By Sharon Morioka
Michigan Law
The life of a student pursuing a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) can be an isolated one. Focusing on a narrow academic topic while working on a dissertation means lots of time spent online and in law libraries.
But for Nadia Sussman, LLM ‘24, there is a sense of community at Michigan Law that makes navigating her first year as an SJD candidate special.
Michigan Law
The life of a student pursuing a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) can be an isolated one. Focusing on a narrow academic topic while working on a dissertation means lots of time spent online and in law libraries.
But for Nadia Sussman, LLM ‘24, there is a sense of community at Michigan Law that makes navigating her first year as an SJD candidate special.
Part of that community comes from the weekly colloquium that is an integral part of the program.
“The colloquium is fantastic, both as an accountability mechanism—because there’s an expectation of presenting and engaging with other people’s work—but also because it helps you feel like you’re part of the community.”
In late January, as she prepared for her turn to make a presentation, she reflected on the feedback that others in her cohort had received and appreciated the opportunity to get feedback on her own work, which focuses on the role of lawyers in preparing evidential documents for witnesses.
“It’s so rare to get honest feedback, to hear what people really think,” she said. “I’d rather get criticism on draft work from someone in the colloquium now than from someone reading a published piece later.”
With the fall 2024 term, the Law School’s doctor of juridical science (SJD) program was revised not only to strengthen engagement during the weekly colloquium but also to provide full funding to students during their first three years of study and to appoint an inaugural program director.
Similar to a PhD, the SJD is a terminal degree that graduate law students or researchers earn in order to pursue academic careers, typically as law professors at foreign universities. The program, which accepts applications through the middle of February, will announce its fall 2025 cohort in May.
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Full funding for the first three years
Last year, the Law School decided to fully fund SJD candidates in residence for their first three years in the program.
Most doctoral programs at other law schools offer only one or two years of funding, but the Law School determined that full funding for three years was necessary to instill in candidates its norms and scholarly values while giving them adequate space to develop first-rate dissertations.
Because the program usually takes from three to five years to complete, the additional funding can mean the difference between students continuing their studies or deprioritizing them to return to the workforce.
“We decided to increase our investment in the program,” said Professor Julian Arato, the program’s inaugural faculty director.
“And so we’re now taking fewer candidates and funding them more, which allows them to be a full part of the scholarly community here at Michigan.”
Eric Christiansen, the Law School’s assistant dean for international affairs, began working with Arato before the fall 2024 term to decide how to revise the program to best support students as well as the larger Michigan Law and legal communities.
“We want Michigan to be actively involved in shaping the next generation of law professors globally,” Christiansen said.
“We want to strengthen opportunities for our SJD candidates to enrich the academic conversation happening at the Law School and to even better prepare them to leave here and be important thinkers out in the world.”
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A focus on presenting research—and receiving feedback
One important element in developing those thinkers is the colloquium, which Arato refers to as the “crown jewel” of the SJD program.
“We want to strengthen opportunities for our SJD candidates to enrich the academic conversation happening at the Law School and to even better prepare them to leave here and be important thinkers out in the world.”
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A focus on presenting research—and receiving feedback
One important element in developing those thinkers is the colloquium, which Arato refers to as the “crown jewel” of the SJD program.
Lorenzo Luisetto, who is in his third year of his SJD studies, chaired the colloquium when it was student-led, before the changes last fall. He now co-organizes it with Arato and has seen the impact of the changes.
“The level of discussion this year has been higher because participants are required to read papers in advance and provide feedback,” he said.
“At the end of the day, that will help the presenters be better prepared to present their research in other forums, including job talks, in the future.”
At each weekly session, SJD candidates present their research and receive feedback from faculty. Their supervisors and committee members attend the session, but other members of the faculty give formal feedback to ensure that candidates are exposed to fresh eyes and ideas on a regular basis.
All current SJD candidates in residence are expected to attend and give feedback on one another’s work.
Arato stresses the importance of other students’ feedback. “Research shows that, by far, the most important feedback that one gets in a PhD program is not supervisor driven but peer driven,” he said.
“When the students present their work to their colleagues, they’re suddenly getting questions from outsiders who are new to their work.”
That type of interaction foreshadows future relationships in academia, where they will often engage in such debate with colleagues.
Among the changes to the program was the creation of a director position, currently held by Arato, to lead the colloquium and ensure that all other aspects of the program run smoothly. It also has had the benefit of providing another valuable resource for the SJD students, said Luisetto.
“Julian [Arato] is like having another faculty mentor,” he said, in addition to the members of their dissertation committee.
“Having a faculty director directly oversee the program ensures that we have somebody who’s working as a legal academic actually guiding the way we structure the program,” Christiansen said. “So at the very first meeting, he said, ‘Here’s what legal
academics expect of one another when we are in a colloquium together: We always read our work. We alway have comments. We create a supportive environment. But we’re working to make sure everyone improves their work, every time they offer it
to us.”
Christiansen estimates that the program has produced more than 30 law professors in the last 20 years, which includes tenured, tenure-track, contract, and other types of positions. That number is impressively high within academia, he said.
Arato added that such academic professionals will spread the Michigan Law ethos.
“If you’re producing really high-quality SJD candidates, they will then go be professors all over the world, including in the US, as ambassadors of Michigan Law School,” he said. “It’s essential that we provide our SJD students with a meaningful experience so that they carry on our traditions wherever they go.”
“The level of discussion this year has been higher because participants are required to read papers in advance and provide feedback,” he said.
“At the end of the day, that will help the presenters be better prepared to present their research in other forums, including job talks, in the future.”
At each weekly session, SJD candidates present their research and receive feedback from faculty. Their supervisors and committee members attend the session, but other members of the faculty give formal feedback to ensure that candidates are exposed to fresh eyes and ideas on a regular basis.
All current SJD candidates in residence are expected to attend and give feedback on one another’s work.
Arato stresses the importance of other students’ feedback. “Research shows that, by far, the most important feedback that one gets in a PhD program is not supervisor driven but peer driven,” he said.
“When the students present their work to their colleagues, they’re suddenly getting questions from outsiders who are new to their work.”
That type of interaction foreshadows future relationships in academia, where they will often engage in such debate with colleagues.
Among the changes to the program was the creation of a director position, currently held by Arato, to lead the colloquium and ensure that all other aspects of the program run smoothly. It also has had the benefit of providing another valuable resource for the SJD students, said Luisetto.
“Julian [Arato] is like having another faculty mentor,” he said, in addition to the members of their dissertation committee.
“Having a faculty director directly oversee the program ensures that we have somebody who’s working as a legal academic actually guiding the way we structure the program,” Christiansen said. “So at the very first meeting, he said, ‘Here’s what legal
academics expect of one another when we are in a colloquium together: We always read our work. We alway have comments. We create a supportive environment. But we’re working to make sure everyone improves their work, every time they offer it
to us.”
Christiansen estimates that the program has produced more than 30 law professors in the last 20 years, which includes tenured, tenure-track, contract, and other types of positions. That number is impressively high within academia, he said.
Arato added that such academic professionals will spread the Michigan Law ethos.
“If you’re producing really high-quality SJD candidates, they will then go be professors all over the world, including in the US, as ambassadors of Michigan Law School,” he said. “It’s essential that we provide our SJD students with a meaningful experience so that they carry on our traditions wherever they go.”
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