Academic Requirements

All students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least a 2.3 to remain in good standing. Students may check their Academic Progress Report on MyDU. Students have the responsibility to check MyDU carefully and to contact the Registrar’s Office if students note any discrepancy between their understanding and their Academic Progress Report. Students have the sole responsibility to ensure that they have completed all graduation requirements.

1L Curriculum
Full-Time Division Part-Time Division
1st Year Fall Lawyering Process I (3) and
three of the following doctrinal classes: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, Torts (4 credits each)		 Lawyering Process I (3) and
two of the following doctrinal classes: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, Torts (4 credits each)
1st Year Spring Lawyering Process II (3) and
the remaining doctrinal classes not taken in the Fall		 Lawyering Process II (3) and
two of the remaining doctrinal classes not taken in the Fall
2nd Year Fall Two remaining doctrinal classes not completed 1st year, and one additional class

Other Graduation Requirements (see below):
Completion of (1) the Upper Level Legal Writing Requirement, (2) the Public Service Requirement, (3) the Experiential Coursework Requirement, and (4) the Career and Professional Development Requirement.

  1. Registering for, and passing, an externship for credit at a government agency, judicial chambers, or nonprofit organization via the Legal Externship Office.
  2. Registering for, and receiving a grade of C or better, in a clinic via the Student Law Office.
  3. Registering for, and receiving a grade of C or better, in an eligible course. Eligible courses currently include: Live Client Lab, Poverty and Low Wage Work in America, Public Interest Lawyering Lab, the Graduate Tax Program’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, Trial Practice III: Instructor’s Practicum, Trial Practice III: Mentor’s Practicum, the International Criminal Law Practicum, Wills Lab, the Probate Practicum, Animal Activist Legal Defense Fund, Homeless Advocacy Seminar, and Youth Rights Workshop.
  4. Volunteering and engaging in 50 hours of supervised, uncompensated legal work, at a government agency, judicial chambers, nonprofit organization, or private firm, as long as the work at the firm is pro bono. This is known as a Volunteer Legal Experience.

In order to satisfy the requirement via option #4, a Volunteer Legal Experience, you must abide by all rules and regulations for the Public Service Requirement indicated on our website. You must complete an online student certification and evaluation form about your volunteer experience and your supervisor, who must be licensed to practice law for at least three years, must complete an online supervisor certification and evaluation form which asks for the number of hours worked (must be at least 50), the timeframe in which the work was completed, and an evaluation of the student’s work. When both of these forms are completed and submitted online, at the conclusion of the relevant semester, your Academic Progress Report will reflect that you satisfied the PSR.

Please note: You are not required to complete the steps outlined above if you are satisfying the public service requirement via options #1, 2, or 3 above. For these options, your Academic Progress Report will reflect that you satisfied the PSR via a PUBL designation at the conclusion of the relevant semester.

Students are strongly encouraged to complete this requirement before their last semester of law school. For more information about the PSR, visit this page and/or contact the Director of Externships & Public Interest Initiatives at publicinterest@law.du.edu.

Students may satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement in the following ways:

  1. Advanced Legal Writing Course
    A student can enroll in and successfully complete the upper level legal writing course entitled “Advanced Legal Writing.”
  2. Designated Seminar Classes or Clinics
    A student can enroll in and successfully complete a seminar that satisfies the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. The student can also enroll in and successfully complete a clinical course that satisfies the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Clinics and seminars do not necessarily satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Students must clarify with individual professors whether the seminar or clinic will satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.
  3. Directed Research Projects
    The student may enroll in and successfully complete a Directed Research Project with a full-time faculty member. If the student successfully completes a Directed Research Project that fulfills the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement, the professor must certify to the Registrar that the student has completed the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.
  4. Certification by Professor
    Any full-time or adjunct professor can offer a student the opportunity to complete the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement within the course taught by the professor or independently of the course taught by the professor. Upon successful completion of the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement, the professor must certify to the Registrar that the student has completed the requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.
  1. All law students entering the College of Law in the Fall 2013 Term through Spring 2015 must successfully complete a curricular offering of two or more semester credit hours that provides substantial instruction in professional skills generally regarded as necessary for effective and responsible participation in the legal profession beyond legal research, writing, and analysis.
  2. Professional skills include pre-trial practice, trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, alternate dispute resolution processes, client communication, counseling, negotiation, legal document drafting, fact investigation, interaction with regulators (such as drafting of regulatory ruling requests), interviewing, law practice management, legal problem solving, recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas, and similar skills.
  3. To fulfill this requirement, a curricular offering must provide at least one credit (700 classroom minutes) of instruction in the performance of professional skills beyond legal research, writing, and analysis, and must engage each student in multiple (more than one) hands-on skills performances that are evaluated by the instructor.
  4. The College of Law Registrar shall maintain a list of courses that satisfy the professional skills requirement on the College of Law webpage. The College of Law Modern Learning Committee and Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for approving courses that satisfy the professional skills requirement, and for periodically updating that list. Each course description for each class that satisfies the professional skills requirement shall indicate that it does so.
  5. A student may not use the same curricular offering to satisfy both the upper level writing requirement and the professional skills requirement, unless the course has been designated as a special Carnegie Integrated Course offering by the Modern Learning Committee. Each Carnegie Integrated Course shall include a full credit hour of skills instruction in addition to assigned upper level writing.
  1. All law students entering the College of Law in the Summer 2015 Term or thereafter must successfully complete a curricular offering of six or more semester credit hours that provides substantial instruction in professional skills generally regarded as necessary for effective and responsible participation in the legal profession beyond legal research, writing, and analysis.
  2. Professional skills include pre-trial practice, trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, alternate dispute resolution processes, client communication, counseling, negotiation, legal document drafting, fact investigation, interaction with regulators (such as drafting of regulatory ruling requests), interviewing, law practice management, legal problem solving, recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas, and similar skills.
  3. To fulfill this requirement, a curricular offering must provide at least one credit (700 classroom minutes) of instruction in the performance of professional skills beyond legal research, writing, and analysis, and must engage each student in multiple (more than one) hands-on skills performances that are evaluated by the instructor.
  4. The College of Law Registrar shall maintain a list of courses that satisfy the Experiential Coursework Requirement on the College of Law webpage, designated as “EAC” on the course schedule. The College of Law Modern Learning Committee and Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for approving courses that satisfy the Experiential Coursework Requirement, and for periodically updating that list. Each course description for each class that satisfies the Experiential Coursework Requirement shall indicate that it does so.
  5. A student may not use the same curricular offering to satisfy both the upper level writing requirement and the Experiential Coursework Requirement, unless the course has been designated as a special Carnegie Integrated Course offering by the Modern Learning Committee. Each Carnegie Integrated Course shall include a full credit hour of skills instruction in addition to assigned upper level writing.

The Office of Career Development & Opportunities (“CDO”) will maintain a list of qualifying programs. Students may satisfy up to 2 of the 1L sessions through individual career advising appointments with the CDO.

In addition, each JD student must participate in at least 2 individual career advising appointments after the 1L year.

Students who have secured postgraduate employment and are no longer seeking employment may opt-out of the CPD requirement at any time by providing all ABA-required employment information to the CDO.