Is Lit "better" than Corporate Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
User avatar
elendinel

Silver
Posts: 975
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 12:29 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by elendinel » Fri Dec 23, 2016 12:09 pm

Eldon Tyrell wrote:Corporate partner: I'm not sure why you abbreviated "lit" while fully writing out "corporate." I don't care which you use, but keep it consistent. We should talk about this when you get a chance. Also not sure why you didn't end the question with a question mark. Please add proper punctuation to each sentence - this should be a global change. thx

I lol'd.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428098
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 23, 2016 4:22 pm

elendinel wrote:I don't mean to call you out for this (especially since you did give more information after your original post), but this is like the 3-4th super-vague "I know these options, which is the best option" thread I've personally seen in the last week or so.

Random strangers on the internet can't tell you what will work best for you unless you tell them about yourself and what you're looking for. If you don't know what you're looking for, you, at a minimum, need to figure out your strengths and weaknesses, what you like/don't like about where you are now, and potential avenues for you that you think may be good next steps (depending on the specifics of those avenues). If you don't know these things, you have to figure it out before asking the question.

It's not dumb to ask what ____ job/field is really like; you're never going to get information that is actually useful to you if you don't do this basic inquiry about yourself to inform the responses people give you, though.

So specifically for you, what did you like about the idea of being a trial attorney? What do you find boring/loathsome about corporate law? Do you think the issue you have with corporate law has to do with your tasks, or is it maybe a product of the types of clients you work with/their particular issues? If money was not an issue, what field would you have gone into post law school? Etc.
OP here, thanks for this. My problem isn't the clients, its that I don't find the work engaging making it hard to focus and as a result I make tons of mistakes. This is surely part of being a 1st year, but I cant imagine I'd feel differently drafting an Offering Circular or a DMA.

If money wasn't a consideration, I'd probably want to be an ADA/AUSA.

I guess my fear is that I transfer into litigation without knowing what it's really like and I end up hating that too and am screwed. Maybe I'll ask an older litigator at my firm to get coffee and see.

Again, thanks for the responses. Hopefully some law students read this and consider their course before being a blind sheep led into corporate biglaw.

User avatar
Devlin

Silver
Posts: 564
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:34 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Devlin » Fri Dec 23, 2016 4:44 pm

Eldon Tyrell wrote:Corporate partner: I'm not sure why you abbreviated "lit" while fully writing out "corporate." I don't care which you use, but keep it consistent. We should talk about this when you get a chance. Also not sure why you didn't end the question with a question mark. Please add proper punctuation to each sentence - this should be a global change. thx
Lmfao

Anonymous User
Posts: 428098
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 23, 2016 5:12 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
elendinel wrote:I don't mean to call you out for this (especially since you did give more information after your original post), but this is like the 3-4th super-vague "I know these options, which is the best option" thread I've personally seen in the last week or so.

Random strangers on the internet can't tell you what will work best for you unless you tell them about yourself and what you're looking for. If you don't know what you're looking for, you, at a minimum, need to figure out your strengths and weaknesses, what you like/don't like about where you are now, and potential avenues for you that you think may be good next steps (depending on the specifics of those avenues). If you don't know these things, you have to figure it out before asking the question.

It's not dumb to ask what ____ job/field is really like; you're never going to get information that is actually useful to you if you don't do this basic inquiry about yourself to inform the responses people give you, though.

So specifically for you, what did you like about the idea of being a trial attorney? What do you find boring/loathsome about corporate law? Do you think the issue you have with corporate law has to do with your tasks, or is it maybe a product of the types of clients you work with/their particular issues? If money was not an issue, what field would you have gone into post law school? Etc.
OP here, thanks for this. My problem isn't the clients, its that I don't find the work engaging making it hard to focus and as a result I make tons of mistakes. This is surely part of being a 1st year, but I cant imagine I'd feel differently drafting an Offering Circular or a DMA.

If money wasn't a consideration, I'd probably want to be an ADA/AUSA.

I guess my fear is that I transfer into litigation without knowing what it's really like and I end up hating that too and am screwed. Maybe I'll ask an older litigator at my firm to get coffee and see.

Again, thanks for the responses. Hopefully some law students read this and consider their course before being a blind sheep led into corporate biglaw.
If you can see yourself as and ADA/AUSA, then definitely do Lit. I'm only a second year, but I've gotten the opportunity to trial an arbitration, take depositions, and am trying a case in federal court soon. Most of this on the pro bono front, but the work is fun and engaging; I don't mind working for free.

Day to day billable stuff can be a drag as well, but I'm occasionally rewarded with a dispositve motion, deposition, or product inspection. And I can already foresee that by the time I'm more senior, I may actually do cool stuff on a day-to-day basis like draft briefs, and push down briefs I don't want to draft, take depositions, argue some motions in court. I just don't see how corporate ever gets better. You just have to ask yourself whether you can handle the pressure, Litigation can be extremely stressful for I'm assuming similar and different reasons than corporate.

Person1111

Bronze
Posts: 496
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 11:10 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Person1111 » Fri Dec 23, 2016 5:17 pm

Eldon Tyrell wrote:Corporate partner: I'm not sure why you abbreviated "lit" while fully writing out "corporate." I don't care which you use, but keep it consistent. We should talk about this when you get a chance. Also not sure why you didn't end the question with a question mark. Please add proper punctuation to each sentence - this should be a global change. thx
To be fair, litigation partners can be similarly anal about this sort of thing.

Anyways, OP: I am a litigator and generally like it. I think the substance of the work is more interesting than corporate work, although discovery (and particularly fighting about discovery) is not interesting or fun. Taking witnesses at trial and taking depositions are fun. Brief writing is usually fun, depending on who you are working for and the substance of the brief you are writing. If you enjoy researching, argumentative writing, and/or developing a narrative of the facts in a case, it's probably more up your alley than corporate. All things being equal, corporate has higher-paying exit options, particularly if you want to have a 9-5 job. But I'd much rather work 9-9 in a job I found interesting than 9-5 in one I found boring and soul-crushing.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


User avatar
Eldon Tyrell

Silver
Posts: 1370
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2016 10:22 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Eldon Tyrell » Fri Dec 23, 2016 5:18 pm

It was a joke. I'm under no illusions about litigation partners also being psychos.

WalnutSurprise

New
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2013 4:59 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by WalnutSurprise » Sun Dec 25, 2016 5:24 pm

hlsperson1111 wrote:
Eldon Tyrell wrote:Corporate partner: I'm not sure why you abbreviated "lit" while fully writing out "corporate." I don't care which you use, but keep it consistent. We should talk about this when you get a chance. Also not sure why you didn't end the question with a question mark. Please add proper punctuation to each sentence - this should be a global change. thx
To be fair, litigation partners can be similarly anal about this sort of thing.

Anyways, OP: I am a litigator and generally like it. I think the substance of the work is more interesting than corporate work, although discovery (and particularly fighting about discovery) is not interesting or fun. Taking witnesses at trial and taking depositions are fun. Brief writing is usually fun, depending on who you are working for and the substance of the brief you are writing. If you enjoy researching, argumentative writing, and/or developing a narrative of the facts in a case, it's probably more up your alley than corporate. All things being equal, corporate has higher-paying exit options, particularly if you want to have a 9-5 job. But I'd much rather work 9-9 in a job I found interesting than 9-5 in one I found boring and soul-crushing.
I think the point of finding a 9-5 job is that it isn't soul crushing because you have time to do things you actually enjoy outside of the office. 9-9 really doesn't leave much room for your family/friends/hobbies/exercise, unless you don't need sleep. Not arguing with you about your preferences, but I had similar ideas about legal practice before I ended up in transactional. I'll find my fulfillment elsewhere once I leave biglaw - for now I'm sacrificing sleep because I choose to do things (even if that just means staying up later than I should so I can actually spend time with my girlfriend) after I get home from a long day of being a glorified paralegal.

also, I loled hard at Eldon Tyrell's post, so thanks for that

User avatar
jbagelboy

Diamond
Posts: 10361
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:57 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by jbagelboy » Mon Dec 26, 2016 5:07 am

Its all shit

Hutz_and_Goodman

Gold
Posts: 1650
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 10:42 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Hutz_and_Goodman » Mon Dec 26, 2016 11:27 am

I'm a year and a half in as a lit associate. I can definitely say that at my firm (in general) lit associates like the work better, and many of the transactional people are doing that solely for the exit options. I enjoy the job and I agree with the assessment that I'd rather work 9-9 or 10-9 at a job I find intellectually interesting than 9-5 in corporate in-house.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


User avatar
nealric

Moderator
Posts: 4271
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:53 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by nealric » Mon Dec 26, 2016 11:31 am

grand inquisitor wrote:litigation is what real lawyers do. corporate attorneys are just high-functioning paralegals.
I always get a kick out of statements like this. As if being a "real lawyer" is such a lofty goal to aspire to. :lol:

Anonymous User
Posts: 428098
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Anonymous User » Sat May 12, 2018 5:39 pm

