<p>I am currently working on my undergrad degree and won't graduate for a couple more years but I have been considering multiple options for when I do graduate. I thought about getting a Masters, an MBA or a JD. I don't want to go work first, I want to go straight in which is tough when pursuing an MBA.</p>
<p>The JD degree/studies seem to match up with my personality the most, in my opinion. Definitely more so than than that of a business school or masters program. I did some research on the GRE, GMAT and LSAT tests and from those, the LSATs seem to be a better match if I want to do well. My undergrad degree is in Management Information Systems. IT/IS/Business kind of degree which I am interested in. </p>
<p>The only thing is, I don't want to practice law, at least not in the classic sense. Which in my mind is going to court, representing clients and that kind of thing. It's not something I am against, though. So my question would be, based on the little info I have provided, would this be a good idea? Is a JD good for other careers rather than just being lawyer? Are there students that go to law school that don't want to be lawyers? It sounds like an obvious answer which would be no, given the title "Law School" but I have heard of people doing may things with this degree.</p>
<p>I want to offer my opinion, but I don’t think it to be of merit; I am only an undergraduate as well. However, it is a fact that you can work in business holding a JD you do not HAVE to be a lawyer, here. However, I cannot understand going to law school to pursue another interest entirely. Law school is specifically constructed to produce legal professionals, i.e., lawyers. It is not constructed to provide a legal background for those looking to work is business; although, as mentioned before, several in business have JDs. For example, I personally know a dealership owner who has his JD. But let me summarize my point here: while the JD can help you in business, it is not constructed to do so. So, if practicing law is not your final interest, why go to law school? Do you know what you want to become? Do you know what else you want to be besides a practicing attorney? Law school is not constructed to provide a legal background for people who are merely interested in law; it is constructed to teach future attorneys how to think like a lawyer, preparing them for the legal profession. I am afraid that you going to law school just as a filler between now and knowing what you want to be is not advisable. I would suggest either finding it in your heart that you want to be an attorney or looking elsewhere to fill in the gap between now and knowing what you want to be.</p>
<p>(There is one caveat: if you are extrmely wealthy, you can afford to spend a few years in law school while figuring out what you want to be besides a practicing attorney.)</p>
<p>Don’t go to law school unless you plan to practice law. When I attended law school, over 25 years ago now, the canard was that “you can do anything with a law degree”; there was a whole cottage industry of books on the topic-you can be a Hollywood producer! You can be a Cordon Bleu Chef! You can be President of the United States!
Then, as now, it was patent nonsense; especially now, when there are Master’s degrees in just about every field, no matter how esoteric.<br>
But…the practice of law doesn’t always involve going to court; many lawyers make very good incomes and never step into a courtroom. From your post, though, it seems pretty clear that you don’t want to practice law, and believe a law degree with make you marketable in some other field. It won’t. Don’t go unless you want to practice law.
And then there’s the whole debt vs. degree value…but we’ll leave that for another date.</p>
<p>What about if someone wants to be a tax specialist in a company? What if they were to have a Masters of Accounting simultaneously with a JD? Then they wouldn’t necessarily be practicing law as an attorney, but maybe being a CPA with a JD who is looking to run a department.</p>
<p>XFM: If you’ve got a Master’s in Accounting, don’t think you’d need the JD; law schools teach very little tax law(to specialize, most tax attorneys go on to get their LLM, but I digress, as the premise is not going to practice law). And since lawyers have an established reputation as lousy managers, having a JD may actually be a hindrance in running a department for private company. A CPA with a law degree? If not practicing law, don’t see how it helps. If practicing as a tax attorney? Absolutely helps, but again, OP doesn’t want to practice law.</p>
<p>@crankyoldman: Well, I guess in my hypothetical scenario that person would be practicing law. I was thinking more of the “in-house council” sort of route.</p>