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Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers


Purposes

Occasionally in the past, the KU law school has admitted students into its J.D. Program who hold law degrees from accredited foreign law schools, with the expectation that such foreign-trained lawyers could complete the J.D. degree requirements in two years. Recently the law school formalized this practice into an official Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers.

A two-year J.D. degree can be attractive to a student with a foreign law degree. Typically, that degree is an LL.B. Such students do have the option, of course, of pursuing an LL.M. degree in the United States. However, the job prospects for LL.M. students are increasingly less favorable, especially in comparison with candidates who have both an LL.B. and an American J.D. Moreover, many legal employers are seeing the benefit of having some of their attorneys bearing full credentials in two (or more) jurisdictions. That benefit follows the business of their clients, such as multinational corporations.

From the perspective of KU, of course, having such students in the J.D. class not only makes that class more cosmopolitan, but also more professional. Moreover, the foreign students/lawyers help create an excellent professional network for other KU J.D. students and graduates.

Structure

There are two possible avenues by which a foreign-trained lawyer might come to KU to participate in the Two-Year J.D. Program. The first would be under the auspices of a letter agreement entered into by KU law school with a foreign law school from which that lawyer received (or is receiving) his or her training. Such a letter agreement would explain that KU welcomes applications from graduates of that foreign law school, or from students of the foreign law school who will graduate before entering KU law school. There are advantages to such a letter agreement both for KU and for the foreign law school. Among other things, it can help assure that this Two-Year J.D. Program is presented as an option to students at the foreign institution. KU is just starting to partner with foreign law schools with this idea in mind; letter agreements with a few prestigious institutions will probably be put in place soon.

However, a student with (or about to receive) a degree from an accredited foreign law school is eligible to apply for KU's Two-Year J.D. Program even if no letter agreement exists (yet) between the two institutions. Indeed, most candidates will fall into this category. Accordingly, the absence of a letter agreement is no impediment to such an application.

Application Requirements

Foreign-trained lawyers wishing to apply for admission into KU's Two-Year J.D. Program should submit the following items, all of which will be taken into consideration as part of the law school's regular admissions process:

(i) an application form in its entirety (that is, accompanied by the various documents referred to in the application form, such as letters of recommendation, academic record to date and personal statement). There is no special application form for this program.

(ii) LSAT score(s). The LSAT is administered in many cities around the world. A foreign-trained lawyer or current law student should plan ahead in order to register with LSDAS and take the LSAT as part of the application process for KU. There is no specific required minimum LSAT score for entry into the program.

(iii) proof of proficiency in English at a level adequate to start and complete the program. For foreign students for whom English is a first language, or who obtained a law degree at an institution in which English is the medium of instruction, no further evidence would be necessary. For all other students, proof would consist of a satisfactory score on the TOEFL. Although no specific TOEFL score has been identified as an absolute minimum, favorable consideration of an application is unlikely unless the applicant has a score of at least 600 on the paper-based TOEFL (with at least 60 in each subscore) or a score of at least 250 on the computer-based TOEFL (with at least 25 in each subscore).

Requirements for Completing the Program

During a student's first year of participation in the Two-Year J.D. Program, the student is required to take the standard first-year curriculum (including Lawyering) if that student did not obtain a foreign law degree in a common law jurisdiction. During the second year of study, such a student (i.e., not trained in a common law jurisdiction) is eligible for any second-year or third-year course, the same as other J.D. students. A student with a law degree from a common law jurisdiction will spend both of his or her years in the Two-Year J.D. Program taking upper-level courses.

For these purposes, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England, India, New Zealand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka will typically qualify as common law jurisdictions. (For the foreseeable future, Hong Kong and Macau also will qualify.) A student with an LL.B. from one of these countries would not need to enroll in first-year courses. Decisions about whether certain other countries qualify for these purposes would be made by the dean or faculty member designated by the dean as necessary.

Students in the Two-Year J.D. Program are subject to the same grading system that applies to other J.D. candidates. Moreover, all other law school and university rules apply, as appropriate, to students in the Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers. These include rules governing credits from outside the law school, cross-listing of courses, etc.

The Two-Year J.D. Program for Foreign-Trained Lawyers is not limited to foreign citizens. There may be American citizens with a foreign law degree - for example, because they were born or raised overseas, or elected to study abroad after high school. They would be eligible for the program.