Academics
Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 6 credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration), J.D./M.S.W. (Juris Doctor/Master of Social Work), and J.D./PH.D (Juris Doctor/Doctor of Philosophy in education).
The Capital Defense Clinic, Child Welfare Clinic, and Immigration Clinic, worth 1 to 6 credits each, afford students the opportunity to represent clients in real-life settings, under faculty supervision. Each clinic also has a classroom component. In the Child Welfare Clinic, students represent children, parents, or guardians in child protection, termination of parental rights, guardianship, and related matters which involve contested trials, administrative advocacy and sometimes cutting edge legal issues. In the Juvenile Justice Clinic, students represent children who have been charged in juvenile delinquency proceedings. In the Capital Defense Clinic, students represent defendants in Nevada death penalty cases, focusing primarily on preparing mitigating evidence and argument, the legal case for a sentence less than death. In the Immigration Clinic, students represent clients in a variety of matters involving immigration and immigrant rights. In the Education Clinic, students represent children and parents in education matters in the Clark County School System, such as special education, suspension, expulsion, and English as a Second Language. In the Criminal Appellate Clinic, students represent young convicted criminal defendants in state post-conviction appellate proceedings. Seminars include Bill of Rights in Law and History, Education Law and Policy, Natural Resources Field Seminar, Domestic Violence, Advanced Intellectual Practice, Death Penalty, and Gaming Policy Law. Government and Public Interest Externship, worth 1 to 12 credits; Judicial Externship, worth 3 to 6 credits; and Legislative Externship, worth 1 to 12 credits are also offered. Research programs include Directed Readings, where students earn credit for completing readings under the supervision and approval of a faculty member for 1 credit, or Directed Research, where they research and write about a legal topic of their choice under faculty supervision, for 1 to 3 credits. The Barrick Lecture Series brings well-known persons to the university for free public lectures on a variety of topics. Lecturers have included Walter Cronkite, Louis Rykeyser, and Benazir Bhutto. The series has also featured academicians such as Stephen Jay Gould, Carl Sagan, and Richard Leakey. The law school offers an Academic Success Program, the objective of which is to provide a comprehensive network of presentations, activities, tutorials, and workshops designed to stimulate learning and amplify the classroom experience. The Academic Success Program supplements the required curriculum with a host of opportunities to enhance learning skills and develop more efficient, effective methods of studying, comprehending, and writing in the law school environment. The Academic Success Program supervises the Center for Academic Success and Enrichment, a student-operated mentoring, advising, and tutoring program. The most widely taken electives are Evidence; Criminal Procedure; and Wills, Trusts, and Estates.
To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 89 total credits, of which 41 are for required courses. The following first-year courses are required of all students: Civil Procedure/Alternative Dispute Resolution I, Civil Procedure/Alternative Dispute Resolution II, Constitutional Law I, Contracts I, Criminal Law I, Introduction to Law, Lawyering Process I, Lawyering Process II, Property I, Property II, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of Constitutional Law II, Lawyering Process III, and Professional Responsibility. The required orientation program for first-year students Introduction to Law, a 1-week course.
In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0, have completed the upper-division writing requirement, and have completed community service and writing requirements.