Whats the difference between a ll.m degree and a jd. degree in law school?
Here’s the thing. I wanna go to law school. I’m a junior in college right now. I want to be a family law lawyer – still debating the aspect but i’m leaning towards divorce. Would I need to get a LL.M degree for that, or would a JD be sufficient? And if I did have to get a LL.M degree how much longer would that take than doing the standard JD?
Also, I haven’t taken my LSAT’s yet. Should I do that soon, or when I’m a senior? And I’m double majoring in English and Poli Sci and my GPA is at about a 3.5 or 3.6, what else should I do to better my chances of getting into a decent law school?
One Response
CoachT
07 Mar 2010
As strange as it seems, the master’s (LLM) is higher than the doctorate (JD) in this case.
The JD is the degree you need to practice law as an attorney. The LLM is the degree you need if you’d like to become a legal academic and study a specific field in detail. It’s also useful if you’d like to teach.
An LLM will take you 1.5-2 years after the JD depending on whether it’s full-time and in what specialty area.
The two most important things to do to get you into law school – above all else, keep your GPA very high. Prepare for the LSAT so that you have the highest possible score. Anything else you do such as activities or work should be secondary to these two – the GPA and LSAT score weigh much more heavily than anything else.