COURSE CATALOG
This catalog is made available electronically by the University of Memphis. UofM students and potential students may publish the catalog if they so desire.
Below students can find information about required, elective and specialized courses offered at Memphis Law.
- Alphabetical Course List
- Bar-Tested Courses
- Electives & Specialized Areas of Study
- Upper-level Research & Experiential Learning Requirement
- Degree Programs
- Certificate Programs
Alphabetical Course List
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
•Skip to Electives and Specialized Areas of Study
Course offerings each year depend on a variety of factors. By design, some courses are only offered in alternating years. Please refer to each course for more information on course availability.
Course 311
3-hour elective course
Administrative agencies execute law affecting almost every aspect of daily life, including labor and employment, environmental, intellectual property, insurance, transportation, and health laws. This course does not focus on the substantive law of any particular agency; it instead examines principles and procedures common to all agencies, derived in large part from the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. The course will examine the sources of agency authority, the limitations on agency actions, the procedures that agencies must use in rulemaking and adjudication, and the availability and scope of judicial review of agency actions.
Course Number 312
2-hour elective course
This 2-hour course will focus on traditional admiralty and maritime law concepts, including an examination of the Jones Act, unseaworthiness, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, and the general maritime law. The course will also cover issues relating to maritime contracts and liens, limitation of liability, issues relating to collisions, allisions, and breakaways, fleeter’s liability, and issues relating to admiralty jurisdiction. The course will also review the available defenses and damages. While the concepts taught are applicable to all areas of maritime practice, the primary focus will be on maritime law as it applies to the inland waterways of the United States. There are no prerequisites.
2-hour research/writing course
This class is designed to offer students who have some experience with writing briefs the opportunity to sharpen their brief-writing skills and learn what makes a brief successful. The class will discuss how to present a case persuasively, considering issues such as developing a theory of the case, arguing thematically, using the components of the brief effectively, using precedent effectively, and structuring the argument persuasively. Students will brief an issue with which they are familiar. Students will write a brief to a court of last resort. There will be two oral presentations at which students will explain and defend their brief-writing choices. This course satisfies the Advanced Research/Writing requirement.
Prerequisite (Required): Moot Court Travel Team OR Appellate Advocacy OR permission of instructor.
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Advanced Criminal Prosecution is a one-credit intersession course offered annually over the Law School's Spring Break week in conjunction with the Tennessee District Attorney General's Conference's (TNDAG) Trial Advocacy Course. Advanced Criminal Prosecution is intended to offer a select number of students (maximum of eight) interested in criminal trial advocacy intensive training in and exposure to prosecutorial litigation skills and strategy. In a "master class" approach to learning, experienced prosecutors from across the state of Tennessee will present instruction on all aspects of criminal trial practice, including jury selection, pretrial motions, opening statements, direct and cross examinations, evidentiary objections, and closing argument. Devoted sessions will focus on interviewing and preparing witnesses, selecting juries, case analysis, charging decisions, discovery, prosecutorial ethics, and professionalism. In those sections requiring student performance (of examinations, opening statement, and closing argument), students will receive critique, including individual reviews of their performances. This course will satisfy the Experiential Course requirement.
This class is designed to help second-year students develop and sharpen the analytical and communication skills needed for success in law school, on the bar exam, and ultimately in practice. The class will discuss effective methods for problem-solving, written communications, and solving multiple-choice questions. Students will exercise their problem-solving skills by completing several short writing assignments (e.g., memos, essays, and multi-state performance tests (MPTs)) and multiple-choice questions. Students will also have the opportunity to complete both timed and untimed assessments throughout the semester.
This course is designed for second-year students. Third-year students interested in this course for its focus on sharpening the analytical and communication skills needed for success on the bar exam should consider Fundamentals of Bar Writing.
Course 316
2-hour simulation course
This course offers negotiation and mediation skills to prepare the student to properly represent clients in mediation. While students will likely gain insight into how the mediator conducts a mediation session, the goal of the course is lawyering skills in mediation, not skills as a mediator. This course will satisfy the Experiential Course requirement.
Prerequisites (Required): Professional Responsibility and Evidence, may be taken concurrently
3-hour simulation course
Appellate Advocacy is a writing skills course that builds on Legal Methods II. The course covers the basics of appellate advocacy: analyzing an issue on appeal, writing an appellate brief, and preparing and delivering an oral argument. The course offers instruction in brief writing through regular writing assignments, culminating in an appellate brief. It also offers instruction in how to prepare and deliver an oral argument. Students write a brief and give and judge oral arguments. Grades are based on the written work, oral arguments, and other aspects of class participation.
