Each student must complete two substantial legal research and writing projects to graduate from the School of Law. One project requirement will be met upon successful completion of the three semesters of the legal writing curriculum (Legal Research and Legal Communication I, II, and III). A student may not fulfill the second legal research and writing project requirement until after he or she has successfully completed the first legal research and writing project. The second project requirement may be met in one of three ways.
- Seminar
A student may enroll in a 4000-level course prior to completing the three semesters of the legal writing program, so long as that student does not seek to fulfill the upper-level writing requirement through that particular course. For a seminar to meet the upper-level writing requirement, a student must enroll in a 4000-level course with no more than twenty (20) enrolled students and write a paper as prescribed by the faculty member teaching the course, complying with the following requirements:
- The paper must be either expository or argumentative writing of at least 5,000 words of substantive text, exclusive of footnotes, endnotes, headings and the like;
- An outline and draft must be submitted and critiqued by the supervising faculty member prior to the submission of the final paper;
- The paper must be supervised by a full-time faculty member; and
- The grade for the paper must be a “B” or better.
- Independent Study
By taking an independent study with prior approval of the Curriculum Committee and complying with the following:
- Writing a paper which is either an expository or argumentative writing of at least 5,000 words of substantive text, exclusive of footnotes or endnotes, headings, and the like;
- An outline and draft must be submitted and critiqued by the supervising faculty member prior to submission of the final paper;
- The paper must be supervised by a full-time faculty member; and
- The grade for the final draft must be a “B” or better; and
- In compliance with the Independent Study Guidelines promulgated by the Curriculum Committee.
- Law Review
By successfully completing two (2) academic years, including summer terms, on the Law Review and complying with the following:
- After serving as a member of the Law Review for at least one (1) semester, the student must produce a note which is either an expository or argumentative writing of at least 5,000 words of text, exclusive of footnotes, endnotes, headings, and the like.
- An outline and draft must be submitted and critiqued by the Law Review Faculty Advisor prior to submission of the final paper;
- A minimum of three (3) meetings shall be held between the student and the Law Review Faculty Advisor to allow the Advisor to provide detailed feedback to the students prior to the submission of the final paper.
- The note shall be: published in a law review journal or other similar legal publication; or, if approval is granted by the Law Review Faculty Advisor, accepted for publication in a law review journal or other similar legal publication; or, if approval is granted by the Law Review Faculty Advisor, of publishable quality. e) The paper must be supervised by the DSOL Law Review Faculty Advisor who shall be a full-time faculty member;
- The grade for the note must be a “B” or better; and
- The paper must be written independently and without collaboration from other students or others.
Concurrent with completing the upper-level writing requirement, one of the law librarians will provide a general overview of the research resources available on the broad topic of the upper-level writing seminar during two in-class hours that will include: developing a research plan, conducting a preemption check to review the literature, and explaining specific Bluebook citation rules for law review articles. Each student must also meet with a law librarian to review the research resources tied to the subject matter of the upper-level writing seminar or individual paper. The librarian will assist students in identifying secondary sources associated with the subject matter, constructing a legal research plan, and completing a literature review on their approved topic. The librarian shall work with the faculty member supervising the upper-level writing requirement to schedule the in-class session and the individual meeting(s) at times convenient for the student(s).