New IU program offers business-law degrees

Students looking for a joint degree in business and law can now do it in a shorter amount of time, thanks to a new program between IU's School of Law and the Kelley School of Business. \nDesigned to minimize opportunities lost during education, the accelerated program lets students earn a Juris Doctor (JD) and Masters of Business Administration degree in three years, instead of four, as is currently required.\n"The goal is to reach out to people who are already in the business world or in substantial careers, for whom the JD/MBA would be a valuable thing, but for whom the opportunity costs of all four years is very difficult," said John Applegate, the associate dean of academic affairs for the law school. \nThe three year program, set to begin in the fall, includes two summers of coursework, and maintains the same number of credit hours as the standard four year plan.\n"It's a matter of changes in scheduling of courses and sequencing of programs rather than changing the curriculum," Applegate said. \nThe four year program will continue to be offered, he said. \nTo students, joint degree programs represent the chance for them to better use their skills in the workplace, which often require employees to use business and legal knowledge, Applegate said.\n"You get skills and credentials in two related areas," he said. "Lawyers often find it very helpful to understand the business world and business people find it very helpful to understand the legal issues in more than a limited way."\nAs part of the three year degree, students will also be able to participate in a new legal clinic housed in the business school, which provides legal support and counseling to small businesses and emerging companies. \nSince it opened in the fall of 2005, the clinic has worked with about a dozen companies, providing everything from support on import and export laws for a Bloomington-based bio-pharmaceutical firm, to patent mapping for IU's medical school and the Cook Group, a medical device maker.\n"We're looking to contribute to the economic development of the state and also to expose Indiana students to entrepreneurial opportunities as well as entrepreneurs in Indiana, in the hope that we will persuade some of those students to stay in Indiana," said Tim Boeglin, director of the clinic and a visiting clinical professor of law.\nBoeglin said the legal clinic serves as a natural compliment to the JD/MBA program.\n"It takes some of the theory they've learned in law school and business school and translates that to real world learning (that) provides them skills that they need as they enter the working world," he said. \nMark Horvick, 26, a fourth year student in the JD/MBA program and legal intern in the clinic, said the work provides opportunities where textbooks and lectures simply can't. \n"It just gives some practical experience," he said. "Law school's kind of theoretical and boring; this sort of gives you the opportunity to do what you'd do as a lawyer"