JAG, law school etc.

A

aa5252000

Appointee Dad
5-Year Member
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My cadet is considering JAG. She has some doubts tho since there appears to be a two year wait between graduation and applying for law school

some questions I have are: once she decides on law school what are the real chances she can get into JAG? Where do most of the JAg lawyer types come from, i.e. OCS, ROTC or other?

We want to have all the info we can get so she doesn't waste two years for something that may turn out to be very different than what she expected.

Any info is appreciated.

P.S. Thudgate was great big THANKS to everyone who helped put it on. See you next year for another one.
 
My recollection from a student a few years back, is that the procedure for applying to law school is similar to medical school. You do your time at the academy, you take the LSAT, you apply to law schools, simultaneously applying for the air force to let you go to law school if accepted, they say yea/nay, and life moves on. After becoming a lawyer, you then get military training in the UCMJ (Military law) and similar disciplines.

As far as being JAG, that is part of the assignment process. You could be assigned as an ADC (Area Defense Council). Basically, the "Court appointed Lawyer" for military members requiring a lawyer's services. Or, you could be assigned a prosecutor type case or assignment. That is a totally different area.

But to answer your question, there are no guarantees. It isn't guaranteed that she will be accepted to go to law school. If she's fortunate to be, then no problem. All military lawyers are part of JAG. "Judge Advocate General". They are "Judge Advocates" and they all work for the "Judge Advocate General". Each branch of the military does it slightly different, but basically it's the same. So, again, she has to do the 4 years at the academy, apply to law school, take her LSAT, get accepted to the school, apply to the air force at the same time to go to law school, then graduate from that and be assigned as a judge advocate to practice law for the military. Remember, there are no guarantees, from any of the academies or even ROTC. Obviously, the best opportunity, it to do your entire degree program, including law school, on your own and come in OTS. But the military may or may not need her at that time. They could have too many lawyers. There's no guarantees in the military. best of luck. mike....
 
JAG is very very competitive, and since she has to do 2 yrs AD before she can apply, the commissioning source is not going to play into as much as the LSAT and the recs.

Here are a couple of links for you
http://www.afjag.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123166606
The FLEP, which is a paid legal studies program for active-duty Air Force commissioned officers, is an assignment action and participants receive full pay, allowances and tuition. Applicants must have between two and six years active-duty service -- enlisted or commissioned -- and must be in the pay grade O-3 or below as of the day they begin law school.

The ELP is an unpaid legal studies program for Air Force officers. Participants do not receive pay and allowances; however, they remain on active duty for retirement eligibility and benefits purposes. Applicants must have between two and ten years active-duty service and must be in the pay grade O-3 or below as of the first day of law school....

To be considered for FLEP or ELP, applicants must have completed all application forms and applied -- acceptance is not required at the time of application -- to at least one ABA-accredited law school, received their law school admissions test results and completed a staff judge advocate interview by March 1. Officers also must provide a letter of conditional release from their current career field.
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http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202431259048&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
The Air Force has the second-largest JAG Corps, with about 1,200 judge advocates. In 2008, it received 769 applications for 120 positions, up by 27% from the 605 applications it received in 2007, according to Lt. Col. Bryan D. Watson, an Air Force judge advocate. The Air Force received 480 applications between January and the end of May, meaning 2009 is on pace to eclipse last year's total.

"Anything that we could say about why there has been an increase would be purely anecdotal," Watson said. "It may well be that at least part of it is due to our increased visibility. But it may be because of the economic situation. We just don't know."

Melody Briand, who graduated from the University of Akron School of Law in December 2008, was initially rejected by the Air Force JAG Corps last fall. She reapplied and was accepted in February, when the selection board chose just 20 of the 210 applicants. She recently passed the Ohio bar and will begin her military training in August.

"I was definitely concerned after I was rejected, but I was told that [rejection] is common and I should just keep applying," Briand said. "I really didn't think I would get it."
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Hope that helps
 
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