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The Juris Doctor Program strives to prepare students to be superb lawyers who combine the highest analytical ability with ethical sensitivity. The Law Center Faculty recently laid out its aspirations for Law Center graduates in the 1999-2000 Long Range Plan. First, as lawyers, they should be capable of addressing imaginatively and constructively novel problems arising from new institutional arrangements and technologies, based on familiarity with the theoretic foundations of legal materials. Second, as leaders in their profession, they should enjoy and have the capacity to assess, criticize, and reform laws and institutions. Third, as citizens with the capacity to lead public debate, they should pursue social justice with wisdom, knowledge and integrity. The diverse interests of the Law Center's extraordinary faculty and the rich curriculum they offer uniquely equip Georgetown University Law Center for this ambitious task. In addition to a wide variety of courses in more than 25 traditional legal fields, the Law Center curriculum provides numerous opportunities in courses and clinics for students to develop the problem-solving, negotiation and mediation skills modern legal practice demands. The Law Center's extensive international law curriculum and numerous multidisciplinary courses and programs also enable students to prepare themselves for a profession that is increasingly global and interdisciplinary.
Students may pursue their legal education through the Full Time Program or a Part Time Program curriculum (see the comparison chart at right). Full time faculty teach in both divisions and the same standards of performance are required of day and evening students. The Law Center also draws on the rich community of practitioners in Washington, DC, who teach specialized courses in both divisions and help to bridge the gap between legal theory and practice. Several joint degrees are offered, through which students may combine their legal education with a business degree, the study of international affairs, public health, public policy, government, or philosophy. Full Time ProgramFull time students devote substantially all of their time during the academic year to the study of law. The program is six semesters long (three academic years). Classes meet between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Day students may take courses in the part time program on a space-available basis. During their first year, full time students take 31 semester hours of required course work. Beyond the first year required curriculum, students are required to take a course in Professional Responsibility and fulfill the Upperclass Legal Writing Requirement. In upperclass years, students enroll in 12-16 credit hours. The essays in the Upperclass Curriculum Guide suggest how upperclass students might design their upperclass curriculum. Part Time ProgramThe Georgetown University Law Center has a long tradition of providing quality legal education to working students. In fact, Georgetown's Law School was founded as an evening program. In 1870, the first catalog announced that "[t]he exercises will be held in the evening in order to facilitate the attendance of gentlemen who are engaged in the service of the Government." Twenty-five students attended the Law School's first lecture. This tradition continues more than 125 years later. Today, many men and women employed full time by the federal government, law firms, trade associations, and other organizations are able to attend one of the nation's best law schools while working full time. Former Senator George Mitchell is just one of many well known graduates of the Part Time Program. Professor Mitt Regan on the Law Center's full time faculty was a part time student not too long ago. The Part Time Program ordinarily takes eight semesters and one summer session of study. In certain circumstances, a student enrolled in the Part Time Program may complete all requirements for the degree in seven semesters plus two eight-week summer sessions. Classes in this program generally meet from 5:45 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. on weekdays. In the first year of the Part Time Program, students attend class until 8:50 p.m. on two weekday evenings. A limited number of upperclass electives are offered on Saturdays between 9:30 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. Most elective courses meeting during the full time hours are open to part time students. During the first year, students in the Part Time Program pursue a 24-semester-hour required program of study. During the second year, students pursue a program of 7 semester hours of required courses together with elective courses. During the third and fourth years, part time students pursue an elective program of study. Helpful advice about formulating an upperclass evening curriculum is contained in the Part Time Student Handbook (in PDF format) and the Upperclass Curriculum Guide. The First Year Program of InstructionThere are two first year curricula available to Georgetown students, curriculum "A" and curriculum "B". Both are designed to provide students with the foundation for upperclass studies by introducing the major areas of substantive law while developing the analytical, research and writing skills required of all lawyers. Curriculum "A" is the traditional first year curriculum which parallels those at all major law schools. Curriculum "B" was developed in 1991 by a faculty committee charged by the Dean to comprehensively rethink the first year of law school and offers an innovative and integrated approach to the study of law. A more detailed description of the two first year curriculums is available below. Three full time sections and the part time first year program section are instructed under curriculum "A". One full time section is instructed under curriculum "B". Students in both curricula take 31 credit hours during the first year. First year students typically have two to three classes Monday through Thursday and at least one class on Fridays. The courses in each curriculum are described below. The first year classroom instruction is complemented by "Maximizing Learning in the First Year," a series of presentations by faculty, administrators and upperclass students that address such topics as note-taking, participating in the law school classroom, outlining, and taking law school exams. Each session is offered twice, at 3:30 p.m. and at 8:00 p.m. First Year Small Section Program
First year classes at the Law Center meet primarily in sections of 110-116 students. In one semester (usually the fall), however, each student is assigned to a smaller group of approximately 30 students for one required course. This smaller class is intended to encourage class participation and allow faculty to use teaching techniques that are not appropriate in larger classes. The small sections of the legal research and writing courses are formed from these same sub-groups of students so that students have all of their first year classes with a consistent group of 28-32 peers. This structure provides each student with a smaller cohort of peers with whom they share a common first year experience. Study groups as well as close friendships often form within the small sections and the faculty members who teach the small sections often become informal advisors to the students in their section. Each small section professor hosts an annual dinner for the small section, which provides an opportunity for the students to interact with this faculty member and each other outside of the classroom. Tutorial Program
The tutorial program primarily provides academic support to first year students. Each of the first year sections is assigned an upperclass tutor who meets with students on a weekly basis. The topics covered include: case analysis, case briefing, course outlining, substantive review sessions and exam preparation, as well as general advice on the law school experience. Students are admitted to the program on a voluntary basis. Individual tutors are also available for first year and upperclass students. First Year Courses
During the first year, students are enrolled in either the "A" or the "B" curriculum. All students in the "A" curriculum begin their legal studies with eight courses, including a 3-credit elective in the spring semester chosen from a group of "perspective" courses. The perspective electives for the current year are listed below. Full time students take all eight courses during their first year. Part time students take Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law I: The Federal System, Contracts, Legal Research and Writing, Property, Torts, and Week One: Law in a Global Context during their first year and Criminal Justice and the "perspective" course in their second year, along with other elective courses. First year full time students register for the "perspective" elective during the fall semester of their first year. Part time students register in the spring of their first year in conjunction with course planning for the second year. The "B" curriculum, available to one section of full time students, requires eight courses different in emphasis from those in the "A" curriculum: Bargain, Exchange, and Liability; Democracy and Coercion; Government Processes; Legal Justice Seminar; Legal Practice: Writing and Analysis; Process; Property in Time; and Week One: Law in a Global Context. The "B" section emphasizes the sources of law in history, philosophy, political theory, and economics. It also seeks to reflect the increasingly public nature of contemporary law. First year students in both Curriculum A and Curriculum B take the 1-credit intensive course "Week One: Law in a Global Context" during the first week of the spring semester. Through lectures, discussion sections and simulation exercises, Week One allows students to address complex problems of international and transnational law.
Curriculum "A" Elective Courses
Curriculum "B" Courses - Description
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