Did you decide to go to law school, start working at a law firm, and realize you’re actually more interested in finance and investment banking?

You’re not alone.

It is quite common for lawyers to specifically switch to finance and investment banking. There are several paths from law to investment banking.

You can get a banking job right out of law school; you can work as an associate at a law firm for several years and then transition; and you can go to business school after practicing for several years and interview for banking jobs while completing your MBA.

Going immediately from law school to investment banking sounds appealing. However, it is difficult to achieve and most banks do not hire someone right out of law school. They would have a hard time locating the candidate and deciding whether to make him an Analyst or an Associate.

This method becomes easier if you had a finance background before law school, in which case you just need to tell a good story about why you went to law school.

If you haven’t had this experience, it’s best to work for a few years at a law firm and make the transition.

Going to business school after law school is only recommended if you have practiced in a completely unrelated legal field, such as intellectual property or environmental law.

How to work in law and then switch to banking

You need Corporate Law. Don’t even think about Intellectual Property, Litigation or anything else. Do Corporate Law.

Recruiting is ultimately a numbers game, and you greatly increase your odds if you have corporate, securities, or M&A legal experience.

Once you have a few years of experience working in transactions, you may want to consider switching to finance.

Get in touch with all your friends in the industry and ask for referrals to recruiters; Reach out to former clients and ask about scheduling informational meetings or discussing opportunities at their firms.

Target industries and customers you have experience with. If you’ve worked with a lot of tech companies, go with tech investment banking firms; If you did mergers and acquisitions, go to the banks’ mergers and acquisitions departments.

Also, try boutiques and mid-market firms instead of bulky brackets unless you work at a top law firm; it will be much easier to get into smaller places.

How to sell your story in interviews

With a Corporate Law background, there are 2 main points you will need to prove: 1) that you have quantitative and financial skills and 2) that you really want to make a big career change, even if you are on the Partner path at your law firm

You really need to focus on financial skills when preparing for your interview. Meet the 3 cold financial statements. Be able to explain valuation models and methods because you will be asked a lot of questions here, especially if you majored in English or history and have no background in finance.

This is one of the few cases where getting a CFA could help you get into investment banking – it would give you the financial knowledge and show your interest in the field.

In fact, defending a career change may be easier. He wants to emphasize that he was always interested in corporate finance and negotiation, and went into corporate law for those reasons. However, he was frustrated with his inability to BE the negotiator and with the way he had to sit on the sidelines, so now he wants to switch to the bench and be a player.