Academics
In addition to the J.D., the law school offers the LL.M., M.C.L., J.S.D., and D.C.L. Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 12 credits may be applied.
Clinics available to second- and third-year students include the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship, and the Exoneration Project. Seventy-two seminars are open to second- and third-year law students. The Career Services Center helps students locate summer internships. Nearly all of first-year students and 97% of second-year students are employed during the summer. The Chicago Law Foundation, a student-run charitable organization, awards grants to students working in public-interest jobs during the summer. Faculty-supervised research may be done in the individual research program for credit. Lectures, open to the law school community, occur several times a year in workshops such as Constitutional Law, International Law, and Law and Economics. Academic counselors and the Associate Director of Student Affairs provide academic programming and counseling for students. The most widely taken electives are Evidence, Constitutional Law, and Corporations Law.
To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 105 total credits, of which 40 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 1.68 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: 1 elective, Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Elements of the Law, Legal Research and Writing, Property, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of Professional Responsibility. The optional orientation program for first-year students consists of 3 days of presentations, tours, and social events, including a dinner, a Lake Michigan boat cruise, and a picnic.
In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 1.68, have completed the upper-division writing requirement, and Professional Responsibility course.