Translating Legal Education: Why You Shouldn't "Equivocate" Your Foreign Law Degree

By: Kandice Thorn

I see a lot of resumes that state "J.D. equivalent" as a way of easily and simply stating foreign legal degrees. But what exactly is a degree that is equivalent to a J.D.? In what respect is it equivalent? Is it equivalent in the number of years of study required? In that it qualifies you to practice or sit for a qualifying exam? In that it is a doctoral level or professional degree? Or is a J.D. a master's level degree?

I can tell you this much: equivocating law degrees is a dangerous business, and not one I want to be in. The fact of the matter is that education systems are widely varied from one country to the next and you can't easily translate degrees from one country to the next. There are entire books written on the subject. How to avoid this mess? The mantra I use as a career counselor is this: don't equivocate, describe. 

Rather than trying to draw parallels between your home education system and that of the U.S., state your degree in your native language, then use a parenthetical to describe the degree.

Example

In Poland, lawyers typically graduate with a five-year magister degree. In a resume, I might note the degree as follows:

Magister (five-year law degree)

Note three things here:  

1. The foreign word "magister" is italicized.  Foreign words should always be in italics. 

2. The parenthetical describes the degree, rather than trying to equivocate it with something in the U.S. system of education (further examples might be "two-year certificate program in commercial law," "two-year master's program in private international law," "two-year graduate degree with a one-year thesis in intellectual property law").

3. "Magister" might be translated to "Master" in English, but in the U.S. system, a Master's Degree would imply a one or two-year degree rather than a five-year degree, so I would recommend avoiding the translation in this case, where the translation implies something very different from the program in question.  It's not always wrong to translate, just be aware of the implications. 

The Bottom Line

Rather than equivocating your foreign degree to a U.S. degree, try to come up with a helpful, meaningful way of describing any degree or non-degree program you have completed.