St. John's Bankruptcy LL.M Forum

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Canuck86

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St. John's Bankruptcy LL.M

Post by Canuck86 » Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:48 pm

Apologies for the long post. I was wondering if anyone had info on St. John’s bankruptcy LL.M. Like most here, I am skeptical about the value of an LL.M. (tax from NYU/Georgetown being the exception). But I am curious about the program. My situation is this: I’m a 3L at a T25 school. Grades are solid (should be order of the coif), and I’ve got good extracurriculars (law review managing board, moot court, bkrptcy judge externship, etc.).

I have the opportunity to go back to the firm where I worked this summer. However, the job is in a city I dislike, in a practice group I have no interest in, and overall, I don’t feel like it was the right fit for me. My goal has been to do restructuring/bankruptcy work in NYC, but I haven’t had any luck getting the attention of firms. Only a handful of alum from my school work in New York and almost no firms do OCIs here. I was aware of this fact from the outset, but it was the only school offering a full tuition scholarship, so I took the risk…

My reason for considering an LL.M. is not that I think the added credential would benefit me much. I just want networking opportunities and greater exposure to the NY legal market. I did some research and found an unexpected number St. John’s alum (J.D., LL.M., or both) in top restructuring practices (e.g., Skadden, K&E, Davis Polk, Latham, MoFo, Willikie, Pachulski, Akin Gump, Weil, Jones Day, etc.). I actually reached out to some LL.M. grads, who seemed to come from a similar situation as myself—good grades at a school that for whatever reason (usually geography) didn’t place many grads in NYC. No one had anything negative to say.

I know the school isn’t elite, but it seems to punch above its weight in this one particular practice area. The website says they offer “a variety of generous scholarships,” and I’d only go if I was offered significant money. If anyone has experience with the school or in the world of NY bankruptcy more generally, I’d appreciate any information you could offer. Thanks.

lavarman84

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Re: St. John's Bankruptcy LL.M

Post by lavarman84 » Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:26 pm

Honestly, you probably have more information on the program than anyone on this board. I think you might be better off asking this question in the Legal Employment forum on this site. Ask biglawyers who work in bankruptcy in NY which will give you a better chance of landing in that practice.(lateraling from your current big? mid? small? law firm vs. doing the bankruptcy LLM and networking)

Calka

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Re: St. John's Bankruptcy LL.M

Post by Calka » Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:26 pm

If you want to work in NYC Restructuring, your best shot right now is to do a clerkship in one of sdny/edny/del bankruptcy courts. The St. Johns LLM is a feeder program to the aforementioned clerkships (since many sdny and edny judges teach as adjuncts) and most clerk obtain positions in NYC restructuring shops post-clerkship.

It's not a bad program but just letting you know how you can avoid paying an extra year of tuition/losing a year to get paid and end up at where you want to be.

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