Juris Doctor: Difference between revisions

'''J.D.''' is an abbreviation for the [[Latin]] '''''Juris Doctor''''', or '''Doctor of [[Law]]''', and is the law degree typically awarded by an accredited [[U.S.]] [[law school]] after successfully completing three years of post-graduate law study. Generally, a 4-year [[undergraduate]] degree is required to be eligible for entry into a J.D. program. In states with an "integrated bar association" Prior to the practice of law, a J.D. holder is required to be member of the [[bar association]] of the state in which he or she intends to practice. Most states, however, do not require membership in a bar association, it is purely voluntary. Washington, DC is a special case-- the DC bar allows attorneys who recently passed the bar exam of another state and who were subsequently admitted to the bar of that state, to 'waive' in to DC, in effect not having to sit for the full DC bar exam (though they still must attend to other formalities in order to practice in DC). Admission to a state's bar requires that the applicant either sit for the bar exam in that state and submit to that state's procedures for verifying "character and fitness", or obtain admission administratively through reciprocity provisions providing that in some states, lawyers who have practiced in other states for a set period of time, may be admitted upon application.