Lawyers Who Are Also Social Workers: How to Effectively Combine Two Different Disciplines to Better Serve Clients

Abstract

A trend recently developed towards interdisciplinary education and practice.In our complex world, legal problems are often intertwined with problems in other areas, including social problems, medical problems, and economic problems.In response, many universities offer dual degree programs 1 , by which students can earn a law degree in conjunction with another graduate degree. 2 One such program, existing at over twenty universities across the country, provides students with the opportunity to earn dual degrees in law and social work.3 * J.D., M.S.W., Washington University, 2002. 1. Dual degree programs, also referred to as joint degree programs or combined degree programs, are programs in which the two graduate degrees are pursued concurrently.Most of this Note, however, applies equally to practitioners who have earned their two degrees separately.2. Fields of study most commonly combined with Law in dual degree programs include Business, Social Work, Public Administration, Political Science, Urban and Regional Planning, History, Economics, and Accounting.Linda R. Crane, Interdisciplinary Combined-Degree and Graduate Degree Programs: History and Trends, 33 J. MARHSALL L. REV.47, 77 (1999).For a good discussion of J.D./M.B.A. programs, see id. at 76-77; John Warren Kindt, An Analysis of Legal Education and Business Education within the Context of a J.D./M.B. A. Program, 31 J. LEGAL EDUC.512 (1982).Crane discusses some of the difficulties of pursuing dual degrees, including administrative problems, balancing competing perspectives, learning the language and thought patterns of two distinct disciplines, explaining the program to potential employers who view it as indicative of a lack of focus, and overcoming professors' feelings of superiority.Crane, supra at 49, 64.In fact, she goes so far as to say it is misleading to refer to the programs as joint degree programs because students "are simply enrolled in two or more totally separate terminal degree programs in two schools within the same university simultaneously."Id. at 71.In my personal experience as a J.D./M.S.W. student, I encountered some of the difficulties Crane mentions, but I would not go as far as Crane does.My experience has mostly been one of cooperation between the two schools and awareness of the special situation of dual degree students.3. Such programs typically consist of four years of study (as opposed to five, if the two degrees are pursued separately).The law school and the social work school both accept a certain number of credits from the other school, recognizing that many of the required classes Washington University Open Scholarship 132 Journal of Law & Policy [Vol.7:131There are many benefits to earning degrees in both law and social work.Skills learned in a Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) program that are helpful in the practice of law include interviewing, empathic listening, identification of clients' goals, evaluation, crisis intervention, and referral.In addition, social workers' clients must often overcome a number of barriers, legal and otherwise.For that reason, it is critical that social workers 4 have some familiarity with the law in order to understand and explain their clients' legal rights.Since the two fields complement each other so well, both lawyers and social workers are increasingly called upon to consult with each other and work in multidisciplinary teams to provide better service to their clients.5 From the clients' perspective, someone qualified as both an for the two different degrees hold value for both degrees.For example, Washington University in Saint Louis has the nation's first and most distinguished social work and law program.WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST.LOUIS, JOINT DEGREE: LAW & SOCIAL WORK (2000).It was established in 1972 and has more than seventy-five graduates.Id.There are currently over twenty students pursuing the two degrees.At Washington University, the School of Social Work accepts twelve credits transferred from the School of Law, and the School of Law accepts nine credits transferred from the School of Social Work.Id.4. Throughout this Note, the term "social worker" refers to a practitioner with a Master's Degree in Social Work (M.S.W.).5. A number of articles address ways in which interdisciplinary efforts between attorneys and social workers are beneficial.See generally Sia Arnason et al., The Successful Marriage of Law and Social Work, 23 CLEARINGHOUSE REV.

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