There are no prerequisites for any course. The maximum number of students for any course is 32 (tentative).
Courses
International Trade
(6100) 3 Hours- Professor Thomas Krebs
This course is concerned with the law of International Trade. Broadly defined, it covers transactions in which goods are transported (by ship) from one country to another. In particular, three types of transactions will be covered: (1) the shipping transaction: this involves two relationships, namely between the seller and the carrier, and between the carrier and the buyer; (2) the sales transaction: this is concerned with the relationship between the seller and the buyer; (3) the financing transaction: again, two relationships are involved: buyer/bank and seller/bank. The course will be taught by way of lectures and interactive seminars.
Professional Responsibility
(5323) 3 Hours- Professor Tracy Pearl
This course explores the duties that lawyers owe clients, courts, adversaries, and the broader community. While the course focuses on relevant rules of professional conduct, discussion will also include other sources of lawyer responsibility, like professional negligence, criminal liability, and professional identity. This is a problem-method course. Students will be organized into “law firms” of 3-4 students and will work with their law firm throughout the program to analyze and discuss practice problems based on real cases. Most of the problems put students into the shoes of a lawyer who must deal with a situation involving both legal strategy and legal ethics.
Secured Transactions
(5750) 3 Hours- Professor Kara Bruce
This course will cover Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Topics covered include the establishment and perfection of security interests pursuant to credit sales contracts, problems focusing on the interface between Article 9 and federal bankruptcy law, priority disputes among collateral claimants, default, and rights after default. Emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding of and facility with the codes statutory scheme.
Faculty
Professor Tracy Pearl
Program Director Tracy Pearl is a Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma where she teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Professional Responsibility. Prior to teaching, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stephanie K. Seymour of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and to the Honorable Richard L. Williams of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Upon completion of her clerkships, she worked as a litigation associate at Hogan Lovells LLP in Washington, DC, where she litigated a wide variety of cases at both the trial and appellate levels. She has an A.B. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University, a M.Sc from Oxford University in Comparative Social Policy, and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Professor Kara Bruce
Professor Kara Bruce joined OU Law in 2022. She is an affiliate faculty member at the OU College of Business. Her research focuses on bankruptcy law and procedure, with particular emphasis on enforcement issues in consumer bankruptcy cases. Professor Bruce is a contributing editor to the Bankruptcy Law Letter and coauthor of Problems and Materials on Secured Transactions (5th Ed., with Stephen Sepinuck). She is also a coauthor of the forthcoming edition of the Law of Bankruptcy (with Charles Tabb and Laura Coordes). Professor Bruce has served as the Robert M. Zinman Scholar in Residence at the American Bankruptcy Institute in Arlington, Virginia. Professor Bruce is a dedicated classroom teacher. She has won the University of Toledo’s Outstanding Teacher Award, the University of Toledo College of Law’s Outstanding Professor Award (selected by the graduating class), and the Beth Eisler Teaching Award (selected by the first-year class). Before joining the faculty, Professor Bruce was a faculty member at the University of Toledo College of Law. She also worked as an attorney in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP in Chicago, Illinois and served as a visiting professor at Willamette University School of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Professor Thomas Krebs
Professor Thomas Krebs has been a University Lecturer in Commercial Law at the University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in Law at Brasenose College, Oxford, since 2003, achieving tenure in 2008. He specializes in Commercial Law, both domestic and international. Prof. Krebs is particularly interested in the law of agency, and is also pursuing research in international trade law. He is a barrister attached to Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn, London. He is married and has two young daughters.