While some US law schools offer what are termed masters (LLM) and doctoral (often 'SJD' or 'JSD' or the like) advanced degrees in law, few law professors (other

While some US law schools offer what are termed masters (LLM) and doctoral (often 'SJD' or 'JSD' or the like) advanced degrees in law, few law professors (other than those with a first law degree from outside the US) have such degrees. (Edit: It's somewhat more common to see law professors with a JD and a PhD in some other field such as economics or history, but this is still not the typical profile of a law professor at any tier of US law school.) At least at the relatively elite law schools, law professors do tend to be hired not too many years out of law school, often following a prestigious federal judicial clerkship and perhaps a couple of years of a stint at a top law firm. (That's probably mostly because those are the relevant biographical characteristics of those doing the hiring.) It is relatively uncommon to hire very experienced professionals (apart from adjunct positions). As you move to less elite tiers of law schools you see more ordinary faculty drawn from experienced professionals not necessarily having the cookie-cutter star credentials new hires at the elite schools have. First year classes may be taught by either very experienced law professors or fairly junior ones.