Hi everyone
I’m a M&A lawyer based in the UK working with a tier 1 law firm but have for sometime now found my job quite unfulfilling - I don’t mind the hours, I find it slightly frustrating not being involved in the commercial drivers of the transaction ie we are involved only in the implementation of a transaction once this has been decided by the client. I am keen to be involved in the bigger picture, leading negotiations on deals, understanding different business models and ultimately knowing where true value in the company lies in the M&A process. I have five years' experience - two years of the training contract, and three years of Corporate M&A experience (a mixture of public and private deals). I am qualified to practice in two jurisdictions.
I am seriously considering a move to IB. I very much want to do M&A but I want to lead it not follow it. I understand lawyers are known for lack of quant skills so have been working on that, I cleared CFA level 1 in 2019 and was thinking of pursuing a Masters in Law and Finance from Oxford (I have an offer).
In terms of overall goal, I eventually see myself working in corporate finance and M&A strategy role in-house with a company where I can bring to bear my experience of the law and knowledge of numbers. I want to go in-house only after having seen the breadth of practice / business models out there - I also want to decide which practice area in the meanwhile.
Do you think I should take the Masters in Law and Finance offer for IB or do you think I need to do a MBA or should I continue with my CFAs? I did see some posts about networking and making it that way but the reality is I'm the kind of person who feels a lot more comfortable learning systematically.
How do you think I should go about getting into IB? Or is all this just me being crazy...
Is the masters in finance and law a feeder into IB programs similar to some other MBA programs? If so, I’d probably just go with the offer you already have. I don’t really know what it’s like in the UK, but on the contrary in the states I see a lot of people go get their MBA with the sole purpose of going into IB. So, if that masters is similar to an MBA in the sense that you can take on summer associate positions then I say go for it. If it’s less likely that you get a summer associate position with the masters in finance I’d probably go the MBA route. Just an interns 2 cents though.
I worked with several former lawyers who went back and got their MBAs and then became Associates. That's really the best path. I never understood why somebody would spend like $500K on professional degrees to land arguably the worst job in Finance, but it seems to be a popular route for lawyers that don't like being lawyers.
You should really think hard about whether it makes sense to go that route. "Leading" M&A is no more exciting or sexy than the legal side of M&A.
Spending 500k to escape law and get to the business side is not crazy. Law is in a whole different universe of grunt work and boring career path with little chance of escape.
Haven't done it myself but many lawyers lateral to IB.The idea of having to do an MBA in between is ludicrous to me. Don't do that, please.
You can leverage your M&A experience, as well as use your CFA to show that you're serious about the move. I think you should also ask around in law forums since many have experience doing that.
Edit: I'll add, why would anyone do an MBA after law to make the move?? Most people doing MBAs to go to IB don't even have finance experience in the first place. You already work within the M&A field and will be ahead of many associates. Again, seems like a crazy proposition to me.
Same reason anyone does an MBA - access to campus recruiting. I don't think I have ever heard of a banking Associate just networking into their role...
Totally agree, but I am also of the opinion that MBAs are utterly useless, expensive vacations for burnt-out adults that want to pay for connections. Unfortunately the industry almost exclusively uses these programs for their Associate talent pools.
Again, he already has experience that no MBA associate has. I agree that campus recruiting is very important, but not worth $200k when you already have 3 years of big law M&A exp. You can network your way in.
You might not have first-hand examples of this happening but it isn't uncommon. Other threads within WSO are evidence. Also on a more personal note, one of my mentors is an IB MD and he started off in big law for 4-5 years and then lateraled in within his same field (Real Estate law -> RE IB).
Lastly, would you rather hire an MBA associate who's background is chemical engineering and had a change of heart or somebody like OP? Or someone that comes from a mainly military background or someone like OP? in terms of bang for your buck. That's why I think he has a good shot of making the jump through networking.
Edit: One last thing is that the move would work for Associate 1. Can't expect to come in and have your big law years credited towards your seniority in banking.
Bear in mind that most banks in London no longer run MBA associate programmes and the few that do only hire very small associate classes.
I think there are three potential routes into IB here:
i) MBA: Lower likelihood of receiving an offer given high levels of competition and small number of spots available. Tuition fees and opportunity cost are also potentially higher compared to other routes. You risk dropping £80k and two years of your life on a degree only to become 'underemployed' and working in corporate finance at Duff & Phelps earning less than you did as a trainee lawyer
ii) Masters degree: Higher likelihood of receiving an offer but you would need to be comfortable with effectively resetting your career and entering at the bottom of the totem pole since you would be starting at the analyst level. This route is popular in Europe and it is relatively common to see off-cycle interns in their late 20s who switched into IB from other career paths
iii) Lateral: Probably the lowest likelihood, haven't seen this take place except at very senior levels - I think most banks would struggle to rationalise hiring a lawyer with your seniority and would question your technical ability and transaction experience although it wouldn't hurt to ask headhunters for their view.
Would also echo what other posters have said about whether it's even worthwhile to make the switch. IB really isn't that much more glamorous than commercial law and there is still a lot of time spent on unfulfilling work. The 'safest' and most lucrative route here might be to stay in your current career.
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