Does a JD help in any other field than law? Forum

[Redmouse]

We've all heard how supposedly the JD is a versatile degree. We all know it's probably bullshit but I'm totally screwed on the career front so I'm now looking to explore all possible options before hitting the eject button.

I went to a pretty good school, but middle of the road GPA + no LR basically screws me. I can't even get the time of day, let alone an offer, so I'm thinking of jumping ship.

Now before anyone says Staples or OfficeMax, I'm wondering if anyone here has been in this situation and where you found non-legal employment post-grad. I've got my license and all, I just don't think I've got much of a future in law, at least with where the market is today.

[Ave]

start studying case questions and try consulting

[rad lulz]

start studying case questions and try consulting

Middling GPA from what I assume is a middling school = probably not

[rad lulz]

Teach yourself how to code things and make apps bro

[pastapplicant]

lol at that advice. getting a decent consulting job is harder than landing big law. Even if he was at HYS, he would not have a decent chance if he does not have prior experience.

[eav1277]

Real estate (agent), insurance, Teacher (does going into teaching qualify you for IBR?), lower level bank (teller, banker), or low level local government positions? But I'm a 0L so don't know very much. Just throwing things out there.

[84651846190]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

[paul554]

Teaching at a community college or less prestigious university as an adjutant in criminal justice is always an option. A JD also looks preferable in working in law enforcement or as a special agent, honestly though veterans will get a bigger hiring plus then you. Other areas are accounting, financial planning, estate planning and general wealth management though for these you will probably need a relevant undergrad or such.

In the end the jobs you will get outside the law realm won't pay as much, but if you have no employment options then any income is better then none.

[Redmouse]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

You're assuming facts not in evidence; I don't have a "bare JD", quite the contrary, it's that I didn't shine in the two areas that law firm employers care about the most.

[guano]

without experience, see the above, and good luck.
If you've got years of experience under your belt, the answer changes, depending on your experience (at least in terms of the quality of jobs), but you're probably still looking mainly at consulting, financial services (including banking), maybe management, and such

[Void]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

You're assuming facts not in evidence; I don't have a "bare JD", quite the contrary, it's that I didn't shine in the two areas that law firm employers care about the most.

Maybe part of why you "didn't shine" is that you use the rules of evidence coloquially.

[Redmouse]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

You're assuming facts not in evidence; I don't have a "bare JD", quite the contrary, it's that I didn't shine in the two areas that law firm employers care about the most.

Maybe part of why you "didn't shine" is that you use the rules of evidence coloquially.

Colloquially. (If you're going to write a troll response, you ought to cover all your bases. Otherwise, it just falls flat.)

[84651846190]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

You're assuming facts not in evidence; I don't have a "bare JD", quite the contrary, it's that I didn't shine in the two areas that law firm employers care about the most.

You're going to have to list your skills/interests to elicit any substantive responses.

[spleenworship]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

You're assuming facts not in evidence; I don't have a "bare JD", quite the contrary, it's that I didn't shine in the two areas that law firm employers care about the most.

Maybe part of why you "didn't shine" is that you use the rules of evidence coloquially.

Colloquially. (If you're going to write a troll response, you ought to cover all your bases. Otherwise, it just falls flat.)

Says Redmouse by way of totally driving the point home.

Go get a job where you don't interact with people much maybe?

[Void]

Have you tried the doc review circuit? Do you speak any foreign languages, or are you as useless as your bare JD?

You're assuming facts not in evidence; I don't have a "bare JD", quite the contrary, it's that I didn't shine in the two areas that law firm employers care about the most.

Maybe part of why you "didn't shine" is that you use the rules of evidence coloquially.

Colloquially. (If you're going to write a troll response, you ought to cover all your bases. Otherwise, it just falls flat.)

I wasn't trying to troll- your first post legitimately made me wonder whether you have an awkward or obnoxious personality that might have been affecting your job search, so I wanted to suggest that this might have been a factor. Now that you've responded I think your issue is pretty clear. Maybe look for jobs involving mostly computer interaction?

[Redmouse]

So you assume after just one post that I must have a bad personality, then you write an obnoxious post based on that assumption, and you take my annoyance as some confirmation that you were right the whole time. Sure you're not a troll?

I was polite to Biglaw Associate even though he insinuated I was useless but I'm not going to extend that same courtesy to the second person who tries to make a personal comment about me.

[Mick Haller]

Real estate (agent), insurance, Teacher (does going into teaching qualify you for IBR?), lower level bank (teller, banker), or low level local government positions? But I'm a 0L so don't know very much. Just throwing things out there.

Most banks have trust officers, which basically act as professional trustees. That's something a lot of estate planning attorneys do.

