University of San Francisco School of Law

JD Required Courses

The core JD curriculum orients students to central areas of the law in courses covering fundamental doctrine and theory.

For the JD degree, students must earn at least 86 units of course credit, including 41 units in required core courses. In the full-time program, required courses are concentrated in the first year, while in the part-time program they are concentrated in the first and second years.

In addition, all students are required to take Evidence (four units) and Legal Ethics or Professional Responsibility (three units), as well as complete an Upper Level Legal Research and Writing Project in conjunction with an approved course or academic program. Subject to availability and according to individual preferences, these requirements may be fulfilled after the first year.

Full-Time Program Required Curriculum +

Part-Time Program Required Curriculum +

View Part-Time Curriculum

Full-Time Program Required Curriculum

(Click course titles to view descriptions)

First-Year Courses	Fall Semester	Spring Semester
Civil Procedure	3 Units	2 Units
A study of the mechanics of litigation and the rules which govern enforcement of the rights and duties studied in substantive law courses. Broad coverage includes an introduction to federal and state court organization, jurisdiction and procedure. There is particular consideration of venue, process, joinder of parties and causes, class actions, pre-trial motions and discovery, trials, post-trial motions, appellate review, and finality and effects of judgments and decrees. Consideration is given to both the California Code of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Contracts	2 Units	3 Units
This is a basic study of the principles that govern the creation, interpretation, enforcement, and termination of private agreements. Coverage includes formation and interpretation of contracts, breach of contract, defenses to the enforcement of contracts, and remedies available for breach. Attention is given to the Uniform Commercial Code and other relevant statutes.
Criminal Law	3 Units	-
This course examines the basic doctrines structuring the state's punishment of undesirable conduct. Among the topics addressed are: the definition of criminal conduct, the defenses based on justification or excuse, the scope of criminal liability, and the relationship between crime and punishment.
Criminal Procedure	-	3 Units
A critical examination of the law governing the method by which persons who are accused of committing crimes are processed through the criminal justice system. Coverage focuses on the limits imposed by the U.S. Constitution on the procedures used in both state and federal criminal prosecutions.
Legal Research and Writing	3 Units	2 Units
A program designed to teach first-year law students to think and write as lawyers, focusing on legal analysis and problem solving, as well as on writing and research skills. In the first semester, students are required to draft at least ten assignments, ranging in difficulty from a simple case brief to a relatively complex objective memorandum of law. Students learn the following skills: understanding the legal writing and legal analysis process; applying the law to the facts of a particular situation; researching primary and secondary sources; organizing and outlining research materials; comparing objective writing to persuasive writing; and thinking as a lawyer. In the second semester, emphasis is on research (using both traditional research sources and computer assisted legal research), on writing longer and more sophisticated documents, and on writing persuasively. Students research and write demand letters and complex memoranda of points and authorities. Students are also prepared for the Moot Court exercise.
Moot Court	-	1 Unit
Small group and individual instruction in research, writing, and oral skills related to brief writing and oral arguments. At the conclusion of the course, students argue before a panel of attorneys and/or judges.
Property	-	4 Units
The core Property course introduces the fundamental concepts and principles underlying the legal system's allocation of property rights; defines the features of differing types of property interests (through the law of estates, future interests, and concurrent interests).; introduces selected issues in landlord-tenant law; introduces the law governing private agreements people make about the use of each other's property (through the law of easements, covenants, and equitable servitudes) and addresses selected issues in public land use regulation.
Torts	4 Units	-
A study of the law of civil injuries, including the concepts of fault-based liability and strict liability. The course explores alternative bases of liability for the interference with personal and property interests as well as defenses and damages.

