December 03, 2009

Multiple certificates

Is it possible to receive multiple certificates upon graduation (i.e. both business and environmental) or does the necessary coursework for each prevent this? And even if this is possible, in your opinion, would one be missing out on other important coursework or more beneficial experiences?

It is possible to get multiple certificates although there are some specific limitations. For instance, you cannot get both a business certificate and a tax certificate or a business law certificate and an Intellectual Property certificate. Detailed information about the certificate requirements is on the web site at  http://law.lclark.edu/dept/lawreg/certificates.html.

I think you raise the right question when you ask if trying to get more than one certificate could cause you to miss out on some other important courses or experiences in law school. While I don’t think there is an absolute “yes” or “no” answer to the question, I think it’s good to look into this as you plan your upper division curriculum. In addition to getting a certificate – or two – you will want to cover certain bar exam courses and you may want to take some of the kinds of courses that you are not likely to get to formally study outside of law school – jurisprudence or legal history come to mind. There are lots of choices and since we have a very small number of required upper division classes, you have a good deal of freedom to devise what will work best for you. You will want to take into account subject matter interest and preference as to personal learning style. Some people want to take clinics, others want to get as much writing as possible, and some want to explore a variety of doctrinal courses. There are people here, me among them, who are glad to counsel students about upper division curriculum choices when the time comes to choose and register.