The UC Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (BCLT) offers a specialized certificate program for J.D. students that recognizes successful completion of a course of study focused on technology law.
Submission Process
The application for the 2027 J.D. Law & Technology Certificate program will open on January 11, 2027.
Deadlines & Announcements 📢
To be noted in the BCLT and Berkeley Law graduation programs as having received the certificate, students must apply by 11:59 PM on April 1, 2027.
The final deadline for applying is 11:59 PM on July 1, 2027.
3. A writing component, fulfilled by completing a 15 to 20-page publication-quality paper on a law and technology topic, such as a contribution to the Annual Review of Law & Technology through the Law and Technology Writing Workshop, or a LAW 299 individual research-and-writing project. This paper must be solo-authored; exceptions to the number of authors for the paper will be considered in limited circumstances.
BCLT understands that the paper you intend to use to fulfill the writing requirement may not be due for class until after April 1, 2027. If this is the case, please submit a draft of the paper with your application by April 1, so that BCLT can provide preliminary approval of your application.
4. An activity component, fulfilled by substantial participation in at least one approved activity for two semesters, or two approved activities for one semester. This requirement is designed to encourage students to develop collaborative working skills and to complement the substantive knowledge derived from course-related work.
Students do not need to be a board member of any of these organizations to complete this activity requirement. Active participation in the following organizations/activities satisfies the activity component:
- AI at Berkeley Law (AI@BL)
- Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative Law (BERC Law)
- Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law (BJESL)
- Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ)
- Blockchain & Law @ Berkeley
- Health and Life Sciences Law Society at Berkeley Law (HaLS)
- IP Law Society (IPLS)
- Legal Innovation and Entrepreneurship (LINE) at Berkeley
- Privacy Law at Berkeley (PrivLAB)
- Women in Tech Law (WiTL)
- Legal Automation Workshop
- Tech-related SLPs (check first with BCLT)
Students may request to have another law and technology-related activity approved, such as a moot court competition relating to intellectual property.
Variance Process
There is some flexibility in the application of the certificate requirements, allowing students to substitute other curricular and extracurricular activities for a shortfall in the formal requirements. Students who are close to meeting the J.D. Law & Technology Certificate requirements may submit a certificate application along with a brief (one-paragraph) request for a variance. Among the types of requests that will be favorably reviewed are:
- “I have only taken 17 units from the IP & Tech Law course catalog, but took a course in Business Law that covered substantial material related to tech and IP.”
- “I have some other basis for claiming functional equivalence of a core or elective course (e.g., RA work, externship, extensive clinical work, other writing projects).”
Questions
For questions regarding the J.D. Law & Technology Certificate, contact Mia Villanueva (mia.villanueva@berkeley.edu).