The First Year Curriculum
During the first year, each student takes a required curriculum of basic courses that examines fundamental legal institutions and addresses legal problems relevant to today's society and the modern practice of law.
Fall Semester
- Law, Language and Ethics (3 units) introduces students to the function of legal rules and concepts in the organizing of society. Drawing on the learning from a broad variety of fields including epistemology, ethics, semantic analysis, aesthetics, sociology and psychoanalysis, the course examines the underlying structure of legal argument and decision.
- Torts (4 units) explores the obligation to refrain from harming others and studies the bases for compensating persons who suffer injuries — either by holding responsible whomever is at fault for the harm, or by invoking other principles of liability, including the efficiency of resource allocation and the spreading of losses.
- Procedure (4 units) introduces students to the issues of what constitutes fair, adequate and efficient procedures in resolving legal disputes.
- Contracts (4 units) is a course on the law of consensual arrangements. It concerns such questions as what promises the state does and should enforce and what remedies are available when enforceable promises are breached.
Spring Semester
- Criminal Law (3 units), which studies issues relating to the decision, by legislature or court, to designate behavior as a "crime." Significant attention is given to the moral, psychological and philosophical issues involved in ascribing criminal responsibility.
- Constitutional Law (4 units) considers the delineation of spheres of responsibility between the judiciary and legislature, the nation and the state, and the government and the individual.
- Property (4 units) analyzes the development of rules dealing with land, water, and other natural resources, frequently from historical and economic perspectives.
- Legal Profession (3 units) considers the role of the lawyer in society, history, and organization of the legal profession, alternate career patterns, conflicting duties, the adversary system, equal access to justice, and other issues of ethics and professional responsibility.
To be effective, lawyers must incisively analyze legal principles and apply them to facts, and also communicate articulately—both in writing and orally. Legal Research Writing and Advocacy (2 units) is a two-semester course — two units are earned each semester — which focuses on developing these analytic and communication skills. In the Fall semester, students start with short written exercises and progress to drafting legal office memoranda. In the Spring, students focus on advocacy writing through drafting legal briefs. Students, through participation in a legal research course, also develop oral advocacy skills through oral argument as part of the first-year moot court program. Students also examine basic sources of law for federal and California jurisdictions utilizing a vast array of sources, from books to computer-assisted research systems. Students learn various research methodologies and techniques.
All first-year courses are graded numerically. A student who does not satisfactorily complete either of these two courses will receive a failing grade (F or 1.9) or the grade of D or 2.3 which is Passing, but Unsatisfactory—at the discretion of the instructor. Students who receive a failing grade for a first year course must re-enroll in the course and receive a passing grade. Students who receive a grade of D or 2.3 or lower in a first year course may be required to re-enroll in the course at the discretion of the instructor and the Enrollment Services Office.
