We hope this message finds you well! As promised, we are writing to provide information about the Law School’s curricular offerings and academic support. We hope this information will assist in making well-informed decisions regarding your academic experience. Be mindful that you will register for the fall semester on Wednesday, August 13, and while your schedule can be altered during the Add/Drop period, you’ll want to have a pretty good idea as to both your fall and spring semester course selections.
NOTE! The active links in this email are limited to GW Organization emails, i.e., if you are not using your @gwu.edu or @law.gwu.edu account, you will not be able to access the information you seek. You should be able to access all of the active links here if you are reading this email from your @law.gwu.edu email account or by logging into the GW Law portal.
Transfer Orientation Part I (Virtual Session)
Wednesday, August 6, 10 AM
As mentioned before, this virtual program is designed to introduce transfer students to the GW Law community conveniently from wherever you are currently located. The program will consist of two sessions with an hour break for lunch. A morning session (10 AM - 12 PM) covering topics including an academic advising overview to support planning for your GW Law experience with information on graduation requirements, curricular and co-curricular offerings, and available resources. The afternoon session (1 PM - 3 PM) will include a Transfer Journal Competition Information session, a review of community expectations, and Q&A for all of the above.
Participation in Part I of Transfer Orientation can be accessed via this Zoom Link, which will be opened 10 minutes before the start of the program. A calendar invitation will be sent to both your personal email and your @law.gwu.edu account. The invitation will include all information needed for this session. Please respond to the invitation with your availability as soon as you receive it.
Connect With Your Colleagues
We encourage you to prioritize making connections with other GW Law students as soon as possible. The relationships you cultivate will support your successful transition into GW Law. Some of your fellow transfer students have joined the GroupMe Chat, and they are waiting for you! The Student Bar Association (SBA) is working on other opportunities for you to connect, including the SBA Transfer Mentor Program. More information about the mentor program is forthcoming.
2025-2026 GW Law Academic Calendar
You will find the Academic Calendar along with other important course scheduling and enrollment documents on the Records Office Fall 2025 page. Incoming transfers have one of two start dates for the fall semester. If you need to take Contracts, Civil Procedure, or Torts, you will be required to take them this fall. Classes for these required 1L courses begin Monday, August 18, when first-year, first-semester classes commence. If you need to take Property, Legislation and Regulation, and/or Constitutional Law I this fall to complete GW Law’s first-year curriculum/graduation requirement, these classes start on Monday, August 25, when all other upper-level courses begin. Criminal Law is only offered in spring semesters.
GW Law's Field Placement Program - Fall 2025
Transfer students are encouraged to participate in the Field Placement Program! In the Field Placement Program, students earn academic credit for externships with government, judicial, or nonprofit organizations.
The Program provides students with the opportunity to gain experience in different substantive areas of law and legal processes; to provide students with the opportunity to gain experience in different substantive areas of law and legal process and reflect upon their professional development; to develop legal research, writing, interviewing, counseling and investigative skills and engage in reflective lawyering; to deal with issues of professional responsibility in a practice setting and give thought to an attorney’s ethical and moral choices and obligations; and to consider cross-cultural competency within the context of client representation and an attorney's role in creating a legal system providing equal access and eliminating bias, discrimination, and racism in the law.
Registration for the Fall 2025 Field Placement Program opened on Friday, June 27, 2025, and the priority registration deadline was Friday, August 1, 2025. However, we will admit students into the Program as space allows through Tuesday, September 2, 2025. We encourage students to apply as soon as possible to ensure a spot.
To participate in Field Placement, students must do the following:
(1) Secure a qualifying externship: We encourage students to work closely with the Career Center to identify externship opportunities that align with their professional goals.
(2) Submit the registration application: Once an externship is secured, students must complete the registration application. This is done by creating a “New Experience” in the Experiential Learning section of CORE. Additionally, once the New Experience has been submitted, their placement supervisors must complete the Student Extern Supervision Agreement, found in the “Documents and Forms” tab of the Experience. Complete instructions for the registration process can be found on the Field Placement page of myGW.
(3) Attend a required orientation session: All first‐time Field Placement participants must attend an orientation session. The orientation will last 90 minutes, and multiple sessions are offered during the first week of class. Specific dates and times will be sent to all first-time Field Placement participants approximately two weeks before the start of classes.
Students are encouraged to contact the Field Placement team at fieldplacement@law.gwu.edu with any questions.
GW Law Advocacy Programs
Advocacy Programs facilitates and hosts student participation in competitions both on and off campus.
GW hosts four separate, one-credit, internal (only for GW students) competitions each year, which - like other electives - are open to all upper-level students. Each provides the opportunity to earn membership on the sponsoring Skills Board: ADR, mock trial, and moot court. These competitions include:
the Cohen & Cohen Mock Trial Competition (fall),
the Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court (fall),
the Rothwell Intellectual Property Moot Court (spring), and
The Spanogle International Commercial Arbitration Competition (spring).
Students in internal competitions can also register for an add-on experiential education credit and receive coaching from an adjunct professor experienced in the area of law relevant to the competition.
