Harm to overseas stint during SA? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm going to a firm that gives their summers the option to spend some time in an overseas office as part of the program. I'm particularly interested in a practice area within this firm that has a lot of cross-pollination between NYC-London, so I think it'd be a great chance to see both sides of the practice. However, I'm concerned that asking to do this a) will look like I'm trying to cash in on a free vacation and not serious about the firm or, more importantly, b) will hinder my opportunities to get to know the associates/partners in the NYC office that I'll (hopefully) be working with in the medium-to-long term.

Do you guys think there's any harm to asking to do this, or should I just stay in NYC?

[Anonymous User]

You are WAY overthinking this. Just ask to spend some time in the other office.

[jw316]

Hey OP, please PM me if you can. I didn't even know this was an option but the idea of doing this and spending some time in London during an SA in NYC would be awesome.

[B.B. Homemaker]

You can PM me as well. My firm also does this.

[Anonymous User]

Did this last summer, didn't matter at all to the NY office, they were very cool with it. I missed out on a little bit of networking with other SAs and London is entirely capital markets work for most firms so there were missed opportunities to dabble in other groups, but I think the benefits far outweighed the cons.

[Anonymous User]

So is this a bad idea if you may want to join a smaller practice area like tax full time? I know they won't have tax work abroad so I'm curious if spending 4 weeks doing something else will hurt.

[ozymandius]

This is only a bad idea if you actually treat it like a vacation, in which case you'll probably make a surprising number of lasting enemies.

[bdubs]

My overseas rotation was literally like a vacation where I was obliged to go sit in the office for 7-8 hours per day. It was a rather large program at my firm (multiple overseas offices participated) and afaik didn't affect anyone's offer chances or options. My firm required anyone rotating to stay for 12 weeks instead of 10 though, so that may have helped on the domestic front.

[Tiago Splitter]

So is this a bad idea if you may want to join a smaller practice area like tax full time? I know they won't have tax work abroad so I'm curious if spending 4 weeks doing something else will hurt.

Even then it's only an issue if tax might be oversubscribed and they can't take everybody. Hard to know if this will be the case in advance. But everyone I know who did an overseas rotation spoke very highly of it, so I'd say go if it's something that interests you.

[AReasonableMan]

Make sure to get tax work when you're in NYC. You're assuming that more assignments means they'll prefer the other person, but this isn't necessarily true.

[Anonymous User]

So is this a bad idea if you may want to join a smaller practice area like tax full time? I know they won't have tax work abroad so I'm curious if spending 4 weeks doing something else will hurt.

Even then it's only an issue if tax might be oversubscribed and they can't take everybody. Hard to know if this will be the case in advance. But everyone I know who did an overseas rotation spoke very highly of it, so I'd say go if it's something that interests you.

Not OP. Do you know how often tax is oversubscribed? Other than doing good work, getting good grades in tax classes and being likable is there anything one can do to maximize their chances of getting an offer to join the tax group?

[Tiago Splitter]

I always heard anyone with even a little interest in tax would be badgered hardcore by the tax group because they can never find enough people, but at my firm over the summer there were too many SA's who wanted it. You'll probably get it if you want it but I'd make sure to go for a tax assignment right off the bat and stay connected with the people in the group throughout the summer just in case your experience ends up like mine.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks!

[Manhattan]

[Anonymous User]

I will be doing this too, and I think it is a great thing to do - especially if you eventually want to work for the overseas office. Ask your firm if they will let you do more than a half-half. I talked with my firm and they are going to let me do the whole 10-week stint in the States and then do six or so weeks abroad so that I don't miss out on any time with their office in the USA. (Unless, of course, you want some time off between your 2L SA and 3L.)

This is great if you can work it out, but European cap markets and m&a deals all but die in August for summer vacations, there really isn't anything for attorneys much less SAs to do at that point.

[Anonymous User]

I will be doing this too, and I think it is a great thing to do - especially if you eventually want to work for the overseas office. Ask your firm if they will let you do more than a half-half. I talked with my firm and they are going to let me do the whole 10-week stint in the States and then do six or so weeks abroad so that I don't miss out on any time with their office in the USA. (Unless, of course, you want some time off between your 2L SA and 3L.)

This is great if you can work it out, but European cap markets and m&a deals all but die in August for summer vacations, there really isn't anything for attorneys much less SAs to do at that point.

Gunner summer associates trying to actually work during the summer... Everyone will throw your work away anyway. Better to be somewhere with no work for part of the summer.

[AReasonableMan]

I will be doing this too, and I think it is a great thing to do - especially if you eventually want to work for the overseas office. Ask your firm if they will let you do more than a half-half. I talked with my firm and they are going to let me do the whole 10-week stint in the States and then do six or so weeks abroad so that I don't miss out on any time with their office in the USA. (Unless, of course, you want some time off between your 2L SA and 3L.)

This is great if you can work it out, but European cap markets and m&a deals all but die in August for summer vacations, there really isn't anything for attorneys much less SAs to do at that point.

Gunner summer associates trying to actually work during the summer... Everyone will throw your work away anyway. Better to be somewhere with no work for part of the summer.

Isn't your work reviewed when they make offers? Also, your reviews are the most important part of getting an offer. The work is only part of that, but it's the biggest part.

[sweeteavodka]

Changing subject a bit:

People who have (or know of others who have) done overseas rotations, how long do they typically last? And what part of the summer do you typically go? And do most or all firms require you to extend your summer beyond the typical ten weeks?

[AReasonableMan]

Changing subject a bit:

People who have (or know of others who have) done overseas rotations, how long do they typically last? And what part of the summer do you typically go? And do most or all firms require you to extend your summer beyond the typical ten weeks?

Definitely not all, but why wouldn't you want to? The SA is possibly the best job in the world. It's great pay, you get interesting work, only work with really nice lawyers, are hidden from everything negative, are wined and dined, and people want to have fun with you. The only bad thing about it is what's at stake in terms of offer versus no offer. The actual day to day stuff is extremely low stress, and awesome. One consideration is at overseas offices you can be the only summer. I'd imagine this would suck if you're not the type who likes being the center of attention. You also don't have any "real friends," in the sense that everyone is reviewing to an extent, and you can't ever completely let your guard down.