Elisabeth Haub School of Law faculty member Jill Gross, meeting with a student
Academics

Academic Advising

Your Faculty Advisor

At Haub Law, each student is assigned a faculty member as an advisor. Students are encouraged to contact their faculty advisor at any time for advice about course selection, the bar examination, study skills, or any other issues. FLEX JD students: Please see FLEX JD Advising for information about your dedicated faculty advisor and other helpful resources.

Faculty strongly recommend that all students with a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or below at the end of their second semester of law school meet with their faculty advisor before registering for the next semester, to ensure the schedule they choose puts them in the best possible position to succeed academically.

Please Note: If you change your Faculty Advisor, you must let your assigned advisor and Stephanie Desiato, the Associate Director of our Academic Success Program, know about the change.

Please contact our faculty and staff at any time for support or advice.

Jill I. Gross
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

View Academic Advising Presentation (PDF)

  • JD candidates at Haub Law must successfully complete 88 Academic credits and 6 Professional Development (“PD”) credits to qualify for graduation. The degree is awarded upon certification by the Faculty of satisfactory completion of the degree requirements, including all required courses, the Administrative Law/Regulatory Process requirement, the Professional Development requirement, the upper level writing and skills requirements, and any requirements in connection with the Academic Success Achievement Program. This page contains a breakdown of required and recommended courses.

  • Civil Procedure LAW 610A
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Fall
    Semester (January Start): 1L Spring

    Criminal Law Law 621
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Spring
    Semester (January Start): 1L Spring

    Torts LAW 631
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Fall
    Semester (January Start): 1L Spring

    Legal Skills I LAW 622C
    3 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Fall
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Fall
    Semester (January Start): 1L Spring

    Legal Methods LAW 622E
    0 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Fall/Spring
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Fall/Spring
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Fall/Spring
    Semester (January Start): 1L Spring/Summer

    Property LAW 634
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 2L
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 2L Fall
    Semester (January Start): 1L Summer

    Contracts LAW 601
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Spring
    Semester (January Start): 1L Summer

    Constitutional Law Law 646
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 2L
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 2L Fall
    Semester (January Start): 1L Summer

    Legal Skills II LAW 622D
    4 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 1L Spring
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 1L Spring
    Semester (January Start): 1L Summer

    Professional Responsibility LAW 625
    3 Credits
    Semester (Full-Time): 2L
    Semester (Part-Time Day): 2L or 3L
    Semester (Part-Time FLEX): 2L Fall
    Semester (January Start): 2L Fall

  • All students must successfully complete a course (minimum 3 credits) offering in-depth exposure to administrative law, legislation, and/or the regulatory process, either by way of general principles or as applied in a specific context. Approved courses fulfilling this requirement (to be revised from time to time by the Curriculum Committee) are:

  • All upper level students must complete a writing project under the supervision of a Professor. It is the student's responsibility to inform the Professor at the beginning of the semester that the student is taking the course to satisfy the upper level writing requirement. The Professor must certify to the Registrar at the end of the semester that all of the elements of the requirement have been met. Only faculty-supervised writing may satisfy the requirement. Participation in Moot Court competitions or contests does not satisfy the requirement. The necessary permission forms can be found on the Registrar's website.

    The following may be used to satisfy the requirement

    (A) Courses: Any course that is certified by the Academic Dean as satisfying the requirement may be taken to satisfy it. A list of courses that have been certified will be included in the Registration materials each semester. This list typically includes:

    1. All seminars taught by full-time faculty members,
    2. The fall semester of the Federal Judicial Honors Program,
    3. Advanced Appellate Advocacy,
    4. Advanced Legal Writing,
    5. Pre-trial Civil Litigation Simulation,
    6. Guided or Directed Research with a full-time faculty member (only students with advanced permission of the professor and the Academic Dean and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher or with 3.0 or higher in the specialty area of their proposed project are eligible for Guided Research), and
    7. Any other upper level course, provided that a full-time or adjunct professor teaching the course and the Academic Dean agree that the student may use the course in question to satisfy the requirement.

