The University provides information and academic advice to students to assist
them in making proper academic decisions. The dean of each college or school is
responsible for providing an effective system of information dissemination and
advising that is appropriate to the academic programs of that college or
school. Each unit seeks to provide the most current and accurate information
and advice possible. The student is responsible for seeking advice, for knowing
and meeting the requirements of the degree program of interest, for enrolling
in courses appropriate to that degree program, and for taking courses in the
proper sequence to ensure orderly and timely progress toward the degree.
In the School of Law, one faculty member in each section of the prescribed
first-year curriculum is designated the academic adviser. Students in that
section are encouraged to consult their professor-adviser for counseling. Prior
to registration, the professor-adviser in each section advises students on
course selection for the second year.
In the spring semester, before registration for the fall semester, the law
school issues a detailed manual of course descriptions and academic advice.
Additional counseling is available from the assistant dean for student
affairs.
The Children's Rights Clinic and Criminal Defense Clinic are available in the
fall semester, spring semester, and summer session. The Capitol Punishment
Clinic, Housing Law Clinic, Mediation Clinic, Juvenile Justice Clinic, and
Elderlaw Clinic operate during the fall and spring semesters. The Mental Health
Clinic is available in the spring semester only.
The Capital Punishment Clinic gives law students practical experience in
capital litigation. Students are supervised by attorneys from the Texas
Resource Center, an organization that coordinates postconviction representation
of death row inmates in Texas. Students read and summarize transcripts;
interview clients; interview other potential witnesses, including jurors;
identify and obtain social history records; and undertake other kinds of legal
research and writing.
Students who take part in the clinic register for Law 279N, which focuses on
the intricate doctrines that have developed since the Supreme Court
"constitutionalized" capital punishment law. The clinic and other coursework
expose students to both the theoretical and the practical sides of death
penalty law.
Texas law requires an attorney ad litem to be appointed to represent
children in all cases in which the state or an authorized agency intervenes in
an existing family unit. Most frequently this occurs in cases of alleged child
abuse or neglect. Further, an attorney ad litem may be appointed for a
child any time the court forms the opinion that the child's interest will not
be fully represented by the attorneys for other parties to a lawsuit. These
discretionary appointments are made in a variety of contexts, but especially in
custody disputes between parents or other relatives. Finally, the legal status
of all children in the custody of the state must be reviewed at least once
every six months; local practice requires the appointment of an attorney ad
litem in each review case.
The law school's Children's Rights Clinic (CRC) is appointed ad litem in
most such cases in Travis County. Two full-time attorneys supervise students in
the CRC; each student is assigned to several cases. In addition, a scheduled
classroom component is designed to develop the substantive knowledge and
procedural skills necessary for students to handle their caseloads.
Students who take part in the CRC in the fall or spring semester register for
two sections of Law 397C; summer session participants register for Law 297C and
397C. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis. Students must have
completed forty-three semester hours in law to be certified to appear in the
trial court; there are no other prerequisites.
This program teaches students the tactics, skills, techniques, and values they
need to represent those charged with violations of state law. The student
handles cases at all stages of the criminal process from arrest to trial.
Weekly readings and seminars complement the student's practical experiences.
Clients are served from the Criminal Defense Clinic (CDC) offices at the School
of Law.
Students who take part in this program in the fall or spring semester register
for two sections of Law 397C; summer session participants register for Law 297C
and 397C. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis. Students must have
completed forty-three semester hours in law.
The Elderlaw Clinic is a joint project of the law school and the Legal Aid
Society of Central Texas. The clinic gives students the opportunity to
represent indigent senior citizens in the following areas: Medicare/Medicaid
claims; Social Security appeals; consumer contracts and fraud; probate and
estate planning; guardianship; and financial and physical abuse of the elderly.
Clinic students are responsible for all phases of client representation, from
interviewing prospective clients to investigating their cases, negotiating with
opposing parties, and settling or litigating client claims.
In addition to their clinical work, students register for Law 497C. Weekly
classes examine laws affecting the elderly and train students in the skills
needed to represent indigent clients.
Students in this clinic represent, under the supervision of the instructors,
low-income families and individuals in housing matters. Clients are referred by
the Legal Aid Society of Central Texas, cosponsor of the clinic. Once a week,
students meet at the law school to study housing law and to discuss the issues
that arise in the representation of these clients.
