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Pre-Law Program
- Mailing Address
-
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Pre-Law Program
SH 23
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
- Faculty Director:
- David N. Atkinson, Curators' Professor of Political Science
atkinsond@umkc.edu
- Program Coordinator:
- Derek Moorhead
moorheadd@umkc.edu
The UMKC pre-law program is designed to help students make wise decisions about becoming a lawyer. It is not a major. There is no one
major that best prepares a student for law school, and UMKC is proud
to have pre-law students exploring political science, English literature,
history, philosophy, communication studies, economics, and psychology, among other majors. The ultimate pre-law curriculum emphasizes the development of the skills that are necessary to achieve the following goals:
- Acceptance to the best possible law school for the student.
- Academic success in law school.
- Success as a lawyer or a non-practitioner in a legally related field.
To attain these goals, pre-law students should select a curriculum that hones and develops superior writing skills, along with excellent oral communication, logical reasoning, and critical reading skills.
It is not enough, however, to be prepared for the academic rigors of law school. The pre-law program also provides information and advice to enable the undergraduate student to make wise choices regarding various issues, including:
- Do you really want to become a lawyer?
- What law schools should you apply to?
- What do you need to do to apply to law school?
- What do you need to do to succeed in law school?
- How can you afford law school?
- What does it mean to be a lawyer?
- What area of the law do you want to practice in?
- What are the alternative careers avaliable to someone with a law degree?
The program is a special package of benefits students can participate in regardless of major. These benefits include:
- Academic advising by a special team of pre-law advisers
(the team includes two lawyers).
- Law school and career counseling.
- Pre-law chapter of Phi Alpha Delta International, one
of the world's largest legal societies.
- The pre-law section of the A&S 100 seminar, taught by a lawyer, is open to incoming first-year students every fall.
- The UMKC Collegiate Mock Trial team.
- Workshops and advising on law school applications and
personal statements.
- Preparation program for the Law School Admissions
Test, "Ready, Set, LSAT," offered in conjunction with the
Institute for Professional Preparation; or information regarding private LSAT preparation programs.
- Mentoring, shadowing and internship opportunities with area attorneys, and government agencies (e.g., Jackson County Prosecutor's Office, Western Missouri Legal Aid).
- Arranging shadowing opportunities with law schools being
considered by students.
UMKC College Mock Trial Program
The UMKC College Mock Trial program is a member of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). At the beginning of every school year, AMTA provides a case which is available to all members on its Web site. Using the case materials and the various rules of evidence and procedure (based on the rules that govern practice in United States federal courts), the student teams of 6-8 present the case in front of judges in competitions against teams from around the Midwest, as well as the entire nation. Students can participate either as attorneys, witnesses, or both.
Why Join the Mock Trial Team?
Mock Trial is an excellent activity for those students who are considering attending law school for several reasons. First, it provides the student with a taste of one aspect of lawyering: trial litigation. While the mock trials are not perfect replicas of a real-world trial, they are structured in the same format and they do call upon the same skills that a real trial lawyer needs to succeed. The experience can prove valuable in that it can help students decide if they really want to attend law school and go on to practice law. Moreover, mock trial helps the student develop those skills that make trial lawyers successful (e.g., excellent oral communication skills; the ability to quickly develop and articulate a logical, persuasive argument; and an understanding of the rules of evidence). This is particularly important, given that the traditional law school curriculum emphasizes writing skills over oral communication skills.
Of course, the UMKC College Mock Trial program is not just for pre-law students. The oral communication and logical reasoning skills that are honed in mock trial will benefit all students, regardless of their intended vocation. Doctors, politicians, business persons, pharmacists, teachers, accountants, and just about every other potential profession rely to some degree on these skills.
Requirements for Joining the Team
Participation is only open to current UMKC undergraduate students who do not have a prior graduate or professional degree or prior UMKC students who have graduated within 120 days of the tournament. This is an official AMTA requirement. Students interested in becoming members of the program should contact the coach, Derek Moorhead (phone: (816) 235-6094 or e-mail: moorheadd@umkc.edu).
UMKC Early-Entry Law Program (90+ Program)
What is the 90+ Program?
UMKC's School of Law and The College of Arts and Sciences offer the motivated student a faster track to a legal education. While an undergraduate degree is usually a requirement for admission into law school, UMKC offers students the opportunity to start law school after completing as little as 90 undergraduate credit hours. Students then complete their undergraduate degree with law school credits. By overlapping credits, students can shorten the length of time necessary for completing their education by as much as one year.
How does the 90+ Program work?
A student's first 30 hours at UMKC's School of Law may fulfill as many as 30 credit hours of non-Arts and Sciences electives towards an undergraduate degree. Therefore, if a student completes all of the general education, major, and upper-level requirements, leaving only elective credits to receive an undergraduate degree, the student may apply to the law school at UMKC. If accepted, the student can start law school without having actually received an undergraduate bachelor's degree. The student will receive the undergraduate degree after earning the requisite amount of law school credits necessary to fulfill the remaining amount of undergraduate elective credits (up to 30 hours).
