Curriculum Planning
The administration regularly hosts information sessions to supplement the curriculum planning guidance on this website. During your first year of law school, the administration meets with each section to discuss the choice that full-time first year students have in their spring semester, as well as to discuss the opportunities that both full-time and part-time students have starting in their second year.
We emphasize individualized curriculum planning to allow students to explore all their interests while in law school. We encourage students to meet one-on-one with members of the administration and faculty to discuss all their options, whether they are pursuing a specific track or seeking a broader legal education. Below you will find a number of resources to assist you in starting the planning process:
Registrar's Office (including registration packet and forms)
All students seeking the degree of Juris Doctor must comply with the School of Law's J.D. degree requirements.
General Curriculum Planning Guidance
Professor Purcell advises on general Curriculum Planning: "Every law student has had experience in planning his or her personal curriculum as an undergraduate, but for some the task appears more daunting at the professional school level..."
Professor Thomas Haney offers A Perspective on Curriculum Planning: "Many students have a specific career goal in mind - childlaw, health law, intellectual property, international law, criminal law, trial practice, and the like. Those students should of course take some courses that are focused on subjects that relate to those career objectives..."
Professor and Dean Emerita Nina Appel offers A Perspective on Curriculum Planning: "In this rapidly changing world, which seems now to be moving at an accelerated and dizzying speed, it is very difficult to predict where a career may take a new lawyer in the coming decade(s). So, I urge flexibility, and that of course, requires a firm basic foundation in many aspects of law..."
Professor Bronsteen advises on general Curriculum Planning: "I advise you to choose courses by the professor rather than by the subject matter..."
Track-specific Curriculum Planning Guidance
Professor Cynthia Ho advises on the Intellectual Property Curriculum: "Many students could benefit from taking at least one class in intellectual property since intellectual property is a burgeoning area of law that lawyers in all areas of expertise increasingly must have some familiarity..."
Assistant Director of the Advocacy Center Megan Canty advises on the advocacy curriculum: "Advocacy education and training takes place in the courtroom as well as the classroom, and students are encouraged to involve themselves in student competition teams, externships, and clinics in addition to pursuing coursework..."
Elective Curriculum Planning and Co-curricular and Extra-curricular activities
Course Descriptions by Alphabetical Order
The Registrar's Office is your source for all registration and academic information. Specifically, the following types of information will assist you with registration issues.
Registration Packet: published each term several weeks before the registration period opens for the next semester. The packet contains all available courses for that term, including information on instructors, room numbers, class capacities, and registration information.
Forms: including forms for division transfer, 711 license, directed study, independent research, leave of absence, requests for transcript, and others.
