How long to attend law school

Law students are required by most law schools to complete the law program in three years. Under special circumstances, an extension may be permitted but that is not the norm. Taking all the above factors into account, the shortest path to law school is approximately six years. For the student who has already earned a bachelors and is considering entering law school, the time commitment is between three and four years. All in all, law school takes about seven years to complete for the average student entering college.

Home About Contact. Toggle navigation. How Long is Law School? Law School Resources. How long is Law School? Becoming a lawyer does not happen overnight, where any potential candidate must first complete years of college and sit for the bar exam. Typically, earning a law degree takes most students three years or longer based on the particular path.

Before taking the bar examination, you will need to obtain a Juris Doctor JD degree at an accredited law school, which typically takes three years to complete. Potential candidates hoping to enter law school must pass the LSAT to enroll for a law degree. Many designated testing centers in the United States administer the half-day standardized LSAT law school admission test several times every year.

Before entering law school, most undergraduate students take the law school admissions test in the summer before their senior year at college. The LSAT test reveals if the potential law school candidate has the reading comprehension, writing, critical thinking, and reasoning skills required for completing the first year of law school. The length of time you will spend at law school will be based on the degree you want to obtain.

Different law degrees have varying curriculums and credit requirements. The top six popular law degrees include:. The American Bar Association requires every law student to complete at least 83 credit hours to graduate in an accredited law school. Typically, 64 credit hours must be acquired through direct faculty instruction or by attending regularly scheduled classroom sessions. The 83 credit hours to obtain a law degree cannot be completed any earlier than 24 months unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

All courses must be completed within 84 months after the student began taking law school classes. Typically, law students obtain their Juris Doctor degree within 2 to 7 years or about three years on average. It might take some students the full 84 months to obtain their degree when attending part-time programs. Typically, the better law student does in classes, and the higher the grade point average, the easier it is to pass the bar exam.

Hard work pays off, providing better internship opportunities, law school opportunities, and job opportunities. Higher GPAs typically provide better scholarship opportunities and increase the chance of passing the bar exam. College professors and law school graduates know that taking substantive classes can help the student prepare for the bar exam.

The student will need to answer questions on varying subjects, including evidence, torts, real property, contracts, constitutional law, civil procedure, sales, and criminal justice and procedure. Learning comprehensive writing skills is a crucial component to passing the exam. Improving writing skills might require taking a legal writing class, or participating in a practical task internship could help, where the student learns to write briefs, letters, memos, and complaints.

Some law schools provide a bar prep course to gain an early start when taking the exam after graduation. Students can earn credits taking some of these classes.

It may be necessary to study for taking the bar exam long before graduating. Students who should consider studying for the exam include those who graduated at the bottom of the class or struggled in their first-year studies. The LSAT is offered several times throughout the year. Most undergraduate students take the LSAT during the summer before their senior year of college and then apply to law schools during the fall of their senior year. However, some students take the LSAT after they graduate so they can focus exclusively on preparing for the test.

Under the ABA rules , a law student must complete no fewer than 83 credit hours in order to graduate from an ABA-approved law school. At least 64 of these credit hours must be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. Additionally, these 83 credit hours must be completed no earlier than 24 months and, except in extraordinary circumstances, no later than 84 months after the student has begun law school.

Accordingly, it will take law students anywhere from 2—7 years to earn their J. Students who attend law school part-time or who experience some sort of health emergency that forces them to step away from school for an extended period may take longer than 3 years. A Master of Laws LL.