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The US Copyright Office has developed an ambitious agenda for legislative and institutional reform of the American copyright system, and the Register of Copyrights would like us to assist in researching and formulating policy on two of the more pressing projects on its agenda, at least one of which may be the subject of hearings before the House Judiciary Committee this fall. Students will be responsible for developing and implementing the research design; consulting regularly with Copyright Office personnel on development of policy proposals; and preparing a final report for presentation to the Copyright Office. This will require a student commitment to two quarters of work during the Fall and Winter Quarters. Students may normally receive no more than four units for a Policy Lab practicum and no more than a total of eight units of Policy Lab practicums and Directed Research projects combined may be counted toward graduation unless additional units for graduation are approved in advanced by the Petitions Committee. A student cannot receive a letter grade for more than eight units of independent research (Policy Lab practicum, Directed Research, Senior Thesis, and/or Research Track). Any units taken in excess of eight will be graded on a mandatory pass basis. Elements used in grading: As agreed to by instructor. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

Many believe litigation by patent trolls-those in the business of asserting patents rather than making products-is rampant and has harmed innovation and raised consumer prices. This concern has spread to Congress and the U.S. Patent Office, which are considering new regulation of patent trolls. However, there remains insufficient data to determine the amount and impact of patent troll litigation. Students selected for this course will work with renowned patent law scholar Mark Lemley and Law, Science & Technology Teaching Fellow Shawn Miller to produce the first patent litigation database to include comprehensive identification of the type of patent plaintiff involved in each lawsuit. Students' principal responsibilities during 2015-16 will be to complete the database and help draft a position paper for policy makers on the impact of patent trolls. Though voluntary, Professor Lemley and Dr. Miller will also encourage and aid students in utilizing this experience and the database for their own scholarly work. NOTE: Students may not count more than a combined total of eight units of directed research projects and policy lab practica toward graduation unless the additional counted units are approved in advance by the Petitions Committee. Such approval will be granted only for good cause shown. Even in the case of a successful petition for additional units, a student cannot receive a letter grade for more than eight units of independent research (Policy Lab practicum, Directed Research, Senior Thesis, and/or Research Track). Any units taken in excess of eight will be graded on a mandatory pass basis. For detailed information, see "Directed Research/Policy Labs" in the SLS Student Handbook. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Attendance, Written Assignments. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete and submit a Consent Application Form available on the SLS website (Click Courses at the bottom of the homepage and then click Consent of Instructor Forms) to the instructor. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

The issue of confidentiality is central to contemporary mediation practice, yet raises significant public policy issues. The California Legislature has directed the California Law Revision Commission to analyze "the relationship under current law between mediation confidentiality and attorney malpractice and other misconduct and the purposes for, and impact of, those laws on public protection, professional ethics, attorney discipline, client rights, the willingness of parties to participate in voluntary and mandatory mediation, and the effectiveness of mediation, as well as any other issues that the Commission deems relevant," with an eye to making recommendations for revising relevant state law. California is a leader in the ADR domain and significant changes in its policies regarding mediation have the potential to affect mediation law in other state courts as well as the federal court system. In this practicum students will work collaboratively to assist Commission staff identify issues for research and analysis, conduct research and prepare policy memoranda for consideration of Commission staff. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Attendance, Written Assignments. NOTE: Students may not count more than a combined total of eight units of directed research projects and policy lab practica toward graduation unless the additional counted units are approved in advance by the Petitions Committee. Such approval will be granted only for good cause shown. Even in the case of a successful petition for additional units, a student cannot receive a letter grade for more than eight units of independent research (Policy Lab practicum, Directed Research, Senior Thesis, and/or Research Track). Any units taken in excess of eight will be graded on a mandatory pass basis. For detailed information, see "Directed Research/Policy Labs" in the SLS Student Handbook. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

The Mobility Project will explore ways to increase the representation at elite universities of high achieving students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Economically disadvantaged students are underrepresented at most selective colleges or universities. This despite the fact that in recent years a number of prominent universities (Stanford among them) have made their financial aid policies considerably more generous for students from lower income families.nRecent research indicates that the pool of resource disadvantaged, high achieving high school students is much larger than commonly thought. Each year, there are more than 25,000 high school seniors from relatively low income families whose standardized test scores and grades place them in the top 4% of high school students, making it likely that they could be admitted to, receive financial aid from, and thrive at a selective institution. Yet many thousands of these talented students do not apply to any top tier college. Some do not even apply to any four year school. nThis failure in the matching of students to schools is socially significant. While higher education has long been a means of promoting mobility for individuals and across generations, the economic benefits of advanced education are even greater now than in past eras. Thus, it has become especially important that universities provide an avenue of advancement for talented students of all backgrounds.nThe Mobility Project is also timely given the likelihood of increasing restrictions on race-based affirmative action. Expanding access to elite colleges for economically disadvantaged students will also contribute to the racial diversity of those institutions. The group of low income, high achievers is more racially diverse (and more specifically, has a higher representation of African Americans and Latinos) than the group of high achieving students from affluent families.nWe will examine a variety of initiatives to increase the enrollment at elite universities of high achieving economically disadvantaged students. We hope to assemble a small interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from the Schools of Law, Education, and Humanities and Sciences to explore scalable interventions. Students have the option to write papers for Research credit with instructor approval. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Attendance, Written Assignments, Final Paper. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors at rbanks@ law.stanford.edu and pbrest@ law.stanford.edu. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

