Bankruptcy

This course explores the role of debt, credit, and debt forgiveness in a capitalist society. It begins with an overview of the state court collection procedures, and then teaches the main provisions of the three primary chapters of the Bankruptcy Code: Chapter 7 liquidation, Chapter 13 wage-earner rehabilitation, and Chapter 11 reorganization. The course is taught through the problem-based teaching method, which helps students learn both the theoretical underpinnings of the materials, as well as its direct application to the practice of law.

Business Associations I

This course will explore the various types of business relationships and organizations. Brief coverage is given to factors bearing on choice of organization, including partnership attributes, process of corporate formation, corporate privileges and powers, corporate capital structure, and limited liability. This part of the course will include an introduction to agency law, and the management and transfer of ownership interests in partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations.

Business and Tax Clinic

Pre-requisite: Completion of first year curriculum. Pre- or co-requisite: Ethics.
Preference: Completion of Federal Income Tax and any Business Law courses.

Summer 2013--Prof. Nathalie Martin, Prof. Grace Allison
Fall 2013--Prof. James Butler, Prof. Mary Pareja
Spring 2014--Prof. James Butler, Prof. Mary Pareja

This clinic section is part of the law school's Economic Development program.  Although specific types of client matters cannot be guaranteed, the Business and Tax Clinic will emphasize the following:

• student representation of low-income taxpayers in disputes before the IRS and the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, including Tax Court litigation, audit defense, and collections matters;
• assistance to startup and established nonprofit organizations seeking IRS recognition of tax-exempt status and other operational assistance;
• support of community-based efforts to promote economic development; and
• legal services to low-income, small-business clients who cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

Small-business cases will likely include the following:

• giving advice on the choice and formation of business entities;
• drafting organizational documents;
• reviewing and drafting leases, purchase and licensing arrangements and other contracts; and
• resolving business disputes.

Cases and instruction will also include matters of personal interest to a new lawyer seeking to open his or her own practice.  We strive to provide a broad-spectrum experience, including pure transactional practice (small business startup, contract drafting), dispute resolution (IRS controversy, small case business controversies) and consumer protection (bankruptcy, foreclosure defense and consumer credit dispute resolution).  

Clients of the law school’s Clinical Law Program include individuals and organizations that have multiple legal and non-legal needs and objectives.  Students of the Business and Tax Clinic often collaborate with students of the Community Lawyering Clinic or Southwest Indian Law Clinic in providing services to these clients.

Students will be required (1) to attend and actively participate in up to five classroom sessions (ten during summer’s first three weeks) during each week of the academic semester and (2) to maintain, in addition to classroom hours, a schedule of 24 (2-hours block) fixed office hours (physically present in the clinic, working on clinic matters) each week during Summer, or 16 (2-hours block) fixed office hours each week during Fall and Spring semesters.

Students having specific questions about the Business and Tax Clinic are encouraged to visit with Profs. Allison, Butler, Martin, or Pareja.

Consumer Law

This course will focus on the practical application of federal and state general consumer laws, and will cover primarily the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Some of the topics to be addressed in this course include:

1. Credit and Collections
2. Contracts, Warranties and Legal Rights
3. Automobile and Mobile Home Sales
4. Door-to-Door Sales
5. Home Improvements and Related Services
6. Household Products
7. Future Service Contracts
8. Opportunity Schemes and other "Non-sale" Transactions

Based on these topics, other federal and state laws will most likely be reviewed such as the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Debt Collection Act, the Door-to Door Sales Act, the Home Loan Protection Act and Motor Vehicle Quality Assurance.

These interesting facets of consumer law in New Mexico will be learned, by reading New Mexico and Federal case law and by analyzing on-going consumer matters presented to public enforcement authorities and to the private bar. Our studies will focus on the causes of action and the remedies available, including attorney fees and treble damages.

The practical application of consumer law will include the development of a client-interview form to address the pertinent issues, the preparation of several model pleadings, and Power Point presentations on specific areas of consumer law. These projects, and others, will provide both a product to be used in the practice of law and a basis for grading. There will be no classroom examination.

Contracts I

In an industrial society characterized by a "free enterprise" system and notions of individual freedom, "contract" is one of the primary means by which private individuals order their affairs. The contracts course inquires into why promises are enforced as contracts, which promises are enforced, and how they are enforced. The course places emphasis on close and critical analyses of court decisions.

See Professor for course description.

Financial Literacy

This is a one credit course designed to teach students the basic rights of consumers in various forms of consumer transactions. The course focuses on money law, money management, and the regulation of consumer credit and credit reporting.

Specific topics covered include the bank-customer relationship and the legal rights of bank customers, the legal issues surrounding credit and debit cards, predatory lending such as payday loans, rent-to own, title loans, furniture store scams, yo-yo car sales, and other high-rate consumer credit. It also covers identity theft, credit reporting and scoring, mortgage lending, investing and compounding, and retirement planning. It is designed to help students and their future clients become more educated about consumer credit, saving, investing, and overall financial health.

Practicum

This class introduces you to the work and professional roles of lawyers. It investigates the meaning of professionalism; examines the role of personal and professional values in becoming and being a lawyer; and discusses various aspects of legal practice, including ways to improve your likelihood of success and happiness in your career.

As background, empirical studies show that lawyers who pick their fields carefully based upon their own strengths and needs are happier and do better in the profession overall. Other studies show that multitasking and excessive stress interfere with clear thinking. Indeed, calm focused people are better at what they do, whatever profession they enter. They are also more efficient and work better with others. Calm focused people are also happier and have a better sense of their own priorities and values. This class is designed to:

• help you learn about the legal system and the professional role of attorneys;
• help you create space in your life for activities that keep you balanced as a human being;
• help you control stress and thus enhance your academic and professional success;
• help you improve your interpersonal skills;
• allow you to develop a support system at the law school by getting to know some of your peers in an unconventional setting; and
• allow you to develop a relationship with a faculty member that is supportive both inside and outside the classroom.

Being a lawyer can be all you want it to be and can give you the power to bring about whatever change you want to see. This class will help prepare you to do just that.

Real Estate Planning

See Professor Martin for Course Description.

Sales of Goods

In this course we will study Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, which covers the Sale of Goods. In your contracts class, you have already looked at some of the sections governing warranties and contract formation. We will expand on these topics and look at such questions as the obligations of the seller and the buyer, remedies, anticipatory breach, conditions, the parole evidence rule, etc. In addition, we will look briefly at the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Because the United States is a signatory to that Convention, it is the law in New Mexico governing the sale of goods to Canada and Mexico, and in some circumstances, it overrides the Uniform Commercial Code.

The focus of this course will be practical and we will spend time drafting contracts for the sale of goods. The skills you learn in this context will be useful for drafting all types of contracts.

There will be a final exam.

Secured Transactions

The aim of this course is to introduce students to what is sometimes called "Code Methodology." The main purpose of the course is to help you understand various techniques in reading and interpreting the Uniform Commercial Code. The course will cover Article 9, Secured Transactions. Article 9 is, in some ways, the most difficult part of the Uniform Commercial Code. It is likely to be the only exposure most students will have to the concept of security for debts. Another advantage of working with Article 9 is that the Article is more or less self-contained and presents a system within itself.