Big Law Associate to IBD?
I've been looking around for advice and so far what I've read on this site has been very helpful, so I was hoping to get some feedback on my situation.
I am a second-year associate at a top 50 NYC big law firm doing mostly PE/M&A work. I enjoy what I do, but like many lawyers I'd like to make the switch to the business side of things. Ultimately the goal would be working in PE, but I understand as a lawyer I'd have to learn a certain quantitative skill set first and the easier route may be IBD.
I guess my question is for people who have made the transition from big law to PE/IBD is how did you do it? What year where you and what level did you go into? I don't have a finance background either and I am wondering if b school is the simplest transition. My aversion to b school is that it will be 2 years of lost income and the likely job I would get out of b school would be as a first year associate making less than if I stayed in law.
Is it mostly about networking and convincing someone to go to bat for me? Obviously as a junior associate I won't have any clients that are willing to take me on, but maybe as a 3-4 associate?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Let me see if I've got this straight.
You're a 2nd-year big law associate. So you've been through 4 years of undergrad and 3 years of law school, and have been a lawyer for more than a year. You've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of time to get where you are, and you enjoy the work that you do. Yet... you want to move to IBD now, and you're thinking of getting an MBA to do it?
Dude.
Let's break this down:
Undergrad -> $100 - 200k Law school -> $200-300k (including cost of living) MBA (if you get it) -> $200k
You already spent close to $4 - 500,000 on your education to become a lawyer, and now all of a sudden you want to go into Private Equity?
Sure, call it all of a sudden, but people make careers changes in all types of fields and I don't think this is any different. It's not like suddenly I want to become a neurosurgeon because I watch Grey's Anatomy. I interact with PE firms on a day to day basis and work on their deals and have learned a lot about the private equity world in my time here. I also had scholarships in UG and Law School so I don't have much debt, but regardless I don't see going to law school as a mistake.
Anyway, that's the reason I posted to get honest feedback, so thanks.
Sure, call it all of a sudden, but people make careers changes in all types of fields and I don't think this is any different. It's not like suddenly I want to become a neurosurgeon because I watch Grey's Anatomy. I interact with PE firms on a day to day basis and work on their deals and have learned a lot about the private equity world in my time here. I also had scholarships in UG and Law School so I don't have much debt, but regardless I don't see going to law school as a mistake.
Anyway, that's the reason I posted to get honest feedback, so thanks.
PM me.
Sunk cost fallacy guys. You can do anything you want, doesn't matter how much cash you've dropped on training into other directions previously. Good careers aren't necessarily as linear as WSO tells us.
Why don't you jump from Law to IB? Plenty of people do so.
That would be ideal. I guess my question is how many years in biglaw do I need to do to be marketable and also whether networking is basically the only way in. I actually spoke to a headhunter and she said it was definitely possible but that I should consider taking a modeling course to be able to say I have the technical skill set.
That would be ideal. I guess my question is how many years in biglaw do I need to do to be marketable and also whether networking is basically the only way in. I actually spoke to a headhunter and she said it was definitely possible but that I should consider taking a modeling course to be able to say I have the technical skill set.
Don't underestimate the value of networking. You really want to show you get the basics of finance? Take CFA level one. Get that under your belt and then reach out to alums in IBD and network away. Having conversations with people will save you 2 years (MBA) and the cost of one, which is no chump change.
That depends on where you want to go. I know several lawyers that put in 3-5 years of Big Law and moved to MM IBs without having a clue how to model. Most came in at the associate level, but one or two came in at the VP level.
Nobody would expect you to grasp modeling like an excel junkie out of undergrad. But, they expect you to be able to write and have creative, insightful ideas regarding deal structure, sell side due diligence, etc.
I would try to get out as soon as possible after 1.5-2 years in law. At that point you've "legitimized" your degree and know the legal landscape (maybe not all the nuances) of a deal. Use that time productively. Get deal experience so that you can speak to that (both the legal and business aspects) in interviews. Networking will be what gets you over the line. That and your "story". Your story on why IB over law has to be bulletproof. Your technicals also need to be bulletproof as there is a bias against lawyers not knowing how to do the math (which is not rocket science). Don't get an MBA unless you absolutely need to.
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