The JD curriculum
The Curriculum: Integrating Academics with Skills Training
First-year Curriculum
Pierce Law is one of the few law schools to systematically integrate
traditional first-year courses with the practical skills involved in
lawyering. As a result, you get both a thorough academic grounding and
an opportunity to acquire relevant competencies. Like most law schools,
during the first-year we teach the basics of "thinking like a lawyer"
through a sequence of introductory courses: Civil Procedure,
Constitutional Law, Contracts, Property, and Torts. Additional required
courses, such as Contract Design and Legal Skills, introduce you more
generally to legal concepts, lawyering skills, and study methodology.
You will also be able to take an elective in your second semester.
First-Year Core Courses
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Legal Skills 1
Legal Skills 2 (Moot Court)
Property
Torts
Second and Third-Year Curriculum
There are only four required courses after the first-year. (Students
participating in the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program will have
additional requirements.) As a result, second and third-year students
can explore various areas of specialization, choosing 17 elective
options from among over 70 offerings. Many of our students design an
individualized program of study for their specific career or legal
interests.
You may be atypical and have a definite career plan when you come to
law school. However, a number of students change their plan or refine
it after the first-year. While Pierce Law's extensive curriculum may
present you with difficult choices, it also offers attractive
alternatives. As you review your reactions to what you are learning,
you can draw on the advice and experience of our faculty, our career
services counselors, our loyal alumni, and our volunteer lawyer
community, for assistance with your fixed or changing career plans.
Second and Third-Year Core Courses
Administrative Process
Criminal Procedure 1
Professional Responsibility
Upper Level Writing Experience (several different courses fulfill this
requirement)
Highlighted Elective Coursework
Advanced Copyright & Media Licensing
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Community Lawyering
Competition Law of the European Union
Criminal Law
e-Commerce & the Law
Evidence
Expert Witness & Scientific Evidence
Food & Drug Law
Intellectual Property Litigation
Music Management & Licensing
Patent & Trade Secret Law
Public International Law
Sports Law
Trial Advocacy
Unfair Competition
