JD/LLM in Law & Entrepreneurship Degree Requirements
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Please note: The degree requirements outlined below apply to JD/LLM students who matriculated prior to the Fall 2020 semester. Students who matriculated in Fall 2020 and later are required to complete 24 LLM credits as part of the JD/LLM dual-degree program. Please contact Dean Lacoff with questions about your degree progress.
Academic Advisor: Dean Lacoff
Students enrolled in the JD/LLM-LE must earn 108 law credits to graduate. This is 87 JD credits and 21 LLM-LE credits, calculated as follows:
- 87 credits for the JD degree
- 21 credits for the LLM-LE degree
- 7 of these credits will also count toward the 87 JD credits. The applicable courses are Securities Regulation (4 credits) and Business Strategy for Lawyers (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:
*Note: Joint degree students will take Constitutional Law in the fall of 2L year. For JD-LLM-LE students, Constitutional Law is replaced with Business Associations in the spring of 1L year.
**Note: No longer required for students matriculating in or after Fall 2020.
- LE Summer Program: Completion of the Entrepreneurship Immersion course during the summer between 1L and 2L year.
- LE Upper-Level Courses:
- The Way it All Works (1L Wintersession)
- Business Associations (spring 1L year)
- Intellectual Property (fall 2L year)
- Law & Entrepreneurship (fall 2L year)
- Analytical Methods (fall 2L year)
- Structuring Venture Capital and Private Equity Transactions or Advising the Entrepreneurial Client (fall 2L year)
- Securities Regulation (spring 2L year)
- Venture Capital Financing or Corporate Finance (spring 2L year)
- Deal Skills for the Transactional Lawyer or Negotiation or another skills-based course approved by Prof. Buell (fall 3L year)
- Start-Up Ventures Clinic or Community Enterprise Law Clinic (fall 3L year) or LLM-LE Practicum (spring 3L year)
- Business Strategy for Lawyers (fall 3L 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 SWRP are identified in the Course Browser by using the JD Course of Study drop-down menu and searching for "JD - substantial research and writing."
- 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.
- 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: students are expected to maximize the value of the JD/LLM-LE program by selecting JD courses with a total of at least 16 credits to complement the prescribed program curriculum. LE electives are identified in the Course Browser.
- 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
- Regularly-scheduled law school courses include
All students are responsible for monitoring their compliance with the graduation requirements.