Curriculum for students entering in 2018 and following

The curriculum reflected in the grids below is subject to change as the dean and faculty evaluate, develop and enhance the academic program

First Year Curriculum

Course Credits
August Term (Early August)
Introduction to Legal Studies 2
Lawyering, Leadership & Professionalism 1
Total Credits for August Term 3
Fall Trimester
Torts 5
Civil Procedure 5
Legal Method & Communication 2
Legal Research 1
Total Credits for Fall Trimester 13
Winter Trimester
Criminal Law 3
Criminal Law Lab 1
Contracts 5
Legal Method & Communication 2
Total Credits for Winter Trimester 11
Spring Trimester
Lawyering, Leadership & Professionalism 1
Business Associations or Evidence 4
Property 5
Legal Method & Communication 2
Introduction to Legal Studies 1
Total Credits for Spring Trimester 13
Total Credits for First-Year Courses 40

Second Year1 Curriculum

Course Credits
Fall Trimester
Professional Responsibility 2
Business Associations or Evidence 4
Constitutional Law I 2
Elective(s)2 2-4
Total Credits 10-12
December Term3
Electives / Study Abroad 1-3
Total Credits 1-3
Winter Trimester
Residency-in-Practice 7-8
Residency-in-Practice Accompanying Course4 2-4
Total Credits 10-11
Spring Trimester5
Constitutional Law II 3
Elective Courses 7-11
Total Credits 10-14

1 All students are required to do a “Residency” (a full-time field placement with a judge, public or private legal office, or one of the Law School’s in-house legal clinics) during their second year. The Residency may be done in either the Winter or Spring trimester. The chart shows the Residency during the Winter Term for illustrative purposes.

2 Students are required to satisfy a “Communications Requirement” in an upper-level term that is not the student’s Residency term. This may be done through courses designated as “Communications Courses” at the Law School or through various activities such as moot court or mock trial.

3 December Term is approximately a 2-week optional term in which students may take short elective courses, some of which may include a study-abroad component.

4 A “Residency-Accompanying Course” is a course taken along with a student’s Residency placement.  Because a student’s Residency may not be in the local area, the Residency-Accompanying Course may be delivered through distance-learning technology.

5 This chart shows the student’s Residency and Residency-Accompanying Course occurring in the Winter Term. These could, instead, take place during the Spring Term.

Third Year Curriculum

Course Credits
Fall Term
Bar Foundations 2
Bridge-to-Practice Course7 2-3
Electives 6-9
Total Credits 10-14

7 A Bridge-to-Practice Course prepares a student to transition from theory to practice. Bridge-to-Practice Courses may involve extended simulation of live-client experience.