Academic Policies

The following are abbreviated versions of some of the most frequently asked questions about Duke Law School’s rules and policies. For a complete listing, visit law.duke.edu/about/community/rules.

Attendance

Students must regularly attend and prepare for all courses. At the discretion of the instructor, a student who fails to meet this standard may be (1) denied the right to take a final examination or to submit other required coursework, in which case a grade of 2.0 will be entered for the course, or (2) dropped from the course with a mark of Withdraw/Pass or Withdraw/Fail entered on the student’s record pursuant to Rule 3-10(3). If the student is auditing the course, the instructor may drop them from the course.

Examinations

This is summary information only. Details on the rules and procedures under which examinations are administered are provided to students before each examination period. A final examination will be required in every regular course, and no final examination will be required in any seminar, unless the instructor announces to the contrary before the end of the second week of the semester.

No student may take a final examination in a course at a time other than the regularly scheduled time without the permission of the dean’s office. Such permission normally shall be granted only where one of the following circumstances exists: the student is ill or can demonstrate that taking the examination at the regular time would cause extreme personal hardship; there is a direct conflict in the scheduling of final examinations in two or more courses in which the student is enrolled; the student is enrolled in three or more courses, each carrying more than one hour of credit, for which examinations are scheduled within a thirty-six-hour period over two calendar days. In such circumstances, the examination to be rescheduled shall be the middle examination in the sequence.

If a student has been excused from taking a final examination in a course at the regularly scheduled time, the instructor may require the student to take a special final examination or submit a special paper. In such a case, the student shall be graded in the course on a Credit/No Credit basis. If the student takes the regular examination, but it cannot be read together with the examinations taken by other students in the same course, the instructor may, at their discretion, grade the examination numerically or on a Credit/No Credit basis.

All final examination papers shall be preserved for a period of two years by the instructor or the Duke Law School’s registrar’s office. All examination papers, including questions, student answers, and related materials are the property of the instructor and/or the law school. Students shall comply with the instructor’s requirements concerning retention of exam papers and shall not retain copies, digital or otherwise, of exam questions, answers, or related materials unless retention is specifically permitted by the instructor.

Submission of Papers

Papers or other coursework submitted in partial or complete satisfaction of the requirements of a course, including an independent study, must be completed no later than the last day of the regularly scheduled examination period of the semester in which the course is offered unless the instructor sets an earlier deadline. In individual cases, the instructor may grant an extension.

Withdrawal

A student may, upon application in writing and with the permission of the dean’s office, withdraw from the law school and preserve their eligibility for readmission. 

Dismissal and Readmission

Dismissal of a student from Duke Law School may take the form of suspension for a specified period of time or expulsion. A student may be dismissed from the law school for improper conduct pursuant to such standards and procedures as the faculty may prescribe. A student who has been declared ineligible to continue the study of law for academic reasons shall be dismissed from the law school and shall not be eligible for readmission except as specifically authorized by the faculty after the lapse of not less than one year and on such conditions as the faculty may specify.

Honors & Class Rank

Duke Law School recognizes the achievement of attaining and maintaining high grades through graduation honors. Order of the Coif membership is awarded to the top ten percent of the graduating class, based on all grades. Highest Honors (summa cum laude) is awarded to the top two percent of the graduating class based on all grades; High Honors (magna cum laude) are awarded to the top fifteen percent of the graduating class, based on grades earned in upper-level courses; and Honors (cum laude) are awarded to the top thirty-five percent of the graduating class, based on grades earned in upper-level courses. Duke Law School also recognizes the top five percent of the rising third-year class and the graduating class based on all grades.

The law school does not release class rank.

Grading Policy

Duke Law School uses a slightly modified form of the traditional 4.0 scale. The modification permits faculty to recognize especially distinguished performance with grades above a 4.0.

There is an enforced median grade of 3.5 for all classes. No more than 5% of the grades, rounding excepted, may exceed 4.0. For all first-year classes, and for those upper-level classes in which at least 50% of the final grade is based on student performance on a uniform metric or series of metrics, the following distribution is required:

The transcripts of students who enrolled at Duke in 2003-2004 or earlier reflect two slightly different grading scales. Through the academic year 2003-2004, the first year for most of the Class of 2006, the enforced maximum median grade was a 3.1, and faculty were permitted to give a limited number of grades of up to 4.5. The scale in effect beginning 2004-2005 and through Spring 2012 had an enforced maximum median of 3.3 and the highest possible grade has been lowered to 4.3. In Fall 2022 the median went from 3.3 for all first-year courses and in all upper-level courses with fifty or more students to an enforced median grade of 3.5 for all classes.

Course Loads

Maximum Course Loads

Other than dual-degree students, first-year students shall not take courses other than those of the required first-year program and one elective selected from a small group of approved classes in the spring semester. First-year dual degree students who wish to take law courses other than their required first-year courses must obtain prior permission from the dean’s office. No student shall take for credit courses totaling more than 16 course credits per semester nor audit and take for credit courses totaling more than 17 course credits per semester, except with the permission of the dean’s office.

Students enrolled in School of Law programs are not permitted to take undergraduate courses for credit toward the law degree. With the consent of the appropriate dean or program director, students may request to enroll in undergraduate courses, but these courses will not be included in cumulative GPA calculations or cumulative credit calculations.

Minimum Course Loads

To receive credit for a semester-in-residence, a student shall take for credit courses totaling at least 12 course credits counting toward that student’s law degree requirements, except with the permission of the dean. In no event shall permission be given to a student to take “for credit” courses totaling less than 10 course credits counting toward that student’s law degree requirements per semester or that which may be prescribed by the American Bar Association as the minimum number credits for a semester-in-residence. The above restrictions shall not apply to candidates for the one-year LLM degree programs.

Determination of Credit Hours

Credit hours allocated to all Law School coursework, including classes, clinics and externships, regardless of degree program, are determined pursuant to Law School Policy 3-3.