| Topic Name: |
Juris Doctor a Doctor? |
| Message Name: |
What you usually see |
| Date Posted: |
04/15/2004 |
| In Reply To: |
Those of you with JD's. How come it is uncommmon in the US for Juris Doctor title holders to prefix their name with the Dr. title?
If I worked hard and earned a doctorate, I would want to be Dr. XPrizeWinner.
Also, what is the significance of the suffix Esq. (Esquire) or "P.C." after some lawyers names?
P.S. I'll be starting law school in the Fall so you can see I'm worried about the important things ;-). |
| Message: |
is that lawyers who have jobs where it is not obvious they are lawyers use "esq" -- for example, John Doe, Esq., Director of Contracts or something like that. JD is used when someone has a JD and is either not licensed, or is not working in a legal capacity. For example, John Doe, JD, Director of Marketing. Lawyers working as lawyers usually use "attorney at law" or, if their status is obvious from the context, nothing.
I've never heard of anyone using the title "doctor" with just a law degree. Some argue that because the JD is a first professional degree, "doctor" isn't appropriate. However, both MD and PharmD (and DDS and DVM) degrees are also "first professional degrees" so that argument doesn't seem to have a lot of merit (except amongst some PhD's who don't believe MD's or PharmD's should call themselves doctor!).
A better argument against using the title doctor when only having a JD is that a JD is not a terminal degree -- you can go on and get an LLM and then a JSD. Since MD's and PharmD's are terminal degrees, but a JD isn't, that might be another reason.
A final argument is that the JD up until about 30 years ago was usually awarded as an LLB (although some schools awarded a JD and some schools awarded both a JD and LLB, with the JD requiring a thesis), and that an LLB in most countries is an undergrad degree. However, that's not really a strong argument -- the LLB has, at least for the last century, always been a graduate degreee in the U.S., regardless of its name. Further, medical degrees in many countries are ALSO undergrad degrees, so that doesn't really shed any light on the arguments.
But all of these arguments are just justifications for tradition. Traditionally, lawyers don't call themselves doctor. Could they, legally? Of course; they have a recognized "doctoral" level degree. Should they? It's up to you if you want to buck tradition.
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