Lawyer Considering Switch to Finance

Hi All,

I’m a 30 year old lawyer, Ivy League Economics undergrad + strong NY-based law school (lawyering for 5 years now), that currently works in-house as a transactional attorney at one of the major international big banks. I am highly considering switching to the finance/banking side that I spend my days supporting/advising and have a few questions that I am hoping some experienced members on this forum can help me understand:

1. Hours: What are the real estimates of hours across banking finance? Does it change over time (i.e., from Analyst, to Associate, to VP, to D, etc.)? IB vs Trading vs Lev Fin vs M&A vs Cap Markets vs Distressed? Is it all in-office or are we counting working remotely taking calls (the latter of which I wouldn’t count quite the same)? How do people manage a family life if they really are working 70+ hrs per week deep into their life? Are there any areas that are better lifestyle-wise than others?

2. Good Areas for Lawyers: Given my legal skills/knowledge (e.g., credit agreements, contracts, security, bankruptcy, etc.), I was thinking it would make sense to look at distressed, restructuring or leveraged finance roles with a long term goal of going into a hedge fund (distressed) or private equity (lev fin). Does that sound sensible to others in terms of leveraging legal knowledge to cross over?

3. How to Switch Over: Aside from networking (which I will certainly actively pursue), what should I do to add the necessary skills to help me cross over to the finance side? In particular, I am not familiar with the numbers/valuation/modeling stuff at all and have never touched a Bloomberg terminal. Would an online course/certification indicating familiarity with some of those things help significantly? Or is online / self-learning really not going to cut it and I really need to enroll in an MBA program? I have taken the GMAT before and was in the 98th percentile so I think I could probably get myself into a good program, but do I really need to do that to cross over into finance (I’d like to avoid that potentially huge cost)? Additionally, is it that much better to go to a top Ivy program as opposed to something slightly lower tier and less expensive, such as a Zicklin School of Business in NY (which has the additional benefit that I could do the night class program while continuing to work)?

Appreciate all experienced and knowledgeable advice.