We are a collaborative and engaged community, offering a rigorous, highly personalized legal education and nationwide career placement. Vanderbilt Law combines the advantages of a stimulating university community, top-tier faculty, a small, carefully selected student body, and a vibrant, livable city.
Best quality of life, Princeton Review (2023)
Ranking of the Top 50 law schools based on employment outcomes, cost, and student debt, Above the Law (2024)
Ranking of Law Faculties by Academic Influence (2023)
We are committed to cultivating a culture of public service and facilitating opportunities for students in the public interest through clinics, practicums, externships, and student-led pro bono projects.
Eight dynamic legal clinics, enriching experiential learning programs, externships, and scholarly student-run publications create an immersive learning environment where theory meets practice.
Our J.D. program combines a thorough grounding in the law, practical skills development, substantive experiential learning opportunities, and a highly customizable curriculum. Develop knowledge and expertise in specialty areas of legal practice, and earn a Law and Business Certificate or J.D./MS Finance dual degree in three years. Our J.D. graduates enjoy national geographic mobility, supported by the school’s longstanding relationship with legal employers coast to coast.
Our one-year Master of Laws (LL.M.) program admits a select group of attorneys who come to Vanderbilt Law from around the globe to learn the fundamentals of the American legal system and study alongside J.D. students. Our expansive curriculum allows you to choose courses each semester that advance your career goals. LL.M. students may earn a Law and Business Certificate, focus on intellectual property, international, environmental or criminal law, or gain exposure to many other areas of legal practice.
Our 6-year Ph.D. program in Law and Economics is unlike any other. Dual-degree students pursue a law degree and a Ph.D. concurrently in a fully-integrated curriculum where students conduct policy-relevant research within a wide variety of fields. Graduates have obtained prestigious judicial clerkships, faculty positions in law schools and economics departments, and jobs in government, consulting, and legal practice.
Our online Master of Legal Studies (MLS) program provides non-lawyers with a deeper understanding of American law and legal systems. Students expand their professional skillsets and learn legal fundamentals from the same world-class faculty of scholars and educators who teach our J.D. students. Created from the ground up by our top-ranked law school faculty, the MLS curriculum emphasizes both foundational legal principles and insights into areas of law that are most relevant to working professionals.
Students talk about why they chose to attend Vanderbilt Law and discuss their law school experience here.