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Colorado Law

Requirements for Graduation

Refer to the Rule §3-1-1

To receive a J.D. degree, a Colorado Law student must satisfy the following requirements:

  • Complete eighty-nine (89) semester hours with a numerical GPA of at least 72.0;
  • Complete required courses in the first-year (1L) curriculum and required courses in the second and third-year (2L and 3L) curricula;
    • Legal Ethics and Professionalism
    • Evidence
    • One Practice Course
    • Jury Duty requirement
  • Complete upper division seminar that includes substantial legal research and writing.
Colorado Law Rules encourage students to participate in experiential learning opportunities beyond the single required practice course above. However, the Rules also require students to balance experiential learning with other classroom study, graded courses with non-graded courses, and study within and outside Colorado Law. This balance is encouraged by limiting the course credits that apply towards the J.D. degree as follows:

  • Up to fourteen of the eighty-nine hours may be in courses designated as practice courses. These include all clinical courses, all trial advocacy courses, all planning courses, and Law Practice Management. See the "Legal Practice Course" section below or Rule 3-2-3 for a complete listing.
  • Up to eight of the eighty-nine hours may be for work on a law journal or for appellate and trial competitions.
  • Up to six of the eighty-nine hours may be for non-law courses cross-listed in other departments of the University.
  • Up to four hours of the eighty-nine hours may be earned in externships. Upon special petition, students may earn an additional three externship credits for a total of seven credit hours.
  • A minimum of sixty-three course credits must be earned in regular class sessions.

Finally, a student must be in residence at Colorado Law (or another accredited law school) for six semesters, with at least forty-five semester hours completed at Colorado Law. If a student is not in residence for their last two semesters, then they must have completed at least sixty semester hours at Colorado Law.

1L REQUIRED COURSES

1Ls take a full schedule of courses—15 hours in the fall semester and in the spring semester. Each student is assigned to one, small-section traditional course of about 30-35 students.

2L & 3L REQUIRED COURSES

  • Evidence (LAWS 6353)
  • Legal Ethics and Professionalism (LAWS 6103)
  • One Seminar
  • One Legal Practice Course: Each student is required to take one legal practice course that will satisfy the legal practice requirement which incorporates the experience of lawyering into the traditional classroom setting, and by serving as a juror in one of the clinics, mock trials, or trial competitions.  Some students may choose to take more than one practice course.  This is encouraged subject to the "Practice Cap" described below.  Any course listed under the Practice Requirement section of Rule 3-2-3 will satisfy this requirement.  Currently, those courses that satisfy the practice requirement are There are often additional legal practice courses and alternative experiences that will satisfy the juror requirement on a list kept by the Law School Registrar.  Please be sure to check with the Registrar to ensure that you juror certification and practice course requirements have been met before graduation.
  • The Practice Cap:  The Legal Practice Course requirement above should be distinguised from the "Practice Cap" contained in Rule 36(B).   In order to ensure a balanced curriculum, the Practice Cap allows students to take up to 14 of the 89 credit hours required for graduation in designated practice courses. While all of the practice courses listed above satisfy the practice course requirement, not all count towards the maximum of 14 practice course credits that can be included in the 89 credits required for graduation.  Business Planning, Estate Planning, Litigation Drafting, Real Estate Planning, and Advanced Contracts are courses that satisfy the practice requirement but that do NOT count against the 14-credit hour limit for practice courses that count towards graduation. The courses that count towards the 14 credit Practice Cap are as follows:

Course Scheduling Priority

Prerequisites

Advanced Course
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s)
Advanced American Indian Law American Indian Law
Advanced Topics in Health Law and Policy Health Law I: Finance, Administration and Organization of Health Care
Advanced Trial Advocacy Trial Advocacy
American Indian Law Clinic All of the following:
        American Indian Law
        Evidence
Business Planning Income Taxation and one of the following:
        Agency, Partnerships and LLC
        Corporations
Corporate Finance Corporations
Civil Practice Clinic
Criminal Defense Clinic		 Evidence
Comparative Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure
Corporate Taxation
International Taxation
Real Estate Planning
Survey of Business Enterprise Taxation
Taxation of Conduit Entities 		Income Taxation
Entrepreneurial Law Clinic

Two of the following:
        Accounting Issues for Lawyers
        Advance Corporate Law
        Agency, Partnership and LLC
        Copyright
        Corporate Finance
        Corporations
        International Bus. Transactions
        Patent Law
        Securities Regulation
        Telecommunications Law
        Trademark and Unfair Competition
Estate Planning All of the following:
        Wills and Trusts
        Income Taxation
        Federal Estate & Gift Tax
Suggest the following:
        Corporations
        Family Law
        Real Estate Planning
International Crime and Punishment International Law
Recommend: International Human Rights
International Dispute Settlement International Law
International Taxation
Survey of Business Enterprise Taxation

Income Taxation
IP and Technology Contracting One of the following:
        Copyright
        Introduction to IP Law
Law and Economics of the Information Age One of the following:
        Antitrust
        Copyright
        Law and Economics
        Telecomm Law and Policy
Mergers and Acquisitions Corporations
Public Land Law Foundations of Natural Resources Law and Policy
Seminar: Advanced Natural Resources Law Water Resources
Seminar: Immigration and Citizenship Immigration Law
Seminar: Law and Economics of the Information Age One of the following:
        Telecomm. Law and Policy
        Antitrust
        Law and Economics
        Copyright
Technology Law and Policy Clinic One of the following:
        Economic Analysis of Law
        Introduction to IP Law
        Telecomm. Law and Policy

Year-Long Courses
The following are two-semester courses that meet in the fall and spring semesters:

  • American Indian Law Clinic (LAWS 7309)
  • Civil Practice Clinic (LAWS 6009/6019)
  • Criminal Defense Clinic (LAWS 6029/6039); the one-semester course is (LAWS 6079)
  • Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (LAWS 7619)
  • International Criminal Law: Theory and Practice (LAWS 7100)
  • Juvenile Law Clinic (LAWS 7449)
  • Seminar: Constitutional Theory (LAWS 8015)
  • Seminar: Humanizing Contracts (LAWS 8011)
  • Seminar: Pop Culture (LAWS 8055)
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