Program: Law, J.D. - University of Virginia

Apr 04, 2025

Graduate Record 2023-2024

Return to: School of Law: Degree Programs

The Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree is the first professional degree in law. Each year, thousands of highly qualified college students and graduates apply for the necessarily limited number of places in the first-year class. The admissions process aims to select from the applicant pool an entering class of students who will contribute to the Law School, to the Commonwealth of Virginia, to the nation and to the global legal community. These contributions, both before and after graduation, require exceptional academic ability.

Program Requirements

Required Credits

Students must successfully earn a minimum of 86 degree credits. At least 64 of the 86 credits must be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. This means that J.D. students may use no more than 22 non-classroom credits (e.g., Independent Research, Directed Research, Externships).

Required Coursework

See below.

Minimum Academic Standards

During each academic year of enrollment students must earn a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.7 and accumulate fewer than three exclusion points.

Residency

Students must complete six semesters in residence. A semester in residence is one in which a student enrolls in a minimum of 12 credits toward the degree and receives passing grades for at least nine of those 12 credits. Transfer students must complete at least 24 hours of classroom study at an accredited law school prior to enrolling at Virginia, for which they are awarded two semesters in residence at entrance.

Conduct

All students must conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the Law School’s academic and non-academic student conduct requirements.

Duration of Program

The course of study for the J.D. degree must be completed no later than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at Virginia Law or another law school from which the student transferred, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Required Coursework

Required First Year Courses

Students must complete the following required first year law courses.

LAW 6000 - Civil Procedure Credits: 4
LAW 6001 - Constitutional Law Credits: 4
LAW 6002 - Contracts Credits: 4
LAW 6003 - Criminal Law Credits: 3
LAW 6004 - Legal Research and Writing I Credits: 1
LAW 6005 - Legal Research and Writing II (YR) Credits: 2
LAW 6006 - Property Credits: 4
LAW 6007 - Torts Credits: 4

Professional Ethics

Students must complete one of the below courses (when offered) in professional ethics.

LAW 7071 - Professional Responsibility Credits: 2 to 3
LAW 7072 - Professional Responsibility in Public Interest Law Practice Credits: 2
LAW 7134 - Professional Responsibility for Tax Lawyers Credits: 3

Professional Skills Courses

Students must complete LAW 6004 Legal Research and Writing I in their first year and at least five (5) additional credits from one or more designated professional skills courses.

Understanding Cultural Competency and Racism

Students entering the J.D. program in fall 2023 and thereafter must:

Participate in the 1L orientation training session on bias, cross-cultural competency and racism; and
Succesfully complete at least one course designated by the faculty as reinforcing the skill of cross-cultural competency and the obligation of lawyers to work to eliminate racism in the legal profession.

Upper-Level Writing

Students must complete at least one substantial research paper after completion of their first year of law school by one of the following methods:

Completing a Substantial Research Paper in course designated as satisfying the Upper-Level Writing Requirement;
Completing a Substantial Research Paper by special permission in a non-designated course;
Completing an Independent Research paper;
As a dual degree student, completing a Substantial Research Paper on a law-related topic in a course taken in the other school or department and approved by a resident Law School faculty member.

A passing grade alone does not satisfy the Upper-Level Writing Requirement Standard. A supervisor/instructor MUST certify that your paper met the requirement, before the course counts for the requirement.

More Information

For details, contact the Admissions Office, University of Virginia School of Law, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, or visit www.law.virginia.edu/admissions. For program details, contact the Student Records Office, University of Virginia School of Law, 580 Massie Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, or visit http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/academics/policies/policies.htm.

Public Professional Licensure Disclosure

Please visit the University’s state authorization web pages to make an informed decision regarding which jurisdictions’ educational requirements for initial licensure are met by this program. (668.43(a)(5) (v)(A) - (C)).