Our Curriculum
The Law School curriculum consists of over 150 courses covering everything from Criminal Law to Contract Drafting, from Energy Law to Evidence, and from First Amendment Law to Federal Income Tax. The first-year curriculum and upper-level required courses are designed to introduce students to the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary for legal practice. Beyond these courses, our curriculum offers scores of additional opportunities for student specialize in a particular area of law or instead survey different areas of interest.
Courses & J.D. Requirements
General Requirements
The 87 semester hours necessary for graduation must include the successful completion of the following courses and requirements:
Sixty-four credits from courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction; such course will be explicitly identified as "Classroom Courses" by the faculty.
Six credits from experiential courses, which include simulation courses, clinics, and externships; such courses will be explicitly identified as "Experiential Courses" by the faculty.
The courses listed below as "Required First-Year Courses".
The courses listed below as "Required Upper-Level Courses".
A "Writing in Practice" course.
The "Upper-Level Writing Requirement" set forth below.
Required First-Year Courses
The following courses totaling 33 semester hours are required.
LAWR515 Civil Procedure
LAWR503 Constitutional Law
LAWR513 Contracts
LAWR506 Criminal Law
LAWR517 Legal Analysis and Writing I
LAWR518 Legal Analysis and Writing II
LAWR520 Legal Research
LAWR519 Legislation and Regulation
LAWR522 Professional Identity Formation I
LAWR523 Professional Identity Formation II
LAWR516 Property
LAWR514 Torts
Required Upper-Level Courses
The following upper-level course is required in the fall after completing the first year.
LAWR598 Trial Advocacy
Required Upper-Level Courses
Writing in Practice Courses
One of the following upper-level courses is required:
LAWE768 Advanced Legal Analysis and Writing
LAWE748 Advanced Legal Research
LAWE597 Appellate Advocacy
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Art of the Argument
LAWE753 Children's Defense Clinic
LAWE679 Contract Drafting
LAWE790 Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic
LAWE756 International Business Practice
LAWE601 Pre-Trial Litigation Skills
LAWE639 Public Policy Research and Drafting
LAWE660 Regulatory Law Practicum
LAWE711 Workers Compensation
Upper-Level Writing Requirement (ULWR)
During either the second or third year of law school, each J.D. student must satisfactorily complete a substantial paper requiring in-depth research of a specific area of law. The paper must evidence a sophisticated knowledge of the law and provide a rigorous, thoughtful analysis of an unsettled area of the law, issue of first impression, or other legal topic requiring substantial original thinking. A paper meeting this requirement will be at least 5,000 words in length, not including citations. Any paper approved by the professor may satisfy this requirement, as long as above criteria are met, but examples of a qualifying paper include:
A scholarly paper.
An appellate brief (including an amicus brief).
A policy memorandum.
The paper must be written as part of a course or independent study of at least two credits, designated as ULWR on BannerWeb, and the paper must constitute a major part of the assessment in course. In addition, faculty must require certain input measures of student performance, including:
Predrafting requirements (e.g., topic proposal and detailed outline).
At least one full draft, on which the professor provides individualized feedback (e.g., one-on-one conferences, extensive written comments, etc.) that addresses both student writing and analysis.
A final draft.
Second- or Third-Year Elective Courses
Note: A course in professional responsibility and the elective course Evidence must be satisfactorily completed by the end of the second year if the student wishes to qualify to appear in a Virginia court as a third-year student under the Third-Year Practice Rule. Students may obtain a Third-year Practice certificate after they have completed 56 credits, plus courses in Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. This certificate allows a student to appear in some courts under the supervision of a licensed attorney.
LAWE607 Administrative Law
LAWE776 Advanced Clinical Practice: Children
LAWE772 Advanced Clinical Practice: Intellectual Property
LAWE775 Advanced Clinical Practice: Wrongful Conviction
LAWE786 Advanced Legal Analysis and Writing
LAWE748 Advanced Legal Research
LAWE632 Advanced Trial Advocacy
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Advising the Entrepreneur
LAWE612 Agency and Partnership
LAWE766 Aging and Disability Law Practicum
LAWE709 Animal Law
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Anti-Bribery Law in International Business
LAWE613 Antitrust
LAWE669 Art of the Argument
LAWE704 Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization
LAWE699 Building Blocks of Starting a Small/Solo Practice
LAWE602 Business Associations
LAWE616 Children and the Law
LAWE753 Children's Defense Clinic
LAWE631 Civil Litigation Fundamentals
LAWE626 Civil Rights History
LAWE686 Civil Rights Litigation
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Civil and Criminal Litigation Research
LAWE682 Civil Trial Advocacy
LAWE699Selected Topics: Commercial Transactions and Emerging Technology
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Comparative Constitutional Legal Systems
LAWE694 Comparative Public Law of the U.S. and U.K.
LAWE621 Conflicts of Laws
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Constitutional History
LAWE651 Constitutional Law II: Individual Rights
LAWE679 Contract Drafting
LAWE788 Copyright Law
LAWE619 Core Commercial Law Concepts
LAWE624 Core Legal Concepts
LAWE726 Corporate Compliance
LAWE689 Corporate Finance
LAWE721 Corporate Governance
LAWE623 Corporate Taxation
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Corporate and Business Law Research
LAWE737 Corruption in International Sports II
LAWE731 Corruption, Human Rights, and Mega Sports
LAWE604 Criminal Defense Practice
LAWE605 Criminal Law and Psychiatry
LAWE625 Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
LAWE603 Criminal Procedure: Investigation
LAWE783 Criminal Trial Advocacy
LAWE754 Crimmigration
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Critical Theory Workshop
LAWE745 D.C. Externship
LAWE627 Diversity in Education and Employment
LAWE785 Domestic Violence Seminar
LAWE628 Employment Discrimination Law
LAWE629 Employment Law
LAWE666 Energy Law
LAWE700 Entertainment Law
LAWE620 Environmental Law
LAWE633 Estate and Gift Taxation
LAWE599 Evidence
LAWE657 Expert Evidence
LAWE696 Externship: Advanced
LAWE750 Externship: Civil
LAWE751 Externship: Criminal
LAWE746 Externship: In-House
LAWE752 Externship: Judicial
LAWE749 Externship: Litigation
LAWE698 Externship: Semester
LAWE702 Family Law Procedure
LAWE707 Family Law
LAWE636 Federal Courts
LAWE692 Federal Income Tax Lab
LAWE600 Federal Income Taxation
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Feminist Perspectives on Law
LAWE676 First Amendment Law
LAWE680 Health Law
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Health Reform in America
LAWE760 Housing Law
LAWE667 Human Rights Seminar
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Identity, Culture, & the Law
LAWE758 Immigration Law
LAWE781 Immigration Rights Practicum
LAWE796 Independent Study
LAWE641 Intellectual Property Fundamentals
LAWE655 Intellectual Property Law and Policy Seminar
LAWE790 Intellectual Property and Transactional Law Clinic
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Internal Corporate & Government Investigations
LAWE756 International Business Practice
LAWE642 International Business Transactions
LAWE699 Selected Topics: International Criminal Justice & Transnational Justice
LAWE685 International Law Practicum
LAWE643 International Law
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Intersections of Human Identity and American Law
LAWE670 Interviewing and Counseling
LAWE653 Introduction to Business
LAWE590 Jurisprudence
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Juvenile Law
LAWE644 Labor Law
LAWE645 Land Use Planning
LAWE638 Law and Literature
LAWE693 Law of the European Nation
LAWE652 Lawyers as Leaders
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Leading & Managing the Business Law
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Legal Business Design Practicum
LAWE592 Legal History Seminar
LAWE630 Legislative Advocacy
LAWE779 London Externship Program
LAWE688 Mediation
LAWE762 Medical Malpractice
LAWE705 Mergers and Acquisitions
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Moot Court Competition
LAWE634 National Security and New Technologies
LAWE672 Negotiation
LAWE744 Patent Law
LAWE618 Payments in the 21st Century: How Money Moves
LAWE650 Plea Bargaining & Sentencing
LAWE718 Poverty Law Practicum
LAWE601 Pre-Trial Litigation Skills
LAWE654 Products Liability Law
LAWE734 Professional Responsibility: Criminal Practice
LAWE724 Professional Responsibility: Family Law
LAWE618 Payments in the 21st Century: How Money Moves
LAWE699 Practice Design and Innovation
LAWE639 Public Policy Research and Drafting
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Race, Class, Power & Privilege
LAWE648 Race & the Constitution
LAWE611 Real Estate Transfers and Finance
LAWE660 Regulatory Law Practicum
LAWE756 Remedies
LAWE780 Research Assistant
LAWE743 Restorative Justice
LAWE675 Sales and Leases
LAWE677 Secured Transactions
LAWE658 Securities Regulation
LAWE719 Selected Issues in Public International Law
LAWE615 Selected Topics in Virginia Law
LAWE728 Sentencing Law
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Law
LAWE730 Spanish Legal Skills
LAWE690 Sports and the Law
LAWE637 State and Local Taxation
LAWE674 Tax Policy Seminar
LAWE635 Taxation of Partnerships and LLCs
LAWE649 Technology Law
LAWE646 Ending Slavery & Securing Freedom: The History of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
LAWE697 The Death Penalty
LAWE699 Selected Topics: The Mindful Lawyer
LAWE715 The Prosecution Project
LAWE768 Trademark Law
LAWE793 Trial Competition
LAWE722 Veteran's Law
LAWE695 Veteran's Law Moot Court
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Vices-Prohibition, Registration, and Social Impact
LAWE662 Virginia Legal Research
LAWE664 Virginia Procedure
LAWE683 Voting Rights
LAWE687 White Collar Crime
LAWE606 Wills and Trusts
LAWE711 Workers Compensation
LAWE699 Selected Topics: Writing for Clerks
LAWE774 Wrongful Conviction Clinic
LAWE770 Wrongful Conviction Seminar