SCALE® - Two-Year J.D. Program
In addition to the three traditional programs of study, Southwestern established the first two-calendar-year alternative J.D. course of instruction offered at an American Bar Association-approved law school. Known as SCALE®, the program was established in 1974 with the aid of the largest federal grant awarded at that time to any law school by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. SCALE places emphasis on conceptual learning and simulation training to facilitate the student's transition from classroom to law office. Limited enrollment allows for a low student-faculty ratio in the SCALE program, promoting spontaneous, in-depth, two-way communication and continuous feedback to the participants.
Download SCALE Program Guide (PDF)
Students in the SCALE program learn fundamental legal principles and analytic skills through an intensive, integrated curriculum that places great reliance on hypothetical problems as a teaching method. Throughout the first year of the program, such problems are used to teach substantive concepts of law and to develop the skills of case analysis, research, and writing, as well as the use of legal principles to resolve disputes.
In the second year, the classroom functions as a "teaching law office" using simulated client files. Realistic questions are presented by the "clients," and students must respond through legal documents, such as contracts or pleadings, and effective oral communication, such as negotiation or trial advocacy. Through this law firm model, students are given both individual and joint responsibility for projects. There is more of an emphasis on cooperative learning than in traditional programs.
The intensive work load relies on total immersion in the subject and is designed to begin acclimating students to the rigors of practicing law. The first year of instruction for SCALE begins in the last week of June and the second year of instruction for SCALE begins in the first week of July. Students attend class an average of 18 hours per week during the first year and 16 to 18 hours per week during the second year. They are in residence for 24 months, since the curriculum is interrupted only for several national holidays, two-week winter breaks, and approximately two weeks between the end of the first SCALE year and the start of the second. Externships are scheduled once each year to provide a variety of learning experiences and to introduce students to the world of the practicing attorney.
Although the course structure and teaching methods are different, the SCALE curriculum includes all the essential subject matter taught in traditional required courses, as well as partial coverage of many subjects generally found in elective courses. The program's primary goal is to educate students as generalists in the law. However, in the second SCALE year, the students are provided with the opportunity for in-depth exposure to a specific area of interest through careful selection of externship placements. They may also choose one elective from a selected list of courses offered in the traditional curriculum, with the Dean of Students' approval.
