phd legal studies usa

Ph.D. Program

The ph.d. in law degree.

The Ph.D. in Law degree program is designed to prepare J.D. graduates for careers as legal scholars and teachers through a doctoral program aimed at the production of a substantial body of academic research and writing under the close supervision of a three-member faculty dissertation committee. Unlike programs designed for students who wish to learn about law from the disciplinary perspectives of the social sciences or the humanities, the Ph.D. in Law is directed at students who wish to pursue advanced studies in law from the perspective of the law. This program offers emerging scholars an opportunity to contribute to the development of law as an academic field, and it provides an alternate pathway into law teaching alongside existing routes such as fellowships, advanced degrees in cognate fields, legal practice, and clerkships.

Because our entering Ph.D. students will have already completed their J.D. degrees, the anticipated course of study toward the Ph.D. in Law degree is three academic years and two summers in residence. In their first two semesters, Ph.D. students will enroll in courses designed to help them acquire the background and research skills needed to complete a dissertation in their field of interest and to prepare them for qualifying examinations that test the depth and breadth of the literacies and skills they have acquired. During their second year, students will prepare a dissertation prospectus and begin work on a dissertation. The dissertation may take the form of either three law review articles or a book-length manuscript and will make up a portfolio of writing that will be essential for success in the job market. Ph.D. students will also gain experience in the classroom, and receive the full support of Yale Law School’s Law Teaching Program , which has had remarkable success in placing graduates in tenure-track positions at leading law schools.

Ph.D. students receive a full-tuition waiver, a health award for health insurance coverage, and a stipend to cover their year-round living expenses, as well as support for participation in national and international conferences.

Applications for admission to the Ph.D. in Law program are available starting on August 15. The deadline for submission of all materials is December 15. Applicants to the Ph.D. in Law program must complete a J.D. degree at a U.S. law school before they matriculate and begin the Ph.D. program. Any questions about the program may be directed to Gordon Silverstein, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs, at [email protected] .

Watch Gordon Silverstein, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs, describe the Ph.D. program at Yale Law School.

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2020 and 2021 Graduate Programs alumni before their in-person ceremony in May 2022

2020 and 2021 Graduate Programs alumni celebrate in the YLS Courtyard with Assistant Dean Gordon Silverstein before their in-person ceremony in May 2022

2022 Graduate Program degree candidates with Dean Heather K. Gerken in April 2022

At Yale, I treasured being part of a close community of students, faculty, alumni, practitioners, and staff committed to understanding and critiquing the law. I draw on lessons I learned from that community every day in my career as an economic justice lawyer.

Youth Program
Wharton Online

Ethics & Legal Studies

Wharton’s phd program in ethics and legal studies is unique: the only doctoral program in the world to focus on ethical and legal norms relevant to individual and organizational decision-making within business..

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton trains students in the fields of ethics and law in business. Students are encouraged to combine this work with investigation of related fields, including Philosophy, Law, Psychology, Management, Finance, and Marketing. Students take a core set of courses in the area of ethics and law in business, together with courses in an additional disciplinary concentration such as management, philosophy/ethical theory, finance, marketing, or accounting. Our program size and flexibility allow students to tailor their program to their individualized research interests and to pursue joint degrees with other departments across Wharton and Penn. Resources for current Ph.D. students can be found at http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/doctoral-inside/ .

Our world-class faculty take seriously the responsibility of training graduate students for the academic profession. Faculty work closely with students to help them develop their own distinctive academic interests. Our curriculum crosses many disciplinary boundaries. Faculty and student intellectual interests include a range of topics such as:

Philosophy & Ethics : • philosophical business ethics • normative political philosophy • rights theory • theory of the firm • philosophy of law • philosophy of punishment & coercion • philosophy of deception and fraud • philosophy of blame and complicity • climate change ethics • effective altruism • integrative social contracts theory • corporate moral agency
Law & Legal Studies : • law and economics • corporate penal theory • constitutional law • bankruptcy • corporate governance • corporate law • financial regulation • administrative law • empirical legal studies • blockchain and law • antitrust law • environmental law and policy • corporate criminal law • corruption • negotiations.
Behavioral Ethics : • neuroscience and business ethics • moral psychology • moral beliefs and identity • moral deliberation • perceptions of corporate identity

Our program prepares graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools and law schools. We have an excellent record of tenure-track placements, including Carnegie Mellon University, Notre Dame University, and George Washington University. Click here to see our placements .

Sample Schedule

Core courses.

In addition to the Wharton Doctoral course requirements, the student’s four-course unit core in the Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department consists of two required doctoral seminars, LGST 9200 Ethics in Business and Economics, and LGST 9210 Foundations of Business Law. The remaining two LGST courses may be selected from a list of LGST courses that the faculty coordinator has approved.

Students without basic law courses will be required to take LGST 1010 in their first semester. Students will take LGST courses, other than Ph.D. seminars, under an independent study number, meet with the instructor periodically outside class, and write a paper. These requirements should be satisfied through courses taught by members of the LGST standing faculty, though exceptions will be made in special circumstances. The requirements may be adjusted for students with law degrees.

Ethics and Law in Business Courses

Students must take four LGST courses, including these two core course seminars:

Ethics in Business and Economics (LGST 9200)
Foundations of Business Law (LGST 9210)

Major Disciplinary Cluster

The purpose of the cluster is to ground students in a single academic specialty other than Business Ethics. Clusters include the following:

Students must choose a disciplinary cluster during the first year, in consultation with a faculty advisor. Required courses may not be double-counted. For example, a student choosing Philosophy as the cluster may not use the two required courses in ethical theory as part of the five course cluster requirement.

Get the Details.

Visit the Ethics & Legal Studies website for details on program requirements and courses. Read faculty and student research and bios to see what you can do with an Ethics & Legal Studies PhD.

Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Coordinator Brian Berkey Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics

Academic & Business Administrator Tamara English Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department Email: [email protected]

The Best Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Programs

Staff Writers

Contributing Writer

Learn about our editorial process .

Updated October 24, 2023

TheBestSchools.org is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Are you ready to discover your college program?

A doctorate in legal studies considers research methods, legal theory, justice policy, and jurisprudence as they pertain to legal institutions and the legal profession. Many programs prepare legal professionals and practicing attorneys to expand their expertise into specific areas of law, including maritime law, intellectual property law, and human rights law. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 8% growth for postsecondary instructors , including those in criminal justice and law, between 2022 and 2032. Use this guide to learn more about what you can expect from an online doctorate program in legal studies.

For more degree and career info, jump to:

Choosing an Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Program
What Else Can I Expect From an Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Program?

Careers with a Doctorate in Legal Studies

Legal phd programs for you.

Because numerous types of degrees fall under the umbrella of “Doctorate in Legal Studies,” the following sections display top-ranked programs from several related ranking articles on our website. To learn more about these different degrees, follow the link at the end of each section to their corresponding ranking article.

Criminal Justice
Homeland Security
Public Administration

We use trusted sources like Peterson's Data and the National Center for Education Statistics to inform the data for these schools. TheBestSchools.org is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site. from our partners appear among these rankings and are indicated as such.

#1 The Best Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Programs

California University of Pennsylvania

California, PA
Online + Campus

The online doctor of criminal justice program at California University of Pennsylvania ranks as one of the field's best degrees. The public university helps degree-seekers complete a doctorate in a flexible format. Doctoral students also benefit from research support, career advising, and library access.

After passing comprehensive examinations, doctoral candidates propose a dissertation topic and conduct research in their specialty area. As the field's terminal degree, the doctoral program trains graduates for roles in academia, research, and industry.

Doctoral students attending the accredited institution online qualify for several forms of financial aid. Contact the program for more information about research support and financial aid.

California University of Pennsylvania at a Glance:

Online Student Enrollment: 4,367

Online Master's Programs: 13

Online Doctoral Programs: 2

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 18-to-1

Graduate Tuition Rate: $9,288

Accepts Transfer Credits: Data not available

#2 The Best Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Programs

National University

San Diego, CA

The Ph.D. in homeland security leadership and policy at Northcentral University offers a doctorate in an online learning format. Degree-seekers benefit from flexible course options through the private institution. Doctoral students meet with career advisors and faculty mentors.

The online program requires a minimum of 82 credits of doctoral coursework. After passing comprehensive examinations, doctoral candidates spend 1-2 years researching and writing their dissertation. A doctorate can lead to job opportunities in research, academia, and leadership.

Doctoral students qualify for fellowships, scholarships, and federal financial aid programs at the accredited institution. Contact the program for more information about research support and financial aid.

National University at a Glance:

Online Student Enrollment: Data not available

Online Master's Programs: 26

Online Doctoral Programs: 15

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 3-to-1

Graduate Tuition Rate: $16,983

Accepts Transfer Credits: Accepted

#3 The Best Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Programs

Walden University

Minneapolis, MN

Walden University offers a Ph.D. in criminal justice program with an online learning format. Thanks to a flexible format, the private institution makes it easier to complete a doctorate. Doctoral students also benefit from research support, career advising, and library access.

After passing comprehensive examinations, doctoral candidates conduct research for their dissertation. With a doctorate in, professionals may work in academia, research, and leadership roles.

Doctoral students qualify for federal financial aid and fellowships at the accredited institution. Contact the program for more information about doctoral admissions.

Walden University at a Glance:

Online Master's Programs: 39

Online Doctoral Programs: 20

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 17-to-1

Graduate Tuition Rate: $12,039

#4 The Best Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Programs

Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, CO

The online doctor of management in homeland security program, offered by Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs, ranks as a top program in the field. At the private institution, degree-seekers take doctoral classes in a flexible format. Doctoral students engage in advanced research and benefit from support services.

Degree-seekers move through the program by passing exams and researching a dissertation project. As the field's highest degree, the doctorate trains graduates for academic, research, and leadership careers.

The accredited institution meets federal requirements for financial aid support. Contact the program for more information about research support and financial aid.

Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs at a Glance:

Online Student Enrollment: 27,043

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 31-to-1

Graduate Tuition Rate: $13,710

#5 The Best Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Programs

California Baptist University

Riverside, CA

Doctoral students seeking an online program benefit from the doctor of public administration program at California Baptist University. Degree-seekers benefit from the flexible enrollment options at the private university. Doctoral students engage in advanced research and benefit from support services.

During the online program, learners complete advanced coursework. After passing comprehensive examinations, doctoral candidates conduct research for their dissertation. A doctorate prepares graduates for roles in research, academia, and leadership.

At the accredited institution, doctoral students qualify for several forms of financial aid. Reach out to the program to learn more about admission requirements.

California Baptist University at a Glance:

Online Student Enrollment: 6,112

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 16-to-1

Graduate Tuition Rate: $12,830

See more of the Best Online Doctorate in Criminal Justice Degree Programs .

Choosing a Doctorate in Legal Studies Program

50 Best Online Colleges & Universities Earning a doctorate in legal studies online give you extensive training in research and scholarship as you pursue coursework on legal theory and practice. You acquire knowledge applicable to personal and professional goals, with many programs providing you the opportunity to tailor the program to a particular subset of law.

The interdisciplinary nature of a legal studies doctoral program provides you with exposure to legal subfields across historical and geographical boundaries. Corporate law professionals, for example, can explore the intricacies of finance and commerce law, while civic-minded legal activists can focus on environmental or human rights law.

Legal studies and law doctoral degrees require two to three years of coursework with at least one additional year to write a dissertation. Coursework prepares you to conduct research necessary for your dissertation. You will also develop a research proposal with faculty and work closely with advisors.

Some programs give you the opportunity to teach undergraduate students and participate in mock trials. Students also complete comprehensive oral or written exams over all of the classes taken. This demonstrates your expert knowledge of standards, practices, and principles of legal studies. Students must pass these exams and complete a dissertation to graduate.

What Else Can I Expect from an Online Doctorate in Legal Studies Program?

Doctoral programs in legal studies vary by school and department. Some classes remain consistent across the curriculum, but many degrees offer you the chance to concentrate on a particular segment of law, legal institutions, or jurisprudence. Programs that allow you to structure your program based on individual interests also give you practical knowledge applicable to your personal and professional goals.

Concentrations Offered for an Online Doctoral Degree in Legal Studies

Careers This Concentration Prepares For: Corporate lawyer, human rights lawyer, corporate negotiator
Careers This Concentration Prepares For: Criminal justice professor, law school professor, law school administrator, legal researcher
Careers This Concentration Prepares For: Law school professor, legal scholar and researcher

Curriculum for an Online Doctoral Degree in Legal Studies

Research Methods: Research methods courses train students to use qualitative and quantitative research techniques to gather data in anticipation of their dissertation. Students use research tools, including statistics and ethnographic software.
Jurisprudence: Coursework on jurisprudence provides students with the history and philosophy of law to understand its current application. Students assess their own relationships with law and justice as well. Jurisprudence classes may involve activities such as moot court.
Anthropology of Law: A course on the anthropology of law focuses on the relationship between law and society. Students learn about the interactions of culture, people, and institutions in the context of regulations, legal applications, and ethical norms.
Current Issues and Trends in Law: Students learn about contemporary matters related to law and legal policy through extensive readings, in-depth discussions, and individual research. Classes may focus on a specific topic such as finance, management, human rights, or private law.
Law and Morality: Law and morality classes emphasize the relationship between individual choice, dilemma, and law. Students study the nature of law as well as scenarios and case studies to assess how people make decisions when faced with punishment, penalty, or ethical conflict.

A doctorate in legal studies prepares you for careers that require expertise in research, analytical, and critical-thinking skills. You gain the knowledge needed to make ethical and informed decisions in a legal setting, and increase your potential career growth in academia, government, and business.

Median Annual Salary: $80,840
Projected Growth Rate (2022-2032): 8%
Median Annual Salary: $97,250
Projected Growth Rate (2022-2032): 0.4%
Median Annual Salary: $135,740

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

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School of Law

Ph.D. in Law

The Ph.D. in Law prepares graduates for global leadership in the judiciary, academia, business and government. Since 1966, the program has offered a select number of diverse students the opportunity to attain their highest professional aspirations and career goals. A preeminent center for interdisciplinary legal studies, UW Law offers a global focus and innovative approach to integrating legal scholarship within the humanities and social sciences, medicine and global health, business and technology, and environmental and public policy.

The Ph.D. program is designed to provide a rich and thorough foundation in research methodologies, jurisprudence, legal theory, policy, dissertation preparation and ready access to specialized elective coursework from within the law school and university-wide research centers, institutes and schools. Throughout the program, our graduate students receive individualized attention from exceptional faculty and staff.

With its long and respected history, the Ph.D. program provides students with a global alumni network. Alumni are committed supporters and mentors and lead in many sectors around the world.

The Ph.D. program requires a minimum of three years’ study, at least two years of which are comprised of coursework taken while in residence at the UW. Ph.D. candidates must complete 90 credits. A minimum of 60 credits must be taken at the UW including a minimum of 27 dissertation credits. Some of the credits earned in an LL.M. program may be counted among the 60 credits.

Doctoral dissertation committees are led by faculty experts from UW Law and include members with deep knowledge and expertise from across the university. Students can customize their studies with interdisciplinary coursework, independent study, field research, global internships and externships.

See full curriculum

Current Ph.D.s in Law
PhD Admissions

Graduate Program

Jurisprudence & social policy graduate program, april 19, 2024, april 12, 2024, march 8, 2024, march 4, 2024, february 28, 2024.

Berkeley Law offers a unique interdisciplinary program of graduate study in law and society, leading to the Ph.D. degree in Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP) . The JSP Program promotes the study of law and legal institutions through the perspectives of several disciplines, including economics, political science, philosophy, sociology, history, psychology, and criminal justice

The Jurisprudence and Social Policy Ph.D. is ideal for students interested in:

The scholarly study of legal ideas and institutions from the standpoint of one or more of the basic disciplines, such as, history, economics, philosophy, sociology, or political science.

Policy analysis and applied research on law-related issues in such fields as criminal justice, poverty and discrimination, human rights, urban planning, and environmental protection.

Preparation for teaching legal studies in graduate and undergraduate curriculums.

Interdisciplinary preparation for teaching law.

A Note from Associate Dean Dylan Penningroth:

Thanks for visiting our website. The Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP) Program is a unique doctoral program focused on the interdisciplinary study of law. JSP is housed within the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, but organized under UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division. Established in 1978, JSP was the first law-focused PhD program in the United States and continues to be the leading program of its kind anywhere.

By integrating the study of law with the humanities and social sciences, JSP seeks a broad context for understanding and developing legal policy. While there are many productive ways to link law to the research tools of the disciplines, we are committed to pursuing plural, interdisciplinary scholarship that includes humanistic and social scientific approaches to the study of law. Our students generally specialize in some portion of this spectrum while learning from teachers and peers with diverse research interests. Students take a mix of interdisciplinary courses offered within JSP, as well as classes in the Law School’s traditional JD curriculum. These and other features of our program have become a model for other doctoral programs in interdisciplinary legal studies, many of which have recruited our alumni for their faculties.

JSP faculty are leading scholars in their field who hail from a variety of disciplines – including political science, sociology, economics, history, philosophy, and psychology. Beginning with the JSP Orientation Seminar and through a range of course offerings in the humanities and social sciences, we offer students training in both empirical and normative analysis of law. Over the past decade, JSP has grown, adding faculty who offer a range of cutting-edge courses in quantitative and qualitative research methods and research design that are specially oriented to the study of law. Our substantive course offerings also have increased in scope, pushing the boundaries of knowledge across multiple fields.

JSP is closely integrated with the Center for the Study of Law and Society (CSLS), which attracts visiting scholars from all over the world, hosts one of the most dynamic speaker series on campus, and provides an intellectual hub for top-notch research on law and legal institutions. CSLS also offers the Berkeley Empirical Legal Studies (BELS) Graduate Fellowship, which brings together doctoral students studying law and social science from JSP and other programs on the Berkeley campus in a year-long research workshop. Berkeley Law is also home to a vibrant array of other research centers dedicated to issues ranging from law, energy, and the environment to reproductive rights and justice; from law and business to law and social justice; from law, morality, and public affairs to law and technology.

This is an extraordinary time for scholars and students who have interdisciplinary training in law. The collective challenges confronting us today span diverse legal systems, fields of expertise, cultures, and regions of the world. In this context, the training we provide is not only an advantage for a professional career in academia, public service, or policy advocacy, but also urgently needed kindling for innovative theorizing, creative problem-solving, and breakthrough empirical research.

On this website you can get to know our students and our faculty and learn more about the JSP program by viewing recent course offerings and upcoming conferences. I especially urge you to learn more about our advanced graduate students currently on the academic job market, as well as our alumni. Nothing reflects so well on our program as our graduates, and what they are accomplishing with their training here at Berkeley continues to inspire us.

If you have any questions about the JSP Program, please feel welcome to contact me, our Graduate Advisor, Sarah Song, or our Graduate Student Advisor, Michael Paz.

