Lawyers vs. Accountants (1 Viewer)

[turtleface]

hm..I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum to put this topic but anyway:

I was wondering why in the general, un-educated (commerce or law wise) population, becoming a Lawyer so much more prestigious and elite sounding than becoming an Accountant, when:

-The 2 professions are structured EXACTLY the same, with top tiers (Big 4 for Accounting vs Big 6 for Law), Mid Tier Accounting firms vs Mid Tier Law firms, In house lawyers vs In house Accountants, CFOs vs. General Counsels, right down to the surburban small practices that both professions have. In fact...the two professions are IDENTICAL if not for the type of work they do.

-There are more CEOs and Company Directors of big companies who are former Accountants than Lawyers. In fact, there are more company directors who are engineers than lawyers as well.

-Salary wise, on average Accountants and Lawyers are paid the same (though Lawyers get paid more at junior levels (e.g. Big 4 Associate vs. Big 6 Associate) whilst Accountants get higher at senior levels (e.g. CFO vs General Counsel).

-Both professions are extremely boring at the junior levels. Junior Accountants spend endless hours checking figures in Excel till they fall asleep, whilst the bookkeeper next to him/her does the same thing. Similarly, Junior Lawyers "sit in a windowless room for 12 billable hours a day, dividing documents into piles marked "privileged" and "nonprivileged," while the paralegal sitting next to you does exactly the same thing. " Source: http://www.wetfeet.com/Content/Industries/Law.aspx

-in business, a CA/CPA is far more respected than a lawyer, when you need business advice you go ask an Accountant not a Lawyer.

-When a company is stuffed, and administrators are appointed, they are Accountants not Lawyers.

-The level (time wise) of education required is roughly the same (accounting: 3 yr degree + 1 year FTE of CA vs 4yr degree and article)

-An Accountant is able to give Corporate Law and Taxation advice whilst a Lawyer can't give Accounting advice.

The only explanation I can think of (as to why law is more prestigious to the general population) is because so many politicians are former lawyers (which is expected since politicians are there to make law) and also as a result of those BS law shows like "law and order" which are glorified court room scenes.

It just seems that there is little cause for law students to act as if they are top s--- around uni.

I was wondering what you guys think...

Edit: I wish there was a way to post this in the law forum too, I'd be interested in what some of them have to say, especially the ones who quote Judges when responding to your posts to make themselves sound hardcore.

 

[Demandred]

Sometimes it's more than just the prestige or money.

 

[_dhj_]

It just seems that there is little cause for law students to act as if they are top s--- around uni.

awww...

 

[SSaint]

It's almost always for the prestige and/or money.

edited for truth

 

[Not-That-Bright]

I think it's because so many imminent people of history have been lawyers, however these days I think it matters little.

What do you want accountant? some Kudos? Bravo accountants of the world.

 

[turtleface]

It's almost always for the prestige and/or money.

edited for truth

haha so true

 

[santaslayer]

-An Accountant is able to give Corporate Law and Taxation advice whilst a Lawyer can't give Accounting advice.

.

lawyers may also give taxation advice...

one general advantage of asking for taxtation advice from a lawyer is that such communications is protected under statute. no such privilige is given to accountants and their clients. most ppl who understand such a rule will go for a tax lawyer rather than an accountant.

law is also everywhere...it is applied in all different areas of life.

accountancy is applied only to a limited area...it is not as prevailing...

tv has also hailed the law profession

accountacy was made 'cool' after many corporate collapses...
a newspaper i read also stated that after such collapses, accountants skyrocketed in the 'sexy profession list'. lawyers have always been up there...

law relates to a greater and more indepth knowledge of the engrish language...many ppl associate the level to ccommunicate, to be witty and charasmatic within lawyers, not accountants. they are associated with robots..(i can say otherwise, since most of my accounting lectures have been down to earth ppl who are also charasmatic and friendly)

ppl associate lawyers as being naughty...naughty boys always get their way and they have better sex appeal for being naughty...finding loopholes in law...etc

most of these statements are not my own..they represent the majority
\

lalala

 

[Baiku]

What if I study Law and Commerce (major in accounting).

