CERTIFICATE
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
MEMORANDUM
PDF
Format
This memo details the requirements for the Certificate
in Labor and Employment Law. Because we cannot promise which courses
will be taught each semester, and because you may wonder whether
a particular course fulfills the elective or seminar requirement,
please feel free to e-mail us, to stop by our offices, or to make
an appointment to talk about any questions you have.
We urge you to view the certificate program as value added. It
is not a substitute for a broad based legal education. You should
plan to take a number of basic courses, such as Business Organizations,
Evidence, Personal Income Tax, Commercial Law, and Estates and
Trusts. Each member of the
faculty has his or her personal list of the "essentials"
or "what every lawyer should know." Consider the viewpoints
of several faculty members, and the recommended list of courses,
in deciding what to include in your plans.
A. Requirements for the Certificate:
To earn the Certificate in Labor and Employment Law, you must
take a total of seven courses. Two of the seven — Legal
Writing IV and a seminar — satisfy parts of your upper class
writing requirement.
There are four basic courses that every student in the certificate
program must take: Labor Law, Employment Relationships, Employment
Discrimination, and Legal Writing IV—Labor/Employment Law.
Students must also satisfy a Practicum requirement by taking either
the four credit-hour Employment Law Clinic, a Labor/Employment
Law Externship, or Employment Litigation. The practicum requirement
should not be satisfied until your final year of law school.
(You may be interested in taking Employment Law Clinic during
your second year of law school. While you are certainly permitted
to do so, and will likely learn much from the experience, Clinic
will not fulfill the Practicum requirement unless you take it
for four credit-hours during your last year of law school.)
Each student must take an additional labor/employment law elective.
Over the last several years, acceptable electives have included
Workers Compensation, Employee Benefits Law, ADR in the Workplace
and Disability Law. You may satisfy this requirement anytime.
If you have any questions about whether a particular course
offering satisfies the elective requirement, please contact Professor
Malin or Professor Strubbe. Finally, each student must take
a labor/employment-related seminar. Seminars are taken in your
final year of law school. Therefore, do not register for a
seminar for next year, unless it will be your final year in law
school.
Note: You may not take the requirements on a pass/fail
basis except for courses that are only offered pass/fail (such
as Labor/Employment Law Externship).
Note: Personal Income Tax should be taken prior to or concurrently
with Employee Benefits Law.
B. Information about Practicum Options
Labor/Employment Law Externship: is offered only in the
fall. The externship involves a commitment of 15 hours per week
to your externship placement and a one hour classroom component.
Fortunately the demand for our externs exceeds the supply and
we are usually able to place students in the type of externship
they desire, such as a management, union or employee-plaintiff
law firm; in-house with a union or employer, or a government agency.
Because students find it very difficult to work part-time while
externing, we have a pool of scholarship money available, based
on financial need, for students in the externship program. Contact
Professor
Soliunas ASAP for more information.
Employment Litigation class: will be offered only in the
fall, in the evening. Employment Litigation is designed to simulate
working with a client in an employment discrimination suit.
Employment Law Clinic: is offered fall, spring and summer.
The certificate program has four slots per semester reserved in
the Clinic, with Professors Richard Gonzalez and Laurie Leader.
You must take Employment Law Clinic for four credits to use it
to fulfill the practicum requirement.
Questions or Additional Information:
Please contact the Program Director,
Professor Martin Malin, Assistant Director,
Professor Mary Rose Strubbe or Executive Director,
Francine Soliunas
|