Students register for Law 497C. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis.
Participants must have completed at least forty-three semester hours in law.
This program exposes students to the operations of the juvenile
justice/juvenile corrections system by placing them as working interns with the
local juvenile public defender. Students are assigned a caseload for which they
have primary responsibility under the supervision of an attorney in the
defender's office. They perform all investigation, interview, discovery, plea
bargain, and litigation functions on their cases.
About ten hours a week are required for casework and for office duties in the
defender's office. Academic background is provided by a class that meets two
hours a week; extra classes are held for the first three or four weeks to
prepare students to handle cases right away.
Students register for Law 397C and 297D. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail
basis. Students must have completed forty-three semester hours in law.
Recommended background classes include criminal law, criminal procedure, and
civil procedure.
In this clinic students mediate pending cases in the Justice of the Peace
courts in Travis and surrounding counties. Through practical experience in the
mediation process, students develop and refine the skills necessary for
mediation and for problem solving in general.
Students register for Law 397C. The course grade is based on the student's
weekly journal, class participation and presentation, and demonstration of
skills.
Students represent persons confined in the Austin State Hospital at civil
commitment hearings before the Travis County Probate Court. Weekly class
meetings are devoted to the substantive area of mental health law, instruction
in trial advocacy, and case review. Several short written assignments are
required, such as briefs and the preparation of cross examination.
Clinic students register for Law 397C and 397D on the pass/fail basis.
Completion of at least forty-three semester hours in law is a prerequisite;
preference is given to third-year students and those who have completed Law
283, 383, or 483.
All students are bound by the Institutional Rules on Student Services and
Activities given in General Information. Regulations and procedures
regarding student discipline and conduct are set forth in
chapter 11 of the rules.
Students in the School of Law are also bound by the following Honor Code.
The study of law is an integral part of the legal profession. Students engaged
in legal studies should learn the proper ethical standards as part of their
education. All members of the legal profession recognize the need to maintain a
high level of professional competence and integrity. A student at the
University of Texas at Austin School of Law is expected to adhere to the
highest standard of personal integrity. Each student is expected to compete
honestly and fairly with his or her peers. All law students are harmed by
unethical behavior by any student. A student who deals dishonestly with fellow
law students may be dishonest in the future and harm both future clients and
the legal profession. Under the honor system, the students must not tolerate
unethical behavior by their fellow students. A student who knows of unethical
behavior of another student is under an obligation to take the steps necessary
to expose this behavior. Students in the University of Texas at Austin School
of Law are governed by the Institutional Rules on Student Services and
Activities. Students may be subject to discipline for cheating, plagiarism, and
misrepresentations.
A student with fewer than twenty semester hours of credit in law may take no
more than fifteen semester hours a semester in the law school; a student with
credit for more than twenty semester hours may take no more than sixteen
semester hours a semester. In rare situations the assistant dean for student
affairs may, for good cause shown, permit a second- or third-year student to
register for more than sixteen hours. Law students may take courses in other
schools and colleges only with the express prior permission of the dean.
Normally, a student may not take a course in another school or college, except
an ROTC course, in addition to the maximum load in the law school.
During a long-session semester, a minimum load of ten semester hours is
required of all students with twenty semester hours of credit or more, and a
minimum load of fourteen semester hours is required of all students with fewer
than twenty semester hours of credit. A student may not take less than a
minimum load without special permission of the dean.
Law students are strongly advised that they should not work while in their
first year and that they should not work more than fifteen hours a week while
in their second and third years.
A student may drop a first-year course or seminar only with the written
approval of the dean; ordinarily, students are not permitted to drop Law 132,
232, or 332. In the long session, a student may drop other courses during the
first four weeks of the semester without the approval of the dean, provided
that the student remains enrolled for at least ten semester hours of
coursework; in the summer session, the student may drop courses (except
first-year courses and seminars) during the first week of the term without the
approval of the dean.
After the first four weeks of a semester, or the first week of a summer term,
courses may be dropped only with the written approval of the dean.
If a student stops attending class, at any time in the semester or summer
session, but fails to drop the course officially, then a grade of F will
be recorded for the course, the course will be counted as a course taken and
failed when the minimum performance standards are applied, and 1.30 grade
points will be used in calculating the student's overall average.
