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SECURED TRANSACTIONS (LAW 634)Fall 2009-2010
Professor Wentong Zheng
University at Buffalo Law SchoolOffice: 618 OBrian Hall
Tel: 716-645-7968
Email: [email protected]
Syllabus
Overview
This course surveys the law applicable to secured transactions
in personal
property. This body of law includes primarily Article 9 of the
Uniform CommercialCode (UCC), the Federal Bankruptcy Code, the
Federal Tax Lien Act, and
miscellaneous state laws. The focus of the course is on Article
9 of the UCC, as revised
effective July 1, 2001.
The main goal of the course is to acquaint students with the
fundamentals of
Article 9 of the UCC. The major subjects that will be explored
in this course include: thescope of Article 9; creation of security
interests (attachment); perfection of security
interests; priority of security interests; default and the
foreclosure process; and treatmentof security interests in
bankruptcy. To help students acquire a systems view of secured
credit, towards the end of the course we will briefly discuss
security interests that are not
governed by Article 9.
Throughout the course students will learn not only the
black-letter rules, but also
the commercial and policy justifications for such rules. By the
end of the course, a
reasonably diligent student should be able to master the Article
9 rules frequently testedon state bar exams and, more importantly,
understand the policies behind the rules.
Required Materials
We will useSecured Credit, A Systems ApproachbyLopucki and
Warren (Sixth
Edition, Aspen Publishers) as the principal casebook and
Commercial Law: Selected
Statutesby Warren and Walt (2009-2010 Edition, Foundation Press)
as the statutory
supplement. Other statutory supplements can be used as long as
they contain the official
UCC text and comments, the Bankruptcy Code, the Federal Tax Lien
Statutes, and the
Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act.
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Optional Materials
Those who would like to use some learning aids are recommended
to read
Understanding Secured TransactionsbyLawrence, Henning &
Freyermuth (Fourth
Edition, LexisNexis). Those who would like to enhance their
understanding of Article 9
through working on problem sets are recommended to readExamples
& Explanations:Secured TransactionsbyBrook(Fourth Edition,
Wolters Kluwer). Both books have
been put on course reserves and are available at the law
library.
Class Meetings
The class will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:00 pm to 3:30
pm, excepton holidays and breaks. Our classroom is 107. If a
scheduled class meeting has to be
cancelled, we will schedule a make-up class.
Office Hours
My office hours will be 10:00-12:00 am Mondays and Wednesdays,
except on
holidays and breaks. I will be in my office during my office
hours (except for occasionalabsences necessitated by things such as
faculty meetings). Feel free to stop by my office
outside of my office hours, too, but you will have a much
greater chance of catching me
if you come during my office hours. For those of you who would
like to make sure that Iwill absolutely be in my office when you
come, both during and outside of my office
hours, please send me an email in advance to make an
appointment.
Reading Assignments
Reading assignments for each class will be posted in a separate
document to be
uploaded to UB Learns at least one week in advance of the class.
The assignments may
include supplemental materials not found in the casebook and the
statutory supplement,such as additional cases, law review articles,
and problem sets.
Grades
Your grade for this course will be determined solely by your
performance on the
final exam. The format of the final exam will be announced at a
later time.
