What can you do with an MBA in law?

Asked by: Dr. Gerson Legros  |  Last update: August 22, 2025
Score: 4.2/5 (31 votes)

MBA Law degrees are useful for a variety of legal and business careers, from corporate law to entrepreneurship, business consulting and management.

What can I do with an MBA and law degree?

A JD-MBA, sometimes listed as a MBA/JD, bridges the gap between business and law schools. Potential career paths mirror this, including in-house legal counsels or risk-management directors. Common careers for someone with a JD-MBA are attorney, financial manager, and auditor.

Is an MBA useful for lawyers?

Lawyers are a relative minority in the MBA classroom. But there are unique benefits to combining a business education with a legal background; an MBA allows you to develop key decision-making and strategy skills that can be applied in broad business contexts.

How much do lawyers with an MBA make?

National Average Salary: Approximately $120,956 per year

JD-MBA gives you the knowledge of business standards and management practices to represent a client in legal matters properly.

What is a JD-MBA degree salary?

While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $138,000 and as low as $52,500, the majority of Jd Mba salaries currently range between $67,500 (25th percentile) to $102,000 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $120,000 annually across the United States.

What Can You Do with an MBA? 6 Jobs for MBA Graduates

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Is an MBA JD worth it?

Whether these programs are worth the cost depends on your personal interests and career goals. The credentials and knowledge you gain from joint J.D.–MBA degrees would be most helpful if you plan to practice law in the private sector or lead a business in a highly regulated market.

Can you be a lawyer with a JD-MBA?

Flexibility is a significant asset for JD/MBA candidates: individuals can start in law and make use of their dedicated legal knowledge to improve decision making, provide legal counsel in a business or corporate setting, or, as a practicing lawyer, work directly with and offer guidance to business clients through a ...

How long is law school with MBA?

There are three common lengths of time offered for JD–MBA programs: three-year, three-and-a-half-year, or four-year.

How much does Harvard JD-MBA cost?

At Harvard's today, JD/MBA scholars pay $76,410 for their first year at business school and $77,100 for their first year in law school. This means a total tuition cost of $153,510 for the first half of the program. In years 3 and 4 of the JD/MBA degree path, students study simultaneously in both schools.

Which MBA is best for lawyers?

What MBA Specialisation is Right for Me After Law?
  • MBA in Business Law. This is a perfect fit for you. ...
  • MBA in Finance. Law and finance are two sides of the same coin. ...
  • MBA in Human Resource Management (HRM) The foundation of legal practice is employment law. ...
  • MBA in International Business. ...
  • MBA in Entrepreneurship.

Should I get an MBA after JD?

An MBA can offer many benefits for lawyers, including the ability to expand their skill set beyond the legal field. Lawyers with an MBA can gain an understanding of business strategy, finance, accounting, and marketing, all of which are valuable skills that can help them succeed in the legal industry.

Do lawyers make better CEOs than MBAs?

We found that CEOs with legal training were associated with higher firm value, but only in a subset of firms, specifically, in high-growth firms and firms with large amounts of litigation. Outside of this setting, however, the effect of CEOs with legal training on firm value was negative.

Is an MBA graduate school?

MBA meaning: MBA stands for Master of Business Administration, a graduate degree focused on business management.

What is the average age for JD-MBA?

What are the age demographics like in JD/MBA programs? Law school applicants tend to be ~22, whereas MBA applicants tend to be ~27.

What is the best MBA program?

Here are the 2024 Best Business Schools
  • University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
  • Northwestern University (Kellogg)
  • University of Chicago (Booth)
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
  • Harvard University.
  • New York University (Stern)
  • University of California, Berkeley (Haas)
  • Yale University.

How to get into Harvard JD-MBA?

Prospective students must apply to and be separately admitted to both the Law School and the Business School, each of which will independently review and admit applicants. For questions relating to the admissions process at each school, contact the individual admissions offices directly: HLS Admissions.

How difficult is a JD MBA?

Classes are highly intensive, and you will need to demonstrate extraordinary time management and organizational skills in order to stay on top of things, especially when you are taking both business classes and law classes in the same semester.

What is the starting salary for Harvard Law School?

By comparison, grads of Harvard Law School snagged median starting salaries of $201,250 in 2021, compared with a national median for law school grads of just $75,000, according to the National Association for Law Placement. In other words, Harvard Law School grads make almost three times more than the national median.

How much is law school for 3 years?

Over three years, a law student can expect to pay anywhere from $88,830 (in-state, public school) to $159,102 (private school) and up. If you use the average cost including tuition and living expenses and multiply it by 3 years of school, you could incur average costs of $206,178 to attend law school.

How long is Yale JD-MBA program?

In the four-year MBA/JD program, students spend two years at Yale Law School; one year at Yale SOM, during which they take the integrated MBA curriculum; and one year taking electives at both schools and elsewhere at Yale.

Is an MBA worth it?

On average, professionals with an MBA earn substantially more than those with a bachelor's degree. An MBA opens doors to higher-paying jobs and positions that offer better financial rewards, particularly in highly competitive areas such as finance, consulting, and technology.

How hard is law school?

In summary, law school is hard. Harder than regular college or universities, in terms of stress, workload, and required commitment. But about 40,000 people graduate from law schools every year–so it is clearly attainable.

Why would a lawyer get an MBA?

With an MBA, lawyers or attorneys can continue to develop business strategic, financial, accounting, and marketing know-how, which is essential for success in the legal field. An MBA for lawyers will broaden their vision to other career options other than practicing law.

Why would someone get a JD-MBA?

The JD/MBA degree can offer students a unique perspective and the requisite knowledge to tackle significant industry challenges while leveraging complementary and interdisciplinary skill sets developed during the program.

Do I need LSAT for JD-MBA?

This means you will need to prep not only for the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), but also the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), the standardized test required by most law schools.