This course is integrated with the Advanced Moot Court Competition, although class members are not required to compete. The Advanced Moot Court problem will be the basis of class discussion. The Advanced Moot Court brief will be the draft brief for the course. Students will rewrite that brief for the final grade. The Advanced Moot Court Competition will give students the opportunity to practice their arguments for the final in-class argument. The course will be scheduled around the Advanced Moot Court Competition. Classes will focus on brief-writing until the Advanced brief is due. Classes from the time the brief is due until the competition starts will discuss an oral argument. The class will not meet during the Advanced Competition so students can devote their attention to competing. Students who complete the Advanced Moot Court Competition and one other competition are eligible for one credit in addition to the two credits for this course.
All students are highly encouraged to take this course to learn the basics of appellate advocacy and develop writing skills. This course is extremely important for students who wish to participate in moot court competition teams or become a member of the moot court board. This course satisfies the Experiential Course requirement.
This is a course to help graduating students prepare for the Bar Exam both by reviewing some substantive law and instructing on how successfully to navigate multiple choice, essay, and Multistate Performance Test questions. The class reviews up to three substantive areas of law. The subjects may vary from year to year but currently include Contracts, Torts, and/or Criminal Law. Students answer simulated multiple-choice and essay questions and receive regular feedback on their performance. There will be a graded mid-term exam, a graded Multistate Performance Test, and a final exam. This course is in addition to, not a substitute for, a summer bar preparation course.
Bioethics & the Law
Course 304
2-hour elective course
This course examines the legal pillars of contemporary medical ethics and, more broadly, "bioethics." It will focus particularly on [a] informed consent, [b] end of life, [c] medical research, and [d] the financial challenges of modern health care. The materials and discussion will emphasize the ways in which, historically, bioethics is rooted heavily in case law and the difficult human stories those cases addressed. They will also emphasize the day-to-day clinical realities that must be understood if difficult bioethical/legal questions are to be addressed insightfully and appropriately.
Course 211
3-hour required course
This course is a survey of state laws (including selected statutory provisions and
common law doctrines) applicable to partnerships, corporations, and limited liability
companies. In general, the course deals with the formation, operation, and dissolution
of these various types of business enterprises. The readings focus on the legal rights,
privileges, and obligations associated with the entities themselves, as well as with
their owners, directors, managers, and employees. Both doctrinal principles and policy
underpinnings will be explored and emphasized throughout the class. Although the broad
framework of business serves as a backdrop for the legal doctrine, the course is designed
to be accessible to students without a business background.
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3-hour required course
A subset of the above-listed topics is covered in Civil Procedure I (fall semester). Please check with the instructor for a list of the specific topics covered.
Course 124
2-hour required course
A subset of the above-listed topics is covered in Civil Procedure II (spring semester). Please check with the instructor for a list of the specific topics covered.
3-hour elective course
Prerequisite (Recommended): Criminal Procedure
This course examines core concepts of the Uniform Commercial Code, focusing on Sales (Article 2) and Secured Transactions (Article 9). Related areas of law (i.e., bankruptcy, consumer law, etc.) and aspects of commercial and business practices will be discussed as required. This course is intended to provide an overview of commercial law for students who will not be enrolling in both Sales and Secured Transactions, but who wish to obtain significant exposure to the structure and operation of the Uniform Commercial Code, as well as to fundamental commercial law and business practices.
Note: Students are only permitted to take two of the following three courses: Commercial Law, Sales, and Secured Transactions. Students may take both Sales and Secured Transactions to satisfy the Commercial Law Requirement. Students who have taken one of the three courses will only be permitted to take one of the remaining courses. For example, students who take both Secured Transactions and Sales to gain in-depth knowledge in both areas will not be permitted to take in Commercial Law. Similarly, students may take Commercial Law and either Sales or Secured Transactions, to gain in-depth knowledge about the chosen area, but will not be permitted to take both courses in addition to Commercial Law.
Course 324
3-hour elective
When an Arkansas driver is involved in an accident in Tennessee, which state's law applies? Are states ever required to recognize out-of-state divorces or apply foreign laws? When and how can contracting parties choose a particular set of laws to govern their relationship? This course will prepare you to address the issues that arise when a matter may be governed by more than one legal system. Particular areas of focus include horizontal (state-versus-state) choice-of-law approaches, constitutional limits on horizontal choices of law, recognition, and enforcement of out-of-state judgments, and vertical (federal-versus-state) conflicts.
Course 212
4-hour required course
3-hour required course/2-hour required course
Course 325
2- or 3-hour elective course
This course covers the subject matter of copyright, limitations on the subject matter of copyright, infringement of copyright, and defenses to infringement. This course will teach concepts fundamental to Copyright Law so that students will understand and be able to apply them to the analysis of issues arising in factual settings.
2-hour research/writing course
Prerequisite (Required): Business Organizations I
Course 126
3-hour required course
This course introduces students to the basic principles of substantive criminal law, the principles of criminal culpability, and the analysis of criminal statutes. Sources include the common law and the Model Penal Code. Topics include the criminal act, mens rea, homicide, attempt, complicity, conspiracy, and defenses. Its objective is familiarity with these sources and topics, and an ability to parse statutory language.
