Upper Division Writing Requirement
All students are required to complete the upper division writing requirement. There are a variety of ways for students to complete this requirement; each student selects the method which suits him or her best. A student must prepare an original paper or legal brief under the supervision of a full-time member of the faculty. The paper must reflect research, analysis and writing sufficient in scope and quality in the opinion of the supervising faculty member to justify the award of a passing grade for at least two units of credit (i.e., approximately 100-110 hours work). No specified number of pages is required (although some faculty supervisors may choose to translate the requirement into pages). Rather, the requirement is framed in terms of the written product and the effort that lies behind it. Papers are graded on the normal Law School numerical grading scale for small courses. Papers that receive high marks are usually those that have been drafted, critiqued, and then rewritten. Adjunct (part-time) faculty are not eligible to supervise written work in satisfaction of the upper-division writing requirement unless prior written permission is given by the Enrollment Services Office or the Board of Review. If you wish to have such a request considered, please submit a written proposal to the Registrar.
Although independent student writing is graded on the same scale as course work, higher grades have traditionally been assigned for independent writing. For independent writing, grades between 2.4 and 2.9 reflect adequate work, but are fairly uncommon. Grades between 3.0 and 3.3 reflect respectable work and are more common. Grades between 3.4 and 3.8 reflect very good work and are assigned frequently. Grades between 3.9 and 4.1 represent excellent work and are given sparingly. Grades of 4.2 and above demonstrate outstanding work and are rare.
Papers which fulfill the writing requirement may be written for a seminar, as independent research writing (Dissertation), as a law journal note, or as briefs for in-house clinical courses such as the Post-Conviction Justice Project or Children's Legal Issues course. Such work must generally be the product of individual effort, but with the approval of the supervising faculty member, a jointly authored product can satisfy the requirement, provided that the separately identifiable contribution of each student would otherwise meet the writing requirement. Briefs for clinical courses may satisfy the writing requirement even though the courses are not taken for graded units. In all other instances, for the paper to satisfy the writing requirement, it must be graded on the standard law school numerical grading system not CR/D/F. Participation in the Hale Moot Court Honors Program satisfies the requirement unless the faculty advisor to the program specifically notifies the Registrar to the contrary. Courses taken outside USC Law may not satisfy the writing requirement. If the writing requirement is being satisfied as part of a course or seminar offered at USC Law, the student must submit to the Registrar the required form (with the faculty member's signature). As with all important documents, students are urged to keep their own copies of such important records.
To certify completion of the writing requirement (if not fulfilled by a journal note or article; dissertation of two units or more; or Hale Moot Court Honors Program), prior to graduation each student must submit the appropriate form (available in Room 104) to the Registrar only after all or substantial work has been completed. The form should state that: under the full-time faculty member's supervision, the student has completed a paper, journal article or a brief; that the written product and the research on which it rests are sufficient in scope and quality to deserve at least two units credit at a passing level; and that the written product represents the individual work of the student or, if jointly authored, the separately identifiable portion prepared by the student otherwise meets these requirements. The student is responsible for procuring the signature of the supervising full-time faculty member and for submitting the form to the Registrar in a timely manner. A student who has questions about whether a particular project may satisfy the requirement, should contact the Registrar or the Enrollment Services Office.
