Gonzaga Law School Curriculum
With our focus on practical skills and legal theory, Gonzaga Law’s curriculum will prepare you for the day-to-day realities of a legal career. Our approach emphasizes skills training and professionalism from the first semester of law school through the last, while also providing a solid grounding in legal theory and philosophy. Graduation requires 85 course credits, plus 30 hours of public service work. Please consult the Academic Rules in our Student Handbook for more detailed information on our curriculum and graduation requirements.
Please note: This page covers the curriculum for the traditional three-year program. Click here to see the curriculum for the Executive Two-Year J.D. Program.
- Our academic calendar is organized into 13-week semesters, including one-week intersessions at the start of fall and spring term. This allows our faculty time to engage deeply in the classroom during each class period. The intersessions bring dynamic offerings to our students and create a space for them to engage with expert practitioners at the peak of their field. Folding practice into the classroom is a critical component of our students' success.
- All Gonzaga Law 1Ls will take our Essential Lawyering course, emphasizing skills and professional values, and utilizing a case study modal to immerse students in practical scenarios and interactive simulations. Through a combination of lectures, small group simulations, and role-playing exercises, students develop crucial skills including professional responsibility and identity formation, client relationship management, interviewing and counseling, investigation and case evaluation, legal research and writing, negotiation, and dispute resolution.
- Our law students will take Legal Research & Writing (LRW) over each of their first three semesters. These 2-credit sections allows professors to spend more time on the critical skills of case synthesis, memo drafting, case research, and enacted law research. This timing allows students to dive deeper into these skills in the smaller, more attentive LRW sections.
- All of our 1L sections will meet daily in our building for all of 1L year. Each section takes at least two scheduled courses each day, allowing out students a consistent year to build community, discover their unique route to academic success, and be surrounded by our support offices and resources.
Experiential Learning
Course Descriptions
The list below outlines the courses currently offered by Gonzaga University School of Law. These courses are subject to change, and the descriptions will be updated to reflect those changes as appropriate.
Download a PDF of the Course Content Descriptions