Accountant thinking about switching to law / compliance / other fields — looking for honest advice
Hi everyone,
I’m 24 and currently working in accounting in Vancouver. I have a BBA and several years of Canadian work experience.
I originally chose accounting mainly because it gave me stability, decent income and a clear career path. I’ve been exposed to quite a few areas over the years — accounting, payroll, tax, HR and marketing — and I’ve realized that I’m not sure traditional accounting is something I want to do long-term.
I don’t necessarily hate working. What I dislike is the repetitive/technical side of accounting — reconciliations, fixed assets, coding, month-end work, constantly fixing discrepancies, etc. I enjoy budgeting/strategy more, and I’ve always been interested in law, research, organizational behaviour, leadership and understanding how organizations work.
In university, I particularly enjoyed organizational behaviour, strategic management, marketing, entrepreneurship and business law.
I’m now seriously considering whether I should pivot into something like:
Law / JD
Litigation
Public/administrative law
Corporate/commercial law
Compliance / regulatory affairs
Governance / risk
Public policy
HR/organizational leadership
Strategy/corporate development
I’m especially curious about law, but I’m worried I may like the idea of being a lawyer more than the actual work.
For people who have studied law or currently work as lawyers:
What is law school actually like day-to-day? How much reading/memorization vs. actual analysis?
What does studying for a JD feel like compared with a business degree?
How difficult is the workload realistically?
If you work in litigation, what does a normal week look like?
If you work in corporate/commercial law or M&A, what does your day actually look like? Is it mostly contracts/documents/email?
If you hated corporate law, what other areas of law did you move into?
How much do junior lawyers realistically make in Vancouver, and how does compensation progress?
How difficult is it to get your first legal job after graduating?
For someone coming from accounting/business, does the previous experience actually help?
Has anyone here made the switch from accounting/finance → law? What was your experience?
Has anyone switched from accounting into compliance/governance/risk/policy instead? Was that a better decision?
If you could go back to 24 and choose again, would you make the switch?
I’m also interested in hearing from people who decided NOT to go to law school and instead moved into compliance, governance, HR, strategy, etc.
I’m not looking for “follow your passion” advice 😅. I’m trying to understand what the actual work and lifestyle are like before I spend years and a lot of money changing careers.
Especially interested in perspectives from people in Canada/BC/Vancouver, but I’d love to hear from anyone who made a similar transition.
Thanks!