Switching practice areas
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 1:44 am
Hi 3L here. Just got my practice group placements this weekend via email at a V50 NYC firm. I really wanted to do Corporate, but they put me in Finance/Banking, so I'm a little disappointed. The reason why I wanted to do Corporate in the first place is because my dream is to one day work in-house at a tech-company (I'm super interested in tech and I follow VC/startup news pretty closely), and I know that to get there I'll probably have to somehow lateral to a firm in SV or SF like Cooley or Wilson Sonsini to get the necessary experience. I thought that doing M&A work would make the lateraling part easier, but since I'm not doing that anymore, I've been thinking about my long-term plans.
Now that I'll be working in a completely unrelated practice group, should I just try to contact these firms as soon as possible and see if I can lateral over as a 1st year? Or should I try to lateral within the NY market first to another firm that has an opening in Corporate? (is there even demand for that right now?) I know that in general you shouldn't try to lateral anywhere until you've had at least two years under your belt, but I really don't want to do Finance because it's so unrelated to what I REALLY want to do and I'm worried about being pegged as a finance lawyer forever. Any advice on what I can do to get from where I am now to where I want to be? Thanks in advance!
Now that I'll be working in a completely unrelated practice group, should I just try to contact these firms as soon as possible and see if I can lateral over as a 1st year? Or should I try to lateral within the NY market first to another firm that has an opening in Corporate? (is there even demand for that right now?) I know that in general you shouldn't try to lateral anywhere until you've had at least two years under your belt, but I really don't want to do Finance because it's so unrelated to what I REALLY want to do and I'm worried about being pegged as a finance lawyer forever. Any advice on what I can do to get from where I am now to where I want to be? Thanks in advance!