is a J.D. considered a master's degree or a doctoral degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a goofy thread. There are two different types of doctorates in the U.S.: academic and professional. A J.D. is a professional doctorate. Simple as that.

Uh, no. You are completely wrong. A JD is the equivalent to a master's degree.

You are missing the point. It's not a comparison. They are two completely different things: academic and professional.

[Anonymous]

J.s.D. is the legal doctorate degree.

[Anonymous]

Like the PP, law school grads are also given doctoral stripes at my alma mater.

[Anonymous]

Private schools consider teachers w/ J.D.'s to have doctorates for the purpose of pay, rank, stats, etc. I would check doctorate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Esquire is a title used to address people, not to refer to oneself. IOW, you put it on correspondence addressed to someone, but do not sign anything as "Esq."

That would be huge news to 90% of the lawyers in DC, who do, in fact, sign with an Esq. after their own names.

90%??? Really? I don't think I've ever seen it --definitely not from someone who has been out of law school for more than five years.

Agree. I think people that sign this are ridiculous. I always think of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I'm a lawyer but only use Esq. when addressing someone in a letter. Even then I think it's dumb, but I do it because it's expected.

[Anonymous]

I sign Esq because I think women are treated like sh__ otherwise. Once they know you're a lawyer...they don't try to treat you so stupidly.

And, a law degree is considered a doctoral degree. In some countries, such as Cuba, a lawyer is called "Doctor". Afterall, a dentist is a doctor and both lawyers and dentists study three years for their respective degrees.

[Anonymous]

WTH? The responses here can be summarized roughly along these lines:

"My degree is more intellectual than your degree."

"I worked harder than you did"

"My master's is weightier than your JD."

"Your law degree doesn't reflect any intellectual rigor in your studies."

And so on.

This is a ridiculous thread (not w/respect to OP's original question, but w/respect to most of the responses).

Jeez, people, get a grip. Why do you care so much about who has the "weightier" degree?

[Anonymous]

You cannot honestly compare a law degree of any flavor to a propper MA or PhD. In the latter two you are actually discovering new knowledge which can shed light on the human condition and improve our culture or standard of living or health in some way.

I therefore regret to inform you that you cannot tick either of these boxes. If anything, you can include a side-letter with your census form or online survey or whatever it is we are talking about explaining that you spent all this time studying the laws and now you know them real good etc etc.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In some countries, such as Cuba, a lawyer is called "Doctor". Afterall, a dentist is a doctor and both lawyers and dentists study three years for their respective degrees.

In some countries a lawyer is called "asshole". That doesn't make it right.

[Anonymous]

To 10:34 - what was your degree in?

I'm sure it was quite "propper" [sic].

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To 10:34 - what was your degree in?

I'm sure it was quite "propper" [sic].

That was a "real good" catch.

[Anonymous]

Any scientist will attest to how easy obtaining a JD is in comparison to their PhD. I am a scientist in a field where everyone has both--PhD & JDs. The JD was a relative joke. It could be because we are engineers and molecular biologists to begin with vs poly sci, English and communications majors.. Who knows?

[Anonymous]

eh, I don't have my JD or PhD (yet I live in DC and carry on somehow) so I don't have any stake in this but I would think it pretty ridiculous if someone with a law degree checked phd as their education level. they simply are not the same thing, despite what they do in Cuba or how many stripes you have on your academic regalia. what a silly conversation, it just reinforces the unfortunate stereotype about lawyers thinking overly highly of themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:eh, I don't have my JD or PhD (yet I live in DC and carry on somehow) so I don't have any stake in this but I would think it pretty ridiculous if someone with a law degree checked phd as their education level. they simply are not the same thing, despite what they do in Cuba or how many stripes you have on your academic regalia. what a silly conversation, it just reinforces the unfortunate stereotype about lawyers thinking overly highly of themselves.

Well, I don't think they'd be checking something that actually specified "Ph.D.", but I could be wrong. The choice I usually see is "doctorate." And for that, IMO, a J.D., M.D., PharmD, and any of the various professional degrees qualifies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any scientist will attest to how easy obtaining a JD is in comparison to their PhD. I am a scientist in a field where everyone has both--PhD & JDs. The JD was a relative joke. It could be because we are engineers and molecular biologists to begin with vs poly sci, English and communications majors.. Who knows?

Is it really necessary to denigrate the JD degree in order to make your point about your degree?

This thread makes me want to move to a rural area where most people finished high school and think that's just dandy.