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Hello TLS:

I wanted to see if anyone can offer counsel for my current situation.

My background/situation:
I am a policy/economic analyst in a large government agency in NYC that employs many attorneys (you have probably heard of us). I love my job and working in city government. I have always been interested in the law and litigation, and am hoping to attend law school part time and continue working in my current position where I'm gaining a lot of experience, saving some good money and making good connections with city attorneys in my agency and in the agencies we work with. If I graduated and stayed exactly where I am with a law degree, I would qualify for a promotion internally and would be satisfied with the outcome.

Here are my options (before any scholarship negotiations):

Acceptances with Cost of Attendance:
Fordham P/T: 40k/year in tuition (4k annual scholarship)
Brooklyn Law P/T: 8k/year in tuition (38k annual scholarship, top 80% stipulation)
New York Law School P/T: Full tuition scholarship and 2k semesterly stipend
CUNY Law P/T: 6k/year in tuition (4k annual scholarship)

Career goals:
Would like to work in city government for the near to mid-term future (think city law department or GC in another agency), have the option to transfer to a state or federal agency down the road, or to a mid to small law firm in the NYC metropolitan area in the long term. Potentially live out my days as a solo practitioner once my pensions are vested. No real interest in TLS's "Biglaw" world.

GPA/LSAT:
3.4/162

Questions:
I could finance all but Fordham without taking out loans due to my current job's salary. My main question is, are my goals a realistic expectation if I do well at these schools? And secondly, how much debt is "worth it" for the difference between a BLS and Fordham degree given my career goals?

Thanks so much everyone. Comments on being a night student and/or an attorney in government are welcome as well.

This is a tough call. On the one hand, your plan to simply continue working at your municipal agency post-law school (with a guaranteed promotion thanks to your J.D.) suggests taking the cheapest offer available. Why pay $160k to attend Fordham when you could get the same outcome for -$16k (a net gain!) at NYLS? That's a whopping $176k of post-tax money (plus interest!). You already have the job, and I assume working for the city comes with terrific job security.

But then you mention wanting to go to a federal agency, and/or to private practice. If that's a serious desire, then I think Fordham might very well be worth the investment. I think your realistic outcomes out of Brooklyn, NYLS, and CUNY are limited to staying at your agency and/or striking out as a solo. (Of course, I'm well aware that different outcomes are possible - say, if you end up graduating as the top student in your year at Brooklyn, or if you end up meeting the "right" person after you graduate and that contact gets you into fedgov, or if you rise through the ranks and end up helming your agency, or ... etc. The point is that those outcomes are unlikely to the point that they should not be factored into your analysis.) Fordham, unlike the other three schools you're considering, has a strong reputation and is probably the single strongest-placing law school in the T1 outside the T13/T20. A Fordham J.D. would open far more doors than a Brooklyn/NYLS/CUNY J.D. (assuming similar grades). MIdlaw firms that would not look twice at a median CUNY grad would likely be very interested in a median Fordham grad.

So I guess, really do some soul-searching and decide what your goals and priorities are.

Thanks for that advice.

Let me ask you this: if I were to work as an attorney in city government here for a period of time with a degree from Brooklyn Law, would it be possible to transfer to either a relevant federal agency (think HUD after working in the GC of the nyc housing authority), or to a firm that works with issues pertaining to local government here in NYC?

stc2128 wrote:Thanks for that advice.

Let me ask you this: if I were to work as an attorney in city government here for a period of time with a degree from Brooklyn Law, would it be possible to transfer to either a relevant federal agency (think HUD after working in the GC of the nyc housing authority), or to a firm that works with issues pertaining to local government here in NYC?

I think you would have decent chance of transitioning to State agencies, but I wouldn't put any stock in your chances go to a federal one. I'm not sure about firms, but probably wouldn't be locked out of mid tier ones--although not super competitive either.