Dean Patrick Monahan on the Growing Number of Canadian Law Schools Switching from the LLB to JD Degree Designation

Dean Patrick Monahan on the Growing Number of Canadian Law Schools Switching from the LLB to JD Degree Designation

Dean Patrick Monahan on the Growing Number of Canadian Law Schools Switching from the LLB to JD Degree Designation

In an effort to have their degrees better understood and more marketable internationally, a growing number of Canadian law schools are switching from the traditional LLB designation to the American-style JD, wrote the US National Law Journal in its online edition March 31.

York University's Osgoode Hall Law School is in the midst of the approval process.

Canadian law school deans said that while the LLB – which stands for legum baccalaureus or bachelor of laws in Latin – is a second-entry degree just like the JD – juris doctor or doctor of laws – not all recruiters or law firms outside of Canada understand that. As a result, some think it's an undergraduate degree or are confused about what it is, they said.

Even outside the United States, having a degree that is understood globally opens more doors in today's globalized legal world, said Osgoode Dean Patrick Monahan. "There is a feeling that, increasingly, as our students market themselves internationally, the JD designation will give them better opportunity to market themselves and that it is a more accurate reflection of what their actual degree is," Monahan said. About 75 per cent of the students who voted on the proposal were in favour of it, Monahan said. About 70 per cent of Osgoode's 870 students voted, he said.