Switching litigation groups? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm considering accepting an offer at a V30 firm that has somewhat limited litigation work in the office I'd be in. If I spent 1-3 years there, would it be possible to then lateral somewhere that does different lit work? Not sure how firms look at young laterals who don't have experience within a specific lit group.

[Anonymous User]

Very interested in this answer - looking at a very similar situation.

[Anonymous User]

Bump

[fxb3]

By "lateral" you mean a different office of the same firm, but switch from transactional to litigation? Probably difficult, but very firm-specific. But if you already do the "limited" litigation work in the one office and want to move to a litigation sub-group that is bigger in the other office, it's probably more doable. But again, very firm specific. Some firms really make you belong to practice groups, others don't.

Or do you mean lateral to a different firm, and move into litigation? Probably impossible. Firms generally hire laterals for the practice that those laterals are already in at their old firm.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I think you're gonna have to be more specific here to get much help, but generally speaking, it's easier to go from a more generalist practice to a more narrow one. If you're doing product liability lit or something for 3 years probably would be tough to lateral to a securities litigation group, etc.

[Anonymous User]

I'll try to be more specific. The process would look like this:

1. Start at V30 firm that offers a few specific lit practices. Do litigation there for 1-3 years. I'm not sure if I will enjoy the specific lit groups available there but I'm openminded.
2. After 1-3 years, switch to a different firm with different (more) lit practice groups.

Would that second firm be likely to let me try other types of lit work outside of what I had already been doing?

[dixiecupdrinking]

I'll try to be more specific. The process would look like this:

1. Start at V30 firm that offers a few specific lit practices. Do litigation there for 1-3 years. I'm not sure if I will enjoy the specific lit groups available there but I'm openminded.
2. After 1-3 years, switch to a different firm with different (more) lit practice groups.

Would that second firm be likely to let me try other types of lit work outside of what I had already been doing?

Maybe, but they'd prefer to hire someone with experience in the practices for which they're hiring. At 1-3 years you probably wouldn't be expected to be too specialized in the new firm's practice area but it will hurt to be specialized in a completely different area.

I really think you should just say what the practices are. Employment? Securities? Products liability? None of this is going to out you.

[Anonymous User]

I'll try to be more specific. The process would look like this:

1. Start at V30 firm that offers a few specific lit practices. Do litigation there for 1-3 years. I'm not sure if I will enjoy the specific lit groups available there but I'm openminded.
2. After 1-3 years, switch to a different firm with different (more) lit practice groups.

Would that second firm be likely to let me try other types of lit work outside of what I had already been doing?

Maybe, but they'd prefer to hire someone with experience in the practices for which they're hiring. At 1-3 years you probably wouldn't be expected to be too specialized in the new firm's practice area but it will hurt to be specialized in a completely different area.

I really think you should just say what the practices are. Employment? Securities? Products liability? None of this is going to out you.

The lit practices are IP lit, business & securities lit, and government enforcement. There is a tiny bit of other lit work but that's pretty much it.