Yeah, I think I’m pretty bullish on JDs more than the average EA because it’s very useful for a ton of careers. Like, a JD is an asset for pretty much any career in government, where you can work on a lot of EA problems, like:
Risks from WMDs or pandemics (or general emergency preparedness)
Yeah, I think I’m pretty bullish on JDs more than the average EA because it’s very useful for a ton of careers. Like, a JD is an asset for pretty much any career in government, where you can work on a lot of EA problems, like:
Risks from WMDs or pandemics (or general emergency preparedness)
Animal welfare
International cooperation and coordination
Space law and policy
Environmental policy
Land use regulation
General economic growth
Improving voting and institution design
(Of course, lawyers can usefully work on these outside of government as well.)
I think EA-relevant skills in economics might be particularly valuable in some fields, like governmental cost-benefit analysis.
Of course, people in government can have a lot of impact on problems that most EAs don’t work on due to the amount of influence they have.
I also think that there might be opportunities for lawyers to help grow/​structure/​improve the EA movement, like:
Estate planning (e.g., help every EA who wants one get a will or trust that will give a lot of their estate to EA charities)
Setting up nonprofits and other organizations
Tax help
Immigration help for EA employers
Creating weird entities or financial instruments that help EAs achieve their goals (e.g., 1, 2, 3)
If I was not doing AI policy, I might write up a grant proposal to spend my time doing these things in CA.