Registration for Law Students

Enrollment Options for Law Courses

Instructors can open their courses to all interested students (open enrollment) or limit the enrollment of their courses in one of two ways: (1) by lottery/limited enrollment or (2) by consent of the instructor via a consent application form.

Open Enrollment Courses

Open enrollment courses are open to all second and third-year JD students and advanced degree students who have met the listed prerequisites. Winter and Spring courses are open to first-year students at the election of the instructor.

Limited Enrollment Courses

Lottery Courses

For some courses, the student’s ability to enroll is determined by a lottery conducted by the Office of the Registrar during the pre-registration period (i.e. in May for Autumn quarter, mid-October for Winter quarter and mid-February for Spring quarter). Students not selected for the course are placed on a waitlist.

Admitted students must attend the first class session or inform the instructor in advance of their intention to enroll. At that class meeting, the instructor will note the attendance of those admitted to the class, those who are on the waitlist, and those who wish to be added to the waitlist. If an admitted student is absent without having informed the instructor, the instructor will replace that student with the highest student on the waitlist who has attended the first class session or who has informed the instructor in advance of his or her intention to enroll. Students cannot be admitted to the class except off the waitlist and in the order that they are listed.

If you are admitted off a lottery/limited enrollment waitlist with explicit permission from the instructor, please inform the Office of the Registrar (Room 100) before the Final Study List deadline.  Please visit the Office of the Registrar in person or send an e-mail (with the course number and instructor name) to registrar@law.stanford.edu to obtain a permission number which will allow you to enroll in the course in Axess.  

Consent of Instructor Courses

Instructors will admit students to these limited enrollment courses and create a waitlist for students who do not get admitted initially. Interested students may apply for consent of instructor courses by submitting a consent request or a consent application form to the instructor. See the course description for detailed instructions.

After the consent requests or applications have been processed and reviewed, you will be notified by either the instructor or the Office of the Registrar of the results of each application you filed: acceptance, waitlist, or rejection. Please note that some instructors may require students notified of acceptance to accept or reject the placement.

Pre-Registration

After the first quarter of the first year, students may sign up for Law School courses by pre-registering on Axess during the designated pre-registration period. Students will be notified by the Office of the Registrar when pre-registration opens in Axess. Pre-Registration instructions and forms for Consent of Instructor Courses will be available on this site when pre-registration opens in Axess.

For course information, see Course Schedules and Descriptions and Stanford Law Class Schedule Grids. These schedules and descriptions include course days and times. Room assignments are posted prior to the start of each term. See the SLS Academic Calendar for end-quarter examination periods and Course Schedules and Descriptions for a list of courses giving examinations for the current academic year.

2015-2016 Autumn Pre-Registration (Closed)

2015-2016 Winter Pre-Registration (October 25 – November 9, 2015)

2015-2016 Spring Pre-Registration (TBA)

  • Instructions – TBA

2015-2016 Preliminary Course Listing by Areas of Interest

Axess – Online Registration

The Law School uses Axess, the University’s online registration system for pre-registration and for adding and dropping courses during the add/drop period.  Please see detailed instructions on how to Enroll in Courses and how to Swap Courses in Axess.

Cross-Registration in Other Schools

To broaden the educational base of their legal training, to encourage interaction with experts in a variety of fields with whom lawyers work over the course of their professional careers, and to increase their capacity to bring a multiplicity of disciplinary perspectives to bear on complex issues, Stanford Law School encourages students to pursue courses of instruction in other disciplines, subject to the following:

General Policy

The Dean, or the Dean’s delegate, shall designate certain courses offered at the University that any Stanford Law student shall be permitted to enroll in, without petition, so long as that student certifies that he or she has not taken the course or a substantially equivalent course in the past.

Stanford University Courses Approved for Law School Credit without Petition are listed in SLS Navigator

Visit SLSNavigator

If the student has taken the course or a substantially equivalent course in the past, he or she may take the course for credit, with the approval of the Petitions Committee, only upon making a showing that the skills taught in the course are central to his or her academic or career plans, and that there is good reason that his or her skills have atrophied since he or she first took a substantially similar or identical course. Such petitions shall be granted only in extraordinary circumstances.

If a student wishes to enroll in a class that has not been designated by the Dean or the Dean’s delegate pursuant to the foregoing section, the student may petition to take that class so long as he or she shows that the class bears a close and significant relationship to the student’s academic or career plans. Petitions are available in the Office of the Law School Registrar, Room 100.

Limitations

You should carefully review the Law School Student Handbook for a complete description of the policies and limitations on taking courses outside the Law School.

How to Register for Stanford University Courses Outside the Law School

You can enroll in a course in another department or program in Axess. Click on the Student Center tab and then click on “Enrollment Add” from the drop down menu under “Other Academics.” Some courses may have special enrollment instructions and restrictions. See Non-Law Course Descriptions below.

Non-Law Course Descriptions

See the Stanford Bulletin’s Explore Courses website for course descriptions and class scheduling. The Bulletin’s Explore Degrees website publishes information on Stanford’s schools, departments, and interdisciplinary programs.

Graduate School of Business Courses

If you are interested in taking a course at GSB, please see the instructions at gsbapps.stanford.edu/nongsbreg.

Paper Option Courses

If you elect to write a paper in an exam-based course instead of taking a final exam (with explicit permission from the instructor) you will need to visit the Office of the Registrar to obtain a permission number or send us an e-mail at registrar@law.stanford.edu with the course number and instructor name.  Courses with this option are detailed in the course description.

If you elect to write a long paper for Research credit in a course with multiple paper options (with explicit permission from the instructor) you will need to visit the Office of the Registrar to obtain a permission number or send us an e-mail at registrar@law.stanford.edu with the course number and instructor name.  Courses that satisfy the Research (“R”) requirement are explicitly noted in the course description.