Law and Development J.D./MIDP
In collaboration with the Duke Law School, the Duke Center for International Development now offers the opportunity to pursue a J.D./MIDP dual degree.
The program provides rigorous, integrated training for students preparing for a professional career that combines law and international development. Students will develop a diverse set of tools for meeting multi-disciplinary challenges in a professionally sophisticated way. This dual degree program will include professional training in international law, international/development economics, international public policy and ethics. Across these disciplines, students will gain experience in interdisciplinary analysis and team-based problem solving alongside client-based research and writing.
Understanding that the overlap of law and development is by no means new and has always posed difficult problems of framing and strategy, graduates of our dual degree program will be exposed to both the history and current practice of law and development. They will develop a familiarity with different institutional conceptualizations of the field, including “rule of law,” “rights based approaches to development,” or, more broadly, “good governance.”
Students who graduate from this program will be perfectly positioned to take jobs in the rapidly evolving development sector of legal reform, good governance encouragement, and justice system strengthening. Organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) seek professionals with legal training as well as experience with development projects. Additionally, governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as private law firms, offer positions working with the law of microfinance, international trade, gender inequalities and human rights. Legal knowledge is useful for many development jobs, however, regardless of whether they involve justice sector reform or specific lawyerly tasks.
Tuition and Fees
J.D./MIDP students are responsible for three years and one summer of Duke Law tuition. The tuition and fees for the 30 credits of PIDP coursework will be discounted by 50%.