Summary of Changes, 2012-13

INTRODUCTION

In an effort to keep students abreast of changes to the Student Handbook, this year we have put together a brief document summarizing the significant substantive changes and/or clarifications made to the Student Handbook for the 2012-2013 academic year. While other changes have been made, they are primarily stylistic or informational (updating addresses, telephone numbers, etc.). Students are still expected to familiarize themselves with the contents of the entire Student Handbook.[1]

Please note that the Student Handbook contains an interpretation of faculty-developed academic policies. If you have questions regarding implementation of academic policies, please contact the Office of the Dean of Students or the Office of the Registrar. For information regarding the genesis and development of academic policies, please contact the Deputy Dean. For information on non-academic policies contained within the Student Handbook or other questions about the Law School, the University, or life in general, please contact the Office of the Dean of Students.

Sincerely,

The Office of the Dean of Students

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES OR CLARIFICATIONS

1. EDUCATION RECORDS (Previously, “ACADEMIC RECORDS”)

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: In the event that an error or errors arising from clerical, technical, or other issues, is/are discovered in a student’s education records, the Law School reserves the right to correct all affected record(s) at any time. (Section 1.1, p. 4)
   

2. Added: Students and alumni also have the right to request to have education records that they believe are inaccurate corrected. To do so, students/alumni should follow the grievance procedure set forth elsewhere in this Student Handbook regarding inaccurate grades, or the policy set forth in the University’s Student Manual of University Policies and Regulations regarding non-grade corrections to a student’s education record. (Section 1.1, p. 4)

1.6 CLINICAL & EXPERIENTIAL PROGRAMS

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: Students may enroll in two clinics simultaneously with written permission of the relevant clinical supervisors. Students may enroll in more than one clinic during their time at the Law School.  If there is more demand for a clinic than supply in any given year, a student who has not yet had a clinical opportunity shall receive preference over a student who has already participated in one clinic and seeks to enroll in a different one. (Section 1.6, p. 8, new text is emphasized)

1.7 COURSE EVALUATIONS

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: Beginning in Autumn 2012, course evaluations for selected courses are expected to be made available online. Evaluations from all faculty for Fall 2011 and subsequent quarters will be made available, subject to the exceptions listed below. (Section 1.7, p. 9)
   

2. Added: Evaluations from a course taught by a faculty member for the first time, regardless of whether the instructor is tenured or untenured, will not be available online, with the proviso that an instructor may opt-in to making course evaluations available online after seeing the evaluations. Evaluations for a course taught by a faculty member for the first time who has not opted-in to making course evaluations available online will be made available in paper form at the Circulation Desk in the D’Angelo Law Library. Evaluations of Bigelow Fellows will not be made available in either electronic or paper form. (Section 1.7, p. 9)

3. Added: Evaluations will not be made available to faculty or students until grades for the class have been submitted to the Office of the Registrar. For paper classes, evaluations will be available online once 90% of students have received final grades for the class or six months have passed since the final class session, whichever comes first. (Section 1.7, p. 10)

1.9 BUSINESS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

This section is a new addition to the Student Handbook:

1. Added: In the 2012-2013 academic year, the Law School will begin phasing in a new and innovative curriculum called the Business Leadership Program (BLP). The purpose of the BLP curriculum is to provide Law School students with substantive business skills so they can excel either as business lawyers at law firms, inside counsel, or business entrepreneurs and executives. Each year, the courses will vary and will typically be taught by noted experts in the field from either the Law School or the Booth School of Business faculties. Sometimes, the courses will require either mandatory or suggested pre-requisites (e.g., it is recommended that students take one of the Accounting classes in the Autumn or Winter quarters prior to enrolling in Accounting and Financial Analysis for Debt and Equity Markets and Transaction Structuring (LAWS 79103)). It is therefore recommended that you read all of the BLP course descriptions carefully.

This year, in addition to our regular curriculum, BLP courses will include:

• Accounting & Financial Analysis for Debt & Equity Markets & Transaction Structuring
• Corporate and Entrepreneurial Finance
• Corporate Finance
• Corporate Management and Decisionmaking
• Leadership
• Major Corporate Transactions: Legal & Business Issues
• Strategies and Processes of Negotiations
• Theories of Financial Regulation
  (Section 1.9, pp. 14-15)

1.10 REGISTERING FOR CLASSES

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: Please note, however, that LL.M. students must earn a minimum of 30 credits from the Law School to sit for the New York bar exam. (Section 1.10, p. 15)
2. Changed: Students are required to drop all seminars and simulation classes in excess of the four seminar rule before the third week of the quarter. Previously, students were required to drop such classes by the second week of the quarter. (Section 1.10, p. 16)
3. Changed: Multi-quarter seminars count as one seminar. Previously, seminars with a total aggregate of up to three units counted as one seminar, and as two seminars if more than three units. (Section 1.10, p. 16)
4. Added: Limit on Enrollment in Corporate Lab & Courses Taught by Corporate Lab Faculty. Beginning with the Law School Class of 2014, students may enroll in no more than 14 total credits with the Associate Dean for Corporate and Legal Affairs and any other instructor who teaches in the Corporate Lab, including no more than 9 credits in the Corporate Lab itself. All credits taken during the 2L and 3L years with any instructor who teaches in the Corporate Lab count toward this 14 credit limit.

