This two-credit course, meeting on selected Mondays (and one Saturday), equips students to manage all phases of legal proceedings in which mental health evidence and testimony are utilized. Students will review theories of law and mental health; assessment, treatment, credentialing, ethics, and practice standards; competency, sanity, and commitment proceedings; mental injury, antidiscrimination, and educational entitlements; delinquency, abuse/neglect, and child custody determinations; and practical aspects of forensic consultation, expert witness retention, and the lawyer?s own mental health. Open to all except 1Ls. Grading Information: Final examination= 80%; Class Preparation and Participation= 20%.

The preliminary bar exam is a requirement for all 1L students, as set forth in the Student Handbook p.53 The prelim will assess students' substantive knowledge of Torts, Contracts, Property, and Civil Procedure, as well as the essential skills necessary for success on the bar exam. Students will not receive course credit for the prelim, and it will not be used to calculate GPA or class rank.

This course is designed to jumpstart your bar exam preparation by developing your substantive knowledge and sharpening your critical bar exam success skills. Specifically, you will receive in-depth review of highly tested topics in Contracts, Evidence, Torts and Real Property. You will then put that knowledge to use working through practice MBE and essay questions. You will learn how to develop a strong but flexible framework to resolve bar exam problems, sharpen your reading comprehension, issue identification, rule mastery, critical thinking and legal analysis skills.

This required one credit course introduces graduate students to the basic research tools and strategies a beginning intellectual property or commerce and technology professional needs to work in their practice area and engage in lifelong learning to keep their education current. The course focuses on: primary and secondary legal authority with lesser coverage on fact research, current awareness and practice tools and strategies; mandatory and persuasive authority; accessing, evaluating and updating secondary legal sources, court decisions, statutes and administrative rulemaking; developing a coherent research strategy including cost effective research; and appropriate choice of electronic formats. Students will be exposed to LEXIS, Westlaw and free web sites. At the end of the first semester students should be able to take a legal issue and determine the extent of legal information needed; access the needed legal information effectively and efficiently; evaluate legal information and its sources critically; incorporate the selected legal information into their understanding of the issue; understand the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of legal information; access and use information ethically and legally. Classes involve a mix of lecture, discussion and the opportunity to work directly with relevant print and electronic resources through assigned problems. In additional to a graded research midterm and final, students must successfully complete weekly research assignments. Eligibility: Graduate Students - required course. Prerequisites: none. Course format: skills training. Grading: final exam, 60%; class prep. and participation, 05%; regular submissions/quizzes, 35%.