Is the dual JD from uOttawa Worth it?

[sensrock20]

Hello Folks,

I'd like to get some of your opinions on the uOttawa dual JD program. I'm very interested in practicing law in the states, however, it is simply unreasonable for me to attend a U.S law school, so the best option would be uOttawa's dual JD. However, I was wondering whether it would be better to go to a higher ranking school - Osgoode/UofT and write the U.S  bar rather than pursing the dual JD. Which one would have greater job opportunities?  

[Avatar Aang]

3 minutes ago, sensrock20 said:

Hello Folks,

I'd like to get some of your opinions on the uOttawa dual JD program. I'm very interested in practicing law in the states, however, it is simply unreasonable for me to attend a U.S law school, so the best option would be uOttawa's dual JD. However, I was wondering whether it would be better to go to a higher ranking school - Osgoode/UofT and write the U.S  bar rather than pursing the dual JD. Which one would have greater job opportunities?  

Canadian law schools have low placement rates in the US, with the exception of U of T. At U of T, 10-20% of the JD students land US Big law jobs and many JD/MBAs do as well (U of T JD/MBA is the best program in Canada to land a US Big law job). At Osgoode, almost no JD students land US Big law (<5 a year), and some JD/MBAs with strong grades and good networking skills will land them.

If you want to practice Big law in the US, you should be going to school there - preferably a school in the Top 50. While this year has been an anomaly with a lot of Canadian Big law lawyers moving to the US, no one knows if this trend will remain this way in the years to come. 

Michigan State University College of Law is ranked 93rd out of ~200 law schools in the U.S. News and World Report. I don't know what your career goals are in the US, but attending a low tier school is most likely not going to help you achieve it. You should do more research on US law school rankings and placement rates by school. Simply having a US law degree from a bottom tier school is not a good way to start your career. 

[Tomatoes]

Are you an American citizen/green card holder? If not, generally only biglaw firms will sponsor your work authorization - it would be difficult landing one of these biglaw positions from uOttawa's dual JD. 

 

 

[cold]

On 9/17/2021 at 11:52 PM, Tomatoes said:

Are you an American citizen/green card holder? If not, generally only biglaw firms will sponsor your work authorization - it would be difficult landing one of these biglaw positions from uOttawa's dual JD. 

 

 

I know It’s been a couple years since this post but I find myself on exactly this position—a dual citizen currently in my second year of undergrad in the JD/bcom program of uottawa. Would my options be as limited? Should I consider transferring to a US school? I’d love to have your opinion on this.