"Duke is a great place to pursue the LL.M. degree. Faculty are enthusiastic and accessible. I was able to discuss my questions with them in and out of the classes. Also, when I asked questions by email, they responded quite promptly. Another great thing about Duke LL.M. is its diverse class. Fellow students have a wide variety of backgrounds and are all hard workers. Studying with them is intellectually stimulating. Besides, I was able to make good friends from all over the globe. Durham is an excellent city for enjoying a relaxing life and housing is much better than in big cities. The city has its beautiful suburbs with a lot of nature to explore. As for entertainment, we have many events in the university and city. Duke basketball is a must. I enjoyed its "crazy" atmosphere. In addition to the sports games, you can also find concerts and performances. In my case, a musical show at the university auditorium was impressive.LLM
The LLM program at Duke Law School is designed to introduce foreign law graduates to the legal system of the United States and to provide the opportunity to take advanced courses in specialized areas of the law. Most LLM students at Duke are professionals with two or more years of experience at well-known law firms. They are also judges, prosecutors, academics, members of government ministries, corporations, or financial institutions. The LLM program usually includes a small number of talented, very recent law graduates as well. Effective as of 2005, graduates of LLM class may receive high honors and honors for academic performance.
The program of study is normally completed in one academic year, which begins for all new students in late August.
SJD
The SJD program provides an exceptional study environment for students who wish to pursue an academic career in law. Candidates must have completed the LLM degree at an accredited American law school (in exceptional cases, consideration will be given to applicants who have completed programs of study in common law countries). Duke graduates hold academic positions in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand and Taiwan.
The SJD program normally takes a minimum of two to three years. It involves one to two semesters of course work as recommended by the faculty supervisor, oral and written examininations that precede formal admission to candidacy, submission of a research proposal, and completion and defense of a dissertation.
JD/LLM
In 1985, Duke became the first law school in the country to offer select American students the opportunity to pursue a joint degree in international and comparative law in three years. This unique joint JD/LLM program has grown stronger as the internationalization of the legal profession increases. Duke has relationships with 14 foreign universities in Australia, China, England, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mexico, and South Africa, among others. A hallmark of the program is the four weeks that 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.
JD/LLM students commence their studies in the summer, undertaking part of the regular first-year curriculum with students who are enrolled in the joint JD/MA program. During the remaining six semesters of law study and in a four-week period at one of Duke's summer programs - the Duke-Geneva Institute in Transnational Law and the Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law.
JD/Master in Global Business Law
Duke Law School and a consortium of two French universities, l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, offer a joint JD/Master in Global Business Law degree. This joint degree program allows students to receive both the JD and the Master in three years. The Master is a French national law degree that may entitle students to sit for the French Bar exam. Students in the JD/Master program spend two years at Duke and a third year studying in Paris.