General Practice
A general practitioner is one who practices in many areas of the law, typically in a small law firm or as a solo practitioner. General practitioners are found in small towns and in large cities. The law school curriculum is designed to allow both breadth and depth of study, depending on the career goals of the student. Students who want to be general practitioners usually want to be exposed to several areas of the law that they expect to encounter in their practice: property law, tort law, family law, probate law, administrative law, criminal law, and general business matters including contract law. A general practice will often include litigation and appellate work.
Curriculum
Property Courses
First-year students are required to take Property Law. It covers estates in land, landlord-tenant law, adverse possession, easements, restrictive covenants, and land use controls. Upper-level courses include Land Transactions (sales transactions, real estate brokers, title problems, title insurance) and Government Control of Land Development (land use controls, zoning, master planning, and subdivision regulation, as well as constitutional aspects).
Torts Law
Torts I, a required first-year course, covers liability based on fault, including both intentional torts (for example, battery, assault, and trespass) and negligence. Upper class offerings include Torts II (misrepresentation defamation, and privacy) and Product Liability (compensation for injuries resulting from defective products).
Family Law
General practitioners often handle legal problems of the family. Courses include Family Law (marriage, divorce, adoption, and parenthood) and Juvenile Law (juvenile courts and legal problems of juveniles).
Criminal Law
A general practitioner will often be retained in criminal cases, or will be appointed to represent indigent defendants. First-year students take Criminal Law (an introduction to substantive criminal law) and Criminal Procedure (an introduction to criminal procedure). Upper class courses include Advanced Criminal Procedure (detailed analysis from initial appearance through appeal), Criminal Prosecution Clinic (students assigned to district attorney offices to assist prosecutors), and Project for Innocence and Post-Conviction Remedies (students handle legal problems of inmates at penitentiaries).
Courses in Business Law
Contracts is a required class for first-year students. Upper-level business courses for the prospective general practitioner include Business Associations I and II (agency, partnerships, and corporations and the legal responsibility of directors and dominant shareholders), Commercial Law: Secured Transactions (required), Commercial Law: Payment Systems, Bankruptcy (creditors remedies and debtor's rights, bankruptcy), Federal Income Taxation (the Federal income tax system and its operation upon taxpayers), Taxation of Business Enterprises (taxation of business entities), Business Planning Seminar (a problem approach to planning important business transactions).
Estate Planning
A general practitioner is often asked to help probate estates and to conduct estate planning, which requires knowledge of both probate law and taxation. Upper-level courses include Estates and Trusts (interstate succession, wills and probate) and Estate Planning: Practice (tax-oriented course regarding disposition of property during life or at death).
Administrative Law
This area of the law involves representation of clients before administrative bodies. The general course in Administrative Law, and upper-level course (separation of powers, administrative function and discretion, and judicial control). Other upper-level courses, such as Public Benefit Law, Labor Law and Water Law, illustrate the work of specific administrative agencies both at the federal and the state level.
Courses in Litigation, Appellate Work, and Alternative Dispute Resolution
In addition to the clinics that offer practice opportunities, course offerings include Civil Procedure (required for first-year students), Evidence (required upper-level course), Lawyering Skills I and II (preparing and arguing an appellate court case), Advanced Litigation (advanced skills in the litigation process), Trial Advocacy (fundamentals of trial practice), Alternative Dispute Resolution (various dispute resolution processes including adjudication , arbitration, mediation, and negotiation), and Pretrial Advocacy (fundamentals of pretrial practice, including discovery and client counseling).
Practice in Kansas
This course, open to third-year students only, was designed for the student who intends to enter a private general practice in Kansas. Topics covered include the substantive law of Kansas in domestic relations, landlord-tenant relations, debt collection, probate, and selected areas of criminal law and general civil practice. Student will develop practical skills in pleading and discovery techniques.
Other Courses
Employment law is of increasing importance to general practitioners. Courses in this area include Employment Law, Employment Discrimination Law and Workers' Compensation. There area also many courses in other areas that would be of interest including Advanced Legal Research, AgriculturalLaw, Complex Litigation, Environmental Law Survey, Local Government Law, and Oil and Gas. Students should not necessarily take only courses that seem to have direct application to their prospective law practice. Other courses, like American Legal History, Comparative Law, Jurisprudence and Conflict of Laws, help students gain a broad education in the law, which can be very helpful in practice.
Clinical Programs
In addition to the Criminal Prosecution Clinic and the Project for Innocence and Post-Conviction Remedies, three other clinics would aid the prospective general practitioner: the Legal Aid Clinic (legal assistance to Indigent clients for both civil and criminal matters) and the Elder Law Externship (representation of elderly individuals in consumer, housing, and public benefits litigation), and the Judicial Clerkship Clinic (work as a law clerk to a state or federal trial judge).Other Opportunities
Students can often gain practical experience through summer clerkships or part-time work during the school year in general practice firms. First-year students may participate in the University's Traffic courts as prosecutors or defense lawyers handling appeals by KU students, staff and faculty of parking citations.
Students may also participate in any of a number of moot court and mock trial programs with competitions on campus, regionally and nationally. They may hone their interviewing skills in the ABA Client Counseling Competition. Finally, students may prepare for active membership in the ABA and state and local bar associations through involvement in the Student Bar Association and other student organizations.