The faculty member in charge of a course may, with the consent of the dean,
drop a student from the course for poor daily attendance or classroom work or
for improper conduct in the classroom. The student is thereafter barred from
attending the course and from taking the examination in it.
Class attendance is required.
Permission to audit a course conveys the privilege of listening and observing
but not of handing in papers, taking part in discussion, or receiving
evaluations. An auditor does not receive University credit for the course, nor
is the course recorded on a transcript.
A University student who wishes to audit a law course should obtain a Class
Auditor Permit from the Office of the Registrar and secure the consent of the
course instructor and the assistant dean for student affairs. A separate,
additional petition to the assistant dean is required to audit a first-year
course. A nonstudent must obtain the Class Auditor Permit and the consent of
the instructor and assistant dean and must also pay a twenty-dollar auditor's
fee for each course; those who are sixty-five or older are exempt from this
fee.
Auditors are permitted only when space is available. No more than five auditors
are allowed in any section. A person may audit only one first-year law course a
semester and may audit a total of no more than four courses. Undergraduates are
not permitted to audit law courses. Instructors and the dean may refuse any
request to audit a course.
Nothing in these rules prohibits an instructor from permitting guests and
visitors.
The general rules governing withdrawal from the University are given in
General Information. In addition, the following rules apply to the
School of Law.
A person who has earned fewer than nine semester hours of credit in the School
of Law, has withdrawn, and then wishes to resume studies, must reapply for
admission to the School of Law. The reapplication for admission is handled and
evaluated as if it were an initial application. If the dean determines that the
student withdrew for good cause, his or her eligibility for admission is judged
by the standards in effect at the time of the previous admission.
A student who has withdrawn from the School of Law after receiving nine or more
semester hours of credit may return to the school if he or she was in good
standing at the time of withdrawal. Such a student is not subject to the
admission selection process; however, he or she must submit an application for
readmission to the School of Law.
Examinations in the School of Law are conducted in accordance with the
University of Texas at Austin School of Law Honor Code.
Written examinations are administered at the end of each semester and summer
term. When a course is continuous through two semesters or terms, a midcourse
examination is usually given. A schedule giving the time and place of each
final and midcourse examination is posted on the official bulletin board in
advance.
To postpone an examination, a student must obtain the approval of the assistant
dean for student affairs before the scheduled time of the examination. In an
emergency, approval may be given after the date of the examination. If a
student takes a postponed examination without permission of the assistant dean,
the student will be dropped from the course with a Q. A student who
fails to attend a final examination without the dean's consent may not take a
postponed or special examination and will receive no credit for the course; the
course will be counted as a course taken and failed when the minimum
performance standards are applied and a grade of F (1.30 grade points)
for the course will be used in calculating the student's grade point average.
The following letter grades are assigned in the School of Law: A+,
A, A-; B+, B, B-; C+, C;
D; and F. In calculating the grade point average for law courses,
an A+ counts as 4.30 points a semester hour; an A, as 4; an
A-, as 3.70; a B+, as 3.30; a B, as 3; a B-, as
2.70; a C+, as 2.30; a C, as 2; a D, as 1.70; and an
F, as 1.30. An explanation of the grading policy appears on the
student's transcript.
Grades, except those in seminars, are based primarily on examinations. In
two-semester first-year courses, a grade, based on an examination or other
work, should be given and reported to the student after the first semester. If
possible, some explanation should be given for the grade assigned. If such a
preliminary grade is given, the instructor has full discretion to determine how
the grade should be weighed in relation to the student's grade on the final
examination; however, some allowance should be made for improvement on the
final examination. Until the student has completed the second semester,
first-semester grades in two-semester courses are treated as final grades.
Grades in seminars are based primarily on individual research as reflected in a
paper and an oral report.
In general, students receive letter grades in law courses. The dean may
determine that pass/fail grading is preferable for a course. Courses that will
be offered only on the pass/fail basis are announced before registration.
A nonlaw graduate student who enrolls in a law school course offered for a
letter grade may register on the credit/no credit basis if permitted to do so
by his or her graduate adviser.
A student must receive a final grade of at least D in a course to
receive credit for that course. A student must have a grade point average of at
least 1.90 on all law courses taken to graduate from the School of Law.
