Going from Weil / Kirkland Bankruptcy practice to.... Forum

[Anonymous User]

.....the buyside of finance, i.e. the restructuring group at a firm like Lazard or Blackstone?

How possible is this without an MBA? I've been told by colleagues working in finance that restructuring is the easiest practice in which to make the law -> finance jump, but I can't nail down specifics on just how rare this is or what is needed. FWIW, I'm already a junior associate at Kirkland / Weil practicing in their bankruptcy department.

[Anonymous User]

I know of an associate who went from Kirkland BK to Lazard's restructuring group, but I do believe that he had a JD/MBA.

[Anonymous User]

I'm also going to Weil/Kirkland's restructuring group and interested in the prospects of jumping to finance. In addition to the firms you mentioned, Evercore seems to have a solid restructuring advisory practice that has been on a lot of deals recently.

As a separate note, you refer to these groups as "buyside," but I would think they're still sellside. Buyside would be, say, a distressed-debt hedge fund, the DIP lending arm of a bank, or a the distressed buyout group of a private-equity fund. (Obviously Blackstone is "buyside" when it's doing PE stuff, but I would characterize its advisory units as sellside.)

I'm also interested in the prospects of jumping to the buyside in this sense.

[Anonymous User]

Are you in New York?

[Anonymous User]

Hey I don't mean to derail the thread here but I have a quick question for you two Weil/Kirkland restructuring associates (don't see many restructuring attorneys on here). Do you have any feel for what hiring has been like recently? Have you been taking on anyone new in the past year? I have a clerkship lined up in Bankr. D. Del. (also have good grades from a T20). I know from speaking with a couple of the D. Del. bankruptcy judges that their clerks have landed with some of the more prestigious restructuring groups in the past, but I am just wondering what the climate is like now.

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

Hey I don't mean to derail the thread here but I have a quick question for you two Weil/Kirkland restructuring associates (don't see many restructuring attorneys on here). Do you have any feel for what hiring has been like recently? Have you been taking on anyone new in the past year? I have a clerkship lined up in Bankr. D. Del. (also have good grades from a T20). I know from speaking with a couple of the D. Del. bankruptcy judges that their clerks have landed with some of the more prestigious restructuring groups in the past, but I am just wondering what the climate is like now.

Thanks!

I'm the third anon above. I'm too far removed from hiring decisions to be able to tell you much. There is some fear in the community that big chapter 11s are drying up. I think you should be in a pretty good position coming out of Delaware, but I would hustle like hell.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in this as well. And what about firms with strong creditor's practice groups? (DPW, Sidley, Cleary, etc). I've heard this is easier to make a jump to sell-side than big debtor shops, but curious as to any insight. No idea about buy side.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in this as well. And what about firms with strong creditor's practice groups? (DPW, Sidley, Cleary, etc). I've heard this is easier to make a jump to sell-side than big debtor shops, but curious as to any insight. No idea about buy side.

Interesting. I've never heard that before. It wouldn't seem to make sense with respect to restructuring advisers like Blackstone and Evercore. They usually represent the debtor. I suspect to the extent that's true it applies to buyside, like distressed-debt funds. They play the creditor's role since they buy claims.

[Anonymous User]

Is this move most common as a mid-level?

[Anonymous User]

Interested in this as well. And what about firms with strong creditor's practice groups? (DPW, Sidley, Cleary, etc). I've heard this is easier to make a jump to sell-side than big debtor shops, but curious as to any insight. No idea about buy side.

I know people who have worked in the the bankruptcy group of firms with more creditor-focused practice groups. It seems like they have good exit options, but those options are much more likely to involve doing in-house legal work, instead of jumping over to the financial side.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in this as well. And what about firms with strong creditor's practice groups? (DPW, Sidley, Cleary, etc). I've heard this is easier to make a jump to sell-side than big debtor shops, but curious as to any insight. No idea about buy side.

I know people who have worked in the the bankruptcy group of firms with more creditor-focused practice groups. It seems like they have good exit options, but those options are much more likely to involve doing in-house legal work, instead of jumping over to the financial side.

I can only speak for myself (though in a sea of anon, what's the difference?), but I'm actually more interested in legal exit options. What kind of in-house work did your friends get?

[Anonymous User]

Interested in this as well. And what about firms with strong creditor's practice groups? (DPW, Sidley, Cleary, etc). I've heard this is easier to make a jump to sell-side than big debtor shops, but curious as to any insight. No idea about buy side.

I know people who have worked in the the bankruptcy group of firms with more creditor-focused practice groups. It seems like they have good exit options, but those options are much more likely to involve doing in-house legal work, instead of jumping over to the financial side.

I can only speak for myself (though in a sea of anon, what's the difference?), but I'm actually more interested in legal exit options. What kind of in-house work did your friends get?

More like friends of friends, so I can't confidently speak to specifics; but I think it was in-house work at the BBs doing some of the same type of work they did as outside counsel.

[Anonymous User]

Interested in this as well. And what about firms with strong creditor's practice groups? (DPW, Sidley, Cleary, etc). I've heard this is easier to make a jump to sell-side than big debtor shops, but curious as to any insight. No idea about buy side.

I know people who have worked in the the bankruptcy group of firms with more creditor-focused practice groups. It seems like they have good exit options, but those options are much more likely to involve doing in-house legal work, instead of jumping over to the financial side.

