Academics
Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 6 hours credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration) and J.D./M.L.S. (Juris Doctor/Master of Library and Information Services).
The School of Law offers specialty certificates in Dispute Resolution and Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Law. In addition, the Clinical Experience Program consists of preliminary courses in the pre-trial process, local rules, mock client interview, and practice with mock trials and oral arguments in Civil Litigation or Criminal Litigation. For field placements, students work with in-house attorneys in various specialty areas or extern with government officials, legal services agencies, and attorneys in North Carolina. Clinics may be taken by third-year students who receive 2 to 4 credit hours for their work. The Pro Bono Clinic offers many opportunities for second- and third-year students to volunteer in local special interest agencies and organizations. The law school offers approximately 15 seminar classes where the attendance is capped at 20 students. The seminars require 3 writing assignments in such classes as employment discrimination, critical race theory, and sexuality and the law. A number of internships with companies, judges, and practitioners are available. The law school is a member of an inter-institutional enrollment program that includes Duke University School of Law and University of North Carolina School of Law. The law school offers a General Externship Program for students to extern in specialty areas of the law. Placements must be approved by the Clinic Director and are available to second- and third-year students. There are also field components to the Domestic Violence, Criminal, and Civil clinics. An academic support program is available to students for assistance with specific academic needs, problems, and adjustment expectations. Tutorials in each first-year substantive course and selected upper-level courses are open to all interested students. In addition, the law school offers a noncredit writing laboratory for 1 hour every week in the fall and spring semesters. There are active student organizations for the Innocence Project, Sports and Entertainment Law, Public Interest Law, Intellectual Property, and many other areas. The most widely taken electives are the Clinical Program, Criminal Procedure, and Trial Practice.
To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 88 total credits, of which 59 are for required courses. They must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure I, Civil Procedure II, Contracts I, Contracts II, Criminal Law, Legal Reasoning and Analysis, Legal Research and Persuasion, Property I, Property II, and Torts I. Required upper-level courses consist of Advanced Legal Writing I and II (Senior Writing Evening Program, Business Associations (Corporations Evening Program), Constitutional Law I, Decedents’ Estates, Evidence, Legal Letters (Day), N.C. Distinctions, Professional Responsibility, Sales and Secured Transactions, Senior Writing (Evening), and Taxation. Although not required, students are encouraged to enroll in the clinical program. There is a model law office that houses clinical facilities.The required orientation program for first-year students lasts 2 days and includes preenrollment seminars.
In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0 and have completed the upper-division writing requirement.