Upper-Level Skills Requirement

Download Policy in pdf format

Upper Level Skills Courses 2009-2010 (pdf)

Upper-Level Skills Requirement Status Form (fill-in pdf form)

Each student must satisfy the School of Law’s upper-level skills requirement to be eligible for graduation. Skills courses provide instruction in and assessment of specific legal skills, including, but not limited to, interviewing and client counseling, trial and appellate advocacy, alternative dispute resolution, negotiation, drafting and transactional work, and factual investigation. Each course satisfying this requirement provides (1) significant skills instruction; (2) the opportunity to practice those skills; and (3) assessment of those skills by faculty.

To satisfy the upper-level skills requirement, each student must successfully complete one Level One course or two Level Two courses.

Level 1 courses: These are courses that have teaching professional skills as the primary goal and provide a minimum of 2 semester credits. One such course satisfies the upper-level skills requirement.

Level 2 courses: These are courses that: (1) have a significant component of skills instruction where the teaching of professional skills are interwoven with other learning opportunities or are supplemental to doctrinal instruction or (2) are courses focused primarily on teaching professional skills and earn 1 semester credit.

Note: The Level One and Level Two designations do not indicate the difficulty or importance of the courses or the subject matters. Rather, these designations represent, in the view of the Faculty, the amount of skills instruction relative to the number of credit hours awarded for the course. Students are permitted and encouraged to take more skills courses than are required for graduation.

An updated list of courses that satisfy the upper-level skills requirement will be maintained by the Dean’s Office, will be reviewed each year and revised as necessary by the appropriate Faculty committee, and will be available to students prior to the start of each semester.

Adopted by the Faculty
December 17, 2008
Effective beginning with Class of 2011