Too late to switch to tax law? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi there,

I'm a 2L at a t14. I already have an SA offer for this summer at a v50 NYC firm. The firm is well regarded for corporate transactional work and has very limited practice areas and types of client. Though the firm does do some tax work according to its website, I know it is not a firm focus, and is probably more like a handful of attorneys.

It's spring semester of 2L and I finally am taking personal income tax. I wish I took it earlier because I realize that I actually really like tax. Things make a lot more sense to me than it did in all of law school so far.

How do I position myself to work in tax at this point so that I have the best possible opportunities / lateral outcomes in big law? I'm considering 3L OCI potentially but am disadvantaged with a low gpa. If it helps, I have a CPA license and finance background, though I have no tax work experience. (I assume this is also a reason I was able to recieve several 2L SA offers despite low bottom 20% grades).

[nealric]

Not too late at all. I only took Tax I prior to my 2L summer and ended up in tax.

Very few firms have large tax departments, but every firm that does a significant amount of transactional work has to have at least a few tax attorneys. Your best bet is to get as friendly as possible with the tax department during the summer and see where they are in terms of openings. If it's definetly not happening, go for another transactional group at your summer firm and try your luck at 3L OCI. If that doesn't work, you could try to lateral into tax later.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

I agree with the above poster, but I want to mention the Tax law beyond Tax I isn't quite as non-abstract and mechanical as it would seem. And it's these non-mechanical issues are the ones for which tax lawyers are hired, otherwise the accountant would just take care of it. Just a word of warning.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks. I will take corporate tax and other advanced tax courses next semester and see how it goes. Unfortunately, I need to decide career path before being able to take those classes. Another thing that draws me to tax is that it seems to be he most predictable, hours wise. My biggest concern with working in big law is burning out from the crazy hours and having to cancel on the rest of my life due to unpredictable hours.

[Anonymous User]

Not too late at all. I only took Tax I prior to my 2L summer and ended up in tax.

Very few firms have large tax departments, but every firm that does a significant amount of transactional work has to have at least a few tax attorneys. Your best bet is to get as friendly as possible with the tax department during the summer and see where they are in terms of openings. If it's definetly not happening, go for another transactional group at your summer firm and try your luck at 3L OCI. If that doesn't work, you could try to lateral into tax later.

Any way to prep to try and crack a small tax group? Taking Corporate tax now, but was wondering if you had any news sites you read to keep up on things or any other advice heading into this summer to try and position myself as potentially useful since I obviously won't have enough tax knowledge to be really functional?

[Aeon]

Not too late at all. I only took Tax I prior to my 2L summer and ended up in tax.

Very few firms have large tax departments, but every firm that does a significant amount of transactional work has to have at least a few tax attorneys. Your best bet is to get as friendly as possible with the tax department during the summer and see where they are in terms of openings. If it's definetly not happening, go for another transactional group at your summer firm and try your luck at 3L OCI. If that doesn't work, you could try to lateral into tax later.

Any way to prep to try and crack a small tax group? Taking Corporate tax now, but was wondering if you had any news sites you read to keep up on things or any other advice heading into this summer to try and position myself as potentially useful since I obviously won't have enough tax knowledge to be really functional?

The TaxProf Blog is a good resource to keep up with some of the major tax developments, although its focus tends to be more academic.

Your law school might offer free access to Tax Notes and Bloomberg BNA. With both of these, you can sign up for daily e-mails which cover fairly extensively various developments in the tax world. They are aimed at practitioners, so the material can be technical, but as daily resources on cutting-edge developments, they are key tools for tax lawyers.

[Anonymous User]

How disadvtanged would someone be without taking any classes above income tax. Want to break into a small tax group. I'll take corp + partnership 3L Fall but feel this might be too late. Have a strong accounting background

[Anonymous User]

On an unrelated note to OP or the above poster, I'm a 3L headed to a V30 M&A group in the Fall. Considering a career move to tax, but my non-NYC office does not have any tax attorneys. How difficult would it be to lateral into my own firm's tax group (whether relocating or not), or another firm's tax group, after a year or two or three -- assuming good grades in advanced tax classes.

[Anonymous User]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGnr1oJO5TQ

[Aeon]

How disadvtanged would someone be without taking any classes above income tax. Want to break into a small tax group. I'll take corp + partnership 3L Fall but feel this might be too late. Have a strong accounting background

Much of what you'll need to know about tax practice you'll learn on the job (though going in with some basic familiarity with corporate and partnership tax is good). As far as placing into the tax group, it's helpful to have an accounting background and to have taken individual income tax. But what's most helpful is simply networking with them over the summer, doing a few tax assignments well, and most importantly -- expressing your enthusiasm for tax. If anyone asks what tax classes you've taken, you could also point out that you are planning to take corporate and partnership tax in the fall.

