Curriculum
After a first year of core legal courses, an exceptionally liberal approach to course scheduling offers students the ability to custom tailor their schedules to meet individual needs and interests. Students follow a curriculum that concentrates on fundamental legal areas in their first two semesters. Each first-year student is assigned to a small — half the usual class size — section of a substantive course taught by a full professor, allowing greater opportunities for expanded discussion with noted scholars in these legal areas.
During the second and third years, students must complete both an upper level writing requirement and a course in professional responsibility. Beyond these requirements, they may choose from more than 100 course offerings. Nearly 60% of these elective courses have fewer than 25 students. Students also may receive up to 6 hours of credit for study in another discipline, complementing their legal education with advanced coursework in top-ranked University departments, such as accounting, engineering, computer science, social work, and medicine.
Download the Current Semester List (pdf) to view the specific courses currently offered. In addition, it is also a good idea to review the Course Counseling Handbook (pdf) to guide the course selection process.
First Year (1L) Courses
- Law 601 : Contracts
- Law 602 : Property
- Law 603 : Torts
- Law 604 : Criminal Law
- Law 606 : Constitutional Law I
- Law 607 : Civil Procedure I
- Law 609 : Legal Writing and Analysis
- Law 610 : Introduction to Advocacy
- Law 627 : Legal Research
Second and Third Year (2L & 3L) Courses
Advanced Litigation Topics
- Law 793 : Advanced Trial Advocacy: Intellectual Property
- Law 793 : Chicago Litigation Practice
- Law 793 : Family Law Practice
- Law 793 : Illinois Civil Procedure and Evidence
- Law 793 : International Civil Litigation
- Law 793 : Interviewing, Counseling and Fact Investigation
- Law 793 : Lawyer as Negotiator
- Law 793 : Pre-Trial Litigation
- Law 793 : The Retention and Use of Expert Witnesses at Trial
- Law 798 : Law and the Human Sciences
Advanced Research
- Law 597 : Interdisciplinary Legal Research
- Law 599 : Thesis Research
- Law 699 : Independent Study
- Law 798 : Advanced Legal Research
Advanced Topics in Business Law
- Law 794 : Business Strategy for Lawyers
- Law 794 : Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganizations: Method and Practice
- Law 794 : Clean Air Act
- Law 794 : Commodities, Futures and Derivatives
- Law 794 : Corporate Crime
- Law 794 : Corporate Legal Research
- Law 794 : Corporate Reorganizations in Bankruptcy
- Law 794 : Doing Business in Japan
- Law 794 : Employee Benefits
- Law 794 : Financial Accounting for Lawyers
- Law 794 : Global Financial Markets
- Law 794 : International Business Organizations: The Cayman Islands
- Law 794 : International Business Transactions: Hong Kong and Macau
- Law 794 : International Labor Law
- Law 794 : Jurisdictional Competition
- Law 794 : Mergers & Acquisitions
- Law 794 : Practice and Strategic Development of International Business Transactions, The
- Law 794 : Problems of Corporate Law
- Law 794 : Real Estate Development
- Law 794 : Regulation of Derivatives Markets
- Law 794 : Rule of Reason in Antitrust Law
- Law 794 : Sales
- Law 794 : Secured Credit
- Law 794 : Selected Topics in Bankruptcy
- Law 794 : State and Local Taxation
- Law 798 : Global Business Regulation
- Law 798 : Markets, Morals and the Law
- Law 798 : Perspectives in Bankruptcy and Commercial Law
Advanced Topics in Criminal Law
- Law 679 : Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
- Law 795 : Criminal Sentencing and Alternatives
- Law 795 : Death Penalty
- Law 795 : Federal Sentencing Seminar
- Law 795 : History of Anglo-American Criminal Procedure
- Law 795 : International Criminal Court
- Law 795 : International Criminal Law
- Law 795 : Juvenile Abuse and Neglect
- Law 795 : The Right to Self-Defense
Business, Commercial and Intellectual Property Law
- Law 629 : Bankruptcy
- Law 630 : Bankruptcy Reorganizations
- Law 632 : Commercial Law
- Law 633 : Business Associations I
- Law 634 : Securities Regulation
- Law 635 : Securities Litigation
- Law 636 : Business Associations II
