The Office of the Registrar offers numerous services to students and faculty year round, including the following:
The Registrar’s Office also supports faculty teaching by scheduling classrooms, and collecting and distributing papers and exams.
Below are the links to the J.D. self-audit form and course summary grids. These grids list the courses that fulfill specific graduation requirements. Please review this information carefully and complete the self-audit form. It is your responsibility to ensure that you meet all your graduation requirements for the conferral of your degree. A complete description of the requirements for the J.D. degree is outlined in the Law School Student Handbook. See Student Handbook under Information for Current Students on the Law School web site. If you have any questions regarding the completion of your degree requirements, please contact the SLS Registrar's Office at 650.723.0994 or email registrar@law.stanford.edu.
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In order to be eligible to graduate from Stanford Law School, you must file a "Graduation Application" form in AXESS. The official application deadlines are set by the University and listed in the Stanford Academic Calendar. See Academic Calendar under Quick Links.
Information on diplomas is available from the Office of the University Registrar. See Information for Students, click on Records and then click on Diplomas.
The Law School "individual diploma award ceremony" will be the afternoon of Saturday, June 12. University commencement is the following morning, June 13. Click Events on the SLS Home page. The Office of Student Affairs can answer questions regarding the SLS graduation ceremony. Contact information for OSA is available on the OSA website.
Information on Reviewing Examination Answers
See Academic Calendar for end-quarter examination periods. Students can choose the day during the examination period on which to take each of their in-class and one-day take-home examinations (see exceptions below). The Registrar's Office will determine the start times for examinations and designate rooms for examinations on each day of the examination period.
Faculty teaching classes with more than 75 students enrolled have an option to offer their examination at a fixed day and time and other faculty may seek permission to do so from the Vice Dean if there is some reason that self-scheduling is inappropriate or will not work for a particular class. The Registrar's Office will announce the dates and times each quarter.
Examinations for required first-year courses will still be given on a fixed day and at a fixed time. The Registrar's Office will announce the dates and times each quarter.
A list of courses giving examinations for the current academic year is available on the Registrar's Office website.
A detailed examination schedule (including room assignments) for the current quarter will be posted below when finalized.
2L, 3L and Advanced Degree Final Exam Schedule
Examination Instructions and Honor Code Statement
Law School examinations are conducted in accordance with the University's Honor Code, described in the Law School Student Handbook. During examinations, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and the Law School Registrar are available to answer questions regarding the Honor Code or the parameters of the examination. Students cannot contact the instructor directly during the examination, even if questions arise regarding interpretation of the examination. Instead, they should bring any questions to the Registrar. The Registrar will contact the instructor, as needed.
All examinations are graded on a "blind" basis. Each semester, students are assigned a number by the Law School Registrar for each of their final examinations and must use that number for identification on the appropriate final examination that semester. Instructors are not allowed to learn the identity of any examination-taker prior to turning in their final grades to the Law School Registrar, and students should not attempt to identify themselves in the examination or at any point between the examination and the time the instructor submits his or her final grades to the Registrar. Any attempt to contact an instructor about an exam between the regularly scheduled exam date and the date the exam grades are posted may be interpreted as a violation of the Honor Code and/or the Fundamental Standard.
If class participation is part of a grade, it is factored into the grade only after the instructor has submitted the blind graded examination grade to the Registrar.
Papers are not graded on a blind basis.
The Law School Registrar administers in-class examinations and designates the rooms in which they are taken. Students are allowed to take in-class examinations on laptop computers, provided the professor has not opted out of the laptop alternative. Students are not permitted to use earphones during an in-class exam although earplugs are allowed. All cell phones must be turned off and put away.
Most Stanford Law School students take their examinations on laptops.
The instructor determines the length of the examination (which can be either 3 or 4 hours) and whether or not it is closed book, open book, or partially open book. Students are responsible for adhering to the instructor's standards for the in-class examination, which are included in the examination materials. If there are no instructions regarding whether the exam is open book or closed book, students must assume that the examination is closed book and that no outside materials may be used during the examination. Where outside sources are permitted, those sources must be in printed or handwritten form. Digital sources are not allowed. Thus, students may not log on to the internet or access other documents on their computer during an examination.
A take-home examination is defined as an examination that is completed outside the room designated by the Registrar. There are two kinds of take-home examinations: one-day take-home examinations and extended take-home examinations.
