LAW-JD - Law (JD)

Mastering legal doctrine is just the beginning of a proper legal education. Lawyers play countless roles in our society—as advocates, advisors, and leaders in their own right. They practice law, work in business and government, put their degrees to use in science, education, and policymaking, and serve their communities in many other ways. Knowledge of the law, its content, and how to argue about it remains critical in all these roles. But it is not enough and a lawyer must also understand the needs of the people they serve and the consequences for them of different legal positions. And because those needs cross disciplinary boundaries, Stanford Law—true to Stanford University’s heritage of learning without limits— offers the opportunity for a genuinely interdisciplinary, multidimensional legal education.

Stanford Law has adopted various innovative approaches to prepare students to think like lawyers, clients, and scholars. First, we make it easy to experience the diverse learning opportunities possible only at a university like Stanford—with its breadth of highly ranked schools and departments located close together on a well-connected physical campus. Stanford Law students have broad access to courses outside the law school that will fill out their legal education. In this way, students benefit from academic thought leaders across disciplines, not to mention the intellectual life of the campus found in the myriad of conferences and events held each year and in countless other multidisciplinary research programs.

Nor do the opportunities to broaden your legal education at Stanford Law end here. In addition, you can explore law’s intersection with a growing range of fields by pursuing a joint degree and adding a master’s or doctorate to your law degree or by taking teamwork-oriented simulation courses with students and faculty from other parts of the university.