To become a lawyer, a student must have a Juris Doctor degree, known as a "J.D." Earning a J.D. takes three to four years and is often combined with a master's degree in a particular area of law, business or public policy. In this case, obtaining a J.D. may take longer because of additional coursework.
In a traditional J.D. program, a student first learns about family law, tax law and international law. The student will also take elective courses and can concentrate in areas such as criminal litigation or intellectual property. In the student's third year, time is spent working in law clinics to gain experience. A student pursuing a J.D. need not write a dissertation or thesis.
To become a lawyer with this degree, the student must first pass the bar exam. To take the bar exam, the J.D. degree must be from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.
A Masters of Law degree (LL.M.) is a law degree that is more specialized than a J.D. A student pursuing an LL.M. can focus on fields such as environmental law, taxation or human rights law. Areas of study differ according to the specialization. A student can often finish an LL.M. degree in one year, though some programs require two. A master's degree is often written according to its specialization. A student, for instance, can earn a "Masters Degree in International Law." To pursue an LL.M. degree, a student must first have a J.D. degree.
Some schools also offer a less common Juris Master degree (J.M.), a Master of Comparative Law degree (M.C.L.) and a Master of Jurisprudence degree (M.J.). The J.M. degree is often no different from the LL.M. degree. The M.C.L. degree often focuses more on an advanced, professional study and comparison of legal systems and philosophies. An M.J. focuses more on the theory and application of law systems and philosophies.
The Doctor of Juridical Sciences (S.J.D.) is the highest attainable law degree in the United States. Students pursuing this degree focus heavily on research and defending a dissertation. Courses are tailored around the student's research interests. However, students must also finish a modest number of requisite courses. These include classes such as torts, legal advocacy and constitutional law.
To pursue this degree, a student must first have a J.D. and a LL.M. degree. Students pursuing this degree are often lawyers who have worked for many years. Graduates with this degree overwhelmingly work in academia.
An S.J.D. degree is equivalent to a doctoral degree in other disciplines. It is less common than the other degrees. A doctorate in law can also be called a Doctor of Comparative Law (D.C.L.) or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.S.D.). Like the master's degrees in these areas, these degrees focus more on comparison between other legal studies and jurisprudence philosophies, respectively.
If a student does not become a lawyer, he or she can pursue a nonprofessional law degree. Stanford, for example, offers a Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) degree. With this degree, students do not need to first have a J.D. degree but still study many advanced aspects of law application and theory. The University of California, San Diego, offers a Masters in Health Law degree. Other schools offer degrees in law ranging from a Masters in Family Law degree to a Masters in Economic Law. Most of these programs are only offered as master's degrees, but many universities also offer undergraduate programs in legal studies.