re: OT Attorneys - Is an MPA/JD dual enrollment worth my time?

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It's not, but ok. First, a JD gets you into law, a massive and diverse professional field that touches on every other profession. It also suffices for an MA in nearly every field, including and especially in government

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Getting a JD because it suffices for an MA in another field makes little sense. Then get the MA if that is the route one wants to go.

There is no reason to spend the time, money, and effort for the JD unless you want to practice law.

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Unless you're going to a great school, scratch that and start over.

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This isn't accounted for here, and is skewed by Louisiana's lackluster legal market.

If you don't want to be a lawyer, don't go to law school. If you like the idea of being in law and policy but aren't sure if you'd want to practice law, that is a different matter.

But the same rules apply when thinking about law school. Unless you want to be a lawyer at any cost, don't spend top dollar unless you're going to a t14ish school. Beyond that, in the private/oos school 14-50 range, you need to understand that you'll need to do reasonably well to make the cost justifiable if you're in it for the money. The sweet spot, IMO, are the 15-25k a year top tier state schools. You'll still need to do reasonable well, but being 75k in debt won't hurt as badly.

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Just out of curiosity what is your experience with what I will generously term "non-traditional" J.D. career options?

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Original intention was to do national security. Did a lot of interviewing for various intelligence community/natsec/foreign affairs type non-legal positions. Had good traction in that arena but a few various things left me unable to pull the trigger (getting right assignment, justifying money, relationship) when the time came to make the jump.

Ended up going to work for a federal agency. Left to go to a pretty unique practice doing some public sector tribunal stuff that was in line with my national security interests (clearance issues, watch lists). Have somehow made it back to a more traditional commercial litigation job doing corporate disputes, employment, etc.

I came out at the height of the downturn for us, and the JD was always an asset. But perhaps more importantly, I met tons and tons of people along the way who had law degrees. Again, I'm not saying it is the right tool if you already know what job you want. But I certainly believe it has value on the basis of versatility.

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The sweet spot, IMO, are the 15-25k a year top tier state schools. You'll still need to do reasonable well, but being 75k in debt won't hurt as badly

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This. LSU, despite falling in the rankings is under 20k a year on tuition. Now, 6 semesters of tuition and room and board set me back over six figures. But it is the cost of doing business if that's what you want to do.

If I could do it over again, I would have taken more time to prep for the LSAT. I was a late applicant, and despite some good offers from other schools, I didn't leave enough time to negotiate a better scholarship--a lot of state schools just run out of money.

Talking to older attorneys about what to do is not the way to go. More often than not they just don't have current, relevant advice. To be honest, you sound a little all over the place with what you want to do. It should boil down to a few questions. Do you really want to practice law? Can you get into a T20-25 school? And are you willing to bust your arse for 3/4 more years of school (if you go the MPA/LLM route -- you'll need an LLM if you want to practice tax)?

If the answer to question #1 is no or maybe -- don't go. If the question to #2 is no, then only go if you can get either close to a full ride, go to a top 50ish state school, or you have some sort of cush connection when you graduate.

I only went to law school because I had a full ride. Didn't go to a top 50 school. Most of the kids from my class who are doing "well" busted their arse in law school. I also busted my arse and I'm now at a top school getting my LLM, but the past 3/4 years for me have been a HUGE sacrifice--and that's even having a full ride to law school.

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A bunch of people, though, get useless undergrad degrees and then can only get a me manual/dead end job. They work it for two years and decide they don't want to be a barista for the rest of their lives, and three months later are sitting for the LSAT

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To me, the point of Law being a graduate program is so that your law education can enhance the useful skills you learned in undergrad.

Otherwise we may as well be like most of Europe and make Law a bachelors program (LLB) rather than a doctorate. By making it a graduate program:
1)It makes people get useless degrees only to become lawyers
2)Draws in those that already have useless degrees to a career they think will make a lot of easy money (foolishly)
3)Drives up the cost of tuition, solely by being a graduate programme.

Which ultimately leads to a swollen talent pool which drives down employee demand and drives up graduate education costs.

Granted I am not a lawyer, just married to one.

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I honestly cannot afford to go to a top tier school. from reading up on most of the responses, I may need to sit with a buddy of mine whose father is an attorney, just to get a feel of what my true options are.

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That's a good place to start--what helped me was networking with younger guys who are more in tune to the grind of school and getting a job.

If you're accepted to a top 15 achool, make it happen--loans will suck but be worth it in the long run.

if you aren't, go to the best school you can afford. Look at the top "value schools" list that gets out every year. Alabama, LSU, Ga. Southern, etc are all top 100'schools that cost very little (in state) relatively speaking.

Again, if you're still in undergrad now, take the LSAT in February, and don't plan on enrolling until August of 2017. That will 1) give you time to bring up a low score and 2) of you tested well, schools are eager to lock up good applicants early and will be unloading more scholarship money than they will on equally qualified candidates late in the game.

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Institutional knowledge about your agency's finances , budgeting sources, descretionary/mandatory duties, TO, efficiency , productivity , initiatives and how you compare to other states.


People with this knowledge base, as opposed to the myopic view of only their job, will rise through the ranks. Folks with institutional knowledge and a strong work ethic are easily identified in state govt

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Yeah, this is a load of shite. I have been in State Government for 12 years, and the only way you get promoted are if you have pull somewhere, or you fit into certain "groups".

This isn't just one agency. I have worked for 4 agencies, and I have friends that work all over within the Government. The only place where merit comes into play is in the "control agencies" and still political pull comes into play.

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if you aren't, go to the best school you can afford. Look at the top "value schools" list that gets out every year. Alabama, LSU, Ga. Southern, etc are all top 100'schools that cost very little (in state) relatively speaking.

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que?

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Sorry. I meant Georgia State.

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Figured. At first I thought you meant Georgia and were including Southern as a separate school in that list, which was an even bigger WTF