School of Law

Irma S. Russell, Dean

Andrew King-Ries, Associate Dean

The Law School is accredited by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, and offers the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.). Prerequisites for admission to the Law School are a baccalaureate degree and Law School Admission Test.

For detailed information concerning the Law School’s admission criteria, application procedures, facilities, and official course descriptions, consult the Law School Catalog, which may be obtained by calling (406)243-6169 or visiting the Law School website.

The Law School’s administrative regulations are contained in the Law School Student Handbook, which is on the website. The Law School conforms in most instances to the calendar established for the entire University. There are some differences, however, because the Law School operates on a different (and longer) semester system than the rest of the University.

Academic Year Calendar

Access the Law School Academic Calendar on the Law School calendar weg page.

Required Curriculum

First Year Credits
500 Civil Procedure I 3
501 Civil Procedure II 2
502 Contracts I 3
503 Contracts II 2
504 Pretrial Advocacy I 2
505 Pretrial Advocacy II 1
506 Legal Research 2
508 Legal Analysis 1
509 Legal Writing I 3
510 Criminal Law & Proc I 2
511 Criminal Law & Proc II 3
512 Torts I 2
513 Torts II 3
Second Year Credits
550 Property I 2
551 Property II 3
552 Federal Tax(may be taken third year) 3
554 Business Organizations 3
555 Professional Responsibility 3
556 Business Transactions 2
557 Trial Practice 2
558 Constitutional Law 4
560 Evidence 3
Electives (see below)
Third Year Credits
(minimum of 4 credits required)
599 Clinical Training II 1-8
600 Clinical Training III 1-6
601 Clinical Training IV 1-6
Electives (see below)

Elective Courses

(Elective offerings vary from year to year)
  • Advanced Criminal Procedure (Law 690, 2 credits)
  • Advanced Environmental Law (Law 649, 3 credits)
  • Advanced Legal Research (Law 615, 2 credits)
  • Advanced Legal Issues in Education (Law 686, 3 credits)
  • Advanced Legislation (Law 652, 2 credits)
  • Advanced Federal Indian Law (Law 617, 2 credits)
  • Advanced Public Land and Resources Law (Law 619, 2 credits)
  • Advanced Trial Advocacy (Law 685, 1 credit)
  • Agricultural Law (Law 656, 2 credits)
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution (Law 614, 3 credits)
  • American Indian Natural Resources (Law 619, 2credits)
  • Appellate Advocacy (Law 616, 3 credits)
  • Bankruptcy (Law 621, 2 credits)
  • Child Advocacy (Law 670, 2 credits)
  • Client Counseling Team (Law 638, 2 credits)
  • Conflict of Laws (Law 653, 2 credits)
  • Consumer Transactions (Law 645, 3 credits)
  • Copyright Law (Law 682, 3 credits)
  • Cyber Law (Law 676, 2 credits)
  • Disability Law (Law 668, 2 credits)
  • Elder Law (Law 620, 3 credits)
  • Employment Law (Law 622, 3 credits)
  • Environmental Law (Law 650, 3 credits)
  • Estate Planning (Law 659, 3 credits)
  • Family Law (Law 669, 3 credits)
  • Family Law Mediation (Law 672, 2 credits)
  • Federal Courts (Law 671, 2 credits)
  • Federal Indian Law (Law 648, 3 credits)
  • First Amendment Seminar (Law 675, 2 credits)
  • Foundations of Natural Resources Conflict Resolution (Law 613, 3 credits)
  • Gender and the Law (Law 625, 3 credits)
  • Health Care Law (Law 637, 3 credits)
  • Independent Study (Law 660/1, 1-2 credits)
  • Insurance Law (Law 624, 3 credits)
  • International Business & Trade (Law 629, 2 credits)
  • Introduction to Environmental Law (Law 650, 3 credits)
  • Land Use Planning (Law 687, 3 credits)
  • Law & Literature (Law 607, 1 credit)
  • Law & Technology (Law 693, 2 credits)
  • Law Practice (Law 631, 1 credit)
  • Law Reviews I, II, III, IV (Law 564/5, Law 602/3, 1-2 credits)
  • Lawyers’ Values (Law 630, 2 credits)
  • Legal History (Law 626, 2 credits)
  • Local Government (Law 646, 3 credits)
  • Moot Courts (Law 666, 2 credits)
  • Montana Constitutional Law (Law 618, 2 credits)
  • Natural Resource Development (Law 633, 3 credits)
  • Negotiations (Law 641, 2 credits)
  • Negotiation Team (Law 642, 2 credits)
  • Non-profit Organizations (Law 674, 2 credits)
  • Patent Law (Law 627, 2 credits)
  • Philosophy of Law (Law 664, 3 credits)
  • Practicum in Natural Resources Conflict Resolution
  • Product Liability (Law 657, 2 credits)
  • Public Interest Lawyering (Law 673, 3 credits)
  • Public International Law (Law 634, 3 credits)
  • Public Land and Resources Law (Law 654, 3 credits)
  • Public Regulation of Business (Law 632, 3 credits)
  • Real Estate Transactions (Law 658, 2 credits)
  • Remedies (Law 628, 3 credits)
  • Sales & Leases (Law 692, 3 credits)
  • Secured Transactions (Law 636, 2 credits)
  • Special Topics in Criminal Law (Law 667, 2 credits)
  • Taxation of Business Organizations (Law 639, 4 credits)
  • Taxation of Estates & Gifts (Law 655, 3 credits)
  • Taxation of Property Transactions (Law 640, 2 credits)
  • Trademark Law (Law 693, 2 credits)
  • Tribal Courts/Tribal Law (Law 688, 3 credits)
  • Tribal/State Relations (Law 694, 2 credits)
  • UCC Articles 203 (Law 609, 3 credits)
  • Water Law (Law 663, 2 credits)
  • White Collar Crime (Law 644, 2 credits)
  • Workers' Compensation (Law 662, 3 credits)

