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 experienced legal studies professors and lawyers. Our students can obtain 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 pre-law students with many opportunities to interact with law students and legal scholars and professionals. Law-related classes and activities foster and develop the students’ interest in law while they prepare 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 students to work in a law office or law-related setting under the supervision of attorneys 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 students 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 students to sit for the bar examination or to work as lawyers. 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 3.5 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. Please visit the legal studies department Web site for further information.

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 may intern in many of the same environments but must perform paralegal work. Internships are done under the supervision of an attorney.

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. Recent course offerings have taken students to Australia, Nepal, and Tibet. Our students participate in law school activities, use the law library, and have individual access to 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. Students can also join the Paralegal Society.

Faculty

Stephen Arnott, assistant professor, pre-law advisor. BA (Hons) 1981, University of Tasmania; JD 1994, William Mitchell College of Law. Alternative dispute resolution, contracts, evidence, legal research and writing, family law, international law, legal interviewing.

Leondra Hanson, assistant professor, Director, paralegal program, BA 1995 Concordia College, JD 1999 University of Minnesota. Admitted to the bar in Minnesota 1999, Minnesota Federal District Court 1999 and Montana 2000. Professional Association: Minesota bar Association.

Meg Hobday, assistant professor, legal writing program coordinator. BA 1992, University of Notre Dame; JD 1995 University of Minnesota. Legal research and writing, senior seminar, employment law, constitutional law.

Jeanne Kosieradzki, associate professor, chair. BS 1986, Winona State University; JD 1991, William Mitchell College of Law. Legal Ethics, Civil litigation and trial practice, Legal systems in American society, Tort law. Minnesota Association for Justice.

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

Directors

Karen Nelson, assistant director, paralegal certificate program, BA Justice and Peace Studies, University of St. Thomas, 2001; Paralegal Certificate, Hamline University, 2008. Minnesota Paralegal Association. American Association for Paralegal Education.

Jacelyn Palmer, mock trial director, BA 2001, Hamline University, JD 2006, Hamline University School of Law Admitted to the Bar in Minnesota, 2007,Associations: American and Minnesota State Bar Associations, American Mock Trial Association.