Dylan C. Penningroth, Associate Dean Jurisprudence and Social Policy

Youth Program
Wharton Online

Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, and law schools.

Philosophy & Ethics : • philosophical business ethics • normative political philosophy • rights theory • theory of the firm • philosophy of law • philosophy of punishment & coercion • philosophy of deception and fraud • philosophy of blame and complicity • climate change ethics • effective altruism • integrative social contracts theory • corporate moral agency
Law & Legal Studies : • law and economics • corporate penal theory • constitutional law • bankruptcy • corporate governance • corporate law • financial regulation • administrative law • empirical legal studies • blockchain and law • antitrust law • environmental law and policy • corporate criminal law • corruption • negotiations.
Behavioral Ethics : • neuroscience and business ethics • moral psychology • moral beliefs and identity • moral deliberation • perceptions of corporate identity.

Contact & Resources

Brian Berkey, Faculty Coordinator

Tamara English, Academic & Business Administrator [email protected]

Prospective Students View the Legal Studies Ph.D. FAQ or Visit Wharton

Current Ph.D. Students

Ethics & Legal Studies Career Placements

All Wharton PhD Placements

Students enter the program from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including undergraduate degrees in business, philosophy, pre-law, psychology, and sociology. Some students have earned master degrees or law degrees prior to admission. Prior coursework in ethics, law, social sciences, or philosophy is considered a plus, although no formal credentials in any one of these areas is a prerequisite.

Course of Study

The course of study for the Ph.D. requires the completion of sixteen graduate course units, including two core doctoral seminars as well as two core courses in statistics. Some graduate-level credit from courses at other universities may transfer to Wharton. The expected time required to complete the degree is five years. Students receive tuition waivers, health insurance, and an annual living stipend. Students are expected to play an active and engaged role in the department’s and the University of Pennsylvania’s scholarly community while pursuing their degree, and as such, they are expected to be resident in the local area as they progress through the program.

Academic Enrichment

The Department regularly hosts junior and senior scholars from around the world for talks, lunches, and seminars. Doctoral students are encouraged to take full advantage of these opportunities.

The Legal Studies & Business Ethics Seminar Series features speakers from various areas of law and business ethics. A wide range of recent topics includes Coin-Operated Capitalism, Paying People to Take Health Risks, The Curious Case of Social Enterprise Law, and Assigning Blame in the Wake of the Financial Crisis.

The Zicklin Center Normative Business Ethics Workshop Series provides a regular forum for scholars working on business ethics from a normative perspective. A wide range of recent topics includes the Ethics of Big Data in Genomics, Boycotting the Boycott, a Reflection on the Duty of Charity Within Shareholder Theory, and Workplace Sexual Harassment as Sex Discrimination.

Current PhD Students

Chris Hughes 1st year Ph.D. Student

Chris Hughes is a Senior Fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at The New School and the co-founder and chair of the Economic Security Project. His research focuses on contemporary issues in progressive political economy, including the history of central banking, antimonopoly policy, guaranteed income studies, and tax policy. Hughes is currently writing a book on the history of American economic governance entitled Marketcrafting: How the Visible Hand Shapes the Economy to be published in 2025 by Simon and Schuster. His first book, Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn , was published by St Martin’s Press in 2018.

Hughes has a masters in Economics from The New School of Social Research and graduated from Harvard magna cum laude with a bachelors in History and Literature. He was a co-founder of Facebook and directed Barack’s Obama’s digital organizing efforts in 2008. A former member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Hughes chairs the board of the Brooklyn-based Foundation for Community Psychoanalysis, and serves on the boards of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Washington Square Park Conservancy.

Michaela Lobo 3rd year Ph.D. Student

I majored in business administration during my undergraduate degree, following which I was involved in brand marketing and corporate responsibility for the Estée Lauder Companies. During my bachelor’s degree and my time in the corporate world, I had a growing interest in morality and, more specifically, how ethics should apply within the context of business. This led me to pursue an MLitt in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews and, currently, the Ethics and Legal Studies PhD at Wharton.

During my search for doctoral programs, I was looking for something very specific: a program that would allow me to ask philosophical questions about business organisations, how they should be operated, how their members should behave, and so on. Unlike traditional programs at philosophy or business departments, Wharton’s LGST PhD is unique in that the aim is to prepare students to become academics in business ethics itself. I valued the opportunity to build foundations in business, economics, philosophy, and law. Additionally, I appreciated that we would simultaneously hone skills in our preferred methodology and dive deeper into areas of research we find most interesting. I was fortunate to interact with some of the faculty members and current students one-on-one and via the Zicklin Center’s workshops (enabled by the shift from in-person to the Zoom room). These interactions allowed me to discover first-hand the fantastic academic culture of the department and its members’ passion for normative business ethics.

I would advise prospective students to first focus on themselves: What ideas are you constantly thinking about? What types of questions are you eager to explore and have answered? And, in what ways do you like solving these puzzles? Next, find the department and set of faculty that can best support you in asking these questions, finding ways to solve them, and, eventually, discovering answers to them!

Alessio Salviato 1st year Ph.D. Student

Alessio Salviato joined the PhD program in Legal Studies and Business Ethics in 2023, after having completed his BA in Management at University of Padua (UniPd) and a two-years MPhil in Philisophy at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (UniSr), where he is currently finishing his PhD in Ethics. Before the PhD, he worked as a corporate social responsibility strategist in a multinational company. He is a member of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) and the International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics (ISBEE).

He is interested in corporate moral responsibility; corporations and politics; and philosophical arguments for and against capitalism.

Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung – Portraits der auserwaehlten Bundeskanzler-Stipendiaten, Bonn 26.04.2017

Guilherme Siqueira de Carvalho 4th year Ph.D. Student

I was drawn to studying and researching the vicious cycle of systemic corruption since 2014 with a particular and growing interest in the nuances of the relationship between businesses and corruption. The interdisciplinary approach, the world-class faculty, and the overall academic design of the Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton provide the ideal setting for pursuing that interest and will enable me to approach his subject of study from multiple angles.

Yifan Wang 1st year Ph.D. Student

My main research interests lie in moral psychology and applied political philosophy in the context of free markets.

I studied political philosophy and double majored in statistics in college. After graduation, I worked in the industry of economic consulting and served as a staff to expert witnesses who testified in court about economic issues related to antitrust and class action lawsuits. My interest in corporations and market phenomena sprung during that period. Later, I pursued an MA in philosophy at Georgia State, where I studied market phenomena related to emergent technologies such as sustainable brands and state surveillance embedded in markets. In the future, I hope to hone into some of these topics.

Meanwhile, I am drawn to moral psychology, especially emotion-based approaches to moral motivations and moral decision-making. At the LGST Ph.D. program, I plan to further study corporate organization so that I can apply theories in moral psychology to better understand how people make decisions of moral significance in their everyday practice inside corporations.

Olamide Williams 3rd year Ph.D. Student

Since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a public emphasis on the ethical responsibility of the economic and financial policy-making agencies that oversee the financial system. I hope to explore methodological approaches to ethics and critically apply that to economic and financial policymaking, particularly during crisis time. Wharton not only offers the ethical foundation for my research on what responsibility, if any, such agencies have towards economic participants, but a faculty who will engage and are well versed in the economic, legal, and policy questions that arise along the way. I am confident that as my research evolves, Wharton’s interdisciplinary nature and faculty will offer expert guidance in whatever direction I go.

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Ethics and Legal Studies, PhD

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, law schools, and other programs. Faculty and student interests range over topics including international business ethics and human rights, corporate governance, ethical conduct in business, social impact, environmental law and policy, securities, equality in law and ethics, normative political theory, negotiations, corporate constitutional rights, and corporate criminal law.

For more information: https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu/programs/phd/

View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .

Required Courses

The course of study for the Ph.D. requires the completion of sixteen graduate course units, including courses in statistics. Some graduate-level credit from courses at other universities may transfer to Wharton.

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2023 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.

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PhD Justice, Law & Criminology

You are here: american university school of public affairs phd programs phd justice, law & criminology.

PhD Justice, Law & Criminology (On-Campus)

Prepare for university teaching and research, and a career as an authority and leader in fields related to justice, law, criminology, and homeland security.

(202) 885-6230

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At the Epicenter of Effectiveness

The PhD in Justice, Law & Criminology in the School of Public Affairs draws from the breadth and depth of resources across American University. Our program is rooted in contemporary theory, principles, practices, and research methods in criminology, criminal justice, terrorism and homeland security studies, and legal studies. Students come here not only for the academics, but for the chance to work firsthand with experts in our nation's capital.

Our students organize their programs around two fields of study. Our department offers options in three fields: Justice, Law & Society, and Terrorism & Political Violence. PhD students select one of these as their primary field. Their secondary field may be one of the other two, or they can take courses in Political Methodology or Public Policy from other departments in the School of Public Affairs. Students also have the flexibility to select relevant coursework from other schools at AU, or to take courses in another PhD-granting department at AU or through the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, which includes George Washington University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, University of Maryland, and others.

Connection & Impact

SPA's PhD in Justice, Law & Criminology puts our students in the middle of one the best places to influence change in crime and policing, terrorism and homeland security, and the criminal justice system. They dive into research that addresses today's most pressing challenges and produce scholarship with real-world connection and immediate impact.

Each of our doctoral programs reflects values that guide the School of Public Affairs. We encourage engagement and discourse to influence policy makers; formulate critical thinking skills that are crucial to advancing lines of inquiry; cultivate strong leadership skills; prioritize evidence-based reasoning and analytics when addressing societal issues; and challenge the guideposts on equity, fairness, and inclusion to ground students in the institutions of justice and the rule of law. Along the way, we champion truth and self-awareness, as students undertake personal and professional journeys.

The PhD degree in Justice, Law & Criminology requires 36 credit hours of coursework.

All students must complete 12 credits of research design and methodology courses, 12 credits in their primary field of study, and 12 credits in their secondary field of study.

As work on the dissertation project progresses, students register for dissertation credit in order to maintain enrollment. They take Doctoral Continuing Enrollment (JLC-898) and Doctoral Dissertation (JLC-899) after their dissertation proposals are approved.

A minimum grade point average of 3.20 in all coursework is required to remain in good standing and to earn the degree. Full-time status is considered to be nine credit hours per semester.

Students advance to PhD candidacy by successfully completing all required courses, passing the oral qualifier and two written comprehensive exams (one in each of their fields of study), and defending their dissertation proposals. To earn the degree, students must pass a final oral defense of the dissertation.

More information about course requirements can be found here .

For more information, please contact the SPA Graduate Admissions Office at 202-885-6230 or [email protected] .

Applicants are considered and students admitted for the fall semester only. Please refer to the application deadlines page for the deadline to apply.

While previous academic or professional work in justice, law, or criminology is not required, applicants need to demonstrate a serious commitment to a career in this field. The personal statement on reasons for pursuing graduate study in the program is essential, along with the other required application materials .

We accept PhD applicants for full-time study only. Students must be funded either by the School of Public Affairs or by an external sponsoring organization (self-funding is not permitted for newly-admitted doctoral students).

The PhD in Justice, Law & Criminology is a 36-credit-hour program for students who already have a related master’s degree. To estimate the cost of tuition, please see the current cost per credit hour for graduate students.

Unless applicants expect to be funded through a reliable external source, they must request consideration for funding on their application. Upon acceptance into the program, students selected for AU funding are granted a fellowship with full funding for four years of study, contingent on maintaining satisfactory progress each year, with opportunities for further funding available.

As a requirement for the fellowship, students work 20 hours a week with a faculty member. If at all possible, our graduate office will assign students to faculty members with expertise in their areas of research interest.

Students must advance to candidacy by the end of their third year of study to continue receiving funding and to maintain their enrollment.

Justice, Law, & Criminology Department
Curriculum & Requirements
Program Handbook

90 percent of SPA graduates are employed or in graduate school, or both within six months of graduation

JD/PhD Legal Studies and Business Ethics

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, and law schools.

Degree Requirements
JD/MBA (4 Year)
JD/MBE Bioethics
JD/MSSP Social Policy
JD/MS Nonprofit Leadership
JD/MSEd Education Policy
JD/MSEd Higher Education
JD/MA or MS Criminology
JD/MD Doctor of Medicine
JD/MSE Engineering
JD/MCP City & Regional Planning
JD/MPH Master of Public Health
JD/AM Islamic Studies
JD/MA and JD/PhD Philosophy
JD/PhD Anthropology
JD/PhD Communications
JD/PhD Psychology
Certificates
Legal Practice Skills
Clinics & Externships
Academic Support Program
International Affairs
Future of the Profession Initiative
Legal Education Programs
Executive Education
Academic Calendar
Learning Outcomes
Advocacy Competitions

About the JD/PhD Legal Studies and Business Ethics

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton trains students in the fields of ethics and law in business. Students take a core set of courses in the area of ethics and law in business together with courses in an additional disciplinary concentration such as management, philosophy/ethical theory, finance, marketing, or accounting.

The program size and flexibility of the PhD Legal Studies and Business Ethics allow students to tailor their program to their individualized research interests and to pursue a joint degree with the Law School. Resources for current PhD students can be found on the Wharton Website .

Program Course Overview

The University’s world-class faculty take seriously the responsibility of training graduate students for the academic profession. Faculty work closely with students to help them develop their own distinctive academic interests. The curriculum crosses many disciplinary boundaries.

Faculty and student intellectual interests include a range of topics such as:

Philosophy & Ethics : • philosophical business ethics • normative political philosophy • rights theory • theory of the firm • philosophy of law • philosophy of punishment & coercion • philosophy of deception and fraud • philosophy of blame and complicity • climate change ethics • effective altruism • integrative social contracts theory • corporate moral agency
Law & Legal Studies : • law and economics • corporate penal theory • constitutional law • bankruptcy • corporate governance • corporate law • financial regulation • administrative law • empirical legal studies • blockchain and law • antitrust law • environmental law and policy • corporate criminal law • corruption • negotiations.
Behavioral Ethics : • neuroscience and business ethics • moral psychology • moral beliefs and identity • moral deliberation • perceptions of corporate identity

How to Apply

Students must apply and gain admission separately to each department. Applications to the Department of Legal Studies & Business Ethics are welcomed contemporaneously with the Law School application and vice versa.

Applications for Fall 2021 Wharton admission opened September 15th, 2020. The deadline to apply is December 15th, 2020. In assessing your application, the Wharton admissions committee considers previous academic work, standardized graduate examination performance (GRE/GMAT), and the evaluations of instructors and professional supervisors. More information is on the Wharton Doctoral Admissions Website.

For more information, admitted or current JD students should contact Amanda S. Aronoff. Applicants or prospective applicants to the Law School should contact [email protected] .

Interested in other PhD joint degrees?

JD/PhD American Legal History

JD/PhD Philosophy

Majors & Careers
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Preparing For Grad School
Student Life

Top 10 Best PhD in Law Programs [2024]

A PhD in law is an advanced qualification that will make you a true legal expert. You can use that credential to work as a legal research scholar or teach at a post-secondary level. This is not only a prestigious career path but also a lucrative one — today’s law PhD holders have an average salary of $93,000.

Today’s law schools emphasize an interdisciplinary approach to legal education, equipping students to work in a diverse range of fields.

Interested in an advanced criminal justice career? Below we’ll cover the top PhD in law programs, universities, and what you need to know before pursuing a doctorate in law.

Table of Contents

Top PhD in Law Programs

Yale university, law school.

Yale University’s Law School ranks first in the nation, with its 20 legal clinics offering an immersive experience for students. This PhD program has a purely academic focus. To qualify for admission, you’ll need to already have a JD (Juris Doctor) degree. If accepted, you’ll be able to benefit from Yale Law School’s acclaimed “Yale Teaching Program.”

Courses: Criminal law & administration, international human rights, and complex civil litigation.
Duration: 3 years
Delivery: On-campus
Tuition: Fully funded
Financial aid: Full tuition coverage, health insurance, and stipend.
Acceptance rate: 7%
Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Stanford University

Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD)

Stanford University is another highly acclaimed institution in the field of law education with a tough admissions process. Only a few exceptionally gifted students with an international JD or LLB or a SPILS (Stanford Program in International Legal Studies) qualification are accepted into this program every year. The program has an emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach to law.

Courses: Advanced antitrust, current issues in business law, and reinventing American criminal justice systems.
Credits: 44 units
Duration: 4 years
Tuition : $64,350 per year
Financial aid: Scholarships, fellowships, grants, assistantships, federal work-study, and loans.
Acceptance rate: 5%
Location: Stanford, California

The University of Chicago, The Law School

Doctor of Jurisprudence (JSD)

The Law School of the University of Chicago is renowned for its interdisciplinary approach to teaching and cross-lists its courses with other departments. The faculty include philosophers, political scientists, historians, and law scholars. Students also have the option to pursue a Doctorate in Comparative Law (D.Comp.L.) instead of a JSD if they wish.

Courses: Antitrust & intellectual property, civil rights clinic: police accountability, and American legal history.
Duration: 5 years
Tuition : $7,647 per year
Financial aid: Full tuition scholarship, fellowship, and health insurance.
Acceptance rate: 7%
Location: Chicago, Illinois

Columbia University, Law School

JSD Program

The Columbia Law School emphasizes experiential learning with law clinics, moot courts, and externships, offering opportunities for innovative education and valuable intellectual exchange. Students can conduct independent research with the help of their faculty advisors and they need to submit a DPR (Dissertation Progress Report) at the end of each year.

Courses: Intellectual property & technology, international & comparative law, and law of the workplace.
Duration: 5-6 years
Tuition : $75,572 per year
Financial aid: Grants, loans, and first child allowance.
Location: New York City, New York

Harvard University, Law School

Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)

Harvard University is one of the world’s most famous centers for education, and its Law School is equally renowned. The school has a unique grading system that uses the classifications honors, pass, low-pass, and fail. This flexible SJD program allows students to design their own study plan and choose faculty supervisors for independent research.

Courses: Advanced comparative perspectives on US law, environmental justice, and strategic litigation & immigration advocacy.
Duration: 4 years
Delivery: On-campus
Tuition : $67,720 per year
Financial aid: Scholarships, grants, and loans.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

The University of Pennsylvania, Carey Law School

Doctor of Science of Law (SJD)

Carey Law School’s curricula cut across disciplinary and international lines to create law experts in every field, including business, health, technology, education, and social work. For admission to the Carey Law School PhD, you must already hold an LLM or JD from the same school or an institution of similar standing.

Courses: Privacy & racial justice, appellate advocacy, and disability law.
Tuition : Refer tuition page
Financial aid: Full tuition, stipend, health insurance, and scholarships.
Acceptance rate: 9%
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law

The University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law is one of the country’s most affordable top-tier law schools. This PhD law degree offers the choice of two concentrations: International Trade & Business Law, and Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy.

Courses: International business & investment structuring, federal Indian law, and trusts & estates.
Duration: 3-5 years
Tuition and fees : $26,000 per year
Financial aid: Scholarships, federal work-study, loans, veteran benefits, and fellowships.
Acceptance rate: 85%
Location: Tucson, Arizona

The University of Texas at Dallas, School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy in Criminology

The University of Texas’ School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences creates professionals capable of dealing with modern issues like risk management, political violence, social inequality, healthcare, and international trade & conflict resolution. You’ll need a bachelor’s in criminology or a related discipline to apply for this PhD in criminology.

Courses: Advances in criminology theory, evidence-based crime prevention, and regression & multivariate analysis.
Credits: 75 semester credit hours
Financial aid: Scholarships, grants, and loans.
Acceptance rate: 79%
Location: Richardson, Texas

Abraham Lincoln University, School of Law

Juris Doctor (JD)

This school was founded with to provide affordable education to working professionals who cannot attend regular law school. This doctorate in law is a flexible JD degree that can be completed entirely online through the university’s high-level education technology.

Courses: Criminal law, civil procedure, and wills & trusts.
Delivery: Online
Tuition : $10,100 per year
Acceptance rate: 90.3%
Location: Glendale, California

Walden University

Online PhD in Criminal Justice

Walden University aims to help working professionals pursue advanced degrees and has been ranked #1 in research doctorates for African-American students. This program was one of the first online doctorates in criminal justice and allows students to explore national and international issues in criminal justice administration with a dual emphasis on contemporary theory and practice.

Courses: History & contemporary issues in criminal justice, policy & analysis in criminal justice systems, and research theory, design & methods.
Credits: 77 quarter credits
Tuition : $636 per quarter hour
Financial aid: Grants, scholarships, loans, and veteran benefits.
Acceptance rate: 100%
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

What Do You Need to Get a PhD in Law?

The exact requirements vary depending on the program, but you’ll typically need a LLB, LLM, or JD as a basic prerequisite.

As part of the admission process, you usually need to submit:

Academic transcripts from previous studies
Personal essay and/or research proposal
Recommendation letters

To earn your doctorate, you’ll have to complete coursework, qualifying examinations, and usually a dissertation to a high standard.

Preparing for a Law Doctorate Program

The best PhD in legal studies programs are competitive, so it’s important to start preparing early. Keep up to date on developments in the field and research the best universities that offer your preferred specialization.

Look into leading faculty members in your areas of interest, and network by joining relevant professional communities. Once you’ve decided on your dream program, check admission requirements to prepare the strongest possible application.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Law PhD Program

Choosing the best law PhD program will depend on a range of factors, including your passions and interests. However, there are a few general factors that are essential for everyone deciding on a law school for their PhD to consider:

Location: First, a school close by could save you on accommodation costs. But that’s not the only location consideration. You should look at your school destination for evidence of a booming legal or education industry. For example, New York is a hub for business, while Boston is known as a center for technology.
Cost and funding: Ensure the program costs align with your budget and explore financial aid opportunities.
Specialization: Some schools offer unique specializations like social justice, law and economics, and international law. Choose a program with a focus on your preferred specialization.
Faculty: The university’s reputation is important, but its faculty credentials are equally critical. Explore faculty backgrounds by researching published papers and social media profiles like LinkedIn.
Class sizes: Smaller class sizes mean better one-on-one attention; however, a larger cohort offers better networking opportunities.
Placement support: What happens after graduation? Are you on the hook for finding a job on your own, or does the school offer placement options? Find out where alumni are employed to get an idea.

Why Get a Doctorate in Law?

A doctorate degree in law will allow you to pursue roles in the legal field as a scholar, researcher, or academic, and build a worthwhile career.

Several candidates apply for admission to PhD in jurisprudence programs every academic year, but top law schools have low acceptance rates, and only a few are accepted. For example, Harvard only has around 70 SJD students while hundreds or thousands may apply. Therefore, with this qualification, you’ll belong to an exclusive group of in-demand professionals.

Jobs for PhD in Law Degree Holders

Here are some common roles for PhD holders in law with the average annual salaries for each:

General Counsel ($170,183 )
Staff Attorney ($71,106 )
Professor of Law ( $131,926 )
Project Manager ( $76,264 )
Senior Research Associate ( $75,029 )

Course Costs

The cost greatly depends on where you study, but prestigious law schools can charge annual tuition of around $65,000. Once you factor in living expenses, books, and facility fees, the total cost can add up to around $100,000 a year. However, you can find programs with tuition and fees for as little as $7,500 a year. Moreover, most top institutions offer full-tuition scholarships, stipends, and similar financial aid that cover almost all of your expenses.

Course Length

Typically, a PhD in law takes 3-5 years to complete. However, most programs will give you extra time to complete your doctorate if needed.

Skills You’ll Gain through a PhD in Law

Aside from giving you in-depth and expansive legal knowledge, PhD in law programs can also help you develop the following skills:

Communication
Presentation
Critical Thinking
Project Management
Problem Solving

Key Takeaways

A PhD in law is an excellent choice for legal professionals seeking a career in research or academia. While a JD or Juris Doctor is equivalent to a PhD, the former equips you to become a law practitioner.

On the other hand, if you want to teach at a post-secondary level or conduct further legal research, you will need a PhD. Prepare early and choose a program that will best help you to achieve your career goals.

For more law education advice, take a look at our guide on the best master’s in criminal justice programs , or weigh up your options with the highest-paying PhDs .

PhD in Law FAQs

What is a phd in law called.

A PhD in law is usually called a Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws. Some universities offer a JD (Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence) degree, while others offer SJD (Doctor of Juridical Science) or JSD (Doctor of Science in Jurisprudence) programs.

Is a PhD in Law the Same as a JD?

A JD (Juris Doctor) degree is suitable for anyone who wants to practice as a licensed legal professional. These programs usually take three years to complete and are mostly coursework-focused.

On the other hand, a PhD in law may take 5-6 years to complete and usually involves a dissertation or major research project. If your aim is professional research or a job in academia in the discipline rather than practicing law, a PhD is better for you.

What is the Highest Degree in Law?

A PhD in law is generally considered the most advanced law degree. While some universities call it by other names, such as SJD (Doctor of Juridical Science) or JSD (Doctor of Jurisprudence degree), this is essentially the same thing.

How Long is a PhD in Law?

PhD Law programs typically take 3-5 years to complete. You may take longer for individual reasons, such as if you choose to study part-time.

What Does a PhD in Law Do?

A PhD in law will equip you to work in legal research or academia.

Lisa Marlin

Lisa is a full-time writer specializing in career advice, further education, and personal development. She works from all over the world, and when not writing you'll find her hiking, practicing yoga, or enjoying a glass of Malbec.

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Berkeley Berkeley Academic Guide: Academic Guide 2023-24

Legal studies.

About the Program

Please visit our website at http://legalstudies.berkeley.edu, bachelor of arts (ba).

Legal Studies is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts major that engages the meanings, values, practices, and institutions of law and legality. The Legal Studies curriculum examines how law shapes and is shaped by political, economic, and cultural forces. The major is designed to stimulate the critical understanding of and inquiry about the theoretical frameworks, historical dynamics, and cultural embeddedness of law.

The Legal Studies faculty and students grapple with important questions of social policy within the framework of significant concerns in jurisprudence and theories of justice. These concerns include individual liberty, privacy, and autonomy; political and social equality; the just distribution of resources and opportunities within society; the relationship between citizens and the state; democratic participation and representation; the moral commitments of the community; and the preservation of human dignity.

The major’s course offerings examine law and legality from both humanist and empirical perspectives. Courses are organized into interdisciplinary topical areas that transcend disciplinary boundaries in the interest of collaborative inquiry.

The Legal Studies major is under the academic supervision of the School of Law faculty. There is no minor.

Declaring the Major

Students may declare the major after completing two of the four prerequisites with a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) between the two courses and an overall UC Berkeley GPA of 2.0. For details regarding the prerequisites, please see the Major Requirements tab on this page. All courses taken for the major must be taken for a letter grade.

A score of 3 or higher in the following AP exams will fulfill three of the four prerequisites:

Statistics: AP Statistics History: AP U.S. History or AP European History Social Behavioral: AP Micro Econ or US Govt & Politics Philosophy: Cannot use AP credit

Please visit LegalStudies.berkeley.edu for more details under 'About the Major' then 'Declaring the Major' .

Honors Program

A student majoring in Legal Studies with an overall UC Berkeley grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 and a GPA of 3.5 in Legal Studies courses by the end of the spring semester junior year may apply and may be admitted to the honors program. The student must have completed at least half of the major requirements before being admitted to the honors program.

To graduate with departmental honors, students must:

Enroll in LEGALST H195A honors seminar in the fall semester before writing the thesis;
Enroll in LEGALST H195B and LEGALST H195C in the spring semester following successful completion of the LEGALST H195A honors seminar and meet the GPA requirements;
Meet periodically throughout the semester with the faculty supervisor during the spring;
Complete an honors thesis, with a minimum of 40 written pages, approved by the student’s faculty supervisor; and
Finish their final semester with at least a 3.5 UC Berkeley GPA and at least a 3.5 major GPA.

The thesis is read by the faculty supervisor who will assign a letter grade. There are three levels of departmental honors: honors, high honors, highest honors. The level of honors is based on the final upper division major/honors GPA and the quality of the thesis as decided by a student’s faculty supervisor.

For more detailed information regarding the honors program and thesis requirements, please go to LegalStudies.berkeley.edu and click on the Research tab.

Minor Program

There is no minor program in Legal Studies.

Visit Program Website

Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for letter-graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only.
No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.
A minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.

For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

A score of 3 or higher on the following AP exams can be used to fulfill the following prerequisites for the Legal Studies major:

STATISTICS: AP Statistics Exam PHILOSOPHY: none HISTORY: AP Euro or AP U.S. History Exam SOCIAL/BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE: AP Micro Economics or AP U.S. Government & Politics

IB credit may be used to fulfill prereqs with a score of 5 or higher.

Summary of Major Requirements

Prerequisites, upper division: core legal studies requirements, upper division: distribution requirements 1.

Select two courses in one of the following areas, and one course each in two distinctly different areas, for a total of four courses. LEGALST H195B (Honors Thesis) or LEGALST 199 (Independent Study) for 4 units may substitute for one of the two courses selected from the same Area. The Areas for LS 190 Special Topics Seminars can be found in 'Course Offerings' on the Legal Studies website for each semester they are offered. The Areas for LS 190 Seminars will not be listed here. The Areas for the Law-Related courses from other departments will be listed in 'Course Offerings' on the Legal Studies website as well.

Students may use up to two preapproved law-related courses from outside of the Legal Studies Program to count toward the distribution requirements, for a maximum of 8 units. Outside courses should normally be drawn from the preapproved list of law-related UC Berkeley courses, but may be approved from other four-year institutions, or from study abroad programs. If the course is not on the preapproved list, students must submit a syllabus and a description to the Legal Studies student academic adviser for approval. For the list of preapproved law-related courses, see below.

Capstone Experience (Optional)

Legal Studies students are encouraged to enroll in one legal studies seminar course ( LEGALST 190 ), preferably in their senior year, to complete their remaining units. Alternatively, students who meet eligibility requirements are encouraged to enroll in LEGALST H195A & LEGALST H195B , the honors program, for their capstone experience. Students who have a faculty mentor and a desire to do a research project but do not meet the eligibility requirements for honors may enroll in 4 units of LEGALST 199 for their capstone experience provided that they meet the eligibility requirements for independent study. For details regarding eligibility requirements, please see the department's website .

Preapproved Law-Related Courses

College requirements.

Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For detailed lists of courses that fulfill college requirements, please review the College of Letters & Sciences page in this Guide. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages.

University of California Requirements

Entry level writing.

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley.

American History and American Institutions

The American History and Institutions requirements are based on the principle that a US resident graduated from an American university, should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

Berkeley Campus Requirement

American cultures.

All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements

Quantitative reasoning.

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work.

Reading and Composit ion

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester.

College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth Requirements

Breadth requirements.

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

120 total units

Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units

Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes here for four years, or two years for transfer students. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you go abroad for a semester or year or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your BA degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Plan of Study

Please visit our website at legalstudies.berkeley.edu .

The following sample plan is just one way to go about planning your courses. See Lauri, the undergraduate academic adviser, for variations specific to your plans.

Fall | Freshman Year P rerequisites

Spring | Freshman Year Prerequisites

Fall | Sophomore Year Prerequisites

Spring | Sophomore Year Prerequisites

Fall | Junior Year (Junior Transfers start here.) Upper Division Core (4 units) Upper Division Area (3-4 units)

Spring | Junior Year Upper Division Core (4 units) Upper Division Area (3-4 units)

Fall | Senior Year Upper Division Core (4 units) Upper Division Area (4 units)

Spring | Senior Year Upper Division Core (4 units) Upper Division Area (capstone course) (4 units)

Student Learning Goals

Legal Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts major that engages the meanings, values, practices, and institutions of law and legality. The Legal Studies curriculum examines how law shapes and is shaped by political, economic, and cultural forces. The major is designed to stimulate critical understanding of and inquiry about the theoretical frameworks, historical dynamics, and cultural embeddedness of law.

Legal Studies’ Pedagogic Objectives

Convey how law relates to social context : Students will learn about the transformation of legal processes and systems across time and space (e.g., globalization, transnational processes). They will also study how law shapes and is shaped by economic, political, and cultural forces, as well as how and why law in action often differs from legal doctrine.

Adopt an explicitly interdisciplinary approach: Students will focus on pervasive problems of legal and social policy across traditional curricular and disciplinary boundaries. Although the program encompasses multiple disciplinary perspectives (e.g., history, economics, sociology), it is designed to transcend academic identities rather than compartmentalize the study of law into the discrete perspectives of established disciplines. To accomplish this integration, the major is organized around areas of focus that explore common themes but include coursework across disciplinary boundaries.

Integrate empirical and humanities-oriented perspectives : Students will be exposed to both empirical and humanities-oriented perspectives on law and legal institutions through distribution requirements within the major. Empirical perspectives encompass public policy analysis, training in the epistemological commitments of social science (e.g., empirical methods, the logic of social inquiry), and familiarity with the central questions and tenets related to law in disciplines such as economics, sociology, and political science. Humanities perspectives include maintaining the program’s historical focus on clarifying fundamental values, examining philosophical questions related to law, and understanding the operation and effects of social and cultural practices as they relate to law, legal institutions, and the phenomenon they regulate. After students fulfill the basic distribution requirements, they may, but will not be required to, concentrate their efforts in either empirical or humanities-oriented perspectives.

Promote engagement with social policy : Students will be encouraged to engage deeply with social policy guided by significant themes in jurisprudence and theories of justice. These themes include individual liberty, privacy, democracy, and the relationship between the citizen and the state. Engaging with these themes ensures that policy studies are basic and critical, rather than confined to preexisting policy formulations and assumptions. This new objective of engagement with social policy is intended to connect humanistic inquiries regarding justice, morality, and values, with empirical inquiries into patterns of social behavior and the effects of law on society. This goal will be accomplished through both coursework and field work options.

Encourage civic engagement and an appreciation of the values at stake in legal concerns : Consistent with the mission of a public university, the major will develop informed and engaged citizens with sufficient knowledge and background to participate in civic institutions and the development of law and policy during and after their education at Berkeley. This participation could take many forms, including interacting with public officials, joining the legal profession, working for legal institutions, engaging in policy analysis, advocacy, social movement building, community organizing, political activism, and the like. Civic engagement includes confronting the relationship between law and justice, and understanding how law affects the public interest and social utility.

Provide a liberal arts education : The major will continue to have a liberal arts orientation. Students will learn to analyze and understand legal rules and legal institutions, but from a broader perspective than is typically taught in a traditional law school setting.

Learning Goals for the Major

The faculty strongly supports an undergraduate liberal arts education that teaches students to develop their intellectual capacities: how to research topics independently, how to ask penetrating questions, how to analyze problems, how to construct arguments based on critical thinking, how to make well-founded judgments, how to identify issues of importance for the future. The intent of the program is that courses be framed with this perspective. In addition, the program is committed to introducing students to multiple disciplinary approaches to the study of law and legal institutions, as well as conveying important basic knowledge about the core features of the American legal system.

Critical Thinking Skills

In concert with the goals identified above, these critical thinking skills focus on particular forms of analysis central to engaging with law and legal institutions from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

Identify and evaluate arguments, synthesize ideas, and develop well-substantiated, coherent, and concise arguments, whether in oral or written form.
Identify and follow a logical sequence or argument through to its end; recognize faulty reasoning.
Develop the ability to critically evaluate proposed legal reforms and policies.
Develop the ability to formulate generalized, abstract principles in a way that clarifies the major issues at stake and identifies the most relevant elements of a concept or text.
Promote exploration of the role of law in American society from both social science and humanities perspectives.
Learn to draw from multiple disciplinary approaches and fields of study across philosophy, history, economics, political science, and sociology; synthesize, bridge, and question disciplinary boundaries to identify new inquiries or insights.

Basic Knowledge about Law and Legal Institutions

These goals address important basic knowledge about law and legal institutions that the program seeks to convey. These goals are not intended to provide a pre-professional education but instead to produce citizens literate in the basic functions and structure of legal systems.

Understand core theories about the relationship between law and society.
Be introduced to core features of the American legal system.
Understand basic legal terminology, legal concepts, legal actors, and modes of legal reasoning.
Become acquainted with legal systems other than our own, including how they compare to the current American legal system.
Develop insights into how law has evolved through time, including the temporal and geographical transformation of legal processes and systems.

Engaged Citizenship

The faculty believes that our role as a program in a public institution should include training students to be engaged, active, and critical citizens in our society. Many legal studies students engage in civic participation and service while at Berkeley, and many go on to careers in public service. We seek to develop more opportunities for students to develop practical skills and knowledge relevant to those experiences in addition to the broader intellectual skills conveyed by a liberal arts education.

Experience the law in action through service learning, exposure to legal clinics, problem solving, and social policy engagement.
Enable civic engagement and participation in developing and critiquing social policy.

Research Methods

A key part of a liberal arts education is learning how to conduct independent research and analysis. The program seeks to expose students to a multidisciplinary range of methods of research.

Develop an understanding of methods of research and forms of evidence across multiple disciplines.
Develop skills necessary to find and to assess relevant jurisprudential, social science, and humanities materials related to law and legal institutions.
Develop basic abilities in statistical analysis and reasoning.
Understand the logic of inquiry in the social sciences.

(Defined as philosophy, political theory, and history.)

These goals provide general guidance for curricular focus and development in the humanities as they relate to law and legal institutions.

Encourage understanding of and reflection on fundamental normative concepts such as fairness, due process, equality, and utility.
Encourage understanding of and reflection on rights, duties, punishment, and justice.
Encourage understanding of and reflection on the ethical dimensions of the relationship between citizens and the state, and the forms and limits of sovereignty.
Understand the historical contexts and forces within which legal systems operate and how legal systems influence history and societies.

Social Sciences

(Defined as sociology, political science, psychology and economics.)

These goals provide general guidance for curricular focus and development in the social sciences as they relate to law and legal institutions.

Develop the ability to connect theory about law and legal institutions with empirical predictions about the state of the world and to evaluate those predictions with data.
Understand how, and why, the law in action often differs from the law on the books.
Develop an expansive understanding of the social contexts in which law and legal institutions can be studied empirically.

Major Maps help undergraduate students discover academic, co-curricular, and discovery opportunities at UC Berkeley based on intended major or field of interest. Developed by the Division of Undergraduate Education in collaboration with academic departments, these experience maps will help you:

Explore your major and gain a better understanding of your field of study

Connect with people and programs that inspire and sustain your creativity, drive, curiosity and success

Discover opportunities for independent inquiry, enterprise, and creative expression

Engage locally and globally to broaden your perspectives and change the world

Reflect on your academic career and prepare for life after Berkeley

Use the major map below as a guide to planning your undergraduate journey and designing your own unique Berkeley experience.

View the Legal Studies Major Map PDF.

Students are encouraged to take charge of their academic careers by reading through the rich information that the Legal Studies website provides. Students are also welcome to come in for advising during Lauri’s drop-in office hours, 9 to 12 and 1:30 to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Lauri’s office is located in the back of the first floor at 2240 Piedmont, the big house right next to the Law School and just across the street from Memorial Stadium. Students should let Lauri know when they arrive, and if she’s with a student, they should have a seat out on the purple couch in the lobby. Prospective students or students not able to come in should e-mail Lauri with their questions at [email protected] .

Academic Opportunities

Independent study ( legalst 199 ).

LEGALST 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research is open to officially declared Legal Studies seniors with a 3.0 University grade point average (GPA) and a 3.0 GPA in upper division courses for the major. In order to enroll, the student must first develop a research topic, then find a Legal Studies faculty member who is willing to serve as a supervisor. The student should have already taken at least one course from the faculty member in the area in which s/he wishes to do research. The student should submit a written proposal to the faculty member outlining the scope and length of the research project. A general guideline is 1 unit of credit per 10 pages of text in the final research paper, up to a maximum of 4 units. For further information regarding this course, please visit the department's website .

Undergraduate Legal Studies Research Conference

In addition to writing a thesis, Legal Studies Honors Program participants also present their work at the annual Undergraduate Legal Studies Research Conference usually at the end of April. This event will showcase original research from students in Legal Studies as well as students from a number of other departments on campus. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to see what their colleagues have accomplished and what work they might pursue as a Legal Studies major.

The annual Legal Studies Undergraduate Research Conference celebrates the scholarship and creativity of the Legal Studies Honors students through an afternoon that focuses on law-related research. Berkeley Law and the Legal Studies Department co-sponsor the conference.

Berkeley Legal Studies Association (BLSA)

The Berkeley Legal Studies Association strives to create a community of individuals interested in law. Some events each semester include LSAT workshops with popular test preparation companies, lunches with Legal Studies professors, speaker panels, and The Living Catalogue. BLSA hopes that students will join the club and enjoy the friendly and intellectual environment that they are committed to providing. Please visit BLSA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berkeleylegalstudies/

LEGALST R1A Reading and Composition in Connection with the Law as a Social Institution 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 This course is designed to fulfill the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students will learn to identify an author's point of view and main arguments; evaluate an author's credibility and the merits of his or her argument, write a unified essay with intro, thesis statement, transitions between paragraphs, a concluding paragraph and develop an argument about an issue related to the course. Reading and Composition in Connection with the Law as a Social Institution: Read More [+]

Rules & Requirements

Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing Requirement

Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement

Hours & Format

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture per week. Eight hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Additional Details

Subject/Course Level: Legal Studies/Undergraduate

Grading/Final exam status: Final exam not required.

Reading and Composition in Connection with the Law as a Social Institution: Read Less [-]

LEGALST R1B Reading and Composition in Connection with the Law as a Social Institution 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course is designed to fulfill the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement. Students will develop their skills at critical reading, writing, and analysis, and will complete a series of essays culminating in a research paper relating to law, legal actors, and legal institutions. Emphasis will be placed on the process of writing, including developing research questions, constructing an argument, and revising for content and style. Reading and Composition in Connection with the Law as a Social Institution: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English

Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture per week for 15 weeks. Eight hours of Lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Bruce

LEGALST 10 Civil Rights Civil Liberties: Equality & Fundamental Rights 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session The United States operates under the constraints imposed by a written constitution. We will explore the ways in which the Constitution affects the relationship between us as individuals and the state. We will focus on the 14th Amendment’s commands that the state provide us all equal protection of the laws, and that it not encroach on our substantive, fundamental rights without due process of the law. Civil Rights Civil Liberties: Equality & Fundamental Rights: Read More [+]

Objectives & Outcomes

Course Objectives: Apply equality and autonomy doctrines to novel social problems. Evaluate the effect of Supreme Court decisions on the balance between state power and individual liberty. Identify the rights guaranteed in the 14th amendment and explain how those rights have changed over time.

Additional Format: Eight hours of lecture per week for 6 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.

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LEGALST 12 Civil Rights Civil Liberties: First Amendment 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session The United States operates under the constraints imposed by a written constitution. We will explore the ways in which the Constitution affects the relationship between us as individuals and the state. We will focus on issues of free speech and the relationship between the government and religion. We will do a deep dive into speech on college and high school campuses and throughout the religion unit we will likewise take a look at how these doctrines play out at school. Civil Rights Civil Liberties: First Amendment: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Apply speech and religion doctrines to modern social problems. Evaluate the effect of Supreme Court decisions on the balance between state power and individual speech and religion rights. Identify the rights guaranteed in the first amendment and explain how those rights have changed over time.

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LEGALST 24 Freshman Seminars 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2001, Fall 2000 The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Freshman Seminars: Read More [+]

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of seminar per week

Additional Format: One hour of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final exam required.

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LEGALST 39B Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 2006, Fall 2001 Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Seminar format.

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LEGALST 39D Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Two to four hours of seminar per week.

LEGALST 39E Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2012 Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

LEGALST 39H Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

LEGALST 39I Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016 Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

LEGALST 88 Crime and Punishment: taking the measure of the US justice system 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022 We will explore how data are used in the criminal justice system by exploring the debates surrounding mass incarceration and evaluating a number of different data sources that bear on police practices, incarceration, and criminal justice reform. Students will be required to think critically about the debates regarding criminal justice in the US and to work with various public data sets to assess the extent to which these data confirm or deny specific policy narratives. Building on skills from Foundations of Data Science, students will be required to use basic data management skills working in Python: data cleaning, aggregation, merging and appending data sets, collapsing variables, summarizing findings, and presenting data visualizations. Crime and Punishment: taking the measure of the US justice system: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: This course is meant to be taken concurrently with Computer Science C8/Statistics C8/Information C8: Foundations of Data Science. Students may take more than one 88 (data science connector) course if they wish, ideally concurrent with or after having taken the C8 course.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 4 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Two hours of seminar per week. Four hours of seminar per week for 6 weeks.

Crime and Punishment: taking the measure of the US justice system: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 98 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015 Small group instruction in topics not covered by regularly scheduled courses. Topics may vary from year to year. Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of directed group study per week

Additional Format: One to Four hour of Directed group study per week for 15 weeks.

Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.

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LEGALST 100 Foundations of Legal Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This is a liberal arts course designed to introduce students to the foundational frameworks and cross-disciplinary perspectives from humanities and social sciences that distinguish legal studies as a scholarly field. It provides a comparative and historical introduction to forms, ideas, institutions, and systems of law and sociological ordering. It highlights basic theoretical problems and scholarly methods for understanding questions of law and justice. Foundations of Legal Studies: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. Eight hours of Lecture and Two hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Perry

Formerly known as: 100A

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LEGALST 101 American Law and Legal Institutions 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 The United States has a legal system that developed from its English roots into a complicated set of rules and organizations that must serve the needs of a large, federal state with a dynamic market economy. This course surveys American law, both substantive and procedural, and the institutions that shape and implement it, including legislatures, courts, lawyers, and litigants. The course also provides students with a basic background in law and how it operates in the contemporary United States. American Law and Legal Institutions: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the development of legal rules and institutions in the United States. Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the legal rules that channel government activity and the relationship between the state and the individual. Students will be able to evaluate the role and effectiveness of legal institutions, including courts, procuracy, police, and the bar.

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Eight hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

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LEGALST 102 Policing and Society 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023 First 6 Week Session This course examines the American social institution of policing with particular emphasis on urban law enforcement. It explores the social, economic, and cultural forces that pull policing in the direction of state legal authority and power as well as those that are a counter-weight to the concentration of policing powers in the state. Special attention is given to how policing shapes and is shaped by the urban landscape , legal to cultural. Policing and Society: Read More [+]

Instructor: Musheno

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LEGALST 103 Theories of Law and Society 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2024, Spring 2023 An historical examination of major interpretations of law, morals and social development, with special emphasis on the social thought of the 18th and 19th centuries and including the writings of Marx, Maine, Durkheim, Weber and other contemporary figures. Theories of Law and Society: Read More [+]

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LEGALST 104AC Youth Justice and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2019 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session, Fall 2017 This course challenges adult-centered representations of urban youth of different ethnicities, their problems, and the supposed solutions to those problems. It departs from the conceptualizations and methods used to study youth in mainstream criminology and developmental psychology. Attention is given to youth conflict, peer relations, identity building within and across ethnic groups, claims on territory , the salience of law and rights, and adaptations to adult authorities and practices. Youth Justice and Culture: Read More [+]

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.

Instructors: Musheno, Morrill

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LEGALST 105 Theoretical Foundations of Criminal Law 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018 Criminal law raises fundamental theoretical issues that have occupied philosophers over the years. In this course we will discuss a selection of articles that bring to bear such a philosophical perspective on important aspects of criminal law. Topics include justification of punishment, foundations of blame and responsibility, substantive values protected by criminal law, significance of actual harm, liability of groups and other collectivities , and virtues and limits of the rule of law. Theoretical Foundations of Criminal Law: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Sophomore standing

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week

Additional Format: Two 1 1/2-hour seminar per week.

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LEGALST 106 Philosophy of Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2019, Spring 2018 This course explores philosophical themes bearing on the nature of the law and its relationship to morality: e.g., What is law—does its claim rest only on social processes or does law necessarily embody moral claims? Do we have an obligation to obey the law? What are the moral limits of legal punishment? The course will sharpen students’ skills in practical reasoning through the analysis of logical argument. The materials consist of readings from the assigned text and additional readings available on bCourses. The format will be a combination of lecture and classroom discussion, with a substantial number of ungraded group debates and simulations. Philosophy of Law: Read More [+]

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LEGALST 106WI Philosophy of Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024 The purpose of this Writing Intensive discussion section is to spend extra time working together to practice all stages of the writing process, including drafting, revising, and editing. Through additional writing assignments, workshops of your ideas and paper drafts, and structured in-section debates, you will confront not only the course materials but also yourself as thinker. You will be asked to offer reflections on the readings, on your own writing, and on your classmates’ writing. The aim of these exercises will be to develop your ability to articulate clear and compelling arguments—both in your own writing and speech, and in providing feedback to others. Philosophy of Law: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Offer constructive feedback on your classmates’ writing and incorporate others’ feedback into your own writing Produce well-reasoned analytical prose Reconstruct complex philosophical arguments in writing and speech Write clearly, concisely, and convincingly about the strengths and vulnerabilities of philosophical arguments

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for LEGALST 106WI after completing LEGALST 106 .

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture and 1-2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one to two hours of discussion per week.

Instructor: Kutz

LEGALST 107 Theories of Justice 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2023, Summer 2023 First 6 Week Session This is a lecture course in political philosophy, focusing on liberal political theory which emphasizes the protection of individual freedom as against social demands, the maintenance of social and economic equality, and the neutrality of the state in conditions of cultural and religious pluralism. By studying mainly modern authors, we will attempt to understand the importance of these goals and the possibility of their joint fulfillment. Attention will be paid to the work of John Rawls, to the problem of moral and political disagreement, and the relation between “ideal” thinking about justice and thinking about justice in conditions of racial and gender hierarchies. Theories of Justice: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for Poli Sci 117 after taking LEGALST 107 . POL SCI 117 & LEGALST 107 are similar in content. Students will receive no credit for POL SCI 117 after completing LEGALST 107 Students will receive no credit for LEGALST 107 after completing POL SCI 117 . A deficient grade in POL SCI 117 may be removed by taking LEGALST 107 .

Summer: 6 weeks - 8-8 hours of lecture and 2.5-5 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one to two hours of discussion per week. Eight hours of lecture and two and one-half to five hours of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

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LEGALST 107WI Theories of Justice 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020 This is a course in political philosophy, focusing on liberal political theory which emphasizes the protection of individual freedom as against social demands, the maintenance of social and economic equality, and the neutrality of the state in conditions of cultural and religious pluralism. By studying modern authors, we will attempt to understand the importance of these goals and the possibility of their joint fulfillment. Attention will be paid to the work of John Rawls, to the problem of moral and political disagreement, and the relation between “ideal” thinking about justice and thinking about justice in conditions of racial and gender hierarchies. A deficient grade in LS 107WI cannot be removed by taking LS 107 or Poli Sci 117. Theories of Justice: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will come to understand, critically, their own political commitments. Students will learn how to read long and complex arguments, to understand their strengths, and to identify their argumentative vulnerabilities. Students will learn that fundamental claims about politics, and political justice, can be the object of sustained rational argument, and not merely opinion-voicing.

LEGALST 109 Aims and Limits of the Criminal Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Analysis of the capacity of criminal law to fulfill its aims. What are the aims of criminal law? How are they assigned relative priority? What principles can be identified for evaluating the effort to control disapproved activities through criminal law? Aims and Limits of the Criminal Law: Read More [+]

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LEGALST 110 Special Topics in Legal Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2000 Please refer to the Legal Studies website for specific topics. Special Topics in Legal Studies: Read More [+]

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: Repeatable when topic changes

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LEGALST 116 Legal Discourse 1500-1700 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2010, Fall 2008, Spring 2008 This course focuses on the history of legal thought and discourse from the late medieval period to the Enlightenment. Topics to be considered include the relationship between legal thought and intellectual developments and the relationship between political and constitutional developments and legal discourse. Although the emphasis is on England, there will be some consideration of differences between English and continental European legal thought. Legal Discourse 1500-1700: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks.

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LEGALST 119 Philosophy and Law in Ancient Athens 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2016, Spring 2010 This is an introduction to important aspects of the philosophical and constitutional thought of classical Athens. We will pay particular attention to accounts of the origins of the Athenian legal system; criticisms and defenses of the democracy; arguments about the nature of justice, law, and legal obligation; and the context of the Athenian way of organizing trials, taxation, and administration. Readings from Aeschylus, Thucydides, Aristophanes , Plato, Lysias, Aristotle, and others. Philosophy and Law in Ancient Athens: Read More [+]

Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.

Instructor: Hoekstra

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LEGALST 123 Data, Prediction & Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024, Spring 2023 Data, Prediction and Law allows students to explore different data sources that scholars and government officials use to make generalizations and predictions in the realm of law. The course will also introduce critiques of predictive techniques in law. Students will apply the statistical and Python programming skills from Foundations of Data Science to examine a traditional social science dataset, “big data” related to law, and legal text data. Data, Prediction & Law: Read More [+]

Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of Data, Prediction, and Law, students will be able to critique the use of data and predictive tools in sociolegal processes, including the identification and punishment of crime. By the end of Data, Prediction, and Law, students will be able to use common statistical and computational techniques to analyze different types of data (traditional survey data, big data, and text data) related to law.

Prerequisites: Students must have taken one of the following courses before enrolling in Legal Studies 123: Computer Science C8 Foundations of Data Science, or Statistics C8 Foundations of Data Science, or Information Science C8 Foundations of Data Science

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of seminar per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 10 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Four hours of seminar per week. Ten hours of seminar per week for 6 weeks.

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LEGALST 125 Human Rights and War Crimes Investigations: Methods 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 This seminar offers an introduction to the concept and practice of human rights research and investigations, with an emphasis on the collection and analysis of online open source information. In addition to lectures and readings, the course will engage students in the Human Rights Investigations Lab at Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center, an effort that supports the work of Amnesty International, the Syrian Archive, and a number of other organizations that are working to bring awareness to and collect evidence in support of international atrocity cases, including human rights law firms and international commissions of inquiry. In the seminar and lab, students will have an opportunity to engage in one or more real-world investigations. Human Rights and War Crimes Investigations: Methods: Read More [+]

Student Learning Outcomes: Construct a research and investigations plan, which includes a clear and interesting research question, a description of open source research methods that can be used to answer that question, and an assessment of ethical issues raised by the research question and proposed research methodologies. Draft professional quality memoranda and research reports for real-world clients. Use a diverse set of open source research methodologies, including reverse image searching, geolocation, chronolocation, source analysis, and network analysis. Use a diverse set of open source research tools, including but not limited to InVid, Google Earth Pro, Tweetdeck and Maltego, and perform advanced online searches on Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of laboratory per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of laboratory per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of laboratory per week. Seven and one-half hours of lecture and two and one-half hours of laboratory per week for 6 weeks.

Human Rights and War Crimes Investigations: Methods: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 127 Law & American Pacific Empire through World War II 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024 We will study the history of law and American imperialism in the Pacific Rim from the first Pacific whalers, fur traders, and missionaries of the early 1800s to the occupation of Japan and Philippine independence following the end of World War II. Over this period, the states and societies of the Pacific Rim experienced multiple legal and social revolutions and we will explore these across case studies of Oregon Territory, California, Hawai’i, Alaska, and the Philippines. We will critically examine the transformation from the “First” American continental empire to the “Second” American overseas empire, usually dated to 1898, through the lenses of race, indigeneity, capitalism, legal pluralism, and power. Law & American Pacific Empire through World War II: Read More [+]

Instructor: DeLand

Law & American Pacific Empire through World War II: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 129 Antisemitism and the Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024 We will explore the intersection of antisemitism and the law, by covering the history of law as a vehicle for institutionalizing antisemitism, law as a vehicle for combating antisemitism, and law as a political tool to combat antisemitism. Historical topics will include the Dreyfus case, the Holocaust denial trial of Irving v. Lipstadt, the Damascus blood libel trial of 1840, the blood libel trial of Mendel Beilis, and the impact of the lynching of Leo Frank. We will also review discriminatory laws in the United States and other areas and countries against Jews, including in Nazi Germany. Antisemitism and the Law: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 9 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Four hours of seminar per week. Nine hours of seminar per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Davidoff Solomon

Antisemitism and the Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 130 Human Rights: The Native Experience 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020 This course highlights aspects of the development and implementation of human rights in society. Cases reveal the question facing all nations: to what extent should indigenous peoples be secure in their land, cultural integrity, political and economic rights. Fundamentally, this inquiry depends on recognizing the existence of inalienable and indivisible rights afforded to all humans. Human Rights: The Native Experience: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Analyze how the U.S.'s position as leaders of "human rights" can be reconciled with its history and treatment of natives. Apply the language of "human rights" to develop a framework for healing historical wrongs through reparative and restorative justice. Explain UNDRIP’s role within the context of human rights and international doctrines. Explain the role of culture in human rights discourse. Identify and assess the narratives used to justify the unequal application of human rights. Using specific examples in Native history, explain the strategies of institutional oppression in the human rights framework.

