Each upper-year student is required to complete successfully each of the degree requirements: the Credit Requirement, the Overall Residency Requirement, the Mandatory Course Requirement, the Substantial Term Paper Requirement, the Practice Skills Requirement, and the Advocacy Requirement. Further details of the upper-year degree requirements and minimum academic standing are contained in the chapter pertaining to Academic Regulations and Policies.
 
Each year,  at mandated times in late March or early April, currently registered first- and second-year law students will be able to select courses through SOLUS for the fall and winter terms of the following academic year. An information session  on March 19, 2012 will be held prior to electronic course selection through enrollment appointments in SOLUS for the  2012-2013 academic year. Full information about upper-year courses and the electronic course selection policies and procedures can be obtained at http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/2011-2012UpperYearProgram.html.This site will be updated for course selection in the fall 2012 and winter 2013 terms in March 2012.

Minimum Academic Standing
(Policy approved at Faculty Board at its 713th meeting on March 11, 2011. Policy effective May 1, 2011.)
Upper-year J.D. and combined J.D. students must obtain a grade of at least D (GPA 1.0) in each course registration and achieve a multi-term weighted grade point average (GPA) of at least C (GPA 2.0) determined at the end of the winter term on the basis of course registrations in the fall and winter terms in each of the upper-years of the J.D. degree program., The multi-term GPA will be calculated on fall and winter grades and will include grades earned on course registrations in the BISC spring session preceding the fall term.
 

2A CREDIT REQUIREMENT

Full details of the courses offered and their credit value in the 2011-2012 a academic year are posted on the Faculty of Law website at http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/2011-2012UpperYearProgram.html. In order to satisfy the course credit requirements for graduation, a student must successfully complete a total of 59 to 68 upper-year course credits.  Furthermore, no more than 17 credits may be taken in any term unless prior approval is given by the Academic Standing and Policies Committee (see General Information - Faculty Board).

Under the Credit System, upper-year courses will be weighted as follows:

Four Credits

LAW-427 Administrative Law, LAW-440 Business Associations, LAW-438 Queen's Business Law Clinic, LAW-225 Civil Procedure, LAW-404 Criminal Procedure, LAW-320 Evidence, LAW-520 Family Law, LAW-560 Labour Law, LAW-452 Secured Transactions and Insolvency, LAW-508 Taxation, LAW-418 Clinical Correctional Law (4 per term), LAW-590 Clinical Litigation Practice (4 per term), LAW-695 Elder Law Clinic

 

Three Credits

All other courses not listed, LAW-473 Competitive Moot Court, LAW-495 Competitive Moot II, LAW-587-589 Queen's Law Journal (3 credits per term in each of two terms for some students*), LAW-699 Federal Government Internship and LAW-689 Clinical Externship.
 

Two Credits

Individual Supervised Project Option (LAW-474 to LAW-493)
Individual Supervised Projects (or with permission of instructor may be 3 to 6 credits and undertaken over one or two terms).  An Individual Supervised Project (ISP) can only be supervised by a full-time faculty member. An ISP involves a student and faculty member agreeing that a student will write a term paper on a topic to be agreed. Normally these papers are expected to be 25-30 pages, and the ISP counts for 2 credits. More ambitious projects for greater credit can be arranged. Such a project will normally satisfy the Substantial Term Paper Requirement, though this question should be discussed by the student and faculty member when the arrangements are being made for an ISP. See the form at http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/studentForms/supervisedProjects.html for manual registration in an ISP through Nancy Somers, Manager of the Academic Program.
LAW-683 International Trade Remedies, LAW-687 Freedom of Expression, LAW-688 International Trade Litigation, LAW-689 Legality and the Rule of Law. 

One Credit

A Queen's J.D. degree will be granted to a student who successfully completes all first-year law courses and 59-68 upper-year credits.  The first-year courses and a minimum of 28 upper- year credits must be taken as Queen's J.D. courses in residence at Queen's Faculty of Law.

Any combination of exchange credits, letter of permission credits or non-law courses cannot exceed the equivalent of one year of study (or 28-34 upper year credits).

