Registration

Registration instructions and related information are sent by email to law students prior to the start of registration for the upcoming semester by the Law School Registrar.

Students must take the full first-year curriculum. Each semester requires a full load unless enrolled in the Flexible Time program. First-year students may also take one elective law course during their second semester.

Registration is not complete until tuition and fees are paid or cleared through the Bursar’s Office on the University of New Mexico main campus. Students are required to satisfy all financial obligations due the University before registering for a new semester. For detailed information check with the School of Law Registrar’s Office or the Main Campus Admissions Office.

Enrollment Changes

Once registered, students may make schedule changes through the drop/add procedures during appropriate periods. Students are notified about the appropriate periods by email from the School of Law Registrar’s Office, also by looking at the academic calendar.

Students drop or add courses by going to MyUNM prior to the published deadline dates. Law students have until 5:00pm on the second Friday of the semester  weeks to ADD a course. After the deadline date contact the Law School Registrar for the procedure and fees.

A full-semester Law School course may be dropped by a student for any reason typically during the first three weeks of the semester, but may have an impact on financial aid if the result is being below full-time status. In courses scheduled for less than a full semester, a student may drop for any reason typically during the 20% of the scheduled class meetings. A full-semester Law School course may be dropped with the instructor’s permission after the third week of classes through the twelfth week of classes (a shorter course may be dropped with the instructor’s permission after the course’s midpoint through the last class meeting.) This action requires a grade of WP/WF to be assigned by the professor and appears on the student’s academic record. After the last classroom meeting any Law School course may be dropped only under extraordinary circumstances and only with permission of the instructor and the Dean or an Associate Dean.

Exceptions

  • Students may not withdraw from first-year courses, Ethics, or Clinic without the permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
  • The period for withdrawal from Judicial Extern, Law Office Extern and certain specifically designated special seminars, without obtaining the instructor’s permission, is limited to the first two weeks of the semester.
  • When the course instructor has indicated in advance that a shorter withdrawal period (or none at all) will apply in a particular course.

Semester Course Loads

The maximum number of credits that may be taken any regular semester is 17. This is based on an ABA standard that limits the number of credits per semester.

The minimum load per semester to be considered a "full-time" law student by the Law School is 12 hours of work creditable toward the J.D. degree. All students (except those in their final semester who need fewer to satisfy degree requirements) must take at least 12 hours toward the J.D. degree unless prior permission to take fewer is obtained from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

During the Summer term six to nine credit hours is considered full-time. Less than six credits hours is considered part-time.

Student I.D. Card

UNM issues photo identification cards to all students. New students can obtain a student photo identification (LOBO) card in the Lobo Card Office on the plaza level of the Student Union Building (SUB), Suite 1077. The Lobo card office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and can be reached by phone at 277-9970. Replacement cards may be obtained for a small fee if a student’s card is lost or stolen. Students are responsible for notifying the libraries of lost I.D. cards.