Regretting consulting after law school? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone who chose to do management consulting after law school regretted his/her decision?

Context: I'm choosing between a V5 firm (already accepted) and an MBB offer. The work at MBB would be far more interesting (with a work-life balance I prefer), but after 3 years of law school, the draw of just staying in law is strong. Curious to know if those who entered consulting ever thought they made the wrong call by leaving the legal path.

[corporatemandaorbust]

Curious as well.

OP what LS (don't have to be any more specific than you are comfortable with) are you at and what is your class rank?

[Anonymous User]

OP here

YHS; Top 30%.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone who chose to do management consulting after law school regretted his/her decision?

Context: I'm choosing between a V5 firm (already accepted) and an MBB offer. The work at MBB would be far more interesting (with a work-life balance I prefer), but after 3 years of law school, the draw of just staying in law is strong. Curious to know if those who entered consulting ever thought they made the wrong call by leaving the legal path.

From people I know that turned down firms for MBB, none have regretted it. I went to Big 4 consulting after law school and switched to a big law firm and regret making the switch every day. Consulting is just a better place to start and has much better exit options and more interesting work.

[Anonymous User]

Corporate or lit

Also I'm guessing not Wachtell? Cause that would change things

IME many corporate associates would feel better suited in a management consulting role. Much of early corporate work is relatively mind numbing compared to what a consulting associate and manager get to work with. Whereas if you want to be a litigator, the consulting job will not provide a similar experience and you will miss out on actually practicing. I was at a management consulting firm after college and went to law school to practice, but if I had to choose between sig pages/corporate filings/ect. and what I saw the MBAs doing when I was an analyst, I'd rather be in consulting (for a few years, at least. Harder to say after ~year 4.)

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone who chose to do management consulting after law school regretted his/her decision?

Context: I'm choosing between a V5 firm (already accepted) and an MBB offer. The work at MBB would be far more interesting (with a work-life balance I prefer), but after 3 years of law school, the draw of just staying in law is strong. Curious to know if those who entered consulting ever thought they made the wrong call by leaving the legal path.

From people I know that turned down firms for MBB, none have regretted it. I went to Big 4 consulting after law school and switched to a big law firm and regret making the switch every day. Consulting is just a better place to start and has much better exit options and more interesting work.

I think he is more referring to regretting wasting 3 years in law school. OP might be able to switch over to MBB after two years of practice where he was able to get value from Law School?

[Anonymous User]

Corporate or lit

Also I'm guessing not Wachtell? Cause that would change things

IME many corporate associates would feel better suited in a management consulting role. Much of early corporate work is relatively mind numbing compared to what a consulting associate and manager get to work with. Whereas if you want to be a litigator, the consulting job will not provide a similar experience and you will miss out on actually practicing. I was at a management consulting firm after college and went to law school to practice, but if I had to choose between sig pages/corporate filings/ect. and what I saw the MBAs doing when I was an analyst, I'd rather be in consulting (for a few years, at least. Harder to say after ~year 4.)

What tier law school/class rank would someone have to be to get an MBB opportunity?

[Anonymous User]

congrats on getting both offers. I am a junior associate at a big law, have no problem getting interviews at MBB. I tried to make the jump, got into final round but wasn't lucky enough to get an offer. one thing I can say is biglaw to MBB is probably much easier than MBB to biglaw. if you want experience in both fields, you should start in law. alternatively, can you defer your MBB start date by a year or two?

[lawlorbust]

OP here

YHS; Top 30%.

Class rank doesn't matter (at least at YHS)

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone who chose to do management consulting after law school regretted his/her decision?

Context: I'm choosing between a V5 firm (already accepted) and an MBB offer. The work at MBB would be far more interesting (with a work-life balance I prefer), but after 3 years of law school, the draw of just staying in law is strong. Curious to know if those who entered consulting ever thought they made the wrong call by leaving the legal path.

From people I know that turned down firms for MBB, none have regretted it. I went to Big 4 consulting after law school and switched to a big law firm and regret making the switch every day. Consulting is just a better place to start and has much better exit options and more interesting work.

I think he is more referring to regretting wasting 3 years in law school. OP might be able to switch over to MBB after two years of practice where he was able to get value from Law School?

Not how I read his post, but I wouldn't give in to the "3 years of law school is a waste" notion when it gets you an MBB offer. The people at my school that went to MBB had no shot at top MBAs, so they were just viewed as getting some of the best jobs out of law school. Ultimately, you are at the whim of clients regardless, but one job seems far more interesting and less soul crushing. Most big law attorneys I know in corporate hate their job. And I don't just mean they dislike, I mean its a job that causes people to develop mental health issues and anxiety as they sit around in a lonely office turning banker comments all night. Consulting can have some harsh hours too, but the nature of consulting is just different and you are developing a completely different (and far more valuable) skill set. Plus exit opportunities are better and are accessible earlier. Again, everyone I know that went to MBB had a great experience and either moved up the ladder or had an interesting and cushy non-consulting job within 2 years, this doesn't happen in big law, where many people I know left to make 1/3 the money because they just couldn't take the stress anymore.

