The First-Year Curriculum
The following first-year courses are required of all J.D. candidates. In the absence of special authorization from the Dean, all first-year students must take the full schedule of courses—15 hours in the fall semester and 15 hours in the spring semester. Each first-year student will be assigned to one, small-section traditional course, usually numbering about 30-35 students. The writing-intensive courses in Appellate Court Advocacy and Legal Writing are also taught in small sections.
Appellate Court Advocacy - LAWS 5223-2. Students prepare appellate briefs and related documents and deliver oral arguments before a three-judge court composed of faculty members, upper-class students, and practicing attorneys. Practice arguments are videotaped and critiqued.
Civil Procedure I and II - LAWS 5303-2, 5313-3. Studies modern practice in civil suits, including rules governing pleading, joinder of parties, discovery, jurisdiction of courts over the subject matter and parties, right to jury trial, appeals, and res judicata and collateral estoppel, with emphasis on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and their Colorado counterpart. .
Constitutional Law. LAWS 6005-4. Study of constitutional structure: judicial review, federalism, separation of powers; and constitutional rights of due process and equal protection.
Contracts - LAWS 5121-4. Covers basic principles of contract liability; offer and acceptance; consideration; statute of frauds; contract remedies; the parol evidence rule; performance of contracts; conditions; effect of changed circumstances; and other issues related to contract formation and enforcement.
Criminal Law - LAWS 5503-4. Statutory and common law of crimes and defenses, the procedures by which the law makes judgments as to criminality of conduct, the purposes of the criminal law, and the constitutional limits upon it.
Legal Writing - LAWS 5226-2. This course provides an intensive introduction to the resources available for legal research. Students also prepare written material of various kinds designed to develop research skills, legal writing style, and analysis of legal problems.
Property I and II - LAWS 5624-3, 5634-2. Topics include personal property, estates and interests in land, landlord-tenant, basic land conveyancing, and private land use controls.
Torts - LAWS 5425-4. Study of the nonconsensual allocation of losses for civil wrongs, focusing primarily on the concepts of negligence and strict liability.
