Degree Requirements
- The degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.) is conferred, on recommendation of the Law Faculty, upon students admitted as candidates for the degree who successfully complete a minimum of 85 semester hours of work in six semesters in compliance with these regulations.
- The degree of Juris Doctor summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude is conferred, on recommendation of the Law Faculty, upon students who complete their course of law study with the appropriate academic distinction.
- For students entering without advanced standing, residence for six semesters is required. The period of residence may be proportionately reduced for students entering with advanced standing, but the last four semesters of law study must be completed at this School.
To receive residence credit for a semester, a student must complete 12 semester hours of graded class work and must have a grade of D or better in at least 9 semester hours of graded class work. Credit earned for (1) an elective course taken on a pass/no pass basis, (2) participation in the activities referred to in Paragraph 10 hereof, or (3) an Independent Research Project or Tutorial cannot be used to satisfy this requirement.
- First-year courses may not be dropped. Second- or third-year courses may be added or dropped at the option of the student (subject to announced limitations on class size and other limitations announced by the instructor) during the first five days of classes of the semester. Thereafter courses may be added or dropped only with the consent of the instructor. Under no circumstances may a course be added after the tenth day of class of the semester or dropped after the first regularly scheduled time for taking the final examination in that course. Independent Research projects or Tutorials must be approved by the Law Faculty’s Independent Research Committee no later than the tenth day of class of the semester in which the project is to be completed.
- A letter grading system is used. The grades are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F, I (Incomplete), or WIP (Work-in-Progress). Their weights are 4.0, 3.67, 3.33, 3.0, 2.67, 2.33, 2.0, 1.67, 1.33, 1.0, 0.67, 0.0.
In ungraded (credit only) courses, the supervising faculty member may enter a grade of I or F in appropriate circumstances.
- A student’s cumulative average is computed by averaging the grades received in all courses taken, on the basis of the number of semester hours of credit accorded to each course.
- A course in which a grade of F is received shall not be counted toward the total of 85 semester hours required for graduation; such course, however, shall be counted in computing the student’s cumulative average whether or not the student repeats the course.
- Every student is expected to maintain satisfactory academic performance throughout the terms of residence.
- A student who fails to attain a cumulative average of 1.75 at the end of the second or fourth semester of study is ineligible to continue in the School of Law.
- A student who fails to attain a cumulative average of 2.00 at the end of the sixth semester of study is ineligible to continue in the School of Law or to receive a degree.
- A student who receives during any semester a grade of 0.0 for five or more semester hours of work is ineligible to continue in the School of Law or to receive a degree.
- A grade of D in each required course is necessary for graduation. A student receiving a grade of D- or F in a required course, who is otherwise eligible to continue in the School of Law, must retake the course.
- Credit toward a degree can be earned by participating in the following activities:
- Inter-school competitions. A student may earn only one credit in each of the following categories, for a maximum of four credits for inter-school competitions:
- A student may earn one credit hour by participating in an inter-school appellate advocacy competition approved by the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor. No more than four appellate advocacy competitions may be approved in any academic year.
- A student may earn one credit hour by participating in an inter-school mock trial competition approved by the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor. No more than two mock trial competitions may be approved in any academic year.
- A student may earn one credit hour by participating in an inter-school negotiation competition approved by the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor. No more than one negotiation competition may be approved in any academic year.
- A student may earn one credit hour by participating in an inter-school client counseling competition approvedby the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor. No more than one client counseling competition may be approved in any academic year.
- A student may earn one credit hour by participating in an inter-school mediation competition approved by the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor. No more than one mediation competition may be approved in any academic year.
- A student may earn one credit hour by participating in an inter-school arbitration competition approved by the Moot Court Board Faculty Advisor. No more than one arbitration competition may be approved in any academic year.
- Law Review: up to six credit hours may be earned by participation in this activity.
- Summer Internship Program: up to two credit hours may be earned by participation in an approved unpaid internship program for at least 8 weeks during the summer.
- Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice: up to four credit hours may be earned by participation in this activity.
- German Law Journal. Students who successfully complete Transnational Law Seminar: German Law Journal are thereafter eligible to serve as student editors of the German Law Journal. Maximum of two ungraded credits.
- Advanced Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). Students will complete a minimum of 40 hours of advanced service in VITA, either as a program coordinator or a senior return reviewer. Permission of the instructor is required; limited enrollment. Prerequisite: prior year’s experience as a VITA volunteer. One hour, ungraded.
- No more than five hours of credit toward a degree may be earned by participation in the actvities described above other than Law Review and the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice. A maximum of six hours of credit toward a degree may be earned by satisfactory completion of two years of participation in Law Review. A maximum of four hours of credit toward a degree may be earned by satisfactory completion of two years of participation on the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice.
- Allocation and granting of credit for participation in each of the activities described in Paragraph 10 shall be determined by the faculty advisor.
- Sanction: The faculty advisor of any activity listed within this paragraph may assign a grade of F to any student who fails to perform satisfactorily. In the alternative, the faculty advisor may enter a grade of I or may require or permit the student to drop the activity.
- Any elective course (but no required course) may be taken on a pass/no pass basis unless the instructor, before the beginning of the semester in which the course is offered, denies students this option. A student who elects to take a course or courses pass/no pass must (l) also meet for the semester the requirements for graded class work in Paragraph 3 hereof and (2) file in the Law Records Office a written election to take the course or courses on a pass/no pass basis no later than three weeks after the beginning of the semester. When a pass/no pass election has been filed, it cannot be withdrawn, except as provided in the following paragraph.
