Pathway: Housing & Community Development Law

The Housing and Community Development Law Pathway is designed as a guided curriculum that will prepare you for a broad array of transactional legal work, including contracts, business formation, real estate and economic development, nonprofit law, environmental justice, zoning and land use planning, and intellectual property. It will also prepare you for advocacy and litigation for the preservation of affordable housing for low-income communities. Housing and community development lawyers work in many arenas, from government planning and economic development agencies to small community-based law firms and legal services organizations. Students who elect this pathway will hone their skills in legal research and writing, drafting, client counseling, and negotiation with multiple constituencies. In addition, students specializing in housing law will refine their trial advocacy skills.

Faculty Advisors

Professors Jerome Hughes and Saleema Snow

Curriculum

Stage 1: Foundational Courses

Administrative Law ^CORE
Business Organizations I (Agency & Partnerships) ^CORE
Business Organizations II (Corporations) ^CORE
Civil Procedure I and II ^REQ.
Conflict of Laws ^CORE
Contracts I and II ^REQ.
Evidence ^REQ.
Federal Taxation (Tax I) ^CORE
Property I and II ^REQ.
Remedies ^CORE
Uniform Commercial Code I ^CORE
Wills and Estates ^CORE

Stage 2: Electives

Advanced Legal Research
Advanced Legal Writing ^RALWR
Civil Rights in the 21st Century Seminar ^RALWR
Employment Discrimination Seminar
Gender & Sexual Orientation Under the Law Seminar ^RALWR
Labor & Employment Law
Negotiations
Non-Profit Law
Race and the Law Seminar ^RALWR
State and Local Government Law
System Change: Theory & Practice ^RALWR
Trial Advocacy

Stage 3: Experiential Opportunities

^{REQ. = Required course for all students | CORE = At least 3 core courses are required
RALWR = An opportunity to complete the Research Paper requirement | CR = An opportunity to complete the Clinic requirement}

Community Service/Summer Fellowships/Externships

UDC Law has extensive connections with non-profit organizations and governmental agencies in the DC metropolitan region that provide students with the opportunity to spend a semester actually working in their chosen fields. The following are some examples of relevant placements students have obtained with outside organizations and agencies: