Program Overview

Legal Studies (LES) Program

The Legal Studies program at the University of Illinois Springfield offers a comprehensive curriculum that explores the role of law in society, preparing students for careers in law, government, and public policy.

Courses

The program includes a wide range of courses, such as:

• LES 201: Introduction to the American Political System: Examines the role and function of governments in providing public goods, with a focus on federalism and the role of states.
• LES 202: Introduction to the American Legal System: Provides a basic understanding of the American legal system, including the Illinois and federal courts systems, federalism, and basic elements of tort, contract, criminal, and property law.
• LES 303: American Law in Comparative Perspective: Introduces students to the core concepts of American law in comparison with other legal traditions, presenting ideas in their historical and intellectual contexts.
• LES 307: Law and Society: Analyzes the functions of law in society, with an emphasis on issues of justice, fairness, and equality.
• LES 333: ECCE: Sexual Orientation and Public Policy: Examines the factual basis of majority ideas about sexual orientation, gender identity, or sexuality used to assign legal rights and disabilities to LGBTQ+ communities.
• LES 334: ECCE: LGBTQ Law and Politics: Explores the U.S. sexual minority community through the prism of politics and law, investigating the history and contemporary dynamics of the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
• LES 351: The American Jury: Provides an interdisciplinary examination of the jury system, encouraging critical analysis of how laypersons make legal decisions.
• LES 352: History of American Law: Offers a historical examination of the professional and constitutional development of law in the United States.
• LES 354: Philosophy of Law: Explores the philosophy of justice, law, and legal systems, emphasizing the origins, purposes, and practices of legal institutions.
• LES 376: Trial Advocacy: Develops trial advocacy skills through a simulated trial, where students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses.
• LES 377: Trial Advocacy: Civil: Builds on the skills learned in LES 376, focusing on civil trial advocacy.
• LES 378: Mock Trial Competition: Prepares students for and participates in Mock Trial scrimmages and tournaments, honing valuable skills such as critical thinking, active listening, public speaking, and teamwork.
• LES 379: Mock Trial Competition: Civil: Similar to LES 378, but with a focus on civil cases.
• LES 380: Topics in Comparative Law: Examines how globalization affects different legal and political systems, studying current legal issues in various legal cultures.
• LES 401: Legal Research And Citation: Explores the principles of legal research, including the use of law books, research tools, and computer-assisted legal research.
• LES 402: Advanced Lawyering Skills: Develops writing and persuasive skills in the legal field, with a focus on drafting legal documents and arguments.
• LES 403: Civil Practice Skills: Builds legal skills through exposure to interviewing, counseling, legal drafting, and legal ethics, with a focus on civil trial practice.
• LES 404: Law and Inequality: Examines the role of law in creating, maintaining, and reducing inequality, with an emphasis on race, class, and gender inequality.
• LES 412: Making Mass Incarceration: Criminal Justice Policy, Past & Present: Investigates the history and contemporary dynamics of mass incarceration in the United States.
• LES 413: Appellate Advocacy: Moot Court: Prepares students for the Model Illinois Government Moot Court Competition, focusing on legal argumentation and appellate advocacy.
• LES 414: American Constitution: Government Powers and Institutions: Introduces students to federal constitutional law and constitutional theory, examining the delineation of spheres of responsibility between government branches.
• LES 415: The Supreme Court and Judicial Politics: Explores the Supreme Court's role in American policy, using empirical and case materials to examine the Court's structure, powers, and decision-making processes.
• LES 416: The American Constitution and Civil Liberties: Examines civil liberties constitutional law, with a focus on the Supreme Court's role in defining and developing civil liberties.
• LES 419: Environmental Law: Surveys major federal statutes and regulatory schemes related to environmental quality, analyzing the interaction of law and policy.
• LES 420: National Security Issues and the U.S. Constitution: Provides an historical and contemporary examination of U.S. constitutional law issues raised during times of heightened national security concern.
• LES 422: ECCE: Politics and Religion: Culture Wars: Examines the connections between politics and religion in the United States, with a global perspective.
• LES 424: Forensic Evidence in Criminal Law: Develops a basic understanding of the development of law related to selected scientific principles and their application in the criminal justice system.
• LES 425: Business Law: Examines the application of law to various business transactions, including business associations, contracts, torts, and property law.
• LES 435: ECCE: American Political Thought: Explores developments in American political thought, paying particular attention to issues of political inclusion and exclusion.
• LES 441: Poverty, Law, and Justice: Addresses questions concerning poverty, examining historical and current welfare policies and their implications for societal well-being and individual rights.
• LES 444: Legal Anthropology: Studies the cross-cultural and fieldwork-based examination of social ordering, focusing on the symbols and practices employed by people in creating and navigating rules and norms.
• LES 446: Family Law: Examines topics such as divorce, domestic violence, and child support, with a focus on the impact of the women's rights movement on family law.
• LES 447: Women in American Law: Provides an overview of gender as a factor in American law, with a particular emphasis on women's rights and legal issues.
• LES 448: Juvenile Law: Examines laws and legal practices governing children and youth, including rights, services, and institutional practices.
• LES 449: Employment Discrimination Law: Develops an understanding of anti-discrimination laws in employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, and terms and conditions.
• LES 451: Law, Film and Popular Culture: Combines film viewing and written and oral critiques to examine how movies reflect and influence popular culture and perceptions of the law.
• LES 453: The Politics of Reproduction: Provides a critical examination of political and ideological influences on women and reproduction, focusing on themes such as birthing practices and reproductive technologies.
• LES 454: Law and Literature: Explores important aspects of law through close readings of literary texts, addressing legal theory, ethics, and history.
• LES 456: Capitalism and the Law: Examines capitalism as a creation of law, considering how legal institutions demarcate ownership, sales, and economic power distribution.
• LES 462: International Law and Organizations: Introduces students to the major principles and concepts of international law, studying sources, purposes, and issues such as security and human rights.
• LES 463: Labor Law: Studies concepts and laws governing collective bargaining, including bargaining units, election procedures, and unfair labor practices.
• LES 464: Introduction to Human Rights: Introduces students to human rights as an American and international phenomenon, focusing on particular issues and comparing problems and solutions locally and globally.
• LES 465: International Human Rights Law: Skills and Advocacy: Provides students with a background in international human rights law and institutions, focusing on skills necessary for promoting human rights and opportunities for involvement.
• LES 469: So, You Want to be a Lawyer: Offers an overview of the U.S. legal profession, examining historical, economic, and sociological forces shaping the profession and practice of law.
• LES 472: Research Methods for Legal Studies: Introduces students to the social science research process as applied in law, including methods such as survey, ethnography, and content analysis.
• LES 473: The Law of Military Conflict: Examines legal and political issues raised by military conflict, including the origins of modern law governing conflicts and the military's responsibilities.
• LES 474: Law of Evidence: Provides a basic study of rules of evidence for non-lawyers, focusing on practical knowledge of problems faced in investigations and evidentiary sufficiency.
• LES 475: Government Regulations and Administrative Law: Explores administrative law and agencies, examining their impact on federal and state governments and the American people.
• LES 476: Immigration and the Law: The Regulation of World Travel: Addresses major themes in the relationship between global migration and law, introducing students to historical roots, development of U.S. immigration law, and current topics.
• LES 477: Criminal Procedure: Examines the rights of criminal defendants as set out in the U.S. Constitution and interpreted by the Supreme Court, studying procedures governing state and federal criminal justice systems.
• LES 478: Substantive Criminal Law: Examines the elements of selected crimes, using state and federal court cases and statutes, with particular attention to criminal responsibility and liability.
• LES 479: Documenting Injustice in the Criminal Law: Criminal Law through Podcast: Uses documentaries and podcasts to highlight potential sources of injustice in the U.S. criminal law system, engaging with issues such as false confessions and wrongful conviction.
• LES 480: Special Topics Seminar: Offers an intensive examination of selected issues important to the study of the legal system, with topics announced each time the course is offered.
• LES 488: ECCE: Conviction of the Innocent: Examines the conviction of innocent people for serious crimes, exploring policies contributing to this issue and alternative solutions.
• LES 489: Closing Seminar: Ethics and Current Legal Questions: Provides a seminar for legal studies undergraduates in their final semester, building on research and writing skills and integrating law and liberal arts.
• LES 491: Policy Reform for Wrongful Convictions: Examines the process of enacting policy reforms to reduce wrongful convictions, developing legal analytical and policy advocacy skills.
• LES 499: Tutorial: Offers independent study, structured readings, or research in fields of legal studies and administration of justice.
• LES 501: Introduction to Graduate Legal Studies: Provides a common framework for graduate students in legal studies, focusing on topics such as the history and philosophy of justice, law, and legal institutions.
• LES 504: Graduate Seminar: Offers a seminar for second-year graduate students, building on and further developing research, writing, and analytical thinking skills, with a focus on resolving current legal problems.
• LES 512: Theories of Justice: Introduces students to a range of theories considering the meaning of justice, including classic and contemporary critical theories.
• LES 513: Seminar in Politics and Law: Explores inequality in the American political and legal system, examining the nature and functions of law in American society.
• LES 519: Seminar in Courts and Policymaking: Focuses on courts as policymaking institutions and their relationship to other institutions, exploring the wisdom, legitimacy, and efficacy of judicial policymaking.
• LES 522: Health Care Law, Patient Privacy, and HIPAA: Covers basic concepts in health care law, with an emphasis on the implications of HIPAA's privacy requirements.
• LES 523: Constitutional Theory and Interpretation: Examines debates surrounding the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, addressing various theories and critically examining them.
• LES 525: Health Law: Introduces students to health law, including the patient-physician relationship, informed consent, liability, and public health.
• LES 554: Clinical Education: Offers work experience in a legal setting, with placement arranged and supervised by the student's adviser or program's clinical educational instructor.
• LES 563: International Criminal Law: Addresses both substantive international criminal law and its enforcement mechanisms, examining the legitimacy of international criminal sanctions and their political ramifications.
• LES 565: Law, Policy, and Administration: Provides a graduate-level overview of the legal foundations of the environment in which public managers and policymakers operate, using a case study approach.
• LES 568: Labor Arbitration and Dispute Resolution: Develops skills in labor arbitration practices, decision-making, negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution methods.
• LES 575: Effective Public Affairs Writing: Examines a range of writing styles, structures, and components used by public affairs practitioners and graduate students.
• LES 587: Public Advocacy: Focuses on the skills, methods, and strategies of institutional advocacy, studying the role and uses of effective advocacy.
• LES 590: Thesis: Offers students the opportunity to complete a thesis, with a focus on original research and contribution to the field of legal studies.
• LES 597: Graduate Seminar Continuing Enrollment: Allows students to continue working on their graduate seminar project, with a focus on completing the final paper.
• LES 598: Thesis Continuing Enrollment: Enables students to continue working on their thesis, with a focus on completing the final document.
• LES 599: Tutorial: Provides independent study, structured readings, or research in fields of legal studies and administration of justice, at the graduate level.