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I was wondering if anyone has books that they would recommend for new associates entering big law. Going into transactional work, so not really looking for books aimed at court/litigation skills. Just looking for any books that may be good reads for succeeding at firm life, early skills, planning ahead for your legal career, etc. Pretty broad but figure I have some time so why not put it to some use. Thanks!

I don't think you'll have time or energy for extra reading.

I've heard good things about a book with "Baby Sharks" in the title. On mobile and too lazy to look it up.

raptors_delight wrote:I've heard good things about a book with "Baby Sharks" in the title. On mobile and too lazy to look it up.

Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks. Just looked it up. Amazon just led me to a bunch of other books that may be good for this off that search so thanks for the start!

The Bible. You might as well read about sins before you commit them.

smallfirmassociate wrote:The Bible. You might as well read about sins before you commit them.

Lol

What type of book do you like to read? Mysteries? Thrillers? Non-fiction history? Self help? Etc? Pick a title from one of those genres and read that.

I think one thing you've probably heard over your SA is that *good* transactional lawyers truly understand the *business needs* of their client or some similar sounding bullshit. As a result, my reading list has turned towards investment banking / finance books more often than not.

You should start with these if you haven't read them yet. They're punchy, fun and a good lazy read (and in order of my favorites):

• Barbarbians at the Gate
• Den of Thieves
• Liar's Poker
• When Genius Failed
• Predator's Ball

Here are some books that I've read that are really law/biglaw focused:

• Gods at War: Shotgun Takeovers, Government by Deal, and the Private Equity Implosion (by the "Deal Professor" on Dealbook. I really liked this one a lot.)
• Tombstones: A Lawyer's Tales from the Takeover Decades

-- and more books that I've started but never finished mostly because I got bored of them . . .

• Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire
• M&A Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers and Acquisitions Industry
• The Partners: Inside America's Most Powerful Law Firms (although the story about Shearman is an awesome read)

If you're working with PE/HF bros:

• King of Capital
• More Money Than God

-- would be down for more recommendations here (I haven't really read a good book on KKR yet)

If you haven't read them then you should at least be able to intelligently talk about the Big Short and Too Big To Fail too.

If you're curious about what your investment banking counterpart on the other line is doing:

• Monkey Business
• The Accidental Banker
• AND if you like reading ATL and just want to read crass opinions there's that GSElevator book (straight to hell) which is more recent (but I haven't read) and "Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Banker" which is cheesy as hell but interesting to read (the perfect toilet companion book)
• I also really enjoyed reading http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/ for a banker's perspective on just . . . . things

Benjamin Graham's and David Dodd's Security Analysis is basically a textbook for IB analysts but I mean it's cool to flip through to get our "audience perspective" if you're doing a lot of securities work. I've honestly only read a couple of relevant sections to kill some time but whenever I did I always thought it was helpful.

I'm sure I have more books to recommend but I'm just going with what is currently in my iBooks library. If I feel inspired I'll look through my paperbacks and update this list.

cookiejar1 wrote:I think one thing you've probably heard over your SA is that *good* transactional lawyers truly understand the *business needs* of their client or some similar sounding bullshit. As a result, my reading list has turned towards investment banking / finance books more often than not.

You should start with these if you haven't read them yet. They're punchy, fun and a good lazy read (and in order of my favorites):

• Barbarbians at the Gate
• Den of Thieves
• Liar's Poker
• When Genius Failed
• Predator's Ball

Here are some books that I've read that are really law/biglaw focused:

• Gods at War: Shotgun Takeovers, Government by Deal, and the Private Equity Implosion (by the "Deal Professor" on Dealbook. I really liked this one a lot.)
• Tombstones: A Lawyer's Tales from the Takeover Decades

-- and more books that I've started but never finished mostly because I got bored of them . . .

• Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire
• M&A Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers and Acquisitions Industry
• The Partners: Inside America's Most Powerful Law Firms (although the story about Shearman is an awesome read)

If you're working with PE/HF bros:

• King of Capital
• More Money Than God

-- would be down for more recommendations here (I haven't really read a good book on KKR yet)

If you haven't read them then you should at least be able to intelligently talk about the Big Short and Too Big To Fail too.

If you're curious about what your investment banking counterpart on the other line is doing:

• Monkey Business
• The Accidental Banker
• AND if you like reading ATL and just want to read crass opinions there's that GSElevator book (straight to hell) which is more recent (but I haven't read) and "Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Banker" which is cheesy as hell but interesting to read (the perfect toilet companion book)
• I also really enjoyed reading http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/ for a banker's perspective on just . . . . things

Benjamin Graham's and David Dodd's Security Analysis is basically a textbook for IB analysts but I mean it's cool to flip through to get our "audience perspective" if you're doing a lot of securities work. I've honestly only read a couple of relevant sections to kill some time but whenever I did I always thought it was helpful.

I'm sure I have more books to recommend but I'm just going with what is currently in my iBooks library. If I feel inspired I'll look through my paperbacks and update this list.

Solid list. ^

Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England