Spring 2026
Professor(s):
Jim Hawkins (FACULTY)
Credits: 3
Course Areas: Business and Commercial Law
Time: 10:30a-12:00p MW Location: 312
Course Outline: Because lenders are concerned with ensuring debtors repay them, a lot of lending only occurs if the debtor puts up some collateral for the loan. This course examines the law that governs these transactions--the law of secured financing--found in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. We will discuss how a lender obtains a security interest in a debtor's property, how a lender perfects its interest, and what happens when two lenders claim an interest in the same property. The course is taught using a problem-based approach.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule: 5/11/2026 9:00:00 AM 310
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: Important (MEE)
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Unavailable (Instructor Preference)
Course Materials
Book(s) Required
Course Materials: Ronald Mann, Commercial Finance, A Transactional Approach 2nd Edition (2023). ISBN: 9781685617196, Any copy of Article 9 and the Bankruptcy Code (for instance Elizabeth Warren, Bankruptcy and Article 9 (any recent edition), from Aspen Publishers). ISBN: 9798894106472
Three casebook options if ordering from publisher:
1) CasebookPlus Hardbound: This includes a print book, an eBook and the quizzes and other extra online learning tools.
2) CasebookPlus eBook: This includes an eBook and the quizzes and other extra online learning tools. (No print book.)
3) CasebookPlus Learning Library: This is JUST the quizzes and other online learning tools (the “Learning Library”) . NO casebook text is included. This option is much less expensive and is meant for students who may have purchased a used book but would like to have access the online quizzes.
(On our website, if you click one of the 3 options, text in the right side of the screen will indicate what is included in that option.)
Please let your students know that if they purchase from our website www.westacademic.com, they can receive 15% off either option 1 or 2 above (but not option 3) if they use the code WAHOUSTON upon checkout. (We do offer free shipping for print purchases.)
