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 2022-25 school years. See clinics for clinical courses. (SC) = short course.

  • Advanced Contracts: When Financial Contracts Blow Up
  • Advanced Legal Research
  • Advanced Legal Writing: Civic Engagement and Persuasion
  • Advanced Verbal Persuasion
  • Appellate Practice
  • Bioethics and Law Internship Seminar: Health Policy and Administration
  • Border Policy and Politics
  • Complex Commercial Contract Negotiations
  • Conservation Planning and Law
  • Corporate Strategy (SC)
  • Corporate Transactions – Startup to Exit (SC)
  • Cybersecurity and Privacy Boot Camp (SC)
  • Deals
  • Defining Leadership Moments (SC)
  • Designing Democracy: Participation
  • Designing Democracy: Representation
  • Drug Product Liability Litigation: Principles and Practice
  • Electronic Discovery
  • Emerging Markets: Principles and Practice
  • Estate Planning: Principles and Practice
  • Federal Criminal Pretrial and Trial Practice
  • Federal Litigation Practice
  • Federal Practice and Procedure (SC)
  • Global Contracting: A Case Study (SC)
  • Government Ethics: Conflicts of Interest, Lobbying and Campaign Finance
  • Hallmarks of Distinguished Advocacy
  • Human Rights Study Project
  • Innovating for Defense
  • Internal Investigations (SC)
  • International Business Negotiation
  • International Tax Practicum
  • Introduction to Negotiation (SC)
  • Law and Leadership in the Public Interest
  • Law of Public-Private Partnerships
  • Law Reform and Impact Litigation Seminar
  • Lawyers, Clerks, and Judicial Decision-making
  • Legal Research and Writing I
  • Legal Storytelling
  • Legislative Drafting and Public Policy
  • Litigation Skills and Professional Liability Law
  • Mediation Law and Practice (SC)
  • Medicare Practice Seminar
  • Music Law: Analytical and Client Management Skills (SC)
  • Negotiating a Joint Venture in China (SC)
  • Negotiation
  • Nonprofit Organizations: Principles and Practice
  • Oral Presentations In and Out of the Courtroom (SC)
  • Persuasion (SC)
  • Pretrial Litigation Skills: Civil Rights
  • Problem-Solving in the Public Interest
  • Public Interest Law and Advocacy Skills
  • Public M&A Negotiation (SC)
  • Public Safety and Civil Liberties - Practical Perspectives on Policing
  • Real Estate Transactions and Litigation
  • Regulatory Law and Policy
  • Securities Litigation and Enforcement
  • Spanish for Public Service Lawyers
  • Startup of a Medtech Company (SC)
  • Taking Effective Depositions
  • Tax Treaties and Other International Tax Topics
  • The Business of Banking and Prudential Regulation (SC)
  • Topics in Private Company Acquisitions (SC)
  • Transactional Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Transactional Law: Drafting, Communication and Negotiation
  • Trial Advocacy
  • Trial Advocacy College (SC)
  • Youth Justice Practicum (SC)