AMA - non-law, thoughts on transferring, went to law school not wanting to be a lawyer Forum

[FluidMosaic]

Its crazy, this is a seven year old account. I graduated in 2017 with decent (3.7) grades at a T25 as a K-JD, worked in biglaw for a bit and have since transferred into a non-law finance role at a finance firm.

Figured it was best to post here so 0Ls can comment. Some questions I can discuss:
1. Non-law recruitment,
2. Thoughts on transferring (I think it is a good idea depending on career aspirations),
3. Networking to move firms,
4. Whether you should go to law school wanting to do business functions (likely no),
5. Whether you should retake the LSAT (yes)

[Johnnybgoode92]

Its crazy, this is a seven year old account. I graduated in 2017 with decent (3.7) grades at a T25 as a K-JD, worked in biglaw for a bit and have since transferred into a non-law finance role at a finance firm.

Figured it was best to post here so 0Ls can comment. Some questions I can discuss:
1. Non-law recruitment,
2. Thoughts on transferring (I think it is a good idea depending on career aspirations),
3. Networking to move firms,
4. Whether you should go to law school wanting to do business functions (likely no),
5. Whether you should retake the LSAT (yes)

1. Can you give us a more specific overview of your role (e.g investment banking or trading)?
2. How did you make the transition? Did you do any outside training to prepare for interviews (e.g. financial modeling, accounting)?
3. Was your big law position in a major market/in the same market as your new role?
4. Finally, what advice would you give a 3L who does not want to practice law and would rather be in a business role?

[FluidMosaic]

1. Can you give us a more specific overview of your role (e.g investment banking or trading)?
2. How did you make the transition? Did you do any outside training to prepare for interviews (e.g. financial modeling, accounting)?
3. Was your big law position in a major market/in the same market as your new role?
4. Finally, what advice would you give a 3L who does not want to practice law and would rather be in a business role?

1. Investment role for a private investment firm (about as specific as I want to get),
2. Luck and a I took a huge risk and asked my manager for help in finding a new role when I was getting crushed in my old role. For prep, I did a bunch of case studies that my friends who were in I-banking and transitioned to HF/PE.
3. major market -> desirable regional. I will have the opportunity to go to NYC in the next year or so if I want to.
4. Do you have biglaw already lined up? Are you K-JD? There are a surprising number of places that will give you looks as a law student if you pitch yourself as business focused with a legal bent. When a 2L/3L I looked at big consulting, investment banking (analyst roles), corporate development (analyst role post 2 year banking/consulting) but you would need to start looking now. Between my class and the class above me, we had 2 people go VC and 2 people go PE (though 2 were JD/MBAs). I would get hooked into your undergrad/business school recruiting sphere and start hitting those interview sessions hard. Note that your all-in comp Y1 will likely be less than what you would make at a law firm unless you land banking/consulting at the MBA level.

[Johnnybgoode92]

1. Can you give us a more specific overview of your role (e.g investment banking or trading)?
2. How did you make the transition? Did you do any outside training to prepare for interviews (e.g. financial modeling, accounting)?
3. Was your big law position in a major market/in the same market as your new role?
4. Finally, what advice would you give a 3L who does not want to practice law and would rather be in a business role?

1. Investment role for a private investment firm (about as specific as I want to get),
2. Luck and a I took a huge risk and asked my manager for help in finding a new role when I was getting crushed in my old role. For prep, I did a bunch of case studies that my friends who were in I-banking and transitioned to HF/PE.
3. major market -> desirable regional. I will have the opportunity to go to NYC in the next year or so if I want to.
4. Do you have biglaw already lined up? Are you K-JD? There are a surprising number of places that will give you looks as a law student if you pitch yourself as business focused with a legal bent. When a 2L/3L I looked at big consulting, investment banking (analyst roles), corporate development (analyst role post 2 year banking/consulting) but you would need to start looking now. Between my class and the class above me, we had 2 people go VC and 2 people go PE (though 2 were JD/MBAs). I would get hooked into your undergrad/business school recruiting sphere and start hitting those interview sessions hard. Note that your all-in comp Y1 will likely be less than what you would make at a law firm unless you land banking/consulting at the MBA level.

I have not looked into it in depth but heard those investment roles are an uphill climb for JDs, far more difficult than obtaining big law employment.

Would you mind PMing me those case studies or point me in the direction of where to find them?

I am not k-jd and have a big law offer I would rather not accept. I had 1-3 years of decent white collar employment before law school in a field I’m uninterested in, but nothing with the excel/modeling exposure banking/consulting/big four accounting would give.

[Wubbles]

1. Can you give us a more specific overview of your role (e.g investment banking or trading)?
2. How did you make the transition? Did you do any outside training to prepare for interviews (e.g. financial modeling, accounting)?
3. Was your big law position in a major market/in the same market as your new role?
4. Finally, what advice would you give a 3L who does not want to practice law and would rather be in a business role?

1. Investment role for a private investment firm (about as specific as I want to get),
2. Luck and a I took a huge risk and asked my manager for help in finding a new role when I was getting crushed in my old role. For prep, I did a bunch of case studies that my friends who were in I-banking and transitioned to HF/PE.
3. major market -> desirable regional. I will have the opportunity to go to NYC in the next year or so if I want to.
4. Do you have biglaw already lined up? Are you K-JD? There are a surprising number of places that will give you looks as a law student if you pitch yourself as business focused with a legal bent. When a 2L/3L I looked at big consulting, investment banking (analyst roles), corporate development (analyst role post 2 year banking/consulting) but you would need to start looking now. Between my class and the class above me, we had 2 people go VC and 2 people go PE (though 2 were JD/MBAs). I would get hooked into your undergrad/business school recruiting sphere and start hitting those interview sessions hard. Note that your all-in comp Y1 will likely be less than what you would make at a law firm unless you land banking/consulting at the MBA level.

I have not looked into it in depth but heard those investment roles are an uphill climb for JDs, far more difficult than obtaining big law employment.

Would you mind PMing me those case studies or point me in the direction of where to find them?

I am not k-jd and have a big law offer I would rather not accept. I had 1-3 years of decent white collar employment before law school in a field I’m uninterested in, but nothing with the excel/modeling exposure banking/consulting/big four accounting would give.

Applogies to the OP for hijacking this thread, but Johnny, is the bolded true?

[nixy]

(Johnny isn’t actually a Cooley student.)

[Wubbles]

(Johnny isn’t actually a Cooley student.)

Whoa. Thanks for this heads up, I just went back and read a significant portion of that Rose thread (I had to stop following that thread because of work). I'm at a loss for words right now

[FluidMosaic]

1. Can you give us a more specific overview of your role (e.g investment banking or trading)?
2. How did you make the transition? Did you do any outside training to prepare for interviews (e.g. financial modeling, accounting)?
3. Was your big law position in a major market/in the same market as your new role?
4. Finally, what advice would you give a 3L who does not want to practice law and would rather be in a business role?

1. Investment role for a private investment firm (about as specific as I want to get),
2. Luck and a I took a huge risk and asked my manager for help in finding a new role when I was getting crushed in my old role. For prep, I did a bunch of case studies that my friends who were in I-banking and transitioned to HF/PE.
3. major market -> desirable regional. I will have the opportunity to go to NYC in the next year or so if I want to.
4. Do you have biglaw already lined up? Are you K-JD? There are a surprising number of places that will give you looks as a law student if you pitch yourself as business focused with a legal bent. When a 2L/3L I looked at big consulting, investment banking (analyst roles), corporate development (analyst role post 2 year banking/consulting) but you would need to start looking now. Between my class and the class above me, we had 2 people go VC and 2 people go PE (though 2 were JD/MBAs). I would get hooked into your undergrad/business school recruiting sphere and start hitting those interview sessions hard. Note that your all-in comp Y1 will likely be less than what you would make at a law firm unless you land banking/consulting at the MBA level.

I have not looked into it in depth but heard those investment roles are an uphill climb for JDs, far more difficult than obtaining big law employment.

Would you mind PMing me those case studies or point me in the direction of where to find them?

I am not k-jd and have a big law offer I would rather not accept. I had 1-3 years of decent white collar employment before law school in a field I’m uninterested in, but nothing with the excel/modeling exposure banking/consulting/big four accounting would give.

Unfortunately quite a few of the case studies are watermarked to a good friend of mine so I can’t distribute.

They are all pretty straightforward - given a set of financials, and you need to build an LBO from scratch. I like the M&I Dell case study which should be available online.

On difficulty of getting this role, I would say it is extremely difficult but much so harder from the working world than from in school. If you are doing corporate, I would reach out to PE firms near you and see if they have any need for someone with a legal background/an intern. If it doesn’t work out with them, its very good experience for your biglaw. Secondly if you do end up at a law firm and want to move to a business role it is a huge differentiator versus the guy who worked for Kirkland PE but has no modeling experience.

Depending on what your work experience is you should get locked into your MBA recruiting paths. If you can cross-register for corporate finance with your MBA (should count for a JD credit). Full-time MBA recruitment starts now, and you can sell that you did well as a lawyer but you want to do something more business focused now.

All T20s should have a good enough b school to get some traction.