Making the jump from litigation to PE?
I currently work in litigation at a mid-sized, regional law firm in the south east, focusing on construction litigation and workers comp matters. Pay is decent, but not great compared to big law. I am 27, and I have been doing this for about two years. This really isn't about the money, I would be happy making what I am now elsewhere--I just want to try something new. In that vein, in the next five years or so I would like to make the jump to private equity somehow. I can't really lateral to a transactional practice, at least not within my firm as we are heavily litigation focused. Thought I would reach out to this group to see if anyone is willing to offer any advice? Any skills I can begin to build, steps I should take, should I give up this idea entirely? Literally any feedback is helpful.
A few other details:
1) I have the money saved up to quit and go to business school--I'm confident I could attend a top 25 b-school.
2) I am a good networker and have traditionally found it easy to make career moves through connections and friends.
3) I have an undergraduate degree in political science (I know, stupid), but my law school focus was heavily business/corporate.
4) I'm not trying to get to Blackstone or KKR--like I said, this is about trying new things.
5) I attended a top 30 law school w/ 3.67 GPA and 164 LSAT; graduated law school in top 33% of class.
Anyway, thanks in advance for the help!
Have you ever thought about going into litigation finance? Like a Burford Capital type of place potentially given your background.
@T30Graduate
Not to be harsh, but not possible without attending a top b-school + IB, unless you're leaving out that your family runs a PE firm. You don't have any deal experience and would be competing against people with 3-5 years of deal work. It's just not something you can self-learn or expect to figure out on the job. The equivalent would be asking "can I become a doctor if I watch Grey's Anatomy but don't do any rotations or med school?" Not that PE is at all that level of difficulty, but the people you are up against are so incredibly qualified, with experience that takes years to gain, that there's just really no easy path for someone who is interested but not qualified. Even those in M&A law usually cannot switch easily. Restructuring is one area where a law background is helpful, and could potentially do a few years there and then switch without b-school.
B-school is a viable path, and you're still young enough to go, but you have to 1. be willing to do 2 years of IB first, no PE firm will hire you fresh from B-school and 2. must be a top 15 (ideally M7)
It's not an easy road, and PE is not an easy/cushy career either. If you are 1000% set on finance, maybe worth it. Otherwise I would focus your "trying new things" path elsewhere
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