Pepperdine JD/MBA With No Intention of Practicing Law? Forum

[barestin]

This is a question for a friend of mine who is currently enrolled in a business MBA program at Pepperdine. My friend wants to get into investment banking (mergers and acquisitions). He wants to take the LSAT and apply for the JD program at Pepperdine to have a dual degree BUT he has no interest in ever practicing law-he just thinks that having a JD degree will distinguish him as a candidate when he starts applying for investment banking internships and give him a good foundation for knowing the law in general if it comes up in his field.

Any insights would be appreciated...although, I think I have a pretty good idea how this thread will turn out. Thanks!

[No13baby]

This is a bad idea. Do not do this.

[rad lulz]

lol, just lol

[WanderingPondering]

What?

Step 1: locate alumni working in investment banks and email them and ask to chat and network. Hopefully they have some finance background, or else it's going to be tough to land anything unless you went to an "elite" college.

Step 2: Get an internship

Step 3: Work your ass off.

Step 4: That's it.

If investment banking doesn't initially work out, go work for a hedge fund for a couple years. Can get a good background and experience and could possibly move into i-banking. If that doesn't work out, find a rating company to work at (Moodys, S&P, etc). In all 3 cases, you are doing similar work in nyc and can network and make it into ibanking if you really want. I know maybe a dozen people working at places like JP Morgan, Goldman, Citi, RBC, Morgan Stanley, etc and not one of them has a JD.

A JD from Pepperdine makes no sense.

[cahwc12]

JD Tuition is $45k/year and rising (a 7% increase over last year)

61% of 2011 Pepperdine MBA graduates are gainfully employed

[barestin]

What?

Step 1: locate alumni working in investment banks and email them and ask to chat and network. Hopefully they have some finance background, or else it's going to be tough to land anything unless you went to an "elite" college.

Step 2: Get an internship

Step 3: Work your ass off.

Step 4: That's it.

If investment banking doesn't initially work out, go work for a hedge fund for a couple years. Can get a good background and experience and could possibly move into i-banking. If that doesn't work out, find a rating company to work at (Moodys, S&P, etc). In all 3 cases, you are doing similar work in nyc and can network and make it into ibanking if you really want. I know maybe a dozen people working at places like JP Morgan, Goldman, Citi, RBC, Morgan Stanley, etc and not one of them has a JD.

A JD from Pepperdine makes no sense.

Thanks for this descriptive feedback and everyone else for contributing as well. My friend has just been advised to make himself more competitive by coupling his MBA with a JD from grad school advisors. I tried to explain to him the opportunity cost of doing so was not wise and it's good to know all of you are validating this perspective.

Curious, does having a JD hurt him as being a prospective candidate for investment banking or does it just have virtually no effect whatsoever?

[bk1]

Most Pepperdine JDs don't end up practicing law so it seems like the odds are in your friend's favor.

[Cobretti]

He's not going to get into ibanking with a pepperdine MBA (coming from another so-cal MBA)

[Rahviveh]

Most Pepperdine JDs don't end up practicing law so it seems like the odds are in your friend's favor.

170

[Borg]

I'm a JD/MBA, and I think your friend's idea is not good. It makes sense at some schools, but Pepperdine is not even close to good enough to make it worth it.

As I have said on this board before, if you can do your JD/MBA at Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, NYU, Berkeley, Northwestern, Chicago, or Penn, you should do it. If you can do it at Yale, UVA, Michigan, Cornell, or Duke, then it is maybe also okay, but it's not as defensible. If you really want to stretch, Texas, USC, or UCLA are possibilities but aren't great. Beyond that, no one should be doing a JD/MBA, and Pepperdine is miles beneath any of the places I listed.

[071816]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster, friend.

[hiima3L]

lol, just lol

[Mr. Jones]

I go to Pepperdine Law. I would advise against law school for anyone (really..everyone T14 or not) because it is fairly boring (I know you're thinking "But there are some interesting classes I'd like to take -- first: they're not interesting, second: that's only a handful of classes in three years), and it is quite expensive.

The above answer will especially apply to someone who does not want to practice law...ever. Investment banking and law are very different. Believe it or not, they are former investment bankers at law school, even Pepperdine, and those who want to return to that world believe their law degree will only give them a minor advantage, certainly not worth the investment (see what I did there).

