Law Faculty Approves Awarding J.D. Degree In Place of the LL.B.

The Faculty of Law voted yesterday to award the degree of Doctor of Law (J.D.) instead of Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) for the regular three-year law program.

The J.D. (Juris Doctor) differs from the LL.B. only in name, and the curriculum at the Law School will not be affected by the change. The Faculty action reflects a national trend, and is intended to insure that Harvard Law graduates are not the victims of discrimination because they hold a supposedly inferior degree.

The Faculty also voted that Law School graduates with the LL.B. may be awarded the J.D. retroactively if they wish. The Harvard Corporation must approve the changes before they can take effect.

A committee of the American Bar Association recommended in 1964 that all law schools switch to the J.D. In that year less than 10 per cent of graduating law students received the J.D. In 1968, more than 75 per cent were awarded the J.D.

No Opposition

Dean Derek C. Bok appointed a Faculty committee early last Fall to study whether Harvard should award the J.D. degree. The committee issued a 16-page memorandum to the Faculty on March 7 recommending the changes the Faculty made today. Bok said "not a single voice was raised against the change" at the Faculty meeting.

The committee report cited the desirability of a uniform law degree, favorable student opinion, and the appropriateness of awarding a doctorate for law school work as justifications for the change. The committee also noted that a holder of the LL.B. is sometimes discriminated against in favor of a holder of the J.D., particularly in college teaching.

Proposed in 1902

The Harvard Law Faculty asked in 1902 that the J.D. degree be awarded to college graduates who completed three years of law school, but the Corporation did not approve the plan. A Harvard professor carried the idea with him to the University of Chicago Law School, which inaugurated the J.D. more than sixty years ago.

The J.D. is not the same as the S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science), a fairly uncommon degree granted to students who complete two additional years of legal study after receiving a J.D. or LL.B.