The J.S.D. degree is awarded to persons who have completed an approved program of study, research and writing with distinction. To earn the degree, candidates are required to submit a dissertation and to pass an oral defense of the dissertation within six years of enrollment in the program. The dissertation can take the form of a unified work or a set of three articles with a unifying essay.
The basic aim of the J.S.D. Program is to provide opportunity and encouragement for distinguished scholarship through advanced seminars and colloquia, facilities for independent research, and the advice and guidance of members of the Faculty of Law. Doctoral candidates are provided workspace at the Law School during their period of residence at Columbia. In addition to the special committee of faculty advisors designated for each candidate, other members of the Faculty of Law and other faculties of the University are generally prepared to offer assistance to J.S.D. candidates when called upon to do so.
Admission to candidacy for the J.S.D. degree is normally restricted to applicants who desire a career in law teaching and who can present evidence of impressive achievement in undergraduate law study or in subsequent scholarly or professional activities, with special emphasis on demonstrated capacity for effective legal research and writing. Applicants with experience in government service or law practice before admission are eligible for admission; those who have already begun a career in teaching law are generally preferred. As substantial experience beyond earning the law degree is generally seen as a prerequisite for pursuit of this degree, applications from very recent law school graduates are discouraged. Applicants from the United States and international jurisdictions are given equal consideration in the admissions process. Equal consideration is given to applicants completing or having completed the LL.M. at Columbia and outside applicants.
A complete J.S.D. application will include a writing sample that is originally written in English (translations of works originally written in another language do not qualify); a dissertation proposal in English and in the range of 2,500 words (ten double-spaced pages), with a meaningful working title; and a two-page bibliography that lists relevant works that proved significant in the formulation of the applicant’s thinking about his or her project.
The substance of the proposal should:
1. Demonstrate the originality of the research project, taking into account existing work and scholarly directions;
2. Indicate the importance of the project within the applicant’s larger field of study;
3. Indicate the building blocks or units of consideration that the applicant expects to create as organizational and structural controls in the development of the dissertation, and the methodologies that he or she expects to employ; and
4. Acknowledge whatever problems or difficulties the applicant foresees in formulating and completing the project. (Every project has its difficulties, and part of every good scholar’s equipment is a clear awareness of them.)
In sum, the application should convey the applicant’s current level of mastery and control for an effort that will demand a great deal of time, independent research, and further study.
Fall Term Program (First Year of Residence) During the fall term, the Graduate Committee assigns an Advisory Committee to each J.S.D. candidate. At a later stage, the Advisory Committee may become the candidate’s examination committee. In close and frequent consultation with the chair and other members of the Advisory Committee, the candidate is expected to undertake substantial preliminary research to determine the scope of the proposed dissertation. The candidate should take the initiative in consulting with the chair of his or her Advisory Committee. Two formal meetings (December and April) of the Advisory Committee are held each year during the candidate’s period of residence.
During the fall term, J.S.D. candidates are expected to register for the J.S.D. Workshop as well as a seminar or directed reading course in the candidate’s area of research under the direction of a member of the candidate’s faculty Advisory Committee. They typically do not register for other classroom work. The balance of a J.S.D. candidate’s program consists of research on the dissertation topic. With the instructor’s consent, J.S.D. candidates are free to audit any course or seminar pertinent to their interests.
Appraisal of Candidates in Residence A J.S.D. candidate receives no grades for academic work, the only transcript notation being that work either was or was not of doctoral caliber. J.S.D. candidacy is subject to termination at any time by the Graduate Committee acting upon the advice of those colleagues most familiar with the candidate's work. In case of such termination, the candidate may be permitted to continue in residence until the end of the academic year in the status either of an LL.M. candidate or of a Special Student (non-degree status).
Residence Period J.S.D. candidates are required to spend one academic year of full-time study and research in residence at the Law School. They are encouraged, but not required, to spend a second year in residence. Extended presence at Columbia without formal residence can also be arranged, as it can for other University doctoral candidates; financial and office support ordinarily cannot be provided for these periods, however.
LL.M. Degree for J.S.D. Candidates A J.S.D. candidate who submits a satisfactory research paper or Master's Essay in proper form based on doctoral research by December 31 of the calendar year in which the candidate completed his or her first year of residence is eligible for award of the LL.M. degree without termination of the doctoral candidacy. This essay may, but need not, be an integral and verbatim portion of the dissertation. The essay must fulfill the criteria for the LL.M. by Writing (see "The LL.M.-Associate Program" tab), i.e., it must constitute a very substantial piece of original research and writing that is equivalent to a lead article in a law review, as determined by a member of the J.S.D. candidate's Advisory Committee and a second faculty reader not previously involved in the student's research. The paper or Master's Essay will not be graded on a letter basis, but rather, on a credit/fail basis. If the candidate submits a Master's Essay, it need not be published but will be deposited in the Law Library. The deadline for obtaining the LL.M. degree cannot be extended under any circumstances.
Professional Responsibility and Academic Integrity
Legal education is generally a passageway to careers of service in law, either in private practice or in a public capacity. The standards of responsibility for that service are high and exacting. In part, the appreciation of these responsibilities is gained by habit and example; the Law School helps to form these professional attitudes as an integral part of the education it provides.
The responsibilities of law students are of course different from those of lawyers. Yet in a real sense professional responsibility begins upon entering law school. Students are regarded, and should regard themselves, as committed to integrity and effectiveness in the legal profession. That commitment requires consideration, honesty and fair dealing in academic enterprises, in the Law School community, and in personal and professional relations outside the Law School. Columbia Law School demands this rigorously of faculty and students alike.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. Graduate students who commit plagiarism or other acts of academic dishonesty are subject to expulsion from the program. The issue of academic integrity is addressed at various points during the admission and orientation process, and students are therefore expected to become thoroughly familiar with Columbia's requirements in this area.
