The joint degree JD/MS program at DePaul University College of Law Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology (CIPLIT®) and its College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) educates students to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the legal needs of industry in this high technology age. A critical need exists for patent attorneys in the high-tech field who have a substantive understanding of IT as well as for attorneys, who need not be members of the patent bar, to provide client counseling or litigation services in the information technology field. Graduates of the joint degree program will be qualified for careers in intellectual property boutique law firms, in general practice firms with clients in the high technology field, as in-house counsel in the high technology industry, and in government agencies dealing with high technology regulation.
Many of the students completing the joint JD/MS degree will choose to join the Patent Bar. The technical education provided by the MS part of the program will help to qualify them for the patent bar exam. However, in today's society, members of the Patent Bar are not the only attorneys who need technological expertise for successful legal practice. Many patent litigators are not members of the patent bar, yet must become intimately familiar with the technological bases for their clients’ litigation positions. Trademark attorneys face infringement and prosecution issues related to domain names and Internet websites. Copyright attorneys are frequently exposed to issues of protection for computer software and Internet website content. Even lawyers who do not specialize in intellectual property law frequently face computer-related issues, as such questions arise more and more frequently in "bread-and-butter" disputes between companies immersed in high technology.
It is designed to provide a curriculum for students with significant undergraduate technological background who wish to pursue advanced studies in Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems jointly with their legal studies.
It offers a variety of curriculum options encompassing key technological topics along with legal courses which prepare the student for transactional and/or litigation work.
It is expected that most students who pursue this joint degree will also obtain a Certificate in Intellectual Property: General, Intellectual Property: Patent or Information Technology from the law school.
It is expected that most students who pursue the JD/MS degree will already be qualified to sit for the patent bar exam. Students who need to "make up" some patent bar exam requirements may be able to pursue that goal as part of this program
- An in-depth understanding of the legal issues that confront present and future technologies.
- An understanding of legal principles and application of those principles to a growing number of legal issues facing technology
- Core knowledge in a particular technology discipline
- In-depth fluency with state-of-the-art technologies and IT principles.
- Joint degree students may substitute up to 8 law semester hours in place of up to 3 CDM master’s degree courses, reducing their CDM course requirements to 10 courses plus any necessary prerequisite coursework. Courses to be substituted must be selected from the elective and required courses for the College of Law certificates in Intellectual Property: General, Intellectual Property: Patent and Information Technology. Please see the certificate pages on the College of Law website for lists of qualifying courses.
- Joint degree students may substitute up to 15 CDM credit hours in place of up to 10 of the 86 required law semester hours, reducing their law course requirements to 76 semester hours. Only CDM courses taken after enrollment in the College of Law may be substituted for law courses.
- Joint degree students may not substitute CDM credit hours for required courses in the College of Law, such as the Professional Responsibility and Senior Seminar courses
- Joint degree students must graduate from both schools on the same date, in the same semester/quarter, and in the same year. Double counting of credit hours occurs only after the student concurrently completes both degree programs. Students should consult with the joint degree advisors regarding any questions about coordinating the completion of the two degrees.
Admission to this joint program requires: (1) completion with a 3.0 grade point average or better of the first-year required courses in the JD program at the DePaul University College of Law (part-time students must have completed three semesters) and (2) acceptance to CDM. Students should indicate their interest in the joint degree program when applying to CDM.
Application to the joint degree program should be made to Assistant Dean Diana White at the College of Law after the above requirements have been met. Applicants should submit a letter indicating their intent to apply for the joint degree program along with a copy of their first year (or first three semesters for part-time students) law grades demonstrating compliance with the 3.0 grade point average requirement. Students are encouraged to make an appointment with Dean White to discuss their joint degree applications and plans for pursuing the joint degree.
Application to CDM may be made at any time, but law students will ordinarily find it most advantageous to apply to CDM after receiving first-year law grades (ordinarily in early July following the first year.) Students must declare a specific MS degree upon application to CDM and meet the CDM prerequisite phase course requirements for that degree, either through their undergraduate coursework or by adding a prerequisite phase to their joint degree program. Students who need to take prerequisite courses during their pursuit of the joint degree may require more than four years from admission to law school for completion of the joint degree. It is highly recommended that law students interested in the joint degree program contact Prof. Danny Mittleman or Prof. Curt White at CDM to discuss their individual circumstances before applying to CDM.
Transfer students or students who have enrolled in CDM before applying to the College of Law should consult with the joint degree program advisors to determine how their special circumstances may affect their qualifications for the joint degree.
Further information about admission requirements and procedures may be found in the general description of Admission Requirements for Joint Degrees found on the College of Law website under Academic Programs.
Joint degree students will pay on a per-credit-hour basis in both the College of Law and CDM
Because the joint degree program permits double-counting of coursework, the total cost for the two degrees will be significantly lower under the joint degree program
Admission to the joint degree program will ordinarily not affect College of Law scholarship awards. However, students should consult with Dean White about their specific scholarships
Financial aid recipients must consult with Clare Timm at the financial aid office to obtain a revised (often increased) financial aid award based on their participation in the joint degree program
The student must complete the regular first year JD program before being admitted to the Joint Degree. The second and third years might consist of three law courses in Fall Semester and two law courses in Spring Semester as well as one CDM course Fall Quarter, two CDM courses Winter Quarter, and two CDM courses Spring Quarter. The fourth year might consist of three law courses Fall Semester, one CDM course Fall Quarter, three CDM courses Winter Quarter, and three CDM courses Spring Quarter. This schedule allows for completion of the JD as well as completion of 14 CDM courses (the MS program plus four prerequisite courses). It is possible that, because of prerequisite coursework, the program may take some students more than four years.
Since each student will require a different number of CDM prerequisites and each student will select courses based on semester/quarter availability, any particular curriculum might be different from the sample curriculum shown. All joint degree students will be encouraged to select courses with the assistance of Joint Degree program advisors at both the Law School and CDM.
To view Graduate Program Requirements for previous years click here. For the CDM portion of the joint degree, students may major in:
- Computer Information and Network Security
- Computer Science
- Distributed Systems
- E-Commerce Technology
- Information Systems
- Telecommunications
Each program listed above follows the requirements as listed on its page on the CDM website. These requirements are divided into the Prerequisite, Core and Advanced Phases. Upon completion of those requirements, each student will move to the Elective Phase as described below.
12 additional quarter hours fulfilled by courses from the IP Certificate courses. These courses will also be counted toward the JD degree.