Any advice on pivoting from consulting to law practice? I went into consulting after law school and am considering applying to law firms for my next job. My current role is in regulatory consulting for financial institutions (i.e., compliance) and most of the people I work with/for are JDs. So I have somewhat relevant experience but I’ve never actually practiced law… Has anyone made a similar pivot and is it realistic? What should I expect and take into consideration if I decide to give it a go?

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Consider going in-house with a financial institution in a legal role. Have you asked your current company about potentially cross training you?

You’re probably a good fit for an in house legal position, given your business-side expertise, which you should definitely sell. Some attorneys don’t do well at seeing issues from a business perspective, so that’s an area where you have a leg up.

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Absolutely, you just need to find somewhere willing to train you. I’ve personally been heavily trained in two separate in-house roles, so it’s not an unreasonable expectation. Just ask lots of questions about the training during interviews and be candid but confident about your ability to start doing legal work. They will usually tell you whether they’re willing to train you if you ask directly. Some may also be ok with you just winging it and self teaching (which I do not recommend). Best of luck!!

I made a similar switch from HR to employment law. I made the switch by networking and transferring into the legal area within the same organization. I did take a significant pay cut since I did not technically have legal experience. So maybe look for legal jobs within the same industry. I definitely think it’s doable. Just a matter of finding the right hiring manager and fit.

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Actually making the switch was pretty seamless. I was already familiar with the legal issues and policies associated with that area of law, so the learning curve wasn’t as hard. Also, I definitely think that having the practical experience and familiarity with the issues was a leg up over newer attorneys. I’ve had a good experience overall with transitioning to legal. I was well received by the other attorneys in my practice group. I even had some insight on how to solve issues because of my HR background.

I was in banking before law school, advisory consulting at boutiques for 5 years after law school and now work in BL, so I disagree that BigLaw isn’t possible. You may need to find a boutique or mid firm through a recruiter that can benefit from your “non-legal” work experience but a couple years at one of those would make you attractive to almost any firm.

A good recruiter is key so they can tell your story the right way.

Good luck!

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Thank you! I hadn’t really considered a recruiter yet, but that is definitely a good idea. May I ask what area of law you are in now? What skills from your past experience did you leverage the most to be successful as an attorney?

Anything is possible but probably not biglaw

Is that an area you could be an expert witness?

I wish you the best of luck. I’m not sure what kind of regulatory experience you have except that it involves banking, but if you do get enough experience, you may be able to be an expert in attorney malpractice cases involving regulatory issues an securities litigation.

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