JAG v. current commercial lit firm job
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 3:41 pm
I need some advice.
I have an offer with the Army to start JAG in October. For those not familiar with the JAG program, it's a 4 year commitment (as, in you cannot quit for 4 years, may be deployed and basically are an army officer). Financially they upside is you're PSLF eligible, can qualify for a low IBR repayment (because your actualy take-home ia usually less tyhan $70,000) but you get alot of un-taxed benenfits such as a couple thousand a month to go to housing expenses, $500 a month for food, and free healthcare etc for self and family and up to $65,000 (which is taxed) in student loan repayment (seperate from PSLF). Professionall the upside is you get to try out lots of different kinds of law (criminal, legal aid type stuff, admin, contract) and get veteran's preferecne in federal hiring afterwards (which is huge for federal hiring purposes). I already know where I will be based for my first 2 years (my first choice) but after those years (or if I get deployed) I could go somewhere really shitty which would mean my partner would have to quit his dream job (which is VERY geogrpahy specific) or our fam would be long distance.
But I also have a current job as the only associate in a 2-Partner law firm that does mostly commercial litigation and transactional work for smaller clients. I bill about 1800 a year, have a salary of $70k, 401k, great health benefits and it is in my target geographic area. I have gotten lots of excellent hands-on litigation experience (I go to court at least once a week, handle smaller matters pretty independently, draft and argue motions, take depos, second-chair jury trials etc) and they even paid for me to get special trial training. The downer: I hate commercial litigation or maybe I just hate the work enviro at my firm. It's kinda like dating someone you're not gonna marry; a filler with an expiration date. Of course I can suck it up and do it for a few years, but my real passion has always been more regulatory enforcement or criminal type stuff, which is what I did throughout lawschool. My dream job is to be an AUSA in my current market and I feel like the longer I do commercial lit, the harder it becomes to transition to what I really went to law school to do.
So my question is: should I do JAG or just wait it out at my firm until I find a better gig? I've been info interviewing like crazy wth people at bigger commercial lit places, firms that specialize in other civil lit, the AUSA, clerks, in-house. But there's no consensus. If I wanted to do federal work anywhere, JAG would obviously be the better professional option. But it's not easy for JAGS have find post-JAG work in this my target geogrpahic market and there are limited federal employers here. Financially JAG is hand's down the better option (because my salary is about the same but I get that PSLF AND the loan repayment). But I really am not into the whole military thing (I love working out, I hate the patriotic bs, and the idea of being stationed for 2 yrs at Ft. Polk terrifies me). How much am I professionally forceslosing what I really wanna do by staying in this job as oposed to JAG?
I have an offer with the Army to start JAG in October. For those not familiar with the JAG program, it's a 4 year commitment (as, in you cannot quit for 4 years, may be deployed and basically are an army officer). Financially they upside is you're PSLF eligible, can qualify for a low IBR repayment (because your actualy take-home ia usually less tyhan $70,000) but you get alot of un-taxed benenfits such as a couple thousand a month to go to housing expenses, $500 a month for food, and free healthcare etc for self and family and up to $65,000 (which is taxed) in student loan repayment (seperate from PSLF). Professionall the upside is you get to try out lots of different kinds of law (criminal, legal aid type stuff, admin, contract) and get veteran's preferecne in federal hiring afterwards (which is huge for federal hiring purposes). I already know where I will be based for my first 2 years (my first choice) but after those years (or if I get deployed) I could go somewhere really shitty which would mean my partner would have to quit his dream job (which is VERY geogrpahy specific) or our fam would be long distance.
But I also have a current job as the only associate in a 2-Partner law firm that does mostly commercial litigation and transactional work for smaller clients. I bill about 1800 a year, have a salary of $70k, 401k, great health benefits and it is in my target geographic area. I have gotten lots of excellent hands-on litigation experience (I go to court at least once a week, handle smaller matters pretty independently, draft and argue motions, take depos, second-chair jury trials etc) and they even paid for me to get special trial training. The downer: I hate commercial litigation or maybe I just hate the work enviro at my firm. It's kinda like dating someone you're not gonna marry; a filler with an expiration date. Of course I can suck it up and do it for a few years, but my real passion has always been more regulatory enforcement or criminal type stuff, which is what I did throughout lawschool. My dream job is to be an AUSA in my current market and I feel like the longer I do commercial lit, the harder it becomes to transition to what I really went to law school to do.
So my question is: should I do JAG or just wait it out at my firm until I find a better gig? I've been info interviewing like crazy wth people at bigger commercial lit places, firms that specialize in other civil lit, the AUSA, clerks, in-house. But there's no consensus. If I wanted to do federal work anywhere, JAG would obviously be the better professional option. But it's not easy for JAGS have find post-JAG work in this my target geogrpahic market and there are limited federal employers here. Financially JAG is hand's down the better option (because my salary is about the same but I get that PSLF AND the loan repayment). But I really am not into the whole military thing (I love working out, I hate the patriotic bs, and the idea of being stationed for 2 yrs at Ft. Polk terrifies me). How much am I professionally forceslosing what I really wanna do by staying in this job as oposed to JAG?