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

  • Required Upper-Level Courses

    • The following upper-level course is required in the fall after completing the first year.

  • Required Upper-Level Courses

    • One of the following upper-level courses is required:

      • LAWR605 Professional Responsibility

      • LAWE734 Professional Responsibility: Criminal Practice

      • LAWE724 Professional Responsibility: Family Law

  • 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:

      1. A scholarly paper.

      2. An appellate brief (including an amicus brief).

      3. 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:

      1. Predrafting requirements (e.g., topic proposal and detailed outline).

      2. 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.

      3. 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