Course Schedule

Texas Civil Procedure is an advanced litigation course focusing on the Texas Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure. The course covers pretrial, trial, and appellate procedure in Texas state courts. Unlike first-year Civil Procedure, which focuses on the federal rules and basic concepts, Texas Civil Procedure studies the distinctive Texas rules from an advanced perspective. If you are planning a litigation practice in Texas, this course is essential. The course also helps you prepare for the civil procedure portions of the Texas bar exam. Students may find it helpful to take the course during their second year, before their summer work experience and before they take advanced advocacy courses.

This course divides the semester into roughly four parts.  In the first quarter of the semester, we start by examining oil production, globally, within OPEC and OPEC+, the US, and particularly in Texas.  We will discuss the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), its constitutional and statutory underpinnings, along with noteworthy Texas Supreme Ct. cases involving the RRC and important oil, natural gas, and pipeline-related issues.  We finish this section by examination of interesting RRC rules and orders, including those related to disposal wells, production sharing agreements/allocation wells, spacing rules, and the Mineral Interest Pooling Act. Finally, we will examine Opiela v. Railroad Commission of Texas, No. 23-0772, Petition for Review at SCOTX. 

The second quarter of the semester explores energy delivery in Texas, particularly regulated transmission and distribution (TDU) electric utilities and natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs). We examine the elements of a successful rate case and review numerous cases examining Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and RRC, treatment of various elements of a rate case. We'll also examine the competitive electric market in ERCOT, and discuss several court cases arising from the events of Winter Storm Uri, including Luminant v. Public Utility Commission of Texas, No. 23-0231, decided by SCOTX 6/14/24, and ERCOT v. Panda Power, No. 22-0196, and CPS v. ERCOT, SCOTX opinion delivered 6/23/23.

In the third quarter, we will discuss renewable energy infrastructure development in Texas, and examine a major transmission development Docket No. 38354, the "Hill Country CREZ line." We'll also discuss the potential for geothermal energy development in Texas.

The final quarter of the semester will focus on federal cases related to energy and the environment.  In particular, we will examine the role of Chevron deference (Chevron v. NRDC, 467 U.S. 837, 1984),  as interpreted by past and present Supreme Courts, in federal agency (i.e. EPA) decision making, including the recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, SCOTUS decision.   

We may occasionally have guest lecturers from the RRC, PUCT, and ERCOT. 

Your performance in this course will be evaluated on the basis of an open book, take home, mid-term exam (administered over spring break), a closed book, take home, final exam (administered during finals weeks, with 24 hours to compete), and in-class active participation; the percentages are 30%, 60% and 10%, respectively.  There is no textbook for this class.  Reading assignments and discussion material will be posted on Canvas in advance of the pertinent class. You should assume that the reading requirement is moderate.  No more than two absences will be allowed (without express prior approval of the instructor.)  

This course provides an overview of Texas Marital Property Law with a focus on practical aspects of representation during a divorce. Substantive topics include characterization, valuation, and division of the marital estate at the time of divorce, along with marital property agreements such as Premarital Agreements, Partition or Exchange Agreements, and Separate Property Conversion Agreements.

Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs is a university-wide initiative to accelerate startups in taking their innovations to market while transforming graduate students into entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The TVL Practicum is a cross-disciplinary networking and learning program that connects graduate students interested in entrepreneurship with Texas-based startup companies. Students participate in semester-long consulting projects solving important problems alongside the company’s founders in a hands-on approach using the academic foundations of entrepreneurship and business modeling. Students learn valuable skills such as project management, client relations, team collaboration, market validation, competitive research, price modeling and business analysis.

This course is for students who have completed the interview process and have been selected to participate in the TVL Practicum. The interview process is mandatory and instructor permission is required to take this course. Full course requirements and qualifications will be reviewed with students during information sessions prior to the interview process each semester.

This is a full semester course that can only be taken for a grade. The course requires meeting during the scheduled class time and work to be conducted in between classes. For more information and details on the interview process for this course, visit the website (https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/Centers/Texas-Venture-Labs/Students).