[smile0751]

If you dont mind me asking, what's the starting salary for MBB after law school? I'm just wondering for personal knowledge, not that it should necessarily figure into your decision.

[Anonymous User]

Anonymous for obvious reasons on this post. I'm thinking about going to law school soon. For me personally, I think I'd be happier in law (a subject I've always found more interesting than business), so I think personality probably plays a role in whether you'll regret it. If you've enjoyed studying law and your summer jobs, you might regret going into consulting. We do some interesting work but also some very mind-numbing work.

I've been at a MBB for a couple years (straight from undergrad), and I have to say the firm itself makes a big difference. I have friends at all 3 firms and the cultures/people differ greatly.

I think the work can be pretty frustrating and the clients can really drive you insane. For the question about pay, I think post JD/MBA is probably ~140K base with $25K signing bonus (someone with that actual offer can correct me)

[Anonymous User]

Anonymous for obvious reasons on this post. I'm thinking about going to law school soon. For me personally, I think I'd be happier in law (a subject I've always found more interesting than business), so I think personality probably plays a role in whether you'll regret it. If you've enjoyed studying law and your summer jobs, you might regret going into consulting. We do some interesting work but also some very mind-numbing work.

I've been at a MBB for a couple years (straight from undergrad), and I have to say the firm itself makes a big difference. I have friends at all 3 firms and the cultures/people differ greatly.

I think the work can be pretty frustrating and the clients can really drive you insane. For the question about pay, I think post JD/MBA is probably ~140K base with $25K signing bonus (someone with that actual offer can correct me)

What is the difference between the work between MBB and Big Law in your eyes?

[Anonymous User]

5th year at a V5.

Take the MBB job.

"Consulting is just a better place to start and has much better exit options and more interesting work."

[RaceJudicata]

Anonymous for obvious reasons on this post. I'm thinking about going to law school soon. For me personally, I think I'd be happier in law (a subject I've always found more interesting than business), so I think personality probably plays a role in whether you'll regret it. If you've enjoyed studying law and your summer jobs, you might regret going into consulting. We do some interesting work but also some very mind-numbing work.

I've been at a MBB for a couple years (straight from undergrad), and I have to say the firm itself makes a big difference. I have friends at all 3 firms and the cultures/people differ greatly.

I think the work can be pretty frustrating and the clients can really drive you insane. For the question about pay, I think post JD/MBA is probably ~140K base with $25K signing bonus (someone with that actual offer can correct me)

What is the difference between the work between MBB and Big Law in your eyes?

This should be good.

[FascinatedWanderer]

Hahaha if someone genuinely has no idea what the difference in work between MBB and biglaw is, I'd be there's at least a 75% chance they're not getting an offer at either.

[Anonymous User]

Curious as well.

OP what LS (don't have to be any more specific than you are comfortable with) are you at and what is your class rank?

I'll second what other shave said. None of MBB asked for my grades at any point in the application process or before giving an offer. This is at HLS.

If you dont mind me asking, what's the starting salary for MBB after law school? I'm just wondering for personal knowledge, not that it should necessarily figure into your decision.

~$145 to $150k Base + ~$25k signing + bonuses in the $25k to $40k range + great benefits and 5-10% retirement contribution. Depending on how your bonus shakes out, your total comp can be pretty comparable to biglaw (and eventually surpass biglaw around year 4-5 based on the figures they shared with us)

[Anonymous User]

Corporate or lit

Also I'm guessing not Wachtell? Cause that would change things

IME many corporate associates would feel better suited in a management consulting role. Much of early corporate work is relatively mind numbing compared to what a consulting associate and manager get to work with. Whereas if you want to be a litigator, the consulting job will not provide a similar experience and you will miss out on actually practicing. I was at a management consulting firm after college and went to law school to practice, but if I had to choose between sig pages/corporate filings/ect. and what I saw the MBAs doing when I was an analyst, I'd rather be in consulting (for a few years, at least. Harder to say after ~year 4.)

What tier law school/class rank would someone have to be to get an MBB opportunity?

At least T14 to be considered at the fanciest shops. McKinsey and BCG recruit directly at T6 for pure JDs (or at least at Harvard and Columbia). I'm sure Bain accepts applications, I'm not sure where they go on campus. When looking at numbers at different schools, keep in mind that schools with popular JD-MBA programs, like Penn, Northwestern, Columbia, and Stanford, might have a number of folks going into consulting "from law school" in theory but actually through the business school.

