My daughter, Mary Newton, was recently attempting to decided if she wanted to enter the JD/MBA program an the University of Houston Law Center. Both are outstanding programs. And, I had to ask, is this the wave of the future?
Most people do not want to stay in school forever, and so my daughter was trying to consider if she wanted to enter this program, or get through law school as quickly as possible with the hope of entering an LL.M. program in Japan later. Of course, there is always the option of doing both, but then costs starts to play a big part.
I think a lot of it depends on what you want to do after law school. Do you want to work for Big Law? Do you want to teach? Do you want to go into solo practice? Maybe it is just the adventure of it all. Unlike me, I think Mary likes school and the challenges it presents.
According to PreLawInsider.Com more law schools are offering joint JD-MBA degrees and they are becoming very popular. Fully 10% of Northwesten Law's student body is enrolled in the University's joint JD-MBA program. So, it ask the question, if you are being left behind with only a simple JD? Bill Chamberlain, the assistant dean of the Career Strategy Center at Northwestern law states, "I think [dual degrees] are the wave of the future."
The plus side of a JD-MBA is that graduates tend to have a more team-based, project-based experience and skills, which is a plus in both the practice of law and business. The downside is that the process takes another year. With tuition and living expenses this could be expensive, but maybe well worth it.
Many employers weigh carefully the MBA program a student graduates from. There is not a licensing issue in regard to MBAs and, as a result, if the MBA program associated with your law school has a mediocre reputation, it might not mean as much as you think.
The plus side from my perspective is that you are taught more in the area of collaboration in B-School, which is not a criteria in law school. Collaboration is the future of the Third Wave practice of law.
Then, of course, there are other joint or dual degrees. The University of Houston Law Center represents this trend. It offers joint degrees in medicine, history, medical humanities, criminal justice, social work, and public health, in addition to its well regarded JD-MBA program.
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