Not a big deal in the UK. Just wondering how it is State side. Do only certain professional roles need an MA? Also I hear a lot about MBA’s. Is that only needed for certain fields? Looking at emigrating to the States with a BA Hons looking at corporate law. Whether a Masters would make a huge difference?

13 comments

  1. You have to have a JD and pass the bar exam in the state you wish to practice in to be a lawyer.

  2. As someone who dropped out of college, statistics prove time and time again that the higher degree one possesses, the higher the income one makes. This is across the board. “need” is another thing, ymmv.

  3. If you want to practice law in the US, you need to have a JD AND pass the bar. You can’t have a bachelor’s degree in law.

  4. It depends a lot on the field. In my world (software) Americans just launch with a 4-year degree for the most part. Immigrants often get a master’s because it gets you into a smaller and less competitive visa pool.

    MBAs come up a lot because it’s a way for someone with a more technical background to credential themselves for promotion into management so a lot or folks go back for them after a few years in a career.

    They’re also a fairly notorious networking tool, where it’s really more about who you get the MBA with than having AN MBA but that’s a small if overrepresented subset.

  5. > Looking at emigrating to the States with a BA Hons looking at corporate law

    *You* would need to attend an American law school, get a JD, and pass the bar exam in your state. Your UK BA is not an equivalency.

    Law is very different from the business world. You don’t “need” an MBA for many corporate jobs. It helps, but it’s not necessary either.

  6. You need to go to graduate from a US law school (iirc 3 year program after a bachelors’) and pass the bar exam to do that.

  8. I think in the legal field you’d be looking at an LLM. That’s the master’s degree of attorneys. Look up their requirements since JD has replaced LLB (bachelors) in the US.

  9. It depends how n the job, and the state. I’m licensed to practice therapy in my home state, but if I wanted to move I’d need to look at the reciprocity rules for wherever I’m moving to see if my license would carry over or if I would need to do additional things.

    Law would be similar, you’d need to go to law school and then pass the bar in whatever state(s) you’d be practicing in. I’ve known of lawyers who pass the bar in multiple states to make themselves more hireable.

  10. From Wikipedia’s [Bachelor of Laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Laws#United_States) article:

    >For the most part, foreign law graduates seeking admission to the bar in the United States will find their law degree does not itself fulfill the core admission requirements of most states, thereby not allowing them to take the bar exam. The major exception to this is New York, where those foreign graduates who have fulfilled the educational requirements to practice law in another common law country through study at an approved educational institution, similar in both duration and content to the equivalent teaching at an approved U.S. law school, are permitted to sit for the bar exam.[53] Additionally, both New York and Massachusetts permit Canadian LL.B. holders to take the bar exam.[54] The requirements of each of the states vary, and in some states sufficient years of practice in one’s home country may allow for those otherwise excluded to sit for the bar exam.

    >Most states require completion of a law degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association. As a result, some American law schools offer one-year LL.M. programmes for foreign attorneys, which qualify foreign lawyers for admission to some state bars.

    And from the [Master of Laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Laws#United_States) article:

    >An LL.M. degree from an ABA-approved law school qualifies a foreign legal graduate to take the bar exam in Alabama, California, New Hampshire, New York, [and] Texas[…]

    >In addition, legal practice in the home jurisdiction plus a certain amount of coursework at an accredited law school qualifies a foreign legal graduate to take the bar exam in Alaska, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. However, a number of states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and North Carolina only recognize J.D. degrees from accredited law schools as qualification to take the bar.[39]

    >New York allows foreign lawyers from civil law countries to sit for the New York bar exam once they have completed a minimum of 24 credit hours (usually but not necessarily in an LL.M. program) at an ABA-approved law school involving at least two basic subjects tested on the New York bar exam, including 12 credits in specific areas of law.[40] Lawyers from common-law countries face more lenient restrictions and may not need to study at an ABA-approved law school. Foreign lawyers from both civil law and common law jurisdictions, however, are required to demonstrate that they have successfully completed a course of law studies of at least three years that would fulfill the educational requirements to bar admission in their home country.

  12. At my office, we make a huge deal about having a master’s degree (or a doctorate) to the point it is mentioned in almost every document or announcement we are referenced in.

    This is definitely not the norm though at all. Most places often won’t care.

  13. You need a JD (Juris Doctor, so a doctorate/PhD) to practice law in the US. At least in education, you need your masters after a certain number of years to continue teaching in public schools but you can start working with just your bachelors. Bachelors is typically referred to as undergraduate/undergrad and masters or PhD programs are referred to as graduate programs.

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