For all those MBA students who plan to focus on specialised sectors like Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions or Bankruptcy, a law degree would be immensely useful. Several Business schools are offering joint Business and Law degree programs all over the world.
The joint degree program attracts a small number of students, due to the expenses involved and the long duration even though accelerated courses promise graduation within a period of slightly more than two or three years.
However, its utility is becoming crucial in an increasingly complicated world where businesses have to confirm to several laws and regulations and lawyers should have enough expertise to guide clients in taking decisions that would keep their business assets out of court.
Thus, for many of the law students who want to develop skills in accounting, team leadership and dealing with clients and services, a joint degree would be of immense value.
In the US, a number of schools, including Northeastern University, Chapman University and American University, offer dual MBA and LL.M. programs, where students can earn both degrees within the same two-year time frame needed to complete an MBA.
Patrick Cassidy, LL.M. Program Director at Northeastern, says that a concentration in international business offered in their regular LL.M. program, proved to popular. Some of the students, interested in international business transactions would like to get that extra MBA credentials by way of dual degree.
However, the joint degree program demands a high degree of academic commitment. While the students generally concentrate on the MBA coursework during the first year, the second year is devoted to LL.M. while concluding the MBA.
Among schools offering dual degree programs in the US is Duke University. Students and faculty affiliated with Duke Law School and the Fuqua School of Business have many opportunities to collaborate on issues at the intersection of law and business. Students who are particularly ambitious and focused in this area would be able to put in a single application for both the JD and The Duke MBA that would be reviewed by each school separately.
Students who are admitted to both degree programs may choose to begin their studies either at Duke Law School or at the Fuqua School of Business. The JD/MBA can be completed in four years, rather than the five it would take to complete each degree separately.
A typical course of study might begin with the first year curriculum at the Law School, followed by the first year curriculum in The Duke MBA, and then two years of classes selected from both schools, with approximately two-thirds of the courses taken in the law school.
However, other students may spend their first year at the business school and their second at the law school, or the first two years at the law school and the third at the business school. An accelerated option allows it to be completed in seven semesters instead of the typical eight.
Three summers for both legal and business employment and internships allow students to gain experience in both fields.
Similarly, The Law School and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania have a three-year program leading to both J.D. degree and an MBA.
Stanford University says nearly 20% of its MBA students take advantage of a joint or dual degree to complement their MBA. With as many as
28 joint degree programs, students also get an opportunity to design their own dual degree programs. The joint J.D./MBA at Stanford is one of the oldest joint degree programs in the country.
Similar programs are offered by New York University, Columbia University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, University of Virginia, University of California, Berkeley and Cornell University. (Image Courtesy : commons.wikimedia.org)