Class Description

This class should be considered essential for any student intending to practice criminal law, whether as a prosecutor or defense attorney. In the 21st century, the vast majority of requests for criminal investigative warrants or subpoenas seek to obtain digital data. The law governing these requests all stems from the Fourth Amendment, written before any of this data was even imaginable. This one-hour class will provide students with an overview of the constitutional, legal, and technological issues that judges and practitioners face when submitting, reviewing and challenging these search and surveillance requests. The seminar will include lectures by the professors, guest lectures by legal and technical experts (such as FBI forensic specialists, in-house counsel at the large tech firms that hold the sought-after data, and attorney representatives from main Justice and the Electronic Frontier Foundation).

Assessment Method

The class will be offered Pass/Fail. Student assessment will have two components: (1) class participation throughout the course and (2) three short writing assignments. The writing assignments will require the students to prepare memoranda (approx. 3-4 pages) addressing legal and practical questions raised by the presentations and materials discussed in class. Each assignment will ask students to consider an issue from a different perspective, corresponding to the perspectives of the guest speakers (the Department of Justice, the criminal defense bar, privacy advocates, and the tech firms). Each assignment will coincide with a guest speaker representing each of these interest groups.

This course is an introduction to how international law applies to hostile cyber activities by States and non-State actors during armed conflict.  Topics addressed range from cyber attack to characterization of persons taking part in armed conflict.  The course draws on the Tallinn Manual 2.0 project, which resulted in a restatement of the law drafted over seven years by an international group of experts. The instructor was one of the Experts that wrote the Manual.

The final exam will be a 24-hour floating exam administered via Canvas, available between March 2 - March 8.

This get-your-hands-dirty experience provides practical training in the art and craft of identifying compound legal issues, assessing risk, formulating legal advice, solving thorny problems, and giving sage and reasoned counsel . . . all of which helps set conditions for your success in the real world. 

We will work through case studies of various flavors that involve difficult legal, organizational, and personal stakes. A few of the case studies will be drawn from military settings, offering a glimpse into some of the unique challenges that arise in such environments globally. However, the deep lessons of the course are entirely applicable to the practice of law in all other settings and beyond.

In addition to participating in highly-interactive class sessions, you will complete written analyses (actually craft legal advice) on a number of multilayered, real-world-based fact scenarios. 

The course contemplates nuanced issues involving investigations, business, ethics, criminal law, leadership, media, administrative law, the digital-age, litigation, international law, management, and more. Ultimately, during our quality time together, we will share various perspectives with each other and collectively figure out how to proceed in complex circumstances—what to say, advise, and actually do. 

We tend to bond and have a great deal of fun in this class, but expect to be challenged and stretched in ways you may not have been before as we excitingly dive headlong into all sorts of things that are not usually taught in law school.

"[T]he threat of filibusters has become an almost daily fact of life in the Senate, influencing how we handle virtually everything debated on the Senate floor," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said. "The filibuster used to be the exception to the rule. In today's Senate, it is becoming a straitjacket." On the other hand, "[s]trong minority rights have always been the Senate’s distinguishing feature," Senate Minority Mitch McConnell has written. "On legislation, however, the Senate’s treasured tradition is not efficiency but deliberation. One of the body’s central purposes is making new laws earn broader support than what is required for a bare majority in the House."

The most prominent of legislative tactics, the filibuster is the favored tactic of the minority of the day. Its use is blamed for the death of judicial nominations and needed government policy. Although its application has been modified over the last 60 years, it remains a powerful tool for determined Senators. This course examines the historical development of the filibuster, the actual consequences of its application to significant legislation and nominations, and proposals for reform. We are concered with answering these questions. First, does the filibuster play an important role in ensuring consensus in the political process or has it become a partisan tool for defeating electoral majorities. Second, how does the filibuster help or hold back the Senate from meeting its institutional responsibilities in the 21st century? Third, is reform or abolition the remedy and how should the remedy be fashioned?

In addition to historical source material, we will read the prominent defenses and critiques of the filibuster and discuss and debate those in class. Three short response papers (750 words each) and class participation form the basis for the final grade.

Limits of liability and methods of establishing liability for intentional and unintentional injuries to persons or property.

Limits of liability and methods of establishing liability for intentional and unintentional injuries to persons or property.

