Study

Academic Advisor:  Dean Lacoff

Students who matriculated in the JD/LLM in Law & Entrepreneurship (JD/LLM-LE) program before Fall 2023 must earn 87 JD credits and 24 LLM-LE credits; those who matriculated in Fall 2023 or later must earn 85 JD credits and 24 LLM-LE credits. Those credits are calculated as follows:

• 87 (or 85) credits for the JD, depending on date of matriculation;
• 24 credits for the LLM-LE
  • 10 of these credits will also count toward the JD credits required. The applicable courses are Business Associations (4 credits), Business Strategy for Lawyers (3 credits), and any approved LE elective course (3 credits).
  • The remaining 14 credits are in addition to the 87 credits required for the JD.
• Total coursework:  101 credits

The JD/LLM-LE credits must be comprised of the following

• The prescribed first-year courses:
  • Civil Procedure
  • Criminal Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Contract Law
  • Legal Analysis, Research and Writing
  • Property Law
  • Tort Law

• LE Summer Program:  Completion of the Entrepreneurship Immersion course during the summer between 1L and 2L years. 
• LE Required Courses:
  • Business Associations (spring 1L year)
  • Intellectual Property coursework (minimum of four credits, either from the IP survey course or courses from a list approved by the Program Director)
  • Analytical Methods
  • Securities Regulation
  • Two of: Corporate Finance or Venture Capital Financing or Structuring Venture Capital and Private Equity Transactions or Private Equity and Hedge Funds or Financial Valuation
  • Business Strategy for Lawyers
  • One approved skills-based course (Deal Skills for the Transactional Lawyer or Negotiation or Contract Drafting or  another skills-based course approved by the Program Director)
  • LLM-LE Practicum or Start-Up Ventures Clinic or Community Enterprise Law Clinic
  • Three credits of Wintersession courses, including one approved by the Program Director during 1L year
• JD Ethics Requirement:  A two-credit course in ethics and professional responsibility.
• JD Substantial Research and Writing Project Requirement: One faculty-supervised research paper for a minimum of two credits. This may be fulfilled by way of a seminar or an independent study. The SRWP paper must be a solo project; group projects may not be used to fulfill the requirement. The student's engagement in a substantial research and writing project must be registered with the Registrar's Office no later than the end of the drop/add period of the student's fifth semester. Courses that satisfy the SRWP are identified in the Course Browser by using the JD Course of Study drop-down menu and searching for "JD - substantial research and writing."
  • Rule 3-31: The Substantial Research and Writing Project Requirement
• JD Experiential Learning Requirement: A minimum six credits in simulation courses, clinics and/or externships.  Courses that satisfy the Experiential Learning Requirement are identified in the Course Browser by using the JD Course of Study drop-down menu and searching for "experiential learning." Prescribed courses within the JD-LLM-LE curriculum that count toward the experiential learning requirement include the following: Community Enterprise Law Clinic, Deal Skills for the Transactional Lawyer, Negotiation, Start-Up Ventures Clinic, and The Way it All Works.
• ABA Standard 303(c) Requirement: At least one upper-level course providing education on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism. Courses meeting this standard are identified in the Course Browser by using the JD Course of Study drop-down menu and searching for "Standard 303(c)." Alternatively, students may fulfill this requirement by writing a paper for a seminar or independent study that is certified to meet the Standard. This requirement applies to students matriculating in Fall 2023 or later.
• Professional Development Requirement: All students entering law school in Fall 2018 or later must complete two non-academic professional development credits. Please note that these credits do not count toward the minimum credit requirement for your degree.
• JD/LLM-LE Electives: A minimum of an additional 16 credits in courses approved for LE elective credit, identified in the Course Browser by using the JD/LLM in Law & Entrepreneurship drop-down menu. Three of these elective credits will count towards both the JD and LLM degrees.
• Regularly-Scheduled Courses: A minimum 64 of the 101 credits must be earned in law courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction.
  • Regularly-scheduled law school courses include
    • Law School courses and seminars, including courses cross-listed at the Law School but originating in another school or department at the University.
    • Law School clinics
    • Regularly-scheduled courses completed at another ABA-accredited law school, including through the inter-institutional agreement with UNC and NCCU and transfer credits for students who completed the first year at another law school or who visited away at another law school.
    • Credits from an approved study abroad program.
  • Regularly-scheduled law school courses do NOT include
    • Independent study
    • Non-law courses
    • Externships
    • Research tutorials
    • Ad hoc seminars
    • Bass Connections

All students are responsible for monitoring their compliance with the graduation requirements.