Program · 3 stages · 24 courses
J.D. Preparation
A three-stage program connecting legal study skills, foundational law and upper-level subjects into one reusable learning pathway.
Independent preparation, not a J.D. degree, university credit, bar eligibility or legal advice. Course outlines are planned; lessons become available only after separate authoring, review and publication.
0 of 24 courses available · 24 planned. Recommended prerequisites guide your study order; they do not grant credit or block public reading.
Stage 1: Law-school readiness · 5 courses
Learn how lawyers read, research and explain a legal problem before studying the doctrinal subjects.
Introduction to the U.S. Legal System — Planned
Recommended first: No prior legal study required.
Module outline
- Sources of law and legal institutions
- Federal and state court structures
- Precedent, jurisdiction and authority
- From client problem to judicial decision
Learning outcomes
- Identify the institution responsible for a legal rule.
- Distinguish binding authority from persuasive authority in a stated forum.
Planned assignment: Map a fictional dispute through trial and appeal and explain which sources govern.
Case Reading and Legal Reasoning — Planned
Recommended first: Introduction to the U.S. Legal System
Module outline
- Reading an opinion and procedural posture
- Issues, holdings, reasoning and dicta
- Rule synthesis, analogy and distinction
- Statutory interpretation and changed facts
Learning outcomes
- Write a concise case brief without confusing the holding with dicta.
- Synthesize a rule from two cases and apply it to a new fact pattern.
Planned assignment: Brief three opinions, compare their reasoning and answer a changed-fact hypothetical.
Legal Research and Citation — Planned
Recommended first: Case Reading and Legal Reasoning
Module outline
- Research plans and secondary sources
- Cases, statutes and regulations
- Updating authority and jurisdiction checks
- Citation, quotations and research logs
Learning outcomes
- Document a reproducible research trail.
- Identify authority that needs currency verification and cite sources accurately.
Planned assignment: Create an authority table and research log; explain currency checks and any access limitations.
Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis — Planned
Recommended first: Case Reading and Legal Reasoning; Legal Research and Citation
Module outline
- Issue framing and rule statements
- IRAC and CREAC organization
- Fact-based application and counteranalysis
- Objective memoranda and revision
Learning outcomes
- Separate rule explanation from fact-specific application.
- Present a balanced prediction with uncertainty and counterarguments.
Planned assignment: Write and revise an objective memorandum using a supplied case and statute packet.
Legal Writing II: Persuasion and Advocacy — Planned
Recommended first: Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Audience, relief and persuasive organization
- Fact statements and argument headings
- Adverse authority and ethical advocacy
- Brief revision and oral explanation
Learning outcomes
- Develop a supported argument while addressing adverse authority.
- Revise a brief for organization, precision and appropriate tone.
Planned assignment: Prepare a short motion brief and an oral-argument outline, then revise against a rubric.
Stage portfolio: Build a research portfolio: three case briefs, an authority table, an objective memo and a revised persuasive brief. Use a rubric for accuracy, authority, application, counterarguments and clarity.
Portfolio work is a study recommendation, separate from measured course completion. It is not automatically graded or credited.
Stage 2: Core J.D. preparation · 10 courses
Study the shared foundations of a U.S. J.D. through cases, statutory problems and written analysis.
Contracts I: Formation and Interpretation — Planned
Recommended first: Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Offer and acceptance
- Consideration and reliance
- Formation defenses and enforceability
- Interpretation and introductory sales-law distinctions
Learning outcomes
- Analyze whether an enforceable agreement exists.
- Explain competing interpretations using facts and authority.
Planned assignment: Analyze a disputed agreement, including formation, reliance and enforceability.
Contracts II: Performance, Breach and Remedies — Planned
Recommended first: Contracts I: Formation and Interpretation
Module outline
- Conditions and performance
- Breach, repudiation and excuse
- Third-party rights
- Expectation, reliance, restitution and equitable relief
Learning outcomes
- Identify the consequences of breach and available arguments for excuse.
- Compare remedial measures and their limitations.
Planned assignment: Write a breach memorandum and calculate alternative damages under supplied assumptions.
