Poll: Finance rotation at top 10 bank or T10-14 sticker? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm torn between these two paths and would really appreciate TLS' opinion and reasoning -- thanks guys.

[Anonymous User]

Anyone care to justify their vote?

[Anonymous User]

You've got nothing to lose by gaining some corporate experience before law school, and it will be hard to gain such experience in finance after finishing law school since you will have to look for a legal job.

Personally, I found it very helpful to get some solid work experience beforehand because it really helps you understand the corporate world in a way schooling or even interning could not.

Even though it's T14, it's the lower schools and you're paying sticker so earning and saving a little now will help you. ITE safer seems better. My two cents.

[DaftAndDirect]

If you're even asking this question, I feel like you're not exactly in a rush to be an attorney - which makes the opportunity that you have in front of you all the more attractive.

I decided to go off to work in finance specifically because I wanted to attend Northwestern (applying this fall), and I didn't have the numbers to get around their work experience requirement. I got much more than I bargained for by taking the time off; you learn a surprising amount about yourself after just a year or so of working in a professional, post-college environment.

The experience will absolutely make you a better student, and could possibly make you a more attractive candidate. Get after it.

[Reinhardt]

What everyone else said. Plus if you decide to become a lawyer later, law firms will be much happier to have you as compared to some kid fresh from undergrad.

[TTH]

I would be shocked if anyone voted for law school.

[Anonymous User]

Faced a similar choice out of UG. Chose work, now back in LS. Best decision I ever made.

[Big Shrimpin]

I would be shocked if anyone voted for law school.

[thesealocust]

It's not that one is better than the other, it's that if you can't decide one path lets you do both if you want (starting at the bank) while one will largely lock you in as an attorney (T14).

The T14 will get better with 1-3 years of banking work (you'll be very desirable at OCI).

[LLB2JD]

Well, you'd never find a more unanimous vote than this here on TLS

[DeSimone]

The lone vote for law school, please explain your choice...

[ajcollege]

You have the opportunity to earn money, boost your resume/WE, and try something different that may be better for you than a career in law. Go for it.

[Anonymous User]

OP here -- thanks for all of your input.

For those whom traveled the UG --> finance --> law route:

How did you tell your story at OCI? I can picture this being easy to sell and am curious what people came up with.

[dr123]

go work for a bit, lawl school isnt going anywhere.

[A'nold]

Based on the little information given I voted for bank but I had to make the inference that your goal is to work in corporate biglaw and your main concern is money.

If you wanted to work as a public defender and that was your life dream, I'd vote for ls lol.

[dissonance1848]

Law school is for those who can't hack math/hard sciences, and could not get work elsewhere, so they are taking a huge gamble. If there is anyone in Law School who is otherwise, they either have made a ton of money, have niche WE that counts, or are fucking irrational.

Don't even think about Law School, do fucking banking. You will at least have a job and make real money.

[A'nold]

Law school is for those who can't hack math/hard sciences, and could not get work elsewhere, so they are taking a huge gamble. If there is anyone in Law School who is otherwise, they either have made a ton of money, have niche WE that counts, or are fucking irrational.

Don't even think about Law School, do fucking banking. You will at least have a job and make real money.

Idiot.

[rayiner]

OP here -- thanks for all of your input.

For those whom traveled the UG --> finance --> law route:

How did you tell your story at OCI? I can picture this being easy to sell and am curious what people came up with.

For transactional, they'll assume a lot when they see ibanking on your resume. Just say you enjoyed the work but you really want to be a lawyer and hope to leverage your experience to be a better transactional lawyer.

If you want to go into litigation, you want to steer away from the banking work per se and focus on how it'll help you understand finance clients in litigation, etc.

[174]

Law is for people who couldn't get finance out of undergrad. This is an easy decision.

[dissonance1848]

Hey A'nold, I'm one of those folks. Also, I'm inferring that OP cares about compensation, since, you know, people who want to be hippie do-gooders don't tend to solicit advice about joining an industry that has just a bit of avarice.

[Anonymous User]

OP again -- Thanks for the additional comments.

In regards to dissonance1848's inference:

Yeah, I used to envision myself as a hotshot, corporate lawyer, making big bucks and putting together big M&A deals under the supervision of Lucifer himself.

Recently, I've become more open-minded about other kinds of law, including PI/government work. Call me a lame hippie do-gooder, but I think it would be exciting and rewarding in its own way.

In any case, I guess that a few years of work experience and introspection would serve me well.

Thanks again to those who commented.

[dissonance1848]

Hello OP, just laying on the sarcasm on the intertubes. If you want to go into law for something other than corporate, thats great, that makes a lot more sense with regard to whether you want banking or not. Didn't mean to belittle your career aspirations.

[ruski]

a lot of pepole here assumed the OP would be doing ibanking. i don't think this is the case since i don't know of any BB that do rotiations for ibanking. the only rotations i know are for back-office, which if it is, it wouldn't be unreasonable for OP to choose law school.

but even if this is backoffice/operations it would still probably be worth it to take since several attorneys probably wont fully grasp the difference between the different jobs you could have at an ibank, they will just see the name of the bank and be like woww.

also selling finance --> law is not that easy. people think you are crazy. i got a lot of raised eyebrows during recruiting. i think several people just assume you couldnt find a job in finance, even if you tell them otherwise. i think non-M&A lawyers are more accepting of it. most of the lawyers who thought i was crazy for leaving finance were the corporate lawyers, which probably make sense as they are all probably desperate to leave their jobs and get into ibanking.

[AreJay711]

a lot of pepole here assumed the OP would be doing ibanking. i don't think this is the case since i don't know of any BB that do rotiations for ibanking. the only rotations i know are for back-office, which if it is, it wouldn't be unreasonable for OP to choose law school.

but even if this is backoffice/operations it would still probably be worth it to take since several attorneys probably wont fully grasp the difference between the different jobs you could have at an ibank, they will just see the name of the bank and be like woww.

The thing is that back-office jobs can lead to more desirable stuff (based off anecdotes not any kind of stats or anything). If not then what you said about lawyers not realizing that there is a difference is still correct.

[ruski]

back office is the kiss of death. it teaches you no hard finance/analytical skills. it is just glorified data entry. very very few people could leverage a back office position for something better (it happens but its definetly the exception)