Your class rank after 1L does not matter, or at least, does not matter nearly as much as it does for law firms. At a T6, you probably just want to avoid objectively bad grades, but consulting firms aren't interested in whether you aced Civ Pro. They will care about your prior work experience, your undergraduate major and degree, your case method, your analytics, and how well you can command a room.

[Anonymous User]

Hello,

MBB consultant here who joined last year. I did a previous thread on life as a consultant you should search for (about 3 months back), and there are others I believe.

I don't regret it at all, and am much happier generally than my law firm peers from law school. That's not to say it's all flowers and sunshine, but generally the work has been (at a high level) strategic and high-level, I've learned a good amount, I haven't had any weekend work (though hours during the week can be tough), and the people I work with are truly amazing. I'm also generally happy about the types of exit opportunities that will start opening up to me in the next year, having observed people who have left my firm.

Here's what I'd say: there is NO overlap between the work you will do as a corporate associate and as a consultant. None. They are completely different things, and I encourage you to look at them that way. The reason I say this is because you're at a point where you finally really need to decide what you want for yourself, and no one can answer that for you. Money shouldn't be the main factor here (and it's a non-factor, as after all-in comp is weighed both fields are within ~10% of each other for first-years). I would also not encourage the 2 years in BigLaw and then maybe do consulting mentality. There's no carryover or credit for being a lawyer in consulting, and you'd have to start all over essentially. This is not the worst thing by a long shot, and my first manager who is a rockstar was actually in this exact boat, it's just to say that it's not ideal.

Happy to answer any further questions you or others have.

[corporatemandaorbust]

Hello,

MBB consultant here who joined last year. I did a previous thread on life as a consultant you should search for (about 3 months back), and there are others I believe.

I don't regret it at all, and am much happier generally than my law firm peers from law school. That's not to say it's all flowers and sunshine, but generally the work has been (at a high level) strategic and high-level, I've learned a good amount, I haven't had any weekend work (though hours during the week can be tough), and the people I work with are truly amazing. I'm also generally happy about the types of exit opportunities that will start opening up to me in the next year, having observed people who have left my firm.

Here's what I'd say: there is NO overlap between the work you will do as a corporate associate and as a consultant. None. They are completely different things, and I encourage you to look at them that way. The reason I say this is because you're at a point where you finally really need to decide what you want for yourself, and no one can answer that for you. Money shouldn't be the main factor here (and it's a non-factor, as after all-in comp is weighed both fields are within ~10% of each other for first-years). I would also not encourage the 2 years in BigLaw and then maybe do consulting mentality. There's no carryover or credit for being a lawyer in consulting, and you'd have to start all over essentially. This is not the worst thing by a long shot, and my first manager who is a rockstar was actually in this exact boat, it's just to say that it's not ideal.

Happy to answer any further questions you or others have.

Interesting. So would you say most people would prefer strategy consulting to law? Or is it a certain trade-off?

[Anonymous User]

Another current JD going to MBB next year...without reservation. Every JD/Biglaw -> MBB I've talked to has been (at least 10-15 people) has been very happy with the switch. Obviously it's a very biased sample size because they are people who have already self-selected out of law. Just talking to people about the work and cultures should give you a good sense of which is a better fit for you. Also thinking about what you want to be doing after life in a professional services firm.

If you want to do litigation/government work eventually the decision is definitely different, but for pure corporate work I thought on almost every dimension (people/culture, hours, interest of work and long-term earning potential) were all better from MBB. Only downsides I saw were travel and potentially closing yourself off to the law in the future.

[sparty99]

Consulting is overrated, I did it pre-law, but I think you would probably have a better life as a consultant versus a lawyer. You will actually get to take vacation. If you are talking about MBB, clearly they are the best and after 2 to 3 years you can easily go get a corpoate strategy role at a Fortune 500 company if you burn out as a consultant.

If you do law, your skills won't transfer. Only law people will want to hire you.

[corporatemandaorbust]

Consulting is overrated, I did it pre-law, but I think you would probably have a better life as a consultant versus a lawyer. You will actually get to take vacation. If you are talking about MBB, clearly they are the best and after 2 to 3 years you can easily go get a corpoate strategy role at a Fortune 500 company if you burn out as a consultant.

If you do law, your skills won't transfer. Only law people will want to hire you.

What do you mean it is overrated? The skill-set gained at MBB isn't as versatile as people think?

[FascinatedWanderer]

I think most people would agree there's no reason to do corporate over going to MBB. The hours are better, you have no skills but people value the bullshit your can spin, and the exit ops and quality of work are way better.

Most people who do corporate would probably have gone the ibanking or consulting route if they could have. As mentioned the calculus is totally different for litigation.

[smile0751]

Did you take the bar before starting in consulting?