Juris Doctor - wikipedia Juris Doctor Example of a diploma from Suffolk University Law School conferring the Juris Doctor degree The Juris Doctor degree ( J.D. or JD ), also known as the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree ( J.D., JD, D. Jur. or DJur ), is a graduate - entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. It is earned by completing law school in Australia, Canada and the United States, and some other common law countries. It has the academic standing of a second - entry, baccalaureate degree in Canada, a master 's degree in Australia and a professional doctorate in the United States ( in all three jurisdictions the same as other professional degrees such as M.D. or D.D.S. ). The degree was first awarded in the United States in the early 20th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree ( such as the Dottore in Giurisprudenza in Italy and the Juris Utriusque Doctor in Germany and central Europe ). Originating from the 19th century Harvard movement for the scientific study of law, it is a degree that in most common law jurisdictions is the primary professional preparation for lawyers. It involves a three - year program in most jurisdictions. To be authorized to practice law in the courts of a given state in the United States, the majority of individuals holding a J.D. degree must pass a bar examination. The state of Wisconsin, however, permits the graduates of its two law schools to practice law in that state, and in its state courts, without having to take its bar exam -- a practice called `` diploma privilege '' -- provided they complete the courses needed to satisfy the diploma privilege requirements. In the United States, passing an additional bar exam is not required of lawyers authorized to practice in at least one state to practice in the national courts of the United States, courts commonly known as `` federal courts ''. Lawyers must, however, be admitted to the bar of the federal court before they are authorized to practice in that court. Admission to the bar of a federal district court includes admission to the bar of the related bankruptcy court. Contents 1 Etymology and abbreviations 2 Historical context 2.1 Origins of the law degree 2.2 The history of legal training in England 2.3 Legal training in colonial North America and 19th century U.S. 2.3. 1 Revolutionary approach : Scientific study of law 3 Creation of the J.D. and major common law approaches to legal education 3.1 Legal education in the United States 3.1. 1 Creation of the Juris Doctor 3.2 Major common law approaches 4 Modern variants and curriculum 4.1 Types and characteristics 4.1. 1 Standard Juris Doctor curriculum 4.1. 2 Replacement for the LL. B. 4.2 Descriptions of the J.D. outside the U.S. 4.2. 1 Australia 4.2. 2 Canada 4.2. 3 China 4.2. 4 Hong Kong 4.2. 5 India 4.2. 6 Italy 4.2. 7 Japan 4.2. 8 Mexico 4.2. 9 Philippines 4.2. 10 Singapore 4.2. 11 United Kingdom 5 In academia 6 Use of the title `` Doctor '' 7 See also 8 Notes and references 9 External links Etymology and abbreviations In the United States, the professional doctorate in law may be conferred in Latin or in English as Juris Doctor ( sometimes shown on Latin diplomas in the accusative form Juris Doctorem ) and at some law schools Doctor of Law ( J.D. or JD ), or Doctor of Jurisprudence ( also abbreviated JD or J.D. ). `` Juris Doctor '' literally means `` Teacher of Law '', while the Latin for `` Doctor of Jurisprudence '' -- Jurisprudentiae Doctor -- literally means `` Teacher of Legal Knowledge ''. The J.D. is not to be confused with Doctor of Laws or Legum Doctor ( LLD or LL. D. ). In institutions where the latter can be earned, e.g. Cambridge University ( where it is titled Doctor of Law, though still retaining the abbreviation LLD ) and many other British institutions, it is a higher research doctorate representing a substantial contribution to the field over many years, beyond that required for a PhD and well beyond a taught degree such as the J.D. The LL. D. is invariably an honorary degree in the United States. Historical context Origins of the law degree The first university in Europe, the University of Bologna, was founded as a school of law by four famous legal scholars in the 11th century who were students of the glossator school in that city. This served as the model for other law schools of the Middle Ages, and other early universities such as the University of Padua. The first academic degrees may have been doctorates in civil law ( doctores legum ) followed by canon law ( doctores decretorum ) ; these were not professional degrees but rather indicated that their holders had been approved to teach at the universities. While Bologna granted only doctorates, preparatory degrees ( bachelor 's and licences ) were introduced in Paris and then in the English universities. The History of legal training in England The Inns of Court of London served as a professional school for lawyers in England. The nature of the J.D. can be better understood by a review of the context of the history of legal education in England. The teaching of law at Cambridge and Oxford Universities was mainly for philosophical or scholarly purposes and not meant to prepare one to practice law. The universities only taught civil and canon law ( used in a very few jurisdictions such as the courts of admiralty and church courts ) but not the common law that applied in most jurisdictions. Professional training for practicing common law in England was undertaken at the Inns of Court, but over time the training functions of the Inns lessened considerably and apprenticeships with individual practitioners arose as the prominent medium of preparation. However, because of the lack of standardisation of study and of objective standards for appraisal of these apprenticeships, the role of universities became subsequently of importance for the education of lawyers in the English speaking world. In England in 1292 when Edward I first requested that lawyers be trained, students merely sat in the courts and observed, but over time the students would hire professionals to lecture them in their residences, which led to the institution of the Inns of Court system. The original method of education at the Inns of Court was a mix of moot court - like practice and lecture, as well as court proceedings observation. By the fifteenth century, the Inns functioned like a university akin to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, though very specialized in purpose. With the frequent absence of parties to suits during the Crusades, the importance of the lawyer role grew tremendously, and the demand for lawyers grew. Traditionally Oxford and Cambridge did not see common law as worthy of study, and included coursework in law only in the context of canon and civil law ( the two ' Laws ' in the original Bachelor of Laws, which thus became the Bachelor of Civil Law when the study of canon law was barred after the Reformation ) and for the purpose of the study of philosophy or history only. The apprenticeship program for solicitors thus emerged, structured and governed by the same rules as the apprenticeship programs for the trades. The training of solicitors by a five - year apprenticeship was formally established by the Attorneys and Solicitors Act 1728,. William Blackstone became the first lecturer in English common law at the University of Oxford in 1753, but the university did not establish the program for the purpose of professional study, and the lectures were very philosophical and theoretical in nature. Blackstone insisted that the study of law should be university based, where concentration on foundational principles can be had, instead of concentration on detail and procedure had through apprenticeship and the Inns of Court. The 1728 act was amended in 1821 to reduce the period of the required apprenticeship to three years for graduates in either Law or Arts from Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, as `` the admission of such graduates should be facilitated, in consideration of the learning and abilities requisite for taking such degree ''. This was extended in 1837 to cover the newly established universities of Durham and London, and again in 1851 to include the new Queen 's University of Ireland. The Inns of Court continued but became less effective, and admission to the bar still did not require any significant educational activity or examination. In 1846, Parliament examined the education and training of prospective barristers and found the system to be inferior to that of Europe and the United States as Britain did not regulate the admission of barristers. Therefore, formal schools of law were called for, but not finally established until later in the century, and even then the bar did not consider a university degree in admission decisions. Until the mid nineteenth century, most law degrees in England ( the BCL at Oxford and Durham, and the LLB at London ) were postgraduate degrees, taken after an initial degree in Arts. The Cambridge degree, variously referred to as a BCL, BL or LLB, was an exception : it took 6 years from matriculation to complete, but only three of these had to be in residence, and the BA was not required ( although those not holding a BA had to produce a certificate to prove they had not only been in residence but had actually attended lectures for at least three terms ). These degrees specialised in Roman Civil Law rather than English Common Law, which was the domain of the Inns of Court, and were thus more theoretical than practically useful. Cambridge reestablished its LLB degree in 1858 as an undergraduate course alongside the BA, and the London LLB, which had previously required a minimum of one year after the BA, become an undergraduate degree in 1866. The older nomenclature continues to be used for the BCL at Oxford today, which is a master 's level program, while Cambridge moved its LLB back to being a postgraduate degree in 1922 but only renamed it as the LLM in 1982. Between the 1960s and the 1990s, law schools in England took on a more central role in the preparation of lawyers and consequently improved their coverage of advanced legal topics to become more professionally relevant. Over the same period, American law schools became more