Can I strut around campus then?

 

[MoonlightSonata]

hm..I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum to put this topic but anyway:

I was wondering why in the general, un-educated (commerce or law wise) population, becoming a Lawyer so much more prestigious and elite sounding than becoming an Accountant, when:

-The 2 professions are structured EXACTLY the same, with top tiers (Big 4 for Accounting vs Big 6 for Law), Mid Tier Accounting firms vs Mid Tier Law firms, In house lawyers vs In house Accountants, CFOs vs. General Counsels, right down to the surburban small practices that both professions have. In fact...the two professions are IDENTICAL if not for the type of work they do.

-There are more CEOs and Company Directors of big companies who are former Accountants than Lawyers. In fact, there are more company directors who are engineers than lawyers as well.

-Salary wise, on average Accountants and Lawyers are paid the same (though Lawyers get paid more at junior levels (e.g. Big 4 Associate vs. Big 6 Associate) whilst Accountants get higher at senior levels (e.g. CFO vs General Counsel).

-Both professions are extremely boring at the junior levels. Junior Accountants spend endless hours checking figures in Excel till they fall asleep, whilst the bookkeeper next to him/her does the same thing. Similarly, Junior Lawyers "sit in a windowless room for 12 billable hours a day, dividing documents into piles marked "privileged" and "nonprivileged," while the paralegal sitting next to you does exactly the same thing. " Source: http://www.wetfeet.com/Content/Industries/Law.aspx

-in business, a CA/CPA is far more respected than a lawyer, when you need business advice you go ask an Accountant not a Lawyer.

-When a company is stuffed, and administrators are appointed, they are Accountants not Lawyers.

-The level (time wise) of education required is roughly the same (accounting: 3 yr degree + 1 year FTE of CA vs 4yr degree and article)

-An Accountant is able to give Corporate Law and Taxation advice whilst a Lawyer can't give Accounting advice.

The only explanation I can think of (as to why law is more prestigious to the general population) is because so many politicians are former lawyers (which is expected since politicians are there to make law) and also as a result of those BS law shows like "law and order" which are glorified court room scenes.

It just seems that there is little cause for law students to act as if they are top s--- around uni.

I was wondering what you guys think...

Edit: I wish there was a way to post this in the law forum too, I'd be interested in what some of them have to say, especially the ones who quote Judges when responding to your posts to make themselves sound hardcore.

Both are decent professions, why do you need to go attacking one?

They are apples and oranges. Lawyers perform a very different role than accountants. Both are essential to society. You master numbers and financial administration, we master language and argument. The two involve different roles and different skills. Ultimately we do different things in society.

The only reason law is prestigious at uni is because it is hard to get into, simply because it is popular. Just because something is popular does not mean it is "better", it just means more people want to do it (and many for the wrong reasons). So your real question should be "why do so many people want to do law?"

But as I said, the two professions involve different things, and putting aside the misguided people who associate law as a guarantee of huge salaries, they simply prefer one type of job over another. Having a strong english and problem-solving background I find legal argument to be a deeply intellectually satisfying exercise. A person with a maths background might find law as boring as hell and enjoy accounting. It doesn't mean one is better. It just means different people prefer different things.

 

[turtleface]

ok fair points

sorry it wasn't my intention to bag lawyers, no offence meant.

One thing though,
I don't think Accountancy should be associated with maths or number crunching >thats Finance
Accountancy is more about the meaningful analysis of numbers for other uses. i.e. numbers are more a means to an end, and a unit of measurement for accounting, rather than being the object of their obsession like it is for finance

If you're good at maths do finance. if you can 1+1 but you have good business skills come to accounting.

So your real question should be "why do so many people want to do law?"

yep I agree, I should have put it more clearly

 

[santaslayer]

sorry it wasn't my intention to bag lawyers, no offence meant.

lol, the last sentence in ur initial post says something different.

 

[ND]

If you're good at maths do finance.

