ADA--> Transactional? Forum

[Anonymous User]

OCI strikeout at a t14 with median grades. I'm sitting on a summer offer from Bronx/Brooklyn (trying to stay anon) DA office. Right now this is the only summer offer I have on the table, and I'm going to accept if nothing else pops up in the next couple of weeks, which doesn't seem likely at this point.

While this is a good offer, I don't think I want to be a litigator. I think my skill set and interests make more sense for deal work. I'm scared that if I take this gig, I'll end up there post-grad and then I'll be stuck there for at least a few years, by which time I'll have built up zero corporate skills and don't think I'd be an attractive candidate for BigLaw-type jobs. Only thing I can think of is joining the investigations unit and maybe transitioning to a white collar/internal investigations group.

Obviously I'm going to shoot for 3L OCI as well. My grades are roughly median now, but I expect them to go up this year. I basically had a really bad first semester 1L and bounced back second semester, but that was barely enough to get me to slightly below median for OCI. Summer class bumped be up to median. Going to a DA's office for 2L summer, what would my chances at landing a BigLaw job at 3L OCI be? I have a couple of FedGov internships on my resume, both with financial regulators, both in enforcement. KJD, if it matters.

[BrainsyK]

Pick a specialty that's popular at 3L OCI, brush up on it during the year by reading trade publications and taking courses, hit the ground running with networking at mid-summer 2020, and hope the economy holds up.

Do all that. I'll give you 40/60 against.

[Wubbles]

I'd recommend beefing up on classes in structured finance, employee benefits and executive compensation, or bankruptcy for 3L OCI and mass mailing everywhere starting August 1st. Smaller markets where you have ties can be a great place to land a job as a 3L, as well as NYC obviously.

[Anonymous User]

ADA here with about six years of experience.

Your options to transition from ADA work to anything transactional will be minimal. I have attempted to transition to transactional areas a few times, and have trouble obtaining interviews. If you can transfer to the civil division of your ADA office, you may have a chance to eventually find private transactional work, but it can takes years to be eligible for that type of move.