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Prof. Stephen C. Hicks,
2 credits day; 2 credits evening.
This seminar will introduce students to substantive comparative law, different legal systems in
general, and legal culture as a whole, exploring the world‘s most important legal traditions
against a historical background, and within the context of current social and political concerns.
The premise of the class is that all lawyers will need a basic understanding of how different our
U.S. legal system is from other countries‘ systems and cultures, and how important that is for
global understanding and the practice of law in the 21st c. The theoretical framework for the
course is the relationship among law, politics, religion, and ethics, considered in different legal
systems, traditions, and cultures throughout history up to the present. The book covers the
evolution of civil law and common law, the Islamic, Hindu, Asian, and Talmudic legal traditions,
and tribal or indigenous law, as well as the idea of legal traditions as such, and their future
convergence, assimilation, or replacement by supra-national law, as exemplified by the E.U., for
example. This course will also examine topics, such as the origins of law; custom, and alternative
dispute resolution; codification; globalization and westernization; judicial review; the rule of
law; and professional roles and legal education, as well key aspects of specific legal systems and
cultures, and their substantive differences from U.S. law. The text for the course is H. Patrick
Glenn, ―Legal Traditions of the World,‖ (4th ed. Oxford, 2010). Supplemental Readings to the
book will also be provided. There is no exam. Individual or group presentations on specific
topics are possible. A final paper is required. The paper may satisfy the Writing Requirement.
Elective Course
On List of Recommended Perspectives Courses
May Fulfill Legal Writing Requirement
Final Paper Required
Conflict of Laws: Theory and Practice