What’s What Law Student Handbook - Law School - Lewis & Clark

To be issued a degree and to be certified to take a state bar exam, all students, in addition to completing the specific course requirements must:

• Have no outstanding incomplete coursework;
• Have a minimum yearly and cumulative GPA of 2.00 or better at time of graduation (see rules on Standard for Continuation and Academic Probation);
• Have all official transcripts on file for undergraduate and advanced degree studies;
• Submit Degree Application during the fall before graduating. Degree applications are available online through WebAdvisor.
• Clear all accounts with the Student and Departmental Account Services, Law Library, Law Bookstore, and Law Business office. You cancheck Web Advisor for any holds on your student account
• Complete any required exit interviews with the Financial Aid office.
• Be approved for graduation by the faculty; (see Commencement)

• Be in good standing both academically and in matters of discipline.
• ABA standards state that students must complete all law school work within 84 months of starting law school and no less than 24 months from starting law school.

  There is a self-audit form online, and students can go into WebAdvisor to do a graduation audit at any time.

Minimum Number of Hours in Courses with Regularly Scheduled Classes

ABA Standard 304 regarding accreditation of law schools states that a student must complete at least 45,000 minutes of study, 65 semester hours, by attendance in regularly scheduled class sessions at the law school. Classes listed below will not count as regularly scheduled classes, although some of these classes may allow partial credit, as noted below.

Externships - No externship credits, including those for the classroom component, count as regularly scheduled class hours.

Legal Practicums (called Internship Seminars prior to Fall 2015) - 2 hours of credit will be counted toward the regularly scheduled class hours for the 2-hour per week seminar meetings; 2 hours of the total 4, spent in the Practicum, will not count toward the regularly scheduled class hour minimum.

Law Review - No law review credit counts toward the regularly scheduled class hours minimum.

Individual Research - No individual research credit counts toward the regularly scheduled class hours minimum.

Moot Court - No moot court credit counts toward the regularly scheduled class hours minimum.

Note: Any clinic that is taught by full-time professors whose primary work is teaching, DOES count toward the 45,000 minute minimum (65 semester hours). This includes the Lewis & Clark Legal Clinic (not offered after Fall 2014), Earthrise, IELP, NCVLI, Small Business Legal Clinic, Tax Clinic, and Animal Law Clinic.

People who may run into an issue with this are primarily students who are doing externships, plus law review or individual research. Students doing externships plus law review or several hours of independent study should check with the Registrar to see if they are running up against the limit.

Minimum Number of Graded and/or Required Credits Requirement

Students who entered Fall 2013 or earlier must earn a minimum of 72 semester hours in graded and/or required courses. For purposes of this requirement, the ungraded credits of an externship shall be considered a graded course.

A day student is required to take at least 13 and not allowed more than 17 semester hours of credit per semester. An evening student is required to take at least 8 and not allowed more than 12 semester hours of credit per semester.

ABA Limit on Credit Hours Per Semester

ABA rules prohibit students from taking in any one semester more than 20% of the total credits required for graduation. Lewis & Clark limits total credits per semester to 17.

See: Degree Planning