Law Schools Abroad

seychelj1

Hi everyone! I have a question that I'm having a hard time finding an answer to online and was hoping for some of your help. I studied abroad in London as a sophomore in undergrad and have always wanted to spend more time in another country. Does anyone know if there are U.S. accredited law schools in other countries? That is, I can earn a JD in another country and then take the bar in the U.S.?

Leah M B

I don't think this is a real option. Could be wrong. But, international law schools are going to teach you about the laws in other countries. The ABA has only accredited law schools in the US (and territories). Many law schools have study abroad programs though, so I think that would be the best scenario if you want to spend more time abroad but practice in the US.

Leah M B

International students that are already able to practice laws in other countries but want to practice in the US typically have to pass an ABA accredited LLM program. You could likely also do the reverse, earn a JD here and a masters degree abroad.

akistotle

I know of one U.S. accredited law school with a campus outside the U.S., but it offers only the LL.M. degree (you can take the bar with it).

seychelj1

@akistotle what is the name of the school that offers it?

Kateryna

There are multiple schools in the US that offer a study abroad for a year option. It still counts towards your JD here. The one I know of is Notre Dame which does study abroad placements in the UK for second/third year law students.

akistotle

@seychelj1 said:
@akistotle what is the name of the school that offers it?

Beasley School of Law at Temple University

@Kateryna said:
There are multiple schools in the US that offer a study abroad for a year option. It still counts towards your JD here. The one I know of is Notre Dame which does study abroad placements in the UK for second/third year law students.

I heard from a student at Georgetown Law that the school offers that option.

LastLSAT

You're not going to be able to practice as a lawyer in the US unless you get your JD from an ABA accredited law school.

With that said, there are plenty of American law schools with summer or semester abroad options.

Or you could go get a master's degree in international law post-JD. Cambridge and Oxford have top teir offerings in this category.

Seeking Perfection

I would caution against picking a law school for this reason. I think you want to pick your law school based on ability to get you a job and cost of attendance rather study abroad options.

Law schools do have study abroads, but trying to use them for more than a semester or two probably would be difficult and would make your job search harder.

If you want to travel, why not save up for a year or so and then travel Europe for a year or so and then go to law school.