Legal Studies Department

The legal studies department offers courses and programs for students interested in becoming lawyers and paralegals (legal assistants) and for students in other fields who have an interest in law. Because Hamline is a small university with a law school on its campus, we offer unique opportunities for students interested in law. Hamline legal studies students have the opportunity to interact with law students and professors and to learn to use a first-class research law library. Our legal classes are small and intimate. Each major has a legal studies faculty advisor. The Hamline Plan guarantees an excellent liberal arts background and the legal studies department provides top flight instruction in legal subjects taught by lawyers and legal studies professors. Our students can get internships with judges, state government and law firms. They also have the opportunity to write for The Precedent, our departmental publication, and compete in mock trial tournaments. Hamline’s mock trial program is an open one—no tryouts or eliminations. Every student who wants to compete and learn about the work of attorneys will get the opportunity to do so. Hamline has a strong commitment to mock trial.

Hamline University provides solid academic preparation and an enriched learning environment for pre-law students. Prospective law students can major in any field. Law schools want students with a broad-based education. Law schools expect students to have highly developed reading, analyzing, writing, and speaking skills. Law firms want lawyers and paralegals who are diligent, well-educated, and motivated, and who can work independently. These are the qualities emphasized by the Hamline Plan. The presence of a law school on our campus provides the pre-law student with many opportunities to interact with law students and legal scholars and professionals. Law-related classes and activities foster and develop the student’s interest in law while he/she prepares for law school. The paralegal certificate qualifies the student for immediate employment. It does not qualify the student to sit for the bar or to practice law. After completing their baccalaureate degree, students who want to be lawyers will need to earn a law degree and pass the bar examination. Hamline students are prepared for success. For more information, see www.hamline.edu/cla/acad/depts_programs/legal_studies/index.html.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The legal studies department offers two majors, a certificate program, and a minor.

Legal studies major. The legal studies major is designed to be flexible. This major suits the needs and interests of pre-law students, paralegal students, and students majoring in other disciplines heavily regulated by the law such as environmental studies, political science, communication, management, and international studies.
American law and legal systems major. This major provides an opportunity for a select group of highly motivated and exceptionally qualified undergraduate students to start law school one year early, at the end of their junior year. This is a joint program between the legal studies department, College of Liberal Arts, and the Hamline University School of Law.
The paralegal certificate program. Hamline’s American Bar Association-approved paralegal program is distinctive. The best paralegals have a broadly based liberal arts education plus specific training in law and legal assisting skills. At Hamline, students can get both while pursuing their bachelor’s degree. This program leads to a paralegal certificate, which enables the student to work in a law office or law-related setting under the supervision of an attorney upon graduation from college. Students majoring in any field and graduates of other four-year colleges and universities are eligible for the paralegal certificate program. A paralegal certificate does not qualify the recipient for the practice of law; it prepares a student to work with attorneys on the substantive aspects of a client’s case. This certificate is not a major; however, paralegal students can pursue a major in legal studies.
The legal studies minor. Students majoring in any discipline can minor in legal studies. This minor is appropriate for students majoring in fields that are impacted by law and legal regulation like political science, communications, management, and international studies. A legal studies minor is also a good choice for students who are considering law school. The minor in legal studies is not intended to prepare students to work as paralegals and it is not approved by the American Bar Association.

The legal studies programs do not qualify the student to sit for the bar examination or to work as a lawyer. Postgraduate study in an American Bar Association- approved law school after graduation from college is required.

Honors

Students wishing to be considered for honors should request detailed information from the program faculty no later than February of their junior year if graduation is expected in spring semester of their senior year. If a mid-year graduation is expected, the student should request information in September of their junior year. Honors students must have a GPA of 3.25 or better in the major and honors projects must be approved by a majority of program members. Honors projects should exhibit distinctive scholarship, originality of thought, and a high degree of relevance to a major issue in the discipline.

Internships

All legal studies majors do an internship. Pre-law majors can intern with lawyers, judges, the legal clinic of the law school, the courts, the state legislature or federal, state, or local government agencies. Paralegal students intern under the supervision of an attorney in a variety of legal settings.

Student Activities

Hamline offers a large, inclusive mock trial program. All our students have the opportunity to participate in competitive mock trial tournaments. Hamline also participates in the national mediation and moot court tournaments. Our students have a chapter of Phi Alpha Delta, an international law fraternity. The legal studies department offers opportunities for study abroad. Recent course offerings have taken students to Australia, Nepal, and Tibet. Our students participate in law school activities and use the law library including Lexis and Westlaw. There are workstudy opportunities in the department, the law library, and the law school clinics. Students have the opportunity to write for The Precedent, the department newsletter, and compete with the Hamline mock trial team. Students can also join the Paralegal Society.

Faculty

Jeanne Kosieradzki, associate professor, chair. Faculty editor of the Precedent, Faculty supervisor of the Paralegal Society, pre-law advisor. BS 1986, Winona State University; JD 1991, William Mitchell College of Law. Civil litigation and trial practice. Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association.

Jerry Krause, associate professor, criminal justice. BS magna cum laude 1978, Minnesota State University, Mankato; JD cum laude 1984, University of Wisconsin Law School. Managing Editor, Wisconsin Law Review; Hennepin County and Minnesota Bar Associations. Transactional law, criminal law and procedure, police and law enforcement.

Faith O’Reilly, professor. BS summa cum laude 1974, Western Carolina University; JD with honors 1982, Drake University School of Law. LLM 2003, University of Iowa School of Law. International law, civil and constitutional litigation; criminal appeals and alternative dispute resolution, pre-law advisor, mock trial coach. Lewis F. Powell advocacy medal, Congressman Neil Smith Award; American Mock Trial Association, Board of Directors.