Certificates

Criminal Law Certificate

Environmental Law Certificate

Intellectual Property Law Certificate

International Law Certificate

Labor & Employment Law Certificate

A. Certificate of Concentration. The College of Law shall award a “Certificate of Concentration” in connection with the grant of the Juris Doctor degree to each graduating student who qualifies for a Certificate of Concentration under these Rules. The Certificate shall be labeled a “Certificate in [Subject Area],” and shall indicate that the student has successfully competed the requirements for the Certificate.

B. General Requirements. The Faculty of the College of Law shall from time to time designate specialties within the law as “Areas of Concentration,” shall designate relevant upper-level specialized courses in each designated Area of Concentration as “Core” or “Related” Courses for that Area, and shall establish the requirements for eligibility for a Certificate of Concentration in each area, in accordance with these Rules. The Dean may, in his or her discretion, make an interim designation of a course as “Core” or “Related” in a particular subject area. In general, subject to particular requirements within each Area of Concentration, to be eligible for a Certificate of Concentration in a particular area, a student, by the time of receiving the J.D. degree, must (1) have completed all the requirements for the Certificate of Concentration in the subject area, and (2) must have a 3.0 or greater cumulative grade point average in all designated graded Core and Related Courses completed in the area.

C. Certificate Courses. “Certificate courses” are Core or Related Courses designated as satisfying requirements for eligibility for a Certificate of Concentration in a particular Area. To be eligible for a Certificate in a particular Area, a student must have successfully completed all of the course requirements for the Certificate in the particular area. Certificate-eligible courses taken during a student’s last term before graduation may be offered to satisfy the course requirements, except that the Certificate will be finally awarded only if the student successfully completes all the course requirements, and achieves the required minimum grade point average.

D. Minimum Grade Point Average. To be eligible for a Certificate in an Area of Concentration, a student must have achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in all Core and Related Courses completed, except that any course in which the student is given credit on a pass/fail basis shall not be included in the computation.

E. Research and Writing Component. To be eligible for a Certificate in an Area of Concentration, a student must complete one of the following Research and Writing Components:

1. Advanced Topics/Seminar in the Area of Concentration, subject to the advanced approval of the paper topic/project by the Faculty Coordinator, provided that an Advanced Topics/Seminar applied towards satisfaction of the Research and Writing Component in the Area of Concentration may not be applied towards satisfaction of the Related Course requirement; or
    
2. Independent Research (with paper) in the Area of Concentration, subject to the advanced approval of the paper topic/project by the Faculty Coordinator; or
    
3. Service on the Law Review, including the submission of a final draft Note or Article in the Area of Concentration for publication, if the Faculty Coordinator accepts the final draft of the Note or Article as sufficient in length and quality to be counted as completion of a Certificate Research and Writing Component; or
    
4. Participation in a Moot Court competition in the Area of Concentration, if the Faculty Coordinator determines that the amount and quality of student’s participation has been sufficient to be counted as completion of a Certificate Research and Writing Component.

F. Certificate-Eligible Courses Completed at Other Law Schools. An upper-level course completed by a College of Law student at another law school shall qualify as a “Certificate-eligible” Core or Related Course if the Faculty Coordinator determines that it is substantially similar in content and rigor to a Certificate Core or Related Course taught at the College of Law and is otherwise appropriate to be a Certificate-eligible course, except that ungraded or pass/fail courses shall not be considered Certificate-eligible courses, and a course that substantially duplicates a course already completed by a student at the College of Law shall not be considered a Certificate-eligible course as to that student. A maximum of 5 credit hours in Certificate-eligible courses successfully completed at another law school may be applied by a student to satisfy the Certificate course, credit hour, and minimum grade point average requirements for eligibility for a Certificate in a particular area. For the purpose of determining the minimum grade point average for a Certificate in an Area of Concentration, the credit hours and grades in such Certificate-eligible courses shall be normalized by the Faculty Coordinator if necessary. If a student has received credit at another law school for a course determined by the Faculty Coordinator to be “Certificate-eligible,” the student may not apply toward a Certificate the credits from a College of Law Core or Related Course that substantially duplicates the course completed for credit at the other law school.

G. Faculty Coordinator. The Dean shall appoint a Faculty Coordinator for each Area of Concentration. The Faculty Coordinator shall be responsible for advising students concerning the Certificate requirements in the Area, and shall be responsible for general oversight of the Area’s Certificate program. On application from a student for the award of a Certificate of Concentration, the Coordinator shall determine whether all the requirements for a Certificate have been met, and shall notify the applicant and the College of Law Registrar in writing of the determination.

H. Application for a Certificate of Concentration. Each student who wishes to be awarded a Certificate of Concentration must file an “Application for a Certificate in [Subject Area]” with the Faculty Coordinator at least 10 weeks before the student proposes to graduate. The Application shall demonstrate compliance with all the requirements for the Certificate, except that the Application may designate Certificate courses taken during the last term in the College of Law which will be applied to satisfy the Core and Related Course and credit hour requirements.