Course 223
3-hour required course
Course 326
2-hour elective course
Prerequisite (Recommended): Criminal Procedure I is recommended, but not required. Primarily statutory, but with some practice emphasis.
Prerequisite (Required): Secured Transactions
Course 213
3-hour course
Divorce Law Practicum
Course 305
3-hour skills course
The Divorce Law Practicum is a semester-long course designed to convey the essential principles, skills, and values that a lawyer must embrace and master in order to provide competent counsel in the practice of divorce law. Working in the context of a simulated case file and related mock writing and advocacy opportunities, students will consider the potential effects of the substantive law, procedural rules, and ethical guidelines, as well as the accepted customs and practices of lawyers. Designed for students who have completed the fundamental Family Law survey course, this 3-hour Divorce Law Practicum will closely examine the primary areas of divorce practice.
Prerequisite (Required): Civil Procedure and Family Law
Recommended: Trial Advocacy and Evidence
Course 374
3-hour elective course
Prerequisites (Required): First-year courses.
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Course 369
3-hour elective course
Course 328
3-hour elective course
3-hour elective course
Prerequisites (Required): Decedents' Estates
Course 221
4-hour required course
The Expungement and Restoration of Rights Clinic will introduce students to the theoretical and practical aspects of representing clients with legal needs arising from the collateral consequences of prior arrests and convictions. Under the supervision of licensed faculty, Clinic students will provide direct representation to individuals seeking: (1) expungement of criminal records: (2) court cost waivers in closed criminal matters; (3) restoration of citizenship/certificates of voter restoration; and (4) certificates of employability. Clinic students will concurrently complete a curriculum designed to provide training in the handling of expungement and restoration of rights cases, to expose students to the complex legal, policy, social, and economic issues faced by persons previously charged with or convicted of criminal offenses, and to enhance the vital lawyering skills students will use in their casework and in practice beyond.
The Clinic will emphasize team practice and collaboration, and, where possible, develop and seize on community partnerships to provide broadly focused, multi-systemic advocacy for Clinic clients.
Prerequisite(s): Professional Responsibility (may be taken concurrently)
Course 331
3-hour elective
Course 333
3-hour elective course
Fundamentals of Bar Exam Writing
Course Number: 714
2-hour elective course
Offered in the Fall semester; taken in 3L year.
The Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) requires examinees to know the rules of law, understand how the rules are applied to various hypotheticals, and effectively communicate their knowledge of the law and ability to apply it in writing. This course offers students a question-based approach to essay exams in the context of three substantive subjects. The subjects may vary from year to year but currently include Evidence, Agency/Partnership, and Real Property. This course will also review techniques and strategies for responding to different types of the Multistate Performance Test (MPT).
Gender & the Law Seminar
Course 496
2-hour research/writing course
This seminar is intended to provide students with an understanding of the evolution of LGBTQ+ rights in the United States by providing an overview of the laws, policies, and politics surrounding sexuality and gender. We will examine Supreme Court jurisprudence addressing LGBTQ+ constitutional issues including intimacy, liberty, and marriage. We will also explore federal court treatment of statutory discrimination protections based on sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation in the workplace, education, healthcare, and housing, among others. The class will focus on how social progress has impacted LGBTQ+ legal rights by considering the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community during the Twentieth Century, how the law has transformed, and why. This is a dynamic and rapidly-evolving area of law, and this course provides an overview of its evolution, ongoing changes, and likely future progression and challenges.
Along with the subject matter, as a seminar course, this class will also focus on further developing students’ legal research and writing skills and will satisfy Memphis Law’s Advanced Writing Requirement. Students will complete a detailed and comprehensive research memorandum addressing a related topic of their choice that will require students to practice and improve their research skills using a broad range of sources. Students will conduct research and analysis in order to write a detailed, comprehensive, clear, and concise research memorandum addressing their chosen legal issue. Finally, this class will require students to further develop their ability to orally articulate their research topic confidently & coherently.
This course satisfies the Advanced Research/Writing requirement.
Course 722
3-hour elective course
Course 214
3-hour elective
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Course 728
3-hour elective course
This course is only offered in the Spring of even years (e.g., Spring 2020, Spring 2022).
Course 339
3-hour elective course
Course 395
3-hour elective course
Course 399
3-hour elective course
This course consists of two parts. The first part introduces the student to the environments within which transnational business operations take place. Within this framework, a basic introduction to Public International Law will be followed by a concise examination of the leading institutions of the World Economic Environment such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. On the transactional level, the corporate actors in the transnational business environment will be introduced focusing on the special role of the multinational enterprise. A comparative law overview of transnational legal practice opportunities will lead to a more comprehensive discussion on international litigation strategies covering forum selection, choice of law, international commercial arbitration, and other practical private international law problems. The second part of this course presents problem exercises in transnational business, such as drafting and consulting on transnational sales, distributorship agreements, and licensing agreements.