If you're good at maths (and are interested in corporate work, obviously), do maths and finance - there is absolutely no maths in an undergrad finance degree (speaking from experience).

 

[sikeveo]

Jennyness, you're a total idiot. How is Macquarie regarded as crappy? And besides, the only reason UWS has such a rep is because it is not as established as other universities. I don't see how you, just a humble commerce graduate from unsw, have the right to say which uni is crappy, and which isn't when you provide no reasoning behind your statements.

 

[turtleface]

Jennyness, you're a total idiot. How is Macquarie regarded as crappy? And besides, the only reason UWS has such a rep is because it is not as established as other universities. I don't see how you, just a humble commerce graduate from unsw, have the right to say which uni is crappy, and which isn't when you provide no reasoning behind your statements.

Thats exactly what I was trying to get at with this topic. It seems as if "just a humble commerce" is not as prestigious as a law, which I don't seem to understand...I accept the UAI argument, but its not as if everyone who is doing commerce/law got a higher UAI/ENTER or is more academically accomplished than a commerce single degree person. People choose different courses depending on their preferences. I know heaps of people who got 99s doing Commerce, yet I know even more people getting 90 and doing full fee Com/Law, and these are the same people going around bagging Accounting and bagging Commerce graduates. (no intention to imply the above poster is one of these people, just clarifying my position.)

 

[Frigid]

But not anymore, since every donkey university has a law faculty now-a-days the prestige of getting into law has diminished considerably. Law factories are abound everywhere - even crappy unis like UWS and Macquarie have a law "factory".

oh, and what makes you special, Miss Generic Bachelor of Commerce (UNSW)?

this thread is stupid. i like apples and i like oranges.

turtleface: show me one post where one of us "quote Judges when responding to your posts to make [our]selves sound hardcore", that was not related to the immediate legal question. ^o)

 

[turtleface]

oh, and what makes you special, Miss Generic Bachelor of Commerce (UNSW)?

There it is again (what i referred to from 2 posts ago). The "I'm superior cause I do com/law". Take a look at the CEOs and Directors and Uni Professors. I'd say less than 0.5% of them have a double degree. The only notable people with double (ugrad) degrees I can think of are Allan Moss and David Crawford. Your double degree doesn't make you better despite what you think.

turtleface: show me one post where one of us "quote Judges when responding to your posts to make [our]selves sound hardcore", that was not related to the immediate legal question. ^o)

looks like i hit a nerve

 

[Frigid]

There it is again (what i referred to from 2 posts ago). The "I'm superior cause I do com/law".

reading a little bit too much into my words, TF?

Jennyness said, "crappy unis like UWS and Macquarie have a law 'factory'". by that, she means law degrees are everywhere, even at those 'crappy unis'. likewise, i wanted to remind her that her B.Commerce, at UNSW, is not as unique as she thinks. go to the quad on any sunny day, and you'll be surrounded by many, many BCom's. in other words, UNSW is a commerce 'factory', and Jenny is nothing special.

now, where did i say i was superior? did i say UNSW commerce law students are elite? fuck no, with 95% of the cohort being com/law. i certainly do not consider myself better than any other student at UNSW. they do their thing, and i do mine.

secondly, what makes you think i give a rat's arse about "CEOs and Directors and Uni Professors" and their lack of double degrees? what degrees others have/have not do not correllate with my goals and inspirations.

finally, as i have already said, i think this thread sucks like a malnourished baby. what comparison are you trying to draw anyway? that lawyers are better than accountants? that accountants are better than lawyers? that they are about the same?

it's fruitless to compare apples and oranges. pardon the pun. :wave:

 

[Not-That-Bright]

But not anymore, since every donkey university has a law faculty now-a-days the prestige of getting into law has diminished considerably. Law factories are abound everywhere - even crappy unis like UWS and Macquarie have a law "factory".

The entrance for commerce at UWS is 60.00 or below.
GG Noob, L2P.

 

[Iron]

Is there anything sadder than a commerce student?
Dont give up on life - do law and give up on humanity instead.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

A commerce student that feels the need to epeen against another course?