Graduation Requirements


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  1. Completion of the First-Year Curriculum (Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, Introduction to Legal Research and Writing, Introduction to Advocacy, Legislation and Regulation, Property, Structures of the Constitution, Torts)
  2. Professional Responsibility
  3. Completion of the Substantial Writing Requirement
  4. Fulfillment of the Professional Skills Requirement
  5. Ninety (90) credit hours of approved credit

Substantial Writing Requirement

Substantial Writing supervised by a faculty member in connection with a course or seminar, law journal, or directed research

Professional Skills Requirement

Six (6) Credit Hours of

  1. Externship/Clinical Alliance credit and/or
  2. "Professional Skills Courses"

Externship Credits (Class of 2020 and later)

  1. No more than twelve (12) externship credits may count toward graduation. Students who wish to participate in Washington Semester, or other curriculum committee approved program, may count three (3) additional credits if necessary to participate.
  2. No more than six (6) externship credits earned during the Spring or Summer may count toward graduation.
  3. No more than four (4) externship credits may be earned in a single placement or nine (9) externship credits.
  4. Externship credits include both Externship (Law 599R) and Clinical Alliance (Law 780R) credits, but not Clinic (Law 788R) credits.
  5. Externship and Clinical Alliance credits (but not Clinic credits) are subject to the ABA 21-hour cumulative credit hour limitation (Externship/Clinical Alliance, Co-Curricular, and Non-Law Credits).

Co-Curricular Credits

  1. No more than six (6) co-curricular credits may count toward graduation.
  2. Co-curricular credits include Co-Curricular Law Review, Co-Curricular Journal of Public Law, Co-Curricular Education and the Law Journal (until 2019-2020), Co-Curricular Trial Advocacy, and Co-Curricular-Moot Court.
  3. Co-curricular credits (Law 792R and Law 793R) are subject to the ABA 21-hour cumulative credit hour limitation (Externship/Clinical Alliance, Co-Curricular, and Non-Law Credits).

Non-Law Course Credit

  1. Students not participating in a Joint Degree Program may receive up to six (6) credit hours for non-law courses. Students receive one credit for every credit of graduate course credit received and one credit for every two credits of upper-level undergraduate course credit received.
  2. To receive credit in a non-law course, a student must receive a grade of “C” or better.
  3. The grade for the non-law school course will not be considered in calculating the student’s law school class rank.
  4. Students wishing to enroll in non-law courses should obtain prior permission from the Associate Dean for Research and Academic Affairs using the form found here. [This is a word-based form that is attached in my email]
  5. Students may not receive credit for any courses taken prior to admission to the Law School.
  6. Co-curricular credits (Law 792R and Law 793R) are subject to the ABA 21-hour cumulative credit hour limitation (Externship/Clinical Alliance, Co-Curricular, and Non-Law Credits).

Joint Degree Programs

The Law School offers 5 joint degree programs. The Law School will reduce the Law School’s 90-credit graduation requirement by the following number of credits earned in the relevant program:

  • JD/MBA: 12 Credits
  • JD/MPA: 11.5 Credits
  • JD/MPP: 9 credits
  • JD/Macc: 6 credits
  • JD/MEd: 6 credits

The Law School will not approve additional Law School credit beyond the credit outlined above for non-law courses in the joint degree program.

Directed Research

  1. Students may earn up to two (2) hours of Directed Research credit in any semester.
  2. No more than four (4) hours of Directed Research may count toward graduation.
  3. Any full-time instructor may supervise Directed Research credit.
  4. Directed Research credit may not be earned for research used to earn credit for any other course.
  5. Students must engage in at least fifty (50) hours of work per hour of credit awarded.

Clinical Offerings

The Law School offers a wide array of Clinics in which students may participate. These offerings vary from year to year:

  • BYU Community Legal Clinic
  • Legal Design Clinic (LawX)
  • Domestic Violence Intervention Clinic
  • Family Law Clinic
  • Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic
  • Legislative Clinic
  • Mediation Clinic
  • Environmental Policy Clinic
  • Refugee & Immigration Initiative
  • Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic
  • Negotiation & Conflict Resolution Clinic
  • Criminal & Civil Rights Appeals Clinic
  • Leadership Incubator