Torts — Planned
Recommended first: Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Intentional torts and privileges
- Negligence: duty and breach
- Actual and proximate causation; defenses
- Strict liability, products and damages
Learning outcomes
- Apply each element rather than infer liability from harm alone.
- Assess causation, defenses and policy arguments.
Planned assignment: Analyze a multi-party accident from both plaintiff and defendant perspectives.
Civil Procedure I: Courts and Pleadings — Planned
Recommended first: Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Subject-matter and personal jurisdiction
- Notice, service, venue and transfer
- Erie and choice of governing law
- Pleadings, motions and joinder
Learning outcomes
- Select and justify a forum for a stated dispute.
- Distinguish jurisdictional issues from merits and procedural questions.
Planned assignment: Prepare a forum analysis and complaint outline for a fictional federal civil action.
Civil Procedure II: Litigation and Judgments — Planned
Recommended first: Civil Procedure I: Courts and Pleadings
Module outline
- Discovery, disclosure and privilege
- Summary judgment and settlement
- Trial, jury and post-trial motions
- Appeal, finality and preclusion
Learning outcomes
- Explain the burdens at successive litigation stages.
- Analyze how a prior judgment affects later claims.
Planned assignment: Build a litigation timeline and argue a summary-judgment problem using a supplied record.
Real Property — Planned
Recommended first: Contracts I: Formation and Interpretation; Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Possession, estates and future interests
- Co-ownership and landlord-tenant foundations
- Transfers, recording and title
- Easements, covenants and land-use foundations
Learning outcomes
- Analyze competing interests in land.
- Distinguish general doctrines from jurisdiction-dependent rules.
Planned assignment: Resolve a fictional chain-of-title, lease and easement dispute with explicit jurisdiction assumptions.
Constitutional Law I: Government Structure — Planned
Recommended first: Introduction to the U.S. Legal System; Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Judicial review and justiciability
- Congressional power and federalism
- Executive power and separation of powers
- Federal-state relations and preemption
Learning outcomes
- Identify the source and limits of governmental power.
- Analyze structural constitutional arguments and threshold justiciability.
Planned assignment: Write opposing analyses of a fictional federal-state regulatory dispute.
Constitutional Law II: Individual Rights — Planned
Recommended first: Constitutional Law I: Government Structure
Module outline
- State action and incorporation
- Due process
- Equal protection
- Speech, religion and associational rights
Learning outcomes
- Identify the relevant constitutional right and analytical framework.
- Apply the appropriate scrutiny and address competing arguments.
Planned assignment: Analyze a rights problem, identifying state action, standards and factual uncertainties.
Criminal Law — Planned
Recommended first: Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Legality, act requirements and mental states
- Causation and major offense categories
- Attempt, conspiracy and accomplice liability
- Justification, excuse and comparative statutory approaches
Learning outcomes
- Apply each offense element and potential defense.
- Distinguish common-law and model-code approaches where specified.
Planned assignment: Prepare a charge-and-defense matrix from a fictional incident under supplied statutes.
Professional Responsibility — Planned
Recommended first: Legal Writing I: Objective Analysis
Module outline
- Client relationships, competence and communication
- Confidentiality and privilege distinctions
- Conflicts of interest and loyalty
- Candor, fees and professional discipline
Learning outcomes
- Identify competing duties and needed additional facts.
- Distinguish model rules from a jurisdiction’s adopted rules.
Planned assignment: Analyze a fictional client intake and conflict problem, supporting each proposed response.
Stage portfolio: Complete an integrated fictional civil case: identify contract, tort and property issues, select a forum, draft a pleading outline and write a timed analysis. Separately complete constitutional, criminal-law and ethics problems.
Portfolio work is a study recommendation, separate from measured course completion. It is not automatically graded or credited.
Stage 3: Upper-level preparation · 9 courses
Extend the foundation into litigation, business, family, estates and regulation. These are recommended preparation subjects; degree requirements vary by school.
Evidence — Planned
Recommended first: Civil Procedure II: Litigation and Judgments; Criminal Law
Module outline
- Relevance and exclusion
- Witnesses, impeachment and credibility
- Hearsay and its exclusions and exceptions
- Authentication, writings and privileges
Learning outcomes
- Analyze admissibility in a specified procedural setting.
