How much of a benefit is having a CPA with a J.D.

[tombishop]

I attend a T3 schoool and am hoping to find a Tax Law related job upon graduation.  Will the fact that I have a CPA overcome the fact that I attend a T3 school? 

Anyone have a ballpark, and I mean +/- $25k estimate about how much a Tax Attorney starts out in the Midwest (Chicago/Minneapolis/Milwaukee/Indy)

[BigPimpinBU]

To ask how much a tax lawyer makes is sort of like asking, how much does a lawyer make? The answer is of course that it's all over the board. If you are Roni Deutsch, you make pennies on the dollar, working for people who owe $300 to the IRS. Or, you could be structuring the tax on an F500 merger at Skadden Arps.

[1sweetworld4136]

I wonder how Roni Lynn Deutsch (sp) affords all that airtime for commercials?

One of my friends (and possibly a future employer) has so many initials after her last name that it isn't even funny.  As if a JD was not a powerful degree, she has a MPA (masters of public administration), an MBA, an LLM, and a PhD in Political Science.  She's one of those trust fund professional type students with no money to worry about, and the last time we talked she was doing some pre-med work...oh boy.

The point is, anything is great with a J.D. - I for one always wanted to be a doctor and a lawyer, but I have my plate full dealing with becoming a lawyer.  Ask yourself this, however:  Do you really want to do tax law?  Do you have it in you?  It's a gutwrenching decision for some - yet others are moderately interested and can do that kind of thing day in and day out.  There are endless possibilities.

[BigPimpinBU]

Tax law, from where I'm standing, is actually pretty fun. It sort of combines the best of finance/econ and substantive law. If you are doing mergers, it gets really complicated and interesting.