Teaching College Level After Law School

[Stole Your Nose!]

Actually, that's not really true.  Just like anywhere in academia, where you got your degree and where you've published matters.  Academia is as snooty as biglaw in that respect. At anywhere (except apparently your particular school) an adjunct with a JD from Harvard Law with a note published in HLR and another piece here or there published elsewhere will trump your average PhD from Sam Houston State.  It depends on the subject matter and what you're publishing in as well.  If you're publishing on law & economics, particular industries, ethics, etc. you could find yourself teaching in broader subject areas than just Poli Sci classes in "The First Amendment" or "The Judiciary System."  A J.D. from an elite school is a perfectly acceptable path to academia.  A J.D. from average state school is a perfectly acceptable path to being a lawyer; the path to academia from there is much more narrow.

[just some guy]

I get it. It's just stupid. It's the opposite at LS. It's a turf protection thing on both the UG and LS level.

Bingo.

[nealric]

Edit: Another favourite qoute from a UG prof: "dear god, please tell me you don't let people call you doctor. You don't have a real doctorate."

Lol that's O.K. I think Esquire is way cooler 

Anyways, I think only M.D.s really get to call themselves doctor without anyone questioning.

[just some guy]

Edit: Another favourite qoute from a UG prof: "dear god, please tell me you don't let people call you doctor. You don't have a real doctorate."

Lol that's O.K. I think Esquire is way cooler 

Anyways, I think only M.D.s really get to call themselves doctor without anyone questioning.

And, ironically enough, some would say MDs aren't real doctors either. Go figure.

[txlawstu]

They usually require that you have graduate hours in the field you want to teach.  To teach at the community college level you usually only need a master's degree.  I was teaching last semester with the Master's I have not the JD I have.  A current position at my UG school says JD's with 18 hours of graduate work in the field are welcome to apply.  So, a JD is usually not enough unless you are teaching law classes.

[just some guy]

Actually, that's not really true.  Just like anywhere in academia, where you got your degree and where you've published matters.  Academia is as snooty as biglaw in that respect. At anywhere (except apparently your particular school) an adjunct with a JD from Harvard Law with a note published in HLR and another piece here or there published elsewhere will trump your average PhD from Sam Houston State.  It depends on the subject matter and what you're publishing in as well.  If you're publishing on law & economics, particular industries, ethics, etc. you could find yourself teaching in broader subject areas than just Poli Sci classes in "The First Amendment" or "The Judiciary System."  A J.D. from an elite school is a perfectly acceptable path to academia.  A J.D. from average state school is a perfectly acceptable path to being a lawyer; the path to academia from there is much more narrow.

I'm more or less in agreement with you. In the conversation i referenced earlier, the position in question was for the university's criminal justice program. It turns out (according the guy I was talking to, I didn't bother to look it up) Sam Houston has a top 10 program for CJ, and is thus considered prestigious. That is something I did not know. And I directly asked "So a JD from HLS with no PhD?". His response was "I will throw that app in the trash." Obviously, prestige differs from program to program and from school to school. Ahhh, prestige whoredom. It's a good thing we're in the legal profession, where such things don't matter.

[casper86]

Wow, I am so thankful for all those who took the time to respond to my question.

It seems like a got a mixed response. So, do you think I should drop out of law school (I am at a two-tier school in NY) and get a master's instead? ( I have no interest in devoting 4 yrs for a PhD).

[Stole Your Nose!]

Can you get a joint degree at your current school?  Usually that only adds a year....

I don't think that dropping out of law school would look great on a grad school application, and you've already got some sunk costs in this law degree, which actually leads to a profession.  If you only want to teach part-time, it'd be good to have a career full-time.  If you really don't want to do anything in the law, then I'd bail on it, I guess.

[Jamie Stringer]

Wow, I am so thankful for all those who took the time to respond to my question.

It seems like a got a mixed response. So, do you think I should drop out of law school (I am at a two-tier school in NY) and get a master's instead? ( I have no interest in devoting 4 yrs for a PhD).

Again, I'm assuming that you only want to teach community college because, at least in our university system, you need a Ph.D to be a professor.  That said, some CC districts are more stringent and while you might be eligible to teach with a master's degree, they tend to hire those with Ph.Ds because there is competition for those jobs. 

If you have no interest in being a lawyer/law school or teaching law, then I suppose dropping out would be the way to go. 

[todesgebruell]

I had three professors in UG who were JDs, no PhD.  Two taught business law and the other taught tax accounting.