2013–2014 Law School Bulletin

Courses of Instruction Planning a Balanced Program After the completion of the required curriculum, J.D. students have a vast domain of courses to choose from at the Law School. The fact that a large number of courses are offered does not mean that all courses have the same importance. Rather, the large curriculum offers students substantial freedom to tailor their programs to their interests and future needs.

The faculty recommends that all students take programs that give them a strong foundation in the standard subject areas of the law. Some students choose to pursue a particular area of the law in special depth or breadth because of career inclinations or for the intellectual values associated with specialized study. The faculty warns students against excessive specialization. It is impossible to foresee future career changes and challenges, and lawyers are not expected by the bar to be specialists when they graduate from law school. The freedom in course selection permitted by the elective policy at the Law School places the responsibility for planning a coherent academic program on the individual student. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with members of the faculty or the administration for guidance on their programs.

Consistent with its commitment to a balanced program, the Law School generally offers important elective courses every academic year. These courses survey the most important subjects in the law and include Administrative Law (6400), Antitrust Law (6402), Conflict of Laws (6234), Constitutional Law II (6380), Corporations (6250), Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protection (6284), Criminal Procedure (6360), Environmental Law (6430), Evidence (6230), Family Law (6348), Federal Courts (6232), Federal Income Taxation (6300), International Law (6520), International Business Transactions (6522), Securities Regulation (6252), and Trusts and Estates (6342). The faculty recommends that J.D. students take a large number of these courses as part of their individual program. Some are prerequisites for specialized courses, clinics, or simulation courses and so should be taken early in a student’s course of elective study.

The law faculty also believes that it is important that students understand the relationship between law and other disciplines. History, philosophy, economics, medicine, the social sciences, the humanities, and other fields offer perspectives on the law and the development of legal institutions. Accordingly, the faculty recommends that students take one or more interdisciplinary courses. They include Art, Cultural Heritage, and the Law Seminar (6488), Feminist Legal Theory (6608), Genetics and the Law (6616), Jurisprudence (6590), Jurisprudence Seminar (6592), History of the Common Law (6601), Law and Anthropology (6612), Law and Literature (6606), Law and Medicine (6617), Law and Psychiatry (6614), Advanced Evidence Seminar (6231), Law and Rhetoric (6654), Law and Accounting (6602), Law and Economics (6598), Law of Race and Slavery (6596), Quantitative Analysis for Lawyers (6604), Race, Racism, and American Law (6595), Sexuality and the Law (6394), and U.S. Legal History (6591).

The curriculum offers a large variety of clinical courses, simulation courses, and field placement options in which students have the opportunity to learn lawyering and other advocacy skills in several contexts. These courses permit students to complement the theoretical study of law with experience in interviewing clients, investigating facts, dealing with adverse parties, contacting government agencies, negotiating on behalf of clients and par73