Fall 2008-2013

Students entering Fall 2008-2013 have all the same requirements with the following exceptions:

 

            Fall 2008 entering students did not have to take Legal Elements, and need 89 total credits to graduate.

            Fall 2009 entering students do have to take Legal Elements, and need 89 credits to graduate.

            Fall 2010-2013 entering students have to take Legal Elements, and need 90 credits to graduate.

 

 

There are  self-audit forms online.  There are separate forms depending on your starting date. Students can go into WebAdvisor to do a graduation audit at any time.

 

STUDENTS ENTERING LAW SCHOOL FALL 2008 THROUGH FALL 2013 —NOTE SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES FOR EACH YEAR LISTED ABOVE.

 

General Description — Detailed information follows.

 

     ★1.  Complete a minimum of 90 semester hours, of which 65 must be in classes with regularly scheduled class time

     ★2.  Complete a minimum of 72 graded and/or required credits.  For purposes of this requirement, the ungraded credits of an externship shall be considered a graded course.  

     ★3.  Complete one seminar course. The definition of a seminar course is detailed below.

     ★4.  Pass Constitutional Law II.

     ★5.  Complete the Professional Responsibility (Legal Ethics) Requirement.  A student must earn at least 2 credits in a course approved to meet this requirement. 

     ★6.  Complete the Skills Requirement. A student must take at least 2 credits in a course approved by the faculty as meeting the “skills” requirement.  For a list of these courses, click here.

     ★7.  Complete two upper-division writing requirements: Capstone and WIE.  See the detailed descriptions below.  You must submit a notification to the registrar when you enroll in a course you intend to use to meet a writing requirement.  (online forms for writing requirements).

     ★8.  Complete administrative requirements and be in good standing.  These are generally applicable requirements including such items as clearing your account, doing any required exit interviews with financial aid, etc.  See details below.

DETAILED INFORMATION ON REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ENTERING LAW SCHOOL

FALL 2008 THROUGH FALL 2013 

WRITING REQUIREMENTS — WIE AND CAPSTONE

            In order to qualify to receive the JD degree, a student must satisfy each of two writing requirements:

            (1)  the “writing intensive experience” requirement (WIE), and       

            (2) the “capstone writing” requirement, as follows:

 

     ★          Writing intensive experience (WIE). The student must successfully complete a “writing intensive experience.”

This requirement may be met in any of three ways:

            (a) The student successfully completes a course that has been designated by the Curriculum Committee as a “writing intensive” course. Courses will be designated as writing intensive courses only if they include substantial instruction and feedback on writing skills as a central component of the class, apart from any coverage of an area of substantive law.

            (b) The student successfully completes a course in which the instructor certifies, upon completion of the course, that the student’s work in the course was a “writing intensive” experience. Work will qualify for this designation only if it includes substantial instruction or coaching, and feedback, on writing skills as a central component of the work, apart from any coverage of an area of substantive law.

            (c) The student successfully completes an individual research project that upon its completion is certified by the supervising faculty member to have been a “writing intensive” individual research project. Projects will qualify for this designation only if they include substantial coaching and feedback on writing skills as a central component of the project, apart from any coverage of an area of substantive law.

The course or project must be graded by a faculty member, and receive a grade of “C” or better; or a faculty member must certify to the Registrar that the student’s written work would, if graded, receive a grade of “C” or better.

★                   Capstone writing experience . The student must successfully complete a course or individual research project which, upon its completion, the instructor or supervising faculty member certifies was a “capstone writing” experience for the student. Courses and individual research projects will qualify for this designation only if they require a significant written product that involves complex legal analysis and the use of sophisticated writing skills. The written product must involve a mandatory rewrite after a draft has been reviewed and commented upon by the faculty member grading the written product; the final product must be reasonably responsive to the commentary and criticism received. The course or project must be graded by a faculty member and receive a grade of “C” or better.

This requirement cannot be satisfied by a course, paper, or other experience supervised by an adjunct faculty member without prior approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Students are strongly encouraged to complete the “writing intensive experience” before undertaking the “capstone writing” project.

The following rules are applicable to BOTH the “writing intensive experience” requirement and the “capstone writing” requirement:

The course or project must be undertaken for academic credit for at least two semester hours.

The student’s written work must demonstrate articulate, thoughtful, and well structured analysis of the subject matter, based on careful and competent research.

No one course, project, or written product may be used to satisfy both the “writing intensive experience” requirement and the “capstone writing” requirement.

Professional Responsibility (Legal Ethics) Requirement

To be eligible for a JD degree, a student must have earned credit in a course or courses which provide instruction in the duties and responsibilities of the legal profession. The Dean, after consulting with the Curriculum Committee, shall designate the courses which satisfy this requirement.

The Curriculum Committee has approved the following options to satisfy the professionalism requirement:

            Regulations and Ethics of Lawyers course.

            Earthrise Ethics (both semesters)

            Lewis & Clark Legal Clinic Ethics component. (Not offered after Fall 2014) 

Seminar Requirement

Each student must successfully complete a seminar prior to graduation. Seminars are designed as small discussion classes with:

Enrollment limited to no more than 20 students

Class meetings to be conducted in a discussion format with an emphasis on cooperative learning and shared knowledge; and

Course substance to allow for in-depth discussion and study of specialized problems, thus being clearly distinguished from courses which seek to survey a substantive area of the law. Courses that qualify as a seminar are officially designated by the Curriculum Committee, and the course description will note that designation and any enrollment cap lower than 20 students that has been approved by the Curriculum Committee. The externship seminars may not be used to fulfill this requirement.

Practical Skills Requirement for Students Entering Law School Prior to Fall 2014

            Each student must take a minimum of 2 credit hours in a class from the list approved by the faculty as meeting the professional skills requirement. For a list of courses that qualfy click here.

A student must complete a minimum of 65 credits in Courses with Regularly Scheduled Classes 

            People who may run into an issue with this requirement are primarily students who are doing externships, plus law review or independent study. 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.

          Externships No externship counts as regularly scheduled class hours.

          Practicums (Formerly called Internship Seminars) - 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 internship placement, will not count toward the regularly scheduled class hour minimum.

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

            Independent Study or Independent Tutorial.  No independent study or independent tutorial credit counts toward the regularly scheduled class hours minimum.

            Moot Courts with regularly scheduled classes count toward the scheduled class hours minimum. 

            Clinics and internship seminars/practicums Any clinic that is taught by full-time professors whose primary work is teaching, DOES count toward the 65 semester hours. The 2-credit seminar that regularly meets as part of a practicum or internship seminar does count toward the 65 semester-hour minimum.  The practice portion of the practicum or internship seminar does not count toward the 65 semester-hour minimum.

ADDITIONAL GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AND ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

            No student is allowed to take more than 17 credits per semester without special permission of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.  Such permission requires unusual, circumstances.  The assumption is that a student would not receive such permission more than once.  The maximum credits any student can take in one semester is 18.

            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 in good standing both academically and in matters of discipline.

Comply with the ABA standard that states 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.