Courses
Build a foundation that will support your aspirations.
Stanford Law’s curriculum blends courses that instill essential skills — starting with the ability to think like a lawyer — with opportunities to customize your education to your interests and ambitions. Classes are small enough to support intensive discussion and collaboration. Faculty actively engage you in exploring key concepts and new ideas. Courses provide a springboard to the immersive learning opportunities — practice-focused clinics, policy-making practicums, faculty salons, global studies and more — that distinguish an SLS education.
First-Year Academics
The 1L year is when SLS students immerse themselves in the basics, broaden their view of law and establish a foundation for Stanford Law’s comprehensive advanced curriculum.
100%
students guaranteed housing in their first year
30
maximum number of students in a small section
3/1
required courses/electives in Winter quarter
≤12
elective units during Spring quarter
Courses
Other Information
At Stanford, I was able to go beyond the core law curriculum by taking electives as a 1L and, later, non-law classes across campus.
Benjamin Haas, JD '18
Learn, Serve, Excel
Stanford Law’s 11 clinics make you something unique in the world of law: a student attorney, certified by the California State Bar to practice law under the supervision of your clinic mentors. Clinics are full time, so academic commitments don’t compete. Your instructors are exceptional lawyers who share what they’ve learned through experience. Your training — addressing real legal challenges for real clients — is substantive. Your ultimate reward? Excellence: The Mills Legal Clinic helps you become a better writer, a better problem-solver, a better leader, a better lawyer.
EXPLORE MILLS LEGAL CLINICMake a difference in health care by merging law with science.
With health care accounting for more than 16 percent of the U.S. gross national product — and America’s high-cost health system widely regarded as unsustainable — need is growing for leaders who can navigate the intersection of law and health policy. Stanford Law is uniquely positioned to prepare professionals for this important work through what may be the only program of its kind anywhere. Joint degrees in health services research and epidemiology take advantage of Stanford University’s renowned science resources, including medical school, medical center and a wide range of interdisciplinary programs. These are just two of 24 joint degree opportunities at SLS, with more being added as students invent their own.
LEARN ABOUT HEALTH RESEARCH AND POLICY
EXPLORE ALL JOINT DEGREES
W.A. Franke Global Law Program
Through Stanford Law’s Global Initiative, spring break becomes an opportunity to take your SLS education on the road. The new W. A. Franke Global Law Program is comprised of four elements:
- The Global Quarter: an intensive, 10-week immersion in international law and finance;
- a foundational course on global legal practice;
- courses that combine rigorous classroom training with intensive overseas study trips; and
- greater integration of comparative law and international issues into existing core courses.
Stanford Law’s signature international initiatives, including a robust program in international and comparative law, provide additional resources and experiences for cultivating global perspective.
Explore the W. A. Frank Global Law ProgramStanford Law School reserves the right to change any part of the schedule at any time including (1) add or delete courses from its offerings; (2) change times, days, or locations of courses; (3) cancel for insufficient registration or academic/administrative decision without notice.