Study

The vision for Wintersession is to better prepare Duke Law students for their future legal careers through professional skills training from outstanding practitioners. Short, unique, hands-on courses are offered for a half-credit, specifically targeted at teaching important skills for a lawyer entering practice and providing concrete insight about the realities of the practice of law in different settings. Wintersession also provides students with the opportunity to interact with and learn from Duke Law’s many accomplished alumni and other lawyers of similar stature. This FAQ page for the program is a good source for additional information.

Law 844, The Counselor and the Client: The Corporate Context, which is available only to first-year students, is designed as an introduction to the commercial, regulatory and institutional environment of contemporary business transaction. Students will learn about the role of attorneys in advising and facilitating those transactions. The course seeks to help students better understand the mechanisms, processes and personalities that accompany everyday commercial transactions and become acquainted with the vocabulary used in business and other organizations. The purpose of the course is to provide an overview of the business context in which lawyers function and is intended for all students, whatever their ultimate focus, not just those who intend to practice corporate law. First-year students who enroll in Business Associations in their 1L spring semester may not take Law 844.

Law 887, Cross-Cultural Lawyering, is also offered exclusively to 1Ls during Wintersession, and is designed for students intending to work in a public interest or pro bono setting at some point, either through a summer experience, Duke Law sponsored projects, or post-graduation professional setting. Students will consider the culture of the legal profession, its influence on power and privilege dynamics, and its impacts on the lawyer and client relationship.

Wintersession is entirely optional; first-year students are permitted to take up to a full credit, though need not do so for degree purposes.* Below is the full list of courses approved for 1Ls in Wintersession 2025. Please note that your LARW classes will be meeting during the lunch hour on Wednesday, January 8, so will not conflict with any Wintersession classes. If you register for a class that is not on this list, you will be dropped automatically.

• Law 800, Basics of Accounting
• Law 814, Basics for the Finance Lawyer
• Law 816, Counseling & Creating an Entity
• Law 817, Excel for Lawyers
• Law 825, Practice and Strategic Development of International Transactions (full credit)
• Law 833, Trauma-Informed Lawyering
• Law 837, Legal and Policy Aspects of US Civil-Military Relations
• Law 844, The Counselor & the Client (1Ls only, if not enrolled in Business Associations for the spring)
• Law 853, The Way It All Works
• Law 863, Life or Death: The Decision-Making Process in a Death Penalty Case
• Law 871, Improv for Lawyers
• Law 880, Introduction to Research for Public Interest Practice
• Law 884, Lawyering for Systemic Change
• Law 887, Cross-Cultural Lawyering (1Ls only)
• Law 889, Mindfulness for Law Students
• Law 890, Human Rights for Businesses

* JD/LLM-LE students are required to take a course during their first-year Wintersession that has been approved by program director Professor Bryan McGann, and cannot take Law 844 because they will be enrolled in Business Associations in the spring.