How cooked am I? Took the LSAT because IB looks improbable
So I recently took the LSAT because it looks like I won’t be getting into IB and not sure what else to do. I have an offer for full-time at a big 4 in valuations, but I don’t see that being a very good route (unlikely to be able to make it out and the pay isn’t amazing). For background, I go to a non-target state school and have a 4.0 and three internships related to finance and banking but have been unable to break into IB. Does anyone have advice about law schools that are good for M&A? How are the working conditions and how would I get into said firms assuming I go to a top 14 law school? I’ve decided finance is probably hopeless at this point so I’m pivoting to law but don’t exactly know what to expect. Anything helps.
I wouldn't go to law school over a job offer unless you got a full ride to a top program, esp if you are a recent grad
I’m finishing my last year in college. Why is it that you wouldn’t recommend it though?
If you can see yourself working as an attorney for the rest of your career (whether in big law, in house etc), then go for it. Sometimes I wish I at least would have considered doing law school myself as well. Seems like such an interesting profession from my POV.
But if youre doing it only for the sake of making up for the missed “prestige” of not making it into IB PE, then dont. Just go into Big 4 valuation and try your hardest to lateral. Market will most likely be back by the time you are recruiting. Or idk, think for yourself whether IB or finance is really your interest. Explore if you need to, nothing wrong with that. But law school is just too pricey and time consuming for you to pursue something you dont care about. You are still too young!!
(1) Law schools that are good for IB are (i) schools where the business school sends a lot of kids to IB and (ii) schools that send a lot of students to the top Big Law firms such as Wachtell, Skadden, Kirkland, etc.
(2) The attorney-to-banking path is a well worn one. Just ask Blankfein, Gorman, Moynihan, George Roberts, Wasserstein, Robert Rubin, and co. It has some tangible benefits, albeit mostly in soft skills.
Blankfein wasn’t a banker…
You'll need to get into a T14 first. And if it's the lower end of the top 14 you'll probably need really good grades in 1L because the law firms overhired like mad in recent years (at least as bad as the banks did) so the next few classes are going to feel a pinch.
I think you're dismissing the valuations role too easily. If you think valuations pay is bad, wait til you see law school pay: negative $80k a year or whatever it is. Run that DCF and see how many years you'd have to work in law to make up the money you lost by being in school vs working in valuations. Then, ask yourself where your finance career could be after that many years.
I've given this advice a lot on WSO: don't go to law school as a path to something else or as a way to feel like you're on a prestige track. Law school only makes sense for people who really love law and want to make a long-term career out of it.
In particular, I find the "law is a versatile degree, you can do other things with it" advice to be dangerous. People can switch out of any career. Law is no different. But just like any other career switch, it will cost a lot of time and money to switch out of law into IB or something else. And rarely will that switch have been more plausible than making it into IB from a place like valuations.
"But I've met several former lawyers in IB" yeah because there's selection bias. Lawyers are smart, driven people. If you take the same smart & driven person and have them skip law school, they'd still have worked their way to IB over time just like they did as lawyers. But with more savings and probably faster, because the Plan B jobs like valuations provide more relevant experience than law.
Depends on school man. What school are you at currently (don't need to say name, just say Top 50, 75, 200, ...) and what law schools you are competitive for
Dolores repellendus vel eum odit et. Iste sapiente sint ipsa dolorum qui.
Quasi laudantium numquam laborum est voluptas. Unde a voluptate maxime modi minima.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...