Our Northern California law school offers a number of elective courses for you to choose from.

In order to provide the best law degree program possible to students, Empire College has built an impressive curriculum of electives that help students specialize in unique sectors of the legal field.

Our elective course list has notable entries including Disability Law, which allows students to work at an actual law clinic benefiting the disabled; Environmental Law/Negotiations Competition, which allows students to debate and negotiate one of today's hottest political topics in front of legal professionals and judges; Intellectual Property Law, which introduces students to a recent resurgence of issues involving digital copying and fair use standards; and our Clinical Education Program, also known as a professional externship at a local law firm.

C507 Administrative Law (3 units)
The course looks at the scope and effect of agency decisions and the availability of judicial review. Agencies are the 4th branch of government. They legislate and adjudicate. They impact almost everything you do in your daily life. While the text deals with federal agencies, lectures and guest speakers discuss state and local agencies. Past speakers included administrative law judges, the County Planning Commissioner, a cable television lobbyist and an official from the County Air Pollution Control District.

C518 Advanced Criminal Procedure (3 units)
This course will give students an understanding of the practice of criminal law in the California courts. Both prosecution and defense issues will be covered. The course is presented to give students the skills necessary to go into court and litigate criminal cases.

C501 Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Survey (2 units)
The purpose of this course is to give students an understanding of various dispute resolution processes which have come to be described under the umbrella term “alternative dispute resolution.” Primary emphasis is on arbitration and mediation techniques in the context of those fields most familiar to practicing lawyers. Comparisons are made to standard civil litigation methods as a way to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each process, much as a lawyer would want to do in advising a client. As time permits, consideration is also given to the general question of the role of the law in shaping and promoting these dispute resolution techniques.

C545 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (2 units)
This course will cover Title I (employment), Title II (State and Local Government Services), Title III (Public Accommodations), Title IV (Telecommunications) and Title V (Miscellaneous) of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as its relationship with California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

C551 Appellate Practice (2 units)
This course presents a basic outline of appellate practice, touching on the nature and function of appellate courts, the technical prerequisite for an appeal, and the process of perfecting an appeal. The overall aim is to distinguish between making a record in the trial court and the appellate court’s limited power of review. At the end of the course, the student should have a clear idea of the kinds of issues that are susceptible to appeal and the care the trial attorney must take to preserve an appropriate record for an appeal.

S445 Bankruptcy/Debtor-Creditor Law (3 units)
Rights and duties of consumer credit grantors and consumer debtors; fair credit reporting; fair debt collection practices and consumer remedies. Creation, scope and administrative function of federal debtor proceedings and arrangements; wage earner plans; insolvency proceedings.

C530 Civil Rights Legislation (2 units)
This course is designed to introduce students to basic constitutional principles as they are applied in discrimination litigation. The course explores how specific constitutional imperatives–such as those set forth in the 14th Amendment–are litigated in State and Federal Court, through use of legislation passed by Congress to enforce the Constitution.

P301 Clinical Education Program
The Clinical Education Program is an elective class that enables academically qualified third and fourth-year students the opportunity to gain clinical “hands-on” experience and units of credit working in the legal field. This type of program is also referred to as an externship. Students participating in the Program provide various services to clients under the supervision of a practicing lawyer. Through this program, the research and writing skills of the student are evaluated and developed. Students are given guidance so that they may learn the quality of work demanded of a competent practitioner working in the area of law involved. Participating students have the option to register with the California State Bar through the Practical Training of Law Students Program, in order to make court appearances on a client’s behalf.

C554 Disability Law Clinic (3 units)
Six law students are invited to work in the Disability Law Clinic, the area’s primary resource for information and representation on the law as it pertains to people with disabilities, under the supervision of an attorney. Each student will be assigned several cases on which they will participate in all areas of case development from client interviews to court appearances. The cases assigned will all be in the area of Administrative Law. In addition to their work in the Law Clinic, students will attend a class in Administrative Law as it relates to Disability Practice. Class discussion will incorporate issues raised in the text, student experience with the Law Clinic, and current developments in Administrative Law.

