My Situation... Forum

[haus]

I guess I'm just impatient, since this has been a goal for so long (attending law school)....but seriously, do you think full ride at Pepperdine is TTTT? (not a joke) I know the employment numbers, but is that one of those "wouldn't attend even if free?"

As with much in life, the answer is it depends.

Be sure you know what you are getting into.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... show=chars

Personally, my GI Bill money ran dry quite some time ago. Fortunately, I have a good job, that I enjoy (for the most part), and that I do not plan to leave, thus I am only considering part time programs in DC/Northern Virginia. If I were to be considering full-time programs, I would strongly consider a full ride to Pepperdine if I had that as an option. But what I want from school may not be what you want. Look at the numbers. You seem to have some time left on the clock for your GI Bill, so you have some flexibility there. Understand that you can likely do much better on the LSAT with some time dedicated to it, and if you do, you will likely have even a wider set of options to choose from.

Whatever you decide, GL.

[Pneumonia]

attending law school is a terrible goal. it is a means to an end. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it along the way, and obviously you already know this, but it's good to be reminded. Full ride at Pep might be worth it depending on your goals, but probably not.

[TheSpanishMain]

I guess I'm just impatient, since this has been a goal for so long (attending law school)....but seriously, do you think full ride at Pepperdine is TTTT? (not a joke) I know the employment numbers, but is that one of those "wouldn't attend even if free?"

It depends on your goals. You say you could see yourself in state government (a reasonable goal out of a non-T14 school, but from what I've heard CA government hiring is in the toilet because of budgetary issues) but you also say you would like to make mid-100s post school or be a federal prosecutor. That basically means BigLaw/Fed, which are dramatically less likely at Pepperdine.

If your goals were "I'd like to work in state/local government, or in a small/mid size firm and I'd be happy starting out at 50k" then Pepperdine for free isn't a bad deal. It's not that the school is so atrocious or anything, it's more that it's just not a good fit for what you say you want to do.

[burner]

I guess I'm just impatient, since this has been a goal for so long (attending law school)....but seriously, do you think full ride at Pepperdine is TTTT? (not a joke) I know the employment numbers, but is that one of those "wouldn't attend even if free?"

It depends on your goals. You say you could see yourself in state government (a reasonable goal out of a non-T14 school, but from what I've heard CA government hiring is in the toilet because of budgetary issues) but you also say you would like to make mid-100s post school or be a federal prosecutor. That basically means BigLaw/Fed, which are dramatically less likely at Pepperdine.

If your goals were "I'd like to work in state/local government, or in a small/mid size firm and I'd be happy starting out at 50k" then Pepperdine for free isn't a bad deal. It's not that the school is so atrocious or anything, it's more that it's just not a good fit for what you say you want to do.

Is there a thread for those who aim for Federal Prosecution, like FBI/EPA/NRC? Are there numbers on who they hire and what their salaries are in TLS?

[TheSpanishMain]

Is there a thread for those who aim for Federal Prosecution, like FBI/EPA/NRC? Are there numbers on who they hire and what their salaries are in TLS?

I'm not sure. You might check in the Ask a Law Student/Graduate forum. I know A Nony Mouse, one of the mods here, works in government (not sure doing what) and she's pretty helpful with info.

Also, as far as I know the FBI does not hire/have prosecutors. Pretty sure no federal agency starts it's entry level hires above 100k though. I'm a former federal employee (not an attorney) and I'd guess they probably start around 65k with locality pay.

[BigZuck]

Is there a thread for those who aim for Federal Prosecution, like FBI/EPA/NRC? Are there numbers on who they hire and what their salaries are in TLS?

I'm not sure. You might check in the Ask a Law Student/Graduate forum. I know A Nony Mouse, one of the mods here, works in government (not sure doing what) and she's pretty helpful with info.

Also, as far as I know the FBI does not hire/have prosecutors. Pretty sure no federal agency starts it's entry level hires above 100k though. I'm a former federal employee (not an attorney) and I'd guess they probably start around 65k with locality pay.

65K is probably a decent guess. I know state assistant AGs in TX make 46K (and they have to have at least two years experience). Feds probably pay more and I would imagine you would have to have some experience for the vast majority of positions, or to at least have clerked.

There has to be somewhere on the Internet that says how much those positions pay.

[20141023]

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[twenty]

Agents in no way = prosecutors. FBI "prosecutors" are AUSAs/DOJ.

That said, FBI agents start at GS-10 and lateral up to GS-13 after about 3 years.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, the FBI is an investigative agency, not a prosecuting agency. As for EPA and NRC, I don't know very much about them, but I don't think they criminally prosecute in the traditional sense - they do enforce federal law, and I know you can be criminally charged under the EPA at least, but a lot of the work will be civil suits. (If by prosecute you meant enforce, then I guess it makes sense to lump those things together, but most people I know interested in EPA/NRC work don't seem to think of themselves as interested in criminal work.)

You can get a job as an attorney at the FBI (in theory), but it would be in the Office of General Counsel, which is a lot like being in-house counsel to a federal agency. You'd do a lot of employment work, maybe contract stuff, and maybe legislative work as well? (Drafting regulations, that kind of thing.) It wouldn't really have anything to do with the cases that the FBI investigates.

As for the payscale, there are tables giving all the GS salaries by locality here: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversig ... -schedule/ - I think a lot of entry level fed jobs are around GS-11. Also, jobs posted on USAjobs usually include the proposed salary range (a lot of those jobs, looking for experience, seem to start around GS-13 to 14).

AUSAs are paid on a different payscale that's not available online to the general public - at least, I could never find it - which I think is a little less money than the GS scale.