Curriculum

Our students benefit from a curriculum that emphasizes the essential components of a high-quality legal education—one that interweaves fundamental legal principles with the practical skills needed for effective client representation. Coursework is carefully planned, offering students both required core courses and a wide range of elective courses.

Required courses emphasize traditional core subjects—including all subjects tested on the California Bar Examination—and skills essential to the effective practice of law, such as legal research and writing. During summer sessions, students may choose from a wide range of elective courses focused primarily on areas of legal practice.

Class sessions emphasize "case studies" that bring law to life. Students prepare for class by reading, analyzing, and preparing briefs—summaries of opinions that have been previously issued by the courts. In-class discussions of these briefs assist students in understanding the legal principles behind decisions, while further exploration of hypothetical variations in the facts helps them develop analytical techniques for resolving legal problems.

In addition to completing coursework, each student also receives hands-on legal experience through a required 65-hour pro bono internship under the supervision of a practicing attorney or judge.