C535 Discovery Workshop (3 units)
Most litigators spend the majority of their time engaging in discovery. This semester-long workshop not only discusses strategic considerations and discovery tactics, but involves a great deal of hands-on experience. Students will be conducting discovery in a mock lawsuit, which will include taking depositions in the presence of court reporters. The sessions will also be video taped.

C515 Elder Law (2 units)
This course takes an in-depth look at what may well be one of the most hotly debated issues facing our country today – the providing of opportunities, benefits, and care for an ever-increasing aging population. The course will examine such diverse programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and The Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Senior housing, long-term care, elder abuse and neglect, conservatorships, powers of attorney, right to die laws, and estate planning for elderly clients will also be studied as part of the course.

C552 Elder Law Clinic (2 units)
This class provides students with real life client counseling opportunities with elderly persons. The clinic allows students to interact with clients, provide advice, follow-up, and direct clients to legal and non-legal resources. Students will draft legal documents and correspondence under the supervision of a practicing attorney. The clinic will provide the public with free legal advice.

C516 Employment Law (3 units)
This course surveys employment law from its inception in English common law through the most recent developments in “at-will” employment and discrimination. State case law and portions of the Labor Code will also be addressed.

C503 Environmental Law (3 units)
A survey of legal principles and policies relating to protection and enhancement of the physical environment. Particular attention will be given to common law doctrines and public rights and remedies; federal and state control programs for the field of air pollution, water pollution, noise, solid waste management, fish and wildlife resources; planning for federal, state and local administrative agencies.

P601/602 Environmental Negotiations Competition (2 units)
Each year students have an opportunity to compete in a statewide competition analyzing and negotiating an environmental problem. Students work in teams of two and must research and prepare arguments to resolve a lawsuit pertaining to environmental issues designed by the Environmental Section of the State Bar of California. The competition is structured and scored by practicing attorneys, professional mediators, and judges who are experts in the area of environmental law.

S325 Family Law (2 units)
Practical and theoretical problems affecting the family: marriage, divorce, adoption, legitimacy, child custody, and parental obligations and rights.

C548 Federal Indian Law (3 units)
The course is designed to introduce students to the principal doctrines and rules governing the legal and political relationships between American Indian tribes and the United States Government.

C524 Health Care Law (2 units)
The health care industry consumes a considerable portion of our gross national product. This course examines the various fields of law that combine to form the overall legal framework for health care decision making and focuses on the relationship between law, medicine, and health care providers.

C539 History of Law (3 units)
An introductory survey of legal history and comparative systems of law, including discussion of principal legal traditions, with the aid of understanding foreign legal cultures, and the sources and historical elements in our own system of law.

C541 Immigration Law Clinic (2 units)
The immigration law clinic is designed to provide students with hands-on, practical experience working on U visa cases for victims of crime. Under the supervision of the professor, students will be responsible for all aspects of case management for the clients assigned to them. Responsibilities include performing client interviews, conducting legal analysis, gathering evidence, drafting and filing applications, and maintaining client correspondence. Students are expected to adhere to the rules of professional conduct at all times. This includes maintaining client confidentiality, interacting respectfully with clients, and pursuing all casework in a diligent and timely manner.

C508 Insurance Law (3 units)
A survey of the basic legal aspects of insurance law, including principles of insurable interests, problems of contract formation and interpretation and application for standard policy provisions in various types of coverage. Attention is also given to principles of indemnity, subrogation, and determination and control of the risk transferred from insured to carrier.

C513 Intellectual Property Law (3 units)
Course includes an overview of the intellectual property field including patents, trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition, trade secrets, employer-employee relationships, the transfer of intellectual property rights, and the general application of anti-trust and misuse doctrines to such rights.

