Juris Doctor Graduation Requirements
- Maximum time to degree completion: 6 years
- Total number of credits needed: 85
- Minimum cumulative GPA: 75.00 on old scale and 2.00 on new scale
- Written work (Details)
- Professional skills (Details)
- Required courses (Details)
- Elective courses (Details)
Written Work Requirement
The written work requirement may be satisfied in any one of the following ways. Be aware that it is not automatically earned. Be sure to check with the professor from whom you intend to receive written work as to the appropriate procedure to follow so that the professor will award the written work at the time (s)he awards the grade.
- Seminar Paper: By successfully completing a seminar course of limited enrollment, including the completion of a substantial in-depth research paper in compliance with the course requirements.
- Journal: By approval of scholarly work submitted to the San Diego Law Review or one of the other journals for publication.
- Moot Court: By approval of work in an interschool moot court competition.
- Supervised Independent Research: By independent research and writing under the supervision of a faculty advisor, provided the project is, in general, equivalent to a seminar research paper. This option must be agreed upon in advance to the mutual satisfaction of the student, a full-time faculty member and the dean.
Professional Skills
As a condition for graduation, students beginning their law studies in 2007 or later must pass a Professional Skills elective from a list of such courses designated by the Dean. A course will be included on this list if it provides substantial instruction in the professional skills encompassed by ABA Standard of Approval for Law Schools 302(a)(4).
* Professional Skills Courses are desgnated with an "S" on the schedule of courses.
Required courses
Required Courses for Students Starting in Fall 2003 and Thereafter
| Courses Required in the First Year |
Credits |
| Civil Procedure I* |
3 |
| Civil Procedure II* |
3 |
| Constitutional Law I* |
4 |
| Contracts |
4 |
| Criminal Law |
4 |
| Property |
4 |
| Torts |
4 |
| Lawyering Skills I |
3 |
| TOTAL |
29 |
| *First-year evening students take these courses in the second year |
|
| Courses Required beyond the First Year |
Credits |
| Professional Responsibility |
3 |
| Tax I |
3 |
| TOTAL |
6 |
| TOTAL OF ALL REQUIRED COURSES |
35 |
Required Courses for Students Who Started Prior to Fall 2003
| Courses Required in the First Year |
Credits |
| Civil Procedure* |
6 |
| Contracts |
6 |
| Criminal Law |
3 |
| Property |
6 |
| Torts |
6 |
| Lawyering Skills I |
2 |
| TOTAL |
29 |
| *First-Year Evening Students take this course in the Second Year |
|
| Courses Required beyond the First Year |
Credits |
| Constitutional Law |
6 |
| Criminal Procedure |
3 |
| Evidence |
4 |
| Professional Responsibility |
3 |
| Tax I |
3 |
| TOTAL |
19 |
| TOTAL OF ALL REQUIRED COURSES |
48 |
Elective courses
Students must take additional elective courses to total 85 credits.
Students may request to enroll in elective courses after the first year. Choosing electives and assigning priority numbers to them can be the most difficult part of the registration process. In choosing electives, remember that there are courses that are covered on the Bar Exam which are not required, but which you may also want to complete prior to graduation. For the California Bar these courses include:
- Corporations (Effective July 2007, the subject currently titled “Corporations” will be renamed “Business Associations” and the scope of the topics tested in Business Associations will include those topics currently tested in Corporations, partnerships of all forms, limited liability entities, related agency principles and uniform acts.)
- Criminal Procedure
- Evidence (Effective July 2007, this will include California Evidence)
- Remedies
- UCC Sales
- The Trusts and Estates sequence.
- California Civil Procedure (Effective July 2007)
Please keep in mind while making out your schedule that some non-bar electives are not offered every year. Please see the Curriculum Advice Guide for additional, more in-depth information.
The following limitations on electives apply:
| Course Type |
Maximum Credits |
| Independent Study, Moot Court, Mock Trial, Journals |
6 |
| Clinics, Internships, Externships |
10 |
| Non-Law Transfer Credit |
6 |
|
