Litigation or Corporate? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I hate this "keep your non-law options open" shit. You already closed more doors by going to law school than you probably will at any other stage of your career. Don't choose a practice area you'll like less to make it easier to do something different. You're committed already. Do what will most likely fit with your interests and goals.

One of my "goals" is to have a career that doesn't require me to work like a psychopath. I'm getting older - I want to find a life partner and make a family. It is still way off in the distance, but I want to be able to support my kids, and also spend time with them.

I worked in litigation before law school, and there are a lot of things that about law and lawyering that appeal to me. But I do think that the profession can be unreasonable with respect to other human wants and needs like sustaining meaningful relationships and having a family. And, despite being a pathological striver for a good chunk of my life (I know--I'm at a TT--joke's on me), I really would like to "work to live" and not "live to work"-- I'm less interested in proving my worth in terms of how I earn a livelihood. I'm far more interested in having time to dedicate to meaningful pursuits outside of work.

I have resigned myself to the brutality of biglaw for a few years after law school-- quite frankly, the money and the ability to build a nest egg seems like it will make it worth it. But I do hope that at the end of that ordeal (and I do believe it'll be an ordeal), I can move toward a more balanced life.

Do those thoughts affect your assessment over whether to do trans or lit?

[Anonymous User]

double post sry

[Anonymous User]

Is lateraling after 1 year in lit to a diff firm in corp extremely hard? (Coming from a large market v30 - if that even matters)

[Anonymous User]

Is lateraling after 1 year in lit to a diff firm in corp extremely hard? (Coming from a large market v30 - if that even matters)

Also interested in this

[Anonymous User]

Is lateraling after 1 year in lit to a diff firm in corp extremely hard? (Coming from a large market v30 - if that even matters)

Also interested in this

Same

[Anonymous User]

Is lateraling after 1 year in lit to a diff firm in corp extremely hard? (Coming from a large market v30 - if that even matters)

Also interested in this

Same

Specifically wondering about lateraling to NY, perhaps after 2-3 years though.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I hate this "keep your non-law options open" shit. You already closed more doors by going to law school than you probably will at any other stage of your career. Don't choose a practice area you'll like less to make it easier to do something different. You're committed already. Do what will most likely fit with your interests and goals.

One of my "goals" is to have a career that doesn't require me to work like a psychopath. I'm getting older - I want to find a life partner and make a family. It is still way off in the distance, but I want to be able to support my kids, and also spend time with them.

I worked in litigation before law school, and there are a lot of things that about law and lawyering that appeal to me. But I do think that the profession can be unreasonable with respect to other human wants and needs like sustaining meaningful relationships and having a family. And, despite being a pathological striver for a good chunk of my life (I know--I'm at a TT--joke's on me), I really would like to "work to live" and not "live to work"-- I'm less interested in proving my worth in terms of how I earn a livelihood. I'm far more interested in having time to dedicate to meaningful pursuits outside of work.

I have resigned myself to the brutality of biglaw for a few years after law school-- quite frankly, the money and the ability to build a nest egg seems like it will make it worth it. But I do hope that at the end of that ordeal (and I do believe it'll be an ordeal), I can move toward a more balanced life.

Do those thoughts affect your assessment over whether to do trans or lit?

I think you (a) will hate corporate practice and (b) may very well never find the work/life balance you seek, even in-house. I would be very wary of opting into a particular career track that you're fairly averse to in hopes that it will allow you to do something very different later.

[Anonymous User]

Dixie, your reasoning makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

[JusticeJackson]

.

[DoubleChecks]

I disagree, and in large part, this is due to the fact that OP states he will have no debt. This gives him flexibility. Has he sunk a lot of cash and opportunity costs already? Yes, but it isn't as if he knew he wanted to be a lawyer (very few truly do) before he got to this point in his life, graduating soon from law school.

So no, planning ahead instead of staying on this train going to a destination you do not want to go to is smarter, imo. For what it is worth, I was in a situation like that, had my options open, jumped at an EARLY but nonetheless great opportunity and am now 10000x happier. Not doing law at the moment. Committed is one thing, but living a life you'd hate is another. Living a life you'd hate for a couple years though so that the rest of your life is better? Bearable.

Double, where did your career end up taking you? Thanks for chiming in!

Business. If I had crushing debt, would I have made the move? Maybe not...but that's an advantage that you stated you had, so why not abuse it? Along those lines, however, my time in biglaw has definitely been useful in the business world. I mean, it's just experience like with anything else. I don't know how "specialized" law actually is in practice in the first few years (up to nearly senior associate level, and even then, I have no idea).

