GENERAL INFORMATION.
The Session begins on the Thursday preceding the nineteenth of September,
and continues for thirty-nine weeks ending about June 15. The first
three days of the session are given to registration, and all students, both old
and new, are required during that time to place their names upon the books
of the University and the rolls of their respective classes. Lecture courses
begin on the Monday following, and absences will be recorded against any
student not present from the opening lecture of each course. Students entering
after the first three days, without satisfactory excuse, will be charged a fee for
registration.
The session is divided into Three Terms. The first term ends December
23; the second, March 21; and the third, with the close of the session.
Late Entrance.—Students are advised that late entrance upon the work
of any term is a serious hindrance to progress. The student who enters
late must begin his work at the point to which the several courses have advanced
at the time of his entrance; and credit for three years' attendance
cannot be secured unless the student is in actual residence at least thirty
weeks per session. No registration in absentia is permissible.
When Students May Enter.—It is highly desirable that students of any
year, and particularly those entering the work of the first year, should enter
at the beginning of the year's work which they propose to pursue.
Where this is impossible students may register at the beginning of the second
term, but no later, save in exceptional cases. In case of such late entrance
the student's chief handicap (often a serious one) will be lack of familiarity
with preceding courses, on some of which his own work may be
based. Entrance at the beginning of the later term, therefore, is not advised,
but only permitted. Where the student has thus entered in a later
term, he may not make up the work of the earlier term except by returning
for such portion of a fourth year as is covered by the term omitted.
Expenses.—The necessary expenses of a student in the Department of
Law may be estimated at $500 per session of nine months. This minimum
estimate includes all university and tuition fees, board, lodging, washing and
books. An average estimate would be $600 per session, reckoning board,
lodging, and washing at a somewhat higher figure. The university fee applicable
to all law students (including those from Virginia) is $40; and the
tuition fee is $160 for the regular work of each session.
Three Years' Course.—The course of study embraces three years of
thirty-seven weeks each, exclusive of holidays. Residence for three years,
with attendance of at least thirty weeks a year, exclusive of holidays, is essential
to graduation.
Plan of Instruction.—The instruction is as thorough as possible, and is
given mainly through textbooks and lectures, supplemented in some of
the courses by the study of cases. While convinced of the value of the
combined textbook and lecture system, which has prevailed for more than
half a century in the Law School, the Law Faculty have long appreciated
the value that the study of cases possesses, in illustrating the practical application
of legal principles. The present organization of the Law School
gives opportunity for more emphasis on this form of instruction, and the
case-book is now used more extensively than heretofore—not as supplanting,
but as supplementing, textbooks and lectures.
The daily oral quiz has long been a marked and, as experience has
proved, a most valuable feature of the system of instruction. This oral
quiz is supplemented by frequent written tests, the results of which are
carefully recorded, and, in the professor's discretion, are considered in estimating
the final grade of the student.
Practical Work.—In the courses on Equity Procedure, Virginia Pleading,
Practice at Law, Code Pleading, Criminal Procedure, Forensic Debating,
and Legal Bibliography and Brief Making, special stress is laid
upon practical work. In the Pleading and Procedure courses, every student
is required to draw, and submit for correction and criticism, the principal
pleadings, orders, decrees, and other forms encountered in actual litigation.
In the course on Legal Bibliography and Brief Making, an intimate
acquaintance with law books and skill in their use are secured by oral and
written quizzes, and finally by practical tests; and briefs on assigned topics
are required to be prepared according to rigorous standards. Much practical
work is done in the headnoting of cases, on scientific principles.
Required for Graduation.—The degree of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) is
conferred upon such students as have satisfied the entrance requirements;
have attended three full sessions of the Law School and have successfully
passed the required examinations, with satisfactory performance of assigned
practical work.
More specifically, the candidate for graduation must have completed all
of the obligatory courses (see Outline of Courses, below), and at least two
elective courses, one of which must be Virginia Pleading or Code Pleading.
