MacQuarie University's Online JD

It is interesting that MacQuarie University, Australian university offers Juris Doctor (JD) online. I thought JD is only be used by the US institutions, and the rest of the world go with LLB. The tuition is really afford affordable $48,900/AUD or $33,000/USD. The assumption that one haas to get an ABA accredited LLM in the US before can practice law.

URL: https://www.open.edu.au/degrees/juris-doctor-macquarie-university-maq-law-mas

Other three Australian universities offer online JD include Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (rMIT) ($127,770/AUD), University of Southern Queensland ($93,120/AUD), and Flinders University ($98,000/AUD)

 

This is indeed interesting and certainly intriguing. If you're an Aussie living abroad and you want to qualify as a lawyer (aka solicitor) in Australia, and you can devote full time to your studies for 3 years, this is certainly one way of going about it. Also, looks like their legal system has some things in common with ours (such as common law), but other things are certainly different (statutory law and case law). That may or may not be a big deal, but frankly if you're planning on practicing in the U.S., it would be best to learn the law here (including virtually). So if you're in the U.S. looking for online law study there are definitely more affordable options, and those now include ABA accredited. For example, University of Dayton (Ohio) has a hybrid online JD program that takes three years and eight months and is around $20k. No LLM to get afterwards and you should be able to take the bar in just about any state. If I had to do it all over again, this is the route I would go. But hey, that's just me.

 

Are you sure $20K for the program? It looks like ~ $20k per year for 13 credits.
URL: https://udayton.edu/law/admissions/financial_aid/jd_costs.php

But I agree, it is only New York, California, New Hampshire, Alabama, and Virginia allow foreign law degree to practice laws in the US. However, one might requires to take a LLM that is accredited by ABA.

 

I haven't seen an ABA-accredited law school that cheap. There are more states that accept foreign law degrees without an LLM, but they might limit that acceptance to common law countries. My state will not accept online law degrees, but they have the first 100% online law program in the country. I haven't yet inquired about whether they're only making an exception for this one school. We also have a second law program that is mostly online.

 

Could they figure out if your LLB from the UK or JD from Australia earning online or not?

 

Google! But here is a comprehensive list of most states allow foreign law degree with certain criteria. Only a few states allow foreign law degree with an LLM from an ABA accredited law school.

For example, Florida allows foreign law degree to be admitted to the bar; however, applicant must have practice law in another state. Which means, the path to get there by earning an LLB from University of London, LLM from University of Southern California, and passed the California bar and practice laws there before transferring to Florida.

URL: https://reports.ncbex.org/comp-guide/charts/chart-4/

 

Wow, was I off! How about $20k per semester. Outrageous! Certainly there are much better deals out there than U of D. No wonder they wanted to start the hybrid JD. What a cash cow.

With that said, anyone considering going to law school online, and wanting to practice in the U.S., should look at California schools accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California. No requirement of taking the First Year Law Students Exam (Baby Bar), and a former grad of NWCU Law is working with the California Bar and the CGBX examiners to make the Bar exam more relevant to the real practice of law. You can follow him here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2960298754097310. After passing the bar, you can either practice in California or practice immigration law in other states (as long as their state's bar allows it). I know of a few lawyers that are doing just that in Florida.

So whether by going the foreign route (you can also check out Nottingham Trent University) or the aforementioned, there are law schools to choose from and not end up in a mountain of debt. Just make sure to do your due diligence to be certain that it will fulfill your needs and wants.

 

I looked at my state, and NCBEX is lacking a lot of important information.

I received my legal education outside of the U.S. or its territories. Can I take the bar exam?

Maybe. You may become eligible to take the Texas Bar Examination through one of four paths:
Pursuant to Rule 13 §4(a), demonstrate that:

You completed a course of study at a properly accredited foreign law school
The course of study was based on the principles of English common law
The course of study was substantially equivalent in duration to the legal education provided by an ABA-approved U.S. law school
You are authorized to practice law in a foreign jurisdiction or in another state; and
You have been actively and substantially engaged in the lawful practice of law for at least 3 of the 5 years immediately preceding the date of the application.
Pursuant to Rule 13 §4(b), demonstrate that:

You completed a course of study at a properly accredited foreign law school
The course of study was based on the principles of English common law
The course of study was at least 2 years in duration
You have an LL.M. degree that satisfies Rule 13§9
Pursuant to Rule 13 §4(c), demonstrate that:

You are authorized to practice law in a foreign jurisdiction whose jurisprudence is based on the principles of English common law
You have an LL.M. degree that satisfies Rule 13 §9.
Pursuant to Rule 13 §5, demonstrate that:

You completed a course of study at a properly accredited foreign law school
The course of study was not based on the principles of English common law
The course of study was substantially equivalent in duration to the legal education provided by an ABA-approved U.S. law school
You have an LL.M. degree that satisfies Rule 13 §9
You are authorized to practice law in a foreign jurisdiction or in another state.

 

I don't know, but not being honest on your application will hurt you on the character requirement.

 

Canada's common law schools renamed LL.B. programs to J.D. by the 2000s.

Of the civil law schools, the four that teach in French in Quebec still use LL.B., the one that teaches in English in Quebec (McGill) uses B.C.L. (Bachelor of Civil Law), and the bilingual school in Ontario (Ottawa) uses LL.L. (Licentiate of Laws). Three universities house both common and civil law programs: McGill, Ottawa, and Montréal. The civil law programs are geared towards practice in Quebec, which like Louisiana and Puerto Rico has a mixed system founded on civil law but since incorporating elements of common law.

 

Seems to me the Australians also say explicitly that the JD is not a doctorate despite the name. I think that's good but I'm disappointed that they started offering the stupid degree at all when clearly they know better.

 

Is American's JD consider as Professional Doctorate? If so, why there is LLM (Master of Laws or Magister Legum or Legum Magister) after JD?

 

Why is there a Master of Science in Dentistry?

 

Even though the JD is called Juris Doctor, it's not a doctorate degree as known amongst academics (or among most attorneys for that matter). If you look at the history of why the LLB became the JD you'll have a better idea of why lawyers, law schools and other interested parties, at the time, wanted the name of the degree changed. For the full history Wikipedia seems to address this well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor#:~:text=The%20change%20from%20LLB%20to,to%20be%20an%20effective%20lawyer

As you know the LLM is a Master of Laws (Masters degree). The doctorate in law is the SJD (Doctor of Juridical Science). The SJD would be the terminal degree for someone seeking to become an academic in the field of law.

 

The LLM was the logical next step after earning the LLB. In my opinion, creating the JD was foolish. Whether it's considered a doctorate depends on the context. USDE says that the JD is a professional doctorate. However, OPM, the personnel agency for the federal government, has determined that the JD and LLB are equivalent to a master's degree, and the LLM is equivalent to a doctorate. This leads to a funny situation of USDE saying that your JD is a doctorate, but to be hired at GS-11 with no experience, USDE can't treat your JD like a doctorate.

The JD is considered a terminal degree for teaching at a law school. Outside of law school and 2-year colleges, the JD is usually not considered a terminal degree, and one would need a JSD or SJD to be a professor in a law-related field i.e. criminal justice.

 

It is interesting that there was much criticism at one time about the degree inflation or nomenclature inflation of US degrees. For instance, the Bachelor of theology or divinity was a post bachelor's level degree and the first professional degree for entry into the field of ministry. That became an MDiv and some seminaries allowed upgrading. The LLB became a JD and some law schools allowed upgrading. Of course, it was a strange degree because the next hire degree was a master of laws. The UK had bachelor's of medicine and the US had a doctor of medicine. Similarly in the number of other fields those degrees have been upgraded to be a doctorate ranging from pharmacy to physical therapy (in the US).

Yet, in spite of the criticism eventually other countries started to follow suit. And the last few years Canada has gone to the JD and Australia apparently. I would imagine that professionals in those countries want to be seen as on par.

There still are oddities in many fields such as various professional medical fields outside of medicine itself where the degree and requirements vary from country to country.

 

Canada attempts to stay in alignment with the U.S. since we're neighboring, primarily English-speaking countries. There is cross recognition of APA and CPA. Some of the American chaplaincy boards I was looking at recognize a Canadian association.

 

Sanantone, I don't think that's quite true. The SJD/JSD is vanishingly rare among American academics, law or otherwise. I've never seen any posting to teach law in a business school or criminal justice program that required more than the JD. Of course, these things can change with time so perhaps I'm out of date.