International Economic Law
Course 397
3-hour elective course
Course 499
1-hour research/writing course
Students in the doctrinal International Economic Law course may concurrently enroll in International Economic Law – Writing. In this writing course, students will explore International Economic Law topics in greater depth through developing and completing a substantial scholarly research paper on a related topic and presenting their project to the students in the doctrinal course towards the end of the semester. This course will satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement.
Corequisite: International Economic Law
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Judicial Writing Seminar
Course 498
2-hour research/writing course
In this writing-intensive course, students will examine and practice the process of crafting the various documents a judicial clerk would likely be asked to produce for a judge. Although the course may be of particular interest to students who plan to serve as judicial clerks or who hope to one day become a judge, the ability to think and write “like a judge” is an asset to any lawyer. All students interested in judicial decision-making or legal writing more broadly will benefit from this course’s approach and its attention to the view “from the bench.” Writing assignments will include bench memos, trial court orders, and appellate opinions. Judges, law clerks, and other specialists may appear as guest speakers. This course will satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement.
This course is a study of labor relations law, with a special focus on federal statutes. Primary emphasis is placed on union organization, employer responses, union economic weapons (strikes, picketing, and boycotts), internal union discipline of members, collective bargaining, and the role of the National Labor Relations Board. The problems involved in balancing the interests of management and labor, the individual and the group and the state and federal governments will also be discussed.
Land Use Law
Course 344
2-hour elective course
Land use law governs the way our cities are developed and redeveloped. This two-hour course will focus on land use as practiced in Tennessee by examining pertinent case law, statutes, and legal concepts related to the fields of planning, zoning, and subdivision regulations. The course will also cover federal statutes that affect local zoning, including Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, as well as pertinent sections of the United States Constitution and the seminal opinions they have promulgated.
Law Review
Courses 913, 914, 915
3- or 4-hour research/writing course
Students are selected to become members of the Law Review through a "write-on" competition held in the summer after their first year. The anonymously graded competition requires students to write an analysis of a judicial opinion using sources provided by the Law Review Editorial Board and complete a legal citation (i.e., Bluebook) test. The top three students in each first-year section, as determined by GPA, are eligible to "grade on" to the Law Review, provided they participate in and complete the write-on competition with a good faith effort.
Second-year students earn 2 credit hours for writing their Note and performing assignments such as "Bluebooking" works that have been accepted for publication. The credit hours are awarded in the Spring semester upon approval of their Note by their Faculty Note Advisor. Successful completion of a Note satisfies the law school's upper-level writing requirement. Also in the Spring semester, second-year members are invited to apply and interview for Editorial Board positions during their third year.
Third-year students serve either on the Editorial Board or as senior staff members. Editorial Board members receive 2 credit hours in the Spring semester of their third year, while senior staff members receive 1 credit hour. Editorial Board members fulfill the responsibilities of their particular position. Staff members assist in editing, cite-checking, and other tasks assigned by the Editorial Board.
A minimum GPA of 2.50 is required to participate in the write-on competition and remain on the Law Review.
Course 347
2- or 3-hour research/writing OR simulation course
Course 513
2-hour simulation course
Course 597
2-hour simulation course
Course 113
3-hour required course
Course 123
2-hour required course
This elective course is designed to give students an overview of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 40 and Rule 40A and their governance of the role and duties of Guardians ad litem in both public and private cases. This course will also provide best practices to students who are interested in representing children in legal matters such that they can apply said techniques to their future careers as legal practitioners and better protect and promote the best interests of Tennessee’s children. This course satisfies the Experiential Learning requirement.
Pre- or Corequisite (Required): Family Law
Course 348
3-hour elective
This course is typically offered only in the Spring of odd years (e.g. Spring 2019, Spring 2021, etc.).
Many law school courses focus on judge-made law and appellate opinions. The vast majority of American law, however, is enacted law—statutory and regulatory law. This course is designed to teach students how legislatures enact law. Studying Article I of the U.S. Constitution as well as House and Senate standing rules, students explore how Congress is structured and how it operates to make law and policy. The course also discusses courts' relationship with statutory law and the canons of statutory construction. Finally, the course teaches students how to draft legislation—at the end of the term the class will sit as a mock legislature debating bills drafted by students.
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Students in the University of Memphis Mediation Clinic will study mediation from the inside out, analyzing in detail the communicative, strategic, and ethical dimensions of specific interventions that mediators make in the context of particular cases. The Clinic will primarily focus on the students as the mediators, but the students will also be asked to consider the issues from other points of view: as the disputant, as an attorney representing a client in mediation, and in the capacity of advising an organizational client about dispute resolution options. The Mediation Clinic has four primary components: (1) The training that is required by Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 before one may become listed as a Rule 31 General Civil Mediator; (2) Ongoing student observation of mediations conducted by Rule 31 Mediators in General Sessions Court cases, Federal Court cases, and other administrative proceedings; (3) Student participation as co-mediator (when available with clients' permission) with Rule 31 Mediators in Shelby County General Sessions Court cases (or other agencies); and (4) Weekly classroom seminar and participation in simulations designed to give students further training and feedback throughout the course of the semester.
Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic
Course 595
4-hour experiential course
Housed in both devoted hospital space and the law school Clinic offices, law students participating in the MLP Clinic provide legal assistance to the low-income patients of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and their families under the supervision of experienced MLP faculty, lawyers, and healthcare providers. Among other case-related assignments, MLP Clinic students conduct intake interviews, develop case strategies, conduct legal research, prepare legal documents, counsel clients, and provide representation in court and administrative proceedings pursuant to applicable student practice rules. Among other areas of focus, the MLP Clinic assists clients in cases involving housing and landlord-tenant issues, public benefits, public and private health insurance, wills and health power of attorneys, guardianships, conservatorships, and educational law services.
To complement their casework, Clinic students will participate in a weekly interdisciplinary classroom session designed to explore the legal work they are performing, the legal, policy, and ethical issues that affect patients' health, and the ways that health outcomes and health care access for low-income children can be enhanced by bringing health and legal professionals together. Throughout their Clinic semester, students have the opportunity to work collaboratively with the faculty and staff of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and to participate in joint class sessions with medical students and students from other health disciplines.
Prerequisites (Recommended/Preferred): Professional Responsibility and Evidence.
Course 301
2- or 3-hour elective
Prerequisite (Required): Business Organizations I.
Course 524
1-hour elective course
Advanced Trial Advocacy is a skills course for students participating on mock trial travel teams. It focuses on developing and enhancing the skills necessary to put on a basic trial. It is a non-classroom course and students should enroll during the semester in which they compete in an inter-school competition. Students are able to take the course more than once if they compete in more than one inter-school competition. The Director of Advocacy may award grades of Excellent, Pass, or Fail, based on the recommendation of the team's coach.
Course 811
1- or 2-hour elective
Course 523
1- or 2-hour elective course
Advanced Appellate Advocacy is a skills course for students participating on Moot Court Travel Teams. It focuses on developing and practicing skills in brief writing and oral advocacy. Students who both write a competition brief and argue orally are eligible for two credits. It is a non-classroom course and students should enroll during the semester in which they compete in an inter-school competition. Students are able to take the course more than once if they compete in more than one inter-school competition. The Director of Advocacy may award grades of Excellent, Pass, or Fail, based on the recommendation of the team's coach.
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National Security Law
Course 308
2-hour elective course
This course is designed for upper-level students, particularly those interested in employment opportunities in a significant number of positions with the U.S. Government, U.S. Military, or private practice. Major areas to be covered will include the constitutional and legislative framework for Presidential power and the powers of Congress, using armed force abroad, detaining "enemy combatants" (terrorist suspects), intelligence gathering, Homeland Security, and future threats to national security. Significant current events also will influence the scope of the course schedule.
Negotiation and Mediation
Course 317
2-hour simulation course
This course offers an introduction to negotiation theory and provides the opportunity to apply that theory in various negotiating contexts. Students will be exposed to basic concepts of principled and strategic negotiation and engage in in-class negotiating exercises. Students will also learn about the mediation process and how to negotiate effectively as advocates in mediation through role-playing in mock mediation exercises at the end of the semester. The course satisfies the Experiential Course requirement.
Neighborhood Preservation Clinic
Course 539
4-hour experiential course
In the Neighborhood Preservation Clinic, students represent the City of Memphis in lawsuits filed against badly neglected, vacant and abandoned properties. Clinic students investigate property ownership and conditions, communicate with field code enforcement professionals, prepare civil lawsuits alleging claims arising under the Tennessee Neighborhood Preservation Act (NPA), and handle all aspects of those lawsuits as they proceed in the Shelby County Environmental Court. Each Clinic student assumes the role of lead attorney for the NPA cases he or she is assigned during the academic semester. Clinic responsibilities include weekly appearances in the Environmental Court, during which students present at hearings and status updates, negotiate with opposing counsel and parties, and do all else that is necessary to move the lawsuits forward. To complement their casework, Clinic students participate in a weekly classroom session focused on the pervasive challenge of property vacancy and abandonment in Memphis. The seminar segment of the weekly class exposes the law students to substantive code enforcement and housing law, national models of legal strategies to address problem properties, practice, and procedure in the Shelby County Environmental Court, and the issues of ethics and professionalism that arise in the context of their cases. The seminar also includes a case rounds component, during which students engage in an ongoing dialogue about the challenges they are experiencing while managing Clinic's cases. This course will satisfy the Experiential Course requirement.
Course 370
3-hour elective course
This course covers the state law requirements regarding the organization and operation of nonprofit organizations. In addition, a heavy emphasis is placed on the federal income tax treatment of nonprofit organizations, including the requirements for obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status, the distinction between a public charity and a private foundation, the private foundation excise taxes, and the unrelated business income tax.
Prerequisites (Recommended): Income Tax and/or Business Organizations.
