Tulane Law School is unique in the opportunities it offers its students to concentrate in a wide range of areas. In addition to programs focusing on the traditional areas of law practice - such as Corporate and Commercial Law, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, Real Estate, Taxation, Public Law (Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, State and Local Government), and Litigation (Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Complex Litigation, Federal Jurisdiction and Practice) - Tulane offers unique specialty programs, including six in which certificates of specialization are awarded: Admiralty & Maritime Law, Civil Law, Environmental Law, European Legal Studies, International & Comparative Law, and Sports Law.
Slightly more than one third of Tulane law students receive a certificate at graduation. Over the last several years, students receiving certificates have been distributed, on average, as follows:
40 in Environmental Law
30 in Admiralty & Maritime Law
25 in Civil Law
20 in European Legal Studies
15 in Sports Law
Our newest certificate, in International & Comparative Law, will be awarded for the first time in 2009, to approximately 12 students.
In order to obtain a certificate of specialization, JD students use a portion of their elective hours to take specified courses in the specialty area. More information about the areas in which these certificates are offered, and about the certificates themselves, is contained in the sections about each specialty area. Students may receive only one certificate at graduation.
Alternatively, students may choose to survey a variety of areas, given the unknown nature of their future practice. Many other law schools identify certain courses that must be taken after the first year. Other than a course in legal ethics, Tulane does not. Tulane relies upon the informed judgments of its students to decide what problems concern them most and on their ability to translate those judgments into appropriate, valuable choices, including the choice to pursue one of the concentrations available at Tulane.
Download Certificate Programs Booklet (PDF)