Courses & Advising

All courses of study in the second and third years are elective, with the exception of professional responsibility. Students are also required to complete two writing experiences after the first year. Certain courses are considered foundation courses because they provide the vocabulary and structure for advanced legal work. Accordingly, the courses that provide the background necessary for most curriculum paths are recommended to, and scheduled primarily for, the convenience of second-year students.

Second-year foundation courses include:

• Administrative law
• Business associations
• Criminal procedure: investigation
• Evidence
• Income taxation
• Professional responsibility
• Trusts and estates

Third-year students are given preference for enrollment in family law, federal jurisdiction, secured transactions and trial advocacy.

Students should plan a program of 10 to 16 hours of credit in each semester of the last two years, with 86 hours of credit required for graduation.

Courses in Other University Departments

A student may be granted permission by the Senior Associate Dean to take course work in other graduate divisions of UNC-Chapel Hill for up to three hours of credit toward the law degree; the course work must be shown to contribute significantly to the student's legal education and permission must be obtained prior to enrollment in the course. A grade of P or better (on the basis of the usual graduate school grading criteria of H, P, L and F) will be transferred to the student's law record on a credit basis. The grade will not be averaged into the student's cumulative grade point average. This policy is not designed to affect the continuing opportunities available to law students to take or audit courses in other divisions of the University on a noncredit (toward the law degree) basis.

• Carolina Graduate Schools

Interinstitutional Program

Students interested in taking law courses at either Duke University School of Law or North Carolina Central University School of Law that are not regularly offered at UNC should determine their availability and then see the law registrar for registration procedures. There is no additional tuition charge for courses taken through the interinstitutional program during the academic year. Summer school, however, is not covered by the program. Students may not fulfill their seminar requirement by taking a seminar at these institutions.

• Duke University School of Law
• North Carolina Central School of Law