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Masters in Finance, Law School, or MBA in 3-4 years?
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:01 pm
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:01 pm
If you were 21 years old, graduating in December, and had no idea what to do, how does one go about this decision?
6
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:03 pm to texastiger8
I would say the masters in finance would open the most doors....
I have many friends with law degrees not making much money.
What are your interests?
I have many friends with law degrees not making much money.
What are your interests?
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:10 pm to I Love Bama
Split between finance and law. Feel like I have a better skill set for law school, but something about finance intrigues me however I don't think I'm as strong in finance as I would be in law.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:11 pm to texastiger8
Dream job would be something to do with corporate law involving my finance backgroud to be more clear. Chances are slim though, a lot easier said than done.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:12 pm to texastiger8
The best application for a law degree is not as a lawyer. I know that sounds counterintuitive. I wrestled with it before I took a finance job.
The education is second to none. But the job market is way down the line while the stress level associated therewith consistently ranks near the top.
I think going to a business heavy law school with plenty of securities and corporate finance offerings could be a good idea. Law school was a huge net benefit to me, but only because I made it so and sought out the right classes. If I could do it over again, I'd probably stick with law because I like a challenge, although M.Fin. would definitely be up for close consideration.
The education is second to none. But the job market is way down the line while the stress level associated therewith consistently ranks near the top.
I think going to a business heavy law school with plenty of securities and corporate finance offerings could be a good idea. Law school was a huge net benefit to me, but only because I made it so and sought out the right classes. If I could do it over again, I'd probably stick with law because I like a challenge, although M.Fin. would definitely be up for close consideration.
This post was edited on 6/1/11 at 5:13 pm
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:17 pm to RedStickBR
I've read (and heard) that the chances of working in the same city as you attend law school are very high, meaning I would probably have to leave LA to have more opportunities with what I want to do. SMU in Dallas is attractive but expensive. UT in Austin is as well. (I am orginally from Houston but family has all moved to Louisiana)
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:21 pm to texastiger8
Corp fin is tough to break into, especially without any working experience. I'd look for a job first, work for a year, and go back to law school after that.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:25 pm to texastiger8
If you want to go into the legal fields of Corporate Finance, or Corporate Law, or Securities Regulation, I would highly recommend attending a law school in a market which has access to and a need for these areas of law. Most of the south does not. Hell, even at a relatively large firm like Kean Miller ... I think there's maybe one securities lawyer. There's just not a market for it down here, for the most part. Exceptions would be Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, maybe an Austin or a Birmingham.
If I practiced law at all, it would have to be in one of these fields. Everything else bores me. But don't let that discourage you. The aforementioned fields have been thriving for quite some time and there is a need for these lawyers. That need is just not as present down here as it is in other markets. If you want to go into acting, you probably need to go to LA or NYC. If you want to be a corporate lawyer, you need to seek out the larger business markets.
Don't get me wrong. You very well could be the one securities guy or whatever in a smaller southern city. But your competition will be quite stiff.
If I practiced law at all, it would have to be in one of these fields. Everything else bores me. But don't let that discourage you. The aforementioned fields have been thriving for quite some time and there is a need for these lawyers. That need is just not as present down here as it is in other markets. If you want to go into acting, you probably need to go to LA or NYC. If you want to be a corporate lawyer, you need to seek out the larger business markets.
Don't get me wrong. You very well could be the one securities guy or whatever in a smaller southern city. But your competition will be quite stiff.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:29 pm to RedStickBR
Thanks for the advice gang
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:36 pm to RedStickBR
Jones Walker has 52 (total) listed under Corporate and Securities.
eta: 27 in nola.
eta: 27 in nola.
This post was edited on 6/1/11 at 5:38 pm
Posted on 6/1/11 at 5:53 pm to kfizzle85
And only around 6 (total) in BR. And they are a big BR law firm.