scholarly and less professionally oriented, so that in 1996 Langbein could write : `` That contrast between English law schools as temples of scholarship and American law schools as training centers for the profession no longer bears the remotest relation to reality. '' Legal training in colonial North America and 19th century U.S. Initially there was much resistance to lawyers in colonial North America because of the role they had played in hierarchical England, but slowly the colonial governments started using the services of professionals trained in the Inns of Court in London, and by the end of the American Revolution there was a functional bar in each state. Due to an initial distrust of a profession open only to the elite in England, as institutions for training developed in what would become the United States they emerged as quite different from those in England. Initially in the United States the legal professionals were trained and imported from England. A formal apprenticeship or clerkship program was established first in New York in 1730 -- at that time a seven - year clerkship was required, and in 1756 a four - year college degree was required in addition to five years of clerking and an examination. Later the requirements were reduced to require only two years of college education. But a system like the Inns did not develop, and a college education was not required in England until the 19th century, so this system was unique. The clerkship program required much individual study and the mentoring lawyer was expected to carefully select materials for study and guide the clerk in his study of the law and ensure that it was being absorbed. The student was supposed to compile his notes of his reading of the law into a `` commonplace book '', which he would try to memorize. Although those were the ideals, in reality the clerks were often overworked and rarely were able to study the law individually as expected. They were often employed to tedious tasks, such as making handwritten copies of documents. Finding sufficient legal texts was also a seriously debilitating issue, and there was no standardization in the books assigned to the clerk trainees because they were assigned by their mentor, whose opinion of the law may have differed greatly from his peers. It was said by one famous attorney in the U.S., William Livingston, in 1745 in a New York newspaper that the clerkship program was severely flawed, and that most mentors `` have no manner of concern for their clerk 's future welfare... ( T ) is a monstrous absurdity to suppose, that the law is to be learnt by a perpetual copying of precedents. '' There were some few mentors that were dedicated to the service, and because of their rarity, they became so sought after that the first law schools evolved from the offices of some of these attorneys who took on many clerks and began to spend more time training than practicing law. Tapping Reeve, founder of the first law school in North America, the Litchfield Law School, in 1773 In time, the apprenticeship program was not considered sufficient to produce lawyers fully capable of serving their clients ' needs. The apprenticeship programs often employed the trainee with menial tasks, and while they were well trained in the day - to - day operations of a law office, they were generally unprepared practitioners or legal reasoners. The establishment of formal faculties of law in U.S. universities did not occur until the latter part of the 18th century. With the beginning of the American Revolution, the supply of lawyers from Britain ended. The first law degree granted by a U.S. university was a Bachelor of Law in 1793 by the College of William and Mary, which was abbreviated L.B. ; Harvard was the first university to use the LL. B. abbreviation in the United States. The first university law programs in the United States, such as that of the University of Maryland established in 1812, included much theoretical and philosophical study, including works such as the Bible, Cicero, Seneca, Aristotle, Adam Smith, Montesquieu and Grotius. It has been said that the early university law schools of the early 19th century seemed to be preparing students for careers as statesmen rather than as lawyers. At the LL. B. programs in the early 1900s at Stanford University and Yale continued to include `` cultural study '', which included courses in languages, mathematics and economics. An LL. B., or Bachelor of Laws, recognized that a prior bachelor 's degree was not required to earn an LL. B. In the 1850s there were many proprietary schools which originated from a practitioner taking on multiple apprentices and establishing a school and which provided a practical legal education, as opposed to the one offered in the universities which offered an education in the theory, history and philosophy of law. The universities assumed that the acquisition of skills would happen in practice, while the proprietary schools concentrated on the practical skills during education. Revolutionary approach : scientific study of law Joseph Story, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, lecturer of law at Harvard and proponent of the scientific study of law In part to compete with the small professional law schools, there began a great change in U.S. university legal education. For a short time beginning in 1826 Yale began to offer a complete `` practitioners ' course '' which lasted two years and included practical courses, such as pleading drafting. U.S. Supreme Court justice Joseph Story started the spirit of change in legal education at Harvard when he advocated a more `` scientific study '' of the law in the 19th century. At the time he was a lecturer at Harvard. Therefore, at Harvard the education was much of a trade school type of approach to legal education, contrary to the more liberal arts education advocated by Blackstone at Oxford and Jefferson at William and Mary. Nonetheless there continued to be debate among educators over whether legal education should be more vocational, as at the private law schools, or through a rigorous scientific method, such as that developed by Story and Langdell. In the words of Dorsey Ellis, `` Langdell viewed law as a science and the law library as the laboratory, with the cases providing the basis for learning those ' principles or doctrines ' of which law, considered as a science, consists. ' '' Nonetheless, into the year 1900 most states did not require a university education ( although an apprenticeship was often required ) and most practitioners had not attended any law school or college. Therefore, the modern legal education system in the U.S. is a combination of teaching law as a science and a practical skill, implementing elements such as clinical training, which has become an essential part of legal education in the U.S. and in the J.D. program of study. Creation of the J.D. and major common law approaches to legal education The J.D. originated in the United States during a movement to improve training of the professions. Prior to the origination of the J.D., 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 LL. B. persisted through the middle of the twentieth century, after which a completed bachelor 's degree became a requirement for virtually all students entering law school. The didactic approaches that resulted were revolutionary for university education and have slowly been implemented outside the U.S., but only recently ( since about 1997 ) and in stages. The degrees which resulted from this new approach, such as the M.D. and the J.D., are just as different from their European counterparts as the educational approaches differ. Legal education in the United States Main article : Legal education in the United States Professional doctorates were developed in the United States in the 19th century, the first being the Doctor of Medicine in 1807, but the professional law degree took more time. At the time the legal system in the United States was still in development as the educational institutions were developing. The status of the legal profession was at that time still ambiguous ; therefore, the development of the legal degree took much time. Even when some universities offered training in law, they did not offer a degree. Because in the United States there were no Inns of Court, and the English academic degrees did not provide the necessary professional training, the models from England were inapplicable, and the degree program took some time to develop. At first the degree took the form of a B.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 LL. B. degree. This was somewhat controversial at the time because it was a professional training without any of the cultural or classical studies required of a degree in England, where it was necessary to gain a general BA prior to an LLB or BCL until the nineteenth century. Thus, even though the name of the English LL. B. degree was implemented at Harvard, the program in the U.S. was nonetheless intended as a first degree which, unlike the English B.A., gave practical or professional training in law. Creation of the Juris Doctor In the mid-19th century there was much concern about the quality of legal education in the United States. Christopher Columbus Langdell, who served as dean of Harvard Law School from 1870 to 1895, dedicated his life to reforming legal education in the United States. The historian Robert Stevens wrote that `` it was Langdell 's goal to turn the legal profession into a university educated one -- and not at the undergraduate level, but through a three - year post baccalaureate degree. '' This graduate level study would allow the intensive legal training that Langdell had developed, known as the case method ( a method of studying landmark cases ) and the Socratic method ( a method of examining students on the reasoning of the court in the cases studied ). Therefore, a graduate high level law degree was proposed, the Juris Doctor, implementing the case and Socratic methods as its didactic approach. According to professor J.H. Beale, an 1882 Harvard Law graduate, one of the main arguments for the change was uniformity. Harvard 's four professional schools of Theology, Law, Medicine and Arts and Sciences were all graduate schools, and their degrees were therefore a second degree. Two of them conferred a doctorate and the other two a baccalaureate degree. The change from LL. B. to J.D. was intended to end `` this discrimination, the practice of conferring what is normally a first degree upon persons who have already their primary degree ''. The J.D. was proposed as the equivalent of the J.U.D. in Germany to reflect the advanced study required to be an effective lawyer. The University of Chicago Law School was the first to offer the J.D. While approval was still pending at Harvard, the degree was introduced at many other law schools including at the law schools at NYU, Berkeley, Michigan and Stanford. Because of tradition, and concerns about less prominent universities implementing a J.D. program, prominent eastern law schools like those of Harvard, Yale and Columbia refused to implement the degree. Indeed, pressure from them led almost every law school ( except at the University of Chicago and other law schools in Illinois ) to abandon the J.D. and readopt the LL. B. as the first law degree by the 1930s. 