Advanced Standing Two-Year Juris Doctor for Internationally Trained Lawyers
If you hold a law degree from a non-U.S. jurisdiction (a J.D. or its equivalent), you may qualify for our Advanced Standing Two-Year J.D. for Internationally Trained Lawyers program.
The Advanced Standing Two-Year J.D. for Internationally Trained Lawyers is intended for students who:
- already hold a law degree from a jurisdiction outside the United States;
- and would like to earn a Juris Doctor degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law.
In this new and innovative program, students receive advanced standing, and therefore can finish the J.D. degree in just two years. Graduates are eligible to sit for the New York State bar and/or the bar exam of a different state.
These students are just like the traditional three-year J.D.s – they join the entering class, take all the classes required of J.D. students, and form all the bonds that constitute the U.S. legal profession. Through the Advanced Standing Two-Year J.D. program, appropriately qualified students may be granted advanced standing for up to 30 credits in recognition of their prior studies. As a result, students may complete their J.D. in approximately two years of full-time study.
Although the program takes only two years, Advanced Standing Two-Year J.D. program participants are true J.D.s. Participants in the program are fully integrated into the entering J.D. class, where they learn "how to think like a (New York) lawyer." Perhaps as importantly, participants have the chance to foster the social skills and personal and professional networks so critical to the successful practice of law.
Advanced Standing Two-Year J.D. students are generally expected to take the New York bar exam and to become licensed to practice New York law. Courses are recommended accordingly.
The program is competitive; applicants are encouraged but not required to take the LSAT.