Degrees and Areas of Specialization
The school offers the standard Juris Doctor degree as well as several programs of specialization within the degree (which are indicated by notations on a student's diploma). Students can specialize in Business Law and Policy, Entertainment Law, Public Interest Law, Critical Race Studies, and Law and Philosophy. The roughly 300 students who begin Law School at UCLA every year are divided into sections in order to encourage a sense of community. Students take all of their first year courses with their sections.
The Socratic method is still in use by most professors, but some faculty allow for a slightly more relaxed classroom atmosphere than at other top-tier law schools. The school also has traditionally offered a strong clinical program, which is housed in its own wing (built at a cost of $9 million). Each year, the clinical program puts students through realistic simulations of trials, depositions, and client meetings; these are staffed with a pool of nearly 500 volunteers drawn from all over the Southland who play parties, witnesses, judges, and jurors.
Several joint degree programs are available, requiring four years of study, and resulting in the simultaneous award of a Juris Doctor and a Master’s Degree in one of the following areas: Afro-American Studies, American Indian Studies, Law and Management, Public Health, Public Policy, Social Welfare, or Urban Planning.
The school also offers a Master of Laws (LL.M.) law program, which involves one year of post-law-graduate studies. This program is popular among foreign students, who then take the California bar exam.
Finally, it offers a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree, designed for students who already have a J.D. and hope to become law professors.
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