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JD/LLM Degree Requirements


Total Credits Required: 104 (84 FOR JD/20 FOR LLM)
  • First-Year Required Credits: 37
  • Duke Law Summer Institute: 6 (Europe/Asia during 1L summer)
  • Upperclass Required Credits: 12
  • Elective Credits: 49
Required Courses (Credits):
  • Pre-1L Summer Courses: Property; Contracts
  • 1L Fall JD Courses: Civil Procedure; Torts; Legal Analysis; Research & Writing
  • 1L Spring JD Courses: Criminal Law; Constitutional Law; Legal Analysis, Research & Writing
  • 1L LLM Courses: International Law; Comparative Law; Research Methods in International, Foreign, and Comparative Law
  • Duke Summer Institutes in Transnational Law (Geneva/Hong Kong): Three courses in international, foreign, or comparative law
  • Required Upper-level JD Course: Ethics
  • Upper-level LLM Courses: Seven credits in international, comparative, or foreign law
  • Significant writing on an international, comparative or foreign law subject: Usually satisfied by externship paper, independent study paper, or seminar paper(s)
  • Foreign Language Competency Requirement: Usually satisfied by an intermediate-level language course at Duke, advanced language study at your undergraduate institution, or a language competency test.
Other Coursework:
  • Courses Outside the Law School: Up to nine credits from other University divisions may count toward the LLM requirements; six of those credits must involve international, foreign, or comparative fields of study. The Duke University Area Studies Program is particularly rich in courses dealing with Canada, China, Germany, and Japan, and the Political Science Department offers excellent programs in international relations.
  • Externship in International Law: Up to 14 credits may be earned for one semester of unpaid work at a preapproved international organization. Capstone Projects and domestic partial-semester externships also are available.