C540 Juvenile Law (3 units)
This course will provide an overview of the juvenile justice system in our society with a focus on the distinguishing features of the roles played by the court, probation, prosecution, and defense. The parallel constitutional procedures and substantive rights guaranteed to minor defendants, as well as the contrast between those not afforded juveniles, will be explored, including the policy decisions therefore. The course covers the legislative rationale for the different treatment afforded minors and how that attitude has undergone recent changes culminating in legal modifications. Students will be prepared for eventual law practice by being able to identify factors which will lead to an appropriate resolution and methods to develop alternatives to disposition.

C522 Law Office Management (2 units)
This class discusses the financial and administrative aspects of owning and operating a law practice. Students learn to use computer programs for calendaring, docketing, client billing, litigation support, and document preparation.

P201/202 Law Review (2 units)
Second-, third- and fourth-year students may apply to become a member of the Empire College School of Law Law Review. Successful applicants will have an opportunity to research and potentially publish an article analyzing and commenting on current legal issues of significant importance. Student authors will work under the guidance of an editorial board and faculty advisor.

C527 Legal Skills (2 units)
This course will enhance students' writing and analytical skills, develop practical skills, and assist in preparation for the Bar Exam. Students will take five past performance exams under three-hour exam conditions. These exams will be reviewed and discussed in detail. Students will also take and discuss past essay questions.

P503 Moot Court Competition (3 units)
This program provides a team of three law students to represent Empire College School of Law in the annual Roger Traynor Moot Court Competition. Under the guidance of faculty coaches, the team will research and write an appellate brief analyzing an actual case before the California Appellate Courts. After submitting their written brief, the team will participate in oral arguments before appellate judges and attorneys. Empire Law School has a tradition of excellence and success in this statewide competition.

C555 Notable Cases of the 20th Century (2 units)
We will analyze and discuss notable trials. Throughout the ages, trials have reflected the culture and values of the society in which they took place. Analysis of the facts, legal issues, societal interest and rules help us understand the considerations giving rise to what are often controversial and influential results. Twenty cases will be discussed including Sacco and Vanzetti, Scopes, The Scottsboro Boys, The Nuremberg Trial, Martin Luther King, Jack Ruby, Daniel Ellsberg, and Larry Flynt. We will conclude with a comparison of the impeachment trials of Andrew Johnson and William Clinton. Each student will be asked to write a paper on one case.

C559 Restorative Justice (2 units)
The course is designed to provide students an understanding of Restorative Justice and its practical application in the United States and throughout the world. The class will focus on the historical basis of the idea and its evolution to the present. There will be an examination of programs utilizing the concepts of Restorative Justice including; courts, corrections, probation departments and non-profit agencies. The impact on the juvenile court system, probate, civil and criminal courts will be discussed. The progress of the idea as well as the obstacles confronted will be analyzed.

C557 Self-Help Access Center (SHAC) (2 units)
This clinic provides students working with self-represented litigants. Most cases are in the areas of family law and landlord tenant law. SHAC offers free legal services to persons who have a related case in Sonoma County. Students will meet individually with parties and assist them with all aspects of their family law needs: divorce, paternity, custody, support. Students will learn Legal Solutions, Disso Master, drafting of pleadings and local court practices. A supervising attorney will oversee the work.

C502 Trial Practice (3 units)
The course considers litigation problems – practical, legal and ethical – that confront a trial lawyer. Emphasis is given to techniques of client interviewing and investigation, both informal and by use of statutory discovery procedures and pleading. The student gains classroom experience in trial procedures from voir dire examination, opening statements, direct and cross examination through final argument.

C546 U.S. Supreme Court (3 units)
Judicial Activists vs. Status Quo, 1939-1980: The student learns and gains understanding as to why the Court changed its course during these years based upon economic, social, political, and environmental realities; the nature of historic changes that occurred during these years; the legal process and the constitution and the federal system.

C549 Wine Law (2 units)
Designed to develop a general understanding of “agribusiness” with an emphasis on the wine industry.

To see a complete list of our law courses with descriptions, please click here. By doing so, you will open a PDF file of our course descriptions. It will open in a new window.