I'm a Young Trial Lawyer but I'd Rather Be a Philosophy Professor... Do I Need a PhD?

Question

I'm interested in philosophy of law, largely from a 'continental' perspective.

Answer 1

Your experience and your Juris Doctor degree should qualify you to teach in some settings (especially private colleges), although graduate studies in philosophy would help you become the sort of candidate philosophy departments are looking for.

I think a lot of schools would allow you to teach a specific class or two in which your experience makes you perhaps more of an expert than the typical philosophy prof. But if you want to get a full-time, tenure track position--in other words, if you want a "real job" as a professor, you might need more training in philosophy, especially if your job description will require you to teach philosophy classes unrelated to law. Also, there is very stiff competition for good teaching positions in disciplines like philosophy (in which the best and the brightest mostly aspire to be teachers). If you are not engaged in the same critical conversation as your peers in the field of philosophy, you may find yourself unable to adequately impress the commitees of philosophy professors conducting your job interview. They may find you very smart, but out of touch with some of their greatest concerns.

My best advice is to get your feet wet by corresponding with philosophy professors and perhaps collaborating with them on articles, classes, projects . . . anything that allows you to put your knowledge into practice in this new field you are considering. Your newfound peers should be able to help you figure out what your options are, and in the process you may gain a clearer understanding of the sort of teaching job you want, including the question of whether you need to work in a philosophy department (perhaps you could teach some philosophy-oriented classes in a political science department, for example).

Answer 2

I'd rather you be a philosophy major too. I doubt that you'd need a PhD. I'm not sure if a professor needs any credentials. You've just professed to be a Young Trial Lawyer... did you need a PhD? No.. A professor, professes.

Answer 3

If you are going to be a philosophy professor, I thing you need a PhD. If you want to teach at a community college, you probably could by with an M.A.

I would suggest however that what you really need is a psychiatric evaluation.

Answer 4

Let me start off by saying that there's a difference between teaching classes in the philosophy department as opposed to the "legal" department, meaning whatever that particular school calls it.

Without knowing what your undergraduate degree is in, I can't say whether you'd even be qualified to teach in the philosophy department. But with a law degree (J.D.), you should already be qualified as it to teach in a community college, or as an adjunct on the university level.

I can tell you that most of our legal faculty don't have beyond their J.D.'s. Some do have their L.L.B., which would be the Doctorate of Law, but a J.D., combined with enough experience should be sufficient.

The KEY here is that some schools, like mine for instance, allow professors to each classes outside their departments so long as they're qualified. Other places only allow you to teach within your individual department.

My advice to you would be to contact the head of the law department at one of your local colleges / universities to discuss your desire to teach in their department.

Answer 5

As was mentioned above... adjunct faculty positions at the lower college levels (community colleges, small colleges, etc) require either a Master's in the field or a Master's in any field, but with a minimum of 18 hours of grad level coursework in the field you want to teach.

Regular faculty, tenured positions, etc. is where the PhD would come in. Not sure if you can be on regular faculty w/o a doctorate in the field you want to teach.

Answer 6

I'm a Grad student in history/sociology--but i'm familier with how philosophy programs are set up.

You do need a PhD--though you'll probably be able to teach and publish before you reach that point. However, your legal background will mean you'll have an easier time of it than most--you already have extensive training in logic and rhetoric.

Answer 7

significant agencies in the US heavily want 'tort reform', i.e. they prefer regulations to be surpassed preserving them from being sued for criminal duty for undesirable products or negligence. This has continuously been a Republican concern. We listen lots from the Republicans about 'frivolous courtroom situations' and how we ought to continuously ban them. And at the same time as all of us have self belief we may understand a 'frivolous lawsuit' if we referred to one, this is not any longer fairly really common to outline 'frivolity' in criminal language. in case you check out each of the regulations Republicans have proposed (and each now and then gotten surpassed), what they fairly do is only to make it lots harder for human beings to sue agencies, frivolous or no longer. preserving agencies from their very own mismanagement, incompetence, negligence, or maybe outright unlawful activity is the genuine objective of those regulations. So if you're a tribulation criminal specialist, or a public activity team attempting to get rid of a danger to public wellbeing and protection, your best guess is the Democrats. the genuine protection adverse to frivolous courtroom situations is judges. A judges can only throw a case out of courtroom if he believes it really is frivolous. yet part of the Republican philosophy is likewise to take potential faraway from judges, to tie their fingers. They do this in criminal regulation as well as tort regulation, by using forcing needed sentencing, by using permitting police to deliver at the same time information illegally, and a a lengthy time period-lengthy attack on the bill of Rights. each human being hates attorneys, till they want one. If trial attorneys are the sixth greatest foyer, who do you imagine are the right 5? Oil pastimes, wellbeing care, banking and coverage, and so on. and so on. imagine they are more desirable ideal?

Answer 8

Yes

Answer 9

to become a professor, yes, the best way to start out is as a Graduate Assistant, teaching lower/intro level courses as you work on your postgrad degree

Answer 10

yeah if you want to teach it you first need to study it - at least to the postgraduate level - and then go from there