Juris Doctor

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School has a full-time program leading to the JD, the first professional degree in Law. The Law School’s legal education program, combining our rich, interdisciplinary curriculum, varied co-curricular activities, and pro bono responsibilities, prepares our students for admission to the bar and serves as effective, ethical, and responsible members of the legal profession. Each student will be able to do the following:

• Demonstrate a core knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law in several different subject areas;
• Engage in legal analysis and reasoning, conduct efficient and effective legal research, apply problem-solving skills, and present findings, analyses, and recommendations efficiently and effectively in both written and oral communication;
• Work collaboratively;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of law and the contributions and benefits to legal analysis and problem-solving that other disciplines can make;
• Exercise proper professional judgment and fulfill ethical responsibilities to clients, the profession, and society in general; and
• Utilize a range of professional skills that facilitate active, competent, and ethical participation in the legal profession.

In 1790, James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, framer of the Constitution, and member of the first U.S. Supreme Court, delivered the University of Pennsylvania's first lectures in law to President George Washington, all the members of his Cabinet. Following this auspicious beginning, Penn began offering a full-time program in law in 1850, under George Sharswood, an innovator in legal education. Since that time, Penn Law has been at the forefront of legal education in our country.

Penn's academics are boosted by its inherent culture and ecosystem of innovation. You name it, if it's cutting-edge, the University's faculty and students have their hands in it. Grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and enriched by four undergraduate and 12 graduate schools' integrated resources, Penn offers students an unparalleled education informed by inclusivity, intellectual rigor, research, and the impetus to create new knowledge for the benefit of individuals and communities around the world.