I can only speak for myself (though in a sea of anon, what's the difference?), but I'm actually more interested in legal exit options. What kind of in-house work did your friends get?

More like friends of friends, so I can't confidently speak to specifics; but I think it was in-house work at the BBs doing some of the same type of work they did as outside counsel.

I work in a large ny bankruptcy practice. It seems like exit options are a bit all over the place. I have heard of people lateraling to other large bankruptcy practices, lateraling to smaller specialized bankruptcy law firms, going to distressed funds (in both pure finance roles and other less clear roles that seem to be mixed law/finance but not traditional GC role).

[Anonymous User]

I know people who have worked in the the bankruptcy group of firms with more creditor-focused practice groups. It seems like they have good exit options, but those options are much more likely to involve doing in-house legal work, instead of jumping over to the financial side.

I can only speak for myself (though in a sea of anon, what's the difference?), but I'm actually more interested in legal exit options. What kind of in-house work did your friends get?

More like friends of friends, so I can't confidently speak to specifics; but I think it was in-house work at the BBs doing some of the same type of work they did as outside counsel.

I work in a large ny bankruptcy practice. It seems like exit options are a bit all over the place. I have heard of people lateraling to other large bankruptcy practices, lateraling to smaller specialized bankruptcy law firms, going to distressed funds (in both pure finance roles and other less clear roles that seem to be mixed law/finance but not traditional GC role).

Does your firm do more work on the creditor side or the debtor side?

[Anonymous User]

Debtor

[Anonymous User]

Transferring to a bankruptcy boutique seems like it would be a great option, especially if partnership prospects were favorable. It seems like it would be relatively hard though.

[Anonymous User]

How happening is the bankruptcy-boutique scene? I try to stay on top of what's going on in the restructuring world, and the only "elite" boutique firm I can name off the top of my head is Pachulski. Relatedly, are there actually decent options at firms dealing with middle-market bankruptcies?

[Anonymous User]

Any idea what exit options would be like from a smaller bankruptcy group (think less than 15-20 attorneys in NY) of a V50 firm?

[Anonymous User]

How happening is the bankruptcy-boutique scene? I try to stay on top of what's going on in the restructuring world, and the only "elite" boutique firm I can name off the top of my head is Pachulski. Relatedly, are there actually decent options at firms dealing with middle-market bankruptcies?

What I know is mostly from Googling, but there seem to be at least a handful of boutiques in most major cities. They're regional though, usually just having one office. They seem to handle mid-size chapter 11s and then supplement that with creditors work. Some of them seem to specialize in representing nontraditional creditors like distressed-debt funds and the like.

[peter2009]

Hey I don't mean to derail the thread here but I have a quick question for you two Weil/Kirkland restructuring associates (don't see many restructuring attorneys on here). Do you have any feel for what hiring has been like recently? Have you been taking on anyone new in the past year? I have a clerkship lined up in Bankr. D. Del. (also have good grades from a T20). I know from speaking with a couple of the D. Del. bankruptcy judges that their clerks have landed with some of the more prestigious restructuring groups in the past, but I am just wondering what the climate is like now.

Thanks!

I'm the third anon above. I'm too far removed from hiring decisions to be able to tell you much. There is some fear in the community that big chapter 11s are drying up. I think you should be in a pretty good position coming out of Delaware, but I would hustle like hell.

I know bankruptcy is down right now, but do people think it will pick up in the next 12-18 months? Doesn't seem like it can stay this slow forever.

[JenDarby]

How happening is the bankruptcy-boutique scene? I try to stay on top of what's going on in the restructuring world, and the only "elite" boutique firm I can name off the top of my head is Pachulski. Relatedly, are there actually decent options at firms dealing with middle-market bankruptcies?

Togut is involved in many large commercial bankruptcies.

[Anonymous User]

I know bankruptcy is down right now, but do people think it will pick up in the next 12-18 months? Doesn't seem like it can stay this slow forever.

It's not slow at K&E (as in everyone has plenty of work) as far as I can tell right now. But yes, there is talk that 2014 will see an uptick in filings because a lot of companies are putting off the inevitable right now with the relatively cheap money that is available.

[Anonymous User]

I work in a large ny bankruptcy practice. It seems like exit options are a bit all over the place. I have heard of people lateraling to other large bankruptcy practices, lateraling to smaller specialized bankruptcy law firms, going to distressed funds (in both pure finance roles and other less clear roles that seem to be mixed law/finance but not traditional GC role).[/quote]

Do you know how the ones that left for mixed law/finance jobs were able to make the transition? Do recruiters call for those positions like they do for legal jobs?

[Anonymous User]

I work in a large ny bankruptcy practice. It seems like exit options are a bit all over the place. I have heard of people lateraling to other large bankruptcy practices, lateraling to smaller specialized bankruptcy law firms, going to distressed funds (in both pure finance roles and other less clear roles that seem to be mixed law/finance but not traditional GC role).

Do you know how the ones that left for mixed law/finance jobs were able to make the transition? Do recruiters call for those positions like they do for legal jobs?[/quote]

I don't know. Kind of just heard through the rumor mill.

[Anonymous User]

Sorry to necro, but I'm an incoming SA at one of the two firms listed in the title. Is there anything I should keep in mind during my first few years so I have solid exit options?