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The course focuses on the federal income tax aspects of partnership formation, operations, sales and exchanges of partnership interests, operating distributions, liquidations and S Corporations.
Prerequisite (Required): Basic Income Tax
Prerequisite (Recommended): Corporate Tax
Course 390
3-hour elective course
This course covers the substantive requirements for obtaining a patent on an invention and enforcing patent rights in federal court. Topics include patentable subject matter; utility; disclosure; novelty; nonobviousness; claim construction; infringement; defenses; and remedies. A technical background is not required for this course.
Course 412
2-hour research/writing course
This course may be offered as a seminar, which would satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement, or as a simulation course, which would satisfy the Experiential Learning Requirement. Refer to the course schedule to determine how the course is being offered in a given semester.
This course studies the history, evolution, and challenges associated with modern policing in the United States through a shared legal and criminological lens. It deals with fundamental issues concerning the relationship between the state and the individual and raises critical concerns about surveillance, force, racial justice, and basic civil liberties. Topics include police stops, frisks, searches, uses of force, examining various models of policing, and police culture. This course is an essential starting ground for anyone interested in practicing in the criminal justice space, be it direct services or law reform, but will be of interest to anyone concerned about some of the paramount issues of the day: community policing, police strategy, tactics, and oversight, excessive force cases, and qualified immunity. Active and retired law enforcement from across the country will participate in each class to share their professional experiences with the class and ensure that a practitioner’s perspective is incorporated into the course. When offered as a seminar, students will complete a substantial research paper, and the course will satisfy the Advanced Writing Requirement.
Distance Education Course: This course is offered in connection with the American Bar Association (ABA) Legal Education Police Practices Consortium. Participants will include law enforcement officers from around the country as well as students and faculty from other law schools. Most class sessions will meet via Zoom. Memphis Law students will also have some in-person meetings with the Memphis Law faculty member and other Memphis Law students.
Prerequisite: Criminal Procedure I
Course 353
3-hour simulation course
An intensive simulation course designed for students who plan to be civil litigators. Through a case file assigned at the beginning of the semester, students are encouraged to explore how lawyers strategically use each step in the pretrial litigation process to advance their clients' interests. Students will engage in a wide range of typical pretrial tasks as time and opportunity permit, such as analyzing the law and investigating the facts in the context of the assigned case file; drafting relevant pleadings; preparing and responding to discovery, including interrogatories and document requests; taking and defending depositions; briefing and arguing a pretrial motion; and engaging in settlement negotiations with an opposing party, all while maintaining client relations and expectations.
Course 224
2-hour required course
This course examines the institutions, rules, laws, and doctrines that regulate the practice of law. The course has a particular focus on the rules of professional conduct (aka ethics rules) but also explores broader topics, including admission to the bar, professionalism, and malpractice. The course will cover what the ethical rules permit, prohibit, and require as well as the practical, strategic, and moral concerns that influence the choices lawyers make. Almost all U.S. jurisdictions require that applicants for admission to the bar pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). Although this course is not designed as a mere MPRE prep course, it will undoubtedly help you prepare for the MPRE.
Property I
Course 115
3-hour required course
This is the first semester of the first-year property courses. Coverage in Property I and Property II includes personal property, private interests in land, and the sale of land. Objectives include mastery of principal concepts of acquisition, retention, and transfer of property rights.
Property II
Course 125
3-hour required course
This is the second semester of the first-year property courses. Coverage in Property I and Property II includes personal property, private interests in land, and the sale of land. Objectives include mastery of principal concepts of acquisition, retention, and transfer of property rights.
Public International Law
Course 340
3-hour elective course
Public international law is concerned with the law governing relations between States (i.e., U.S., China, Germany) as legal entities. This 3-hour course is not bar tested and is not a menu course, but it is an indispensable course for anyone who wants to understand global power structures. Week by week, we will cover a range of foundational doctrines in international law, including the doctrines of sources, jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, treaty law, and various remedial mechanisms and processes. While there are no prerequisites for the course, success in the course will require immersion in current events and heightened awareness of major global developments.
Race & the Law Seminar
Course 449
2-hour research/advanced writing course
This course will examine the role of race in American law and society. More specifically, it will analyze how the law conceptualizes racial issues and formulates answers to racial problems. The course will explore: 1) Slavery's legal treatment of enslaved Africans through the use of slave narratives as well as traditional case law; 2) the role of the legal conception of a "color-blind" society in pivotal Supreme Court decisions; 3) the consequences of the "Separate but Equal" doctrine in the Post-Emancipation era; 4) how the vestiges of Slavery's and Jim Crow's concepts of racial inferiority still prevail in current legal doctrines and 5) the legal issues present in the contemporary movement for Reparations. The primary aims of this seminar will be a) to encourage students to develop a critical perspective of American Jurisprudence and b) to inspire them to visualize ways in which the American legal system can be an efficient medium for social change. Students will write and present a substantial, publishable quality paper. This course satisfies the Advanced Research/Writing Requirement.
Course 358
2-hour elective course
This course covers transactional aspects of the buying, selling, and financing of real property including real estate contracts; title insurance, surveys, environmental issues, and other pre-closing due diligence; conveyance documents and settlement statements; mortgages and other real estate finance documents; foreclosures; bankruptcy and tax implications; and ethical considerations.
Remedies
Course 368
3-hour elective - Bar-Tested
This course studies the nature and measurement of the judicial remedies to which a party is entitled after establishing that a substantive right has been violated. It focuses on Coercive Remedies (injunctions, specific performance), Damages (compensatory, punitive), and Restitution.
Research I
Course 711
1-hour elective
Independent Research is intended to permit students with an avid interest in a particular topic to explore that topic at length through a research paper written under the supervision of a faculty member. Accordingly, it is contemplated that students will generate the topic based on the student's interests and then complete the research paper and associated work product (e.g., outlines, and drafts) in accordance with the schedule provided by the supervising faculty member. It is not the purpose of Independent Study to enable a student to fill a gap in the student's schedule or to satisfy graduation requirements. To enroll in this course, a student must obtain the permission of a supervising faculty member, who shall be a full-time, tenured, or tenure-track faculty member, and the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. The necessary permission form is available from the Registrar. The student must submit the fully executed permission form to the Registrar and enroll in the course on or before the course add deadline.
Sales
Course 359
This course covers Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, along with many of the general provisions of Article 1.
Prerequisites (Recommended): Contracts I and II
Course 222
3-hour elective
Securities Regulation
Course 361
3-hour elective course
This course considers the federal regulation of public and private offerings of securities to investors under the Securities Act of 1933 and the federal regulation of fraudulent misrepresentation in connection with the purchase or sale of securities under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The course also covers the law of insider trading.
This seminar examines current topics in sports law with a focus on (1) legal issues facing college athletics and (2) representing the professional athlete or coach. Students will write and present a substantial, publishable quality paper. This seminar satisfies the Advanced Research/Writing requirement.
This course examines tools of researching and advising in written form about tax law; the course will involve 2-person teams preparing to enter the ABA Tax Section Tax Challenge (attorney memo and client letter). Students will be expected to prepare at least one practice attorney memo and a client letter. This course satisfies the Experiential Course requirement.
This is the first of two first-year Torts courses. Torts addresses civil wrongs, other than breaches of contract, for which the law provides a monetary remedy. Coverage includes basic intentional torts (battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, trespass to land, trespass to chattels, and conversion) and the privileges or defenses to the intentional torts. However, much of Torts is devoted to the broad tort of negligence. Simplistically, negligence law is the study of liability for accidental injuries. Other topics that may be covered include strict liability (of which products liability is the largest component), wrongful death, tort damages, business torts, defamation, and privacy.
Torts II
Course 122
3-hour required course
This is the second of two first-year Torts courses. Torts addresses civil wrongs, other than breaches of contract, for which the law provides a monetary remedy. Coverage includes basic intentional torts (battery, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, trespass to land, trespass to chattels, and conversion) and the privileges or defenses to the intentional torts. However, much of Torts is devoted to the broad tort of negligence. Simplistically, negligence law is the study of liability for accidental injuries. Other topics that may be covered include strict liability (of which products liability is the largest component), wrongful death, tort damages, business torts, defamation, and privacy.
Trial Advocacy
Course 516
3-hour skills/simulation course
Trial Advocacy is a simulation course wherein students will learn about the various phases of jury trial in civil and/or criminal contexts, as well as the differences between jury and non-jury trials. Students will simulate jury selection, opening statements, direct and cross-examinations, and closing arguments, and will learn how to introduce exhibits, present expert testimony, raise and respond to objections, and deal with problem witnesses. Students will have weekly simulation assignments and, in most sections, will conduct a full trial at the end of the semester. This course satisfies the Experiential Course requirement.
Course 392
2-hour elective course
A comprehensive, theoretical study of the law of trusts, including the history, the necessary elements of a trust, beneficiary rights, Trust administration, trustee roles, and liability.
Prerequisites (Required): Decedents' Estates
Prerequisites (Recommended): Estate Planning
The course will examine U.S. tax rules applicable to business and investment activities of foreign individuals and corporations in the United States (“inbound transactions”) and U.S. tax rules applicable to U.S. taxpayers who invest and conduct business abroad (“outbound transactions”. Specific topics will include sourcing and characterization of items of income and deductions, the branch profits tax, foreign investment in U.S. real estate, the foreign tax credit, property transfers, controlled foreign corporations, and U.S. tax treaties. Federal Taxation of Business Entities is a prerequisite but it may be taken concurrently.
