Law School Curriculum

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The required curriculum at law schools around the country is remarkably uniform. Almost all students will have a similar mix of required doctrinal courses, along with legal writing and practical classes that go beyond casebooks into the skills that lawyers use each day in legal practice.

Though your 1L curriculum is already laid out for you, it can be helpful to keep an eye on what's coming. Here's a quick glance at what your three years will include (see below for information about the part-time curriculum):

1L YEAR:

  • Contracts (usually year-long course, bar-tested)
  • Torts (year-long course, bar-tested)
  • Criminal Law (summer or fall term, bar-tested)
  • Civil Procedure (fall or spring term, bar-tested)
  • Property (fall or spring term, bar-tested)
  • Legal Writing I (year-long course)

2L YEAR:

  • Constitutional Law I (fall term, bar-tested)
  • Legal Writing II (fall or spring term)

FLOATING REQUIREMENTS:

  • Professional Responsibility (one semester, tested on the MPRE)
  • Evidence (one semester, bar-tested)
  • 6 credits from Experiential Learning courses (includes clinics, externships, Street Law, simulation courses, practicums, and labs - typically one semester)

OTHER BAR-TESTED SUBJECTS (not required, but useful):

  • Bar Skills and Strategies
  • Business Entities
  • Civil Procedure II
  • Constitutional Law II
  • Criminal Procedure Investigative
  • Criminal Procedure Adjudicative
  • Family Law
  • Real Estate Transactions
  • Trusts and Estates
  • UCC Sales
  • UCC Secured Transactions

FLEX JD STUDENTS:

The Flex JD program will follow a set curriculum that may be subject to change as the program goes. For the most up to date information on the Flex JD curriculum, check here Links to an external site.. 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

  • Students who fall in the bottom 1/3 of their class by GPA after spring semester of 1L year are required to complete the Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum. Students who are subject to this curriculum must take additional bar-tested courses, some required and some elective. Also, students following this curriculum must meet some requirements about pacing of required courses.
  • If you're interested, more information on the Bar Success Prescribed Curriculum can be found here Links to an external site.. Additionally, for more information on academic policies that affect all students, visit the Academic Policies page.