Sent Via Email
Memo
TO: Second and Third Year Students
FROM: Elizabeth A. Rosselot, Registrar
DATE: August 8, 2006
______________________________________________________________________________
I hope you are enjoying your summer. This memo contains important registration
and course information to help you prepare for the new academic year. Attached
please find the following:
1. An updated course schedule for Fall 2006
2. An updated proposed course schedule for Spring 2007
3. The Academic Calendar for 2006-2007
You may review the updated fall and spring course registration information by going to the Academic Services web site at <http://www.bc.edu/lawschool>. Course schedules are also available on Agora.
Registration Information
You may change your course schedule as often as you want during the drop/add
period which ends Tuesday, September 5 at 11:00 p.m. All schedule changes must
be completed by that time. Please, if you’re going to drop a class, do
so sooner rather than later so that a classmate can access it.
Although you must maintain a minimum of 12 credits for the semester, I urge you to take at least 13 credits each semester. This allows you to meet the minimum requirement of 26 credits per year, and meet the 85-credit requirement by graduation. (You may not average your credits over the year. For example, you may not take 11 credits one semester and 13 the next semester.) Students writing on a law journal must register for the journal, for 3 credits, in the spring of their second and third year. Upon completion of the journal requirements in the second year, students will receive a “J” grade that indicates the course is still in progress. This “J” grade will turn into a Pass, upon completion of all journal requirements, at the end of the third year.
Some courses are offered with a variable credit option. Professors offer this additional credit in exchange for a separate, substantial piece of writing. Completion of this additional credit will also satisfy the Upper Level Writing Requirement. Students who select this option must complete a Course Exception Form (available from Academic Services or on the Website), to add the extra credit before the end of drop/add.
Attendance on the First Day of Class
If you registered for any limited enrollment courses, you must attend the first
class or speak to the faculty member prior to that class, to keep your seat.
If you are registered for a limited enrollment course that you do not plan on
taking, please go on-line now to drop the course. This will allow one of your
classmates to enroll in that course. Many faculty also require attendance on
the first day of class in large classes, especially popular, closed classes.
Please remember that failure to attend any of your classes on the first day
of class may jeopardize your status in these classes.
If you want to enroll in a class that is closed, you should go to the first class to see if seats have become available. You can check seat availability by going to your Agora account.
Credit and Degree Requirements
You should carefully review the residency and credit requirements for graduation
shown on the Academic Services’ web site under “Graduation Requirements.”
In order to graduate, students must be in residence, full-time, for 6 semesters
and must successfully complete at least 85 credit hours.
With the following exceptions, all upper-level courses are electives. You must
take Constitutional Law II, Professional Responsibility or a related subject,
and an Upper Level Writing course. A list of courses that satisfy the Professional
Responsibility and Upper Level Writing requirements is found on our web site.
Please note that Criminal Law will be offered once in the fall and again in the spring. Because Criminal Law is now a required 1L course, it will not be offered to 2L and 3L’s after the 2006-2007 Academic Year.
Cross Registration at Boston University School of Law
Courses at Boston University School of Law are available to Boston College Law
students on a cross-registration basis, without payment of any additional fees
or tuition, under the following conditions:
—BC Law does not offer the course during the current academic year;
—The instructor of the course grants permission; and
—The student completes the appropriate forms
Classes begin at Boston University School of Law on Tuesday, September 5. Course information is available on the Boston University Website at www.bu.edu/law/jd/registrar. Aida Ten, Associate Registrar at BU School of Law, asks that students who are interested in registering for a course at BU should do so by Friday, September 1. You may contact Ms. Ten at 617-353-3115, email ten@bu.edu.
Immunization Reminder
If you have not yet completed your state-mandated immunization form, the University
cannot register you and you will lose your enrollment slot. If you provided
the form in a prior year as a Boston College Law Student, you need not re-submit
it.
Assignments for the First Day of Class
Please note that some professors provide assignments for the first day of class.
These will be posted on the bulletin board outside of Stuart, Room 315.
Bookstore Hours
To help alleviate some of the congestion you often encounter, the bookstore
will also be open the weekend before classes begin. The weekend hours are: Friday,
August 25, 9-3; Saturday, August 26, 9-4; and Sunday, August 27, 10-4. We hope
that this accommodation is helpful.
Textbooks may be returned only during the time period specified at the beginning of each semester. For the fall 2006 semester, the times for book returns are Wednesday, August 30 through Wednesday, September 6 between 10:30-2:00. Only new, unmarked books may be returned. Shrink wrapped books must not be opened. You must have a sales receipt to receive a refund, and you must have your charge card.
