Your complete guide to studying Law

Everything you need to know about studying Law in 2023

Law is a discipline that deals with understanding and interpreting the system of rules, statutes, decrees, and regulations that apply at the national or international level. Law or Legal Education is a combination of multiple theoretical subjects and case studies, which help students to develop their skills through practical assignments.

Some of the most popular subfields of Law include International Law, European Law, Criminal Law, Civil Law, Public Law, Business Law, etc.

People who attend law schools are often conscientious, and integrity is an essential quality for them. They see corruption as a major roadblock in the development of better societies and aim to improve the world by ensuring that impartial justice is served. Some of the modules included in a Law degree are law of contract, law of tort, property law, criminal law, governing the major organs of the state, constitutional law, human right law, etc. These courses are followed by legal training, where future lawyers have the opportunity to practise what they’ve learned.

While studying Law, you will also develop and enhance your public-speaking skills and the ability to form arguments and support them with relevant facts. You can use principles from rhetorical discourse to significantly improve this ability.

Law careers allow you to work as a solicitor, barrister, judge, detective, licensed conveyancer, advice worker, mediator, and more. Whether you decide to become a judge, a defence attorney, a prosecutor, or focus on working within a specific organisation or company, you will be expected to have a high level of knowledge, a great sense of justice, a vast vocabulary, and excellent negotiation and communication skills. You'll need to back them up with a great memory and strong analytical thinking.

The world needs more law practitioners. You can be one of the people who defend the truth and make sure our society is safer and fairer, and that’s something you should be proud of.

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View all PhDs in Law. Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Law.

Interesting programmes for you

How Law Subject Ranking Lists Are Created

Find the best university for pursing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Law by checking university ranking tops according to subject such as World University Rankings by Subject from Times Higher Education, QS World University Rankings by Subject from TopUniversities, and ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects in Law.

These Law subject-rankings are based on a combination of indices and factors relevant to the discipline of Law. They measure aspects like: published papers on Law, cited research papers on Law, professors’ performance, the number of international students, the teaching environment, and how employable are Law graduates from each university. Data about university, programme and teachers' reputation is usually collected through surveys.

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Best Universities for Law on PhDPortal

