The Lawyer As...

Interview

While our required curriculum provides a firm foundation for profession-readiness, you have ample room to choose electives in your second- and third-year of law school. To help inform your selection, we have organized our elective curriculum around the substantive ways that lawyers use their training — what we call “The Lawyer As...”

The Lawyer As Business Advisor

Accounting for Lawyers

Banking Regulation

Bankruptcy

Business Entities I: Unincorporated Business Entities

Business Entities II: Corporations

Construction Law

Contracts

Entrepreneurship Law: Company Creation

Entrepreneurship Law: Operational Issues

Federal Securities Regulation

Lawyering and Ethics for the Business Attorney Seminar

Nonprofit Organizations

Payment Systems

Sales

Secured Transactions

White-Collar Crime

Externships

  • Office of Attorney General Antitrust Section
  • Office of General Counsel
    • Department of Banking & Securities
    • Department of State

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (Securities and Exchange Commission; U.S. Department of the Treasury; U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. Agency for Economic Development)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (PA Department of Labor and Industry; PA Department of Banking)

The Lawyer As Civil Rights Advocate

Administrative Law

Advanced Criminal Procedure

Advocacy I

Civil Liberties Litigation

Constitutional Law I

Constitutional Law II

Criminal Procedure

Election Law

Employment Discrimination

Federal Courts

First Amendment

Immigration Law

International Human Rights

Law and Individuals with Disabilities

National Security Law

Nonprofit Organizations

Poverty Law

Protection of Individual Rights Under State Constitutions Seminar

Race, Racism, and American Law

Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar

In-House Clinics

  • Community Law Clinic — handling cases in family, disability, housing, and public benefits law
  • Children’s Advocacy Clinic

Externships

  • MidPenn Legal Services (Carlisle and Harrisburg)
  • Community Justice Project
  • Federal Judicial Placements

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); Human Rights Watch)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (YWCA Domestic Violence Legal Center; Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission)

International Justice Externship

The Lawyer As Conflict Resolver

General Civil Litigation in the United States

  • Advocacy I
  • Advocacy II
  • Civil Procedure
  • Electronic Evidence Seminar
  • Evidence
  • Federal Courts
  • Remedies

General Criminal Litigation in the United States

  • Advanced Criminal Procedure
  • Criminal Procedure
  • Federal Criminal Practice

General Dispute Resolution

  • Client Counseling
  • Congressional Investigations Seminar
  • Negotiation/Mediation

Substantive Law-Specific Procedure in the United States

  • Administrative Law
  • Bankruptcy
  • Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar
  • Torts

In-House Clinics

  • Children’s Advocacy Clinic
  • Community Law Clinic

Courses that include some negotiation:

  • Entrepreneurship Law: Company Creation
  • Entrepreneurship Law: Operational Issues

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. (National Labor Relations Board; U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; AFL-CIO)

Judicial Externships

The Lawyer As Consumer Advocate

Banking Regulation

Bankruptcy

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Construction Law

Contracts

Energy Law and Policy

Nonprofit Organizations

Payment Systems

Sales

Secured Transactions

Externships

  • Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection
  • Public Utility Commission

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Federal Trade Commission, AARP Legal Council for the Elderly)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (PA Office of the Attorney General, PA Department of Banking)

The Lawyer As Employment Advisor

Employee Benefits Law

Employment Discrimination

Employment Law

Labor Law

Law of Individuals with Disabilities

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (PA Department of Labor and Industry)

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (National Labor Relations Board; U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; AFL-CIO)

Externships

  • Office of General Counsel
    • Department of State
    • Department of Health
    • PA Department of Transportation
  • Office of General Counsel, Department of Public Welfare
  • State Civil Service Commission
  • Penn State Health
The Lawyer As Entrepreneur, Manager and Leader

Accounting for Lawyers

Advocacy I

Advocacy II

Client Counseling

Entrepreneurship Law: Company Creation

Entrepreneurship Law: Operational Issues

Lawyering and Ethics for the Business Attorney Seminar

Negotiation/Mediation

Nonprofit Organizations

Professional Responsibility

Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar

Externships

  • PA School Board Associations
  • Judicial Placements
  • Judicial Conduct Board

