Law to M&A

I'm a 30 year old career-changer to law in the UK. I am currently working as a paralegal whilst completing my GDL (postgrad conversion course), but only now realising that maybe I would prefer to be making the deals than simply facilitating them. 

My undergrad was a 2.2 from a semi-target (with extenuating circumstances). As such, I know I will be fighting an even-more-uphill uphill battle. But, I have looked into my options. 

Looks like best best, if I wanted to really do this, is go into CF departments of accounting firms like BDO or Grant Thornton. I would be doing much smaller deals, but at least I would be involved in the financial modelling, managing the deal process, negotiating (I realise this is less for the juniors). 

One of the main things drawing me to this is the money. There is so much more upside in banking than in law (unless you make partner, which is very unlikely). 

But money aside, I feel like the work, or at least my conception of the work, is more exciting, and more me. I don't want to be the bitch making sure the deal is compliant, I want to be finding the deals and making them happen. 

Lastly, the opportunities. The upside is endless in finance. You could go over to buy-side and be involved in even more interesting work.  With law, you're pretty much stuck in that role. 

Is this feasible? Am I being dumb?  

3 Comments
 

Whilst I think your general intuition is correct (more interesting work, higher potential upside pay etc), you definitley seem to overestimate how much you will be 'making' a deal (especially when you join as an analyst).

I would think of it more as facilitating the financial aspects of the deal, whilst you have been facilitating legal aspects of a deal previously. this can still be appealing though.

 

Aperiam tenetur consectetur dolor. Libero libero unde quasi incidunt sit ut aut ipsum.

Quidem blanditiis in repellat voluptas occaecati. Voluptatem aut vitae inventore beatae a autem. Illum quod quia quaerat tempora impedit unde vero. Dicta quia et voluptas eligendi consequatur.

Et repudiandae doloribus dolorem laudantium. Voluptas voluptatem commodi eos vero saepe. Est dolor voluptas impedit architecto ex eum vero. Quisquam quis dolores inventore totam ea blanditiis. Illo natus maiores fugiat mollitia quia ut nemo aut. Illum est corrupti nulla animi et iusto.

Eos quisquam ut totam. Quod saepe veniam similique suscipit aut rerum.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”