Mar 29, 2024  
2017-2018 Graduate Catalog 
    
2017-2018 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Dedman School of Law: The Curriculum



Course Offerings

J.D. program required courses are offered at least once each academic year. Courses that have been offered in the past several years are listed below. Other courses may be offered. The school’s Registrar’s Office publishes a schedule of courses before the beginning of each term. Students must consult these schedules for actual course offerings and for any prerequisites or co-requisites for those courses. It is the responsibility of each student to verify that he or she has taken the prerequisites, or will be taking concurrently any required co requisites, at the time he or she registers for a class. Students with any questions concerning these issues should contact the assistant dean for student affairs.

The Juris Doctor Program

  1. First-Year Required Courses
  2. Upper-Year Requirements

Edited Writing Seminar (3 hours) - Requires the student to participate in an intensive, scholarly expository writing project that may take the form of a single paper of at least 30 pages, or several shorter papers, as the professor may direct. Includes review and criticism of the student’s writing by the professor. Varied subject matter is at the discretion of the professor. Enrollment limited to 20 students.

General Writing Requirement - A student must complete a writing unit in addition to the first-year legal research, writing and advocacy course and an edited writing seminar. May be fulfilled by completing a course designated as a General Writing course (GW) in which more than half the grade for the course is based on written work other than an examination, by completing law review writing requirements for credit or by completing a two-hour or three-hour directed research paper.

Experiential Learning Requirement - A student must complete one or more experiential course(s) totaling at least 6 credit hours. Courses that satisfy this requirement will be designated “(EL)” on the upperclass course list during registration. Students matriculating before the fall of 2017 have different requirements and should refer to the catalog they matriculated under.

Elective Courses

Except with special permission of the assistant dean for student affairs, J.D. students may enroll for elective courses only after they have completed all required first-year courses. Other prerequisites for courses are listed; however, the instructor of a course may add or waive prerequisites for the course.

The faculty recommends that each student enroll in courses in each of the following areas: business organizations, administrative law, commercial law, procedural and evidence law, taxation and legal history or the philosophy of law or the study of legal systems.

Maximum Number of Elective Course Hours Taken on Credit/No-credit Basis

A student may not apply more than six hours of upper-class elective courses taken on a credit/no-credit basis toward the 87 hours required for graduation. This six-hour restriction does not include any hours obtained from extern hours or hours in which, with the consent of the instructor and the assistant dean for student affairs, the student was allowed to receive credit for a course in lieu of a grade due to extraordinary circumstances involving the general award of credits for the particular course and/or to the particular student.

Courses Outside Law School

Graduate-level courses that are offered in other graduate or professional schools of the University and are relevant to the student’s program may be taken with prior approval of the assistant dean for student affairs, who shall also determine the Dedman School of Law credit equivalents to be awarded for such study. Except for students in joint degree programs, no more than six hours may be awarded toward Dedman School of Law hours required for graduation. For more information, students should contact the school’s Registrar’s Office.

Courses at Other Law Schools

Detailed information on transfer of courses from other law schools is found in this catalog under The Juris Doctor Program in the Admission With Advanced Standing: Students Eligible  section. After entry in the Dedman School of Law, summer courses in other accredited law schools may be taken for transfer of credits with prior approval of the assistant dean for student affairs. Transfer credits may be earned in regular terms only in extraordinary circumstances of demonstrated special need. Detailed information is found under The Juris Doctor Program in the Classroom Work, Attendance and Examinations: Credit for Work Completed at Other Schools section. For more information, students should contact the school’s Registrar’s Office.