I'm not saying that they don't at all Hedek (you're certaintly right that they do and I apologize if I came off saying that) - but that it's very much the exception, not the norm (1 out of 10 perhaps do it, though of course, there is no science to these numbers), so the LLM was never seen as a vehicle to further one's career if you came from top tier schools (with the receipt of a magna cum laude (or in rare cases, summa), at least in the case of H and S, together with being a member of the "elect", being considerably more important and determinative in opening the doors to academia than doing an LLM).

You're right though of course that there has been a decrease since the 1950-60s when more Americans seemed to undertake the LLM than presently :)

l I'm trying to say in this thread is that the economic crisis does not decrease the value of LL.Ms, all the contrary. Constantly bringing up the crisis to argue that our prospects are bad helps no one.
Even in great years, an LL.M isn't a sure bet for a US career. So why would it be any different now?

History shows that whenever there is an economic crisis, there is also an inflation of degrees. Between 1945 and 1973, undergrad degrees were enough for virtually any job (except law and medicine). After 1973, MA MBA and MS became nigh mandatory for elite positions.

The benefit of an LL.M doesn't last just one year after graduation. It's there for the rest of your life. Assume someone wants a job in the US and doesn't get one after his '10 LLM. Well he can keep on trying his luck later.
Assume someone defers and the economy picks up in 2010. Instead of being able to take advantage of it, he'll be stuck in law school until may 2011.

When this economic slowdown is over, candidates with LL.Ms will have an edge over the others, no matter whether they obtained it in 2010, earlier, or later. A friend of mine turned down Harvard and Georgetown LLM a few years ago to accept a job offer at Shell. She never regretted that decision. Indeed, retrospectively that was a great decision since she didn't need that credential to get the career she wanted. And by starting working sooner rather later, she got promoted at a younger age, and earned more money sooner.

If you're foreign, and you're doing an LL.M only to get a job in NYC, yes you'll most probably be disappointed when you graduate in may 2010. But if you end up getting a job in NYC in 2014, you'll be glad you earned an LL.M a few years ago.
Odds of getting a job in NYC will increase when the economy gets better and you have have a US LL.M. But they probably won't change if you only have a foreign degree.

In difficult times, unless you have a good job, investing in your education is always the best decision. You might not reap the rewards straight away, the economy might not improve immediately after you graduate, but sooner or later it pays off.

Great post Hedek :) I would add, however to the phrase "In difficult times, unless you have a good job, investing in your education is always the best decision", the caveat that "once you are sure of your objectives and have studied the vices and virtues of spending what is a considerable amount of money for kind of opportunities that it affords to you and your goals".

In difficult times, unless you have a good job, investing in your education is always the best decision. You might not reap the rewards straight away, the economy might not improve immediately after you graduate, but sooner or later it pays off.

Great post Hedek :)

You're right - we probably differ a lot less than what a third party looking at this conversation might come to conclude and your encapsulation of the discussion thus far is fair, though of course, I should add that my "absolute" position is itself subjective (there is a lot of "absolute" value in an LLM if the aim is to go back home etc etc etc, and yet, a lot less "absolute" value if the aim is to get a job in NY than, say, three years ago - "absolute" value is therefore, relative to the aims and goals of one's future career path), though your observation on the relative value of LLMs especially internationally (and in particular, in the French context as you pointed out) is definitely spot on :)

In a certain sense then, though we both seem to have distinct characterizations of the issue, we both come to the same conclusion (that Santa came to earlier on as well): an LLM is an amazing opportunity to get to know people, network, and get a great job back home (on the assumption that you don't already have one) and I would add "to have a great time in a different country and soak its culture"; but that you shouldn't necessarily come to the US thinking that getting a job here is necessarily going to be easy or possible or with the singular aim of working here or financing your education via loans on the premise that you can only pay it back with a Biglaw salary in New York.

I truly appreciate everyone's arguments and contributions, however WHAT particular job market are you guys referring to? Is it solely about the commercial, corporate law job prospects? Even so, are even 'high street' firms' laying off or deferring future employees like those larger ones?

Not everyone wants to be a business-related attorney....

Not everyone wants to be a business-related attorney....