Now, law school in general (this applies to all law schools) can be worth it in very limited circumstances, they are the following:

(1) It is paid for by full or near full scholarship (or similar program) and your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/parents/others will pay for your cost of living;
(2) You're rich and $200,000 is of little or no consequence;
(3) You're parents are named partners at major law firms which can guarantee you employment after graduation and they're influence in the firm is great enough to shield you from being fired when you don't meet your billable hours requirement;
(4) You're parents are law professors at the school and you will not have to pay;
(5) Your parents own a fortune 500 company that is willing to hire you as in house counsel;
(6) You never planned on living in the U.S. for the long term anyways and plan on ditching your loans by moving to a non-extradition county;
(7) You actually really want to practice law, to help people or make the world a better place (this is by far the best reason to go).

Let me know if you somehow found "wants a slight edge in investment banking,"

[Chickensoup]

I go to Pepperdine Law. I would advise against law school for anyone (really..everyone T14 or not) because it is fairly boring (I know you're thinking "But there are some interesting classes I'd like to take -- first: they're not interesting, second: that's only a handful of classes in three years), and it is quite expensive.

The above answer will especially apply to someone who does not want to practice law...ever. Investment banking and law are very different. Believe it or not, they are former investment bankers at law school, even Pepperdine, and those who want to return to that world believe their law degree will only give them a minor advantage, certainly not worth the investment (see what I did there).

Now, law school in general (this applies to all law schools) can be worth it in very limited circumstances, they are the following:

(1) It is paid for by full or near full scholarship (or similar program) and your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/parents/others will pay for your cost of living;
(2) You're rich and $200,000 is of little or no consequence;
(3) You're parents are named partners at major law firms which can guarantee you employment after graduation and they're influence in the firm is great enough to shield you from being fired when you don't meet your billable hours requirement;
(4) You're parents are law professors at the school and you will not have to pay;
(5) Your parents own a fortune 500 company that is willing to hire you as in house counsel;
(6) You never planned on living in the U.S. for the long term anyways and plan on ditching your loans by moving to a non-extradition county;
(7) You actually really want to practice law, to help people or make the world a better place (this is by far the best reason to go).

Let me know if you somehow found "wants a slight edge in investment banking,"

Your seven reasons to go to law school are complete and utter horseshit. Law is a fucking job. Any reason to go to law school relates to how much you would enjoy/be good at the job that is law. Someone's wealth/parents have nothing to do with it.

[Mr. Jones]

I go to Pepperdine Law. I would advise against law school for anyone (really..everyone T14 or not) because it is fairly boring (I know you're thinking "But there are some interesting classes I'd like to take -- first: they're not interesting, second: that's only a handful of classes in three years), and it is quite expensive.

The above answer will especially apply to someone who does not want to practice law...ever. Investment banking and law are very different. Believe it or not, they are former investment bankers at law school, even Pepperdine, and those who want to return to that world believe their law degree will only give them a minor advantage, certainly not worth the investment (see what I did there).

Now, law school in general (this applies to all law schools) can be worth it in very limited circumstances, they are the following:

(1) It is paid for by full or near full scholarship (or similar program) and your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/parents/others will pay for your cost of living;
(2) You're rich and $200,000 is of little or no consequence;
(3) You're parents are named partners at major law firms which can guarantee you employment after graduation and they're influence in the firm is great enough to shield you from being fired when you don't meet your billable hours requirement;
(4) You're parents are law professors at the school and you will not have to pay;
(5) Your parents own a fortune 500 company that is willing to hire you as in house counsel;
(6) You never planned on living in the U.S. for the long term anyways and plan on ditching your loans by moving to a non-extradition county;
(7) You actually really want to practice law, to help people or make the world a better place (this is by far the best reason to go).

Let me know if you somehow found "wants a slight edge in investment banking,"

Your seven reasons to go to law school are complete and utter horseshit. Law is a fucking job. Any reason to go to law school relates to how much you would enjoy/be good at the job that is law. Someone's wealth/parents have nothing to do with it.

The seven reasons were sarcastic. If you want to go to law school, by all means go. It's actually pretty fun.

[071816]

The seven reasons were sarcastic. If you want to go to law school, by all means go. It's actually pretty fun.

Was this sarcastic too?

[dingbat]

This is a question for a friend of mine who is currently enrolled in a business MBA program at Pepperdine. My friend wants to get into investment banking (mergers and acquisitions). He wants to take the LSAT and apply for the JD program at Pepperdine to have a dual degree BUT he has no interest in ever practicing law-he just thinks that having a JD degree will distinguish him as a candidate when he starts applying for investment banking internships and give him a good foundation for knowing the law in general if it comes up in his field.

Any insights would be appreciated...although, I think I have a pretty good idea how this thread will turn out. Thanks!

Good luck getting into IB M&A from pepperdine.
Getting a JD as well will change his chance from slim to fat

[Mr. Jones]

The seven reasons were sarcastic. If you want to go to law school, by all means go. It's actually pretty fun.

Was this sarcastic too?

Possibly.