Juris Doctor Program

A Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Delaware Law carries with it both prestige and great responsibility. As a Juris Doctor candidate here, you will work closely with some of the most highly regarded legal scholars and practitioners in the nation.

Why Earn a JD Degree from Delaware Law?

Throughout our history, we have focused on developing practice-ready professionals who take the inside track to a powerful law career. Along the way, these professionals carry on Delaware Law's core values of civility, integrity, mutual respect, and commitment to the greater good.

As a JD candidate at Delaware Law, you have the flexibility and tools to shape and launch your career. That may involve choosing concentrated study in a specialty area or a JD/Master of Business Administration or JD/Master of Public Health dual-degree program and accessing all of the resources and support Delaware Law offers:

Faculty Mentorship

Our instructors are judges, attorneys, public defenders, prosecutors, bankruptcy professionals, and general counsel, each with a record of professional accomplishments, scholarship, and research in business, corporate, criminal, family, health, constitutional, environmental, and dignity rights law. They bring their backgrounds into the classroom, offering real-world insights, while supporting your intellectual and professional development. Helping guide you on your journey toward becoming a practicing lawyer, our faculty spend hours outside of class mentoring our JD candidates one-on-one or in small groups.

Choose Your Own Direction

Located in Wilmington, Delaware Law's campus balances a quaint, walkable, suburban setting with immediate access to 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the United States. Delaware State Courts present additional experience-building opportunities for you to launch your career. We are right in between Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, and Washington, D.C., presenting numerous paths for entering the legal profession.

Delaware Law’s Career Development Office is here to help you realize your aspirations. Prepare for life after law school by attending workshops, training sessions, and networking events. During your time here, meet periodically with one of our career counselors to discuss your goals and be connected with opportunities that align with your interests. Furthermore, for growing your professional connections, you, as a JD candidate, will have access to a network of over 12,000 Delaware Law alumni.

In-Classroom Learning with Out of Classroom Experiences

As a JD candidate, you are required to complete at least 12 credits of experiential learning as part of the 90 total credits required to complete the program. These opportunities not only give you hands-on practice but start you on your way toward a career advocating for justice. In the process, you’ll gain powerful industry connections in America’s corporate capital that help you establish yourself following graduation.

Review the full JD curriculum and degree requirements.

A Juris Doctor Degree That’s Uniquely Yours

As you begin your studies at Delaware Law, you’ll find that flexibility is at the heart of our JD degree program, from the full- and part-time formats to our signature programs that allow JD candidates to specialize their legal training, conduct industry-advancing research, advocate for others, and influence public policy.

Select one of the following signature programs to tailor your degree to a specific area of the law:

• Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law: Thinking about a career where you’ll represent or conduct legal research for large corporations? This business law program focuses on the regulations and statutes governing publicly traded businesses and business organizations and opens up opportunities for business advising and fellowships.
• Taishoff Advocacy, Technology, and Public Service Institute: This criminal law concentration helps JD candidates develop advanced litigation skills and professional competencies while emphasizing trial and appellate advocacy and the use of technology in the courtroom.
• Environmental Rights Institute: Offering opportunities for collaborative research, this environmental law program explores local and global issues related to sustainability, climate change, and citizens’ rights.
• Family Health Law and Policy Institute: This concentration helps JD candidates acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience to improve health outcomes for families and involves field work in hospitals, schools, and government agencies.
• Dignity Rights Project: This program equips JD candidates to partner with academic, nonprofit, and community-based organizations all over the world to advance the human right to dignity.

Experiential Learning

At Delaware, Law, you'll take your education beyond the classroom. Put your knowledge into practice before you graduate through meaningful professional connections that lead to career opportunities. Law clinics and externships enable you to represent defendants in criminal trials, advocate for others, and clerk for a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

Through co- and extracurricular activities, you will further hone your legal skills. Get an article published in one of our two distinguished law reviews—The Delaware Journal of Corporate Law and the Widener Law Review —or compete in oral advocacy and transactional competitions. Continue to build your skills and resume through more than 20 student-led organizations and by volunteering for community service projects.

Law Clinics

Here’s where you’ll have the chance to handle real cases for real clients and cultivate the confidence you need as a lawyer in the courtroom.

• Delaware Civil Law Clinic: JD candidates provide pro bono legal representation, advice, and referrals to victims of domestic violence.
• Innocence Delaware Legal Clinic: JD students partner with nonprofit Innocence Delaware to represent individuals unjustly incarcerated in the state.
• Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Clinic: Students obtain certification to represent indigent plaintiffs in criminal trials.
• Veterans Law Clinic: JD students advocate and seek compensation for veterans living with disabilities.
• Environmental and Natural Resources Clinic: Students represent not-for-profit organizations and individuals in court seeking to protect the environment and help uphold existing legislation.

Externships

Externships allow JD candidates to earn academic credit while honing their research and writing skills and seeing firsthand the day-to-day lives of practicing attorneys and judges. Delaware Law connects students with over 150 externship sites, with opportunities including:

• Clinical, Judicial, and Health Law: JD candidates work directly with judges, public defenders, government officials, and other legal professionals.
• Josiah Oliver Wolcott Fellowship: Select JD candidates have an opportunity to serve as a clerk for a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

Learn more about Delaware Law’s externship program.

Make a Difference with a Juris Doctor Degree from Delaware Law

Interested in applying to Delaware Law’s JD degree program? Prospective students should reach out to the Admissions Office with questions about the application process and the Delaware Law experience, or review all requirements before starting an application.

Are you a current JD candidate? Current students should reach out to the Office of Student Affairs with questions about their academic experience and professional journey.