Hello,

I am an American citizen (and a Dutch citizen) and did my law school + LLM in NL. I was wondering what the chances are of me ever being able to get a job at a decent law firm in the U.S. and if I have to get another degree if I want to be able to do that.

Thanks in advance for your responses!

J_E,

In order to practise law in the US, you must get the American BAR. To get the American BAR, some States (as NY) require you to get a degree in the US. In this case, you should even do a JD or a master of laws (LL.M.) in the US.

Thanks for your reply. So I can choose between an LLM and a J.D.? Does a J.D. with a lot of taxation subjects have more benefits than an LLM in tax law?

A JD is the right way to become an American lawyer and it takes 3 years. However, if you can not stay three years in the US without working, you can do the LL.M. (which takes around 9 months). I am not a tax lawyer but I know that some American universities have very good tax programs.

What do you mean by staying in the US without working? Are you not allowed to work parttime while in law school in the US? In Holland LLM students very rarely work if they study full time.

It is really hard to work in the US while you are going to Law School. Most of the programs here are full time and they also have a lot of lectures everyday.