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....without business/finance background?

I'm a liberal arts major and I'm curious what I would have to prepare myself in order to practice corporate law.(at BigLaw)


Any advice?

(edited)

Why'd you post this in two forums? And yes, of course it is. That's what liberal arts majors do. They graduate and realize their degree is useless. Then they go to law school and gun for biglaw, which they get if they have the grades. And full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree.

Tons of corporate associates majored in liberal arts/basket weaving. Your basic corporations and securities classes in LS will give you enough background to get started.

Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

rocon7383 wrote:Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

Bueller.

Kabuo wrote:Why'd you post this in two forums? And yes, of course it is. That's what liberal arts majors do. They graduate and realize their degree is useless. Then they go to law school and gun for biglaw, which they get if they have the grades. And full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree.

I posted this in two forums because I wasn't sure which forum users are more knowledgeable about this topic.

I asked this question of a proffesor during an interview to attend and LS. He told me they basically assume you know nothing. You should be fine.

bport hopeful wrote:I asked this question of a proffesor during an interview to attend and LS. He told me they basically assume you know nothing. You should be fine.

TITCR. However, having some business background could make it a bit easier to explain why you want corporate when you get the "litigation or corporate" question.

rocon7383 wrote:Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

Without work experience your business undergrad major won't matter at all.

pokerlaw wrote:

rocon7383 wrote:Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

Without work experience you business undergrad major won't matter at all.

Does this come from experience or from what you've heard?

pokerlaw wrote:

rocon7383 wrote:Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

Without work experience you business undergrad major won't matter at all.

I was kinda hoping for either a law student applying for jobs or a lawyer to answer this question. Not a 0L like me. You may very well be right though.

roranoa wrote:

Kabuo wrote:Why'd you post this in two forums? And yes, of course it is. That's what liberal arts majors do. They graduate and realize their degree is useless. Then they go to law school and gun for biglaw, which they get if they have the grades. And full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree.

I posted this in two forums because I wasn't sure which forum users are more knowledgeable about this topic.

As far as I know, most people don't read individual forums. They just see the main news feed and click on things that sound interesting. Or maybe that's just me.

Kabuo wrote:

roranoa wrote:

Kabuo wrote:Why'd you post this in two forums? And yes, of course it is. That's what liberal arts majors do. They graduate and realize their degree is useless. Then they go to law school and gun for biglaw, which they get if they have the grades. And full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree.

I posted this in two forums because I wasn't sure which forum users are more knowledgeable about this topic.

As far as I know, most people don't read individual forums. They just see the main news feed and click on things that sound interesting. Or maybe that's just me.

Maybe you're right, but I'm sure some people read individual forums:)

yeah it's not hard to get it corporate work w/o any time of business/financial background. When the firm asks whether you want lit or corporate you can just say corp and back it up with one or two sentences about why. All I said is that the firm is strong in this type corporate work and that was good enough.

If you take a look at lawyer profiles you will see that many corporate lawyers do not have financial backgrounds. As a corporate lawyer you're not actually doing anything business related. You pretty much do the same thing litigation attorneys for the first few years -- reviewing docs, writing memos, making sure there are no typos or misplaced commas. The only business skill you need is basic accounting, and only enough to know how to read a financial statement. You can learn this by taking accounting in law school.

Of course, if you have the school/grades. They would never be able to fill classes with qualified applicants if they limited corporate work to people who worked in business or finance.

It amazes me how much law students think firms scrutinize every candidate. They interview hundreds of people, receive thousands of resumes, and screen almost wholly on law school grades/prestige.

pokerlaw wrote:

rocon7383 wrote:Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

Without work experience your business undergrad major won't matter at all.

+1. doesn't mean shit. if you want to use your fancy b school degree, why don't you get a job?

timbs4339 wrote:Of course, if you have the school/grades. They would never be able to fill classes with qualified applicants if they limited corporate work to people who worked in business or finance.

It amazes me how much law students think firms scrutinize every candidate. They interview hundreds of people, receive thousands of resumes, and screen almost wholly on law school grades/prestige.

How would you know this? By experience or from what you've heard? I'm talking about the part where you say "almost wholly on...."

roranoa wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:Of course, if you have the school/grades. They would never be able to fill classes with qualified applicants if they limited corporate work to people who worked in business or finance.

