Boise 3rd Year Program

The University of Idaho has the statewide mission to deliver public legal education, and, as part of that mission, The College of Law has developed a focused, high-quality curriculum for 3rd year students seeking a metropolitan learning experience.

Program Description
The 3rd year program in Boise offers a dynamic mix of doctrinal and clinical programs for 3rd year law students.

On the clinical side, we offer real life clinical experiences, supervised by experienced attorneys, in our Small Business Legal Clinic and our Low-Income Taxpayer’s Clinic. In addition, we offer a series of public and private sector externships, including externships with Federal and State courts, County and City Prosecutor offices, Legal Aid and Public Defender offices, Office of the Attorney general, and select corporate counsel offices.

On the doctrinal side, we have experienced faculty teaching business and commercial law courses such as bankruptcy, negotiable instruments, securities, property security, employment law, legislation, and environmental law for businesses.

Planning Background
Idaho requires effective legal expertise to support a growing economy, the administration of criminal and civil justice, and the services needed by Idaho families. At the same time, legal education is changing due to globalization, specialization, rising demand for practice-ready graduates, and increased use of law degrees in business and other occupations. Law school is no longer simply a gateway to the practice of law.

Following a multi-year planning effort that has involved stakeholders from throughout the State, the University and the College of Law have determined that the College should continue to meet its statewide mission through a single statewide law school with efficient, unified administration and curricular design, providing two places of opportunity: Moscow and Boise. In the two-location framework, delivery of Juris Doctor (J.D.) education, faculty scholarship, service, and community outreach would be developed in steps according to a planned time line that reflects a faculty commitment to academic quality, the depth of the qualified student applicant pool, accreditation standards (to be met and exceeded), the costs of each step, and the resources available from the state legislature and governor, private supporters, and student fees, as well as grants and contracts.

The two-location law school will deliver a core J.D. program at both locations, with customary “bar course” coverage at both locations. (Such courses are often taught to multiple sections of students, by multiple professors, at larger law schools.) In addition, however, the two-location school would feature distinctive and complementary specialties at each location. Emphases in Moscow would take advantage of the land grant campus and would include natural resources, environmental law, public lands, and federal/state tribal relations. Emphases in Boise would take advantage of the metropolitan location and would include business-related specialties, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property.

In Boise, collaboration with the Idaho Supreme Court on a multipurpose physical facility — the “Idaho Law Learning Center” (ILLC) — offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for synergy and efficiency. The Learning Center would house a greatly improved State Law Library — an asset to the general public as well as the legal profession — and would serve as a location for collaboration among the branches of government and as well as for public educational outreach on the rule of law in a democratic society. The Idaho Law Learning Center would be nationally distinctive and would be designed to accommodate a long-term maximum of approximately 250 students. Renovation and expansion of the Capitol Annex (old Ada County Courthouse), situated on the Capitol Mall directly between the Supreme Court and the Idaho Statehouse, is the leading ILLC possibility. The college could begin to occupy portions of it, when the initial, modestly sized entering class is enrolled, and could occupy it more fully in phases as the building is renovated and expanded.

Additional planning documents and information may be found here.