Appendix A: Detailed Specifications Regarding the S.J.D. Degree

• First Year of Study
• The Oral (General) Examination
• Presentations at the S.J.D. Colloquium
• Dissertation Form, Submission, and Evaluation

To qualify for the S.J.D. degree, candidates must fulfill the following requirements:

• Submission of an approved study plan, including course work and reading lists, in the first year.
• Completion of the first year of study in residence at the Law School, under the supervision of a faculty member and an orals committee, reading for fields and normally completing at least eight credits of course work (typically on an audit basis).
• Successful completion of an oral (general) examination in each of the fields of study outlined in the study plan.
• Two presentations at the S.J.D. Colloquium.
• Submission and acceptance of the doctoral dissertation.
• Successful oral defense of the dissertation.
• Provision of two copies of the final dissertation to the Graduate Program Office for deposit with the HLS Library.

Faculty Supervisor
Each S.J.D. candidate pursues the degree under the supervision of a faculty member selected by the candidate and approved by the Committee on Graduate Studies. Normally, this supervisor must be a full-time member of the Harvard Law School faculty.

Details for each of these requirements are set forth below. Candidates should also refer to the Graduate Program Handbook available in the Graduate Program Office.

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A. First Year of Study

1.Preparation of the Study Plan

The study plan represents the candidate’s academic itinerary for the period of time (typically the first year of study) leading to the oral examination and should lay a foundation for later work on the dissertation. An acceptable study plan should be built around the candidate’s specific fields of study and should include a combination of courses, readings, and other academic work. The candidate will be examined on those fields by no later than the 19th month from the beginning of S.J.D. studies (typically March of the second year). The study plan must also include the candidate’s deadline for completion of the oral (general) examination.

The study plan should be organized around three or four fields chosen with reference to the candidate’s dissertation proposal and future teaching plans. Such fields will normally include one interdisciplinary field, a field that seeks to combine study of the law with insights from a discipline other than law (such as economics, history, philosophy, or political science). Definition of fields is difficult and in all cases requires careful consideration. Candidates should refer to the general guidelines for field definition available from the Graduate Program Office.

S.J.D. candidates in the first year must normally complete course work carrying a minimum of eight credit hours at the Law School or, if appropriate, at other departments of the University. Arrangements for this course work must be set forth in the Study Plan. Any S.J.D. candidate who does not hold a primary degree in law from a U.S. law school must complete, during the first year of S.J.D. studies or during the LL.M. year, at least two courses in U.S. law and one course in legal history, legal process, or legal thought. Typically, the content of courses pursued in connection with fields will be examined at the oral (general) examination. Candidates will usually complete course work on a non-registered (audit) basis. Candidates who have waived the LL.M. degree, or are beyond the first year, may not register in courses for credit and therefore must complete their course work on an audit basis. If a faculty supervisor advises a candidate who has waived the LL.M. degree or who is beyond the first year of study to complete certain course work for credit, the candidate must petition the Committee on Graduate Studies for approval to complete such work for credit.

2. Class Attendance and Participation

Overlapping Courses or Seminars. S.J.D. candidates taking classes on a for-credit basis must adhere to the class attendance policy and are subject to the protections of the law set forth therein.

3. Minimum Grades

S.J.D. students must receive a minimum grade of P in any course taken for credit.  Grades of LP or F are not passing grades for the S.J.D. degree.

4. The Orals Committee

In the course of preparing the study plan, S.J.D. candidates must assemble an orals committee consisting of the overall faculty supervisor and two or three other faculty members.

Members of the orals committee should be selected with a view to the fields that the candidate intends to pursue in the study plan. Orals committee members (other than the overall faculty supervisor) may be selected from the Law School faculty, from other departments of the University, or from other universities. Candidates who are pursuing an interdisciplinary field or fields are encouraged to choose their orals Committee members from among faculty who are specialists in those fields, which may involve selection from outside Harvard University.

The faculty supervisor and orals committee members will be responsible for consulting with the student throughout the year and administering the oral (general) examination. Orals committee members (other than the overall faculty supervisor) do not participate in the supervision or oral defense of the dissertation, unless they have individually agreed to do so.

Candidates should consult with their faculty supervisors, with the Assistant Dean of the Graduate Program, and with members of the Graduate Committee concerning any question on the selection of members of the orals committee.

5. Approval of the Study Plan

Candidates must submit drafts of their study plans to their faculty supervisors and orals committee members early in September of the first year of study and should discuss with them the desirability of pursuing specific courses, selected readings, inter-disciplinary study, skills enhancement (e.g., languages, mathematics, statistics), and other academic projects in their specific fields of study. On the basis of these discussions, candidates must put their study plans in final form, following the guidelines above, and have them approved by their faculty supervisors. This final version must be submitted to the Graduate Program Office for review and approval by the Committee on Graduate Studies by no later than September 30 of the first year of study. Upon review, the Committee on Graduate Studies may request adjustments to the study plan. These adjustments should be finalized and the study plan re-submitted no later than October 31 of that same year.

6. Periodic Consultation

It is essential that S.J.D. candidates consult regularly with the members of their orals committee during the course of their first year of study and up to the time of the actual examination. The frequency of meetings with faculty during the year will vary. Typically, candidates meet with their advisors every two to three weeks. Some faculty may prefer to meet less often but more intensively; others may prefer to meet in small groups rather than individually. More importantly, candidates should keep their supervisors and orals committee members informed of their progress and engage them substantively on the materials in prescribed readings and courses.

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B. The Oral (General) Examination

Candidates must sit for the S.J.D. oral (general) examination in their fields of study during the first or second year in the program. The examination must be completed before starting work on the dissertation. In rare cases, a written examination may be substituted for an oral examination in one or more of the fields. Any changes in field supervision, contents, structure or title made to the fields between the time the Study Plan is submitted and the time the oral examination takes place must be approved in writing, in advance of the oral examination, by the faculty supervisor(s) and the Committee on Graduate Studies.

The purpose of the S.J.D. general examination is to test the candidate’s competence in the fields set out in the study plan. The oral examination is conducted by a panel consisting of the faculty supervisor and the supervisor of each field covered in the study plan. Typically, half an hour is devoted to questions in each field. Candidates may be examined on any of the material covered in the study plan and are typically questioned on the more salient themes developed during consultations with their supervisors and orals committee members.

Each student and his or her faculty supervisor will agree on a target month (no later than the 19th month from the beginning of S.J.D. studies, typically March of the second year) for completion of the oral examination at the time the student develops his or her study plan. In selecting a date, the parties should take into account such factors as the student’s background in his or her fields, whether the fields should be tailored more narrowly towards a dissertation or more broadly towards the student’s teaching interests, the amount of time the student can spend in residence, and the like.

Students who have not completed the examination as of the beginning of the 13th month of S.J.D. studies, typically September 1 of the second year, will meet with a representative of the Committee on Graduate Studies during that month. In that meeting, the Committee representative and the student will discuss the student’s progress in an effort to determine whether the student’s original timetable is still appropriate.
If that meeting yields the conclusion that the original timetable is still appropriate, the student will complete the oral examination no later than the original deadline. If the meeting yields the conclusion that the original timetable is no longer appropriate, the student and the Committee representative will discuss an appropriate new target date, in no event later than the end of the 19th month, typically March 31 of the second year of S.J.D. studies.

Upon completion of the oral examination, the faculty supervisor will prepare a brief report for the Committee on Graduate Studies providing a grade for each field (Distinguished, Good, Pass or Fail, with pluses and minuses as appropriate), an overall grade of “Pass” or “Fail” for the examination, and comments on the candidate’s performance. The overall grade of “Pass” or “Fail” for the examination will appear on the candidate’s transcript. If the overall grade is “Pass,” the transcript notation will indicate the specific fields of study in which the candidate was examined. Apart from the “pass/fail” result, oral exam grades are not made available to the candidate and may not be disclosed beyond the Graduate Program, where they may be used in awarding fellowships and other positions.

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C. Presentations at the S.J.D. Colloquium

Twice during the program S.J.D. candidates are required to present their dissertation work at the S.J.D. Colloquium, a gathering of all S.J.D. candidates, members of the Committee on Graduate Studies, the presenter’s primary supervisor, and other faculty members (including, among others, those invited by the candidate). The S.J.D. Colloquium is facilitated by a faculty member or senior member of the Graduate Program administration and meets weekly.

The first presentation must take place after completion of the oral examination, and by no later than the 28th month from the beginning of S.J.D. studies (typically, by December of the third year). If the first presentation is not completed by this date, the candidate must make his or her presentation at the next dissertation prospectus conference, typically held in January each year. At this stage, the expectation is that candidates will present selected themes from their work in progress, whether research findings, methodological considerations, or some additional challenges of their doctoral projects. Final conclusions or exhaustive expositions on the dissertation are not encouraged. The second presentation must be completed prior to graduation and may, though it need not, take place in the last year of study. It is a formal presentation of the completed dissertation (or, in certain circumstances, a paper-in-progress not necessarily related to the dissertation) to academic colleagues, similar in form to a job talk or conference paper.

For presenters of the First Colloquium, a dissertation prospectus or a written abstract, which includes a brief overview of the candidate’s work along with a summary of the presentation, must be submitted to the Graduate Program no later than two weeks prior to the scheduled event, and will be distributed to other Colloquium participants one week prior to the scheduled event. For presenters of the Second Colloquium, a chapter of the dissertation (or a paper-in-progress not necessarily related to the dissertation), accompanied by an abstract or précis, must be submitted to the Graduate Program no later than two weeks prior to the scheduled event; both documents will be distributed to other Colloquium participants one week prior to the scheduled event. Subject to the timeline described in the preceding paragraphs, the Graduate Program will assign each candidate a date for the First Colloquium following completion of the oral examination. Students for whom the longest time has elapsed since the oral exam will be required to present the first colloquium before other candidates. It is the responsibility of each S.J.D. candidate to schedule a second colloquium before the appropriate deadline.

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D. Dissertation Form, Submission, and Evaluation

1. Form

Within 36 months of successful completion of the oral examination, the S.J.D. candidate must complete and submit a dissertation on a subject previously approved by the Committee on Graduate Studies and the candidate’s faculty supervisor. Each dissertation must represent a sustained and substantial scholarly effort and must be suitable for publication.

a) Prohibited submissions: Commissioned studies, committee reports, and writings of joint authorship will not be accepted in fulfillment of the dissertation requirement.

b) Permission and Required Format for Multiple Essay submissions: A dissertation in the form of a series of related essays will be acceptable only in exceptional cases and only where the Committee on Graduate Studies has granted prior written approval. Where this format is approved, the candidate must also submit for approval a concluding essay that draws on the other essays and establishes a general thesis supported by the essays.

c) Dissertation length is typically between 300 and 400 double-spaced typed pages. Length is in part a function of the subject chosen and should be discussed with the faculty supervisor. The manuscript should have a margin of 1-H or 1-I inches on the left side of the page to allow for reader comments and to permit binding. While there is no predetermined format for the cover page, each candidate should check with his or her supervisor for any specific requirements or preferences. At a minimum, the candidate’s name, the title of the dissertation, the name of the supervisor, and the date of submission should be included.

d) The candidate should submit one copy of the dissertation to the faculty supervisor and one copy to the second reader. The candidate should retain the original. Both the faculty supervisor and the second reader provide written comments on the dissertation; final approval may be conditioned on further revisions by the candidate. Candidates should not at any stage submit permanently bound copies of the dissertation; dissertation copies do not require hard covers. Once the readers approve the dissertation and corrections, if any, are made, two copies printed on acid-free paper must be submitted (unbound) to the Graduate Program for deposit with the Law School Library. At this time, a Library Authorization form must also be signed.

