Juris Doctor: Difference between revisions

A '''Juris Doctor''', '''Doctor of Jurisprudence''',<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) Degree |url=https://law.stanford.edu/office-of-student-affairs/the-doctor-of-jurisprudence-jd-degree/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706191250/https://law.stanford.edu/office-of-student-affairs/the-doctor-of-jurisprudence-jd-degree/ |archive-date=6 July 2022 |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Stanford Law School |language=en}}</ref> or '''Doctor of Law<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The Law School > Academic Catalog {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=http://graduateannouncements.uchicago.edu/graduate/lawschool/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Graduate Announcements, The University of Chicago |language=en |archive-date=15 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615201522/http://graduateannouncements.uchicago.edu/graduate/lawschool/ |url-status=live }}</ref>''' ('''JD''') is a graduate-entry [[professional degree]] that primarily prepares individuals to practice [[law]]. In the [[United States]], it is the only qualifying law degree, while other jurisdictions, such as [[Australia]], [[Canada]], and [[Hong Kong]], offer both the postgraduate JD degree as well as the undergraduate [[LL.B.]], [[Bachelor of Civil Law|BCL]], or other qualifying law degree depending on the requirements of the jurisdiction where the person will practice law.

}}</ref> except from the state of Wisconsin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=School |first=University of Wisconsin Law |title=Diploma Privilege {{!}} University of Wisconsin Law School |url=https://law.wisc.edu/current/diploma_privilege/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=law.wisc.edu |language=en |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409145828/https://law.wisc.edu/current/diploma_privilege/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Diploma Privilege {{!}} Marquette University Law School |url=https://law.marquette.edu/prospective-students/diploma-privilege |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=law.marquette.edu |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409151328/https://law.marquette.edu/prospective-students/diploma-privilege |url-status=live }}</ref> United States patent courts also involve a specialized "[[USPTO registration examination|Patent Bar]]" which requires applicants to hold an additional required degree in certain scientific fields alongside their Juris Doctor degrees.<ref name="uspto">{{cite web |url=https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/patent-and-trademark-practitioners/becoming-patent-practitioner |title=Becoming a Patent Practitioner |author=United States Patent and Trademark Office |date=27 March 2017 |website=USPTO.gov |publisher=United States Government |access-date=3 November 2021 |quote=Learn about applying for registration to practice in patent matters before the USPTO, including requirements, forms, and exam information. |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605043057/https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/patent-and-trademark-practitioners/becoming-patent-practitioner |url-status=live }}</ref>

The JD originated in the United States during a movement to improve training of the professions. Prior to the origination of the JD, law students began law school either with only a high school diploma, or less than the amount of undergraduate study required to earn a bachelor's degree. The LLB persisted in the US through the middle of the 20th century, becomingwhich by then turned into a [[Postgraduate education|postgraduate]] degree that requiredrequiring the previous completion of a bachelor's degree as a pre-requisite for virtually all students entering law school, it became a bachelor's degree in name only. The didactic approaches that resulted were revolutionary for university legal education and have slowly been implemented in some countries outside the United States, but only recently (since about 1997) and in stages. The degrees which resulted from this new approach, such as the MD and the JD, are just as different from their European counterparts as the educational approaches differ.

At first the degree took the form of a BLB.L. (such as at the College of William and Mary), but then Harvard, keen on importing legitimacy through the trappings of Oxford and Cambridge, implemented an LLB degree.<ref name=Reed-1921/>{{rp|page=167}} The decision to award a bachelor's degree for law could be due to the fact that admittance to most nineteenth-century American law schools required only satisfactory completion of high school.<ref name=asklib-faq-115308>{{cite web

</ref><ref name=Reed-1921/>{{rp|page=161}} where it was necessary to gain a general BA prior to an LLB or BCL until the nineteenth century.<ref name=Reed-1928/>{{rp|page=78}} Thus, even though the name of the English LLB degree was implemented at Harvard, the program in the United States was nonetheless intended as a first degree which, unlike the English BAB.A., gave practical or professional training in law.<ref name=Reed-1921/>{{rp|page=169}}<ref name=Reed-1928/>{{rp|page=74}}

