JD Concentration in Criminal Law & Procedure

Professor Mundy before a classroom.

The JD Concentration in Criminal Law & Procedure is designed to enhance career paths of UIC Law students who pursue careers as criminal defense attorneys or prosecutors. The concentration curriculum immerses degree candidates in the doctrines of criminal law and hones their skills related to practice before Illinois and federal courts.

Requirements and Learning Outcomes Heading link

Declaration to Pursue the Concentration: Students who intend to pursue this concentration are strongly encouraged to consult the faculty director at the end of the semester in which they complete 30 credit hours, in order to ensure that they will be able to complete the concentration.

General Requirements

JD students may earn only one concentration. Degree candidates pursuing the JD Concentration in Criminal Law & Procedure must complete a minimum of 16 credits, including 8 required credits, and must graduate with a cumulative overall GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of 3.25 in coursework taken to fulfill the concentration.

Candidates are strongly encouraged to take Lawyering Skills IV: Drafting: Criminal Litigation (TADR 460) and Externship: Criminal (TADR 470/473).

Required Courses

One of the following courses:

Elective Courses

 

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Legend

*- Concentration candidates who take this experiential learning component must take both the class and placement components.

†- Topic must be approved in advance by the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and the faculty director.

If approved in advance by the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and the faculty director and, if necessary, the appropriate person in the UIC college offering the course, a student may take one graduate-level course at UIC in criminal justice, forensic science, or another highly relevant field.

Learning Outcomes

JD Concentration in Criminal Law and Procedure

  1. Graduates of the concentration will understand and be able to apply core principles of criminal law.
  2. Graduates of the concentration will be able to identify the components of the police investigative process and understand how the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution affect them.
  3. Graduates of the concentration will be able to identify the stages of the criminal adjudicative process and be able to understand and apply the law of criminal procedure to the charging process, trial, and sentencing of the accused.
  4.  Graduates of the concentration will understand the components of trial practice,be able to construct legal theories, and be able to conduct opening arguments,witness examinations, objections, and closing arguments.

Adopted April 2023

Faculty Director Heading link

Professor of Law
Hugh Michael Mundy
Professor of Law