Course Descriptions O-P

Course Credit Information

A – Usually offered during alternate years
CR/NC – Credit if course is passed; no credit if course is not passed
N – Not regularly offered
S – May be offered as a seminar
2-3 – Credit may vary between 2 and 3 credits
SK – Skills course

228. PATENT LAW. 3 A
Course includes an examination of trade secret law, the United States patent system, procedures for filing and obtaining U.S. patents, statutory requisites for patentability, infringement, fair use, and procedures for litigating infringement claims.

217. PATENT PROSECUTION. 3
Patent prosecution involves communicating with innovators, searching for and analyzing scientific literature, writing patents for client’s inventions, and negotiating with Patent Examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Students will learn fundamental skills for future patent related careers. The practice of Patent Prosecution does not require a legal degree; rather, patent prosecutors need to have a bachelor’s degree in a technical field or its equivalent, and to pass the “patent bar exam”. Passing the patent bar makes you a “patent agent”, and passing the patent bar while being admitted to a state bar makes you a “patent attorney”.

614. POLK COUNTY PROSECUTOR INTERNSHIP. 1-3 CR/F SK
Students are placed in the Polk County Attorney’s Office to develop skills necessary to practice as a trial attorney in prosecution. The internship allows students to participate in all aspects of criminal prosecution, including witness preparation, pretrial and post-trial hearings, misdemeanor jury and non-jury trials, and juvenile court proceedings. Students must have completed Evidence (LAW 113) and Criminal Procedure I (LAW 236) prior to enrollment and should either have taken or be simultaneously enrolled in Trial Advocacy (LAW 113).

056. POVERTY LAW PRACTICUM. 3 SK
The concept of equal justice under the law is such a fundamental ideal in the United States that it is etched above the entrance of our Supreme Court. Yet 92% of low-income Americans do not get enough or any help with their civil legal problems. Often these problems involve critically important issues such as child custody, access to education, and basic necessities like shelter, food, and protection from abuse.  In 2021 legal services organizations received 1.9 million requests for help for a civil legal problem. Legal services attorneys have specialized knowledge in legal areas such as public benefits, eviction, and unemployment, and often deploy those skills in fast-paced, high-volume practices across the country. In this intensive, three-credit practicum students will explore substantive poverty law issues and have the opportunity to help actual clients through a collaboration with Iowa Legal Aid. Through reading, classroom instruction and discussion, and courtroom observation, students will explore how poverty impacts access to justice and gain an introduction to several areas of the law commonly practiced at legal services organizations, including housing, consumer, family, and public benefits. Through classroom instruction, simulation, and actual client work, students will gain experience in client interviews, legal writing, and oral advocacy.  This class will require students be able to occasionally travel (with a goal of carpooling) to the Polk County Courthouse and the Des Moines Iowa Legal Aid Office, located in downtown Des Moines.

053. PRETRIAL ADVOCACY. 3 SK
Course examines the theory, practice, and ethics of the four major elements of pretrial practice: pleading, including litigation planning, development of case theory, and drafting complaints and responsive pleadings; motion practice, including motions to dismiss, venue motions, motions for temporary and preliminary relief, and summary judgment motions; discovery, including interrogatories, depositions, requests for production, motions to compel, and sanctions; and settlement strategy and mechanics.

010. PRINCIPLES OF LEGAL ANALYSIS. 2 CR
This course helps students develop core analytical skills. Students will work on identifying rules from court decisions and other sources of law, applying rules to new fact situations, and communicating this application on law school exams. The course begins with a diagnostic process to assist students to identify specific areas in which they can improve their legal analysis skills. Students will complete exercises and receive individualized feedback designed to help them successfully write law school exams.

