Law schools offer additional degrees besides the standard J.D. (Juris Doctor).
The most commonly obtained degree in law schools in the United States is the J.D., or Juris Doctor. In addition, more advanced degrees such as the LL.M and the doctorate-level J.S.D. are offered at a number of law schools for students seeking advanced law studies and for attorneys who obtained their law degrees in foreign countries.
J.D. Degree
The J.D. (or Juris Doctor) degree, is obtained by successfully completing a three-year program of full-time classes concentrating on the study of substantive law. The J.D. degree qualifies a law school graduate to take the bar examination in his state and become a licensed attorney. A bachelor's degree is usually a prerequisite for applying to law school, although some states allow students who meet an equivalency requirement of a certain number of college units to apply.
LL.M Degree
An LL.M degree is a post-J.D. master's degree, meaning that a J.D. degree is a prerequisite to entering an LL.M program at a law school. LL.M degrees are specialization degrees; one common LL.M degree is Master in Taxation, or tax law. Other specializations include bankruptcy, international law and environmental law. While the LL.M degree is the most common post-J.D. degree, other post-J.D. degrees include the J.M. (Juris Master), the M.C.L. (Master of Comparative Law) and the M.J. (Master of Jurisprudence) degrees. These degrees are obtained by foreign lawyers who wish to practice law in the U.S.
Doctorate-Level J.S.D. Degree
The J.S.D. degree (Doctor of Jurisprudence), also called the S.J.D. degree (Doctor of Judicial Science), is the highest post-graduate degree in the study of law, analogous to a research doctorate in other fields -- a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy). A J.D. degree and usually an LL.M degree are prerequisites to applying for a Doctor of Jurisprudence program, which usually takes from three to five years to complete and requires a dissertation.
Master's Degrees for Non-Lawyers
Master's degrees -- such as the M.S. degree (Master of Science or Master of Studies) and the M.P.S. degree (Master of Professional Studies) -- are offered at law schools for students who are not training to become lawyers. The M.S. and M.P.S. degrees are both academic and graduate-level degrees intended for professionals in non-law fields such as journalism or politics, and are offered by law schools such as Georgetown University Law Center and the John Marshall School of Law.
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