Independent Research Credit

Independent Research Credit. Students who wish to receive course credit for an independent research project separate from any classroom course should obtain approval from a faculty member to supervise their research. Forms are available on the law school website. The approval form must be completed and returned to the Registrar before a student may register for Research (LAW 7000). Students may enroll for 1 or 2 credit hours in a semester, subject to the limitations contained elsewhere in the School of Law policies. A paper written for another course may not be used for credit for independent research.

Adjunct faculty members may supervise legal research projects only if the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs approves. Approval is typically restricted to circumstances in which no full-time faculty member teaches or researches in the subject area involved.

Independent research is graded only as "credit" or "no credit" ("CR" or "NL").

Limits on Independent Research. No more than one independent research paper for credit may be taken in any one semester or summer session, except under special circumstances with the approval of the faculty members involved and the Office of the Dean. A research paper may not exceed 2 credit hours. No more than 4 credit hours for Research (LAW 7000) may be counted toward the total credit hours required for graduation, and a student receiving credit for Law Review, Administrative Law Journal, Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal, or Business and Bankruptcy Law Journal is limited to a maximum of 2 credit hours for Research.

The project must be completed by the last day before examinations begin. Any student who does not complete a project by the deadline must have the approval of the professor and the Associate Dean for additional time. In no case will a student be allowed an extension later than the last Friday before the beginning of the next academic period. A student who does not meet this time limit must withdraw from the research course and register for it in a later academic period with the approval of the professor.