Most lucrative and prestigious law

[->Soon]

can we now get back to the important stuff?

MY QUESTIONS!!!!

[Mistah FAB]

HYPHYLAW is the most lucrative ...

[plex]

I will finally give the OP a serious answer, after 5 pages...

It's IP law.

And no, you can't get in unless you have a technical degree from a decent school. The firms also tend to very heavily favor just a few of the technical degrees as well. At least, pay wise it is like that, very very few IP associates make less than 70k, and that is at a small firm, the large firms, in places like NY, go up to 180k+ for starting pay and have very large bonuses for working as 7am to midnight. The reason it starts out so high? The people who have the undergrad degrees they need (EE, PhD Bio, CE, CS), with high enough GPA's to get into law school in the first place (these degrees have curves as harsh as law schools, a 2.9 is often average), can easily make 70-100k starting, without any further education, or they can get an MBA so their pay scales better and they start even higher.

In terms of prestige, among lawyers and government, it is nothing special. If you mean prestige in terms of respect from the general public, it is a lot higher, because there is very little "chasing" involved, the majority of the work is forming an agreement between a client and the government

There are huge barriers to get into IP law though if you don't have the technical background, you pretty much have to go back and get a relevant degree if you don't have one.

[agent433]

HYPHYLAW is the most lucrative ...

Im gonna ghost ride ur girl.....

[keelee]

are there ibanks not in new york and do they pay about as much?

Yes, there are ibanks in Chicago and San Fran (the next two big I-Bank cities), as well as LA and Boston, and you'll find a hand few in DC, Miami, Houston, and Dallas (mainly boutique firms).

They usually pay the same or a little less, though the bonuses might not be as nice (depends on the company's policies). Those jobs aren't any easier to get, and still require the Ivy/Northwestern/Chicago/Etc. degree for a good shot. The only difference is that sometimes they might also recruit at the local schools.

[iahurricane]

are there ibanks not in new york and do they pay about as much?

Yes, there are ibanks in Chicago and San Fran (the next two big I-Bank cities), as well as LA and Boston, and you'll find a hand few in DC, Miami, Houston, and Dallas (mainly boutique firms).

They usually pay the same or a little less, though the bonuses might not be as nice (depends on the company's policies). Those jobs aren't any easier to get, and still require the Ivy/Northwestern/Chicago/Etc. degree for a good shot. The only difference is that sometimes they might also recruit at the local schools.

So pretty much no chance with a 3.6 from miami?

[keelee]

are there ibanks not in new york and do they pay about as much?

Yes, there are ibanks in Chicago and San Fran (the next two big I-Bank cities), as well as LA and Boston, and you'll find a hand few in DC, Miami, Houston, and Dallas (mainly boutique firms).

They usually pay the same or a little less, though the bonuses might not be as nice (depends on the company's policies). Those jobs aren't any easier to get, and still require the Ivy/Northwestern/Chicago/Etc. degree for a good shot. The only difference is that sometimes they might also recruit at the local schools.

So pretty much no chance with a 3.6 from miami?

Without networking or connections, yeah, pretty much. It is posssible, anything is, but it will be extremely difficult to get i-banking with a 3.6 from UM.

Great chance at private wealth though, less hours, same base pay ($55-$60k), but smaller bonuses. Also, after the initial training period, some banks will put you on commission work (like UBS), but some stay on salary (like JP Morgan). At the same time, you would be able to enjoy the money you make - you are working 8-6, and no weekends. Plus, Miami is "the" private wealth capital, so lot's of oppurtunities. Morgan Stanley, UBS, BNP Parabais, Citi/SmithBarney and others all have huge private wealth operations in downtown Miami, especially UBS. Though if you don't speak Spanish or Portuguese, you'll need to really impress to get a private wealth job in Miami. I know UBS (I went through their hiring process recently for their private wealth division as a back-up if I didn't get into a law school I liked) requires that you be fluent in Spanish or Portuguese if you work in the Miami office.