Academic Success Upper-Level Programs

Upper-Level Programs

Legal Reasoning II is a two-credit course required for students who are on academic probation during the first semester of their second year. The course is open on a space-available basis to other upper-level students. Legal Reasoning II builds upon the pedagogy of Legal Reasoning I, combining metacognitive and essay-writing skills with the doctrinal subjects students have learned in their first year of law school. Higher-level competencies are added to the basic building blocks of legal analysis taught in Legal Reasoning I. For example, Legal Reasoning I emphasizes the skill of issue-spotting within a specific doctrinal area (i.e., Contracts), whereas Legal Reasoning II introduces the skill of identifying issues raised by a factual problem that may have several doctrinal aspects (e.g., breach of warranty and negligence claims in a summary judgment procedural context).

Professor Ed Allen Both Legal Reasoning I and II use a competency-based "mastery" system of evaluation. Students must demonstrate "mastery" of a core set of skills in each of the competency goals identified for the particular course. The "mastery" plan is designed to promote competency and to serve the needs of those students who, in the past, completed Legal Reasoning I and II, but still had not attained the level of skills necessary to successfully complete law school and pass the bar exam.

Professors in upper-level doctrinal courses continue to reinforce the strategies learned in the first year. Frequent feedback, self-evaluation tools, review sessions, and bar exam formats are features of several upper-level courses. Upper-level clinics are structured on a competency-based model, with mid-term feedback on oral competency, written competency, legal analysis, problem solving, professional responsibility, and practice management.