Does law school confer unique, invaluable soft skills?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 4:44 am
I'm under the impression (although very possibly a naive one) that attending law school can greatly improve one's ability to critically analyze problems, construct convincing arguments, help one become a better negotiator, hone reading/writing abilities, and overall bring to the table a high level of respect and "authority", perhaps more so than other graduate degrees.
If law school does indeed help hone these aforementioned skills, or even SOME of them, wouldn't they be useful for people who not only want to work in the legal profession, but also want to work in the business/finance world and someday take on an executive position at a large corporation or start his/her own company? After all, you have people like Lloyd Blankfein (the former CEO of Goldman Sachs) who obtained a J.D. from Harvard, Brian Moynihan (CEO of Bank of America) who obtained a J.D. from Notre Dame and numerous other CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who went to law school.
This all brings me to my main question: Can attending law school be a good idea for those (aka me) who are NOT particularly interested in working as a lawyer, but want the training of the above soft skills/abilities that comes with attending law school? I was thinking that even if I didn't become a lawyer, the very important soft skills (skills which would certainly be helpful in the business world) developed as a result of going to law school could justify the cost. If I didn't get a J.D., I'd probably get an MBA, which I'm honestly a bit wary about as I've heard that MBAs have lost their value in recent times and probably wouldn't provide as rigorous of the intellectual/critical thinking training as law school. (Not trying to belittle an MBA; this is just from what I've read and heard).
What do you guys think? Any input at all would be appreciated, and many thanks to everyone in advance!
(For context, I'm an incoming investment banking analyst at a mid-tier bulge bracket bank deciding if going to law school after 2 years of working is the right option for me).
If law school does indeed help hone these aforementioned skills, or even SOME of them, wouldn't they be useful for people who not only want to work in the legal profession, but also want to work in the business/finance world and someday take on an executive position at a large corporation or start his/her own company? After all, you have people like Lloyd Blankfein (the former CEO of Goldman Sachs) who obtained a J.D. from Harvard, Brian Moynihan (CEO of Bank of America) who obtained a J.D. from Notre Dame and numerous other CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who went to law school.
This all brings me to my main question: Can attending law school be a good idea for those (aka me) who are NOT particularly interested in working as a lawyer, but want the training of the above soft skills/abilities that comes with attending law school? I was thinking that even if I didn't become a lawyer, the very important soft skills (skills which would certainly be helpful in the business world) developed as a result of going to law school could justify the cost. If I didn't get a J.D., I'd probably get an MBA, which I'm honestly a bit wary about as I've heard that MBAs have lost their value in recent times and probably wouldn't provide as rigorous of the intellectual/critical thinking training as law school. (Not trying to belittle an MBA; this is just from what I've read and heard).
What do you guys think? Any input at all would be appreciated, and many thanks to everyone in advance!
(For context, I'm an incoming investment banking analyst at a mid-tier bulge bracket bank deciding if going to law school after 2 years of working is the right option for me).