Seeking Advice for Bankruptcy Lawyer to Finance
I’m a 33 yr. old bankruptcy/corp. restructuring lawyer practicing for 7 yrs. now at a midsized NYC firm where I’ve been able to get a lot of experience working on both big/high profile and middle market Ch.11s on both the debtor and creditor side and have worked a lot with claims trading issues. I’m trying to transition to finance as a distressed debt analyst either buyside or sellside at either a HF, IB or Asset Management group. I’ve already searched other WSO threads related to this issue and spoke with some analysts, traders and some former bankruptcy lawyers who made this jump. I’m taking some Wall Street Prep courses on modeling (I’ve already done claims analysis excel models for some Ch.11s), reading books like Moyer’s “Distressed Debt Analysis”, and trying to network as much as possible. I’m aware that DD opportunities are not great in the U.S. right now.
1) What else should I be doing?
2) I’ve been told that getting my MBA at this point would not be worth the expense even if I had the time. I’m not sure how I could study for the CFA while working 60-70 hrs per week as a lawyer and even if I could, would it help me enough to be worth it?
3) I’ve been told one of the most probable paths is to get hired as a DD analyst by a small developing fund. Can anyone recommend how to seek out funds like that?
4) Can anyone recommend a recruiter/headhunter that is used to placing people in DD positions like this?
5) Does anyone recommend a different path for breaking into finance considering my background? I’ve thought about fixed income trader, for example, but I don’t know if someone with my background would be considered for that or how I would have to start out. I’m also not sure if I should look into jumping to turnaround restructuring advisory groups like Houlihan Lokey or Zolfo Cooper (I’m not familiar with their compensation scales and I’ve been told they require a lot of travel).
I appreciate any advice.
what are you making now, and why do you want to leave?
Below is a summary/rant to answer you.
According to the WallStreetOasis.com 2010 Compensation Database for IB and the comp reports on abovethelaw.com (plus what I know from the law industry), the average IB VP's total comp is significantly better than the total comp of just about any 8th associate attorney and the average IB 3rd yr associate is doing better than most 6th yr associate attorneys even by biglaw pay scales. Not so great when you have invested the time and money and were not working for 3 yrs of law school and have spent several years working 60 - 90 hrs per week with little to no hope of those hrs getting any better (believe me those hrs don't even get better when you are a partner for several yrs). Plus, due to how the economy and legal industry have changed in recent years, the concept of "partnership track" barely exists any more. You basically need to develop your own 7 figure per yr book of business in your free time outside of your 60-90+ work week (no matter how good or bad you are at what you do) and succeed in convincing your employers that the business you bring in is actually yours while they dig up every excuse to say that you met your client contact in the course of working at their firm therefore it's the firm's client and not yours. I could jump to one of the biglaw firms but then I would go from working 60+ hrs per week and being left alone most weekends to working 80 - 90+ hrs per week and having to work most weekends for only $20 - $50k more per yr plus becoming partner and developing a book of business while working at one of the big firms today is about as likely as winning the lottery.
I like the people I work for and I'm very good at what I do and I have no doubt I could eventually become partner at my current firm. I just don't think its worth it to stay in law given the limited income potential relative to the work hrs and poor quality of life. While I would prefer more quality of life, I have no problem working 60 or even 70-80 hrs per week but as long as I am getting paid enough for it and as long as I am on a path to get paid enough in the future. So I'd be willing to start at a position that would give me at least $200k or pretty close total annual comp. as long as it would put me on the right track breaking into finance long term. And ultimately I do like business better than law. Staying in business related law like bankruptcy/reorg has been one of the few things that kept me sane. I don't think I'm entitled but I'm a monkey not a donkey.
How frequently do bankruptcy lawyers transition to restructuring groups at banks? I've heard some lawyers become distressed debt traders, but I don't know how common it is. Anyone know?
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Bumping. Any insights on this?
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