Academic Requirements

The Sturm College of Law awards the degree of Juris Doctor to those students who successfully fulfill the following requirements:

• Completion of ninety (90) semester credit hours (see below) with passing grades.
• Maintenance of the required cumulative grade point average: a cumulative GPA of 2.3 or higher
• Successful completion of all required courses (as defined in the chart that follows this section). A student who receives a grade of F in a required course must retake the course and earn a passing grade. Both grades remain on the student’s transcript and are included in the student’s cumulative GPA.
• Completion of the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement.
• Completion of the Public Service requirement.
• Completion of the Professional Skills Requirement. All students entering the College of Law in Fall 2013 but before Summer 2015 must successfully complete a curricular offering of two or more semester credit hours in any Experiential Advantage course (designated “EAC” on the schedule).
• Completion of the Experiential Coursework Requirement. All students entering the College of Law Summer 2015 or thereafter must successfully complete a curricular offering of six or more semester credit hours in any Experiential Advantage course (designated “EAC” on the schedule).
• Completion of the Career and Professional Development Requirement. All students entering the College of Law Summer 2016 or thereafter must successfully complete 5 qualifying career and professional development sessions during the 1L year, and 2 individual career advising appointments after the 1L year.
• Resolution of all financial obligations to the University of Denver.
• Completion of all credit hours within a specified time period following initial matriculation at law school. The American Bar Association requires law students to complete their legal educations within seven years. Full-time students at the Sturm College of Law normally meet all JD requirements by the end of their third year. Part-time students at the Sturm College of Law normally complete all JD requirements by the end of their fourth year.

All students must complete ninety (90) semester credit hours with passing grades. Only a grade of F constitutes a failing grade for purposes of this requirement. Students receive no credit hours toward graduation for courses in which they earn a grade of F.

Credit hour definition (in accordance with ABA Standard 310):

• Each credit hour awarded for any College of Law course shall reasonably approximate at least one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction for a fifteen-week period (or the equivalent amount over a different period of time).
• For each hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction per week, students are expected to perform at least two hours of out-of-class work.
• A credit hour awarded for other academic activities including directed research, simulation courses, externship fieldwork, clinical courses, law journals, and competitions, shall require the equivalent amount of student work as would be required for a credit hour under paragraphs (1) and (2) above.
• At a minimum, 42.5 hours of student work, in class and out-of-class, is required per credit hour.
• For purposes of this policy and in accordance with ABA Standards 310 and ABA Interpretations 310-1 and 310-2:
  • An “hour” of classroom or direct faculty instruction shall be at least 50 minutes;
  • a fifteen-week period may include fourteen weeks of instruction and a week (or more) for a final examination; and
  • this policy does not prohibit the College of Law from awarding credit hours for a course that extends over a period of time other than 15 weeks, provided that the classroom instruction or direct faculty instruction and out-of-class student work meet the minimum requirements of ABA Standards 310(b), and other College of Law.

All students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least a 2.3 to remain in good standing.

Students may check their Academic Progress Report on MyDU. Students have the responsibility to check MyDU carefully and to contact the Registrar’s Office if students note any discrepancy between their understanding and their Academic Progress Report. Students have the sole responsibility to ensure that they have completed all graduation requirements.

1L Curriculum

Other Required Courses:
All students must successfully complete the following courses in any semester prior to graduation:

• Legal Profession (3)
• Evidence (4)
• Administrative Law (3)
   

Other Graduation Requirements (see below):
Completion of (1) the Upper Level Legal Writing Requirement, (2) the Public Service Requirement, (3) the Experiential Coursework Requirement, and (4) the Career and Professional Development Requirement.

All law students must satisfy the Public Service Requirement (PSR) in order to graduate. To satisfy the requirement, each student must perform a minimum of 50 hours of supervised, uncompensated, legal public service work.

You can satisfy the requirement in one of the following ways:

1. Registering for, and passing, an externship for credit at a government agency, judicial chambers, or nonprofit organization via the Legal Externship Office.
2. Registering for, and receiving a grade of C or better, in a clinic via the Student Law Office.
3. Registering for, and receiving a grade of C or better, in an eligible course. Eligible courses currently include: Live Client Lab, Poverty and Low Wage Work in America, Public Interest Lawyering Lab, the Graduate Tax Program’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, Trial Practice III: Instructor’s Practicum, Trial Practice III: Mentor’s Practicum, the International Criminal Law Practicum, Wills Lab, the Probate Practicum, Animal Activist Legal Defense Fund, Homeless Advocacy Seminar, and Youth Rights Workshop.
4. Volunteering and engaging in 50 hours of supervised, uncompensated legal work, at a government agency, judicial chambers, nonprofit organization, or private firm, as long as the work at the firm is pro bono. This is known as a Volunteer Legal Experience.
    

In order to satisfy the requirement via option #4, a Volunteer Legal Experience, you must abide by all rules and regulations for the Public Service Requirement indicated on our website. You must complete an online student certification and evaluation form about your volunteer experience and your supervisor, who must be licensed to practice law for at least three years, must complete an online supervisor certification and evaluation form which asks for the number of hours worked (must be at least 50), the timeframe in which the work was completed, and an evaluation of the student’s work. When both of these forms are completed and submitted online, at the conclusion of the relevant semester, your Academic Progress Report will reflect that you satisfied the PSR.

Please note: You are not required to complete the steps outlined above if you are satisfying the public service requirement via options #1, 2, or 3 above. For these options, your Academic Progress Report will reflect that you satisfied the PSR via a PUBL designation at the conclusion of the relevant semester.

