Investment Banking -> Biglaw? Forum

[UnBankingO]

I posted this in the employment board but was locked :/

For some background, I'm currently an analyst at a top investment bank (think GS/MS/JPM) finishing up my first year and trying to decide what to do next. I've done a lot of research into exit opportunities and the way I see it, my options after banking are hedge funds, private equity, corporate development or staying in banking, none of which seem particularly attractive to me.

First off, I'm not particularly passionate about markets or finance so I can't imagine being happy at a HF regardless of the money (the entire industry is melting down anyway). Private equity seems like it could be interesting but I don't think it's a viable long term career path for a variety of reasons, including way too much dry powder, inflated valuations, a surplus of managers, and more sophisticated management teams. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a massive contraction in the industry in 5 years as returns from the past few years shake out and managers try to raise new funds. Corporate development just seems boring and slow paced, with minimal room for advancement. With banking, I enjoy thinking about and actually executing deals, but even at a top group, you're spending 75% of your time on business development, putting together worthless pitches and relationship materials.

This brings me to law school. I've always been interested in law (much more than finance at least, I was a history major in college) and took the LSAT before I graduated. Based on my scores and GPA, I'm confident I can get into a T6 (maybe even HYS) or get some $$ at a lower T14. I think my experience in finance could also be a plus when actually practicing. From my work so far, the high level legal deal work seems very interesting. That said, I only have the vaguest idea of what associates actually do - I haven't had much exposure to the actual documentation side of things so I don't know if I would actually enjoy it. The hours generally seem better than banking but that isn't a huge consideration for me.

Has anyone here made that same transition or worked with people that have? Were they happy with their choice? Thanks for any input.

[BernieTrump]

.

[stoopkid13]

I think it depends on what kind of law you want to practice, but I see few to zero good reasons to go into corporate work. I know a few people who tried to move from law to IB and felt good about the switch (I know one person who switched back to law). I don't know anyone happy switching from finance to law.

If you like making deals, why not just stay at your bank? The banks are going to do more to steer the deal than law firms anyway (I think there may be a small exception if you go into tax or antitrust advisory, maybe).

[AceofSky]

Hey OP,
I saw your other post in the other thread just today. I'm very interested in your position and your insights (especially how those "coveted" exit opportunities might fizz out). I'm a sophomore going into my junior year as a finance major at a semi-target university that is heavily considering to start networking this summer to land a IB gig for next summer and potentially full time. However, I'm really going over my options and evaluating whether it would be worth it. I enjoy both finance and corporate law, but the prestige of getting a law degree is highly attractive to me. I'm not entirely sure what to do. If I were to do IB, I would only stay in the industry for a maximum of 1-2 years and then head off to law school just like how you're considering to do it.

But anyways, some things to consider are that lawyers work for the bankers. So assuming you do biglaw, you might be working with some of your previous colleagues. With your numbers and work experience, I'd say you should definitely apply to the majority of the T-14s. You have a pretty great shot at HLS and below. If I were in your position, I would also consider B school or a JD/MBA dual degree. (There's a bunch of threads regarding this topic on this site). Also, please do some research as to what associates do! Don't blindly swap careers and keep in mind that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Finally, there's a few good sources I found when I Googled your situation a year or so ago. There were a good couple of sites that had personal accounts and the process and everything else. I think one of the sites was Mergers and Inquisitions.
Best of luck to you mate

[existentialcrisis]

. I enjoy both finance and corporate law...

How could you possibly know this?

Hey OP,
the prestige of getting a law degree is highly attractive to me.

This is a terrible reason to go to law school.

If you have the chance you should definitely get some work experience before applying to law school:

1. Because it can help you gain some perspective and help you figure out whether you actually want to be a lawyer.

2. Because if you do want to be a lawyer it will help you at OCI and probably make you better at your job.

I am K-JD and tell everyone I can not to do it.

[AceofSky]

How could you possibly know this?

I apologize if I came off as arrogant or ignorant.
I've had two S&T internships. And as far as corporate law goes, I've lurked on this forum for a year as of 3 days ago (I think?) and I've had the opportunity to talk to a few lawyers about their daily schedules/work conditions/what they basically do. I've also taken a few BLAW classes in UG.

This is a terrible reason to go to law school.

You're definitely right on that being a terrible reason, but I didn't mean it to be the only reason that I wanted to attend law school.

[ausimpv]

Hey OP,
I saw your other post in the other thread just today. I'm very interested in your position and your insights (especially how those "coveted" exit opportunities might fizz out). I'm a sophomore going into my junior year as a finance major at a semi-target university that is heavily considering to start networking this summer to land a IB gig for next summer and potentially full time. However, I'm really going over my options and evaluating whether it would be worth it. I enjoy both finance and corporate law, but the prestige of getting a law degree is highly attractive to me. I'm not entirely sure what to do. If I were to do IB, I would only stay in the industry for a maximum of 1-2 years and then head off to law school just like how you're considering to do it.

But anyways, some things to consider are that lawyers work for the bankers. So assuming you do biglaw, you might be working with some of your previous colleagues. With your numbers and work experience, I'd say you should definitely apply to the majority of the T-14s. You have a pretty great shot at HLS and below. If I were in your position, I would also consider B school or a JD/MBA dual degree. (There's a bunch of threads regarding this topic on this site). Also, please do some research as to what associates do! Don't blindly swap careers and keep in mind that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Finally, there's a few good sources I found when I Googled your situation a year or so ago. There were a good couple of sites that had personal accounts and the process and everything else. I think one of the sites was Mergers and Inquisitions.
Best of luck to you mate

With all due respect, your enthusiasm is cute but you know nothing about law school or applying to law school or anyone's chances until you do either. The fact that you are even giving big law advice when you are not and have never even been a mere summer associate is laughable. OP, do not take advice from a sophomore in college about anything law school related! And ps, no one needs an MBA to do big law or corporate work. And getting a law degree just for prestige is foolish. You've been warned.

