The primary goal of the joint degree JD/MS program at DePaul University College of Law Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology (CIPLIT®) and its School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI) is to educate students to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the legal needs of industry in this high technology age. A critical need exists for patent attorneys in the high-tech field who have a substantive understanding of IT as well as for attorneys, who need not be members of the patent bar, to provide client counseling or litigation services in the information technology field. Graduates of the joint degree program will be qualified for careers in intellectual property boutique law firms, in general practice firms with clients in the high technology field, as in-house counsel in the high technology industry, and in government agencies dealing with high technology regulation.
Many of the students completing the joint JD/MS degree will choose to join the Patent Bar. The technical education provided by the MS part of the program will help to qualify them for the patent bar exam. However, in today's society, members of the Patent Bar are not the only attorneys who need technological expertise for successful legal practice. Many patent litigators are not members of the patent bar, yet must become intimately familiar with the technological bases for their clients’ litigation positions. Trademark attorneys face infringement and prosecution issues related to domain names and Internet websites. Copyright attorneys are frequently exposed to issues of protection for computer software and Internet website content. Even lawyers who do not specialize in intellectual property law frequently face computer-related issues, as such questions arise more and more frequently in "bread-and-butter" disputes between companies immersed in high technology.
The JD/MS program is primarily aimed at students with undergraduate scientific or technical degrees or with other substantial technological or scientific background who wish to deepen their technical expertise while also obtaining a law degree.
Characteristics of the program include:
It is designed to provide a curriculum for students with significant undergraduate technological background who wish to pursue advanced studies in Computer Science, Telecommunications, and Information Systems jointly with their legal studies.
It offers a variety of curriculum options encompassing key technological topics along with legal courses which prepare the student for transactional and/or litigation work.
It is expected that most students who pursue this joint degree will also obtain a Certificate in Intellectual Property: General, Intellectual Property: Patent or Information Technology from the law school.
It is expected that most students who pursue the JD/MS degree will already be qualified to sit for the patent bar exam. Students who need to "make up" some patent bar exam requirements may be able to pursue that goal as part of this program
In this program, students will acquire:
An in-depth understanding of the legal issues that confront present and future technologies.
An understanding of legal principles and application of those principles to a growing number of legal issues facing technology
Core knowledge in a particular technology discipline
In-depth fluency with state-of-the-art technologies and IT principles.
Course Requirement Reductions in the Joint Degree Program:
Joint degree students may substitute up to 8 law semester hours in place of up to 3 CTI master’s degree courses, reducing their CTI course requirements to 10 courses plus any necessary prerequisite coursework. Courses to be substituted must be selected from the elective and required courses for the College of Law certificates in Intellectual Property: General, Intellectual Property: Patent and Information Technology. Please see the certificate pages on the College of Law website for lists of qualifying courses.
Joint degree students may substitute up to 15 CTI credit hours in place of up to 10 of the 86 required law semester hours, reducing their law course requirements to 76 semester hours. Only CTI courses taken after enrollment in the College of Law may be substituted for law courses.
Joint degree students may not substitute CTI credit hours for required courses in the College of Law, such as the Professional Responsibility and Senior Seminar courses
Joint degree students must graduate from both schools on the same date, in the same semester/quarter, and in the same year. Double counting of credit hours occurs only after the student concurrently completes both degree programs. Students should consult with the joint degree advisors regarding any questions about coordinating the completion of the two degrees.
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Doctorates and Masters 