Summer: 12 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Four hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week for 12 weeks.

Human Rights: The Native Experience: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 131 Forced Migration 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024 This course will introduce you to key concepts, issues, and legal frameworks around forced migration from legal, sociological, and normative perspectives. Using historical and contemporary examples, interdisciplinary scholarship, legal cases, media depictions of forced migration, and the voices of persons experiencing displacement, we will critically examine narratives about and responses to population displacement in international and domestic contexts. Forced Migration: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Acquire substantial understanding of key definitions and conceptual differences of various forms of human mobility; international norms around refugees and forced migration; the role of migrants’ agency and identity differences when assessing the impact of migration and responses to displacement; legal and policy responses to migration, media narratives, representation of migration issues; and securitization of human mobility. Be able to apply frameworks and approaches to a variety of forced migration scenarios and differentiate between the needs and capabilities of different groups in different regions.

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for LEGALST 131 after completing LEGALST 131 . A deficient grade in LEGALST 131 may be removed by taking LEGALST 131 .

Instructor: Jacobs

Forced Migration: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 132AC Immigration and Citizenship 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 We often hear that America is a "nation of immigrants." This representation of the U.S. does not explain why some are presumed to belong and others are not. We will examine both historical and contemporary law of immigration and citizenship to see how law has shaped national identity and the identity of immigrant communities. In addition to scholarly texts, we will read and analyze excerpts of cases and the statute that governs immigration and citizenship, the Immigration and Nationality Act. Immigration and Citizenship: Read More [+]

Instructor: Volpp

Immigration and Citizenship: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 133AC Law and Social Change: The Immigrant Rights Movement 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Spring 2021 This course will explore the relationship between social movements and the law: it will take as its focus the movement for immigrant rights, increasingly led by undocumented activists. It will ask how legal action -- statutes, regulations, judicial decisions, and policies and practices of enforcement, at both state and federal levels -- has spurred the formation of a social movement, and how that movement has sought to influence, resist, and transform the law. Law and Social Change: The Immigrant Rights Movement: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of fieldwork per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of fieldwork per week

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of fieldwork per week. Eight hours of lecture and two and one-half hours of fieldwork per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Abrams

Law and Social Change: The Immigrant Rights Movement: Read Less [-]

LEGALST C134 Membership and Migration: Empirical and Normative Perspectives 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2020 We will explore questions about migration and membership in the contemporary world by drawing on empirical and normative perspectives. By “empirical,” we investigate what social science evidence tells us about the drivers of migration or the benefits of citizenship. By “normative,” we think through questions of what a society ought to do: what is the morally right, just, or fair thing to do about issues of migration and citizenship? Membership and Migration: Empirical and Normative Perspectives: Read More [+]

Also listed as: SOCIOL C146M

Membership and Migration: Empirical and Normative Perspectives: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 135 Law, Judicial Politics, and Rights in Latin America 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 This course introduces the study of comparative constitutional law in Latin America and will prepare students to acquire substantial training on the existing legal traditions in the world: the common law and the civil law systems. We will study how political, social, and historical dynamics shape the work of state actors, such as the executive, legislative, judicial powers, as well as the legal profession, and civil society groups to mobilize legal and social change. Law, Judicial Politics, and Rights in Latin America: Read More [+]

Law, Judicial Politics, and Rights in Latin America: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 136 Law & Rights in Authoritarian States 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2021 This course investigates the logic and lived reality of authoritarian law, with the goal of complicating the popular notion that authoritarian law is simply an instrument of state repression. We will mix more theoretical readings on approaches to law and the logic of courts with empirical studies of how law works in two historical settings (Nazi Germany and East Germany) and two contemporary cases (China and Russia). Part of our focus will be on elite politics , particularly the reasons leaders devolve power to courts and the control strategies they deploy to keep judges, lawyers and plaintiffs in check. At the same time, we will pay close attention to everyday law and how ordinary people experience the legal system. Law & Rights in Authoritarian States: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Gain a solid understanding of different theoretical frameworks used to think about the origins of authoritarianism, the relationship between authoritarian law and politics, and authoritarian backsliding. This course should make it easier for you to read the newspaper and think critically about current events. Learn how law and politics intersected in five case studies critical to understanding modern authoritarianism: Nazi Germany, East Germany, China, Russia and the United States. Learn to think comparatively, a mode of analysis in political science premised on the idea that the act of comparing two or more cases can help us wrestle with important questions about political phenomena. Rather than viewing the United States as sui generis, the comparative method will help us understand how our politics fit into global trends, and challenge (or support) what social scientists know about modern authoritarianism. Strengthen your critical-thinking skills. Students will learn to identify the causal claims of authors and to challenge their approaches and assumptions. These are skills you will bring to your other courses, and to your life after college.

Law & Rights in Authoritarian States: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 137 Comparative Equality Law 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 Comparative Equality Law uses a problem-based approach to examine how the law protects equality rights in different jurisdictions. The course will comparatively examine US, European, and other national, regional and international legal systems (including those of India, Brazil, Colombia, Canada and South Africa) and provide a global overview of legal protection from and legal responses to inequalities. The course covers 5 topic modules: Theories and sources of equality law; Employment discrimination law (race, sex, age, disability, LGBTQ+); Secularism, human rights and the legal rights of religious minorities; Sexual harassment/Violence; Affirmative action (race, caste, origin), and gender parity. Comparative Equality Law: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Better understand their own connections to a global community of research and learning. Compare how different legal systems address problems of inequality and discrimination. Connect with students from around the globe as friends/colleagues to discuss ongoing issues of inequality in light of the material they studied together. Read articles about inequality and discuss the issues raised in light of the underlying theories of equality, using examples from several legal systems. Read discrimination case decisions and analyze the theories of equality underlying the decision. Read proposed statutes, constitutional amendments and treaties and analyze the theories of equality underlying the proposal. Reflect on teaching and learning methods used by students and faculty from several nations.

Additional Format: Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Eight hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Comparative Equality Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 138 The Supreme Court and Public Policy 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 This course examines a number of leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions in terms of what policy alternatives were available to the Court and which ones it chose. Prospective costs and benefits of these alternatives and who will pay the costs and who gets the benefits of them are considered. Among the areas considered are economic development, government regulation of business, national security, freedom of speech and discrimination. Readings are solely of Supreme Court decisions. The Supreme Court and Public Policy: Read More [+]

Instructor: Shapiro

The Supreme Court and Public Policy: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 139 Comparative Perspectives on Norms and Legal Traditions 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014 This course is an introduction to the comparative study of different legal cultures and traditions including common law, civil law, socialist law, and religious law. A section of the class will be dedicated to the comparison of the colonial and post-colonial legal process in Latin America and in Africa. Comparative Perspectives on Norms and Legal Traditions: Read More [+]

Instructor: Mayali

Comparative Perspectives on Norms and Legal Traditions: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 140 Property and Liberty 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019 This course will explore the relation between property law and limits of liberty in different cultures and at different times. The course will cover theories of property law, slavery, the clash between aboriginal and European ideas of property, gender roles and property rights, common property systems, zoning, regulatory takings, and property on the internet. Readings will include legal theorists, court cases, and historical case studies. Property and Liberty: Read More [+]

Property and Liberty: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 141 Wall Street / Main Street 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2005 As longstanding symbols in American history and culture, “Wall Street” and “Main Street” typically refer to streets that intersect at right angles and places that represent the antithesis of each other. Wall Street is home to nefarious big banks run by greedy financiers with deep pockets, while Main Street is home to unassuming “mom-and-pop” shops patronized by ordinary people of modest means who live in the surrounding wholesome small towns. What’s good for one is not good for the other. This course, which will be co-taught by a historian and corporate law professor, will examine critical junctures in the intersection of Wall Street and Main Street in American history and culture over the course of the twentieth century. Wall Street / Main Street: Read More [+]

Wall Street / Main Street: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 142 Monetary Law & Regulation 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 This course surveys the history of US monetary law from its inception to the coming about of cryptocurrencies. We begin with a discussion of monetary affairs in colonial times and during the American Revolutionary War. We then examine the framework established at the Constitutional Convention. We cover the 19th century and New Deal Supreme Court cases that shaped US monetary law as we know it today. Finally we discusses contemporary legal dilemmas such as the regulation of bitcoin and stablecoins, the creation of central bank digital currencies, the workarounds of the US debt ceiling and the debate over the spectrum of the Fed’s legal authority. We conclude by revisiting some classic questions concerning the nature and functions of money. Monetary Law & Regulation: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Teaches students to conceptualize monetary law as an instrument of power as well as a technique for promoting efficient social exchanges. To enable students to critically understand the law and regulation of money, including the policy choices that underlie court interpretations. To equip students with a general understanding of current monetary affairs.

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for LEGALST 142 after completing LEGALST 142 . A deficient grade in LEGALST 142 may be removed by taking LEGALST 142 .

Monetary Law & Regulation: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 143 History of Political Economy 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023 This course surveys the history of political economy before the middle of the twentieth century aiming to give students a broad introduction to the way in which modern economics emerged, and the varieties of schools of political economy that have been advanced since roughly the middle of the eighteenth century. It also surveys the critique of political economy in various eras, including recent criticisms of welfare economics and of economic inequality. History of Political Economy: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will gain a broad familiarity with a variety of important thinkers and themes in the history of political economy while also deepening their ability to read and analyze primary texts.

Instructor: Grewal

History of Political Economy: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 145 Law and Economics I 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session The course will apply microeconomic theory analysis to legal rules and procedures. Emphasis will be given to the economic consequences of various sorts of liability rules, remedies for breach of contract and the allocation of property rights. The jurisprudential significance of the analysis will be discussed. Law and Economics I: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Together Law and Econ I and II provide comprehensive introduction to economic analysis of law. Courses need not be taken in numerical order; nor is one a prerequisite to the other

Law and Economics I: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 146 The Law and Economics of Innovation 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2011 We will discuss how the creation of knowledge, artistic, literary, and musical works are supported in a competitive economy especially in the digital age. We will discuss intellectual property, copyrights, trade secrets, trade marks, and geographic indications, in historical and institutional contexts. We will consider the problems of competition that arise in the digital economy, such as Google Books, the Microsoft antitrust cases, and search advertising. The Law and Economics of Innovation: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Economics 1 or a course in microeconomics

Instructor: Schotchmer

The Law and Economics of Innovation: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 147 Law and Economics II 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session Law and Economics I is not a prerequisite for Law and Economics II. Students may take either or both courses. Government uses many mechanisms to influence the provision of goods and services. Economists and lawyers have developed a critique of these mechanisms which has prompted substantial reforms in recent years, e.g., deregulation in transportation. The course examines this critique. Law and Economics II: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.

Law and Economics II: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 149 Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020 Entrepreneurship plays an increasingly essential role in today’s global economy. New companies and startups play valuable roles in the formation of new industry, also spurring established incumbent companies towards further growth. This course is designed to explore the role of law in facilitating the development of entrepreneurial enterprises, paying special attention to the complex interaction between innovation and regulation. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a thorough foundation for understanding the role that law plays in the construction and growth of entrepreneurial enterprises. Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will develop skills in generating business plans, negotiating, and addressing complex issues that arise during the operation of a business enterprise. Students will learn about the conceptual and theoretical elements of entrepreneurship. Students will learn how to address the formation of an entrepreneurial venture and identify the core legal issues that must be addressed, at every stage – from idea to exit.

Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 150 Intimate Partner Violence & the Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 1992 This course will investigate the phenomenon of intimate partner violence (also known as family violence, or domestic violence), by studying empirical evidence; theories of violence; and the disparate impacts on different communities. Through a trauma-centered and intersectional approach, students will be positioned to assess and analyze the responses by our legal system to this persistent and prevalent social problem. Intimate Partner Violence & the Law: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for LEGALST 150 after completing LEGALST 150 . A deficient grade in LEGALST 150 may be removed by taking LEGALST 150 .

Intimate Partner Violence & the Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 151 Law, Self, and Society 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017 Contemporary moral and political philosophy has been increasingly interested in how conceptions of the self relate to various aspects of our social and political life. These issues have an important bearing on legal theory as well. Law is shaped by certain implicit assumptions about the nature of individuals and collectivities, while it also actively participates in forming the identities of persons and in structuring collective entities such as families, corporations, and municipalities. This course will explore some theoretical approaches to this reciprocal relationship between law and the different social actors that it governs. Law, Self, and Society: Read More [+]

Law, Self, and Society: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 152AC Human Rights & Technology 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2017 Scientific advances promise great increases in social good, but whether those advancements herald a better or worse world, depends on how scientific knowledge is applied. Applying scientific knowledge in the service of humanity is challenging, and requires an informed, deliberate method. Through lectures, discussions, case studies, and field research, students will gain an understanding of the international human rights framework, historical and social context for contemporary human rights violations, insights into the role of race, gender, and technology in structural inequality, opportunities to work across disciplines on real-world design challenges, and experience assessing needs and designing for specific, selected human rights apps. Human Rights & Technology: Read More [+]

Instructor: Hiatt

Human Rights & Technology: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 153 Law and Society in Asia 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016 This course offers a comparative perspective on law and legal institutions. Looking comparatively helps shed light on our own system and question what is “normal” or “natural.” From what it means to be a lawyer to notions of what is “just” or “fair,” courts and dispute resolution outside the U.S. can be both very different and, at times, surprisingly familiar. After an overview of concepts and classic approaches to the study of law and society, the course will explore these differences and similarities in three Asian settings: China, Japan, and India. Topics include lawyers, illicit sex, and environmental protection, to see how each country’s history, political structure, values, and interests shape how legal issues are defined and play out Law and Society in Asia: Read More [+]

Instructor: Stern

Law and Society in Asia: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 154 Human Rights, Research & Practice 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2019 This course provides an overview of international human rights, including the field's historical and theoretical foundations; the jurisprudence of international human rights; empirical insights from disciplines such as sociology, psychology, history, and anthropology; and emerging trends in human rights practice. Human Rights, Research & Practice: Read More [+]

Instructors: Koenig, Stover

Human Rights, Research & Practice: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 155 Government and the Family 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011 How has the law constructed and deconstructed "family" relationships? What are the common law, statutory, and constitutional principles that affect the formation, regulation, and dissolution of families? How do these principles, as well as diverse cultural and social values, guide the state in determining marriage, family, and child welfare policies? Government and the Family: Read More [+]

Instructor: Hollinger

Government and the Family: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 156 Bioethics and the Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2011 First 6 Week Session Law now plays a prominent role in medicine and science. Recent years have witnessed a major expansion of law's involvement. Law (statutory and court-made) articulates and interprets norms of conduct. This course will examine a number of topics where law and medicine intersect involving many of our most fundamental values including body, life, death, religion, reproduction, sexuality, and family. In each area, we will include both traditional issues , like "right to die" and more current disputes such as physician assisted suicide. Bioethics and the Law: Read More [+]

Additional Format: Eight hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Shultz

Bioethics and the Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 157 International Relations and International Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Fall 2023 This course will evaluate and assess modern theories of international law. We will examine the work of legal scholars and look to political science and economics to see how these disciplines inform the study of international law. We will also examine a host of fundamental questions in international law, including, for example, why states enter into international agreements, why states comply with international law, and what kind of state conduct is likely to be influenced by international law. International Relations and International Law: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Minimum sophomore standing

Instructor: Guzman

International Relations and International Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 158 Law and Development 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 Focusing on developing countries, this course considers the relationship between legal institutions and rules--including informal and traditional ones--and development--defined by different actors by economic growth, education, health, or a wide spectrum of freedoms. It examines efforts by national leaders, international organizations, foreign aid agencies, and NGOs to "reform" law to promote development, along with the resistance and unplanned consequences that often ensue. Law and Development: Read More [+]

Instructor: O'Connell

Law and Development: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 159 Law & Sexuality 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 This course focuses on the legal regulation of sexuality, and the social and historical norms and frameworks that affect its intersection with sex, gender, race, disability, and class. We will critically examine how the law shapes sexuality and how sexuality shapes the law. Our subject matter is mostly constitutional, covering sexuality’s intersection with privacy, freedom of expression, gender identity and expression, equal protection, reproduction , kinship, and family formation, among other subjects. We will study case law, legal articles, and other texts (including visual works) that critically engage issues of sexuality, citizenship, nationhood, religion, and the public and private spheres domestically and internationally. Law & Sexuality: Read More [+]

Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to articulate scholarly and activist theories regarding the regulation of law and sexuality, and recognize how scholarship, social norms, public culture, private intimacies, and legal decisions affect the social world that we live in. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to critically analyze and reflect upon the law’s regulation of sexuality and its intersection with other identity-based categories, such as race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, geography, disability, and age, among others. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to develop legal reasoning skills through analysis of case law, law review articles, and related texts. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to identify and respond to key points and arguments in scholarly articles, integrating current news events regarding law, gender and sexuality. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to practice legal writing, research, and oral presentation skills through engagement with the Socratic teaching method.

