resident
Students earn academic credit while working part time with other students under the supervision of a judge and his or her staff attorneys and a Liberty law professor. Students receive guidance and training in legal research and writing, write research memoranda, and draft opinions for judges.
Registration Restrictions: Second year standing; approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Note: The normal externship is for two credit hours. Three credit hours are approved only in special circumstances.
Offered: Resident
LAW 868 - Directed Research in Law and Policy (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 871 - Independent Study (1 to 3 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 881 - Law Review Candidacy (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 882 - Law Review Junior Staff (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 883 - Law Review Senior Staff I (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 884 - Law Review Senior Staff II (1 hour)
Offered: Resident
LAW 885 - Law Review Editorial Board I (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 886 - Law Review Editorial Board II (2 hours)
Offered: Resident
LAW 901 - Advanced Bar Studies (3 hours)
Offered: Resident
Offered: Resident
LAW 904 - Advanced Research and Writing (2 hours) Advanced Research and Writing provides advanced instruction in legal research techniques and hones the writing skills learned in LS I and II. Students will draft a variety of common, legal documents used in litigation and transactional work.
Offered: Resident