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The Curriculum

A Dynamic Combination

The University of Minnesota Law School is a pioneer in providing a dynamic combination of theory and practical training. It is recognized internationally for the breadth and depth of its legal writing and clinics program, which offers 18 clinical education courses that range from bankruptcy to domestic violence to immigration.

A Bold New Curriculum

The Law School’s new curriculum focuses on how law shapes and transforms the foundation of a society. Students will engage in explorations of such present-day issues as the role of law in economic development, the legislative response to prison overcrowding, the international response to global warming, and the untangling of legal complexities in modern financial transactions.

A variety of new courses are being introduced over the next few years to better prepare students for legal practice while still providing them with improved theoretical learning. The new classes include intensive training in statutory interpretation, integrated into a legal brief writing program; "The Work of the Lawyer," introducing students to the practice of law and its theoretical and ethical underpinnings; and “Perspectives on the Law,” a team-taught class, exposing students to several different perspectives on such legal issues as law and economics and critical race theory.

Concentrations

The Law School offers several cutting-edge legal concentrations, drawing from the expertise of our nationally renowned faculty and interdisciplinary partnerships with other University of Minnesota programs. Students can specialize in such fields as Health Law and Bioethics, Human Rights Law, and Labor and Employment Law.
 
First Year
First-year students are required to take several courses focusing on the essential skills of reading, analyzing and apply cases, statutes and constitutional provisions in the areas of law, torts, constitutional law, civil procedure, property, and criminal law. Legal writing is required each semester. Beginning in 2008, entering students will be able to choose one course from among the work of the lawyer, corporate law, international law, and perspectives on the law.
 
 
Second & Third Years
Second- and third-year students can structure their own areas of study, but meet two requirements. For students entering prior to 2008, Professional Responsibility must be taken in the second or third year. For students entering in 2008, Constitutional Law II must be taken in the second or third year. Students may choose to specialize in particular fields of law, with formal concentrations available in Labor & Employment Law, Health Law & Bioethics, and Human Rights Law.