Hi,

I applied to several LLM in Tax programs, including Georgetown and NYU, like many of you. But I can't seem to get any solid statistics about job placement from either program. I attended the Open House at Georgetown recently, and one of the current students there said he had very good grades his first semester, graduated from his law school in the top 10 people there (not percent), albeit from a tear four school, and even had an Accounting background, but did not have a job as of April 15th. He also said that about 50% of the Tax LL.M's at GT had no jobs as of April 15th. I assume that, of the 50% that have jobs, some of them actually had jobs BEFORE they attended the program, or just did the program part-time, so that means, of the people that entered the program with no job, less than 50% had a job as of April 15th. I fear that the investment might not pay off.

First, I want to know, bottom line, what are the chances of getting a job with a large firm, tax boutique firm, Big 4 Accounting firm, a Federal Tax Clerkship, or the IRS Honors program, with good first-semester grades in the GT Tax LL.M. program, but with very little work experience in tax or accounting? My fear is that, this 50% figure would be even lower for someone who is doing the program full-time, with very little work experience, which is frightening.

Second, is NYU any better, given the same facts? Like, will good grades first semester likely lead to a job at a large firm, or should I wait, maybe defer, and get some more work experience. Right now I'm working at a very small litigation boutique firm.

Third, has anyone found any stats on this stuff? I have seen some general placement stats on various sites, but those stats don't take into account that many Tax LL.M's for a given program had jobs BEFORE they went in, did the program part-time while working, or had tons of work experience before they quit their job and did the LL.M. in Tax (especially NYU).

If there is anybody on this post who has spoken to someone who is currently attending GT or NYU LLM in Tax, went through the interview process, etc., I'd love to have the inside scoop.

Thanks.

I don't know if NYU or GT publish employment stats, but Northwestern does. Maybe this can give you a good idea of how it is in other programs such as GT or NYU (which are higher ranked). The information is very general, but at least it's something.

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/career/statistics/llmtax.html

Regarding NYU, so far most of the tax students stop finding job since late March. Those with both JD and LLM tax already got jobs from both law firm and accounting firm. Among this group, those who got high GPA got job in top law firm. Those with only LLM and good GPA from first semester also got their jobs even though mostly in accounting firm. There are only few students still look for job because their grades are not satisfying.

Personally, I feel that tax grads from NYU are not enough for NYC market. And law firm is not an indication of success as some of my friends got offer from both accounting firm and law firm, but they chose accounting firm because of the character of job that rather relates tax planning than specific tax issues.

However, I cannot say that 100% of NYU tax this year got job because many of Int'l students dont look for job in US.

This is just my opinion !

Anecdotally, NYU has much better placement than any other tax LLM. I don't know exactly how much better, but as you should know, prestige is everything in the legal profession.

It's easier to get admitted to NYU's tax LLM program than it is to get a BIGLAW job, because I was unable to get a BIGLAW offer yet I did get into NYU.

NYU was the only LLM I applied to because I figured that any other program would just be a waste of time and money. (Not in the sense that I wouldn't learn anything, but in the sense that I'd know a lot about tax law but be unable to find work actually using my knowledge.)

So, Bob D and Mint, do you both think that Georgetown is not worth the investment, in that it won't lead to a good job in tax law? I have mixed feelings, myself. To clarify, I would be a domestic LL.M., in that I have a J.D. from an American law school, and I have been working for one year in a small litigation firm since my graduation in May 2006 from law school.

Second, what is the deal with Accounting Firms - what kinds of salaries do they pay LL.M's and is the work legal work, like legal research and writing or what?

Third, I think my primary goal is to do a federal clerkship or work for the IRS Chief Counsel's Office when I finish the LL.M. Will Georgetown be just as good as NYU for this kind of thing? Would the Univ. of Florida or Northwestern be fine as well?

Fourth, if I end up going to a firm, I would like to practice tax litigation, preferably criminal tax law, but I'm worried that the LL.M is more for transactional tax lawyers, and that it wouldn't really help me get where I want to go.

OK, sorry for all the questions, and thanks for taking the time to help.

NYU is definitely the top tax LLM program in the US, so the job prospects are a little higher than in other schools, but don't forget that the school reputation is only one of the many aspects employers consider.

Accounting firms do not pay the same as law firms - I know for a fact that the salary at one Big4 accounting firm is less than 100k.

I went to the Open House at GU and met several tax LLM students which were about to finish, from what they told me they were required to provide their first semester grades in the job fairs that took place between January and February. Moreover, I am not sure if this is gonna help you but out of the 11 international tax lawyers attending the LLM, 6 applied for jobs in the washigton and NY area, out of those 6, 4 got a job offer by April.

you provide your grades when you actually go to the job fair to meet the firms who invited you for an interview

Does it make a difference if you're a domestic LL.M versus an international LL.M, regarding job prospects afterwards? Would a domestic LL.M have equally good prospects as previous posts have discussed? Does the caliber of a domestic LL.M's law school (where a domestic got his J.D.) count for anything? Thanks.

If you had some BIGLAW interviews with your JD, but none of them converted into a job, then you are probably at the borderline where the LL.M. will push you over the edge and allow you to get a good job.

But if you are in the position above, then you probably have good enough grades to get accepted into NYU, which is where you should go if you can.

I dont wanna compare between GW and NYU as I dont know information regarding GW.

However, I would say Job prospect for those who have both "JD" and "LLM Tax" are much better than those who have only "LLM Tax". If you are Int'l student with JD and LLM tax, surely, your job prospect will be ranked at the same level as American students with the same degrees. JD is very very important anyway, especially if you want a Lawfirm. The pure LLM Tax does some help, but not much help as you think, unless you do very good job during your LLM.

I dont know other states salary. Hw, for New York City, $110,000/year for Big4, plus some bonus (my friend got $5,000) and $170,000 for law firm.

Your FALL semester grade is surely important and you will start job hunting at the begining of Spring.

Walker

Many Northwestern-tax grads of last year got job in IRS. Personally, I think it is not so difficult to get job at IRS.

Like Walker, I too am debating about getting an LLM. I'm a JD whose been practicing for about 7 years. I handle some estates and trusts but I really want to focus in on that area. I'm wondering if getting an LLM in tax will help me in that regard. Does anyone know about this? Thanks.