page_title: Juris Doctor
hierarchical_section_title: Juris Doctor
caption_attribution_description: English: My 2008 photo of a Suffolk University Law School Diploma.
context_page_description: The Juris Doctor degree, also known as the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. In Australia, Canada, the United States, and some other common law countries, the Juris Doctor is earned by completing law school. It has the academic standing of a professional doctorate in the United States, a master's degree in Australia, and a second-entry baccalaureate degree in Canada.
  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. Originating from the 19th-century Harvard movement for the scientific study of law and first denominated LL.B., it is a degree that in most common law jurisdictions is the primary professional preparation for lawyers. It traditionally involves a three-year program, although some U.S. law schools offer a two-year accelerated program in which students complete courses over two additional summer semesters. The LL.B. was replaced by the J.D. in the US in the later 20th century.
context_section_description: 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. In Australia, Canada, the United States, and some other common law countries, the Juris Doctor is earned by completing law school. It has the academic standing of a professional doctorate (in contrast to a research doctorate) in the United States, a master's degree in Australia, and a second-entry baccalaureate degree in Canada (in all three jurisdictions, the same as other professional degrees, such as M.D./D.O. or D.D.S./D.M.D., the degrees required to be a practicing physician or dentist, respectively).
  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 and first denominated LL.B., it is a degree that in most common law jurisdictions is the primary professional preparation for lawyers. It traditionally involves a three-year program, although some U.S. law schools offer a two-year accelerated program in which students complete courses over two additional summer semesters. The LL.B. was replaced by the J.D. in the US in the later 20th century.
  To be fully 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 some but not all of 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.
caption: Example of a diploma from Suffolk University Law School conferring the Juris Doctor degree
exif: {}