易胜博官网

What kind of person would want to take time out from her prime earning years to go through the grind of earning not one, but two demanding degrees compressed into three-and-a-half years?

Last fall, the first cohort of dual JD-MBA students to enroll at the 易胜博官网 School of Law and the Whittemore School of Business and Economics answered this question. Take it from 易胜博官网 Today, they鈥檙e two 鈥� yes, two听鈥� of the hardest working people you鈥檒l meet.

A native of New Canaan, Connecticut, Anne Hemmings had worked in the ski apparel industry for seven years under the open skies of Jackson, Wyoming, when she felt the calling to study the law. 鈥淢y grandmother graduated from the University of Kentucky Law School in 1939 and was the first female editor of the law review,鈥� says Hemmings. 鈥淪o law school has always been in the back of my mind.鈥�

By July of 2010, she earned admission to several law schools, including Franklin Pierce Law Center. As she deliberated about where to go, she learned of a new development that practically made her decision for her. 鈥淚 almost did not attend 易胜博官网,鈥� admits Hemmings, 鈥渂ut when they announced Franklin Pierce would become 易胜博官网 School of Law, I was hopeful a dual degree would be in the offing. As a result, I chose 易胜博官网.鈥�

Hemmings proved more prescient than she knew. In the same month she began packing her bags for the move back East to Concord, John Orcutt, a 易胜博官网 School of Law professor, and Venky Venkatachalam, a Whittemore School business professor, chatted excitedly about a new idea: fast-tracking the approval of a new dual degree in law and business.

According to Orcutt, 鈥淲e talked about what it takes to be a good business lawyer and a good business person today, and we agreed that the days of being able to view issues as pure business matters or pure legal matters are gone,鈥� recalls Orcutt. The two agreed that savvy lawyers should be able to think like business people and 鈥渁nticipate the needs of their clients.鈥� Conversely, effective business people benefit from a deeper understanding of the regulatory environments in which businesses鈥攅specially international ones鈥攐perate.

Creating a dual law-business degree made philosophical sense. It also made good business sense.

鈥淲ith the new affiliation between 易胜博官网 and the law school, we wanted to provide additional value for students by enabling them to earn both degrees faster and less expensively than it would take them to do so separately,鈥� explains Orcutt. Students save a half-year of law school tuition (and 18 months out of their lives) through the dual degree program.

A short 12 months later, in July 2011, key parties at both schools signed the program into existence. Students attend 易胜博官网 School of Law for their first year, switch to the Whittemore School for an intensive, one-year MBA, and then return to law school for three more semesters. Hemmings and her classmate, JoAnne Diaz-Beckett, are midway into their MBA year.

Diaz-Beckett came to 易胜博官网 to retool and plans to use her degrees to establish a niche for herself in a law firm. 鈥淭he MBA will position me as the go-to person for contract law, startups, bankruptcy law, and entrepreneurial clients,鈥� says the former college admissions advisor. Diaz-Beckett says taking classes with business students 鈥渆nergizes鈥� her and helps her marshal the mojo needed to log the long hours required for her coursework. 鈥淎t the Whittemore School, I鈥檝e met lots of people who want to start their own business. It鈥檚 exciting. I find their ideas and optimism very motivating.鈥�

Best of all, the dual degree format鈥攂usiness coursework sandwiched between two years of law classes鈥攕hows early signs of fostering exactly the kind of connections and incisive thinking Orcutt and Venkatachalam envisioned as the end product of this multi-disciplinary program. For example, in an international business class, Hemmings鈥檚 project team presented a case study of the problems electronics giant Best Buy might encounter should it try to enter the Saudi Arabia market. 鈥淚n Saudi Arabia, women are suing for the right to drive,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t made me think of the court cases I read in my constitutional law class about how Saudi Arabia鈥檚 approach to women鈥檚 rights may hinder a multinational corporation鈥檚 potential.鈥�

Diaz-Beckett sees a new kind of freedom emerging from her experience. 鈥淏y the time you get to graduate school, hopefully you鈥檙e way beyond the process of meeting requirements. You鈥檙e creating new opportunities. More choices help you discover what鈥檚 out there and then choose what you really like to do.鈥�

With ambassadors such as Hemmings and Diaz-Becket to sing its praises, the JD-MBA program is likely to grow well beyond two brave souls in the coming year.