private static <T> Class<? extends T> loadAndCheckSubclass(String name, Class<T> toCheck)
    {
        try
        {
            Class<?> clazz = Class.forName(name);
            if (toCheck.isAssignableFrom(clazz))
            {
                return (Class<? extends T>) clazz;
            }
        } catch (ClassNotFoundException ex) {
            PELogger.logWarn("IMC tried to identify a class that couldn't be found: %s", name);
        }
        return null;
    }


For example, you call loadAndCheckSubclass("theirmod.entity.name", Entity.class) to verify that their class exists, is accessible, and is a subclass of type Entity.