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Accelerated Law JD Program
Want to earn your law degree in two years instead of three? You can do that through the Accelerated JD Program (AJD) at Creighton University School of Law. Our program is tailored for busy adult learners and recent college graduates who want to start right away on their law degree. Completing your degree faster means you’ll launch your legal career sooner.
How You Benefit
You receive the same education as students on the traditional JD track. When you complete your JD in two years, you save on living expenses and enter the workplace sooner than other JD graduates. Your first summer, you’ll take four courses. Creighton School of Law classes are small and especially so in the summer. That means you’ll have more opportunities to participate in class and to get to know and interact with your professors and classmates.
How to Enroll
If you’ve been accepted to Creighton, you can participate in the AJD program. If you’re interested, please email the lawadmit@creighton.edu (Law School Admissions Office) at least one week prior to the start of the summer term. Review FAQ to ensure eligibility and see the application process page for details.
Scholarships
Scholarships are fully applicable to students in the accelerated program. Scholarships awarded on an annual basis will be adjusted to include a summer term for that year.
How it Works
As a student in the AJD program, you’ll start classes in May. You’ll complete a summer term before your classmates in the traditional JD program begin in August, taking the exact courses and having the same course, with the same professors, and meeting the same credit hour requirements as your peers. Like them, you also may participate in law journals, legal clinics, externships and judicial clerkships. You may participate in the externship class as early as your second summer and in clinics in your second year. Because your studies are intense, you’re discouraged from working during your first year. You’ll have breaks between summer terms and regular semesters. And if you ever need to step off the accelerated track, you can do that. You’ll just stay on for a third year.
Have more questions? Feel free to contact our Creighton law admissions team regarding any of your concerns.
Sample Schedule
In order to obtain your Juris Doctrate degree, you must earn 90 total credit hours. Although there is some flexibility in the accelerated JD program, here is what your schedule may look like:
summer term (13 hours) fall semester (15-16 Hours) spring semester (16-17 Hours)
| Contracts I (3) | Civil Procedure I (3) | Civil Procedure II (3) |
| Contracts II (3) | Legal Research & Writing I (2) | Constitutional Law (4) |
| Criminal Law (3) | Property (4) | Legal Research & Writing II (3) |
| Torts (4) | Electives (6-7) | Electives (6-7) |
summer term (12-14 Hours) fall semester (16-17 Hours) Spring Semester (16-17 Hours)
| Required Courses | Legal Research & Writing III (3) | Electives (16-17) |
| Electives | Remaining required courses | |
| Electives |
In the summer of the second year, students may select from the following courses (offerings may vary):
- Advanced Legal Writing and Drafting (3)
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (3)
- Business Associations (4)
- Client Interviewing and Legal Counseling (3)
- Commercial Contract Drafting (3)
- Evidence (3)
- Externships (3)
- First Amendment Freedom on Speech (3)
- From Nuremberg to the Hague (3) (taught in Germany)
- International Criminal Law (3) (taught in Germany)
- Negotiations (3)
- Professional Responsibility (3)
Available Concentrations
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Business Law
The business law concentration is designed to prepare you for the demands and intricacies of our modern economy—whether you go into employment law, banking law, real estate law or any other business-related field. Your courses will be taught by professors with real-world experience, providing insights to help you thrive upon graduation.
To successfully complete the business law concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact Edward A. Morse, JD.
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Criminal Law and Procedure
The criminal law and procedure concentration will prepare you for a legal career focused on fundamental issues of security, personal liberty and constitutional rights—helping you become the ultimate trial lawyer. After mastering the basics in your criminal law and procedure courses, you’ll expand your knowledge in a variety of areas, including white collar crime, juvenile law, and international and comparative studies. You’ll also develop trial practice skills and put them to use by competing on our championship trial and moot court teams, as well as completing externships with judges, prosecutors and public defenders.
To successfully complete the criminal law and procedure concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact Leigh Ellis, JD.