I say that because a lot of the law you learn in law school is simply not that directly applicable as a transactional attorney. If I took no corporate courses, I could still probably spend a few days, reading things associates recommend to me and DOING the contract work = same place as someone having taken a bunch of corporate/transactional related class. I feel that all you really need to be is: (1) willing to work like crazy; (2) observant/pay attention to details; (3) generally smart; and (4) able to read and write well...including difficult concepts (again, related to #3 being generally smart haha). You don't need to be encyclopedic when it comes to legal knowledge...no where close.

So working in a large firm is sorta like working in a large corporation, but where you are required to do more and learn more and handle more difficult tasks at a very fast pace from very early on = great takeaways for any other business job you may end up doing. I could have learned more if I had stayed longer, but when opportunity and life circumstances come together to really nudge you in another direction...gotta take it!

[Anonymous User]

I disagree, and in large part, this is due to the fact that OP states he will have no debt. This gives him flexibility. Has he sunk a lot of cash and opportunity costs already? Yes, but it isn't as if he knew he wanted to be a lawyer (very few truly do) before he got to this point in his life, graduating soon from law school.

So no, planning ahead instead of staying on this train going to a destination you do not want to go to is smarter, imo. For what it is worth, I was in a situation like that, had my options open, jumped at an EARLY but nonetheless great opportunity and am now 10000x happier. Not doing law at the moment. Committed is one thing, but living a life you'd hate is another. Living a life you'd hate for a couple years though so that the rest of your life is better? Bearable.

Double, where did your career end up taking you? Thanks for chiming in!

Business. If I had crushing debt, would I have made the move? Maybe not...but that's an advantage that you stated you had, so why not abuse it? Along those lines, however, my time in biglaw has definitely been useful in the business world. I mean, it's just experience like with anything else. I don't know how "specialized" law actually is in practice in the first few years (up to nearly senior associate level, and even then, I have no idea).

I say that because a lot of the law you learn in law school is simply not that directly applicable as a transactional attorney. If I took no corporate courses, I could still probably spend a few days, reading things associates recommend to me and DOING the contract work = same place as someone having taken a bunch of corporate/transactional related class. I feel that all you really need to be is: (1) willing to work like crazy; (2) observant/pay attention to details; (3) generally smart; and (4) able to read and write well...including difficult concepts (again, related to #3 being generally smart haha). You don't need to be encyclopedic when it comes to legal knowledge...no where close.

So working in a large firm, i.e., like working in a large corporation but where you are required to do more and learn more and handle more difficult tasks at a very fast pace from very early on = great takeaways for any other business job you may end up doing. I could have learned more if I had stayed longer, but when opportunity and life circumstances come together to really nudge you in another direction...gotta take it!

Willing to share a few more details? "Business" is a pretty broad/vague response.

[Anonymous User]

I disagree, and in large part, this is due to the fact that OP states he will have no debt. This gives him flexibility. Has he sunk a lot of cash and opportunity costs already? Yes, but it isn't as if he knew he wanted to be a lawyer (very few truly do) before he got to this point in his life, graduating soon from law school.

So no, planning ahead instead of staying on this train going to a destination you do not want to go to is smarter, imo. For what it is worth, I was in a situation like that, had my options open, jumped at an EARLY but nonetheless great opportunity and am now 10000x happier. Not doing law at the moment. Committed is one thing, but living a life you'd hate is another. Living a life you'd hate for a couple years though so that the rest of your life is better? Bearable.

Double, where did your career end up taking you? Thanks for chiming in!

Business. If I had crushing debt, would I have made the move? Maybe not...but that's an advantage that you stated you had, so why not abuse it? Along those lines, however, my time in biglaw has definitely been useful in the business world. I mean, it's just experience like with anything else. I don't know how "specialized" law actually is in practice in the first few years (up to nearly senior associate level, and even then, I have no idea).

I say that because a lot of the law you learn in law school is simply not that directly applicable as a transactional attorney. If I took no corporate courses, I could still probably spend a few days, reading things associates recommend to me and DOING the contract work = same place as someone having taken a bunch of corporate/transactional related class. I feel that all you really need to be is: (1) willing to work like crazy; (2) observant/pay attention to details; (3) generally smart; and (4) able to read and write well...including difficult concepts (again, related to #3 being generally smart haha). You don't need to be encyclopedic when it comes to legal knowledge...no where close.

So working in a large firm is sorta like working in a large corporation, but where you are required to do more and learn more and handle more difficult tasks at a very fast pace from very early on = great takeaways for any other business job you may end up doing. I could have learned more if I had stayed longer, but when opportunity and life circumstances come together to really nudge you in another direction...gotta take it!

