Legal Studies Major - Law School Early Admission Option

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Law School Early Admission (3-3) Program

If law school is in your future, consider Hamline’s 3-3 program, which allows highly talented and motivated students to complete their undergraduate degree and law degree in just six years.

The objectives of this special program are:

to provide exceptional, highly motivated undergraduates who demonstrate academic excellence, maturity, and professionalism with an opportunity to complete their bachelor’s and law degrees in six, instead of the usual seven, years;
to integrate the liberal arts education with professional legal training; and
to provide a program that will develop legal professionals who are committed to defining and strengthening the moral and ethical values of the legal profession through value-based education.

The Legal Studies Department offers its own 3-3 major program, the Legal Studies - Law School Early Admission Major which is paired with a minor outside of the Legal Studies Department. Students may also choose from a variety of majors paired with a Law School Early Admission Minor. Students seeking law school early admission through a department other than Legal Studies must complete the LSEA minor along with the program requirements of the department in which they major. A sample of the program majors which can be combined with the LSEA Minor are: business (general, BBA), communications studies, criminal justice, economics, English, finance, history, management, marketing, philosophy, psychology, political science, sociology, and women’s studies. Please see the Law School Early Admission Minor section of this Bulletin for specific information.

Students interested in any 3-3 program should meet with an academic advisor in the Legal Studies Department early in their undergraduate career to discuss. Please also contact the chair of the department in which you would like to major for more information. If you decide partway through your studies that the 3-3 track is no longer right for you, then simply continue on with your studies and graduate in four years.

Major Requirements

Candidates for early admission to Mitchell Hamline School of Law through the LGST-LSEA Major must:

Declare their candidacy by filling out a Declaration of Major form, select the LGST-LSEA Major, and meet with a Legal Studies faculty member as soon as possible.
Contact the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Admissions Office to discuss the profile recommended for admission.
Complete the five required legal studies courses and 20 credits of elective courses.
Select and complete a minor outside the Legal Studies Department by the end of their junior year. Students completing the Legal Studies/Women’s double major (or other additional major) for the 3-3 program do not need a minor.
Fulfill the Hamline plan requirements and complete 100 semester credits by the end of their junior year.
Complete the Breadth of Study (76 credits outside of the Legal Studies Department) by the end of their junior year.
Apply to graduate by December of their junior year.
Register for and complete the LSAT during their junior year. Materials and scholarship applications are available on line and at the law school.
Apply for admission to the Mitchell Hamline School of Law by March of their junior year and with acceptance in the fall class.
Complete and transfer back to the College of Liberal Arts 28 credits of first-year law school work with grades of C- or better to earn their bachelor’s degree.

Five (5) required courses

Twenty (20) elective credits

Choose twenty (20) credits from the courses below. Note: To meet the 76 credit Breadth of Study requirement, 16 of the 20 elective credits must be taken outside of the Legal Studies Department.

LGST 1440 - Beginning Mock Trial
LGST 3100 - American Constitutional Law
LGST 3420 - Special Topics in Law
LGST 3440 - Advanced Mock Trial
LGST 3520 - Civil Litigation and Trial Practice
LGST 3530 - Wills, Trusts, and Estates
LGST 3540 - Family and Gender Issues in Law
LGST 3550 - Real Property
LGST 3560 - Law of Business Organizations
LGST 3670 - Legal Interviewing
LGST 3680 - Law of Evidence for Legal Professionals
LGST 3750 - Alternative Dispute Resolution
LGST 3760 - Contracts
LGST 3780 - Employment Law
LGST 3790 - Law and the Lives of Women
LGST 5600 - Tort Law
ACCT 5020 - Business Taxation (please note the prerequisites for this course)
CJFS 3710 - Criminal Law and Practice
CJFS 3720 - Constitutional Issues in Criminal Procedure
HIST 3930 - Topics in United States History (topic: Landmark Trials in American History)
MGMT 3130 - Business Law
PHIL 1130 - Logic
PHIL 3330 - Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy
WSTD 3500 - Topics in Women’s Studies (topic: Engendering Justice)

Notes:

Participation in the 3-3 program does not guarantee law school admission; students must take the LSAT and apply to and be accepted to the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Students who are not accepted into law school after three years can complete their undergraduate major and earn their bachelor’s degree in the usual four years. They may, of course, reapply to law school upon completion of their undergraduate degree.

Once students enroll at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, they are no longer eligible for financial aid as an undergraduate student, including the presidential fellowship. However, they are eligible to apply for financial aid and scholarships through the law school.

Following this major does not guarantee a paralegal certificate. In fact, it will likely be challenging for a student to earn the Paralegal Certificate and meet the Breadth of Study requirement under the Hamline Plan. Students interested in Hamline’s ABA-approved Paralegal Certificate should refer to the Paralegal Certificate section of this bulletin.

Transfer Students:

Transfer students are eligible for the law school early admission (3-3) program. They must complete a minimum of sixteen (16) credits at Hamline toward their undergraduate major. In all other respects the LGST-LSEA program is identical for transfer students. Transfer students are encouraged to consult with a transfer advisor and a Legal Studies professor before beginning at Hamline.