- Distinguish an admissibility argument from evidentiary weight.
Planned assignment: Write an objection-and-response memorandum for a fictional trial record.
Criminal Procedure — Planned
Recommended first: Criminal Law; Constitutional Law II: Individual Rights
Module outline
- Searches, seizures and warrants
- Interrogation and self-incrimination
- Counsel and identification procedures
- Suppression, charging and trial protections
Learning outcomes
- Identify the constitutional protections implicated by investigative acts.
- Explain arguments for and against suppression under supplied authority.
Planned assignment: Analyze an investigation timeline and draft a suppression-motion outline.
Business Associations — Planned
Recommended first: Contracts II: Performance, Breach and Remedies; Real Property
Module outline
- Agency and authority
- Partnerships and limited liability entities
- Corporations and governance
- Fiduciary duties and owner remedies
Learning outcomes
- Compare entity structures and allocation of authority.
- Analyze agency and fiduciary-duty disputes.
Planned assignment: Prepare an entity-choice memo and analyze a fictional manager’s conflict of interest.
Family Law — Planned
Recommended first: Constitutional Law II: Individual Rights; Real Property
Module outline
- Marriage and relationship recognition
- Dissolution, property and support
- Parentage, custody and child welfare
- Jurisdiction and interstate family disputes
Learning outcomes
- Identify the legal issues and jurisdictional questions in a family dispute.
- Distinguish general principles from state-specific statutory choices.
Planned assignment: Create a neutral issue map using a fictional family and a supplied jurisdiction pack.
Wills, Trusts and Estates — Planned
Recommended first: Real Property
Module outline
- Intestacy and succession
- Will execution, interpretation and contests
- Trust creation and administration
- Fiduciary duties and estate administration
Learning outcomes
- Trace distribution under supplied succession rules.
- Analyze validity, interpretation and fiduciary questions.
Planned assignment: Resolve a fictional succession problem and explain competing will and trust claims.
Sales — Planned
Recommended first: Contracts II: Performance, Breach and Remedies
Module outline
- Article 2 scope and contract formation
- Terms, warranties and disclaimers
- Performance, risk and breach
- Buyer and seller remedies
Learning outcomes
- Distinguish a goods transaction from other agreements.
- Apply the supplied enacted sales provisions to warranty and remedy disputes.
Planned assignment: Analyze a defective-goods transaction and compare buyer and seller remedies.
Secured Transactions — Planned
Recommended first: Contracts II: Performance, Breach and Remedies; Business Associations; Sales
Module outline
- Collateral and Article 9 scope
- Attachment and enforceability
- Perfection and priority
- Default, enforcement and disposition
Learning outcomes
- Separate attachment from perfection and priority.
- Rank competing claims under supplied enacted rules.
Planned assignment: Prepare a collateral and priority matrix for a fictional financing transaction.
Remedies — Planned
Recommended first: Contracts II: Performance, Breach and Remedies; Torts; Real Property; Civil Procedure II: Litigation and Judgments
Module outline
- Compensatory relief and limitations
- Restitution and unjust enrichment
- Injunctions and equitable defenses
- Declaratory and provisional relief
Learning outcomes
- Match a remedy to the underlying claim and proof.
- Compare damages and equitable relief without double recovery.
Planned assignment: Write a remedies memorandum and explain an alternative damages calculation.
Administrative Law — Planned
Recommended first: Constitutional Law I: Government Structure; Civil Procedure II: Litigation and Judgments; Legal Research and Citation
Module outline
- Agency authority and delegation
- Rulemaking and public participation
- Adjudication and procedural fairness
- Judicial review and remedies
Learning outcomes
- Identify the agency action and review route.
- Research current review standards rather than assume superseded doctrine.
Planned assignment: Analyze a fictional agency decision using a dated statute, rule and case packet.
Stage portfolio: Prepare a capstone portfolio with an evidence objection memo, business transaction analysis, family/estate issue map and administrative-law research memo. Revise at least one item after rubric feedback.
Portfolio work is a study recommendation, separate from measured course completion. It is not automatically graded or credited.
Curriculum references
Reviewed 2026-11-03. This is Erudior’s preparation sequence; individual schools set their own requirements and course order.