Jordan Gross

Associate Professor

Contact

Personal Summary

Professor Jordan Gross supervises the law school’s external prosecution clinics and teaches Criminal ProcedureFederal CourtsProfessional Responsibility and Environmental Crime.

Professor Gross is a member of the bar in Montana and in Washington State, and she is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for Montana, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Professor Gross serves on the Western Montana Bar Association Pro Bono Committee and she regularly gives presentations to members of the Montana bar on legal ethics and professional responsibility.

Before joining the law school faculty, Professor Gross was a partner in a litigation firm in Seattle specializing in federal criminal defense, complex civil litigation, and appeals. Professor Gross clerked for United States District Court Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein and Washington State Court of Appeals Judge Susan R. Agid before entering private practice.

Education

Professor Gross earned B.A. degrees in Political Science and English Literature from the University of Washington in 1989. She earned her J.D. degree, cum laude, from Howard University School of Law in 1993, where she was a member of the law review.

Publications

An Ounce of Pretrial Prevention is Worth More Than a Pound of Post-Conviction Cure: Untethering Federal Pretrial Criminal Procedure From Due Process Standards of Review, 18 Berkeley J. Crim. L. (2013); online publication available at:http://bjcl.org/articles/18.2%20Gross.pdf

If Skilling Can’t Get a Change of Venue, Who Can? Salvaging Common Law Implied Bias Principles from the Wreckage of the Constitutional Pretrial Publicity Standard, 85 Temp. L.R. 575 (2013)

Affiliations

Member, Montana Bar Association

Member, Washington State Bar Assocation (inactive)

Member, Western Montana Bar Association, Pro Bono Committe

Admitted to Practice, United States District Court, District of Montana; United States District Court, Western District of Washinton; Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; Supreme Court of the United States

Honors / Awards

Native American Law Students Association Excellence in Teaching Award 2014, recognizing efforts to significantly incorporate Indian Law concepts throughout teaching

Margery Hunter Brown Award 2013, recognizing commitment to students and service

Dean’s 2012 Scholarship Award