A grade of C or higher shall be recorded as P (Pass). A grade of C- or lower shall be recorded as NP (Not Passing) unless the student promptly files in the Law Records Office an election to accept the letter grade. Neither a grade of P nor a grade of NP shall affect the student’s cumulative average. Any semester hours for which a grade of NP is recorded shall not be included in the total semester hours the student has completed toward the minimum required for a degree. If a student who has received a grade of C- or lower elects to accept the letter grade, it shall be treated as a grade in a graded course for all purposes.
- A grade of I (Incomplete) must be changed to a letter grade no later than the end of the grading period for the semester following the semester in which the I is awarded. Otherwise, the I becomes a permanent grade. A letter grade received by the change of an I in conformity with this requirement shall be treated for the purposes of any other degree requirement as having been received in the semester in which the I was received.
- A student, in order to receive a degree, must, at some time during his or her last four semesters, complete a research and writing project under the direct supervision of a member of the Law Faculty. Satisfactory completion of the requirement will be demonstrated by certification from the instructor who supervises the project. To satisfy the requirement a writing project must require thorough legal research, a substantial piece of legal writing, and rewriting in response to criticism from the supervising instructor. The requirement may be satisfied by an Independent Research Project, a Law Review note, or a note for the Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice, if the above standards are met. Work done in clinical courses will satisfy the requirement if it meets the described standards. The requirement may also be met by satisfactory completion of a paper meeting the above standards and submitted as part of the regular work in designated courses.
- Students participating in the Law School’s experiential third-year curriculum must register for (i) four practicum, externship, or clinical course modules (five semester hours each); (ii) Practice Intensive I (two semester hours); (iii) Practice Intensive II (two semester hours); (iv) Professionalism and Service I (two semester hours); and (v) Professionalism and Service II (two semester hours), constituting 28 semester hours in the aggregate. Students participating in the Law School’s experiential third-year curriculum may register for additional courses with the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
- A student who wishes to petition the Law Faculty to waive any of these regulations because of special circumstances or hardship shall deliver to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs a petition setting forth such special circumstances or hardship. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs shall forward the petition to the Academic Standards Committee of the Law Faculty for action.
A student’s petition to take all or part of the third year at another ABA-approved law school will be granted only when such action is necessary for a student to deal with compelling circumstances which demand his or her presence near such other school.
Prompt and regular attendance at scheduled classes is required.
Employment
In accordance with ABA Standard 304 (f) a student may not be employed more than 20 hours per week during the academic year. First-year students are strongly encouraged not to be employed outside the law school and to limit their hours to 10 per week.
Classroom Computer Use
Laptop computers or other electronic devices may be used in class only for taking notes, displaying case briefs, or other academic purposes explicitly authorized by the professor.
Exchange Programs
The Law School has a number of exchange programs with partner schools in foreign countries. One program is at Hamburg, Germany’s Bucerius Law School, Germany’s first private, elite law school. Each fall, Bucerius students come to Lexington, while Law School students spend the fall semester in Hamburg, taking courses, in English and with other students from around the world, that focus on international business and comparative law.
A second program takes place at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. Law School students may take part in this program in the fall or the spring semester, or, in rare cases, during both semesters. At Western, students can take a wide variety of international and comparative law courses.
Law School students may also take part, in the fall or spring semester, or in rare cases, during both semesters, in the exchange program with Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. At Trinity, Ireland’s premier university, Law School students take courses with graduate law students from both Ireland and from other foreign countries.
Finally, students may take part in our new exchange program with the University of Copenhagen, the largest educational institutional in Denmark. The University of Copenhagen offers a significant number of courses in English each semester. This allows exchange students to put together a comprehensive study programme, which will meet the demands of their home institutions.
These programs offer Law School students a fine opportunity to gain international perspectives on the law, and to meet other law students from around the world. The programs also add to the intellectual life of the Law School by bringing foreign law students to Lexington. The programs are open to second- and third-year students. Law School students pay regular Law School tuition during their stay in Copenhagen, Hamburg, London, Ontario, or Dublin; financial aid packages are not affected by participation in the programs.
Credit for Work in Summer Session
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The School of Law does not offer a summer session. However, students may take courses offered in the summer sessions at other accredited law schools to earn up to six credit hours toward their degrees. In order to receive credit for courses taken in the summer sessions at other law schools, a student must obtain advance approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the School of Law and submit to the Law Records Office, no later than the end of the grading period for the following semester, a transcript evidencing satisfactory completion of the summer work. Satisfactory completion of a summer school course means fulfillment of the course requirements established by the law school where the course is taken, with a grade equivalent to C or higher.
Class Standings
Exact class standings are not released. Each student, however, is informed of his or her grade-point average, and may divulge this information to prospective employers. In addition, each student can determine the approximate percentile in the class in which he or she falls because grade-point cutoffs at five percent intervals are posted; they vary from year to year and from class to class.
Applications for Degrees
An applicant for the degree of Juris Doctor is required, during the third year in the School of Law, to file an application for the degree with the Registrar of the University. Students on the combined curriculum who are applicants for the degree of Bachelor of Arts or of Science at Washington and Lee University after completion of their first year of law study should file an application for the undergraduate degree during the first year in the School of Law.