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (American Bar Association; U.S. Agency for International Development; AFL-CIO)

The Lawyer As Environmental and Energy Advocate

Administrative Law

Agricultural Law

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Energy Law and Policy

Environmental Law

Law of the Sea

Nonprofit Organizations

State and Local Governmental Law

Externships

  • Office of General Counsel Department of Environmental Protection
  • Office of General Counsel Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Justice; Food and Water Watch; U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (PA Department of Environmental Protection; Environmental Hearing Board)

The Lawyer As Family Advisor

Advanced Federal Income Taxation

Bankruptcy

Basic Federal Income Taxation

Education Law

Elder Law Capacity I and II

Elder Law Comparative I and II

Elder Law Financing I and II

Estate Planning

Family Law

Gender and Sexuality Law

Immigration Law

Juvenile Law

Law of Individuals with Disabilities

Poverty Law

Wills, Trusts, and Estates

In-House Clinics

  • Community Law Clinic 
  • Children’s Advocacy Clinic

Externships

  • Office of Attorney General, Department of Public Welfare
  • Office of Attorney General, Department of Education
  • Pennsylvania School Board Association
  • MidPenn Legal Services
  • Court of Common Pleas Judicial Placements

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (AARP Legal Council for the Elderly; National Senior Citizens Law Center)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (YWCA Domestic Violence Legal Center)

The Lawyer As Government Advisor

Administrative Law

Civil Liberties Litigation

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Constitutional Law I

Education Law

Election Law

Energy Law and Policy

National Security Law

Protection of Individual Rights Under State Constitutions Seminar

Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar

Externships

  • Legislative Reference Bureau
  • Judicial Conduct Board
  • State Civil Service Commission
  • Office of General Counsel

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (U.S. Department of Justice; Federal Communications Commission; Federal Aviation Administration; Environmental Protection Agency)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (Governor’s Office of General Counsel)

The Lawyer As Intellectual Property Advisor

Contracts

Copyrights

Entertainment Law

Internet Law

Introduction to Intellectual Property Law

Patents

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology & Law

Sports Law

Trademarks

Externships

  • Federal Judicial Clerkships
The Lawyer As International Advisor and Advocate

Comparative International Tax Law

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Energy Law and Policy

Immigration Law

International Criminal Law

International Human Rights Law Seminar

International Justice Externship

International Law

National Security Law

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (U.S. Agency for International Development; Human Rights Watch; U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control; U.S.-China Economic Review and Security Commission)

The Lawyer in Medicine, Health Care, and Biotechnology

Administrative Law

Elder Law Capacity I and II

Elder Law Comparative I and II

Elder Law Finance I and II

Employee Benefits Law

Estate Planning

Health Care Law and Policy

Law and Medicine

Law of Individuals with Disabilities

Nonprofit Organizations

Poverty Law

Torts

Wills, Trusts, and Estates

In-House Clinics

  • Children’s Advocacy Clinic
  • Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic

Externships

  • Penn State Health
  • Office of Attorney General, Antitrust Section
  • Office of General Counsel, Department of Health
  • Department of State
The Lawyer As Prosecutor and Defender

Advanced Criminal Procedure

Advocacy I

Advocacy II

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Criminal Law

Criminal Procedure

Federal Criminal Practice

International Criminal Law

Juvenile Law

National Security Law

White-Collar Crime

Externships

  • Judicial Externships (United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland and Dauphin County)
  • United States Attorney’s Office
  • Federal Public Defender Office
  • Office of Attorney General (Antitrust Section, Health Care Section, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Tax Litigation)
  • District Attorney’s Office (Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, and York County)
  • Public Defender’s Office (Adams, Cumberland, and Dauphin County)

International Justice Externship

Semester-in-Washington Program (Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia; Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia; U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia; U.S. Department of Justice)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Office of the Federal Public Defender, Middle District of Pennsylvania)

The Lawyer As Public Interest Advocate

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Constitutional Law II

Education Law

Election Law

Employment Discrimination

First Amendment

Gender and Sexuality Law

Immigration Law

International Human Rights

Juvenile Law

Law and Individuals with Disabilities

Nonprofit Organizations

Poverty Law

Protection of Individual Rights Under State Constitutions Seminar

Race, Racism, and American Law

In-House Clinics

  • Children’s Advocacy Clinic
  • Community Law Clinic — handling cases in family, disability, housing, and public benefits law
  • Legislation and Government Clinic

