Juris Doctor (Joint Degree Program), JD/MBA

GGU provides students the opportunity to simultaneously pursue both the MBA and JD degrees. Students interested in the joint program should first apply to the School of Law. Matriculated JD students may apply to participate in this program after the completion of two semesters of law school, for full-time students, and after three terms for part-time students. Students’ LSAT scores will be accepted in lieu of the GMAT and Writing Proficiency Requirement in order to gain admission to the MBA program. All the other admission requirements of our traditional MBA program apply. Students’ Law School grades will also be considered in admission decisions. See Joint Degree Programs and the Business Administration, Law Concentration, Joint MBA/JD for more information.

Students must complete 88 units to graduate, 76 of which must be from the School of Law. In addition to the requirements listed below, students will complete approximately 15 units of electives. Of the 88 units required for the JD program, 12 units of elective courses will be waived after completion of the MBA program requirements. Electives include additional units from the lists below and other classes on a variety of subjects listed in the course schedules each term.

Required Courses - 43 units

The following 43 units are used to calculate a students’ required course GPAs for purposes of academic standing and merit scholarship eligibility:

LAW - 700A Civil Procedure I 3 unit(s)
LAW - 700B Civil Procedure II 3 unit(s)
LAW - 801A Constitutional Law I 3 unit(s)
LAW - 801B Constitutional Law II 3 unit(s)
LAW - 705A Contracts I 3 unit(s)
LAW - 705B Contracts II 3 unit(s)
LAW - 710 Criminal Law 3 unit(s)
LAW - 803A Criminal Procedure I 3 unit(s)
LAW - 804 Evidence 4 unit(s)
LAW - 725A Legal Writing and Research I 2 unit(s)
LAW - 725B Legal Writing and Research II 3 unit(s)
LAW - 805 Professional Responsibility 2 unit(s)
LAW - 715 Property 4 unit(s)
LAW - 720 Torts 4 unit(s)

Additional Requirements & Elective Courses - 33 units

Complete a minimum of 33 units from LAW or LLM prefix/subject courses, including the units used to satisfy the California Bar Exam Subject, Experiential Learning, and Upper-Division Writing course requirements below. Note: Although students are required to complete the requirements listed below, these units are not included in calculating their required courses GPAs for Academic Standing purposes.

First Year Lawering Elective Course

First year students who have a required course GPA below 2.3 at the end of the first semester may be required to take LAW 801E Legal Analysis in place of the first year Lawyering elective. When space permits, other students may enroll in Legal Analysis with approval of the Associate Dean for Law Student Support.

California Bar Subject Courses - At least 8 units

LAW - 802A Business Associations 4 unit(s)
LAW - 808A Community Property 2 unit(s)
LAW - 720G Privacy, Defamation, and Other Relational Torts 2 unit(s)
LAW - 715C Real Estate Transactions 2 unit(s)
LAW - 806 Remedies 3 unit(s)
LAW - 807 Wills and Trusts 3 unit(s)

Upper Division Writing Courses - At least 4 units

To satisfy the Upper Division Writing Requirement, all students entering in or after Fall 2019 must complete at least 4 units from a number of upper division courses which have been certified as meeting the requirement.

Students must complete at least 2 units of their upper division writing requirement from practice-based courses in the Upper Division Legal Writing Program (UDLWP) listed below.

Courses in the UDLWP are those where students engage in practice-based writing involving independent research and an oral presentation, culminating in work product totaling 20 pages (approximately 5,000 words) for which students are assessed through written feedback from a faculty member and where students engage in a rewrite of a draft implementing feedback from at least one conference with a faculty member.

Students may satisfy up to 2 units of their upper division writing requirement through scholarly writing courses listed below.

Practice-based Courses (Upper Division Legal Writing Program)

LAW - 732 Appellate Advocacy 2 unit(s)
LAW - 842 Immigration and Social Justice 2 unit(s)
LAW - 875 Patent Law of the US 3 unit(s)

Scholarly Writing Courses

(No more than 2 units will count towards the requirement)

LAW - 837A Family Law 3 unit(s)
LAW - 817B Introduction to Islamic Law 2 unit(s)

Upper Division Experiential Courses - At least 6 units

All students are required to complete at least 6 units of Upper Division Experiential Coursework. Students graduating in the full-time day program must complete at least 3 of these units through a clinic, externship or field placement (“Non-Simulation Courses”) listed below.
Students graduating in the part-time program may complete all 6 units of this requirement with Simulation Courses, but are strongly encouraged to complete at least 3 units through Non-Simulation Courses.

Non-Simulation Courses

LAW - 834C Environmental Law & Justice Clinic 2-3 unit(s)
LLM - 312 Estate Planning Externship 2-3 unit(s)
LAW - 809B HLP Client Representation 2 unit(s)
LLM - 306A Pro Bono Tax Clinic: State Income Tax 1-3 unit(s)
LLM - 306B Pro Bono Tax Clinic: Sales & Use Tax 1-3 unit(s)
LAW - 776C Veterans Legal Advocacy Clinic 2-4 unit(s)
LAW - 885B Women’s Employment Rights Clinic 2-3 unit(s)
Additional externships, clinics, or field placements as identified in the course schedule
Additional Information:
- Students my enroll in a maximum of 13 units of clinic, externship, and Veterans Legal Advocacy Clinic.

Simulation Courses

LAW - 899F Advanced Trial Advocacy 2 unit(s)
LAW - 815 Alternative Dispute Resolution 3 unit(s)
LAW - 897A Civil Litigation - PreTrial Phase 2 unit(s)
LAW - 897K Criminal Litigation - PreTrial Phase 2 unit(s)
LAW - 804M Effective Brief Writing & Motion Advocacy 2 unit(s)
LAW - 837F Family Law Practice 2 unit(s)
LAW - 842A Immigration Law 3 unit(s)
LAW - 897F Introduction to Civil Litigation 1 unit(s)
LAW - 897L Introduction to Criminal Litigation 1 unit(s)
LAW - 897B Introduction to Depositions 1 unit(s)
LAW - 819E Introduction to eDiscovery 1 unit(s)
LAW - 897J Introduction to Jury Selection 1 unit(s)
LAW - 819W Introduction to Written Discovery 1 unit(s)
LAW - 823G IP Practicum: Patent Law 2 unit(s)
LAW - 823P IP Practicum: Trademark & Copyright Transactions 2 unit(s)
LLM - 334D Mediating Trust & Estate Disputes 2 unit(s)
LAW - 899B Trial Advocacy 3 unit(s)
Additional simulation courses as identified in the course schedule
Additional Information:
- Additional courses with a significant experiential learning component, as identified in the course schedules or as approved by the Associate Dean or Director for Law Student Support in consultation with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, may satisfy either category.
- Although all students must complete at least 6 units of Upper Division Experiential Courses, these units are not included in calculating a student’s required course GPA.

Course Schedule and Advising Appointments

Course schedule information may be found on the Law School’s Course Offerings web page. All students are encouraged to schedule academic advising appointments with Law Student Support by emailing lawstudentsupport@ggu.edu or by calling 415-442-6615.