Criminal Practice Certificate

The Certificate in Criminal Practice will focus your legal coursework on understanding and addressing key issues confronting the American criminal justice system, as well as policy analysis and the contemporary decision-making models.

This certificate is designed to expose you to litigation procedures within the criminal courts, and within corrections, security and associated support agencies.

Supervising faculty member: Professor Daniel McConkie

  • You will demonstrate a foundational understanding of the American criminal justice system, particularly as it relates to substantive criminal law and criminal procedure.
  • You will gain first-hand, operational knowledge of the criminal justice system by successfully completing an externship or clinic relating to criminal practice.
  • You will demonstrate a foundational understanding of and competent skills relating to trial practice, especially trial advocacy and the law of evidence.
  • You will demonstrate an understanding of the principal policy debates regarding the criminal justice system, statutory and case analysis and legal reasoning in the criminal context, an overall awareness of how criminal practitioners think, and the principal ethical issues that those practitioners face.
  • You will demonstrate effective communication skills on sophisticated criminal law and procedure topics, both orally and in writing.

Section 1

An applicant for an NIU-COL Certificate in Criminal Practice must earn a minimum of eighteen academic credits in the courses described by sections 1.a, 1.b, and 1.c below, and must comply with all of the specified requirements of sections 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, and 1.d below.

  1. Required Basic Courses
    • Criminal Procedure: Police Investigation
    • Criminal Procedure: Adjudication
    • Evidence
    • Trial Advocacy
  2. Required Capstone Courses (you must complete at least one)
    1. Any externship or clinic primarily focused on criminal practice, as approved in advance for certificate eligibility by the supervising faculty member
    2. Any of the following automatically satisfy section 1.b., without regard to 1.b.1.:
      • Criminal Defense Clinic
      • Juvenile Justice Clinic
      • Criminal Law Externship
      • Juvenile Court Externship
      • Appellate Defender Program
      • Illinois Innocence Project Externship
      • Federal Public Defender Externship
    3. Judicial Externship, if primarily focused on criminal practice and approved in advance for certificate eligibility by the supervising faculty member
  3. Elective Courses (you must complete at least one)
    1. Any course (including seminars, projects and directed research) focused primarily on criminal law or procedure, as approved by the Associate Dean
    2. Any of the courses listed in Section 1.b., if not counted toward the Required Capstone Course requirement of that section
    3. Any of the following courses satisfy section 1.c., without regard to section 1.c.1.:
      • Legislation
      • Negotiation
      • Poverty Law
      • Appellate Advocacy
      • Prisoners' Rights Project
  4. Required Additional Skills Development Activities (you must complete at least one)
    1. Any internal or external student competition that:
      1. is equivalent to the competitions listed below in section 1.d.3.,
      2. facilitates development of practice skills, and
      3. is approved in advance for certificate eligibility by the supervising faculty member.
    2. A criminal law related pro bono service approved for certificate eligibility by the supervising faculty member
    3. Nonexclusive list of Skills Development Activities that also satisfy this requirement, without regard to section 1.d.1.:
      • Lenny Mandell Prize Moot Court Competition
      • 2L Trial Advocacy Competition
      • ABA Client Counseling Competition
      • ABA Negotiation Competition
      • ABA Advocacy in Mediation Competition
      • Appellate Lawyers Association Moot Court Competition
      • Black Law Students Association Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition
      • Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition
      • Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
      • John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology and Privacy Law
      • National Latino Law Students Moot Court Competition
      • National Moot Court Competition
      • National Trial Competition
      • American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition

For purposes of this section 1.d., “completion” of an activity means:

  1. Participation in the preliminary rounds of an internal or external student competition and, in the case of external competitions, participation in faculty-supervised practice sessions; or
  2. Qualification for College of Law Approved Pro Bono Service Recognition.

Section 2

An applicant for an NIU-COL Criminal Practice must also meet the GPA and other requirements set forth in the College of Law Guidelines for Certificate Programs.