Section Contents

1. Writing Units Required to Graduate
2. Faculty-Supervised Writing Units
3. Other Ways to Earn Writing Units

Adopted 5/2025, replacing previous version adopted 3/1987 and amended 5/1998.

A. Writing Units Required to Graduate

1. To graduate, every law student must complete four total writing units as a second- or third-year student.
2. At least two of the four required writing units must be faculty-supervised writing units. Up to two of the four required writing units may be obtained through other courses, subject to the requirements described below.
3. Up to two of the four required writing units may be for legal drafting.
4. To qualify as a writing unit, a student must have a substantial analytical writing experience, regardless of the primary mission or the purpose of the work.

B. Faculty-Supervised Writing Units

1. To qualify for a writing unit, a writing must meet the following criteria:
   1. If the writing involves original drafting of legal documents, the length of the project will vary depending on the nature of the material drafted. Generally, one writing unit of original drafting equates to approximately 1,000–2,500 words of original drafting and accompanying explanatory documents of approximately 1,000–2,500 words exclusive of footnotes.
   2. If the writing involves other sorts of legal writing, generally, one writing unit equates to approximately 5,000 words exclusive of footnotes.
   3. In any event, the writing cannot have been substantially prepared prior to the student’s enrollment at the College of Law or as part of the student’s previous or current employment.
2. Writing units are distinct from academic credits. However, as described more below, the number of writing units completed may affect the number of academic credits a student earns in a given course.
3. Faculty-supervised writing units are available in the following:
   1. Seminar courses. These are courses in which each writing student is required to prepare a paper, which counts substantially toward the student’s overall grade. Although an individual faculty member may decide otherwise, these courses generally enroll no more than 10 writing students at a time and may meet over one or two semesters. Faculty members have discretion to award additional academic credits for writing beyond the credits available based on the semester hours that the course meets. For each credit earned beyond the credits available based on the semester hours the course meets, a student must complete the amount of work described in paragraph B.1.
   2. Independent research courses. These are courses in which students engage in substantial research and writing, under a faculty member’s supervision and with that faculty member’s permission. Independent research courses are credited based on the number of writing units that are available based on the student’s work (i.e., one writing unit equals one academic credit). No single independent research project can total more than three writing units.
   3. Other College of Law courses. Faculty can award writing units in non-seminar courses. For each writing unit earned, a student must complete the amount of work described in paragraph B.1.
   4. Non-College of Law courses taken for College of Law credit. In this situation, a student can earn up to two writing units, if a full-time member of the College of Law faculty reads the written work and determines it is the sort of work eligible for academic credit and it meets the relevant standards in this policy. For each writing unit earned, a student must complete the amount of work described in paragraph B.1.
4. Unless a faculty member determines that requiring a rewrite of the project(s) at issue is inconsistent with the pedagogical design of the writing experience in question, writing units shall only be awarded for work that is subject to a rewrite requirement.
5. In addition to providing written feedback on student writing projects, faculty members:
   1. May require their students to have individual conferences to discuss their writing, or
   2. Shall inform their writing students that they are entitled to the opportunity to have such conferences, if such conferences are not required.
6. At the beginning of the semester, faculty must alert students to the opportunity or requirement to earn writing units in a course, and to the effect the writing might have on their grade.
7. Faculty supervising writing units have discretion in deciding how to assess students’ writing and those decisions will depend on the nature of the projects involved. Faculty are encouraged to communicate the criteria that will be used to students, just as students are encouraged to inquire whenever they are uncertain of their instructors’ expectations for their work.

C. Other Ways to Earn Writing Units

Students who participate in co-curricular courses can earn one writing unit per course, with the exceptions of Trial Advocacy Board, Moot Court Board, and any journal editorial board.

The chart below is meant to illustrate the policy, not provide an exhaustive list of all of the ways that students can earn writing units.