LAWS 5521 The United States Legal System
This course is required of LL.M. students who do not hold a U.S. J.D. degree. The course has several objectives: exposing students to fundamental concepts underlying the U.S. legal system, providing survival skills for the LL.M. year, exposing students to key doctrinal areas, and offering a frame of reference for comparing the U.S. legal system with students' own. The course is divided into three units: (a) an overview of our basic legal institutions, including the adversary system, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights; (b) a case study in product liability law, as both substantive exposure to private law and an exercise in identifying and manipulating legal doctrine; and (c) an examination of how the structure of the legal profession and different modes of lawyering contribute to the functioning of the U.S. legal system as a whole.
Course overview
- Department
- Law
- School
- LAW
- Credits
- 2
- Level
- Graduate
- Offered
- Every Fall
Course evaluations
- Course rating
- 3.03 / 5 · Good
- Instructor rating
- 3.38 / 5 · Good
- Terms evaluated
- 5
| Term | Instructor | Course overall | Instructor overall | Well organized | Clear learning objectives | Intellectually challenging | Helpful assignments | Applicable beyond course | Attendance necessary | Weekly effort | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Sergio Campos | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 1–3 hrs/week | 14 of 15 |
| Fall 2024 | Sergio Campos | 3.3 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 1–3 hrs/week | 17 of 17 |
| Fall 2023 | Vik Kanwar | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10 of 13 |
| Fall 2022 | Vik Kanwar | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 11 of 13 |
| Fall 2021 | Vik Kanwar | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 4–6 hrs/week | 18 of 23 |