Spring 2024 Quick Guide
-Public Sector Employees seminar
-Trial Advocacy 2 (Tuesday night section)
Book Orders for Spring 2024. The university now uses a virtual bookstore for students to order course materials (as previously announced, the physical locations have closed). Click here for information on how to use the virtual bookstore.
Faculty Recording Policies. Faculty have discretion whether to record class sessions (unless required as an official accommodation) and, if they do, whether to make them routinely available to the entire class, or on a more selective basis (e.g., to students who provide an adequate reason for missing class). If you are uncertain what policy your professors will be following, and it is not addressed during the first class session, feel free to ask your professors.
Academic Calendar for 2023-2024. Click here for the current academic calendar.
Classrooms for Remote Use. If you are taking an online class this semester (or a class that meets on campus some weeks and remotely other weeks), we have reserved rooms at the Law School for you to use if you won't have sufficient time to travel from home to school (or vice versa) in between your online class and an on-site class you have the same day. These rooms will remain the same throughout the semester. The list is available by clicking here. Please note: You will each connect to class individually in Zoom and should have earphones or headphones with you.
Graduation Requirements. I recommend that all upper-level students review the latest version of the "Where Do We Go From Here?" document (click here) to make sure you are on track to satisfy all graduation requirements. (Although mainly aimed at students entering their second year, it is a useful document for reviewing your progress towards graduation.)
Experiential Course Requirement. Students must complete a total of six credits from an approved list of experiential courses (click here for the list). Most students will already satisfy four of these credits through the required sequence of Legal Writing 3 and Legal Writing 4. However, students who opt for the Legal Writing 4 Equivalency Class (see page 2 of the schedule for information about Legal Writing 4 Equivalency) should consult the list of approved courses to determine whether the qualifying activity counts toward the experiential requirement. Law Review does not count toward the requirement.
64-Credit Classroom Course Requirement. At least 64 of the 87 credits required for graduation must be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. Clinical coursework counts toward the 64-credit requirement, but the following do not count toward the requirement: externships, extracurricular activities (including credits earned for participation in a law journal, moot court competitions, trial advocacy competitions, or as a Teaching Assistant), and courses taken in another academic unit (e.g., the Stuart School of Business).
Bar Exam Strategies Course. This is a reminder that students who were in the bottom 25% of their class at the end of their second year (for full-time students) or their third year (for part-time students) are required to take Bar Exam Strategies in their final semester. Other students in their final semester may take it if they wish, but are not required to do so. Students in the bottom 25% of their class may petition our Director of Bar Success, Erin Crist (ecrist@kentlaw.iit.edu), for an exemption from taking the class. The class will be taught asynchronously by Bar-Bri instructors, with oversight by Prof. Crist. It will cover Civil Procedure, Contracts, Evidence, and Property as tested on the bar exam. It will cover both substantive rules and skills instruction for the written and multiple choice portions of the bar exam. The course will be letter-graded.
Pass/Fail Limitations for Upper-Level Courses. Certain upper-level electives may be taken pass/fail, subject to the limitations described below; required courses, however, may not be taken pass/fail. Pass/fail registration is now open. To make a pass/fail election, log into Web for Students and click on "Take Class Pass/Fail" in the lefthand menu. The deadline for requesting a course pass/fail is Tuesday, January 30, 5:00pm.
Although there is no overall limit on pass/fail credits, there are two types of limits to the pass/fail credits you can take:
Pass/fail election: Students may elect up to 6 credits pass/fail during their entire time at Chicago-Kent. This pass/fail election applies to upper-level elective courses that normally are letter-graded; classes that are only offered pass/fail do not count toward this 6-credit limit. The following classes may not be elected pass/fail: (1) required courses, including Professional Responsibility; (2) seminars, whether or not being taken to fulfill the graduation seminar requirement; (3) courses that have been designated by instructors as ineligible for the pass/fail election (these courses are indicated on each semester’s schedule of classes); (4) courses that are graded only on a pass/fail basis (as noted above), such as clinical courses, Moot Court, and Law Review; (5) Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy courses; and (6) courses taken to fulfill the requirements of any certificate program. Fall pass/fail registration will open shortly before the start of the Fall semester. A student taking a course on a pass/fail basis must earn at least a C to receive a P (Pass). If you pass the course but fail to earn at least a C, you will receive a grade of LP (Low Pass).
Clinic limitation: You may take no more than 24 credit hours toward graduation for clinical courses and externships combined. (Students in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (LADR) and the Criminal Litigation Program are exempt from this limitation.)
Graduating Students: Reduced Loads and Tuition Discounts. J.D. students graduating at the end of the Spring semester who need fewer than the minimum number of hours to graduate may take fewer credits without special permission. Taking a reduced load may affect your eligibility for financial aid; please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have questions about this.
In addition, if you will be graduating at the end of the Spring semester, and will be taking more than the 87 credits required to graduate, you may receive a 50% discount on each credit you take over the required 87 credits. If this affects you, please contact me by email no later than Tuesday, January 30, and I will arrange for the credit to be applied to your account. Please note: Financial aid is not available for any courses you take that are not necessary for you to reach the required 87 credits.