Top Law Schools

What schools have strong law and economics programs or specialized math heavy law degrees?

njskatchmo wrote:What schools have strong law and economics programs or specialized math heavy law degrees?

University of Chicago puts emphasis on law and economics. You need to be more specific though, what school range are you looking at? And what is a "math heavy" law degree?

njskatchmo wrote:What schools have strong law and economics programs or specialized math heavy law degrees?

What the hell is "math heavy law"?

As for law and economics, Chicago is known for it, but most top schools have a program at this point.

Edit: Damn it, knock.

In before Rayiner makes fun of lawyers attempting economics.

There are no math heavy law courses. Sadly, law school deals only with law.

(I'm not being sarcastic)

Why do you want to do this anyway? Academia?

Econ/math double major looking for kind of the same.
There's no way that I could do chicago, I've been on the east coast for too long. That's kinda weak, but I'm over snow. I'm going to cross my fingers for SLS. They have a lot of quantitative math/finance law classes and are pretty cool with people taking classes in other schools from what I have read.

tax. most other areas of law do not care about precise numbers even if using economic theories.

You can do a JD/PhD or JD/MA at most top schools. The PhD would set you up for academia although there are a few academics out there at well ranked schools who only have MAs (primarily because they never finished their PhDs).

You should have a good idea of where you want to go with this before you decide to start going down this path.

GMU has a very solid economics program. Economics and the law is a required course as I remember.

chicago and gm are the two that come to mind

tax. most other areas of law do not care about precise numbers even if using economic theories.

Even in tax, the amount of actual math is trivial. There is nothing more advanced than basic algebra.

nealric wrote:

tax. most other areas of law do not care about precise numbers even if using economic theories.

Even in tax, the amount of actual math is trivial. There is nothing more advanced than basic algebra.

+1. Corporate Finance has shockingly little actual math - it requires the about the same amount as taxation.

The above comments are completely accurate. There is barely any arithmetic in law practice, let alone any kind of higher math. A solid ability to think in percentages is about as high a math skill as even tax requires. I am shocked by the innumeracy I encounter in most members of the Bar. It isn't just a lack of exposure; it seems more like a positive math-phobia. (The threads about law school finance around here are often illustrative.)

Patent, of course, can be a major exception.

A joint J.D./Ph.D. in, say, statistics might be a really good way into law teaching because the student would be trained in quantitative research methods, something law professors in general don't have.

BeautifulSW wrote:The above comments are completely accurate. There is barely any arithmetic in law practice, let alone any kind of higher math. A solid ability to think in percentages is about as high a math skill as even tax requires. I am shocked by the innumeracy I encounter in most members of the Bar. It isn't just a lack of exposure; it seems more like a positive math-phobia. (The threads about law school finance around here are often illustrative.)

Patent, of course, can be a major exception.

A joint J.D./Ph.D. in, say, statistics might be a really good way into law teaching because the student would be trained in quantitative research methods, something law professors in general don't have.

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BeautifulSW wrote:A joint J.D./Ph.D. in, say, statistics might be a really good way into law teaching because the student would be trained in quantitative research methods, something law professors in general don't have.

There is hardly any overlap between doctorate level statistics and legal academia. Even empirical analyses of law tend to use rudimentary statistics that are accepted within the social sciences. Economics is a much more relevant and accepted PhD for a law professor. Chemistry and biology might get you somewhere in healthcare or IP related law, but they are not quite on point with economics/math heavy coursework.

Antitrust involves a ton of (quite high level) economic analysis.

Why not get a JD and a Master/PhD in economics?

Many programs allow people to earn distinct JD/Masters degrees during a 4 year span. JD/PhD programs usually take ~6 years.