Program 01

Juris Doctor Program

A four-year course of study in the California bar-tested subjects, taught in a working courtroom by attorneys and judges who practice in it.

What the degree is built from

The CDTA Juris Doctor program is a four-year course of study. Its content is the set of subjects the California Bar Examination tests, delivered alongside skills training and what the school calls values reinforcement: the professional habits that decide whether a competent lawyer is also a trusted one.

On completing the four years you will be qualified to sit the California Bar Examination. The school’s stated aim goes past that: to have you educated, trained and coached well enough to represent a client on the first day you are admitted.

Taught in a real courtroom

Every State Bar tested course at CDTA is taught in a real courtroom environment rather than a lecture theater. The campus has three: a fully functioning California trial courtroom, a California appellate courtroom, and a federal courtroom.

Most classes are led by two instructors. They are practicing attorneys, sitting and retired judges, prosecutors and public defenders who work in the Riverside County courts and then come and teach in them. When a question comes about how an objection actually lands in front of a judge, the person answering has been the judge.

When classes meet

Classes run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

That schedule is deliberate. It is built for people who are working, raising families, or changing careers, and it is why a large share of CDTA students are what other schools would call non-traditional.

The First-Year Law Students’ Examination

Students in the J.D. program who complete the first year of law study must pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, required by California Business and Professions Code section 6060(h), as part of qualifying to sit the California Bar Examination. It is commonly called the Baby Bar.

A student who passes it within three administrations after first becoming eligible receives credit for all law study completed to that point. A student who does not pass within three administrations must be promptly disqualified from the program. A disqualified student who later passes may re-enroll, but receives credit for only one year of legal study.

CDTA builds preparation for this examination into tuition rather than selling it separately. Internal course reviews, AdaptiBar in the first year, and ExamSoft for every practice, midterm and final examination are all included.

What tuition covers

  • All textbooks for the full course of study
  • A LexisNexis research license
  • ExamSoft, the software used in the First-Year Law Students’ Examination and the General Bar Examination
  • AdaptiBar, included with first-year tuition
  • Internal First-Year Law Students’ Examination course reviews
  • The Saturday Enrichment Program
  • Weekly Barrister networking luncheons
California State Bar Required Disclosure

Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California.

CDTA College of Law is a law school registered with the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. It is not accredited by the American Bar Association or by the Committee of Bar Examiners. Read the full required disclosure before you apply.

Common questions

Four years. Classes meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

No. A four-year degree is one path in. CDTA also admits students holding a two-year degree, and students with at least 60 transferable college credits. You must also be at least 18 and achieve an appropriate LSAT score.

CDTA is a law school registered with the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. It is not accredited by the American Bar Association or by the Committee of Bar Examiners. Study at, or graduation from, this law school may not qualify a student to take the bar examination or to satisfy the requirements for admission to practice in jurisdictions other than California.

Not necessarily. A student intending to seek admission to practice law in a jurisdiction other than California should contact the admitting authority in that jurisdiction for information about its education and admission requirements. Do this before you enroll, not after you graduate.
Ask before you commit

The Registrar, Irene Garcia Dolan, answers eligibility and program questions directly. Call (760) 342-0900 or send a message.

Other programs

  • Distance Learning Option
    Live 50 miles or more from the Indio campus? Complete most of your studies from home and still earn your J.D.
  • Bar Preparation
    Internal FYLSX course reviews, AdaptiBar, and ExamSoft, all included in tuition, so exam day is not the first time you sit under exam conditions.
  • Saturday Enrichment Program
    Direct and cross examination, opening and closing, motions and objections, practiced on Saturdays in the courtrooms on campus.
Your Move, Counselor

The courtroom is waiting.

Join the only law school in the Coachella Valley, in a program built around trial advocacy from the first term.

Apply to CDTA

Or call the Academy, (760) 342-0900

45-290 Fargo Street, Indio, CA 92201

Call (760) 342-0900Apply