    (B) Law review notes: Students enrolled in any of the law reviews may satisfy the requirement by writing their notes or comments, provided, however, that a full-time professor assigned by the Academic Dean reviews and certifies that each student note or comment meets the substantive requirements of the upper level writing requirement.

    Requirements of the written product

    The written project must be in the form of a scholarly article, a legal memorandum, or a trial or appellate brief. The written product must be well-organized and clearly written, and ordinarily it must be at least 25 double-spaced pages long, exclusive of footnotes. It must demonstrate an appropriate level of legal research and analysis, and contain ample and correct citations to legal authority. Journals, diaries, and other writings that do not reflect research and analysis do not meet this requirement. Except for the suggestions of editors and faculty, the written product should reflect the individual work of the student.

    To satisfy the requirement, a course must contain the following elements:

    1. submission of a draft;
    2. feedback on the draft in any combination of the following forms: oral, written, checklists, audiotapes; and
    3. submission of a final product.

    To satisfy the requirement, a course should contain the following elements:

    1. a required writing text;
    2. research agenda and logs (not necessarily graded);
    3. an outline (not necessarily graded);
    4. a self-critique or peer-critique experience; and
    5. either (a) a minimum of two hours of class time devoted to the teaching of writing, or (b) individual student-teacher conferences, with feedback on further drafts at the option of the professor.

    Required Research and Citation Workshop

    As part of the Upper Level Writing Requirement, all students must complete a Research and Citation Workshop with the Law School’s Reference Librarians some time during the second, third, or fourth year of Law School. Completion of the Advanced Legal Research course or one of the Advanced Research Skills intersession courses will satisfy this requirement. In addition, some upper level seminars used to fulfill the Upper Level Writing Requirement that also incorporate a Research and Citation Workshop will satisfy the requirement. All students must submit a Certificate of Completion, signed by a Reference Librarian, in order to complete successfully this research and citation component of the Upper Level Writing Requirement.

  • (1) Students must successfully complete a total of 6 credits of coursework in courses approved by the Faculty Curriculum Committee as upper level skills courses. Approved upper level skills courses are:

    Direct Representation Clinics

    Externships

    Simulations

    (2) Students planning to take the New York Bar Exam must also fulfill the New York State Skills Competency Requirement. In fulfilling the 6-credit ULSR, students must take at least ONE of the following:

    1. The Pro Bono Scholars Program
    2. Any clinic (Environmental Litigation; Food and Farm Business; Immigration Justice; Disability Rights; Investor Rights; Criminal Justice; or Representation in Mediation)
    3. The Semester-in-Practice Program (Track I, II, or III)
    4. Advanced Environmental Certificate
    5. One of the following externships:
      • Corporate Law Externship
      • Criminal Justice (Prosecutorial) Externship
      • Environmental Law Externship (NY only)
      • Family Court Externship
      • Federal Judicial Honors Externship (Spring Semester Chambers Placement)
      • Legal Services Externship
      • Mediation Practicum
      • Prosecution Honors Externship
      • Social Justice Advocacy Externship
    6. Lawyering

    NOTE: Students may not satisfy both the Upper Level Skills requirement and the Upper Level Writing requirement with the same course. For purposes of this rule, the seminar component of a clinic or externship taken concurrently with the clinic or externship is considered the same course as such clinic or externship, even if the seminar component bears a separate course number.

  • All students are required to fulfill a Professional Development Requirement in order to graduate. Students will satisfy the requirement by:

    1. Meeting in person with a Center for Career and Professional Development (“CCPD”) counselor by December 1 [or June 1 for Spring Admits] of their first year of Law School;
    2. Participating in at least one counseling session with a CCPD counselor in their final year of law school; and
    3. Earning six (6) professional development (“PD”) credits, in addition to their 88 academic credits, before graduating from law school.
    4. For students entering in Fall 2022 and thereafter, at least one of the PD credits must be diversity-based (as designated by the CCPD).
    5. Completing the post-graduation employment form before graduation, as requested by the CCPD.

    Examples of programs, attendance at any one of which will earn students one (1) PD credit are:

    Lectures and Symposia

    • Criminal Justice Institute Symposia
    • Law Review Symposia
    • The Blain Sloan Lecture on International Law
    • The Dyson Distinguished Lecture
    • The James D. Hopkins Professor of Law Memorial Lecture
    • The Kerlin Lecture
    • The Lloyd K. Garrison Lecture on Environmental Law
    • The Phillip B. Blank Memorial Lecture on Attorney Ethics

    Career-Related Panels and Programs

    • CCPD Career Fair
    • First Year Kickoff
    • First Year Drop-In Resume Workshops
    • Finding & Funding Summer Public Interest
    • Meet the Judges Night
    • NYU Career Fair Practice
    • Panels
      • Public Interest Summer Experience
      • Private Sector Summer Experience
      • What Does Practicing International Law Really Mean?
      • Real Estate & Land Use
      • Careers in Environmental Law
      • District Attorney Panel
      • Careers in Local Government
      • Intro to State and Federal Clerkships
      • Public Interest Career Reception
      • Criminal Justice Institute Networking Event

    This list may be revised from time to time by the Academic Dean, in consultation with the Curriculum Committee and the Assistant Dean for Career and Professional Development. The Academic Dean will publish a list of qualifying programs at least once per academic year.

    View upcoming events

    1. The following students are required to participate in ASAP as a condition of continued enrollment in the Law School:
      • For students entering January 2024 or later: All students who achieve less than a 2.30 GPA after the first semester of law school;
      • All students who achieve less than a 2.80 GPA after the first year or after any subsequent semester;
      • Transfer students unless excused by the Academic Dean;
      • Students returning from a leave of absence unless excused by the Academic Dean.
    2. Students who are required to participate in ASAP must:
      • Complete with a passing grade during the second semester of law school a non-credit-bearing class designated by the Academic Dean as appropriate for students in need of academic assistance. The purpose of this class is to ensure that students remain in good academic standing after their first year of law school.
      • Complete with a passing grade during the fall semester of their second year a class designated by the Academic Dean as appropriate for students in need of academic assistance. The purpose of this course is to give students special assistance in analytical and examination-taking skills.
      • Complete with a passing grade during their final year a class designated by the Academic Dean as appropriate for students in need of academic assistance. The purpose of this course is to give students special assistance in analytical and examination-taking skills relevant to passing the bar examination.
      • Participate in all other ASAP programs as designated by the Academic Dean.
      • Participate in the Supplemental Bar Skills Program as a condition of receiving from Pace Law School certification to sit for the New York State bar examination. See Rule 9B.
    3. Once a student is required to participate in ASAP, that student must participate in all ASAP requirements, regardless of any improvement in the student’s GPA. Nonetheless, the Academic Dean may excuse from further participation in ASAP a student who has demonstrated extraordinary academic achievement.

  • The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) consists of the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT).

    Subjects tested on the MBE (Subject Matter Outline from the National Conference of Bar Examiners):

    MBE Subject: Civil Procedure
    1L Course: Civil Procedure LAW 610A

    MBE Subject: Constitutional Law
    1L Course: Constitutional Law Law 646

    MBE Subject: Contracts
    1L Course: Contracts LAW 601
    Upper Level Courses: Sales

    MBE Subject: Criminal Law and Procedure
    1L Course: Criminal Law Law 621
    Upper Level Courses: Criminal Procedure-Investigations, Criminal Procedure-Adjudication*

    MBE Subject: Evidence
    Upper Level Course: Evidence LAW 649

    MBE Subject: Real Property
    1L Course: Property
    Upper Level Courses Real Estate Transactions and Finance LAW 607*

    MBE Subject: Torts
    1L Course: Torts LAW 631

    *a limited number of topics on the MBE are covered in this course

    Subjects tested on the MEE (Subject Matter Outline from the National Conference of Bar Examiners):

    All MBE Subjects + the following subjects: