Switching Practice Groups Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a bankruptcy junior associate thinking about switching to the corporate group at my firm (if it's even possible) and wanted to get some advice and insight from others.

I really substantively enjoy bankruptcy; I love legal research, writing motions, the idea of arguing in court sounds awesome, and the business aspects of bankruptcy are fascinating (you really feel like a legal and a business advisor since most clients are not repeat bankruptcy players). But it has been a grueling experience. The people I work with are miserable and treat the class years below them like garbage. People don't share information and leave you in the dark so everything is a surprise, constantly try to stab you in the back (like even messing around with your work docs to make you look bad), and expect 24/7 availability at the drop of a hat - in the past year, I've worked most weekends and multiple times have had surprise assignments come in on a Saturday or a Sunday and blow up my weekend. With that said, there is no work going on right now, and no one really knows when the big chapter 11s will come back. I think bankruptcy will be a more common business tool as companies pile on debt, but regardless, bankruptcy is a limited window for professional opportunities. The exit options suck - I've seen people get some cool jobs, but they had to spin either their litigation or transactional experience to get it because no one is hiring someone in-house to do bankruptcy. Most people just lateral to smaller firms hoping it will be better, but still bill their life away. Also I am very entrepreneurial, hustling for a book of business sounds fun, but it seems very difficult to build a book of business - it takes a coordinated effort from a large firm to land a big chapter 11 debtor or creditor. Lastly, even though I like court and business development, I hate traveling for work, and there is a ton of that in bankruptcy - I don't have a family yet but want one eventually, and I know the road will take a toll on me mentally and physically if I had to do that for more than a few years.

Recently my firm has kind of made me a corporate associate since they are super busy and there is little bankruptcy work. I have really enjoyed the transactional work, in particular M&A (I even like due diligence lol). Bankruptcy is definitely more interesting to me and sometimes corporate can be super dull, but overall I still enjoy the work. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the volume of communications that go on, and getting on a bunch of deals at the same time would be a headache. I know there are firedrills and sudden changes to your schedule, which is the hardest part about this job for me tbh, but bankruptcy also has firedrills. So far the people have been much more reasonable than what I have experienced in bankruptcy. Boundaries are still thin, but they are somewhat respected, and I am actually able to push back when necessary (in bankruptcy, it is literally impossible to push back on an unreasonable request from any class year above you - trust me, they'll show up to your house to make you do it lol). It also seems like there are a lot more career options - you can actually go in-house which is hard to do with bankruptcy, and building a book of business seems like it would be a lot easier (not many companies file bankruptcy twice/distressed funds are not plentiful). This may sound cheesey but I'm just being honest; I want to be a rainmaker, the hustle of getting clients and building a book of business is more up my alley than quibbling over pin cites, and that seems more attainable with corporate (and as said, if I burnout, can go in-house or have a business role much more easily).

Should I switch or am I just experiencing the worst years in my career/it just sucks now but will get better? Can I even switch, and how would I go about doing this? Firms are so desperate for corporate associates right now, and they are clearly cool with using bankruptcy associates as stand-ins for ones so I feel like it could happen. Is there a strategic time to make this transition (i.e. first year too early, third year too late, etc.)?

Tldr; much more "passionate" about bankruptcy but still like corporate, which has better exit ops and nicer people - good/bad/possible decision to switch?

[bajablast]

It sounds like your mind is made up, it seems like you answered your own question. I will say though, if you hate fire drills + unpredictable schedules, M&A will probably only get worse from here for you (no idea about BK).