New York Lawyer
October 1, 2002

Q:
I attended a top 20 law school and passed the bar, but my grades were mediocre.

In this tight legal market, I think my grades are killing me.

I�m considering Plan B: going to B-school and getting an MBA.

I�m not freaked by the thought of abandoning the law; I had five years of business-related experience before law school.

I know I could perform well in business school because I have a good grasp of math and finance, but I worry whether businesses would view my switch from law to business unfavorably.

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A:

If this were automatically the case, there would be no joint JD/MBA programs. But if any mantra recurs in these columns it is the absolute requirement that you must be able to provide an potential employer -- and that includes the admissions committee at the B-school -- the answer to a fundamental question: "Why this? Why now?"

Obviously, even if your GMAT is strong, the admissions folks are not going to love an application essay that says, "I want to go to your business school because I did so poorly at law school that I can�t find a job, so I�m just choosing you as second choice, sort of a �stop-loss.�"

Businesses will "view your switch from law to business unfavorably" only if you tell �em it�s a switch. They are likely to ask the questions often fired at people who pursue two professional degrees, one in a specialist�s field (law) and one in a generalist�s field (business): So, do you want to be a lawyer who knows a lot about business or a business person who knows a lot about law? Why didn�t you get a joint degree? How did you do in the business--related legal courses (contracts, tax, commercial transactions, accounting for lawyers, more tax, M&A, securities, etc.).

Potential business-arena employers also may be interested in your choice of B-school or the program you elect there. If you supposedly are going to B-school to pick up additional expertise so you can pursue a career in management, it may not be necessary (or possible) to shoot for a prestigious name-brand B-school. Matriculation in an evening or executive MBA program may be enough to show: a) that you are one highly-motivated dude; and b) that you really are trying to supplement all those analytical and communication skills you learned in law school with some "hard" business knowledge: finance, marketing, organizational development, product development, etc. You will look even more focused -- a very good thing -- if you choose a program that allows you to concentrate in some area: entrepreneurism, finance, international business, marketing, etc.

The practical problem here, of course, is that you�re thinking of putting yourself through a world of hurt, money and effort-wise, having just done so to get through law school and the bar. Some may think you masochistic. Just smile sagely and tell �em that sometimes it�s tough to tell masochism from sheer goal orientation. It will not kill you, incidentally, to say that there was a point where you seriously entertained a career within the law, "but the more I learned about career paths in the profession, the more convinced I became that I wanted a more instrumental, ongoing role in business management, rather than being a professional expert. I realized that while I really value knowing what lawyers know, I do not need the identity as a lawyer to find career satisfaction." I would not suggest, however, that you characterize your MBA as a mechanism for enhancing your legal talents. Specialists can often become generalists, but the converse can set off real alarms with potential employers.

Sincerely,
Douglas B. Richardson
President, The Richardson Group