Who may participate in the 90+ Program?
Any student who is pursuing a degree in The College of Arts and Sciences may participate. The most popular are the Bachelor of Liberal Arts (B.L.A.) and the Bachelor of Arts in political science. Note, however, that the 90+ program does not guarantee admission into UMKC's School of Law. Participants must apply and otherwise qualify for law school admission.
What do you need to do to complete the 90+ program?
Current UMKC students should meet every semester with a pre-law adviser. Community college transfer students should consult with a UMKC pre-law adviser one full year before transferring to UMKC. Given the number of requirements that must be satisfied in such a short period of time, potential 90+ students must monitor their progress with great care. The following checklist should help students get started:
- The final 30 hours prior to enrolling in the UMKC School of Law must be from courses in UMKC's College of Arts and Sciences.
- All general education requirements must be completed prior to enrolling in the UMKC School of Law.
- For non-B.L.A. students, all major requirements must be completed prior to enrolling.
- The 36 hours of junior/senior (300/400-level) coursework must be completed prior to enrolling in the UMKC School of Law.
- By the Fall Semester before students plan on starting law school (roughly after earning approximately 60-75 credit hours), they should apply for graduation in the Arts and Sciences Advising Office. Students should note on the application for graduation that they are early-entry law (or 90+) candidates. As part of the graduation process, the student must schedule an audit with the pre-law coordinator. The audit should be completed by the end of the Fall semester prior to starting law school.
- After applying for graduation and completing the audit, the student must contact the pre-law coordinator to arrange to have a letter sent to the UMKC School of Law stating that there is a plan in place that will allow the student to complete all of the general education and major requirements prior to enrolling in the law school the following fall. The coordinator will send the letter after the meeting, if it is evident that the student has established a workable plan to finish the requirements, and the student has completed and delivered the required parts of the application to the law school (this includes letters of recommendation, a personal statement, as well as a report from the Law School Data Assembly Service containing all relevant transcript information and a valid LSAT score). This process should be completed prior to January 1 of the year in which the student intends to enroll in the UMKC School of Law.
Concentration in Pre-Law
Students interested in law school and/or the legal profession should consider taking classes from the following list. The classes are separated into two groups:
- Those that deal with the substance of the law.
- Those that focus on the development of some of the underlying skills that lawyers need (e.g., critical thought, excellent written and oral communication skills).
While the pre-law concentration is not required for students applying to law school, the classes listed below help students develop the skills that should help them succeed in law school, and in the profession. This list of classes is by no means comprehensive. Many different classes at UMKC touch on law, and almost all of the classes develop to some degree one or more of the skills previously listed. However, the classes below were selected because they primarily focus on either the substance of the law or one of the underlying skills listed above. Students should design their own pre-law concentration curriculum, with the advice of the pre-law coordinator. Students may also take classes as part of the concentration that are not listed below if they can justify why the class will help prepare them for law school and a legal career. For example, students interested in practicing environmental law might want to take environmental studies-related classes. Similarly, future patent lawyers might consider taking chemistry, physics, and/or mathematics classes.
Suggested Pre-Law Concentration Classes
Students interested in attending law school should take care to insure that they do not take too many classes in any one subject area. As such, students interested in the concentration should take a minimum of 18 credit hours from at least 3 different departments. They should also make a concerted effort to complete a minimum of 6 credits from both the "substantive legal classes" and "legal skills" groups.
- Substantive Legal Classes (complete 6 credits minimum):
- Communication Studies 478 (Media Law)
- Criminal Justice 320 (The Supreme Court and the Criminal Process), 353 (Legal Aspects of Policing), 435WI (Gender and Law)
- Economics 416 (Law and Economics)
- Geography 410 (Landscape, Language, Literature, and Law)
- History 360R (Constitutional History of the United States)
- Philosophy 340 (Philosophy of Law)
- Political Science 344 (Jurisprudence), 347P (Crime and Civil Liberties), 348 (Constitutional Law: The Federal System), 349 (Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties), 370 (Labor Law), 405 (American Constitutional Thought), or 408 (Judicial Politics)
- Sociology 470 (Colloquium: Law and Social Structure)
- Legal Skills Classes (complete 6 credits minimum):
- Communication Studies 212 (Argumentation and Debate), 213 (Argumentation and Critical Thought), 317 (Persuasion)
- English 305WI (Theory and Practice of Composition)
- Philosophy 222 (Foundations of Logic and the Scientific Method), 336 (Philosophy of Language), 423 (Symbolic Logic)
- Political Science 380 (Political Science and Politics)
- Theater 101 (Introduction to Acting)
Interested students should contact the pre-law coordinator
for more information.
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