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 J.D. as the first law degree. Student and alumni support were key in the LL. B. - to - J.D. change, and even the most prominent schools were convinced to make the change : Columbia and Harvard in 1969, and Yale, last, in 1971. Nonetheless, the LL. B. at Yale retained the didactical changes of the `` practitioners courses '' of 1826 and was very different from the LL. B. in common law countries other than Canada. Christopher Langdell, one of the scholars at Harvard who established the J.D. Following standard modern academic practice, Harvard Law School refers to its Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science degrees as its graduate level law degrees. Similarly, Columbia refers to the LL. M. and the J.S.D. as its graduate program. Yale Law School lists its LL. M., M.S.L., J.S.D., and Ph. D. as constituting graduate programs. A distinction thus remains between professional and graduate law degrees in the United States. Major common law approaches See also : Legal education in the United Kingdom The English legal system is the root of the systems of other common - law countries, such as the United States. Originally, common lawyers in England were trained exclusively in the Inns of Court. Even though it took nearly 150 years since common law education began with Blackstone at Oxford for university education to be part of legal training in England and Wales, the LL. B. eventually became the degree usually taken before becoming a lawyer. In England and Wales the LL. B. is an undergraduate scholarly program and although it ( assuming it is a qualifying law degree ) fulfills the academic requirements for becoming a lawyer, further vocational and professional training as either a barrister ( the Bar Professional Training Course followed by Pupillage ) or as a solicitor ( the Legal Practice Course followed by a `` period of recognised training '' ) is required before becoming licensed in that jurisdiction. The qualifying law degree in most English universities is the LLB although in some, including Oxford and Cambridge, it is the BA in Law. Both of these can be taken with `` senior status '' in two years by those already holding an undergraduate degree in another discipline. A few universities offer `` exempting '' degrees, usually integrated master 's degrees denominated Master in Law ( MLaw ), that combine the qualifying law degree with the legal practice course or the bar professional training course in a four - year, undergraduate - entry program. Legal education in Canada has unique variations from other Commonwealth countries. Even though the legal system of Canada is mostly a transplant of the English system ( Quebec excepted ), the Canadian system is unique in that there are no Inns of Court, the practical training occurs in the office of a barrister and solicitor with law society membership, and, since 1889, a university degree has been a prerequisite to initiating an articling clerkship. The education in law schools in Canada was similar to that in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, but with a greater concentration on statutory drafting and interpretation, and elements of a liberal education. The bar associations in Canada were influenced by the changes at Harvard, and were sometimes quicker to nationally implement the changes proposed in the United States, such as requiring previous college education before studying law. Modern variants and curriculum Legal education is rooted in the history and structure of the legal system of the jurisdiction where the education is given, therefore law degrees are vastly different from country to country, making comparisons among degrees problematic. This has proven true in the context of the various forms of the J.D. which have been implemented around the world. Until about 1997 the J.D. was unique to law schools in the U.S. But with the rise in international success of law firms from the United States, and the rise in students from outside the U.S. attending U.S. law schools, attorneys with the J.D. have become increasingly common internationally. Therefore, the prestige of the J.D. has also risen, and many universities outside the U.S. have started to offer the J.D., often for the express purpose of raising the prestige of their law school and graduates. Such institutions usually aim to appropriate the name of the degree only, and sometimes the new J.D. program of study is the same as that of their traditional law degree, which is usually more scholarly in purpose than the professional training intended with the J.D. as created in the U.S. Various characteristics can therefore be seen among J.D. degrees as implemented in universities around the world. Comparisons of J.D. variants Jurisdiction Scholarly content absent ? Duration in years Different curriculum from LL. B. in jurisdiction ? Requires further training for license ? United States Yes No No Australia No 3 -- 4 Yes Yes Canada No No Yes Hong Kong No 2 -- 3 No Yes Japan No 2 -- 3 Yes Yes Philippines No Varies Yes Singapore No 2 -- 3 No Yes United Kingdom No 3 -- 4 Yes Yes Types and characteristics Until very recently, only law schools in the United States offered the Juris Doctor. Starting about 1997, universities in other countries began introducing the J.D. as a first professional degree in law, with differences appropriate to the legal systems of the countries in which these law schools are situated. Standard Juris Doctor curriculum See also : Law school in the United States § Curriculum As stated by James Hall and Christopher Langdell, two people who were involved in the creation of the J.D., the J.D. is a professional degree like the M.D., intended to prepare practitioners through a scientific approach of analysing and teaching the law through logic and adversarial analysis ( such as the Casebook and Socratic methods ). It has existed as described in the United States for over 100 years, and can therefore be termed the standard or traditional J.D. program. The J.D. program generally requires a bachelor 's degree for entry, though this requirement is sometimes waived. The program of study for the degree has remained substantially unchanged since its creation, and is an intensive study of the substantive law and its professional applications ( and therefore requires no thesis, although a lengthy writing project is sometimes required ). As a professional training, it provides sufficient training for entry into practice ( no apprenticeship is necessary to sit for the bar exam ). It requires at least three academic years of full - time study. While the J.D. is a doctoral degree in the US, lawyers usually use the suffix of `` esquire '' as opposed to the prefix `` Dr. '' Although calling an American lawyer `` doctor '' would not be incorrect, provided the attorney has a J.D. or other doctoral degree ( as opposed to an LL. B., which is a baccalaureate, not a doctorate ), the title is more commonly used in Europe and Asia than in the U.S. or Canada. Replacement for the LL. B. An initial attempt to rename the LL. B. to the J.D. 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 and by 1925 80 % of US law schools gave the J.D. to graduate entrants, while restricting undergraduate entrants ( who followed the same curriculum ) to the LL. B. Yet the change was rejected by Harvard, Yale and Columbia, and by the late 1920s schools were moving away from the J.D. and once again granting only the LL. B, with only Illinois law schools holding out. This changed in the 1960s, by which time almost all law school entrants were graduates. The J.D. was reintroduced in 1962 and by 1971 had replaced the LL. B., again without any change in the curriculum, with many schools going as far as to offer a J.D. to their LL. B. alumni for a small fee. Canadian and Australian universities have law programs that are very similar to the J.D. programs in the United States. These include Queen 's University, University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Victoria, Université de Moncton, University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba, University of Windsor, University of Ottawa, University of Western Ontario, York University and University of Toronto in Canada, RMIT and the University of Melbourne in Australia. Therefore, when the J.D. program was introduced at these institutions, it was a mere renaming of their second - entry LL. B. program and entailed no significant substantive changes to their curricula. The reason given for doing so is because of the international popularity and recognizability of the J.D., and the need to recognize the demanding graduate characteristics of the program. Because these programs are in institutions heavily influenced by those in the UK, the J.D. programs often have some small scholarly element ( see chart above, entitled `` Comparisons of J.D. Variants '' ). And because the legal systems are also influenced by that of the UK, an apprenticeship is still required before being qualified to apply for a license to practice ( see country sections below, under `` Descriptions of the J.D. outside the U.S. '' ). Descriptions of the J.D. Outside the U.S. See also : Admission to practice law Australia The traditional law degree in Australia was the undergraduate Bachelor of Laws ( LLB ), however there has been a huge shift towards the JD in the past five years, with most Australian universities now offering a JD programme, including the country 's best ranked universities ( e.g. The University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne ). Generally, universities that offer the JD also offer the LLB, though at some universities, only the JD is offered, and only at postgraduate levels. Due to recent changes in undergraduate degree structuring, some universities, such as the University of Melbourne, only allow law to be studied at the postgraduate level, and the JD has completely replaced the LLB. An Australian Juris Doctor consists of three years of full - time study, or the equivalent. The course varies across different universities, though all are obliged to teach the Priestley 11 subjects if they wish for their students to be able to practice law in Australia. As with LLB graduates, graduates of the JD need to complete the practical legal training ( PLT ) requirement before they are eligible for admission to practice. Some universities, such as the University of Technology, Sydney, have begun offering PLT as part of the JD, though this is unusual, as PLT is most often undertaken in early employment. On the Australian Qualifications Framework, the Juris Doctor is classified as a `` Masters degree ( Extended ) '', with an exception having been granted to use the title Juris Doctor ( other such exceptions include Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Dentistry and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine ). It may not be described as a doctoral degree, and holders may not use the title `` Doctor ''. Along with other extended master 's degrees, the JD takes 3 - 4 years following a minimum of a 3 - year bachelor 's degree. Canada The J.D. degree is the dominant law degree in Canada, replacing the traditional LL. B. degree prominent in Commonwealth countries. The University of Toronto became the first to rename its law degree from LL. B. to J.D. in 2001. As with the second - entry LL. B., in order to be admitted to a Juris Doctor program, applicants must have completed a minimum of 2 or 3 years of study toward a bachelor 's degree and scored high on the North American Law School Admission Test. As a practical matter, nearly all successful applicants have completed one or more degrees before admission to a Canadian common law school, although despite this it is, along with other first professional degrees, considered to be a bachelor 's degree - level qualification. All Canadian Juris Doctor programs consist of three years, and have similar content in their mandatory first year courses. The mandatory first year courses in Canadian law schools outside Quebec include public law ( i.e. provincial law, constitutional law, and administrative law ), property law, tort law, contract law, criminal law, and legal research and writing. Beyond first year and other courses required for graduation, course selection is elective with various concentrations such as commercial and corporate law, taxation, international law, natural resources law, real estate transactions, employment law, criminal law, and Aboriginal law. After graduation from an accredited law school, each province 's or territory 's law society requires completion of a bar admission course or examination, and a period of supervised `` articling '' prior to independent practice. Use of the `` J.D. '' designation by Canadian law schools is not intended to indicate an emphasis on American law, but rather to distinguish Canadian law degrees from English law degrees, which do not require prior undergraduate study. The Canadian J.D. is a degree in Canadian Law. Accordingly, United States jurisdictions other than New York and Massachusetts do not recognize Canadian Juris Doctor degrees automatically. This is equivalent to the manner in which United States J.D. graduates are treated in Canadian jurisdictions such as Ontario. To prepare graduates to practise in jurisdictions on both sides of the border, some pairs of law schools, such as the New York University ( NYU ) Law School and Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Ottawa Law School and the Michigan State University Law School or American University, and the University of Windsor Law School and the University of Detroit Mercy Law School, have developed joint American - Canadian J.D. programs. Two notable exceptions are Université de Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke, which both offer a one - year J.D. program aimed at Quebec civil law graduates in order to practice law either elsewhere in Canada or in the state of New York. York University offered the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence ( D. Jur. ) as a research degree until 2002, when the name of the program was changed to Ph. D. in Law. China J.D.s are not generally awarded in the People 's Republic of China ( P.R.C. ). Instead, a J.M. ( Juris Magister ) is awarded as the counterpart of JD in the United States, the professional degree in law in China. The primary law degree in the P.R.C. is the bachelor of law. In the fall of 2008 the Shenzhen campus of Peking University started the School of Transnational Law, which offers a U.S. - style education and awards both a Chinese master 's degree and, by special authorization of the government, a J.D. Hong Kong The J.D. degree is currently offered at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, and City University of Hong Kong. The degree is known as the 法律 博士 in Chinese, and in Cantonese it is pronounced Faat Leot Bok Si. The J.D. in Hong Kong is almost identical to the LL. B. and is reserved for graduates of non-law disciplines, but the J.D. is considered to be a graduate - level degree and requires a thesis or dissertation. Like the LL. B. there is much scholarly content in the required coursework. Although the universities offering the degree claim that the J.D. is a two - year program, completing the degree in two years would require study during the summer term. The JD is, despite its title, considered to be a master 's degree by the universities that offer it in Hong Kong, and it is positioned at master 's level in the Hong Kong Qualifications Framework. Neither the LL. B. nor the J.D. provides the education sufficient for a license to practice, as graduates of both are also required to undertake the PCLL course and a solicitor traineeship or a barrister pupillage. India At this time the Juris Doctor does not exist in India ; no official entity in India authorizes the award of such a degree. Italy No university in Italy awards a Juris Doctor degree, nor are there any plans to implement the degree. However, the law degree in Italy is longer ( 5 years of coursework ) than a standard undergraduate program, and lawyers in Italy often use the title of `` doctor '' ( Italian law authorizes all university graduates, including those from undergraduate programs, to use the title of doctor ). Japan In Japan the J.D. is known as Homu Hakushi ( 法務 博士 ). The program generally lasts three years. Two year J.D. programs for applicants with legal knowledge ( mainly undergraduate level law degree holders ) are also offered. This curriculum is professionally oriented, but does not provide the education sufficient for a license to practice as an attorney in Japan, as all candidates for a license must have 12 month practical training by the Legal Training and Research Institute after passing the bar examination. Similarly to the US, the Juris Doctor is classed as a `` Professional Degree '' ( 専門 職 ) in Japan, which is separate from the `` academic '' postgraduate sequence of master 's degrees and doctorates. Mexico To become a licensed lawyer, a person must hold the Licenciado en Derecho degree obtainable by four to five years of academic study and final examination. After these undergraduate studies it is possible to obtain a Maestría degree, equivalent to a master 's degree. This degree requires two to three years of academic studies. Finally, one can study for an additional three years to obtain the Doctor en Derecho degree, which is a research degree at doctoral level. Since most universities and law schools must have approval from the ministry of education ( Secretaría de Educación Pública ) through the general office of professions ( Direccion General de Profesiones ) all of the academic programs are similar throughout the country in public and private law schools. Philippines In the Philippines, the J.D. exists alongside the more common LL. B. Like the standard LL. B, it requires four years of study, is considered a graduate degree and requires prior undergraduate study as a prerequisite for admission, and covers the core subjects required for the bar examinations. However, the J.D. requires students to finish the core bar subjects in just 21⁄2 years ; take elective courses ( such as legal theory, philosophy, and sometimes even theology ) ; undergo an apprenticeship ; and write and defend a thesis. The degree was first conferred in the Philippines by the Ateneo de Manila Law School, which first developed the model program later adopted by most schools now offering the J.D.. After the Ateneo, schools such as the University of Batangas College of Law and the De La Salle Lipa College of Law began offering the J.D., with schools such as the Far Eastern University Institute of Law offering with De La Salle University 's Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business for the country 's first J.D. - MBA program. In 2008, the University of the Philippines College of Law began conferring the J.D. on its graduates, the school choosing rename its LL. B. program into a J.D. because to accurately reflect the nature of education the university provides as `` nomenclature does not accurately reflect the fact that the LL. B. is a professional as well as a post baccalaureate degree. '' In 2009, the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila ( PLM ) and the Silliman University College of Law also shifted their respective LL. B Programs to Juris Doctor - applying the change to incoming freshmen students for School Year 2009 -- 2010. The newly established De La Salle University College of Law is likewise offering the J.D., although it will offer the program using a trimestral calendar, unlike the model curriculum that uses a semestral calendar. Singapore The degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence ( J.D. ) is offered at the Singapore Management University ( SMU ), and it is treated as a qualifying law degree for the purposes of admission to the legal profession in Singapore. A graduate of this programme is a `` qualified person '' under Singapore 's legislation governing entry to the legal profession, and is eligible for admission to the Singapore Bar. However, like its counterpart the Bachelor of Laws ( LL. B. ), whether obtained from the National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University or recognised overseas universities ( `` approved universities '' ), the SMU J.D. is not in itself sufficient for entry into the Singapore legal profession. Qualified persons are still required to fulfill other criteria for admission to the Singapore Bar, most importantly being the completion of Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations, and completion of the Practice Training Contract. United kingdom The Quality Assurance Agency consulted in 2014 on the inclusion of `` Juris Doctor '' in the UK 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 ''. This was not incorporated into the final framework published in November 2014. The only JD degree currently awarded by a UK university is at Queens University Belfast. This is a 3 -- 4 year degree specified as being a professional doctorate at the doctoral qualifications level in the UK framework, sitting above the LLM and including a 30,000 word dissertation demonstrating `` The creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through original research or other advanced scholarship, of a quality to satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of the discipline, and merit publication '' that must be passed in order to gain the degree. Joint LLB / JD courses for a very limited number of students are offered by University College London, King 's College London and the London School of Economics in collaboration with Columbia University in the US, which is responsible for the award of the JD. These are four - year undergraduate courses leading to the award of both a British LLB and a US JD. Both the University of Southampton and the University of Surrey offer two - year graduate - entry LLBs described as `` JD Pathway '' degrees, which are aimed particularly at Canadian students. In academia As a professional doctorate, the Juris Doctor is the degree that prepares the recipient to enter the law profession ( as do the M.D. or D.O. in the medical profession and the D.D.S in the dental profession ). While the J.D. is the sole degree necessary to become a professor of law or to obtain a license to practice law, it ( like the M.D., D.O, or D.D.S. ) is not a `` research degree ''. Research degrees in the study of law include the Master of Laws ( LL. M. ), which ordinarily requires the J.D. as a prerequisite, and the Doctor of Juridical Science ( S.J.D. / J.S.D. ), which ordinarily requires the LL. M. as a prerequisite. However, the American Bar Association has issued a Council Statement, advising law schools that the J.D. should be considered equivalent to the Ph. D. for educational employment purposes. Accordingly, while most law professors are required to conduct original writing and research in order to be awarded tenure, the majority have a J.D. as their highest degree. Research in 2015 showed an increasing trend toward hiring professors with both J.D. and Ph. D. degrees, particularly at more highly ranked schools. Some international commentators have called the Council Statement `` self - seeking and egocentric '', pointing out that it illogically compares the J.D. only to the taught component of the US Ph. D., ignoring the research and dissertation components. The United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation do not include the J.D. or other professional doctorates among the degrees that are equivalent to research doctorates. Among legal degrees, they accord this status only to the Doctor of Juridical Science degree. In Europe, the European Research Council follows a similar policy, stating that a first professional degree carrying the title `` doctor '' is not considered equivalent to a PhD. The Dutch and Portuguese National Academic Recognition Information Centres both classify the US J.D. ( along with other first professional degrees ) as equivalent to a master 's degree, although the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland states with respect to US practice that `` The ' 1st professional degree ' is a first degree, not a graduate degree even though it incorporates the word ' doctor ' in the title '' and Commonwealth countries also often consider the US J.D. equivalent to a bachelor 's degree. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has advised that while the J.D. is probably not at the same level as a Ph. D., it is `` equivalent to, if not higher than, a master 's degree ''. Use of the title `` Doctor '' Presumably because it did not entirely replace the L.L.B. for new graduates until 1971, it has not been customary in the U.S. to address holders of the J.D. as `` doctor ''. It was noted in the 1920s, when the title was widely used by people with doctorates ( even those that, at the time, were undergraduate qualifications ) and others, that the J.D. stood out from other doctorates in this respect. This continues to be the case in general today. In the late 1960s the rising number of American law schools awarding J.D.s led to debate over whether lawyers could ethically use the title `` Doctor ''. Initial informal ethics opinions, based on the Canons of Professional Ethics then in force, came down against this. These were then reinforced with a full ethics opinion that maintained the ban on using the title in legal practice as a form of self - laudation ( except when dealing with countries where the use of `` Doctor '' by lawyers was standard practice ), but allowed the use of the title in academia `` if the school of graduation thinks of the J.D. degree as a doctor 's degree ''. These opinions led to further debate. The introduction of the new Code of Professional Responsibility in 1969 seemed to settle the question -- in states where this was adopted -- in favour of allowing the use of the title. There was some dispute over whether only the Ph. D. - level Doctor of Juridical Science should properly be seen as granting the title, but ethics opinions made it clear that the new Code allowed J.D. - holders to be called `` Doctor '', while reaffirming that the older Canons did not. As not all state bars adopted the new Code, and some omitted the clause permitting the use of the title, confusion over whether lawyers could ethically use the title `` Doctor '' continued. 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 be left with the impression that the lawyer is also a medical doctor ). There has been discussion on whether it is permissible in some other limited instances. For example, in June 2006 the Florida Bar Board of Governors ruled that a lawyer could refer to himself as a `` doctor en leyes '' ( doctor in laws ) in a Spanish - language advertisement, reversing an earlier decision. The decision was reversed again in July 2006, when the board voted to only allow the names of degrees to appear in the language used on the diploma, without translation. The Wall Street Journal notes specifically in its stylebook that `` Lawyers, despite their J.D. degrees, are n't called doctor '', although the title is often used ( if preferred ) for holders of the Ed. D, D.D.S., D.O., M.D., O.D., and Ph. D. Many other newspapers reserve the title for physicians or do not use titles at all. In 2011, Mother Jones published an article claiming that Michele Bachmann was misrepresenting her qualifications by using the `` bogus '' title Dr. based on her J.D. 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 Ph. D. -- and therefore conveys a false level of expertise ''. See also 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 ) Legal education Admission to practice law Accelerated JD program Law degree Law school in the United States -- describes general characteristics of the J.D. curriculum in the U.S. Lawyer Notes and references Jump up ^ University of California, Berkeley. `` General Catalog -- Graduate Education -- Graduate Degrees and Certificates ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 05 - 21. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 25. Jump up ^ University of Southern California ( 1995 ). `` Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Programs ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 04 - 22. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 25. ^ Jump up to : University of Melbourne. `` About Use - The Melbourne JD ''. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 26. Jump up ^ U.S. Department of Education ( 2008 ). `` USNEI - Structure of U.S. Education - Graduate / Post Education Levels ''. Archived from the original on 2007 - 12 - 14. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 25. Jump up ^ College Blue Book ( 1999 ). Degrees Offered by College and Subject. New York : MacMillan. p. 817. Jump up ^ Kirsten McMahon ( January 2008 ). `` Making the grade '' ( PDF ). Canadian Lawyer. Jump up ^ Lisa Jemison ; Rosel Kim ( 29 November 2007 ). `` A law degree by any other name ''. Queen 's Journal. Retrieved 15 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Admissions ''. Faculty of Law. University of Toronto. Retrieved 15 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Juris Doctor Program ''. Faculty of Law Calendar 2011 - 2012 Academic Year. Queen 's University. Retrieved 15 April 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Canadian Degree Qualifications Framework '' ( PDF ). Ministerial Statement on Quality Assurance of Degree Education in Canada. Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Programs with a professional focus... Some of them are first - entry programs, others are second - entry programs... Though considered to be bachelor 's programs in academic standing, some professional programs yield degrees with other nomenclature. Examples : DDS ( Dental Surgery ), MD ( Medicine ), LLB, or JD ( Juris Doctor ) ^ Jump up to : `` AQF qualification titles '' ( PDF ). Australian Qualifications Framework Council. June 2013. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 13 December 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ Association of American Universities Data Exchange. `` Glossary of Terms for Graduate Education ''. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 01. Jump up ^ National Science Foundation ( 2006 ). `` Time to Degree of U.S. Research Doctorate Recipients ''. InfoBrief, Science Resource Statistics. NSF. 06 - 312 : 7. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2016 - 03 - 08. Under `` Data notes '' this article mentions that the J.D. is a professional doctorate. Jump up ^ San Diego County Bar Association ( 1969 ). `` Ethics Opinion 1969 - 5 ''. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 26... Under `` other references '' differences between academic and professional doctorates, and contains a statement that the J.D. is a professional doctorate Jump up ^ University of Utah ( 2006 ). `` University of Utah -- The Graduate School -- Graduate Handbook ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 06 - 26. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 28. Jump up ^ German Federal Ministry of Education. `` U.S. Higher Education / Evaluation of the Almanac Chronicle of Higher Education '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on April 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008 - 05 - 26. Report by the German Federal Ministry of Education analysing the Chronicle of Higher Education from the U.S. and stating that the J.D. is a professional doctorate. Jump up ^ Encyclopædia Britannica. 3. 2002. p. 962 : 1a. ^ Jump up to : Stevens, R. ( 1971 ). `` Two Cheers For 1870 : The American Law School '', in Law in American History, eds. Donald Fleming and Bernard Bailyn. Boston : Little, Brown & Co., 1971, p. 427. Jump up ^ University of Washington School of Law. `` JD Program & Policies ''. Retrieved 2008 - 09 - 02. Jump up ^ Russo, Eugene ( 2004 ). `` The Changing Length of PhDs ''. Nature. 431 ( 7006 ) : 382 -- 383. doi : 10.1038 / nj7006 - 382a. PMID 15372047. Retrieved 2008 - 09 - 02. Jump up ^ `` North Carolina Board of Law Examiners NCBLE 919 - 848 - 4229 ''. Ncble.org. 2017 - 03 - 20. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ itembridge.com. `` VBBE - Welcome ''. Barexam.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2010 - 09 - 14. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 24. Jump up ^ `` Bole - Official Page New York State Bar Examination ''. Nybarexam.org. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` JD ''. Oxford Living Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 15 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Doctor of Jurisprudence ''. University of Texas. Retrieved 13 February 2017. Jump up ^ `` Doctor of Jurisprudence ''. Stanford University. Retrieved 13 February 2017. Jump up ^ `` Higher doctorates ''. University of Cambridge. Retrieved 14 February 2017. Jump up ^ García y García, A. ( 1992 ). `` The Faculties of Law, '' A History of the University in Europe, London : Cambridge University Press. Accessed May 26, 2008. Jump up ^ Noble, Keith Allen ( 1992 ). An International Prognostic Study, Based on an Acquisition Model, of Degree Philosophiae Doctor ( Ph. D. ) ( PDF ) ( Ph. D. ). University of Ottawa. p. 18. Jump up ^ Some sources have the first doctorates in theology at Paris being awarded prior to the doctorates in law at Bologna. Jump up ^ Verger, J. ( 1999 ). `` Licentia ''. Lexikon des Mittelalters. Stuttgart : J.B. Metzler. 5. Jump up ^ Verger, J. ( 1999 ). `` Doctor, doctoratus ''. Lexikon des Mittelalters. Stuttgart : J.B. Metzler. 3. Jump up ^ de Ridder - Symoens, Hilde : A History of the University in Europe : Volume 1, Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0 - 521 - 36105 - 2 Jump up ^ Herbermann, et al. ( 1915 ). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York : Encyclopedia Press. Accessed May 26, 2008. Jump up ^ Stein ( 1981 ), 434, 435. Jump up ^ Stein ( 1981 ), 434, 436. ^ Jump up to : Stein ( 1981 ), 436. Jump up ^ Stein, R. ( 1981 ). The Path of Legal Education from Edward to Langdell : A History of Insular Reaction, Pace University School of Law Faculty Publications, 1981, 57 Chi. - Kent L. Rev. 429, p. 430. Jump up ^ Stein ( 1981 ), 431. Jump up ^ Stein ( 1981 ), 432. Jump up ^ Stein ( 1981 ), 433. Jump up ^ Stein ( 1981 ), 434. ^ Jump up to : Stein ( 1981 ), 435. Jump up ^ Moline, Brian J., Early American Legal Education, 42 Washburn Law Journal 775, 793 ( 2003 ). Jump up ^ 1 & 2 George IV. c. 48. 8 June 1821. Jump up ^ 1 Vict. c. 56. 15 July 1837. Jump up ^ 14 & 15 Vict. c. LXXXVIII. 7 August 1851. Jump up ^ Oxford University Calendar. 1833. Jump up ^ Durham University Calendar. 1844. Jump up ^ London University Calendar. 1845. Jump up ^ Cambridge University Calendar. 1833. Jump up ^ Peter Searby. A History of the University of Cambridge :, Volume 3 ; Volumes 1750 - 1870. Cambridge University Press. pp. 187 -- 190. Jump up ^ `` The Solicitors ' Journal ''. 1865 - 04 - 29. Jump up ^ `` Cambridge ''. Norwich Mercury. 1858 - 10 - 20 -- via British Newspaper Archive. ( Subscription required ( help ) ). Jump up ^ University of London Calendar. 1866. p. 95. Jump up ^ `` LLM ''. Cambridge University Faculty of Law. Archived from the original on 2007 - 11 - 02. ^ Jump up to : John H. Langbein ( 1996 ). `` Scholarly and Professional Objectives in Legal Education : American Trends and English Comparisons '' ( PDF ). Pressing Problems in the Law, Volume 2 : What are Law Schools For ?. Oxford University Press. Jump up ^ Moline ( 2003 ), 775. 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Carnegie 's Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 15. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 162. ^ Jump up to : Reed, A. ( 1921 ). Training for the Public Profession of the Law. Carnegie 's Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 15. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 165. Jump up ^ Reed, A. ( 1921 ). Training for the Public Profession of the Law. Carnegie 's Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 15. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 164. Jump up ^ Reed, A. ( 1921 ). Training for the Public Profession of the Law. Carnegie 's Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 15. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 167. Jump up ^ Reed, A. ( 1921 ). Training for the Public Profession of the Law. Carnegie 's Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 15. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 161. Jump up ^ Alfred Zantzinger Reed. Present - day Law Schools in the United States and Canada. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 21. Boston : Merrymount Press. Jump up ^ Alfred Zantzinger Reed. Present - day Law Schools in the United States and Canada. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 21. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 78. Jump up ^ Alfred Zantzinger Reed. Present - day Law Schools in the United States and Canada. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 21. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 74. Jump up ^ Reed, A. ( 1921 ). Training for the Public Profession of the Law. Carnegie 's Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin 15. Boston : Merrymount Press. p. 169. Jump up ^ Harno, A. ( 2004 ) Legal Education in the United States, New Jersey : Lawbook Exchange, page 50. Jump up ^ William Roscoe Thayer ; William Richards Castle ; Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe ; Arthur Stanwood Pier ; Bernard Augustine De Voto ; Theodore Morrison ( 1902 ). `` Shall the degree be J.D. instead of LL. B. ''. The Harvard graduates ' magazine. Harvard Graduates ' Magazine Association. pp. 555 -- 556. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ Herbermann, 112 -- 117. Jump up ^ David Perry, `` How Did Lawyers Become ' Doctors ' ? '', New York State Bar Journal, June 2012, 20 at p. 21, available at Heinonline ( login required ). Jump up ^ David Perry, `` How Did Lawyers Become ' Doctors ' ? '', New York State Bar Journal, June 2012, 20 at pp. 22 - 23, available at Heinonline ( login required ) ; see also `` What is the difference between the LL. B. degree and the J.D. degree ? ''. asklib.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 26 August 2012. ; Schoenfeld, M. ( 1963 ). `` J.D. or LL. B as the Basic Law Degree '', Cleveland - Marshall Law Review, Vol. 4, pp. 573 -- 579, quoted in Joanna Lombard, LL. B. to J.D. and the Professional Degree in Architecture Archived 2014 - 10 - 14 at the Wayback Machine., Proceedings of the 85th ACSA Annual Meeting, Architecture : Material and Imagined and Technology Conference, 1997. pp. 585 -- 591. Jump up ^ `` Graduate Program Harvard Law School ''. Law.harvard.edu. 2014 - 06 - 23. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Graduate Legal Studies ''. Columbia Law School. Retrieved 28 August 2015. Jump up ^ `` Graduate Programs - Yale Law School ''. Law.yale.edu. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Joint Announcement ''. The Law Society and the General Council of the Bar. 1999. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Bar Professional Training Course ''. Bar Standards Board. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Pupillage ''. Bar Standards Board. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Legal Practice Course ( LPC ) ''. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Period of recognised training ''. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Qualifying law degree providers ''. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Law - Senior Status ''. Queen Mary, University of London. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Exempting law degree providers ''. Solicitors Regulation Authority. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` MLaw ''. Northumbria University. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ Reed ( 1921 ), 27. ^ Jump up to : Reed ( 1928 ), 390. Jump up ^ See, Langbein ( 1996 ). ^ Jump up to : `` Peter A. Allard School of Law UBC Board of Governors Approves Request for LL. B. ( Bachelor of Laws ) degree to be renamed J.D. ( Juris Doctor ) ''. Law.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ Verification of the data in this table can be found in the subsequent paragraphs of this section. Jump up ^ `` No '' as originally introduced, but the JD is now at master 's degree level ^ Jump up to : `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2014 - 02 - 22. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 01. Jump up ^ Hall, J. ( 1907 ). American Law School Degrees, Michigan Law Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 112 -- 117. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ `` Admission Requirements - Trinity Law School ''. Lawschool.tiu.edu. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Applying Without a Bachelor 's Degree ''. Cooley.edu. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2016 - 01 - 19. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 04. Jump up ^ `` Writing Requirements NYU School of Law ''. Law.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ David Perry ( June 2012 ). `` HOW DID LAWYERS BECOME `` DOCTORS '' ? FROM THE LL. B. TO THE J.D '' ( PDF ). New York State Bar Association Journal. New York State Bar Association. Jump up ^ Belford, T. ( 2009 ). `` Why Change to a J.D. Degree ? Archived 2011 - 06 - 20 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ University of Toronto J.D. admissions FAQ ( 2 ) Archived 2012 - 05 - 28 at the Wayback Machine... Jump up ^ Belford, T. ( 2009 ). `` Why Change to a J.D. Degree ? Archived 2011 - 06 - 20 at the Wayback Machine. Globe Campus. Accessed August 24, 2009. Jump up ^ idem Jump up ^ `` Unsw Jd Law ''. Law.unsw.edu.au. 2017 - 04 - 07. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` The Sydney Juris Doctor ( JD ) - Future Students - The University of Sydney ''. Sydney.edu.au. 2017 - 03 - 30. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` The ANU Juris Doctor - ANU College of Law - ANU ''. Law.anu.edu.au. 2015 - 08 - 10. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` The Melbourne JD ( Juris Doctor ) : Melbourne Law School ''. Law.unimelb.edu.au. AU. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` A decade into the Melbourne Model, young graduates give their assessment ''. Smh.com.au. 2015 - 10 - 04. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Careers Guide '' ( PDF ). Suls.org.au. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Addendum to AQF Second Edition January 2013 : Amended Qualification Type : Masters Degree '' ( PDF ). Australian Qualifications Framework Council. May 2014. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` Dean Patrick Monahan on the Growing Number of Canadian Law Schools Switching from the LLB to JD Degree Designation ''. Osgoode Law School. May 2012. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Jump up ^ `` First Year Admission Standards ''. Queen 's University. Archived from the original on 2009 - 07 - 15. Retrieved 2009 - 07 - 15. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Admission ''. University of Calgary. Archived from the original on 2007 - 12 - 10. Retrieved 2007 - 12 - 10. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Osgoode Hall Law School - JD Program - Degree Requirements - First Year Courses ''. Osgoode.yorku.ca. Archived from the original on 2011 - 07 - 21. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Bachelor of Law Degree Programs in Canada ''. Canadian-universities.net. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2010 - 07 - 05. Retrieved 2009 - 09 - 11. Jump up ^ `` University of Toronto - Faculty of Law : Prospective Students ''. Law.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 2011 - 08 - 28. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 25. Jump up ^ NYU Law Archived 2009 - 12 - 11 at the Wayback Machine... Law.nyu.edu. Retrieved on 2013 - 07 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Foreign Legal Education ''. Nybarexam.org. 2011 - 04 - 27. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 25. Jump up ^ ( 3 ) Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 05 - 18. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 05 - 09. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 02. Jump up ^ `` University of Windsor - JD / LLB - Welcome ''. Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008 - 02 - 16. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ University of Montreal J.D. ( Programme No 2 - 328 - 1 - 1 ) Accessed December 31, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Diplôme ( Juris Doctor ) - Faculté de droit - Université de Sherbrooke ''. Usherbrooke.ca. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` September senate ''. York University. 10 October 2002. Retrieved 13 February 2017. Jump up ^ `` Regulations of the People 's Republic of China on Academic Degrees ( 2004 ) ''. P.R.C. National People 's Congress. 28 August 2005. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Jump up ^ `` Circular authorizing Peking University to offer the international Fa Lv Shuo Shi on a trial basis '' ( PDF ). Academic Degree Commission of the State Council of the People 's Republic of China. 27 August 2007. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 7 July 2011. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2013 - 12 - 26. Retrieved 2013 - 12 - 25. Jump up ^ The University of Hong Kong. Juris Doctor ( JD ) Overview Archived 2008 - 12 - 02 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed December 15, 2008. Jump up ^ The Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Law. The Juris Doctor ( JD ) Programme Archived 2007 - 12 - 30 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 29, 2008. City University of Hong Kong. Programmes and Courses : Juris Doctor Archived 2007 - 12 - 24 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 29, 2008. Jump up ^ The University of Hong Kong. Juris Doctor ( JD ) Overview Archived 2008 - 12 - 02 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed December 15, 2008. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. JD Programme Structure Archived 2008 - 07 - 03 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 29, 2008. City University of Hong Kong. Academic Programmes : Juris Doctor Archived 2008 - 04 - 13 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 29, 2008. Jump up ^ The University of Hong Kong. Juris Doctor ( JD ) Overview Archived 2008 - 12 - 02 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed December 15, 2008. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Juris Doctor ( JD ) Programme : Courses and Recommended Sequences Archived 2008 - 06 - 10 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 29, 2008. City University of Hong Kong. Academic Programmes : Juris Doctorate Archived 2007 - 12 - 24 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 29, 2008. ( The City University website says at the top of the page that it is a two - year program, then later on the same page, and on other pages in the site, says that `` normally, full - time J.D. students can complete the programme in 3 years. '' ) Jump up ^ `` FAQ : JURIS DOCTOR ( JD ) ''. CUHK Law. Chinese University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Is the JD Programme a doctoral or a master 's degree ? The JD Programme is formally classified as a taught master 's degree programme and it is not customary for JD graduates to use the title `` Doctor '' Jump up ^ `` Masters Degrees ''. Calendar 2016 -- 2017. University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Juris Doctor ( JD ) - Information for entrants to be admitted in 2013 - 14 & thereafter ''. School of Law. City University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Although the award has the word ' Doctor ' in its title, this is a traditional usage and it is not generally regarded as equivalent to the PhD degree or other doctoral awards. It is a first law degree for students who are already graduates in a non-law discipline. Jump up ^ `` Qualifications Framework : Award Titles Scheme '' ( PDF ). Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. 8. Providers may continue to adopt titles traditionally used for degree and sub-degree qualifications in the mainstream education ( i.e. Associate at Level 4, Bachelor at Level 5, Master at Level 6, and Doctor at Level 7 ). 9. The following qualifications currently offered by the university sector are recognised globally. These award titles will continue to be recognised under QF although they do not conform to ATS : * Juris Doctor ( JD ) at QF Level 6 Jump up ^ Hong Kong Bar Association. General Admission Archived 2008 - 06 - 03 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed June 1, 2008. Jump up ^ The Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza is a second level ( master 's ) degree, which does not require a previous bachelor 's degree for the admission Jump up ^ Studio Misuraca, Franceschin and Associates Archived August 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine... Accessed February 16, 2009. Jump up ^ Regio Decreto 4 giugno 1938, n. 1269, art. 48 Archived 2009 - 08 - 09 at the Wayback Machine. ( in Italian ). Accessed February 16, 2009. Jump up ^ Justice System Reform Council ( 2001 ). For a Justice System to Support Japan in the 21st Century. Jump up ^ Yokohama National University Law School. Program Introduction and Dean 's Message Archived 2009 - 09 - 10 at the Wayback Machine... Accessed April 7, 2008. Jump up ^ Foote, D. ( 2005 ). Justice System Reform in Japan. Annual meeting of the Research of Sociology of Law, Paris. European Network on Law and Society. Jump up ^ `` Degree Regulations of Nagoya University ''. Nagoya University. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Kobe University Degree Regulations '' ( PDF ). Kobe University. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Doctorado en Derecho ''. UNAM. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Ateneo de Manila University ''. Ateneolaw.ateneo.edu. 2017 - 02 - 10. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Ateneo de Manila Law School - Philippine Leadership Crisis and the J.D. Program ''. Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008 - 05 - 08. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ Jerwin Lasin. `` De La Salle Lipa College of Law ''. Dlsl.edu.ph. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ Curriculum models ( 2006 ). Philippine Association of Law Schools. Jump up ^ University of Philippines College of Law. News Archived 2008 - 05 - 31 at the Wayback Machine... April 25, 2008. Jump up ^ The Weekly Sillimanian Vol. LXXXII No. 4 : SU Law adopts Juris Doctor Program. By : Princess Dianne Kris S. Decierdo. Published July 15, 2009. Archived copies can be viewed and verified at the Sillimaniana Section of the Silliman University Main Library. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 07 - 08. Retrieved 2009 - 07 - 14. Jump up ^ Rule 5A, Legal Profession ( Qualified Persons ) Rules ( Cap. 161, s. 2 ( 2 ) ) ( 4 ), Ministry of Law ( Singapore ), Retrieved 14 February 2014. Jump up ^ List of approved universities Archived 2014 - 02 - 22 at the Wayback Machine., Ministry of Law ( Singapore ), Retrieved 14 February 2014. Jump up ^ What admission requirements must I fulfill ? Archived 2014 - 02 - 14 at Archive.is, Ministry of Law ( Singapore ), Retrieved 14 February 2014. Jump up ^ `` UK Quality Code for Higher Education Part A : Setting and maintaining academic standards The frameworks for higher education qualifications of UK degree - awarding bodies Post consultation draft ( v4 ) '' ( PDF ). QAA. August 2014. pp. 34 & 35. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2017 - 01 - 10. Comment ( s4 ) : Footnote as follows will need to be added depending on decision re the JD : the award of a Juris Doctor is an exception to the principle that the title doctor should only be used for qualifications meeting the qualification descriptor for FHEQ level 8 / SCQF level 12 on the FQHEIS in full the Juris Doctor is not a doctoral qualification at level 8 of the FHEQ / SQCF level 12 but at level 6 of the FHEQ / SCQF level 10 on the FQHEIS ( with some modules at level 7 of the FHEQ / SCQF level 11 on the FQHEIS ) holders of the qualification are not entitled to use the title Dr. Jump up ^ `` CONSULTATION ON THE UK QUALITY CODE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, PART A : SETTING AND MAINTAINING ACADEMIC STANDARDS, THE UK FRAMEWORKS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS '' ( PDF ). University of Ulster Learning and Teaching Committee. 18 June 2014. p. 6. Jump up ^ `` The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree - Awarding Bodies ''. QAA. November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Programme Specification ( 2015 - 16 ) '' ( PDF ). Queens University Belfast. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` Study regulations for research degree programmes ''. Queens University Belfast. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` Joint LLB / Juris Doctor ( JD ) with Columbia University, New York ''. University College London. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` English Law & American Law LLB and JD ''. King 's College London. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` Double Degree Programme : Columbia Law School ''. London School of Economics. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` M101 LLB Accelerated Graduate Programme ( 2 yrs ) ''. University of Southampton. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Law ( JD Pathway ) LLB ( Hons ) -- 2017 entry ''. University of Surrey. Retrieved 2016 - 09 - 17. Jump up ^ Kenneth Kaoma Mwenda, Gerry Nkombo Muuka ( eds. ), `` The Challenge of Change in Africa 's Higher Education in the 21st Century '', Cambria Press ( 2009 ) ( 5 ) ; see esp. Mwenda 's comments on pp. 87 -- 88, in the section labeled `` The Academic Rank of a JD '' and the quoted material from Pappas immediately preceding it. ^ Jump up to : `` LL. M. Admission - Yale Law School ''. Law.yale.edu. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Council Statements '' ( PDF ). Abanet.org. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ Orin Kerr ( October 22, 2015 ). `` The rise of the Ph. D. law professor ''. Washington Post. Jump up ^ Kenneth K. Mwenda ( 2007 ). Comparing American and British Legal Education Systems : Lessons for Commonwealth African Law Schools. Cambria Press. pp. 21 -- 22. ^ Jump up to : `` Structure of the U.S. Education System : Research Doctorate Degrees ''. 2.ed.gov. Archived from the original ( DOC ) on 2012 - 01 - 27. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 17. Jump up ^ `` PhD and Equivalent Doctoral Degrees : The ERC Policy '' ( PDF ). European Research Council. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2013 - 11 - 06. Retrieved 2013 - 05 - 25. First - professional degrees will not be considered in themselves as PhD - equivalent, even if recipients carry the title `` Doctor ''. Jump up ^ `` Recognition of Qualifications '' ( PDF ). NARIC Portugal. p. 49. Retrieved 18 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` The American education system described and compared with the Dutch system '' ( PDF ). NUFFIC. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` Review of Professional Doctorates '' ( PDF ). National Qualifications Authority of Ireland. October 2006. p. 3. Retrieved 18 September 2016. Jump up ^ Kenneth K. Mwenda ( 2007 ). Comparing American and British Legal Education Systems : Lessons for Commonwealth African Law Schools. Cambria Press. p. 27. Jump up ^ Michael Aytes ( 2 May 2006 ). `` AFM Update : Chapter 31 : H - 1B Cap Exemption for Aliens Holding a Master 's or Higher Degree from a U.S. Institution. ( AD06 - 24 ) '' ( PDF ). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved 13 February 2017. Jump up ^ A.L. Crabbe ( March 1925 ). `` Who Is a Doctor ? ''. Peabody Journal of Education. 2 ( 5 ) : 268 -- 273. JSTOR 1487677. Jump up ^ Robert Hickey. `` How to Address an Attorney or Lawyer In the United States ''. Protocol School of Washington. Jump up ^ `` Summaries of Informal Opinions of the Standing Committee on Professional Ethics ''. American Bar Association Journal. 54 ( 7 ) : 657. July 1968. JSTOR 25724462. 1001. A lawyer holding a J.D. degree may not ethically use, either orally or in print, the title `` Doctor '' professionally or socially. Jump up ^ `` Summaries of Informal Opinions of the Standing Committee on Professional Ethics ''. American Bar Association Journal. 55 ( 6 ) : 589. June 1969. JSTOR 25724818. Jump up ^ `` Opinions of the Committee on Professional Ethics ''. American Bar Association Journal. 55 ( 5 ) : 451 -- 453. May 1969. JSTOR 25724785. Jump up ^ David Hittner ( June 1969 ). `` The Juris `` Doctor '' -- A Question of Ethics ? ``. American Bar Association Journal. 55 ( 7 ) : 663 -- 665. JSTOR 25724845. Jump up ^ William H. Shields ( June 1969 ). `` '' Do n't Call Me Doctor `` ''. American Bar Association Journal. 55 ( 20 ) : 960 -- 963. JSTOR 25724927. Jump up ^ `` Views of our Readers - Editor 's Note ''. American Bar Association Journal. 55 ( 11 ) : 1024. November 1969. JSTOR 25724947. Jump up ^ S.C. Yuter ( August 1971 ). `` Revisting the `` Doctor '' Debate ``. American Bar Association Journal. 57 ( 8 ) : 790 -- 892. JSTOR 25725564. Jump up ^ `` Summaries of Informal Opinions of the Standing Committee on Professional Ethics ''. American Bar Association Journal. 56 ( 8 ) : 750. August 1970. JSTOR 25725213. Jump up ^ Kathleen Maher ( November 2006 ). `` LAWYERS ARE DOCTORS, TOO : But There is No Clear Ethics Rule on Whether They May Say So ''. American Bar Association Journal. 92 ( 11 ) : 24. JSTOR 27846360. Jump up ^ S.A.P. ( Mar 1, 2013 ). `` Trust me, I 'm a doctor of law ''. The Economist. Jump up ^ Gary Blankenship ( July 1, 2006 ). `` Debate over ' doctor of law ' title continues ''. The Florida Bar News. Jump up ^ Gary Blankenship ( August 15, 2006 ). `` Bar board settles Dr. of Law debate ''. The Florida Bar News. Jump up ^ Paul Martin ( 15 June 2010 ). The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Style and Us. Simon and Schuster. p. 72. Jump up ^ Robin Abcarian ( February 2, 2009 ). `` Hi, I 'm Jill. Jill Biden. But please, call me Dr. Biden ''. LA Times. Newspapers, including The Times, generally do not use the honorific `` Dr. '' unless the person in question has a medical degree. Jump up ^ `` Why Does n't the Times Call Condi `` Dr. Rice '' ? ``. Slate. 27 December 2000. Retrieved 1 May 2017. Most newspapers dispense with such formalities and on second reference call people only by their last names. Jump up ^ Tim Murphy ( 18 August 2011 ). `` Michele Bachmann Is Not a Doctor ''. Mother Jones. External links Look up Juris Doctor in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Levels of academic degree Undergraduate ISCED level 5 Associate degree Foundation degree Higher National Diploma / Diploma of Higher Education / Certificate of Higher Education ISCED level 6 Bachelor 's degree Honours degree Postgraduate ISCED level 7 Master 's degree Magister degree Postgraduate certificate / diploma Diplom degree Specialist degree Engineer 's degree ISCED level 8 Doctorate Magister degree Candidate of Sciences Other Postdoctoral Higher doctorate Doktor nauk Habilitation Docent Tenure Fellow No dominant classification Laurea Licentiate Professional degree Graduate certificate / diploma Terminal degree Unearned Honorary degree Ad eundem degree Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juris_Doctor&oldid=816077434 '' Categories : Doctoral degrees Law degrees Hidden categories : Pages containing links to subscription - only content Webarchive template wayback links CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2016 Articles with dead external links from December 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template archiveis links All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2013 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Español فارسی 한국어 Italiano Lietuvių 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Português Shqip Simple English Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 19 December 2017, at 03 : 13. 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Question: what does jd stand for in law school
Answer: Juris Doctor degree