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对不起，楼上的，你说的也有偏颇。JD是拉丁文Juris Doctor 或Doctor of Jurisprudence 的简称。但是它确实算是一个Doctorate Degree，只不过和大家所认识的academic Ph.D.不同而已。请参阅Wikipedia的条目，转录在此供参考：

“Juris Doctor is a first professional graduate degree and professional doctorate in law. The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree (such as the Dottore in Giurisprudenza in Italy and the Juris Utriusque Doctor) and the legal studies counterpart to the M.D. degree in the United States.”

因为是一个professional graduate degree，所以上法学院不要求先拿个Master学位。也有人在取得JD以后再念个LL.M.，例如税法硕士、环保法硕士什么的。我念书时，就碰到个已在行医的MD同学，说是毕业后专做Medical Malpractice诉讼案。还有一位已是公司老板，有50岁了，作业都是秘书用打字机给打出来的。那是20多年前，电脑还不那么泛滥。那人念法律纯粹只是要保护自己和自家的生意。所以法学院才是个什么鸟儿都有的林子。飞出来的有大鸟也有小鸟。有没有garbage还没有碰上过。