Academics
Coursework at the College of Law combines classroom theory with real-world practice.
Academics
Coursework at the College of Law combines classroom theory with real-world practice.
First-Year Courses
First-year students share the same course load for the full academic year to establish a strong foundation in the law and expose students to various aspects of the law and lawyering. The first-year curriculum integrates practical training, legal writing, and career planning.
Fall Semester
Civil Procedure I*
LAW 801 | 3 credit hours
Pleading, joinder of claims and parties, discovery, trials, verdicts, judgments, and appeals. Emphasis on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Contracts I
LAW 803 | 3 credit hours
Basic agreement process and legal protections afforded contracts: offer and acceptance, consideration and other bases for enforcing promises; the Statute of Frauds, unconscionability and other controls of promissory liability. Introduction to relevant portions of Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
Criminal Law
LAW 809 | 3 credit hours
Substantive aspects of criminal law; general principles applicable to all criminal conduct; specific analysis of particular crimes; defenses to crimes.
Lawyering and Professionalism
LAW 811 | 1 credit hour
This course provides basic training in essential lawyering skills, introduces the values of the legal profession, and offers resources for early career planning.
Legal Process I
LAW 805 | 3 credit hours
Lawyer-like use of cases and statutes in prediction and persuasion. Analysis and synthesis of common law decisions; statutory interpretation; fundamentals of expository legal writing and legal research.
Legal Research
LAW 815 | .5 credit hour after the completion of both semesters of this course
Basics of court systems and structures and how they relate to legal sources; types of authorities and their use in the research process; formulation of research plans; basics of researching statutes, cases, and regulations; use of tools for research including indexes, digests, and keyword searching; expanding and updating research; and appropriate use of citations.
Torts I*
LAW 807 | 3 credit hours
Intentional torts, defenses and privileges related to intentional torts; negligence: standard of care, professional malpractice, and liability of owners and occupiers of land; defenses based on plaintiff’s conduct: contributory and comparative negligence, assumption of risk, failure to take precautions, and avoidable consequences; causation, proximate cause; duty rules; and questions of joint and several or several liability.
*First-year students enroll in an “In Practice” section of either Civil Procedure I or Torts I. The “In Practice” sections include three graded, simulation-based assignments. Each simulation places students in the role of lawyer, raises professionalism issues, requires students to perform a lawyering skill, and results in a written and/or oral work product. In addition to a final examination, the course also includes a midterm exam that includes at least one essay question.
Spring Semester
Civil Procedure II
LAW 802 | 3 credit hours
Binding effect of judgments, selecting proper court (jurisdiction and venue), ascertaining applicable law, and federal and state practice.
Contracts II
LAW 804 | 3 credit hours
Continuation of Contracts I. Issues arising after contract formation: interpretation, duty of good faith; conditions, impracticability and frustration of purpose; remedies; third party beneficiaries; assignment and delegation. Considerable coverage of Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code with respect to remedies, anticipatory repudiation, impracticability and good faith.
Legal Process II
LAW 806 | 3 credit hours
Continuation of Legal Process I. Formal legal writing, appellate procedure, and oral advocacy.
Legal Research
LAW 815 | .5 credit hour after the completion of both semesters of this course
Basics of court systems and structures and how they relate to legal sources; types of authorities and their use in the research process; formulation of research plans; basics of researching statutes, cases, and regulations; use of tools for research including indexes, digests, and keyword searching; expanding and updating research; and appropriate use of citations.
Property
LAW 810 | 4 credit hours
Introductory course treating issues of ownership, possession, and title in the areas of: landlord-tenant relations; estates in land and future interests; co-ownership and marital property; real estate sales agreements and conveyances; title assurance and recording statutes; servitudes; and selected aspects of nuisance law, eminent domain and zoning.
Torts II
LAW 808 | 2 credit hours
Vicarious liability; strict liability; products liability; nuisance; defamation; privacy torts; interference with contract; and damages.
Transactional Lawyering Lab
LAW 820 | 1 credit hour
This simulation-based lab puts students in the role of a lawyer negotiating a commercial transaction on a client’s behalf throughout the semester. Involving both property and contracts law, the lab offers practical training in client interviewing and counseling, negotiation, and drafting. Students also encounter and resolve professionalism issues throughout the course.