Law Partner 100%. More prestige, more interest work, higher pay, better exit opps. It really is not a context - and this can be seen by the quality of students who choose to enter law vs accounting

 

This forum has a tendency to lump in non-finance careers into overly generalized buckets (e.g., lawyers work as much as bankers but get paid less (I know very few lawyers in Big Law who work as much as their counterparts in banking), or go into tech sales and you'll make $500k while working 40 hours a week (I know no tech sales guys living this lifestyle).

The answer to this question will vary a ton depending on the type of law or accounting you're engaged in. Being a partner at a corporate law vs. commercial real estate law vs. commercial litigation firm, and being a partner specializing in audit vs. tax vs. transaction advisory will result in vastly different lifestyles, compensation, exit options, "prestige", etc.

If you're asking if it would be "better" to be a law partner or accounting partner if both were to specialize in transactional services (e.g., a corporate/securities law partner vs. a transactional advisory accountant), then I agree with the poster above me in that the lawyer will have more "prestige", more interesting work (arguable depending on what your personal preferences are), higher pay, and better exit opps.

 

Transaction advisory covers a lot of stuff... while Financial Due Diligence is more "accounting", Lead M&A Advisory/Corporate Finance is MM IB, Valuation guys do a lot of modelling, Strategy guys do the market entrance/market research stuff, and there's also Restructuring teams (which I heard they suck).

I'd rather work as for a M&A/valuation team at a Big 4 than as a lawyer specializing in M&A.

 
GuyLafleur:
I know very few lawyers in Big Law who work as much as their counterparts in banking

yeah but I've heard its crazy hours at WLRK

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I'd rather jump out of my office window than be a lawyer or accountant..

Christ, that is like asking "would you rather die by drowning or burning."

 

What are exit ops for both of these positions? Partner at bigger firms? Start their own firm? C-Suite at F500? PE/VC/HF high level support?

Don't beat yourself up on this, Eric. Some people like taking the long way home. Who the fuck knows?
 

There's a reason top government officials end up being law partners rather than accounting partners, and it's not because they are particularly bad at math.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
Most Helpful

The exit opportunities from top law firms are generally very good at the partner level, and even the senior associate level for almost-partner quality associates.

-Go from one white shoe firm to another that pays more based on revenue generated.

-Pass through the revolving door to government, frequently to work on high-profile and important public interest work squarely within your domain of expertise. You can always come back to your home firm afterwards, which will more often that not keep your seat warm while gone.

-Depending on the type of work, leave the law firm to start a fund, join a fund, make some carry (this happens a lot at higher levels - all the "deal guys" that strike out on their own need structuring/execution pros, and frequently at that level of the game the need to crunch models is not at all the most important thing anymore).

-Bankruptcy lawyers frequently leave to work in Rx

-M&A Lawyers leave to work in M&A/Corpdev

-Retire. Most law firms keep their retired former partners on a comfortable salary and give you an office to come and go from as you please. They get to tap you for expertise in a low-intensity way when needed, you get to make income and be professionally engaged in your old age on your terms. It's a win-win.

The list goes on. I can't speak much for accountants, only to say that the few I met left to become lawyers due to better pay and more interesting work.

Array
 

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