Private equity counsel salary Forum

[Anonymous User]

Currently at a V10 and will be seconded at a private equity firm for several months soon.

The people at the PE shop all but told me that they would be looking for me to come in house after the secondment is done.

This is one of the largest private equity firms in the country. Major market.

Any sense of what salary is in these situations? Also, other benefits?

[WhiteCollarBlueShirt]

Currently at a V10 and will be seconded at a private equity firm for several months soon.

The people at the PE shop all but told me that they would be looking for me to come in house after the secondment is done.

This is one of the largest private equity firms in the country. Major market.

Any sense of what salary is in these situations? Also, other benefits?

Tends to be on par with associate salaries +/- at reputable middle market/HF... not sure what a megafund pays, guessing it's about the same.

[Anonymous User]

Currently at a V10 and will be seconded at a private equity firm for several months soon.

The people at the PE shop all but told me that they would be looking for me to come in house after the secondment is done.

This is one of the largest private equity firms in the country. Major market.

Any sense of what salary is in these situations? Also, other benefits?

Are you an IM associate or M&A? I'm not sure it matters for salary in the near-term, but long-term the salaries/positions in-house would be different.

And are you STB/Kirkland going somewhere like KKR/Blackstone? I think they pay Counsel at least $200k + bonus on par with biglaw. Hours are probably just as bad, though.

[Anonymous User]

Currently at a V10 and will be seconded at a private equity firm for several months soon.

The people at the PE shop all but told me that they would be looking for me to come in house after the secondment is done.

This is one of the largest private equity firms in the country. Major market.

Any sense of what salary is in these situations? Also, other benefits?

Are you an IM associate or M&A? I'm not sure it matters for salary in the near-term, but long-term the salaries/positions in-house would be different.

And are you STB/Kirkland going somewhere like KKR/Blackstone? I think they pay Counsel at least $200k + bonus on par with biglaw. Hours are probably just as bad, though.

M&A.

I am someplace like those going someplace else like those. Have been assured hours are no where near as bad. ("We didn't go in house to work those hours.")

[Anonymous User]

Why would the long term positions be different for an associate coming from an M&A background versus a Funds background? Don't all roads down the line end with GC? Also, how early in biglaw can one reasonably begin to pursue PE counsel positions? If not going through a firm client, are there recruiters out there that anyone might recommend?

[Anonymous User]

Why would the long term positions be different for an associate coming from an M&A background versus a Funds background? Don't all roads down the line end with GC? Also, how early in biglaw can one reasonably begin to pursue PE counsel positions? If not going through a firm client, are there recruiters out there that anyone might recommend?

I work in a Funds practice. All of the GC's at our clients have M&A backgrounds. The in-house lawyers with Funds backgrounds tend to top out at "Counsel" for a certain business unit. Granted, dedicated Funds practices are relatively new as compared to M&A/general corporate practices, and so it may be only a matter of time before GC's at PE funds are coming from Funds practices. Just don't see it right now.

[WhiteCollarBlueShirt]

Why would the long term positions be different for an associate coming from an M&A background versus a Funds background? Don't all roads down the line end with GC? Also, how early in biglaw can one reasonably begin to pursue PE counsel positions? If not going through a firm client, are there recruiters out there that anyone might recommend?

I work in a Funds practice. All of the GC's at our clients have M&A backgrounds. The in-house lawyers with Funds backgrounds tend to top out at "Counsel" for a certain business unit. Granted, dedicated Funds practices are relatively new as compared to M&A/general corporate practices, and so it may be only a matter of time before GC's at PE funds are coming from Funds practices. Just don't see it right now.

As a separate and opposite data point, I see it plenty often right now and have for the past several years anecdotally (in-house lawyer no. 1, former GP/LP split practice in a funds practice). I do agree that the older GC's tend to be M&A, RE or other general corporate backgrounds (which is probably the case more often than not the case with megafunds).

[RCSOB657]

Since you didn't mention this, it's probably not an issue but I'll ask regardless. Does your firm not have people like you sign contracts that limit your ability to be brought in to your client's company after you're done?

[Anonymous User]

Since you didn't mention this, it's probably not an issue but I'll ask regardless. Does your firm not have people like you sign contracts that limit your ability to be brought in to your client's company after you're done?

OP here. Not at all. Quite the contrary actually. They want us to go in house.

Is this common? It seems like this anti-poaching is more of a consulting industry thing than a legal industry.

[RaceJudicata]

Since you didn't mention this, it's probably not an issue but I'll ask regardless. Does your firm not have people like you sign contracts that limit your ability to be brought in to your client's company after you're done?

OP here. Not at all. Quite the contrary actually. They want us to go in house.

Is this common? It seems like this anti-poaching is more of a consulting industry thing than a legal industry.

Yeah I don’t see why a firm would care if you went there afterward. They want to fill their client’s staff with former firm lawyers. Keep the business flowing.

[Anonymous User]

Are there certain headhunters that specialize in PE/VC/HF/Asset Management in-house recruiting?