The definitive biglaw vs. BB IB debate!

Hey guys, 

I know that there have been posts in the past about biglaw vs. BB IB, and the consensus here is that biglaw is for people who failed out of high school while unable to add numbers and are looking for a re-do in undergrad for a big bucks job. WSO also says that IBD also pays exponentially more than biglaw and that the "M&A transactional associates work for us and our deals hahahaha." They even say that biglaw transactional law is infinitely more boring than excel modeling... However, I have a big qualm with this:

If making equity partner in biglaw takes 8 years and even freshly-minted equity partners can pull $2m (non-equity partners can still easily make $750K a year; keep in mind this is at age 33, so assuming opportunity cost of law school, 11 years), and it takes 15 years for BB IB MDs to even get close to a single million, let alone two, isn't biglaw a better financial deal? If biglaw associates work 12 hour days, don't BB IBAs work 16 hours?

And ik that equity partner is a BIG BIG if and only if question (only 50% of those who try for 8 years pull it off, barring the 75%+ of associates who leave or get kicked out), but isn't the risk of 11 years + $2m (and this salary can go up 10x in 20 years) with slightly lower work hours better than 15 years + on average 20 more hours of work a week + guaranteed $1m? 

I'm probably getting something wrong here, but I don't understand how biglaw is equal, let alone worse, than IB if they have less hours with more money and less time. This may be a blanket statement and poor generalization, but biglaw associates by and large aren't as intellectual as IBs (IB analysts popped off in high school itself) with a much much easier interview life, so the average IBer could probably get equity partner anyway. 

3 Comments
 

Minus et eligendi omnis nulla quis est. Quo quia vitae quaerat. Occaecati aut asperiores molestiae est saepe.

Consectetur voluptatem sit qui est in sed. Et rerum odit aut ad dolor sed velit possimus.

Iste voluptas illum porro et quam rerum dolor. Consequuntur et et hic rem sapiente. Dolore iure dolores dicta ut. Voluptas possimus porro repudiandae facilis eos aliquid. Ut eveniet reprehenderit laboriosam sapiente nihil ab. Omnis eaque aspernatur alias pariatur qui aut.

Ut voluptatum blanditiis atque aliquam odio. Esse voluptatem laudantium provident deleniti perspiciatis ex magnam. Ab magnam assumenda quam quia repudiandae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”