Courses & J.D. Requirements
General Requirements
The 87 semester hours necessary for graduation must include the successful completion of the following courses and requirements:
Sixty-four credits from courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction; such course will be explicitly identified as "Classroom Courses" by the faculty.
Six credits from experiential courses, which include simulation courses, clinics, and externships; such courses will be explicitly identified as "Experiential Courses" by the faculty.
The courses listed below as "Required First-Year Courses".
The courses listed below as "Required Upper-Level Courses".
A "Writing in Practice" course.
The "Upper-Level Writing Requirement" set forth below.
Required First-Year Courses
The following courses totaling 33 semester hours are required.
course Civil Procedure
course Constitutional Law
course Contracts
course Criminal Law
course Legal Analysis and Writing I
course Legal Analysis and Writing II
course Legal Research
course Legislation and Regulation
course Professional Identity Formation I
course Professional Identity Formation II
course Property
course Torts
Required Upper-Level Courses
The following upper-level course is required in the fall after completing the first year.
course Trial Advocacy
Required Upper-Level Courses
Writing in Practice Courses
One of the following upper-level courses is required:
course Advanced Legal Analysis and Writing
course Advanced Legal Research
LAWE 597 Appellate Advocacy
course Selected Topics: Art of the Argument
course Children's Defense Clinic
course Contract Drafting
course Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic
course International Business Practice
course Pre-Trial Litigation Skills
course Public Policy Research and Drafting
course Regulatory Law Practicum
course Workers Compensation
Upper-Level Writing Requirement (ULWR)
During either the second or third year of law school, each J.D. student must satisfactorily complete a substantial paper requiring in-depth research of a specific area of law. The paper must evidence a sophisticated knowledge of the law and provide a rigorous, thoughtful analysis of an unsettled area of the law, issue of first impression, or other legal topic requiring substantial original thinking. A paper meeting this requirement will be at least 5,000 words in length, not including citations. Any paper approved by the professor may satisfy this requirement, as long as above criteria are met, but examples of a qualifying paper include:
A scholarly paper.
An appellate brief (including an amicus brief).
A policy memorandum.
The paper must be written as part of a course or independent study of at least two credits, designated as ULWR on BannerWeb, and the paper must constitute a major part of the assessment in course. In addition, faculty must require certain input measures of student performance, including:
Predrafting requirements (e.g., topic proposal and detailed outline).
At least one full draft, on which the professor provides individualized feedback (e.g., one-on-one conferences, extensive written comments, etc.) that addresses both student writing and analysis.
A final draft.
Second- or Third-Year Elective Courses
Note: A course in professional responsibility and the elective course Evidence must be satisfactorily completed by the end of the second year if the student wishes to qualify to appear in a Virginia court as a third-year student under the Third-Year Practice Rule. Students may obtain a Third-year Practice certificate after they have completed 56 credits, plus courses in Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. This certificate allows a student to appear in some courts under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
course Administrative Law
course Advanced Clinical Practice: Children
course Advanced Clinical Practice: Intellectual Property
course Advanced Clinical Practice: Wrongful Conviction
course Advanced Legal Analysis and Writing
course Advanced Legal Research
course Advanced Trial Advocacy
course Selected Topics: Advising the Entrepreneur
course Agency and Partnership
course Aging and Disability Law Practicum
course Animal Law
course Selected Topics: Anti-Bribery Law in International Business
course Antitrust
course Art of the Argument
course Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization
course Building Blocks of Starting a Small/Solo Practice
course Business Associations
course Children and the Law
course Children's Defense Clinic
course Civil Litigation Fundamentals
LAWE 626 Civil Rights History
course Civil Rights Litigation
course Selected Topics: Civil and Criminal Litigation Research
LAWE 682 Civil Trial Advocacy
course Selected Topics: Commercial Transactions and Emerging Technology
course Selected Topics: Comparative Constitutional Legal Systems
course Comparative Public Law of the U.S. and U.K.
