Supervised Independent Study - Law 961

A student may earn credit for independent study in two ways. The first is by researching and writing a paper in an area of law approved by a faculty member. Proper Bluebook citation is required. Upon the student's completion of the paper, the faculty member will determine the final letter grade for the course. A minimum paper length of 5000 words (excluding footnotes) is required for the award of two credits; a minimum paper length of 7500 words (excluding footnotes) is required for the award of three credits. Supervised Independent Study credit earned for writing a research paper may satisfy the student's AWR-Research requirement so long as the paper complies with all prerequisites for obtaining AWR-Research credit.

The second way a student may earn credit for independent study is by participating in specialized moot court competitions such as the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the Tax Law Moot Court Competition, the Intellectual Property Law Moot Court Competition, and the National Telecommunications Law Moot Court Competition. Upon completion of the competition, the supervising faculty member will determine the final letter grade based upon the written brief and the student's final practice oral argument prior to attending the competition. A student will receive two credits for brief writing and participating in the oral argument, and one credit for brief writing only.

Beginning in academic year 2026-2027, a student may earn up to two credit hours for independent study by researching and writing a paper in an area of law approved by a faculty member. Proper Bluebook citation is required. Upon the student's completion of the paper, the faculty member will determine the final letter grade for the course. A minimum paper length of 6000 words (inclusive of footnotes) is required. Supervised Independent Study credit earned for writing a research paper may satisfy the student's AWR-Research requirement so long as the paper complies with all prerequisites for obtaining AWR-Research credit.

This course description replaces the previous course description in its entirety.