Legal
Education in the US
Table
of Contents
Types
of Law Degrees
Accreditation
Structure of the JD
Programme
Structure of the LLM
Programme
Other Postgraduate
Law Degrees
Acceptance into
US Law Schools
Expenses
Qualifying to
Practice Law in the US
For Foreign-Educated
Lawyers & Law Graduates
Additional Resources
This
document provides an overview of legal education and
the road to professional licensure in law in the United
States. For general information on pursuing postgraduate
study in the US, please refer to the EAS Guide to Postgraduate Study
in the US.
Types
of Law Degrees
In
the United States, the formal study of law is only
available at the postgraduate level. To attend an
American law school, a student must already hold an
undergraduate degree. Thus, students with A-levels
or Scottish Highers cannot expect to attend a law
school in the US without first earning an undergraduate
degree. If you do not have an undergraduate degree
and would like to consider doing your first degree
in the US, please refer to the paragraph below that
explains the recommended undergraduate coursework
for admission to law schools .
The
most common law degrees offered by American law schools
are the professional Juris Doctor (JD) degree and
the master’s degree in law (LLM). The JD degree
is the law degree required to practise as a lawyer
in the US and requires three years of study at a law
school after completion of an undergraduate degree.
Universities may offer first degrees in law-related
fields (e.g. a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and
Society) but this is not sufficient to practise as
a lawyer. The LLM degree is generally meant for already-qualified
lawyers who wish to undertake further study.
Accreditation
In
order to practise as a lawyer, many states require
a candidate to have a JD degree from a law school
that has been approved by the American Bar Association
(ABA). The ABA is the professional association
for law and its members include those who practise
and teach law as well as current law students. The
ABA’s
Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions
to the Bar is recognised by the US Department
of Education as the "accrediting agency for professional
schools of law". Currently, the ABA has approved 184
law schools in the US. Non-ABA accredited law schools
may only qualify attendees to practise in the state
in which the school is located; consequently, graduates
of non-ABA accredited schools often have difficulty
being licensed to practise law in other states.
Structure
of the JD Programme
The
professional JD degree is meant for those who wish
to practise law (or work within the legal field) in
the US. Therefore, the main concentration of the degree
programme is on American law. International students
who wish to practise in their own country but gain
experience with American law are advised to do a master’s
degree in law.
The
first year is quite structured with compulsory courses
such as civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts,
criminal law and procedure, legal method, legal writing,
property law and torts (personal injury law). The
first year may also include moot court exercises (mock
trials) in which students argue cases against one
another.
During
the second and third year, courses may include evidence,
civil litigation, taxation, wills and trusts, administrative,
corporate, commercial, family, environmental or international
law. Although the design of the JD does not allow
much specialisation, students have more freedom during
these years to choose courses in their field of interest.
Opportunities
for gaining professional skills are also often available
after the first year through a clinical course, which
allows for actual or simulated work with clients.
These opportunities vary among law schools but usually
take the form of an actual on-site clinic dealing
with minor cases, an external clinical placement with
a real law firm or public agency or a course with
simulated clinical work.
Aside
from the vast amount of studying involved, the teaching
methods used in most courses can also be quite intimidating
to a first-year law student. These methods are referred
to as the Case Method and the Socratic Method. The
Case Method forms the structure of most law
school courses where the only texts are casebooks
– collections of written judicial opinions on
actual court cases at the appellate (Court of Appeals
or Supreme Court) level. Assignments entail reading
a number of related cases and being prepared to answer
questions based on them in the next class meeting.
The
Socratic Method refers to the teaching style
used by most law professors. Instruction by lecturing
is quite limited and more often takes the form of
directed questioning. Put simply, the professor will
"invite" one student to give a thorough and detailed
summary of one of the assigned cases. The professor
then questions the student on omitted details or unresolved
issues. Afterward, the professor may slightly alter
the facts of the case in order to allow the students
to come to a different decision than that reached
by the court. Together, these two methods sharpen
critical thinking skills and the ability to distinguish
between subtle underlying principles of a certain
area of law.
Structure
of the LLM Programme
Generally,
LLM programmes are intended for qualified lawyers
who have several years of experience but wish to pursue
further study. General LLM degree programmes can be
individually tailored to suit a candidate's interests
and normally require a thesis of publishable quality.
