Accordion: Professional Skills Requirement

All Juris Doctor degree students are required to complete credits in courses that require students to learn and develop practical legal skills through actual or simulated lawyering exercises. The course must be taken for a letter grade unless it is a clinical course that is offered only on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) basis. The requirement has been established to ensure that all students develop and refine practical legal skills that include one or more of the following: problem solving, factual investigation, communication, counseling, negotiation, litigation, non-litigation advocacy, alternative dispute resolution, and drafting of legal documents such as contracts, estate plans, and briefs.

The requirement may be met by satisfactory completion of any course identified by the designation “(Skills)”, “(Skills/E)”, or “(E)” following the course description; should the chosen course not be devoted entirely to the skill or skills concerned, the student also must satisfactorily complete any assignments that are outside the skills/experiential component of the course.

Students Entering in 2016 or Later

All Juris Doctor degree students who entered law school in 2016 or later are required to complete 6 credits of coursework designated “(Skills/E)”, or “(E)”. These courses must be taken for a letter grade unless the course or courses are offered only on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) basis.

Students Entering in 2015 or Earlier

All Juris Doctor degree students who entered law school in 2015 or earlier are required to complete 2 credits in a single course designated (“Skills”) or “(Skills/E)”. This course must be taken for a letter grade unless it is a course that is offered only on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) basis.