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I am a rising 2L who has received an offer from a Kirkland/Weil type firm. I interviewed expressing interest in bankruptcy, and went to this firm for that reason. I have done extensive research, including speaking on the phone with dozens of attorneys in many different practice areas. Bankruptcy seems like an extremely interesting practice area, but obviously I have never worked a day in restructuring so I have no idea how much I'll actually like it. Some things I'm curious about:

Exit Ops: what are they? I've heard restructuring folk are kind of seen as generalists and can have a hard time leaving firm life for an in-house role.
Lifestyle: I know I'm going to be billing like a mad man, and there will be a shit ton of travel. What are some other things I should expect?

What should I be thinking about when taking an offer?

Anonymous User wrote:I am a rising 2L who has received an offer from a Kirkland/Weil type firm. I interviewed expressing interest in bankruptcy, and went to this firm for that reason. I have done extensive research, including speaking on the phone with dozens of attorneys in many different practice areas. Bankruptcy seems like an extremely interesting practice area, but obviously I have never worked a day in restructuring so I have no idea how much I'll actually like it. Some things I'm curious about:

Exit Ops: what are they? I've heard restructuring folk are kind of seen as generalists and can have a hard time leaving firm life for an in-house role.
Lifestyle: I know I'm going to be billing like a mad man, and there will be a shit ton of travel. What are some other things I should expect?

What should I be thinking about when taking an offer?

Neither "billing like a mad man" or traveling a "shit ton" are necessarily the case. I'm a LA biglaw firm and the restructuring folks don't travel a ton and how much they bill varies just like it does in other practice areas.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I am a rising 2L who has received an offer from a Kirkland/Weil type firm. I interviewed expressing interest in bankruptcy, and went to this firm for that reason. I have done extensive research, including speaking on the phone with dozens of attorneys in many different practice areas. Bankruptcy seems like an extremely interesting practice area, but obviously I have never worked a day in restructuring so I have no idea how much I'll actually like it. Some things I'm curious about:

Exit Ops: what are they? I've heard restructuring folk are kind of seen as generalists and can have a hard time leaving firm life for an in-house role.
Lifestyle: I know I'm going to be billing like a mad man, and there will be a shit ton of travel. What are some other things I should expect?

What should I be thinking about when taking an offer?

Neither "billing like a mad man" or traveling a "shit ton" are necessarily the case. I'm a LA biglaw firm and the restructuring folks don't travel a ton and how much they bill varies just like it does in other practice areas.

Are they doing debtor or lender work? That can have a big impact on travel/amount worked. OP listed two firms which primarily do debtor work which often requires travel and working a lot.

Bump

Anonymous User wrote:I am a rising 2L who has received an offer from a Kirkland/Weil type firm. I interviewed expressing interest in bankruptcy, and went to this firm for that reason. I have done extensive research, including speaking on the phone with dozens of attorneys in many different practice areas. Bankruptcy seems like an extremely interesting practice area, but obviously I have never worked a day in restructuring so I have no idea how much I'll actually like it. Some things I'm curious about:

Exit Ops: what are they? I've heard restructuring folk are kind of seen as generalists and can have a hard time leaving firm life for an in-house role.
Lifestyle: I know I'm going to be billing like a mad man, and there will be a shit ton of travel. What are some other things I should expect?

What should I be thinking about when taking an offer?

Exits at top debtor shops can be great, a lot of people want to go to hedge/PE funds that focus on acquiring distressed companies. The problem is those great exits are pretty competitive even from top restructuring practices. As far as work, they are always busy and the hours can quickly turn nightmarish when the economy turns. One nice thing is that the work is countercyclical, meaning when firms are most likely to be laying off a lot of associates you're probably the most busy/safe.