Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professors Zieve, Page, White, Cluderay and Yeshua

J.D. Seminar 522 | 4 credit hours

This experiential course will examine regulation of dietary supplements, food labeling and personal-care products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Looking at case law and administrative materials, it will explore shortcomings in the statutory authority of the FDA and FTC and the performance of the two agencies in protecting consumers from false, deceptive, or unproven claims for these products. In the experiential component of the course, students will work as interns on projects aimed at influencing the legislative process or agency decision-making or will assist with litigation with respect to regulation and labeling of foods, dietary supplements and personal-care products. Specific projects will be arranged and supervised by attorneys and consumer advocates at DC-based public-interest organizations, including Public Citizen, the Environmental Working Group, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Recommended: Administrative Law or Food and Drug Law.

Students may not concurrently enroll in an externship or a clinic (except Street Law) or another practicum course.

This is a 4 credit course. Two credits will be awarded for the 2-hour weekly seminar and 2 credits will be awarded for approximately 10 hours of supervised work per week, for a minimum of 11 weeks, to be scheduled with the faculty. This course will typically meet on Tuesdays, but will have an additional class meeting on Saturday, January 28, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. On two Tuesdays later in the semester, class will not meet at all, to account for the Saturday meeting. The seminar portion will be graded. The 2 credits of supervised work are mandatory pass/fail and count toward the 7 credit pass/fail limit. Students will be allowed to take another course pass/fail in the same semester as the supervised work. THIS IS A PRACTICUM COURSE. Students who wish to receive credit for the Externship Seminar and an experiential learning course that has the same field placement may do so only if: (1) the experiential learning course is taken in a semester following the Externship Seminar; and (2) the student receives permission from the Assistant or the Associate Dean for Clinical Programs. To receive such permission, the student must explain in writing how the experiential learning course field work would serve substantially different learning goals than did their externship field placement.