High School
Lawyers must be excellent writers and oral communicators, so it’s important to take as many English and speech classes as possible. Joining the debate club will also be useful. Wealth management attorneys are experts in business and finance. To build your skills in these areas, take economics, accounting, business, finance, and mathematics courses. Foreign language classes will come in handy if you work for a firm that does business internationally. Other important classes include government, computer science, history, psychology, and social studies.
Postsecondary Education
The American Bar Association (ABA) does not recommend any particular undergraduate majors to prepare for law school. It reports that “students are admitted to law school from almost every academic discipline. You may choose to major in subjects that are considered to be traditional preparation for law school, such as history, English, philosophy, political science, economics, or business, or you may focus your undergraduate studies in areas as diverse as art, music, science and mathematics, computer science, engineering, nursing, or education.”
Most law schools require that applicants take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). The Law School Admission Council offers detailed information about preparing for and taking the LSAT at http://www.lsac.org.
The ABA has approved more than 200 law schools in the United States. Law school graduates receive either a degree of juris doctor (J.D.) or a bachelor of laws (LL.B.). Some law schools offer classes in family wealth management or related areas.
Other Education or Training
Continuing education classes, seminars, and webinars that are offered by professional associations provide lawyers with an excellent way to keep their skills up to date. For example, the ABA Young Lawyers Division provides career development videos and webinars such as Presentation Skills for Attorneys: The Top Three Things you Need to Know, Protecting Your Client's Intellectual Property: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know, and Ethics 101: Ethical Issues for the New Practitioner. The Association of Corporate Counsel provides in-person and online continuing education. Topics include ethics, litigation, compliance, contract negotiation, and basic practice skills. Contact these organizations for more information.
Certification
Some attorneys choose to earn a master of laws (LL.M) degree, an advanced law certification that provides specialized information on topics such as banking and finance law, business law, corporate law/corporate governance/corporate compliance, and regulatory compliance. A first law degree is required for admission to LL.M programs, which typically last one year. For a list of LL.M specialties and the law schools that offer them, visit https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/accreditation.
- Chief Information Officers
- Financial Quantitative Analysts
- Tax Managers
- Wealth Management Accountants
- Wealth Management Analysts
- Wealth Management Associates
- Wealth Management Compliance Professionals
- Wealth Management Investor Relations Specialists
- Wealth Management Managing Directors
- Wealth Management Risk Managers
- Wealth Management Vice Presidents