Attendance Policy

I. ABA Requirement

Under the American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation standards, law schools must require regular and punctual class attendance. At Lewis & Clark Law School, regular attendance is essential for academic success and for full engagement in the learning process. Compliance with this standard upholds the Law School’s commitment to academic excellence and reinforces the discipline and professional accountability that are central to success in the legal profession.

Students are expected to attend all class sessions. The attendance standards set forth below are reason-neutral: absences will not be categorized as excused or unexcused. No exception to the applicable attendance threshold will be made based on the reason for an absence, except as provided in Section II.C and Section III below, or as necessary for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act or observance of religious holidays consistent with institutional policies.

II. Attendance Standards

A. Attendance Standards for 1L Courses, Upper Division Required and Core Courses, and Lecture-based Courses

For all first-year (1L) courses (other than Lawyering, Legal Research, and Foundations of Professional Practice), all upper-division required and core courses (including, but not limited to Ethics, Evidence, Business Associations, Constitutional Law II, Criminal Law, and Administrative Law), and all courses that are primarily lecture-based, a student must attend at least 80% of the scheduled class sessions in a semester. Consequently, in a course with two class sessions per week, a student may miss no more than five (5) class sessions; a sixth absence will result in the student’s attendance falling below the required threshold. In a course with one session per week, a student may miss no more than two (2) class sessions; a third absence will result in the student’s attendance falling below the required threshold.

Faculty have the discretion to implement a more restrictive attendance policy per section II.C.

B. Attendance Standards for Courses that are Experiential, Skills-based, or that Satisfy Writing Requirements

For courses that are experiential, skills-based, or that satisfy a writing requirement, a student must attend at least 85% of the scheduled class sessions in a semester. These courses include, but are not limited to, the following:

• • • Lawyering I and II, Legal Research I and II, and Foundations of Professional Practice;
    • Courses such as Clinics, practica, experiential or simulation courses, and courses in which a student’s absence would materially impede other students’ ability to participate or perform; and
    • Courses in which students are completing a Writing Intensive Experience (WIE) requirement or a Capstone requirement.

Consequently, in a course with two sessions per week, a student may miss no more than three (3) class sessions; a fourth absence will result in the student’s attendance falling below the required threshold. In a course with one session per week, a student may miss no more than two (2) class sessions; a third absence will result in the student’s attendance falling below the required threshold.

Faculty have the discretion to implement a more restrictive attendance policy per section II.C.

C. Discretion Retained by Faculty on Attendance Thresholds and Consequences

Faculty members retain the discretion to impose a more restrictive attendance policy and can decide how tardiness and early departure count toward a threshold. Faculty administering a more restrictive policy are responsible for tracking attendance and notifying students who are approaching the threshold. Faculty members should copy the Associate Dean of Student Affairs on the notification.

Under their individual course policies, faculty have the discretion to impose grade penalties for attendance violations and to require make-up work for any absence.

Faculty policies addressing more restrictive attendance standards, make-up work, or grade penalties should be distributed to students no later than the second class of the semester.

D. Consequences of Falling Below Attendance Thresholds

The Office of the Registrar will administratively withdraw from the course a student who falls below the attendance thresholds specified in sections II.A and II.B. The student’s transcript will reflect the administrative withdrawal. The student could be asked to disclose this administrative withdrawal when applying for bar licensure.

A student who, because of extraordinary or unforeseeable circumstances, anticipates difficulties in meeting this attendance requirement or any other attendance-related requirement prescribed by a faculty member should contact the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to discuss the appropriate course of action as soon as the student anticipates any risk of falling below the threshold.

III. Petitions for Review or Reinstatement

A. Dispute of Attendance Record

If a student contends that an attendance record is incorrect because of a recording error, the student may submit a written request for correction to both the faculty member and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The student should submit the request promptly upon discovery of the error, but no later than ten (10) business days after the notification date of (1) the warning that the student is approaching the threshold or (2) the notice of administrative withdrawal. The student should provide supporting documentation for their request. 

B. Petition for Reinstatement

A student who has been administratively withdrawn from a course under Section II may petition for reinstatement if the absences stem from circumstances of an extraordinary or unforeseeable nature, such as those involving significant medical, family, or safety emergencies. The student must submit the petition within ten (10) business days after the date on the notice of administrative withdrawal. The student must provide articulable reasons and supporting documentation justifying the student’s reinstatement in the course. After reviewing the relevant information, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA) and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (ADSA) may grant a student’s petition if they find the student has provided adequate explanation and evidence of extraordinary or unforeseeable circumstances.

As a condition of reinstatement, the student may be required to complete make-up work for the missed sessions; the specific requirements will be determined by the faculty member teaching the course in consultation with the ADAA and the ADSA.

IV. Recording and Reporting of Attendance

Faculty members are required to take attendance at each class session and submit attendance records weekly to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs through the Law School’s designated attendance application or other approved reporting method.

V. Definition of “Class Session”

For purposes of this policy, “class session” means any regularly scheduled class meeting, any make-up class session, or any outside exercise, activity, or event that the Professor has organized in place of a regularly scheduled class meeting.