JD Program

Learning at Berkeley Law means joining a stimulating intellectual community that is part of a tradition of academic excellence, professional leadership, and public service. Berkeley’s location in the San Francisco Bay Area, with influences from Silicon Valley and the Pacific Rim, provides an unparalleled opportunity to study at one of the world’s leading institutions of legal education, policy, and research. Its academic program includes specialized study in business, law, and economics; environmental law; law and technology; international and comparative legal studies; and social justice and public interest. The curriculum is complemented by research centers and clinical programs that provide real client work. Berkeley Law offers a broad three-year curriculum leading to the JD degree and postgraduate programs leading to LLM and JSD degrees. The interdisciplinary Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP) program leads to MA and PhD degrees. The school is a member of AALS and is ABA approved.

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Student Life

Student Organizations, Journals, and Legal Projects

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Graduate Student Housing

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Living in the SF Bay Area

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Student Wellness

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Career Placement and Bar Passage

Berkeley Law graduates are among the most sought-after in the country. Employers from all sectors and all geographic markets know the Berkeley Law degree means that you have met rigorous standards, learned from top legal scholars, and acquired the skills and real-world experiences to enable you to hit the ground running. Our on-campus recruiting programs are among the largest. After graduating, 60 to 65% typically head to the largest and most prestigious law firms across the country (more choose to start at firms a year or two after graduating following the completion of their judicial clerkships). A significant percentage of our class – around 20% in a typical year – choose instead to serve the public by embarking on public interest or government careers. Another large cohort – 15 to 20% -- start their careers in much coveted judicial clerkship positions. Each year, our graduates are awarded highly prized postgraduate fellowships, including those offered by the Skadden Foundation and Equal Justice Works. Several earn competitive slots in federal and state government honors programs. We typically send our graduates to more than 30 states and abroad. The largest number of our graduates stay in California, followed by those who go to New York City and Washington, DC.

The Career Development Office is staffed by eight attorney-counselors, each of whom has practiced law and can offer real-world insights into various career paths. We provide customized, one-on-one career counseling to students and alums, and we produce resources and present programs, panels and workshops to educate students on different career paths and professional development skills. We help students develop compelling application materials (e.g., resumes and cover letters), prepare students to excel in interviews (both through individual practice interviews AND structured mock interview programs with practicing attorneys), and maintain an online jobs database and a robust series of online career resources. We engage in consistent conversations with employers about the state of legal hiring and in furtherance of creating new job opportunities for our students and alums. We also host a series of big on-campus interview programs - one in the spring, one in late summer and one in the fall. And finally - we help connect students with the generous and amazing Berkeley Law alumni community.

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Admission Decisions: Beyond the Numbers

As a public institution, Berkeley Law has a responsibility to educate lawyers who will serve the legal needs of all members of society. In light of this responsibility, Berkeley Law seeks to enroll students whose quality of mind and character suggests that they have the capacity to make a contribution to the learning environment of the law school and to distinguish themselves in serving the needs of the public through the practice of law, the formulation of public policy, legal scholarship, and other law-related activities.

In making admissions decisions, the school gives substantial weight to numerical indicators (that is, undergraduate grade point averages and test scores). Yet numbers alone are not dispositive. The law school considers other factors as well for all applicants. For example, substantial consideration is given to letters of recommendation, graduate training, special academic distinctions or honors, the difficulty of the academic program successfully completed, work experience, and significant achievement in nonacademic activities or public service. If it appears that an applicant has experienced disadvantages, this will be considered in evaluating his or her past performance and in assessing the applicant’s potential to distinguish himself or herself in the study and practice of law and to contribute to the educational process and the legal profession.

Berkeley Law seeks a student body with a broad set of interests, backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives. Such diversity is important in a law school, which must train its graduates not only to analyze and interpret the law, but also to reflect on competing viewpoints, advance arguments persuasively in a variety of forums, and develop policies affecting a broad range of people. Historically, Berkeley Law’s diverse student body has produced graduates who have served all segments of society and who have become leaders in many fields of law, including such varied fields as civil rights and corporate, environmental, criminal, intellectual property and family law. Exposure to a wide array of ideas, outlooks, and experiences is an important part of our students’ educational and professional development. Through its admissions process, the law school seeks to select students who will attain the highest standards of professional excellence and integrity, and who will bring vision, creativity, and commitment to their professional endeavors.

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