Houston Calgary Dual JD program - Employment Prospects? Forum

[ninja]

Hey all,

Canadian JD student here recently attended a session at my school (U of Calgary) where reps from University of Houston Law Centre were down with information about the new dual JD program with my school.

At first I just went for the free lunch (although shocked that there was no food when I got there!) and left thinking "hey this sounds pretty good".

Of course most of the questions from students had to do with how beneficial is this program really for Canadian students? I mean we all know about the tough legal market for grads and the prospect of tons of debt for a low paying job (for example the tuition at UH is more than double what I pay now).

So my question is this: what is the legal market like in Houston right now.. The reps from both my school and UHLC spoke about how much more qualified we would be with both an American and Canadian JD particularly if our area of practice was oil and gas considering many of the multi-national companies in Houston have their Canadian head offices in Calgary.

What do you guys think? Hogwash? Why would I, as a new grad with no experience, be more attractive to a large firm or one of the oil companies with zero experience? Sure I would have two degrees and be eligible to practice in Canada and Texas, but is that really beneficial? Plus I wouldn't be a resident and even though with NAFTA I could easily get a three year visa (renewable) but in the long term I may not be able to stay in the US.

Can anyone help me see the upside? I love the idea of spending a couple of years in Houston and having a completely different experience than I have right now. It would be one more year of school and I may end up more in debt. Is the payoff worth it? As it stands, the legal market in CAlgary is GOOD! we haven't had the same saturation in the market as the US and for that alone I might see some Houston students wanting to come up and take advantage of that.

Sorry for the rant.. Any thoughts/insights anyone would be great.

Cheers!

[LawIdiot86]

Hey all,

Canadian JD student here recently attended a session at my school (U of Calgary) where reps from University of Houston Law Centre were down with information about the new dual JD program with my school.

At first I just went for the free lunch (although shocked that there was no food when I got there!) and left thinking "hey this sounds pretty good".

Of course most of the questions from students had to do with how beneficial is this program really for Canadian students? I mean we all know about the tough legal market for grads and the prospect of tons of debt for a low paying job (for example the tuition at UH is more than double what I pay now).

So my question is this: what is the legal market like in Houston right now.. The reps from both my school and UHLC spoke about how much more qualified we would be with both an American and Canadian JD particularly if our area of practice was oil and gas considering many of the multi-national companies in Houston have their Canadian head offices in Calgary.

What do you guys think? Hogwash? Why would I, as a new grad with no experience, be more attractive to a large firm or one of the oil companies with zero experience? Sure I would have two degrees and be eligible to practice in Canada and Texas, but is that really beneficial? Plus I wouldn't be a resident and even though with NAFTA I could easily get a three year visa (renewable) but in the long term I may not be able to stay in the US.

Can anyone help me see the upside? I love the idea of spending a couple of years in Houston and having a completely different experience than I have right now. It would be one more year of school and I may end up more in debt. Is the payoff worth it? As it stands, the legal market in CAlgary is GOOD! we haven't had the same saturation in the market as the US and for that alone I might see some Houston students wanting to come up and take advantage of that.

Sorry for the rant.. Any thoughts/insights anyone would be great.

Cheers!

Houston places 9.6% in large firms. I don't know the details of this program, but I assume it would not include a trip through 2L OCI at Houston. Also, if you can get a job in Calgary, why risk a possible chance at a job in the US unless you were set on coming here? You can always do a cheap part-time LL.M. down the road and take the NY bar if you NEED a US bar admission.

[CanadianWolf]

Great opportunity if you intend to practice in oil & gas legal field. Typically, joint US/Canadian law programs advise students to finish their studies in the country where they will be seeking employment as Canadian employers don't recruit in Houston & vice versa.

[ninja]

Houston places 9.6% in large firms. I don't know the details of this program, but I assume it would not include a trip through 2L OCI at Houston. Also, if you can get a job in Calgary, why risk a possible chance at a job in the US unless you were set on coming here? You can always do a cheap part-time LL.M. down the road and take the NY bar if you NEED a US bar admission.

Hey,

Where do I find this information about 9.6% placement in large firms or just general information about placement rates?

Not sure when OCIs occur in 2L, but essentially the program requires students from Calgary to spend two years at UHCL after they complete 2L at U of Calgary - so I would probably be around for 2L OCIs

[LawIdiot86]

Houston places 9.6% in large firms. I don't know the details of this program, but I assume it would not include a trip through 2L OCI at Houston. Also, if you can get a job in Calgary, why risk a possible chance at a job in the US unless you were set on coming here? You can always do a cheap part-time LL.M. down the road and take the NY bar if you NEED a US bar admission.

Hey,

Where do I find this information about 9.6% placement in large firms or just general information about placement rates?

Not sure when OCIs occur in 2L, but essentially the program requires students from Calgary to spend two years at UHCL after they complete 2L at U of Calgary - so I would probably be around for 2L OCIs

Getting 2 years at UHCL might be worth it then, but you really should press them on outcome statistics. See http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... 2543436520 for the data source.