AH HA!! J.D. vs. Ph.D.? A BLOW for TRUTH!

To be honest...

I do not think a JD is the same as a PhD. However, having said that just what exactly would a lawyer study to get a PhD type degree in the law?

As far as I am concerned it is OK for me to have JD's teach at law school. However, I do expect them to have some amount of experience before they do it....

 

Re: To be honest...

Try this list of current PhD topics in law at Cambridge to get some idea http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/courses/view.php?course=5&tripos=0&subjects=0&page=113


Angela

 

What WOULD a lawyer study to get a Ph.D?

DTechBA,

But it IS an interesting question. If you go to sites of, say, Osgoode or Toronto, they have lists of recent dissertation topics. You will likely notice two things:

1) Even in Canada, the vast majority of dissertation doctoral candidates are foreigners; and

2) Most of the subject areas ARE studied at the Ph.D. level in the U.S. but not in the legal academy. You will find them in the scial sciences or government or even psychology. Pure law seems to show up as a branch of philosophy.

IMHO. the American legal academy is much the poorer for this abdication of higher level scholarship.