two students walking outside a building on campus

Juris Doctor Degree

Admission Requirements

To be accepted into the Juris Doctor program, students must have graduated from an accredited college or university with a baccalaureate degree and must have taken either the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) .

Application Process

  1. Apply Online Via LSAC.
    1. Complete Washburn Law application.
    2. Attach personal statement and resume.
  2. Submit to Credential Assembly Service (CAS):
    1. Official Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores. If applying to law school with GRE scores instead of LSAT scores, request that Educational Testing Services (ETS) sends scores to Washburn University School of Law.
    2. Transcripts from all institutions of higher education attended.
    3. At least one letter of recommendation is required. No more than three letters will be accepted.

Degree Requirements

First-Year Program: Success from the Start

Washburn Law’s first-year program gives students a meaningful start to their legal education. The low student/faculty ratio allows for individualized attention and an interactive learning experience. Washburn Law has developed a program to help students maximize their potential for success in law school, on the bar exam, and in law practice. Incoming students take advantage of this program by starting law school a week earlier than second- and third-year students.

The Law School’s rigorous First Week Program teaches strategies to develop the skills needed for academic success.

First-Year Courses

Students entering in the fall will take the following courses in their first year:

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
FallHours
LW 875 Lgl Analysis Rsrch Writing I 3
LW 725 Torts 4
LW 732 Property 4
LW 729 Criminal Law 3
 Hours14
Spring
LW 876 Lgl Analysis Rsrch Writing II 3
LW 863 Civil Procedure I 4
LW 861 Constitutional Law I 4
LW 700 Contracts 4
 Hours15
 Total Hours29

Students entering in the spring will take the following courses in their first year:

First Year
Spring
LW 875Lgl Analysis Rsrch Writing I3
LW 863Civil Procedure I4
LW 861Constitutional Law I4
LW 700Contracts4
Subtotal15
Fall
LW 876Lgl Analysis Rsrch Writing II3
LW 725Torts4
LW 732Property4
LW 729Criminal Law3
Subtotal14
Total Hours29

Note: The curriculum is subject to change.

Upper-Level Requirements

To graduate, students must complete:

Upper-Level Requirements 1
LW 770Professional Responsibility3
LW 862Constitutional Law II3
LW 868Civil Procedure II2,3
LW 757Evidence4
One Perspectives on Law course (See list)3
Upper-level writing certification requirement 23
Oral presentation requirement 33
Skills courses (See list)6
Total Hours27-28
1

Graduation requirements are subject to change

2

Courses that meet this requirement vary from semester to semester. Additional information is available at the following link.

3

All students are required, after completing at least 26 hours to make a substantial oral presentation. See additional details at the following link.

In choosing electives, students should understand that law school is an opportunity to obtain a broad foundation in the law. The faculty, therefore, encourages selection of courses across a wide range of topics. Even if students have an area of law in which they know they want to specialize, it is important to study other areas of law to understand their impact on the chosen specialty.

Upper-Level Electives

Perspectives on Law Courses

LW 735Admiralty and Maritime Law3
LW 743Advanced Water Law1
LW 792Artificial Intelligence & Law2
LW 891Climate Change Crisis and Law2
LW 852Comparative Family Law2
LW 754Family Law Seminar2
LW 934Gender, Sexuality, and the Law3
LW 778Intl Business Transactions3
LW 812International Human Rights2-3
LW 919Int'l Human Rghts/Indig People3
LW 973Int'l Petroleum Transactions3
LW 948Intern'l Intellectual Property3
LW 973Int'l Petroleum Transactions3
LW 799Jurisprudence2
LW 927Law of Armed Conflict3
LW 853Law and Economics2,3
LW 883Leadership for Lawyers2
LW 798Legal History Seminar2
LW 990Stdy Abroad, Univ. /Maastricht6-15
LW 823Tax Policy Seminar2
LW 723Torts: Product Liab. & Privacy2

