Law 699:  Independent Study

Law 699 is an individual research and writing offering designed to lend flexibility to the law school program. It is intended for students who have a strong research and writing interest in a topic not covered by the curriculum. A student wishing to write a research paper for Law 699 credit should identify a faculty member willing to supervise the project. The student and faculty supervisor will work out the details of the project, including the scope of the paper, the number of hours of credit, and any other requirements.

After working out these details, the student should fill out a petition for Law 699 credit (available on the College of Law intranet), and turn it in to the Dean of Students. The faculty supervisor must approve and sign the petition before it is submitted to the Dean of Students. The faculty has adopted these guidelines concerning Law 699: (1) Two hours of credit in Law 699, cumulatively, is the total allowable maximum. (2) Law 699 is not available to students on academic probation. (3) To earn one credit hour, the student usually must produce a research paper of at least 20 pages (excluding footnotes). To earn two credit hours, the student usually must produce a research paper of at least 40 pages (excluding footnotes). (4) Most students will require at least 60 hours of writing and research to complete a one-credit Independent Study project, and at least 120 hours to complete a two-credit project. But in no event will the student receive credit without devoting at least 45 hours per credit to the project.  To ensure that this minimum 45-hour requirement is satisfied, the student is required to track their time in the College’s Activity Log Application.  Faculty are given access to this Application to confirm the time requirement is met. (5) The supervisor must be a University of Illinois Law faculty member. Students may use Law 699 to satisfy the upper-level writing requirement. In that case, the project must also satisfy the guidelines of that writing requirement.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None