I am toying with a wacky idea :
I have an engineering undergrad degree, and an MBA from a top-10 business school. I generally make about $200K (although am currently between jobs) as a mid-level manager at a tech company.
I am considering going to Law School, to get the JD and try to either work for a couple of years at a top law firm, and then become a General Counsel at a mid-size tech company, OR work at a law firm like Wilson Sonsini or comparable, and try to rise up the ranks there. Either way, I hope to ***** $400-$500K in income over time.
Assume that I will get into a top-10 Law School (as my engineering and MBA degrees are already from top-10s, and both universities I already went to have Top-10 Law Schools).
I am 35 years old and single. I would be 40-41 by the time I have 2 years of post-JD experience.
I have a lot of money saved up (over $400K), so the main cost to me is not Law School tuition, but rather lost salary.
Has anyone here done something similar?
If you’re male, I’ve got a cute sister-in-law that we’d love to marry off to someone with your credentials!
Can’t say I have, but let me get you thinking.
1. You can consider the lost salary the opportunity cost of attending law school.
2. In what way will the salary loss harm you? Is it just a keeping score thing? If so, maybe think of it as deferred salary, since you’ll make it back after law school.
3. You can work between semesters (summers) on a consultant basis for some salary.
4. Your tech management background is going to be a huge plus for you as a new attorney. You’ll be far above the level of most new law grads. You could likely command a much higher starting salary and rank.
5. Age should not be a problem because your skillset will be rare and in demand, also because it’s a career progression if you do tech company law, not a total career change.
6. If you’re really unhappy about giving up the salary, there are part-time law programs for people with day jobs. You could do both. There are many fine laws schools beyond the top 10, and your marketability will not be hindered by the name of another good school on your resume, simply because your background is unusual, impressive and in demand to start with.
Most law schools have part-time students (basically, takes 4 years instead of 3 in getting the degree).
If you actually have enthusiasm and interest in practicing law, there is nothing wrong with seeking one of the higher paying attorney career paths, but if you’re only real interest in becoming a lawyer is to increase your income by making partner in a big law firm or as an in-house general counsel then I don’t recommend it.
One thing that you should be aware of is that there is a very real possibility that the current big law business model could undergo some substantial changes that may affect your salary and promotion expectations in a big law firm. Among other things first year associate positions at most big law firms have been cut by 10-20% with lowered bonus expectations and amounts tied to them as well. That salary is also approximately 55-60k less than you are currently making. There are additional changes that may be implemented as well. If you want to know more I suggest you look at some of the articles and comments to articles at
Another thing you should be aware of is that you will not be qualified to be a general counsel for a mid-size tech company with only 2-3 years of experience. You will need 5-8 years of experience to be marketable for most general counsel positions at small to mid-sized companies.
Generally speaking a more realistic career path would go along the lines of something like this:
You would work as an associate in a big law firm for 5-8 years. For most of those years, you will be expected to bill over 2000 hours of chargeable time to clients. Under the current business model that translates roughly into 2400 hours of actual time working in the office for every 2000 hours billed. In addition you will be required to put in face time even when you are not busy (meaning you should be at your desk until at least 7pm on a slow day) which can result in additional hours spent at work. Working on the weekend will be a common occurrence, and you will be expected to check into work by email and phone while on vacation.
Within that time frame of 5-8 years you will be informed of your prospects of making partner at the firm. The basis for making partner is based on many factors including quantity and quality of work, client handling skills, client development (clients giving more work to the firm based on your work and/or your origination of new clients), entrepreneurial attitude, interpersonal dynamics between you and other partners, and whether there is room to take on additional partners.
If you are told to start looking for other work, this would be the appropriate time to start looking for in house counsel positions (not just general counsel but assistant general counsel as well) in tech companies.
If you make equity partner at a big law firm your income would almost certainly ***** the $400-500k income line. If you go down the in house counsel career path after 5-8 years of big law practice, it could take you several more years to reach that level of income.
This should only be the start of your consideration of this career path if you should decide you are still interested. You would be making a substantial financial investment, not only of about 120k in law school tuition but 600k plus loss in income (part time programs are really not an option because you must get summer associate positions at big law firms if you are serious about being hired by a big law firm).
I recommend you get more information about big law practice culture if you remain interested, by frequenting the ABA Journal website, Above The Law website, and reading a few career guidance books for attorneys in big law firms. I’ve put down some sources below.