Combined JD proposed? thoughts... (1 Viewer)

[izzy88]

from the SULS email:

"The Dean announced that the Faculty is seeking to replace the combined LLB with a combined JD in 2012 at the JD Information Session for Combined Students last Wednesday. The proposal would allow the benefits of the JD program to flow to combined as well as graduate-entry law students; prevent the perception that the graduate-only JD would be 'better' and make the teaching of the two cohorts more efficient and integrated. The Faculty is committed to retaining a combined law degree, recognising the benefits of integrating the teaching of law with another discipline, and will not move to the Melbourne model of offering a graduate entry JD only.
The Faculty will consult with other faculties and bodies within the university, the profession, employers, admission authorities and other relevant stakeholders in developing a proposal to be put to the Academic Board within the next few months.
The Faculty will do its best in good faith to offer current combined LLB students who will graduate from 2012 onwards (not students graduating in 2010 or 2011) the option to transfer into the JD, however this will depend upon whether the proposal is accepted, in what form and what transitional measures are approved.
Students with questions and feedback on the proposal should direct them to the SULS Vice-President (Education) Fiona Cunningham ateducation@suls.org.au, who will direct them on to the Faculty.
Updates on the progress of the proposal will be posted in the SULS weekly email, SULS website and on the Faculty website. The Dean's presentation will be available on the Faculty website shortly and notes from the information session will be available on the Education section of the SULS website at http://www.suls.org.au/education."

what are your thoughts?

I knew USYD was introducing the JD, but I hadn't really thought of how it would affect me (I didn't think it would affect me at all really). I'm doing combined Arts/Law, but this year taking a year to do honours in arts, so i'll be graduating from law in 2012. I guess if this goes ahead I might have the option of graduating with Bachelor of Laws or the JD.... Does anyone have any thoughts on what would be better? Or if there is any real difference. I hadn't seen the JD as much more than a re-naming of the bachelor of laws so that the law school could charge full-fee places. Whether there is any real difference in teaching methods or courses still appears unclear- and what the professional world sees of it is a bit unknown (well at least to me).

 

[joeysmall]

Technically, could you say your a doctor with a JD?

 

[X2RADialbomber]

Technically, could you say your a doctor with a JD?

IIRC, Information about the JD released by Usyd strongly states many times that people with a JD cannot refer to themselves as doctor.

 

[izzy88]

Technically, could you say your a doctor with a JD?

nope. no chance.

 

[Rextu]

Hah, it looks like the Faculty of Law has done a backflip... typical USyd bureaucracy collapsing there.

The biggest issue for the JD was that the Faculty of Law are committed to having a very united school--that is they did not want those on the LLB program to be excluded from JD subjects and vice versa. However, the JD is in an interesting position. The University does not allow undergrads to be be in the same classes as postgrads for some reason... which kind of makes sense, considering most postgrad courses are for honours and doctorates etc. But law is funny in that there is grad law... taught at an undergraduate level.

The Faculty didn't want to get rid of undergrad law (which is a joke in my opinion anyway, given that you only do one law unit per semester and get to do one less unit of your other degree), nor did they just want to have a 'boutique' JD.

So basically they were in a conceptual nightmare with no where to go. They could have a combined JD... but that kind of spoils the point of a prestigious graduate degree.

They stuffed it up, IMO.

 

[izzy88]

So basically they were in a conceptual nightmare with no where to go. They could have a combined JD... but that kind of spoils the point of a prestigious graduate degree.

i agree with the conceptual nightmare, but i don't think a combined JD spoils the prestige of a graduate degree. 2/3 of the law of a combined degree only occurs once the students have a degree anyway (ie. 4th and 5th year law), its only the first year that occurs over the first 3 years of the undergrad.

The extra 'prestige' that comes from the JD is that it is more internationally recognised (supposidly, mostly for the US), not that it is necessarily a graduate degree.

on your 'no undegrad with postgrad students' in a class, is that a rule of the university? Because I know of quite a few units in arts that have been run with postgrads eg. latin/greek units can have postgrads in them (they get a different number, but they just turn up to the same undergrad classes), also with a ANHS 3000 level unit I did last year, half the students were postgrad doing the subject as a ANHS 6000 for a masters course.