Thanks to a pointer from Danny Sokol of the University of Florida School of Law, I see that Northwestern is unveiling a two year JD program today. Students will start in the summer and take extra courses during the regular semesters--yikes that'll be a lot of work--then apparently take courses in the summer after their first year as well (though the article's a little ambiguous on this). The article says that the program will be reduced to five semesters. So it may not be all that different from programs students create for themselves at other schools, where they frequently graduate a semester early.
The students in the two year program will also have a required course on quantitative reasoning and skills (great idea) and on "the dynamics of legal services behavior, including skills such as teamwork, leadership and project management."
I'll be excited to hear more about this and see the timetable and schedule. From my vantage, it looks like the course additions are more of an innovation than the shorter time to degree.
The Chicago Tribune's article is here.
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