Personalities in Transactional law Forum

[Sgt Brody.]

I have been thinking/reading a lot about transactional law specifically in big law firms, and was intrigued. So, what would you guys think the common personalities you would encounter in tranactional lawyers in big law. I am particularly interested in finding about what personalities/people should totally stay away from transactional law?. I noticed that a lot of transational lawyers deal with mergers and acquisitions, corporate work, and was wondering whether I would be a fit. I love interacting with people, but I really have never and will never have interests in the stock market, and dont read the wall street journal, and economics is not really my cup of tea. So, will this is be a problem if I do transactional law, like I thought I wouldnt be able to have many conversations with my co workers as they will be into the stock market, read the wall street journal and all that. I hate all that, and can talk about sports particularly basketball for hours, but hate all the stock market stuff, like literally that would have to be explained to me like a fifth grader. So, are my concerns silly, or are they valid? Are certain personalities suited for one line of work over the other?

[bravos89]

I'm not sure how much of a problem it would be but I would advise against going into transactional law if you actually hate reading the WSJ and reading about M&A transactions. I don't think it's so much a problem personality-wise but it doesn't make sense to me why you would want to go into a career where you hate learning about the industry that you'll be actually working for and reading about things that affects the deals you will be working on. It seems like it would be hard to feign enthusiasm when you can't or aren't interested in learning about the fundamentals underlying the deals you're working on.

It probably doesn't matter at the junior level much but if you want to actually progress in transactional law, most of the partners I've met or worked with seem like pretty finance-savvy individuals. This is just my opinion but I think at least understanding the fundamentals of how financial markets work is pretty key to being a good transactional lawyer.

[Sgt Brody.]

I'm not sure how much of a problem it would be but I would advise against going into transactional law if you actually hate reading the WSJ and reading about M&A transactions. I don't think it's so much a problem personality-wise but it doesn't make sense to me why you would want to go into a career where you hate learning about the industry that you'll be actually working for and reading about things that affects the deals you will be working on. It seems like it would be hard to feign enthusiasm when you can't or aren't interested in learning about the fundamentals underlying the deals you're working on.

It probably doesn't matter at the junior level much but if you want to actually progress in transactional law, most of the partners I've met or worked with seem like pretty finance-savvy individuals. This is just my opinion but I think at least understanding the fundamentals of how financial markets work is pretty key to being a good transactional lawyer.

Thank you for replying!, yea I really wish I had a better understanding of how financial markets work, and economics is really something that I have never been really into. So, would I have to be in litigation by default?. And in your experience, what do you think are personalities/people that you will see in litigation and will be in litigation. As I said, one of my major worries was that I may not be a good fit in transaction as I may not have similar interests with my colleagues and may not be able to carry on a conversation. In litigation, would I avoid that issue, if I have decent interpersonal skills, love working hard, researching cases? Also, the only reason why I thought a career in transactional law was intriguing is that I learnt that it provides excellent exit options to in house, and the hours may be less miserable compared to litigation. But, what you say makes sense, and it is a reality check, wish my personality was a better fit for transactional law, but thats life right, it is what it is. Thanks for all your help!, I really appreciate it!.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Like bravos said, it's not that your personality wouldn't mesh with people in transactional law and you wouldn't have anything to talk to them about - lots of transactional lawyers enjoy sports and could talk about them for hours, too. It's just that things like the stock markets and economics are what you work on as a transactional lawyer (at least as it's usually discussed here - wills/trusts work is also transactional, you're not going to court, but it's not a big practice area in big firms). Saying "I don't think I'd get along with transactional lawyers because I don't like in mergers and acquisitions and economics and financial markets" is a little bit like saying "I don't think I'd get along with potters because I don't like working with clay." You may (or may not) get along just fine with potters as people, there just doesn't seem to be much point in trying to become a potter if you don't like working with clay.

[Sgt Brody.]

Like bravos said, it's not that your personality wouldn't mesh with people in transactional law and you wouldn't have anything to talk to them about - lots of transactional lawyers enjoy sports and could talk about them for hours, too. It's just that things like the stock markets and economics are what you work on as a transactional lawyer (at least as it's usually discussed here - wills/trusts work is also transactional, you're not going to court, but it's not a big practice area in big firms). Saying "I don't think I'd get along with transactional lawyers because I don't like in mergers and acquisitions and economics and financial markets" is a little bit like saying "I don't think I'd get along with potters because I don't like working with clay." You may (or may not) get along just fine with potters as people, there just doesn't seem to be much point in trying to become a potter if you don't like working with clay.

Hey! Thanks!, so what do you think are personalities/people that you will see in litigation, and fundamentally are there any personality traits that you will see in litigation or particularly in your coworkers if you happen to be in litigation. My main thing was that I want to be myself, dont want to feign enthusiasm about something that I am not interested in, and as bravo said, that would be a huge problem in transaction. Do you see me based on what I have told, not running into that problem in litigation? Thanks, and I really appreciate your help/advice.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Liking (or not liking) economics or financial markets isn't a personality trait, it's just something you are or aren't interested in. If you don't want to feign interest in something you're not interested in you're not looking for particular kinds of personality traits, you're looking for an area or topic that interests you. So I can't really tell you what that might be, since the only thing you've said is that you're not interested in financial stuff.

As for what you do in litigation, it varies a lot by employer. If you work for a big law firm representing corporations, you will very rarely go to trial, and won't spent much time in a courtroom. You'll do a lot of legal research and writing at your desk. If you're a PD or DA handling misdemeanors, you will be in court all day long and you will do a lot of trials, although they'll be less than a day long, and you won't write much at all. Other employers fall along the spectrum between those extremes.

As for personalities, there are stereotypes/cliches, but I am in litigation, and there are people with all kinds of different personalities here. I guess I'd say that most people are comfortable arguing in front of the court/a jury, but that's something anyone can learn to do regardless of personality. Some people try to get into court at every opportunity, others try to resolve issues with written motions; some are super tough and aggressive, but plenty are quiet and soft-spoken and non-confrontational. It just depends.