Instructor: Katyal

Law & Sexuality: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 160 Punishment, Culture, and Society 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Spring 2024 This course surveys the development of Western penal practices, institutions, and ideas (what David Garland calls "penality") from the eighteenth-century period to the present. Our primary focus will be on penal practices and discourses in the United States in the early 21st century. In particular we will examine the extraordinary growth of US penal sanctions in the last quarter century and the sources and consequences of what some have called "mass imprisonment." Punishment, Culture, and Society: Read More [+]

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One hour of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. Six hours of Lecture and Two hours of Discussion per week for 8 weeks. Eight hours of Lecture and Two hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Instructor: Simon

Punishment, Culture, and Society: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 161 Law in Chinese Society 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Summer 2021 First 6 Week Session The course examines concepts that form the basis of the Chinese legal system, traditional theories and institutions of pre-1911 society, and the expression and rejection of the traditional concepts in the laws of the Nationalist period and the People's Republic. Law in Chinese Society: Read More [+]

Law in Chinese Society: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 162AC Restorative Justice 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 This course advances the claim that the criminal justice system is both a product and a powerful engine of racial hierarchy in American society, and that strategies of restorative justice, which have recently garnered attention in settings from prisons to middle schools, hold out promise as practices of racial justice. We explore this thesis by examining the ways in which criminal justice systems shape the emotions and social relations of victims , offenders, and members of the larger community. Restorative Justice: Read More [+]

Instructors: Abrams, Frampton

Restorative Justice: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 163 Adolescence, Crime and Juvenile Justice 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016 This course examines the premises, doctrine, and operational behavior of juvenile courts, particularly in relation to the commission of seriously anti-social acts by mid-adolescents. Topics include the history of theories of delinquency; the jurisprudence of delinquency; the incidence and severity of delinquency; police response to juvenile offenders; the processes of juvenile courts and youth corrections; and reforms or alternatives to the juvenile court system. Adolescence, Crime and Juvenile Justice: Read More [+]

Adolescence, Crime and Juvenile Justice: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 164 Juvenile Justice & the Color of Law: The Historical Treatment of Children of Color in the Judicial System - Delinquency & Dependency 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2021, Summer 2021 First 6 Week Session, Fall 2020 We will investigate the profound role of law and legal institutions in shaping and defining racial minority and majority communities. Students will interrogate the definition and meaning of race in U.S. society (e.g., whether race is biological, cultural, environmental, based on White supremacy, or a social construct that is constantly being transformed) and will critically examine the connection between law, race and racism , both in the historical and modern context. The course is a collaborative effort to learn the truths of our collective history; to share the truths of our individual experiences and lives; and, to determine if we desire a more just society, and if so, how to create our own paths and contributions to this endeavor. Juvenile Justice & the Color of Law: The Historical Treatment of Children of Color in the Judicial System - Delinquency & Dependency: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Apply critically relevant law to hypothetical scenarios involving racial groups. Demonstrate understanding of relevant law that has been previously applied to racial groups. Describe the four major schools of thought on law and race (i.e., neoconservative, liberal, critical legal studies, and critical race theory). Explain the connection between law, race and racism in different analytical frameworks, including the frameworks listed in Course Objective #1.

Juvenile Justice & the Color of Law: The Historical Treatment of Children of Color in the Judicial System - Delinquency & Dependency: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 165 Truth, Justice & Reconciliation 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024 How do people and communities envision and enact justice in response to state-sponsored and state-sanctioned violence? How have TRCs (Truth and Reconciliation Commissions) and analogous approaches taken shape in the U.S., in response to state-sponsored violence, including “legal violence”? With South Africa’s TRC as a foundational model, this course will examine an array of community-based strategies for surfacing truths about historical harms, pursuing accountability through apologies and reparations, and restoring relationships, communities, artifacts, and lands. We will address the challenges when establishing official commissions, reaching out to communities, and following through with recommendations. Truth, Justice & Reconciliation: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will learn to “think globally and act locally” by presenting examples of TRCs around the world and in the US, and engage in research on the possibilities of TRC approaches for the Berkeley campus and Bay Area.

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for LEGALST 165 after completing LEGALST 165 . A deficient grade in LEGALST 165 may be removed by taking LEGALST 165 .

Instructor: Shackford-Bradley

Truth, Justice & Reconciliation: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 168 Sex, Reproduction and the Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2022 First 6 Week Session This course examines recent American legal and social history with respect to reproductive and sexual behavior. We will consider two theoretical aspects of the problem: first, theories of how law regulates social behavior and second, more general theories about how reproduction is socially regulated. Armed with these theoretical perspectives, the course will then examine closely a number of legal/social conflicts, including sterilization, abortion and contraception. Sex, Reproduction and the Law: Read More [+]

Sex, Reproduction and the Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 169 Criminal Justice in the United States: Policing, Mass Incarceration, and Paths to Reform 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 This course will examine policing and mass incarceration in the contemporary United States. The first half of the course will explore policing, considering how the modern police emerged, whether police reduce crime, and why police violence persists. The second half of the course will turn to mass incarceration, examining how the U.S. came to incarcerate people at a greater rate than any nation in history, along with the individual and social consequences of incarceration. For both policing and mass incarceration, we will devote significant focus to the prospects for reform. Criminal Justice in the United States: Policing, Mass Incarceration, and Paths to Reform: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will be able to critically evaluate arguments about policing and incarceration made by both scholarly and popular commentators. Students will be able to describe the problems currently facing the systems of policing and prisons in the United States. Students will be able to propose and defend reforms to bring about more just and effective systems of policing and incarceration. Students will be able to take sides in current debates over policing and incarceration.

Criminal Justice in the United States: Policing, Mass Incarceration, and Paths to Reform: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 170 Crime and Criminal Justice 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023 Introduction to the etiology of crime and criminal justice administration. What is crime? What are the main features and problems of the process by which suspected criminals are apprehended, tried, sentenced, punished? Past and current trends and policy issues will be discussed. Crime and Criminal Justice: Read More [+]

Crime and Criminal Justice: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 171 European Legal History 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2011 Most contemporary legal systems derive from one or the other of the two legal orders that developed in continental Europe and England over the course of the centuries. This course introduces students to some of the main features of the continental European or civil law tradition, a tradition that has its origins in Roman law. We will look at the English common law tradition, which began to diverge from the law of continental Europe in the middle ages, and acquired its own distinctive character. European Legal History: Read More [+]

Instructor: McClain

European Legal History: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 172AC Decolonizing UC Berkeley 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023 This course seeks to engage students in a critical investigation of the origins of the University of California through a settler colonial lens, and with the aim of decolonizing the University’s narrative history. Decolonization is a process by which narratives, world views, cultures, and institutions, once erased by colonization are returned, respected, and honored. Drawing upon the work of the UC Berkeley Truth & Justice Project, this Course will explore the history of UC and its racial and colonial foundations. We will focus on decolonization and therefore center Indigenous and other racialized communities, discussing injustice in various communities and from various perspectives. Decolonizing UC Berkeley: Read More [+]

Student Learning Outcomes: Apply these learning objectives to research and create a storytelling project about the racial and colonial foundations of California and UC Berkeley with an eye toward decolonization. The projects should aim to challenge the settler-colonial narrative through storytelling and to move from theory into praxis. Demonstrate an understanding of how race and colonization impact the narrative story of UC Berkeley; Demonstrate an understanding of how the history of race and colonization are interconnected with the law and their impacts on society today; Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of resistance and truth, healing, reconciliation, and reparation movements, and decolonization; Students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of settler-colonialism and decolonization;

Decolonizing UC Berkeley: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 173AC Making Empire: Law and the Colonization of America 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021 This is an intro to the origins, development, and expansion of European settlement on the North American mainland. We will concentrate on the impulses – commercial, ideological, and racial – that drove European colonizing; the migrations (voluntary and forced) that sustained it; and the political and legal “technologies” that supplied it with definition, explanation, and institutional capacity. We will pay attention to themes of sovereignty, civic identity, race, and “manifest destiny” and will discuss how law provided both the language and technical capacity to transform territory into property, people into slaves, and the land’s indigenous inhabitants into “others” who existed “outside” the civic order of the American Republic. Making Empire: Law and the Colonization of America: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students who complete Legalst 173 will not receive credit for Legalst 173AC.

Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the American Cultures requirement

Instructor: Tomlins

Formerly known as: Legal Studies 173

Making Empire: Law and the Colonization of America: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 174 Comparative Constitutional Law: The Case of Israel 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 This course will provide an introduction to constitutional law using Israel as a case study. Topics include: Constitutionalism and judicial review, state neutrality and self-determination, minority rights, state and religion, Human Rights Law, the concept of “defensive democracy" and ban of non-democratic political parties, legal aspects of the fight on terror, freedom of expression, equality and anti-discrimination, social rights, and constitutional limitations on privatization. Comparative Constitutional Law: The Case of Israel: Read More [+]

Comparative Constitutional Law: The Case of Israel: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 175 Access to Justice: Comparative and Historical Perspectives 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2023 This class first introduces students to the origins of the access to justice problem, paying attention to disparate impacts along the lines of race, class, and gender. It examines how the costs of legal services, and in turn of law school tuition, steadily rose in the last several decades. Drawing on both historical and comparative case studies, students will then be encouraged to think creatively about who can represent individuals at law. Further inspiration comes from contemporary case studies outside North America and Europe. Finally, students will have an opportunity to execute a guided research project on a historical, comparative, or contemporary aspect of access to justice that helps shed light on potential solutions today. Access to Justice: Comparative and Historical Perspectives: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students can expect to sharpen their critical reading and writing skills. Students will learn to better express themselves orally. Students will practice developing and executing their own research project.

Access to Justice: Comparative and Historical Perspectives: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 176 Twentieth-Century American Legal and Constitutional History 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2015 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session Development of American law and the constitutional system in the 20th century. Topics include Progressive Era Regulatory policy, criminal justice and relations, freedom of speech and press, New Deal legal innovations, modern tort liability, environmental regulation, judicial reform, and federalism. Twentieth-Century American Legal and Constitutional History: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing. It is recommended that students have completed at least one course in legal studies or political science that deals with American history or American government prior to taking 176

Twentieth-Century American Legal and Constitutional History: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 177 Survey of American Legal and Constitutional History 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2022 Overview of American legal and constitutional history from colonial times to the present. Topics include colonial legal institutions, early constitutional history, history of the common law, business regulation, race and the law, history of the legal profession, and the modern constitutional order. Survey of American Legal and Constitutional History: Read More [+]

Survey of American Legal and Constitutional History: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 178 Seminar on American Legal and Constitutional History 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Spring 2010, Spring 2009 This course will provide advanced reading and independent research in the history of American law. Preference may be given to students who have taken 177. Seminar on American Legal and Constitutional History: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Enrollment is limited

Additional Format: Two hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks.

Seminar on American Legal and Constitutional History: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 179 Comparative Constitutional Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012 An examination of constitutional decision-making in a number of countries based on selected high court opinions. Comparative Constitutional Law: Read More [+]

Comparative Constitutional Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 180 Implicit Bias 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2018, Fall 2014 Implicit bias, automatic or unconscious stereotyping, and prejudice that guides our perception of and behavior toward social groups, is a fast growing area of law and psychology. Students will look at research in substantive areas of employment discrimination, criminal law, and questions regarding communications, voting, health care, immigration, property, and whether research findings showing unconscious gender, racial, and other biases can be used as courtroom evidence to prove discrimination. Implicit Bias: Read More [+]

Instructor: Plaut

Implicit Bias: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 181 Psychology and the Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2013 Psychology is the study of the human mind and its effect on behavior. Law attempts to regulate behavior through norm setting, policing, and punishment. This course gives a survey of the natural connection between law and psychology. Here, we will study the psychology of legal systems, of crime and policing, and of what happens in the courtroom, including criminal charging, jury selection, eyewitness testimony, prosecution, and conviction. Throughout , we will analyze the theoretical and empirical evidence as it applies generally and to special populations (children, the impaired, those with mental illnesses, and racial and sexual minorities). Psychology and the Law: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: Students will be able to identify many of the psychological assumptions underlying the application of law, what evidence exists for their validity, and the areas where law fails to understand or regulate human behavior.

Psychology and the Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 182 Law, Politics and Society 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2022 First 6 Week Session We will explore the nature and function of law and legal systems. What is the nature of legal authority? Where does it originate? Why do we obey it? From where does law come? How are laws made? How do judges reason? We will also focus on law and conflict resolution: How do people bring cases to court? How do judges decide cases? Are there alternatives to the legal process? Finally , a traditional conception of law is that it is a timeless set of principles, yet society is always changing. How then does law change? How do courts respond to social change? To what extent can courts bring about social change? Readings are from a variety of fields: philosophy, history, judicial opinions, and scholarly articles. Law, Politics and Society: Read More [+]

Law, Politics and Society: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 183 Psychology of Diversity and Discrimination in American Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Spring 2014 Course will examine concepts of race and culture, various understandings of and approaches to diversity found in the law, and the role of sociocultural structures in shaping the operation of antidiscrimination law and social policy. Topics include: psychology of desegregation, colorblindness and equal protection, affirmative action, stereotyping, sexism in the workplace, prejudice toward immigrants, social class and poverty. Psychology of Diversity and Discrimination in American Law: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Seminar per week for 15 weeks. Seven and one-half hours of Seminar per week for 6 weeks.

Psychology of Diversity and Discrimination in American Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 184 Sociology of Law 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 This course explores major issues and debates in the sociology of law. Topics include theoretical perspectives on the relationship between law and society, theories of why people obey (and disobey) the law, the relationship between law and social norms, the "law in action" in litigation and dispute resolution, the roles of lawyers, judges, and juries in the legal system and in society, and the role of law in social change. The course will examine these issues from an empirical perspective. Sociology of Law: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for Legal Studies 184 after completing Legal Studies C184/Sociology C114. A deficient grade in Legal Studies C184/Sociology C114 may be removed by taking Legal Studies 184.

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of discussion per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 1.5 hours of discussion per week

Additional Format: Three hours of Lecture and One and one-half hours of Discussion per week for 15 weeks. Six hours of Lecture and One and one-half hours of Discussion per week for 8 weeks. Eight hours of Lecture and Two hours of Discussion per week for 6 weeks.

Sociology of Law: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 185AC Prison 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Spring 2014 Taking a broad interdisciplinary approach, this course introduces students to the long history of the prison in the American experience, questioning the shadows of inevitability and normality that cloak mass incarceration in the contemporary United States and around the globe. While directly addressing the prison system, and related institutions like the police and probation, this course intends to engage with the full range of carceral geographies in which social life is penetrated with the state’s power to surveil, arrest, judge, and punish its citizens and the organizations and capacities through which that power is carried out. Prison: Read More [+]

Instructors: Simon, Feldman, Sacks, Jones

Also listed as: AFRICAM 181AC/ETH STD 181AC/SOC WEL 185AC

Prison: Read Less [-]

LEGALST C185 Prison 4 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007 Taking a broad interdisciplinary approach, this course embraces the longue duree of critical prison studies, questioning the shadows of normality that cloak mass incarceration both across the globe and, more particularly, in the contemporary United States. This course thus explores a series of visceral, unsettling juxtapositions: "freedom" and "slavery"; "citizenship" and "subjugation"; "marginalization" and "inclusion" , in each case explicating the ways that story making, political demagoguery, and racial, class, and sexual inequalities have wrought an untenable social condition. Prison: Read More [+]

Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit if they have already taken ETH STD 181AC , LEGALST 185AC , or ARCH 185AC.

Instructors: Feldman, Sacks, Simon

Also listed as: ETH STD C181/SOC WEL C185

LEGALST 187 Diversity, Law & Politics 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2016, Summer 2004 10 Week Session Dimensions of diversity at the heart of this course are perceptions of commonality and attributions of difference defined by race and immigration. Emphasis is given to contemporary law and politics in the U.S., but with an eye toward how the law and politics of the here and now is rooted in history. "Race" is broadly defined by concepts of identity, immigration, citizenship, class, ethnicity, and gender. "Politics" is broadly defined both by a center stage of elite actors in government and the laws and policies they make and implement, and by the relevant contexts and audiences that define that stage, inclusive of elections, civic engagement, protests, political talk, and organizational behavior. Diversity, Law & Politics: Read More [+]

Course Objectives: In this course, students will learn to explore, discuss, and better understand the relationship between peoplehood and politics in a dynamic, diversifying polity.

Diversity, Law & Politics: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 189 Feminist Jurisprudence 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Summer 2013 10 Week Session, Summer 2013 First 6 Week Session This course will explore the ways in which feminist theory has shaped conceptions of the law, as well as examine a range of feminist legal theories, including equality, difference, dominance, intersectional, poststructural, postcolonial theories. It will ask how these theories have shaped legal interventions in areas including workplace/educational access, sexualized coercion, work/family conflict, "cultural" defenses, and globalized sweatshop labor. Feminist Jurisprudence: Read More [+]

Feminist Jurisprudence: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 190 Seminar on Topics in Law and Society 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023 Advanced study in law and society with specific topics to be announced. Seminar on Topics in Law and Society: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-10 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 1.5-6 hours of seminar per week

Additional Format: One to four hours of seminar per week. One and one-half to six hours of seminar per week for 10 weeks. Two and one-half to ten hours of seminar per week for 6 weeks.

Seminar on Topics in Law and Society: Read Less [-]

LEGALST H195A Honors Seminar 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 This course provides Legal Studies honors students with the opportunity to learn about the conduct of legal studies research, how to write an honors thesis proposal, and prepare for writing an honors thesis in the spring. Honors Seminar: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Senior standing, acceptance into Honors Program in Legal Studies

Additional Format: Three hours of seminar per week.

Instructor: Edelman

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LEGALST H195B Honors Thesis 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015 Study of an advanced topic under the supervision of a faculty member leading to the completion of a senior honors thesis. Honors Thesis: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 8 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 21.5 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 15.5 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Eight hours of independent study per week. Fifteen and one-half hours of independent study per week for 8 weeks. Twenty one and one-half hours of independent study per week for 6 weeks.

Honors Thesis: Read Less [-]

LEGALST H195C Legal Studies Honors Research and Writing Seminar 2 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022 The goal of the seminar is to provide students additional support as they conduct the research for and write their senior honors theses, and prepare presentations for the Spring Studies Undergraduate Research Conference. Students enroll in the two unit Legalst H195C seminar during the second semester of the Honors Program along with the three units of Legalst H195B. Legal Studies Honors Research and Writing Seminar: Read More [+]

Additional Format: One hour of seminar per week.

Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Alternative to final exam.

Legal Studies Honors Research and Writing Seminar: Read Less [-]

LEGALST 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2019 Small group instruction in topics not covered by regularly scheduled courses. Topics may vary from year to year. Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of lecture per week

Additional Format: One to Four hour of Lecture per week for 15 weeks.

LEGALST 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015 Enrollment restrictions apply. Consult the Legal Studies department for more information. Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Prerequisites: Upper division standing. Consent of instructor and approval of Program Chairman

Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week

Summer: 6 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 1-4 hours of independent study per week

Additional Format: Hours to be arranged.

Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read Less [-]

Contact Information

Legal studies program.

2240 Piedmont Avenue

Phone: 510-643-5823

Fax: 510-642-2951

Director, Legal Studies

Jonathan Marshall

Phone: 510-642-3670

[email protected]

Undergraduate Academic Advisor

Lauri La Pointe

[email protected]

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Harvard Empirical Legal Studies Series

5005 Wasserstein Hall (WCC) 1585 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA02138

Contact the Graduate Program

The Harvard Empirical Legal Studies (HELS) Series explores a range of empirical methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and their application in legal scholarship in different areas of the law. It is a platform for engaging with current empirical research, hearing from leading scholars working in a variety of fields, and developing ideas and empirical projects.

HELS is open to all students and scholars with an interest in empirical research. No prior background in empirical legal research is necessary. If you would like to join HELS and receive information about our sessions, please subscribe to our mailing list by completing the HELS mailing list form .

