
I'm currently a 1L at a HYS law school, and I'm getting pretty serious about pursuing a joint degree in Sociology, with the goal of ultimately entering legal academia. At the same time, I'm somewhat concerned about what doors I'm closing as I open new ones.
I want to pursue the PhD not only for the help it would give in procuring a position in the academy; I like being a student, and I want to continue my studies. However, at what cost would I be pursuing this avenue in terms of other career opportunities? Do federal government and (especially) biglaw firms auto-reject people who pursue these joint degrees as 'having their head in the clouds'? I'm thinking in terms of, say, if I were to get my degrees and then want to work biglaw for at least a couple of years for the experience and to pay down student debt.
I guess that I'm just interested more generally in how pursuing a joint degree impacts legal employment outside of the academy. Can anyone speak to this?