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I'm a junior products liability/mass tort lit associate and I just received an offer from a V40 firm in their corp department. I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to make the switch (reasons: work is more interesting, better work environment, better clients and better compensation), but I just want to hear from anyone that has either made the switch from lit to corp or from anyone that's knowledgable about the comparisons/differences amongst the two areas. Thanks.

Made the switch. Would recommend. Caveats, though - the work is less intellectually stimulating, particularly at junior levels, and a lot more unpredictable. You can bill 1 hour between 9am and 5pm, and then bill straight from 6pm through 2am because something came up. There's no more judge in the process to determine what timelines and procedures are reasonable; you are at your client's whims. Also unlike litigation, the lawyers are not driving the process; instead, you are a cog in the machine, and a necessary evil of doing business. But, exit options are better, work is (at least for me) enjoyable, and if you have better compensation and better work environment to boot, I wouldn't hesitate.

I switched firms to make the same jump. Haven't regretted it for a second. In my view, though, the two areas are completely different, and 8 months in lit didn't prepare me at all for the day-to-day of corporate work.

OP here, thanks for the replies. Do you mind discussing why you never regretted making the switch?

Anonymous User wrote:OP here, thanks for the replies. Do you mind discussing why you never regretted making the switch?

Fundamentally, because I enjoy being part of a creative process. I mean, let's be clear - lawyers are support to a deal, above only the accountants (and the printer), but I enjoy being part of a live deal. Litigators obviously run the show in a case, but so much big firm litigation is squabbling over the mess others made years ago. I also think a major reason I enjoy it is that I primarily do work in the O&G, and the O&G industry is a small world where everyone is constantly looking to buy, sell, and access financing. It's an interesting industry to work with.

Mass tort can be a particularly soul deadening variety of lit so I would just make sure you really want to make this switch. If you're just sick of asbestos work maybe keep looking until you find a lit job elsewhere. But if you're really interested in corporate work then yolo man go for it

If a junior associate wants to do this, is there a certain year (3rd year associate, 4th, etc) by which it has to be done, such that afterward it'd be too late?