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the current HELS coordinator, Tiran Bajgiran.

All times are provided in U.S. Eastern Time (UTC/GMT-0400).

Spring 2024 Sessions

Empire and the shaping of american constitutional law.

Aziz Rana, BC Law

Monday, Mar. 25, 12:15 PM Lewis 202

This talk will explore how US imperial practice has influenced the methods and boundaries of American constitutional study.

Historical Approaches to Neoliberal Legality

Quinn Slobodian, Boston University

Thursday, Mar. 28, 12:15 PM Lewis 202

Fall 2023 Sessions

On critical quantitative methods.

Hendrik Theine , WU, Vienna/Univ. of Pennsylvania Monday, Nov. 6, 12:30 PM Lewis 202

Economic inequality is a profound challenge in the United States. Both income and wealth inequality increased remarkably since the 1980s. This growing concentration of economic inequality creates real-world political and societal problems which are increasingly reflected by social science scholarship. Among those detriments is for instance the increasing economic and political power of the super-rich. The research at hand takes a new radical look at media discourses of economic inequality over four decades in various elite US newspapers by way of quantitative critical discourse analysis. It shows that up until recently, there was minimal media coverage of economic inequality, but interest has steadily increased since then. Initially, the focus was primarily on income inequality, but over time, it has expanded to encompass broader issues of inequality. Notably, the discourse on economic inequality is significantly influenced by party politics and elections. The study also highlights certain limitations in the discourse. Critiques of inequality tend to remain at a general level, discussing concepts like capitalist and racial inequality. There is relatively less focus on policy-related discussions, such as tax reform, or discussions centered around specific actors, like the wealthy and their charitable contributions.

Spring 2023 Sessions

How to conduct qualitative empirical legal scholarship.

Jessica Silbey , Professor of Law at Boston University Yanakakis Faculty Research Scholar

Friday, March 31, 12:30 PM WCC 3034

This session explores the benefits and some limitations of qualitative research methods to study intellectual property law. It compares quantitative research methods and the economic analysis of law in the same field as other kinds of empirical inquiry that are helpful in collaboration but limited in isolation. Creativity and innovation, the practices intellectual property law purports to regulate, are not amenable to quantification without identifying qualitative variables. The lessons from this session apply across fields of legal research.

Fall 2022 Sessions

How to read quantitative empirical legal scholarship.

Holger Spamann , Lawrence R. Grove Professor of Law

Friday, September 13, 12:30 PM WCC 3007

As legal scholars, what tools do we need to read critically and engage productively with quantitative empirical scholarship? In the first session of the 2022-2023 Harvard Empirical Legal Studies Series, Harvard Law School Professor Holger Spamann will compare and discuss different quantitative studies. This session will be a first approximation to be able to understand and eventually produce empirical legal scholarship. All students and scholars interested in empirical research are welcome and encouraged to attend.

How do People Learn from Not Being Caught? An Experimental Investigation of a “Non-Occurrence Bias”

Tom Zur , John M. Olin Fellow and SJD candidate, HLS

Friday, November 4, 2:00 PM WCC 3007

The law and economics literature on specific deterrence has long theorized that offenders rationally learn from being caught and sanctioned. This paper presents evidence from a randomized controlled trial showing that offenders learn differently when not being caught as compared to being caught, which we call a “non-occurrence bias.” This implies that the socially optimal level of investment in law enforcement should be lower than stipulated by rational choice theory, even on grounds of deterrence alone.

Empirical Legal Research: Using Data and Methodology to Craft a Research Agenda

Florencia Marotta-Wurgler , NYU Boxer Family Professor of Law Faculty Director, NYU Law in Buenos Aires

Monday, November 14, 12:30 PM Lewis 202

Using a series of examples, this discussion will focus on strategies to conduct empirical legal research and develop a robust research agenda. Topics will include creating a data set and leveraging to answer unexplored questions, developing meaningful methodologies to address legal questions, building on existing work to develop a robust research agenda, and engaging the process of automation and scaling up to develop large scale data sets using machine learning approaches.

Resources for Empirical Research

HLS Library Empirical Research Service
Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Research (IQSS)
Harvard Committee on the Use of Human Subjects
Qualtrics Harvard
Harvard Kennedy School Behavioral Insights Group

Past HELS Sessions

Holger Spamann (Lawrence R. Grove Professor of Law) – How to Read Quantitative Empirical Legal Scholarship?

Katerina Linos (Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law) – Qualitative Methods for Law Review Writing

Aziza Ahmed (Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law) – Risk and Rage: How Feminists Transformed the Law and Science of AIDS

Amy Kapczynski and Yochai Benkler –(Professor of Law at Yale; Professor of Law at Harvard) Law & Political Economy and the Question of Method

Jessica Silbey – (Boston University School of Law) Ethnography in Legal Scholarship

Roberto Tallarita – (Lecturer on Law, and Associate Director of the Program on Corporate Governance at Harvard) The Limits of Portfolio Primacy

Susan S. Silbey – (Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology at MIT) HELS with Susan Silbey: Analyzing Ethnographic Data and Producting New Theory

Cass R. Sunstein (University Professor at Harvard) – Optimal Sludge? The Price of Program Integrity

Scott L. Cummings (Professor of Legal Ethics and Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law) – The Making of Public Interest Lawyers

Elliot Ash (Assistant Professor of Law, Economics, and Data Science at ETH Zürich) – Gender Attitudes in the Judiciary: Evidence from U.S. Circuit Courts

Kathleen Thelen (Ford Professor of Political Science at MIT) – Employer Organization in the United States: Historical Legacies and the Long Shadow of the American Courts

Omer Kimhi (Associate Professor at Haifa University Law School) – Caught In a Circle of Debt – Consumer Bankruptcy Discharge and Its Aftereffects

Suresh Naidu (Professor in Economics and International and Public Affairs, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs) – Ideas Have Consequences: The Impact of Law and Economics on American Justice

Vardit Ravitsky (Full Professor at the Bioethics Program, School of Public Health, University of Montreal) – Empirical Bioethics: The Example of Research on Prenatal Testing

Johnnie Lotesta (Postdoctoral Democracy Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School) – Opinion Crafting and the Making of U.S. Labor Law in the States

David Hagmann (Harvard Kennedy School) – The Agent-Selection Dilemma in Distributive Bargaining

Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School) – Rear Visibility and Some Problems for Economic Analysis (with Particular Reference to Experience Goods)

Talia Gillis (Ph.D. Candidate and S.J.D. Candidate, Harvard Business School and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Law School) – False Dreams of Algorithmic Fairness: The Case of Credit Pricing

Tzachi Raz (Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at Harvard University) – There’s No Such Thing as Free Land: The Homestead Act and Economic Development

Crystal Yang (Harvard Law School) – Fear and the Safety Net: Evidence from Secure Communities

Adaner Usmani (Harvard Sociology) – The Origins of Mass Incarceration

Jim Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Control Trials in the Legal Profession

Talia Shiff (Postdoctoral Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and Department of Sociology, Harvard University) – Legal Standards and Moral Worth in Frontline Decision-Making: Evaluations of Victimization in US Asylum Determinations

Francesca Gino (Harvard Business School) – Rebel Talent

Joscha Legewie (Department of Sociology, Harvard University) – The Effects of Policing on Educational Outcomes and Health of Minority Youth

Ryan D. Enos (Department of Government, Harvard University) – The Space Between Us: Social Geography and Politics

Katerina Linos (Berkeley Law, University of California) – How Technology Transforms Refugee Law

Roie Hauser (Visiting Researcher at the Program on Corporate Governance, Harvard Law School) – Term Length and the Role of Independent Directors in Acquisitions

Anina Schwarzenbach (Fellow, National Security Program, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School) – A Challenge to Legitimacy: Effects of Stop-and-Search Police Contacts on Young People’s Relations with the Police

Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard Law School) – Willingness to Pay to Use Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat, and More: A National Survey

Netta Barak-Corren (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) – The War Within

James Greiner & Holger Spamann (Harvard Law School) – Panel: Why Does the Legal Profession Resist Rigorous Empiricism?

Mila Versteeg (University of Virginia School of Law) (with Adam Chilton) – Do Constitutional Rights Make a Difference?

Susan S. Silbey (MIT Department of Anthropology) (with Patricia Ewick) – The Common Place of Law

Holger Spamann (Harvard Law School) – Empirical Legal Studies: What They Are and How NOT to Do Them

Arevik Avedian (Harvard Law School) – How to Read an Empirical Paper in Law

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Experiments in the Law

Robert MacCoun (Stanford Law School) – Coping with Rapidly Changing Standards and Practices in the Empirical Sciences (including ELS)

Mario Small (Harvard Department of Sociology) – Qualitative Research in the Big Data Era

Adam Chilton (University of Chicago Law School) – Trade Openness and Antitrust Law

Jennifer Lerner (Harvard Kennedy School and Department of Psychology) – Anger in Legal Decision Making

Sarah Dryden-Peterson (Harvard Graduate School of Education) – Respect, Reciprocity, and Relationships in Interview-Based Research

Charles Wang (Harvard Business School) – Natural Experiments and Court Rulings

Guhan Subramanian (Harvard Law School) – Determining Fair Value

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Control Trials and the Impact of Legal Aid

Maya Sen (Harvard Kennedy School) – The Political Ideologies of Law Clerks and their Judges

Daria Roithmayr (University of Southern California Law School) – The Dynamics of Police Violence

Crystal Yang (Harvard Law School) – Empiricism in the Service of Criminal Law and Theory

Oren Bar-Gill (Harvard Law School) – Is Empirical Legal Studies Changing Law and Economics?

Elizabeth Linos (Harvard Kennedy School; VP, Head of Research and Evaluation, North America, Behavioral Insights Team) – Behavioral Law and Economics in Action: BIT, BIG, and the policymaking of choice architecture

Meira Levinson (Harvard School of Education) – Justice in Schools: Qualitative Sociological Research and Normative Ethics in Schools

Howell Jackson (HLS) – Cost-Benefit Analysis

Michael Heise (Cornell Law School) – Quantitative Research in Law: An Introductory Workshop

Susan Silbey (MIT) – Interviews: An Introductory Workshop

Kevin Quinn (UC Berkeley) – Quantifying Judicial Decisions

Holger Spamman (Harvard Law School) – Comparative Empirical Research

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – Randomized Controlled Trials in the Research of Legal Problems

Michael Heise (Cornell Law School) – Quantitative Research in Law

James Greiner (Harvard Law School) – A Typology of Empirical Methods in Law

David Wilkins (Harvard Law School) – Mixed Methods Work and the Legal Profession

Tom Tyler (Yale Law School) – Fairness and Policing

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Legal Studies Graduate Programs in America

1-25 of 103 results

Harvard Law School

Cambridge, MA •

Harvard University •

Graduate School

• Rating 4.33 out of 5 9 reviews

Doctoral Student: Extremely welcoming and friendly school. Makes everyone feel wanted and included! The teachers are very hands on and administration is wonderful. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much effort they put into supporting students throughout their experiences. ... Read 9 reviews

Harvard University ,

Graduate School ,

CAMBRIDGE, MA ,

9 Niche users give it an average review of 4.3 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says Extremely welcoming and friendly school. Makes everyone feel wanted and included! The teachers are very hands on and administration is wonderful. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much effort... .

Read 9 reviews.

Duke University School of Law

Durham, NC •

Duke University •

• Rating 5 out of 5 1 review

Doctoral Student: I love Duke Law. The community is excellent, the teaching is lovely, and Durham is such a nice place to live. I recommend it to anyone looking to attend law school. ... Read 1 review

Duke University ,

DURHAM, NC ,

1 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says I love Duke Law. The community is excellent, the teaching is lovely, and Durham is such a nice place to live. I recommend it to anyone looking to attend law school. .

Read 1 reviews.

Philadelphia, PA •

University of Pennsylvania •

University of Pennsylvania ,

PHILADELPHIA, PA ,

College of Public Affairs and Education - University of Illinois at Springfield

University of Illinois Springfield •

Graduate School •

SPRINGFIELD, IL

• Rating 4.25 out of 5 4

Vermont Law and Graduate School

SOUTH ROYALTON, VT

• Rating 3.6 out of 5 25

Suffolk University

• Rating 4.56 out of 5 16

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Chicago, IL •

Northwestern University •

Northwestern University ,

CHICAGO, IL ,

University of Chicago Law School

University of Chicago •

University of Chicago ,

Georgetown Law

Washington, DC •

Georgetown University •

• Rating 5 out of 5 2 reviews

Doctoral Student: Lots of access to a variety of different courses depending on what your interests are. Also can take courses in the evening which is nice for those who work during the day. ... Read 2 reviews

Georgetown University ,

WASHINGTON, DC ,

2 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says Lots of access to a variety of different courses depending on what your interests are. Also can take courses in the evening which is nice for those who work during the day. .

Read 2 reviews.

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UCLA School of Law

Los Angeles, CA •

University of California - Los Angeles •

• Rating 3.33 out of 5 3 reviews

Doctoral Student: I think law school in general always goes from bad to better over time. I started out really confused and anxious, and I don't think I really took advantage of what UCLA Law offered while I was a 1L. Instead, I spent too much time trying to figure out everything on my own, which didn't work out so great for my grades or for my mental health. I felt things really turn around when I was able to do experiential coursework as a 2L because I felt like I was really functioning as a law student. UCLA's experiential courses and options really made my law school experience so much better than it would've been if I just took doctrinal classes. ... Read 3 reviews

University of California - Los Angeles ,

LOS ANGELES, CA ,

3 Niche users give it an average review of 3.3 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says I think law school in general always goes from bad to better over time. I started out really confused and anxious, and I don't think I really took advantage of what UCLA Law offered while I was a 1L.... .

Read 3 reviews.

University of Virginia School of Law

Charlottesville, VA •

University of Virginia •

Doctoral Student: So far everyone has been so welcoming and supportive. I can’t wait to begin taking classes in the fall. I have heard nothing but positive things about the law program ... Read 2 reviews

University of Virginia ,

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA ,

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says So far everyone has been so welcoming and supportive. I can’t wait to begin taking classes in the fall. I have heard nothing but positive things about the law program .

Atlanta, GA •

Emory University •

• Rating 4 out of 5 4 reviews

Doctoral Student: The program has recently started, but we are in full force. I think the best part are the professors ability and energy to teach the classes. The worst part was probably the orientation. It seemed long overall and could have been shortened, or they could have added a school tour of the whole campus. The 1L experience as a whole is similar to other law schools from what I have been hearing though. So 4 out of 5 stars. ... Read 4 reviews

Emory University ,

ATLANTA, GA ,

4 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says The program has recently started, but we are in full force. I think the best part are the professors ability and energy to teach the classes. The worst part was probably the orientation. It seemed... .

Read 4 reviews.

Berkeley Law

Berkeley, CA •

University of California - Berkeley •

Doctoral Student: Berkeley Law offers high quality legal education. Teachers are engaged and classes are stimulating. I am proud to be a Berkeley Law student ... Read 2 reviews

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University of California - Berkeley ,

BERKELEY, CA ,

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says Berkeley Law offers high quality legal education. Teachers are engaged and classes are stimulating. I am proud to be a Berkeley Law student .

Northeastern University School of Law

Boston, MA •

Northeastern University •

• Rating 4 out of 5 6 reviews

Doctoral Student: The professors are great and peers are more supportive than your typical law school. However, the administration is terribly unorganized year after year. It seems that have had the same problems for decades after speaking with alumni that graduated in the 90s and 00s. Disappointing given the fact that this is one of the most expensive schools around. ... Read 6 reviews

Northeastern University ,

BOSTON, MA ,

6 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says The professors are great and peers are more supportive than your typical law school. However, the administration is terribly unorganized year after year. It seems that have had the same problems for... .

Read 6 reviews.

NYU School of Law

New York, NY •

New York University •

Doctoral Student: For the past year, I've been deferring to pursue a Fulbright Peru scholarship, but I'm even more excited with this experience to begin at NYU Law in the fall studying human rights and international law, with a focus on applying my studies to climate change litigation and policymaking. ... Read 1 review

New York University ,

NEW YORK, NY ,

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says For the past year, I've been deferring to pursue a Fulbright Peru scholarship, but I'm even more excited with this experience to begin at NYU Law in the fall studying human rights and international... .

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Boston College Law School

Newton, MA •

Boston College •

• Rating 4.75 out of 5 8 reviews

Alum: I am an alum of BCLS and can say, hands down, I received a great education. BCLS cultivates an inclusive and supportive culture, that is academically rigorous. The big difference between BCLS students and those that attend a larger mill of a law school, the school graduates well rounded, articulate, and worldly lawyers. They are ambitious but also know how to connect to people and the world around them. The alums network is incredibly tight and we do all we can to support each other and new graduates. I cannot say enough about BCLS. ... Read 8 reviews

Boston College ,

NEWTON, MA ,

8 Niche users give it an average review of 4.8 stars.

Featured Review: Alum says I am an alum of BCLS and can say, hands down, I received a great education. BCLS cultivates an inclusive and supportive culture, that is academically rigorous. The big difference between BCLS... .

Read 8 reviews.

School of Law - William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA •

William & Mary •

• Rating 4.67 out of 5 3 reviews

Doctoral Student: W&M Law provides a personable and effective academic environment wherein the competitive nature of a normal law school takes a back seat. ... Read 3 reviews

William & Mary ,

WILLIAMSBURG, VA ,

3 Niche users give it an average review of 4.7 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says W&M Law provides a personable and effective academic environment wherein the competitive nature of a normal law school takes a back seat. .

School of Law - Boston University

Boston University •

Master's Student: BU has excellent faculty, a great facility, and a welcoming environment. While you can't escape competitiveness in law school, the cultivated atmosphere is one of helpfulness - in any way you may be struggling, you'll find peers, faculty, and staff ready to help. However, I wish there was more support from the administration for public interest students. Students in the field are left to lean on each other and select faculty members, while the school itself puts its resources into big law recruitment. ... Read 4 reviews

Boston University ,

Featured Review: Master's Student says BU has excellent faculty, a great facility, and a welcoming environment. While you can't escape competitiveness in law school, the cultivated atmosphere is one of helpfulness - in any way you may be... .

University of Illinois College of Law

Champaign, IL •

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign •

Doctoral Student: I am an incoming student to the College of Law, but want to make sure it's noted that the professionalism, friendliness, and transparency of the administration during the application and consideration processes won me over extremely quickly. I have nothing but great things to say about the team and Assistant Dean. Illinois Law has an excellent reputation, and the people are clearly a significant reason for it. ... Read 6 reviews

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ,

CHAMPAIGN, IL ,

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says I am an incoming student to the College of Law, but want to make sure it's noted that the professionalism, friendliness, and transparency of the administration during the application and... .

