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4.1 Degree Requirements, Course of Study, and Course Load

4.1.01 Capital University Law School confers the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.) after a student has passed a sufficient number of courses to have earned 86 credits if admitted prior to Fall 2006. Those who entered Fall 2006 or after are required to earn 89 credit hours. In order to graduate, a student must maintain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average. Credit hours are earned only for courses in which a student is awarded a grade of D or better, the grade of S (satisfactory), or the transcript designation of K (transfer credit).

4.1.02 Required Courses.

Certain subjects are deemed so fundamental for a complete understanding of American jurisprudence that they are required for graduation. Students must pass each of these courses to satisfy the graduation requirement. Courses specifically required for graduation are listed in Table I (following), and must be taken in the year and the semester prescribed below or at the earliest possible time.

	DAY DIVISION
FALL SEMESTER				SPRING SEMESTER
			First Year
Course		Credits		Course		Credits
Contracts I		3		Contracts II		3
Torts I		3		Torts II		2
Property I		3		Property II		2
Legal Writing I		2		Legal Writing II		2
Criminal Law		3		Constitutional Law I		3
				Civil Procedure: Rules		3
			Second Year
Constitutional Law II		3		Evidence		4
Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction		3
Federal Personal Income Tax		3
			Third Year
*Professional Responsibility    2
**Legal Drafting

EVENING DIVISION
FALL SEMESTER			SPRING SEMESTER
		First Year
Course	Credits		Course	Credits
Contracts I	3		Contracts II	3
Torts I	3		Torts II	2
Property I	3		Property II	2
Legal Writing I	1		Legal Writing II	2
Evening Students are required to take the following courses during the summer immediately following their first year of law school.
Criminal Law           3
Legal Writing III      1
		Second Year
Constitutional Law I	3		Constitutional Law II	3
Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction	3		Civil Procedure: Rules	3
Evidence	4		Federal Personal Income Tax	3
Third or Fourth Year
*Professional Responsibility       2
**Legal Drafting

 

PART-TIME DAY DIVISION
FALL SEMESTER			SPRING SEMESTER
First Year
Course	Credits		Course	Credits
Contracts I	3		Contracts II	3
Torts I	3		Torts II	2
Legal Writing I	2		Legal Writing II	2
Criminal Law ***	3		Constitutional Law I	3
Second Year
Constitutional Law II	3		Evidence	4
Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction	3		Civil Procedure: Rules	3
Property I	3		Property II	2
Third Year
Federal Personal Income Tax	3
Criminal Law***
Fourth Year
*Professional Responsibility 2
** Legal Drafting
* Professional Responsibility is a required course and may be taken after the student has completed fifty (50) hours of course work. ** Legal Drafting is to be taken during the student's last year of law school. *** Option: Students enrolled in the Part-time Division may take Criminal law either the first semester of their first year, during the summer of their first year, or during the first semester of their third year.

 

4.1.03 Curricular Requirements for Graduation.

A. Students must complete and pass one course or seminar devoted to the study of other legal systems, insights of other academic disciplines (such as history, literature, economics, philosophy, anthropology, or sociology), or other non-traditional viewpoints on legal concepts or problems. The following courses satisfy this requirement: Comparative Law, Jurisprudence, Law & American History, Legal History, Origins of Western Law, and Women & the Law. The following seminars also satisfy this requirement: African American Males & the Law, Comparative Law, International Criminal Law, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law & Literature, Libertarianism & the Law, and Supreme Court. In addition, other courses and seminars may be designated as satisfying the requirement, as announced on a term-by-term basis.

B. Students must fulfill an upper-class writing requirement. Section 4.10 of this Chapter sets forth the standards of and the procedure for meeting this requirement.

C. The requirements for graduation, the availability of courses, course content, and credit hour allocations are subject to change as the Law School faculty shall determine.

D. In accordance with ABA Accreditation Rule 304(c)

4.1.04 Academic Performance Requirements for Selected Students

In an attempt to enhance the academic performance of students, Capital University Law School has adopted several programs and requirements to provide academic support to its students. While participation in some of these programs is voluntary, some are mandatory for students demonstrating a greater need for academic support. These programs are coordinated by the Director of Academic Support.

Disclaimer: The law school retains the right to adjust or eliminate these programs at any time without advance notice to current or future students. This description of the currently available programs is not intended to create a contractual or other legal obligation to provide these or other voluntary or mandatory academic support programs.

A. Academic Support Summer Program (non-credit) - This program is mandatory for students identified in the admission process by the members of the Admission/Readmission Committee, Assistant Dean of Admission and Financial Aid and Director of Academic Support as needing assistance in developing the skills necessary to successfully complete law school. Once identified, these students are required to fully participate in a pre-matriculation summer program.

B. Fall Academic Support Program — Mandatory (non-credit)

1. The Fall Academic Support Program is a mandatory non-credit program that provides academic assistance to first-year students who are identified in the fall semester of their-first year as at the most risk of being unable to successfully complete law school without academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general J.D. curriculum.