2. Submission Deadline

Once the supervisor deems the dissertation complete, the supervisor will certify to the Committee on Graduate Studies that the dissertation is ready to be defended and subjected to a final evaluation.

This certification must be made not later than 36 months after the completion of the oral examination. Dissertations submitted after the expiration of this 36-month limit will be accepted only if prior approval for an extension has been obtained from the faculty supervisor and the Committee on Graduate Studies.

It is the responsibility of degree candidates to plan their work so that faculty supervisors are able to meet the applicable deadline for certification. To permit time for evaluation, dissertations should be submitted to the faculty supervisor and second reader at least two months prior to the faculty meeting scheduled to consider the awarding of degrees. Students planning to graduate in November should submit the dissertation to their faculty supervisors no later than August 1; students planning to graduate in March should submit the dissertation no later than December 1; and students planning to graduate in June should submit the dissertation no later than April 1. Dissertations often are not finally approved until three or more months following submission. Candidates are strongly advised to leave more than the minimum time to allow for possible delays in reading or suggestions for extensive revisions. Further information regarding deadlines and degree dates is available from the Graduate Program Office.

3. Evaluation

Following certification by the faculty supervisor, the faculty supervisor and a second reader will evaluate the dissertation. The second reader should be a faculty member, selected by the candidate in consultation with the supervisor, who is skilled in the candidate’s area of study. It is the candidate’s responsibility to report the name of the second reader to the Graduate Program Office as soon as that reader has been selected.

The submitted dissertation will be approved only if, in the judgment of the faculty supervisor, the second reader, and the Committee on Graduate Studies, it constitutes a substantial and valuable contribution to the learning in its field.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that the faculty supervisor and second reader submit written evaluations of the dissertation to the Graduate Program Office. When the supervisor and second reader have both approved the dissertation, the oral defense should be scheduled.

4. Oral Defense of Dissertation

Upon completion of the dissertation, each candidate must pass an oral defense examination in his or her principal field of research (not limited to but including the subject of the dissertation). The examination is given by a dissertation defense committee consisting of the faculty supervisor, the second reader and, if necessary, a representative of the Committee on Graduate Studies. The examination is customarily held at the Law School within two months of the submission of the dissertation.

5. Degree Deadlines

In order to determine whether to recommend to the Law School faculty that a candidate be awarded the S.J.D. degree, the Graduate Committee must receive written reports evaluating the dissertation from the principal supervisor and the second reader, as well as a report of the oral defense. These reports must be received by no later than September 15 to qualify for a November degree, January 15 to qualify for a March degree, or May 15 to qualify for a June degree. (Please note: Reports on the oral examination should already be a part of the candidate’s file.) In addition, the final version of the approved dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate Program (for deposit in the Law School Library) no later than two weeks prior to the expected date of graduation. The Committee on Graduate Studies will not entertain recommendations from supervisors after the relevant date listed above.

6. Extensions of Dissertation Period

Extensions for completion of the S.J.D. dissertation beyond the 36-month period following successful completion of the oral exam will be granted only in cases of special need. Except as provided below (for candidates pursuing second doctoral degrees), under no condition will extensions be granted for a period exceeding 72 months from the end of the first year of S.J.D. candidacy.

To apply for an extension, candidates and their faculty supervisors must submit to the Committee on Graduate Studies a written request for an extension supported by a justifiable basis and the expected completion date. Receipt of this request will initiate Committee review; the results of the Committee’s review will be reported to the candidate shortly thereafter.

Candidates pursuing second doctoral degrees: The Committee may grant extensions of up to (but under no circumstances exceeding) 108 months from the end of the first year of S.J.D. residency if both of the following pertain:

• The candidate has been pursuing a second doctoral degree concurrently with his or her S.J.D. candidacy; and
• The candidate has completed the other doctoral degree within 72 months after the end of the first year of S.J.D. residency.

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