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Law (Juris Doctor)

A Juris Doctor degree (JD) from Creighton School of Law offers you a purposeful education established on academic excellence, social justice and personal growth.

At Creighton, caring professors who have earned outstanding reputations will mentor you. You’ll learn in small classes where individual attention is paramount.

You’ll have facilities that inspire learning, such as our exceptional law library and benefit from externships and life-changing career opportunities.

Beyond practicing law or serving as a judicial clerk, students who complete a legal degree from Creighton University gain experiences that develop their analytical ability, commercial insight and mental strength.

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Program Details

Your legal education will lead you to find your place in the world and discover what is uniquely yours to do. As a law student at Creighton, you will learn:

  • How to analyze and solve legal problems
  • Critical and creative problem-solving skills
  • Sound practical judgment
  • Tools, techniques and skills necessary to practice law successfully and ethically
  • Insight into how the law operates in the real world
  • Ignatian values, including personal and professional formation and seeking justice

Specializations

By choosing a JD certificate, you’ll set yourself apart in the competitive job market. At the end of your studies, you’ll do a substantial project, which might involve writing a paper, participating on a trial team, working in our legal clinics or participating on moot court.
Choose from:

Curriculum

A student must complete 90 credit hours to graduate. That means an average of 15 credit hours each semester after completing your required first-year curriculum.

After completing your first year at Creighton University School of Law you’re required to earn 58 additional hours to graduate. To achieve that, you must take an average of 15 hours in each of your last four semesters. To reduce that number, you can take summer courses.

Credit hours are awarded based on a minimum of 700 minutes of instruction per credit hour.

Second-year Curriculum

Fall Semester

  • Law 205 Legal Research and Writing III (3 credits)
  • Other Required and Elective Courses (8-15)

Required Second-year Courses (students may take these courses in either semester)

  • Law 203 Professional Responsibility (3)
  • Law 335 Business Associations (4)
  • Law 341 Criminal Procedure (3)
  • Law 355 Evidence (3)
  • Law 457 Trusts and Estates (3/4)
  • Law 429 Commercial Law (3)

Third Year Curriculum

Fall Semester

  • Required and Electives Courses (10-17)

Spring Semester

  • Required and Elective Courses (10-17)

Experiential Learning Requirement (see details below)

Credit Hours

A student must complete 90 credit hours to graduate. That means an average of 15 credit hours each semester after completing your required first-year curriculum. The number of credit hours is listed above in parenthesis for each class.

Externships

Externships offer Creighton law students the opportunity to earn credit for unpaid work in the public sector. You’ll earn at least three credit hours and be graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Our list of available externships is extensive. They are in the offices of county attorneys, city attorneys, public defenders, judges, nonprofit hospitals, universities and other nonprofits. They’re on campus—and across the state, the country and even the world. Some require senior certification; and some have course prerequisites.

Admissions Requirements

All applicants must apply online through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) or fill out the Paper Application (see “Procedures”) on the School of Law site.

Considerations for Admission

While your Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score and undergraduate grade point average are heavily weighted, the Admissions Committee at Creighton School of Law will also consider your motivation, character and capability demonstrated by:

  • Courses completed
  • Grade patterns
  • Extracurricular and community involvement
  • Honors
  • Work experience
  • Military achievements
  • Graduate studies
  • Adjustment to individual hardship

Your Completed Application

In order for an application to be complete, it must include the $50 application fee and:

  • All transcripts 

  • LSAT scores(s) from LSAC
  • Your personal statement (no more than two double-spaced, typed pages)
  • Your resume (no more than three pages)
  • Explanations to affirmative answers to any Character and Fitness questions
  • Your signature or electronic certification on the completed application
  • Letters of recommendation 
  • Supplemental statements (optional)
     

View application process details

Tuition & Financial Aid

Tuition rates are updated each year. Visit our financial aid site to learn more about the cost of attendance.

Financial Aid

To help make your undergraduate studies at Creighton University more affordable, we encourage you to file the FAFSA to apply for financial assistance. There is a variety of scholarships and financial aid opportunities available for Creighton data science students aimed at making your degree attainable. Explore scholarships.

Kate Hughes
“The professors at Creighton Law are incredible resources and have contributed to my success in the program. The depth and diversity of expertise shared by the faculty has allowed me to explore dozens of legal practice areas all within one building.”
— Kate C. Hughes, Class of 2023
Mckenzie Meredith
“The atmosphere of the law school, cultivated by the faculty, staff and students, makes my time at Creighton so wonderful. We’re a tight-knit, supportive community. I always have someone available to help me reach my goals, which is what makes the program unique!”
— Mckenzie Meredith, Class of 2023
Victoria Haneman
“The students at Creighton Law have unique access to faculty here—in a very collaborative environment. We want our students to learn collaboration, and we demonstrate that to them through the access that they have to the faculty.”
— Victoria J. Haneman, JD, Frank J. Kellegher Professor of Trusts & Estates

You’ll get the academic support you need for a successful 1L year through the new Law School Student Success program. With a focus on helping each student find the best way to ensure success, the program includes seminars, individual academic support and professional academic coaching, bar exam preparation and assistance with legal writing and analysis.

Externships offer Creighton law students the opportunity to earn credit for unpaid work in the public sector. You’ll earn at least three credit hours and be graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Our list of available externships is extensive. They are in the offices of county attorneys, city attorneys, public defenders, judges, nonprofit hospitals, universities and other nonprofits. They’re on campus—and across the state, the country and even the world. Some require senior certification; and some have course prerequisites.

Through the Creighton Law Review and the Creighton International and Comparative Law Journal (CICLJ), the Creighton University School of Law informs, educates and serves the legal community while also providing important opportunities for students who want to refine their research, writing and critical-thinking skills by creating well-researched articles.

Participating in student organizations is a great way to expand your legal education. Many groups will give you an opportunity to see the law in practice by introducing you to attorneys, judges and local advocates who are passionate and involved in the same areas as you. And you don’t have to limit yourself to just one interest–Creighton School of Law has more than 35 student organizations.

Still have questions?

Contact law admissions or schedule a visit.

Next Step to Your Law Degree