Learning Outcomes

Preamble: Southwestern Law School is committed to helping students become reflective and self-fulfilled professionals who are able to integrate legal professionalism, ethics, values, doctrine, theory, and skills to become outstanding professionals in a broad variety of settings. The learning objectives listed embody this broader mission.

Learning Outcome 1: Reflection and Self-Fulfillment. Students will be able to reflect on their values, learning, and performance as these relate to their responsibilities as professionals to continuously learn, evolve, and achieve self-fulfillment.

Performance Criterion 1.1: Students will identify, plan, and initiate efforts to pursue their professional goals in a manner that considers their values, priorities, and interests, as well as the steps required to achieve those professional goals.

Performance Criterion 1.2: Students will meaningfully reflect on, identify, and assess their strengths, weaknesses, and values as professionals.

Performance Criterion 1.3: Students will use self-assessment to plan future efforts for improvement as professionals.

Learning Outcome 2: Leadership and Service. Students will be able to appreciate the role of the legal profession in fostering justice and diversity through leadership, public service, and community involvement.

Performance Criterion 2.1: Students will accurately identify the history, structures, values, shortcomings, and ongoing responsibilities of the legal profession with regard to fostering justice and diversity.

Performance Criterion 2.2: Students will articulate an understanding of the need for lawyers to serve the community and legal profession and to improve access to justice by assisting the underserved through pro bono representation or other efforts.

Performance Criterion 2.3: Students will identify and respect diverse backgrounds and perspectives that may affect client representation or professional work generally.

Learning Outcome 3: Ethics, Values, and Professionalism. Students will demonstrate good judgment consistent with the legal profession's ethics, values, and duties to clients, the legal system, and society.

Performance Criterion 3.1: Students will accurately articulate law governing lawyers and ethical rules and values of the legal profession.

Performance Criterion 3.2: Students will correctly identify issues of professional conduct for attorneys in actual or hypothetical factual settings.

Performance Criterion 3.3: Students will capably apply law governing lawyers, and ethical rules and values of the legal profession to assess appropriate professional conduct in actual or hypothetical factual settings.

Performance Criterion 3.4: Students will be honest, diligent, civil, punctual, and respectful in their actions and interactions with others.

Learning Outcome 4: Legal Knowledge. Students will be able to identify and explain fundamental legal rules, procedures, concepts, theories, and policies.

Performance Criterion 4.1: Students will identify and accurately articulate the terms, rules, and principles of core substantive and procedural areas of law.

Performance Criterion 4.2: Students will accurately identify and articulate the underlying theories, policies, historical development, and social, economic, and political context of legal rules.

Performance Criterion 4.3: Students will logically synthesize legal rules from multiple authorities, critique the law’s goals and functions, critically analyze and reconcile conflicts in the law, accurately identify gaps and problems in the law, and formulate innovative solutions.

Learning Outcome 5: Application of Legal Knowledge. Students will be able to apply knowledge and critical reading and thinking skills to be proficient in legal analysis, reasoning, and problem solving.

Performance Criterion 5.1: Students will accurately identify relevant legal issues raised by a set of facts.

Performance Criterion 5.2: Students will accurately identify legal rules applicable to an issue raised by a set of facts, including conflicting rules and rules synthesized from multiple authorities pertinent to the particular issue.

Performance Criterion 5.3: To support a conclusion on an issue, students will logically apply case law or other relevant legal authority to a set of facts by using facts, reasoning, comparisons, and policies.

Performance Criterion 5.4: Students will anticipate significant opposing arguments based on fact, law, or policy, and adequately address them in a manner that supports a conclusion on an issue.

Learning Outcome 6: Legal Skills. Students will be able to effectively conduct legal research, investigate, advocate, collaborate, and communicate with a variety of audiences.

Performance Criteria 6.1: In written legal analysis and other forms of legal writing, students will produce work that is clear, concise, well organized, and professional in tone and that complies with directions or instructions, including any formatting or citation requirements.

Performance Criterion 6.2: Students will develop an effective research strategy.

Performance Criterion 6.3: Students will locate and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to a legal issue, including binding and persuasive authority.

Performance Criterion 6.4: Students will draft and edit documents that analyze a legal problem and that advocate or advise effectively with regard to law, facts, or policy.

Performance Criterion 6.5: Students will analyze and explain legal issues understandably and professionally in oral communication.

Performance Criterion 6.6: Students will actively listen and collaborate effectively with others.