One-Day Take-Home Examinations
A one-day take-home examination is handed out and returned on the same day, usually beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m. The Registrar's Office distributes and collects the take-home exams. One-day take-home examinations are open-book, but students may not discuss a one-day examination among themselves unless the instructor specifically grants permission to do so.
Extended Take-Home Examinations
An extended take-home examination is taken over a much longer period of time. The student picks up the examination from the Registrar no later than the last regularly scheduled day of classes. The examination is due back to the Registrar's Office no earlier than 24 hours following the last scheduled day of examinations for courses open to second- and third-year students. Extended take-home examinations are open-book and instructors must permit full discussion among students about the examination if it is an extended take-home examination.
Faculty must return to the Registrar's Office all graded essay exams within two weeks of the date exam grades are due. After that date, students may review their examination answers. Requests to see examination answers must be either submitted in writing to the Registrar's Office, or submitted through the link below, and the examination answers will be available for the student to pick up the following day.
Professors are required either to write comments on individual examination answers or provide model answers to the examination questions. Model answers are available in the Registrar's Office three weeks after the date are due from the instructor and are later placed on "Course Reserve" in the Law Library.
Request to View Examination Answers
See the Law School Student Handbook for a complete description of examination procedures.
To broaden the educational base of their legal training, to encourage interaction with experts in a variety of fields with whom lawyers work over the course of their professional careers, and to increase their capacity to bring a multiplicity of disciplinary perspectives to bear on complex issues, Stanford Law School encourages students to pursue courses of instruction in other disciplines, subject to the following:
The Dean, or his delegate, shall designate certain courses offered at the University that any Stanford Law student shall be permitted to enroll in, without petition, so long as that student certifies that he or she has not taken the course or a substantially equivalent course in the past. See Stanford University Courses Approved for Law School Credit without Petition. If the student has taken the course or a substantially equivalent course in the past, he or she may take the course for credit, with the approval of the Petitions Committee, only upon making a showing that the skills taught in the course are central to his or her academic or career plans, and that there is good reason that his or her skills have atrophied since he or she first took a substantially similar or identical course. Such petitions shall be granted only in extraordinary circumstances.
If a student wishes to enroll in a class that has not been designated by the Dean or the Dean's delegate pursuant to the foregoing section, the student may petition to take that class so long as he or she shows that the class bears a close and significant relationship to the student's academic or career plans. Petitions are available in the Law School Registrar's Office. The petition is available in the Law School Registrar's Office, Room 100.
You should carefully review the Law School Student Handbook for a complete description of the policies and limitations on taking courses outside the Law School.
You can enroll in a course in another department or program in Axess. Click on the Student Center tab and then click on Enrollment Add from the drop down menu under Academics. Some courses may have special enrollment instructions and restrictions. Please see Time Schedule or contact the School or Department directly for more information.
Non-Law course descriptions are listed in the Stanford Bulletin. This course information is subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information each quarter, see Time Schedule at axess.stanford.edu. The school and department websites may also have additional course information. Graduate School of Business courses are not listed in the Time Schedule. If you are interested in taking a course at GSB, please see the instructions at gsbapps.stanford.edu/nongsbreg.
Stanford University Courses Approved for Law School Credit without PetitionClass schedule(s) posted below are subject to change. For the most up-to-date course information, visit the Course Schedules and Descriptions website.
Stanford Law School reserves the right to change any part of the schedule at any time including (1) add or delete courses from its offerings; (2) change times, days, or locations of courses; (3) cancel for insufficient registration or academic/administrative decision without notice.
The Stanford University Time Schedule for classes outside the Law School is available at axess.stanford.edu.
Please review the contents of this site for information on how to register for a course at the Law School. The Law School is on a two-term academic calendar and offers courses on the semester and quarter schedule. Please note that law courses taught on the autumn semester schedule begin in early September. For important Law School enrollment deadlines, see the Law School Academic Calendar.
Many law courses are open to qualified graduate students in other departments of Stanford University with the consent of the instructor. Some law courses have special enrollment instructions and restrictions. You can view detailed course descriptions on the Stanford Law School, Office of the Registrar website or see Detailed Class Descriptions under Information for Current Students on the Law School website. The course descriptions will include days, times, and location prior to the start of the term. Non-Law students may not enroll in the first-year required courses.
