Juris Doctor (J.D.)

The program leading to the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.) requires admission as a full-time student for three years or as a half-time student for six years. The structure of this program is based on a compulsory first year and two required courses in second year.

Students must also complete a research paper worth at least 50 percent of the grade in any course, one course from a group of courses that give a broader perspective of the legal process and legal theory and one course from a group of transnational law courses.

The remainder of the program is comprised of optional courses so that our students are able to construct a program that meets their individual needs and interests.  

First-Year Program

A basic level of instruction is given through mandatory courses in all the
fundamental areas, problems, and principles of the law. This will require
somewhat more emphasis on public law and perspective courses than would
the traditional first-year curriculum.
The compulsory curriculum includes:
• Property
• Contracts
• Access to Justice
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Legal Writing and Research
• Constitutional Law

Second-Year Required Courses

Civil Procedure and Torts I are the only required courses in the second year.
Each of these may be taken in either the fall or the winter semester,
depending upon course scheduling.

Other Requirements

Each student must take a minimum of 29 credits and a maximum of 32
credits per year with a minimum of 13 credits and a maximum of 18 credits
in each term. These requirements may be varied by the Faculty Council or its
delegate in individual cases. Apart from the mandatory Torts I and Civil
Procedure courses in second year and such pre-requisites as may be
established by Faculty Council, the program for second and third year is
essentially optional in nature. However, each student must successfully
complete a research paper worth at least 50% of the grade in any course
(including Supervised Research) in his or her second or third year of study. In
addition, each student will be required to select, in either second or third year,
one course from a group of courses which give a broader perspective of the
legal process and legal theory than is possible in a normal substantive course.
These courses form the Legal Perspectives group of courses and are listed
below:

Legal Perspective Courses
• Aboriginal Justice Systems
• Aboriginal Law in Society
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Civil Liberties
• Constitutional Law I (University of Detroit Mercy)
• Economics of Government Relations (Econ. 387)
• Feminist Legal Theory
• Freedom of Expression
• Freedom of Religion
• Hegel’s Philosophy of Law
• International Economic Law
• International Human Rights Law
• International IP Law
• Judicial Inquiries
• Jurisprudence
• Law and Development
• Lawyer as Conflict Resolver
• The Lawyering Process
• Legal History
• The Legal Profession
• Public International Law
• Supreme Court of Canada
• Selected Topics in Legal Theory (selected sections)
• Transnational Corporations and Human Rights
(Legal Perspectives vary by term and may not be offered each
academic year)

Courses Outside the Faculty

Students are allowed, with permission, to enroll in courses that are taught in
other faculties at the University of Windsor and certain courses that are
taught at the law schools at Wayne State University and the University of
Detroit Mercy for credit toward a J.D. degree.
Grades that are achieved in courses taught outside of the Faculty are
recorded onto the student transcript, but are not calculated into the student
averages for ranking purposes