The Law School prides itself on developing lawyers that are practice-ready upon graduation. In August of 2015, the faculty adopted a new requirement that all incoming students must take a minimum of six (6) experiential credit hours prior to graduation. This requirement was implemented beginning with fall 2015 1L students. At the same time, the faculty adopted a list of courses that qualified as “experiential.” The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that all students are exposed to the integration of doctrine and skills and develop the concepts of the underlying skills being taught. The Law School provides each student the opportunity to complete one or more of these experiential courses totaling at least six credit hours.
Experiential Courses
*required for students entering in Fall 2015 and thereafter
(at least 6 credits of the following):
- Advanced Appellate Advocacy (3 cr)
- Advanced Legal Writing (3 cr)
- Children & Family Externship (6 cr)
- Civil Government Externship (5 cr)
- Civil Poverty Externship (5 cr)
- Collaborative Family Law Clinic (3 cr)
- Commercial Trial Advocacy (3 cr)
- Contracts Drafting (2 cr)
- Criminal Defense Externship (6 cr)
- Criminal Prosecution Externship (6 cr)
- Drafting Wills and Trusts (2 cr)
- Environmental and Earth Law Clinic (6 cr)
- Environmental Dispute Resolution (2 cr)
- Immigration Law Clinic (6 cr)
- Interviewing, Counseling and Problem Solving (2 cr)
- Judicial Externship (2 cr)
- Juvenile Defense Clinic (6 cr)
- Mediation (3 cr)
- Mediation Externship (2 cr)
- Motions and Depositions (3 cr)
- Non-Profit Corporate Externship (5 cr)
- Trial Advocacy (3 cr)
The breadth of these courses reflects the variety of practice areas that students will enter upon graduation. An array of adjuncts—including sitting judges and skilled practitioners— as well as full-time faculty members with practical experience teach these courses.