Big law possible with no business background? Forum

[joetheplumber]

I think most of us that are in law school have a poli sci degree and therefore have no finance bg. Does this mean you are at a disadvantage when it comes to big law stuff since what they deal mostly are with business transactions, etc. So would business/econ/finance undergrads have a better chance?

[A. Nony Mouse]

I think most of us that are in law school have a poli sci degree and therefore have no finance bg. Does this mean you are at a disadvantage when it comes to big law stuff since what they deal mostly are with business transactions, etc. So would business/econ/finance undergrads have a better chance?

I think this is pretty unlikely.

[Bronx Bum]

hmm

[ph14]

I think most of us that are in law school have a poli sci degree and therefore have no finance bg. Does this mean you are at a disadvantage when it comes to big law stuff since what they deal mostly are with business transactions, etc. So would business/econ/finance undergrads have a better chance?

No. Have you read around TLS for more than 5 minutes?

[shock259]

No. I have crap liberal arts degree and not a single person asked me about it any interviews. Got offerz

[z0rk]

It offers little to no advantage to have a business/econ/finance degree when interviewing. It might play a small factor if you have been out of school for many years and worked in a particular field of business before entering law school, but it would depend on a lot of factors (i.e. how specialized is your experience, how does that experience relate to the type of law practice you are interviewing for, etc).

However, it is likely that being conversant in business concepts IS something you need to be able to achieve in an interview. I am not saying you should read and study extra materials outside of what you study in law school. To the contrary, just be aware of some of the business concepts and ideas that come through in the cases you read. Those issues are likely to relate to the types of issues a business litigator or transactions attorney may deal with.

If you are concerned about your knowledge of business law you may want to consider taking any of the following classes (note this is not a comprehensive list of business related classes): Business Associations, Commercial Law, Secured Transactions, Securities Law, Bankruptcy, Banking Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Antitrust, etc.

[joetheplumber]

It offers little to no advantage to have a business/econ/finance degree when interviewing. It might play a small factor if you have been out of school for many years and worked in a particular field of business before entering law school, but it would depend on a lot of factors (i.e. how specialized is your experience, how does that experience relate to the type of law practice you are interviewing for, etc).

However, it is likely that being conversant in business concepts IS something you need to be able to achieve in an interview. I am not saying you should read and study extra materials outside of what you study in law school. To the contrary, just be aware of some of the business concepts and ideas that come through in the cases you read. Those issues are likely to relate to the types of issues a business litigator or transactions attorney may deal with.

If you are concerned about your knowledge of business law you may want to consider taking any of the following classes (note this is not a comprehensive list of business related classes): Business Associations, Commercial Law, Secured Transactions, Securities Law, Bankruptcy, Banking Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Antitrust, etc.

Great, glad to hear. I will probably take those classes during 2L when they are offered.

Thanks

[thesealocust]

I have an arts degree, no work experience, fall down a lot, and am sitting in my big firm office right now.

Business background is not a per-requisite, though it's impossible to say having some isn't helpful.