I'm an American student with a JD from a Tier 1 law school. I'm beginning an LLM in Taxation in two weeks and I'm thinking of adding a master's degree to my studies.

I am considering taking the requisite courses to sit for the CPA exam. I wonder how useful is it to have both an LLM and CPA since they function in the same areas (like being a doctor and a nurse at the same time).

Alternatively I was considering an M.S. in Finance, but I'm not sure if there will be much demand for an overlap in finance and taxation at that level.

I welcome your opinions.

It probably depends on what you want to do. Do you know what kind of law you want to practice?

I think in some states, the courses you take for the tax LLM will count toward required CPA coursework.

In the field I'm in (EP/Small Business) it seems like a lot of people have either a CPA or an LLM.

Conrad, do you have an accounting degree already? If so then you will only have to take a couple of masters-leveled courses to meet the 150 unit requirement to be eligible to sit for the CPA exam. However, if you do NOT have an accounting degree, you will need to take several undergraduate accounting courses to be eligible to sit for the exam. In almost every state that I know of, you will also need to work under the supervision of a CPA for a year full-time or two years part-time to be eligible for a license.