My career goal is to go to law school, practice law for a while, and then become a legal academic. I understand that a disciplinary PhD has evolved from an interesting addition on the resume to a gold standard. My question is quite specific, but I am wondering what the difference might be between a classic academic PhD and a practitioner’s PhD (i.e. Doctorate in Public Policy) for my goal of securing a teaching job? Ideally, my dream job would involve straddling an appointment at a law school with a position at an undergraduate legal studies program.

Name: David Benger ’14
Major: Politics, Russian Studies
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY