Students in the JD/MBA Program experience a traditional core curriculum in business and law combined with electives that build an understanding of business strategy and operations, and the legal environment in which businesses function. Given the variety of our graduates’ career paths, the curriculum is designed to be both broad and outstanding in all of its components, allowing students to explore everything from real-world business cases to emerging areas of the law and more.
Degree Requirements
JD/MBA students must complete 114 semester hours to graduate with the JD/MBA degree. Pursued separately, the JD degree requires completion of 90 semester hours and the MBA program requires 57 semester hours. This means that traditionally, it would take a student five years to pursue both degrees, but through the JD/MBA Program, students obtain both degrees in just four years.
Students must complete 90 credit hours to obtain the JD degree. Up to 15 of those credit hours may be satisfied with credits earned in specified MBA courses. The remaining 75 credits must be earned in law school courses. Students must complete 57 credit hours to obtain the MBA degree. Up to 18 of those credit hours may be satisfied with credits earned in specified JD courses. The remaining 39 credits must be earned in courses in the Manderson Graduate School of Business. All other graduation requirements of the School of Law and the Manderson Graduate School of Business must be met. Students in the JD/MBA program work with both the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Law and the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at the Manderson Graduate School of Business to determine which classes count dually and to plan a course of study as they pursue their degrees.
Timeline
Students in the JD/MBA Program spend the first year at the Law School, the second year in the business school, and the third and fourth years taking classes in both programs. Some students, however, enroll in the four-year joint program after their second year in law school.
Additional Course Opportunities
Of course, classroom learning is a vital component of the Program, but JD/MBA students also have great opportunity to participate in experiential learning. During the course of study, students will engage in real-world case studies and special projects during the school year and through summer internships, both of which will allow students to test their newly-acquired legal and business skills. This opportunity prepares them for traditional legal and business positions, while also providing them with added flexibility to move between law and business, or to adapt to nontraditional interdisciplinary positions.
Alabama Law offers a wide variety of joint degrees for students interested in business. Additional degrees include the JD/LLM with a concentration in Tax Law or the JD/LLM with a concentration in Business Transactions. The presence of the LLM courses at the Law School offers a unique opportunity for JD students interested in business. In addition to taking the regular business-related courses that are part of the JD curriculum, JD/MBA students may also enroll in up to 12 hours of coursework from the LLM curricula, providing them with an expansive array of business-related elective courses.
Curriculum
Program Year | Hours (fall and spring semesters) | Courses |
First Year | 31 hours at the Law School |
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Second Year | 30 hours at the Business School |
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Third Year | Hours vary | Law electives |
Fourth Year | Hours vary | Mix of law and business electives, including the following 9 hours of MBA classes:
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Note: In any semester that a student is taking more Business School coursework than Law School coursework, the student will be classified as a graduate student and subject to a 15 credit hour limit per semester.
Courses eligible for transfer credit
Both programs accept credit from the other in meeting degree requirements. i.e., the Law School accepts 15 MBA hours toward the JD, and the MBA program accepts 18 law hours toward the MBA (see below)
Hours Transferred for Joint JD/MBA Student:
15 hours of credit from the MBA Program apply to JD graduation credits for students in Joint JD/MBA Program.
| GBA 525 | Business Policy | 3 hours |
| FI 504 | Financial Management | 3 hours |
| MIS 511 | Management Information Systems | 3 hours |
| MGT 542 | Management Communication | 3 hours |
| MKT 518 | Survey of Marketing | 3 hours |
Joint JD/MBA Students are allowed to transfer 18 Law School credits to the MBA Program from select courses. Please contact Grace Lee, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Law School, for a current list of courses that can be applied to the MBA Program.