Handbook of Academic Policies 2008-09
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Attendance at Harvard Law School is full-time for a period of three academic years. Students enrolled cannot be simultaneously enrolled, either full-time or part-time, in any other school or college either within Harvard University or at any other institution, unless they are enrolled in one of the Law School's joint degree programs, completing a semester at a foreign institution in an approved study abroad program, or cross-registered in courses authorized by Harvard Law School. The relevant registration, application, and submission deadlines for the current year are set forth below at VI-X.
The first-year requirements for the J.D. degree are:
1. The required first-year courses: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Criminal Law, International or Comparative Law, Legislation and Regulation, Property, and Torts;
2. First-Year Legal Research and Writing, which includes the First-Year Ames Moot Court Program; and
3. A minimum of two and a maximum of four Law School elective credits. More than one elective course may be taken in special circumstances and only with the permission of the Vice Dean for Academic Programming.
After satisfactory completion of the first-year Law School requirements, all J.D. students must earn no fewer than 52 additional credits in upper-level work, including:
1. Required Law School Classroom Work--Students must complete at least 36 credits in Law School classroom work (a category that includes courses, seminars and reading groups, but not writing, clinical, or cross-registration credits; classroom courses taken in fulfillment of the Profes-sional Responsibility Requirement count toward this minimum).
2. J.D. Written Work Requirement--In satisfaction of this requirement, students must complete either:
a) Option 1 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement: a substantial research paper of publishable quality, to be written in close consultation with a faculty advisor, in conjunction with a course, seminar or workshop (for an additional 1, 2, or 3 credits), or through independent study or the Winter Term Writing Program (for 2 or 3 credits).
i. students generally complete two-credit projects to satisfy Option 1; three-credit projects are exceptional and should have the scope and ambition commensurate with a three-credit course;
ii. students electing three credits should make sure that this would not cause them to exceed the 12-credit limit on writing credits nor interfere with their plans to pursue cross-registered and clinical courses, the credits for which, along with writing credits, count toward the 16 non-law-school-classroom upper-level credits students may take for degree credit; or
b) Option 2 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement: two pieces of writing, which could include any of the following, provided that at least one of the pieces was written under the supervision of a Law School faculty member or instructor with a Law School teaching appointment:
i. lawyers work product: including substantial writing in a clinic, upper-level moot court briefs, or the equivalent, as certified by the supervisor of the relevant program, but not written work from a summer job or paid work;
ii. law school course and seminar papers: substantial writing as part of a course or seminar, including the standard series of reaction papers, amounting to no fewer than 15 pages;
iii. law journal writing: including notes, book reviews, descriptions of developments in the law, and the like (totaling no fewer than 10 publishable pages);
iv. nontraditional writing produced under faculty supervision: including interactive web-based material, surveys of students or practitioners with analysis, case study materials appropriate for classroom use, or other law-related writing outside of the forms mentioned above.
Additional rules relating to this requirement are set forth at I(G).
3. Professional Responsibility Requirement--All students must complete a minimum of two classroom credits in satisfaction of the Professional Responsibility Requirement. The classroom components of certain clinical courses satisfy this requirement. Except where course descriptions state otherwise, any student who wants credit for a second clinical offering that gives Legal Profession credit should consult the Vice Dean for Academic Programming, as credits associated with the second course may have to be reduced because of subject matter overlap. Ordinarily, students are not allowed to enroll in two non-clinical courses with professional responsibility components, and should check with the Vice Dean for Academic Programming if questions arise.
4. Required Additional Credits--Stu-dents may earn the remaining required credits by completing additional classroom or written work, clinical work, and/or by completing work taken on a cross-registration basis. The following rules apply to the required additional credits:
a) Clinical Work--No more than 12 credits may be earned through clinical work; students may take no more than one clinical course and four clinical credits per term. Questions about clinical credits should be addressed to the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs.
b) Written Work--No more than 12 credits may be earned through written work (including the Written Work Requirement) completed either in conjunction with a seminar or course or inde-pendently.
c) Cross-Registration and Joint and Concurrent Degrees--No more than 10 credits may be earned in courses taken through cross-registration or at another school as part of a dual degree. (For further details on cross-registration, see III(E) below; for further details on Joint and Concurrent Degrees see III(B)).
Ordinarily, a student may not exceed the maximum limits on credits for clinical work, written work, and cross-registration. In some cases, when a student has already met the upper-level credit requirements as set out in the Handbook s/he may be able to exceed the credit limits for clinical work, written work or cross-registration with the permission of the Vice Dean for Academic Programming.
1. In addition to fulfilling the Credit Requirements set forth at I(B)-(C) above, upper-level students must register for and complete or receive an "In Progress" (IP) (see VI(B) below) in:
a) Not fewer than 24 nor more than 33 credits each year;
b) Not fewer than 10 nor more than 15 credits in both fall and spring terms, no fewer than eight of which must be for Law School work. (Students considering taking fewer than 10 classroom hours of Law School work in any term are advised to check residency require-ments in law study for any state in which they may seek to practice.); and
c) Not fewer than two nor more than three credits in each of two winter terms, all of which must be for Law School classroom or clinical work or for written work under the Winter Term Writ-ing Program (described at III(A)(2) below).
2. Waivers--Any student wishing to seek a waiver to these policies should contact the Registrar's Of-fice. The rules and practices with respect to waivers are established and administered under the supervision of the Administrative Board.
Class work is essential to the educational program at the Law School. Regular attendance at classes and participation in class work are expected of all students. In cases of substantial de-linquency in attendance, the Law School may, after appropriate procedures, treat students as having withdrawn from the course, seminar, or reading group in question. Students who believe they need to miss classes for an extended period of time must speak with the Dean of Students who can assist with such situations and can ensure that students comply with the Law School's attendance policy and related academic policies. In no event may students receive credit for courses, seminars, or reading groups with meeting times that overlap in whole or in part, includ-ing travel time.
Pursuant to the requirements of the law set forth in Chapter 151C, Section 2B of the Gen-eral Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a copy of this section is printed in full:
Any student in an educational or vocational training institution, other than a religious or denomi-national educational or vocational training institution, who is unable, because of his religious be-liefs, to attend classes or to participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on a par-ticular day shall be excused from any such examination or study or work requirement and shall be provided with an opportunity to make up such examination, study, or work requirement which he may have missed because of such absence on any particular day; provided, however, that such makeup examination or work shall not create an unreasonable burden upon such school. No fees of any kind shall be charged by the institution for making available to the said student such opportunity. No adverse or prejudicial effects shall result to any student because of his availing himself of the provisions of this section.
All students are required to perform a minimum of 40 hours of uncompensated public service work as a prerequisite for graduation.
Work must be non-academic and non-clerical, supervised by a licensed lawyer or faculty member, in programs that offer legal services to persons who cannot afford, in whole or in part, to pay for legal services; to government; to nonprofit organizations as defined under IRS section 501(c)(3) and (4); or to law firms working on a pro bono basis. The work must involve the application or interpretation of law, the formulation of legal policy, the drafting of legislation or regulations, and/or work done in anticipation of litigation.
Students may perform their service in an approved supervised setting anytime between the beginning of the spring semester of their 1L year and before spring break of their 3L year, includ-ing the summers between law school years. The work may be, but need not be, performed in a setting in which clinical credit is given or in any of the Law School's volunteer clinical student prac-tice organizations. Summer public interest work funded through the summer public interest funding program (SPIF) can also count toward the requirement.
For more information on the Pro Bono requirement, contact the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs at 617-495-5202 or by e-mail at probono@law.harvard.edu.
As set forth above at I(C)(2), all J.D. students are required to fulfill the J.D. Written Work Requirement. The mandatory registration and submission deadlines for the J.D. Written Work Requirement are set forth at VII and VIII. The following rules and guidelines also apply to the J.D. Written Work Requirement:
1. Registration for Option 1 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement--Students must register for Option 1 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement in advance by submitting the registration and proposal forms to the faculty supervisor for approval and then returning the completed forms to the Registrar's Office by the deadline for the current year, set forth below at VII. Forms are available online at http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/registrar/written-work/ww_forms.php and at the Registrar's Office, Pound 300. The proposal should set forth the intended topic in a few sentences. Since faculty members may require addi-tional preliminary work, such as a discus-sion of the subject matter, an outline, or a longer description, before accepting a proposal, students are advised to seek approval well in advance of this date.
2. Registration for Option 1 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement--Special Considerations:
a) 1L Registration--Students who wish to register to fulfill Option 1 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement during the second semester of the first year must first seek permission from the Vice Dean of Academic Programming.
b) 2L Registration--Students who register to fulfill the J.D. Written Work Requirement during the second year, and who anticipate that they may not complete this work by the end of the academic year, should be aware that if they have not completed 24 graded credits for the year they may be ineligible for some prizes, including the Sears Prize. Second-year students with questions about this issue should consult the Registrar's Office.
3. Registration for Option 2 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement--Students must register for Option 2 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement by December 1 of the third year. Registration need not take place in advance of completion of the writing, but a student with concerns about whether a particular piece or type of writing satisfies Option 2 or with questions about registering during the first or second year should contact the Registrar's Office.
4. Supervision--Students should feel free to ask any faculty member to supervise written work. Faculty on certain types of leave may not be available in a given term. Some faculty have indicated availability to supervise written work in particular fields in 2008-09 in a list online at http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/registrar/2008-09/supervisors.php.
5. Supervision by Visiting Faculty--Writing credits under the supervision of visiting faculty must be registered for and ordinarily completed during the term(s) of the visitor's appointment. Note that many visitors have Law School appointments for only one term.