   Members of the Law School Class of 2013 may enroll in no more than a total of 24 credits with the Associate Dean for Corporate and Legal Affairs and any other instructor who teaches in the Corporate Lab, including no more than 9 credits in the Corporate Lab itself and no more than 14 credits during the students’ 3L year. The Corporate Lab instructors for the 2012-13 school year are expected to be Michael Bloom, Sean Kramer, and Dean David Zarfes.

   This policy is being implemented in consultation with the Associate Dean for Corporate and Legal Affairs. The Associate Dean for Corporate and Legal Affairs teaches many more classes than any other faculty member, and the Corporate Lab involves more credits than any other clinic offered at the Law School. The Dean and the Associate Dean for Corporate and Legal Affairs have determined that this policy is necessary to ensure that students do not take a disproportionate number of credits during their 2L and 3L years from a single faculty member. (Section 1.10, p. 16)

5. Added: It is the student’s responsibility to make sure classes are dropped by the deadline. Students should not assume that by not attending the first meeting they have been dropped from a class. (Section 1.10, p. 17)
6. Added: The maximum number of credits in which a student can be registered via the bidding process is 14. (Section 1.10, p. 17)
7. Added: Greenberg Seminars do not count towards the 4-seminar rule. (Section 1.10, p. 18)
8. Added: Law students registered in cross-listed classes must register for the classes using the LAWS-prefixed course number and also must receive a numerical grade. (Section 1.10, p. 18)

1.11 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: Independent Research may be supervised by a member of the faculty (including Emeriti, Visiting Faculty, Schwartz Lecturers, and Senior Lecturers at the Law School, as well as tenured University faculty who maintain permanent offices in the Law School, but excluding Bigelow and other Fellows and Lecturers in Law) who is in full-time residence at the Law School. (Section 1.11, p. 21)

2. Added: Visiting faculty may supervise independent research if they are willing to do so and if they are available to work with students until the independent research is completed, which in many cases will be after their visit has ended. (Section 1.11, p. 21)

3. Added: Lecturers may not supervise independent research without advance approval. (Section 1.11, p. 21)

4. Added: Students who would like to work with a Lecturer on an independent research project must submit a request to the Rules and Petitions Committee (via the Dean of Students) for advance permission to do so. (Section 1.11, p. 21)

1.14 EXAM POLICIES

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: Students should note that the Law School expects to adopt exam software prior to the commencement of Autumn quarter exams. New exam procedures will be announced prior to the exam period. (Section 1.14, p. 25)

2. Added: Students are permitted the use of a single laptop during each in-class exam. The use of cell phones, tablets (iPads, etc.), second laptops, or other similar devices is strictly prohibited, absent use of such a device as an approved ADA accommodation. (Section 1.14, p. 25)

1.16 JOINT AND CONCURRENT DEGREES

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: Students who are enrolled in concurrent J.D. and Ph.D. programs at the University of Chicago can count up to 25 credits earned outside the Law School towards their J.D. degrees. This credit would only be awarded for graduate coursework undertaken in a Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago, only for coursework undertaken after a student has matriculated at the Law School, and only for coursework approved by the Deputy Dean in consultation with the Dean of Students. This benefit is limited to students who do complete both degrees. Students who have not earned a Ph.D. by the time they receive their J.D. therefore may apply no more than 12 credits earned outside the Law School towards their J.D. degrees. Students who began their studies in a Ph.D. program before matriculating at the Law School are eligible to count up to 25 credits earned outside the Law School toward their J.D. degrees only if they have matriculated at the Law School within three years of beginning their Ph.D. programs.[2] (Section 1.16, p. 30)

2. Added: Students in J.D./Ph.D. programs who began their law studies at the Law School would need to complete at least 80 credits of coursework at the Law School to obtain their J.D.s. These 80 credits could be earned during two years of intensive study at the Law School. All J.D./Ph.D. students who transferred to the Law School from another school must earn at least 90 credits at the Law School to obtain their J.D. As of the time of this rule’s adoption in 2012, any J.D./Ph.D. students planning to seek admission to the New York Bar must earn 90 credits at the Law School because of that state bar’s rules for admission. J.D./Ph.D. students planning to practice outside New York should research the rules of the state bar to which they are hoping to be admitted. In addition, any student wishing to pursue a J.D./Ph.D. must keep in mind that American Bar Association rules require all J.D. degrees to be completed within 84 months of a student’s matriculation to law school. (Section 1.16, p. 30)

3. Added: The Law School is flexible in giving students leaves of absence so that they may register full time in other areas of the University, so long as such a leave will not prevent the student from finishing the J.D. within the ABA’s 84-month time limit. (Section 1.16, p. 30)

1.17 JOURNALS

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Changed: Approximately 12% of the first-year class is selected for The Law Review on the basis of grades. Previously, approximately 10% of the first-year class was selected for The Law Review. (Section 1.17, p. 32)

