<p>Um I've actually been interested in law for a while. Science doesn't catch my attention at all.</p>
<p>"And most of them are old and from a long past time when you did not need a degree just to get a decent job. Those guys are not comparable to today."</p>
<p>O yes, like the google guys and every single silicon valley startup out there right? Seems like mbas are the old obsolete guys.</p>
<p>"Right. They send them their best and brightest to top business schools in the US and Europe. "</p>
<p>Uh, nope, sorry. They don't care about mbas.</p>
<p>As a headhunter for lawyers, I have had several searches over the years where the employer requested attorneys with MBAs. Most of the them are for in house positions, but I have one biglaw client in DC that requests MBA/JDs for its loan trading practice. Others like the MBA for investment management practices.</p>
<p>"Uh, nope, sorry. They don't care about mbas."</p>
<p>hahaha, I do not know if you are being sarcastic, ignorant, or failing at being pedantically funny. Care to clarify? And to substantiate your childish post?</p>
<p>As someone already said, double degrees are just gimmicks for the most part. Unless the job you want explicitly requires it you'd be better off spending the time gaining unique experience and the money on something more worthwhile.</p>
<p>That some people are so worried about not finding a job even with an MBA (or a JD) that they would spend so much extra time and money on a qualification with so little marginal benefit probably says more about the level of confidence of these people than the actual value of pursuing such an option.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That some people are so worried about not finding a job even with an MBA (or a JD) that they would spend so much extra time and money on a qualification with so little marginal benefit probably says more about the level of confidence of these people than the actual value of pursuing such an option.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Thank you for the psychoanalysis, but I'm quite pleased with my JD/MBA and with the opportunities that I have gained by having earned both degrees. Oh, and I have no shortage of confidence or decision-making skills . . . and, no, my confidence was not derived from having earned the dual degree.</p>
<p>"hahaha, I do not know if you are being sarcastic, ignorant, or failing at being pedantically funny."</p>
<p>That's because you're stupid. And you have a lame imagination. Bye now, post here again when you get out of preschool.</p>
<p>I think the lesson to be learned here is that if you have a specific, compelling reason to need both degrees, go get it - but not if it's something frivolous.</p>
<p>Yep, agreed.</p>
<p>
Hey Cartera, just curious, did those positions require someone with a lot of experience or did they also consider newly graduated jd/mbas?</p>
<p>Los - I only work with lateral hires so they would have experience. However, I can extrapolate from the requirement that they would prefer to hire the dual degree right our of school too. Granted, this request is rare in the scheme of things - I can count on two hands how many times in over 20 yrs that a client has required a JD/MBA. It has also been in job descriptions as a "plus." It is not as sought after as an LL.M. for a tax lawyer. The majority of my biglaw clients want their tax lawyers to either have an LL.M. or to be working towards one.</p>
<p>Um I guess if ibanking doesn't work out, I could always go work at biglaw.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that someone with a JD who has never practiced law is a lawyer in title only. Should someone decide to go to work in investment banking or anywhere else in the business world, for that matter, after obtaining a JD/MBA, then it would make little sense to ever go back to working for a law firm. However, if someone would decide to do just that, the law firm joined years after working in the business world would almost certainly make that person start right from the beginning as a first year lawyer, regardless of any related business experience (some firms do give a year of credit for the MBA, so at those firms, the person would start out as a second year associate). Therefore, I think that a JD/MBA truly only makes sense for someone who wants to at least start out their career working as a lawyer.</p>
<p>Well the thing is a career in ibanking is pretty much subject to the mercy of the business cycle. A career in corporate law is close to immune to those cycles. So biglaw is definitely a safety net.</p>
<p>One thing I haven't seen discussed here is how difficult it really is to obtain these degrees. Wouldn't a JD/MBA degree be condensing 5 years of an intense workload into an uber-intense 4 years? Can someone enlighten me on this?</p>
<p>would an MBA be a big advantage for someone who wants to make partner at a law firm by bringing in the business or for a lawyer who's starting his/her own small practice? or is it not really necessary for these types of lawyers to have an MBA to still accomplish those goals? </p>
<p>also, if one has a JD/MBA, practiced law for a while (maybe 5-7 years), didnt make partner or for some other reason decided to switch over to some business job, at what level would that business job be? would it be "associate" level (i.e. jobs that recent MBAs get), or would that person be able to get a higher-level business jobs commensurate with 5-7 years of business experience despite having only legal experience?</p>
