Hi. I'm writing this e-mail from South America and I hope it will not be a nuisance because the lenght of the post. I would like to know your opinion regarding the real possibilities of beginning a career in the USA as a law professor after 45 years. Actually, I'm 42.

I am an American citizen, but I was raised in South America. Because of numerous life issues I completed law school beyond (+30) the average age (+- 23/25), which prevented me from having a good law school record. Here law school is 5 year mandatory curriculum, civil law tradition, no previous college required, a lot of students go to law school at 18/20.

However I had several accomplishments, and I worked as a labor lawyer for more than 8 years for large companies.

I overcame all the problems, completed a postgraduate degree in labor law, and just finished a master's degree in human rights (with quali-quantitative field research related to moral harassment in the banking sector).

My dissertation received honorable mention (nomination for publication by the University, one of the Top 15 public universities of the country), and I hope to have two books published this year. One of them is the dissertation, the other has already passed a selection notice and is being revised (it was written jointly with two other university professors) for publishing

I am currently a professor at a local, small, no prestigious law school and I support the Dean of Law School in a specific area of ​​the law program.

I know I need to publish in US law journals/reviews and read up-to-date books on the discussions at the American Legal Academia as soon as my English is fluent enough,

I plan to attend a PhD on international law and/or human rights.

I would like to know your opinion:

1. about the real chances of beginning a career as a law professor in the US after 45 years old (I believe that I can only start the PhD in 2019, and it will take from 3 to 4 years).

2. if it is almost mandatory requirement, as my academic background was outside the US, hold a PhD or SJD at a US Law School, or even work a year as Visiting Scholar (Post-PhD / SJD or maybe a fellow research).

3. If financial aind committees take into account the candidate's age for PhD / SJD, or consider the hole package (ie: American citizen, Latin heritage, fluent Spanish and fluent Portuguese, academic and professional achievments and records, recomendation letters).

I never thought, at a younger age, to pursue a career as a law professor, until I had the opportunity to act as a tutor in a legal clinic at a Law School. This experience changed my life.

Maybe it will be possible to have a better life in US (it´s getting too hard here, specially because of social conditions and urban violence).

So I will be very grateful for any impressions or considerations, and again I apologize for taking your time.

GMS.

Hello,

I honestly feel that you are better off addressing these queries in a more "professional/career" forum. Majority of the participants on this forum are way below the age bracket you are in and dont know much about becoming professors of law.
I suggest that you reach out to a professor in your desired country for better and more accurate information.

At the risk of sounding extremely pessimistic, I suspect the chances are quite poor. Even for local applicants with top credentials, the prospects of finding a faculty position are not good. If you look at the faculty profiles at even the most mediocre US law schools, you will notice that they tend to have amazing credentials. From what I have seen, that market is saturated. Of course, I might be wrong but that's my observation.

I am a 48 year old PhD candidate in one of the world's top 100 business schools. I suggest you do a PhD in a legal business question and become a business law professor in a business school. There is an over supply of lawyers and a shortage of business school professors. We have, in my office, some researchers looking into refugee camps, other looking at the impact of regulation, and I am sure other questions have legal aspects.