Is a juris Doctorate degree a Bachelers, Masters or Doctoral Degree?

I understand the confusion.

Its a first degree. Thats the way it can be best explained. Its not a terminal degree, which happens to be the highest degree one can hope to attain in his/her field. For instance, a Ph.D. happens to be a terminal degree, while a Bachelors' is a first degree.

A J.D. or Juris Doctorate is what we call a professional doctorate, similar to the M.D. program for those in the medical profession.

Professional doctorates in the United States

In the United States, there are numerous degrees which incorporate the word "doctor" and are known as "professional doctorates." Such fields include law, medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, and many others that usually require such degrees for licensure. These degrees are also termed "first professional degrees," since they are also the first degree in their field.

Professional doctorates were developed in the United States in the 19th century during a movement to improve the training of professionals by raising the requirements for entry and completion of the degree necessary to enter the profession. These first professional degrees were created to help strengthen professional training programs. The first professional doctorate to be offered in the United States was the M.D. in 1807, which was nearly sixty years before the first Ph.D. was awarded in the U.S. in 1861. The Juris Doctor (J.D.) was subsequently established by Harvard University for the same reasons that the M.D. was established.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_doctorat...

There has been much debate in the United States as to whether J.D. recipients may use the title of Doctor and refer to themselves as "Doctor". A recent law article on the topic appeared in the November 2006 issue of the American Bar Association Journal, entitled "Lawyers Are Doctors, Too". ABA Informal Opinion 1152 (1970) allows those who hold a Juris Doctor (J.D.) to use the title doctor. (See also ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rule 2-102(E).) The North Carolina Bar Association permits the use of the title in post-secondary academic contexts in that state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor

The Juris Doctor (J.D.), like the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), is a professional doctorate. The Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.), or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.S.D.) ("Scientiae Juridicae Doctor" in Latin), and Doctor of Comparative Law (D.C.L.), are research and academic-based doctorate level degrees, comparable to Ph.D. degrees in other fields or doctoral degrees in law in Europe (such as the Dr.iur. degree in Germany). In the U.S., the Legum Doctor (LL.D.) is only awarded as an honorary degree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_of_Lawyers_...

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A JD is a postgraduate bachelors degree. It is referred to, rather naughtily as a Professional Doctorate, because that is the only way you can get away with calling it a doctorate.

You must remember at this is a first degree, not an advanced degree that requires undergraduate study in that field before entering. A Bachelors is a first degree as well. The difference is that postgraduate bachelors generally means people are a little more considered and well rounded before entering ie. more professional. However the curriculum is at Bachelors level.

IF the first degree required to enter the JD was a legal degree then the JD would build on that knowledge. IT DOES NOT AND IS NOT AN ADVANCED DEGREE. It is not at the academic level of a Masters or PhD.

THE REASON, AND THE ONLY REASON that the US gets away with this is because in Latin countries EVERYONE WITH A BACHELORS IS REFERRED TO AS A DOCTOR. In anglophile countries its now being picked up as a promotional exercise as universities sell degrees.

Juris Doctor

Just to clarify, it is called a Juris Doctor, not a Juris Doctorate (which is an inexistent term, and which confusingly connotes a doctorate, e.g. J.S.D. or Ph.D.). (see http://www.law.umich.edu/connection/a2z/Lists/Post...

Although it is a first degree IN LAW, a Juris Doctor degree is a post-graduate degree. It is not the very first degree that you get right after high school -- that is an undergraduate degree. In the countries where the Juris Doctor degree is offered (e.g. U.S. and Canada), one must first have an undergraduate degree in order to qualify to apply to a Juris Doctor degree. In some jurisdictions like Brazil, a law degree is an undergraduate degree. But that is called a Bachelor of Laws degree, not a Juris Doctor degree. Hope that helps.

Juris Doctorate degree is a doctoral degree. Believe me!

You can rule out bacherlor s degree. It is NOT a bachelors for sure. You must already have a bachelors degree (from undergraduate school - the school you attend after high school) in order to qualify to attend a school to earn your Juris Doctor. It takes AT LEAST 7 years (4 bachelors/3 juris doctor) to earn a JD.

I hold a J.D and it is a Doctorate degree. It takes a total of 7-8 years after high school to attain the degree like other Doctorate degrees.

Before you call anyone an idiot, you ought to avail yourself of more information on this subject. This issue comes up always when you are supplying your educational background for various reasons. You generally have to choose from High School, Bachelors, Masters and Post Graduate/Doctoral/PhD. There is no accommodation for the professional degrees. Guided by humility, I generally put Masters level; but I know that J.D. packs more power that that. It would be safe, as the literature explains, to count it as a doctoral degree; and you could justifiable use the term "Doctor" because you are a Doctor of Jurisprudence...analogous to a Doctor of Medicine(M.D.). There should be no confusion with PhDs; they are Doctors in the Philosophy(Ph) of whatever disciplines they have studied: They are not degrees that could lead to licensure for practice. In essence, JDs, MDs, DDs are doctors by actual practice of these disciplines. PhDs in Law and Medicine are academic doctors who think, research and write/publish.

In reality, it is probably a somewhere between a Masters and Doctorate. It is a professional doctorate but it should not be considered equivalent to a Ph.D/Ed.D (the research degrees) for one very simple reason: THERE IS NO THESIS. All research degrees have some type of thesis element. Also, a JD may be equivalent to a MS and Phd/EdD in credits, but this is misleading since, JDs require no prequisite courses (something that usually drives the final MS/Phd experience well over 90 credits. ) and NOWHERE in academia can someone attain an earned doctorate in 3 years after the bachleors. In fact, the JD may be the only degree that has a timed expectation attached, something the research degrees probably have an issue with.

*FULL DISCLOSURE* I am a Ed.D. student. ;)

"That is why you get a JD in Law and then can go for a Masters in Law, LLM and then a PhD in Law."-Branch

Respectfully, not true. In law, the LLM and PhD in Law are ancillary pursuits--and NOT part of a professional trajectory. For example, as an MD, you can get get an MS in say Clinical Epidemiology or some other specialty, or a PhD in Biochemistry . . . but these extra degrees are not degrees that further your professional credentials as a practicing physician. Sure they will help perhaps in gaining grants for research or an academic position at a teaching hospital but the MD is the highest professional degree one can obtain in the practice of medicine.

The same is true with the professional degree in Law. The JD is the highest professional degree you can obtain in the practice of law. Sure you can obtain an LLM (foreign students with law degrees at the bachelors level can apply to these programs as well--so the LLM is NOT an "advanced" professional degree) . . . and you can get a JSD . . . but these are not professional degrees (as previously stated) but instead academic degrees for those wanting either more background in a specific area of law (LLM--ex. tax law, healthcare law, etc.) or a degree for academic pursuits (although clearly not required). The JD is the highest professional degree you can obtain in the practice of Law in the US.