Dual Degrees and Certifications

Dual Degree Programs

Colorado Law is a part of an Association of American Universities’ level-one research university and therefore offers rich opportunities for interdisciplinary study through eight dual degree programs with other University of Colorado schools and colleges, in addition to the University of Alberta. These dual degree programs offer students a way to integrate their study of law with other disciplines while earning course credit towards both degrees simultaneously. The Law School works in cooperation with these other schools to design and select courses in each program that allow students to earn a dual degree in less time than it takes to earn each degree separately.

Students apply separately to and are admitted by the two schools under their respective admissions procedures and standards. Students may elect a dual degree program at the time of initial application to both schools, or they may apply to one school after having enrolled in the other; however, only credits earned after Law School enrollment count toward the JD degree. The Law School requires that students take the first year of the JD curriculum as a unit exclusively in the Law School. Find details of each dual degree program in the Rules of the Law School.

  • Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration (JD/MBA) with CU-Boulder’s Leeds School of Business:  This four-year program exposes students to constitutional, criminal, and contract law as well as economics, management, and corporate finance. Graduates with advanced legal and business expertise are extremely marketable as legal counsel to corporations, accounting firms, and insurance companies; securities specialists to financial institutions; and even CEO/CFO. In addition, graduates can specialize in shareholder relations, labor relations, real estate, business policy and general strategy, risk analysis, legislative relations, lobbying, international relations and trade, or intellectual property aspects of e-commerce and the Internet.

  • Juris Doctor/Master in Environmental Studies (JD/ENVS) or Juris Doctor/Doctorate in Environmental Studies (JD/PhD) with CU-Boulder’s Environmental Studies Program:  CU has nationally renowned programs in both environmental law and environmental studies. The master’s is a four-year program and the doctorate is a five-year program. Students take courses in the core areas of the law and a range of natural resources and environmental fields that encompass the legal, policy, and scientific disciplines, including environmental law, water resources law, public land law, climate change law and policy, environmental philosophy, and environmental science. Graduates have the skills to impact future policies in government, industry, law firms, or non-profit organizations and confront issues in ecosystem management, water and air quality, policy development, mineral and oil mining, wildlife conservation, and public and private land ownership.

  • Juris Doctor/Doctor of Medicine (JD/MD) with CU-Denver’s School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora:  Students study the science of healthcare delivery and the legal and financial organization of the healthcare industry. The six-year program lays a scientific foundation for further medical education and begins to equip students for a lifetime of learning, research, clinical care, and community service. Special interests can include litigation, bioethics, public health, neurology, women’s health, or pulmonary medicine. Careers can focus on medical malpractice litigation, managed care and health policy, governmental regulation, healthcare administration arenas, intellectual property issues in biotechnology, and environmental law and policy.

  • Juris Doctor/Master of Public Administration (JD/MPA) with CU-Denver’s School of Public Affairs:  This four-year program encourages an interdisciplinary education in government, public policy, and law, covering areas of public management, policy analysis, public finance, and human resources management. Through electives, students develop a specialization in nonprofit management, domestic violence, local government, environmental policy and management, and emergency management and homeland security. Graduates are prepared for leadership positions within public interest organizations, state or local government agencies, administrative agencies, and law firms representing public-sector clients, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations.

  • Juris Doctor/Master of Science, Telecommunications (JD/MST) with CU-Boulder’s Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (ITP):  Students in this four-year program choose from intellectual property, technology, and telecommunication courses, while emphasizing other aspects of telecommunications, such as economics, business, and policy. Students develop a working knowledge of the law and its relation to communications and networking technologies in this high-technology age. Graduates are highly marketable in the areas of intellectual property, patents, or IT law, as in-house counsel in the high technology industry, and in government agencies dealing with high technology regulation.

  • Juris Doctor/Master of Urban and Regional Planning (JD/MURP) with CU-Boulder’s College of Architecture and Planning:  Students in this four-year program will learn constitutional, criminal, and contract law as well as root causes of urban and regional problems, urban spatial analysis, and planning methods. Courses will explain strategies that deploy policies, plans, resources, and regulatory approaches to create environments suited to human and ecological needs, and methods for evaluating the human and environmental consequences of urban problems. Graduate address issues at the interface of policy and law, emphasizing the use of land and real estate, and the management of the public lands and natural resources (including mineral and energy resources). Graduates who focus on local or global economic development and law will have unique perspectives on private enterprise, corporate regulation, labor markets, poverty, and international relations.

