Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every Tuesday.

Q:Can you sanitize poor J.D. grades with an LL.M.?

Dreary

Dear Dreary: In a word, no. Sorry about that. Unfortunately, you can't run from or hide those grades.

As I have discussed in many, many past columns, your law school transcript will be a part of your history for the rest of your career. Trying to improve the appearance of your transcript with a high grade point from an LL.M. degree just doesn't work.

I have also discussed the general reasons for earning -- or not earning -- an LL.M. in a number of my past columns. In my experience over the years, I have found that unless you are a tax attorney or perhaps an international lawyer, an LL.M. does not enhance the way any employer will view your J.D. academics, class ranking or school.

I've noticed that there are a number of attorneys from foreign law schools with an LL.M. earned from one of the prestigious law schools here in the United States. I think in these instances it helps to show that they are able to understand the law in this country. However, it does not erase where they went to law school prior to arriving here nor does the LL.M. transcript replace the grades earned at the law school from their home country.

An LL.M. is not a useless degree, by any stretch of the imagination. It is an internationally recognized degree, one that some people compare to an MBA in the business world. It, generally, is earned in a relatively short period of time (one year), compared with the three years that it takes to earn a J.D.

All of this I'm sure is quite fascinating to you, but the bottom line is that if you are thinking about spending more money and another year of your life earning an additional law degree simply because you think it will "sanitize" your law school transcript, perhaps you should rethink this idea.

Best wishes!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates