JD-Next Program Overview

Discover the comprehensive JD-Next program, including its admissions test, structured curriculum, key course objectives, expected learning outcomes, syllabus, and more.

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Program Structure and Timeline

JD-Next is an 8-week course and law school admissions test that introduces 1L Contract Law, helping students build essential law school skills.

Scientifically demonstrated to boost 1L GPAs by 0.20 on average, the course requires approximately 6–10 hours per week. It begins with Case Brief Workshops, focusing on legal reasoning and case analysis before applying these skills to foundational cases like Hawkins v. McGee.

Interactive lessons, quizzes, and personalized feedback reinforce learning. The course includes test prep materials, model answers, and assessments. It concludes with a comprehensive exam that can also serve as a law school admissions evaluation.

Course Objectives

Construct clear, well-organized arguments supported by legal sources.
Apply primary and secondary legal sources to fact scenarios using prescribed analysis.
Use investigative techniques to develop legal arguments.
Create effective doctrinal outlines for law school exams.
Write case briefs for Socratic cold-calling and open-book exams.

Analyze hypothetical fact patterns through legal writing.
Identify and articulate key legal issues, dispositive facts, rules of law, procedural posture, holdings, and court reasoning in judicial opinions.
Differentiate legal reasoning from plaintiffs, defendants, and courts.
Connect your skills, values, and knowledge to your future legal career.
Learn the underlying skills of law school success.

Course Schedule

All activities and assignments will be located in modules listed on the Course page. Please see the Course Schedule on the Dates page for specific due dates.

Week One

Case Brief Workshop 1: Preparing to Brief Cases; Procedural Posture and Narrative Facts

Case Brief Workshop 2: Rule Formulation/Understanding the Reasons and Exceptions

Week Two

Case Brief Workshop 3: Identifying and Briefing the Issues in a Case

Case Brief Workshop 4: Understanding the Legal Analysis of a Case

Week Three

Case Brief Workshop 5: Stating the Conclusion and Holding of a Case

Full Case Brief Skills Assessment

Week Four

Class 1: Introduction to the Law of Contracts (Hawkins v. McGee)

Class 2: Promises to Make a Gift? (Hamer v. Sidway)

Week Five

Class 3: Basics of Consideration (Kirksey v. Kirksey; Batsakis v. Demotsis)

Class 4: Consideration (Feinberg v. Pfeiffer Co.)

Week Six

Class 5: Consideration and Contract Formation (Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon)

Class 6: Contract Formation: Mutual Assent and Mistake (Lucy v. Zehmer; Raffles v. Wichelhaus)

Week Seven

Class 7: Offer and Acceptance (Lefkowitz v. Great Minneapolis Surplus)

Class 8: Acceptance by Performance (Ever-Tite Roofing Corp. v. Green)

Week Eight

Class 9: Reliance on Contract Offers Prior to Acceptance and Promissory Estoppel (Hoffman v. Red Owl Stores, Inc.)

Prepare for the Final Exam

2025 Course Dates

Course Start	Registration Deadline	Exam	Score Release
May 5, 2025	May 9, 2025	July 8 or 12, 2025	August 4, 2025
June 2, 2025	June 6, 2025	August 5 or 9, 2025	September 2, 2025
September 8, 2025	September 12, 2025	November 12 or 15, 2025	December 9, 2025
December 1, 2025	December 5, 2025	January 27 or 31, 2026	February 23, 2026

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