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🇺🇸 United States · Law
Juris Doctor (JD) Syllabus
The standard professional graduate law degree earned at an ABA-accredited US law school, required to sit most bar exams.. The complete Juris Doctor (JD) outline — 8 subjects, 32 chapters and 109 topics — laid out so you can see exactly what has to be covered and tick each item off as you go.
Juris Doctor (JD) subjects
Each subject below has its own page with the full chapter → topic → sub-topic tree and a set of real exam-style flashcards.
5 chapters · 19 topics · 52 sub-topics
Constitutional Law3 chapters · 12 topics · 33 sub-topics
Contracts4 chapters · 14 topics · 35 sub-topics
Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure4 chapters · 12 topics · 33 sub-topics
Torts4 chapters · 12 topics · 33 sub-topics
Property and Real Estate Transactions4 chapters · 13 topics · 32 sub-topics
Evidence4 chapters · 13 topics · 32 sub-topics
Business Associations and Professional Responsibility4 chapters · 14 topics · 38 sub-topics
Juris Doctor (JD) flashcard decks
476 question-and-answer cards across 8 decks, written against this syllabus. Preview any deck free.
How to work through the Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus
The outline on this page is arranged the way the syllabus itself is: subject, then chapter, then topic, then sub-topic. That last level is what most study plans skip, and it is where coverage actually goes wrong — a chapter marked "done" often has three sub-topics inside it that were never touched.
Weight your plan accordingly: Civil Procedure carries 19 topics while Torts carries 12. Giving both the same number of weeks is the most common planning mistake for Juris Doctor (JD).
The ~140 hour estimate above is a first pass only: roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic. Revision cycles, past papers and mocks sit on top of that number.
Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus FAQ
What subjects are in the Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus?
Juris Doctor (JD) covers 8 subjects: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, Torts, Property and Real Estate Transactions, Evidence and Business Associations and Professional Responsibility. Together they contain 32 chapters and 109 named topics.
How big is the Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus?
The full Juris Doctor (JD) outline breaks down into 32 chapters, 109 topics and 288 sub-topics. Civil Procedure is the largest single subject with 19 topics across 5 chapters.
How long does it take to cover the whole Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus?
Roughly 140 hours for one full pass. That estimate allows about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, so it is first-pass coverage — revision, past papers and mock tests sit on top of it. At 3 hours a day that is about 7 weeks.
Are there Juris Doctor (JD) flashcards?
Yes — 476 question-and-answer flashcards across 8 decks, one per subject, written against this syllabus. A sample of every deck is readable on this site for free, and the complete decks are in the Examius app.
Is this Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus free to use?
Yes. Every page here is free to read, and importing the Juris Doctor (JD) syllabus into the Examius app to tick off topics as you finish them is free too, in United States and everywhere else. No account is needed to start.
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