Graduation Requirements
Residential Juris Doctor (J.D.) Program
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 (31/32 credits):
* Passing Grade is C-
Fall semester:
- Contracts I
- Civil Procedure
- 1L Seminar (students choose from several seminar courses)
- Torts
- Lawyering I
- Professional Identity Formation
Spring semester:
- Contracts II
- Constitutional Law I
- Criminal Law
- Property
- 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:
- Constitutional Law II: First Amendment
Other Upper-Level Courses Required to Graduate:
* Passing Grade is C-
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); Business Organizations, and Criminal Procedure: Investigation OR Criminal Procedure: Adjudications.
Legal Profession or Professional Responsibility Seminar
Evidence
Administrative Law Elective from the following courses: Administrative Law, Antitrust: Trade Practices, Bankruptcy, Community Development Clinic, Employment Law, Environmental Law, Financial Crimes and Topics in Financial Market Regulation, Health Law Clinic, Immigration Law & Policy, Immigration Law Clinic, Labor Law, Land Use Planning, Public Health Law, Public Health Policy: Law, Finance & Ethics, Securities Regulation, State and Local Environmental Law, State and Local Government, State and Local Taxation, U.S. Refugee & Asylum Law.
International Law Elective from the following courses: Comparative Constitutional Law, Conflict of Laws, Indigenous & Aboriginal Law Seminar, International Business Transactions, International Child’s Rights, International Commercial and Investment Arbitration, International Human Rights Law, International Law of War & Crimes, International Organizations, Law of Climate Change, National Security Law, Public International Law, U.S. Refugee & Asylum 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/Advocacy Applied Health Policy Client Interviewing & Counseling Court of Appeals Intensive Crim-Just Policy & Legis Drafting Drafting Wills, Revoc. Trusts, … Fact Investigation Innovation Intensive Survey Introduction to Technology for Lawyers The Law of Social Entrepreneurship and Exempt Organizations Legal Issues in Medicine Mediation Negotiating for Lawyers Supreme Court Watch Sustainable Dev Code:Adv Transactional Skills Trial Advocacy Trial Practice I & II – Civil Trial Practice I & II – Criminal | 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: Innovation Intensive Practicum 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:
- By successfully completing a legal research paper under the supervision of a full-time faculty member;
- By producing a publishable work as a member of one of the Law School’s eligible student-edited journals;
- 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;
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.