On an unrelated note to OP or the above poster, I'm a 3L headed to a V30 M&A group in the Fall. Considering a career move to tax, but my non-NYC office does not have any tax attorneys. How difficult would it be to lateral into my own firm's tax group (whether relocating or not), or another firm's tax group, after a year or two or three -- assuming good grades in advanced tax classes.

How receptive a firm will be to such a move varies. The general rule is that the more senior you are, the more difficult it is to switch practice areas, especially to such a highly specialized area as tax. It might make sense to reach out to your firm's tax partners and see if there's any way you can become involved in tax when you start in the fall.

[Anonymous User]

Much of what you'll need to know about tax practice you'll learn on the job (though going in with some basic familiarity with corporate and partnership tax is good). As far as placing into the tax group, it's helpful to have an accounting background and to have taken individual income tax. But what's most helpful is simply networking with them over the summer, doing a few tax assignments well, and most importantly -- expressing your enthusiasm for tax. If anyone asks what tax classes you've taken, you could also point out that you are planning to take corporate and partnership tax in the fall.

Thanks! How does being in a small tax group in a v50 that really specializes in one niche area (i.e. think proj finance, capital markets, lev fin, IP, etc) affect your long term career prospects? Where are most tax laterals hired from for in house position?

This is the chambers band for tax, but as youll see, most of it correlates to v10 firms, just because those firms have the best corporate transactions. http://www.chambersandpartners.com/1278 ... torial/5/1

[Aeon]

Much of what you'll need to know about tax practice you'll learn on the job (though going in with some basic familiarity with corporate and partnership tax is good). As far as placing into the tax group, it's helpful to have an accounting background and to have taken individual income tax. But what's most helpful is simply networking with them over the summer, doing a few tax assignments well, and most importantly -- expressing your enthusiasm for tax. If anyone asks what tax classes you've taken, you could also point out that you are planning to take corporate and partnership tax in the fall.

Thanks! How does being in a small tax group in a v50 that really specializes in one niche area (i.e. think proj finance, capital markets, lev fin, IP, etc) affect your long term career prospects? Where are most tax laterals hired from for in house position?

This is the chambers band for tax, but as youll see, most of it correlates to v10 firms, just because those firms have the best corporate transactions. http://www.chambersandpartners.com/1278 ... torial/5/1

A V50 firm that focuses on a niche area will often be involved in many other areas too (with the possible exception of the big litigation powerhouses like WC and Quinn). Pretty much every deal requires some tax expertise, so chances are that the tax group is involved in more than the specific niche for which the firm is especially known.

I don't think that your long-term career prospects will be hampered. Many tax laterals for in-house positions are hired from BigLaw, with a decent number also coming from the Big 4. The most compelling case you can make for moving in-house is if you're lateraling to a company heavily involved in your firm's niche; so if your firm does capital markets work, for example, then you can have a good narrative for why you want to work at an investment bank. That said, your firm's niche won't necessarily lock you into that particular practice area, especially if you're still a junior or midlevel associate.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks for the advice! Is it worth trying to lateral to a higher ranked firm for tax if I get a position in the small tax dept at my firm? 3L OCI will be hard because my grades are below median, even though I was swimming in CBs during EIW as a 2L. I regret turning down Fried Frank because it seems they have a strong tax practice now.

[Aeon]

OP here. Thanks for the advice! Is it worth trying to lateral to a higher ranked firm for tax if I get a position in the small tax dept at my firm? 3L OCI will be hard because my grades are below median, even though I was swimming in CBs during EIW as a 2L. I regret turning down Fried Frank because it seems they have a strong tax practice now.

Usually people work for at least a couple years before lateraling to a different firm as a tax associate. And, depending on the variety of work that your firm's tax group does, it might not even be necessary. Smaller tax groups tend to be closely knit and more likely to treat their people better than those in other practice areas. And you'll probably get in a wider variety of work than you would with a larger and more compartmentalized tax group where there's often pressure to specialize in a concrete area of tax.

You probably won't get the same work environment at a tax powerhouse like Skadden, although you might end up working on bigger and more prominent deals. Of course, if the ultimate goal is to exit BigLaw, then having Skadden or Cleary or Kirkland or one of the other big players in transactional tax will be nice if you're looking for in-house positions or whatnot. But it's not dispositive, and there are often other factors at play, such as your particular experience and expertise.