What is a Joint Law Degree?

Is it a good idea?

Joint degrees are usually awarded by law schools in cooperation with other schools and departments. Students will most often obtain a master’s degree and Juris Doctorate or a doctorate degree and J.D.

Law school joint degrees are most common with schools of management, medical school, school of business, school of environmental law and earth science as well as institutes for public policy. However, you can also receive a dual degree law from departments such as cultural anthropology, economics, electrical engineering, history, humanities, philosophy and psychology – to name a few.

A joint degree program will save you time, tuition and provide you with richer education and a great depth of knowledge. The total amount of time required to complete a joint degree program is shorter than the time required to complete both degrees independently. Due to course transferability between departments, you will be able to cut your education time significantly.

More is not always better. Be careful in your selection. Law school is enough work in itself. Adding on another year is no small feat. Be cautious and research your career opportunities. Make sure a joint degree really ads to your competitiveness and is something employers are looking for. Don’t get a joint degree just for the sake of getting a dual degree – plan your course of study carefully. You will find that it’s always better to hold one degree done well, then two done poorly.

Coursed covered in joint programs depend on the additional degree program you select, or add onto your law degree. If you chose a JD/MBA you will study law curriculum in addition to business, human resources, finance and trade and investment courses. If you chose a JD/MD, you will cover law courses in addition to basic medical and clinical curriculum. If you chose a JD/MEM joint law degree you will study law in addition to environmental science and technology.

I think joint degree programs stemmed from the assumption that the more degrees you have, the greater your career options become and the more competitive you become. But is this really true? I have to admit that the answer is not a resounding yes, but more like a maybe or it all depends.

A dual law degree will give you the opportunity to choose a career outside law. For example, JD/MBA degree will allow you to work in government or private business, in executive positions. If this is something you want, a joint degree may be a good decision.

However, getting a joint degree just for the sake of more degrees, with no real rational or career plan in mind can be a time consuming and very costly mistake. Keep in mind that a joint degree will add an additional year to your education, keeping you from a paying job and increasing your student loans significantly.

While a joint degree in law and psychology may not be particularly useful if you plan to go into commercial real estate law, a joint degree in law and finance or accounting may be quite useful if you want to practice banking law. While more degrees can never really hurt you, keep in mind that real experience and on the job training are just as valuable, if not more so.
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