Overview of the JD Program

In the second and third years of the Juris Doctor program, each student has multiple opportunities to combine classroom learning in more advanced and specialized areas with the actual practice of law under the supervision of faculty members. Students have the freedom to select various combinations of elective courses, to choose two different clinical experiences, and to elect to participate in an internship.

Required courses in the second and third years are:

Students must also take a combination of at least three Core courses:

The School of Law also draws upon legal expertise in the Washington area by offering additional electives such as:

In the second year, most students complete their required courses. In the Spring semester, they enroll in Clinic I, one of UDC-DCSL's five clinics. In the Fall semester of the third year, students are required to enroll in Clinic II, a second seven-credit clinic. As students advance through the Clinical Program, they acquire and refine skills in trial advocacy, client interviewing and counseling, negotiation, legal research and drafting. More broadly and more fundamentally, they develop their capacities as lawyers in the major competency areas of oral communication, written communication, legal analysis, problem solving, practice management, and professional responsibility.

As noted above, each student must complete at least two seven-credit clinics from the following clinical offerings:

Second and Third Year Required Courses

Clinic I and Clinic II (7 credits each) Students take Clinic I in their fourth semester and Clinic II in their fifth semester. Students may not take the same clinic twice and must take at least one direct client service clinic. In Clinic I, students develop basic lawyering skills. In Clinic II, students devote the majority of their time to client representation. They conduct administrative hearings, research the law to analyze and plan the client's case, conduct fact investigations and interviews, and work on the many other complex tasks involved in solving clients' problems.

Constitutional Law I (4 credits) This course is designed to introduce students to the structure, text, history and application of the U.S. Constitution. The course covers the nature and scope of judicial review, legislative and executive power, and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Constitutional Law II (4 credits) This course introduces students to the sources, history, and applications of three major areas of constitutional law: the first amendment, the right of privacy (including abortion rights), and due process of law. The course uses a combination of methods, including a modified Socratic method, lectures, and class discussions; classes involve recitations by students of fact patterns, holdings, and implications of assigned case readings in give and take interchanges with the instructor.

Evidence (4 credits) This course surveys key provisions of the Federal Rules of Evidence, including relevance, hearsay, impeachments, and authentication of documents. It also looks at common law privileges. The course emphasizes conveying to students a functional knowledge of the rules of evidence.

Moot Court (2 credits) This course provides the opportunity for students to learn the process of the appeal of a trial decision to an appellate court. Students are assigned the role of plaintiff or defendant and are given a statement of the case and its outcomes in the trial court. They research the problems, define the issues, and prepare an appellate brief. The course culminates in plaintiffs' and defendants' opposing oral arguments. Enrollment will be limited, with preference being given to third year students.

Professional Responsibility (2 credits) This course examines the ethical problems implicit in the role of the legal profession in a democratic society governed by the rule of law. Topics include the lawyer-client relationship, duties to the court, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, delivery of legal services, and disciplinary rules and mechanisms. Students may take this course as a second or third year student.

Property I (3 credits) This course is an introduction to the law of property, both personal and real. Topics include rights to lost or mislaid personal property, estates in land and future interests, zoning, easements, landlord-tenant relations, covenants, and equitable servitudes.

Property II (3 credits) This course focuses on those aspects of American property law associated with real estate transactions, the purchase and sale of real estate and the restrictions placed upon property. Topics include: conveyancing issues (contracts for sale of land, deeds, mortgages); recording systems (race, notice, and race-notice); private restrictions on land use (easements, profits, licenses, covenants and equitable servitudes); and public restrictions on land (zoning, eminent domain).