Some LLM programmes offer concentrations in particular
fields such as taxation, international law and comparative
law, and may or may not require a thesis. For foreign-educated
lawyers, some law schools offer LLM programmes such
as "US Comparative Law" or "US Legal Studies", which
are designed to give foreign law graduates an insight
into the American legal system.
LLM
programmes are typically one year in length and do
not normally require standardised tests such as the
Law
School Admission Test (LSAT) or the Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) for admission. International
applicants may be required to sit a Test
of English as A Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam.
Some law schools will not grant admission to international
applicants who do not already hold a law degree, even
though they may be qualified to practise in their
home country. Other US universities will not require
a law degree as long as the applicant is qualified
to practise in a common law country and, in some cases,
has some years of post-qualification experience.
Other
Postgraduate Law Degrees
Other
postgraduate degrees include master’s degrees
in Comparative Law (MCL), in Comparative Jurisprudence
(MCJ), and in Legal Institutions (MLI). These programmes
differ from the LLM in that they tend to be less specialised
and less research-oriented. They consist mainly of
taught courses and do not normally require a master's
thesis. However, the scope of these degrees can vary
from one law school to another. Some may be designed
for foreign-educated lawyers, especially for those
trained in civil law countries who wish to study the
common law principles of the American legal system.
Others may be intended for non-law professionals who
require knowledge of the legal field.
Degrees
awarded at the doctoral level are the Doctor of Juridical
Science (SJD or JSD) and the Doctor of Comparative
Law Studies (DCL). These are the most advanced degrees
in law and generally intended for those pursuing an
academic career in the legal field. Only a small number
of applicants are admitted each year onto these programmes,
which consist of specialised study and research, as
well as a substantial thesis. A list of universities
that offer postgraduate law degrees is available from
the EAS.
Joint
degrees: Most law schools offer the option of
joint degrees in various disciplines. The most common
degrees are a JD/MBA or a JD/MA in Economics or Political
Science. These joint degrees will take more time to
complete due to the added degree requirements.
Acceptance
into US Law Schools
Law
schools do not require that applicants take an undergraduate
degree in a particular subject or to have completed
specific courses. Instead, they emphasise the importance
of a demanding and well-rounded education with experience
in a variety of disciplines. Although pre-law programmes
exist, most law schools feel that the coursework is
far too narrow to provide a well-balanced education
and consequently prefer that students save the specific
study of law for law school.
However,
there are certain skills and areas of knowledge that
the law school candidate should seek to develop. Necessary
skills include critical thinking, problem solving,
analytical reading, oral and written communication
and general research skills. Given the American emphasis
on liberal arts education, many of these skills are
used in each undergraduate course, especially upper-level
courses.
Prospective
law school candidates should also seek to gain a basic
understanding in certain subjects. These areas include
American history; political theory and the American
political system; ethics and theories of justice (found
in philosophy and religion courses); micro-economic
theory; basic maths and accounting skills; human behaviour
and social interaction (found in psychology and sociology
courses) and an awareness of international issues.
Experience with any of these areas prior to law school
will help with the intake of vast amounts of new information
expected of first-year law students.
If
you wish to study for your first university degree
in the US, please read our EAS Guide to Undergraduate Study
.
Basic
admissions requirements include a bachelor’s
degree in any field and the Law
School Admissions Test (LSAT). The LSAT is
a half-day standardised test offered four times per
year. It measures reading and verbal reasoning skills,
and does not require specific knowledge of law. Students
are advised to sit the exam either in June of the
penultimate year or September of the final year of
undergraduate study. On-line registration is available
on the Law
Schools Admissions Council's web site. You can
also obtain an LSAT registration bulletin from our
office by visiting during our opening hours or by sending an
A4 stamped addressed envelope with postage for 350
grams to the Educational Advisory Service, along with
a note specifically requesting a LSAT registration
bulletin.
Acceptance
Rates
Despite
a small decline in the number of applications over
the last two years, competition for a place at a US
law school is still fierce, especially for international
applicants. Of all the selection criteria, most law
schools place the heaviest emphasis on the score from
the LSAT and on a student’s Grade Point Average
(GPA). For the LSAT, most law schools require a score
of at least 150, with the more competitive schools
requiring scores of 160 for admission. No law school
is likely to grant admission for scores under 145.
A GPA is an average of the grades received for all
courses, converted onto a scale of 0 to 4.0. Generally,
the minimum GPA for admission to law school is approximately
3.0 (equivalent to a lower second class degree from
a UK university), with the more competitive schools
requiring a GPA of 3.5 or higher (equivalent to an
upper second or first class degree from a UK university).
Students
should request applications and information from individual
law schools. In addition to application forms, law
schools will require letters of recommendation, transcripts
(a record of all academic courses taken with the grade
received for each; must be prepared by a university
official) for all undergraduate and postgraduate study,
a statement of purpose and, occasionally, an interview.
Most
law schools require applicants to apply through the
Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). This
service compiles the required application information
into a single report that is then sent to each law
school applied to by the student. This report includes
an undergraduate academic summary, copies of all undergraduate,
graduate and professional school records, LSAT scores,
letters of reference and writing samples taken from
the LSAT. Application forms should be sent directly
to the law schools, who will then request the report
from the LSDAS. Registration with the LSDAS should
take place by the end of the penultimate year of study
and can be done when registering for the LSAT. Details
of the LSDAS service can be found in the LSAT registration
bulletin and on the LSAT web site.
For
graduates of universities outside the US, LSDAS registration
is limited to students attending institutions recognised
by the LSDAS. At the time of writing, the LSDAS recognised
eight institutions in England but none in Scotland,
Wales or Northern Ireland. For those students unable
to register with the LSDAS, the application and all
required information must be sent directly to the
law schools.
Expenses
The
cost of applying to each law school can range between
$25 and $100. Additionally, the cost of sitting the
LSAT exam is $90, and the cost of registration with
the LSDAS service is $95.
Tuition
for law school can range from $5,000 up to $25,000
per academic year. Approximately two-thirds of ABA-approved
law schools charge between $10,000 and $20,000 per
year. These figures do not include living expenses.
For the academic year 1999/2000, the ABA states that
the average living cost was $8,647 for those
residing on campus and $12,054 for those living off
campus.
Many
US law schools offer financial assistance in various
forms, including federal aid and loans (for US nationals
only), fellowships, scholarships and assistantships.
Other sources of financial assistance can be found
in funding directories such as Funding for United
States Study and The Grants Register, which
provide comprehensive lists of awards from independent
foundations that may include law as an eligible field
of study. A sample list of awards available to British
nationals can be found in the EAS
Guide to Postgraduate Study in the US , including
details of The
Fulbright Commission's awards that may be used
for an LLM.
The
fee to sit the bar generally ranges between $150 and
$400, but can be as high as $700. A bar review course
prior to the bar exam is strongly recommended for
all bar exam candidates. Most review courses are run
by outside agencies, are about four weeks long and
can cost up to $3,000.
Qualifying
to Practice Law in the US
In
order to practise law, one must first be "admitted
to the bar" in an individual state. This entails passing
the state bar exam and any other exams required by
the state bar examiners. For students with a JD degree
from a US law school, most states will not grant permission
to sit the exam unless the law school has been approved
by the ABA.
Generally,
state bar examiners require evidence of three qualities
in exam candidates: sufficient general education at
the undergraduate level; sufficient US legal education
gained from an ABA-approved law school; and sufficient
knowledge of local bar requirements. Each state bar
administration sets its own criteria for permission
to sit the state bar exam so prospective candidates
must contact the individual state bar examiners for
specific information.
The
Bar Exam
Generally,
most states require a candidate to have a JD degree
from an ABA-approved law school in order to sit their
bar exam. In some cases, graduates from a non-ABA-approved
law school may be allowed to sit the bar exam in the
state in which the law school is located.
The
bar exam covers the law particular to that state and
is approximately 6 hours in length. Some state bar
associations may supply details of bar review courses
in their state.
For
all state bar exams taken in 1999, 69 per cent of
students who had studied at an ABA-approved law school
were successful in passing the exam. Students who
had studied at a non-ABA-approved US law school had
a pass rate of only 26 per cent. For graduates of
foreign law schools, a total of 2,385 sat the bar
exam with 42 per cent successfully passing the exam.
(Source: National Conference of Bar Examiners.)
Other
Exams
In
addition to the state bar exam, 47 states also require
the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE). The MBE covers
general legal knowledge in areas such as contracts,
torts (personal injury law), constitutional law, criminal
law, evidence and real property. It is a 6-hour, multiple
choice exam made up of 200 questions.
A
typical second day of testing includes series of timed
essay exams on a variety of subjects. This portion
may be comprised of two other multistate exams: the
Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) and the
Multistate Performance Test (MPT). However,
these exams are not as frequently required as the
MBE and the MPRE.
Currently,
47 states also require law students to pass the Multistate
Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).
The MPRE tests knowledge of the ABA codes on professional
responsibility and judicial conduct. However, some
states will allow a student to sit this exam during
law school, usually after finishing a course on legal
ethics. The MPRE is a 2-hour, multiple-choice exam.
Character
Evaluation
Part
of the licensing process involves the assessment by
bar examiners of an applicant’s character and
fitness to engage in the practice of law. Currently,
16 states either require or allow applicants to register
with their licensing agency during law school in order
to conduct this assessment before the actual licensing
period.
For
Foreign-Educated Lawyers & Law Graduates
Just
over half of all state bar administrators have stated
that graduates of foreign law schools are not eligible
to sit their bar exam under the rules of their jurisdiction.
Of those states that will grant permission to foreign
law graduates, most require that either the foreign
law school is the equivalent of an ABA-school or that
the graduate has done a certain amount of study at
an American ABA-approved law school. If additional
study is required, the precise amount will be expressed
in terms of credit hours and certain subjects may
also be specified. Admission to a JD programme would
be the most straightforward route towards gaining
this credit, and some universities may award partial
credit (advanced standing) towards the JD if the student
has an undergraduate law degree.
Otherwise,
a one-year LLM on top of a British law degree and
qualification to practise may be sufficient for permission
to sit the bar exam in some states. The student who
considers this option should be aware that the number
of credit hours required to sit the bar exam may exceed
a given university’s regular LLM credit-hour
requirement. Therefore, the student can expect to
carry a slightly heavier course load than one doing
an LLM for its own sake. Law graduates from other
common law countries would be best advised to apply
for a JD with advanced standing. However, it is possible
that such students’ undergraduate common law
degree combined with a US LLM might be sufficient
for permission to sit the bar exam in a small number
of states.
For
UK lawyers and law graduates, there are two exceptions
to the above restrictions: New York and California.
For permission to sit the New York bar exam, all that
is required is a standard law degree from a UK university.
However, qualified solicitors and barristers with
non-law degrees are generally ineligible to sit the
bar exam. California is also less restrictive than
other states and will generally allow foreign-qualified
lawyers to sit the bar exam.
Please
note that neither having a JD degree nor passing a
state bar exam gives you the right to work in the
US. (When applying for a student visa, a student
must show that s/he intends to return to his/her home
country after finishing the degree.)
Additional
Resources
Other
On-Line Resources
American
Bar Association, Council of the Section of
Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 750 North
Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611 USA. Tel: 001
312 988 5000
Association
of American Law Schools, 1201 Connecticut
Avenue, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036-2605 USA.
Tel: 001 202 296 8851, fax: 001 202 296 8869
Law
School Admissions Council, Box 2000, Newtown,
PA 18940-0998 USA. Tel: 001 215 968 1001
National
Conference of Bar Examiners, 333 North Michigan
Avenue, Suite 1025, Chicago, IL 60601-4401 USA. Tel:
001 312 641 0963, fax: 001 312 641 2052
New
York State Board of Law Examiners, 1 Executive
Drive, Suite 202, Albany, NY 12203-5195 USA. Tel:
001 518 452 8700, fax: 001 518 452 5729
The
State Bar of California, 180 Howard Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105-1639 USA. Tel: 001 415 538
2000
The
National Jurist Magazine
Off-Line
Resources
The US Educational Advisory Service's reference
library contains several directories concerning law
education in the US (listed below); catalogues from
US universities, test preparation guides for reference
use; and application forms for the SAT I and II, ACT,
LSAT and TOEFL examinations. You are welcome to consult
these materials during our opening
hours.
Additional
free handouts available at EAS are:
-
Postgraduate Programmes in Law- the Juris Doctor
degree
-
Postgraduate Programmes in Law- master's and doctorate
programmes
-
Directory of State Bar Admission Administrators
(also available from the National
Conference of Bar Examiners web site)
Specific
resources for law education available in the EAS library
are as follows:
-
Comprehensive
Guide to Bar Admission Requirements. Chicago:
American Bar Association.
-
Directory
of Graduate Law Degree Programs. Washington,
DC: Federal Reports Inc.
-
The
Official Guide to US Law Schools. New York:
Law School Admissions Council.
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