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Anon to avoid outing myself here. I'm summering at an NYC V10 and debating whether to try working in the firm's exec comp group. Some of the work seems more personally appealing to me than a general corporate practice, but I'm a little worried about exit opportunities 4-5 years down the line if I do pursue this avenue. I'd like to avoid jumping from firm to firm indefinitely and would much rather jump to an in-house position after the requisite 4-5 years of suffering.

So I'm a little curious if the exit opportunities from a more specialized group like exec comp or tax for a mid-level associate differ substantially from exit ops for a mid-level M&A or banking associate.

Thanks for any advice/info, much appreciated.

First, you should not worry about this when deciding whether or not to try those practices. Trying things in the summer doesn't commit you to anything at the bigger firms, so definitely give it a shot and see if you like it. As far as exit ops for exec comp, I dont really know. Tax definitely has good exit ops though. One thing I think is true about exec comp is that it's really a biglaw exclusive practice, so (unlike tax) I doubt you could transition to many smaller firms. I dont know if exec comp ppl go in house much, though.

Anonymous User wrote:First, you should not worry about this when deciding whether or not to try those practices. Trying things in the summer doesn't commit you to anything at the bigger firms, so definitely give it a shot and see if you like it. As far as exit ops for exec comp, I dont really know. Tax definitely has good exit ops though. One thing I think is true about exec comp is that it's really a biglaw exclusive practice, so (unlike tax) I doubt you could transition to many smaller firms. I dont know if exec comp ppl go in house much, though.

Certainly corp boards need good exec comp people, but that's not a direct exit. Lots more exit ops if you do employee benefits work as well since that's a big practice at small firms.

to the extent that you wouldn't be opposed to leaving the practice of law, there are plenty of consulting firms that focus on exec. comp, either exclusively or as a practice area. I'd be these outfits have some in-house attys too if you still wanted a legal job