Law schools in the United States offer professional education leading to the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, a professional doctorate required to practice law. Full-time J.D. programs typically span three years, while evening programs take four years. The first-year curriculum is standardized across most schools and includes courses such as civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, property, torts, legal research, and legal writing. After the first year, students may concentrate on specialized fields including administrative law, corporate law, criminal law, environmental law, intellectual property law, and tax law, among others.
Admission to U.S. law schools requires a bachelor's degree in any discipline, a satisfactory undergraduate record, and a satisfactory score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or alternative standardized tests such as the GRE or JD-Next. Undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores are the most important factors considered by admissions committees, though personal factors evaluated through essays, recommendations, and application materials also carry weight. Many law schools actively seek applicants from diverse backgrounds to enhance racial, economic, and experiential diversity. As of 2023, there were 196 ABA-accredited law schools with approximately 116,897 enrolled J.D. students.
The American Bar Association (ABA) accredits law schools and sets detailed requirements covering curriculum, facilities, and instruction standards. As of 2020, there were 203 ABA-accredited law schools awarding the J.D. degree. To sit for the bar exam, the vast majority of state bar associations require graduation from an ABA-accredited law school. Some states maintain separate approval systems for non-ABA-accredited schools; California is the most notable example, approving schools that may not meet ABA standards. Non-ABA-approved law schools have significantly lower bar passage rates than ABA-approved institutions.