Let me start by saying that I am a bit of a lost soul. My background: I have an bachelors in economics from UC Berkeley, and a JD from University of Texas SOL. I graduated from Texas with a 3.35, which probably put me in the top 1/3 (Texas does not rank). After law school, I was a public defender in Colorado. I left that after a year and started working with my family in Texas in the real estate business for the last 4 years. Though I did some legal work, most of my work involved construction, management and getting things done. Now that my parents are retiring, I am considering returning to law practice but am having a hard time finding work. I am considering applying to a LLM program in Tax because I think it will increase my chances of landing a good paying job and because I believe I will enjoy the complexity of tax law. Btw, I am barred in California, Colorado, and Texas (yes, I am a sucker for punishment).

I want to know the following:
a) How do I get into a LLM Tax program without ever having taken a tax law class?
b) What are my chances of getting into Georgetown or NYU?
c) Will a Tax LLM make it much easier for me to find a good paying law job?
d) Should I just forgot about law and try to get an MBA?

I am truly lost and would appreciate any insight. Thank you in advance for your advice and assistance.

Hi Greenman! First, don't worry about being a lost soul. A lot of us have unusual backgrounds/taken different paths. The days of having one or two law firms on your resume seem to be over. That being said, re the Tax LLM: The biggest hurdle you are going to face is convincing the schools that you really are a tax guy and want to do tax. Most applicants have had some exposure to tax. Best would be practical work experience, but tax classes in law school (especially more than the basic income tax) work as well. Did you deal with anything tax related with the real estate business? Sales and use for construction materials? exemptions due to non-profit or govt. clients? Involved at all with company's income or franchise tax? Perhaps anything related to credits/incentives re building in certain areas? If so, you could talk that up and state how interesting you found it, etc... If not, I think it could be difficult to get into NYU or Georgetown (but, hopefully, someone with similar lack of experience/classes will post here and share their experiences). UF actually requires applicants to have taken basic federal income tax and gotten at least a B, but NYU and Georgetown do not require this. (NYU does recommend that admitted students take a 2 credit, no grade/no exam online basic income tax or read a text book on the subject). You have some time until applications are due, I would concentrate on gaining some exposure to tax, be it through a job or volunteering. Re jobs. The market is just now starting to turn around. It may be better to wait and get LLM in 2 years (and in meantime get some tax experience and/or help with VITA (volunteer income tax assistance). If you are near your law school, perhaps look into taking one or two tax classes there and develop a relationship with one or more tax professors. That should help!