[jkpolk]

I posted this in the employment board but was locked :/

For some background, I'm currently an analyst at a top investment bank (think GS/MS/JPM) finishing up my first year and trying to decide what to do next. I've done a lot of research into exit opportunities and the way I see it, my options after banking are hedge funds, private equity, corporate development or staying in banking, none of which seem particularly attractive to me.

First off, I'm not particularly passionate about markets or finance so I can't imagine being happy at a HF regardless of the money (the entire industry is melting down anyway). Private equity seems like it could be interesting but I don't think it's a viable long term career path for a variety of reasons, including way too much dry powder, inflated valuations, a surplus of managers, and more sophisticated management teams. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a massive contraction in the industry in 5 years as returns from the past few years shake out and managers try to raise new funds. Corporate development just seems boring and slow paced, with minimal room for advancement. With banking, I enjoy thinking about and actually executing deals, but even at a top group, you're spending 75% of your time on business development, putting together worthless pitches and relationship materials.

This brings me to law school. I've always been interested in law (much more than finance at least, I was a history major in college) and took the LSAT before I graduated. Based on my scores and GPA, I'm confident I can get into a T6 (maybe even HYS) or get some $$ at a lower T14. I think my experience in finance could also be a plus when actually practicing. From my work so far, the high level legal deal work seems very interesting. That said, I only have the vaguest idea of what associates actually do - I haven't had much exposure to the actual documentation side of things so I don't know if I would actually enjoy it. The hours generally seem better than banking but that isn't a huge consideration for me.

Has anyone here made that same transition or worked with people that have? Were they happy with their choice? Thanks for any input.

As a corporate lawyer at a top firm, you are almost certainly farther away from the actual action/decision-making than your investment banker counter-part on the deal (unless you luck into a p rare situation), although you're both service providers. Unclear if that matters to you.

[appind]

I posted this in the employment board but was locked :/

For some background, I'm currently an analyst at a top investment bank (think GS/MS/JPM) finishing up my first year and trying to decide what to do next. I've done a lot of research into exit opportunities and the way I see it, my options after banking are hedge funds, private equity, corporate development or staying in banking, none of which seem particularly attractive to me.

First off, I'm not particularly passionate about markets or finance so I can't imagine being happy at a HF regardless of the money (the entire industry is melting down anyway). Private equity seems like it could be interesting but I don't think it's a viable long term career path for a variety of reasons, including way too much dry powder, inflated valuations, a surplus of managers, and more sophisticated management teams. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a massive contraction in the industry in 5 years as returns from the past few years shake out and managers try to raise new funds. Corporate development just seems boring and slow paced, with minimal room for advancement. With banking, I enjoy thinking about and actually executing deals, but even at a top group, you're spending 75% of your time on business development, putting together worthless pitches and relationship materials.

This brings me to law school. I've always been interested in law (much more than finance at least, I was a history major in college) and took the LSAT before I graduated. Based on my scores and GPA, I'm confident I can get into a T6 (maybe even HYS) or get some $$ at a lower T14. I think my experience in finance could also be a plus when actually practicing. From my work so far, the high level legal deal work seems very interesting. That said, I only have the vaguest idea of what associates actually do - I haven't had much exposure to the actual documentation side of things so I don't know if I would actually enjoy it. The hours generally seem better than banking but that isn't a huge consideration for me.

Has anyone here made that same transition or worked with people that have? Were they happy with their choice? Thanks for any input.

interested to know how you got a job as an analyst in top finance with your major. do they hire someone only with humanities background?
could you elaborate more on why you think PE may contract and if managers in PE industry care about advancement or just money?

[existentialcrisis]

interested to know how you got a job as an analyst in top finance with your major. do they hire someone only with humanities background?
could you elaborate more on why you think PE may contract and if managers in PE industry care about advancement or just money?

I don't think this all that uncommon at targets?

[SmokeytheBear]

I posted this in the employment board but was locked :/

For some background, I'm currently an analyst at a top investment bank (think GS/MS/JPM) finishing up my first year and trying to decide what to do next. I've done a lot of research into exit opportunities and the way I see it, my options after banking are hedge funds, private equity, corporate development or staying in banking, none of which seem particularly attractive to me.

First off, I'm not particularly passionate about markets or finance so I can't imagine being happy at a HF regardless of the money (the entire industry is melting down anyway). Private equity seems like it could be interesting but I don't think it's a viable long term career path for a variety of reasons, including way too much dry powder, inflated valuations, a surplus of managers, and more sophisticated management teams. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a massive contraction in the industry in 5 years as returns from the past few years shake out and managers try to raise new funds. Corporate development just seems boring and slow paced, with minimal room for advancement. With banking, I enjoy thinking about and actually executing deals, but even at a top group, you're spending 75% of your time on business development, putting together worthless pitches and relationship materials.

This brings me to law school. I've always been interested in law (much more than finance at least, I was a history major in college) and took the LSAT before I graduated. Based on my scores and GPA, I'm confident I can get into a T6 (maybe even HYS) or get some $$ at a lower T14. I think my experience in finance could also be a plus when actually practicing. From my work so far, the high level legal deal work seems very interesting. That said, I only have the vaguest idea of what associates actually do - I haven't had much exposure to the actual documentation side of things so I don't know if I would actually enjoy it. The hours generally seem better than banking but that isn't a huge consideration for me.

Has anyone here made that same transition or worked with people that have? Were they happy with their choice? Thanks for any input.

PM me if you want to discuss. Too long of a conversation to try and sensibly reply here.