Not satisfied with Law, want Finance Career

Hi, am a 1L at HLS/YLS disenchanted with pursuing a career in law. I went directly to law school after undergrad at HYP and no finance-related internships.

I’d ideally like to pursue a career in private equity or consulting upon graduation. How can I get there? Any help appreciated.

7 Comments
 

Should be a reasonable doable path to move into finance. If you look into or learn about M&A/Restructuring/Corporate law in general, it could be a good means to demonstrate interest and knowledge of the field and make a move towards banking (and later maybe move to PE etc.). The biggest question will likely be technicals, at which point you will just need to study up and learn it all. Take with a grain of salt since I’m not too familiar with the possible pathway.

 
Most Helpful

I am someone who went straight from undergrad business school to Wisconsin for law school and got a fortune 500 corp dev role straight out of law school (I actually started two months before I graduated).

The problem you’ll have is the lack of finance experience. Like for me, for example, when I was applying for finance roles for after law school, I already had (i) three undergraduate business degrees, (ii) I was a CPA, and (iii) I had previous finance internships at a hedge fund, in corp dev, and at PwC. I could demonstrate both a competence and an interest.

If you want to get into a front office finance role the best way to get it would likely be going big law in an M&A or securities practice and then moving to a bank before you make partner at the law firm

 

A couple things here: 

- Law, PE and Consulting are fairly different paths. Do you actually want something else or just feeling beaten down by arguably the hardest school year of your life?

- What's the point of giving up time and money for 2 1/2 more years if you don't want to be a lawyer? Unless you're looking for some legal function in PE/Consulting, why wouldn't you use the next 2 years to get an MBA to put you in a better position to break in? 

 

Ea et quidem ex deleniti vero sed. Eaque sit quae rerum fugiat dolores tempora esse vel. Alias omnis voluptatem est. Dolorem temporibus autem possimus ut ea inventore et. Accusantium quo quia ipsa illum nihil ut omnis.

Aliquam consectetur tempore qui officia. Voluptas modi laudantium et soluta suscipit. Illo pariatur fugit consectetur voluptates exercitationem enim sunt id. Et corporis laborum dignissimos ut minima porro fugit. Aliquid ab ut qui autem optio. Eos corporis consequatur tenetur aliquid impedit.

Quam pariatur qui sit a quia qui adipisci maxime. Eos cum ullam optio mollitia. Sed sed eveniet labore nostrum enim. Dolorem dolor enim velit voluptatum impedit reiciendis. Nihil in iste autem vitae neque et. Repellendus sed minima doloremque quo voluptatem. Laboriosam placeat aut amet quidem hic maxime.

Alias adipisci itaque voluptatum distinctio eaque est temporibus. Quis sed ut ducimus et. Deleniti consequatur temporibus facere ducimus ullam officiis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”