6. Awarding of Additional Credit--A student wishing to earn an additional writing credit beyond the number ordinarily accorded may earn such credit for work that is substantially greater in scope than that usually completed. Students must get written approval for the additional writing credit(s) in advance from the student's faculty advisor, and must provide the Registrar's Office with a copy of the written approval by the deadline listed below.
7. Prohibition against Compensation--A student may not receive academic credit for written work for which he or she also receives compensation.
If a student completes the requirements for the J.D. degree with distinction, the student will receive the degree cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude. The summa cum laude is deter-mined by the requirement of a 7.20 GPA. The honor is exact, and does not involve "rounding off"; i.e., a general average of 7.199 does not result in a degree summa cum laude. The magna cum laude will be awarded to the top 10 percent of the class, excluding the summa. The cum laude will be awarded to the students in the next 30 percent of the class. All graduates who are tied at the margin of a required percentage for honors will be deemed to have achieved the required percent-age, and those who graduate in November or March will be granted honors to the extent that stu-dents with their same grade point averages received honors the previous June.
The General Grade Point Average is the average of three separate annual averages. The three separate annual averages are calculated by assigning the following scores to letter grades:
A+ = 8
A = 7
A- = 6
B+ = 5
B = 4
B- = 3
C = 2
D = 1
F = 0
In calculating annual averages, each course is weighted in accordance with the number of credits earned in the course. First-Year Legal Research and Writing (LRW), credits from cross-registered courses, credits from courses taken at another school through a joint degree pro-gram, and any credits graded "Pass" are excluded.
The minimum grades required for completion of credit requirements are as follows:
1. First-Year Work--In the first year curriculum (including the HLS elective credits), the mini-mum grade of C or better in five courses, a grade of D or better in the remaining three courses, and a satisfactory grade in First-Year Legal Research and Writing must be earned. First-year students receiving two or more grades of B- or one or more grades of C will be invited to receive aca-demic support through the Dean of Students office.
2. Upper-Level Work--A grade of B- or better satisfies Option 1 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement and students using writing from a course or seminar to satisfy Option 2 of the J.D. Written Work Requirement must receive a passing grade in that course or seminar. Grades of C or better in 35 credits (including credits satisfying the Written Work Requirement), and D or better in at least 17 additional credits are necessary for completion of the J.D. requirements. No more than nine credits are allowed for work done in the third year of residence in which the grade is D.
1. First-Year Work--The satisfactory completion of the first-year program consisting of the seven required courses and the HLS elective credits are minimum grades of five Cs and three Ds and a satisfactory grade in First-Year Legal Research and Writing. If a student has not completed first-year work with grades that equal or exceed the minimum stated above at I(I), the student may nevertheless continue in the Law School after the first year of residence if he or she is not more than one course short of that minimum.
A student failing one required or elective course in the first year is eligible to retake the course or take a re-examination in the course under the examination retake policy in the sec-ond year and still maintain his or her academic progress. In any case, the credit associated with a failing grade in the first year must be made up in the second year to continue to maintain minimum academic progress. (For rules on retaking courses and examinations, see I(K) below.)
Special dispensation to continue in the Law School after the first year of residence without having met these requirements may be granted by the Administrative Board on such terms as it deems appropriate.
2. Second-Year Work--The following minimum requirements must be met:
a) Completed the first-year work with grades that equal or exceed the minimum as set forth above, and
b) Grades of C or better in 16 credits, and D or better in eight additional credits of second-year work.
Credits for retaking a course or taking re-examinations in order to complete first-year work are not counted for this purpose. Special dispensation to continue in the Law School after the second year of residence without having met these requirements may be granted by the Administrative Board under such terms as it deems appropriate.
3. Third-Year Work--If after completing three years of residency, the minimum grade require-ments for the J.D. degree have not been met (see I.1 above), the following may be used to meet the degree requirements:
a) Additional courses may be taken within the next two academic years to meet necessary degree requirements.
b) If a failing grade is the reason for failure to meet the degree requirements, students may exercise the option to retake the course or take the re-examination to fulfill the necessary re-quirements.
In the absence of special dispensation from the Administrative Board, students are required to retake a course or take the re-examination at the next scheduled time the course or examination in question is being offered.
The grade for retaking the course, or for re-examination, if higher than the original grade, takes the place of the earlier grade for determining completion of J.D. degree requirements, or to meet minimum annual progress. It does not take the place of the earlier grade for the purposes of de-termining honors (as to which the original grade only is used). Both the original grade and the grade for retaking the course or the re-examination grade will be recorded on the transcript.
Courses retaken are included in calculations regarding compliance with minimum and maximum registration requirements. Re-examinations are not included for this purpose.
Special Dispensations--Exceptions from the rules regarding retaking courses, taking re-examinations, and taking substitute work may be granted only by the Administrative Board upon a showing of good cause.
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