Do you have any suggestions? I've had a decent amount of free time recently and have been trying to read up on business as much as possible. Thanks!

[DoubleChecks]

I disagree, and in large part, this is due to the fact that OP states he will have no debt. This gives him flexibility. Has he sunk a lot of cash and opportunity costs already? Yes, but it isn't as if he knew he wanted to be a lawyer (very few truly do) before he got to this point in his life, graduating soon from law school.

So no, planning ahead instead of staying on this train going to a destination you do not want to go to is smarter, imo. For what it is worth, I was in a situation like that, had my options open, jumped at an EARLY but nonetheless great opportunity and am now 10000x happier. Not doing law at the moment. Committed is one thing, but living a life you'd hate is another. Living a life you'd hate for a couple years though so that the rest of your life is better? Bearable.

Double, where did your career end up taking you? Thanks for chiming in!

Business. If I had crushing debt, would I have made the move? Maybe not...but that's an advantage that you stated you had, so why not abuse it? Along those lines, however, my time in biglaw has definitely been useful in the business world. I mean, it's just experience like with anything else. I don't know how "specialized" law actually is in practice in the first few years (up to nearly senior associate level, and even then, I have no idea).

I say that because a lot of the law you learn in law school is simply not that directly applicable as a transactional attorney. If I took no corporate courses, I could still probably spend a few days, reading things associates recommend to me and DOING the contract work = same place as someone having taken a bunch of corporate/transactional related class. I feel that all you really need to be is: (1) willing to work like crazy; (2) observant/pay attention to details; (3) generally smart; and (4) able to read and write well...including difficult concepts (again, related to #3 being generally smart haha). You don't need to be encyclopedic when it comes to legal knowledge...no where close.

So working in a large firm, i.e., like working in a large corporation but where you are required to do more and learn more and handle more difficult tasks at a very fast pace from very early on = great takeaways for any other business job you may end up doing. I could have learned more if I had stayed longer, but when opportunity and life circumstances come together to really nudge you in another direction...gotta take it!

Willing to share a few more details? "Business" is a pretty broad/vague response.

Haha I don't think it will get that much less vague, but primarily import/export of certain commodities

[DoubleChecks]

I disagree, and in large part, this is due to the fact that OP states he will have no debt. This gives him flexibility. Has he sunk a lot of cash and opportunity costs already? Yes, but it isn't as if he knew he wanted to be a lawyer (very few truly do) before he got to this point in his life, graduating soon from law school.

So no, planning ahead instead of staying on this train going to a destination you do not want to go to is smarter, imo. For what it is worth, I was in a situation like that, had my options open, jumped at an EARLY but nonetheless great opportunity and am now 10000x happier. Not doing law at the moment. Committed is one thing, but living a life you'd hate is another. Living a life you'd hate for a couple years though so that the rest of your life is better? Bearable.

Double, where did your career end up taking you? Thanks for chiming in!

Business. If I had crushing debt, would I have made the move? Maybe not...but that's an advantage that you stated you had, so why not abuse it? Along those lines, however, my time in biglaw has definitely been useful in the business world. I mean, it's just experience like with anything else. I don't know how "specialized" law actually is in practice in the first few years (up to nearly senior associate level, and even then, I have no idea).

I say that because a lot of the law you learn in law school is simply not that directly applicable as a transactional attorney. If I took no corporate courses, I could still probably spend a few days, reading things associates recommend to me and DOING the contract work = same place as someone having taken a bunch of corporate/transactional related class. I feel that all you really need to be is: (1) willing to work like crazy; (2) observant/pay attention to details; (3) generally smart; and (4) able to read and write well...including difficult concepts (again, related to #3 being generally smart haha). You don't need to be encyclopedic when it comes to legal knowledge...no where close.

So working in a large firm is sorta like working in a large corporation, but where you are required to do more and learn more and handle more difficult tasks at a very fast pace from very early on = great takeaways for any other business job you may end up doing. I could have learned more if I had stayed longer, but when opportunity and life circumstances come together to really nudge you in another direction...gotta take it!

Do you have any suggestions? I've had a decent amount of free time recently and have been trying to read up on business as much as possible. Thanks!

Most firms generally have these lying around, reading lists for first years as it is quite possible that you're initially a bit slow in picking up work. These are practice group specific, sometimes useful articles, often times annotated documents about contract types you will often be working with.

For example, I found some annotated "books" on AAPL 1989 form JOAs extremely useful as I worked in oil & gas and we often dealt with JOAs. To see why certain clauses came out, why certain ones were customarily removed and particular things to look out for -- invaluable.

Do I have these suggestions for you now? Can't say I do tbh...will be at the firm, and I never bothered to remember the names of the articles/books haha!