Grades of F are included in the grade point average, but courses in
which the student earned an F are not counted toward the number of hours
required for a degree.
A student who has received final grades for more than twenty semester hours and
whose average falls below 1.80 is dropped from the law school for failure. A
student who has received final grades for more than twenty semester hours and
whose average is 1.80 to 1.89 is placed on scholastic probation. While on
scholastic probation, a student who fails to maintain a 1.90 average on all law
courses taken during any semester is dropped from the law school for failure.
A student who has been dropped for failure after receiving grades for
thirty-three or more semester hours will not be readmitted to the law school,
with this exception: if he or she has never been on scholastic probation in the
law school, he or she may be readmitted on scholastic probation for one
long-session semester. A student who has been dropped for failure after
receiving grades for fewer than thirty-three semester hours may be admitted as
a new student after he or she has remained out of law school for at least
twelve months. The Law School Admissions Committee may attach significance to
the prior failure. No student who has been dropped for failure from the School
of Law will be permitted, prior to readmission, to visit classes.
A student who fails a required course must repeat it once. A student who fails
an elective course may, at his or her option, repeat it once. The student may
not repeat any course more than once. Both the original and the subsequent
grade are used in computing the student's grade point average.
The Order of the Coif is a national law school honor society, founded to
encourage scholarship and to advance the ethical standards of the legal
profession. New members of the University chapter are chosen each fall from the
top 10 percent of the previous graduating class.
Established in 1912, Chancellors is the most prestigious honorary society of
the School of Law. The purpose of the society is to honor and reward students
who, through outstanding and consistent scholarship and achievement, have shown
themselves most likely to succeed and to become a credit to their profession
and their alma mater. Eligible for membership each year are the sixteen
students who have the highest grade point averages among those who are not
already members and who have completed forty-two semester hours of coursework
in the School of Law. The number of Chancellors selected in one academic year
is increased from time to time, but at no time does the total selected in any
year exceed 5 percent of the preceding senior class. The offices of Chancellors
are, in order of scholastic standing and rank: Grand Chancellor, Vice
Chancellor, Clerk, Keeper of Peregrinus, and, in equal rank, such
Chancellors-at-Large as are required to fill out the membership.
The Order of Barristers was established in 1965 to give recognition to the
outstanding participants in the Moot Court Competition. There are approximately
ninety member law schools from all parts of the nation. Membership is limited
to students who have demonstrated superior abilities in the preparation and
presentation of both written and oral argument. New members of the University
chapter are chosen by the Faculty Committee on Moot Court and Oral Advocacy; no
more than ten students are chosen each academic year. The Order of Barristers
was founded at the University of Texas School of Law; the law school remains
the site of the national secretary for this prestigious advocacy honor
society.
The School of Law does not participate in the American Jurisprudence Award
Program. Instead, it offers its own Dean's Achievement Award. The award is
given each semester to the outstanding student in each course, chosen from
among those with the highest grade. Seminars and courses offered only on the
pass/fail basis are excluded.
A student may receive a degree in the School of Law by fulfilling either the
requirements given in the catalog in effect at the time he or she entered the
school or those given in the catalog governing any subsequent year in which he
or she was in residence in the school. In any case, however, all the
requirements for a degree in the School of Law must be completed within five
years of the academic year on which the student's catalog eligibility is based.
If a student leaves school to enter military service during a national
emergency, the time required to meet the military obligation is excluded from
the time allowed for completion of the degree.
- No degree will be conferred except on dates publicly announced.
- The student must complete the last two long-session semesters, or their
equivalent, in residence in the School of Law of the University of Texas at
Austin.
- A candidate for a degree must be registered at the University in the
semester or summer session in which the degree is to be conferred, and must
apply to the dean for the degree no later than two weeks before the end of that
semester or summer session.
- The University holds commencement exercises at the end of the spring
semester. Students are encouraged to attend. Law school graduates are
encouraged to attend the school's Sunflower Ceremony, held each spring and
fall, for the semester in which they graduate; summer session graduates may
attend either ceremony.
Graduates of the School of Law who are judged by the faculty to have completed
their course of study with scholarly distinction are awarded degrees with
honors. In general, honors are awarded solely on the basis of work done at the
University's School of Law.
26 January 1996. Registrar's Web Team
Comments to rgcat@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu
