Instead of MBA, Law School after IB?

hi everyone, i'm writing this post to seek advice from ppl who have been working in the industry for a few years. thank you in advance for your time and comments!

my background - junior in college, major in finance, has an IB internship at BB lined up next summer, interested in HF & PE for the future career path. over the summer, i was talking with friends who are interested in going to law school and becoming a lawyer in the future upon graduation. i'm interested in law and finance, but i'm not sure if it's worth the time/money to pursue the law school path after banking. 

question - i know many people chose the MBA path at HBS/GSB/etc. to switch career paths. should i go to law school? also, if i don't want to be a lawyer, what kinds of job can i do given my interest in finance?

THANK YOU!

8 Comments
 

Most people here will say not to go to law school if you have any interest in finance. That is, only go to law school if your goal is to practice law/be a lawyer. Having a JD will make it harder to get into IB/PE/HF etc.

 
Most Helpful

I am an attorney who currently works in corp dev at a fortune 300 utility. So I basically have gone through what you are thinking of doing.

Basically any PE/IB/VC role is open to you. You know what Robert Rubin, Lloyd Blankfein, Stephen Friedman, Brian Moynihan, James Gorman, George Roberts, Jerome Kohlberg, David Rubenstein, David Bonderman, Glen Hutchins, Orlando Bravo, Joseph Rice, and Jeff Sine, all have in common? They all went to law school. They were/are CEOs of the biggest banks, of the most important banks. They are some of the most important, some of the most successful, private equity professionals of all time. They were in charge of important teams within the IBD. Law school doesn’t close those types of doors. And, in some ways, it prepares you well for more senior roles within those types of fields.

However, it isn’t easy. It isn’t the most direct way. You will need to be a hardo with significant finance experience before law school. Is it worth it? That requires a much longer conversation.

But it can be done. It has been done. And it will continue to be done

 

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