Curriculum Overview

The 90-credit Online Hybrid Juris Doctor (J.D.) curriculum takes less than four years to complete (44 months) and consists of online coursework, live sessions and in-person learning experiences called Get Relevant Experience and Applied Learning (Get REAL) Intensives.

The Online Hybrid J.D. program requires an estimated time commitment of 15–30 total hours per week.

Live sessions: 4–8 hours per week
Asynchronous course work: 4-10 hours per week
Reading and outlining: 7-12 hours per week

The curriculum covers a wide range of legal topics to prepare students to become practicing attorneys and includes courses such as Criminal Law, Professional Responsibility, Transactional Drafting and Trial Practice.

Year One

(includes one Get REAL intensive)

Semester 1
Legal Profession I (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Torts Doctrine & Skills I (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Mission & Vocation Programming (0 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Semester 2
Legal Profession II (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Real Property Doctrine & Skills I (4 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Mission & Vocation Programming (0 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Elements of Legal Analysis I (1 Credit)* (Spring Semester Only)

*Elements of Legal Analysis I is a required course for all Hybrid Students with a GPA of 2.65 or lower after their first semester.

Semester 3
Criminal Law (4 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

Torts Doctrine & Skills II (3 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

Elements of Legal Analysis II (1 Credit)* (Summer Semester Only)

*Elements of Legal Analysis II is a required course for all Hybrid Students with a GPA of 2.65 or lower after their first semester.

Year Two

(includes one Get REAL intensive)

Semester 4
Contracts Doctrine & Skills I (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Civil Procedure Doctrine & Skills I (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiation (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Semester 5
Contracts Doctrine & Skills II (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Civil Procedure Doctrine & Skills II (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Professional Responsibility (2 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Semester 6
Constitutional Law Doctrine & Skills I (3 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

Legislation (2 Credits)* (Summer Semester Only)

Transactional Drafting (2 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

*Students who completed Elements of Legal Analysis I and II are not required to take Legislation.

Year Three

(includes one Get REAL intensive)

Semester 7
Appellate Practice & Procedure (2 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Constitutional Law Doctrine & Skills II (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Intellectual Property Law (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Remedies (3 Credits)* (Fall Semester Only)

*Remedies is for students with a CGPA below 2.6. Students required to take Remedies will not take Intellectual Property Law.

Semester 8
Real Property Doctrine & Skills II (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Evidence (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Trial Practice (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Semester 9

Business Organizations (3 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

Wills & Trusts (3 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

Administrative Law (3 Credits) (Summer Semester Only)

Advanced Legal Analysis (3 Credits)* (Summer Semester Only)

*Advanced Legal Analysis is for students with a GPA below 2.7. Students required to take ALA will not take Administrative Law.

Year Four

(includes one Get REAL intensive)

Semester 10
Criminal Procedure Investigation Doctrine & Skills (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Family Law (3 Credits) (Fall Semester Only)

Capstone (4 Credits) (Fall And Spring Semesters Only)

Semester 11
Corporate Compliance & Ethics (3 Credits) (Spring Semester Only)

Bar Exam Preparation: Procedure & Practice (3 Credits) (Fall And Spring Semesters Only)

Externship (4 Credits)* or Clinic (4 Credits) (Fall, Spring And Summer Semesters)

*Externship can either be a 4 credit course taken in the Summer, Fall or Spring or two 2 credit hour courses taken in the Fall and Spring of your final year.


Get REAL Intensive Sample Schedule

Throughout your Online Hybrid J.D. experience, you will be required to come to the University of Dayton’s campus four times for Get Relevant Experience and Applied Learning (REAL) intensives.

Schedule

Get REAL intensives will occur as follows:

Get REAL Intensives

Fall Term

Spring Term

Year 1

1 Weekend (orientation)

None

Year 2

1 Weekend            (OR)

1 Weekend

Year 3

1 Weekend            (OR)

1 Weekend

Year 4

1 Weekend   (Bar Prep)  (OR)      

1 Weekend (Bar Prep)

For our entering class, students will come to campus at the start of the Fall term and participate alongside our residential students in orientation and pre-law school skills classes.  

Students in our second- and third-year focus on experiential learning. During each of these years, students will have the opportunity to choose between the Fall or Spring Get REAL intensives to experience hands-on co-curricular activities and skills-based sessions (of various topics).

Finally, our students in their last year will be required to attend a Bar Exam prep intensive either Fall or Spring term.


Bar Eligibility

Sitting for a Bar Exam

The University of Dayton Online Hybrid J.D. Program leads to a Juris Doctor degree. One of the designed outcomes of the program is to fulfill the academic eligibility requirements to sit for a state bar examination. This program does not lead to an individual license or a guarantee of license.

Each jurisdiction sets its own criteria for admission to the bar and to sit for its bar examination, which includes an applicant’s legal education. As graduates of an ABA-accredited law school, and an ABA- approved program, Dayton J.D. graduates will satisfy most jurisdictions’ current legal education requirements and may be eligible to sit for the bar exam in most states.

As of March 2, 2021, there are two states that do not currently recognize hybrid J.D. programs as meeting their legal education requirements: Alabama and New York. The University of Dayton Online Hybrid J.D. Program is constantly evaluating state requirements and believes with time these jurisdictions may eventually recognize the value of the hybrid J.D. format.

Applicants should note that bar exam eligibility is complicated and exam eligibility, admission requirements, and rule interpretations can change. The School of Law advises applicants to review the legal education and bar eligibility requirements for any jurisdiction in which they intend to seek admission to the bar.

Uniform Bar Examination (UBE)

The Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) is prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners to test knowledge and skills that every lawyer should be able to demonstrate prior to becoming licensed to practice law. It is comprised of the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), two Multistate Performance Test (MPT) tasks, and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). It results in a portable score that can be used to apply for admission in other UBE jurisdictions. It is uniformly administered, graded, and scored in accordance with best practices by jurisdictions that adopt it.

The UBE is administered over two days, with the MBE given on the last Wednesday of February and July and the MEE and MPT given on the Tuesday prior to that. Jurisdictions that use the UBE may also require applicants to complete a jurisdiction-specific law component.

Dayton J.D. students should note that while Ohio has adopted the UBE, each jurisdiction establishes its own requirements for sitting for the bar exam and subsequent admission to the bar. These requirements may vary even among jurisdictions that have adopted the UBE. Applicants should verify the Dayton J.D. program fulfills the requirements in the jurisdiction they wish to practice.


J.D. Information Request Form

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