Graduate Legal Studies

For more than a century, Columbia Law School has educated students who, having already earned a basic law degree—the U.S. Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or its foreign equivalent—wish to pursue an advanced course of full-time study in furtherance of careers in teaching, public service, or the international practice of law.

Each year, the Law School enrolls approximately 250 graduate students from more than 50 jurisdictions in our Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D) degree programs. Their experience spans all areas of the legal profession—including academia, the judiciary, public service, civil rights, and human rights advocacy, NGOs, international organizations, and private practice. Law School students interact with unrivaled faculty and highly accomplished students; work very hard; are treated exceptionally well; and obtain a degree that represents the best that U.S. legal education can offer. This remarkable community of individuals, when embraced by the Law School’s longstanding commitment to excellence, makes the school an especially dynamic and vibrant community in which to study law. We invite you to explore the rest of the site and to contact us with further questions.