BYU Law 1L Academies

The BYU Law Academies Program provides students who have just completed their first year of law school with world-class skills training delivered by elite practitioners working in partnership with BYU Law faculty. Academies take place at top-tier law firms throughout the country and allow students to experience high-level law practice using an intensive simulation-based approach.

1L Academies will take place between Friday, April 24 and Saturday, May 2, 2026.

The specific Academies offered each year vary. See the 2026 Academies at the BYU Law 2026 Academies Program.

The Academies Program allows students to experience high-level law practice in a variety of practice areas; many Academies also introduce students to important legal markets throughout the country.

Although the details of Academy curriculum vary depending on the subject matter, each Academy is built around an intensive simulation-based approach that helps students integrate their academic legal training with the real-world practice of law.

Each Academy is intense and demanding. The Law School thus has high expectations for Academy participants, all of whom act as ambassadors for BYU Law as they interact with the high-level practitioners volunteering their time to teach our students.

Academies that have occurred in previous years include:

• AI Law and Policy Academy, hosted by Clarion AI Partners and Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere in Salt Lake City, UT
• Appellate and Law-Intensive Academy, hosted by Gibson Dunn in Los Angeles, CA, and Washington, DC
• Chancery Academy, hosted by Potter Anderson in Wilmington, DE
• Corporate Compliance Academy, hosted by Mayer Brown in Los Angeles, CA
• Deals Academy, hosted by Kirkland & Ellis in New York, NY
• Immigration Academy, hosted by Fragomen in Salt Lake City, UT
• International Arbitration Academy, hosted in Geneva and Singapore with various law firm mentorships
• Restructuring Academy, hosted by Greenberg Traurig in Chicago, IL, and Philadelphia, PA
• Startups Academy, hosted by Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto, CA
• Trial Academy, hosted by Kirkland & Ellis in Dallas, TX

You may talk to your career advisor with any questions you have about Academies.