Unfortunately, you will be considered ineligible. "Legal training" starts when you attach to the unit you will belong to during law school. The reporting time for the 1L fall semester of law school is typically in August.

Applicants to the LEP Selection Board will report to law school the year after they submit their application (e.g., apply by September 2026 to start law school in August 2027). They must be accepted into a law school, have orders to attend training at a specific law school, and be released from their non-JAG officer community in order to begin "legal training."

No. The time-in-service requirement is statutory.

No. The Navy LEP is only available to active duty Naval officers.

Yes, you may still apply for LEP if you have already completed part of your legal studies

You must apply to at least one school at which in-state tuition can be obtained, one school near your current duty station, and one school located in a fleet concentration area. LEP applicants may only attend ABA-approved law schools that maintain an active ESA with NPS. The list of NPS-approved schools is updated annually. View the latest list of approved law schools.

Yes, all LEP applicants must sit for the LSAT and provide an Official LSAT Score Report. If an applicant would also desire to take the take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or other advanced education entry exam, he or she is free to do so.

Yes, all LSAT scores must be provided as part of the Official LSAT Score Report. Only an applicant’s official LSAT score report will be accepted. Website screenshots of LSAT scores will not be accepted. The LEP Selection Board will consider all materials submitted.

No. The applicant must cover the costs of any LSAT prep courses and the required LSAT exam fees.

No. A photo is not required.

However, naval officers shall comply with current official photo requirements in accordance with MILPERSMAN 1070-181.

Yes, official transcripts are required and may be sent directly from the institution or pulled from your Official Military Personnel File.

Yes, transcripts are required from all colleges attended.

No, letters of recommendation are not authorized and will not be presented to the LEP Selection Board.

As long as you have completed your Structured Interview by the application deadline, there is no further action required on your part.
Request to schedule a Structured Interview at https://www.jag.navy.mil/careers/lawyers/structured-interview/. If you are located overseas or with a deployed unit, please contact NavyJAGAccessions@us.navy.mil

Only applications that contain all required materials, including a completed Structured Interview, will be eligible for consideration by the LEP Selection Board.

No. The reporting period will not be complete before the supplemental materials deadline because the LEP Selection Board meets in early February.

You will be notified approximately six (6) to ten (10) weeks after the LEP Selection Board meets. Time of notification is dependent on the number of applications, current operations, and approval requirements.

The discussions at LEP Selection Board are not allowed to be shared outside of the board proceedings, so specific information pertaining to individuals is not available. The LEP Selection Board uses a whole person standard, which takes into account academic performance, demonstrated leadership and teamwork, physical fitness, commitment to public service, likelihood of success as a judge advocate, military FITREPs, and structured interview feedback.

The decision is yours, but there is no downside to reapplying. Your application will receive a fresh look at each LEP Selection Board for which you are eligible.

Every applicant is different. The LEP Selection Board uses a whole person standard, which takes into account academic performance, demonstrated leadership and teamwork, physical fitness, commitment to public service, likelihood of success as a judge advocate, military FITREPs, and structured interview feedback.

LEP Officers may be reimbursed for tuition and the following expenses:

• Up to 3 law school application fees & associated transcripts
• Up to 1 law school transcript
• 1 bar exam review course

NPS Instruction 1520.1K provides additional detail.

Selectees will be assigned for administrative purposes to a Navy activity near the law school to be attended, in the status of duty under instruction. They will be eligible for all pay and allowances appropriate to their grade and length of service. Hazardous duty pay, special pay (e.g., sea pay), and incentive pay (e.g., flight pay) to which the officer may be entitled, by virtue of special qualification or prior duty assignment, is subject to termination upon reporting to law school.

Prior to graduation, a LEP candidate may be disenrolled from the program for deficiencies in academic performance, abandonment of the study, or other good cause. An officer dis-enrolled from the program will incur, unless sooner separated, a one-year active duty service obligation in that officer's former designator, for each year (12 months) or any part thereof of his or her training in LEP, not to exceed three years. This is in addition to any other service obligation incurred by the officer. An officer who, voluntarily or because of misconduct, fails to complete the period of active duty incurred, will reimburse the United States Treasury in an amount that bears the same ratio to the total cost of law school provided the officer, as the unserved portion of active duty bears to the total period of active duty the officer has agreed to serve.

Yes. Navy selectees shall be designated as student judge advocates (1950) without a change in Regular or Reserve status, grade, or date of rank.

Application will be made to a Federal court or the highest court of a State, the District of Columbia, a U.S. Territory, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court selected must have jurisdiction over (1) the site of the law school attended, (2) the officer's domicile, or (3) with prior notice to and approval by the Judge Advocate General or Commandant of the Marine Corps, as appropriate, any other place in which the officer may be eligible to seek admission to the practice of law.

In the event the officer fails the first bar examination, he or she will take the next examination. In the event an officer fails to be admitted to the practice of law within one year from the date of graduation from law school, or fails to successfully complete the Basic Lawyer Course at the Naval Justice School, that officer will serve, unless sooner separated, the period of obligated active duty service in that officer's former designator, in addition to any service obligation incurred by that individual under any other provisions of law or agreement.

Yes. Following passing bar results, LEP officers will report to the next available Basic Lawyer Course at Naval Justice School (NJS) in Newport, RI. Upon graduation from NJS, new judge advocates return to their permanent duty station. For more information, visit the Path of a Navy JAG Corps Officer.

All LEP program participants will serve on active duty following completion of the program for two years (24 months) for each year (12 months), or any part thereof, of legal training in the program.

For example, a LEP candidate who completes a Juris Doctor in 3 years will incur a 6-year service obligation.

If your schedule permits, the following books are recommended to better prepare you for your time as a judge advocate:

• "The Admirals" by Walter Borneman
• "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing
• "Sea Power" by Admiral James Stavridis
• "The Essential Wooden" by John Wooden and Steve Jamison
• "The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork" by John C. Maxwell

These books contain valuable lessons in history, geo-politics, leadership, and perseverance. As the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) notes in the context of his own professional reading program, "[r]emember to never stop striving to expand your mind."