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I realized how far from clear cut my decision not to attend law school was when, in a job interview with a “Big 4” (the four largest accounting firms in the world) partner, he asked why I wanted to work as an auditor rather than pursue a career in law, a path my résumé suggested I may have interest in. After all, how could I consider law school when an auditor’s career is defined by job security, higher than average income, a pension, even? Now is the worst time in history to attend law school in history–a glut of well-qualified graduates saddled with extensive debt fighting over just a few opportunities, he said.

Of course, these facts are true. It was a question I wasn't ready for, one I had not been asked in the countless mock interviews and definitely not one that was listed in my tidy, color-coded spreadsheet of questions to be ready for in each firm’s notoriously difficult interviews. More important than the fact that I did not have a scripted answer filed away in my head, it was a question I had considered since the day I had my first interview but had not been able to answer.

For the most part, my life as an accountant is red and black. Decisions are made with the maximization of profit in mind, whether for one's own firm or a client. My education focused on identifying and managing risk. Ambiguity leads to risk, and risk leads to loss. Companies were prepared to pay me a premium to tell them how to avoid risk, so the decision to pass on guaranteed employment for the ambiguity and risk that come with law school was difficult from my accountant’s point of view.

But that perspective does not have a monopoly on the right decisions. When considering the opportunity to work as a trusted legal advisor combining my accounting background with a law school education in order to make a lasting mark on the growth of small businesses, the decision became an easy one. After all, law school doesn’t just teach content, it teaches new methods of learning and thinking. The combination of these unique methods leveraged with the specialized, analytical method of accounting, inspired an excitement about advising small businesses as a law school graduate that auditing wasn’t able to give me.

Submitting, editing, and publishing an article for the [journal title], an undergraduate law review-style journal, gave me an opportunity to study the specific challenges an attorney familiar with the accounting landscape of business can help clients avoid. As I researched the nature of ownership in closely held corporations in the context of a new [state] law, I began to understand the plight owners find themselves in when selling their shares in order to raise capital and grow the business. Frequently, they are vulnerable to abuses by new majority investors that can be prevented by the foresight afforded by the intersection of legal and accounting educations. The small business landscape is filled with similar landmines and in my capacity as legal counsel to management, who will likely be experts in their trade but likely not in the minutiae of corporate law, I look forward to being able to provide unique advice.

Am I at greater risk for not succeeding in a legal career because I spent my undergraduate career building Excel models of companies' cash flows instead of studying Oliver Wendell Holmes? The truth is, I feel more prepared than ever because of my background in accounting. My response to the partner was that the decision is not accounting or law. In reality, the two disciplines are complementary and intimately connected. Attending law school will make me a better accountant, and having studied accounting will make me a better lawyer and student of law.