Boston,
MA,
United States
Type
Private
Degrees offered
Bachelor's Degree
Doctor of Juridical Science - Juvenile and Family Law in Boston United States | Suffolk University
Suffolk University
|
Boston United States
Visit institution website
for more information
Qualification
Doctor of Philosophy
Languages
English
Delivery Mode
On-Campus
Tuition (2025)
USD
57,192
Attendance
Full-time
Full-time Duration
48 months
For students aiming to delve into the scholarly aspects of law through extensive research and writing, Suffolk Law provides a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) program. Comparable to a PhD in other disciplines, the SJD represents the highest level of law degree attainable, demanding consistent academic achievement along with prior completion of both a JD and LLM.
Suffolk Law's SJD program is an intellectually demanding course that encourages students to broaden their perspectives and challenge conventional approaches in legal scholarship. Participants benefit from guidance by seasoned professionals and immersion in an environment of influential legal thinkers. Admission to the SJD program requires candidates to produce a comprehensive, publishable dissertation that offers innovative insights to legal scholarship as a degree requirement.
Advance your legal education, discover novel perspectives, and achieve your utmost professional ambitions in the legal field.
Practitioners specializing in family and juvenile law often encounter clients during their most vulnerable moments: they advocate for parents facing custody loss (to the state or another parent), minors undergoing delinquency proceedings, or families concerned about an aging relative's self-sufficiency – among numerous other sensitive situations.
However, these attorneys also facilitate moments of profound happiness, whether finalizing adoptions, assisting same-sex couples or those facing infertility with reproductive legal matters, or successfully resolving emotionally charged cases. Effective family and juvenile law practitioners must master substantive legal principles and diverse court procedures, excel at advising emotionally vulnerable clients, negotiate favorable outcomes in high-pressure scenarios, and maintain composure when litigating unpredictable cases.
Destination of Study
Subjects of Study
Language Requirements
English
IELTS 6.0
Qualification Requirements
We require for admission to the SJD program minimum TOEFL scores of 100 for the internet-based test, 250 for the computer-based test or 600 for the paper-based test.
Submit a 10-15 page substantive research proposal that will serve as the basis for beginning the dissertation research. It is very important that this research proposal be carefully written and well-organized.
Submit two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a full-time member of a law school faculty and another of which must be from a professor or faculty advisor of your LL.M. program.
Submit a letter or email from the proposed Committee Chair. The Committee Chair should agree to serve as the Committee Chair for the applicant's dissertation committee, recommend admission, and provide comment on evaluating the research proposal.
Submit undergraduate and graduate transcripts (including your first degree in law and your LL.M. degree or equivalent from a U.S. law school accredited from the ABA, or from a non-U.S. law school with equivalent standards). Applicants who graduated from a non-U.S. law school with equivalent standards must utilize either the Law School Admission Council's Credential Assembly Service (CAS) or World Evaluation Services (WES) at for a credential evaluation.
Provide a curriculum vitae.
Provide TOEFL or IELTS scores (if English is a second language), The TOEFL/IELTS score used in conjunction with your LL.M. application is sufficient. If you did not submit a score with your LL.M. application, please sit for one of these tests.
Submit a 10-15 page substantive research proposal that will serve as the basis for beginning the dissertation research. It is very important that this research proposal be carefully written and well-organized.
Submit two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a full-time member of a law school faculty and another of which must be from a professor or faculty advisor of your LL.M. program.
Submit a letter or email from the proposed Committee Chair. The Committee Chair should agree to serve as the Committee Chair for the applicant's dissertation committee, recommend admission, and provide comment on evaluating the research proposal.
Submit undergraduate and graduate transcripts (including your first degree in law and your LL.M. degree or equivalent from a U.S. law school accredited from the ABA, or from a non-U.S. law school with equivalent standards). Applicants who graduated from a non-U.S. law school with equivalent standards must utilize either the Law School Admission Council's Credential Assembly Service (CAS) or World Evaluation Services (WES) at for a credential evaluation.
Provide a curriculum vitae.
Provide TOEFL or IELTS scores (if English is a second language), The TOEFL/IELTS score used in conjunction with your LL.M. application is sufficient. If you did not submit a score with your LL.M. application, please sit for one of these tests.
Tuition
USD
57,192