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Curriculum

J.D. Curriculum Information

FIU Law’s curriculum provides students with a foundation in the basics of legal education that will help prepare them for the challenges of the legal profession.

Foundation Curriculum

The Foundation Curriculum provides students with the conceptual and substantive knowledge and skills essential to the practice of law.

Day Division Students

During the first year of law school, all day division, full-time students will complete 31 credit hours of the Foundation Curriculum as follows:

Fall semester:  Contracts, Constitutional Law, Torts, and Legal Skills & Values I

Spring semester: Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Introduction to International and Comparative Law, Property, and Legal Skills and Values II

Evening Division Students

Part-time, evening students will complete the 31 credit hours during the fall and spring semester of the first year, and the fall semester of the second year as follows:

Fall semester:  Contracts, Torts, and Legal Skills & Values I

Spring semester: Civil Procedure, Property, and Legal Skills and Values II

Fall semester: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, and Introduction to International and Comparative Law


FIU Law will offer summer courses outside the Foundation Curriculum for students who wish to earn credits in the summer after their first year.

Upper-Level Curriculum

After completing the Foundation Curriculum, students must also complete 59 credit hours of upper-level courses. Most of these courses are electives, but students must satisfy several upper-level requirements. These are the requirements that must be met:

  • Professional Responsibility: Students must pass this course with a C or better.
  • Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution: Students must take two courses that satisfy the litigation and alternative dispute resolution requirement.
  • International and Comparative Law: Students must take at least one upper-level course that satisfies the international and comparative law requirement.
  • Legal Skills and Values III
  • Seminar: Students must take a seminar involving a multi-draft writing project.
  • Community Service: Students must also perform thirty (30) hours of community service.
  • Experiential Learning: Students are required to take at least six credits of experiential learning.

Course Descriptions


Course Catalogs are provided on an academic year basis by FIU.

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