The School of Law provides a rich range of classes in both the day and evening divisions, which will fulfill the 87 credits you will need to graduate.
In addition to the first-year and upper-level required curriculum, we strongly recommend that you prepare for the rigors of legal practice by enrolling in as many of the "foundational courses" as possible to give you the strongest foundation possible. In addition, you will complete upper-level writing and advocacy requirements to further refine your learning.
Here are a few items to keep in mind with your course planning:
To assist you with your planning, please use this chart and contact us if you have questions.
- You will take professional responsibility, evidence, constitutional law II, and civil procedure II as an upper-level student.
- You will complete a scholarly writing course or activity. This may be accomplished by taking a seminar or completing a comment for a law publication.
- You will complete 6 credits of experiential activity. This is an activity or class where you will have a "live" client or a simulation or both.
- Students who enrolled prior to Fall 2015 have a slightly different set of requirements (two writing classes plus an advocacy activity instead of the "experiential requirement.") Please consult with an advisor if you are unsure of your degree requirements.
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Scholarly Writing Requirement
The School of Law's upper-level writing requirement may be fulfilled by the completion of a scholarly writing course (seminar) or qualifying journal credit. The scholarly writing requirement must be met by submission of an acceptable law review or journal article or by submission of a research paper which meets the definition set forth in the Advanced Legal Research course description (Subject to variation depending upon the faculty member, student, and topic, it is suggested that the paper format be that of a law review comment with footnotes; that it have a length of not less than 25 pages; and that the process of developing it include the scheduling of discussion and review of written scope notes, outlines, and drafts, as well as the final product) and earns a grade of C or higher in a designated course listed below, or in Advanced Legal Research.
Advanced Business Organizations Seminar Issues in Law Enforcement Seminar American Legal History Seminar Law and Disabilities Seminar Animal Law Seminar Law and Religion Seminar Capital Punishment & the Constitution Seminar Law and Social Reform Seminar Civil Liberties Seminar Local Economic Development Seminar Coastal Law Seminar Mediating Family Disputes: Theory & Practice Seminar Contemporary Legal Issues: Perspectives
on Sexual Orientation and the Law SeminarMilitary Law Seminar Cyberspace Law Seminar Patent, Copyright and Trademark Seminar Election Law Seminar Race and the Law Seminar Environmental and Toxic Torts Seminar Recent Supreme Court Decisions Seminar European Community Law Seminar Rights of Crime Victims Seminar Gender and the Law Seminar Sentencing & Plea Bargaining Seminar Government Contracting Seminar Special Topics in Law: Seminar Historic Preservation Law Seminar Supreme Court Seminar International Environmental Law Tax Policy Seminar International Human Rights Seminar Wetlands Law Seminar -
Using Journal Participation to Satisfy Writing Requirement
Students working on the Law Review , Law Forum, Journal of Land and Development and Journal of International Law may satisfy scholarly upper-level writing requirement by completing a note or comment that is found by the editorial board of the publication to be of publishable quality and that is approved by a faculty member as meeting the criteria for the upper-level writing requirement (a minimum of 25 pages, exclusive of footnotes or end notes)
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Experiental Requirement
The experiential requirement can be met by earning a C or higher in a minimum of 6 credits in live client experiences OR a minimum of 6 credits from a combination of live client experience (minimum 3 credits) and simulation coursework. Live client experiences include clinic and some externship experiences. Simulation courses include, but are not limited to, designated workshop courses, which are limited enrollment elective courses that build on prior courses and require students to draft documents and complex instruments through the application of substantive knowledge acquired in those prior courses.
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Experiential: Live Client Experiences
Attorney Externship Innocence Project Clinic II Civil Advocacy Clinic I Legal Data & Design Clinic Civil Advocacy Clinic II Mediation Clinic for Families I Community Development Clinic I Mediation Clinic for Families II Community Development Clinic II Mental Health Law Clinic Corporate Counsel Externship Pre-Trial Justice Clinic Criminal Practice Clinic Pubic Interest Lawyering Externship Family Law Clinic I Tax Clinic I Family Law Clinic II Tax Clinic II Immigrant Rights Clinic I Veterans Advocacy Clinic I Immigrant Rights Clinic II Veterans Advocacy Clinic II Innocence Project Clinic -
Experiential: Simulation Experiences
(no more than 3 of the 6 credits towards the requirement)
Advanced Trial Advocacy Judicial Externship Banking Law Workshop Legal Research Workshop Bench Trial Advocacy Legislation Workshop Business Planning Workshop Litigation Process CFCC Student Fellows Program I Mediating Family Disputes: Theory and Practice CFCC Student Fellows Program II Mediation Skills CICL Student Fellows I MSBA-UB Business Law Fellowship Program CICL Student Fellows II Planning for Families & Seniors Workshop Commercial Real Estate Workshop Professional Sports Workshop Dispute Resolution Workshop Residential Real Estate Workshop Electronic Evidence & Discovery Workshop Supreme Court Workshop Entertainment Law Workshop Tax Research & Writing Workshop Estate Planning Workshop (JD) Transactional Skills Workshop Family Law Workshop Trial Advocacy Interviewing, Negotiation and Counseling -
Non-Classroom Credit Activities
Participation in an interscholastic advocacy team (must earn a minimum of 2 credits)
Moot Court Teams American Intellectual Property Law Jessup International Law Brand Names Lefkowitz Brand Names Foundation Braxton Craven Memorial McGee National Civil Rights Cardozo-BMI Entertainment Law National Appellate Advocacy Team Evans Constitutional Law National Environmental Law Frederick Douglass National Moot Court Gabrielli National Family Law National Telecommunications Gibbons Criminal Procedure Taxation Inter-American Human Rights Thomas Tang International Environmental Law Wagner Labor & Employment Law Mock Trial Court Teams ABA Labor & Employment Law
Employment Litigation Student Trial
Advocacy CompetitionNBLSA Thurgood Marshall National Trial Competition Advanced Externship We invite you to learn more about the courses identified in each of these categories by viewing the course descriptions.