KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Summer 2014 | Page 23

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Master of Jurisprudence
An avenue for paralegals who wish to bridge the gap between themselves and their supervising attorneys?
By Lottie Wathen

T

here are many post-baccalaureate / master degrees available to individuals who wish to continue their education beyond an undergraduate degree.
For those of us working in the legal field, a Doctor of Jurisprudence (“J.D.”)
may be the first such degree that comes to mind. Not every person who attains a JD decides to sit for a bar exam to become a licensed attorney and,
similarly, not every person who wants to obtain a master’s degree in law
wants to attain a J.D. A Master of Jurisprudence (“M.J.”) is another graduate
level option.
“M.J. students are required to develop a comprehensive understanding of
the operation of law as it applies to a specified area of law. Master of Jurisprudence program offerings include, but aren’t limited to degrees in Business and Corporate Governance Law, Health Law and Policy, Administrative
Law, Native American Law and Policy, and Child and Family Law. Some M.J.
programs combine a combination of graduate level legal courses with MBA
style courses in concentrated areas of study.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Master_of_Jurisprudence
The number of law schools offering an M.J. curriculum continues to grow
with programs being offered across the United States: Loyola University’s
School of Law, The College of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign, Indiana University McKinney School of Law, University of California Berkley’s Law School, Seton Hall University’s School of Law, and Widener Law School are just a few of the institutes of higher learning which offer
this degree. Many of the M.J. programs being offered require traditional,
on-campus classes while others, Loyola University and Widener Law School
included, offer an on-line program.
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