University of Virginia Library

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
20; the second, March 22; 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
student may register for the work of the first term after October 15, nor for that
of the second term after January 10—nor is registration in absentia permissible.

When Students May Enter.—It is highly desirable that students of any year,
and particularly those of the first year, should enter at the beginning of the
session. Where this is impossible students may register at the beginning of the
second term, but not 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 may be necessary to complete his full three years of study.

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, laundry and books.
An average estimate would be $600 per session, reckoning living expenses at a
somewhat higher figure. The university fee applicable to all law students
(including those from Virginia) is $60; and the tuition fee for residents of
Virginia is $175; for non-residents, $195.

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 sought to be made as thorough as
possible, and is given mainly through textbooks and lectures, supplemented in
many of the courses by the study of cases. While convinced of the value of
the combined textbook and lecture system, which has prevailed for practically a
century in the Law School, the Law Faculty have long appreciated the value
that the study of cases possesses in teaching the student to work out for himself
the principles involved, and in illustrating the practical application of legal
rules. The present organization of the Law School gives opportunity for more
emphasis than formerly was possible on this form of instruction, and the casebook
is now used exclusively in some of the courses, and in others not as
supplanting, but as supplementing, textbooks and lectures.

The daily oral quiz has long been a marked and, as experience has proved,
a 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 procedural courses, in the Law Clubs, in Forensic
Debating, and in Legal Bibliography and Brief Making, special stress is laid
upon practical work. In the course on Legal Bibliography and Brief Making,
an intimate acquaintance with law books and skill in their use are secured by
lectures and demonstrations three times a week during the first term of the first
year, accompanied by the assignment of practical work in the library, on which
numerous oral and written tests are held; and in the third year 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.
Students are not required to become members of the Law Clubs, but they are
strongly advised to take part in this work as it affords excellent training in the
use of the library, in the preparation of briefs, and in the presentation of oral
arguments.

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.