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I've heard conflicting reports on whether finance attorneys can be competitive for more general corporate counsel in-house jobs. Obviously it would be tougher than making the transition as an M&E/general corporate associate, but is it a non-starter?

Interesting topic. I don't know either but following.

I am a former Biglaw finance attorney who now works as corporate counsel at a company focusing on commercial transactions. It is more difficult but not impossible to land a more general corporate in house job as a finance attorney. Not every general corporate job specifically requires M&A experience. I landed several interviews at companies that merely required experience substantial experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating a wide variety of contracts.

Going to a PE fund in a DCM capital markets role or to a non-bank lender (think Golub or debt arm of an insurance company)is also an option. Can be pretty bad work life balance but not as bad as biglaw.

also interested in this

I was a finance lawyer (class of 2013) and in 2016 went in-house at a FAANG company as a product counsel. My biggest advice when looking for exits is to not feel limited by your work at the firm.

I was lender's side associate. 8 or so people left while I was there. 1 went in house at a bank do lending work. 1 went to a debt fund. 2 went in house as general corporate associates to a big public company and a big private company. 1 left to work in a legal role at a university. 1 left to work in one of those law firm training/administration jobs. 1 went to a mid sized firm to do general corporate work. 1 left for another big law firm.

There are actually a lot of options here, but for those who went in house, they were generally senior associates. Moving in house as a junior or mid level finance associate is pretty difficult (at least in my experience).

I agree with the poster above re: FAANG. I also interviewed at a FAANG as a finance attorney. I dropped out of the process because I knew the specific position wouldn’t be a good fit for me. FAANG and many other companies care more about your ability to lead complex transactions (specifically your ability to draft and negotiate) rather than the specific work that you did at your firm.