Civil Litigation and Advocacy Concentration Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive law related to civil litigation and advocacy.
Learning Outcome 2: Students will analyze policy implications for the law in a variety of settings related to civil litigation and advocacy.
Learning Outcome 3: Students will be able to assess civil litigation and advocacy in the context of practice-based considerations.
Learning Outcome 4: Students will express themselves effectively orally and in writing related to civil litigation and advocacy.
Learning Outcome 5: Students will demonstrate professionalism in a variety of settings related to civil litigation and advocacy.
Criminal Law Concentration Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive law related to criminal law and procedure
Learning Outcome 2: Students will analyze policy implications of the law in a variety of settings
Learning Outcome 3: Students will express themselves with precision both orally and in writing
Learning Outcome 4: Students will handle legal issue/problems in real life settings and situations
Entertainment & Media Law Concentration Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Core Doctrines. Students will be able to demonstrate foundational comprehension of the core doctrines and widely adopted standards and practices of entertainment and media law.
Learning Outcome 2: Focused Fundamentals. Students will be able to demonstrate comprehension of fundamental legal rules, policies, procedures, and business practices associated with their elected area of focus within the entertainment and media law industries, including the advent of new technologies (whether within the production, marketing, distribution or other exploitation of film, television/VOD, music, art, publishing, video games, sports, or live theatre).
Learning Outcome 3: Ethics, Values, and Professionalism. Students will be able to demonstrate good judgment consistent with the legal profession's ethics, values, and duties to clients, the legal system, and society.
Learning Outcome 4: Fact Development. Students will be able to determine and develop facts through interviewing, negotiation and other customary and appropriate methods.
Learning Outcome 5: Communication. Students will be able to demonstrate effective communication and negotiation skills in the service of their clients (whether in the context of contract negotiation, client interactions, or trial advocacy) and explain complex legal issues understandably and professionally through written and oral communication.
Learning Outcome 6: Drafting. Students will be able to demonstrate skills in drafting and reviewing correspondence and contracts negotiations in various contexts that incorporate the applicable laws, facts, and policies requiring an understanding of the intersection of contract, tort, labor and employment, copyright, individual rights, and agency law. Students will create documents that are clear, concise, well organized, professional in tone, and comply with directions or instructions, including any formatting or citation requirements.
Learning Outcome 7: Collaboration. Students will be demonstrate the capacity to actively listen and collaborate effectively with others.
Learning Outcome 8: Focused and Continued Learning. Students will work closely with faculty to develop a detailed course of study tailored to their particular interests. They will identify and plan efforts to pursue their professional goals taking into account their values, priorities, and interests. They will in addition develop the capacity to meaningfully reflect on, identify, and assess their respective strengths, weaknesses, and personal values with an eye toward establishing corresponding plans for continued learning and growth.
Labor and Employment Law Concentration Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Reflection and Self-Fulfillment. Students will be able to reflect on their values, learning, and performance as these relate to their responsibilities as professionals who may practice labor and employment law and related fields. Students will: identify, plan, and initiate efforts to pursue their professional goals; meaningfully reflect on, identify, and assess their strengths, weaknesses, and values as professionals; and use self-assessment to plan future efforts for improvement as professionals.
Learning Outcome 2: Leadership and Service. Students will be able to appreciate the varying roles of counsel representing labor, management, individual workers, and government agencies, respectively, in fostering justice and diversity. Students will be: exposed to the history, structures, values, shortcomings, and ongoing responsibilities of work law attorneys with regard to fostering justice and diversity; able to articulate an understanding of the need for lawyers to serve the community and legal profession and to improve access to justice by assisting the underserved through pro bono representation or other efforts; and able to identify and respect diverse backgrounds and perspectives that may affect client representation or professional work.
Learning Outcome 3: Ethics, Values, and Professionalism. Students will demonstrate good judgment consistent with the legal profession’s ethics, values, and duties to clients, the legal system, and society. Students will: correctly identify issues of professional conduct in actual or hypothetical settings; capably consider and apply ethical rules and values in those settings; and be honest, diligent, civil, punctual, and respectful in their actions and interactions with actual or role-playing supervisors, clients, adversaries, and neutrals.
Learning Outcome 4: Legal Knowledge. Students will be able to identify and explain fundamental legal rules, procedures, concepts, theories, and policies across a broad range of practice areas relating to the workplace. Students will: identify and accurately articulate the terms, rules, and principles of core substantive and procedural areas of labor and employment law; accurately identify and articulate the underlying theories, policies, historical development, and social, economic, and political context of legal rules; and synthesize legal rules from multiple authorities, critique the law’s goals and functions, critically analyze and reconcile conflicts in the law, accurately identify gaps and problems in the law, and formulate innovative solutions.
Learning Outcome 5: Application of Legal Knowledge. Students will be able to apply knowledge and critical reading and thinking skills to be proficient in legal analysis, reasoning, and problem-solving across a broad range of practice areas relating to the workplace. Students will: accurately identify relevant legal issues raised by actual or hypothetical cases; accurately identify relevant legal rules applicable to issues raised by actual or hypothetical cases, including conflicting rules and rules synthesized from multiple authorities; logically support any conclusions reached, and anticipate significant opposing arguments and adequately address them.
Learning Outcome 6: Legal Skills. Students will be able to effectively conduct legal research, investigate, advocate, collaborate, and communicate with a variety of audiences regarding the law of the workplace. Students will: develop effective research strategy; locate and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to legal issues; draft and edit documents that objectively analyze a legal problem and competently predict how the law will apply to actual or hypothetical facts; draft and edit documents that advocate effectively; deliver effective and persuasive oral advocacy in actual or hypothetical settings, and explain legal issues understandably and professionally; actively listen and collaborate effectively with others; and competently determine and develop facts through interviewing or other methods of investigation.
Public Interest Law Concentration Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Students will be able to reflect on their public interest values, learning, and performance as these relate to their responsibilities as professionals who practice public interest law. Students will learn the tools to push themselves to continuously learn, evolve, and achieve self-fulfillment as public interest lawyers.
Learning Outcome 2: Students will be able to appreciate the role of the public interest lawyer in fostering social justice, equity and diversity through leadership, public service, and community involvement.
Learning Outcome 3: Students will recognize the unique challenges facing public interest lawyers in regards to ethics and professionalism. Students will demonstrate good judgment consistent with the legal profession's ethics, values, and duties to diverse clients, the legal system, and a diverse society.
Learning Outcome 4: Students will be able to identify and explain fundamental legal rules, procedures, concepts, theories, and policies of varied practice areas within public interest law.
Learning Outcome 5: Students will be able to apply knowledge and critical reading and thinking skills to be proficient in legal analysis, reasoning, and problem solving within varied practice areas within public interest law.
Learning Outcome 6: Students will be able to effectively conduct legal research, investigate, advocate, collaborate, and communicate with a variety of audiences regarding matters of public interest law.
Learning Outcome 7: Students will gain experiential practice through public interest law related clients, cases and matters under the supervision of a public interest lawyer and/or clinical professor.
Learning Outcome 8: Students will understand and explore the justice gap in underserved communities. Students will provide access to justice for underserved communities through experiential courses and pro bono service.
Learning Outcome 9: Students will recognize unique challenges facing public interest lawyers throughout the arc of their careers, such as secondary trauma and compassion fatigue. Students will learn theories and practices to combat these challenges to begin to create a sustainable public interest lawyering practice.
Technology Law & Entrepreneurship Concentration Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Students will demonstrate competent knowledge and understanding of substantive law related to (a) intellectual property and/or (b) business structures and transactions especially as concerns high-growth companies.
Learning Outcome 2: Students will be capable of performing legal analysis and reasoning in the areas referred to in (1).
Learning Outcome 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to perform legal analysis and reasoning, problem solving, and language formulation in connection with the drafting of legal documents related to some or all of the substantive areas referred to in (1).

