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:

  1. The organization, hierarchy and relationships of legal systems;
  2. The sources of primary law and the ways they relate to one another;
  3. The nature of legal rules and institutions;
  4. The fundamental sources and tools of legal research;
  5. The principles of the fundamental areas of American substantive law, including civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, property, and torts;
  6. 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,
    1. use active listening, empathy, and emotional intelligence; and
    2. 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
    1. an effective objective memorandum predicting the resolution of one or more legal issues;
    2. effective trial and appellate briefs advocating a position for a client; and
    3. 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.

  • Criterion 1: Foster a constructive team climate.
  • Criterion 2: Communicate effectively.
  • Criterion 3: Address conflict appropriately.

Learning Outcome 6: Graduates will be able to demonstrate self-directed learning and ownership of their continuous professional development.

  • Criterion 1: Self-assess and identify strengths and areas for growth.
  • Criterion 2: Articulate goals and implement a plan.
  • Criterion 3: Acquire professional experience and learn from it.
  • Criterion 4: Reflect and apply lessons learned.

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

Graduates will be able to explain the characteristics of their professional identity and implement those characteristics in practice.

  • Criterion 1: Identify and implement core values of the legal profession, including honesty, integrity, competence, diligence, and access to justice.
  • Criterion 2: Integrate personal values and core values of the legal profession to make ethically responsible decisions.

Adopted November 8, 2010. Amended May 9, 2016; April 2023, March 2025.