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Universities Location Times Higher Education Ranking (2018) Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking (2017) TopUniversities Ranking (2018)
Duke University Durham, United States 1 10 44
Stanford University Stanford, United States 2 18 5
Yale University New Haven, United States 3 5 4
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 4 4 10
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 5 14 3
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 6 9 2
University College London (UCL) London, United Kingdom 8 32 12
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 9 1 1
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 10 24 17
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 11 8 30
New York University New York City, United States 12 2 6
McGill University Montréal, Canada 13 43 25
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 14 51 24
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 15 15 29
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 16 51 28
Columbia University New York City, United States 17 3 9
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 18 51 18
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 19 11 8
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands 20 51 32
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 21 23 22
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 22 36 34
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 23 34 51
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 24 51 40
Georgetown University Washington, D. C., United States 25 6 21
King's College London London, United Kingdom 25 41 18
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin, Hong Kong (SAR) 27 - -
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 28 51 51
University of Virginia Charlottesville, United States 29 21 51
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 30 - 15
University of New South Wales Kingsford, Australia 31 37 14
University of Washington Seattle, United States 31 48 101
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 33 51 13
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 34 51 51
Northwestern University Evanston, United States 35 17 51
Tilburg University Tilburg, Netherlands 36 76 101
Queen Mary University of London London, United Kingdom 37 - 37
George Washington University Washington, D. C., United States 38 7 51
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium 39 - 51
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 40 49 51
University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark 41 - -
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 42 39 16
Boston University Boston, United States 43 31 51
York University Toronto, Canada 44 - 51
Stockholm University Bergshamra, Sweden 45 - 101
Vanderbilt University Nashville, United States 46 30 151
University of Essex Colchester, United Kingdom 47 - 151
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 48 - 101
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 49 - 51
University of Kent Canterbury, United Kingdom 50 76 51
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom 51 - 40
City University of Hong Kong Kowloon, Hong Kong (SAR) 52 - 51
University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom 53 - 201
University of Queensland South Brisbane, Australia 54 76 48
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 55 12 51
University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland 56 - 101
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 56 76 201
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 58 76 51
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel 59 51 201
Arizona State University Tempe Junction, United States 60 22 101
Maastricht University Maastricht, Netherlands 61 76 51
University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia 61 - 201
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain 63 - 51
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 64 - 101
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile 65 - 44
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 66 - 101
Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands 67 - 51
Monash University Notting Hill, Australia 68 28 27
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 69 76 101
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy 70 - 51
Northeastern University Boston, United States 71 76 251
University of York York, United Kingdom 72 - 201
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 73 - 151
Dalhousie University Halifax, Canada 74 - 151
Georgia State University Atlanta, United States 75 - -
University of Strathclyde Glasgow, United Kingdom 76 - 151
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 77 76 201
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Irvine, United States 78 27 -
Laval University Québec, Canada 79 - 251
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 79 51 201
George Mason University Fairfax, United States 81 29 251
Lancaster University Lancaster, United Kingdom 82 - -
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 83 - 151
University of Georgia Athens, United States 83 33 251
University of Wollongong Wollongong, Australia 85 - 151
University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom 86 51 51
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile 86 - 51
University of South Australia Adelaide, Australia 88 - 201
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 89 - 101
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 90 - 51
University of Zurich Zürich (Kreis 1), Switzerland 91 - 101
University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa 92 - 101
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 93 - 151
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel 94 - 151
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain 95 - 51
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy 96 - -
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway 96 76 51
American University Washington DC Washington, D. C., United States 98 76 51
University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany 98 - 51
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 98 76 101
Florida State University Tallahassee, United States - 13 251
London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom - 16 7
Fordham University Manhattan, United States - 19 201
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States - 20 151
University of Southern California Los Angeles, United States - 25 151
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States - 26 -
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada - 34 -
Griffith University Southport, Australia - 38 51
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States - 40 201
University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, United States - 42 201
Sam Houston State University Huntsville, United States - 44 -
University of Denver Denver, United States - 45 -
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States - 46 151
University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, United States - 46 -
University of Maryland College Park, United States - 50 -
Carleton University Ottawa, Canada - 51 -
Emory University Atlanta, United States - 51 201
European University Institute (EUI) Fiesole, Italy - 51 -
Iowa State University Ames, United States - 51 -
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice New York City, United States - 51 -
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States - 51 101
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia - 51 11
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States - 51 -
University of Florida Gainesville, United States - 51 101
University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, United States - 51 -
University of Leicester Leicester, United Kingdom - 51 201
University of South Florida Tampa, United States - 51 -
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands - 51 101
Deakin University  Burwood, Australia - 76 101
Florida International University University Park, United States - 76 -
Princeton University Princeton, United States - 76 -
Saint Louis University Saint Louis, United States - 76 -
Temple University Philadelphia, United States - 76 -
The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, United States - 76 -
University at Albany Colonie, United States - 76 -
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States - 76 251
University of California, Davis Davis, United States - 76 101
The University of Iowa Iowa City, United States - 76 -
University of Notre Dame South Bend, United States - 76 101
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, United States - 76 -
University of Portsmouth Portsmouth, United Kingdom - 76 -
Peking University Beijing, China - - 20
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan - - 22
Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris, France - - 26
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico - - 31
Tsinghua University Beijing, China - - 33
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea - - 34
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand - - 36
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan - - 38
Heidelberg University Heidelberg, Germany - - 39
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany - - 40
University of Technology Sydney Sydney, Australia - - 43
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand - - 46
Bologna Business School Bologna, Italy - - 47
Korea University Seoul, South Korea - - 48
