A successful graduate of a law school receives a Juris Doctor, also known as a J.D. degree or law degree. To earn a Juris Doctor, the student must complete the law school's curriculum and graduation requirements. Law schools generally offer a standard first-year curriculum, which includes a core group of first-year courses such as civil procedure, torts, Constitutional law, contracts, property, criminal law and other basic legal topics. Law schools allow second- and third-year students to complete the remainder of their degree credits by taking elective courses of their choosing.
By conferring Juris Doctor degrees, law schools prepare prospective attorneys to apply for licenses to practice law according to the requirements of the states where they wish to work. State bar associations oversee the admissions process for new lawyers. Beyond requiring a J.D., some bar associations also require lawyers to earn their degrees from law schools accredited fully or partially by the American Bar Association, or another accreditation body. Accredited law schools offer their graduates the possibility of obtaining law licenses if they can meet all other state bar requirements, such as passage of the bar exam.
Many law schools provide opportunities for their students to specialize in a particular area of law or industry in addition to simply earning a standard J.D. For example, some law schools offer dual degree programs, such as a law and business administration program that results in two completed graduate degrees. Law schools also offer a variety of certificates allowing students to study a specific area of law and demonstrate a specialized course of elective studies --- for example, a student who wishes to practice criminal prosecution as an attorney might search for a law school granting certificates to students who complete a certain number of classes related to criminal law.
Many law schools offer opportunities for students to gain practical experience before they start their first jobs as licensed attorneys. Law schools may operate clinics, programs through which students can represent individual clients in real-life legal matters, under the supervision of a licensed attorney or professor. Clinical experience can help students to develop practical skills in additional to the theoretical knowledge learned through coursework. As a result, when new lawyers later enter the workplace, they will have developed lawyering skills at earlier points in their careers.