Fashion Law and Compliance Final Paper

The final paper assignment is to analyze a current fashion law issue or conflict that is of interest to you. You may build on your midterm paper, however you need to substantially develop the theme and issues and you cannot cut and paste the text from your prior paper. The final paper will be run through Turnitin, which will analyze if you have done so.

The purpose, like the first paper, is 1) increase your ability to research and analyze a legal issue, 2) to increase your understanding of a particular issue of interest to you, and 3) to be able to hone and demonstrate your analytical skills. There are two criteria that you should apply in choosing this issue. First, it should be current. That means that it an issue that is ongoing and currently being discussed in newspapers. Second, it should be related to the law. That doesnt mean it has to concern a lawsuit, but rather that it concerns regulation, litigation, criminal law, constitutional law, or any other subject of law.

You have a fair amount of freedom to examine a topic of your choice here. You may take one of two approaches. First, you can choose a subject in which there is an ongoing conflict. The more specific you can make the subject the better. You should, like the first paper, lay out the facts of the case and identify the legal issues in question. Identify the applicable law or laws, and analyze the case by applying the law to the facts, weighing the arguments in favor of both sides, and arriving at a conclusion. You could then use that specific conflict to make a general point about the rules in question, or the policy questions that might weigh in favor one of the parties.

A second approach is to examine an ongoing general legal question in fashion law. For example, should fashion design have stronger copyright protections? How should the industry address the problem of forced labor in cotton production in China? How to deal with unsafe working conditions in supplier factories around the world and human rights abuses? You could examine the compliance program of a particular company, like Nike, describe what it does, and then make an argument about whether or not it is doing an adequate job, whether there should be more transparency, etc.

You need to draw on more resources than for the first paper. I would expect a minimum of 10, and maybe more. These sources should be included in a reference table at the end of the paper, and any quotations or facts cited in your paper should be cited properly using quotation marks and footnotes.