Law School students will take exams before Christmas next year for the first time, under a new academic scheduling system adopted by the Law School faculty at their Wednesday meeting.

The new system, which the faculty approved by a 35-6 vote, is commonly known as the "4-1-4," in which the academic year is divided into three terms.

The Law School now uses the same system as the rest of the University, in which fall term exams take place in late January and the spring term begins in the first week of February.

Under the 4-1-4 system, students take fall term exams before Christmas after a four-month semester. The middle term, a single course that meets intensively for a month, starts at the end of Christmas vacation.

Following a short break, the spring term begins and runs for four months. The new system goes into effect in the academic year 1978-79.

"I think this system is fairly new," Albert M. Sacks, dean of the Law Schools, said yesterday. "My impression is that it has not been tried by very many law schools. There are not many we can look to for past examples," Sacks said.

Paper Chase

"Traditionally, Christmas vacation has been very important for a lot of law students. First-year people use it to figure out what their courses are all about," Richard W. Shepro '75, a second-year student, said yesterday.

"Basically, it's good, although I'm not familiar with what courses will be offered in January," Robert Bennett, a first-year law student, said yesterday.

Tranquilizer

"Maybe it will make first-year students calmer since they won't have to worry about exams over Christmas vacation," Bennett said.

Susan DiYanni, another first-year student, said yesterday, "My major concern is having exams before Christmas, so I think it's a very good system."

"I like it because it will help me in terms of how much I enjoy my vacation," Eric Cromartie, second-year law student, said yesterday.

"I generally like the 4-1-4 system since it makes vacation much more pleasant," Paul Perlman, a second-year student, said yesterday. Perlman added, however, "There are some problems. For example, you can't fulfill the writing requirement during the one-month January period."