As a strong academic community, committed to our students, we have designed courses that produce broadly educated lawyers—and we have developed an approach to teaching the law that is both challenging and supportive.

Courses

Our 160+ courses cover a broad range of topics. We cover the necessary bases, and leave you enough time to select elective coursework that suits your career goals.

Clinics & Field Work

Through several outstanding programs—some curricular, some extracurricular, and some co-curricular—our students work, argue, research, write, and practice, often while helping citizens in need. Our approach tightly integrates study, practice, and experience, and it develops great lawyers.

Our clinical opportunities are always expanding. With a new clinic added each of the past two years, the choices are growing for each incoming class.

Applied Legal Theory (Law in Action)

Our Applied Legal Theory (Law in Action) Program is designed to give all Wake Forest law students a variety of hands-on experiences and skills that will prepare them for the practice of law. This includes expanding curricular opportunities for learning the law in a real world context. In addition to our clinics, we offer capstone courses (upper level courses typically taught through the use of actual or simulated cases) and other skills courses, such as Negotiation and Business Drafting, that emphasize practical lawyering skills. Our metropolitan externship in Washington, D.C., allows selected third-year students to work as interns in government agencies, non-profit organizations and other settings during the spring semester while taking coursework under the direction of the program supervisor.

The Law in Action Program also creates opportunities for our students to participate in pro bono legal efforts in our Winston-Salem community. We encourage all of our students to become true “citizen lawyers” who graduate with the goal of “doing well while doing good.” Finally, the Law in Action Program offers regular workshops, seminars and lectures focusing on professionalism. These programs help our students develop essential professional skills, such as networking, proper client communication, business etiquette and civility, among others.

Academic Success Program (ASP)

ASP helps first-year students figure out the best way to learn the law and to assist them in fulfilling their academic potential. Many factors affect student performance, and ASP is here to identify and correct anything that works against law school success.

ASP services include general workshops, such as writing effective exam answers, class material outlining strategies and practice exam sessions. In addition, ASP provides small group instruction sessions, structured study groups led by second- or third-year law students and individual academic mentors.