MVV268K Resolving US-related Business Disputes

Faculty of Law
Autumn 2018
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Richard M. Franklin (lecturer), doc. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. JUDr. Ing. Michal Radvan, Ph.D.
Faculty of Law
Contact Person: Mgr. Věra Redrupová, B.A.
Supplier department: Faculty of Law
Timetable of Seminar Groups
MVV268K/01: Mon 1. 10. 16:00–17:40 038, Tue 2. 10. 16:00–17:40 038, Wed 3. 10. 18:00–19:40 025, Thu 4. 10. 16:00–17:40 038, Mon 8. 10. 16:00–17:40 025, Tue 9. 10. 18:00–19:40 025, Wed 10. 10. 8:00–9:40 038, Thu 11. 10. 16:00–17:40 025
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 1/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 37 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course will provide an overview of the issues that that a Czech or other European company may face in resolving a business dispute where the counter-party is a US company. The objectives of the course include first familiarizing the student with the US legal system and US civil litigation and then preparing the student to recognize, understand and deal appropriately with the issues that typically arise in international business dispute resolution involving a US party.
Syllabus
  • - Session 1. Introduction and overview of the US legal system including: relevant provisions of the U.S. Constitution; the federal system of government; the dual federal and state court system; common law and statutory law; stare decisis; uniform laws; the American attitude toward litigation (distrust of government and the right to a “day-in-court”); the adversarial system; judges and the quality of justice; the role of attorneys and their legal education
  • - Sessions 2-3. Overview of US civil litigation, including: court jurisdiction (subject matter and personal); pleadings; class actions; service of process; responsive pleadings (answer and motion to dismiss); pretrial discovery; early resolution (summary judgment and settlement); jury trials; evidence; expert witnesses; remedies; damages; injunctions; judgment and enforcement; appeals
  • - Sessions 4-5. Procedural issues arising in international business litigation, including: diversity jurisdiction; personal jurisdiction; foreign sovereign immunity; forum non conveniens, service of process (Hague Service Convention); evidence (Hague Evidence Convention); data privacy and blocking statutes; 28 USC §1782 (discovery for use in foreign proceedings); foreign discovery through U.S. corporate affiliates; attorney-client privilege, proof of foreign law; enforcement of foreign judgments
  • - Session 6. Conflicts of law and substantive issues arising in international business litigation, including: choice of law (contractual choice of law clauses and default rules); parent company liability including corporate veil piercing; substantive contract law (common law, the UCC and the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods); product liability law; the extraterritorial reach of U.S. statutory law (securities, antitrust, Alien Tort Claims; Foreign Corrupt Practices)
  • - Session 7. Alternative dispute resolution (including mediation and arbitration)
  • - Session 8. Summary and examination
Literature
  • Selected portions of the US Constitution, international treaties, statutes and cases.
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussions. The Instructor will use his many years of experience in international dispute resolution to illustrate many points and as a basis for class discussion.
Assessment methods
The exam will count for half the grade and will consist of 25% multiple choice and 25% one essay question; the other 50% of the final grade will be based upon attendance and participation in class.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2018, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/autumn2018/MVV268K