A Year (or Semester) in London

The London Program has been in continuous operation since 1968. All courses and instruction are in conformity with the standards of the Association of American Law Schools and the American Bar Association. Each year about 30 second-year students from Notre Dame who have successfully completed all their first-year courses elect to study in England in course and seminar work under American and English teachers. A one-semester option is also available to second-year students and a fall semester is available to third-year students. The curriculum in London changes with the needs and interests of our students. For example, during the past year participants could enroll in such standard American courses as Business Associations, Commercial Transactions, Property II, Evidence, and Jurisprudence. In most of these classes a comparative law element from one or more foreign systems is added to the base of the American law. The other half of the curriculum consists of international and comparative law electives.

In addition, a student may engage in most of the co-curricular credit giving activities of the Law School including writing for one of the School’s several legal reviews. Participation in moot court activities and an extensive program of externship placements with British barristers or solicitors, or local American law firms is also available.

Instruction is given in Notre Dame’s own Law Centre. Students make their own individual arrangements for housing.

Library research can be initiated in the core collection in the London facility which also offers a computer lab and unlimited access to Lexis/Nexis. More extensive research can be conducted in the library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, one of the finest legal research facilities in Europe, and with which Notre Dame has made arrangement for the accommodation of its students.

Most students take advantage of the opportunity to observe and visit the Old Bailey, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords while they are in London. Legislative sessions and debates in Parliament, both in the Lords and Commons, are open to the public, and many students take time in the afternoon or evening to see some key measure debated in this “Mother of Parliaments.”

Tuition is the same on the London campus as at the Notre Dame Law School. Classes normally begin in early September and end in May to coincide with the home academic calendar.

To be eligible, students seeking to spend a semester or year in London during their second year of law school studies must be in the top 80 percent of their class as of the end of their first year of studies based on GPA. Students seeking to spend the fall semester in London during their third year of law school studies must be in the top 80 percent of their class as of the end of their second year of studies based on GPA, except that such students may ask the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to waive this requirement. Any such waiver shall be based on the Associate Dean’s determination regarding whether there are sufficient grounds to conclude that the student will succeed academically in the program even given that student’s previous academic performance in law school. The Associate Dean’s determination in this regard will be final and not appealable.

Learn more about the Semester/Year in London programs:

Academic Calendar (PDF File Format)
Academic Calendar 2012-13 (PDF File Format)
Academic Course Calendar
Academic Course Calendar 2012-13
Three Year Calendar (PDF File Format)
Color Map (PDF File Format)
Conway Hall Housing
Course Descriptions
Course Schedule 2011-2012 (PDF File Format)
Exam Schedule
Facilities
Health Questionnaire (Due April 15th)
HTH Worldwide – Medical Insurance
HTH Insurance Enrollment Form
Letter of Intent to Attend 2012-13 Program
London Faculty
Risk Management & Safety Department International Travel Guide
Scholarship Opportunities (PDF File Format)
Survival Guide – Look here for helpful information about London.
Visa Requirements

Cost of Attendance – Year Program