Session Topics
Introduction to U.S. Business Law
This course will be divided into three parts. The first part of the course will focus on the basic U.S. lawmaking and regulatory structures, with special emphasis on business regulation. The second part will cover basic features of U.S. corporate, commercial, and contract law. This portion of the course will be based on practical examples and class exercises. The third part will focus on corporate law and finance in the U.S. and will emphasize selected advanced issues such as the legal duties of corporate directors, raising capital in the stock markets and environmental liability.
International Financial Law
The purpose of this course is to provide participants with knowledge about the legal and contractual issues and the documentation used in international financial transactions. Part I of this course will consist of an overview of international loan agreements. It will focus on the underlying logic of the agreements and the key clauses contained in the standard Euroloan agreement. Part II will focus on financial instruments, such as swap transactions and bond issues, and the legal and contractual issues that arise in the negotiating and structuring of such agreements. Part III will consist of class exercises that focus on the drafting and negotiation of selected clauses in international financial transactions.
International Business Taxation
The course will provide an overview of the U.S. system of taxation, including the basic taxes imposed at the national and sub-national levels. The core of the course will focus on the tax rules most relevant to international business transactions. Special attention will be given to the following topics: (1) determination of "residence" for tax purposes; (2) U.S. tax provisions that prevent double taxation; and (3) Inquiry as to whether income has its source from within the United States or not.
Selected Issues in Copyright Law
This course will provide an introduction to the nature of copyright protection, types of works covered, mechanisms of securing protection, and procedures for enforcement in the United States. The first portion of the course will provide a history of copyright, the relationship of copyright to other forms of protection for intellectual property; and the interaction between new technologies, including data processing and copyright. Specific attention will be focused on a survey of the multinational and bilateral agreements, which govern the enforcement of copyrights across national boundaries. It will explore the similarities and differences, which exist, between U.S. copyright and other developed countries, copyright in developing countries, and the problems of enforcing the rights of American copyright owners overseas.
Selected Issues in US Regulation
This course is designed to provide participants with an overview of United States Product Liability Law and United States Antitrust Law. Product liability law topics to be covered include an analysis of current and proposed federal legislation relating to products liability; the application of product liability law to foreign nationals doing business in the United States and a discussion of basic product liability risk management and litigation strategies for foreign nations. Antitrust law topics include the role of the United States Department of Justice, the United States Federal Trade Commission in US antitrust law, the current guidelines issued by the Department of Justice regarding extraterritorial application of US antitrust law, analysis of "new market" theories, price fixing, monopolization, private civil damage actions, and antitrust defense and litigation strategies.
Introduction to U.S. Communications Law
The purpose of this course is to provide participants with knowledge about the legal and public policy issues in contemporary regulation of broadcasting and telephone service. The course will also focus on how the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") and state agencies regulate telecommunications. The first part of the course will focus on how the FCC and state agencies interpret the "public interest, convenience, and necessity" in implementing its regulations and rules. It will focus on how the FCC and the US courts interpret the Freedom of Speech requirements of the First Amendment of the US Constitution to regulate the broadcast television market. The second part of the course will focus on state and federal regulation of telephone service. It will focus on the "essential facility" doctrine and how that doctrine animates most telephone company regulation.
International Business Transactions
This course will focus on basic contract forms for doing business with the United States including trade, investment and technology transfers. Part I of the course will introduce topics on money, markets, and finance in international business. Part II of the course will cover the globalization and commodification of goods and services, as well as, banking payments and the system of documentary credits. Part III of the course will consist of class exercises that will cover selected transactions and offer students the opportunity to solve international business problems. This session will expand on the Lex Mercatoria and tensions between it and national legal systems with particular emphasis on Panama.
International Trade
The first part of the course will provide an overview of the regulation of international trade and economic relations. The topics to be covered include the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its constituent agreements, tariff reduction, most-favored-nation status, national treatment, customs unions and free trade areas, anti-dumping and countervailing duties. The second part of the course will focus on the WTO Dispute Settlement Procedure and will look at selected cases decided through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and the role lawyers play in this mechanism. The third part of the course will concentrate on US trade laws and their impact on non-US individuals and businesses engaged in (or planning to do business with) the United States.
