Academics
Students may take relevant courses in other programs and apply credit toward the J.D.; a maximum of 8 credits may be applied. The following joint degrees may be earned: J.D./M.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in women’s studies), J.D./M.B.A. (Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration), J.D./M.C.P. (Juris Doctor/Master of Community Planning), J.D./M.S.W. (Juris Doctor/Master of Social Work), and J.D./Ph.D. (Juris Doctor/Doctor of Philosophy in political science).
The College of Law offers concentrations in corporate law, criminal law, environmental law, international law, litigation, tax law, and international human rights. In addition, clinics include Sixth Circuit, Domestic Violence, and Ohio Innocence Project. Seminar topics include corporate law, constitutional law, and jurisprudence topics. An externship program is offered to 50 or 60 students and is worth 3 credit hours. Both judicial and legal externships are available. Individual research projects are also available. Speakers can be heard at the Human Rights Institute, which invites international human rights scholars, the Center for Corporate Law, Institute for Law and Psychiatry, and the Corporate Law symposium. The college has a student exchange program with the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. An academic success program is also available. The most widely taken electives are Corporations, Wills, and Secured Transactions.
To earn the J.D., candidates must complete 90 total credits, of which 36 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: Advocacy, Civil Procedure I and II, Constitutional Law I and II, Contracts, Criminal Law, Introduction to Law, Legal Research and Writing, Property, and Torts. Required upper-level courses consist of a seminar requirement, lawyering course, and writing requirements. Externships or a clinical experience are strongly encouraged. The required orientation program for first-year students is 1 week and includes the Introduction to Law course, registration, assignment of faculty and student advisers, a meeting with student advisers, a social event with upper-level students, information about the law library, and bar association membership opportunities.
In order to graduate, candidates must have a GPA of 2.0, have completed the upper-division writing requirement, and have completed the Lawyering course.