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Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:12 am
by shaq896
Hey, so I'm thinking about doing M&A or securities law after law school (Class of 2015) dealing mainly with tech companies. I plan on taking some programming classes over the summer, and have already interned with an internet company that filed for an IPO (might do it again this summer too). I have fairly good numbers (169, 3.75) and hopefully I can continue to do well at a T14 school but how much will my undergraduate major affect job prospects?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:15 am
by bk1
No, your undergrad major will not inhibit your ability to get a corporate law job.

ETA: Taking programming classes isn't going to matter for a job doing M&A or securities work for tech companies either since that kind of work doesn't require any science background at all.

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:16 am
by kaiser
1. Undergrad major doesn't matter

2. Tons of law school kids majored in poli sci, and these kids scatter off into every imaginable practice area

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:16 am
by Napt
Firms dgaf about your ug major unless you're going into IP.

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:18 am
by 071816
Happens all the time from what I understand. I know a kid who did corporate big law work with a history degree last summer and he said that it wasn't terribly uncommon. I think grades and willingness to learn and work hard are probably much more important. A business background is not a prerequisite for corporate transactional work.

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:33 pm
by R2-D2
Doesn't matter one bit. I'm personally a History major, but you can major in music, anthropology, or biology, and still get into a T-14 law school. Your undergrad degree doesn't matter at all (there are no pre-reqs for law school), your LSAT and GPA are the only things that matter (and both need to be very high). I don't even think your future employer will even look at your major; all they'll be looking at are your law school grades, and where you went to law school.

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:48 pm
by ThreeRivers
Semi- on topic, but related enough I figured I'd post it in here without starting a new thread

What about UG you attend. I heard a lawyer state once that "just so we heard of your UG before it doesn't really matter." Is this common? My ug was a complete small little joke school that litterrally NO ONE has ever heard of unless you live right by it. Will this have much of a negative impact on my future employment?

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:51 pm
by R2-D2
ThreeRivers wrote:Semi- on topic, but related enough I figured I'd post it in here without starting a new thread

What about UG you attend. I heard a lawyer state once that "just so we heard of your UG before it doesn't really matter." Is this common? My ug was a complete small little joke school that litterrally NO ONE has ever heard of unless you live right by it. Will this have much of a negative impact on my future employment?
Trust me, if you have a high LSAT, high GPA, and you came from a T-14 or T-50 law school, firms won't care if you came from Boondock State University or not. :)

At the end of the day, all firms care about is the law school you came from, definitely not undergrad.

Re: Corporate Law with a Poli Sci Degree??

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:55 pm
by Napt
ThreeRivers wrote:Semi- on topic, but related enough I figured I'd post it in here without starting a new thread

What about UG you attend. I heard a lawyer state once that "just so we heard of your UG before it doesn't really matter." Is this common? My ug was a complete small little joke school that litterrally NO ONE has ever heard of unless you live right by it. Will this have much of a negative impact on my future employment?
I heard uber-selective firms (e.g. WLRK, W&C, Cravath, a few others) are somewhat snobby about UG just because they have their pick of so many HYP-UG+HYS-LS kids that they have the luxury of doing so. Not sure how credited this is or how prevalent it is at the less selective firms though.