Law
JD

As a law student, you’ll master essential legal skills, learn the fundamentals of statutory and case law, and explore new and emerging areas of practice. Your preparation begins with our simulation-based Legal Skills sequence of courses and culminates in real-world clinic, internship, and pro bono opportunities.

You'll develop a professional identity, becoming familiar with the practice of law as you improve your skills in interviewing and counseling, case planning, direct representation, and dealing with ethical issues that arise in practice.

The integration of knowledge, theory, ethics, and skills will prepare you to thrive in the changing legal profession.

Learn more about UMass Law:

Course descriptions, schedules and requirements

Student success

Grace St. Urbain, JD '24

UMass Law Student Bar Association (SBA) president and Public Interest Law Fellow answers the call to service.

Research

Shaun Spencer examines a new era of law, technology, and privacy

UMass Law Associate Dean informs emerging debates over the appropriate regulation of privacy, technology, and information policy

Degree requirements

To earn your Juris Doctor (JD) degree, you must:

Complete 90 course credits
Successfully complete all curricular requirements
Satisfy all probationary requirements
Fulfill all financial obligations to the university

Degree programs

Full-time and part-time programs

Traditional full-time day program: takes 3 years to complete.

Evening/weekend program: Designed for students who cannot attend a traditional program; offered in the evening, Monday through Thursday, and during the day, on Saturday.

Summer sessions: You may accelerate your course of studies by taking courses during the summer sessions. By taking advantage of these sessions every summer, full-time students can complete their studies in 2½ years.

Joint degree programs

Practical experience

The development of legal skills and ethical values is central to your legal education.

While providing quality legal representation to clients, you have the opportunity to develop technical lawyering skills as well as to grapple with the ethical issues that present themselves daily in the practice of law. This experience is a prime way for you to put into action the knowledge you have gained during your classroom experience.

Unique opportunities

Study abroad

Study international and comparative law for two summer weeks in Lisbon, Portugal, or during a semester in Limerick, Ireland.

Post-graduate experience

Justice Bridge is a post-graduate incubator for UMass Law graduates who want to learn how to develop rewarding law practices.

preLaw Best For Government Employment Badge

Graduate admissions requirements

University requirements for graduate admissions

Submit an application via the online portal. Be sure to provide your full legal name and to capitalize the first letter of all proper nouns.
Pay non-refundable $60 application fee (American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa) via the online portal. For Nursing applicants, the non-refundable application fee is $75.
Statement of Purpose, minimum 300 words. Unless otherwise indicated in the program requirement details, indicate your graduate study objectives, research interests and experience, and business or industry experience if applicable. If you are applying for a teaching or research assistantship, include any special skills or experience that would assist us in making assistantship decisions.
Resume
Transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended (regardless of whether a credential is earned or not). Unofficial transcripts are accepted for admissions application review, once enrolled a final official transcript is required. International students applying with an transcript evaluation, please submit that document with your unofficial transcripts. International applicants for Data Science must submit semester-by-semester transcripts as well as consolidated transcripts.
Many programs have specific recommendations/requirements, please see the additional program-specific requirements for more information.
International students: official TOEFL iBT, IELTS, Pearson PTE or Duolingo (if accepted by program) score. Unofficial scores are accepted for admissions application review, once enrolled official scores are required and must be sent by the testing agency (copies/scans not accepted). This is required of any applicant who did not earn a bachelor’s degree or higher degree from an accredited academic institution in the U.S. or accepted English-speaking country, see exemptions for more details. We require an overall/total minimum score of 72 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.0 on the IELTS or a 52 on the Pearsons PTE Academic for entrance to any program and a minimum score of 79 on the TOEFL iBT or BAND 6.5 on the IELTS for consideration for a teaching assistantship. Some programs require higher minimum scores (see program-specific requirements). Most programs also accept the Duolingo with a minimum score of 95. The following programs do not accept the Duolingo: Art Education, Biology/Marine Biology, Nursing (MS, DNP, PhD), Psychology: Clinical, and Public Policy.
All official documents are required for enrollment, please have documents (ie. test scores) sent prior to the expiration.