Students are strongly encouraged to complete this requirement before their last semester of law school. For more information about the PSR, visit this page and/or contact the Director of Externships & Public Interest Initiatives at publicinterest@law.du.edu.

All law students must satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement prior to graduation. The requirement provides students additional instruction and practice in research, organization and expression.

To satisfy the requirement, each student must:

• Complete a written product of at least ten (10) pages on an appropriate legal subject determined by a professor and the student.
• Secure the professor’s written comments as to the substance and style of the student’s written project.
• Prepare a second draft of the written project in response to the professor’s comments to the professor’s satisfaction.
   

Students may satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement in the following ways:

1. Advanced Legal Writing Course
   A student can enroll in and successfully complete the upper level legal writing course entitled “Advanced Legal Writing.”
    
2. Designated Seminar Classes or Clinics
   A student can enroll in and successfully complete a seminar that satisfies the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. The student can also enroll in and successfully complete a clinical course that satisfies the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Clinics and seminars do not necessarily satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Students must clarify with individual professors whether the seminar or clinic will satisfy the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.
    
3. Directed Research Projects
   The student may enroll in and successfully complete a Directed Research Project with a full-time faculty member. If the student successfully completes a Directed Research Project that fulfills the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement, the professor must certify to the Registrar that the student has completed the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement. 
    
4. Certification by Professor
   Any full-time or adjunct professor can offer a student the opportunity to complete the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement within the course taught by the professor or independently of the course taught by the professor. Upon successful completion of the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement, the professor must certify to the Registrar that the student has completed the requirement. A student who elects to fulfill the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement under this option must make certain that the Registrar’s Office receives certification from the professor that the student successfully fulfilled the Upper Level Legal Writing requirement. Only after the Registrar’s Office has received official certification has the student completed this graduation requirement.

1. All law students entering the College of Law in the Fall 2013 Term through Spring 2015 must successfully complete a curricular offering of two or more semester credit hours that provides substantial instruction in professional skills generally regarded as necessary for effective and responsible participation in the legal profession beyond legal research, writing, and analysis.
    
2. Professional skills include pre-trial practice, trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, alternate dispute resolution processes, client communication, counseling, negotiation, legal document drafting, fact investigation, interaction with regulators (such as drafting of regulatory ruling requests), interviewing, law practice management, legal problem solving, recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas, and similar skills.
    
3. To fulfill this requirement, a curricular offering must provide at least one credit (700 classroom minutes) of instruction in the performance of professional skills beyond legal research, writing, and analysis, and must engage each student in multiple (more than one) hands-on skills performances that are evaluated by the instructor.
    
4. The College of Law Registrar shall maintain a list of courses that satisfy the professional skills requirement on the College of Law webpage. The College of Law Modern Learning Committee and Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for approving courses that satisfy the professional skills requirement, and for periodically updating that list. Each course description for each class that satisfies the professional skills requirement shall indicate that it does so.
    
5. A student may not use the same curricular offering to satisfy both the upper level writing requirement and the professional skills requirement, unless the course has been designated as a special Carnegie Integrated Course offering by the Modern Learning Committee. Each Carnegie Integrated Course shall include a full credit hour of skills instruction in addition to assigned upper level writing.

1. All law students entering the College of Law in the Summer 2015 Term or thereafter must successfully complete a curricular offering of six or more semester credit hours that provides substantial instruction in professional skills generally regarded as necessary for effective and responsible participation in the legal profession beyond legal research, writing, and analysis.
    
2. Professional skills include pre-trial practice, trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, alternate dispute resolution processes, client communication, counseling, negotiation, legal document drafting, fact investigation, interaction with regulators (such as drafting of regulatory ruling requests), interviewing, law practice management, legal problem solving, recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas, and similar skills.
    
3. To fulfill this requirement, a curricular offering must provide at least one credit (700 classroom minutes) of instruction in the performance of professional skills beyond legal research, writing, and analysis, and must engage each student in multiple (more than one) hands-on skills performances that are evaluated by the instructor.
    
4. The College of Law Registrar shall maintain a list of courses that satisfy the Experiential Coursework Requirement on the College of Law webpage, designated as “EAC” on the course schedule. The College of Law Modern Learning Committee and Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for approving courses that satisfy the Experiential Coursework Requirement, and for periodically updating that list. Each course description for each class that satisfies the Experiential Coursework Requirement shall indicate that it does so.
    
5. A student may not use the same curricular offering to satisfy both the upper level writing requirement and the Experiential Coursework Requirement, unless the course has been designated as a special Carnegie Integrated Course offering by the Modern Learning Committee. Each Carnegie Integrated Course shall include a full credit hour of skills instruction in addition to assigned upper level writing.

All JD students beginning law school in the summer 2016 semester or thereafter must complete the Career & Professional Development Requirement (the “CPD Requirement”) in order to graduate.

To satisfy the CPD Requirement, each 1L student must complete 5 sessions of their choice during the 1L year from any or all of the following core competency areas:

• Career & Academic Planning
• Interviewing and Networking
• Job Search Documents
• Professional Development
• Wellness / Personal Development
   

The Office of Career Development & Opportunities (“CDO”) will maintain a list of qualifying programs. Students may satisfy up to 2 of the 1L sessions through individual career advising appointments with the CDO.

In addition, each JD student must participate in at least 2 individual career advising appointments after the 1L year.

Students who have secured postgraduate employment and are no longer seeking employment may opt-out of the CPD requirement at any time by providing all ABA-required employment information to the CDO.