Entertainment & Media Law LLM Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Core Doctrines. Students will be able to demonstrate foundational comprehension of the core doctrines and widely adopted standards and practices of entertainment and media law.
Learning Outcome 2: Focused Fundamentals. Students will be able to demonstrate comprehension of fundamental legal rules, policies, procedures, and business practices associated with their elected area of focus within the entertainment and media law industries, including the advent of new technologies (whether within the production, marketing, distribution or other exploitation of film, television/VOD, music, art, publishing, video games, sports, or live theatre).
Learning Outcome 3: Ethics, Values, and Professionalism. Students will be able to demonstrate good judgment consistent with the legal profession's ethics, values, and duties to clients, the legal system, and society.
Learning Outcome 4: Fact Development. Students will be able to determine and develop facts through interviewing, negotiation and other customary and appropriate methods.
Learning Outcome 5: Communication. Students will be able to demonstrate effective communication and negotiation skills in the service of their clients (whether in the context of contract negotiation, client interactions, or trial advocacy) and explain complex legal issues understandably and professionally through written and oral communication.
Learning Outcome 6: Drafting. Students will be able to demonstrate skills in drafting and reviewing correspondence and contracts negotiations in various contexts that incorporate the applicable laws, facts, and policies requiring an understanding of the intersection of contract, tort, labor and employment, copyright, individual rights, and agency law. Students will create documents that are clear, concise, well organized, professional in tone, and comply with directions or instructions, including any formatting or citation requirements.
Learning Outcome 7: Collaboration. Students will be demonstrate the capacity to actively listen and collaborate effectively with others.
Learning Outcome 8: Focused and Continued Learning. Students will work closely with faculty to develop a detailed course of study tailored to their particular interests. They will identify and plan efforts to pursue their professional goals taking into account their values, priorities, and interests. They will in addition develop the capacity to meaningfully reflect on, identify, and assess their respective strengths, weaknesses, and personal values with an eye toward establishing corresponding plans for continued learning and growth.
General LL.M. Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcome 1: Individualized Studies. Students will develop a detailed course of study tailored to their own goals and interests.
Learning Outcome 2: Legal Knowledge. Students will be able to identify and explain fundamental legal rules, procedures, concepts, theories, and policies relevant to their chosen areas of study.
Learning Outcome 3: Legal Analysis. Students will be able to apply knowledge and critical reading and thinking skills to be proficient in legal analysis, reasoning, and problem-solving.
Learning Outcome 4: Legal Skills. Students will be able to effectively communicate with a variety of audiences.

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