Stephen Gillers

Courses

• Evidence

  Trials are often described as a competition between the opposing parties' narratives. This course examines the rules that govern how those narratives are told. Our focus will be the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Confrontation Clause, and common law, and we will consider the text, history, policies, and application of evidentiary rules. Topics will include relevance, hearsay, character evidence, and impeachment, among others.

• Law and Literature Seminar

  This course is based on the proposition that not all wisdom about the law and justice is in the U.S. Reports. Questions we may ask: How does literature use law, indeed depend on law, as a source of structure and theme? How does literature view law and legal institutions? How does literature explore people, from all circumstances, who are caught up with the law and legal procedures? Can literature provide "poetic justice" when those procedures fail? What can literature and literary imagination bring to performance of legal tasks, including "telling stories" about cases? What different (or similar) interpretative rules do lawyers and literary critics employ in construing a text? How are human passions and the human condition differently described and treated? --- We will read the following works in the order listed plus some materials we will distribute. We suggest you buy them now. --- ANTIGONE (Sophocles)(Ruby Blundell trans. recommended), MERCHANT OF VENICE (Shakespeare), GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE (Moises Kaufman) and Gross Indecency (excerpts), IN THE PENAL COLONY (Kafka), IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (James Baldwin), THE READER (Bernard Schlink), THE ISLAND (Athol Fugard),, HOME FIRE (Kamila Shamsie) and THE CUTTING SEASON (Attica Locke). IN THE PENAL COLONY may be available free on line. --- These works will be grouped in 9 assignments out of 13 classes, so in some weeks there will be no additional reading. Students are required to write SEVEN 3-page papers (of 900-1000 words each), out of the 9 assignments, on any aspect of the work they choose. There are no prompts. Papers are due Monday noon before the Tuesday class for which the work first appears on the syllabus. To ensure we have time to read the papers before class, we ask that you observe this deadline. We don't grade the papers but we use them to organize class discussion. Active class participation and regular attendance is REQUIRED. A detailed syllabus will be sent to registered students before the first class. You MUST be present at the first class to remain in it or gain admission. Laptops may be used in class ONLY to access your paper or the work under discussion. Phones must be turned off and hidden.

• Media Law

  The class addresses First Amendment and state tort and other law in relation to the mass media (including new media). Expected topics will chosen from the following: constitutional protection for and elements of defamation; journalist-source privileges and shield laws; rights of privacy and false light torts; liability for breach of contract or deception in news gathering; domestic enforceability of foreign libel judgments; prior restraint; and criminal liability for revealing information in stolen or classified government documents or protected by fiduciary duty. David McCraw, a vice president and assistant general counsel at the New York Times, will co-teach the class. Students will be required to write THREE response papers of 500-600 words (2 pages) each. These can respond to any assignment between the 2nd and 13th class inclusive. They will be due by 6 p.m. of the Monday before the particular class. Final grades will be based in part on the papers.

• Professional Responsibility and the Regulation of Lawyers

  The legal, ethical, and other obligations of lawyers are studied. The ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, court decisions, statutes, the Constitution, and secondary sources comprise the reading. The course may include a lawyer's responsibilities in civil and criminal litigation; special problems of lawyers for organizations, including governments and corporations; bias and harassment in law practice; negotiation ethics; issues for non-profit (public interest) law firms, malpractice, fiduciary duty, and third party liability; bar admission; conflicts of interest; confidentiality and privilege; and the financial structure of law firms. The problem method is used. FOR UPDATED CLASS MEETING DAYS, SEE BELOW.