University of Miami School of Law

Coral Gables, FL •

University of Miami •

• Rating 4.9 out of 5 10 reviews

Doctoral Student: The JD program at UMiami is really great because they are constantly providing us with options to meet employers, work with the community, and do real meaningful work. ... Read 10 reviews

University of Miami ,

CORAL GABLES, FL ,

10 Niche users give it an average review of 4.9 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says The JD program at UMiami is really great because they are constantly providing us with options to meet employers, work with the community, and do real meaningful work. .

Read 10 reviews.

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Cleveland, OH •

Case Western Reserve University •

• Rating 5 out of 5 4 reviews

Master's Student: The school was amazing, the professors were amazing, the area around the campus is nice. The only downside is the winters. I hate snow, and Cleveland gets a lot. ... Read 4 reviews

Case Western Reserve University ,

CLEVELAND, OH ,

4 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says The school was amazing, the professors were amazing, the area around the campus is nice. The only downside is the winters. I hate snow, and Cleveland gets a lot. .

Tulane Law School

New Orleans, LA •

Tulane University •

• Rating 5 out of 5 6 reviews

Other: I am currently enrolled for the Juris Doctor (JD) Program at Tulane Law School. This program gives me the opportunity to participate in Journals, Moot Court, Clinics, Externship activities etc. I am currently an Editorial Board Member of the Sports Law Journal and a Staff Writer for the Sports Law Weekly publication. The curriculum at Tulane Law School is practical and hands-on and I look enjoy every bit of the academic and student life here. ... Read 6 reviews

Tulane University ,

NEW ORLEANS, LA ,

6 Niche users give it an average review of 5 stars.

Featured Review: Other says I am currently enrolled for the Juris Doctor (JD) Program at Tulane Law School. This program gives me the opportunity to participate in Journals, Moot Court, Clinics, Externship activities etc. I am... .

Santa Clara University School of Law

Santa Clara, CA •

Santa Clara University •

• Rating 4 out of 5 3 reviews

Doctoral Student: The classmates can be rude and mean but the professors are very nice. I feel like they have a lot of resources but you have to go out and seek the help yourself ... Read 3 reviews

Santa Clara University ,

SANTA CLARA, CA ,

3 Niche users give it an average review of 4 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says The classmates can be rude and mean but the professors are very nice. I feel like they have a lot of resources but you have to go out and seek the help yourself .

Law School - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN •

University of Minnesota Twin Cities •

University of Minnesota Twin Cities ,

MINNEAPOLIS, MN ,

University of Washington School of Law

Seattle, WA •

University of Washington •

Master's Student: Application and acceptance went very fast. Classes start next month and I can't wait to begin my Master of Jurisprudence program. ... Read 2 reviews

University of Washington ,

SEATTLE, WA ,

Featured Review: Master's Student says Application and acceptance went very fast. Classes start next month and I can't wait to begin my Master of Jurisprudence program. .

Michael E. Moritz College of Law

Columbus, OH •

The Ohio State University •

The Ohio State University ,

COLUMBUS, OH ,

University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Pittsburgh, PA •

University of Pittsburgh •

• Rating 4.5 out of 5 4 reviews

Master's Student: I am in the MSL program (Master of Studies in Law). I am in the online program. Online at pitt is fairly new so some program have kinks or so I have heard. The MSL does not. It has been smooth, educational and valuable. ... Read 4 reviews

University of Pittsburgh ,

PITTSBURGH, PA ,

4 Niche users give it an average review of 4.5 stars.

Featured Review: Master's Student says I am in the MSL program (Master of Studies in Law). I am in the online program. Online at pitt is fairly new so some program have kinks or so I have heard. The MSL does not. It has been smooth, educational and valuable. .

George Washington University Law School

George Washington University •

• Rating 4.33 out of 5 3 reviews

Doctoral Student: My favorite part about attending law school at GW are the amazing professors and faculty who are truly so talented and successful and care about students' success. One thing I do not like about GW is the inability to navigate the portal easily and the long wait times to get a response from faculty regarding issues such as financial aid. ... Read 3 reviews

George Washington University ,

3 Niche users give it an average review of 4.3 stars.

Featured Review: Doctoral Student says My favorite part about attending law school at GW are the amazing professors and faculty who are truly so talented and successful and care about students' success. One thing I do not like about GW... .

PITTSBURGH, PA

• Rating 4.5 out of 5 4

University of Pittsburgh

• Rating 4.43 out of 5 74

American University Washington College of Law

American University •

WASHINGTON, DC

• Rating 4.36 out of 5 11

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Post-Graduation Immigration Options Session with CBK Immigration

May 4, 2024 · 10:00 – 11:30 AM

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ISSS invites Middlebury international undergraduate and graduate students, plus recent alumni on OPT/STEM OPT, to attend this special opportunity! Attorney Megan Kludt, a partner at the immigration law firm Curran, Berger & Kludt, will provide an overview of U.S. immigration options available after students complete their Middlebury degree and F-1 OPT/STEM OPT work authorization, if applicable. Join us to learn about available employment and post-graduation status categories, including H-1B, Legal Permanent Residency (LPR), and more. Come with questions! Registration Link (required): https://forms.gle/VZmkgtXv5SpYFyw88

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4 PhD Degrees in Legal Studies in USA for 2024

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The USA remains the world’s most popular destination for international students. Universities in the US dominate the world rankings and the country also offers a wide variety of exciting study locations. State university systems are partially subsidized by state governments, and may have many campuses spread around the state, with hundreds of thousands of students.

Requirements for the PhD program often involve the student having already obtained a Master’s degree. Additionally, a thesis or dissertation primarily consisting of original academic research must be submitted. In some countries, this work may even need to be defended in front of a panel.

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Junk science is cited in abortion ban cases. Researchers are fighting the ‘fatally flawed’ work

Researchers are calling for the retraction of misleading anti-abortion studies that could influence judges in critical cases

T he retraction of three peer-reviewed articles prominently cited in court cases on the so-called abortion pill – mifepristone – has put a group of papers by anti-abortion researchers in the scientific limelight.

Seventeen sexual and reproductive health researchers are calling for four peer-reviewed studies by anti-abortion researchers to be retracted or amended. The papers, critics contend, are “ fatally flawed ” and muddy the scientific consensus for courts and lawmakers who lack the scientific training to understand their methodological flaws.

While some papers date back to 2002, the group argues that now – in the post-Roe v Wade era – the stakes have never been higher. State and federal courts now routinely field cases on near-total abortion bans , attacks on in vitro fertilization and attempts to give fetuses the rights of people .

“When we saw the meta-analysis presented again and again and again – in the briefs to the Dobbs case ” that overturned Roe v Wade “and state cases” to restrict abortion, “the concerns really rose,” said Julia Littell, a retired Bryn Mawr professor and social researcher with expertise in statistical analysis.

A meta-analysis is a kind of research that uses statistical methods to combine studies on the same topic. Researchers sometimes use these analyses to examine the scientific consensus on a subject.

Littell was “shocked” by a paper that said women experience dramatic increases in mental health problems after an abortion – primarily because of the paper’s research methods.

Of the 22 studies cited by the meta-analysis, 11 were by the lone author of the paper itself. The meta-analysis “failed to meet any published methodological criteria for systematic reviews” and failed to follow recommendations to avoid statistical dependencies, according to a criticism published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Large scientific bodies have found no evidence to suggest abortion causes increases in mental health problems. The best predictor of a woman’s mental health after an abortion is her health before. What’s more, there is substantial evidence that women who are denied a wanted abortion suffer both mental and financial harms.

From the time it was published, this 2011 meta-analysis has drawn consternation. Still, it remains in the scientific record in a dispute that the 17 authors of the BMJ criticism, including Littell, say goes beyond mere scientific disagreement.

The paper has been cited in at least 24 federal and state court cases and 14 parliamentary hearings in six countries.

Dr Chelsea Polis , a reproductive health scientist in New York City, who helped gather the group of academics, says her “concerns with the meta-analysis on abortion and mental health published … are based on it being, in my professional opinion, egregiously methodologically flawed”.

The researcher who wrote the article, Priscilla Coleman, a retired professor from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, has responded to calls for retractions with legal threats and descriptions of conspiracy. She said calls for retraction were “an organized effort to cull professional literature and remove studies demonstrating abortion increases risk of mental health problems to impact the legal status of abortion”.

Since the supreme court overturned the constitutional right to abortion and allowed 21 states to severely restrict or ban the procedure, a series of retractions and investigations show how the scientific community is slowly beginning to re-evaluate work cited in these court cases.

“We’re seeing claims made with legal force behind them, and that’s causing people to look at a lot of this research in a different way,” said Mary Ziegler, a professor of law at the University of California Davis, and an expert on the history of reproduction.

A second author whose work is at the center of the BMJ critique is David C Reardon, a longtime abortion opponent. A 2002 study by Reardon, also published in BMJ, is now under investigation.

BMJ said in a statement that the “issue remains under consideration by our research integrity team”, and that their final decision would be made “public once we have completed our internal process”.

Reardon trained as an engineer, but found his calling in research that claimed a connection between abortion and poor mental health. He founded the Elliot Institute in Illinois, an openly anti-abortion non-profit, to pursue that research.

Today, Reardon is affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, funded by one of the most powerful anti-abortion campaign organizations in the US, Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America. Reardon also co-authored two of the articles that were retracted before supreme court hearings, both by a colleague at the Lozier Institute. Reardon did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

According to analyses of the literature and experts such as Julia Steinberg, an associate professor of family science at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a co-author of a recent critique of these studies in BMJ, the science is not in dispute. The “rates of mental health problems for women with an unwanted pregnancy were the same whether they had an abortion or gave birth”, an analysis by the UK’s National Collaborating Center for Mental Health found in 2011. That review was cited as one of the best by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, in its own 2018 review of the issue.

Other reviews, such as one from 2009 by the American Psychological Association , found evidence “did not support the claim that observed associations between abortion and mental health problems are caused by abortion per se”.

“One can be pro-choice or pro-abortion or anti-abortion, but still understand what the science says with respect to abortion and mental health,” said Steinberg.

Although matters of scientific integrity may seem academic, they can have concrete impacts on policy in the US post-Roe.

One of the few cases of scientific retractions to break through to the wider public was in Texas, where a federal court relied heavily on two studies in a decision to invalidate the approval of mifepristone – better known as the “abortion pill” .

The case was appealed all the way to the supreme court, where it was heard in March in oral arguments in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v FDA . Just weeks before the justices were set to hear the case, and as nearly the entire scientific community screamed about the “ junk science ” at its heart, the heavily cited studies were retracted by Sage Publications. Even so, the article’s claims remained in briefs before the court, and were cited as evidence by one of the most conservative justices, Samuel Alito .

Like Reardon, Coleman also recently had a paper retracted, this one in Frontiers in Psychology in 2022. The journal said publicly that the paper “did not meet the standards for publication”. Notably, one of the paper’s reviewers also worked at the Lozier Institute. Coleman unsuccessfully sued the journal over its decision to retract. The court ruled against Coleman in March 2023, Frontiers told the Guardian.

Coleman’s 2011 meta-analysis, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, was also involved in a heated retraction fight in the UK. The first calls for retraction of the article came soon after it was published in 2012.

It was again brought to journal editors in 2022 after the BJP established a research integrity group . “Motivated by strong agreement with” the importance of scientific integrity, said Polis, “I led a group of 16 scholars to summarize and submit our concerns, again, about the Coleman meta-analysis to BJP.”

In response to these concerns, the BJP established an independent panel of experts to investigate. The panel recommended Coleman’s article be retracted, but was overruled by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the professional association that publishes the BJP. The move prompted members of the independent panel and some editorial board members to resign .

Later reporting that appeared in the BMJ included panel members saying they believed the college declined to retract because they may not have had comprehensive legal cover in the United States. Coleman threatened to sue – twice – according to letters obtained by the BBC .

Although Coleman denied that her legal threats contributed to the BJP’s decision not to retract her study, she said help from attorneys had been important to defending her work.

“I have spent the last two years vigorously defending three of my own articles and without the financial means to hire highly competent lawyers and the time and opportunity to write lengthy rebuttals, the impact could have been very damaging,” said Coleman.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists responded to inquiries from the Guardian by sending a 2023 statement on its decision. That statement read, in part: “After careful consideration, given the distance in time since the original article was published, the widely available public debate on the paper, including the letters of complaint already available alongside the article online, and the fact that the article has already been subject to a full investigation, it has been decided to reject the request for the article to be retracted.” The statement added: “We now regard this matter as closed.”

Coleman has also defended her work when she testified in US courts, including in a Michigan hearing in which she said her study was “not retracted”.

Steinberg said: “That’s what’s really infuriating.”

Coleman “hasn’t even had to admit that she made an error”, she added.

Researchers also called for retraction of a 2009 article in the Journal of Psychiatric Research by Coleman and the anti-abortion activists Catherine Coyle and Vincent Rue. This article too has been under fire for years and even publicly debunked .

In spite of apparent flaws, Coleman included this 2009 article in her meta-analysis, which critics say compounds the errors.

Additionally, authors of the BMJ critique called for a 2005 article in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders by Coleman, Reardon and a Florida State University psychology professor, Jesse Cougle, to be accompanied by an expression of concern.

Ivan Oransky, one of the founders of the Retraction Watch blog, said that although retractions had become more common, they were nowhere near common enough to correct the scientific record. About one in 500 papers are retracted today, but perhaps as many as one in 50 ought to be, he said.

“All it does is further throw into question what the heck value these multibillion-dollar publishing companies are adding,” said Oransky. For critics of the scientific publishing industry, like Oransky, the response shows how flawed studies cited by courts are a “symptom” of problems with publishers, rather than a failure of courts.

To Littell, the solution is in plain sight: “We really need to be publishing fewer papers, better work, better science.”

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Ph.D. Berkeley Law's Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program offers a unique interdisciplinary graduate program leading to Ph.D. degrees for students interested in the scholarly study of legal ideas and institutions, policy analysis and applied research, and other areas. Learn more here.
PhD programmes in Legal Studies in United States
Haub Law offers a full-time and part-time day academic program that provides solid preparation for students who wish to become lawyers. The Juris Doctor program at Pace University offers an integrated curriculum designed to ensure the development of appropriate academic, procedural, and lawyering skills. Ph.D. / Full-time, Part-time / On Campus.
Best 56 Legal Studies PhD Programmes in United States 2024
Pace University. New York City, New York, United States. Juris Doctor - Family and Juvenile Law. Liberty University. Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. This page shows a selection of the available PhDs in United States. If you're interested in studying a Legal Studies degree in United States you can view all 56 PhDs.
9 Ph.Ds in Legal Studies in United States
The Wharton Ethics and Legal Studies Doctoral Program at the University of Pennsylvania focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, and law schools.
Coordinated JD/PhD Program
The Coordinated JD/PhD Program is designed for students interested in completing interdisciplinary work at Harvard University and is founded on the belief that students' legal studies and their arts and sciences graduate studies can be mutually enriched through this pursuit. Students completing the coordinated program receive a JD from ...
Ethics and Legal Studies, PhD < University of Pennsylvania
Ethics and Legal Studies, PhD. Print Options. 2023-24 Catalog. Ethics and Legal Studies, PhD. The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, law schools, and other programs.
PhD Justice, Law & Criminology
The PhD in Justice, Law & Criminology in the School of Public Affairs draws from the breadth and depth of resources across American University. Our program is rooted in contemporary theory, principles, practices, and research methods in criminology, criminal justice, terrorism and homeland security studies, and legal studies.
JD/PhD Legal Studies and Business Ethics • Academics • Penn Carey Law
JD/PhD Legal Studies and Business Ethics. The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, and law schools. About the JD/PhD Legal Studies and Business Ethics.
Top 10 Best PhD in Law Programs [2024]
Yale University, Law School. PhD in Law. Yale University's Law School ranks first in the nation, with its 20 legal clinics offering an immersive experience for students. This PhD program has a purely academic focus. To qualify for admission, you'll need to already have a JD (Juris Doctor) degree.
Legal Studies < University of California, Berkeley
Legal Studies is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts major that engages the meanings, values, practices, and institutions of law and legality. The Legal Studies curriculum examines how law shapes and is shaped by political, economic, and cultural forces. The major is designed to stimulate the critical understanding of and inquiry about the ...
Harvard Empirical Legal Studies Series
Overview The Harvard Empirical Legal Studies (HELS) Series explores a range of empirical methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and their application in legal scholarship in different areas of the law. It is a platform for engaging with current empirical research, hearing from leading scholars working in a variety of fields, and developing ideas and empirical projects. HELS […]
27 PhD Degrees in Legal Studies 2024
Online USA; PhD. Full time, Part time. Distance Learning. English. The Doctor of Legal Studies (PhD) goal is to help students understand existing legal rules and doctrines, with their underlying policy arguments, so that they can think about these arguments, prepare to present an argument and let their own voices be heard.
2023-2024 Top Legal Studies Graduate Programs
UCLA School of Law. University of California - Los Angeles,. Graduate School,. LOS ANGELES, CA,. 3 Niche users give it an average review of 3.3 stars. Featured Review: Doctoral Student says I think law school in general always goes from bad to better over time.I started out really confused and anxious, and I don't think I really took advantage of what UCLA Law offered while I was a 1L.....
These law schools sent the most graduates into Big Law jobs in 2023
Columbia Law School snagged the top spot among U.S. law schools for having the highest percentage of 2023 graduates who landed large law firm jobs, according to new employment data from the ...
Post-Graduation Immigration Options Session with CBK Immigration
ISSS invites Middlebury international undergraduate and graduate students, plus recent alumni on OPT/STEM OPT, to attend this special opportunity!Attorney Megan Kludt, a partner at the immigration law firm Curran, Berger & Kludt, will provide an overview of U.S. immigration options available after students complete their Middlebury degree and F-1 OPT/STEM OPT work authorization, if applicable ...
4 PhD Degrees in Legal Studies in USA for 2024
PhD Degrees in Legal Studies The USA remains the world's most popular destination for international students. Universities in the US dominate the world rankings and the country also offers a wide variety of exciting study locations.
Addressing real-world problems through citizen science
GFP (Global Field Program) graduate Safiya Sabir '21 of New York, New York, was published in NSTA's Connected Science Learning. GFP (Global Field Program) graduate Safiya Sabir '21 of New York, New York, was published in NSTA's Connected Science Learning. ... Oxford, OH 45056, USA Directions; Main Operator 513-529-8600;
Rethinking Surface, Visual Studies, UCI 2024 Graduate Conference
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Find breaking science news and analysis from the world's leading research journal.
Junk science is cited in abortion ban cases. Researchers are fighting
T he retraction of three peer-reviewed articles prominently cited in court cases on the so-called abortion pill - mifepristone - has put a group of papers by anti-abortion researchers in the ...

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Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, and law schools.

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