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Transcript of First year
William Mitchell’s first-year curriculum is designed to prepare you for practice.
The doctrinal focus of each of your first-year
classes serves as a vehicle for introducing
foundational themes of the legal system and
a platform for teaching practical skills. As a
result, you’ll get not only a broad overview of
the law, you’ll learn what lawyers do in the
real world, and begin to do that work yourself
from day one.
Our courses are integrated. They build on one
another, so you’ll see how the concepts and
skills you’ve learned in Civil Procedure relate to
Contracts and Property.
The first year at Mitchell is designed to help
you connect what you’re learning in class with
the array of lawyers’ work in the real world—
civil and criminal law, common law and
statutory law, transactional law, and dispute
resolution.
Required First-Year Doctrinal Courses
Civil Procedure: Dispute Resolution
You’ll generate, articulate, and evaluate
arguments to resolve procedural problems
associated with civil disputes arising from the
negligence or misconduct of others from the
perspective of different participants—the par-
ties, their advocates, and a judge or arbitrator.
You’ll also learn to explain, use, and evaluate
different methods of resolving disputes, again
from the perspective of all participants.
Contracts: Transactional Law
You’ll learn to determine whether a promise
is enforceable, the meaning of a contract,
whether a contract has been breached, and
parties’ resulting rights and duties. You’ll also
read contracts and negotiate and draft your
own two-party contract.
Constitutional Law, Liberties:
Advanced Legal Reasoning
You’ll critically evaluate U.S. Supreme Court
decisions, articulating the holding, rules,
rationales, and central disagreements among
the majority, concurring, and dissenting
opinions. You’ll also apply 14th Amendment
Equal Protection and Substantive Due Process
doctrines and the 1st Amendment Speech and
Religion doctrines to new factual situations.
Criminal Law: Statutory Interpretation
You’ll learn to articulate the elements of crimes
and affirmative defenses, but you’ll also be
asked to apply them to new factual scenarios.
You’ll also learn how to identify, explain, and
apply common methods of statutory inter-
pretation and to anticipate the arguments
attorneys in a criminal case would make.
Property: Jurisprudential Analysis
You’ll examine the legal rules relating to the
acquisition of property, the different owner-
ship interests one might acquire, the rights
associated with property ownership, and the
restrictions on those rights. You’ll apply what
you learn to different sets of facts. You’ll also
articulate various views on the theory of law
and explain how attorneys and judges would
use those theories in a property case.
Torts: Common Law Reasoning
You’ll learn to articulate the elements and
related doctrines of several intentional torts,
negligence, and strict liability, and apply those
legal rules to new facts. You’ll also learn to
read, analyze, and apply the holding, rule, and
reasoning of a case to new sets of facts, and
anticipate the arguments attorneys in a tort
suit might make.
Required First-Year Skills Course
Writing & Representation:
Advice & Persuasion (WRAP)
The best lawyers are excellent researchers,
writers, and orators, and this course is where
many of the top lawyers in the region got their
start. WRAP will help you begin to master the
skills needed to be an effective advocate—re-
searching, writing, interviewing, counseling,
and professionalism—in a small class setting.
You’ll take your classes for the entire year with
the same group of students—your “section.”
Although all students will take the same
courses in the first year, the days and times
these courses meet will vary from section to
section.
As you can see, your first year at Mitchell is
entirely devoted to ensuring that you have a
thorough understanding of core legal concepts
and skills as well as an understanding of the
level of professionalism it takes to reach your
goals.
Part Time
FALLTorts ........................... 4Crim .......................... 3WRAP ........................ 3Civ Pro (4 credits) taken in fall of 2L year
TOTAL CREDITS .........10
SPRINGContracts .................. 4Property .................... 4WRAP ........................ 3Con Law-Liberties (3 credits) taken in spring of 2L year
TOTAL CREDITS .........11
Full Time
FALLTorts ........................... 4Civ Pro ........................ 4Crim .......................... 3WRAP ......................... 3
TOTAL CREDITS .........14
SPRINGContracts ................... 4Property ..................... 4Con Law-Liberties ...... 3WRAP ......................... 3
TOTAL CREDITS .........14
A solid foundation on which to build your career
Full-Time Sample Schedule
Part-Time Day Sample Schedule
Part-Time Evening Sample Schedule
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
1:00
2:00
3:00
Civil Procedure FALL
Property SPRING
Torts FALL
Contracts SPRING
Civil Procedure FALL
Property SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
Most weeks class meets for 2 hours. Class meets for 3 hours 2-3 times a semester.
Torts FALL
Contracts SPRING
Criminal Law FALL
Con Law-Liberties SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
Criminal Law FALL
Con Law-Liberties SPRING
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
1:00
2:00
Torts FALL
Contracts SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
Most weeks class meets for 2 hours. Class meets for 3 hours 2-3 times a semester.
Torts FALL
Contracts SPRING
Criminal Law FALL
Con Law-Liberties SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
Criminal Law FALL
Con Law-Liberties SPRING
MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
6:00
7:00
8:00
9:00
Torts FALL
Property SPRING
Crim Law FALL
Contracts SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
2-3 times a semester
Crim Law FALL
Contracts SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
Torts FALL
Property SPRING
WRAP FALL & SPRING
01197 2013-10
FIRST-YEAR CURRICULUM
Office of Admissions
875 Summit AvenueSt. Paul, Minnesota 55105
888-962-5529wmitchell.edu
Meet Mitchell Daysfor admitted students
Please plan to join us at one of the
upcoming Meet Mitchell Days for Ad-
mitted Students. You’ll meet your future
professors and classmates, start building
connections with alumni, and begin to
experience what your life at Mitchell will
be like when you start classes in the fall.
Friday, March 14or Friday, April 11
Invitations will be sent to your email
address. We can’t wait to welcome you
to campus!