Comparative Law of War (2 credits)

This course will consider the idea that laws can and do regulate the actions of states and individuals in armed combat.  Students will consider varying approaches from Greek, Roman, Islamic, Christian, European, Asian, and American history, and then consider modern approaches before and after the U.N. Charter and variations in national application of the law of war over the last two centuries, concluding with assessments of the law of war in the contemporary setting for state-to-state and asymmetric conflict, concluding with an emphasis on differences between US and non-US approaches to present questions.

Instructor: Stephen M. Sheppard 

Professor Sheppard is the William H. Enfield Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches international law, professional responsibility, environmental law, legal theory and history and common law courses.  A native of Mississippi, his first degree was in political science from Southern Mississippi, and his law degrees are from Columbia University (J.D., Cert Int’l L, LL.M., J.S.D.) and Oxford University (M.Litt.).  He is the author of I Do Solemnly Swear: The Moral Obligations of Legal Officials (Cambridge University Press,  2010) and with George Fletcher of American Law in a Global Context: The Basics (Oxford University Press, 2005); he is  editor of the Wolters-Kluwer Bouvier Law Dictionary (2011-2012) and E. Allan Farnsworth, Introduction to the Legal Systems of the United States (Oxford University Press, 4th ed., 2010), among many other works.  His writings on the law of war include a critical introduction to the Lieber Code.  A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of London, he is also a director of the American Society of Comparative Law.

Evolving Family Law Concepts (2 credits)

This class will explore recent dramatic developments in family law from a comparative law perspective. Marriage is being reshaped by the battle for equality for same-sex partners. Assisted reproductive disputes are giving rise to new definitions of “parent.”  And men defrauded about parenthood are demanding third-party rights and filing suit for damages. Social media now plays a role in many divorce and custody actions, raising new evidentiary and ethical issues. These, and other current issues in family law, will be discussed in a problem format. Family law is not a prerequisite for this course.

Instructor: Deborah Bell

Professor Deborah Bell’s primary area of expertise is family law. Her treatise, “Bell on Mississippi Family Law” is widely used by and family law judges and practitioners. Bell has also taught Commercial Law, Property, Family Law, Housing Law, Lawyering Skills and Poverty Law. She is the founder of the law school’s Civil Legal Clinic and was its Director from until 2009. In 2011, she founded the law school’s Pro Bono Initiative and serves as its Director.

International Commercial Litigation (2 credits)

An examination of the law and practice of international commercial litigation from the English perspective–jurisdiction and operation of the English Commercial Court; international rules for recognition and enforcement of judgments; interim relief; choice of law in commercial litigation; evidence problems in transnational disputes.

Instructor- Graham Virgo, M.A., Cambridge; B.C.L., Oxford. Fellow of Downing College; Professor, Cambridge Faculty of Law; Barrister of Lincoln’s Inn.

International Intellectual Property (2 credits)

Intellectual property is increasingly becoming an area of global concern, and practitioners in both intellectual property law and international law need to know how the system operates. This course

explores the international intellectual property systems, focusing on the various international agreements and institutions as they relate to copyrights, patents, and trademarks, plus some important related doctrines. It also explores some comparative aspects of how these various intellectual property rights are implemented in different countries.

Instructor: Gary Pulsinelli

Professor Gary Pulsinelli joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee College of Law in August 2001 after clerking for Judge S. Jay Plager on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Professor Pulsinelli earned his J.D. degree at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California-Berkeley in 1997, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. Prior to attending law school, he earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994. His legal experience includes working as an associate in the Palo Alto, Calif., firm of Pennie & Edmonds in the area of biotechnology patent prosecution and related legal research. Professor Pulsinelli teaches Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property Law, Patent Law, Copyright Law, Property Law, and Law, Science & Technology Seminar.

International Law (2 credits)

The basic introductory course in the field–the nature, scope, sources and jurisdiction of international law, the law of treaties, the doctrine of state responsibility, international dispute resolution and other topics.

Instructor- John Hopkins, M.A., LL.B., Cambridge. Fellow of Downing College; Lecturer, Cambridge Faculty of Law; Barrister and Master of the Bench of the MiddleTemple.

The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective (1 credit)

Although in decline, the death penalty persists in many countries in the world.  The United States, however, is one of the only democracies left in the world that has not abolished it.  This class considers the use of the death penalty throughout the world, the European experience of abolition, and its possible relation to the American experience.  Seminar topics include abolition and retention, procedural protections for criminal defendants, the phenomenon of innocents with death sentences, inequity and arbitrariness in the administration of capital punishment, convicting and sentencing the innocent, and the influence of victims’ families on the criminal process.

Instructor- William W. Berry III

Professor Berry is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi and is the Director of the Cambridge Summer Program.  He teaches, among other things, criminal law seminars, and his scholarship considers issues related to the sentencing of criminal offenders with a focus on capital punishment.  He holds a D.Phil. from Oxford, a J.D. from Vanderbilt, and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

The Law of Secrecy (2 credits)

Secrecy plays a complicated role across a broad swath of legal regimes. For example, the law encourages secrecy in certain areas, such as national security, employee inventions and trade secrets, and attorney confidentiality. Yet, society often discourages secrecy because it is in tension with such inherent values as democracy, open government, transparency, and a free press. The course will examine how the law in each of these and other areas addresses secrecy. Moreover, countries often approach secrecy from different perspectives, so the course will look at how the United States treats secrecy compared to other countries.

Instructor: Richard Moberly

Richard Moberly is Associate Dean for Faculty and a Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law.  He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.  Before joining the Nebraska faculty in 2004, Professor Moberly clerked for the Honorable N. Carlton Tilley, Jr., United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, and worked as an associate for five years with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. Professor Moberly has published numerous articles on whistleblowing as well as two case books used for teaching Evidence and Trial Advocacy.  He also testified before the United States House of Representatives on whistleblower protection in the U.S. and has spoken internationally numerous times on various whistleblower issues.