George Mason University School of Law: Academics: J.D. Curriculum

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J.D. Curriculum

General Law Program

Although George Mason offers a number of structured specialization options, students are not required to specialize in their legal studies. Many students enter law school without a clearly defined area of interest. Those students may pursue a general course of study, choosing electives as their interests develop.

General Requirements

All George Mason law students, whether pursuing a specialty track or the General Law Program, are required to satisfactorily complete 84 credit hours for graduation. Forty-three of those credit hours are in general courses; 41 credit hours are in elective courses. In addition, students must complete the School of Law's writing requirement.

For more information, see General Law Program & J.D. Requirements.

For individual course descriptions, see Course Descriptions.

A Choice of Programs: Day and Evening

Students attending George Mason University School of Law may pursue full-time day study or part-time evening study. Unlike many other law school programs, the day and evening programs stand on equal footing, as the courses taught in the day and evening divisions are identical.

For more information, see A Choice of Programs: Day and Evening Programs.

Specialty Programs of Study

The practice of law grows more segmented as the body of law grows in both volume and complexity. Our specialization options ensure that our graduates can demonstrate depth as well as breadth in their legal education and that they are prepared for practice in the 21st century.

Technology Law Program

As the newest of the School of Law's specialties, the Technology Law Program combines course work in the fields of technology law, intellectual property law, and business law. It provides students with skills necessary to succeed in today's rapidly-changing legal environment. Distinguished professors and practitioners offer courses on subjects such as telecommunications policy, cybercrime, intellectual property protection, and venture capital formation. In addition to the 43 credit hours in required General Law Program courses, students pursuing the Technology Law Program will take 15 credit hours of required courses in business and intellectual property law, 8 credit hours of technology law electives, 6 credit hours of business law or intellectual property law electives, and an additional 12 credit hours in electives.

For more information, see Technology Law Program.

Law Tracks

Through our specialty law tracks, students may acquire a sophisticated understanding of particular substantive areas of the law usually gained only after years of practice or through advanced legal study. Students pursuing a specialty track will be required to take 24 to 31 credit hours of the 84 total credit hours required for graduation in the area of specialization. Students in track programs are also required to write a thesis.

Students may elect to pursue one of the following specialty tracks at the end of their first year of study:

For more information, see Law Tracks & Sequences.

Specialization Sequences

For students who would like greater freedom in their course selection while also gaining the benefits of some degree of specialization, George Mason offers specialization sequences listed below. To complete a sequence, a student must earn from 14 to 16 credit hours in a particular area.

Corporate and Securities Law
Criminal Law
Intellectual Property Law
International Business
Legal and Economic Theory
Litigation Law
Personal Law
Regulatory Law
Tax Law

For more information, see Law Tracks & Sequences.

Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis

Our three-year legal writing program emphasizes continual practice through the development of actual transactions and cases and effective use of technology. The course is required during each semester of the first two years and is taught in small sections of 15 or fewer students. Students learn the basics of legal writing and analysis, as well as traditional, database (LEXIS and Westlaw), and Internet research methodologies. They then apply these skills in drafting and editing documents for a variety of cases and transactional disputes, in oral arguments before judges and practicing attorneys, and in client counseling and negotiation exercises.

The legal writing program at George Mason also requires at least two additional writing courses beyond the first two years. The additional writing requirement can be satisfied by taking either two seminar courses or one seminar and one other course in which a paper is required. Students in the track programs can substitute their theses for upper-class writing course requirements.

Economic and Quantitative Methods

In 1996, the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar drafted a proposal identifying the basic areas of knowledge that are important to a sophisticated legal education and to the development of a competent attorney. Two are of particular interest to us:

A sound grounding in economics, particularly elementary microeconomic theory;
Some basic mathematical and financial skills, including an ability to analyze financial data.

For the past 12 years, George Mason has integrated these disciplines into our law and economics-oriented curriculum. Our curriculum introduces students to legal methods along with economic and quantitative tools, stressing the application of the nonlegal methods in legal contexts. We reinforce this strategy in other courses at the School of Law that are taught by professors of law who are also experts in some areas of economics and quantitative methods.

Unique Opportunities For Study At The School Of Law

George Mason is proud of the academic centers located at the School of Law. Through these centers, we bring extraordinary talent into our law school and enhance our existing programs. These centers also create a strong network in various areas of law that greatly benefits our students as they explore the multitude of career opportunities available to them.

Tech Center

The Tech Center, established in 1999, seeks to bridge the gap between rapidly changing technologies and the laws that frequently hold them back by serving as a neutral forum in which business and government leaders can debate and develop technology policy proposals. The Tech Center carries out its work in a number of ways, including sponsoring a distinguished speaker series and hosting policy conferences on current issues in information technology and biotechnology policy.

Law & Economics Center

Founded in 1974, the Law & Economics Center (LEC) is a vital component of George Mason University School of Law. The LEC has developed an international reputation for its outstanding educational institutes, seminars, and conferences for federal and state court judges.

Foreign Exchange Program In Law And Economics

Through a newly established exchange program with the University of Hamburg's Erasmus Programme in Law and Economics, George Mason law students interested in the economic effects of legal rules are invited to study for one, two, or three terms at the University of Hamburg in Germany. Likewise, program students from the University of Hamburg may study law from the perspective of economic analysis at George Mason. This program is for students with a solid background in law and economics interested in the interdisciplinary study of both areas.