FlexJD & legal terms, in plain English

One of the Law On Campus sessions. Current official FlexJD materials describe three required 1L sessions and three optional upper-level sessions, each approximately four days; confirm your cohort schedule with the FlexJD program.

The office that handles academic and student-services questions and can direct students to the controlling office or policy.

Northeastern’s office for disability-related accommodations. Use the official DAS site for the current registration process, documentation guidance, and contact channel.

NUSL’s first-year social-justice lawyering sequence. The official course catalog controls course numbers, credits, prerequisites, and current descriptions; confirm your FlexJD cohort sequence with advising.

A term used in NUSL academic-standing rules. Deficiency, probation, remediation, and dismissal consequences depend on the current NUSL Academic Rules and the student's record; confirm any consequence or appeal deadline with Academic and Student Affairs.

A passing grade that still carries 1 deficiency — credit is earned, but it counts against your academic-standing total differently than an ordinary Pass.

NUSL's required supervised field placement with a concurrent reflections seminar. Current official FlexJD academics materials state that each of the two experiential terms requires at least 275 hours; confirm credits, timing, and placement rules with the Center for Co-op and Career Development.

A degree requirement satisfied by a revised, well-researched piece of at least 15 pages (3,750 words), certified by a supervising professor.

Satisfied by a public-interest co-op, one of NUSL's public interest clinics, 30 pre-approved uncompensated hours, or a directed study — does not include judicial clerkships or private-firm work.

ABA Standard 311(b) establishes a maximum period for completing a JD. Consult the current ABA Standards and NUSL Academic and Student Affairs before relying on this peer definition for leave or completion planning.

Shorthand for your year in the JD program — first, second, third, fourth-year law student. FlexJD runs four years instead of the standard three because it's part-time.

The elected student representative body at NUSL, affiliated with the ABA Law Student Division, and home to the dedicated Chair of FlexJD Interests seat.

A FlexJD-specific student organization (registered 2026) built to give remote/part-time students their own community structure, separate from SBA.

The academic-progress standard used for financial-aid eligibility. Northeastern’s official SAP policy controls the qualitative, pace, maximum-timeframe, warning, and appeal rules.

The federal calculation applied when a federal-aid recipient withdraws before completing the payment period. Use Federal Student Aid and NUSL Financial Aid for the current rule and an individual calculation; this glossary does not determine what a student has earned or must return.

A federal graduate/professional loan program whose availability and transition rules have changed. Eligibility depends on current federal law, program and borrower status, disbursement timing, and individual facts. Verify through Federal Student Aid, Northeastern’s official federal-aid updates, and NUSL Financial Aid rather than relying on a static glossary date.

One component of attorney-licensing systems established separately by each jurisdiction. The legacy UBE and NextGen UBE are in a multi-year transition; use the NCBE jurisdiction directory and the target jurisdiction’s licensing authority for the current exam, eligibility, local components, deadlines, and score-transfer rules.

A standardized bar exam used by most (not all) states, allowing a passing score to be transferred to any other UBE jurisdiction within that state's transfer window.

A separate, shorter exam on legal ethics required for bar admission in nearly every state, typically taken during law school.

A position working directly for a judge, researching and drafting opinions. Federal clerkships are hired through OSCAR; state clerkships vary by court.

The Online System for Clerkship Application and Review — the centralized federal judiciary platform where students apply for federal judicial clerkships.

Supervised, often unpaid legal work for academic credit, usually at a government office, nonprofit, or court — distinct from a co-op or clinic.

A law school course where students represent real clients under a supervising attorney's license — combines classroom instruction with live casework.

Legal work performed for free, typically for clients who can't afford representation.

A "friend of the court" filing from someone not party to a case, offering the court additional argument or information relevant to the decision.

The jury selection process, where attorneys and the judge question prospective jurors to identify bias before trial.

Sworn out-of-court testimony taken during discovery, recorded for potential use at trial.

A court's official log of case filings, hearings, and rulings — also used loosely to mean a court or attorney's overall caseload.

A civil wrong (other than breach of contract) that causes harm, giving the injured party grounds to sue for damages — negligence, defamation, and battery are all torts.

Law developed by courts through judicial decisions and precedent, as opposed to law created by statute.

A previously decided case that guides or binds the outcome of later cases with similar facts, under the doctrine of stare decisis.

An arrangement letting an attorney licensed in one state become licensed in another without retaking the full bar exam — rules vary significantly by state and are not universal.

The standard legal citation manual used across most U.S. law schools and courts — "Bluebooking" means formatting citations to its rules.

A structured recruiting process, mostly used by large law firms, where employers interview students on campus (or virtually) during a set application window each year.