Pre-Law Education

Note: Pre-Law is not a major that you may earn a degree in. You will need to decide on a major to obtain your degree.

The Legal Profession
The legal profession is one that will challenge and enliven the future professional. A lawyer is seen as someone who has good communication, written, analytical, and logical thinking skills. The legal profession helps clients who have issues ranging from tax issues to personal issues. A student who studies the law may find himself or herself working in many different capacities. Some lawyers choose to pursue careers in the corporate, government, health, or non-profit environment to name just a few. The future lawyer also might decide to use his/her degree in politics or business. There are many avenues for the future lawyer to pursue.

Legal Education
There are 186 American Bar Association (ABA) Law Schools in the United States, with two in the state of Nebraska: University of Nebraska College of Law and Creighton University School of Law. Law school education is comprised of three years of rigorous course work leading to a J.D. (Juris Doctorate) degree. The total number of credit hours may vary from school to school. The first year curriculum is fairly standard between all law schools. Students generally have more choices during the second and third years. Most law schools also have joint degree programs where you obtain your law degree and another graduate degree (i.e. MBA/JD). Practical experience is important so most will have clinics where you have your own caseload of clients while you are supervised by a professor.

Undergraduate Preparation
You will need to complete your baccalaureate degree before entering law school. Any major is acceptable. Law schools are looking for students who have a variety of majors. Common majors include political science, history, English, psychology, sociology, economics, finance, philosophy, business engineering, and foreign language. Because the law is such a broad field, any major will work as preparation for the study of law. Law schools encourage students to major in the field that most interests them based on the belief that students will be more academically successful when they are pursuing a major that most interests them. Students should consider taking courses that will give them a broad-based knowledge to build their studies upon. Law school admissions committees also look at the level of difficulty of courses taken, how many courses are taken at the upper levels, and how many classes are taken Pass/No Pass. Students should avoid a series of “W”s on their transcripts.

Required and Recommended Courses
There is no prescribed course work for law schools. The following UNL courses are suggested in the skill areas necessary for law school applicants:

Reading Comprehension & Writing Skills

ENGL 101, 102, 150, 151, 254
Any 200, 300, or 400 level ENGL course

Analytical Reasoning

MATH 104, 106, 203; STAT 218
PHIL 110, 211, 221, 230 or 301

Communication Skills

COMM 130, 211, 212, 311, 312, 325 or 371

Knowledge Skills

ANTH 110 or any 200, 300, or 400 level ANTH course
CJUS 101, 251 or any 300 or 400 level CJUS course (consult criminal justice adviser)
HIST – any course especially at 300 or 400 level
POLS 100, 325, 345, 350, 441, 442, 443, 469
PSYC 181 and any 200, 300, or 400 level PSYC course
SOCI 101 and any 200, 300, or 400 level SOCI course