JAG

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Navyswim

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Is it possible to be selected to go to law school after the USNA to become a JAG?
 
Not immediately following graduation. However there is a competitive program for SWOs to attend law school and lat transfer to the JAG Corps.
 
“Competitive” is the key word in @Kierkegaard post. The Navy gets the majority of its JAGs from civilian colleges and law schools. Top-performing junior officers have an opportunity to apply for the LEP program; a handful are selected every year.

Navy Lawyers - Law Education Program | U.S. Navy JAG Corps

The Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps provides solutions, from a military perspective, to legal issues involving military operations, organization, and personnel, wherever and whenever such solutions are required, with primary focus on operations, accountability, Sailor legal readiness, and...
www.jag.navy.mil www.jag.navy.mil
 
LEP is not just for SWO's. One of my squadron mates got picked up for LEP. I took over a Squadron Legal Officer when he left.
It's a great program -- full pay and allowance during Law School, I think it was a 3 for 1 year payback at the time.
I applied myself after my first tour and was an alternate -often wonder what my career would have been like.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
LEP is not just for SWO's. One of my squadron mates got picked up for LEP. I took over a Squadron Legal Officer when he left.
It's a great program -- full pay and allowance during Law School, I think it was a 3 for 1 year payback at the time.
I applied myself after my first tour and was an alternate -often wonder what my career would have been like.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I was about to make the point that LEP is not just SWOs as I've seen other communities send promising folks to Law School as well.
Actually, I know a whole bunch of my USNA classmates who are lawyers and none of them went through the Navy/LEP
 
Ditto - many Navy shipmates of mine, various commissioning sources, used their VA educational benefits to go to law school after they retired or separated. Admiralty law, contract law/defense acquisitions, environmental law (a SeaBee friend), veteran advocacy/claims appeals, etc.
 
Capt MJ said:
Ditto - many Navy shipmates of mine, various commissioning sources, used their VA educational benefits to go to law school after they retired or separated. Admiralty law, contract law/defense acquisitions, environmental law (a SeaBee friend), veteran advocacy/claims appeals, etc.
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Ditto and if I drill down a bit further, I think Aviators turned lawyer outnumber all of the others combined and some of them are quite prominent in the field.
 
Now another question I have is how would it work if I graduated as an USMC officer and still wanted to become a JAG?
 
Navyswim said:
Now another question I have is how would it work if I graduated as an USMC officer and still wanted to become a JAG?
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FY19 FUNDED LAW EDUCATION PROGRAM (FLEP), EXCESS LEAVE PROGRAM (ELP) SELECTION BOARD RESUL

R 271751Z NOV 18MARADMIN 671/18MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MM//SUBJ/FY19 FUNDED LAW EDUCATION PROGRAM (FLEP), EXCESS LEAVE PROGRAM (ELP) SELECTION BOARD
www.marines.mil

I found this MARADMIN you might find interesting. It lists the applicable directives e.g. REF A, REF B, etc. that you can find and learn more about FLEP and ELP. Also, Marine Corps lawyers are not JAG officers but are Judge Advocates.
 
My wife and I both loved JAG. She watched for Harm and I watched for Mac with the occasional crossover.
 
JAG, similar to NCIS, was always good for a few laughs on no-way-in-reality situations.
 
Ditto and if I drill down a bit further, I think Aviators turned lawyer outnumber all of the others combined and some of them are quite prominent in the field.
Click to expand...

Seriously though, I had 2 attack aviators in my company who both did 20 yr carers and then became lawyers. A classmate who I often interacted with in the Reserves was a pretty prominent Patrol guy and recently ran for Attorney General of NY, now a bigtime private lawyer in NYC. A former reserve boss of mine on 2nd Flt Staff was a Reserve SWO flag and afterward executive Director of the American Bar Association. That's just a quick list, no real
time spent thinking about it. None of them were JAGs, all were Line Officers.

Oops: don't want to leave out another USMC classmate who was DoD Inspector General and had other gov't law jobs as well as some high profile corporate gigs. Also not a JAG.
 
It's really tough to go JAG if you attend USNA. As noted, you can't do it directly. There is a program for junior officers, but it's very limited. If you're sure you want to be a JAG, you're better off getting a degree from a civilian college and then looking at the programs that will allow you to be a JAG. However, be sure that's what you want to do . . . as others have noted, it's VERY different than what is shown on TV.
 
Very different from TV. My in-house counsel was a JAG (his son went to Air Force). He said most of his cases were alcohol and drug infractions and AWOL. Lots of young sailors and Marines who went home because they misssed mom’s cooking. Turns out it was a lot less glamorous than professional liability claims and contract law (and that’s saying something).
 
One of the big pros of being a JAG is early trial experience. I believe your first year is spent as a defense attorney and your second as a prosecutor. The "downside" (as noted above) is that the cases aren't generally all that interesting, especially for junior JAGs. But most junior attorneys in private practice don't get a lot of "first chair" trial experience unless they are public defenders. It's a great skill.
 
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