New York Lawyer
November 6, 2001

Q:
I want to get out of the law and become an investment banker, but on the business side only, not as an in-house lawyer. How do I do this?

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A:
By undertaking some fairly fundamental re-credentialing.

I�m sure there are cases in recorded history where someone trained as an attorney has so impressed an investment banking house that they�ve been brought directly aboard with the understanding that �you can pick up what you need to know as you go along.� However, particularly if you are a junior attorney, this kind of career change is unlikely unless you first supplement your educational credentials.

Of course, if you are an experienced �deal lawyer� who has negotiated, closed and documented financial transactions, the learning curve is a lot flatter � you are, in effect, �shifting over to the client side.� However, your A+ in your law school�s commercial transactions course does not automatically translate into job offers from the I-banking deal guys.

They often see a clear line between the risk-taking, high-rolling, thrill-seeking role of someone who envisions, initiates and shapes deals and the �downstream� folks who document and paper the transaction. It�s probably an unfair rap, but a lot of I-bankers see lawyers -- at best -- as scriveners who process the details of what they negotiation, and at worst as �deal breakers� whose caution and aversion to risk tends to throw cold water on exciting opportunities.

One way to signal who fundamentally you want to change careers � and how comfortable you are with �unbecoming a lawyer� � is to expend the time, pain and effort to pick up an MBA (with a concentration in finance or entrepreneurial business development). In addition to providing you with specialized technical expertise relevant to corporate finance, this move sends a major motivational signal: �I will do whatever it takes to pursue this new career path.�

I have found that even being a student in an MBA program (whether full-time, evening program or executive MBA program) can serve as a door-opener with all kinds of financial institutions. Now your legal expertise � particularly those courses in corporations, tax, commercial transactions and international business development � becomes the tail on the dog, instead of the dog itself.

I suppose it is possible to scan the ads and see if you can get past the screening for an entry level analyst position, but you may find that your legal credential actually is a detriment to �starting at the bottom and working your way up.� The employer figures, �If this person has gone through all the effort to get an advanced degree, isn�t it suspicious that they�re chucking it away and going down-market?� You also might explore internships with the big financial houses. Usually these training programs involve a terrific amount of number-crunching, financial analysis, market analysis, competitor analysis and trend analysis � the stuff that may underpin a deal.

But these may provide only glimpses of bits and pieces of a major transaction � and the type of personality that rises to the top. These internships are, however, generally regarded as good credentialing moves. Some of the foreign banks may have faster-track programs, but be sure to do your due diligence on the internal cultures of potential employers. Some of them can be very rough-and-tumble settings.

In any event, be prepared to work your butt off. This arena is high-energy, high-action, high-stakes . . . and high burn out. Those 100-hour weeks can get to you after awhile, and I-banking tends to be a younger person�s domain (with apologies to all you successful dinosaurs out there over 40 who will tell you they�re doin� just fine.) It rewards enormous amounts of autonomy, personal initiative, and assertiveness (to say the least). It�s not relationship-oriented, team-oriented, secure or affiliative. But if that�s really how you�re wired � pure action, high-adventure � by all means, go for it.

Sincerely,
Douglas B. Richardson
President, The Richardson Group