course Conflicts of Laws
course Selected Topics: Constitutional History
course Constitutional Law II: Individual Rights
course Contract Drafting
course Copyright Law
course Core Commercial Law Concepts
course Core Legal Concepts
course Corporate Compliance
course Corporate Finance
course Corporate Governance
course Corporate Taxation
course Selected Topics: Corporate and Business Law Research
course Corruption in International Sports II
course Corruption, Human Rights, and Mega Sports
course Criminal Defense Practice
course Criminal Law and Psychiatry
course Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
course Criminal Procedure: Investigation
course Criminal Trial Advocacy
course Crimmigration
course Selected Topics: Critical Theory Workshop
course D.C. Externship
LAWE 627 Diversity in Education and Employment
course Domestic Violence Seminar
course Employment Discrimination Law
course Employment Law
course Energy Law
course Entertainment Law
course Environmental Law
course Estate and Gift Taxation
course Evidence
course Expert Evidence
LAWE 696 Externship: Advanced
course Externship: Civil
course Externship: Criminal
course Externship: In-House
course Externship: Judicial
course Externship: Litigation
LAWE 698 Externship: Semester
course Family Law Procedure
course Family Law
course Federal Courts
LAWE 692 Federal Income Tax Lab
course Federal Income Taxation
course Selected Topics: Feminist Perspectives on Law
course First Amendment Law
course Health Law
course Selected Topics: Health Reform in America
course Housing Law
course Human Rights Seminar
course Selected Topics: Identity, Culture, & the Law
course Immigration Law
course Immigration Rights Practicum
course Independent Study
course Intellectual Property Fundamentals
course Intellectual Property Law and Policy Seminar
course Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic
course Selected Topics: Internal Corporate & Government Investigations
course International Business Practice
course International Business Transactions
course Selected Topics: International Criminal Justice & Transnational Justice
course International Law Practicum
course International Law
course Selected Topics: Intersections of Human Identity and American Law
course Interviewing and Counseling
course Introduction to Business
course Jurisprudence
course Selected Topics: Juvenile Law
course Labor Law
course Land Use Planning
course Law and Literature
course Law of the European Nation
LAWE 652 Lawyers as Leaders
course Selected Topics: Leading & Managing the Business Law
course Selected Topics: Legal Business Design Practicum
course Legal History Seminar
LAWE 630 Legislative Advocacy
course London Externship Program
LAWE 688 Mediation
course Medical Malpractice
course Mergers and Acquisitions
course Selected Topics: Moot Court Competition
LAWE 634 National Security and New Technologies
course Negotiation
course Patent Law
course Payments in the 21st Century: How Money Moves
LAWE 650 Plea Bargaining & Sentencing
course Poverty Law Practicum
course Pre-Trial Litigation Skills
course Products Liability Law
course Professional Responsibility: Criminal Practice
course Professional Responsibility: Family Law
course Payments in the 21st Century: How Money Moves
course Practice Design and Innovation
course Public Policy Research and Drafting
course Selected Topics: Race, Class, Power & Privilege
LAWE 648 Race & the Constitution
course Real Estate Transfers and Finance
course Regulatory Law Practicum
course Remedies
course Research Assistant
course Restorative Justice
course Sales and Leases
course Secured Transactions
course Securities Regulation
course Selected Issues in Public International Law
course Selected Topics in Virginia Law
course Sentencing Law
course Selected Topics: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Law
course Spanish Legal Skills
course Sports and the Law
LAWE 637 State and Local Taxation
course Tax Policy Seminar
course Taxation of Partnerships and LLCs
LAWE 649 Technology Law
LAWE 646 Ending Slavery & Securing Freedom: The History of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
course The Death Penalty
course Selected Topics: The Mindful Lawyer
course The Prosecution Project
course Trademark Law
course Trial Competition
course Veteran's Law
LAWE 695 Veteran's Law Moot Court
course Selected Topics: Vices-Prohibition, Registration, and Social Impact
course Virginia Legal Research
course Virginia Procedure
course Voting Rights
course White Collar Crime
course Wills and Trusts
course Workers Compensation
course Selected Topics: Writing for Clerks
course Wrongful Conviction Clinic
course Wrongful Conviction Seminar