<p>First, Biglaw is no safety net. Big law firms have become quite adept in the last 10-15 years at quietly laying off associates (in other words, no big announcement -- the typical scenario is that a law firm tells an associate to take a few months in the office to find a new job, so that the associate never has to tell anyone they were fired/laid off and the law firm doesn't have to admit that it fired associates) when things get slow. Oh, and at a lot of firms, things can get slow. I know of two associates who used to do some work for me going through this right now, even in such a "booming" economy.</p>
<p>Second, obtaining a JD/MBA is indeed a lot of work, but it's not as bad as you would think. Typically, you do your first year exclusively at business school, followed by your second year exclusively going through your 1L year at law school, followed by two years of combined classes. I suppose that the difficulty of those last two years varies by school. At my JD/MBA program, there was already a good deal of cooperation and cross-listing of courses between the law school and the business school, so I encountered no problems whatsoever.</p>
<p>When applying to a JD/MBA program, you actually apply to each program separately. It varies between schools whether one program has any idea that you are applying to the other. My experience at top law schools and top business schools is that none of them wanted to know about your desire for a dual degree until after you had been accepted to both programs. What this means is that you need to have significant post-college work experience before applying to the MBA program, as you will be judged on your application to business school separately from your application to law school. Obviously, you will also need to have excellent recommendations from colleagues and bosses and high GMAT scores. Your application to law school will be judged by the law school admissions staff independently of your business school application -- it must stand on its own. Only once you have been separately admitted to both programs do you let the schools know that you will be going after a joint degree. </p>
<p>Third, I don't know if I could call the MBA a "big" advantage in becoming a partner in a law firm. It can certainly help if you are able to bring in more and bigger clients by using either your business school connections or the knowledge you gained in business school (you would be surprised by how much corporate clients are impressed that you do have the MBA, particularly since so many lawyers have the awful reputation of focusing too much on the details and completely missing the strategic big picture). I don't know how much the MBA impresses lawyers. </p>
<p>For those lawyers who do switch over to the business side, I think that one's ability to do so is much more influenced by what law firm you were working for and what work you actually did than the fact that you have an MBA. That said, the MBA can be a tipping factor in your favor. It certainly helps once you are on the business side in consideration for promotions and in achieving some amount of credibility. Generally, when switching over to the business side (again, for those who are able to do so), one is typically given credit for all of the years that person was practicing law at a high level.</p>
<p>I haven't read all the responses but someone early on said it would make you very very marketable and I agree 100%. If you can get into a good JD/MBA program just do it, don't debate it! I think people worry too much about "losing years" and going more into student debt. If you're going into banking/trading student debt shouldn't be too much of an issue when you consider one of your early bonus checks can cover all of your student debt. As far as losing years goes you will have a big advantage with that type of degree so it doesn't matter.</p>
<p>Now it depends on what you do of course. If you get a JD/MBA and become a trader you probably did waste 3 years getting that JD. But if you go into M&A, private equity, or many types of hedge funds it'll be a big help. The fund I work for focuses largely on distressed debt, we LOVE good candidates that have a JD/MBA. There is a considerable legal element to investing in distressed securities. Same with private equity or M&A. In fact if you look at the top M&A bankers or private equity guys on the street you'll see a number of them have JD/MBAs. </p>
<p>Besides, any experienced banker will tell you that spending a few additional years in school getting to drink, party, and have casual sex is well worth it!</p>
<p>"That's because you're stupid. And you have a lame imagination. Bye now, post here again when you get out of preschool."</p>
<p>I am really sorry you are having a tough time. However, I am not surprised your friend is going through a crisis if you insult people for no reason like that--having to put up with your lack of tact and immaturity must be tough. Although, chances are your "friend" might just be you. Good luck either way.</p>
<p>"I have a friend who's frequently down and I was wondering if you guys ever tried calling these guys?
<a href="http://www.hopeline.com/gradhelp%5B/url%5D">http://www.hopeline.com/gradhelp</a>
I got a calling card with their phone # on it, just not sure if they're any good. My friend has a cynical view of psychologists and I think calling from home would be an easier step for him than calling a counseling center and showing up in public for an appointment. Any input would be appreciated, thanks."</p>