KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Summer 2014 | Page 25

accrediting bodies regarding the quality of
the program.” American Bar Association Degrees Post JD and Non-JD

one of the reasons. “This program was created because law is pervasive throughout
many professions and, as there are fewer J.D.
students than in the past, this new degree
results in master degree opportunities for
students in other disciplines.”

The work done in pursuit of an M.J. may not
be applied to a J.D. should the student later
decide to become an attorney.

It would appear that law schools are aware
of the difficulty that newly licensed attorneys are having with finding work. Offering
an M.J. program should help law schools
keep their enrollment numbers up.

In fact, it is not uncommon for the websites
for law schools now offering an M.J. to include a statement indicating that the American Bar Association guidelines forbid M.J.
level courses to be applied toward a J.D.
Why then are so many law schools now offering master level degrees in addition to the
traditional J.D.? According to Adam Cohen in
his March 11, 2013 article “Just How Bad Off
Are Law School Graduates?”

Will this be an avenue for paralegals who
wish to bridge the gap between themselves
and their supervising attorneys? It may be
too soon to guess, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on the number of M.J.s
awarded by law schools in the future and

designed for professionals who do
ce law but would like a better underas it affects their careers.”

(http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/11/justand even more interesting to see how many of
how-bad-off-are-law-school-graduates/),
those earning an M.J. are paralegals.
the number of law school graduates who
are unable to find employment after passing About the Author
the bar exam is driving applications to law
school down.
Lottie Wathen is a litigation paralegal at Cohen Malad, LLP in IndiaAccording to Cohen, “Prospective law stu- napolis, Indiana where she works exclusively
dents are already responding to the dismal on family law matters. She has held leadership
job market. Applications to law school are positions in several civic organizations, is presexpected to hit a 30-year low this year —
ently a member of the board of directors for
down as much as 38% from 2010.”
the Indiana Paralegal Association where she
serves as the editor of the newsletter, and is
Could this decrease in applications to law
a member of National Federation of Paraleschool be driving the emergence of MJ pro- gal Associations’ Case Law Review Committee.
grams? Professor McGregor says it is one of
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