U.S. Law degree worth it?

[sunshine11]

Hello,
I am currently attending law school in the U.S. It's my first sememster. My husband got a great job in Singapore and we are planning to move there by the end of this year. My question is whether I should finish school in the U.S. or not. I know I can't practice in Singapore with U.S. law degree, but are there any job opportunities for U.S. attorney fresh out of school in Singapore? I found that SMU has J.D. program. Am I better off applying to that program instead? How competitive is it to get in to SMU? I would really appreciate any insight.

[YankStuckinSuiss]

This might help, but this is for the U.S. job market

http://www.halfsigma.com/2008/06/law-sc ... op-14.html

http://www.halfsigma.com/2011/01/the-la ... times.html

My experience is with friends who are lawyers in America. If they move to a smaller city they might have a good chance in the job market, but in large competitive cities, maybe not. I had friends who went to top 20 schools who could not find permanent jobs in Washington D.C. for years. They just worked temp positions. There was just too much competition...New York was worse.

If you want to work in Singapore with a U.S. law degree...no clue.

[Asian_Geekette]

Hello,
I am currently attending law school in the U.S. It's my first sememster. My husband got a great job in Singapore and we are planning to move there by the end of this year. My question is whether I should finish school in the U.S. or not. I know I can't practice in Singapore with U.S. law degree, but are there any job opportunities for U.S. attorney fresh out of school in Singapore? I found that SMU has J.D. program. Am I better off applying to that program instead? How competitive is it to get in to SMU? I would really appreciate any insight.

@sunshine11:

You may want to check the information in the website of the Singapore Law Society: http://www.lawsociety.org.sg/

Before you go for the SMU J.D. program, you need to ask yourself, where do you see yourself practicing law 5 or 10 years after you finish your law degree and pass the bar? If it's in Singapore, then it makes sense to study locally and then apply for the bar exam and pass it. But if you eventually want to go back to the US to practice law, check whether your legal degree that you're planning to get in Singapore would be enough to qualify you to take the bar exam in the state where you want to practice. You may find that you would need to study for another year or so before you'd be allowed to apply for the bar in that state.

Hope this helps.

PS I'm a law school drop-out. But I'm glad I got out when I did and used the discipline acquired in law school to pursue a different path - one that's technical and universal enough that I can move from one country to another without worrying about bar exams.

[ausinsg]

The SMU JD programme is set up to be pretty intense, so you need to consider the study life balance too. It does fast track you to be able to get your degree, but it still takes 2-3 years of intensive effort. It also costs SGD$66k the last time I checked.

As you are coming to a new country you might want to consider the experiences you could have here, or around the region given the number of cheap flights and group buying deals you can find here now.

Consider checking out if your state would recognise the University of London external LLB programme for admission to their bar? There are a few schools you can do that at here. I'd recommend ATC as I have had friends study there and they seem to have testimonials about the good results they get. You would have a choice of day classes with full time local students, or evening classes with working professionals.

Alternatively just finish your JD back home, and use it to get a job here but not specifically a legal one. Start that career when you return home.