Skills Courses

LW 737Adv Evidence: Expert Witnesses1
LW 753Alternative Dispute Resolution3
LW 767Appellate Practice2
LW 854Arbitration2
LW 913Child Advocacy Training1-2
LW 756DClinic: Advanced Litigation1-3
LW 931Collaborative Law1-2
LW 871Commercial Leasing1
LW 903Criminal Appeal Advocacy3
LW 903DCrim. Appeal Adv.-Adv. Topics1-2
LW 906Cross Examination Techniques1
LW 716Divorce Practice2
LW 937Evolution of a Business Trans.1
LW 859Advanced Oral Arguments1
LW 914Interviewing and Counseling2
LW 877Jury Selection and Voir Dire1
LW 702Kansas Legal Research2
LW 925Law Practice Technologies1
LW 965LARW for the Government Client2
LW 962Legal Writing Clerkship/Extern1
LW 857Negotiation2
LW 856Oil and Gas Joint Operations2
LW 762Moot Court1-2
LW 768Pretrial Advocacy-Criminal3
LW 858Rural Practice Externship3-6
LW 920Spec. Legal Res: Bus & Tax Law1-2
LW 949Spec Leg Res: Statutory/Reg.2
LW 907Taking & Defending Depositions1
LW 707Transactional Drafting3
LW 892VITA and Compliance1
LW 901Writing for Law Practice3

Recommended Foundation Courses

The faculty strongly encourages enrollment in the following foundation courses, which lay the ground work for other advanced electives and are considered part of the core of a well-rounded legal education. Students are urged to enroll in these electives, along with the required courses in the second year of law study. Enrolling in these courses in the second year will not only lay the foundation for more advanced courses in the third year, but also result in fewer conflicts in scheduling classes and exams in both the second and third years.

LW 780Administrative Law3
LW 703Business Associations4
LW 915Decedents' Estates and Trusts3,4
LW 728Family Law3
LW 765Pretrial Advocacy-Civil3
LW 768Pretrial Advocacy-Criminal3
LW 928Public International Law3
LW 733Real Estate Transactions3
LW 790Taxation of Individual Income3

Additional Course Suggestions

The following additional courses address material commonly tested on state bar examinations and are often studied in the third year of law school.

LW 755Conflict of Laws3
LW 739Remedies3
LW 963Multistate Legal Analysis3

Prerequisites

One factor students should consider in course selection is whether a desired course requires a prerequisite course. Prerequisites are listed at the end of each course description. For descriptions of all courses currently offered, see washburnlaw.edu/academics/courses/index.html.

Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing Program

The Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing Program (LARW) provides a strong foundation in lawyering skills for first-year law students. Washburn Law’s LARW program is consistently ranked among the top legal writing programs in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. All full-time Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing professors co-direct the first-year program and are members of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD) and the Legal Writing Institute (LWI). To assist with their writing projects, students and faculty have access to one of the nation’s highest-ranked law libraries and professional library staff.

All first-year students complete six hours of graded Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing. Washburn Law’s first-year program is one of only a handful nationwide that is staffed primarily by full-time, tenure-track faculty members. Classes are small and are taught by professors dedicated to legal writing as one of their primary fields for teaching, scholarship, and service.

The first-year curriculum is designed to give every student a strong foundation in both objective and persuasive legal reasoning, legal research skills, clear writing style, and oral advocacy. Legal writing students regularly observe oral arguments before state and federal appellate courts.

Students receive extensive written and oral feedback from faculty members on all major writing assignments. The feedback, consultation, and rewriting process enables law students to become increasingly proficient and independent in many of the core analytical and persuasive lawyering skills by the end of their first year. Furthermore, to introduce students to the rigors of the profession, the course is designed to simulate the demands of the actual practice of law. Washburn Law is among half of law schools that teach Legislative History and Administrative Law research in the first year.

Upper-level students also complete a rigorous writing experience reflecting the core values of supervised rewriting and individualized feedback. Washburn Law’s regular upper-level courses include Writing for Law Practice and Transactional Drafting.