Students who transfer into the Queen's Law program after successfully completing first year at another Canadian university must complete a minimum of 59 upper-year credits in residence at the Faculty of Law at Queen's. 

Credits taken in a BISC Global Law Program are considered to be taken in residence at Queen's Faculty of Law.

Students are required to complete LAW-225/226 Civil Procedure in one of their upper years. Civil Procedure covers principles of civil procedure, professional responsibility and alternative dispute resolution.

 

Sometime during their upper years, students must write a substantial term paper that demonstrates their ability: 1) to conduct advanced legal research; 2) to write clearly and concisely; 3) to articulate and develop a thesis; and 4) to engage in sustained analysis of the law in a particular area.

 

PROCEDURE FOR SATISFYING THE SUBSTANTIAL TERM PAPER REQUIREMENT

i) Before beginning work on a paper, students must obtain the agreement of a full-time faculty member to act as supervisor. Normally a substantial term paper will be a paper written in a course taught by a full-time faculty member.

ii) Upon completion of the paper, the student should provide the supervising faculty member with a Substantial Term Paper Form, which can be obtained from the Student Services Office or http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/studentForms.html.

iii) If the supervising faculty member is satisfied that the paper fulfills the Substantial Term Paper Requirement, s/he will sign the form and submit it to the Student Services Office in Room 200 for further processing of a notation to the official academic record.

iv) Satisfaction of the Substantial Term Paper Requirement will be indicated on a student's official academic record by a PN (pass no honours available in this course) notation in respect to LAW-299 Substantial Term Paper. This course number carries neither a credit value nor a credit weight.

v) It is each student's responsibility to ensure that s/he has fulfilled the Requirement.

The information relating to the Substantial Term Paper Requirement is made available to students at the time of upper-year electronic course registration and add/drop. Full-time faculty members will be asked to submit with their information on the method of evaluation for each course a note indicating that: 1) all students may fulfill the Substantial Term Paper Requirement in the course; or 2) it is not possible for students to fulfill the Substantial Term Paper Requirement in the course; or 3) it may be possible for a limited number of students to arrange to fulfill the Substantial Term Paper Requirement in the course. Information about methods of evaluation and courses qualifying to meet the Substantial Term Paper Requirement are posted on the course information website at http://law.queensu.ca/students/jdProgram/2011-2012upperYearProgram.html.

The following courses have writing requirements that the instructor has indicated can be considered to meet the Substantial Term Paper Requirement in consultation with the instructor for the 2011-12 academic year:

 

 

 

An Individual Supervised Project (ISP) can only be supervised by a full-time faculty member. An ISP involves a student and faculty member agreeing that a student will write a term paper on a topic to be agreed. Normally these papers are expected to be 25-30 pages, and the ISP counts for 2 credits. More ambitious projects for greater credit can be arranged. Such a project will normally satisfy the Substantial Term Paper Requirement, though this question should be discussed by the student and faculty member when the arrangements are being made for an ISP.

 

Students are required to successfully complete at least one Practice Skills course. A Practice Skills course is one that gives students significant opportunity to undertake legal research and to develop skills of drafting, client interaction, negotiation or mediation, or offers students a clinical legal experience.

 

Courses satisfying the Practice Skills Requirement include:

 

and other courses designated by the instructor.

 

Note:
To facilitate the implementation of the Practice Skills Requirement and ensure adequate opportunities for students to take these courses, Faculty Board has provided that in any one academic year  a student will be permitted to register in only one of LAW-418 Clinical Correctional Law, LAW-590 Clinical Litigation Practice , LAW-521 Clinical Family Law or Law-438 Queen's Business Law Clinic; and one of LAW-341/342/343/344 Alternative Dispute Resolution or LAW-335 Negotiation.

 

2F ADVOCACY REQUIREMENT
Students are required to successfully complete a course in advocacy or a substantive course which involves participation in oral advocacy or mooting certified by the instructor.

 

Courses satisfying the Advocacy Requirement are as follows:

 

and other courses certified by the instructor.