Is big law impossible if you graduate law school at 44? Forum

[lawschoolsplit2023]

I plan to graduate from a top law school and begin law school Fall 2025. Therefore I’ll be 44 when I graduate. I just went later in life due to years of caring for sick parents that passed and other life constraints.

By the time I graduate I’ll have at least six years in finance field with finance certifications.

If I do graduate with a top ranking and gpa is it possible I may be denied everywhere in big law or top tier firms. Can someone give me any examples of early 40s graduates that fared just fine in big law or a reputable firm?

[Anonymous User]

Here is someone who started law school in her 40s, graduate law school in her mid-40s, and then ended up at a top biglaw firm: https://www.debevoise.com/amyzimmerman.

[existentialcrisis]

This sounds miserable. Why would you want to do this?

[nealric]

You may face some degree of implicit bias, but if you at a T14 and end up with reasonable grades, it's likely you could get a Biglaw job. As others have mentioned, the question is why you'd want to do this.

Being a junior biglaw associate is brutal, and most people have more life commitments in their mid-40s than their mid 20s, which may make the demands particularly punishing.

[lawschoolsplit2023]

Thanks you guys for the great insight and replies

To give a little background why I wish to do big law at 43-44, is not because I’m interested in making partner there, my overall goal by late 40s is to be associate general counsel or senior counsel at an investment bank like Goldman, Merrill, etc which I’ve seen others become after 3-5 years of law experience from reputable firms.

I didn’t specify in my post I wasn’t planning on staying at big law firm to make partner, just to get my experience to move to an investment bank

[nealric]

Thanks you guys for the great insight and replies

To give a little background why I wish to do big law at 43-44, is not because I’m interested in making partner there, my overall goal by late 40s is to be associate general counsel or senior counsel at an investment bank like Goldman, Merrill, etc which I’ve seen others become after 3-5 years of law experience from reputable firms.

I didn’t specify in my post I wasn’t planning on staying at big law firm to make partner, just to get my experience to move to an investment bank

Very few people really go into biglaw gunning for partner.

[UVA2B]

Thanks you guys for the great insight and replies

To give a little background why I wish to do big law at 43-44, is not because I’m interested in making partner there, my overall goal by late 40s is to be associate general counsel or senior counsel at an investment bank like Goldman, Merrill, etc which I’ve seen others become after 3-5 years of law experience from reputable firms.

I didn’t specify in my post I wasn’t planning on staying at big law firm to make partner, just to get my experience to move to an investment bank

Very few people really go into biglaw gunning for partner.

And less people have any idea what partner takes, or whether they actually want it.

[UVA2B]

Thanks you guys for the great insight and replies

To give a little background why I wish to do big law at 43-44, is not because I’m interested in making partner there, my overall goal by late 40s is to be associate general counsel or senior counsel at an investment bank like Goldman, Merrill, etc which I’ve seen others become after 3-5 years of law experience from reputable firms.

I didn’t specify in my post I wasn’t planning on staying at big law firm to make partner, just to get my experience to move to an investment bank

To be clear, you’re entering law school with a lot of risk, hoping to leverage your experience and qualifications in hopes of getting into a job as an AGC or VP role. But the thing you need to appreciate has nothing to do with your law school choice, your choice of firm, and how/whether you can leverage your role at a big firm into that sort of role.

To be candid, you really can’t credibly plan for the ultimate goal at this point. You’re just way too far attenuated right now to plan for the result you want. But that doesn’t mean your goals are unrealistic. But as someone who entered big law at a later age, you have to realize that all of your goals and efforts for at least several years will be dedicated work for the firm, and your ultimate desire for a VP type role will only be appreciated insofar as it would benefit the partnership at the firm you agree to join.


You are really unlikely to get offers for in house jobs within the first years of practice, especially at the level you’re hoping for. That doesn’t make the ultimate goal per se unrealistic, but I think you’re underweighting the approach it takes to get a VP type role, especially pre law school.