Prerequisite (Required): Basic Income Tax
Prerequisite (Recommended): Partnership Tax
Electives & Specialized Areas of Study
Memphis Law's curriculum provides many elective courses which cover a wide range of substantive legal knowledge and lawyering skills. The upper-level curriculum permits students to take courses in specialty areas of law, develop fundamental lawyering skills, and concentrate their legal education in particular areas of interest. These elective courses are listed by basic specialty areas.
Effective July 2026, the subjects tested on the Bar Exam will change. An additional change will occur in July 2028. To the extent these changes impact the courses listed below, the impact is identified in brackets after the subject name.
The following courses directly correspond to subjects tested on the Bar Exam:
Business Organizations
Civil Procedure I/II
Commercial Law (covers Sales & Secured Transactions) [Secured Transactions will NOT be tested effective
July 2026.]
Contracts I/II
Conflicts
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure I
Decedents' Estates [Decedents' Estates will NOT be tested effective July 2026.]
Evidence
Family Law [Family Law will NOT be tested from July 2026 to February 2028. Family
Law will return as a testable subject in July 2028.]
Remedies
Property I/II (Real Property is tested on the Bar.)
Sales
Secured Transactions [Secured Transactions will NOT be tested effective July 2026.]
Torts I/II
The following courses directly correspond to skills tested on the Bar Exam:
Bar Exam Preparation
Fundamentals of Bar Exam Writing
Legal Methods I/II
Other electives will also provide exposure to Bar-tested subject matter. For example,
constitutional law is Bar-tested, so electives that address constitutional law in
specific contexts will provide additional exposure (e.g., Administrative Law). Similarly,
some courses will take a deep dive into Bar-tested subject matter that is covered
more narrowly in one of the courses listed above. For example, trust law is Bar-tested
(through Feb. 2026). Decedent's Estates provides some coverage of trust law, but
the Trust Law course takes a deep dive and covers more material. Review the course
descriptions for additional information.
Commercial Law
Bankruptcy Externship
Commercial Law
Debtor-Creditor
Sales
Secured Transactions
Constitutional Law
Administrative Law
Civil Rights
Education & Civil Rights
Federal Courts
Legislation
Corporate/Business Law
Business Organizations
Mergers & Acquisitions
Securities Regulation
Secured Transactions
[See Business Law Certificate for additional related courses.]
Domestic Relations Law
Divorce Law Practicum
Family Law
Legal Representation and Advocacy for Children
Elder Law
Estate Planning
Trust Law
Health Law
Administrative Law
Health Law Survey
Intellectual Property Survey
Patent Law
[See Health Law Certificate for additional related courses.]
Copyright
Patent Law
International and Comparative Law
Public International Law
Immigration Law
International Business Transactions
International Economic Law
International Economic Law - Writing
Jurisprudence, Interdisciplinary Study and Public Policy
Education/Civil Rights
Health Law Survey
Police Policy, Practices & Law
Race & the Law Seminar
Race & the Law Seminar
Labor and Employment Law
Fair Employment Practices
Labor Law
NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) Externship
Lawyering Skills Practice
ADR-Mediation
Negotiation and Mediation
Advanced Appellate Advocacy
Appellate Advocacy
Criminal Justice Externship
Divorce Law Practicum
Judicial Externship
Legal Argument and Appellate Practice
Legal Ethics Seminar
Legal Representation and Advocacy for Children
Legislation
Memphis Area Legal Services Externship
Pretrial Litigation
Professional Responsibility
Trial Advocacy
U.S. Attorney Externship
Procedure/Civil and Criminal
Conflicts
Criminal Procedure II
Federal Courts
Remedies
Real Estate/Environmental Law
Environmental Law
Land Use Planning
Realty Transactions
Taxation
Corporate Tax
Income Tax
Non-Profit Organization Tax
Partnership Tax
Torts/Product Liability Law
Insurance Law
Information Privacy Law
Medical Malpractice Law
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Experiential Learning Requirement
Students matriculating after August 1, 2016, are required to satisfactorily complete
one or more experiential course(s) totaling at least six (6) credit hours, including
a minimum of one clinic course or externship. In addition to clinics and externships,
the courses that qualify as experiential courses are below. See Academic Regulation
16.c.
ADR: Mediation (2 Credits)
Advanced Criminal Prosecution (1 Credit; Spring Break Intersession only)
Appellate Advocacy (3 Credits)
Clinics - Varied (2-3 Credits)
Divorce Law Practicum (3 Credits)
Externships - Varied (2-3 Credits)
Legal Argument and Appellate Practice (3 Credits)
Legal Drafting: Contracts (2 Credits)
Legal Drafting: Litigation (2 Credits)
Legal Representation & Advocacy for Children (3 Credits)
Negotiation & Mediation (2 Credits)
Pretrial Litigation (3 Credits)
Tax Lawyering (2 Credits)
Trial Advocacy (3 Credits)
Upper-level Research/Writing Requirement: A student must satisfactorily complete a course that satisfies the Upper-level Research/Writing Requirement.
- Legal Argument and Appellate Practice
- Successful completion of the Law Review Note
- Seminars