<p>Everything I've been able to come across so far in terms of accelerated law programs seem to talk about 3+3 programs, which I'm not interested in at the moment. (I'm already receiving my undergraduate degree in a total of three years of work.)</p>
<p>What I'm curious about, however, is if there are any programs out there that allow you to attain your J.D. in two years (or a dual J.D./M.B.A. in three). Can't seem to find any information; any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>The American Bar Association, the accrediting body for law schools in the U.S., has stated the following in its accreditation requirements (with selected ABA interpretations):</p>
<p>Standard 304. COURSE OF STUDY AND ACADEMIC CALENDAR. </p>
<p>(a) A law school shall have an academic year of not fewer than 130 days on which classes are regularly scheduled in the law school, extending into not fewer than eight calendar months. The law school shall provide adequate time for reading periods, examinations, and breaks, but such time does not count toward the 130-day academic year requirement.</p>
<p>(b) A law school shall require, as a condition for graduation, successful completion of a course of study in residence of not fewer than 58,000 minutes of instruction time, except as otherwise provided. At least 45,000 of these minutes shall be by attendance in regularly scheduled class sessions at the law school. </p>
<p>(c) A law school shall require that the course of study for the J.D. degree be completed no sooner than 24 months and not longer than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at the law school or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit. </p>
<p>(d) A law school shall require regular and punctual class attendance.</p>
<p>(e) A law school shall not permit a student to be enrolled at any time in coursework that, if successfully complete, would exceed 20 percent of the total coursework required by that school for graduation (or a proportionate number for schools on other academic schedules, such as a quarter system). </p>
<p>(f) A student may not be employed more than 20 hours per week in any week in which the student is enrolled in more than twelve class hours.</p>
<p>Interpretation 304-2:
A law school may not count more than five class days each week toward the 130-day requirement.</p>
<p>It would be very tough to fulfill these requirements, as well as the other requirements for graduation from an accredited law school (upper level writing course, ethics course, certain courses during first year of law school (torts, property, criminal law, constitutional law, contracts, etc.), without staying in law school for at least three years. Admittedly, while you are there, the third year may at times seem arguably unnecessary, but I don't know of a law school program that you can complete in less than three years. All of the JD/MBA programs of which I am aware are four year programs, which represents one year less than the programs would take to complete separately.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What I'm curious about, however, is if there are any programs out there that allow you to attain your J.D. in two years (or a dual J.D./M.B.A. in three). Can't seem to find any information; any help would be appreciated
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is not directly relevant to your question, but there are several states in which you don't need an ABA accredited law degree to practice law, and in certain states (notably California) you don't need a law degree of any kind. Granted, it's obviously not easy to have a successful law career without an ABA accredited law degree, but the possibility is there.</p>
<p>University of Dayton has an accredited two year JD Program, starts the summer after you graduate from undergrad.</p>
<p>There used to be, and probably still are, some law schools in Southern states such as Georgia, that gave a degree in two years. However, they are not ABA-accredited and graduates of such schools typically would only be able to take the bar exam in that state.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies so far (particularly sallyawp --- it's good to know that the ABA actually allows for it). :)</p>
<p>Since it sounds like few programs specifically structure themselves for a two year timespan, I'll somewhat modify the question I posed earlier: How plausible is it to finish a typical three year program from a top law school in two years? Is it completely unheard of, or are there a few that somehow manage to do so?</p>
<p>There was a big question many years back over whether law school should be two years or three years. It was decided that MBAs and master's are two-year programmes; they wanted it to be a doctorate, so it's a 3-year thing. I have heard that four years for a JD/MBA is really rough. Consider that an MBA in three years means that you are doing five years of INTENSE schooling in three - it's like trying to get a BS and a MS in engineering in three years.</p>
<p>i forget if it's cardozo or brooklyn that has you take courses the summer before and the summer after your senior year of college, so you only have 2 more years after that.</p>
<p>also, university of michigan has a summer start program, so you can be done 2.5 years after graduating from college.</p>
<p>however, as my very wise sister put it when i was debating doing a joint degree, "you could be 25 when you graduate and spend N years as a lawyer, or be 26 and spend N-1 years. wouldn't it be more fun to be a student than a lawyer?" 1 semester into 1L year and loving it, I totally agree with her. School's fun. The jobs will be waiting for you. No need to rush.</p>
<p>One note is that a law school that has a three year program will generally require you to stay for the entire three years. A law school that has a summer start program or a two-year or other program is what it is. </p>
<p>In other words, you're not going to go to Yale Law and finish its three-year program in two years.</p>
<p>The summer-start programs appear to be cropping up at more law schools since the ABA changed the rules. I found this page for the University of Kansas: <a href="http://www.law.ku.edu/admissions/summer_start.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.law.ku.edu/admissions/summer_start.shtml</a></p>
<p>"i forget if it's cardozo or brooklyn that has you take courses the summer before and the summer after your senior year of college, so you only have 2 more years after that."</p>
<p>it is Cardozo. They run in tri-mesters year round</p>
<p>regarding studying JD in 2 years i think it should be possible if there is a university in the states with a trimester system , thats three full semesters a year... in australia there is bond university which has such a system , i have finished my LLB in (spanish civil law) , and i would like to study a common law JD , i was thinking to do it in here (gold coast) but i thought it would be better to do it in the states , i read once that there are some universities in the states with 3 semsters a year, but is there any law school adopting such a program??</p>
<p>Southwestern offers a 2 year JD program.
See: SCALE®</a> — Southwestern Law School</p>
<p>Indiana University has an accelerated three year JD/MBA program. The law school is tier 1 and the MBA program is top 25. I believe this is the most prestigious school offering such a program. </p>
<p>The catch is that the schools explicitly state that the program is intended for those with significant work experience. Though, I personally know that there are exceptions to that rule.</p>
<p>Another catch, and I believe a more perilous one, is that it requires non-stop attendance at the school, summers included. This can be a serious problem. Particularly for those with legal aspirations: most of the better law firms rely on summer associate positions as their primary feeders.</p>
<p>My advice for anyone doing the straight UG to Law School jump: Don't do an accelerated program. Most of them seem to demand your sacrifice your summers in order to complete ahead of schedule. This will do serious harm to your immediate career prospects. The first job out of law school often requires you to do some serious networking during your two summers.</p>
<p>Accelerated programs, as Indiana's advice suggests, seem best suited for those with a job essentially waiting for them upon graduation, or already built network that'll help them jump back into the workforce without much trouble.</p>
<p>I believe Northwestern also has a 3 year JD/MBA program. Probably includes summer sessions too. Considering that both JD and MBA from Northwestern is top notch, it may be a program to check out.</p>
<p>Can't beat Kellogg (Northwestern) MBA/JD!</p>
<p>Some law school offer summer courses and if you attend both semesters it's possible to graduate in 2.5 years.</p>
<p>Hah yeah, I just checked and Northwestern is the other to offer an accelerated program. If you're to do one, that'd definitely be the one. Smart move by Northwestern to use its dominate MBA program to push up its Law program.</p>
<p>KU (Kansas) offers an accelerated 2 year program. It's a Summer Start program. You would attend for 3 summer sessions and 2 academic years.
KU:</a> School of Law
Also, Duke has an accelerated program where you can finish in 2 years.</p>
<p>Hope this helps someone!</p>
<p>California Western has a 2-year program.</p>