Lawyers May Hate Math, but They Must Develop Financial Know-How

There’s a secret most lawyers don’t want anyone to know: Many of us aren’t very good with money.

As a highly educated professional working in a field where we’re supposed to have all the answers, I certainly didn’t want anyone to find out how little I knew about managing my law firm salary. And yet, managing money was critically important to me: I was a single mother of twins with $200,000 of debt coming out of Columbia Law School.

This issue spans lawyers across income levels. Those making the Big Law salaries don’t know how to manage it well, and those making considerably less have it even harder.

And so many of us went to law school to avoid math!

Personal finance knowledge is often based on experiences one had during childhood (dysfunctional or not). It rarely touches on the unique issues lawyers face such as mortgage-sized student loan debt, a later start to earning years, and a highly stressful job—regardless of salary.

Taken together, it’s no wonder that a 2024 American Bar Association study found financial stress and anxiety plague two-thirds of young lawyers.

As a lawyer turned Accredited Financial Counselor, I see these issues in so many of my private coaching clients who never learned these important skills. When I graduated from law school as a single mom, I didn’t have these skills either—and I sure could have used them.

The legal industry can take the lead in supporting attorneys in this arena. As law firms and other legal organizations begin to expand their wellness offerings, financial wellness is becoming a bigger focus.

These programs should go beyond the typical advice to contribute to your 401(k). They are most effective when they instead offer practical strategies and foundational money management skills while addressing the emotional aspects of financial decisions.

Here are some tips on how to structure a financial wellness curriculum at your firm.

Make it foundational. First year associate programs are popular (and effective) because learning these skills early in a career will have the greatest long-term impact. At many firms, first-year associates also earn the same salary, so it’s easier to create personalized and specific examples that apply in real life.

Even summer associates are getting in on the fun. Such programs should include a discussion of how to approach their 3L year, evaluating student loan debt situations before making any irreversible decisions, and how to manage money while they study for the bar before starting full-time work.

Business professionals also benefit from these programs because many of them have large student loan balances compared to their salaries and are living in the same metropolitan or high cost of living areas as their attorney colleagues.

Make it integrated. Highlight firm benefits that can help employees (attorneys and business professionals) on their financial journeys. Many firms now offer wellness credits for gym memberships or therapy, pet insurance and other group discounts, as well as the more typical retirement planning vehicles.

Involve the benefits department in the programming to increase utilization rates of benefits that are already baked into compensation. Those benefits will make more sense when discussed in the context of financial wellness, not just during the rush of open enrollment.

Make it resonate. Hearing the message from someone who’s actually practiced law can really increase the credibility factor. Attorneys are skeptical of anyone who hasn’t “walked in their shoes” and may reject otherwise useful advice—but hearing how real attorneys used real strategies to better manage their money resonates.

Those who may not yet feel confident with money don’t have to feel alone. It took me many years to become the personal finance expert I am now—and I had nearly 15 years of experience as a practicing attorney, both at a large law firm in Washington, DC, and then at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Make it shame-free. Including acknowledgement of the emotional factors involved with financial decision-making helps complete the picture and remove the shame around money. Many attorneys may be hesitant to ask for help for fear that others will think someone who is bad with money must be a bad lawyer.

But those skill sets are often completely independent of each other. And if we’re going to provide practical skills to make them all better lawyers, we can also offer support to make them better money managers.

I’ve been presenting financial wellness programs at law firms, bar associations, and other legal organizations for over five years to help bridge the gap between law school graduation and the typical investment adviser. I’ve seen how these programs have helped new and seasoned attorneys better understand their financial decisions and manage their money—and that’s a secret worth sharing.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Jessica Medina is a lawyer turned Accredited Financial Counselor and has worked in Big Law as well as at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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