Master of Judicial Studies (Judicial Studies LLM) at Duke University

Programme overview

A master's programme for sitting judges that teaches analytical and research approaches for studying judicial institutions, judicial behaviour and decision-making. It is taught by Duke Law faculty and scholars from other institutions.

Faculty: Duke University School of Law (Bolch Judicial Institute) | Department: Bolch Judicial Institute | Duration: 2 summers (four weeks on campus each) plus thesis | Intake: Summer (every second year) | Study mode: full-time | Location: Durham, NC, United States

What you will study

Substantive law courses such as constitutional and statutory interpretation, federalism, international law and analytic methods, concluding with a research thesis of publishable quality.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Only active judges sitting on courts with civil and/or criminal jurisdiction are eligible; executive branch judges, administrative law judges, arbitrators and special masters are not eligible. The programme seeks a balance of representatives from each sector of the judiciary. The Class of 2029 (entering 2027) application is closed.

Graduate School master's programmes list application deadlines for fall 2027 entry; Fuqua online MSQM programmes start September 2026, the MQM and MMS Foundations of Business start July 2026, the Daytime MBA starts August 2026 and the Weekend Executive MBA starts May 2027.

The Occupational Therapy Doctorate starts in August for applicants admitted in both the fall and spring rounds.

Fall 2027 Graduate School master's deadlines: Analytical Political Economy 01/28/2027; Applied Ethics & Policy 03/18/2027; Biomedical Engineering 02/01/2027; Civil and Environmental Engineering 01/10/2027; Computer Science 02/01/2027; Critical Asian and Middle Eastern Humanities 02/17/2027; Dance (MFA) 12/17/2026; Digital Art History/Computational Media 01/28/2027; East Asian Studies 01/31/2027; Economics 01/14/2027; Economics and Computation 02/01/2027; Electrical and Computer Engineering 01/16/2027; Experimental and Documentary Arts 01/28/2027; Global Health 02/26/2027; Graduate Liberal Studies 06/01/2027; Humanities 03/15/2027; Interdisciplinary Data Science 01/28/2027; Master of Arts in Teaching 01/29/2027; Materials Science and Engineering 03/15/2027; Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science 01/19/2027; Medical Physics 01/08/2027; Political Science 02/16/2027; Population Health Sciences 01/15/2027; Religious Studies 02/01/2027; Slavic and Eurasian Studies 02/01/2027; Statistical Science 01/05/2027. History and Quantitative Financial Economics are not accepting applications for 2027 enrollment.

Occupational Therapy Doctorate 2026-27 application deadlines: Fall round Thursday, October 8, 2026; Spring round Tuesday, January 12, 2027 (applications through OTCAS). Fall applicants are notified the first week of December 2026 and spring applicants the first week of March 2027.

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