NY MidLevel Associate Taking Questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

what have your litigation midlevel d00ds left to do? gov't? any in-house?

Mostly government, public interest, smaller firms. A few in-house but it's a relative rarity.

For the litigators that move in-house, what tend to be the industries they go into?

[acharyainc]

There really is no generally - and average is silly. It can range from 20-30 to 80-90. Really depends if I'm on a busy deal or not.

Do you think, generally, that is normal at firms V30 firms? I've heard Wachtell has associates working 60-70 hrs per week regularly (which is absurd) but I wouldn't mind the variety of your schedule.

[Anonymous User]

I am really interested in M&A work. It seems like there is so much to learn that they do not teach you in law school. If I was going to do reading outside of class just to learn more about M&A on my own are there any book you would recommend? What is it like to work in M&A? How knowledgeable do law firms expect you to be going through 2L OCI if you expressed a strong interest in M&A? what are law firms looking for from a law student that is really interested in M&A, and how much value would be placed on being on a journal? How helpful would it be to read books that MBA's (soon to be investment bankers) read in order to be able to speak their language?

Thanks for taking time to do this.

[NYMidLevel]

How long do you think you need to work at a large firm in the corporate practice to become marketable to in-house positions? You mention you got calls as early as the end of 1st year, but I'm curious about desirable positions.

Any advice for 1st year corporate associates? Did you research legal issues a lot as a 1st year associate/2nd year associate? Or mostly just due diligence? Do you think this experience was typical?

What are the best exit options coming from a corporate group? By that I mean most highly sought after and best balance of hours to pay (with pay probably with a heavier weight). I realize this is somewhat of a subjective question, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. I want to start thinking about gravitating towards specific types of corporate work (if possible) so I have better options, should I choose to ever leave.

Thanks for sharing.

Answering in turn:

1) Sorry to give an "it depends" answer, but I think the length of time it takes to be marketable for in-house gigs really varies on the type of gig and your background. Do you have connections in the industry? Past experiences in finance? Such things will work to lessen the time. And sometimes clients just like what they see.

2) While there was certainly some research work done as a junior associate, most of my work consisted of diligence and "deal work" (little bit of everything, some barely even legal work). This is fairly typical of M&A/corporate in general, your biggest value add is in calling people and setting up things and sort of generally acting as your client's agent.

3) Similarly, I think for that reason M&A is probably the best to prepare you to go in-house, though finance can supplant it if you're looking to go in-house as a specific type of finance company (such as working on the high-yield desk of a bulge bracket bank, for example).

[Anonymous User]

What are prospects of lateraling to a DC firm from a NY firm doing corporate work? I ask because I am about to accept an offer for SA in NY and plan to do corporate work. However, once my SO is done with school (4 or 5 years from now) I will want to move to DC. Do you think that's pretty do-able or should I be thinking outside the box and looking for non-firm jobs as well?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous User]

could you move to a hedge fund if you wanted? how difficult?

[Anonymous User]

What are prospects of lateraling to a DC firm from a NY firm doing corporate work? I ask because I am about to accept an offer for SA in NY and plan to do corporate work. However, once my SO is done with school (4 or 5 years from now) I will want to move to DC. Do you think that's pretty do-able or should I be thinking outside the box and looking for non-firm jobs as well?

Thanks so much!

seconded, but substitute IP/patent work? (NYC firm is large-ish ip boutique)

thnx

[underdawg]

.