Been developing an interest in the area and wanted to hear the perspective from those that have been in executive compensation and benefits over the long term.
What are exit opportunities like?
Is it difficult to reach target billables?
Would having an LLM in tax be helpful?
Exec Comp? Forum
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papermateflair
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Re: Exec Comp?
I'm sure it depends on the firm, but from what I've seen, if you're purely exec comp, then hitting your hours probably isn't a problem (or it IS a problem because you're going to be way way over). Purely counseling/benefits, I think most folks hit hours, but it's a bit steadier/more predictable (not as many emergencies).Anonymous User wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:22 amBeen developing an interest in the area and wanted to hear the perspective from those that have been in executive compensation and benefits over the long term.
What are exit opportunities like?
Is it difficult to reach target billables?
Would having an LLM in tax be helpful?
An LLM in tax wouldn't be unhelpful, although if you take EBEC classes it would be more useful. To be honest, I've worked with associates with tax LLMs and associates without LLMs, and I have not seen a difference in work product (the worst EBEC person I've worked with had a tax LLM, and the best did not). I personally see the LLM as purely there if you can't land the tax job you want out of law school and want another bite at the apple. I get that some partners think it's important, but to me all it says is you paid for an extra year of law school, when you can get the same/better training on the job and get paid for it.
I think it's a great niche area to be in - it's difficult to learn, but always in demand. In-house opportunities are rarer than general corporate, but there's less competition. I haven't tried to leave firm life, but I've seen people go to the IRS, in-house, go out on their own, someone started their own benefits consulting business, etc. I think it's worth sticking around a firm for at least 5 years though, because the in house opportunities get better the more experience you have. I would make sure you get some experience doing the EB part of EBEC if you want to go in house, because that will also open up more opportunities.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Exec Comp?
Exec comp and benefits associate here.
I think most people I know hover between 1800-2000 hours. Some people at firms with crazy deals (Kirkland and Goodwin) are slammed though. But they are strictly exec comp/deal attorneys.
Exec comp is easier to learn. Benefits (ERISA and the 400s of the Code, prohibited transactions, etc.) is tougher. As mentioned above, you really need to have a mastery of the latter to go in-house. Clients don’t like to pay $1000/hr for that work, but they know it needs to be done so that’s what they normally look for. For the exec comp/transactional work, clients regularly use firms, so having that knowledge isn’t as useful when going in-house. Unfortunately, most firms hiring right now don’t give you the experience you’ll need to go in-house.
An LLM helps for benefits, but not so much for comp.
I think most people I know hover between 1800-2000 hours. Some people at firms with crazy deals (Kirkland and Goodwin) are slammed though. But they are strictly exec comp/deal attorneys.
Exec comp is easier to learn. Benefits (ERISA and the 400s of the Code, prohibited transactions, etc.) is tougher. As mentioned above, you really need to have a mastery of the latter to go in-house. Clients don’t like to pay $1000/hr for that work, but they know it needs to be done so that’s what they normally look for. For the exec comp/transactional work, clients regularly use firms, so having that knowledge isn’t as useful when going in-house. Unfortunately, most firms hiring right now don’t give you the experience you’ll need to go in-house.
An LLM helps for benefits, but not so much for comp.
