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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 schedules 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 30 semester hours are required.

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Required Upper-Level Courses

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

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Required Upper-Level Courses

One of the following upper-level courses is required:

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Writing in Practice Courses

One of the following upper-level courses is required:

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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.

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