III. Enrollment Policies

LL.M. students are required to undertake a minimum of 12 units per semester and may not take more than 16 units per semester without the written approval of the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The ABA currently limits students to a maximum of 17 units per semester.

  1. Not less than one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and two hours of out-of-class student work per week for fifteen weeks (including one week for a final examination), or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time (See also ABA Standard 310 and Interpretations 310-1 and 310-2); or

  2. At least an equivalent amount of work as required in I.A.1 for other academic activities, including Independent Study, simulations, externships, field placements, clinical and other academic work for which units of credit are awarded.
  1. Standard Term Courses: The deadline for adding a law school course is noon on Friday of the second full week of the semester. After the Add Deadline has passed, a course may be added only between the third and end of the sixth full week of class. The request must be approved in writing by, and the permission of, the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who add a standard term course between the third and sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee. After noon on Friday of the sixth full week, students can no longer enroll in a standard term course offered that semester.

  2. Classes That Begin After the Sixth Week of the Standard Term: The deadline for adding a law school course that begins after the sixth week of the semester will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The deadline will be published in the law school catalogue and announced in writing to the student body. The request to add the course must be made in writing to the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who add the course after the sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee.
  1. Standard Term Courses: The deadline for dropping a semester-long law school course is noon on Friday of the second full week of the semester. Faculty may set an earlier deadline to drop a class; the earlier deadline must be published in both the Course Catalogue and in the class syllabus. If an earlier deadline is set, it is a violation of the Law School Honor Code (see Appendix 2. A.) to drop a class after that deadline without written permission fromthe instructor and the Assistant Dean for Student Services.

  2. After the second full week of the standard term semester has passed, a standard term course may be dropped only between the third and end of the sixth full week of class. The request must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who drop a standard term course between the third and sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee.

  3. After noon on Friday of the sixth full week, students may no longer drop a standard term course offered that semester.

  4. LL.M students may not drop a required class except in extraordinary circumstances as determined by and with the permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services.

  5. Short-Session Courses: The deadline for dropping an upper-level law school course offered during the short-session is 9:00 a.m. on the second day of short-session instruction. Students cannot drop a short- session course after the second day of short-session instruction except in extraordinary circumstances as determined by and with the permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services.

  6. Courses That Begin After the Sixth Week of the Standard Term: The deadline for dropping a law school course that begins after the sixth full week of the semester will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The deadline will be set for a date after the class begins. The request to drop the course must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who drop the course after the sixth week of the semester will be assessed a fee. The deadline will be published in the law school catalogue and announced in writing to the student body.
  1. LL.M. students are not allowed to enroll in courses offered as a part of the first-year J.D. curriculum.

  2. LL.M. students may only enroll in clinical and experiential courses with instructor consent, and subject to space availability.

  3. An experiential course is a clinic, simulation or other course that may include a combination of live client and simulation instruction, or an externship or field placement.

  4. A clinic is a course in which students work on actual client matters or serve as a third party neutral and are supervised by a faculty member.

  5. A simulation course uses simulated exercises that provide students with the experience of a lawyers advising or representing a client, or engaging in other lawyering tasks.

  6. An externship is a field placement course in which LL.M. students receive credit for serving under the direct supervision of a judge, licensed attorney, or other pre-approved supervisor in a government agency or public interest/non-profit organization.
  1. Standard Term Courses: The deadline for changing the grading option of a semester-long upper-level law school course is noon on Friday of the second full week of the semester. After the Grading Change Option Deadline has passed, the grading option for a standard term course may be changed only between the third and end of the sixth full week of class. Any change in the grading option for Directed Research courses must be approved in writing by the course instructor and approved in writing by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. Students who change the grading option between the third and sixth full week of the semester will be assessed a fee. After noon on Friday of the sixth full week, students can no longer change the grading option in a standard term course offered that semester.

  2. Short-Session Courses: The deadline for changing the grading option of a short-session upper-level law school course is noon on the last day of short-session instruction. If the last day of the short-session falls on a Saturday, the deadline to change the grading option of the short-session class is 8:00 a.m. the following working day.

  3. Courses That Begin After the Sixth Week of the Standard Term: The deadline for changing the grading option in a law school course that begins after the sixth week of the standard term will be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services. The deadline will be set for a date after the class begins. Students who change the grading option in the course after the sixth week in the semester will be assessed a fee. The deadline will be published in the law school catalogue and announced in writing to the student body.

Auditing of classes is not allowed. UCI Senate Regulation 340 states: “No student may enter upon any organized instructional activity until the student has registered and enrollment has been approved by the appropriate study list authority.”

LL.M. students may earn credit for student-initiated educational projects (independent study) including, among others, individual self- education projects conducted under the active supervision of a member of the faculty; group research-and-writing or study projects conducted under the active supervision of a member of the faculty; individual research-and-writing projects conducted under the active supervision of a member of the faculty. Students may earn up to three units of credit for any one independent study or directed research project. These projects will be evaluated on an A-F basis (see VI. B.), unless the student(s) and the instructor agree in advance and indicate on the appropriate petition to the Assistant Dean for Student Services that work on the project will graded on a Credit/No Credit basis.

Classroom instruction is a crucial component of law school learning. Students are required to attend all classes for the courses in which they are enrolled. Students are not permitted to enroll in courses, including courses outside the law school that have conflicting class schedules.

For good cause shown, an exception may be made to this policy if the instructors of both courses agree, and the student can demonstrate that the total instructional requirements for both courses will be satisfied under ABA Standard 310. For such an exception, a petition must be completed and signed by the Assistant Dean for Student Services.

  1. LL.M. students may, with the prior written permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Services, enroll in upper division or graduate-level courses given by other faculties of the University and receive LL.M. credit for this work. Such courses must be taken on a graded (as opposed to a Credit/No Credit) basis. In the event a course is only offered on a Credit/No Credit basis, the law student must seek written approval from the Assistant Dean for Student Services of the School of Law (and the Assistant Dean of LL.M. and International Student Programs) prior to enrolling in the course. The grades earned in such courses (graded or Credit/No Credit) will not be calculated into the LL.M. student’s overall GPA.

  2. The Assistant Dean for Student Services (and the Assistant Dean of LL.M. and International Student Programs) may limit the number of courses and amount of unit credit to be counted and may impose minimum grade requirements and other conditions as a prerequisite to receiving credit toward the LL.M. The number of LL.M. units awarded towards the LL.M. degree for courses taken outside the School of Law shall be determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Services, but shall not in any event exceed 3 units.
  1. LL.M. students shall not receive academic credit for courses taken at another accredited law school toward satisfaction of past degree requirements. This also includes credits earned at foreign law schools.
  1. The Law School requires that students attend the classes inwhich they are enrolled and for which they will be receiving academic credit. Students are expected to be prepared for and promptly attend all class meetings for a course.

  2. If a student must miss a class because of an unavoidable urgent matter, the student is responsible for contacting the instructor or the Assistant Dean for Student Services as soon as the problem presents itself.