- Law 637 : Unincorporated Business Associations
- Law 638 : White Collar Crime
- Law 639 : Corporate Finance
- Law 640 : Business Planning
- Law 641 : Quantitative Methods
- Law 642 : Antitrust Law
- Law 643 : Trademark, Unfair Competition and Consumer Protection
- Law 644 : Copyright Law
- Law 645 : Patent Law
- Law 646 : Cyberspace Law
- Law 794 : Business Bankruptcy
Comparative Law Topics
- Law 792 : Comparative Perspectives on Public Health Law
- Law 796 : Comparative Conflict of Laws
- Law 796 : Comparative Consumer Bankruptcy
- Law 796 : Comparative Corporate Law
- Law 796 : Comparative Human Rights
- Law 796 : Comparative Law
- Law 796 : European Union: Europe-U.S. Relations
- Law 796 : Global Antitrust Law and Economics
- Law 796 : International and Comparative Family Law
- Law 796 : International and Comparative Freedom of Expression
- Law 796 : International Commercial Arbitration
- Law 796 : Law and Society in China
- Law 796 : Law Global Lawmaking
- Law 796 : Law of War
- Law 796 : Mass Violence, Human Rights, and International Law
- Law 796 : National Security Law
- Law 796 : Terrorism and European Human Rights
- Law 796 : War, Commerce and International Law
Constitutional, Public and Property Law
- Law 611 : Constitutional Law II
- Law 612 : Constitutional Law III
- Law 615 : Administrative Law
- Law 616 : Environmental Law & Policy I
- Law 618 : Natural Resources
- Law 619 : Wildlife Law
- Law 620 : Health Law and Policy
- Law 622 : Land Use Planning
- Law 623 : Real Estate Transactions
- Law 624 : Real Estate Finance
- Law 625 : State and Local Government
- Law 792 : American Legal History
- Law 792 : Pornography, Free Speech, and Moral Harm
- Law 792 : Readings in Conservation Theory
- Law 798 : Constitutional Interpretation and Construction
Current Legal Problems
- Law 792 : Advertising and Promotions Law
- Law 792 : Bailouts
- Law 792 : Biotechnology and the Law
- Law 792 : Brazilian Labor Law
- Law 792 : Clean Water Act
- Law 792 : Collective Bargaining in Sports
- Law 792 : Constitutional History
- Law 792 : Credit Cards
- Law 792 : Cultural Heritage Law Colloquium
- Law 792 : Current Issues in Environmental Policy
- Law 792 : Election Law
- Law 792 : Empirical Methods in Law
- Law 792 : Federalism & the Making of American Corporate Law
- Law 792 : Fisheries Conservation Law
- Law 792 : Immersion Journalism
- Law 792 : Immigration Law
- Law 792 : Introduction to Child Advocacy
- Law 792 : Islamic Law
- Law 792 : Jurisdictional Competition
- Law 792 : Law and Economic Development
- Law 792 : Law and Economics of Global Warming
- Law 792 : Law and Psychiatry
- Law 792 : Law and Sexuality
- Law 792 : Law and Social Movements
- Law 792 : Law and Social Science
- Law 792 : Law and the Brain
- Law 792 : Legal Issues in Entrepreneurship
- Law 792 : Legal Problems in Higher Education
- Law 792 : Legal Profession
- Law 792 : Markets, White-Collar Crime, and Regulation in Europe
- Law 792 : Medical Malpractice
- Law 792 : New developments in European Human Rights Law
- Law 792 : Our Environmental Plight
- Law 792 : Philosophy of Contract Law
- Law 792 : Private Equity
- Law 792 : Public School Finance and Reform
- Law 792 : Public Sector Labor Law
- Law 792 : Readings on Community, Virtue, and Legal Culture
- Law 792 : Regionalism
- Law 792 : Regulatory Federalism Debates
- Law 792 : Sex-Based Discrimination
- Law 792 : Sociology of Law
- Law 792 : Supreme Court Seminar
- Law 792 : The Black Box: Exploring The Internal Regulation of Executive Discretion
- Law 792 : The Contemporary American Jury
- Law 792 : The Law of Renewable Energy
- Law 792 : The Legal Regulation of Intercollegiate Athletics
- Law 792 : Transnational Crime and European Human Rights
- Law 792 : Transnational Legal Theory
- Law 794 : Management of Technology
Employment Law
- Law 662 : Labor Law I
- Law 664 : Employment Discrimination
- Law 665 : Workplace Dispute Resolution
- Law 666 : Comparative Employment Relations Systems
Experiential Learning
- Law 693 : Appellate Defender
- Law 693 : Appellate Prosecutor
- Law 693 : Clinical Training
- Law 693 : Conflict Resolution Clinic
- Law 693 : Federal Civil Rights Clinic
- Law 693 : International Human Rights Clinic
- Law 693 : Legislative Projects
- Law 693 : Patent Clinic
- Law 694 : Advanced Trial Advocacy
- Law 694 : Advanced Trial Advocacy—Civil Trial Section
- Law 694 : Advanced Trial Advocacy—Criminal Trial Section
- Law 694 : Trial Advocacy
- Law 694 : Trial Team
- Law 695 : Fundamentals of Trial Practice
- Law 696 : Legal Problems
- Law 697 : Moot Court
- Law 698 : Negotiations
Intellectual Property Topics
- Law 797 : Advanced Patent Practice
- Law 797 : Antitrust and Intellectual Property Rights
- Law 797 : Copyright, Culture and Technology
- Law 797 : European Intellectual Property Law - Cases and Problems
- Law 797 : Great Ideas in Intellectual Property
- Law 797 : Intellectual Property Licensing
- Law 797 : International Intellectual Property Transfers
- Law 797 : Introduction to Intellectual Property
- Law 797 : IP Functionality
- Law 797 : Patent Litigation
- Law 797 : Patent Prosecution
- Law 797 : Theoretical Foundations of Intellectual Property
- Law 797 : Theories of Intellectual Property Law
- Law 797 : Trade Secrets
International Law
- Law 653 : International Business Transactions
- Law 654 : International Trade Policy
- Law 655 : European Union Law
- Law 656 : International Law
- Law 657 : International Human Rights Law
- Law 658 : Comparative Legal Institutions
- Law 660 : Individual Employee Rights
- Law 661 : Introduction to Civil Law
- Law 796 : International Sports Law
Jurisprudential Perspectives
- Law 678 : Anthropology and Law
- Law 687 : Jurisprudence
- Law 688 : American Legal History
- Law 689 : Law and Economics
- Law 690 : Advanced Law and Economics
- Law 691 : Philosophy of Law
- Law 791 : Rule of Law in Historical Perspective
Law of Person, Property and Torts
- Law 667 : Family Law
- Law 668 : Decedents' Estates and Trusts
- Law 669 : Problems in Estate Planning
- Law 670 : Elder Law
- Law 673 : Workers Compensation Law
- Law 674 : Advanced Torts
- Law 675 : Products Liability
- Law 676 : Insurance Law
Practice and Procedure
- Law 501 : Intro to United States Law
- Law 605 : Criminal Procedure: Investigations
- Law 680 : Professional Responsibility
- Law 681 : Civil Procedure II
- Law 682 : Evidence
- Law 683 : Complex Litigation
- Law 684 : Federal Courts
- Law 685 : Dispute Resolution
- Law 686 : Remedies
- Law 796 : Introduction to U.S. Law Practice
- Law 798 : Conflict Resolution
Seminars
- Law 792 : Legislation
- Law 792 : The Constitutional Law of U.S. Foreign Affairs
- Law 792 : Theories of Areas of Law
- Law 794 : Executive Compensation
- Law 798 : Advanced Health Law and Policy
- Law 798 : Advanced Legal Writing
- Law 798 : Advanced Legal Writing: Dilemmas of Legal Practice
- Law 798 : Art Law
- Law 798 : Attribution and Authenticity in Copyright and Trademark Law
- Law 798 : Causation and Responsibility
- Law 798 : Comparative Constitutional Design
- Law 798 : Constitutional History
- Law 798 : Consumer Credit & Bankruptcy
- Law 798 : Criminal Law Empiricism & Policy
- Law 798 : Critical Race Feminism
- Law 798 : Domestic Violence
- Law 798 : Environmental Responsibility
- Law 798 : Environmental Responsibility Seminar II
- Law 798 : Fact Investigation: The Kennedy Assassination
- Law 798 : Family Law at the Crossroads
- Law 798 : Federal Tax Policy
- Law 798 : Financial Market Regulations
- Law 798 : First Amendment and Censorship
- Law 798 : Globalization
- Law 798 : Government Accountability
- Law 798 : History of American Indian Law
- Law 798 : Homeland Security
- Law 798 : Individualism and Its Critics
- Law 798 : Information Privacy Law
- Law 798 : Law and Bioethics
- Law 798 : Law and Film
- Law 798 : Law and Journalism
- Law 798 : Law and the Human Sciences
- Law 798 : Law Psychology & Economics
- Law 798 : Legal Cultures of Early America
- Law 798 : Neuroscience and Responsibility
- Law 798 : Readings on Nature and Culture
- Law 798 : Remedies in Employment Law
- Law 798 : Science/Techology in the Pacific Century
- Law 798 : Sexual Orientation and the Law
- Law 798 : Sports Law Seminar
- Law 798 : The Evolution of Corporate Law & Finance
- Law 798 : The First Amendment
- Law 798 : Topics in Criminal Justice History: Continuity and Change in the Anglo-American Criminal Process
- Law 798 : Topics in Separation of Power
Taxation Law