This course focuses on real contracts with real risks.  During Part I of the course, homework will be due twice weekly.  During Part II and Part III of the course, homework will be due weekly.  There will be a mid-term writing assignment (ungraded).  I may periodically review your homework assignments.

We will study a guaranty, a promissory note and a deed of trust.  These agreements are commonly used for financing.  A prominent local law firm has provided materials for our use in class.  We will also study a merger agreement, an asset acquisition agreement and a joint venture agreement.  The merger, joint venture and asset acquisition agreement were prepared by committees of the American Bar Association.  We will also study a confidentiality agreement, non-compete agreement, a waiver of liability and several other commonly used agreements.  Finally, we will study an intellectual property license. 

Many of these documents are lengthy.  We will study them in detail, particularly the liabilities in each agreement.  This course could also be called "everything you always wanted to know about commercial liabilities, but were afraid to ask."  However, we do not study commercial terms, such as profit.  

Prerequisite: First year torts and first year contracts.  

This course will review core issues relating to venture capital. The focus of the course will be the financing of the emerging growth company. The course will cover topics relating to venture capital investments in start-up companies, the structure of VC backed companies, the allocation of cash-flow and control rights in these companies, and litigation arising from the unique VC arrangements. Issues relating to the VC fund structure and to intellectual property transactions may also be discussed. It is highly recommended to have completed “Business Associations” or “Business Associations (Enriched)” before taking this course.

This course will open with an introduction to the hydrological cycle, its natural stocks and flows, its fresh and saline elements, its phases, its vertical and horizontal dimensions, its mutable biogeochemistry, and its essentiality to the maintenance of life.  We'll draw on water's critical roles within the biosphere, the atmosphere, and the cryosphere and the accelerating destabilization of these roles as we encounter them in our time.

We'll then trace the powerful influences of U.S. law on the use and consumption, conservation, diversion, and development of water's stocks and flows. To do so, we'll first follow the evolution of American water law and policy as they emerge into a distinct body of doctrines in the soggy Eastern states; then, as they re-emerge through a very different body of law in the arid Western and Southwestern states; and, finally, as they emerge for the third time through the troubled development and implementation of federal authority.

The resultant complex of concepts, rules, and practices has spawned a regime of rights, entitlements, and demands for entitlement that has heavily favored stasis over long periods of time.

Now, the entire regime is cracking open under the competing pressures that markets,  social injustices, and strident political differences over resource exploitation in the face of accelerating climatic changes are bringing to bear. In the final portion of the course, we'll investigate some of these arenas of severe conflict, in search of the fourth evolutionary stage of water law--more coherent, more deeply splintered, or both-- that may be starting to emerge.

Our methods of approach will rely on a mix of lecture; individual- and team-led class participation; and some deep dives that will involve expert guests. Class members are encouraged to apply their diversity of disciplinary training and interests throughout the course and to adopt a special topic for the term, if they wish.

There will be a very brief written assignment and a final research paper on an instructor-approved topic that may be a group effort, in lieu of an exam. Honesty and graduate-level proficiency are the major criteria on which these projects will be judged.

Wills and Estates focuses on donative transfers of property. Included are community property, intestate succession, the execution and revocation of wills, frequently recurring drafting problems, the use of trusts, fiduciary administration, future interests, the rule against perpetuities, powers of appointment, estate and gift taxation, and basic estate planning. The course emphasizes Texas law, but it also examines the law of many other jurisdictions, as well as numerous Uniform Acts.

This is a four credit course. There are no prerequisites.

This two-credit course will survey the most prominent current legal issues affecting the wind and solar industry.  Taught by two practicing attorneys (with a combined 50 years of experience in the electric power, wind and solar industries), the course will explore the history of wind and solar energy, the fundamentals of developing a wind or solar project, the major elements of wind and solar leases and other real property issues, government tax incentives, litigation, interconnection and transmission issues, permitting, the impact of renewable energy development on the environment and wildlife, acquisitions and sales of wind and solar projects, and project finance.  We will also learn about other technologies such as energy storage, green hydrogen, and electric vehicles.  Many of our class meetings will feature prominent guest speakers who work in and provide counsel to the renewable energy and electric utility industries.  Grading is based on a combination of a paper and presentation on a topic of the student's choosing, a transactional assignment, a case presentation, and class participation.