Review the course listings at the Office of the Registrar website. Typically, law courses taught on the quarter schedule are open to Non-Law students with instructor consent. You will see that some courses have limited enrollment. Law students receive preference in these types of courses. Thus, there are fewer vacancies for Non-Law students. A few limited enrollment courses reserve openings for Non-Law students. These courses are listed below and have special registration instructions and deadlines.
Obtain the instructor's approval to enroll in the course, complete the Add Request Form and submit the completed form with an approval signature from the instructor to the Office of the Law School Registrar in room 100. The form must be submitted by the appropriate enrollment deadlines for each term.
You will receive an e-mail from the Law School Registrar's Office. We will let you know whether we have been able to add the course to your study list in Axess. The e-mail notification may take several days. In the meantime, keep attending the course.
Limited enrollment courses with reserved openings for Non-Law students will be listed on the Non-Law Student Course Add Request Form. You do not need approval from the instructor to bid for one these courses. Non-Law student enrollment in these courses will be determined by a lottery. To bid for one of these courses, you must complete and submit the Add Request Form to the Law School Registrar's Office (room 100) by the deadline stated by each course listed on the form. After the deadline, a lottery will be run. You will receive an e-mail notice form the Law School Registrar's Office before the first day of the class on your acceptance in the class or placement on a waitlist.
The Law School uses AXESS, the University's online registration system for pre-registration and for adding and dropping courses during the add/drop period.
Instructors can open their courses to all interested students (open enrollment) or limit the enrollment of their courses in one of two ways: (1) by lottery or (2) by consent of the instructor.
Open enrollment courses are open to all second- and third-year JD students and advanced degree students who have met whatever prerequisites are listed. Winter courses are open to second-semester first-year students at the election of the instructor.
For some courses, the students able to enroll are determined by a lottery conducted by the Registrar's Office during the pre-registration period (i.e., in April for autumn semester and in mid-October for winter semester). Students who are not selected for the course are placed on a waiting list.
Admitted students must attend the first class session or inform the instructor in advance of their intention to enroll. At that class meeting, the instructor will note the attendance of those admitted to the class, those who are on the wait list, and those who wish to be added to the wait list. If an admitted student is absent without having informed the instructor, the instructor will replace that student with the highest student on the wait list who has attended the first class session or who has informed the instructor in advance of his or her intention to enroll. If an instructor has admitted you to their course from the waitlist or as a new student to a lottery/limited enrollment class, you must fill out and submit the Law Student Lottery-Limited Course Add Request Form to the Registrar's Office to enroll in the class.
If a student wishes to be added to the wait list, he or she should see the Registrar's Office. Students cannot be admitted to the class except off the waiting list, and students will be admitted in the order that they are listed.
Instructors who choose this method of limiting course enrollment submit to the Registrar, along with the course description, a form that lists the criteria for selection for the class and solicits relevant information from interested students. Interested students must fill out the form (below) and return it to the Registrar's Office, which will then forward the forms to the instructor. The instructor will admit students and create a waiting list for students who do not get admitted initially.
Winter Consent Forms 2009-2010
After the first semester of the first year, students may sign up for Law School courses by pre-registering on AXESS during the designated pre-registration period. Students will be notified by the Law School Registrar's Office when pre-registration opens in Axess. Pre-Registration instructions and forms for Consent of Instructor Courses will be available on this site when pre-registration opens in Axess.
A student who wants to take any action for which a petition is required by the Law School Student Handbook must submit a written petition to the Law School Registrar's Office on the appropriate petition form by the published deadline. Late petitions may be summarily denied. The Student Handbook is available under Information for Current Students on the Stanford Law School website.
Petitions to extend a deadline must be submitted at least two weeks in advance of the deadline.
Petitions are available in the Law School Registrar's Office in room 100 and several are listed below.
All deadlines are at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Enrollment forms, papers, and petitions are submitted to the Office of the Law School Registrar (room 100).
See AUTUMN Registration deadlines, paper deadlines & paper option.
All deadlines are at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Enrollment forms, papers, and petitions are submitted to the Office of the Law School Registrar (room 100).
See WINTER Registration deadlines, paper deadlines & paper option.
All deadlines are at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise stated. Enrollment forms, papers, and petitions are submitted to the Office of the Law School Registrar (room 100).
See SPRING Registration deadlines, paper deadlines & paper option.