A Doctor of Juridical Science degree, also known as an S.J.D. degree, is generally pursued by those who want to teach law on the graduate and undergraduate levels, or by those who are actually practicing law and want to enhance their qualifications. These degrees take at least four years of full-time studied the complete.
Students in an S.J.D. program study areas such as legal writing and research, legal advocacy and civil procedure. Students in these programs are also required to complete a dissertation and have research papers published in legal journals and other publications.
In order to be admitted into an S.J.D. program, students must have a bachelor's degree and a Juris Doctor degree. In some cases, students are also required to have a Master of Laws degree.
A Juris Doctor, or J.D., is granted by law schools and generally takes three years of full-time enrollment to complete. Students who pursue these degrees study subjects such as legal writing, legal ethics, government processes, constitutional law, criminal justice, and torts. Students in J.D. programs may also concentrate on a practice area such as criminal, intellectual property, civil or corporate law. In some cases, J.D. programs give students the opportunity to participate in law clinics.
Students who want to be admitted into a J.D. program must complete a bachelor's level degree and take the Law School Admissions Test, or LSAT.
In order to practice law, those have earned Juris Doctor degrees are required to pass their state's bar examination.
A Master of Laws degree, or LL.M., is designed for students who want to specialize in a particular area of law. Although this is a master's degree, students who wish to enroll in these programs must have a Juris Doctor. Students who pursue LL.M. degrees, which generally take one year to complete, may take course work in areas such as tax law, bankruptcy law, white collar crime and state planning. In addition to coursework, students in these degree programs may be required to complete a thesis.