Program Director This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , JD  205.934.2069 Fax: 205.934.8059

Law increasingly permeates almost every aspect of our lives, including our transportation
systems, food distribution networks, and the health care system. Because law is such an
important aspect of everyday life, several departments within and outside the College of
Arts and Sciences at UAB offer law or law-related courses that provide students an oppor-
tunity to learn more about the law. Some of these courses are specifically designed to help
students prepare for careers that in some way are involved with the law (e.g., policing,
social work, counseling, or government). The Department of Justice Sciences believes
it important that undergraduate students have an opportunity to learn more about law,
particularly law as the subject of inquiry in a liberal arts setting.

The Legal Affairs minor currently offered by the department does not seek to specifically
prepare students for law school. Instead, the program is designed to help students learn
to think both critically and creatively about law. Because the program is interdisciplinary
and presents law as the subject of liberal inquiry, students in the program examine law
from various perspectives. The minor also provides students the opportunity to develop
a solid foundation of knowledge regarding such topics as: the origins and functions of
law; the basic rules of law; comparative legal systems; law as a social phenomenon; the
influences and effects of the legal profession on society; and the impact of societal trends
and changes on law and our various legal systems.

Additionally, the minor exposes students to both general and specific aspects of substan- 
tive and procedural law, both civil and criminal; helps them understand not only litigation,
but alternatives to it; provides students the opportunity to enhance their legal research and
writing skills; and facilitates student participation in the University’s nationally recognized
UAB Mock Trial Team.

Consisting of required courses, core electives, and other electives, the Legal Affairs cur-
riculum is sequential, where all elective courses build upon two required courses: JS150
(Foundations of Law) and JS230 (Judicial Process). The curriculum is structured in such
a way as to insure that a student can complete its requirements in a typical academic year
(Fall & Summer).
 

Requirements

To complete the minor in legal affairs you must complete 6 semester hours of required
courses; 9 semester hours of core elective courses, and an additional 3 semester hours
from a set of approved electives.

All students must complete the following required courses:

JS 150 Foundations of Law

JS 230 Judicial Process in America OR

PSC 330 The American Judicial Process