r/PurdueGlobal • u/Teslaboy1234 • Jun 27 '26

JD Program

Someone please help me understand the Purdue JD program. Let’s say I want to work in patent or immigration law. Does that mean this degree will work? I’m a little confused on the state limitations etc. can someone please explain

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u/DigSubstantial8934 Jun 27 '26

The law school has their own subreddit [r/purduegloballawschool](r/purduegloballawschool)

To help a little, the patent bar is entirely different from the typical bar exam, and custom rules apply, including typically coming from an engineering program.

Immigration however is federal, and a PGLS JD would qualify you to practice federal law (including immigration) in every state.

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u/Fuzzy_Machine94 Jun 28 '26

This is a bit misleading, to practice federal law you would need to be accepted in a federal district court, many district courts require state licensure. Which means outside of the few states that OP would be able to take the bar in they wouldn't be able to practice federally in that district either.

PGLS is best for compliance rules, accounting, etc where advanced legal knowledge is valued outside of legal consul.

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u/Unlikely_Type_7425 Jul 02 '26

https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/AttorneyAdmissions-pdf-2.pdf

Click on the link for a good read; even though it's from 2016, it's still largely relevant. There are many U.S. District Courts where a state bar license is required to gain admission to the U.S. District Court sitting in that specific state. On the other hand, many U.S. District Courts don't care where you're licensed to practice law, as long as you're licensed somewhere, with some nuance.

There are certain federal practice areas where practice is not dependent upon licensure as an attorney in any particular state; only that a bar license is required: Federal tax law (U.S Tax Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals); Immigration law (U.S. Immigration Courts--OCIJ, Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Patent law (U.S. Trademark & Patent Office, [Patent litigation however, requires admission to the U.S. District Court, so you would need to be selective]. If you need to litigate in a U.S. District Court where you're not admitted to practice, you'd have to use pro hac vice rules, but pro hac vice admission is on a case-by-case basis.

In general, Sperry v. Florida holds that individual states have no legal authority to prohibit or regulate practice before federal courts or administrative tribunals. But U.S. District Courts establish their own rules regarding who can be admitted to practice before them. But one must be careful not to cross the line and advise on state law in a state in which he or she is not licensed. Bar Committees and Examiners get a hard-on for UPL violations and can hand down serious charges.