JD for Non-U.S. Lawyers
As a JD student admitted through our advanced admissions program, you will be fully integrated with the incoming JD class and must fulfill all the same requirements to earn the JD degree as those on the traditional three-year path, including taking all the courses in the standard first-year curriculum and fulfilling the same upper-level course requirements to earn the JD. You must also complete a summer externship.
The only difference between the regular three-year and the two-year JD paths is that you will receive up to one year’s worth of credits (or 29 units) for your non-U.S. legal studies, effectively allowing you to skip the second year of law school and go directly from completing the traditional first-year curriculum to the third year of law school. As a student admitted through our advanced admissions program, however, you earn exactly the same JD degree as students on the traditional three-year path.
Below is a sample of how your two-year JD studies at Arizona Law could look like after transferring 29 advanced standing credits.
Year 1 (1L)
| FALL (15 CREDITS) | SPRING (15 CREDITS) |
|---|---|
| Contracts | Property |
| Civil Procedure | Criminal Procedure |
| Torts | Constitutional Law |
| Legal Writing | Legal Writing |
| Legal Research | Limited Choice Elective |
| SUMMER |
|---|
| Externship* - 1 credit |
Year 2 (3L)
| FALL | SPRING |
|---|---|
| Evidence - 3 credits | Legal Profession - 3 credits |
| Skills Course* - 3 credits | Skills Course* - 2 credits |
| Substantial Paper - 3 credits | Upper-level Electives (10-13 credits) |
| Upper-level Electives (6-8 credits) |
| SUMMER |
|---|
| Pre-Bar Professional Skills Course** |
* Skills courses include: clinics, externships, the judicial clerking program, and other courses like mediation, trial advocacy, and patent practice, among many other.
** Students are required to take this course unless they meet bar preparation expectations in the preceding Spring semester. Students must consult with an advisor if they wish to seek an exception.