J.D. = Post-M.B.A. Associate?

I know from perusing the Wikipedia pages of bankers such as Erin Callan and Lloyd Blankfein that lots of lawyers lateral to banks. But, I have yet to see, with my extremely limited experience, a banker freshly minted from law school. What are the rules for lawyer-bankers? Do you have to be a ball hard corporate lawyer or can you go straight into an associate role sans Bar Exam? Thanks in advance for any information.

 

Blankfein started his carrier in S&T on the sales side. The same is true of Harvard J.D. graduate Jim Cramer.

The short answer is that a J.D., while far from useless, is not necessarily going to open as many doors relative to the cost and time of obtaining it as an MBA would. If already have a J.D. I would suggest you look for jobs in S&T or PWM. Also networking is going to be key.

BTW, Cramer and Blankfein started out their careers as attorneys, but switched to S&T because they hated working at law firms.

"He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man." ― William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
 

For what it's worth, I've heard several banks (and especially top consulting) recruit at the T3 law schools, so it is an option. However, an MBA def. makes a lot more sense if the end goal is finance

 

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