Study

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 eight 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. 

• 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."
  • 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.
• 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

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