Ronald J. Mann

2022 - 2008 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

COMMERCIAL PAYMENTS L6380

Course Description:

The purpose of this course is to provide a compressed introduction to the payment systems most directly relevant to the practicing transactional lawyer. Specifically, we will consider wire transfers (UCC Article 4A), letters of credit (UCC Article 5), and transactions in securities (UCC Article 8).

COMMERCIAL FINANCE and SECURED TRANSACTIONS L6392

Course Description:

This course is a modern version of the traditional secured transactions course. In addition to topics covered in the conventional course, this course also includes transactions that use real estate as collateral in addition to those that use personal property; the traditional secured transactions course includes only personal property. It is intended by complement the Corporate Finance course by discussing the principal transactions through which businesses raise money outside the securities markets. The course emphasizes the documents used in actual transactions and includes a substantial examination of the law governing mortgages and of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The principal topics on the syllabus are Credit Enhancement, Creation of Liens, Maintaining Perfection, Remedies, and Priority.

Regular class attendance is required. In addition, any student who misses more than five class sessions without adequate excuse will be excluded from the exam.

PAYMENT TRANSACTIONS L6386

Course Description:

This course considers the various mechanisms for making payments, with a principal focus on business payments. The principal topics of the course are payment cards, ACH payments, wire transfers, letters of credit, and securities transfers.

Attendance and participation are expected.

E-COMMERCE L6346

Course Description:

This course will consider how developments in information technology affect commercial transactions. The three principal parts of the course will consider issues related to information (including rules for protecting information and privacy issues), various types of transactions in the electronic contexts (sales, website issues, payments, and lending), and cross-border dispute-resolution issues. For more information, a detailed Web site will appear at Professor Mann's personal Web site.

SECURED TRANSACTIONS L6538

Course Description:

This course examines the basic rules, concepts and techniques governing the attachment, perfection, priority and enforcement of commercial financing structured as a secured transaction in personal property under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Secured transactions include sales of goods and services on credit where payment is collateralized by goods, loans secured by tangible and intangible personal property, and sales of rights to payment of money ("receivables").Analysis is made of the crucial distinction between a "true sale" and loan, a topic of special importance in the method of capital financing known as "structured finance" or "securitization". The primary focus of the course is on the revised version of Article 9 which became effective in all states in 2001---a complex statute that builds upon the original Article 9 drafted in the 1950's by making significant changes in scope, procedure and substance in order to reflect modern financing techniques, new sources of financing such as software, and technological developments such as those in electronics and electronic contracting.

Attention is given to the intersection of secured transactions law with bankruptcy under the Federal Bankruptcy Code, with emphasis on the avoidance powers of the trustee-in-bankruptcy under the "strong-arm", preference and fraudulent transfer rules. In addition, the intersection with suretyship law (guarantees and other forms of credit enhancement and support critical to the granting of credit) is examined closely.

The basic course materials are statutory and special emphasis is placed upon the distinctive analytical techniques needed for the proper interpretation and application of statutory rules. Decisional law under revised Article 9 is emerging and significant developments will be discussed as they occur during the semester.