Top Law Schools

Is this possible? I have zero background in finance. Just an interest in tackling banking crime. My school offers a concentration on securities law as well as several tax law classes. I also have a lot of other public service experience including a bit of consumer protection experience. Would this be enough to be seriously considered for employment at a place like the SEC?

The SEC would rather you lateral from a large law firm. Getting hired there as an entry level is pretty difficult, even for someone with a better background.

IAFG wrote:The SEC would rather you lateral from a large law firm. Getting hired there as an entry level is pretty difficult, even for someone with a better background.

OP here

Hm, well firm work isn't something I'm very interested in. This article questions interns at the SEC and one of the questions was "For the interns who used to work in finance, do you miss anything about that world?" So, it seems like some people get in w/o finance...or that could just be a badly worded question/indicative of only a handful of people.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/ ... orld-away/

Anonymous User wrote:

IAFG wrote:The SEC would rather you lateral from a large law firm. Getting hired there as an entry level is pretty difficult, even for someone with a better background.

OP here

Hm, well firm work isn't something I'm very interested in. This article questions interns at the SEC and one of the questions was "For the interns who used to work in finance, do you miss anything about that world?" So, it seems like some people get in w/o finance...or that could just be a badly worded question/indicative of only a handful of people.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/ ... orld-away/

Are you trying to get hired as an intern or as a real job? Because it's a lot easier to get the internship gig.

IAFG wrote: Are you trying to get hired as an intern or as a real job? Because it's a lot easier to get the internship gig.

OP here

Good point. I'm a 1L trying to figure out what I want to go into. I'm interested in being hired as an attorney down the line. Honestly, I have some reservations about getting into securities regulation because it seems like so little is being done to actually convict banking industry criminals. I'd like to work in a place that was pushing for reform rather than the status quo. It doesn't seem like gov't is doing that right now as both parties are well bought by wall street.

Sorry, /rant. Yes, I'd like to be hired as an attorney. If not with the gov't, maybe with a place that does meaningful reform work? I haven't heard of any organizations other than the SEC on that side...

you want to do sec litigation? or just securities-related corporate work (capital markets)?

If you just want to do capital markets, you don't need a finance background. It might help you to understand the big picture but as a lawyer, your job will be drafting boring documents like prospectus and various agreements. There will be very little specifics of finance involved. I worked in the capital markets team of a large firm this summer and I was involved in several securities offerings.

Anonymous User wrote:

IAFG wrote: Are you trying to get hired as an intern or as a real job? Because it's a lot easier to get the internship gig.

OP here

Good point. I'm a 1L trying to figure out what I want to go into. I'm interested in being hired as an attorney down the line. Honestly, I have some reservations about getting into securities regulation because it seems like so little is being done to actually convict banking industry criminals. I'd like to work in a place that was pushing for reform rather than the status quo. It doesn't seem like gov't is doing that right now as both parties are well bought by wall street.

Sorry, /rant. Yes, I'd like to be hired as an attorney. If not with the gov't, maybe with a place that does meaningful reform work? I haven't heard of any organizations other than the SEC on that side...

The SEC is generally interested in market stability and integrity, not reform or lynchings. You might look for plaintiffs-side securities firms, like Grant & Eisenhofer or Gibbs & Bruns. It sounds like the work would align with your interests.

IAFG wrote:The SEC would rather you lateral from a large law firm. Getting hired there as an entry level is pretty difficult, even for someone with a better background.

Not true.

Renzo wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

IAFG wrote: Are you trying to get hired as an intern or as a real job? Because it's a lot easier to get the internship gig.

OP here

Good point. I'm a 1L trying to figure out what I want to go into. I'm interested in being hired as an attorney down the line. Honestly, I have some reservations about getting into securities regulation because it seems like so little is being done to actually convict banking industry criminals. I'd like to work in a place that was pushing for reform rather than the status quo. It doesn't seem like gov't is doing that right now as both parties are well bought by wall street.

Sorry, /rant. Yes, I'd like to be hired as an attorney. If not with the gov't, maybe with a place that does meaningful reform work? I haven't heard of any organizations other than the SEC on that side...

The SEC is generally interested in market stability and integrity, not reform or lynchings. You might look for plaintiffs-side securities firms, like Grant & Eisenhofer or Gibbs & Bruns. It sounds like the work would align with your interests.

