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Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

R. Jeeves wrote:Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

Tax LLMs are a thing for JDs. Regular LLMs -- the program most schools offer for foreign-trained attorneys -- are not.

Emma. wrote:

R. Jeeves wrote:Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

Tax LLMs are a thing for JDs. Regular LLMs -- the program most schools offer for foreign-trained attorneys -- are not.

I was looking at Harvard and Columbia's joint JD/LLM programs that they have in conjunction with schools in the UK. Are those only good for something if you're doing tax?

R. Jeeves wrote:

Emma. wrote:

R. Jeeves wrote:Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

Tax LLMs are a thing for JDs. Regular LLMs -- the program most schools offer for foreign-trained attorneys -- are not.

I was looking at Harvard and Columbia's joint JD/LLM programs that they have in conjunction with schools in the UK. Are those only good for something if you're doing tax?

Not necessarily, but those are somewhat special cases. There probably aren't many situations where an LL.M. from Cambridge or a B.C.L. from Oxford will be strictly necessary for a job, especially if you already have a Harvard or Columbia J.D. It may be advantageous on the margins, such as for prestigious federal government positions (e.g., circuit court clerkships or State Department) or academia, especially if you attended on a Rhodes or Marshall scholarship. But if your goal is BigLaw, then while it probably won't hurt, it won't add much value beyond your J.D. either.

Aeon wrote:

R. Jeeves wrote:

Emma. wrote:

R. Jeeves wrote:Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

Tax LLMs are a thing for JDs. Regular LLMs -- the program most schools offer for foreign-trained attorneys -- are not.

I was looking at Harvard and Columbia's joint JD/LLM programs that they have in conjunction with schools in the UK. Are those only good for something if you're doing tax?

Not necessarily, but those are somewhat special cases. There probably aren't many situations where an LL.M. from Cambridge or a B.C.L. from Oxford will be strictly necessary for a job, especially if you already have a Harvard or Columbia J.D. It may be advantageous on the margins, such as for prestigious federal government positions (e.g., circuit court clerkships or State Department) or academia, especially if you attended on a Rhodes or Marshall scholarship. But if your goal is BigLaw, then while it probably won't hurt, it won't add much value beyond your J.D. either.

gotcha. thanks for the info

R. Jeeves wrote:Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

I had an undergrad prof with a JD and two LLMs, one in health law and one in federal indian law. I was a little surprised when I showed up to law school and realized all the LLM candidates were internationals

Emma. wrote:

R. Jeeves wrote:Are there career paths for which this would be an advantage? Or is it generally for people with foreign law degrees?

Tax LLMs are a thing for JDs. Regular LLMs -- the program most schools offer for foreign-trained attorneys -- are not.

Agreed. You can't work in the tax group of my firm without a tax LLM. Literally don't know anyone with any other type.

I actually know someone who did the georgetown securities llm, went to the SEC for a bit, and is now in biglaw. But it seems an awfully expensive route to take and I'm not offering the anecdote as a recommendation of doing that at all. (Mostly I think since as a class we were buttfucked by the recession, it gave him another year to network/polish his credentials, and also to move to a different market. I don't know what the employment stats coming out of that program are like overall.)