As more law students entered law schools with collegepreviously awarded bachelor's degree degrees in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of law schools may have introduced the JD to encourage law students to complete their undergraduate degrees.<ref name=Hylton-2012-01-11/> As late as 1961, there were still 15 ABA-accredited law schools in the United States which awarded both LLB and JD degrees. Thirteen of the 15 were located in the Midwest, which may indicate regional variations in the United States.<ref name=Hylton-2012-01-11/>

It was only after 1962 that a new push — this time begun at less-prominent law schools — successfully led to the universal adoption of the JD as the first law degree. The turning point appears to have occurred when the [[American Bar Association|ABA]] Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar unanimously adopted a resolution recommending to all approved law schools that they give favorable consideration to the conferring of the JD degree as the first professional degree, in 1962 and 1963.<ref name=asklib-faq-115308/> By the 1960s, most law students were college graduates having previously obtained a bachelor's degree, and by the end of that decade, almost all were required to be.<ref name=Perry-2012-06/> Student and alumni support were key in the LLB-to-JD change, and even the most prominent schools were convinced to make the change: Columbia and Harvard in 1969, and Yale (last) in 1971.<ref name=Perry-2012-06/>{{rp|pages=22–23}}<ref name=asklib-faq-115308/><ref>

}}</ref> Similarly, Columbia refers to the LLM and the JSD as its graduate program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.law.columbia.edu/admissions/graduate-legal-studies/|title=Graduate Legal Studies|work=Columbia Law School|access-date=28 August 2015|archive-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150827064742/http://web.law.columbia.edu/admissions/graduate-legal-studies|url-status=live}}</ref> Yale Law School lists its LLM, MSL, JSD, and PhDPh.D. as constituting graduate programs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.law.yale.edu/study-law-yale/degree-programs/graduate-programs |title=Graduate Programs – Yale Law School |website=Law.yale.edu |access-date=17 April 2017 |archive-date=1 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501190904/https://law.yale.edu/study-law-yale/degree-programs/graduate-programs |url-status=live }}</ref> A distinction thus remains between professional and graduate law degrees at some universities in the United States.

|+ {{big|'''Comparisons of JDJ.D. variants'''}}{{efn|Citations for verification of the data in this table can be found in the subsequent paragraphs of this section.}}

! Different<br />curriculum{{small|<br />from LLBLL.B. in<br />jurisdiction}}

An initial attempt to rename the LLB to the JD in the US in the early 20th century started with a petition at Harvard in 1902. This was rejected, but the idea took hold at the new law school established at the [[University of Chicago]] and other universities. By 1925, 80% of US law schools awarded the JD to students who had entered the program with an undergraduate degree, while granting undergraduate entrants the LLB. The change was initially rejected by the leading law schools of the time Harvard, Yale and Columbia. By the late 1920s, schools were moving away from the JD and once again granting only the LLBLL.B, with only law schools in Illinois holding out. This changed in the 1960s, by which time almost all law school entrants were graduates. The JD was reintroduced in 1962 and by 1971 had replaced the LLB, with many schools going offering a JD as a replacement to their LLB alumni.<ref name=Perry-2012-06>{{cite journal

</ref> In 2009, the [[Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila]] and the [[Silliman University College of Law]] also renamed their respective LLBLL.B programs to Juris Doctor.<ref name="JDSilliman">

The [[Quality Assurance Agency]] consulted in 2014 on the inclusion of "Juris Doctor" in the UKU.K. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications as an exception to the rule that "doctor" should only be used by doctoral degrees. It was proposed that the Juris Doctor would be an award at bachelor level, and would not confer the right to use the title "doctor".<ref>

{{As of|2020|post=,}} theThe only JD degree currently awarded by a UKU.K. university is at [[Queen's University Belfast]]. The 3–4 year degree is specified as a [[professional doctorate]] at the doctoral qualifications level, sitting above the LLM. It includes a 30,000-word dissertation.<ref>{{cite report

In the United States, the Juris Doctor is the degree that prepares the recipient to enter the law profession (as do the [[Doctor of Medicine|MDM.D.]] or [[Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine|DOD.O.]] in the medical profession and the [[Doctor of Dental Surgery|DDSD.D.S]] or DMDD.M.D. in the dental profession). While the JDJ.D. is the sole degree necessary to become a professor of law or to obtain a license to practice law, it (like the MDM.D., DOD.O, DDSD.D.S, or DMDD.M.D.) is not a "research degree".<ref>

Research degrees in the study of law include the [[Master of Laws]] (LLMLL.M.), which ordinarily requires the JDJ.D. as a prerequisite,<ref name="law.yale.edu">{{cite web

}}</ref> and the [[Doctor of Juridical Science]] (SJDS.J.D./JSDJ.S.D.), which ordinarily requires the LLMLL.M. as a prerequisite.<ref name="law.yale.edu"/>

However, the [[American Bar Association]], which accredits US law schools, has issued a councilCouncil statementStatement stating:<ref>{{cite web

Accordingly, while most law professors are required to conduct original writing and research in order to be awarded tenure, the majority have a JDJ.D. as their highest degree and are qualified to teach and supervise LLMLL.M. and JSDJ.S.D candidates. However, research in 2015 showed an increasing trend toward hiring professors with both JDa J.D. and PhDPh.D. in a field that confers Ph.D. degrees, particularly at more highly ranked schools.<ref>

Professor Kenneth K. Mwenda criticized the council's statement, pointing out that it compares the JDJ.D. only to the taught component of the PhDPh.D. degree in the United States, ignoring the research and dissertation components.<ref>

The United States [[Department of Education]] Center for Education Statistics classifies the JDJ.D. and other professional doctorates as "doctor's degree-professional practice"." It classifies the PhDPh.D. and other research doctorates as "doctor's degree-research/scholarship"."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/data-tip-sheet-reporting-graduate-awards |title=The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System |publisher=Nces.ed.gov |date= |accessdate=2022-05-05 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516000443/https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/data-tip-sheet-reporting-graduate-awards |url-status=live }}</ref> Among legal degrees, it accords the latter status only to the Doctor of Juridical Science degree.

In Europe, the [[European Research Council]] follows a similar policy, stating that a professional degree carrying the title "doctor" is not considered equivalent to a research degree, such as a PhDPh.D.<ref>

}}</ref> while the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland states with respect to United States practice that: "The '...&nbsp;professional degree' is a first degree, not a graduate degree, even though it incorporates the word 'doctor' in the title".<ref>

</ref> even though the [[U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services|United States Citizenship and Immigration Services]] has advised that "while neither degree is likely equivalent to a PhDPh.D., a JD, or MD degree would be considered to be equivalent to, if not higher than, a masters degree".<ref>{{cite web

The introduction of the 1969 ''Code of Professional Responsibility'' settled the question in favorfavour of allowing the use of the title in states where the code was adopted.<ref>

</ref> There was some dispute over whether only the PhDPh.D.-level [[Doctor of Juridical Science]] grant the title,<ref>

</ref> While many state bars now allow the use of the title, some prohibit its use where there is any chance of confusing the public about a lawyer's actual qualifications (e.g., if the public might believe the lawyer is a doctor of medicine).<ref>{{cite magazine

}}</ref> In 2011, [[Mother Jones (magazine)|''Mother Jones'']] published an article claiming that [[Michele Bachmann]] was misrepresenting her qualifications by using the "bogus" title "Dr." based on her JD. They later amended the article to note that the use of the title by lawyers "is a (begrudgingly) accepted practice in some states and not in others", although they maintained that it was rarely used as it "suggests that you're a medical doctor or a PhDPh.D. – and therefore conveys a false level of expertise."<ref>{{cite magazine

* [[Bachelor of Civil Law]] (B.C.L., LL.B., or LL.L.)

* [[Bachelor of Laws]] (LL.B.)

* [[Doctor of Canon Law]] (J.C.D.)

* [[Doctor of Juridical Science]] (J.S.D. or S.J.D.)

* [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D.)

* [[Master of Laws]] (LL.M.)

* [[Law school in the United States]] – describes general characteristics of the JDJ.D. curriculum in the United States