is a JD a masters or a doctorate degree?

[QUAKER OATS]

The LLB, Bachelor of Laws, is now generally a foreign degree, however there are a very few US Law schools which still offer the program. Interestingly, some of the SC Justices of recent years had only LLBs.

This is b/c the Supreme Court Justices are old and this is what the American Law degree used to be until around the 1970's.  Look in Martindale at any older attorney and you will find that this is their degree.

[emarejay]

Ok people calm down. We are nowhere near MDs.

[verbal]

a jd is a post graduate degree. a graduate degree is a masters degree. whats the next step after masters. this issue really isnt that difficult.

[Bobo]

Here is a good summary (Wikipedia):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.D.

[LostMyMonkeys]

It is a professional degree, in a class by itself. Similar to an MD. Only without all that pesky science and blood and stuff.

[T. Durden]

the "class in of itself" distinction isn't all that helpful as questionnaires that ask for the  highest level of education obtained generally specify: high school, bachelor degree, masters, doctorate

i'm sticking with the masters for the time being

[Erapitt]

It is NOT a masters.  It is a professional degree.

[bulletproof]

It's confusing yes, but one thing is clear - it is not a masters degree.  Here is what wikpedia says:

Juris Doctor (J.D., Latin for Doctor of Jurisprudence) is a first-professional law degree typically awarded by an accredited law school in the United States to a student who has successfully completed three years of study in law. Some law schools in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia are now awarding the degree.

The graduate-level J.D. is not equivalent to the Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B.) awarded in a number of English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia—that LL.B. degree is an undergraduate degree requiring no prior college-level coursework, whereas a J.D. is a doctoral-level program requiring at least three years of college-level coursework for admission to the program. The J.D. is technically a first-professional doctorate rather than a research doctorate, and holders of the degree do not, by custom, take the title "Dr." in formal address or common speech.

[T. Durden]

hmm ok i stand corrected

doctorate it is!

[LostMyMonkeys]

Yeah, definitely NOT a masters. If given the option, I would choose "Professional Degree" but in the alternative, I would chose "Doctorate".