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Dispute Resolution
The dispute resolution concentration will prepare you to resolve civil cases outside the courtroom. Through the Werner Institute for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution—a vibrant pillar of the Creighton School of Law—students learn the negotiation, mediation and arbitration skills necessary for dispute resolution. The concentration’s core courses provide a unique opportunity to practice these skills while receiving one-on-one feedback. And students can extend their classroom experiences through various competitions. By completing this concentration’s requirements, you’ll gain crucial skills and knowledge, whether you pursue a transactional or litigation path.
To successfully complete the dispute resolution concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact Rachel Goedken, JD.
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Energy, Environmental and Sustainability Law
Through the energy, environmental and sustainability law concentration at the Creighton School of Law, you’ll be prepared to work within—and help shape—a dynamic law landscape. The concentration will give you the opportunity to discern applicable laws and regulatory regimes. You’ll learn to consider policy issues through research and written work. And you’ll gain an understanding of environmental law for both compliance and financial risk management purposes. By the time you graduate, you’ll be ready to serve energy companies, investors, utilities, manufacturing companies, lawmakers, policymakers, regulators, land use professionals and environmental organizations.
To successfully complete the energy, environmental and sustainability law concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact Dean Joshua Fershée, JD.
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Family Law
Family law covers a wide range of legal issues including divorce, child custody, adoption, domestic violence and more. This concentration will prepare you to help individuals and families as they navigate challenging personal situations, and it’s ideal for students with an interest in the intersection of law and social issues. In this concentration, you can focus on general family law or specialize in one of three different area: family law practice, children’s law or elder law. The family law concentration’s advisor, Professor Catherine Brooks, will assist you in planning your family law career and can help you put together a two- to four-semester plan of coursework.
To successfully complete the family law concentration, students must maintain a 2.0 GPA. If you choose to select a specialization track, you must earn 21 credits from a group of five required courses, as well as either Track Direction or Lawyering Skills. Several additional courses, including selected externships, are also required. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
For more information about this concentration, please contact professor Catherine M. Brooks, JD.
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Health Law
The regulations and federal, state and local laws governing both healthcare operations and individual patients are increasingly complex. Yet by completing your concentration in health law, you’ll gain the readiness to practice law related to the intricate healthcare industry. Whether you want to help shape policy or represent individual providers, patients or large organizations, there’s a place for you in health law.
To successfully complete the health law concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact professor Craig Dallon, JD.
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International and Comparative Law
If you want to prepare for a legal career in the ever-changing globalized legal marketplace—and impact laws and policies affecting human rights—the international and comparative law concentration is ideal for you. Classes in this concentration are taught by experts in their field who have practiced, published and been around the world. The concentration could even take you out of the country with Creighton’s Nuremberg Summer Program, which allows you to study international criminal law in Germany.
To successfully complete the international and comparative law concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact professor Michael J. Kelly, JD, LLM.
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Litigation
At the Creighton University School of Law, the litigation concentration focuses on how to best represent parties in trials, hearings, arbitrations and mediations before local, state and federal courts. Professors in this concentration possess not only expert legal minds, but also real-world experience. In fact, our adjunct professors are judges, prosecutors and public defenders. They’re also mentors—eager to share what they’ve learned about litigation. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to put what you learn into action by participating in our moot court, trial and negotiation teams, which routinely do well in competitions.
To successfully complete the litigation concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses; maintain a 3.0 GPA; and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact Professor R. Collin Mangrum.
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Sports Law
The Sports Law concentration at the Creighton School of Law will provide you with a solid foundation in a wide variety of legal fields related to the rapidly changing sports industry. You’ll have the opportunity to study a variety of topics, ranging from amateur sports and NCAA compliance to collective bargaining, antitrust and intellectual property issues. As part of this concentration, you may participate in an NCAA Compliance externship with the athletic department at a Division I university. And joining eligible competitions related to sports law will give you further experience as you earn credit toward your concentration requirements.
To successfully complete the sports law concentration, students must take 18 credits in relevant courses and complete a substantial project. For details about courses and the substantial project, visit the concentration’s curriculum page.
If you have questions about this concentration, please contact professor David P. Weber, JD.
