This website uses cookies
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
Cornell Law School is fully committed to providing our students with the analytical, reasoning and practical skills that are fundamental to exceptional lawyering. We further believe that the best lawyers– lawyers who have the strongest positive impact on their clients, organizations, and communities—are those who are able to combine these skills with self-awareness, responsibility, clear ethical values, and strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
Cornell Law School seeks to develop students who will not only be skillful problem solvers and effective client advocates, but who will also flourish in law school and throughout their careers, becoming high-impact leaders in the organizations and communities of which they will be a part.
Therefore, we offer a rigorous program of legal education designed to prepare students, upon graduation, for admission to the bar and for effective, ethical and responsible participation in the legal profession at the highest levels.
Upon completion of the program of legal education, Cornell Law School graduates will:
Cornell Law School’s mission remains that articulated by Cornell President Andrew Dickson White upon the founding of the law school 120 years ago: “Our aim is to keep its instruction strong, its standard high, and so to produce … a fair number of well-trained, large-minded, morally based lawyers in the best sense.”
Cornell Law School offers a 3-year J.D. program for 200 students per class, a one-year LL.M. program for about 90 students from countries throughout the world, and a doctoral (J.S.D.) program for about 2-3 new students per year. Cornell Law School has 39 tenured and tenure-track faculty, including 14 with chaired faculty positions; and eleven clinical professors in the legal research and writing program and in clinics at the local, national, and international level. The Cornell Law School faculty is consistently ranked among the top in the country for scholarly productivity and influence. The faculty has pre-eminence in many areas, including quantitative and qualitative empirical legal studies, international and comparative law, and robust doctrinal scholarship in core fields.
Our commitment is to continue to be recognized as the leader among law schools at combining inspiring theoretical, doctrinal, and experiential teaching with cutting-edge scholarship in a supportive, intellectually rich community, so that our graduates can achieve excellence in all facets of the legal profession.
Cornell University has an enduring commitment to support equality of education and employment opportunity by affirming the value of diversity and by promoting an environment free from discrimination. Cornell Law School is committed to Cornell University’s policy affirming equality of opportunity.
No person shall be denied admission to any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, ancestry, sex, gender (including identity or expression), sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or protected veteran status.
Students transferring into Cornell Law School from another ABA-approved law school may receive up to 32 credit hours toward the 84 credit hours required for a J.D. degree. The amount of credit is determined by the registrar and depends upon the particular courses taken by the transfer student.
Students at Cornell Law School who are enrolled in the J.D. program may receive up to 6 credits of advanced standing for work done at other ABA-approved law schools, including work done in summer and winter session programs. Transfer credit will not be given unless the work done is completed at the C or better level. Such work must be approved in advance by the Dean of Students.
More information about the transfer process can be found at http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/admissions/FAQ/admission_and_preparation.cfm
The Law School has a number of formal programs through which participating students are eligible to receive advanced standing credit of up to 24 credit hours for satisfactory work completed. The list of participating institutions with which the Law School has written agreements for transfer dual degree credit can be found at: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/international/study_abroad/international_dual_degrees/ index.cfm
This link contains more information about the law school’s exchange programs. J.D. students may earn up to 12 credits for a semester abroad.