If California Senate Bill SCR 54 is enacted, as seems likely, the California Law Revision Commission will be tasked with modernizing California statutory law on law enforcement access to customer records of cell phone providers, internet service providers, social media companies, and other mobile and internet-based communication providers. The Commission would like us to prepare a thorough and balanced background study of the relevant legal and policy concerns, including civil liberties, public safety, and the scope of federal preemption in the area, with an emphasis on new and emerging communication services. This is likely to be a high profile project, with close attention from the Legislature and many interest groups. nThis project involves complex issues under the Fourth Amendment and such statutory structures as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Completion of the course in Criminal Investigation is a prerequisite, with exceptions only for those with demonstrable alternative background in Fourth Amendment law.nElements used in grading: As agreed to by instructor. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

The changing economic landscape places great stress on the tax legislative process. This stress is magnified by flaws in existing statutes, and by taxpayer attempts to exploit those flaws. There are no statutory rules governing hundreds of billions of dollars of annual transactions. Much of this void is filled in (imperfectly) by Treasury regulations. This practicum will take a close look at one or two issues raised by one proposed Treasury regulation. We will look at the relevant literature, talk to stakeholders, and (possibly) and in our individual names, provide public comments and testimony on the regulation. Since the primary output will be a public (and therefore published in the leading tax journal, Tax Notes) comment, the course will offer Professional Writing (PW) credit. Students with a research interest in this area that is aligned with the project can with permission of the professor write a paper that receives Research (R) credit. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from the PW section (01) to the R section (02) with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Written Assignments or Research Paper. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

The Law School's Environmental Law Clinic is representing an environmental group in a lawsuit against the Monterey County Water Resources Agency. The suit asserts that the agency has been polluting both surface and ground waters in the Salinas River Valley and Elkhorn Slough by discharging pesticide-laden farm irrigation run-off in violation of California environmental laws. If the plaintiffs prevail, the appropriate injunctive relief is likely to be complex. Neither the precise dimensions of the problem nor those of the most effective interventions to remedy it are known. So, ideally, relief should combine adaptive flexibility for the agency, meaningful accountability to the plaintiffs and the public, and an opportunity for all parties to learn in the process of the implementation. Policy Lab students will work with Professors Deborah Sivas (lead plaintiffs¿ counsel) and Bill Simon on some aspect of a possible remedial regime. Students may normally receive no more than four units for a Policy Lab practicum and no more than a total of eight units of Policy Lab practicums and Directed Research projects combined may be counted toward graduation unless additional units for graduation are approved in advanced by the Petitions Committee. A student cannot receive a letter grade for more than eight units of independent research (Policy Lab practicum, Directed Research, Senior Thesis, and/or Research Track). Any units taken in excess of eight will be graded on a mandatory pass basis. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline. Elements used in grading: Class Participation, Final Paper.

Water in the West (a joint program of the Woods Institute and the Lane Center for the American West) is working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) on research related to water rights transactions that restore water to the environment. Rivers in the western United States are subject to significant water withdrawals that have had major impacts on the health of their ecosystems. In an effort to restore the health of such rivers, a number of conservation groups have begun to facilitate voluntary transactions to restore water to the environment, such as acquiring water rights and funding irrigation efficiency improvements. NFWF has extensive experience with these efforts through its funding of the Columbia Basin Water Transaction Program and implementation of the Walker Basin Restoration Program, and intends to expand its efforts to other parts of the West. It faces the challenge of deciding where to invest funds and resources in order to achieve the greatest conservation benefits for available dollars. Students in this policy lab will assist NFWF in the development of an assessment methodology for identifying and analyzing watersheds in the western United States as potential locations for expanding its efforts. Our work will focus on evaluating western states in terms of the extent to which they allow the transfer of water rights for environmental use and in terms of the regulatory, financial, and social hurdles such transactions face in each state. We will also analyze data related to stream flow alteration and work with NFWF to integrate this information into its broader assessment. Finally, we will work with NFWF staff to integrate our work into their broader assessment and help them begin to evaluate specific candidate watersheds. Elements used in grading: As agreed to by instructor. Consent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.

This policy lab will conduct research on national health policy problems for the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC (MedPAC is an independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to advise the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program). Students will work in teams with lawyers and PhD economists from MedPAC, resident and fellow physicians from Stanford Hospital, and other students from throughout the University on one of two topics:nExpanding the healthcare workforce through reform of states' scope of practice regulation. This project will examine how changes in licensing rules governing health care providers' allowed scope of practice can accommodate the expansion of demand for health services due to the Affordable Care Act and other factors. Specific questions include: 1) Under existing state law, what additional tasks can non-physicians such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists undertake that would reduce cost and/or improve quality? 2) What changes to state law might expand the allowed scope of practice of non-physicians that would reduce cost and/or improve quality? 3) What incentives might the federal government provide, either through Medicare or other means, to encourage states to reform optimally their scope of practice rules to reflect new available technologies?nDesigning antitrust policy to achieve the benefits of coordination and avoid the costs of consolidation. On one hand, closer links between physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers has the potential to reduce cost and improve quality by improving communication across care settings, avoiding wasteful duplication of effort, and reducing medical errors. On the other hand, consolidation may be used to exploit consumers by facilitating the exercise of health care providers' market power. This tension has become especially important due to incentives in the Affordable Care Act that encourage doctors and hospitals to join together in Accountable Care Organizations. This project will examine the following questions: 1) How can the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission use existing federal antitrust law to allow welfare-improving coordination while prohibiting welfare-reducing consolidation in ways that minimize costs of enforcement, including the legal uncertainty facing providers? 2) Can adoption of health-care-specific antitrust laws, such as those proposed or enacted in Massachusetts and California, effectively fill in the gaps in existing federal antitrust laws? 3) What incentives might the federal government provide, through design of reimbursement policies in the Medicare program, to complement federal and state antitrust laws?nConsent Application: To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration and Selection of Classes for Stanford Law Students) to the instructors. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline. Elements used in grading: Written Assignments, Final Paper. This course is cross-listed with HRP 222A and B.