COMBINED DEGREE PROGRAMS
Joint JD/LLM Degree Programs
Some students know early on in law school that they wish to specialize in a particular area of law. For those qualified students, The John Marshall Law School offers the joint JD/LLM program in:
- employee benefits
- information technology
- intellectual property
- international business and trade
- real estate
- tax
The program builds upon John Marshall's relatively broad base of required courses-both in substantive areas and in skills training-to permit students to specialize in one of six areas of law, without giving up the benefits of a traditional legal education.
Joint degree students are permitted to apply the first ten credit hours satisfactorily completed in the LLM program toward the 90 credits required for the JD degree. Thus, joint degree students, in most circumstances, will be able to complete the requirements of both programs with 104 credit hours (80 JD + 24 LLM). A JD student must have at least a 2.5 grade point average, and must have completed 30 credit hours to be considered for admission to the joint degree program.
Each of the joint JD/ LLM programs has different qualifications beyond these minimum requirements. Interested students should meet with the director of the program they wish to enter. With quality counseling and careful planning, JD students can complete coursework that enables them to participate in LLM courses on a par with the lawyer students.
The completion of a joint JD/LLM degree program will not only provide an in-depth educational experience in a particular area of the law, but it will allow law students to distinguish themselves from other recent graduates in order to compete successfully for jobs.
Why a Graduate Degree in Law?
Well trained lawyers who have experience with graduate degree programs know it is difficult to cover more than the bare fundamentals of an area within the time limits of a BA or JD program. This limitation, in addition to the need to further develop knowledge and skills in a particular field, makes graduate study increasingly important and attractive for students.
In 1998, John Marshall began offering MS degrees. All John Marshall graduate programs are open to qualified applicants either as a comprehensive curriculum, leading to a graduate degree, or as individual courses, benefiting the practicing professional. Each of the programs is designed to give specialized training in a certain discipline.
JD/MBA
The John Marshall Law School and Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, cooperate in offering a combined credit program leading to the degrees of Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration. Up to nine hours of MBA courses taken at Dominican may be counted toward the JD degree and up to nine hours of law courses may be counted toward the MBA degree. Not all courses are available for credit. A list of acceptable electives is available in the Registrar's Office.
Each candidate must meet all degree requirements of each school. Students apply to John Marshall and Dominican separately. Upon acceptance to both schools, students gain entrance into the combined program. A candidate may begin the program either at Dominican or John Marshall. In either case, the required first-year curriculum of law courses will be taken solely at John Marshall. No MBA courses may be taken simultaneously. If a candidate begins the program at John Marshall, the student must complete the remaining equivalent of three full-time years jointly at this school and Dominican. If a candidate begins the program with one year taken solely at Dominican, followed by a year solely taken at John Marshall, the remaining credit hours may be taken jointly at John Marshall and Dominican.
Students in the combined program will pay The John Marshall Law School for law courses and pay Dominican University for business courses. For more information about the combined JD/MBA program, contact Professor Glenn P. Schwartz at 312.987.2368.
JD/MPA and JD/MA
The John Marshall Law School and Roosevelt University cooperate in offering combined credit programs leading to the degrees of Juris Doctor (JD) and either the Master of Public Administration or the Master of Arts in Political Science (MPA or MA).
In these programs, The John Marshall Law School and Roosevelt University each accept a certain number of credit hours earned at the other institution as electives, which shortens the time in which a student can earn both degrees. John Marshall will accept up to nine credit hours of Roosevelt courses, provided a) these hours are comprised of courses designated by John Marshall as acceptable for this purpose, and b) are taken after enrollment as a law student at John Marshall, and c) after completion of the first year of law study at John Marshall.
Roosevelt will accept up to nine credit hours of John Marshall courses, provided these hours are composed of courses designated by Roosevelt as acceptable for this purpose. Students participating in this joint program may not count additional non-law school courses toward the JD degree.
Students wishing to enroll in the combined degree program must meet the admission requirements of both cooperating institutions.
Joint Degree with Roosevelt University
The John Marshall Law School and Roosevelt University offer a joint degree program leading to both the baccalaureate and juris doctor degrees. Under this program, the first year of law study may be credited toward the completion of the baccalaureate degree, which allows students to complete both degrees in six years, rather than the normal seven years if both degrees were earned separately.
Students must be admitted separately to each institution. They may begin their courses at The John Marshall Law School after completing 90 credit hours at Roosevelt, successful completion of certain required pre-law courses, and successful application to the law school program. The minimal qualifications necessary for admission will vary according to standards established periodically by the Admission Office at John Marshall.
Guaranteed Law School Admission Program (GPPA) with the University of Illinois at Chicago
A joint program between the law school and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) permits a UIC student to be guaranteed admission to the law school if the student fulfills the program's requirements while at UIC. The requirements for this program, known as the GPPA (Guaranteed Professional Program Admission), include taking certain required UIC courses, enrolling in the UIC Honors College and maintaining that enrollment each term, taking a minimum of 12 semester hours each term, maintaining a 4.5 cumulative grade point average (on a 5 point scale), completing an undergraduate degree within five years, taking the LSAT, filing a formal application with the law school, and meeting the law school's character and fitness requirements. For further information about this GPPA program, please contact the law school's Admission Office or the UIC Office of Admissions, Special Projects Unit, 312.996.8365
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