Curriculum and Requirements

Day & Evening Divisions

Juris Doctor Day and Evening Divisions

The Day Division of Suffolk University Law School comprises approximately 1,000 students. Day Program students are able to substantially devote all their time to the study of law. This program requires the traditional three years (six semesters) to complete.

The Evening Division is designed for students who want to pursue a legal education on a part-time basis. It can be completed in four years (eight semesters) of part-time study. Evening Division students are awarded the same degree as that earned by Day Division students. First year Evening Division students usually attend classes three evenings a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, beginning at 6:00 pm.

Day and Evening Division applicants are only accepted into the regular degree-seeking program. Applicants may not audit courses or apply for a conditional acceptance. A total of 84 semester hours is required to earn the JD degree.

As a candidate for admission you must choose to apply to either the Day or the Evening Division. Students who have completed the first academic year in the Law School, and who are in good academic standing, are eligible to transfer internally to either the Day or the Evening division.

Program of Legal Study

Program of Study Juris Doctor (JD)

The study of law requires an ability to analyze and organize complicated fact situations. The law faculty assist students in learning how to approach a complicated fact pattern either through the study of adjudicated cases or the use of carefully constructed problems. Students are challenged by the questions and comments of the professor and their fellow students as they work with cases or problems. From time to time the professor may clarify or lecture on some points of fact or law, but the ultimate responsibility for developing the skills of legal analysis rests on the student.

It is the student’s role to prepare the course assignments carefully, to utilize the resources available in the law libraries, to attend class and be prepared to actively discuss the assigned materials. In class, students must analyze the presentation of their classmates, compare the work of others to their own, and be prepared to respond intelligently to the questions asked by the professor. Thus, students’ roles are active ones, and the value of their legal education will depend in large measure on the enthusiasm, dedication and responsibility with which they approach their work.

For Evening Students

EVENING DIVISION REQUIREMENTS

Students who cannot devote a substantial portion of time to the study of law may apply for enrollment in the Evening Division and complete the work for the Juris Doctor degree in four years (eight semesters).

Semester Hour Requirements

The academic year consists of two semesters: the first, or fall, semester commencing in August, and the second, or spring, semester commencing in January. The Evening Division requires eight semesters of class work. A total of 84 semester hours is required to receive the Juris Doctor degree.

Class Hours

Classes in the Evening Division are usually conducted on weeknights between 6 and 10 pm.

Evening Division Requirements Effective 2014-2015 Academic Year

	Required Curriculum	1st Sem. Hours	2nd Sem. Hours
First-Year	Contracts 1	2	3
	Torts	0	4
	Civil Procedure 1	2	2
	Criminal Law	4	0
	Legal Practice Skills	3	2
	Total	11	11

Second-Year	Property	2	2
	Constitutional Law	2	2
	Professional Responsiblity 3
	Base Menu4/Electives 5,6,7	4-7	5-8
	Total	9-12	9-12

Third-Year	Base Menu 4
	Electives 5,6,7
	Total	9-12	9-12

Fourth-Year	Base Menu 4
	Electives 5,6,7
	Total	9-12	9-12

Courses will have final exams in both the Fall and Spring semesters. See Rules and Regulations, Section III, Grades and Examinations.
Evening students may not enroll in fewer than 9 credits nor more than 12 credits in a semester, and may not enroll in fewer than 21 credits nor more than 24 credits in the academic year. Note: No more than 12 credits from clinical programs may be counted toward the degree.
Professional Responsibility is a required course. It must be taken by Day Division and Evening Division students any time after the first year.
Students are required to take at least three out of five Base Menu Subjects.
Including required courses and the Base Menu requirement, students must complete a minimum of 84 credits in order to receive the Juris Doctor degree.
Students must complete the Legal Writing Requirement. (See Rules and Regulations Section II H)
Students must satisfy the Skills Menu Requirement; recommended to take courses from the Perspectives Menu.

For Day Students

DAY DIVISION REQUIREMENTS

The Day Division course of study consists of three academic years of full-time study. Under the regulations of the Law School, Standards of the American Bar Association, and the Rules of the Board of Bar Examiners of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, only those students who can devote substantially all of their working time to the study of law are eligible to enroll in the full-time Day Division and to complete their law study in three years.

Semester Hour Requirements

The academic year consists of two semesters: the first, or fall, semester commencing in September, and the second, or spring, semester commencing in January. The Day Division requires six semesters of class work. A total of 84 semester hours is required to receive the Juris Doctor degree.

Day Division Requirements Effective 2014-2015 Academic Year

	Required Curriculum	1st Sem. Hours	2nd Sem. Hours
First-Year	Contracts ¹	2	3
	Torts	0	4
	Property ¹	2	2
	Civil Procedure	4	0
	Criminal Law	4	0
	Constitutional Law ⁸	0	4
	Legal Practice Skills	3	2
	Total	15	15

Second-Year	Professional Responsibility ³
	Base Menu ⁴
	Electives ^5,6,7
	Total	12-15	12-15

Third-Year	Base Menu ⁴
	Electives ^5,6,7
	Total	12-15	12-15

Courses will have final exams in both the Fall and Spring semesters. See Rules and Regulations, Section Grades and Examinations.
Second- and third-year students may not enroll in fewer than 12 credits nor more than 15 credits in a semester, and may not enroll in fewer than 27 credits nor more than 30 credits in the academic year. NOTE: No more than 12 credits from clinical programs/internships may be counted toward the degree.
Professional Responsibility is a required course. It must be taken by Day Division and Evening Division students any time after the first year.
Students are required to take at least three out of five Base Menu Subjects.
Including required courses and the Base Menu requirement, students must complete a minimum of 84 credits in order to receive the Juris Doctor degree.
Students must complete the Legal Writing Requirement. (See Rules and Regulations Section II H)7.
Students must satisfy the Skills Menu Requirement; recommended to take courses from the Perspectives Menu.
Day students who have received conditional admission to the joint degree J.D./Tax LL.M. program may defer taking Constitutional Law until the second semester of their second year in order to take Basic Federal Income Tax in the second semester of the first year.

Base Menu

Juris Doctor Base Menu Requirement

After the first year of study, the curriculum consists of a Base Menu and Advanced Electives. The Base Menu reflects the faculty’s belief that although students may begin their professional lives in very varied settings, there are fundamentals to the law as a whole that cannot be ignored.

Students are required to take one course within three out of the five following subject categories:

Administrative/Regulatory Law

Commercial Law

Business Associations & Agency

Evidence

Evidence

Basic Income Tax

Basic Income Tax

All students must enroll in 3 out of 5 of the Base Menu Subject Areas
Any one or any number of these courses will satisfy the Base Menu Requirement for that subject only.

Skill Menu

Skills Menu Requirement

Prior to graduation, each student is required to take one course from the Skills Menu. The purpose of the Skills requirement is to assist students in developing skills required to successfully perform lawyering tasks, such as problem solving, legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, factual investigation, communication, counseling, negotiation, litigation and alternative dispute resolution procedures, organization and management of legal work, and recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas in practice.

All Clinics and Legal Internships	Investment Management
Adv. Environmental & Energy Law	Labor and Employment Arbitration
Advanced Legal Research	Law Practice Planning
Advanced Legal Writing	Lawyering in an Age of Smart Machines
Alternate Dispute Resolution	Legislative Process, Drafting, & Interpretation
Appellate Practice	Litigating Federal and State Constitutional Claims
Appellate Practice Advocacy	Mediation
Arbitration of Domestic and International Disputes	Negotiation for Lawyers
Business of Intellectual Property Innovation	Patent Litigation Seminar
Business Planning	Patent Prosecution I:Drafting
Business of Practice: Hit the Ground Running	Patent Prosecution II: PTO Practice
Climate Change Law Policy and Legislation	Pretrial Civil Litigation
Commercial Lending and Finance Practicum	Pretrial Federal Criminal Practice
Counseling Technology Leading Emerging Enterprises	Private Placements
Cyberspace and Technology	Probate/Family Trial Practice
Drafting Discovery Documents	Technology, Energy and the Environment
Drafting Wills and Trusts	Transactional Law and Practice
Emerging Companies	Trial Advocacy - Criminal
Employment Law Practice	Trial Advocacy - Family
Environmental Law	Trial Advocacy - Intensive
Intensive Research and Writing	Trial Evidence and Technique
International and Comparative Legal Research	Trial Practice
Interviewing and Counseling	Trial Practice: Criminal

Perspectives Menu

All students should take at least one of the Perspectives courses listed below before graduation. The purpose of the recommendation is to help students develop an analytical perspective on our legal system, by viewing it through the lens of another discipline, probing the foundations, values or assumptions underlying our legal institutions, or studying alternatives to our own doctrinal approach to legal problem

American Legal History: 1877 to present	Justice, Morality and Film
American Legal Thought	Justice, Rights and the Law
Animal Law	Law and Economics
Civil Disobedience	Law and Literature
Civil Rights Litigation	Law and Public Policy
Comparative Criminal Procedures	Law and Religion
Comparative Law	Lawyer as Public Policy Maker
Comparative Legal Cultures Contemporary American Politics	Public Interest Law Seminar
Indigenous Peoples ’ Rights and U.S. Law	Race, Gender and the Law
International Children's Rights	Rape, Culture and the Law
International Human Rights	Selected Topics in Criminal Law: Applying Identity Theories to the Criminal Justice System
International Human Rights: The Death Penalty and Related Issues	Sexual Orientation in the Law: Regulation and Recognition
International Human Rights: A Woman's Model	Sex Trafficking
Issues of Law, Policy, and Ethics in Global Technology	Women & the Law
Jurisprudence	Women, Film and Law
	Women's Health Law & Policy Seminar

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Day & Evening Divisions

Juris Doctor Day and Evening Divisions

Program of Legal Study

Program of Study Juris Doctor (JD)

For Evening Students

For Day Students

Base Menu

Juris Doctor Base Menu Requirement

Skill Menu

Skills Menu Requirement

Perspectives Menu

Perspectives Menu

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