JD

The three-year Juris Doctor degree is the first professional degree in law. The first-year curriculum provides a firm grounding in the core subjects of the study of law along with rigorous training in legal analysis, reasoning, and writing. In the second and third years, students explore more specialized areas of study and practice and are able to conduct their own independent study projects. » more

Joint-degree Programs

Duke Law School's focus on interdisciplinary studies and programs extends across the University and around the world. The Law School and Duke's Graduate School jointly sponsor a program of study in law and several alternative disciplines. » more

Joint Academic Degree Programs

Duke is the only elite law school in the country to allow students to earn both a law degree and a master's degree in three years and one summer. Students pusuing a JD/MA or JD/MS enroll in June and begin their first-year curriculum prior to the JD students, who enroll in August. » more

JD/LLM Program

Duke was the first law school in the country to offer a distinctive three-year joint-degree program that makes it possible for students to concurrently earn a JD and a Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law. A hallmark of the program is the four weeks students spend at one of the Duke summer institutes: the Duke-Geneva Institute in Transnational Law or the Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law in Hong Kong. Students begin their studies in the summer, undertaking part of the regular first-year curriculum with students who are enrolled in the joint JD/MA program. » more

Joint Professional Degree Programs

In addition to its academic joint-degree programs, the Law School offers several professional joint-degree programs through formal agreements with the Duke Divinity School, Pratt School of Engineering, Fuqua School of Business, the Medical School, the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, and the Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy, several of which are located in close proximity to the Law School. Students in the four-year professional programs typically spend their first year at the Law School, and their second year in the non-legal program of study. During the third and fourth years, students take courses at both schools. » more

LLM

The LLM program at Duke Law School is designed to introduce foreign-trained law graduates to the legal system of the United States and to provide them the opportunity to take advanced courses in specialized areas of the law. LLM students join American students in nearly all classes. The program of study is normally completed in one academic year, which begins for all new students in late August. » more

SJD

The SJD is a doctorate program for students with outstanding academic credentials who intend to pursue an academic career in law. The completion of the degree requires a minimum of two-to-three years and normally will involve at least one semester of courses in addition to those taken for the LLM degree. » more