The JD/MBA: Worth It? To You? To Your Firm?

The Indiana Unversity School of Law—Bloomington is in the process of streamlining its JD/MBA program with the Kelley School of Business.  The overall goal is to encourage more students—whether they "start" on the law-school side or the business-school side—to undertake the joint degree program by integrating the curricula more fully and promoting more collaboration between the schools' respective faculties. 

Since joint degree programs involve a larger commitment of time and money by students, the relevant empirical question is whether these programs generally produce greater career mobility or higher lifetime earnings. 

Some of our preliminary research suggests that there is a strong and growing demand for JD/MBAs.  For example, several prestigious law firms, including Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, and Milbank-Tweed, now offer $10,000 to $20,000 bonuses for new associates with both degrees.  These incentives are quite comparable to the bonuses given to young associates who join the firm following a judicial clerkship. 

The importance of business acumen in law firms—which is not news to readers of "Adam Smith, Esq."—is further evidenced by the recent collaborative partnership between Reed Smith and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.  Specifically, Wharton has agreed to provide ongoing executive education for Reed Smith practice managers, office managing partners, and other firm leaders (see Bruce’s August 13^th post, Blindingly Obvious.)

In many respects, readers of "Adam Smith, Esq." are the ideal audience for assessing the value of the JD/MBA degree.  Therefore, I would welcome your comments and observations on two specific topics:

First, does the JD/MBA degree produce a better business lawyer, or at least speed the ascension up the learning curve, thus producing a payoff for the law firm and, presumably, the associate in terms of advancement?  Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence that JD/MBAs have a better grasp of client development and rainmaking?

Second, Northwestern University School of Law and the Kellogg School of Management have mitigated the time-money tradeoff by pioneering an accelerated three-year JD/MBA program that charges a higher tuition than the regular three-year JD.  Is this program the wave of the future?  Alternatively, should law firms be wary that the emphasis on business has compromised a young associate’s legal training?  Or is the MBA curriculum ultimately a better use of the second or third year of law school?