Doctor of Law or Doctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degrees such as the LL.D., Ph.D., J.D., J.S.D., and Dr. iur.
The term "Doctor of Law" refers to the degree of Juris Doctor (JD), which in the U.S. is the only first professional law degree, and to the S.J.D. (Scientiae Juridicae Doctor or J.S.D., the degree name in English or Doctor of Juridical Science). The S.J.D. is the research doctorate in law, and as such it is generally accepted as comparable to the more commonly awarded research doctorate, the Ph.D. The S.J.D. is described as the "highest degree in law" by the University of Virginia, the "terminal degree in law" by Indiana University and Harvard Law School and as the "most advanced law degree" by Yale Law School, Georgetown Law, New York University and Stanford University. The National Association of Legal Professionals states that the J.S.D./S.J.D. is "typically the most advanced (or terminal) law degree that would follow the earning of the LL.M. and J.D. degrees." However, while the degree may be the highest research doctorate in law, the J.D. is also a doctorate (the highest professional doctorate in law), as evinced by universities' description of the S.J.D. as a a "postdoctoral degree." The American Bar Association has issued a Council Statement stating that the J.D. be considered as being equivalent to the Ph.D. for employment and educational purposes. The S.J.D. typically requires three to five years to complete, and requires an advanced study in law as a scientific discipline and a dissertation, which serves as an original contribution to the scholarly field of law. Notable recipients of the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science include: Harvey L. Strelzin (New York U., 1906); Charles Hamilton Houston (Harvard, 1923); Lowell Turrentine (Harvard, 1929); Judge William Henry Hastie (Harvard, 1932); Justice Bernard Jefferson (Harvard, 1934); Pauli Murray (Yale, 1965); Ma Ying-jeou (Harvard, 1981) and Ayala Procaccia (University of Pennsylvania, 1972).