Education in USA

LAW
Acronym Decoder
JD: The abbreviation of Juris Doctor, which literally translates to “teacher of law” in Latin.
LLM: Derived from Legum Magister, which means master of laws in Latin.
ABA: American Bar Association (ABA), which is the organization that accredits JD programs
LSAT: Law School Admission Test

Reasons to Study Law in the U.S:
•Enhance your legal credentials
•Enhance employment skill set
•Aim to be a judge or government official
•Advance as a law professor

The JD Degree:
JD: the basic law degree necessary to practice law in the U.S.
Not practical for students who want to practice law in their home country.
Accredited by the American Bar Association
JD is a graduate degree Must have a bachelor’s degree to apply
JD curriculum is 3 yrs fulltime or 4 yrs part time.
Joint JD/MBA or JD/MA programs are available

About the LSAT:
•Law School Admission Test measures reading and verbal reasoning skills
•Many law schools require that the LSAT be taken by December for admission the following year.

The LLM Degree:
•The abbreviation for of Legum Magister (master of laws in Latin)
•The LLM is a graduate law degree – a first degree in law is a prerequisite
(No previous law degree is required for a JD )

The LLM Degree cont:
1 year of full time study
or
2 years of part time study

Earning the LLM degree does not qualify international lawyers to sit for the bar exam in every state or to practice law in every state.

Popular Law Specialties:
•Intellectual Property Rights
•Information Technology
•Environmental law
•Human Rights
•Constitutional Law
•International Law

Applying for an LLM:
•Must have a first degree in law from their country of origin.
•LSAT not usually required for admission
•Many schools require TOEFL score
•Not all law schools offer LLM programs

LLM Credential Assembly Service:
•Sends reports of student credentials to 5 participating law schools.
•Students submit attested documents from issuing institution in original language with English translations
•Basic service costs US$185.
•For more information, please visit https://llm.lsac.org/llm/logon/introduction.aspx

LEGAL EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES
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, which can be obtained from the
Educational Advisory Service.

LAW DEGREE PROGRAMMES
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.

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”. 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 (see next page).

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 LSAT - Law School Admission Test (www.lsat.org) or the GRE - Graduate Record
Examination (www.gre.org) for admission. International applicants may be required to sit a TOEFL
- Test of English as A Foreign Language exam (www.toefl.org). 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 DEGREE PROGRAMMES
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.

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.

Basic admissions requirements include a bachelor’s degree in any field and the LSAT, a half-day
standardised test offered four times per year, measuring reading and verbal reasoning skills. The
test 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. To obtain a
registration bulletin, send 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.
On-line registration is also available on the website of the Law School Admission Council
(www.lsac.org).

Acceptance rates
Competition for a place at a US law school is 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 website: www.lsac.org.

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.

QUALIFYING TO PRACTISE 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 ABAapproved
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. The EAS can supply
details of bar review courses based in the UK for the New York and California bar exams.
For all state bar exams taken in 2001, 70 per cent of students who had studied at an ABAapproved
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 25 per cent. For graduates of foreign law
schools, a total of 2,385 sat the bar exam with 44 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, multiplechoice
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.

EXPENSES
The cost of applying to each law school can range between $25 and $100. Additionally, the cost of
sitting the LSAT exam is approximately $100, as is the cost of registration with the LSDAS service.
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 2002/2003, the ABA states that the
average living cost was $13,048 for those residing on 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. There is also the Linklaters Alliance Annual Scholarship, which offers the
winner of a Europe-wide essay competition a $40,000 Scholarship for a one-year LLM at an ABAaccredited
law school in the US. Please see www.linklaters-alliance.com for more information, or
contact Jacqueline Rammell, HR Officer, at Tel: 020 7456 4523 and at email:
jacqueline.rammell@linklaters.com.

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.

QUALIFICATION FOR FOREIGN-EDUCATED LAWYERS AND 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.
Graduates who have obtained a British law degree via distance learning will not be recognised by
the New York State Board of Law Examiners, even if they have gained an LLM in addition. You are
encouraged to check with other state boards regarding their policies concerning distance learning
degrees.

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.)

RESOURCES IN THE EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY SERVICE
The US Educational Advisory Service of the Fulbright Commission receives a grant from the US
Department of State to provide information and advice on US education. EAS is a resource centre
that includes a free reference library containing prospectuses and test preparation materials.

Resources for prospective law students include 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. Students and law
professionals are welcome to use these resources from 1.30pm to 7.00pm on Monday and from
1.30pm to 5.00pm, Tuesday to Friday.

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.

SOURCES OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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, web site:
www.abanet.org/legaled

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, web site: www.aals.org

Law School Admissions Council, Box 2000, Newtown, PA 18940-0998 USA. Tel: 001 215 968
1001, web site: www.lsac.org

National Conference of Bar Examiners, 402 W. Wilson Street, Madison, WI 53703-3614 USA.
Tel: 001 608 280 8550, fax: 001 608 280 8552, web site: www.ncbex.org

New York State Board of Law Examiners, Corporate Plaza – Building 3, 254 Washington
Avenue Extension, Albany, NY 12203-5195 USA. Tel: 001 518 452 8700, fax: 001 518 452 5729,
web site: www.nybarexam.org

The State Bar of California, 180 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-1639 USA. Tel: 001
415 538 2000, web site: www.calbar.ca.gov
US Educational Advisory Service
August 2005
handouts/subject/legaled.doc
©2003 The Fulbright Commission
The Fulbright Commission grants permission to reproduce this work
as long as the document is reproduced in full and credit is given.


Financial aid
Graduate study in the US is expensive. Below is a table (in US dollars) showing the
estimated average cost of studying at private and public colleges and universities in the US:
private and public universities

Areas of expenditure Public Private
non-resident
tuition and fees $15,783 $22,218
books and supplies Range from $850 to $940
Range from $6,300 to $8,200
Range from $880 to $1,200
Range from $1,300 to $2,300
room and board
Transportation
Other
TOTAL $25,113+ $31,548+

The above costs are for a single student. If you bring dependants, your costs will increase
by 1.5 to 2 times, depending on the number of dependants.

You are expected to prove, to both the university to which you are applying and to the consul
who grants student visas, that you can meet these yearly costs. To make matters worse,
tuition costs generally increase 5-10% each year!

Most students are unable to meet these costs on their own, so they must look for substantial
financial assistance. The search for financial aid is one of the most time-consuming tasks in
the process of organising admission to a US law school. It will involve a lot of research on
your part. A good starting point is the library at your nearest university. Another source of
information is the Internet (please see the enclosed list of useful web sites).

Unfortunately, there is no one definitive source on financial aid for study in the US.
Assistance available from different sources varies from year to year and from university to
university. Many universities don't actively publicise what limited financial assistance they
may offer in order to avoid being swamped with applications and so students won't pin all
their hopes on schools that they simply can not afford.

It is very important that you don't leave your search until too late. Applications for many
grants and scholarships close at least a year before the money will actually be available, so
start your research right away. The more time you give yourself, the more scholarships you'll
be able to apply for, and the better your chances of being offered assistance.

It is also important to note that you will almost certainly be required to meet a portion of the
cost of graduate study in the US. Very few scholarships pay a student's entire costs, and
many granting agencies are more inclined to give partial financial aid to students who will be
able to contribute something toward the cost of their own education.

The primary source of financial support for over 65% of international students is personal and
family funding. So at the same time that you start your search for universities and financial
aid, you should start to set some money aside for your education.