Externships

  • International Justice Externship
  • Office of General Counsel
    • Department of Education
    • Department of Public Welfare
    • Department of Banking & Securities
  • Department of Community & Economic Development
  • Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection
  • Legal Services
  • Community Justice Project

Public Interest Placements in Semester-in-Washington D.C. Program (American Bar Association; National Lawyers Guild; Council on American-Islamic Relations; National Partnership for Women and Families; National Senior Citizen’s Law Center)

Public Interest Placements in Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (YWCA Domestic Violence Legal Center; PA Office of Consumer Advocate)

The Lawyer As Regulatory Advisor

Administrative Law

Banking Regulation

Congressional Investigations Seminar

Constitutional Law I

Election Law

Energy Law and Policy

Environmental Law

Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (PA Department of Environmental Protection; PA Department of Banking)

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Federal Trade Commission; Securities and Exchange Commission; Federal Communications Commission)

Externships

  • Office of Attorney General, Antitrust Section
  • Office of Attorney General, Charitable Trusts Section
  • Office of General Counsel
  • Department of Banking
  • Gaming Control Board
  • Liquor Control Board
  • Public Utility Commission
  • State Civil Service Commission
The Lawyer As Researcher/Writer

Judicial Externships

Legal Analysis & Writing I: Objective

Legal Analysis & Writing II: Persuasive

Practice-Oriented Research Tips and Training Certificate Program

The Lawyer As Tax Advisor

Advanced Federal Income Tax

Basic Federal Income Tax

Comparative International Taxation

Corporate and Partnership Tax

Entrepreneurship Law: Company Creation

Entrepreneurship Law: Operational Issues

Estate Planning

State and Local Taxation

Externships

  • Office of Attorney General, Tax Litigation Division

Semester-in-Washington, D.C. Program (Internal Revenue Service; U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division)

Semester-in-Harrisburg Program (Office of Attorney General, Tax Litigation)

The Lawyer As Trial Advocate

Advocacy I

Advocacy II

Appellate Advocacy

Civil Liberties Litigation

Civil Procedure

Client Counseling

Conflict of Laws

Criminal Law

  • Advanced Criminal Procedure
  • Criminal Procedure
  • Federal Criminal Practice
  • International Criminal Law
  • White-Collar Crime

Electronic Evidence Seminar

Evidence

Federal Courts 

Legal Analysis & Writing I: Objective

Legal Analysis & Writing II: Persuasive

Negotiation/Mediation

Remedies

Torts

Externships

  • Judicial Externships (United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland and Dauphin County)
  • United States Attorney’s Office
  • Federal Public Defender Office
  • International Justice Externship
  • District Attorney’s Office (Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin and York County)
  • Public Defender’s Office (Adams, Cumberland and Dauphin County)
  • MidPenn Legal Services (Carlisle and Harrisburg)
  • Community Justice Project (Harrisburg)
  • Office of Attorney General: Tax Litigation Section, Health Care Section, Bureau of Consumer Protection
  • Office of General Counsel
    • Department of Environmental Protection 
    • Department of State
    • Department of Transportation 
    • Department of Public Welfare
  • Independent Boards and Commissions 
    • Gaming Control Board
    • Liquor Control Board
    • Public Utility Commission
    • State Civil Service Commission)
  • Mid Penn Legal Services
  • Community Justice Project
The Lawyer As Wealth Management Advisor

Advanced Federal Income Taxation

Agricultural Law

Bankruptcy

Basic Federal Income Tax

Construction Law

Elder Law Capacity I and II

Elder Law Comparative I and II

Elder Law Finance I and II

Entrepreneurship Law: Company Creation

Entrepreneurship Law: Operational Issues

Environmental Law

Estate Planning

Insurance Law

Negotiation/Mediation

Property

Secured Transactions

State and Local Governmental Law

State and Local Taxation

Taxation of Business Entities

Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Externships

  • Office of Attorney General, Charitable Trusts Division