In the United States, law is not offered as an undergraduate field of study. Students complete a four-year bachelor's degree before applying to law schools. At the undergraduate level, future law students may major in any subject. "Prelaw" concentrations exist at some institutions, but the majority of students who enter law schools have earned a degree in some area of the humanities, social sciences, or behavioral sciences. U.S. law schools seek analytic thinking and writing skills rather than preexisting knowledge of law.

First Professional Degree Programs

First professional degree programs in law award the Juris Doctor (J.D.). The Association of American Law Schools has recommended that international students complete the equivalent of the J.D. degree in their home country because of the unique nature of each country's legal system. J.D. programs in the United States are too focused on preparation for U.S. legal practice to be of use to students whose careers will be based in other countries.

For international lawyers who already have a sound knowledge of their own country's legal system and whose work involves the United States, however, a J.D. program may prove an appropriate course of study. It can allow such practitioners to further sharpen their legal skills and to acquire a broad knowledge of the U.S. system. For those interested in practicing law in the United States, a J.D. degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) is the standard prerequisite in every U.S. jurisdiction.

A student in an accredited J.D. program must complete at least eighty-four semester hours of study, the equivalent of three academic years. These years provide a generalist education, designed to teach legal thinking rather than details of legal code.

In their first year, all students take classes in property law, contracts, and torts (personal injury law). Other courses may vary somewhat from school to school--some combination of criminal law, constitutional law (study of the U.S. Constitution), civil procedure, and introduction to legal systems are usually taught.

For the second and third year, the curriculum may also be closely defined, or students may be permitted to choose electives, depending on the law school. All schools are required to offer instruction in legal ethics.

Courses are taught using the case method. Students read a series of assigned cases. In class, the professor calls on students, often at random, to answer questions on the cases and defend the reasoning behind their answers. Reading assignments are heavy. Grades are often based only on semester- or year-end examinations.

Graduate Programs

The amount of material covered in a J.D. program does not allow for concentration in a particular area of interest. To find opportunities for in-depth specialization or comparative legal study, foreign-trained lawyers should look to U.S. graduate law programs.

Many of the 200 law schools approved by the American Bar Association for their J.D. programs also offer graduate degree programs. Most law schools will consider admitting graduate applicants who have earned the equivalent of a J.D. in countries other than the United States, though some programs with a specific focus on U.S. systems (such as taxation law programs) may not, and many others require knowledge of a system that is based in English common law.

Many law schools offer programs designed specifically for foreign-educated lawyers, often including those from noncommon law backgrounds. These include programs awarding such degrees as the Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.), Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (M.C.J.), Master of Arts in Legal Institutions (M.L.I.), or the Master of Law (LL.M.) in international law or comparative law as well as some general LL.M. and individually designed LL.M. programs. Intended to familiarize international lawyers with U.S. law and legal institutions, such programs generally last one academic year. They often require a thesis and generally combine one or two special introductory courses in U.S. law with classes chosen by the student from among from the law school's regularly offered J.D. courses.

LL.M. programs in specific areas are designed for lawyers interested in becoming specialists in that area. The curriculum is likely to be more structured than in the general LL.M., M.C.L., M.C.J., and M.L.I. programs, with more courses required in the area of specialization. Programs generally last one academic year or three semesters and require a thesis. A few of the areas of LL.M. specialization available in U.S. law schools include energy law, environmental law, banking and finance law, intellectual property law, and maritime law.

Some schools offer individually designed or general LL.M. programs in which students tailor course work to meet their own needs. Those who want to become specialists in a particular area of law should look at these programs as well as those announcing that they offer the particular specialization desired. Examination of faculty backgrounds and correspondence with the program should help determine whether the institution can meet the student's particular needs.

Doctoral programs in law are offered by only a few law schools and are generally intended to prepare graduates for academic careers. They most commonly award the Doctor of Juridicial Science (S.J.D.) or Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.)— there is no difference between the courses of study required for these two degree titles.

It is difficult for a foreign-educated lawyer to gain direct admission to a U.S. doctoral law program. Some schools admit only those students who have already completed that particular school's master's program in law. All are likely to expect the equivalent of a master's degree in law to have been completed somewhere. Exceptionally strong academic and professional work are required.

The minimum residence requirement for doctoral programs in law is usually one academic year. The remainder of the program involves independent research toward the dissertation, which may take one to three more years. Most programs also require an oral examination.

Because doctoral programs focus on independent research, the student generally determines the specialization that will be pursued. Again, faculty interests are important to examine in determining the appropriateness of a particular program.

Short-Term Training

A number of U.S. law schools and other legal training providers offer short-term training intended for or likely to be of interest to foreign-educated lawyers.

Short-term training programs are generally offered during the summer and last a few weeks. Some programs offer a wide selection of courses that participants can choose among according to their interests. Others focus on a general introduction to U.S. law, on English for legal purposes, or on other subjects such as intellectual property law or environmental law.