A. KNOWLEDGE. Every graduate should have knowledge and understanding of the following at a level sufficient to practice ethically as a lawyer and to pass the bar examination in any United States jurisdiction:
- The organization, hierarchy and relationships of legal systems;
- The sources of primary law and the ways they relate to one another;
- The nature of legal rules and institutions;
- The fundamental sources and tools of legal research;
- The principles of the fundamental areas of American substantive law, including civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, property, and torts;
- The nature, sources, and content of ethical standards applicable to lawyers and the practice of law in the United States.
B. SKILLS
Learning Outcome 1: Graduates will be able to engage in effective problem-solving within a specific or discrete subject matter.
Criterion 1: Identify and diagnose problems.
Criterion 2: Generate alternative solutions and strategies.
Criterion 3: Develop and implement plans of action.
Criterion 4: Keep the planning process open to new information and ideas.
Learning Outcome 2: Graduates will be able to comprehend legal texts and apply the legal principles extracted from the texts to new factual circumstances.
Criterion 1: Comprehend a legal text, such as a case, a statute, an administrative rule, a secondary source, or a contract.
Criterion 2: Comprehend a series of legal texts and synthesize them into a coherent legal narrative, including the ability both to harmonize apparently conflicting authorities and to recognize genuinely conflicting authorities.
Criterion 3: Apply governing legal principles to new factual situations, including the abilities to spot issues, to formulate issues, to develop potential legal solutions, and to assess their validity.
Learning Outcome 3: Graduates will be able to conduct effective and efficient legal research.
Criterion 1: Develop a research strategy.
Criterion 2: Identify potentially relevant sources of law.
Criterion 3: Locate legal texts that provide the governing legal principles for a factual situation.
Criterion 4: Apply legal reasoning in conducting legal research.
Legal Outcome 4: Graduates will be able to communicate effectively orally and in writing by presenting material in a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional manner that is appropriate to the audience and circumstances.
Criterion 1: For all communication,
i. use active listening, empathy, and emotional intelligence; and
ii. present material in a clear, concise, well-organized, and professional manner that is appropriate to the audience and circumstances.
Criterion 2: For written communication, to write
i. an effective objective memorandum predicting the resolution of one or more legal issues;
ii. effective trial and appellate briefs advocating a position for a client; and
iii. a legally effective document other than one created in a litigation context.
Learning Outcome 5: Graduates will be able to work cooperatively as part of a team.
Learning Outcome 6: Graduates will be able to practice effectively.
Criterion 1: Recognize and resolve potential ethical issues.
Criterion 2: Develop systems and procedures to ensure the efficient allocation of time, effort, and resources, and the timely performance and completion of work.
Criterion 3: Facilitate effective working relationships.
Learning Outcome 7: Graduates will be able to work to eliminate racism.
Criterion 1: Examine their own personal beliefs, attitudes, and biases about race and the law.
Criterion 2: Identify instances of racism when they occur and describe their impact.
Criterion 3: Identify strategies likely to decrease racism in the legal system and improve the quality of justice in society.
Learning Outcome 8: Graduates will be able to work to eliminate bias.
Criterion 1: Examine their own personal beliefs, attitudes, and biases about historically marginalized people and cultures.
Criterion 2: Identify instances of bias when they occur and describe their impact.
Criterion 3: Identify strategies likely to decrease bias in the legal system and improve the quality of justice in society.
Learning Outcome 9: Graduates will be able to perform their lawyering tasks with cultural awareness necessary for effective, respectful interaction with individuals from many backgrounds.
Criterion 1: Explain the benefits of interacting with people from different cultures.
Criterion 2: Assess their knowledge and skills in cultural awareness in their role as a lawyer.
Criterion 3: Communicate effectively and respectfully with clients, colleagues, adversaries, and others who differ from them in some way.
C. VALUES. Every graduate should understand and exemplify the following values:
1. As a member of a profession dedicated to the service of clients, a commitment to professionalism and to the rules of professional responsibility, including:
a. attaining and maintaining a level of competence in the lawyer’s own field(s) of practice;
b. representing clients in a competent manner;
c. increasing the lawyer’s knowledge of the law and improving the lawyer’s practice skills; and
d. other aspects of professionalism, including honesty, integrity, reliability, respect for others, diligence and hard work, maturity, and judgment.
2. As a member of a profession that bears special responsibilities for the quality of justice, a commitment to:
a. promoting justice, fairness, and morality in the lawyer’s practice in harmony with the lawyer’s ethical duties to clients;
b. contributing to the profession’s fulfillment of its responsibility to ensure that adequate legal services are provided to those who cannot afford to pay for them;
c. contributing to the profession’s fulfillment of its responsibility to enhance the capacity of law and legal institutions to do justice; and
d. showing respect for all people.
3. As a member of a self-governing profession, a commitment to:
a. participating in activities designed to improve the profession; and
b. assisting in the training and preparation of new lawyers.
4. As a member of a learned profession, a commitment to selecting and maintaining employment that will allow the lawyer to develop as a professional and to pursue the lawyer’s professional and personal goals.
Adopted November 8, 2010. Amended May 9, 2016; April 2023.
