University of Miami Law Review Volume 74 Number 1 Article 5 11-22-2019 Access to Law or Access to Lawyers? Master’s Programs in the Public Educational Mission of Law Schools Mark Edwin Burge Texas A&M University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr Part of the Law and Society Commons, Legal Education Commons, and the Legal Profession Commons Recommended Citation Mark Edwin Burge, Access to Law or Access to Lawyers? Master’s Programs in the Public Educational Mission of Law Schools, 74 U. Miami L. Rev. 143 (2019) Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol74/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Miami Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Access to Law or Access to Lawyers? Master’s Programs in the Public Educational Mission of Law Schools MARK EDWIN BURGE* The general decline in juris doctor (“J.D.”) law school applicants and enrollment over the last decade has coin- cided with the rise of a new breed of law degree. Whether known as master of jurisprudence, juris master, master of legal studies, or other names, these graduate degrees all have a target audience in common: adult professionals who neither are nor seek to become practicing attorneys. Inside legal academia and among the practicing bar, these degrees have been accompanied by expressed concerns that they de- tract from the traditional core public mission of law schools—educating lawyers.