Curriculum
Curriculum Planning
Faculty Advisement
UNM law students should plan their curriculum program with their selected faculty advisor.
Certificate Programs
Law students enrolled in a certificate program will plan their curriculum courses of study with their program advisor.
Families
The law school upper class curriculum is arranged by families. The families are designed to group courses into concentrations. Many courses are in more than one family. The families are not intended to replace faculty advisement. They are simply a tool for the faculty advisor and student to use in planning the students' two-year upper class program of studies.
Clinics, Journals and Competitions
Clinics, journals, and competitions are not part of the listed families. Your faculty advisor takes these areas into account when helping students with curriculum choices and planning.
Course Frequency
Each course listed in the families has a letter designation appended to the course name. The letter designation denotes how often a course is offered. The keys represent minimum course frequency. Courses may be offered more frequently than indicated by the key. The keys are intended as a curriculum planning aid; they do not represent sequencing recommendation for students. The curriculum is always subject to faculty change.
Course Frequency Key
- A = offered every semester
- B = offered one semester every year
- C = offered every other year
- D = offered when student interest and faculty availability allow
Upper Class Curriculum
The upper class curriculum is less structured than the first year. There are only three required courses: Constitutional Rights, Ethics and Clinic. Students must also fulfill the advanced writing requirement, through a writing requirement seminar. The balance of the credit hours are filled with elective courses.
Required Courses
In the first semester of the second year, students are assigned to a section of Constitutional Rights. This course builds upon the concepts studied in the first year Introduction to Constitutional Law. Constitutional Rights explores the building blocks of civil rights law, with particular emphasis upon the concepts of equal protection and due process. Students will also study litigation strategy and the decision-making processes of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Students are required to take Ethics during either the second or third year. Ethics covers the ABA Rules of Professional Responsibility, the New Mexico Rules of Professional Responsibility, and the similarities and differences between them. The class also studies the Code of Judicial Conduct and major cases that discuss important ethical issues. Class discussions focus on the duties of confidentiality, competence, and loyalty; acquisition and retention of clients; and problems concerning the quality of representation.
Elective Courses
Through their second and third year elective courses, students may explore a myriad of substantive legal subjects, encompassing differing fields of practice, as well as legal theory, skills, and process. Classes are arranged topically to assist students in developing expertise in particular areas of law.
Certificate Programs
The Law School offers two certificate programs for students seeking a higher level of specialization in Indian Law or Natural Resources Law. Students who satisfactorily complete specific curricular requirements are awarded certificates.
Advanced Writing Requirement
Students may fulfill the writing requirement by enrolling in a designated "writing requirement seminar," normally in the second semester of the second year, or the first semester of the third year. Limited exceptions will apply, but in any case, students must submit their final papers by April 1 of the third year.