Notice Regarding Disabilities
Students who have special needs such as physical limitations, health requirements,
or documented learning disabilities and students for whom English is a second
language, should make an appointment to see Tracey West, Assistant Dean for
Students and Academic Advising, Stuart M308, early in the fall semester.
BC Law Technology Web Site
Individuals with questions regarding technology at BC Law should consult the
Law Library's technology webpages at http://www.bc.edu/bclawtechnology . These
pages contain information and resource links for topics ranging from purchasing
new computers to the option of taking exams on computers. If you still have
questions or concerns after consulting the BC Law technology site, please contact
ATR directly via email at atrinbox@bc.edu.
Lockers
Student lockers are not available until Monday, August 28. The Law School does
not guarantee the safe storage of possessions left in lockers before that date.
Course Updates and Revisions
Schedule Changes
LL86801 Acquisition Agreements: Negotiation and Drafting (Fall: 3 Professor Mullaney) will meet Tuesday and Thursday from 5-6:15, room 408 Stuart.
LL97901 Civil Litigation Clinic Class (Fall: 3 Professors Anderson, Minuskin and Tremblay) will meet Tuesday 4-6, rooms 406 and 407.
LL93501 Criminal Justice Clinic Class (Fall: 4 Professors Beckman, Goldfarb and Sarda) will meet Tuesdays from 2:30-4:30, rooms 401 and 410 Stuart and Thursdays from 1-3, rooms 401 and 408 Stuart.
LL94301 Criminal Procedure (Fall: 3 Professor Bloom) will
meet Tuesday and Thursday
2:00-3:15, room 411 Stuart.
LL99603 Evidence (Fall: 4 Professor Brodin) will meet Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday
1:45-2:50, room 115A East Wing.
LL74702 Family Law (Fall: 3 Professor Katz) will meet Tuesday and Thursday 11:15-12:30, room 401 Stuart.
LL67501 International Legal Research (Fall: 1 Professor M. Sullivan)
will meet Thursday
3-4:30, room 400 East Wing.
LL75901 Land Use Planning (Fall: 3 Professor Witten) will meet Wednesday 11:30-2:30, room 411 Stuart.
LL82801 Registration of Securities (Fall: 3 Professor Mullaney) will meet Monday and Wednesday 5:00-6:15, room 411 Stuart.
New Course Offerings
LL46301 Libel Litigation (Spring: 3)
This course includes in-depth study of First Amendment media law and drafting
of selected trial pleadings. The seminar will cover such issues as the evolving
concept of what constitutes defamation, the public official/figure doctrine,
the opinion defense, confidential sources, burden of proof, and related issues.
The seminar also deals with issues of litigation strategy and the development
and use of discovery. Students will also have the opportunity to draft discovery
requests and take depositions based on a hypothetical libel case. Heavy emphasis
will be placed on class participation. In lieu of a final exam, students will
be required to prepare a summary judgment memorandum based on both the case
law and the deposition transcripts. Enrollment limited to 18.
Joseph Steinfield
LL73102 Administrative Law (Spring: 4)
A study of administrative agencies and legislative authority, information gathering
and withholding, rule-making and order-formulating proceedings, judicial review
of administrative actions, and constitutional limitations on administrative
powers. There will be a final examination.
Francisca Bignami
LL74801 Corporate Finance (Spring: 3)
This course provides a broad overview of some of the financial and legal aspects
of corporate financing transactions. We will examine the various ways a corporation
can finance its operations and the conflicts of interest created when a corporation
chooses to use more than one financial instrument. We will study how legal rules
and financial instruments have evolved to control the conflicts of interest
among parties to the various corporate financing transactions. We will consider
how parties to these financial transactions can protect their own interests
and when and if the law should intervene to protect a party’s interest
in the transaction. This course will be evaluated by exam.
Lori Johnson
LL47601 Domestic Violence and the Law (Spring: 3)
Courts have increasingly become the forum for responding to issues of domestic
violence. This course provides the historical and social context of battering,
explains the dynamics of battering relationships and the psychological effects
of trauma on battered women and children, discusses civil and criminal law issues
arising out of battery, and examines the use of expert testimony as a method
of presenting battered women’s claims in court. Students will write a
short (five page) paper and a research paper (20 pages). Enrollment is limited
to 25 students.
Mithra D. Merryman
Other Changes
LL79702 Advanced Legal Research (Spring: 3 Professor S. Sullivan)
This course has been cancelled.
LL69901 Social Security Law (Spring: 3 Professor Martin)
This course has been cancelled.
Biographical information for adjunct and visiting faculty can be viewed by going to the Academic Services web site, www.bc.edu/lawschool.
Copies of this email are available in the Office of Academic Services.