Education
We teach law the way it is practiced — without boundaries.
The role of lawyers in the 21st century is not defined by the firm or the courtroom. Likewise, at Stanford Law, legal education is not confined to the classroom. We teach law the way it is practiced today: between disciplines, across geographies, in collaboration.
SLS programs — JD, joint degrees and degrees in cooperation with other institutions, master’s and doctoral — take advantage of the robust intellectual resources found only at Stanford University, in Silicon Valley and on the Pacific Rim. Here, immersive experiences abound. You’ll find legal clinics through which you advocate full-time for clients, a one-of-a-kind policy lab, seminars in faculty homes and connections to influential centers of research and policy. You’ll also discover unique opportunities for creative collaboration — between law and business, the biosciences, technology, or environmental science. (You can even invent your own joint degree, or create a class at the intersection of your interests.)
The SLS approach to teaching law — forward-thinking, boundary-breaking — is inspired by what modern graduates need to become innovators, problem-solvers and leaders. That approach positions our students for career opportunities that reflect the breadth of the Stanford Law learning experience.
The opportunities to lead and chart your own path here are unsurpassed. At SLS I’ve discovered the entrepreneurial, passionate lawyer-businessswoman-leader I never knew was waiting inside of me.
Kelli Newman, JD ’12, Associate, Jones Day
A Diverse and Distinctive Community
SLS students come from liberal arts colleges and tech institutes, public and private sector careers, military academies and academies of art, theological seminaries and medical schools, state colleges and private universities.
3,900
JD program applicants each year
72%
Students who have been out of college for one or more years
50
States represented in JD program applications
60
Countries from which students apply
Only-at-SLS Learning Experiences
To understand why the laws were written, or to write them yourself, or to make change through policy or litigation, and to come out of school with two hundred others who’ll help you do it, you can’t beat SLS.
Jon Margolick, JD ’ 1 3 , New York, NY
Influence environmental law while you learn.
Protecting Joshua Tree National Park, saving endangered salmon, ensuring permanent state conservation for private lands near the largest coastal lagoon in the lower 48 states — these are just three ways students in Stanford Law’s Environmental Law Clinic have had on-the-ground impact. Participants work on a mix of policy and litigation matters at the intersection of law and science. With clients that include the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ocean Conservancy — plus many regional and local organizations — cases take students before agencies and to all levels of state and federal court, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Experiences like these make learning at SLS both immersive and high-impact.
learn about the Environmental Law Clinic
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