Leaving IB for law school
I’m finishing up my first year as an ib analyst at a BB and I really like it. It’s a grind but I did pretty well and definitely enjoyed my time. Here’s the deal, I got accepted into a top law school program (T3) and got a full ride. Now I feel conflicted. My goal has always been to go to law school but now that I’m in IB my desire to become a lawyer isn’t nearly as high.
This is really tough for me. A full ride is hard to turn down, especially since it’s an education that drives so many people into debt. Im just worried that I’ll have regrets with either decision that I choose. I also don’t really know who to go to for advice because this is a pretty unique situation. On one hand, there is an opportunity cost to law school in the sense that I’ll lose out on my fat IB salary. On the other hand, if a recession comes I might get laid off. My JD is something that can’t be taken away from me once it’s earned and can expand my career opportunities long term.
Part of me wants to go to law school and then go back into banking. Best case scenario I could talk to my team and ask if I could be a summer associate and but idk if this is even how it works.
Sorry, late night ramblings here. Any advice?
Congrats, do T3 give merit based scholarship these days thou? Anyways, if you do not intend to practice law at all, the pain (no joke) / opportunity costs of grinding through a JD program may not worth the extra credential on your resume. I'd go for the JD only if you know it will open some doors for you in the future.
Like the guy above me said^^^
I read years and years ago that it wasn’t uncommon for people to do their two years in banking then go pursue a JD so that was always my lose plan, and if I didn’t like law then I could just use it to become an associate. It is a great, great degree to hold. That being said, if you do not plan on practicing law Do Not Pursue It - that advice came from an MD with a JD
Full ride is tough to turn down.
Why Law School over a MBA?
If you are not completely sold on being a lawyer then just don’t do it.
Just being curious here does T3 Law School means Harvard, Stanford, or Yale?
Yee
University of American Samoa
A bit off-topic but just curious -- how do you find the time to study for LSAT while working in IB?
Funny, we have flipped roles in a way. I was a 2L before I realized that no part of me wants to practice law. Ended up pounding pavement and landing an internship at a boutique/MM firm for the summer. Law school is boring as fuck 1L year because you don’t get to pick your own schedule and the classes are dry as a bone for the most part. Though, once I was able to take securities regulation, corporations, M&A law, and corporate finance, it became infinitely more interesting and relevant to what I wanted to do. It’s also helped out several times at work this summer when I’m able to keep up (sort of) in conversations that they wouldn’t anticipate an intern to know anything about.
If I were you, I’d go to law school so you can chill for a few years because there’s no hw and it isn’t that hard, people will think you’re smarter than you really are for some reason, you can take the bar in case the market tanks, and you can cruise right back into finance with your previous experience if that is what you end up wanting to do.
However, I only have 2 and a half months of experience in IB and am writing this in a middle seat on a flight after a Xanax and 2 glasses of wine so I don’t know shit.
Good luck boss
how are you doing now
I graduated law school in 2021 and I’m now practicing. I’m also in an Ivy League B-School because I want to learn more about business/finance/econ. If I were, you I would take it. Your IB background and school’s presitge can easily get you into big law. Big law is paying 205k starting salary (not including bonus) by the time you graduate it’ll be closer to 250k base salary. Salary follows an 8-year lockstep for top-firms (meaning you get an increase in bonus and salary every year until you’re up for partner) and will increase to probably around 400k base by your eighth year (with a six digit bonus). Plus you won’t be in debt. PM if you have any questions about law school, for me it was fun but way harder than B-School.
However, I know that IB salaries are lower but if you grind you can make 7 figures. Last and only IB I spoke to basically said that big law lawyers make more for the first three years but after that IB bonuses fill the gap and IB pulls ahead. Is this true? She’s a bulldog so maybe she’s just great at IB.
Big law don’t pay more than banking in the first three years. In fact, big law never pays more than banking at least in the first 8 years or so. Bonus at big law is like no existent compared to banking. Total comps in the first 3 years in big law like 220, 240, 280 while in banking especially in EB as an associate (very likely if OP decides to go back to banking) it’s +350, +400, +500. The pay gap actually widens as you move up.
I know this as I did banking as analyst at BB and went to JDMBA, did summer at top 3 biglaw and decided to come back to banking especially because the biglaw (in corporate) is boring as shit. You get very limited responsibilities and they treat you like a child because most of the first year associate dont have proper work experience. Plus, i found the colleagues in biglaw are generally not smarter than banking. They maybe book smart but they usually lack of practical sense as a fresh graduate. This is quite unbearable to me personally.
Whether top 3 law school would be good for you in long term can be a separate discussion, but for god sake, dont go to law school to become a lawyer. Maybe you can go to law school and transition into restructuring banking and go to distressed fund later.
Good to know. Thanks for the info.
I agree with this post. I have been through both a White Shoe Firm (T10) and at an EB (following the JDMBA route) and I can tell you that the compensation at Big Law is nowhere close to what you can potentially make as a banker. However, there are a few things to note:
1. Do you like practice of law more than practice of banking? There are many people in law (far more than you think) who worked in law- >banking -> then went back to law. There are a few who did banking- > JD -> went to law. And there are some who did JD - > Banking -> Law. There is no right answer, and all depends on what you want to do in your career.
2. I think the mentorship you will get a good law firm will far surpass the mentorship you will get at a bank (probably EBs have a great mentorship culture too, but not BBs). I used to constantly work directly with partners/senior partners and the teams are a lot leaner at mid-level so you get a lot of responsibility. The problem is that the work you do gets boring quickly- because if you are a M&A lawyer, you will be working on closing 5 deals concurrently and all of them have their own nuisances, with shitty clients chasing you to close no matter what the obstacle. And maybe in 20% of the cases would you have any exposure to commercial nuisances that are so important in stitching a deal together. Corporate law is really a thankless job.
3. Like the person above says, law school is great for other things. I've plenty of friends who read law, went to do something in a law firm, and are now in Corporate Development, Crypto, VC, etc. It really depends on how you use your T3 network to get what you want.
Best of luck!
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