Placement following JAG stint Forum

[kdsunday]

Curious if anyone could comment on how well those who spent four years right out of law school in the JAG Corps placed in either DA/AG/AUSA offices and BigLaw?

Also, more generally, how well is a stint in the JAG Corps respected in the private field? Is the immediate courtroom experience and international exposure an asset or is working in the military for such a period of time a liability?

[Jaren25]

Curious if anyone could comment on how well those who spent four years right out of law school in the JAG Corps placed in either DA/AG/AUSA offices and BigLaw?

Also, more generally, how well is a stint in the JAG Corps respected in the private field? Is the immediate courtroom experience and international exposure an asset or is working in the military for such a period of time a liability?

Depends on the firm / org... for example, I think medium sized firms in the red states would def love it... it's a risk though unless you actually like the jag work.

[JOThompson]

In most cases, your private sector options are going to be fairly limited. According to one mid-sized firm I spoke with, they consider JAGs to be in regression after a few years of service. Take that anecdotal evidence for what it's worth.

[fugitivejammer]

From everything I've heard, both on TLS and from a few friends in the Army, JAG work doesn't carry very well over into a lot of firms. If you're going into litigation or something, it might carry more relevance, but otherwise it'd be tough. I imagine if you got into Biglaw, you'll hafta start as a 1st year associate, MAYBE 2nd year.

Having said that, I know a few people who are still JAG in the Reserve (like lieutenant colonel rank) and work a civie job, and they all have in-counsel jobs at big corporations. That must be a good sign, right?

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Jag would be more likely to lead to a nice gov position (think Veterans preferred status). As far as biglaw, not likely - as a Jag you are spread about a mile wide and an inch deep, so many firms (especially larger ones) tend to be turned off by the idea of hiring an unspecialized person (unless you have some serious litigation experience that they want).

[JOThompson]

From everything I've heard, both on TLS and from a few friends in the Army, JAG work doesn't carry very well over into a lot of firms. If you're going into litigation or something, it might carry more relevance, but otherwise it'd be tough. I imagine if you got into Biglaw, you'll hafta start as a 1st year associate, MAYBE 2nd year.

Having said that, I know a few people who are still JAG in the Reserve (like lieutenant colonel rank) and work a civie job, and they all have in-counsel jobs at big corporations. That must be a good sign, right?

Unfortunately, I think even starting as an associate in biglaw is out of the question for the vast majority of former JAGs. It's awesome your friends scored in-house jobs, but I think those are pretty atypical success stories.