[原创]美国JD的MYTH AND REALITY

Expert123

1. MYTH: The first year is extremely hard. The second and third years are easy.

REALITY: The first year is overrated. You can do above average work, and get above average grades. You are a better exam taker/paper writer in your 2nd and 3rd years, but so are your classmates. Besides, you can be busier as a 2nd and 3rd year because you may take more clinic classes, law review, etc.

2. MYTH: High ranked schools are necessary and sufficient for great jobs

REALITY: NO!!! The truth is, excellent English and good background and social skills in a low-ranked school >>> average English and poor background/social skills in a top school

3. MYTH: Job is very difficult (or very easy) to find

REALITY: It depends. For any given individual, jobs are either very hard or very easy to find, regardless of schools and grades (maybe except 4.0 GPA or YHS). It really depends on the person's own skills, personality, and his LUCK. It is nearly impossible to predict what situation a particular person will face in a job search. Yes, LUCK means a lot.

4. MYTH: You can make a lot of money with a JD

REALITY: If you get a large firm job, yes. But many people don't find these jobs, and those who do may not stay there long.

5. MYTH: JD is a SAFE degree to get

REALITY: It is extremely risky. It is ironic legal field is a very risky field that attracts a lot of risk-adverse people.

icewarm

5. MYTH: JD is a SAFE degree to get

REALITY: It is extremely risky. It is ironic legal field is a very risky field that attracts a lot of risk-adverse people.

Would you please elaborate a little bit more on this point? Many thanks!

Expert123

Sure.

Disclaimer: If you do not care about high-paying jobs, have a lot of money in the family, or just extremely talented and lucky, the followings do not apply to you.

Many Chinese JD applicants view the degree as a ticket to a good-paying (e.g. 6-digit) job. It is true that these jobs exist, and quite a few Chinese with JD degrees get these jobs. However, given the enormous investment into the JD degree, one must closely examine whether the odds for these 6-digit jobs is worth the investment.

1. JD degrees require 3 years, often with no scholarship or partial scholarship for tuition. Very, very few people get living expenses paid through scholarships. This is different from PhD degrees which usually come with tuition waiver and a stipend for living expenses. In many schools, 3 years require 35-40k in tuition plus 15-20k in living expenses every year. That adds upto 150k-200k in expenses on an AFTER-TAX BASIS.

2. Some people make about 30-40k between the second and third year. But that money is BEFORE tax. Some people do not find these jobs at all.

3. The competition for 6-digit jobs are extremely high even among Americans. Chinese must face competition from LLM students as well - e.g. firms have learned to hire LLMs for international associates for a cost that is often lower than salary for JDs. As a result, some JDs can only find jobs within the 40k-80k range BEFORE TAX. That is pretty scary with 150-200k in debt. It will take 10 years or more just to be debt free.

Of course, you may just get extremely lucky, or you may just be extremely brave. Then this risk may not apply to you.

icewarm

Thank you for the input.

        

One more question:

        

What kind of backgrounds would help one land a job in big laws, assuming he has
fair oral/written English proficiency?

Expert123

You are welcome.

Great backgrounds to have:

1. Engineering/Science background if you want IP law

2. Law degree in a top Chinese law school (LLB)

3. Work experience in famous law firms

titarina

to Expert123: does work experience in famous law firms really help ameliorate our backgrounds?  thx for ur tip~~

titarina

sorry, i didnt read the 4th reply. i thought that would help j.d admission.

xoxoacura

Very informative. And thanks for sharing!

stay_cool

Bravo!

Expert123, looking forward to your note on 美国LLM的MYTH AND REALITY. hehe~~

sevfye

Hi,Expert123: i have a question that whether a MA degree in Econ will be somewhat helpful,or any advantage? Which is a better future direction of law area for students with master degree like econ ? thank you in advance ~ ~