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STUDENTS > Registrar's Office > J.D. Requirements & Graduation >
Boalt Hall's juris doctor degree program provides a rich curriculum consisting of courses in traditional law school subject areas as well as courses in emerging, cutting-edge fields. These courses feature a variety of classroom techniques, including the Socratic method, formal lectures, informal lectures and discussions with groups of 20 to 30 students, seminar classes of fewer than 12 students, and skills and clinical classes where students have the opportunity to take on the role of lawyers either with real clients or in simulated settings.
First-Year Curriculum
The first-year curriculum provides an essential foundation for subsequent legal study. First-year students take three or four courses each semester, as well as the Legal Research, Writing and Advocacy course in the fall and the Gordon Johnson Moot Court Program in the spring. Civil Procedure I, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property and Torts constitute the first-year curriculum's required courses. In addition, first-year students may take two elective courses in the spring semester from selected upper-division curriculum.
Of the courses taken in the first year, most are taught in classes of 60 to 120 students, and one is taught in a small section of 25 to 30 students.
Upper-Division Curriculum
The second- and third-year curriculum is incredibly varied, with numerous courses and seminars offered, as well as student-initiated courses, supervised self-instruction, individual and group research projects, clinical work, and judicial externships. In addition to the basic law school subjects, there are opportunities for intensive study of more specialized substantive areas, including comparative legal studies, environmental law, international legal studies, law and economics, law and technology, and social justice/public interest.
Before graduating, students are required to take a constitutional law class and a professional ethics class.
Clinical Program
The Clinical Program provides many opportunities for students to work on real cases as part of their legal education. During their second and third years, students participate in a variety of clinical projects that provide legal services directly to individual clients or that involve close interaction with lawyers on large-scale cases or other legal matters.
Each clinical project provides training, individual supervision and feedback from faculty, clinical instructors or supervising attorneys. In addition, students enroll in a companion academic course that provides an opportunity for reflection on their experiences in the lawyer's role.
For more information about the Clinical Program, including descriptions of cases and projects, visit the Clinics section of the website.
Professional Skills Programs
Boalt Hall offers a range of courses that are explicitly designed to introduce students to the theory and practice of professional lawyering skills through structured role-playing exercises in a classroom environment. Students receive instruction, prepare and perform their role-play, and then receive substantial feedback. These courses focus on various areas of professional skills, including pretrial civil and criminal practice; civil and criminal trial advocacy; appellate advocacy; transaction and business practice; and alternative dispute resolution, with a focus on negotiation and mediation. Boalt also sponsors various competitions, including the James Patterson McBaine Honors Moot Court Competition and external advocacy competitions.
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