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

Entering Fall 2008

 

To graduate from Lewis & Clark Law School with a Juris Doctor, JD degree, a student must take or do the following:

Also see Requirements Applicable to All JD Candidates.

Required Courses

• Civil Procedure I & II
• Constitutional Law I & II
• Contracts I & II
• Criminal Procedure I
• Legal Analysis and Writing I & II
• Property
• Torts I

Complete one seminar course

Complete the Professionalism Requirement

Professional Skills Requirement

Complete two writing requirements: WIE and Capstone. Submit writing requirement notifications to the Registrar (online forms for writing requirements).

Complete a minimum of 89 semester hours of which 72 are graded and/or required. For purposes of this requirement, the ungraded credits of an externship shall be considered a graded course.

Complete 65 semester hours of course work in classes with regularly scheduled class time (for details of this requirement see full description of minimum number of minutes spent in class.)

Detailed Information on Requirements

WIE and Capstone Writing Requirements for students starting the first year of law school Fall 2008 or later

In order to qualify to receive the JD degree, a student entering the law school in fall 2008 or later must satisfy each of two writing requirements:

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

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

1. Writing intensive experience.  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 includesubstantial 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.

2. 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:

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

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

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

One Paper for Credit in More Than One Class

On occasion, a student may wish to use one paper to satisfy two requirements or two classes. The following rules apply:

1. If all applicable criteria are met, a student may use one paper to satisfy a class and one or more non-credit requirement (e.g. class and “Capstone” or “WIE” paper; class and certificate paper; class and “Capstone” or “WIE” paper certificate paper).
2. Use of one paper to get credit for more than one class (including a class and law review) for which the student is concurrently enrolled is permitted only as follows:
   • a) The student must disclose the intention to use one paper to satisfy more than one class to all professors involved. Failure to make such a disclosure is an honor code violation.
   • b) The finished paper must be worth the total credit of the two classes (e.g. a 2 credit seminar and another 2 credit class equals a 4 credit paper).
   • c) The student must prepare a written petition outlining the intent and understanding of the paper’s credit equivalent, and the petition must have the written approval of both supervising instructors.
   • d) The student must submit the completed and signed petition to the Registrar’s Office to be placed in the student file as a safeguard against a charge of academic impropriety.
3. A student who has earned credit in one class based on a submitted paper and wishes to expand that paper for a later class, must have the written approval of the subsequent professor.

Professionalism 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:

1. Regulations and Ethics of Lawyers course.
2. Lewis & Clark Legal Clinic (civil litigation). No other clinic meets the requirement.

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 will have the word “seminar”in the title, and will include in the course description 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.

Professional Skills Requirement

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. Click here to see most current list.