2. Changed: Twelve students are also selected for The Law Review through the writing competition. Previously, approximately ten students were selected for the Law Review through the writing competition. (Section 1.17, p. 32)

1.18 MOOT COURT

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications, which adds information previously provided in the Student Organization Handbook:

1. Added: Students often participate in moot court competitions hosted by other law schools. Students may participate in outside moot court competitions, so long as they do not require the student participants to miss any classes or exams or otherwise interfere with their coursework. Students may not receive course credit for moot court competitions or similar activities, such as mock arbitrations. (Section 1.18, p. 34)
2. Added: As a general rule, the Law School does not provide funding for outside moot competitions. There may, however, be special funds available from donors depending on the competition topic. If such funding is available, it is typically capped at $500 per team and may be used to cover registration costs. To learn whether funding is available, please contact the Dean of Students or the Associate Director of Student Affairs. (Section 1.18, p. 34)

6. DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

This section contains the following substantive changes or clarifications:

1. Added: A complainant should make every effort to include in the complaint all germane facts known at that time and provide all available supporting materials. Normally, once a Law School Disciplinary Committee is convened, the complaint will not be revised to include new or different allegations or supporting materials. However, once a Law School Disciplinary Committee is convened, the Law School Dean of Students, in consultation with the Office of the Vice-President, Campus and Student Life, may decline to investigate, or recommend that the Law School Disciplinary Committee or another Law School Disciplinary Committee should decide new or different allegations based on facts that were known or should have been known to the complainant at the time of the initial complaint. On the rare occasion that the accused student makes a complaint against the complainant, the Law School Dean of Students may investigate the accused student’s complaint at or about the same time he or she investigates the complainant’s complaint. The Law School Dean of Students may decline to recommend that a Law School Disciplinary Committee hear either complaint or one of the complaints. The Law School Dean of Students also may recommend that both complaints be simultaneously heard by a single Law School Disciplinary Committee or heard separately by the same or different Law School Disciplinary Committees. (Section 6, pp. 51-52)
2. Added: To the section, “Allegation of Misconduct by an Individual (Not Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, or a Sex Offense):

   If the Dean of the Law School decides that a Law School Disciplinary Committee is to be convened, the Law School Dean of Students will ask the complainant to submit in writing the allegation as well as any available documentation supporting the allegation. The Dean of Students will inform the accused student of the allegation, give the accused student a copy of the Law School disciplinary procedures and ask the accused student to prepare a written response to the accusation. If there were witnesses to the alleged misconduct, the Dean of Students may ask pertinent witnesses to come before the Disciplinary Committee to answer questions and/or may ask witnesses to submit a written statement. Witnesses asked to submit a written statement will also be asked to sign a release to share their witness statement with the accused student. Pending the Law School Disciplinary Committee proceedings, the Dean of Students may impose an interim suspension or any other interim measure to ensure the safety and well-being of others or to ensure the accused student’s own safety and well-being. The Dean of Students has the authority to inform the University Registrar not to release the academic record of the accused student pending the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings. (Section 6, p. 52)

3. Changed: In the section, “Allegation of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault or a Sex Offense”: At least one student, and no more than two students, must be appointed to the Law School Disciplinary Committee, unless both the accused and the complainant and/or the alleged victim[3] object in writing to the participation of students on the Law School Disciplinary Committee. Any student members of the Disciplinary Committee must be graduate or professional school students who are from a different division or school than the Law School. Previously, the Disciplinary Procedures specified that the Disciplinary Committee may have as many as two student members and, if requested by the accused student, must have at least one student member. (Section 6, p. 55)
4. Added: In the section, “Allegation of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault or a Sex Offense”: If the accused student has been accused of misconduct before, the Dean of Students may inform the Law School Disciplinary Committee of the previous accusation, other pertinent information related to the previous allegation, and of any disciplinary action. (Section 6, p. 56)
   
5. Added: In the section, “Review Process”:

Allegation of Misconduct by an Individual or Group (Not Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault or a Sex Offense)

If a disciplined student (or, in the event of an allegation of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or a sex offense, the complainant), wishes to request a review of the decision, the student must make that request in writing to the Campus and Student Life not more than fifteen days following the issuance of the written notification of the decision of the Law School Disciplinary Committee. The student must submit the request for review and supporting material in writing. At the request of the student, the student may be granted an additional fifteen days to prepare those materials. The only legitimate grounds for review are (1) that prescribed procedures were not followed and (2) that new and material information unavailable to the Law School Disciplinary Committee bears significantly in the student’s favor.

Allegation of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault or Sex Offense by an Individual or Group

When a Law School Disciplinary Committee has made a determination regarding allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or a sexual offense, the accused student and the complainant each may request a review of the decision regarding those allegations. The only legitimate grounds for review are: (1) that prescribed procedures were not followed, or (2) that new and material information unavailable to the Law School Disciplinary Committee bears significantly in the accused student’s or complainant’s favor.

(Section 6, p. 62-63)

Download a PDF of the Summary of Changes.