In “Trade Secrets: History, Theory, and Practice,” students learn the ins and outs of the body of law that protects trade secrets, such as the formula to Coca-Cola and the composition of Zildjian cymbals. Todd Sloan of Hill, Farrer & Burill teaches the course, which is worth two credits and meets four days per week for a month.
“The course deals with unpatented, protected, scientific and proprietary information,” Sloan said. “It exposes the student first to some of the earliest trade secret cases in American jurisprudence, which relate back to some English jurisprudence. It then moves forward to study the statutory framework which has been enacted both by the federal government and states to protect confidential and proprietary information.”
In “Real World Challenges and Pitfalls of the Lawyer for the Corporation,” students spend eight days learning from former Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey. Now a senior partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Veasey instructs students on the role of corporate lawyers.
“It focuses on corporate governance, how to advise the board of directors and the senior management on corporate law and corporate governance to do the right thing. IT also involves how the lawyer should do the right thing in terms of her ethics, tone at the top, presentations and following up on what needs to be done in corporate America today.”
The Law School prides itself on providing learning experiences that stretch beyond the classroom and give students practical experience and insight into the way the law functions.
Principles and Practice Program
Virginia’s Principles and Practice Program, a major curricular innovation that is the first of its kind in the country, is designed to give students the opportunity to apply legal theory in real-life situations. The program teams law professors with practitioners, judges, and other distinguished professionals for a semester or more. Lauded by students and practitioners alike, the program melds the insights of theory with those of contemporary practice, giving students a more sophisticated and useful understanding of a field than either perspective can yield on its own.
Principles and Practice Courses
Short Courses
In addition its regular semester- or year-long courses, the Law School offers a variety of intensive short courses that allow students to focus on specific subjects ranging from Islamic Law to the finance of small enterprises. Often taught by practicing lawyers, these courses allow students to spend anywhere from a few days to a few weeks studying real-world problems with some of the top practitioners and scholars in the field.
Short Courses, 2006-09:
Advanced Public Speaking
Art Law
Commercial Law in the Context of the People's
Republic of China
Comparative Democratic Constitutionalism
Comparative Federalism
Comparative Labor Law
Constructing the Deal: Selected Topics in Corporate
Acquisitions
Critical Race Theory: Problems in Anti-Discrimination Law
Death Penalty: An International Perspective
Ethics, Integrity, and Avoiding "Club Fed"
European Legal Systems
European Union Law
Federal Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Origins, Limits
and Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion
Finance of Small Enterprises
French Public and Private Law
Genetics and the Law
Globalization and International Civil Litigation
Governance and Control of the Multinational Business
Enterprise
Health Care Structure and Financing
Innovative Contracting
International Banking Transactions
International Deal Making: Legal and Business Aspects
International Law in Constitutional Jurisdiction:
A Comparative Perspective
International Litigation of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
Islamic and Middle Eastern Law
Japanese Constitution and its American Legacy
Launchng the Enterprise: Selected Topics in the Start-Up of a Biotechnology Company
Law and Technology Policy
Laws of War and the Civil War
Medical Care for Children: Law, Economics, and Health Policy
Mergers and Acquisitions: Corporate Finance Perspectives
Modern American Legal Thought: A Historical Introduction
Nationalism and Cultural Identity
Negotiation Institute
Oral Presentations Outside the Courtroom
Private Equity: Inside and Out
Punishment in Law and Culture
Race and Politics
Race, Inequality, and Economics
Real World Challenges and Pitfalls of the Lawyer for the Corporation
Rhetoric
Rights, Bills of Right, Constitutions: Britain Begins to Emulate the United States
Statutory Interpretation
Taxation and Economic Development
The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and Mass Torts: Aberration or Precedent?
Trade Secrets: History, Theory, and Practice
Trial Advocacy College
United Kingdom and Europe: A Changing Legal Scene
White Collar Crime