The Solo and Law Firm Practice Pathway is designed as a guided curriculum that will prepare you for a career as a solo or law firm practitioner. A student who seeks to practice solo or work in a law firm will likely serve clients in a broad array of legal areas. Possible areas include corporate and commercial transactions, contracts, criminal law, disability, employment or veterans’ claims, criminal matters, family law and personal injury. In addition to honing your core legal analysis, research and writing skills, you should develop a basic knowledge about business.
Faculty Advisors
Professors Stephanie Brown and Tom Mack
Curriculum
Stage 1: Foundational Courses
- Administrative Law CORE
- Civil Procedure I and II REQ.
- Constitutional Law I and II REQ.
- Contracts I and II REQ.
- Criminal Law REQ.
- Criminal Procedure REQ.
- Evidence REQ.
- Family Law CORE
- Federal Taxation (Tax I) CORE
- Property I and II REQ.
- Remedies CORE
- Torts REQ.
- Uniform Commercial Code I CORE
- Wills and Estates CORE
Stage 2: Electives
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. For students who are planning to go into solo or law firm practice, placements at one of the many legal services organizations in the area provide a wealth of experience in housing, family law, public entitlements, wills and estates, criminal law, employment law, consumer law and other areas of general practice. The following are some examples of relevant placements students have obtained with legal services organizations:
- AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly
- Advocates for Justice and Education
- Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC)
- Ayuda Inc.
- Bread for the City Legal Clinic
- Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)
- Children’s Law Center
- Christian Legal Aid of DC
- DC Bar Pro Bono Center
- DC Office of Administrative Hearings
- DC Office of Tax and Revenue
- DC Office of the Attorney General
- DC Superior Court and Court of Appeals
- Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
- Legal Aid Justice Center
- Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
- Legal Services of Northern Virginia
- Maryland District Court, Circuit Court and Court of Appeals
- Maryland Offices of the Public Defender
- Maryland Offices of the State’s Attorney
- Neighborhood Legal Services Program
- Pension Rights Center
- Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities
- So Others Might Eat (SOME)
- Tahirih Justice Center
- Tzedek DC
- US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
- US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- US District Court for the District of Columbia
- US District Court for the District of Maryland
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- US Tax Court
- Virginia Commonwealth Attorney’s Office
- Virginia Indigent Defense Commission Capital and Public Defenders Offices
- Virginia Legal Aid Society
- Virginia Office of the Attorney General
- Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
- Whitman-Walker Health Legal Services Program
