Certificate in Family and Juvenile Law

Required Course

• LAW 651 - Domestic Relations

• OR

• LAW 708 - Civil Law of Persons and Family

Electives:

Nine (9) to twelve (12) credits must be earned from this list:

• LAW 618 - Wills and Estates
• LAW 677 - Trusts
• LAW 709 - Civil Law of Successions and Donations
• LAW 673 - Elder Law
• LAW 702 - Estate and Gift Taxation
• LAW 663 - Immigration Law
• LAW 718 - Civil Law Matrimonial Regimes
• LAW 676 - Education Law
• LAW 716 - Children in the Legal System
• LAW 763 - Gender and the Law Seminar
• LAW 652 - Current Issues in Family Law
• LAW 757 - Juvenile Legal Issues Seminar

Skills Courses (minimum of 5 credits):

At least one clinical course of 3 hours or one externship of at least 3 hours must be taken.

• LAW 610 - Child Advocacy Clinic in Youth Court
• LAW 612 - Child Advocacy Clinic in Chancery Court
• LAW 609 - Adoption Legal Clinic
• LAW 509 - Mission First Legal Aid Clinic
• LAW 537 - HIV and the Law Clinic

•  

• Externships (subject to approval by the Director)

• LAW 770 - Legal Extern Program
• LAW 771 - Legal Extern Program II
• LAW 772 - Remote Legal Extern Program I
• LAW 776 - Remote Legal Extern Program II

•  

• LAW 680 - Pretrial Practice

•  

• Students are encouraged to take Evidence and Pretrial Practice prior to enrolling in a clinic or an externship with a courtroom practice component.

   

  An externship that satisfies the certificate skills course requirement must be substantially focused in a relevant area of practice and is subject to the approval of the Director of the Family Law and Children’s Law Center in addition to the approval of the externship by the Director of Experiential Learning.

Writing Requirement

In addition to the 21 hours required above, students must complete the writing requirement for the J.D. degree on a family law topic. The topic must be approved by the Director of the Family and Children’s Law Center in order for the paper submitted to satisfy the certificate requirements unless the paper is written in LAW 757 - Juvenile Legal Issues Seminar .

Students electing to satisfy the writing requirement for the certificate through LAW 757 - Juvenile Legal Issues Seminar , may not count the course in satisfaction of the Electives.

Courtroom Observation

Students must observe at least 10 hours of courtroom proceedings involving family or juvenile law issues. Students may fulfill this requirement through either LAW 610  or LAW 612  . In other courses in which courtroom observation is a requirement of the course, students can count that time toward the certificate requirement of courtroom observation if that observation time involves family or juvenile law issues.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENT

Students must apply for admission to the Certificate Program with the Director of the Family and Children’s Law Center.  A student may apply for admission beginning with the registration period for the third semester of law school. However, no application may be made after the drop/add period in the students final semester.