trans or lit redux Forum

[Anonymous User]

i'm just an SA but trans seems pretty boring. basically proofreading and making minor edits all day, and trying to keep related sections sorted. i wanted trans for the exit ops, but not sure if it's worth the slog.

lit as an SA is mostly research and writing. which is more interesting, sure, but sometimes i think law school is wholly unnecessary for what is essentially just advanced googling. also i am not sure that actual associates write so many memos.

which one gets better/worse?

[LaLiLuLeLo]

I don't know why people think lit is less boring. Most lit jobs will be civil lit and the large chunk of what you do is discovery, which is incredibly boring. No litigator can look at you with a straight face and tell you that drafting a response to rogs in interesting work. They're both boring in their own ways. I went with trans purely for the exit options.

[JazzOne]

Doc review sucks pretty hard too. I think trans sounds much more interesting than lit, but I was a litigator. Transactional projects take weeks or months, and then you're on to the next project. Large litigation cases can get stalled for years. I worked an MDL case at my firm that was filed when I was in high school.

[clshopeful]

been facing same situation as OP as in-house intern. It's trans, which I thought would be cool, but it's boring work that anyone could do. Re-reading contracts, researching past contracts to see if terms have changed, etc..

[jimmythecatdied6]

Good lit juniors get much better work than their corporate counterparts. You are right that corporate work for juniors is awful.

[philosoraptor]

If you don't enjoy editing, you're going to hate transactional and corporate work. Don't pick corporate just for the exit ops. If you hate it, you're going to suck at it. If you suck at it, no one will want to give you work at your firm and clients won't want to hire you. Find something you don't dislike and get good at that.

[abogadesq]

The high stakes stress and unpredictability of litigation can, in retrospect, make litigation pretty awesome. But as I compare my peers I see transactional attorneys making more than litigators. Honestly, I'd stick with whichever path gives you the most stability and income. Mid-career probably isn't the time to pick up litigation skills.