Law School Professional Development Initiatives in the First Year
Law School | Course | Type |
Baylor | Professional Development Program | 0 credit grad requirement |
Buffalo | Career Office programming | 0 credit grad requirement |
Chicago | Kapnick Leadership Development Institute | 0 credit grad requirement |
Cincinnati | Professional Development Program | 0 credit grad requirement |
Denver | Career and Professional Development Credit | 0 credit grad requirement |
DePaul | Preparing to Practice I & II | 0 credit grad requirement |
Houston | Passport to Success | 0 credit grad requirement |
Idaho | Professionalism Education Program | 0 credit grad requirement |
Michigan State | Foundations of Law | 0 credit grad requirement |
Missouri | Job Search Skills, Career Exploration, and Professional Development | 0 credit grad requirement |
Pace | Center for Career and Professional Development | 0 credit grad requirement |
Pepperdine | Introduction to Professional Formation | 0 credit grad requirement |
Western Michigan | Professional Development Series | 0 credit grad requirement |
American | Compass Program | 0 credits |
Fordham | House | 0 credits (yearlong) |
Georgia State | Professional Development | 0 credits (yearlong) |
Nova Southeastern | Legal Skills and Professionalism | 0 credits (yearlong) |
Pittsburgh | Pitt Law Academy | 0 credits (yearlong) |
Southern Methodist | Inns of Court | 0 credits (yearlong) |
Law School | Course | Type |
Chapman | 1 credit | |
Chicago Kent | Professional Development and Identity | 1 credit |
Lewis & Clark Law School | Foundations of Professional Practice | 1 credit |
Ohio Northern | Legal Problem Solving & Analysis | 1 credit |
Richmond | No title | 1 credit |
South Carolina | Introduction to the Legal Profession | 1 credit |
South Dakota | Foundations of Law | 1 credit |
Wake Forest | Professional Development Class | 1 credit |
Washington | Intro to Perspectives on the Law | 1 credit |
Western New England | Intro to the Legal Profession | 1 credit |
William and Mary | Leadership and Professional Development | 1 credit |
Loyola Chicago | Professional Identity Formation | 1 credit (fall) |
New Hampshire | No title | 1 credit (fall) |
New Mexico | Lab | 1 credit (fall) |
Tennessee Knoxville | Lawyering and Professionalism | 1 credit (fall) |
Texas A&M | Professional Identity Course | 1 credit (fall) |
Tulsa | Dean's Seminar on the Legal Profession | 1 credit (fall) |
St. Thomas (MN) | Moral Reasoning for Lawyers (fall) + Serving Clients Well (spring) | 1 credit (fall); 1 credit (spring) |
Boston University | Lawyering Lab | 1 credit (J-term intensive) |
California Davis | Lawyering Process | 1 credit (spring) |
Faulkner | Fundamentals of Legal Practice | 1 credit (spring) |
Illinois | Fundamentals of Legal Practice | 1 credit (spring) |
McGeorge | The Legal Profession | 1 credit (spring) |
Mitchell Hamline | Foundations of Practice | 1 credit (spring) |
New York Law School | Foundations in Study of Law + Foundations for the Pursuit of Professionalism | 1 credit (spring) |
North Texas-Dallas | Fundamentals of Being a Lawyer | 1 credit (spring) |
Regent | Foundations of Practice | 1 credit (spring) |
Santa Clara | Critical Lawyering Skills Seminar | 1 credit (spring) |
Northern Illinois | Introduction to Legal Profession 1 and 2 | 1 credit (year-long) |
Albany | Multicultural Lawyering and Professional Identity | 1 credit 1 semester (fall) |
Boston College | Critical Perspective of Law and Professional Identity | 1 credit 1 semester (fall) |
Arizona | Preparing to Practice | 1 credit 2 semesters |
San Diego | Experiential Advocacy Practicum | 1 credit each semester |
Arkansas Little Rock | Professionalism and the Work of Lawyers | 1 credit over two semesters |
Brigham Young | Professional Skills Training | 1 credit over two semesters |
Southern Illinois | Professionalism and the Law I and II | 1 credit over two semesters |
Law School | Course | Type |
Florida Levin | Introduction to Lawyering & the Legal Profession | 2 credits |
North Dakota | Professional Foundations | 2 credits |
Penn State Dickinson | Problem Solving I: The Lawyer and Client" | 2 credits (fall) |
Gonzaga | Litigation Skills + Professionalism Lab & Transactional Skills | 2 credits (fall); 2 credits (spring) |
Akron | Problem Solving | 2 credits 1 semester (spring) |
California Irvine | Legal Profession I & II | 2 credits each semester + assigned mentor |
Elon | Lawyering, Leadership & Professionalism | 2 credits; 1 credit in August and 1 credit in spring |
Harvard | January Experiential Term | 2-3 credit (J-Term intensive) |
Course
Law School | Course | Type |
Harvard | January Experiential Term | 2-3 credit (J-Term intensive) |
Minnesota | Law in Practice | 3 credits |
Syracuse | 1L Professional Responsibility | 3 credits |
George Washington | Fundamentals of Lawyering I & II | 3 credits (fall); 3 credits (spring) |
Kansas |
|
3 credits (spring) |
Mercer | The Legal Profession | 3 credits (spring) |
Samford | Lawyering & Legal Reasoning I & II | 3 credits each semester |
Seton Hall | Introduction to Lawyering I & II | 3 credits each semester |
Villanova | Professional Development Curriculum all 3 years | 3 credits over 3 years |
Law School | Course | Type |
Case Western Reserve | Legal Writing, Leadership, Experiential Learning, Advocacy, and Professionalism | 6 credits over two semesters |
St. Mary's | LCAP Legal Communication, Analysis, and ProfessionalismLCAP Legal Communication, Analysis, and Professionalism | 6 credits over two semesters |
Law School | Course | Type |
CUNY | Lawyering Seminar I and II | 8 credits over two semesters |
Nebraska-Lincoln | Legal Skills in Social Context | 8 credits over two semesters |
Northeastern | Legal Skills in Social Context | 8 credits over two semesters |
To be included on this list, a course or program had to include some type of engagement with professional identity or professional values. A course or program that just offered skill instruction without some engagement with professional identity or professional values was excluded from the list. While we tried to err on the side of being over-inclusive, this list may not be complete. The list is intended to demonstrate that a large number of law schools are taking steps to address professional development to make students more practice-ready for the legal profession.