Big Law to IB

Hi everyone, 


I am a current 2nd M&A year associate at a Vault 10 law firm in NYC and thinking about switching my career from big law into IB. I have started pondering about this change since my summer internship during law school and after taking a few finance & valuation related courses jointly offered with the business school. After having spent about a year in big law, I have realized that this is not the career path for me and am now seriously considering a move into IB. I know a few big law associates and law students who lateraled or went straight to IB as an associate, and would like to do the same. I (i) don't want to go to business school given the amount of time I already spent in law school; (ii) believe unrealistic to start as an IB analyst. I am also primarily interested in BB IBs and maybe a couple of elite boutiques.


As for background, I have graduated from one of the top 3 law schools in the US (HYS), which I went straight through from about a #20 nationally ranked university for undergrad (non-business or econ related major). As such, I have almost no finance-related work experience or education with the exception of the aforementioned courses in law school. Those courses covered accounting, corporate finance, modeling, valuation, and preparing & giving investment pitches. I am not entirely comfortable with Excel yet, but I have built and can build DCF and LBO models from scratch with enough time. I also have a lot of interest in the market and investing and do a lot of research/reading related to investing and finance during my personal time. I have also worked on a couple WSJ headline M&A deals ($10bn< EV), but strictly in a legal role and capacity. I do not have a CFA or any other similar/relevant certifications. 


I believe that I do have some tangentially relevant work experience in M&A and coursework and believe I can do moderately well on interviews if I adequately prepare and refresh my memory in the next few weeks. I am also enrolled in a few BIWS courses to help me prepare for the interviews. However, I am having trouble on planning out how to get my foot in the door -- i.e. on how to get interviews. Although I have friends who have started in IB out of college, most of them have already exited to PE, HF, corp dev and other non-IB roles, so I have very few to no friends who are working at an associate level at an IB. As such, I have very limited resources as to hearing some insider thoughts on this transition, and was wondering if I can get some input and advice on this process. 


I guess my main questions are as follows:

  1. How do I get interviews? I get a lot of emails and calls from legal recruiters, but have not yet heard any job opportunities re: IBs. Are recruiters helpful for associate-level lateral moves, especially from big law? Should I try to leverage my connections in finance and ask them to reach out to their current banker friends? Most of my friends and connections are already out of IB and mostly in PE, and have yet to discuss with them in detail about my potential transition given how fast the word may spread.
  2. I have also heard from a few sources that the market is (or was) hot for laterals into IB at both analyst and associate levels, but not sure if it's still entirely true. Any information on what the job market is like right now? 
  3. What would be the best way to leverage my legal background and work experience? I know that despite my involvement in some prominent M&A deals, the work that corporate lawyers do differ considerably from investment bankers. Any ideas on how I should leverage my education/work experience to make me a more attractive candidate for IB?
  4. Although I want to go into IB for now, I doubt that I want to stay in IB forever. What are the exit opportunities for associates in IB, especially if they moved from law and haven't climbed the ladder starting from an analyst? 

Any other tips, thoughts and/or advice on this transition would be greatly appreciated, especially if you know firsthand someone who made the move from law to IB. I also realize that I have rambled incoherently so please feel free to ask any questions.


Thanks in advance!

 

I think restructuring ib would be a great fit. Many banks have RX groups that specifically target law students.

 

Thanks! I have heard this from a few people as well. Would it be a problem that I have no experience in RX and have taken no bankruptcy courses? Also would going into a RX group limit my exit opportunities in any way? 

 

As far as exit opportunities, I wouldn’t say it’s limiting especially if you do it at a top firm. You would get front of the line for distressed hedge fund or credit exits. To your earlier point, a lot of restructuring is grounded in literature so having a background without taking courses is fine- just make sure to read the guides out there

 
Most Helpful

I've seen a couple of associates from big law to IB. Knew one guy from Kirkland Ellis and Austin Sidley who did it, which is comparable to your situation. I would imagine it's definitely possible.

I'm only at an intern level so I can't answer too much, but the lateral market is extremely hot. Pretty sure people are still hiring everywhere. I knew a guy who pretty much walked into a Guggenheim/Blair/Jefferies Interview and got the offer. Nervous reck of behavioral answers and scraped by technicals.
 

Edit: They were also M&A Law and went to the M&A Group 

 

I couldn’t tell you exactly how they did but it sounded like they got in mainly though networking. I remember one of them saying they were working on a deal and had gotten to know some of the analyst/associates on the other side and eventually ended up reaching out when he wanted to transition.
 

However, despite the persons target school and amazing work background he was still considered a bit risky because he came from law.

Edit: Also mentioned, there is a lot of knowing law in RX banking so that's also a good fit.

 

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