Second-Year Courses	Fall Semester	Spring Semester
Constitutional Law	4 Units	-
This course is an examination of the American constitutional system. Principles and practices of judicial review and interpretation in constitutional cases are studied with particular reference to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court. There is an examination of selected Congressional Powers, the authority of the President, and constitutional limitations on the exercise of governmental powers and the distribution of power between the federal and state governments. The course also focuses on the guarantees of individual rights, with an intensive coverage of freedom of expression, religious liberty, due process, and equal protection of the laws.

Variable (courses may be take in second or third year)
Evidence	4 Units
An analysis of the nature of judicial proof and a study of the theory and application of the rules regulating the admission and exclusion of testimonial and documentary proof by judicial tribunals in adversary and non-adversary proceedings. Consideration is given to both the California and Federal rules of evidence.
Legal Ethics or Professional Responsibility	3 Units
A review of the ethical principles behind the basic California and ABA rules through a discussion of actual practice problems. Ethical principles are introduced through these problems as they actually occur in practice as real-world ethical dilemmas. This course, usually offered in a seminar format, also emphasizes the practical and economic realities that can affect a lawyer's behavior, the tensions between traditional notions of ethical behavior, and society's larger sense of morality, and the conflict between the duty to advocate for the client and to act for the public good. Students may satisfy the ethics course requirement by completion of either Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics and the Practice of Law.
A course examining the Rules of Professional Conduct, the roles and functions of lawyers in society, responsibilities involved in representing clients, and the organization and function of the bar. This course uses concrete problems drawn from real life practice contexts to illustrate in a practical way the complex moral dimensions of a lawyer's professional life. Students may satisfy the ethics course requirement by completion of either Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics & the Practice of Law.
Upper Level Writing Requirement	-
The Upper Level Research and Writing Requirement is intended to provide students with the opportunity to refine the research and writing skills learned in the first year, and to enhance the skills necessary to undertake writing projects on their own following graduation. Students choose topics, submit outlines, prepare and submit a first draft, and complete the final paper in consultation with faculty members in approved courses and co- curricular programs.

View Full-Time Curriculum

Part-Time Program Required Curriculum

(Click course titles to view descriptions)

First-Year Courses	Fall Semester	Spring Semester
Civil Procedure	3 Units	2 Units
A study of the mechanics of litigation and the rules which govern enforcement of the rights and duties studied in substantive law courses. Broad coverage includes an introduction to federal and state court organization, jurisdiction and procedure. There is particular consideration of venue, process, joinder of parties and causes, class actions, pre-trial motions and discovery, trials, post-trial motions, appellate review, and finality and effects of judgments and decrees. Consideration is given to both the California Code of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Contracts	2 Units	3 Units
This is a basic study of the principles that govern the creation, interpretation, enforcement, and termination of private agreements. Coverage includes formation and interpretation of contracts, breach of contract, defenses to the enforcement of contracts, and remedies available for breach. Attention is given to the Uniform Commercial Code and other relevant statutes.
Legal Research and Writing	3 Units	2 Units
A program designed to teach first-year law students to think and write as lawyers, focusing on legal analysis and problem solving, as well as on writing and research skills. In the first semester, students are required to draft at least ten assignments, ranging in difficulty from a simple case brief to a relatively complex objective memorandum of law. Students learn the following skills: understanding the legal writing and legal analysis process; applying the law to the facts of a particular situation; researching primary and secondary sources; organizing and outlining research materials; comparing objective writing to persuasive writing; and thinking as a lawyer. In the second semester, emphasis is on research (using both traditional research sources and computer assisted legal research), on writing longer and more sophisticated documents, and on writing persuasively. Students research and write demand letters and complex memoranda of points and authorities. Students are also prepared for the Moot Court exercise.
Moot Court	-	1 Unit
Small group and individual instruction in research, writing, and oral skills related to brief writing and oral arguments. At the conclusion of the course, students argue before a panel of attorneys and/or judges.
Torts	2 Units	2 Units
A study of the law of civil injuries, including the concepts of fault-based liability and strict liability. The course explores alternative bases of liability for the interference with personal and property interests as well as defenses and damages.

