Simulations and Practical Courses

The Law School prides itself on providing learning experiences that stretch beyond the classroom and give students practical experience and insight into the way the law functions.

Principles and Practice Program

Virginia’s Principles and Practice Program, a curricular innovation that was the first of its kind in the country, offers courses designed to give students the opportunity to apply legal theory in real-life situations. The program teams law professors with practitioners, judges and other distinguished professionals for a semester or more. Lauded by students and practitioners alike, the program melds the insights of theory with those of contemporary practice, giving students a more sophisticated and useful understanding of a field than either perspective can yield on its own.

Principles and Practice Courses

Short Courses

In addition its regular semester- or yearlong courses, the Law School offers a variety of intensive short courses that allow students to focus on specific subjects ranging from Islamic Law to the finance of small enterprises. Often taught by practicing lawyers, these courses allow students to spend anywhere from a few days to a few weeks studying real-world problems with some of the top practitioners and scholars in the field.

Elective Courses

Professors also find ways to bring in practical experiences into regular courses that don't include a particular focus on real-world lawyering — for example, by featuring guest speakers with experience in the field.

Simulation Courses

These courses represent the 2021-2024 school years.

  • Advanced Contracts 
  • Advanced Criminal Procedure Seminar 
  • Advanced Legal Research 
  • Advanced Legal Writing: Civic Engagement and Persuasion 
  • Advanced Verbal Persuasion 
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Workplace
  • Appellate Practice 
  • Bioethics and Law Internship Seminar: Health Policy and Administration 
  • Border Policy and Politics 
  • Business Reorganization Under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code 
  • Complex Commercial Contract Negotiations 
  • Computational Text Analysis for Legal Practice 
  • Conservation Planning and Law 
  • Corporate Strategy
  • Corporate Transactions 
  • Deals 
  • Defining Leadership Moments 
  • Designing Democracy: Participation
  • Drug Product Liability Litigation: Principles and Practice 
  • Electronic Discovery
  • Emerging Markets: Principles and Practice 
  • Estate Planning: Principles and Practice 
  • Federal Criminal Pre-Trial and Trial Practice 
  • Federal Litigation Practice 
  • Gender-Based Violence: US Law and Policy 
  • Global Contracting: A Case Study
  • Government Ethics: Conflicts of Interest, Lobbying and Campaign Finance 
  • Graduate Legal Research and Writing II 
  • Hallmarks of Distinguished Advocacy 
  • Human Rights Study Project 
  • Innovating for Defense
  • International Business Negotiation 
  • International Debt Transactions
  • International Tax Practicum 
  • Law of Public-Private Partnerships
  • Law Reform and Impact Litigation Seminar 
  • Lawyers, Clerks, and Judicial Decision-making
  • Legal Research and Writing I
  • Legislative Drafting and Public Policy 
  • Litigation Skills and Professional Liability Law 
  • Music Law: Analytical and Client Management Skills
  • Negotiating a Joint Venture in China 
  • Negotiation
  • Nonprofit Organizations: Principles and Practice 
  • Oral Presentations In and Out of the Courtroom 
  • Persuasion 
  • Pretrial Litigation Skills: Civil Rights
  • Project for Informed Reform 
  • Public Interest Law and Advocacy Skills
  • Public M&A Negotiation 
  • Real Estate Transactions and Litigation
  • Regulatory Law and Policy
  • Securities Litigation and Enforcement 
  • Spanish for Public Service Lawyers
  • Start-Up of a MedTech Company 
  • Taking Effective Depositions 
  • Tax Treaties and Other International Tax Topics 
  • The Business of Banking and Prudential Regulation 
  • Topics in Private Company Acquisitions 
  • Transactional Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions 
  • Transactional Law: Drafting, Communication and Negotiation 
  • Trial Advocacy College 
  • Trial Advocacy