Fall 2022 Quick Guide

Fall 2022 Schedule and Registration

Schedule of Classes. The Fall 2022 class schedule is available here. This version includes exam information and classroom assignments. (For future reference, you can find permanent links to this and earlier Quick Guide pages on the Current Students page.)

Registration Bulletin. The Fall 2022 registration bulletin is available here. It provides information on registration procedures, academic requirements, and related matters.

Course Descriptions: available here

Academic Calendar for 2022–2023: available here

Graduating Students: Reduced Loads and Tuition Discounts. J.D. students graduating at the end of the fall 2022 semester who need fewer than the minimum number of hours to graduate may take fewer credits without special permission. In addition, if you will be graduating at the end of the fall 2022 semester and will be taking more than the 87 credits required to graduate, you may receive a 50 percent discount on each credit you take over the required 87 credits. If this affects you, please contact me by email no later than Tuesday, September 6. Important note: Financial aid is not available for any courses you take that are not necessary for you to reach the required 87 credits.

Pass/Fail Limitations for Upper-Level Courses. Certain upper-level electives may be taken pass/fail, subject to the limitations described below; required courses, however, may not be taken pass/fail. Although there is no overall limit on pass/fail credits, there are two types of limits to the pass/fail credits you can take:

Pass/fail election: Students may elect up to six credits pass/fail during their entire time at Chicago-Kent. This pass/fail election applies to upper-level elective courses that normally are letter-graded; classes that are only offered pass/fail do not count toward this six-credit limit. The following classes may not be elected pass/fail: (1) required courses, including any course taken to satisfy the Professional Responsibility graduation requirement; (2) seminars, whether or not being taken to fulfill the graduation seminar requirement; (3) courses that have been designated by instructors as ineligible for the pass/fail election (these courses are indicated on each semester’s schedule of classes); (4) Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy courses; and (5) courses taken to fulfill the requirements of any certificate program. Fall pass/fail registration will open shortly before the start of the fall semester (keep your eye on my section of the Record). A student taking a course on a pass/fail basis must earn at least a C to receive a P (Pass). If you pass the course but fail to earn at least a C, you will receive a grade of LP (Low Pass).

Clinic limitation: You may take no more than 24 credit hours toward graduation for the following courses combined: in-house clinical courses, externships, and Business Entity Formation and Transactions. (Students in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (LADR) and the Criminal Litigation Program are exempt from this limitation.)

Bar Exam Strategies Course. This is a reminder that students who are in the bottom 25% of their class at the end of their second year (for full-time students) or their third year (for part-time students) are required to take Bar Exam Strategies in their final year. Fall 2022 graduates should take the course in the Fall; Spring 2023 graduates will take the course next Spring. Other students in their final year may take it if they wish, but are not required to do so. Students in the bottom 25% of their class may petition our Director of Bar Success, Erin Crist (ecrist@kentlaw.iit.edu), for an exemption from taking the class. The class will be taught asynchronously by BARBRI instructors, with oversight by Prof. Crist. It will cover Civil Procedure, Contracts, Evidence, and Property as tested on the bar exam. It will cover both substantive rules and skills instruction for the written and multiple choice portions of the bar exam. The course will be letter-graded.

Experiential Course Requirement. Students must complete a total of six credits from an approved list of experiential courses (click here for the list). Most students will already satisfy four of these credits through the required sequence of Legal Writing 3 and Legal Writing 4. However, students who opt for the Legal Writing 4 Equivalency Class (see below) should consult the list of approved courses to determine whether the qualifying activity counts toward the experiential requirement. Law Review does not count toward the requirement.

64-Credit Classroom Course Requirement. At least 64 of the 87 credits required for graduation must be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. Clinical coursework counts toward the 64-credit requirement, but externships, extracurricular activities (including credits earned for participation in a law journal, moot court competitions, trial advocacy competitions, or as a teaching assistant), and courses taken in another academic unit (e.g., Stuart School of Business) do not count toward the 64 credits.