Where to leverage JD-MBA-CFA®? (...and maybe also enjoy life?)

So I'm at a T14 law school (in b-school it's "magic 7"...we have "T14" which is Georgetown and above). I had work experience in consulting and finance before coming back to law school. Just finished 2L and am doing my summer at a top west coast firm which dominates silicon valley and has a solid presence in M&A and private equity. I'm in the M&A group, currently working on deals for 3 leading PE firms.

I'm admitted to begin the MBA this year (joint degree), or I could just graduate with the JD and start at this firm. Also, I just took CFA® level I in June..fingers crossed, but either way I could easily pass it in December if need be. So the timing works out that i could graduate in 2012 with a JD, MBA, and CFA® .

So any thoughts on the direct-to-law route, vs completing the JD/MBA and going to finance?

Where within finance would I best be able to leverage those qualifications/skills?

As a JD should you pursue CFA® or MBA?

How do you make the switch from lawyer to financier? Two 3 letter designations may help but which is more useful?

If the case is that the person has previous experience in finance in banking or consulting than an MBA could be a route to the buy side. A CFA® would not be a dealbreaker in this scenario whereas not having an MBA could make it difficult to land a job in say, private equity.

A top MBA program can also be a path to finance for someone with no experience. Generally, Looking for a summer associate position and landing in investment banking would be the approach here.

In most situations, a CFA® should be placed on hold in favor of direct work experience or a rebranding with an MBA.

from certified user @PossumBelly"

Few things. 1st, I think JD/MBA is largely pointless unless you want to run your own shop, as most exit opps care about one or the other, but not both....unless an MBA-esque job wants to exploit your law degree.

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Few things. 1st, I think JD/MBA is largely pointless unless you want to run your own shop, as most exit opps care about one or the other, but not both....unless an MBA-esque job wants to exploit your law degree.

But here we are. First you have to decide what path you want to go down. We can't help you there. Law is just about the worst thing there is right now, but if you feel confident that you will get an offer and not be deferred into oblivion, then maybe that's the best path. Oh, also assuming you want to be a lawyer.

On the MBA side, PWM is for generally for people who don't get banking offers...i.e. a world away from consideration for BB IB or PE/other buyside opportunities. If that appeals to you, then knock yourself out, but you are kind of all over the map going from PE to hedge funds to banking to PWM to law. Take some time to investigate what these roles actually entail and then see what appeals to you.

Just passing Level I of the CFA doesn't do much for you from a recruiting standpoint, but in conjunction with everything else would be nice.

If I were you, I'd ride the law thing out, network, then try to move into something else later. Especially true if you have a firm offer and start date from the law firm.

 

Private banking would be a good place. Senior bankers make good money and have nice hours. A lot of them have JDs, MBAs, and CFAs. I've never seen one with all three, that's pretty badass. Obviously they're all applicable to the work, but the biggest advantage is they make you that much more marketable to clients.

It's illegal to put your JD next to your name on business cards, marketing materials etc,. But the JD is probably the most valuable in terms of the actual work because of wealth advisory, estate planning and all of the other countless legal hurdles that comes with fiduciary work.

I know JP Morgan is looking for a lot of bankers right now. They revamped the structure of their private bank. A lot of bankers from the old system didn't like the changes and left for other shops.

As far as comp goes, it depends on how much business you can bring in. I don't know what the base is. I'd be curious to hear what the comp is like too...

 

I actually hadn't heard that, but it's interesting. I guess it could make sense in a way. If you're a lawyer, i.e. You've passed the bar, you can put "esq" after your name. I suppose they don't want people tricking people into thinking they're attorneys? Either way, you can certainly put the jd on your bio wherever you work, so it still serves a marketing function (assuming people care).

 

Haha...I like that characterization LIBOR. Yeah i didn't set out planning to get all three, or even a dual degree. It just kinds worked out that way. I got to law school and, like many people who prefer to actually think for a living, realized I wasn't all that into being a lawyer. So then people were like, well apply for the dual degree and leverage what you're learning in law school (which actually has been useful stuff...aside from the unavoidable 1L crap, I've taken courses that have allowed me to understand finance far better than when I actually worked in finance). I've been taking M&A, Corp fin, bankruptcy & reorg, fixed income, equity valuation, etc. So I applied to the MBA. Then, a prof at our school started teaching a couple of his classes with the CFA materials, so that made it easy to prep for the CFA so I figured what the hell.

Dr. Fulton, that's kinda what I was thinking. Although it may be true that banking recruiters aren't as impressed with multiple credentials as are laymen folk, pwm is so sales driven that I think it might carry some weight. I also think it may be an area where all three do bring some distinct and valid advantages to the table because in actually planning someone's financial future, particularly when they're wealthy enough to make it interesting, it really is a cross-section of knowing how to analyze individual investments (MBA), manage the overall portfolio (CFA), and handle things like tax optimization, charitable donations, and trust & estate planning (JD).

I'm a fairly social person and would like to be in a "relationship" business. I'd say I'm torn between boutique banking and private banking. Fwiw, while I'd like more financial upside than is generally there on the legal side, I also don't need to take over the world or buy an island. If my end game were $2m/ yr, I'd be psyched. I'd be content with $1m and time with the wife and kids.

 

So law doesn't have enough financial upside?? Welcome to WSO, where making 500K a year is for losers.

I'm just joking though, what you guys talk about is just so far from my reality right now. I hope to be up there with you in a few years. More power to you, MBA-JD-CFA would be a sick combo.

 

Haha yeah when you step back and put it in persecutive, it is pretty wild. Actually, making partner at my law firm would be plenty of upside (average about $1.5M/yr with a relatively chill lifestyle compared to NYC firms). The annoying thing is that my previous work experience, which means I can pretty much explain shit to 2nd year associates during my summer internship, does not count for anything in terms of seniority or pay. I suppose it makes performing well and actually making partner more likely though.

 

If money is your goal starting out your best bet is to go into law. Having all those letters after your name is nice, and will help you get interviews but without any real experience you will likely be taking a big pay cut going into finance. Your most valuable qualification is your JD and you really can't leverage that in finance without relevant experience. The MBA, if from a top B School, can help you get your foot in the door with finance, especially through on campus interviews and alumni contacts. For the CFA you need to remember that you are not a "CFA" without 4 years of qualified experience. All those letters look god on a business card but they don't really provide much synergy, if you are not set on going into asset management I would avoid the CFA for now. It doesn't provide much of a boost outside that industry and taking level 2 and 3, which are much harder than level 1, during your last two years of law school will not be something to do on a whim.

 

^^^well I actually do have experience in both finance and consulting, both at top firms. So I know how to model and all that good stuff. I was also in like the top 5% of students in my M&A class that was crosslisted with the b-school.

 

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