CURRICULUM

One of the great strengths of GW Law is the richness of its curriculum. It offers students the opportunity to sample a broad array of areas of the law and to design a program of study that fits their individual interests and career plans.

The Law School offers more than 240 different elective courses. In addition to introductory level and more advanced courses in a variety of fields, there are some highly specialized areas of the curriculum that allow students to gain considerable expertise in a field. Those specialized areas include international law, environmental law, intellectual property law, and government regulation and constitutional law. In addition to traditionally taught classes, there are a number of simulation courses that teach skills such as drafting, trial and appellate advocacy, negotiations, and mediation, as well as over a dozen different clinical programs in which students learn skills while working directly with clients. A recent example is a seminar in which a small group of students worked to propose to the U.S. Sentencing Commission appropriate sentencing guidelines for environmental crimes.

To teach some of its more specialized courses, the Law School calls upon experts in the field who are at the forefront in their areas of law to teach on an adjunct basis. They come from private practice, all branches of government, the corporate sector, and non-profit organizations. For example, a high level official with The World Bank teaches the International Banking course; the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia teaches Crime Lab; and the Deputy Chief of Staff, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, teaches Legislative Analysis and Drafting.