Students who intend to apply for American university law schools must be most concerned about the ranking of American university law schools. In fact, except for the top 10 universities, the top 20 law schools in the United States have hardly changed in the past 20 years.
Simply put, if you are admitted to the law school of any university, it is enough to prove your Excellence. It can be said that you entered the first-class law school in America.
Therefore, when setting up a target university, some students will choose the school of their father or grandfather's generation. Because this legacy will have a high probability of being hired to some extent. Some students stared at the top three law schools.
Harvey and Michael's law firms, like Golden Lawyers, think that Harvard Law School graduates are the best, and the rest are out of their eyes. In addition, some students aim to improve their LSAT scores and rank as high as possible in law school.
U.S. Legal Department Application Steps
The employment of American law schools is different from that of European universities, and the steps required for application are as follows.
Obtaining a bachelor's degree, whether it is a law-related degree, a degree outside the law, or applying for a law school, is not mandatory. Another meaning is that American law schools do not have undergraduates in the general sense.
Taking the LSAT exam is a test of critical thinking and analytical ability, and it is also a test result that must be provided when applying for law school.
Lock in the target university and start applying.
Classification of American law degrees
doctor of laws
JD degree is a vocational degree to a certain extent, which can help students pass the American judicial examination and obtain a legal license. In other words, you usually have to take the bar exam. Most American lawyers, judges and law professors have doctorates in law.
Full-time students in the JD program need 3 years, and part-time courses need 4 years. Graduation usually requires 90 credits.
Tuition is very high. Even in the legal American drama Battle of Pride, Luca Quinn's parents wanted her to go to law school, and her brother went to work early. It is said that she didn't go to college.
The pressure of class is so great that it is difficult to ensure 4~5 hours of sleep every day.
To apply for J.D. courses in American law schools, you must have a bachelor's degree and must provide LSAT scores.
LLM
The length L.M mainly provides professional legal research on environmental law, international law and intellectual property law, and strengthens the opening of law students in a specific field. Another master of law course is for international students who need to further adapt to the American legal system.
The educational system is 9- 12 months.
The application requires a bachelor's degree in law or legal background, and does not require LSAT scores.
doctor of laws
The doctor's degree in judicial science is similar to the general doctor's degree course and is the highest degree in the field of law. Law graduate students with LLM degree can continue to obtain the doctor's degree of SJD after completing their master's degree if they want to do more in-depth research in a certain professional legal field or want to become a law school professor as their career goal.
The academic system of S.J.D is three years. But most law schools in the United States only offer a small number of S.J.D courses.
It should be noted that the degree of S.J.D is neither higher than J.D. nor equal to. You can't take the American judicial examination if you have a doctorate in law.
Therefore, the general international students apply a lot.
Teaching style and curriculum of American law schools
During my three to four years in American law school, I studied administrative law, legal theory, analytical legal methods, bankruptcy, business law and morality, civil rights, constitution and other courses.
During the second and third years, many local and international students in the United States gained practical experience by participating in internship programs, and some internships may be directly related to future formal work. In other words, if some interns perform well, they can become regular employees directly.
Starting from junior year, choose a specific law course to define your future career.
The specific classification includes the following categories.
international law
public law/statute
criminal law
commercial law
patent law
Socrates education in American law schools
Among all law schools in the United States, the most popular teaching method is called Socrates method. By consulting students, students can find their own answers, and teachers take on the role of asking questions without solving them.
By using the methods of dialogue, discussion and heuristic teaching, students are constantly exposed the contradictions in their answers by asking questions, and guided to sum up general conclusions.
Similar to stating the case in court.
This is not easy for students, but the professors of American law schools think it is the best way for future legal experts to have critical thinking and rational analysis ability and solve problems quickly.
About the lawyer qualification examination
After graduating from law school and getting a degree, you need to take the judicial examination to become a professional lawyer.
You can take the American judicial examination in any state, but you must decide which state to take the driver's license. Because of the different employment standards in different States in the United States, you can only work in which state you obtain a lawyer's license.
However, some states have signed agreements to allow lawyers licensed in other states to take the exam instead of taking the exam.