East Asian Legal Studies Center

Course Development

The Center has been instrumental in having several new courses added to the Law School’s curriculum. Some courses are specifically designed for Legal Institutions students and other international graduate students, while others are for both Legal Institutions and JD students. Information about the availability of these courses during specific semesters at the Law School, course descriptions, and exam schedules can be found on the Law School's Courses and Schedules website.

Offerings this spring include:

CHINESE LAW, taught by Prof. John Ohnesorge (Law 940, sec. 14)

This seminar is designed to give students an appreciation of the role of law in Chinese society, in the past, and today. We begin the seminar with an examination of law in traditional Chinese society, which constituted perhaps the world's most influential alternative to the Western legal tradition. We then look briefly at past efforts to "modernize" Chinese law, during the Republican period before 1949, and during the influence of Soviet law after 1949. The remainder of the semester will be spent on China's current efforts to establish a legal system, focusing on topics such as constitutional law and human rights, intellectual property law, environmental law, or corporate law. The exact topics covered will depend upon students' interests. Students will write papers, and will present those papers to the class during the last few sessions. Grading will be on the basis of the papers and the presentations.

Legal Issues Involving North America and East and Southeast Asia (Law 872). The topics covered in this seminar vary yearly depending on the interests of individual students who report on their research topics in the second half of the course. The course typically includes a cross-cultural negotiations component. Offered in the spring semester for Legal Institutions master's and JD students. Taught by Charles Irish. (2 cr.)

Introduction to American Law (Law 601). An overview of American legal institutions and basic areas of American law. Offered in the fall semester for Legal Institutions students and foreign and American graduate students. (A required course for MLI students.) Taught by Charles Irish this spring. (3 cr.) [pictured below, Professor Church, who teaches the class in the fall semester.]

Legal Issues Involving North America and East and Southeast Asia (Law 872). The topics covered in this seminar vary yearly depending on the interests of individual students who report on their research topics in the second half of the course. The course typically includes a cross-cultural negotiations component. Offered this spring for Legal Institutions master's and JD students. Taught by Charles Irish. (2 cr.)

Legal Sources (Law 602). An introduction to common law analysis and American legal research sources. Emphasis is on the use of American cases in legal problem solving. Includes an overview of plagiarism concerns and citation and attribution conventions. This course is required for Legal Institutions students. Taught in the spring by Jessica Harrison; taught in the fall by Jessica Harrison and Susan Katcher. (3 cr.)

Legal Writing for Legal Institutions Masters Students (Law 603). Research, organization, and writing process of an inter-office memorandum, client letter, and brief to the court. Discussion of objective and subjective writing. This course is especially helpful for Legal Institutions master's students who will be taking a bar examination, as well as those working in a law office or going into another master's program. The course is also generally helpful for the taking of law school exams. Limited enrollment. This course is also open to LLM and SJD students upon the recommendation of their advisors. Spring semester. Taught by Jessica Harrison and Susan Katcher. (3 cr.)

Library Enhancement

The Law Library has a collection of over 525,000 volumes, has reference librarians who assist students, and houses the Law School’s computer laboratory. The Center provides continuing support for the acquisition of new books, periodicals, and other reference materials related to the laws of East Asian and Southeast Asian countries.