Certificate

The certificate in Criminal Law & Procedure, awarded to qualified Lewis & Clark law students upon graduation, recognizes successful curriculum concentration in the field of criminal law and procedure.  To obtain the certificate, students must satisfy the requirements set forth below.

Course credit may be allowed, in the discretion of the Director of the Criminal Law Program, for one course, of up to three (3) units of credit, taken at another law school. In that event, only the credit earned for that course will be applied to the certificate. The grade earned for the course will not be counted in determining the student’s GPA for the certificate.

A. Course Requirements.   To obtain the certificate, a student must complete the following course requirements:

Level 1

All of the following:

CJ: Criminal Procedure I
CJ: Criminal Procedure II
CJ: Criminal Law I
Evidence

Level 2

One of the following:

Any class with the prefix “CJ” unless listed for Levels 1 or 3
Crimes Against Animals
Cyber Crime Seminar
Environmental Enforcement
International Criminal Law Seminar
Juvenile Justice Seminar
Individual Research (on a criminal law or procedure topic)

Level 3

One of the following: 

Appellate Advocacy
Internship: Criminal Law (formerly CIS)
Internship: Environmental Prosecution (formerly CIS)
CJ: Crime Victim Litigation Clinic
CJ: Criminal Practice Seminar
Externship: Criminal*
Moot Court**
Trial Advocacy

B. Writing Requirement.  To obtain the certificate, a student must complete one paper that involves substantial independent research and also satisfies both of the following criteria:

a. The paper must focus directly on criminal law, criminal procedure, or both.

b. The paper must satisfy the criteria for either the “WIE” or the “Capstone” writing requirement. If these criteria are met, it is immaterial whether the student actually uses the paper to fulfill the “WIE” or “Capstone” writing requirement.

Students should plan ahead in determining how to meet the writing requirement. In particular, it is important to consider the following:

• The paper must involve substantial independent research. Some papers clearly fail to meet this requirement (e.g. moot court briefs or memoranda for which the professor has artificially limited the scope of the problem or research involved). The nature of some other papers, or the amount of work actually done by the student, may also result in difficulties with this requirement.

 • There will be a strong presumption against allowing co-authored papers to qualify for the Certificate.

• The student has the burden of ensuring that the paper topic, scope, and research level meet the Certificate requirements. If there is any doubt, the student should initiate a consultation among the student, the supervising faculty member, and the Certificate Director early in the paper process.

C. Grade Point Requirement.

For students entering Fall, 2008 or before: The student must maintain a grade point average of B minus (2.70) or better in courses taken and selected as qualifying for the Certificate.

For students entering Fall, 2009 or after: The student must maintain a grade point average of B (3.00) or better in courses taken and selected as qualifying for the Certificate.

This requirement is subject to change depending on any changes in the grading system or required mean that might be adopted by the faculty.

_______________________

* Three (3) credits of the graded portion of an externship will be counted in determining the student’s GPA for the certificate.

** The following moot courts are included because they develop litigation or client counseling skills that are applicable to a criminal practice: Moot Court ABA: Negotiation; Moot Court ABA: Tax I; Moot Court: Appellate Advocacy Regional; Moot Court: Client Counseling; Moot Court: International; Moot Court: Mock Trial; Moot Court: NALSA; Moot Court: Merhige National Environmental Negotiation Competition; Moot Court: National Animal Law Moot Court; Moot Court: Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.

Certificate in Criminal Law Application

Certificate in Criminal Law Paper Requirement