This upper level legal skills development course is intended to provide the student with an understanding of the contexts in which family conflict arises, the various legal and practical issues in play when families disintegrate, and with in-depth training in the skills that a mediator might employ to help the divorcing parties resolve their differences.  The course exposes the student to relevant factors and normative approaches used by courts in dividing property, determining child support, custody, visitation, and spousal support among other issues, while recognizing that parties in mediation are empowered to reach their own agreements with the aid of the mediator.  Role playing exercises are used to integrate theory with practice.

This course will examine the relationship of federal courts to other organs of federal government and to the states, including an analysis of congressional control over jurisdiction; federal review of state court decisions; the relationship between state and federal substantive and procedural law; the scope of federal questions and diversity of citizenship jurisdiction in federal courts; abstention; federal injunctions of state criminal proceedings; and problems of justiciability and mootness.

Federal Indian Law will examine the allocation of sovereignty between the United States, Indian tribes and the states. It will include a review of some of the major cases, statutes, federal policies and historical practices that have governed the field. The course will take a particular look at the allocation of sovereignty in Rhode Island and will discuss issues raised by Carcieri v. Salazar, a recent U.S. Supreme Court case involving the Narragansett Indian Tribe and the State of Rhode Island. The course will be taught by Claire Richards, former legal counsel to Governors Lincoln Almond and Donald Carcieri

This course combines what has traditionally been taught in two separate courses on Pretrial Practice and Trial Advocacy. The idea behind this course is that federal litigation must be viewed holistically, meaning with an understanding and appreciation for the reality that litigation, from the filing of a complaint through trial, is an integrated process that begins with a well-pled complaint, proceeds through discovery, often involves substantive and dispositive motion practice, and ends (if it is not resolved earlier) at trial. The course is a full year long in order to mimic the actual life cycle of a case in federal court. Students will work on an actual case by drafting pleadings, taking/defending depositions, filing and arguing at least one dispositive motion, and ultimately trying the case before a judge and jury. In addition, throughout the year, students will receive lectures, practice exercises, and guest lectures on key aspects of litigation, including complaint drafting, deposition skills, settlement process and strategy, and trial tactics. This course will be taught primarily by a seasoned litigator and a faculty member, both of whom have practiced in federal court. The students will be split into teams and each team with have a lawyer-coach assigned to assist them. Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island will attend a limited number of the class sessions and preside over some courtroom activities, as his schedule permits