Ave Maria recognizes that law and morality are inherently intertwined. Ave Maria students consider how the unchanging moral imperatives of the natural law should affect a lawyer’s approach to the practice of law. This approach to the study of law provides students with a deep appreciation for the origins of law and an understanding of moral and intellectual principles germane to the American legal system, including unalienable rights, federalism, and separation of powers.
Students examine ethical issues though four required courses focused specifically on ethics: Moral Foundations of the Law; Jurisprudence; Professional Responsibility; and, a menu of electives such as Catholic Social Teaching, Bioethics, and Law, Ethics, and Public Policy. These courses explore the philosophy of law and the foundations of democracy in America. Students also learn the interrelationship between law, ethics, and Catholic moral and social principles, and how to apply these principles.
Faculty members address and explore moral and ethical issues in substantive law courses, such as Criminal Law and Constitutional Law. In Criminal Law, for example, the professor might discuss the Catholic teaching on capital punishment. In Constitutional Law, the professor might reference the Catholic teaching on human rights, society’s responsibility to the poor, and the culture of life.
| Subjects | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| Legal Case Analysis and Skills Enrichment (CASE) | 1 |
| Civil Procedure | 6 |
| Contracts | 5 |
|
Criminal Law or Applied Critical Thinking and Legal Analysis * |
3 2 |
| Property | 5 |
| Torts | 6 |
| Legal Analysis, Writing and Research (LAWR) | 5 |
| Moral Foundations of the Law | 2 |
| Applied Critical Thinking and Legal Analysis* | 2 |
| Total | 32-33 |
*Students below the median for the cohort at the end of their first year are required to take Applied Learning Labs along with when they take Evidence and Criminal Procedure.
| Subjects | Credit Hours |
|---|---|
| Advanced Essay Writing or Florida Legal Practice | 2 |
|
Advanced Legal Analysis-Multistate Applied Learning Labs* |
4 2 |
| Bioethics† | 2 |
| Business Organizations | 3 |
| Catholic Social Teaching and the Law† | 2 |
|
Commercial Law Common Law Synthesis* |
4 2 |
| Constitutional Law | 4 |
| Criminal Procedure | 3 |
| Equality and the Law† | 2 |
| Evidence | 4 |
| Fourteenth Amendment† | 2 |
| Jurisprudence | 3 |
| Law, Ethics, and Public Policy† | 2 |
| Professional Responsibility | 3 |
| Protection of Human Life in Law & Public Policy† | 2 |
| Religious Freedom† | 2 |
| Legal Analysis, Writing and Research III | 2 |
| Wills, Trusts, and Estates | 3 |
| Experiential (credits can be selected from an array of clinics, externships, simulation, and experiential course) | 6 |
| Total | 43-47 |
* Common Law Synthesis and the two Applied Learning Labs are required for all students falling below the class median after the Spring Semester 1L year.
† Students choose which course to fulfill the 3L Mission Course requirement.
To obtain a law degree from Ave Maria School of Law, an ABA accredited school, we require 90 credit hours for graduation, including a core curriculum of 74 credit hours (6 of which are elective experiential credits). A cumulative grade point average of 2.0 is required for continued law school enrollment and graduation. Students begin their first year of legal education with a one-credit semester long course, LegalCASE, Case Analysis and Skills Enrichment which begins during orientation and introduces law students to the fundamental principles of legal analysis that they will employ throughout their legal careers. In addition, during their first year, law students take two-semester courses in Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Property, and Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research. Our law students also take a two-semester course in the Moral Foundations of the law as well as a one-semester course in Criminal Law.
Throughout their law school career, students are sharpening their critical reading, writing, and analysis skills. The Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research courses address a range of lawyering skills, including legal analysis, legal research, counseling, and effective written and oral advocacy. In Moral Foundations of the Law, law students consider how humanity’s desire to order society forms the basis of legal systems. In the second and third years, students explore the foundations of democracy, the philosophies that ground law, and the interaction between ethics and law in Jurisprudence, Professional Responsibility, and Law, Ethics, and Public Policy. Along with required courses such as Business Organizations, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Commercial Law, and Wills, Trusts, and Estates, a range of electives provides an opportunity for second- and third-year law students to pursue interests and develop expertise.
In addition, Ave Maria law students will hone their legal skills through six experiential credits, which are taken from an array of clinics, externships, simulation, and skills-focused courses such as Legal Drafting, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Advanced Legal Research, and Trial Advocacy. This Florida law school also continues to hone our students writing skills through additional instruction in Research, Writing, and Advocacy and are also given instruction designed to maximize law student success on the bar examination through courses such as Advanced Legal Analysis-Multistate, Florida Legal Practice, and Advanced Essay Writing.
To fulfill its Mission, Ave Maria School of Law is committed to ensuring that Ave Maria School of Law graduates have achieved competency in the following areas:
© 2024 Ave Maria School of Law. All Rights Reserved
