We pride ourselves on our dedication to teaching, and the personal attention our faculty gives to every student permitted by our low student-to-faculty ratio. Our small classes enable every student to get personal attention and build relationships with faculty.
Our faculty has broad and deep expertise in the law. This is reflected in our rich curricular offerings that allow students not only to build foundational skills, but also to take an array of elective courses in areas of their interest.
Lower Division/First Year Courses
During the first year of study, students learn the basics of public and private law. The following courses are required for all first-year students to provide them with the necessary grounding in fundamental legal concepts:
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Criminal Law
- Legal Communication and Research I and II
- Property
- Torts
- Professional Responsibility
Upper Division/Second and Third Year Courses
After the first year, students have only four prescribed course requirements to fulfill: Constitutional Law II, Professional Responsibility, a Professional Writing Requirement, and a course in Administrative Law or legislation and statutory interpretation.
The remaining coursework toward the degree is completed through elective upper level courses, clinical and externship experiences for credit, co-curricular activities for credit, and/or graduate-level coursework approved for credit toward the J.D. degree. In addition, law students may take as many as six credits in graduate coursework to apply toward the J.D degree from other Syracuse University colleges with prior approval.
See Sample Course Descriptions
LL.M. Courses
LL.M. students must complete 24 credits to qualify for graduation. Our core LL.M. curriculum requires two courses:
- LLM 900: Introduction to the American Legal System (3 credits)
- LLM 901: U.S. Legal Writing (3 credits)
This leaves plenty of space in your schedule to explore a range of over 80 elective courses from our lower-division and upper-division courses mentioned above.