JD/MBA PROGRAM

The School of Law and the College of Business and Economics offer a coordinated degree program leading to the conferral of the JD and MBA. The purpose of this joint degree program is to allow the student to study the intricacies of modern law and management as a coordinated educational effort. Students who are contemplating a career as a lawyer specializing in business issues and want to acquire the skills and perspective of the business manager will find the JD/MBA especially helpful. An additional benefit of the joint program is that it offers the student the ability to complete both the JD and MBA in considerably less time than required to complete each degree separately.

You can find more information about the program here.

Admission
An applicant must submit separate applications and be independently accepted to both the JD and MBA programs. A student is encouraged to apply to both programs at the same time. A law student must begin the MBA program before beginning the third year of law school course work. An MBA student must begin law school before completing one half of the course work in the MBA program. This program is designed for students who wish to complete both degrees simultaneously. Current law students seeking admission MBA portion of the program must take the GMAT or the GRE to be admitted. The LSAT will not substitute.

Curriculum
Students are expected to work toward both degrees concurrently. As part of the cooperative nature of the JD/MBA program, the College of Business and Economics and the School of Law have agreed to accept course work from each college toward their specific degrees.

Benefits
The School of Law will award credit toward the JD degree for nine hours of approved Core Curriculum course work with a grade of B or better from the MBA program. Grades in these MBA courses transfer to the School of Law on a Pass/No Grade basis. Grades in MBA courses are not used to determine academic standing or class rank in the School of Law. These nine credit hours count for a portion of the thirty-five JD elective hours.

The College of Business and Economics will award credit toward the MBA degree for nine credit hours from approved courses offered by the School of Law. The student must earn a C+ or better on the law classes used for the MBA. The law classes will not be used towards computing the MBA grade point average; however, no more than two C's may count towards the MBA portion of the joint degree program. These nine credit hours count for the three elective hours and six required hours of the MBA degree. The decision on which six required hours are substituted is at the discretion of the director of the MBA program.

MBA Classes Substituted for JD Classes
For JD/MBA students, the law school will accept up to 9 credits from the following list of courses offered by the MBA program:

ACCT 7080: Financial and Managerial Accounting for Managers. (3)
ECON 7100: Economics for the Global Executive. (3)
MIS 7650: Information Systems in the Global Enterprise. (3)
FIR 7155: Global Financial Management. (3)
SCMS 7313: Global Operations Management. (3)
SCMS 7110 - Intro to Business Analytics. (3)
MKTG 7140: Global Strategic Marketing. (3)
MGMT 7160: Global Strategic Management. (3)

These courses will replace electives hours otherwise required in the Law School curriculum. Only classes taken live (i.e. not online) will be awarded transfer credit.

JD Classes Substituted for MBA Classes

For JD/MBA students, the director of the MBA program will have the discretion to approve course substitutions of up to 9 credits from the following list of courses offered by the law school:

Administrative Law (311)
Antitrust (318)
ADR Labor (315)
ADR/Mediation (316)
Business Organizations I (211)
Commercial Law (700)
Comparative Law Seminar (441)
Contracts I (111)
Contracts II (121)
Corporate Law Seminar (440)
Corporate Tax (334)
Debtor-Creditor (327)
Employee Benefits (371)
Entertainment Law (369)
Environmental Law (328)
Fair Employment Practices (330)
Health Law Seminar (400)
Health Law Survey (772)
Immigration Law (337)
Income Tax (214)
Insurance Law (339)
Intellectual Property Survey (395)
International Business Transactions (399)
International Economic Law (397)
Labor Law (343)
Land Use Law (344)
Legal Drafting: Contracts (597)
Mediation Clinic (502)
Mergers & Acquisitions (301)
Non-Profit Organizations (370)
Partnership Tax (352)
Realty Transactions (358)
Sales (359)
Securities Regulations (361)
Secured Transactions (222)
Sports Law Seminar (450)
U.S. Taxation of International Income (385)

To facilitate customization, students are encouraged to consult with their MBA advisor to add to this list in order to complement their desired course plan.

Program Sequence

Students in the coordinated JD/MBA program may schedule their course work in the joint program to suit their educational objectives, subject to the restrictions listed below:

A student may take only law courses while completing the first year law curriculum.
A law student must begin the MBA program before beginning the third year of law school course work.
An MBA student must begin law school before completing one half of the course work in the MBA program.

Important Note About Cost

The University of Memphis charges a student in a joint degree program the higher tuition for all credits earned in either degree. Since law school tuition is higher than graduate business school tuition, students in the joint degree are charged law school tuition rates for course credit in both law school and business school even when a student only takes business school courses in a semester.

Contact Information

Before Entrance to JD:

Sue Ann McClellan, Ed.D.
Assistant Dean for Law Admissions, Recruiting and Scholarships
University of Memphis, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
Phone: (901) 678-5403
smcclell@memphis.edu

Before Entrance to MBA:

Students should contact:

Emily Smith
MBA Academic Services Coordinator
University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics
Phone: (901) 678-3656
Email: emelonas@memphis.edu