Graduation Requirements
See also the Graduation Requirements Worksheets
A. CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED = 90 hours
B. RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS, see Academic Regulation 4.4 (page 59 herein)
C. COURSES
1. Required Core Curriculum
a. Civil Procedure, L505 (Civil Procedure I and II, L505 and L507, for those entering prior to Summer 2005)
b. Contracts, L501
c. Criminal Law, L506
d. Legal Research, Writing & Advocacy, L504
e. Property, L508
f. Torts, L502
g. Constitutional Law, L516
2. Other Course Requirements
a. Evidence, L661
b. Code of Professional Responsibility Course.
This requirement may be satisfied by the course Legal Profession, L643.
Note: Applicants for admission to the Ohio bar and those of most other states must take and receive a satisfactory score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), which may be taken while you are in law school. The exam is administered three times per year and you may want to register to take it following completion of Legal Profession, L643.
c. Administrative Law Component. See below
d. Perspective Requirement. See below
e. 3rd Semester Course in Legal Writing. See below.
f. Upper Level Writing. See belowPerspective Requirement -- To be completed from the following list. Additional courses may be approved from time to time and will be so designated on the appropriate course schedule.
a. American Legal History, L550
b. Ancient Athenian Law, L570
c. Church & State, L560
d. Comparative Law, L687
e. Comparative Law Seminar: Islamic Law, L551
f. Federal Indian Law, L627
g. International Criminal Law, L610
h. International Law, L553
i. Judaic Law, L561
j. Jurisprudence, L554
k. Law, Literature & Film, L569
l. Psychiatry & Law, L558
m. Race, Racism & Law, L565
n. Sexual Orientation & Law, L563
o. Social Science & the Law, L585
p. Theories of Justice, L559
q. Women & Law, L631
r. Additional courses as designated on the course schedule
Administrative Law Component - The following courses satisfy the Administrative Law Component.
a. Administrative Law, L623
b. Banking Regulation, L641
c. Election Law, L727
d. Employment Law, L684 (if taken F’02 or after and, beginning F’03, is designated AR)
e. Environmental Law, L671
f. Immigration & Nationality Law, L734
g. Labor Law, L629
h. Labor Law Seminar, L709
i. Mass Communications, L653
j. Public Sector Labor Law, L675
k. Regulatory Federalism, L638
l. Securities Regulation, L655
m. Additional courses as designated on the course schedule
Third Semester of Legal Writing -- Each student is required to take at least one legal writing course in addition to the core Legal Research, Writing and Advocacy Course, L504. Students may choose from a group of courses to be designated by the faculty. Such courses will be designated with the number (12) on the course schedules and in the course descriptions. Normally, the third semester course in Legal Writing will be taken during the Fall or Spring of the second year for full-time students or the Spring of the second year or the Fall or Spring of the third year for part-time students.
Upper Level Writing Requirement -- The purpose of the Upper Level Writing requirement is to have each student undertake at least one extensive research and writing experience (in addition to Legal Writing, Research and Advocacy) prior to graduation. The goal of the requirement is for each student to demonstrate his or her writing, research, analytical, and organizational skills by producing one substantial written product under the direction of a faculty supervisor.
The Upper Level Writing requirement may be met by satisfactory completion of a seminar or specified upper level course for which a substantial paper is required or satisfactory completion of an appropriate two or three semester-hour Independent Legal Research, L860, project.
Satisfactory completion of courses denoted with the number (5) on the course schedule or by completion of the optional research paper in courses denoted with the number (5a) on the schedule will meet the Upper Level Writing Requirement. Some courses may be offered with a paper option in one term and not in another or not when offered by a different instructor. Do not assume that a particular course has a paper option merely because the course was offered with a paper option in the past. If the denotation (5) or (5a) does not appear on the schedule, and, for some reason you think the course might satisfy the requirement, check with Assistant Dean Jean Lifter.
A two or three semester hour Independent Legal Research, L860, project may also satisfy the requirement. A faculty member, including full-time faculty, legal writing instructors, and clinical instructors, must supervise every Independent Legal Research project. An Associate Dean must approve any project to be supervised by an adjunct faculty member. The faculty member must sign a form, available in the Student Services Center, indicating that he or she is willing to supervise the project and specifying how many hours of credit are involved. The completed form must be returned to law school Records Officer or Dean Lifter, who will approve registration for the Independent Legal Research credit.
A maximum of three semester hours of Independent Legal Research credit may be elected to count toward the J.D. degree.
Students who are invited, either on the basis of grades or on the basis of the Summer Writing Competition, to join the staff of either the Cleveland State Law Review or the Journal of Law and Health are required to complete a student note as staff members. This is often done in conjunction with an Independent Legal Research project - the paper is ultimately turned in to both the law review (or journal) editors and to the faculty member supervising the project. Students may sign up for this credit during the Fall or Spring semester that they are serving on the review or journal staff.
Normally, students produce a paper of a minimum of 24 pages, excluding footnotes, for two hours and a minimum of 36 pages, excluding footnotes, for three hours for Independent Legal Research credit.
Note: Supervising faculty may exercise the discretion to award credit but withhold upper level writing certification for a project whether completed for Independent Legal Research or in a course or seminar in which a paper is required or is an option.
Graduation Requirements Worksheets