Hey all,
I am graduating from a law school in NY. I have been accepted to Miami's tax LLM. I was born and raised in NY and wish to return to NY after the LLM and practice here. What are your opinions on obtaining the LLM down south with hopes of returning north. Will the LLM from Miami hold any weight with NY employers? Obviously, not many places are hiring right now, but the current economic/job situation aside, is the Miami LLM worth obtaining, if my intentions are to return to NY?

Thanks a lot!

Another factor to consider in responding to the above post. I am obtaining my JD from a law school outside of the top 100.

llmneedadvice -

Though you didn't specifically mention this, I like to remind people that an LLM is not a good way to offset a lower-ranked JD school. If your intentions are to get the LLM to further your education and take courses that you did not take or were not offered in law school, then that is one thing. But if you view an LLM as a way to boost your resume, that is something entirely different. Employers will not look at the LLM and ignore the JD. Most employers will heavily consider the JD and the JD grades in addition to the LLM. I only mention this because of the comment you added about your JD being outside of the top-100 and I wanted to make sure you did not have the illusion that an LLM would make employers drool. Unfortunately, it rarely has that effect.

As to your initial question - UM is a strong program, but is not considered one of the three best "national" program (NYU, Gtown, Florida). Going to one of those programs would make you much more competitive for jobs (though you correctly pointed out that many grads are struggling to find jobs now). Personally, I think that you could go to BU or even Northwestern and you would find that the programs are at least comparable if not slightly stronger and you would probably have more access to NY employers and recruiting. UM is not a bad program, but there are comparable programs closer to where you would like to wind up.

One of my concerns with UM is that it is not even the strongest program in the state of Florida, much less the southeast. If you are going to go south to get LLM and then go elsewhere to work, UF is probably the best option. I've always thought that some employers might wonder why you chose UM over UF. I think it is possible to get UM LLM and then find a job in NY, but I think you could improve you odds by going to BU, NW, UF, Gtown, or NYU.

If you do go to UM, you might have to do more of the job search work on your own; I doubt UM will have as many connections in NY... but that is a personal consideration and something that some can accept and others cannot. Good luck with the decision.

mw3L08 is correct, in my non-expert opinion. Nowadays, many top-flight JD graduates from top-20 law schools are having difficulty securing well-paying legal jobs. Networking continues to be critically important.

One additional suggestion: seriously consider entering the employee benefits' practice area, for which a tax background is useful. I know two employee benefits' attorneys at major law firms, and both of them have more work than time in which to complete it. Of course, you would have to do employee benefits' work. Not the most exciting field. Based on trends in the legal field, it is a much better career choice than pure tax.

Thank you for the responses. I am interested in tax and not pursuing the LLM to only enhance my resume. It is just one of the many considerations running through my mind at this point.

Interesting tip on the employee benefits field. I will keep that in mind. Thank you for taking the time to respond with your insight.

llmneedadvice -

I hope you didnt take my comments the wrong way. I didn't mean to suggest that you would see the LLM as a way to improve a resume or that your resume needed improving (like I could know that). I simply saw it was your first posting and have seen many people who think that an LLM is the key to a great job regardless of what their resume looks like.

UM is not a bad program, but I would suggest there are other schools that are at least as good for your career desires. Not saying that UM will not get you there... just that there may be better paths to take.

Good luck