But I guarantee you their practice is much less saturated with traditional security offerings or corporate finance than would be an office in one of the larger financial markets. SEC compliance isn't nearly as involved for non-public companies as it is for public ones. It's not like LA is just teeming with publicly traded companies.
If someone is interested in finance and law, there are obvious parallels that can be drawn between the two markets. If someone wants to go into Investment Banking or Equity Research, the Baton Rouge or New Orleans markets probably wouldn't be your first recommendation. Similarly, those markets will not be in need of securities or corporate lawyers as much as others either.
For example, Kean Miller has 20 some odd lawyers listed under the general umbrella of "Corporate and Finance." But most of their work under this umbrella involves just general representation of LA companies. They're not aiding them, for example, in nearly as many equity or debt offerings as you'd see from a NY or SF corporate/securities firm. It just depends on what you want to do. If what you really want is Finance, then "Corporate/Securities Law" in Louisiana is going to leave you wanting more, for the most part.
But I guarantee you their practice is much less saturated with traditional security offerings or corporate finance than would be an office in one of the larger financial markets. SEC compliance isn't nearly as involved for non-public companies as it is for public ones. It's not like LA is just teeming with publicly traded companies.
If someone is interested in finance and law, there are obvious parallels that can be drawn between the two markets. If someone wants to go into Investment Banking or Equity Research, the Baton Rouge or New Orleans markets probably wouldn't be your first recommendation. Similarly, those markets will not be in need of securities or corporate lawyers as much as others either.
For example, Kean Miller has 20 some odd lawyers listed under the general umbrella of "Corporate and Finance." But most of their work under this umbrella involves just general representation of LA companies. They're not aiding them, for example, in nearly as many equity or debt offerings as you'd see from a NY or SF corporate/securities firm. It just depends on what you want to do. If what you really want is Finance, then "Corporate/Securities Law" in Louisiana is going to leave you wanting more, for the most part.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 6:06 pm to RedStickBR
I'm not suggesting they do any of that, I was just making an observation because I know someone that works there. I know what she does, but I don't know what their team does as a whole. FWIW, from my talks with her, which are extensive, almost all of the clients she works with are not in La. I would generally say that, if you want "finance," going into "law" in general will probably leaving you wanting more too. 
Posted on 6/1/11 at 6:08 pm to kfizzle85
True. But there are significant overlaps between the two fields. In the end, it comes down to whether you want to sit at one of the ends of the table or in the middle. If you're a lawyer, you'll be in the middle on most deals.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 6:38 pm to RedStickBR
It just seems like you would (should) be dealing with legal stuff rather than financial stuff. You're not making a deal, you're not analyzing a deal or issuing a fairness opinion, you're just making sure the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed from a legal standpoint. Not to say they don't make great money or anything, clearly they do, I just don't understand how there can be that much actual financial stuff going on. It seems like, by and large, they hire outside experts to do the actual financial work (which I would hope they would always do).
Posted on 6/1/11 at 6:40 pm to kfizzle85
OP sorry for de-railing your thread, and RSBR, I've just never been all that clear on what securities lawyers do, as far as actual financial work. eta: other than talking with my buddy at JW.
This post was edited on 6/1/11 at 6:44 pm
Posted on 6/1/11 at 7:02 pm to kfizzle85
For corporate law and securities, you're mainly providing the mechanisms which allow the deal to go through. For corporate finance, you're doing as much or more finance work than many finance professionals.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 7:06 pm to RedStickBR
Can you give me an example? If the lawyers are doing the finance work, what are the finance professionals doing? I can't imagine you can do that without prior experience in some sort of finance capacity.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 7:27 pm to kfizzle85
Well, for example, finance savvy lawyers may use a DCF to value a company just as a finance professional would. The only real difference is the audience. In the legal you're just pitching your valuation to the judge or to an appraiser as opposed to a banker or an institutional client or what have you.
In providing a company with a poison pill provision, you are advising them on share structure issues, on rights offerings issues, on conversion, redeemability, etc., etc.
