Academic Advising

Building Your Upper-Level Course Schedule

This guide is a collaborative effort among faculty, administrators, and career development counselors. We hope that you find it useful in charting your path to the profession.

Required Courses

There are only two required upper-level courses: 

• Legal Research (1 credit) taken in fall of your second year at St. John's Law
• Professional Responsibility (3 credits) taken before your final year at S. John's Law

All other upper-class courses are elective. But please note that not all elective courses are offered annually. As with all aspects of the curriculum, the current program is subject to future modification.

Elective Courses

There is no one approach to selecting electives. Some students may wish to pursue a variety of courses across a wide spectrum, some may wish to confine their coursework primarily to fundamental areas, and others may wish to develop specialties. Regardless of the strategy students may take with respect to traditional courses and seminars, all are encouraged to consider the professional skills courses that will further the development of skills used in the practice of law.

One of the traditional hallmarks of legal education at St. John’s School of Law has been the preparation of graduates who are able to “hit the ground running” in almost any area of legal practice. Thus, the faculty believes each student’s program should include a critical mass of fundamental, or “core,” courses that will help the graduate to achieve competence as a well-rounded lawyer in an ever-changing legal environment.

Rather than require all students to take specified core courses, the Law School seeks to provide a balance between each student’s need for exposure to fundamental areas of law and flexibility in the pursuit of specialties and intellectual interests. To this end, students must take 5 out of the 6 courses* from the following list:

• Administrative Law
• Business Organizations
• Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Evidence
• Taxation—Basic Federal Personal Income
• Trusts and Estates

(*Those students who began at the Law School in August 2023 or later may also use Race and the Law(3 cr.) as one of their 5 necessary core elective courses)

These are courses the faculty has determined to be foundational to every lawyer. One thing all of the core electives have in common is that they are generally rigorous in nature and will thereby help students to continue the process, begun in first year, of refining their analytical legal skills and broadening their knowledge of fundamental legal doctrine and policy. Many of them also form the foundations to particular pathways. The inclusion of Business Organizations, Evidence, Taxation—Basic Federal Personal Income, and Trusts and Estates in the group reflects the continuing view that a student will benefit by taking them, no matter what area of practice is pursued. Another characteristic shared by these four courses, in particular, is that each one involves material that is difficult to learn on one’s own, i.e., “on the job.” (Taxation, for example, is best learned in the classroom setting.) Administrative Law is on the list because of the pervasive influence of rule-making and adjudication by government agencies. Taxation—Basic Federal Personal Income is similarly pervasive across the spectrum of practice areas.

In order to achieve a balanced workload in their upper-class schedules, students are encouraged to spread their core electives over the four upper-class semesters (or six semesters in the case of evening students). For example, a day student would be well advised to complete 3 or 4 core electives by the end of the second year (end of third year for evening students). The most appropriate timing and sequence of electives will depend on the student’s individual career path and interests.

There are additional degree requirements depending on a student’s semester of matriculation. Consult the Student Handbook and the relevant graduation checklist under Academic Advising.

Beyond the core electives and other degree requirements, students should think strategically about the elective courses they choose. The increasing complexity of legal practice and the demands by clients of profession-readiness by lawyers have led to increased specialization in the legal community. As a result, students should consider developing expertise in one or more career pathways.

Throughout their academic career, students should seek out the advice of the faculty members and career counselors in their areas of interest for further guidance.