I’m an undergrad accounting major in my senior year. Lately I’ve been playing around with the idea of law school. The idea of becoming a tax attorney intrigues me and I hear accounting is the perfect undergrad major for it. But my question is the 3 years of extra schooling worth it, plus that huge debt? I’m mostly leaning towards just getting my CPA and forgetting about grad school altogether. Is law school ever gonna become cheaper? Especially with the declining enrollment rates? I also hear they may cut out the third year altogether since a lot seem to consider it a waste. Than it would seem more plausible to me.
law school can be much cheaper for someone with great grades and a high LSAT score.
btw: you might also consider a Master’s in Tax, if that is your interest.
I agree that with great grades and a hlgh LSAT score scholarships are readily available. My son has recently applied and it was surprising to us because selective colleges generally give little merit aid (as opposed to financial need aid). Full scholarships are not unusual for high credentials but probably not at top top schools. I have been a tax attorney for many years. I would generally advise against becoming one. If you really want to do taxes, then being an accountant is better for you. Most tax attorneys provide business advice with a tax focus and it is very far removed from filing tax returns (which is generally a good thing). Tax is actually a very intellectually challenging area for a lawyer (I can hear the laughter). It is very academic and interesting and exposes you to a large breadth of transactions. The reason I would advise against it is that a tax lawyer often is a small part of the deals and it is difficult to bring in business. You don’t hire a merger and acquisition firm because of its tax adviser. It is always someone else’s deal. Most companies and individuals go to their accountants for tax advice, not lawyers because they are used to dealing with the accountants who do their returns. Personally I have solved this issue by working on large tax credit transactions where the tax actually is the motivating part of the deal. I think becoming a lawyer is a great idea (subject to job availability discussed in many threads), but I think there are much better areas than tax. Of course, you don’t have to decide before you start law school. An accounting background can be very useful for a business lawyer.
I really enjoy business law. In my undergrad ive taken 3 law classes:
Business law
Advance business law
Law for accountants
I have a pretty decent gpa so far at 3.64 overall
I find a business attorney does more interesting work than accountants. Topics such as estate planning, mergers and acquisition, taxation issues all interest me
I had two friends in law school who both worked at big accounting firms as CPAs before attending and ended up back at the firms, doing quite well. I’d consider that route instead of going directly to law school.
Oddly, I just came across a survey that said tax lawyers are the happiest associates!! http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/01/who-are-the-happiest-law-firm-associates-.html FYI, it also said that renewable energy lawyers were the least happy. I work in the renewable energy field specializing in tax, and think renewable energy is a great field. I take it all with a grain of salt but thought it was relevant to this thread.