OT: Miami Law

[TheMatador]

What's "T-14"? Top 14?

Who's in the top 14?

 

[TheMatador]

Funny forum to choose for this, but I happen to know the answer. Depends on what you want to do. A good general rule is go T14 if you can get in, otherwise take a full ride from a lesser school if you get one. No money and not a top school? May want to consider a different career path.

Next consideration - Staying in Miami (or Florida)? Then UM is fine. Still will need to finish top 25% at least to get a good job.

Finally - tax. UF is a better school for tax than UM, but Georgetown and NYU are the two schools really known for tax law. If you are really set on tax, you can do an LLM at NYU or Georgetown after the JD. Note that you will not get paid more for having the LLM, but it is a quasi-prerequisite to getting jobs at the major law firms in NYC, etc. (unless you have a T14 degree, then the LLM isn't necessary).

Good luck.

The best tax Lawyers I knew in NYC ( big firms) did not have LLM's. Same might have been true for those I knew in private practice in D.C. LLMs seemed to be bigger for IRS people. They usually did not have JDs from elite law schools so they were trying to enhance their resume with an LLM.

Georgetown LLM students were usually not at same level as those in the more selective JD program.

 

[McGahee2TheHouse]

What's "T-14"? Top 14?

Who's in the top 14?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_s...s_that_rank_in_the_top_14_.28aka_.22T14.22.29

 

[taxcane]

Don't go to law school. That is the solution to your problem. No tax law jobs at big law firms.

 

[bdm13]

Miami is an average law school with an expensive price tag. If you have strong LSATs/GPA, the only way you should consider going is if they throw a ton of money at you. UF and FSU have better reputations with much lower cost.

This is not correct. FSU has no reputation at all outside of Tally. If you plan to practice biglaw, UF or UM are the only reasonable choices for you in Florida.
-UM Law graduate at Biglaw NOT in Florida

Last time I checked FSU was a top 50 law school for half the tuition of Miami. If your goal is to work in Big Law (I'd personally rather spend my day banging my head against a wall) you'll need to finish in the top 10% of your class (perhaps better) at Miami or FSU. So why pay the tuition for Miami?

Miami gives a substantial amount of scholarship money to those with even moderately good LSAT and GPAs.

Big Law hiring: it's true that they recruit from the top 10% of the class at schools like FSU. At the larger city schools, like Miami for instance, there are a number of Big Law associates hired from outside the top 10% because they make connections with partners and work clerkships or internships during school. Those opportunities don't really exist at FSU.

On working at Big Law: with the exception of the very few successful solos and bleeding hearts out there, the only people who say they don't want to work Big Law are people who can't hack it or get into a big firm. I personally enjoy working on the most sophisticated and complex deals while being paid at the top of the pay scale. The best in-house positions usually require their hires to have Big Law experience because the training and experience is considered the best. If that's not your thing, well, I don't know what to tell you.

That's great that you enjoy what you do. I'd rather have a midget punch me in the nuts once an hour around the clock than have your career, but I'm not judging. To each their own.

As for Miami law, sure if they are giving you a 50%+ scholarship, and your only other options are 2nd tier schools, maybe it's worth considering. I would think though that if Miami is throwing 30K/year at you, your numbers are probably good enough to get in to a much better school.

Fair points. To each his own. I probably should have dialed the hyperbole back. I also could have been clear that I was mainly referring to law students, who tend to covet Biglaw jobs until they realize they won't get one.
Some folks choose Miami over a T14 because they can receive significant scholarship money and plan to practice in Miami. In that case, it makes a lot of sense. I've always told people to look at the alumni of the law schools they're considering in making their decision. A school like Texas or SMU makes much more sense if the student wants to practice in Texas. With that said, I'm not sure a Texas law degree is going to open any more doors outside of Texas or the southwest for a person than a UM degree would (perhaps a few, based on UT's huge alumni). I'm almost sure an Alabama degree wouldn't open more doors than a UM law degree. Both schools are ranked significantly higher than UM (Alabama's ranking is a mystery to me). I think we can all agree that the rankings between T15-100 don't correlate very well with job prospects.

 

[Al Foil]

The Tax Code will be fundamentally changed/eliminated under the next president (Trump or Cruz). I would not go into accounting or tax until you see how it shakes out.