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2.1 Class Planning

Each spring and summer, the Law School makes a tentative determination about which classes[1] will be offered in the following year and who will teach them. Suggestions for new class offerings should be brought to the attention of the Deputy Dean. To facilitate students’ ability to plan their classes for the year, the Law School makes every effort to set the course schedule for the entire academic year prior to the beginning of the autumn quarter. Students should take note, however, that the class schedule is subject to change at any point throughout the year, and classes may be added, cancelled, or their times adjusted to reflect changes in faculty availability, student enrollment, or other institutional constraints. The Law School will try to mitigate these changes as much as possible, while also providing notification of changes as early as is feasible.

The class schedule can be found online at http://registrar.uchicago.edu/classes. Students are encouraged to utilize the refine search tool, which will help students determine if classes meet certain requirements (e.g., core, professional responsibility, etc.). A PDF version of the academic schedule can be found online at: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/students/registrar/courseschedules.

Students have freedom to tailor their programs to their own interests and needs, although all students are expected to design programs that will provide them with a strong foundation in the standard subject areas of the law. Students also should determine area or areas to pursue in special depth and breadth, either because of particular career inclinations or for the intellectual value of doing so. Students are advised against excessive specialization, however. Lawyers are not expected to be specialists when they graduate from law school and it is impossible to foresee future career changes and challenges. The freedom of the elective policy places responsibility on students to develop a coherent program that provides a sound general background and meets individual interests and objectives. Some specific considerations are set forth below in the section on Selecting Classes. Students receive additional guidance on class selection from the Deputy Dean and the Office of the Dean of Students in August before their second year of law school. Students also are encouraged to consult with the Deputy Dean, the Office of the Dean of Students, members of the faculty, Career Services staff, or the Registrar for additional guidance on their programs.

The curriculum at the Law School changes from year to year as faculty members are encouraged to experiment with new offerings. In addition, classes available in a given year are determined in part by the composition of the faculty and the availability of visitors and lecturers. As a result, the curriculum may vary substantially from year to year. Accordingly, students are encouraged to take classes when they are offered rather than risk missing out on a class.

While there can be no assurance that a class offered one year will be offered the following year, a standard group of classes typically is offered each year, including:

  • Administrative Law
  • Antitrust
  • Bankruptcy and Reorganization: The Federal Bankruptcy Code
  • Business Organizations/Business Associations/Corporation Law
  • Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II, Constitutional Law III
  • Copyright
  • Criminal Procedure I: The Investigative Process
  • Federal Criminal Procedure
  • Evidence
  • Federal Courts
  • Securities Regulation
  • Introductory Income Taxation
  • Labor Law
  • Classes in Law and Economics
  • Legal Profession
  • Public International Law
  • Secured Transactions
  • Corporate Tax

[1] Each year, the Law School has a broad array of offerings. For purposes of this Handbook, “classes” refers to all of the Law School’s offerings with a classroom component and includes courses and seminars. “Courses” refers to Law School’s offerings with a classroom component that are not seminars.