Not true.

Anonymous User wrote:

IAFG wrote: Are you trying to get hired as an intern or as a real job? Because it's a lot easier to get the internship gig.

OP here

Good point. I'm a 1L trying to figure out what I want to go into. I'm interested in being hired as an attorney down the line. Honestly, I have some reservations about getting into securities regulation because it seems like so little is being done to actually convict banking industry criminals. I'd like to work in a place that was pushing for reform rather than the status quo. It doesn't seem like gov't is doing that right now as both parties are well bought by wall street.

Sorry, /rant. Yes, I'd like to be hired as an attorney. If not with the gov't, maybe with a place that does meaningful reform work? I haven't heard of any organizations other than the SEC on that side...

Maybe this? http://www.consumerfinance.gov/

anon168 wrote:

IAFG wrote:The SEC would rather you lateral from a large law firm. Getting hired there as an entry level is pretty difficult, even for someone with a better background.

Not true.

Well I guess I am just going off what SEC attorneys and former summers have said

Renzo wrote:
The SEC is generally interested in market stability and integrity, not reform or lynchings. You might look for plaintiffs-side securities firms, like Grant & Eisenhofer or Gibbs & Bruns. It sounds like the work would align with your interests.

OP here

As luck would have it, I'll probably be dependent on public service loan forgiveness, so firm work would be out unless I really wanted to pay for all that debt. I'm at a lower T50 so I don't have a shot at big law (not sure how large those law firms are that you mentioned) but the work they do does look interesting.

A. Nony Mouse wrote: Maybe this? http://www.consumerfinance.gov/

OP here

Thanks, I'll take a look at this.

IAFG wrote:

anon168 wrote:

IAFG wrote:The SEC would rather you lateral from a large law firm. Getting hired there as an entry level is pretty difficult, even for someone with a better background.

Not true.

Well I guess I am just going off what SEC attorneys and former summers have said

Me too. But I know what (and how) to listen for, and I don't talk to summers (current or former).

The SEC hasn't hired people straight out of their JD since 2009/10. The only people I know who have gotten hired without existing experience are LLMs who interned there while getting their LLMs. Even then they don't get hired into Enforcement, which is what OP seems to want to do (or maybe Risk Fin, but that's more quant anyway). And when I say that the SEC has hired some LLMs, I mean that the entire TM division has hired maybe two a year. I would suspect that getting hired at FINRA or a plaintiff firm would be much easier out of a JD program. As to the CFPB link, they hire about two fresh JDs per year into their enforcement group out of 2,000+ applicants. If you are dead-set against big firm work, I would say that state agency work or plaintiffs' side work would be the only realistic options. Maybe a reform group like Better Markets would also be a fit, but I just can't imagine them being interested in fresh JDs when there are lots of committed reformers with experience in the market.

LawIdiot86 wrote:The SEC hasn't hired people straight out of their JD since 2009/10. The only people I know who have gotten hired without existing experience are LLMs who interned there while getting their LLMs. Even then they don't get hired into Enforcement, which is what OP seems to want to do (or maybe Risk Fin, but that's more quant anyway). And when I say that the SEC has hired some LLMs, I mean that the entire TM division has hired maybe two a year. I would suspect that getting hired at FINRA or a plaintiff firm would be much easier out of a JD program. As to the CFPB link, they hire about two fresh JDs per year into their enforcement group out of 2,000+ applicants. If you are dead-set against big firm work, I would say that state agency work or plaintiffs' side work would be the only realistic options. Maybe a reform group like Better Markets would also be a fit, but I just can't imagine them being interested in fresh JDs when there are lots of committed reformers with experience in the market.

Bro, you just don't know how to listen, and what to listen for.

Anonymous User wrote:

Renzo wrote:
The SEC is generally interested in market stability and integrity, not reform or lynchings. You might look for plaintiffs-side securities firms, like Grant & Eisenhofer or Gibbs & Bruns. It sounds like the work would align with your interests.

OP here

As luck would have it, I'll probably be dependent on public service loan forgiveness, so firm work would be out unless I really wanted to pay for all that debt. I'm at a lower T50 so I don't have a shot at big law (not sure how large those law firms are that you mentioned) but the work they do does look interesting.

I'm beating a dead horse but FWIW getting big fed is more competitive than big law.