Law 798:  Current Topics in Labor Law

This is a research seminar. It is intended to give students deeper research and writing experience, to hone critical skills much sought-for by legal employers. Part of the seminar entails the students presentation of their work in progress, for discussion, comment and constructive criticism. This, too, is intended to hone the skills of advocacy.

The course will proceed in two parts. In the first the instructor will assign pressing issues in labor law for class discussion: e.g., wage theft, precarity of hours, wage payment, and the like. There will be about five discussion sessions, to allow for students to commence on research in earnest, assuming an enrollment of nine or more students. The first four sets of readings will be posted. These readings can be found electronically. Whether more will be addressed will depend on enrollment.

Thereafter, student work will be assigned, one per week. Suggested research topics will be posted in due course but these will be only suggestive. The student is free to select any other, subject to the instructor’s approval.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None

Evaluation:   It is a “paper course.” The grade will be based on the quality of the final paper. The metrics are: (1) thoroughness of research – has every primary and important secondary source been searched[1]; (2) analytical cogency – have all the factors, economic as well as social, been dealt with in a persuasive manner; and, (3) style – adherence to proper forms of citation, proper syntax, avoidance of the personal pronoun or pontifical statements, etc. The paper should be between 20 to 30 pages inclusive of footnotes, depending on how much material must be dealt with. Papers receiving a grade of B+ or above will be eligible having the paper qualify for senior writing credit.

[1] The instructor requests that if students have copied any of this material – statutes, regulations, case decisions, statistical studies, government or NGO reports, etc. – these be submitted along with the paper. This will allow the instructor to check on the accuracy of these sources without unnecessary inconvenience.