  • Juris Doctor/Bachelor of Laws (JD/LLB) with the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, Canada:  This four-year program, which began in 2008, prepares graduates with the credentials needed to practice law in both Canada and the United States. In North America, foreign trade has become more common for even the smallest business and a need for lawyers versed in multiple legal systems has emerged. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, from 1993 to 2007, trade among the NAFTA nations more than tripled, from $297 billion to $930 billion. Additionally, business investment in the United States has risen by 117 percent since 1993. Law degrees from both countries allow graduates to serve law firm clients conducting transnational business in North America and beyond, offering them a distinct advantage in this job market. National law firms are becoming global firms, representing international securities firms, investment management companies, and other financial institutions on transnational regulatory issues. A lawyer with this dual degree has expertise in cross-border securities, transactional, commercial, insurance litigation, subrogation, recovery, immigration, real estate, or energy and natural resource law.  

Tax Emphasis Program

The Law School offers a program of law study that leads to a Juris Doctor degree with an emphasis in taxation. The program signifies tax law experience beyond that normally obtained by law graduates, but not as extensive as that obtained in a Masters of Taxation degree program.

Students must earn at least 95 credit hours (89 are required for the JD) with at least 18 of the credits in taxation. These 18 hours must include:

Business school and economics department courses taken for Law School credit under the Tax Emphasis Program are limited to 6 semester credit hours and must have received prior approval from the faculty. Students may take more than the required 18 credit hours of tax courses, however, to ensure a broad legal education, at least 73 credit hours must be earned in courses outside of taxation.

Students must receive at least a B in the business school course or in the Public Finance course to count for Law School credit. The business school or Public Finance courses will be treated as pass/fail courses for the Law School transcript; that is, these courses will count toward the 95 hours required for the degree, but will not be taken into account in computing a law student's grade point average.

Students can complete the program within the normal three-year law degree period by planning the program of law study effectively and taking a summer session or a heavier-than-average load each semester after the first year. Law students who wish to participate in the program should contact the Law School Registrar for enrollment forms. Students interested in this program are encouraged to complete the forms during the spring semester of their first year.

Certificate Programs

Colorado Law offers certificate programs that demonstrate a completion of a concentrated course of study in a specific legal field. Certificates require at least 95 credit hours (89 are required for the JD), with at least 18 or 21 of the 95 hours in designated courses. Students must maintain a 72 GPA and, for certain certificates, an 86 GPA will earn a “with honors” designation.

Students can complete a certificate program within the normal three-year law degree period by planning the program of law study effectively and taking a summer session or a heavier-than-average load each semester after the first year. Law students who wish to participate in the program should contact the Law School Registrar for enrollment forms. Students interested in this program are encouraged to complete the forms during the spring semester of their first year.

  • American Indian Law Certificate

  • Juvenile and Family Law Certificate

  • Entrepreneurial Law Certificate– This certificate coordinates Colorado Law’s strengths and business-law related assets in the areas of entrepreneurial and technology law, such as the Silicon Flatirons Center, the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, and the Journal on Telecommunications & High Technology Law. It is awarded to law students who complete coursework reflecting a concentrated study of issues typically faced by transaction-side lawyers, and signals to prospective employers that a student possesses a skill set with applicability across issues of transactional law.

    Required Courses

  • Graduate Energy Certificate Program  – Administered through CU’s Environmental Studies Program and the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, the program has core requirements in energy science and technology, business, and policy, with an emphasis on renewable and sustainable energy. Students must take 18 hours of coursework: 9 for core courses, and 9 for electives. Law courses that qualify as electives include: LAWS 6712 – Climate Change Law and Policy, LAWS 6722 – Energy Law and Regulation, LAWS 7122 – Mining and Energy Law, and LAWS 7132-001 – Energy Insecurity and Sustainable Energy. Interested law students should speak to Professor William Boyd, who is a member of the Energy Certificate Committee and a fellow of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute.

  • Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate Program in Environment, Policy and Society – Offered through CU’s Environmental Studies Program, it incorporates courses from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences (Departments of Anthropology, Biology, Economics, Geography, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology), Architecture and Planning, Engineering, and the Schools of Law, Business, and Journalism. Tracks are available in Environment and Society, Environmental Policy, Energy and Society, and Water and Society. Students must complete 18 credit hours of approved course work, including 6 credit hours of cornerstone/capstone seminars. At least 12 credit hours must be in courses outside the school/college/department in which the student is currently enrolled.