Travel intensive legal practice ? Forum

[SplitterPride]

Im talking "Up in the air" type travel intensive jobs.

Its highly likely most large firms would want associates doing anything else except sit down and bill, but any one know of any practice area where partners travel frequently for business development or meetings.

My guess would would be M&A work possibly, but Im mostly likely wrong.

I dont have any anecdotal evidence to suggest travel is much of an option in BigLaw.

But still hopeful :

Anyone know any travel intensive legal practices/ law firms/lawyers?

If possible, provide links for ur info. Thanks.

[Thane Messinger]

Im talking "Up in the air" type travel intensive jobs.

Anyone know any travel intensive legal practices/ law firms/lawyers?

Try your nearest recruitment office. Being a JAG officer can be quite the trip.

It's not just a job . . .

[eandy]

OP:
If you want to be George Clooney, going to law school was the wrong choice.

Honestly, I don't think there are that many jobs like that outside of sales and things like that. Plus, what partners do is irrelevant. No offense, but chances are, you will never make partner.

[Fark-o-vision]

Cousin works as a consultant in almost the same job as Clooney, so it is out there. Chicago MBA, though. No law school.

[worldtraveler]

It's not big law, but a lot of the workers for big NGOs and even some smaller ones travel all the time. It might not be the type of thing you're looking for though, since it's often to very uncomfortable locations and can be for a fairly long period of time.
Just to give an example, my boss is in Sudan next week, Geneva the week after that, then New York, a couple of other places, and then back. I'm not sure that schedule is really all that desirable considering the amount of time you spend traveling and spending a week in...Sudan.

[nealric]

Doj tax lawyers practically live on the road. They are based in dc, but few of the cases aer there.

[Thane Messinger]

Doj tax lawyers practically live on the road. They are based in dc, but few of the cases aer there.

Quite right. Many of the high-travel positions are in government, not firms. And, ahem, with government positions it's cattle class for most.

[MartianManhunter]

Not sure if the Clooney-esque job exists but as far as practicing law goes international arbitration requires a good amount of international travel (albeit pretty much the same places).

[pkrtbx]

Is it common or possible for attorneys to spend time at different office locations? For example, I know Chinese, could I be based in NY but also work at the Beijing/Shanghai office regularly? I would imagine Intl Arbitration could entail a lot of trips to London, at least.

I am a long way off from even thinking about getting hired; I am just curious because I am also really interested in a travel-heavy job.

[yellowjacket2012]

Im talking "Up in the air" type travel intensive jobs.

Its highly likely most large firms would want associates doing anything else except sit down and bill, but any one know of any practice area where partners travel frequently for business development or meetings.

My guess would would be M&A work possibly, but Im mostly likely wrong.

I dont have any anecdotal evidence to suggest travel is much of an option in BigLaw.

But still hopeful :

Anyone know any travel intensive legal practices/ law firms/lawyers?

If possible, provide links for ur info. Thanks.

Pat lit

[motiontodismiss]

Business travel I hear is severely overrated.

[gogators]

Im talking "Up in the air" type travel intensive jobs.

Its highly likely most large firms would want associates doing anything else except sit down and bill, but any one know of any practice area where partners travel frequently for business development or meetings.

My guess would would be M&A work possibly, but Im mostly likely wrong.

I dont have any anecdotal evidence to suggest travel is much of an option in BigLaw.

But still hopeful :

Anyone know any travel intensive legal practices/ law firms/lawyers?

If possible, provide links for ur info. Thanks.

Pat lit

TITCR

[Grizz]

ITT: A convenient euphemism for saying "international law."

[Bosque]

Im talking "Up in the air" type travel intensive jobs.

Its highly likely most large firms would want associates doing anything else except sit down and bill, but any one know of any practice area where partners travel frequently for business development or meetings.

My guess would would be M&A work possibly, but Im mostly likely wrong.

I dont have any anecdotal evidence to suggest travel is much of an option in BigLaw.

But still hopeful :

Anyone know any travel intensive legal practices/ law firms/lawyers?

If possible, provide links for ur info. Thanks.

Pat lit

TITCR

Pat lit is what I want to do. I hadn't heard this, but thinking about it, it makes sense.

[Anonymous User]

Doj tax lawyers practically live on the road. They are based in dc, but few of the cases aer there.

This is very true for the regional sections. I worked there as a paralegal in one of the civil sections, and attorneys were always away--sometimes for days, sometimes for weeks. Much of the traveling was for "routine" foreclosure, receivership, bankruptcy type matters, but depositions were also common.

I'd imagine that most litigating divisions/sections of the DOJ that lack regional offices (e.g., antitrust) do a pretty decent amount of traveling.

[chicagolaw2013]

Thinking of amount of time spent on a plane given a George Clooney-esque job, and I'm shuddering. God I hate flying. I do it on occasion for awesome vacations, but would HATE to have to do it constantly for work. Only thing I can say I'm really terrified of...probably because I was almost in a plane crash. Yeah, just not a fan. At all.

[rman1201]

Thinking of amount of time spent on a plane given a George Clooney-esque job, and I'm shuddering. God I hate flying. I do it on occasion for awesome vacations, but would HATE to have to do it constantly for work. Only thing I can say I'm really terrified of...probably because I was almost in a plane crash. Yeah, just not a fan. At all.

So weird, I honestly love flying, and airports even more. I love the flying/airport more than the destination many times. I swear this isn't me trolling... So many different kinds of food, beautiful women from all over the world in one spot, big and spacious (the airport). If I found a legal position that works solely in an airport I would be in heaven.

[chicagolaw2013]

Thinking of amount of time spent on a plane given a George Clooney-esque job, and I'm shuddering. God I hate flying. I do it on occasion for awesome vacations, but would HATE to have to do it constantly for work. Only thing I can say I'm really terrified of...probably because I was almost in a plane crash. Yeah, just not a fan. At all.

So weird, I honestly love flying, and airports even more. I love the flying/airport more than the destination many times. I swear this isn't me trolling... So many different kinds of food, beautiful women from all over the world in one spot, big and spacious (the airport). If I found a legal position that works solely in an airport I would be in heaven.

What's hilarious about me is that I actually don't mind the airport...so many people get riled about security lines and stuff, but I don't mind. I actually don't mind the flying except for takeoff and landing. Especially landing. Flying back from Vegas, we hit severe turbulence and lost hydraulic pressure right before landing (something to do with the tail of the plane...I'm no engineer). Barely landed safely, and had to be towed in to the gate. Ever since, I'm pretty phobic.

Anyway, back to the legal job thing. Sorry to hijack.

[AR75]

I hear international law is a good way to get lots of substantive, meaningful legal experience, whilst traveling the world--much like OP's dream job. You should look into it.

[deneuve39]

White-collar criminal defense work in Biglaw firms actually entails a lot of travel (maybe just for Sullivan & Cromwell's practice--but the guys I met at S&C's firm reception were going through passports at a pretty high rate). From asking this question to associates at various Biglaw firms, I gathered that many of them traveled when they did work for cross-border M&A deals or international arbitration. Sometimes it was actual travel and sometimes it was relocating for a few months to another city, but my sense was actually relocating was pretty rare.
If you want to work as an associate for a Biglaw firm, don't worry at this stage about exactly what practice you want to do, just go to a firm with a known international presence and then make known to the attorney assigning work that you want to try international stuff.