An applicant for the SJD program must hold an LL.M. degree or its equivalent either from Tulane University or other accredited American universities or foreign universities which the Graduate Affairs Committee (the faculty admissions committee) has ascertained have good standing among the higher education community in the home country. Candidates must have received their Master of Laws (LL.M.) or the equivalent degrees with distinction. A Tulane LL.M. graduate will need to have a 3.5 average or better to graduate with distinction.

Admission to the SJD candidacy requires the endorsement of the Graduate Affairs Committee. The Committee will examine, along with the student’s performance at the LL.M. or the equivalent qualifying degree level the strength of the candidate’s proposal to determine whether the individual has the capacity for advanced legal research and for outstanding scholarship.

Strong interest in and support of the proposal and the candidacy of the applicant by a Tulane Law School faculty member who is willing to serve as a supervisor will be an important factor in the Committee’s decision. Applicants are, therefore, strongly encouraged to make every effort to find a supervisor, but they are discouraged from circulating mass letters to the faculty of the Law School.