Pay is probably ~50k in smaller markets, 65-70k in larger markets.

There's a growing field of medical billing advocates who basically negotiate with hospitals on behalf of people who had catastrophic illnesses and are un- or under-insured. I am not sure what the salaries are like in that field, but probably not very good.

[Mick Haller]

there are also non-lawyers who act as professional fiduciaries and professional trustees. JD's can do this stuff.

some states (like Calif, and I think NY and NJ as well), allow state bar members to get their real estate brokers' license easily. Being a broker is great because you can open your own real estate office and keep all of your own commissions. But obviously that's not the greatest field at present.

[3ThrowAway99]

The answer is yes, a JD can and does often help for placement in fields other than law (or at least for certain non-attorney positions), BUT it is generally inadvisable to get a JD if you don't want to be an attorney.

[somewhatwayward]

So you assume after just one post that I must have a bad personality, then you write an obnoxious post based on that assumption, and you take my annoyance as some confirmation that you were right the whole time. Sure you're not a troll?

I was polite to Biglaw Associate even though he insinuated I was useless but I'm not going to extend that same courtesy to the second person who tries to make a personal comment about me.

Um, well, people have asked you a couple times what your other qualifications are that would be useful and you haven't answered, so operating under the assumption that all you have is a JD is reasonable, and a JD with nothing else is useless. It is nothing to you personally. All JDs with no other skills are useless. But you are super prickly. Relax.

[Anonymous User]

lol at that advice. getting a decent consulting job is harder than landing big law. Even if he was at HYS, he would not have a decent chance if he does not have prior experience.

This advice is frankly horrible (that you need a management consulting background, and that it difficult to get) and it is stupid that it is becoming conventional wisdom on TLS.

MBB (Mckinsey, Bain, BCG) hire from T6 schools with Top 5 MBA programs (Stanford, Harvard, Chicago), as well as NU (Kellogg), and Penn (Wharton). I would assume that they hire at NYU, Columbia, and Yale as well, but these schools have lower tier MBA programs, so it may be less viable for them to interview on campus.

If you interview 2L year, you are running the gauntlet, and have like a 1/50 chance of getting a job. I don't believe BCG or Bain hire 2Ls for their summer programs, McKinsey does. If you interview 3L year you have a pretty great chance at getting management consulting if you 1) have the #'s to get in the door (LSAT, ACT, SAT, GRE, etc.), and 2) spend two weeks studying case in point with your MBA buddies that are also trying to hustle management consulting positions. It is basically LSAT 2.0-- looks impossible, but just takes a lot of practice to get into the routine. Of course, most JDs just try to wing it and get slammed.

[eav1277]

Anyone have info on transitioning from law to real estate? Whether it be residential or commercial? Or lower level banking & CFP route? Just curious.

[sfhaze]

Anyone have info on transitioning from law to real estate? Whether it be residential or commercial? Or lower level banking & CFP route? Just curious.

Ken DeLeon.

[eav1277]

I feel like me might be an exception. I wonder how successful the average JD grad is going into real estate

[Borg]

lol at that advice. getting a decent consulting job is harder than landing big law. Even if he was at HYS, he would not have a decent chance if he does not have prior experience.

This advice is frankly horrible (that you need a management consulting background, and that it difficult to get) and it is stupid that it is becoming conventional wisdom on TLS.

MBB (Mckinsey, Bain, BCG) hire from T6 schools with Top 5 MBA programs (Stanford, Harvard, Chicago), as well as NU (Kellogg), and Penn (Wharton). I would assume that they hire at NYU, Columbia, and Yale as well, but these schools have lower tier MBA programs, so it may be less viable for them to interview on campus.

If you interview 2L year, you are running the gauntlet, and have like a 1/50 chance of getting a job. I don't believe BCG or Bain hire 2Ls for their summer programs, McKinsey does. If you interview 3L year you have a pretty great chance at getting management consulting if you 1) have the #'s to get in the door (LSAT, ACT, SAT, GRE, etc.), and 2) spend two weeks studying case in point with your MBA buddies that are also trying to hustle management consulting positions. It is basically LSAT 2.0-- looks impossible, but just takes a lot of practice to get into the routine. Of course, most JDs just try to wing it and get slammed.

I'm a JD/MBA going into banking, but had offers from 2/3 of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. The relative strength of the business school at an institution is not taken into account when considering a law school applicant, and all three firms recruit heavily from all of the T6 business schools, so they will be on campus. I'm not sure how you came up with your top 5, but hiring out of business school is not terribly linear based on any published rank. The rest of the analysis is pretty good. 2L summer positions can be tough to get, but if you really want it and keep at it during 3L it's possible (many b school students at top schools don't have jobs until right near the end of their program).