Law students want to change degree designation

Vote to turn degree from LL.B. to J.D. aimed at boosting international recognition

Seventy-nine per cent of Dalhousie law students that voted in the plebiscite were in favour of switching to a J.D. degree. Photo: Katherine Hudson

Dalhousie University law students want to change the institution's law degree from a British to an American designation.

Dalhousie law students in all three years voted in a plebiscite from Feb. 2-4 on whether they wanted to change the Dalhousie law degree from an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) to a J.D. (Juris Doctor). The results were overwhelmingly in favour of the switch: 243 students voted to change the degree to a J.D., while 31 voted to keep the LL.B. and 33 voted that they did not care about the designation.

The main reason for the switch was that "many international employers regard the J.D. as evidence of a more sophisticated legal education," according to the Law Students' Society.

In the United Kingdom, students enter law school straight out of high school to earn an LL.B. In the United States, students must complete undergraduate studies before taking law school to get a J.D. The American system is used by Dalhousie and most Canadian law schools, but they call their degree an LL.B. out of tradition.

Presenting to the administration

The plebiscite was intended to gauge student reaction to the switch, but has no direct effect on the degree designation.

"We'll be presenting the results to the faculty council . . . on an informative basis to let them know the sentiments of the law students," said the society's vice-president academic Adam Picotte. "If they do decide to change the degree designation it will have to go to the Senate Board for consideration."

The society has had a page on its website listing the reasons to keep the LL.B. or switch to the J.D. since early January. Reasons to keep the LL.B. include tradition and Canadian employers, while reasons for the switch focus on international employers and law organizations.

National trend

Dalhousie is the most recent Canadian university to make the degree switch.

"We saw what was going on around the rest of the country and we wanted to have an informed debate," said Picotte. "The students responded in an overwhelming way towards the Juris Doctor."

Several universities in Canada have made the change over the past few years, including the law programs at the University of Western Ontario, the University of British Columbia and Queen's University.

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