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I am a 2L wrapping up the semester, and I have a question about an issue that is unclear to me. I have had federal income tax this semester (which I enjoy quite a bit), and the firm I worked for over 1L summer has told me that they could see me being a very good tax attorney. I am ranked very high in my class, and I have a different firm lined up for the upcoming 2L summer. In short, I feel like I have been successful at law school thus far.

BUT, I do not want to go to law school any longer than it takes to get a JD, and I do not want to get an LLM. My question is why so many tax attorneys (a disproportionate amount compared to other practices) get an LLM in addition to their JD. I am interested in being a tax attorney but not if it means additional schoolwork.

I've looked into tax LLM programs at length, and it seems that they're necessary if you can't get a tax job out of law school. If you can get a (good) tax job out of law school, you won't need an LLM. That being said, I've also talked to a few people who decided to go back later and get their LLMs because they thought it would make them better practitioners, but it was a personal choice rather than a necessity.

I just finished my tax llm. I think the advice above is basically good.

If you find a tax job, take it. Otherwise, a GULC/NYU llm could be worth it- though I would look long and hard about thr cost. Dont count on biglaw from the llm.