335. PRIVACY AND CYBERSECURITY LAW. 3  S, SK
Privacy and Cybersecurity Law will take a practical approach to the evolving global, national, state and local-level web of privacy and security laws, regulations, and industry standards. We will explore the scope and nature of control over personal information from perspectives including: individual, corporate, regulatory and law enforcement. We will also touch on recent controversies such as (depending on student interest and the relevance to the organizations selected for the hypothetical simulation exercises) teen and children’s data online, health data, facial recognition, deep fakes, encryption, security incident response, domestic surveillance, drones, ad-targeting, virtual reality, geolocation, social networking, revenge porn, haptic security, biometrics, and DNA databases. Through the lens of Privacy and Cybersecurity Law, students in this course will develop and practice creative problem solving, advising and counseling, legal research, and legal drafting skills. Through in-class discussions, team and group drafting exercises, as well as individual work, students will draft emails to a hypothetical organizational client, revise one or more sections of the Privacy Policy posted online for a hypothetical client, and draft an Incident Response Plan for a hypothetical client.

608. PROBATE COURT INTERNSHIP. 2-3 CR/F SK
Students work with the associate probate judge of Polk County on both uncontested and contested matters, including will constructions, extraordinary fee requests, guardianships, conservatorships and other matters. A short paper is required. Prerequisites: Wills and Trusts (LAW 223) and permission of the instructor.

247. PRODUCTS LIABILITY. 3
Course examines the causes of action available for money damages in relation to defective products. The various actions include negligence, warranty, strict liability, including public misrepresentation, and specific remedies under the Uniform Commercial Code. The nature of the remedy, definitions of defectiveness, and defenses available also are considered.

111. PROPERTY. 4
Course examines the nature and history of real and personal property concepts, including acquisition of property interests, concurrent estates, adverse possession, landlord and tenant rights, and remedies; use of real property, including an examination of privately imposed controls such as easements and covenants; and judicial introduction of public controls such as zoning and eminent domain.

150. PROSECUTION AND DEFENSE. 3
This course provides an intensive introduction to the real world of criminal law practice. A Drake Law professor will be the primary instructor, but prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers will also provide instruction and will be integral to the course. The course will focus on the kinds of charges young lawyers most often prosecute or defend—assaults, driving while intoxicated, drug and weapons possession, criminal mischief, theft, etc.—as well as common defenses to those charges; sentencing, appeals, and post-conviction remedies; ethics issues particular to criminal cases; the nuts-and-bolts job duties and business practices of criminal law practitioners; step-by-step analysis of the process of a case through the criminal justice system from both the prosecutorial and defense standpoints; systemic issues such as gang-related crime and white collar crime; and other practical matters as deemed appropriate by the instructors.

613. PROSECUTOR INTERNSHIP. 1-3 CR/F SK
Under general supervision of the law faculty, students work for a prosecuting attorney, either full time during the summer or part time during a semester. Students participate in all aspects of criminal prosecution, including witness preparation, pretrial and post-trial hearings, misdemeanor jury and non-jury trials, and juvenile court proceedings. Forty-five hours of work will fulfill the credit-hour obligation, and after that point students may receive an hourly stipend. Students must have completed Evidence (LAW 113) and Criminal Procedure I (LAW 236) prior to enrollment, and should either have taken or be simultaneously enrolled in Trial Advocacy (LAW 113).

305. PSYCHIATRY AND THE LAW. 2-3 A
A study of both civil and criminal aspects of law and the mental health system. Topics include constitutional issues relating to mental health, the commitment process, competence, and criminal mental defenses.

650. PUBLIC DEFENDER JUVENILE PRACTICE INTERNSHIP. 2-3 CR/F SK
This internship will teach the students how to handle child and parent representation in Child in Need of Assistance cases, and youth defense in Delinquency cases. 

The objectives of the Public Defender Juvenile Practice Internship (Polk County) are to immerse students in the everyday practice of juvenile law, and to grow their knowledge of Iowa law, procedure, and client management. Students will be sworn in as student-attorneys at the beginning of the semester, and will be assigned juvenile law cases to manage. The students will be assigned these cases by the field supervisor, and the students will learn about the daily practice of juvenile law by regularly appearing in court. Students will meet with clients, argue in court, and file motions. Students will be encouraged to exercise their own judgment and discretion when managing cases.