Starting this year, New York Law School (NYLS) has launched a new JD program that can be completed in two years.
The new JD takes the same curriculum in NYLS's traditional three-year program and instead delivers it over a period of 24 months.
Even though the program is compressed, students will also have opportunities — and one hopes, the time — to take part in extracurricular activities such as law reviews and moot courts.
The new JD is aimed specifically at honors students, and as such, admission will automatically come with a merit scholarship of at least $50,000. Additionally, postgraduate fellowships are guaranteed for all students, through the school's partnerships with law firms, government agencies, nonprofits, and companies.
The accelerated JD, according to the school's website, will focus on the growth areas of New York City's economy, including financial services and government.
Although JD programs are typically delivered over a three-year period, an increasing number of law schools are offering more accelerated versions. Washington's Gonzaga School of Law, for instance, offers an accelerated JD program that can be completed in two years. In this program, students receive their degree in May of their second year, and are able to sit for the bar as early as that July.
The Los Angeles-based Southwestern Law School was reportedly the first school to offer an accelerated JD program in the US, which launched in 1974. In the summer of 2014, Brooklyn Law School began offering New York City's first two-year JD.
Other law schools that offer accelerated JD programs include Pepperdine School of Law, Northwestern Law, and Iowa Law, among others.
Some law schools, like SUNY Buffalo Law School, offer accelerated JD programs designed for international lawyers who already hold a law degree from a jurisdiction outside the United States.
In additional the school's new JD programs, NYLS also offers LL.M. programs in Taxation and American Business Law.
NYLS' new accelerated JD program launched in January and is currently in full swing. For more information, please see the NYLS accelerated JD course webpage. For more about NYLS' LL.M. programs, please go to the school's full profile on LLM GUIDE.
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