Eldon Tyrell wrote:Corporate partner: I'm not sure why you abbreviated "lit" while fully writing out "corporate." I don't care which you use, but keep it consistent. We should talk about this when you get a chance. Also not sure why you didn't end the question with a question mark. Please add proper punctuation to each sentence - this should be a global change. thx
1st year corporate associate...this comment triggering af

Anonymous User
Posts: 428098
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Anonymous User » Sat May 12, 2018 6:40 pm

nealric wrote:
grand inquisitor wrote:litigation is what real lawyers do. corporate attorneys are just high-functioning paralegals.
I always get a kick out of statements like this. As if being a "real lawyer" is such a lofty goal to aspire to. :lol:
I’d rather do alternate dispute resolution... not be either party but be he party that brings the two sides to a meetin to try to get the main point if contention out in the open... kinda like a counselor does. If they can’t figure it out well, at least they know where/ how to get to court.


Then I could actually believe that I’m a counselor.... and have a reason to justify getting an expensive counchfor the office...

User avatar
nealric

Moderator
Posts: 4271
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:53 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by nealric » Sun May 13, 2018 9:31 am

Anonymous User wrote:
nealric wrote:
grand inquisitor wrote:litigation is what real lawyers do. corporate attorneys are just high-functioning paralegals.
I always get a kick out of statements like this. As if being a "real lawyer" is such a lofty goal to aspire to. :lol:
I’d rather do alternate dispute resolution... not be either party but be he party that brings the two sides to a meetin to try to get the main point if contention out in the open... kinda like a counselor does. If they can’t figure it out well, at least they know where/ how to get to court.


Then I could actually believe that I’m a counselor.... and have a reason to justify getting an expensive counchfor the office...
Those gigs are mostly for retired judges or litigators.

Register now!

Resources to assist law school applicants, students & graduates.

It's still FREE!


User avatar
northwood

Platinum
Posts: 5036
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 7:29 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by northwood » Sun May 13, 2018 10:34 am

nealric wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
nealric wrote:
grand inquisitor wrote:litigation is what real lawyers do. corporate attorneys are just high-functioning paralegals.
I always get a kick out of statements like this. As if being a "real lawyer" is such a lofty goal to aspire to. :lol:
I’d rather do alternate dispute resolution... not be either party but be he party that brings the two sides to a meetin to try to get the main point if contention out in the open... kinda like a counselor does. If they can’t figure it out well, at least they know where/ how to get to court.


Then I could actually believe that I’m a counselor.... and have a reason to justify getting an expensive counchfor the office...
Those gigs are mostly for retired judges or litigators.
Still sounds pretty sweet tho...

Anonymous User
Posts: 428098
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Anonymous User » Sun May 13, 2018 9:27 pm

corporate attorneys are investment bankers who can't do math. (mostly joking)

kiddie114

New
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu May 03, 2018 11:21 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by kiddie114 » Mon May 14, 2018 4:13 pm

jbagelboy wrote:Its all shit

gold. thats what the money is for.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428098
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Anonymous User » Thu May 24, 2018 2:07 pm

Are non-stop fire drills the norm in corporate? I feel like my experience has been nothing but "we need 500 documents reviewed ASAP!!!" -- email received Friday at 4pm.

It's exhausting. I've never started a day where I knew what I was going to be doing/working on.

Get unlimited access to all forums and topics

Register now!

I'm pretty sure I told you it's FREE...


JohnnieSockran

Bronze
Posts: 251
Joined: Wed May 23, 2018 1:07 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by JohnnieSockran » Thu May 24, 2018 2:15 pm

grand inquisitor wrote:litigation is what real lawyers do. corporate attorneys are just high-functioning paralegals.
We just bill at higher rates though :wink:

Hopefullitassociate

New
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 2:41 pm

Re: Is Lit "better" than Corporate

Post by Hopefullitassociate » Thu May 24, 2018 5:15 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Are non-stop fire drills the norm in corporate? I feel like my experience has been nothing but "we need 500 documents reviewed ASAP!!!" -- email received Friday at 4pm.

It's exhausting. I've never started a day where I knew what I was going to be doing/working on.
To be clear, are you referring to reviewing documents for corporate (and not doing doc review for litigation)? Litigation has some fire drills that pop up, but they're far fewer, and I've never head of any for doc review, when you normally have a good idea well ahead of time of when you'll need to produce documents.

Corporate, on the other hand, I think has far more fire drills, or smaller assignments that need to be done right away. I think the work overall is more exhausting in litigation, but the constant fire drills of corporate wear you down faster.

Communicate now with those who not only know what a legal education is, but can offer you worthy advice and commentary as you complete the three most educational, yet challenging years of your law related post graduate life.

Register now, it's still FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”