Overview

The first year of law school introduces students to legal institutions, legal reasoning, and case analysis, emphasizing the close analysis of judicial decisions.

During the second and third year of law school students are encouraged to follow an academic curriculum customized to their individual interests.

1st Year Curriculum

The first year introduces students to legal institutions, legal reasoning, and case analysis, emphasizing the close analysis of judicial decisions.

The autumn term consists of five required courses, one of which is taught in a small section of about 30 people. In the spring, students take three required courses plus two to four electives designed to broaden their view of the law and to lay the foundations for the advanced curriculum.

First-year requirements are as follows:

Autumn

• Civil Procedure
• Contracts
• Criminal Law
• Torts
• Legal Research and Writing

Spring

• Constitutional Law I
• Property
• Legal Research and Writing
• Electives (2 to 4 courses)

In Legal Research and Writing, a year-long course, students work under the close supervision of a legal research and writing instructor and a law librarian, learning the essential skills of legal library research, writing legal memoranda, drafting documents, preparing a persuasive brief, and arguing orally before a moot court in the context of trying to solve a client's legal problem.