Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program - Graduation Requirements | Albany Law School
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Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program - Graduation Requirements

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Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program - Graduation Requirements

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To be eligible for the Juris Doctor degree, a student must complete a total of 87 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.25 and must pass all required courses. Required courses are as follows:

First Year Required Courses (33 credits):

* Passing Grade is C-

Fall semester:

  • Contracts I
  • Civil Procedure
  • Property I
  • Torts
  • Lawyering I

Spring semester:

  • Contracts II
  • Constitutional Law I
  • Criminal Law
  • Property II
  • Lawyering II

*Legal Methods May be required based on Fall GPA

Rising 2Ls will complete a Diagnostic Assessment prior to the start of their second year.

Second Year Required Courses:

* Passing Grade is C-

Fall semester:

  • Evidence
  • Constitutional Law II: First Amendment

Other Upper-Level Courses Required to Graduate:

Required for students whose GPA places them in the bottom quarter of the class at the end of the second semester:
Advanced Legal Analysis II (taken as a 3L), and 5 from the following list: Business Organizations; Conflict of Laws; Criminal Procedure: Investigation OR Criminal Procedure: Adjudication; Family Law OR Family Law Practicum OR Matrimonial Law; Sales, Secured Transactions; Commercial Law Survey; Trusts & Estates.

Legal Profession or Professional Responsibility Seminar

* Passing Grade is C-

Administrative Law Elective from the following courses Administrative Law, Antitrust in the Health Care Industry, Antitrust: Market Structure, Antitrust: Trade Practices, Community Development Clinic, Election Law, Employment Discrimination, Employment Law, Environmental Law, Environmental Practice and Procedure, Financial Crimes and Topics in Financial Market Regulation, Health Care Compliance, Healthcare Org & Finance, Health Law Clinic, Immigration Law & Policy, Immigration Law Clinic, Introduction to Government, Labor Law, Labor Law in the Public Sector, Labor Arbitration Seminar, Land Use Planning, New York Administrative Law & Policy, Privacy & Security of Health Care Information, Public Access to Government Information, Public Health Law, Public Health Policy: Law, Finance & Ethics, Securities Regulation, State and Local Environmental Law, State and Local Government, State and Local Gov’t Finance, State and Local Taxation, U.S. Refugee & Asylum Law.

International Law Elective from the following courses: Comparative Constitutional Law, Conflict of Laws, Federal Indian Law, International & Comparative Intellectual Property, International Business Transactions, International Child’s Rights, International Environmental Law, International Human Rights Law, International Labor Law, International Trade Law, International Law of War & Crimes, International Organizations, Law of Climate Change, National Security Law, Public International Law.

Experiential Requirement: Two courses (for a total of at least 6 credits) offering substantial skill instruction, with at least one course taken within the Clinic from the following list:

Simulation Courses:

Clinic Courses:

Alternative Dispute Resolution
Advanced Legal Research
Appellate Practice
Applied Health Policy
Art & Entertainment Law
Client Interviewing & Counseling
Court of Appeals Intensive
Drafting Wills, Revoc. Trusts, ...
Fact Investigation
Family Law Practicum
Legal Issues in Medicine
Mediation
Negotiating for Lawyers
Supreme Court Watch
Trial Practice I & II – Civil
Trial Practice I & II – Criminal
Witness Examination Skills

In- House Clinics:
Family Violence Litigation Clinic
Health Law Clinic
Immigration Law Clinic
Community Development Clinic

Hybrid Clinic:
Domestic Violence Prosecution Hybrid Clinic

External Clinics:
Mediation Apprenticeship
Attorney General Litigation Bureau

Practicum Courses with Placements: Entrepreneurship, Law, and Emerging Technologies
Innovation Intensive: Tech Commercialization Apprenticeship Program
Law and Social Innovation
Transactional and Business Law Practicum

Field Placements:
Client Advocacy Field Placement: Civil and Criminal
District Attorney Field Placements
Government Field Placements
Judicial Field Placements
Pro Bono Scholars Program
Semester/Summer/City in Practice

Upper Level Writing Requirement:

As a requirement for graduation, and by the end of his or her penultimate semester of law school, a student must produce a substantial legal research paper. A student may satisfy this requirement in one of the following ways:

  1. By successfully completing a legal research paper under the supervision of a full-time faculty member;
  2. By producing a publishable work as a member of one of the Law School’s eligible student-edited journals;
  3. By successfully completing a course taught by a full-time faculty member and designated as requiring for its completion production of a paper that satisfies the writing requirement;
  4. By producing a research paper in connection with any course taught by a full-time faculty member, if the faculty member determines that the paper is sufficient to satisfy the requirement.
  5. By producing a work product resulting from such substantial research and writing in a clinical course taught by a full-time faculty member that the product is the equivalent of a legal research paper. (Pursuant to ABA Standard 303, students cannot use the same course to satisfy both the experiential requirement and the upper level writing requirement)
  6. By producing a research report resulting from such substantial research and writing as a Sandman Fellow that the report is the equivalent of a legal research paper.
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