Final Exam Policy

Format

Each semester ends with a three-hour, closed-book, written final exam. The Fall exam tests Modules I–IV (Chapters 1–13). The Spring exam tests Modules V–VII (Chapters 14–28). Both finals are all-essay; there is no multiple choice on the final. MCQ assessment is delivered in-class through Brightspace at the Module Capstones during the semester (see Syllabus).

Course weight

The final exam is worth 70% of the Contracts I (Fall) grade and 75% of the Contracts II (Spring) grade. Contracts I and Contracts II are graded independently; the two semester exams do not average. A weaker Fall exam can be partly recovered through a stronger Spring exam in the sense that the Spring exam is heavier, but each semester stands on its own transcript line.

What is allowed

• Pen, pencil, and the exam materials the professor provides
• A printed copy of any handouts the professor expressly designates as exam-permitted (typically the statutory excerpt sheet)
• Water and a snack at the student’s seat

What is not allowed

• Casebook, course supplements, class notes, outlines, study guides
• Personal electronic devices except for ExamSoft when the exam is administered by computer
• Reference to any AI tool (the disclosure requirement in the AI Policy does not turn into an exception during the final)
• Communication of any kind with any other student during the exam window

Sample exams

The Syllabus links to a sample practice exam and four model student essays. These are study materials, not promises about exam content. Reading them well is more useful than memorizing them; the essays show the kind of legal analysis the exam rewards.

Make-up exam

A make-up exam is granted only on the same documented-circumstance grounds the Dean of Students office uses for all course-wide make-ups: documented illness, family emergency, religious observance with prior notice, or comparable circumstance. The make-up exam is on a different question set; it is not a second sitting of the original exam.

Disability accommodations

See Accommodations. Extended-time, separate-room, and accessible-format accommodations are administered by CUA Law’s exam administration office in coordination with DSS; the professor does not handle accommodation implementation directly.

Grading

Exams are graded blind. Each exam is scored against a rubric the professor writes before the exam window. The professor reads every exam personally; there is no AI-assisted exam grading. Grade distribution follows CUA Law’s mandatory curve for first-year courses.

Exam review

Students are entitled to review their graded final after grades are released, on request to the professor’s assistant or through Brightspace’s grade-inquiry mechanism. Review is for understanding the comments, not for re-grading. Re-grading happens only where there is a discrete error (a missed page, a math error, etc.).