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan - - 50
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil - - 50
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark - - 101
Birkbeck, University of London London, United Kingdom - - 101
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom - - 101
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Madrid, Spain - - 101
CIFFOP Institute for Advanced HR Education, Training and Research (Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas) Paris, France - - 101
Diego Portales University Santiago, Chile - - 101
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland - - 101
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany - - 101
Institute for European Studies - Universite Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium - - 101
Lund University Lund, Sweden - - 101
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia - - 101
Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore - - 101
Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso Valparaíso, Chile - - 101
Queen's University Kingston, Canada - - 101
Queen's University Belfast Belfast, United Kingdom - - 101
SOAS University of London London, United Kingdom - - 101
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia - - 101
Tor Vergata University of Rome Roma, Italy - - 101
University of Münster Münster, Germany - - 101
University College Cork Cork, Ireland - - 101
University of Barcelona Eixample, Spain - - 101
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand - - 101
University of Freiburg Freiburg, Germany - - 101
University of Geneva Genève, Switzerland - - 101
University of Minnesota Minneapolis, United States - - 101
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa - - 101
University of Trento Trento, Italy - - 101
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria - - 101
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden - - 101
Waseda University Nerima, Japan - - 101
Wuhan University Wuhan, China - - 101
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain - - 151
Beijing Normal University Beijing, China - - 151
Boston College Newton, United States - - 151
Central European University (CEU) Vienna, Austria - - 151
Fundação Getulio Vargas Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - - 151
University of Göttingen Göttingen, Germany - - 151
Hanyang University Seoul, South Korea - - 151
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea - - 151
La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia - - 151
Osaka University Osaka-shi, Japan - - 151
Oxford Brookes University Oxford, United Kingdom - - 151
Pompeu Fabra University Ciutat Vella, Spain - - 151
Pontifical Catholic University of Peru San Isidro, Peru - - 151
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Jamundí, Colombia - - 151
Saint-Petersburg University Saint Petersburg, Russia - - 151
Singapore Management University Singapore, Singapore - - 151
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa - - 151
The City University of New York New York City, United States - - 151
Trinity College Dublin Dublin, Ireland - - 151
National University of Colombia Bogotá, Colombia - - 151
University of Bern Bern, Switzerland - - 151
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada - - 151
University of California, Irvine Extension Irvine, United States - - 151
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal - - 151
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States - - 151
University of Florence Florence, Italy - - 151
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland - - 151
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal - - 151
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom - - 151
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - - 151
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom - - 151
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada - - 151
University of Western Ontario London, Canada - - 151
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Brussels, Belgium - - 151
Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France - - 201
City, University of London London, United Kingdom - - 201
Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Copenhagen, Denmark - - 201
Kobe University Kobe, Japan - - 201
Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan - - 201
Nanjing University Nanjing, China - - 201
HSE University Moscow, Russia - - 201
National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu, Taiwan - - 201
University of Galway Galway, Ireland - - 201
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom - - 201
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia - - 201
Swansea University Swansea, United Kingdom - - 201
Talca University Talca, Chile - - 201
Tecnológico de Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico - - 201
The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, United States - - 201
University of Waikato Hamilton, New Zealand - - 201
Tulane University Jefferson, United States - - 201
University Kebangsaan Malaysia Semenyih, Malaysia - - 201
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom - - 201
University of Basel Basel, Switzerland - - 201
University of Bergen Bergen, Norway - - 201
University of Bonn Bonn, Germany - - 201
University of Cologne Köln, Germany - - 201
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States - - 201
University of Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa - - 201
University of Naples Federico II Naples, Italy - - 201
University of Padua Padua, Italy - - 201
Roma Tre University Roma, Italy - - 201
University of Salamanca Salamanca, Spain - - 201
University of St. Gallen (HSG) St. Gallen, Switzerland - - 201
University of Strasbourg Strasbourg, France - - 201
University of Turin Turin, Italy - - 201
University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany - - 201
University of Valencia Valencia, Spain - - 201
University of Warsaw Warsaw, Poland - - 201
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China - - 201
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloníki, Greece - - 251
Auckland University of Technology Auckland, New Zealand - - 251
Bond University Gold Coast, Australia - - 251
Brigham Young University Provo, United States - - 251
Catholic University of Portugal Lisbon, Portugal - - 251
Curtin University Perth, Australia - - 251
Dublin City University Dublin, Ireland - - 251
Ewha Womans University Seoul, South Korea - - 251
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre, Brazil - - 251
Flinders University Adelaide, Australia - - 251
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) Nuremberg, Germany - - 251
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, United States - - 251
Keele University Keele, United Kingdom - - 251
LUISS University Roma, Italy - - 251
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Athens, Greece - - 251
National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan - - 251
Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands - - 251
Sogang University Seoul, South Korea - - 251
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China - - 251
University of Hull Hull, United Kingdom - - 251
University of Costa Rica San Pedro, Costa Rica - - 251
Rosario University Bogotá, Colombia - - 251
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal - - 251
University of Brasil Brasília, Brazil - - 251
University of Canberra Canberra, Australia - - 251
University of Granada Granada, Spain - - 251
University of Miami Coral Gables, United States - - 251
University of Milano - Bicocca Sesto San Giovanni, Italy - - 251
University of Montpellier Montpellier, France - - 251
University of Newcastle Newcastle, Australia - - 251
University of Pavia Pavia, Italy - - 251
University of Pisa Pisa, Italy - - 251
University of Porto Porto, Portugal - - 251
University of Quebec Québec, Canada - - 251
University of Regensburg Regensburg, Germany - - 251
University of Seville Sevilla, Spain - - 251
University of Turku Turku, Finland - - 251
University of Westminster London, United Kingdom - - 251
University of Zaragoza Delicias, Spain - - 251
University Paris Dauphine Paris, France - - 251
University Paris Nanterre Nanterre, France - - 251
WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) Vienna, Austria - - 251
Xiamen University Xiamen, China - - 251
European University Institute Florence, Italy - - 51
Fudan University Shanghai, China - - 51
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany - - 51
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia - - 51
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, Australia - - 51
Renmin University of China Beijing, China - - 51
Sciences Po Paris, France - - 51
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China - - 51
Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, South Korea - - 51
The University of Milan Sesto San Giovanni, Italy - - 51
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, Italy - - 51
UCLouvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium - - 51
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland - - 51
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia - - 51
Frankfurt University of Applied Science Frankfurt am Main, Germany - - 51
University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina - - 51
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa - - 51
University of Navarra Pamplona, Spain - - 51
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand - - 51
University of the Andes Bogotá, Colombia - - 51
Yonsei University Seoul, South Korea - - 51
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