Second-Year Courses	Fall Semester	Spring Semester
Constitutional Law or Property*	4 Units	-
This course is an examination of the American constitutional system. Principles and practices of judicial review and interpretation in constitutional cases are studied with particular reference to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court. There is an examination of selected Congressional Powers, the authority of the President, and constitutional limitations on the exercise of governmental powers and the distribution of power between the federal and state governments. The course also focuses on the guarantees of individual rights, with an intensive coverage of freedom of expression, religious liberty, due process, and equal protection of the laws.
The core Property course introduces the fundamental concepts and principles underlying the legal system's allocation of property rights; defines the features of differing types of property interests (through the law of estates, future interests, and concurrent interests).; introduces selected issues in landlord-tenant law; introduces the law governing private agreements people make about the use of each other's property (through the law of easements, covenants, and equitable servitudes) and addresses selected issues in public land use regulation.
Criminal Law	3 Units	-
This course examines the basic doctrines structuring the state's punishment of undesirable conduct. Among the topics addressed are: the definition of criminal conduct, the defenses based on justification or excuse, the scope of criminal liability, and the relationship between crime and punishment.
Criminal Procedure	-	3 Units
A critical examination of the law governing the method by which persons who are accused of committing crimes are processed through the criminal justice system. Coverage focuses on the limits imposed by the U.S. Constitution on the procedures used in both state and federal criminal prosecutions.
Constitutional Law or Property*	-	4 Units
This course is an examination of the American constitutional system. Principles and practices of judicial review and interpretation in constitutional cases are studied with particular reference to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court. There is an examination of selected Congressional Powers, the authority of the President, and constitutional limitations on the exercise of governmental powers and the distribution of power between the federal and state governments. The course also focuses on the guarantees of individual rights, with an intensive coverage of freedom of expression, religious liberty, due process, and equal protection of the laws.
The core Property course introduces the fundamental concepts and principles underlying the legal system's allocation of property rights; defines the features of differing types of property interests (through the law of estates, future interests, and concurrent interests).; introduces selected issues in landlord-tenant law; introduces the law governing private agreements people make about the use of each other's property (through the law of easements, covenants, and equitable servitudes) and addresses selected issues in public land use regulation.

The Semester Class Schedule specifies the course sequence each year.

Variable (courses may be taken in second or third year)
Evidence	4 Units
An analysis of the nature of judicial proof and a study of the theory and application of the rules regulating the admission and exclusion of testimonial and documentary proof by judicial tribunals in adversary and non-adversary proceedings. Consideration is given to both the California and Federal rules of evidence.
Legal Ethics or Professional Responsibility	3 Units
A review of the ethical principles behind the basic California and ABA rules through a discussion of actual practice problems. Ethical principles are introduced through these problems as they actually occur in practice as real-world ethical dilemmas. This course, usually offered in a seminar format, also emphasizes the practical and economic realities that can affect a lawyer's behavior, the tensions between traditional notions of ethical behavior, and society's larger sense of morality, and the conflict between the duty to advocate for the client and to act for the public good. Students may satisfy the ethics course requirement by completion of either Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics and the Practice of Law.
A course examining the Rules of Professional Conduct, the roles and functions of lawyers in society, responsibilities involved in representing clients, and the organization and function of the bar. This course uses concrete problems drawn from real life practice contexts to illustrate in a practical way the complex moral dimensions of a lawyer's professional life. Students may satisfy the ethics course requirement by completion of either Professional Responsibility or Legal Ethics & the Practice of Law.
Upper Level Writing Requirement	-
The Upper Level Research and Writing Requirement is intended to provide students with the opportunity to refine the research and writing skills learned in the first year, and to enhance the skills necessary to undertake writing projects on their own following graduation. Students choose topics, submit outlines, prepare and submit a first draft, and complete the final paper in consultation with faculty members in approved courses and co- curricular programs.

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