As a muni bond lawyer, you're responsible for issuing an opinion with respect to whichever bond offering it is you're dealing with. That requires financial skills.
In the securities context, you're advising the company on each and every provision with respect to the terms of their offering. If you don't know finance here, you're flirting with malpractice.
If your client must pay what's supposed to equal a one million dollar stream of payments over the next ten years, you've committed malpractice if you have them pay a one million dollar lump sun without discounting it to present value.
With the exception of medicine, as a lawyer, you can get as deep into the industry you're working in as many industry professionals themselves. And many corporate finance lawyers are just as savvy a many with purely financial educations. It all depends. Many of them in smaller southern markets probably outsource a lot of the more nuanced finance work, but the bigtime corp. fin. lawyers in major finance markets probably do more work that you'd call finance than what you'd call law.
A law school corporate finance textbook ... you'd probably understand most of it more than most law students
In providing a company with a poison pill provision, you are advising them on share structure issues, on rights offerings issues, on conversion, redeemability, etc., etc.
As a muni bond lawyer, you're responsible for issuing an opinion with respect to whichever bond offering it is you're dealing with. That requires financial skills.
In the securities context, you're advising the company on each and every provision with respect to the terms of their offering. If you don't know finance here, you're flirting with malpractice.
If your client must pay what's supposed to equal a one million dollar stream of payments over the next ten years, you've committed malpractice if you have them pay a one million dollar lump sun without discounting it to present value.
With the exception of medicine, as a lawyer, you can get as deep into the industry you're working in as many industry professionals themselves. And many corporate finance lawyers are just as savvy a many with purely financial educations. It all depends. Many of them in smaller southern markets probably outsource a lot of the more nuanced finance work, but the bigtime corp. fin. lawyers in major finance markets probably do more work that you'd call finance than what you'd call law.
A law school corporate finance textbook ... you'd probably understand most of it more than most law students
Posted on 6/1/11 at 7:27 pm to RedStickBR
For public companies, corporate and securities lawyers do a lot of SEC filings, note and securities offerings. For private companies, they do private placements, M&A and occasionally take a company public. That would be what Kfizzle's friend at Jones Walker does. Jones Walker and Fishman Haygood are the only two firms in Louisiana that do a significant amount of corporate work with public companies--Fishman Haygood (formerly Carrero, Fishman, Haygood) was founded by corporate partners from Jones Walker.
Then, you have your corporate/business finance attorneys, who focus on more of your non-equity financing through private lenders and help with the investment of companies in other businesses and even with credit default swaps and other synthetic instruments. They draft/review the agreements that make those investments work, which can allow for some creativity not permitted when doing large mergers or SEC filings.
If you get into corporate and securities law, be prepared to spend your first few years proofreading SEC filings and merger documents. It's not sexy. Similar to litigation, there tends to be high turnover.
I'd recommend the Masters of Finance. If you have a business background, an MBA straight out of undergrad probably won't open any more doors for you.
Then, you have your corporate/business finance attorneys, who focus on more of your non-equity financing through private lenders and help with the investment of companies in other businesses and even with credit default swaps and other synthetic instruments. They draft/review the agreements that make those investments work, which can allow for some creativity not permitted when doing large mergers or SEC filings.
If you get into corporate and securities law, be prepared to spend your first few years proofreading SEC filings and merger documents. It's not sexy. Similar to litigation, there tends to be high turnover.
I'd recommend the Masters of Finance. If you have a business background, an MBA straight out of undergrad probably won't open any more doors for you.
Posted on 6/1/11 at 7:28 pm to RedStickBR
quote:
As a muni bond lawyer, you're responsible for issuing an opinion with respect to whichever bond offering it is you're dealing with. That requires financial skills.
This is an entirely separate field for lawyers--public finance attorneys. It's all about connections to the political bodies issuing the bonds.
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