lawyer

A Law degree is the degree conferred on someone who successfully completes studies in law. However many law degrees are insufficient education for a license to practice law by the administrative body of that jurisdiction. For example in England and Wales one needs to complete the Legal Practice Course to become a solicitor [ 1 ] [ 2 ] or called to the bar to be a barrister. [ 3 ]

The first academic degrees were all law degrees, and the first law degrees were doctorates. The origins of the doctorate lie in the ijazat attadris wa 'l-ifta' ("license to teach and issue legal opinions") in the Islamic madrasahs from the 9th century. [ 4 ] The foundations of the first universities in Europe were the glossators of the 11th century, which were schools of law. [ 5 ] The first European university, that of Bologna. was founded as a school of law by four famous legal scholars in the 12th century who were students of the glossator school in that city. It is from this history that it is said that the first academic title of doctor applied to scholars of law. The degree and title were not applied to scholars of other disciplines until the 13th century. [ 6 ] And at the University of Bologna from its founding in the 12th century until the end of the 20th century the only degree conferred was the doctorate, usually earned after five years of intensive study after secondary school. The rising of the doctor of philosophy to its present level is a modern novelty. [ 7 ] At its origins, a doctorate was simply a qualification for a guild —that of teaching law. [ 8 ]

The University of Bologna served as the model for other law schools of the medieval age. [ 9 ] While it was common for students of law to visit and study at schools in other countries, such was not the case with England because of the English rejection of Roman law (except for certain jurisdictions such as the Admiralty Court) and although the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge did teach canon law until the English Reformation. its importance was always superior to civil law in those institutions. [ 10 ]

The type of law degree conferred differs according to the jurisdiction. Some examples include: