How to Break Into Niche Area of Law (Military/Defense Procurement) Forum

[Anonymous User]

I apologize for anon. I don't think there are too many people at my school interested in this type of the law. I'm currently a 2L at T-14 and will be heading to a firm that does Corporate/M&A work and also has a strong Government Contracts group. Those two are my top two preferences for now. Although I've never served in the military, I've always been fascinated by our national defense, military, weapons, etc. So, I'm trying to set myself to work in legal specialties that deal with military/defense procurement or transactions. Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks for any input.

[TheSpanishMain]

I did some government contracts stuff over the summer at a DC BigLaw firm, and some of it was for defense contractors. I imagine any government contracts practice group, particularly in the DC area, will do a fair amount of DOD procurement work. But I don't really know how you'd specialize beyond that.

I don't think it's necessary to do military procurement work, but have you considered spending some time in the military yourself? If you really want to build a career in that world, it does give you a certain instant rapport with a lot of people.

[Anonymous User]

I did some government contracts stuff over the summer at a DC BigLaw firm, and some of it was for defense contractors. I imagine any government contracts practice group, particularly in the DC area, will do a fair amount of DOD procurement work. But I don't really know how you'd specialize beyond that.

I don't think it's necessary to do military procurement work, but have you considered spending some time in the military yourself? If you really want to build a career in that world, it does give you a certain instant rapport with a lot of people.

Thanks for the input! Do you mind if I PM you?

[TheSpanishMain]

Sure, but I'm a 3L so I don't really know much more than you do.

[zot1]

You can try to get hired by a contractor in-house (very hard) or by the DoD (also very hard).

[Yukos]

I don't know enough about it to give you more than just a vague suggestion, but I know you can do JAG as a reserve officer (i.e. on the weekends and for certain short training periods). People think A Few Good Men when they think about JAG but you can also do contracts work.

The point being, you could maybe supplement your practice with that kind of thing and then move into more permanently in a bit.

EDIT: I didn't realize you're still in law school. You could just apply for JAG for your post-grad job if you want that kind of thing.

[Anonymous User]

You can try to get hired by a contractor in-house (very hard) or by the DoD (also very hard).

OP here. Going straight from law school to DoD seems like a long-shot. I heard their Honors program is very, very competitive. As far as the contractor in-house positions go, do most people take the typical route (i.e. do a stint with corporate work at a firm, then apply)? I've never seen someone go straight to a defense contractor.

Thanks!

[First Offense]

Gov Ks at a DC firm is probably your best bet. What are the big firms with that? They probably have Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, etc. as clients I'd imagine.

[zot1]

You can try to get hired by a contractor in-house (very hard) or by the DoD (also very hard).

OP here. Going straight from law school to DoD seems like a long-shot. I heard their Honors program is very, very competitive. As far as the contractor in-house positions go, do most people take the typical route (i.e. do a stint with corporate work at a firm, then apply)? I've never seen someone go straight to a defense contractor.

Thanks!

I meant after you work for a few years.

No, you wouldn't go straight through. Government contracts are very complex. A junior attorney would never really be trusted with that kind of work.

To be fair, most contractor counsels I know went from government/military to that position. To be honest, it seems like a nice gig to me. If I don't ever get into sports (not saying I'm gunning for this now or in the future), I might consider chasing one of those gigs--especially if I get discounts on javelins, tanks, and the like.