Degrees at Yale Law School

Yale Law School offers five degree–granting programs. Joint degrees are conferred by the law school and other Yale graduate programs. In addition, a limited number of visiting researchers and visiting students are welcomed each year. Learn more about the different degree programs available.

Degree Programs

Juris Doctor

Yale Law School’s three-year J.D. program provides students with a legal education of outstanding breadth and depth.

LL.M. Degree

The Law School admits a limited number of graduate students each year to pursue one year of full-time study leading to the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.)

J.S.D. Degree

The Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) program is a select program open only to graduates of the LL.M. program at Yale Law School.

M.S.L. Degree

The Law School offers a Master of Studies in Law (M.S.L.) degree program for a small number of non-lawyers who want to obtain a basic familiarity with legal thought and to explore the relation of law to their disciplines.

Ph.D. Program

The Doctor of Philosophy in Law (Ph.D.) is designed to prepare J.D. graduates for careers in legal scholarship through three years of coursework and the production of a substantial body of academic research and writing.

Joint Degree

In cooperation with other schools and departments of Yale University, the Law School offers programs leading to a master’s degree and a J.D. (Juris Doctor) or to a doctorate and a J.D.
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There is a role for lawyers to represent clients, to challenge authority, to hold it accountable and insist that it justify itself.”

Michael Wishnie

Class of 1993, William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law