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T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:37 am
by Sam Seaborn
What would people think of a law school providing a 1-2 year degree in legal studies? It's not a JD, it won't let you sit for the bar, it would just be a way to get a foundation in the law.
I ask because I know of a T1 that will be implementing a program similar to this (I'm being paranoid and not outing until I get confirmation that it's ok to do so) in the next couple years and I did not immediately see the value of this kind of degree. Would it be marketable to business types who don't need a JD but would benefit from some legal studies? Why would anyone want to pursue this course of action? What kinds of professional possibilities would this open up?
Discuss.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:40 am
by duckmoney
Sounds great if you want to be a professional legal assistant or paralegal or maybe to complement a business degree.
If you want to be a lawyer, sounds useless. Get your JD and become a real lawyer.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:09 am
by HWS08
duckmoney wrote:Sounds great if you want to be a professional legal assistant or paralegal or maybe to complement a business degree.
If you want to be a lawyer, sounds useless. Get your JD and become a real lawyer.
Agree.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:19 am
by Mickey Quicknumbers
No. this is going to be entirely worthless. If you just want to be a legal assistant or paralegal then you'll get all the training you need on the job, you don't need to take 1-2 years and learn about proximate cause or the rule against perpetuities.
entirely. worthless.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:21 pm
by Sam Seaborn
Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:entirely. worthless.
You don't think there is any value in knowing the law without necessarily wanting to practice? What if it offered specialties, like a focus on securities law for banker/investor types, or corporate law for business owner?
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:25 pm
by danquayle
Sam Seaborn wrote:Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:entirely. worthless.
You don't think there is any value in knowing the law without necessarily wanting to practice? What if it offered specialties, like a focus on securities law for banker/investor types, or corporate law for business owner?
I've heard rumblings about this as well. I personally think its just another throwaway degree law schools can make money on. There's not immediate value in just "knowing" the law. They teach most of the relevant law a business owner will need in b-school.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:30 pm
by kk19131
danquayle wrote: They teach most of the relevant law a business owner will need in b-school.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:41 pm
by masochist
My psych doctoral program used to have an LLM option for people who wanted to do forensic psychology. I guess it was useful for those people (all four of them).
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:49 pm
by Sam Seaborn
So no scenario where this type of program would be successful? (Successful adding value to a student's skill set and making them more desirable for employment, not successful in making the university money).
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:53 pm
by Moxie
Mickey Quicknumbers wrote:No. this is going to be entirely worthless. If you just want to be a legal assistant or paralegal then you'll get all the training you need on the job, you don't need to take 1-2 years and learn about proximate cause or the rule against perpetuities.
entirely. worthless.
Pretty much, since:
kk19131 wrote:danquayle wrote: They teach the relevant law a business owner will need in b-school.
This whole idea of a Master's in law sounds like a cash cow for law schools, with little or no benefit for students.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:00 pm
by Mickey Quicknumbers
Sam Seaborn wrote:So no scenario where this type of program would be successful? (Successful adding value to a student's skill set and making them more desirable for employment, not successful in making the university money).
Why try to frame it universally? If "there is < 1% chance of this ever being useful" not good enough to deter you from wanting to waste at least a year of your life + tuition?
also, see requoted danquayle comment
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:03 pm
by Sam Seaborn
Ya so it's not something I'm considering, just something I wanted to throw out on TLS and see what other people's opinions were. And I wasn't really trying to frame it universally, just was wondering if there may be specific areas of law that a program like this would be beneficial for.
Re: T1 offering a Master's Degree in Law???
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:33 pm
by danquayle
Sam Seaborn wrote:Ya so it's not something I'm considering, just something I wanted to throw out on TLS and see what other people's opinions were. And I wasn't really trying to frame it universally, just was wondering if there may be specific areas of law that a program like this would be beneficial for.
I'm trying to imagine scenarios wherein it'd be useful. I keep thinking maybe someone who wanted to get into politics or some kind of governmental service. But again, why wouldn't you just get your MPA? There's not even a clear niche for this degree. This is just trying to capitalize on the a "JD is universally useful" myth.
Like THIS guy
http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/ma ... leID=58951
“I’m not talking about making more lawyers,” he said. ”I’m talking about more people obtaining a law school education. Let’s say 100 percent of the applications are considered by a law school and only 10 percent are accepted. What about the next 10 percent? Wouldn’t they also be some very well-qualified, well-intentioned people who could obtain this education and make a big difference in their personal lives, their professions and in their communities?
“The answer is: Absolutely.”
I dunno, maybe if you make it
substantially cheaper than a JD and don't sell to people the notion that they'll be high flying attorneys. Should Indiana Tech get a prestigious law school of its own, I doubt they'll be telling people: "Yeah, come here and blow $100k so you can do go in your community as a non-lawyer."