It amazes me how much law students think firms scrutinize every candidate. They interview hundreds of people, receive thousands of resumes, and screen almost wholly on law school grades/prestige.

How would you know this? By experience or from what you've heard? I'm talking about the part where you say "almost wholly on...."

Quit being a annoying. If you want first hand knowledge about firms' hiring practices, go talk to a hiring partner.

D-ROCCA wrote:

roranoa wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:Of course, if you have the school/grades. They would never be able to fill classes with qualified applicants if they limited corporate work to people who worked in business or finance.

It amazes me how much law students think firms scrutinize every candidate. They interview hundreds of people, receive thousands of resumes, and screen almost wholly on law school grades/prestige.

How would you know this? By experience or from what you've heard? I'm talking about the part where you say "almost wholly on...."

Quit being a annoying. If you want first hand knowledge about firms' hiring practices, go talk to a hiring partner.

Cough. The man speeks truth. . . and I've talked to more NLJ 250 hiring people than I can count at this point.

If you have an Oil and Gas background and want Texas or an Ibanking or consult background that might help a little. All work experience will help some, just like for lit.


Edit: Crevat, I don't know how firms screen since they aren't permitted to at Penn.

Veyron wrote:Edit: Crevat, I don't know how firms screen since they aren't permitted to at Penn.

fashionable misspelled puffy ties on your mind?

roranoa wrote:

timbs4339 wrote:Of course, if you have the school/grades. They would never be able to fill classes with qualified applicants if they limited corporate work to people who worked in business or finance.

It amazes me how much law students think firms scrutinize every candidate. They interview hundreds of people, receive thousands of resumes, and screen almost wholly on law school grades/prestige.

How would you know this? By experience or from what you've heard? I'm talking about the part where you say "almost wholly on...."

timbs is correct, based on pretty common knowledge of big firm hiring, as well as my own personal experience. i really have not ever heard of a situation in which undergrad degree truly matters, unless it is some incredibly specific/niche position, or IP. and really the only time that background/work experience matter is if it is something pretty stellar (i.e., consulting/i-banking/gov. position/etc.) or as a tie breaker between people with nearly identical law school grades/prestige/personality.

Veyron wrote:Edit: Crevat, I don't know how firms screen since they aren't permitted to at Penn.

I'm not much of a gambling man, but I would wager that firms still screen at Penn. They may not have the ability to deny you an OCI interview, but don't tell me a median or even sub-median student is going to get a "real" OCI interview with, say, Cravath. They're going to get the "what questions do you have about the firm"-question 3.7 seconds into their interview.

Kabuo wrote:Why'd you post this in two forums? And yes, of course it is. That's what liberal arts majors do. They graduate and realize their degree is useless. Then they go to law school and gun for biglaw, which they get if they have the grades. And full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree.

As a history major, I had to laugh at the depressing truth of this statement.

UCLAtransfer wrote:

Veyron wrote:Edit: Crevat, I don't know how firms screen since they aren't permitted to at Penn.

I'm not much of a gambling man, but I would wager that firms still screen at Penn. They may not have the ability to deny you an OCI interview, but don't tell me a median or even sub-median student is going to get a "real" OCI interview with, say, Cravath. They're going to get the "what questions do you have about the firm"-question 3.7 seconds into their interview.

Very few firms have "hard" cutoffs for Penn. If CSM could pre-screen they would probably ask for (what they thought was top 10%). Will median ever get you CSM? Not bloody likely. But the lack of pre-screenig gives a great interviewer in say, the top 20%, a fighting chance.

D-ROCCA wrote:

pokerlaw wrote:

rocon7383 wrote:Sidenote:

While it may not matter so much if you have a liberal arts degree, if I were ever up for a job as in house counsel in a business firm, would my Business Administration Major with dual concentrations in finance and marketing pay dividends?

When I decided to apply to LS, it was too late to switch majors without having to graduate late. I love history/writing/all that fluffy jazz and wouldn't have minded some easier classes but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Consequently, I am taking Operations and Production Management, Advanced financial analysis, Financial Management, and business calculus this semester. Yay.

Without work experience your business undergrad major won't matter at all.

+1. doesn't mean shit. if you want to use your fancy b school degree, why don't you get a job?

Douche.

I asked a simple question.