Any idea on what the best preparation for JAG service may be? Looking for both courses and internships...
Possible internships: Federal Defenders, District Attorney, USAO, Public Defender, NLRB, EEOC
Possible elective classes: Labor/employment law, military law, any flavor of criminal law, admin law, environmental law, tax law, Fed Courts?
Our internships with the DA/PD allow you to sit second chair, however its going to be state law focused and military practice will not involve much state law. USAO/Fed Defenders will deal with federal law, which while probably substantively more applicable to be immersed in, will likely be a more "indirect" experience in terms of trying cases.
NLRB/EEOC and/or environmental classes and internships would be to get some exposure to the administrative law that the military deals with so much.
I'm on an active-duty JAG program so no need for a "JAG" internship (I'll do those over the summer)--just looking for the best education/experience base possible to make up for my three years spent in law school and out of the fleet--basically just looking for what's going to enable me to hit the ground running as a baby lawyer but relatively seasoned military officer.
Any advice appreciated, particularly from current and/or past Judge Advocates!
JAG preparation Forum
- Decimus

- Posts: 194
- Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2013 5:09 pm
Re: JAG preparation
Heavy litigation preparation is most useful. Don't fall for all the carrots they dangle in front of you irt operational or international law. If you're lucky, you will get to do a little of that in 20 years. But 99% chance is that your first tour is going to be primarily preparing sexual assault cases or doing wills etc.Bassett16 wrote:Any idea on what the best preparation for JAG service may be? Looking for both courses and internships...
Possible internships: Federal Defenders, District Attorney, USAO, Public Defender, NLRB, EEOC
Possible elective classes: Labor/employment law, military law, any flavor of criminal law, admin law, environmental law, tax law, Fed Courts?
Our internships with the DA/PD allow you to sit second chair, however its going to be state law focused and military practice will not involve much state law. USAO/Fed Defenders will deal with federal law, which while probably substantively more applicable to be immersed in, will likely be a more "indirect" experience in terms of trying cases.
NLRB/EEOC and/or environmental classes and internships would be to get some exposure to the administrative law that the military deals with so much.
I'm on an active-duty JAG program so no need for a "JAG" internship (I'll do those over the summer)--just looking for the best education/experience base possible to make up for my three years spent in law school and out of the fleet--basically just looking for what's going to enable me to hit the ground running as a baby lawyer but relatively seasoned military officer.
Any advice appreciated, particularly from current and/or past Judge Advocates!
- Black Hat

- Posts: 222
- Joined: Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:56 pm
Re: JAG preparation
Decimus wrote:Heavy litigation preparation is most useful. Don't fall for all the carrots they dangle in front of you irt operational or international law. If you're lucky, you will get to do a little of that in 20 years. But 99% chance is that your first tour is going to be primarily preparing sexual assault cases or doing wills etc.Bassett16 wrote:Any idea on what the best preparation for JAG service may be? Looking for both courses and internships...
Possible internships: Federal Defenders, District Attorney, USAO, Public Defender, NLRB, EEOC
Possible elective classes: Labor/employment law, military law, any flavor of criminal law, admin law, environmental law, tax law, Fed Courts?
Our internships with the DA/PD allow you to sit second chair, however its going to be state law focused and military practice will not involve much state law. USAO/Fed Defenders will deal with federal law, which while probably substantively more applicable to be immersed in, will likely be a more "indirect" experience in terms of trying cases.
NLRB/EEOC and/or environmental classes and internships would be to get some exposure to the administrative law that the military deals with so much.
I'm on an active-duty JAG program so no need for a "JAG" internship (I'll do those over the summer)--just looking for the best education/experience base possible to make up for my three years spent in law school and out of the fleet--basically just looking for what's going to enable me to hit the ground running as a baby lawyer but relatively seasoned military officer.
Any advice appreciated, particularly from current and/or past Judge Advocates!
Definitely can attest to the will part. Every person before a deployment is required to get a will, at least in my old unit. That is A LOT of wills being done on a VERY FREQUENT basis.