Biglaw to IB
Hi everyone, I'm currently in law school and have my offer to join a solid firm next summer (think Cravath, Skadden, Sullivan and Cromwell). I'm currently thinking that I'll do M&A, and while I do not have a concrete plan for going into IB after a few years, I am curious about it. I know a couple other forums have discussed this transition, but I do wonder if my situation is slightly different.
I go to a solid law school (ranked in the top 10) but not Harvard/Yale/Stanford, and I do not have much business experience. I'm wondering:
1) what a typical path looks like (I've heard that you can work for 3-5 years doing say M&A, then transition over)
2) do my law school grades still matter (I'm on law review and have solid grades, but I'd love to chill a bit for the next two years and not kill myself)?
Big Law M&A/PE advisory (maybe covering the broad legal spectrum of the same industry if you're going for coverage IB?) --> IB. Have actually seen a lot of the older bankers with a JD background. Not as common nowadays but I wouldn't imagine banks turning around good talented candidates like this. You would come in probably at the associate level.
I don't think grades would matter as much. Your network would matter more.
I did RX at an EB one summer and a good amount of people there had experience at law firms prior to banking. Tbh, dont know too much about what their specific roles/divisions were when they did law, but restructuring is pretty legal heavy and the rx guys appreciated those with legal backgrounds. Thought that might help if you’re interested in rx.
*Also, didnt mean to post this as a reply to the above commenter. Stand-alone comment*
Crediting this. Rx is the exception to the rule of lawyers struggling to be on the business side. Even in Rx it is not an easy move.
You are right that the hiring landscape is different. Lawyers used to have a more advisory function with economic considerations in mind. That was 30 years ago, so those V5 alums in their 50s who are now MDs are hard to replicate. When there is a feeding frenzy in banking, they hire lawyers when the good MBA candidates dry up. In a down economy, V5 lawyers will struggle to get screeners.
A decent amount of big law people are at our firm, they did M&A law before and working with them is really amazing. They normally quickly grasp the business side of things if anything is missing. We have a hybrid legal team that spans across multiple functions, good people all around.
Former lawyer here. Network and firm name (you passed this test) matter far more than grades. The earlier you can make the move the better due to a loss of seniority. It is easiest to make the move during law school or 3-5 years in. Afterward you are too niche, and in years 1-3 you have no knowledge base (as far as corporate law teaches any knowledge). if you haven’t started your summer associate job, try to get into banking for this summer and renege on your law offer (career services isn’t your friend, ignore their blowback when you burn a firm).
Given you go to a top 10 law school, it probably has a solid business school too. Take some modeling/excel courses and learn the technicals before you are in the office 60-90 hours a week, every week. Your lack of business experience will hurt you, as there are some former analysts who go to law school, hate it, and struggle to get back into finance. They are your competition. You will make more money in banking than law, since it is setup for more lucrative payouts than a regulated, licensed profession.
Agree with poster above (and he's more qualified than I am to speak on the subject anyway). What I'd add is that at my b-school (M7), I know several JD-MBAs and a bunch recruited for IB. It's presumably too late for you to do the JD-MBA path but if any alums of your law school did it and work in IB now, they could be good resources to speak with. All of the JD-MBAs that I know of in the past few years from my school went the RX route and in fact firms had a huge preference for them vs. those without a legal background.
I also know a lot of the boutiques in particular (Centerview comes to mind) have former lawyers from top law firms join as associates after a couple years in law. Those could be good contacts to get in touch with especially if they went to your school.
^good point. OP, if you are a 2L then apply to the business school, see how crappy your firm summer will be (they’ll try to wine and dine you, notice how low level the senior associate’s responsibilities are compared to any business job with comparable time in), and start your MBA the fall after. It will suck to be in school four years instead of three but you’ll have way more options. If you’re even thinking of IB, try to avoid any legal role. I don’t advise people to do the JD-MBA going in, but the pivot here is useful.
Why do u like to suffer
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