We are proud to have recently celebrated the 75th Anniversary of our Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition. In recognition of it, on Thursday, January 30, 2025, in Lisner Auditorium, the Finals occurred before Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, US Supreme Court; Judge David Barron, US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; and Judge Roopali Desai, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Not to be outdone, this academic year, the Van Vleck Finals are scheduled to occur in Lisner Auditorium on Thursday, February 5, 2026 before The Hon.John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; The Hon. Joan Larsen, US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit; and The Hon. Barbara Lagoa, US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. We hope you will attend what should be the highlight of the school year.
GW also excelled in external competitions against other schools. In the 24-25 academic year, GW entered 32 teams in 29 external advocacy competitions and was recognized 16 times, including two championships. Representing GW at external competitions is a major benefit of making a Skills Board.
Additionally, GW hosts two external competitions, which welcome law schools from across the country (and provide the opportunity for GW students to participate as well):
The National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition (fall) - co-sponsored with the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and
The Estrella Trial Advocacy Competition (spring) - in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
GW Law is home to over twenty clinical offerings. In a clinic, you receive academic credit (2-6 credits) as you represent clients in real cases. In a weekly seminar, you learn the substantive law and skills necessary for you to represent your clients. Under the supervision of GW Law faculty, you then take responsibility for all the lawyering tasks your clinic work requires. Each clinic focuses on a different area of the law, from international to domestic, transactional to litigation, and human rights to domestic violence. If you are interested in participating in a clinic, you will want to review important information about the clinics, including prerequisites.
Registration and enrollment for the spring semester clinics begin in October, and students learn if they are accepted the week before spring semester registration. We are no longer accepting applications for Fall 2025, but for Spring 2026 availability, clinic descriptions, and information on the clinic application process, please visit the clinic website and myGW Law School Clinic Department page, and during the first two weeks in October, for information about any changes or updates in our offerings.
GW Law Journals and Transfer Journal Competition
GW Law’s student journals will conduct a write-on competition for transfer students beginning Thursday, August 14 at 9 AM to Monday, August 18 at 9 AM. Competitors will have the ability to rank participating journals to be considered for membership.
Law students must complete four semesters of journal work at GW Law. Journal work includes writing a Note and completing regular production assignments. Students will earn one ungraded credit, i.e., a non-letter grade, for each semester of work. Semesters in which students complete their Note will be designated with Honors, Pass, Low Pass, and No Credit. Once a law student has completed the fourth semester of journal, the designated non-letter grade will be posted retroactively to the semester earned on their transcript.
Students transferring into GW Law as 2L full-time students should participate in the August competition and will be notified before the end of the Add/Drop period if they have been selected for a journal. As students must complete four semesters of journal membership, this is the only opportunity for full-time students to apply for a journal. Students transferring into GW Law as 2L part-time students should wait to participate until the regular competition in February/March 2026 unless you intend to graduate early (e.g., December 2026). Those 2L part-time students participating in the competition during the spring semester will be notified of the results in mid-summer 2026.
All transfers will have access to the Write-On application
The Write-On will not be activated until closer to the start of the competition
All incoming transfer students are strongly encouraged to review the George Washington University Journal Withdrawal Policy before committing to participating on a journal.
For more information, please join the Journal Competition Information Session during the afternoon session of the virtual portion of the Transfer Orientation on Wednesday, August 6. You may always direct questions about the competition to gwjournalcompetition@law.gwu.edu.
Recognition of Juris Doctor Concentrations
Candidates for the Juris Doctor degree may earn a Recognition of Concentration in eleven substantive fields. Recognition requires students to complete a minimum number of credit hours in the concentration area after completion of the required first-year curriculum. Specific requirements are established by the concentration directors, listed below, who are responsible for administering the recognition. Students who wish to receive a Recognition of Concentration are required to register that intention with the concentration director before their final semester in law school, but preferably earlier in their upper-level years. The concentration directors will advise interested students on the concentration area, program requirements, and course options.
More information specific to each concentration is available in the 2025-2026 GW Law Bulletin. In the meantime, the Concentration Directors and Coordinators for the upcoming academic year are listed below. Feel free to reach out if you are considering a concentration.
GW Law’s Public Interest and Public Service Law Center
The Center’s mission is to cultivate the next generation of leaders committed to serving people and advancing the public good, whether in not-for-profit organizations, in government, or by providing pro bono assistance to those who cannot afford a lawyer.
To this end, GW Law has worked to build a comprehensive, full-service Center to encourage, support, and equip students interested in public service by taking advantage of the deep expertise of our alumni, faculty, and staff to enter fulfilling careers serving the public. The Center is led by Alan B. Morrison, the Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service, and it is supported by the Center’s Program Manager, Anapaula Pérez-Gaitan, and the Public Interest Advisory Council. For more information on funding a career in public interest, the GW Law Pro Bono program, and the Richey Fellows Program, you may visit the Center’s webpage or review this overview of the Public Interest Program.
We hope you find this information useful. Once again, and as always, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at deanofstudents@law.gwu.edu with any questions you may have.
Best,
Your Dean of Students Office
Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
