Juris Doctor Program

Tulane's Juris Doctor (JD) program is designed to prepare students for practice by combining academic studies with real-world experiences.

Learning Outcomes

Among other learning outcomes, our academic program seeks to ensure that our graduates achieve competency in:

• knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law;
• legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, problem-solving, and written and oral communication in the legal context;
• the exercise of proper professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the legal system; and
• the professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession.

Academic Requirements

Candidates for the Juris Doctor degree must spend six full-time semesters in academic residence and complete 88 semester hours at the Law School with at least a 2.0 or C average. All candidates must successfully complete:

• the first-year curriculum;
• the Legal Profession course;
• the upper-class writing requirement;
• six credits of experiential learning; and
• the 50-hour pro bono requirement.

Certificates and Concentrations

Students may elect to pursue a concentration in one of six certificate programs that draw upon our curricular strengths and the expertise of our faculty:

• Maritime Law
• Civil Law
• Environmental Law
• International & Comparative Law 
• Sports Law

Joint Degree Programs

The Law School participates in joint degree programs with several schools and individual departments across campus. Joint degree candidates may complete two degrees in less time than it would take to complete them sequentially because each school accepts some work completed at the other toward its degree requirements.