Undergraduate Embedded Certificate in Pre-Law
The mission of the Pre-Law program is two-fold. The first aspect of our mission is to enable students to make an educated decision about whether to attend law school and embark on a career in law. Unlike most academic disciplines, law has no undergraduate major leading to a degree in the field. Accordingly, it can be difficult for a student majoring in any of our undergraduate programs to make an informed decision about becoming a lawyer. Students will have an idea about careers in their fields of study, or about graduate education in their fields, but students are unlikely to be in a position to make an informed decision about law practice or legal education. By the time a student completes the Law Science & Technology minor or the Pre-Law certificate, that student will be well positioned to decide on whether to become a lawyer. The program is designed to inform students who are interested in applying to law school and to inform students who want to understand elements of legal practice that are useful in other career choices.
The second aspect of our mission is to develop the skill set necessary for Georgia Tech students to excel in law school. This is different than the skill set emphasized in engineering or scientific majors. As law students, written communication skills are essential. Law students must learn to read large volumes of complex material, synthesize it with other material, and prepare a well-written analysis. To help develop these skills, many of our classes contain a significant writing component. While introducing students to the fundamentals of legal writing, we are necessarily practicing the fundamentals of good writing in general. This training will position our students to be competitive with their peers in law school.
Program of Study
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required course | ||
| PUBP 3000 | American Constitutional Issues | 3 |
| or PUBP 3016 | Judicial Process | |
| or PUBP 3610 | Pre-Law Seminar | |
| or PUBP 4609 | Legal Practice | |
| Electives 3 | 9 | |
| Introduction to Computer Law | ||
| Survey of Telecommunications and the Law | ||
| Information Security Strategies and Policies | ||
| Privacy, Technology, Policy, and Law | ||
CS 4803 | Internet Law | |
| Economics of Information, Transactions Costs, and Contracts | ||
| Economics of Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship | ||
| Law and Economics | ||
| History of American Business | ||
| United States Labor History | ||
| Law, Technology, and Politics | ||
| Human Rights in a Technological World | ||
| International Political Economy 1 | ||
| International Law | ||
INTA 4803 | International Law | |
INTA 4803 | International Human Rights | |
INTA 4803 | National Security Law | |
INTA 4803 | The Laws of War | |
ME 4803 | Engineering Law and Ethics | |
ME 2803 | Patent Preparation and Process | |
| Legal, Social, Ethical Aspects of Business 2 | ||
| Managing Human Resources within a Regulatory Environment 2 | ||
| Principles of Commerical Law | ||
| International Business Law | ||
| Technology Law and Ethics | ||
| Legal Aspects of Real Estate | ||
| Law for Entrepreneurs | ||
| Business Taxation | ||
MGT 4803 | Business and Government Regulation | |
MGT 4803 | Corporate Governance | |
MGT 4803 | Legal Issues in Sports Management | |
| Logic and Critical Thinking | ||
PHIL 4803/PUBP 4803 | Health Care Law, Policy, and Management/Ethics | |
PHIL 4803 | Philosophical Analysis with Argument Mapping | |
| American Constitutional Issues | ||
| Judicial Process | ||
| Pre-Law Seminar | ||
| Internet and Public Policy | ||
| Business and Government | ||
| Science, Technology, and Regulation | ||
| Legal Practice | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Technology Law, Policy, and Management | ||
| Internet Law | ||
| OLA Legal Internship | ||
PUBP 4803 | Biomedical Law, Policy, & Ethics | |
PUBP 4803 | Biotechnology Law & Policy | |
PUBP 4803 | Current Controversies | |
PUBP 4803 | Race, Gender, and the Fourteenth Amendment | |
PUBP 4803 | History of American Law | |
PUBP 4803 | Intellectual Property Transactions | |
PUBP 4803 | Law and Science | |
PUBP 4803 | Legal Internship | |
PUBP 4803 | Mock Trial | |
PUBP 4803 | Science, Philosophy, and the Law | |
PUBP 4803 | Transactional Law | |
PUBP 4803 | Survey of Telecommunications and the Law | |
PUBP 4803 | Sports Law and Public Policy | |
PUBP 4801 | Advanced Intellectual Property Law | |
PUBP 4801 | Legal Research and Writing | |
| Environmental Law | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 12 | |
| 1 | INTA majors MAY NOT count this course as an elective toward the Certificate or Minor because it is required by name and number for the INTA major. This is an Institute rule for Certificates and Minors. |
| 2 | Management majors MAY NOT count this course as an elective toward the Certificate or Minor because it is required by name and number for the Management major. This is an Institute rule for Certificates and Minors. |
| 3 | Special problems courses, as designated by the Director of the Law, Science & Technology Program on a case-by-case basis, may be counted towards the electives requirements for the Certificate and Minor. |
- At least 9 hours must consist of upper-level coursework (courses numbered 3000 or above).
- Special topics courses set forth above may be counted toward the Pre-Law Certificate electives requirement. These courses may be 1-hour, 2-hour, 3-hour, or 4-hour courses. You may apply any combination of these courses toward satisfying the 9-hour Certificate electives requirement.
- Special problems courses, as designated by the Director of the Law, Science & Technology Program on a case-by-case basis, may be counted toward the Pre-Law Certificate electives requirement. These courses may be 1-hour, 2-hour, 3-hour, or 4- hour courses. You may apply any combination of these courses toward satisfying the Certificate electives requirement, but you may not count more than 4 hours of special problems courses toward this requirement.
- Courses specifically required by name and number in a student’s major degree program may not be counted toward the Pre-Law Certificate.
- Courses applied to fulfill electives requirements for the student’s major (free electives, technical electives, humanities electives, social science electives, etc.) may be counted toward the Certificate.
- No course applied to satisfy any requirement for the Pre-Law Certificate may be applied to satisfy any requirement for any other Certificate or Minor.
- All courses applied to satisfy any requirement for the Pre-Law Certificate must be taken in residence at Georgia Tech.