I am an American who did my law degreeLL.B. in England. I went on to do my LL.M. at the LSE and had several classes with American study abroad JDs.

Up until that point, I had a bit of a hang up and assumed their JD course was on a higher level than my undergraduate LL.B.

Let's put it this way - I was not overly impressed with these guys. I realised that A levels are head and shoulders above American high school and that this is the reason why the US requires an undergrad degree prior to law school.

These guys can kid themselves that their JD is "like a doctorate" but we all know the truth.

Hi Kris:

I have never heard anybody describe a J.D. as being "like a doctorate". It is just considered to be the entry level educational qualification to meet the requirements for bar admission in U.S. states.

Here is an article that I did about this on another blog. A J.D. is considered to be a "graduate degree" but not a doctorate.

http://lsatbooks.wordpress.com/canadian-law-applicants/canadian-law-schools-convert-llb-to-jd/