Biglaw to IB?
First year in biglaw in the corporate group, so been working on a lot of financings, and a large restructuring on the cap markets side. High level the stuff is sometimes interesting (especially the restructuring) but pushing paper generally is soooo boring and dry. Drafting legal documents is just not it for me. I’m thinking about leaving biglaw after a year and going back to the business side. Is this doable? Outside of banking, are there other exits that are doable?
Transitioning from BigLaw to Investment Banking (IB) is absolutely doable, especially given your background in valuation and your current experience in corporate law. Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s what you need to know:
Why You’re a Strong Candidate for IB:
Steps to Transition:
Other Exit Opportunities:
If IB doesn’t feel like the right fit, here are some alternative paths: 1. Corporate Development: Many lawyers transition into corporate development roles, especially at companies where they’ve worked on deals. Your legal and valuation experience would be highly relevant. 2. Private Equity (PE): While harder to break into directly, your valuation and restructuring experience could make you a candidate for certain PE roles, especially if you target firms with a focus on distressed or special situations. 3. Consulting: Strategy consulting, particularly in firms with a focus on M&A or restructuring, could be another viable path. 4. In-House Legal with a Business Focus: Some lawyers move in-house to roles that blend legal and business responsibilities, such as working on M&A or corporate strategy teams.
Challenges to Consider:
Final Thoughts:
Your background positions you well for a move to IB or other business-side roles. Focus on networking, refining your technical skills, and clearly articulating your story. With the right approach, you can successfully make the transition.
Sources: Big Law (M&A) to IBD Associate, Corporate Finance Q&A with accountingbyday, BJM85, STorIB, and djfiii, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/t6-law-school-vault-20-law-firm-ib?customgpt=1, Big Law to Investment Banking -- Thoughts?, Corporate M&A layoff... Pivoted back in the Valuation industry. Thoughts?
There are other threads on the site on this topic, but as an ex-lawyer who spent a ton of time wrestling with this transition / has seen a lot of examples, your situation the answer seems pretty clear: yes, you can go to banking from your current situation. Generally, the only law to IB moves are that they slot you in as the equivalent of a post-MBA associate... doesn't matter how many years of legal experience you have until you hit the faraway rarefied air of rainmaker, at which point you're moving over as an MD or some sort of 'chair' title. I've seen 1, 2, up to 5-6 years of law firm experience all translate into IB associate, it's not like you can stay in law for 4 years and then move to VP - so sooner the better if you're confident you want to make the move (and based on your post, it sounds like you have good, fundamental personal interest reasons to do so). Only countervailing consideration, if you're thinking about going into a substantive area where legal knowledge is more helpful, e.g. restructuring, I think you only really pick up useful legal skills/issue-spotting after 2-4 years. I add this given your comments about having enjoyed a restructuring - I'm biased as that's where I used to practice, but there are more instances in that space where lawyers can get involved in deal structuring as opposed to solely execution - if you can't move to banking after a year, try to get involved in more restructuring work at the law firm while continuing to recruit for banking and even if you can only move after 2 years, you'll be ok - stronger legal skills and you're more likely to run into more bankers with JDs in the process. Also, depending on what firm you're currently at, if you can speak to any experience with liability management deals, right now the most in-demand lawyers are those who can bridge finance and restructuring skillsets, and that will be attractive to bankers too.
Your pre-law experience should help with opening doors, but you're likely still going to be subject to more scrutiny on technicals coming from law.
2 cents - look for bankers with JDs, start with the banks/bankers on the deals you've worked on, network that way. Some banks are known for having more ex-lawyers, I / friends have found generally that you're likely to get a better reception at those places simply because they've seen the transition work in the past.
Thanks for the thorough response! I know there have been discussions about this in the past, but based on your experiences do you think that work / life balance is far worse in banking? At my firm I’m averaging about 200 billables a month so far, which I don’t think equates to the 80-90 hours a week that bankers tend to work. But not sure how much of banking work hours is “waiting around” time. A concern of mine is that while I may find the business side to be more interesting, I’ll be giving up a relatively better lifestyle. At least right now, I’m finding the work to be really easy (though there’s a lot of it) but extremely dry as a junior.
Good Q - if you're billing that much, I don't think as a general matter banking is going to be worse, but are you billing 200 as stable, consistent, 9 hrs/weekday with a miscellaneous 5 thrown in on the weekend, every week, or more up and down with greater peaks and valleys? I came from the latter and was ok.
ECM/DCM/RX/M&A, etc. basically any execution-oriented and advisory role welcomes lawyers as long as they can prove they have a sense for numbers. For Credit/PE, need to go first through IB.
The sooner you move the better, but back in the day it was normal for lawyers to go into banking after some experience. Lawyers get to see all sorts of structures, making their knowledge extremely unique and valuable. A big part of any finance job is reading legal docs, a lawyer will have a huge edge here. I personally know people with 7-8 years of experience and barely know about legal docs, despite having done several deals..
Thanks! Will probably have to network my way to banking, vs trying to land a spot in a new hire class right? Do you think I’ll have to hard sell myself as a post-MBA associate vs analyst? I did 3 years of valuation work pre-law school so I’d like to hope they’d take me at the associate level.
what do people think about ib to big law, like the reverse as 2 years as an analyst in ib, then law school, then big law?
It’s a thing too. Based on my experience so far, unless you have a specific interest in the contract side of things and negotiating legal points vs business points, don’t come to law school to be a biglaw transactional lawyer. Your junior years are going to be in ancillary docs and diligence, not the main thing. Your finance knowledge will set you miles apart of your peers, but you’ll still be treated like a child in a way since the expectation for first years is that they know nothing technical. I’ve been on the job for more than half a year (with 3 years of finance experience before law school) and people still (unsolicited) explain what EBITDA is to me.
I think if you want to do litigation or public interest work, then law school can be used as a clean reset.
thank u for this great response!! would u say the opportunity cost of law school is worth it? im going to goldman for ib, so a bit unclear of salary progression, but id be losing out on over a million dollars right considering an average salary of $300k as an associate and 3 years of law school tuition
I've seen it happen several times from a top IB group. Just be clear on what your motivations are - you really like law and the legal side of transaction work and know what you're getting yourself into for the first 3-5 years after law school.
Have seen so many people who know they hate IB, don't know what they want to do, and go back to school simply because they are good at school and law is prestigious. Biglaw is IB 2.0 except you have huge loans and can't pull chute as easily as an IB analyst can.
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