First year

The William Mitchell First-Year Curriculum

A solid foundation on which to build your career

William Mitchell’s first-year curriculum is designed to prepare you for practice.

The doctrinal focus of each of your first-year

classes serves as a vehicle for introducing

foundational themes of the legal system and

a platform for teaching practical skills. As a

result, you’ll get not only a broad overview of

the law, you’ll learn what lawyers do in the

real world, and begin to do that work yourself

from day one.

Our courses are integrated. They build on one

another, so you’ll see how the concepts and

skills you’ve learned in Civil Procedure relate to

Contracts and Property.

The first year at Mitchell is designed to help

you connect what you’re learning in class with

the array of lawyers’ work in the real world—

civil and criminal law, common law and

statutory law, transactional law, and dispute

resolution.

Required First-Year Doctrinal Courses

Civil Procedure: Dispute Resolution

You’ll generate, articulate, and evaluate

arguments to resolve procedural problems

associated with civil disputes arising from the

negligence or misconduct of others from the

perspective of different participants—the par-

ties, their advocates, and a judge or arbitrator.

You’ll also learn to explain, use, and evaluate

different methods of resolving disputes, again

from the perspective of all participants.

Contracts: Transactional Law

You’ll learn to determine whether a promise

is enforceable, the meaning of a contract,

whether a contract has been breached, and

parties’ resulting rights and duties. You’ll also

read contracts and negotiate and draft your

own two-party contract.

Constitutional Law, Liberties:

Advanced Legal Reasoning

You’ll critically evaluate U.S. Supreme Court

decisions, articulating the holding, rules,

rationales, and central disagreements among

the majority, concurring, and dissenting

opinions. You’ll also apply 14th Amendment

Equal Protection and Substantive Due Process

doctrines and the 1st Amendment Speech and

Religion doctrines to new factual situations.

Criminal Law: Statutory Interpretation

You’ll learn to articulate the elements of crimes

and affirmative defenses, but you’ll also be

asked to apply them to new factual scenarios.

You’ll also learn how to identify, explain, and

apply common methods of statutory inter-

pretation and to anticipate the arguments

attorneys in a criminal case would make.

Property: Jurisprudential Analysis

You’ll examine the legal rules relating to the

acquisition of property, the different owner-

ship interests one might acquire, the rights

associated with property ownership, and the

restrictions on those rights. You’ll apply what

you learn to different sets of facts. You’ll also

articulate various views on the theory of law

and explain how attorneys and judges would

use those theories in a property case.

Torts: Common Law Reasoning

You’ll learn to articulate the elements and

related doctrines of several intentional torts,

negligence, and strict liability, and apply those

legal rules to new facts. You’ll also learn to

read, analyze, and apply the holding, rule, and

reasoning of a case to new sets of facts, and

anticipate the arguments attorneys in a tort

suit might make.

Required First-Year Skills Course

Writing & Representation:

Advice & Persuasion (WRAP)

The best lawyers are excellent researchers,

writers, and orators, and this course is where

many of the top lawyers in the region got their

start. WRAP will help you begin to master the

skills needed to be an effective advocate—re-

searching, writing, interviewing, counseling,

and professionalism—in a small class setting.

You’ll take your classes for the entire year with

the same group of students—your “section.”

Although all students will take the same

courses in the first year, the days and times

these courses meet will vary from section to

section.

As you can see, your first year at Mitchell is

entirely devoted to ensuring that you have a

thorough understanding of core legal concepts

and skills as well as an understanding of the

level of professionalism it takes to reach your

goals.

Part Time

FALLTorts ........................... 4Crim .......................... 3WRAP ........................ 3Civ Pro (4 credits) taken in fall of 2L year

TOTAL CREDITS .........10

SPRINGContracts .................. 4Property .................... 4WRAP ........................ 3Con Law-Liberties (3 credits) taken in spring of 2L year

TOTAL CREDITS .........11

Full Time

FALLTorts ........................... 4Civ Pro ........................ 4Crim .......................... 3WRAP ......................... 3

TOTAL CREDITS .........14

SPRINGContracts ................... 4Property ..................... 4Con Law-Liberties ...... 3WRAP ......................... 3

TOTAL CREDITS .........14

A solid foundation on which to build your career

Full-Time Sample Schedule

Part-Time Day Sample Schedule

Part-Time Evening Sample Schedule

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

1:00

2:00

3:00

Civil Procedure FALL

Property SPRING

Torts FALL

Contracts SPRING

Civil Procedure FALL

Property SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

Most weeks class meets for 2 hours. Class meets for 3 hours 2-3 times a semester.

Torts FALL

Contracts SPRING

Criminal Law FALL

Con Law-Liberties SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

Criminal Law FALL

Con Law-Liberties SPRING

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

1:00

2:00

Torts FALL

Contracts SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

Most weeks class meets for 2 hours. Class meets for 3 hours 2-3 times a semester.

Torts FALL

Contracts SPRING

Criminal Law FALL

Con Law-Liberties SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

Criminal Law FALL

Con Law-Liberties SPRING

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

6:00

7:00

8:00

9:00

Torts FALL

Property SPRING

Crim Law FALL

Contracts SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

2-3 times a semester

Crim Law FALL

Contracts SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

Torts FALL

Property SPRING

WRAP FALL & SPRING

01197 2013-10

FIRST-YEAR CURRICULUM

Office of Admissions

875 Summit AvenueSt. Paul, Minnesota 55105

888-962-5529wmitchell.edu

Meet Mitchell Daysfor admitted students

Please plan to join us at one of the

upcoming Meet Mitchell Days for Ad-

mitted Students. You’ll meet your future

professors and classmates, start building

connections with alumni, and begin to

experience what your life at Mitchell will

be like when you start classes in the fall.

Friday, March 14or Friday, April 11

Invitations will be sent to your email

address. We can’t wait to welcome you

to campus!