I am in the corporate/M&A practice group at a V50 in New York. I have no intention of making partner and just want to do big law for 3-4 years so I can move in-house. Frankly I don't even like corporate/M&A work but I'm just doing it because apparently its a great practice group to eventually move in-house as a corporate generalist.
I'd eventually like to work for a Fortune 500 company or a major fashion brand as in-house counsel. However, when I look at in-house listings, many of them will want you to have experience with commercial agreements, license agreements, IP, etc. Are people in IP or technology transactions more likely to land in-house gigs at for example Google or Amazon over a corporate/M&A attorney? Or are M&A attorneys just able to effectively cross-sell their skills given the nature of the work?
Would appreciate any guidance.
Am I in the wrong practice group Forum
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RedGiant
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Re: Am I in the wrong practice group
I'll bite on this.
At most biglaw firms, doing commercial work is prohibitively expensive. So they're not going to call you to do that work as a junior--they may call a partner to do a more complex, specialized commercial agreement, but...they're not going to call you.
Fashion work can be soft IP heavy. Of course, there's lots of licensiing, and, as you mentioned, lots of commercial work. The more you do corporate work, the better you will get at drafting.
But if you want to be good at commercial or licensing work, you're going to need to move more toward tech trans or work on tech M&A deals (even just diligencing these types of contracts will be a good learning experience). The NYSBA, PLI and ABA all have fashion law programs on occasion. You should go and network and learn. Take the time.
Try to get the broadest corporate experience you can so that you are a generalist--don't jump fully down the M&A rabbit hole unless you have to based on your firm's setup. Network with alumni. You can set yourself up to exit in a few years, but you need to find the time to network and figure out how to position yourself to get where you want to go.
At most biglaw firms, doing commercial work is prohibitively expensive. So they're not going to call you to do that work as a junior--they may call a partner to do a more complex, specialized commercial agreement, but...they're not going to call you.
Fashion work can be soft IP heavy. Of course, there's lots of licensiing, and, as you mentioned, lots of commercial work. The more you do corporate work, the better you will get at drafting.
But if you want to be good at commercial or licensing work, you're going to need to move more toward tech trans or work on tech M&A deals (even just diligencing these types of contracts will be a good learning experience). The NYSBA, PLI and ABA all have fashion law programs on occasion. You should go and network and learn. Take the time.
Try to get the broadest corporate experience you can so that you are a generalist--don't jump fully down the M&A rabbit hole unless you have to based on your firm's setup. Network with alumni. You can set yourself up to exit in a few years, but you need to find the time to network and figure out how to position yourself to get where you want to go.