2. The Fall Academic Support Program is mandatory for:

a. students required to attend the Academic Support Summer Program, unless exempted by demonstrating exceptional mastery of legal study skills to the Director of Academic Support during the Academic Support Summer Program;

b. students referred to the Director of Academic Support by faculty members teaching a small-section first-year substantive law course following a midterm and determined by the Director of Academic Support as being at the most risk of being unable to successfully complete law school without additional academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general J.D. curriculum;

c. students referred to the Director of Academic Support by a legal writing instructor based upon performance in the legal writing course and determined by the Director of Academic Support of being at the most risk of being unable to complete law school without additional academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general J.D. curriculum; and

d. students who have petitioned to be included in the program and whom the Director of Academic Support has determined are unlikely to successfully complete law school without additional academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general JD curriculum.

3. Students participating in the Fall Academic Support Program must receive a certificate of completion from the Director of Academic Support indicating that the student has, in the judgment of the Director of Academic Support, participated appropriately in the program, in order to enroll in classes for any subsequent semester.

C. The Spring Academic Support Program — Mandatory (non-credit)

1. The Spring Academic Support Program is a mandatory non-credit program for first year students who, after completing one semester of law school, are at the most risk of being unable to successfully complete law school without academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general JD curriculum¹ .

2. The Spring Academic Support Program is mandatory for

a. first-year students who, in the judgment of the Director of Academic Support, based on their first-semester grades, are at the most risk of being unable to complete law school without academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general JD curriculum .

b. Students who have petitioned to be included in the program and whom the Director of Academic Support has determined are unlikely to successfully complete law school without additional academic assistance beyond what is provided in the general J.D. curriculum.

3. Students required to participate in the Spring Academic Support Program must receive a certificate of completion from the Director of Academic Support indicating that the student has participated in the program in order to enroll in classes for any subsequent semester.

D. General Skills Assistance Program (non-credit) -- The Law School provides a general voluntary skills assistance program for students who want to develop their legal skills, but who do not qualify for participation in one of the mandatory academic support programs described in Section 4.1.04 (A)-(C). This program consists primarily of lectures, panel discussions, and group exercises for students seeking guidance in enhancing their study skills and legal analysis skills.

E. Legal Analysis Course (1 credit) — This fall semester course, graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, is mandatory for second-year day and evening students whose academic performance during their first-year indicates that they are most likely to significantly improve their academic performance with academic support beyond that supplied in the regular J.D. curriculum². A description of this course may be found in the Course Descriptions (Section 4.9)

F. Writing Skills Program — The Law School provides a writing skills program for students who need assistance in improving their writing. This program includes a Supplemental Writing Course, which is mandatory for selected students, and group and individual workshop/consultation services for all students.

1. Supplemental Writing Course. The Supplemental Writing Course is designed to assist students who need to develop their writing skills. Attendance in this course is mandatory for all students who have been identified as demonstrating deficiencies in writing.

2. Students required to attend the Supplemental Writing Course during the fall or spring term shall be identified as follows:

a. All first-year students will be given one or more writing diagnostic exercises shortly after their matriculation in law school. Following the evaluation of these writing diagnostics by the Legal Research and Writing Professors and Supplemental Writing Course Instructors, any student who has demonstrated a writing deficiency on the diagnostic exercise is required to attend the Supplemental Writing Course during the fall or spring semester, as determined by the Director of Legal Research and Writing.

b. Legal Research and Writing Professors shall evaluate the work and performance of students in Legal Research and Writing I during the fall term. Students who demonstrate writing deficiencies on that course work are required to attend the Supplemental Writing course during the spring term.

c. Other faculty members may refer students with demonstrated writing deficiencies to the Director of Legal Research and Writing. Upon referral by another member of the faculty, the Director of Legal Research and Writing may require the referred to student to attend the Supplemental Writing Course in the fall or spring semester if the student has demonstrated writing deficiencies.

3 Students required to attend the Supplemental Writing course in the fall or spring must receive a certificate of attendance from the course instructor. To receive a certificate of attendance, the student must attend seventy-five percent of the sessions for that course (currently 6 out of 8 sessions). Failure to attend the minimum number of Supplemental Writing course sessions and, thereby, failure to receive a certificate of attendance from the instructor shall result in a one letter (e.g. from A to B; B+ to C+, etc.) grade reduction in the student’s Legal Research and Writing grade.

4. Only students identified as provided in section 4.1.04 (F)(2) may participate in the Supplemental Writing Course. Students who have not been required to attend the Supplemental Writing Course but who want assistance with writing should participate in any Writing Skills Workshops that are offered or arrange individual sessions with the Writing Specialist.

5. Writing Skills Workshops and Consultations. The Law School occasionally offers workshops to those students who want to improve writing skills. Students may also meet
with the Supplemental Writing Course instructor for evaluation and work on writing skills. Students wishing more information should contact one of the Legal Research and Writing professors, the Director of the Legal Research and Writing Program, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, or the Director of Academic Support.

¹ Generally, the Director of Academic Support will determine which students, among those whose first-year fall semester law school GPA is 2.3 or lower, are most at risk of being unable to complete law school without additional academic support.

² Generally students with a law school GPA of 2.5 or lower, after two semesters of full-time or part-time study, may be required to enroll in Legal analysis in the fall of their second year of full-time or part-time study.

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