Upper-Class Writing Requirement

Intent to Fulfill the Upper-Class Writing Requirement Form

You must satisfy the Upper-Class Writing Requirement in order to graduate.

You may complete the UCWR in one of four ways:

  1. Complete one Longer Research Paper or Series of Papers totaling 6000 words or more, excluding footnotes, involving substantial legal analysis and research written in a single seminar, course, clinic, or independent study, for a journal, or by the moot court directors for one of the law school’s intramural moot court competitions. If the requirement is satisfied by a series of papers, at least one paper of 3000 words or more must involve substantial legal research.
  2. Complete two Shorter Papers of 3000 words or more, excluding footnotes, involving substantial legal analysis written for two separate seminars, courses, clinics, or independent studies. One such paper must involve substantial research.
  3. Complete with a grade of B or better one designated Dedicated Research and Writing Course in which legal research and writing is the primary focus and in which assignments totaling at least 6000 words, excluding footnotes, are required. Assignments of at least 3000 words must involve substantial legal research.
  4. Satisfy both of the following:
  5. Complete with a grade of B or better a designated Professional Writing Course, in which professional legal writing (without a focus on research) is the primary focus and in which assignments totaling at least 3000 words, excluding footnotes, are required and
  6. Complete one Shorter Research Paper of 3000 words or more, excluding footnotes, involving substantial legal analysis and research written in a separate seminar, course, clinic, or independent study.

You can find more detailed information on the requirement in the JD Student Handbook.

In order to fulfill the requirement, you need an advisor.

  1. For any seminar, course, or Supervised Research and Writing (Independent Study) project, the instructor’s signature is required.
  2. For an Esdaile, Stone, or Albers Moot Court problem and bench memo, the Director of the First-Year Writing Program must sign the form.
  3. For those satisfying the UCWR through a journal note, you will have get a faculty advisor and sign up for a non-credit Independent Study. (This does not affect the credits that you get through your journal.)

Note: It is the responsibility of the student to find a faculty advisor.  However, if you have tried and cannot find one, we are willing to help.  Here are the steps:

  1. Do your best to find an advisor. A list of potential advisors, along with their areas of interest is here.
  2. If you have approached several faculty members and have not been able to secure their agreement to be your advisor, please fill out this Request an Advisor Form, and we will help you to find an advisor.
  3. In order to fulfill the requirement, you need to file an Intent to Fulfill Requirement Form.

Upper-class students must file an Intent to Fulfill the Upper-Class Writing Requirement Upper-Class Writing Requirement form no later than the last day of the add/drop period of the semester in which the students intends to satisfy the Requirement, and in any event no later than the last day of the add/drop period in the student’s fifth semester—even if the student intends to satisfy the Requirement in the following semester. Otherwise, the student’s attempted registration will not be effective.

Note:  Students working with part-time adjunct faculty must file a 1–2 page prospectus outlining the subject matter of the paper, the question that the paper will try to answer, and the plan of research to the adjunct professor. If the proposal meets the adjunct’s approval, they will forward it to the Vice Dean for Faculty.

Deadlines:

First Draft Deadline – All students in their final semester who have not been certified as having completed the Requirement must provide a first draft of the Upper-class Writing Requirement to their faculty advisor no later than the last class day of the fourth week of the student’s final semester.

Additional Information

  1. Seminars and the Writing Requirement

Almost all seminars (and some courses) provide opportunities for fulfilling all or part of the writing requirement. Students should be aware of the following considerations:

  • Not all students in a given seminar may be able to satisfy the writing requirement through that seminar. Advance approval of the instructor in writing is required for a student to undertake a paper of the type required by the upper-class writing requirement. In some seminars students will not be able to complete the writing requirement. This will be usually be noted in the seminar description.
  • In seminars taught by an adjunct, additional approval of the Vice Dean for Faculty is required.
  • In seminars requiring papers, those who are submitting papers for the writing requirement may be required to write longer papers and to revise them more often. The paper may be turned in for a grade before it is ready to satisfy the writing requirement. With the permission of the instructor, the student may continue to work on the paper the following semester for purposes of the writing requirement. (This does not apply to third-year students in their final semester.)
  • In seminars requiring multiple shorter papers, the student, with the instructor’s permission, may write a long paper satisfying the writing requirement. This paper may be written in addition to the shorter papers or in place of the shorter papers at the professor’s discretion.
  • In seminars requiring multiple shorter papers, the professor may agree to supervise a longer paper independent of the seminar and to give additional credit for Supervised Research and Writing.

Note that a student may not take written work done for one professor and use it as the basis for satisfying the Writing Requirement with another professor without the advance permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

  1. Clinical Program

You can satisfy the Upper-Class Writing Requirement with a paper written in conjunction with a clinical program.

  1. Supervised Research & Writing Project (Independent Study)

A Supervised Research & Writing project (also known as an Independent Study) may satisfy the requirement and allow you to earn a maximum of 2 semester credits. Students interested in this option must file two forms with the Registrar’s Office: the Intent to Complete the Upper-Class Writing Requirement form, and the Supervised Research and Writing form. You may learn more about pursuing an independent study by consulting the Student Handbook.

  1. Non-Credit Independent Study (Independent Research Paper)

You may fulfill the requirement by independently working on a paper with a School of Law faculty member. Students opting for this choice must file the Intent to Complete the Upper-Class Writing Requirement Form with the Registrar’s Office or Request an Advisor.

  1. Moot Court Problem and Bench Memo

You may satisfy the writing requirement through a faculty-supervised moot court problem and bench memo based upon advanced moot court (Esdaile, Stone, Albers) or similar co-curricular work. To fulfill this requirement, you must complete a moot court problem and bench memo at least 6,000 words in length, not counting footnotes. If pursuing this option, your work must be supervised and the Intent Form must be signed by the Director of the First-Year Writing Program. Advanced moot court briefs do NOT independently satisfy the Upper-Class Writing Requirement.

  1. Dedicated Research & Writing Course

Students may be able to satisfy the writing requirement by receiving a B or above in a dedicated research and writing course, provided that research is a significant part of the course, that the assignments require a minimum of 6,000 words of final output, and that supervision and feedback satisfy the requirements of Article IV in the Student Handbook. Only classes that specify they are Dedicated Research & Writing Courses in the course description are eligible for this option.

  1. Professional Writing Course

Students may partially satisfy the requirement by completing, with a grade of B or better, a designated professional writing course, in which professional legal writing is the primary focus and in which assignments totaling at least 3,000 words are required, with feedback and revision. Only classes that specify they are Professional Writing Courses in the course description are eligible for this option. The second part of the requirement must be completed with one shorter research paper of 3,000 words or more involving substantial legal analysis and research written in a seminar, course, clinic, or independent study.