JD as Dr. Forum

[Grad_Student]

JD stands for Juris Doctorate. So can we be called Dr. Such&Such?

[kiskadee321]

Maybe if you get a J.S.D. you can try that.

[brokendowncar]

You can call yourself esquire.

[nonunique]

Also, it's Juris Doctor, not Juris Doctorate (it's a title, just like the D in MD doesn't stand for Doctorate). There was a pretty extensive debate on...uhhh...damn...can't think of the forum. I believe the conclusion was that you can call yourself whatever the hell you like, but you may be laughed at for it. Besides, do you REALLY want to sound like that guy who gets all huffy because people don't call him Dr?

[Weez]

Even worse are the people make a big issue over someone not listing their Masters initials after their name... I work with someone who will through a fit if MBA doesn't follow her last name on almost anything (including e-mails).

[arich24]

We should be called Juris Dr. Such&Such!

[Grad_Student]

I don't care personally. I was just curious. Thanks for clearing that up Non.

[Mosel]

i personally love the way the germans do it, where you first get your regular title (mr/mrs/ms) plus every single title you have after that.

Someone can be "Herr Doktor Professor Schmidt"

[brokendowncar]

My friend's dad has two master's, a phd, and a md. He would have the coolest title ever.

[Mosel]

to be honest, as much as I understand the "asshole who makes you call him doctor" argument, I get it. I mean...after you go through that many years, and that much money to earn a title...it's gotta be nice to actually have someone call you DR. _____

I always got mad when my classmates would address our profs as Mr. Smith. At least call him Professor Smith.

[Weez]

I've had this argument a number of times with the Mrs., and what I ultimately believe is this:

People should have enough respect to call you Dr./ Professor/whatever your degree warrants, but ultimately you should be humble enough to accept when people don't. It also depends on the context... If your best friend is a doctor, I'm pretty sure first names are probably fine. If the person specifically tells you it's fine, then it probably is also. You should use discretion though...

I have a philsophy professor with a PhD who goes by Bill, and made a point of telling us he's completely fine with that. I personally don't call him that, but a lot of people do.

[edcrane]

Unless you're an MD, Calling yourself Doctor is pretty TTT--it signals your lack of accomplishments in life and low self confidence.

[kevsocko]

Lawyer's are prohibited from using Dr. in their title.

[Weez]

Unless you're an MD, Calling yourself Doctor is pretty TTT--it signals your lack of accomplishments in life and low self confidence.

So PhD recipients aren't to be called doctor?

What about Podiatrists? DOs?

[Mosel]

I was under the impression that meds and PhD's should be called doctors, and that's it.

With regards to J.D.'s, they should only make reference to their title if it proves both relevent and polite given the situational context.

[just john]

You can refer to yourself as a doctor; it is a doctoral degree... You will not see this much outside of academia, and rarely even there.

Prior to the development of the JD as a degree, most judges (if they had a degree at all) had a bachelor of laws degree. When the JD started to become more prevalent practicing attorneys would become uncomfortable referring to themselves as doctor in front of a judge with just as much education and obviously more experience. The use of Doctor as a title was general replaced with the suffix esquire. Esquire, by the way, simply means man (as in regular, non-pretentious guy).

[ktlulu1]

You can technically have people call you doctor. You only run the risk of seeming like a douchebag.

[nonunique]

You can refer to yourself as a doctor; it is a doctoral degree... You will not see this much outside of academia, and rarely even there.

Though a professional degree, I think calling it a "doctoral" degree is a stretch. Especially since the field recognizes both masters (LLM) and doctoral (SJD, JSD, or whatever other permutation you like) levels. At best, a JD is a legal bachelors.

[nyeagle]

--LinkRemoved--

It's mostly about San Diego, but there are a few broader references as well.
For the most part it seems to not be generally acceptable behavior.

[Grad_Student]

Better question: How do you address a letter to a lawyer? Is there a way to address his title or status? I know when you address a Congress person or Judge, it's always "The Honorable Representative" or "The Honorable Judge"

[nonunique]

I always check their credentials. If they don't have a PhD, I address the letter "Mr./Ms. SoAndSo".

[LabRat]

For me (PhD), I'm always surprised when I get called doctor outside of an academic setting. I always feel like someone is going to ask me about the best hemorrhoid cream or something. I do make MD's call me Dr., though, or agree to use first names . That annoys them, which I find terribly funny.

I'm told that some JD's insist on being called "Dr.". My laughter is sure to get me in trouble.

[stavand]

Originally, the the degree a lawyer receives was called something far less prestigious, like masters of law or something. It was changed to Juris Doctor so that it would sound more prestigious and professional(lawyers complained cause all the girls were chasing MDs). Therefore, I think that if Juris Doctor had been the degree all along, lawyers would have been called doctors when it was decided way back when who to call Dr., but sadly, it didn't work out that way.

Maybe some day someone will have the courage to stand up for our rights. Until them, I feel I will suffer from many a sleepless night.

[USCtrojan86]

I will admit right up front that I've never taken a single class towards earning either a JD or a PhD/MD degree, but based on the numerous people that I have seen and known who have, I'm going to come out and make an official proclamation:

Anyone who thinks that the work that goes into taking the LSATs/getting a JD/passing the bar is in any way, shape or form even remotely comparable to the work that goes into taking the MCATs/earning an MD/interning is either demonstrably insane or unfathomably uninformed and idiotic. It's like comparing the NY Yankees to some minor league team stuck out in Podunk, ND. MD's earned the hell out of that title; JD's don't even deserve the laughs that they should rightfully get if they try and claim it.

PhD's fall somewhere in the middle; many PhD tracks are as difficult as (some are probably even more difficult than) the path to MD; some (cough cough you know who you are) are probably easier than a challenging Masters program. For the most part, however, I'm going to say that the sheer level of commitment and temerity that needs to be displayed to get any PhD (solid grounding in related and relevant coursework at a Bachelors and possibly Masters level, years and years of taking fairly to ridiculously advanced classes, dissertations and all the other ephemera that can be thrown as requirements just to make life hell) once again vastly outweigh anything involved in the JD. How many people graduate with a bachelors and decide to get a PhD in even the easiest and most BS-able subject on a whim? How many people graduate with a bachelors and decide to get a JD on a whim- and end up going to a T3 or T6 school to boot?

It's just not close. The JD is a joke degree compared to either a PhD or an MD, and is therefore is completely undeserving of the title of Doctorate or the "Dr." signifier. Compare the number of dental/medical schools in this country with the number of law schools...do you really want to be calling the kid that almost failed out of Cooley "Dr. So-and-so"?

That's why God invented LLM's and other advanced legal degrees.

Edit:

And as for this little doozy

Today one must have 84 to 90 post-baccalaureate hours to receive a J.D. degree. A Master of Law degree calls for 110 to 120 post-baccalaureate hours. Comparing this to the 60 hours of academic instruction plus a written dissertation, required for a Doctor of Philosophy degree, one must agree that the legal degrees are at least comparable.

I actually don't think the two are very comparable at all, and I think the idea that one "must" agree with that statement is ludicrous.

[Diana341]

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