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J.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin Juris Doctor, also called a Doctor of Law or Doctorate of Jurisprudence, and is the law degree typically awarded by an accredited U.S. law school after successfully completing three years of post-graduate law study. Generally, a 4-year undergraduate degree is required to be eligible for entry into a J.D. program.

The course of study for a J.D. usually takes 3 years but may take as little as 2 years at some schools. At schools approved by the American Bar Association, it is not possible to finish the J.D. in less than 2 1/2 years. The ABA requires six "residence credits" of full-time study to finish the J.D.; each residence credit is equal to one semester. Successful completion of full-time study in one summer term, by ABA rules, grants one-half residence credit. Therefore, at least in schools that use the semester system, a student can only advance his or her graduation by one semester.

1 History

The J.D. was formerly known as the LL.B. in most U.S. universities, and was changed to confer an equivalent professional status found in other American professions (i.e., medicine, dentistry, etc.). The LL.M., "Master of Laws", is a post J.D. degree (similar post professional doctorate programs at the master's level can also be found in dentistry and veterinary medicine). Doctors of law who are admitted to the practice of law often append the suffix Esq. to the end of their names, but are not commonly referred to as "Doctor". (While the Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate, similar to the Medicinæ Doctor ( Doctor of Medicine), legal convention has not universally accepted the use of such title among lawyers in the U.S.) Other graduate law degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D.), Doctor of the Science of Law (L.Sc.D.), and the Legum Doctor or Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) confer the academic and social title of "Doctor," but is rarely used by practicing lawyers in the U.S. The exception to practicing U.S. lawyers using the title of "Doctor" involves those holding other doctorates outside of their fields (i.e., M.D./J.D., Ph.D./J.D., etc.).

2 Courses required

The first year of a J.D. program is usually devoted to core courses on contracts, property law, tortIn the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. The term comes from Law French and means, literally, 'a wrong'. The "law of torts" is a body of civil law or private law that covers the various legal ( money damages) and equs and civil procedureCivil procedure is the written set of rules that sets out the process that courts will follow when hearing cases of a civil nature (a "civil action"). These rules explain how a lawsuit must be commenced, what kind of service of process is required, the ty. Later courses might include things such as:

• criminal procedureCriminal procedure is the process used in dealing with violations of criminal law. Like most aspects of law it often works differently in jurisdictions that follow the civil law tradition and common law. The majority of civil law jurisdictions use procedu
• criminal lawCriminal law (also known as penal law is the body of law that regulates governmental sanctions (such as imprisonment and/or fines) as retaliation for crimes against the social order. The goal of this process is that of achieving criminal justice. Accordin
• constitutional lawConstitutional law is the study of foundational laws that govern the scope of powers and authority of various bodies in relation to the creation and execution of other laws by a government. A constitution binds a government or governments, limiting the co
• business entities and agencyCorporations law or corporate law is the law concerning the creation and regulation of corporations. A corporation is a group of people which are legally treated as a person; the corporation can own property, sign contracts, sue, and be sued. Corporate la
• commercial lawCommercial law or business law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practi
• trustThe term trust has several meanings: In sociology, trust is willing acceptance of one person's power to affect another. It is discussed more formally in the articles on social capital, profession and authority. There is much dispute on whether degrees ofs and estates
• family law
• conflict of laws
• rules of evidence
• tax law
• oil and gas law
• environmental law
• bankruptcy law
• intellectual property law
• labor law
• jurisprudence