The first-year curriculum corresponds to that of most leading U.S. law schools—teaching the major common law and other foundational subjects. Unlike most of its peer institutions, however, the School of Law invests major resources in our first-year Lawyering Skills course, which combines the beginning of skills training with elements of a traditional legal writing and research course. Particularly mindful of a move in legal education to provide more skill-centered experience to students, this required course provides students the opportunity to explore the relationship between legal analysis and lawyering tasks, such as effective legal writing, oral advocacy, legal research, and client interviewing and counseling. Students achieve this through course work as well as by working on simulated cases in both a courtroom and law office atmosphere. Students in the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy take a special section of Lawyering Skills that presents skills instruction in the context of public interest practice.
The primary focus of the first year, however, remains the subjects that historically have dominated legal thought: civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, property, and torts. Instruction focuses on analysis of appellate cases—the traditional source of the common lawyer’s understanding of the law. Instructors are likely to employ a wide range of pedagogical techniques ranging from the Socratic dialogue, to lecture, to small group discussion.
To foster a sense of community and create an environment of mutual support, the first-year class is divided into four sections of about seventy-six students, each of which shares a schedule for most of its courses. The education provided by this shared experience has long remained a source of intellectual excitement and close friendships for UCLA students. Two of these courses meet in small sections of about thirty-eight students each. Faculty teaching these small sections employ teaching methods that increase participation and provide students with extensive feedback on their progress.
Following are descriptions of all 1L courses: