LAW-4061: Comparative Legal Traditions

This course focuses on the method and concept of comparative law between the civil law tradition and the common law tradition. The history, culture, and distribution of the civil law tradition, the legal structures in civil law nations, legal actors, procedure, and fields of substantive law in civil law systems, and sources of law and the judicial process in civil law systems will be examined and compared to similar areas in the common law tradition. This course will introduce students to competing legal systems in areas such as Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. An emphasis is placed on the historical developments, cultural environment and social climate that define the adoption and implementation of rules in these legal systems. This course further explores the role of comparative law in the American legal system and how to effectively litigate cases with foreign parties or foreign law issues in American courts. This class may satisfy the Upper Level Writing Requirement.