Transactional Opportunities in Government? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a junior associate at a big law firm in a major market. I hated litigation, so I worked my way into transactional work. I also hate transactional work, though slightly less. Maybe I could stomach it with better hours. I don't really want to work for a company though, because I hate business (Why the fuck did I go to law school? At least it was free, but still...). Are there transactional positions in government? Should I just quit trying to make this work and go back to my teaching career? I know some of this is purely personal, but insights are appreciated.

[Nebby]

I'm a junior associate at a big law firm in a major market. I hated litigation, so I worked my way into transactional work. I also hate transactional work, though slightly less. Maybe I could stomach it with better hours. I don't really want to work for a company though, because I hate business (Why the fuck did I go to law school? At least it was free, but still...). Are there transactional positions in government? Should I just quit trying to make this work and go back to my teaching career? I know some of this is purely personal, but insights are appreciated.

Working in a federal agency's OGC is basically transactional work

[Danger Zone]

TAG

[Anonymous User]

I'm a junior associate at a big law firm in a major market. I hated litigation, so I worked my way into transactional work. I also hate transactional work, though slightly less. Maybe I could stomach it with better hours. I don't really want to work for a company though, because I hate business (Why the fuck did I go to law school? At least it was free, but still...). Are there transactional positions in government? Should I just quit trying to make this work and go back to my teaching career? I know some of this is purely personal, but insights are appreciated.

Working in a federal agency's OGC is basically transactional work

I am going to have to disagree with this, I think it really depends on which part of OGC and which agency. I am technically under OGC in my agency, in the field, and I am in litigation. Thats all I do. I am not sure about the other attorneys in HQ in D.C. but everyone in the field is litigation.

If you hate the law though, I mean, life is too short.

[Nebby]

I'm a junior associate at a big law firm in a major market. I hated litigation, so I worked my way into transactional work. I also hate transactional work, though slightly less. Maybe I could stomach it with better hours. I don't really want to work for a company though, because I hate business (Why the fuck did I go to law school? At least it was free, but still...). Are there transactional positions in government? Should I just quit trying to make this work and go back to my teaching career? I know some of this is purely personal, but insights are appreciated.

Working in a federal agency's OGC is basically transactional work

I am going to have to disagree with this, I think it really depends on which part of OGC and which agency. I am technically under OGC in my agency, in the field, and I am in litigation. Thats all I do. I am not sure about the other attorneys in HQ in D.C. but everyone in the field is litigation.

If you hate the law though, I mean, life is too short.

You're right, I know it doesn't capture the varied nature of individual offices within any given Fed OGC. However, many attorney-advisors work in offices where their primary duty is to advise client offices within the agency, which ends up looking very similar to your average corporate practice. It just depends on what OP practices and what substantive area of the law OP is interested in.

Example of an EPA OGC attorney and corporate environmental attorney:

Client office asks, "we want to use environmental justice factors when making enforcement decisions, is this legal and to what degree can we focus mostly or solely on the racial makeup of the area affected?"

Corporation asks, "we want to expand our manufacturing to include Trinkets, but this means we will create a waste that may be hazardous, so in what ways can we structure our process to avoid the regulatory requirements of RCRA?"

As you can see, the roles are functionally similar.

[zot1]

Look for attorney-advisor positions. Look at the responsibilities and find the jobs that do not include labor. Apply. Interview well. Have fun.

[Anonymous User]

Tagging - realize I don't want to work for a profit company.....god corporate work is bbbboring

[zot1]

Actually, let me vent a little bit about this. The misconception that government work is essentially only litigation work can be damaging. Government agencies are unique even if they sometimes deal with the same stuff--they still do it from a different function. As a result, it's hard to say that one agency is like the other. What's more, agencies often have differences between units within the agency and within location (the DC location works on different issues than the LA location, for example). So when you're looking to apply to an agency, truly one of the best things you can do to prepare your materials and for an interview is to ask advice from someone at the agency who can give you info you just can't find online. I definitely blew an interview because I said I was dying to do litigation, but the unit I was interviewing with was a purely transactional unit within an agency mostly engaged in litigation.

Rant over.