Legal News

Is LL.M. a Good Back-Up (or Back-Up, Back-Up) Plan for Poor Market?

By Dan Slater

According to the ABA, 2009 will see nearly 44,000 fresh-faced law school grads carrying an average debt load of about $73,000 in loan debt. But, as the NLJ notes today, only a small fraction will land the big firm job, leaving the rest to wonder whether they’ll find “any kind of attorney work” post-graduation.

The NLJ story is real drag to read. But a comment by Carole Montgomery, the director of career development at George Washington law, caught our eye. She said: “I’ve got students coming in asking if they should go for an LL.M.”

Montgomery advises against the LL.M. as a delay tactic. “I tell them, ‘you need to make a good-faith effort to get yourself a job,’ ” she said. “They’ve got to have a back-up plan, and a back-up, back-up plan.” (She’s urging students to apply for jobs with government agencies — particularly HUD — to take advantage of loan-forgiveness programs.)

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).