Litigation vs. Compliance Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm currently working at a litigation boutique. The practice area is interesting but there are certain aspects of litigation generally that I don't like - the nature of the work is solitary and a lot of times I feel like a glorified paper-pusher. I recently received the chance to interview for a compliance officer position at a start-up. Salary is solid and the position has equity, although I don't know much about compliance work generally. Can anyone speak to compliance work as a career vs. working at a litigation firm?

[rpupkin]

I'm currently working at a litigation boutique. The practice area is interesting but there are certain aspects of litigation generally that I don't like - the nature of the work is solitary and a lot of times I feel like a glorified paper-pusher. I recently received the chance to interview for a compliance officer position at a start-up. Salary is solid and the position has equity, although I don't know much about compliance work generally. Can anyone speak to compliance work as a career vs. working at a litigation firm?

If feeling "like a glorified paper-pusher" is one of the things that bothers you most about litigation, then you probably should steer clear of compliance.

[Anonymous User]

I'm currently working at a litigation boutique. The practice area is interesting but there are certain aspects of litigation generally that I don't like - the nature of the work is solitary and a lot of times I feel like a glorified paper-pusher. I recently received the chance to interview for a compliance officer position at a start-up. Salary is solid and the position has equity, although I don't know much about compliance work generally. Can anyone speak to compliance work as a career vs. working at a litigation firm?

If feeling "like a glorified paper-pusher" is one of the things that bothers you most about litigation, then you probably should steer clear of compliance.

OP here. Can you expand on this? I don't know much about what a compliance role entails, would the job consist of a lot of doc review?

[PepperJack]

You're reading regs, and applying them to documents. Did you think compliance junior associates flew with the client on a private jet to go to a Las Vegas casino where you sipped martinis while discussing how the company can alter its business strategy to comply with the regs?

[rpupkin]

I'm currently working at a litigation boutique. The practice area is interesting but there are certain aspects of litigation generally that I don't like - the nature of the work is solitary and a lot of times I feel like a glorified paper-pusher. I recently received the chance to interview for a compliance officer position at a start-up. Salary is solid and the position has equity, although I don't know much about compliance work generally. Can anyone speak to compliance work as a career vs. working at a litigation firm?

If feeling "like a glorified paper-pusher" is one of the things that bothers you most about litigation, then you probably should steer clear of compliance.

OP here. Can you expand on this? I don't know much about what a compliance role entails, would the job consist of a lot of doc review?

Yes. I'm not knocking compliance work, but the concern about becoming a "paper pusher" is a reason to leave compliance work, not enter it.

Regardless of the practice area, a junior associate is probably going to feel like a paper pusher much of the time. Actually, you're probably less likely than most to suffer that fate where you are now (at a litigation boutique). The problem is that most commercial law is pretty boring most of the time. If you want to avoid the boredom, maybe consider a career as a prosecutor or PD...my friends in those jobs aren't terribly well paid and are not uniformly happy, but they're definitely not bored.

[ResIpsa21]

the concern about becoming a "paper pusher" is a reason to leave compliance work, not enter it.

I struggle to describe the mind numbing, soul crushing boredom of compliance work. Cliches like "watching paint dry" don't really capture it. Compliance is more like blowing gently on paint for hours on end to make it dry slightly faster, and then drafting a fifty-slide PowerPoint deck describing your paint blowing experience with as many qualifiers as you can muster, such as "the possible effect, in whole or in part, of potentially blowing on paint may, under the circumstances, result in a slight increase in paint drying speed, depending on numerous other factors and subject to several conditions not fully assessed in this PowerPoint."

Don't do it.