Academic Programs
Law School Curriculum
The following courses are required for graduation:
- Civil Procedure (4 sem. hrs.)
- Constitutional Law (4 sem. hrs.)
- Contracts (4 sem. hrs.)
- Criminal Law (3 sem. hrs.)
- Lawyering Skills I, II, III, and IV (2 sem. hrs. each)
- Property (4 sem. hrs.)
- Professional Responsibility (2 sem. hrs.)
- Torts (4 sem. hrs.)
Upper-Level Elective Courses
Select one of the following areas of concentration to see a listing of the courses offered in each category:
- Administrative Law and Government Regulation
- Commercial Law
- Constitutional Law/Civil Rights
- Corporate Law
- Criminal Law
- Environmental Law and Real Property
- Family Law and Estates
- Intellectual Property
- International and Comparative Law
- Legal Theory, History and Interdisciplinary Studies
- Taxation
- Trial and Appellate Practice
Upper Level Writing Requirement
During either the second or third year of law school (i.e., following successful completion of 30 semester hours), a student must satisfactorily complete a substantial paper that requires in-depth research and rigorous analysis of a specific area of law and evidences a sophisticated knowledge of the law. This is to include knowledge of larger issues of the impact of law on various parts of society and the future directions the law may take.
This requirement may be fulfilled by an independent research paper meeting these goals, a paper prepared for a seminar course designated as approved for this requirement, or a published article or student note in a law review of an ABA-approved law school. The Law School's schedule of classes, which is published each year, will note the seminar courses through which this requirement can be satisfied.
Visiting Student Status and Transfer Students
Students who wish to earn credit towards the J.D. degree while visiting away at another ABA-accredited law school must first receive special permission to do so from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Permission to visit at another law school will not be granted as a routine matter. Requests for such permission must be supported by a demonstration of compelling circumstances. An administrative fee will be charged to the student by the University of Richmond for each semester in which the student visits away at another law school.
Students who transfer to the Law School after their first year at another law school and who have completed a traditional research and writing course must consult with the Associate Dean (Academic Affairs) to determine whether any part of the Lawyering Skills requirement has been met.
