Academics

Traditional Juris Doctor (JD)

Pepperdine University School of Law awards the Juris Doctor (JD) degree after the successful completion of 88 units of courses over three years and the completion of the Professional Development Program, the upper-division writing requirement, and the upper-division skills requirement, among other requirements.

The Curriculum

First-year law students follow a rigorous course of study that covers the following subjects: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Introduction to Ethical Lawyering, Legal Research and Writing, Property, and Torts.

After the first year, students are required to complete 18-21 units of additional required courses (depending on the units offered for certain courses), including: Corporations, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Federal Income Taxation, Remedies, and Wills and Trusts.

Students also have the opportunity to select from a broad range of elective courses, clinics, externships, and student-edited journals. Students may choose to pursue a concentration in an area of interest. The School of Law offers four certificate programs: (1) a certificate in dispute resolution from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution; (2) a certificate from the Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law in one of four concentrations; (3) a certificate in Criminal Legal Practice; and (4) a certificate in International and Comparative Law.

Admissions