Academic Courses

In addition to the Workshop, there are two additional courses offered in Washington, DC. Lawyering in the Nation's Capital is required of all students participating in the Washington, DC, Externship Semester. Advanced Legal Writing, although not required, is specifically designed to complement the writing experience student are getting in their externships. Advanced Legal Writing satisfies the upper-division writing requirement and is graded High Pass/Pass/Credit/Fail. Course descriptions for both classes follow below.

Lawyering in the Nation's Capital (2 Units)

Wednesdays 6:00-8:00 pm (LAW 2692)

Course Description: This course will survey the roles of attorneys in the three branches of government, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, and lobbying firms, with a focus on the role of these attorneys in creating, defining, challenging, and upholding the federal rule of law. Topics may include examining the roles of general counsels and attorney advisors in agencies, how attorneys within the three branches protect their branches' roles and attempt to guide or control other branches, and lobbying in DC. The course will also examine, from a policy perspective, the propriety of government attorneys' roles – both in theory and in practice. Guest speakers, student debate, and the examination of the constitutional and statutory authority for these attorney roles will facilitate class discussion.

Advanced Legal Writing (2 Units)

Mondays 6:30-8:30 pm (LAW 2432)

Course Description: This course exposes students to various forms of legal writing that attorneys use in daily practice, including adversarial writing, non-adversarial factual writing, adjudicatory writing, and opinion writing. This course supplements the first-year Legal Research and Writing course through a broader range of drafting assignments, including, for example, writing and editing formal and informal memoranda, letters, motions and pleadings, and decisions. Students will work on producing grammatically correct, logically cohesive, and analytically sound legal analysis. This course satisfies the upper-division writing requirement.

Elective Courses at Local Law Schools

With permission from the Academic Dean, DC Externship Students who want to take courses not offered by Pepperdine are permitted to take elective courses at one of the following DC-area law schools: American University Washington College of Law, The Catholic University of American Columbus School of Law, George Mason University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, The George Washington University Law School, and Howard University School of Law.  Students are responsible for seeking permission from the Academic Dean to take elective courses, for applying to the approved law school, and for paying all tuition and fees to DC-area law schools for such courses.