Students pursuing a juris doctor degree must spend long hours in legal libraries researching case law.
The juris doctor is the basic degree required to practice law. Academic programs for the juris doctor teach students about basic concepts in legal theory such as evidence, contracts and rights. In addition, students attend courses that focus on different areas of the law such as constitutional law, international law, criminal law and torts. Every course taken in pursuit of the juris doctor expands and refines the students' understanding of the law and legal research, which in turn prepares them for their first jobs as associate attorneys and judicial clerks.
Contract Law
Since one of the basic functions of government and the law is to respect contracts, law students will need a strong understanding of these legal documents. In fact, contract law is generally a core course for first-year law students. The classes are designed to introduce students to contracts and why they are binding in the eyes of the law. Students also learn to write contracts and evaluate them for loopholes. Finally, courses in contracts cover the possible consequences of broken contracts (restitution and damages).
Torts
Tort law is a special legal subsection that deals with case law related to personal injury. A knowledge of tort law is often need for cases where individuals sue companies (sometimes their employers) for injury or stress. Advanced torts courses cover class-action law. Class-action lawsuits typically involve a group of people (such as the members or a town) collectively suing a company that has wronged all the members of the group.
Criminal Law
Criminal law courses are required for students who plan on a carer as either a criminal prosecutor or defense attorney. Beginning criminal law courses typically cover classification of crimes and the organization of the U.S. justice system. Students can also enroll in criminal procedure courses, which cover constitutional law in reference to criminal investigations, search and seizure rules as well as the rules of evidence.
Most law schools also have projects where future criminal attorneys can apply their knowledge while providing a service for the community. For instance, the University of Chicago (UC) Law School runs a Criminal and Juvenile Justice Program (CJJP). Through CJJP, UC law students offer legal representation to juvenile defendants.
Jurisprudence
While most other juris doctor courses cover specific areas of law such as contracts or criminal law, jurisprudence courses are about the general theory of judicial decision making. Students are exposed to philosophical topics such as whether there is an objective morality, whether cases can have more than one justifiable ruling and how judges should decide cases if no precedent exists. Law students who take jurisprudence courses are not required to have a background in philosophy. However, they should be prepared to read some texts on the philosophy of law and engage in questions that have no easy answers.
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