Is lit actually harder to get than transactional Forum

[Anonymous User]

Rising 2L at a T25, hoping for biglaw. My GPA is currently top 20%.

How much harder will my SA search be if I express a preference for litigation? I really want to do lit, but it’s more important that I get biglaw to pay off my loans.

[gregfootball2001]

Rising 2L at a T25, hoping for biglaw. My GPA is currently top 20%.

How much harder will my SA search be if I express a preference for litigation? I really want to do lit, but it’s more important that I get biglaw to pay off my loans.

You've had one year of law school. 1L is inherently litigation-based, as most 1L classes are case-based. Except in extremely rare cases, you have no idea whether you would actually prefer litigation over transactional work, especially biglaw versions of each. Have an open mind and try different areas of the law. You might find that you like something.

[Res Ipsa Loquitter]

Can only speak for NY, but lit is significantly more grade-selective here. Journal membership matters, too.

[Anonymous User]

Significantly.

[Anonymous User]

Yes. /thread

[trebekismyhero]

Rising 2L at a T25, hoping for biglaw. My GPA is currently top 20%.

How much harder will my SA search be if I express a preference for litigation? I really want to do lit, but it’s more important that I get biglaw to pay off my loans.

You've had one year of law school. 1L is inherently litigation-based, as most 1L classes are case-based. Except in extremely rare cases, you have no idea whether you would actually prefer litigation over transactional work, especially biglaw versions of each. Have an open mind and try different areas of the law. You might find that you like something.

Yes, exactly this. It is harder to get litigation as an SA, so just say you're open to trying both during OCI. If you get an SA at most V50s, they'll usually accommodate your preference if you say litigation. Most important thing is getting your foot in the door with an offer.

[Definitely Not North]

So lit is significantly harder to get into and has significantly worse exit options. I don't get it. Folks must really want to write papers for a living to do that to themselves

[Anonymous User]

So lit is significantly harder to get into and has significantly worse exit options. I don't get it. Folks must really want to write papers for a living to do that to themselves

99% of it is that lit is actually interesting

[Anonymous User]

Rising 2L at a T25, hoping for biglaw. My GPA is currently top 20%.

How much harder will my SA search be if I express a preference for litigation? I really want to do lit, but it’s more important that I get biglaw to pay off my loans.

You've had one year of law school. 1L is inherently litigation-based, as most 1L classes are case-based. Except in extremely rare cases, you have no idea whether you would actually prefer litigation over transactional work, especially biglaw versions of each. Have an open mind and try different areas of the law. You might find that you like something.

Yes, exactly this. It is harder to get litigation as an SA, so just say you're open to trying both during OCI. If you get an SA at most V50s, they'll usually accommodate your preference if you say litigation. Most important thing is getting your foot in the door with an offer.

Is this true for the rest of the v100, or just v50s?

[Anonymous User]

So lit is significantly harder to get into and has significantly worse exit options. I don't get it. Folks must really want to write papers for a living to do that to themselves

99% of it is that lit is actually interesting

Most of biglaw lit is discovery. You're thinking of being a SCOTUS justice.

[trebekismyhero]

Rising 2L at a T25, hoping for biglaw. My GPA is currently top 20%.

How much harder will my SA search be if I express a preference for litigation? I really want to do lit, but it’s more important that I get biglaw to pay off my loans.

You've had one year of law school. 1L is inherently litigation-based, as most 1L classes are case-based. Except in extremely rare cases, you have no idea whether you would actually prefer litigation over transactional work, especially biglaw versions of each. Have an open mind and try different areas of the law. You might find that you like something.

Yes, exactly this. It is harder to get litigation as an SA, so just say you're open to trying both during OCI. If you get an SA at most V50s, they'll usually accommodate your preference if you say litigation. Most important thing is getting your foot in the door with an offer.

Is this true for the rest of the v100, or just v50s?

I don't have much experience with the rest of the V100, so others can weigh in, but probably depends on class size. Either way, doesn't change the advice. If OP were top 20% at a T6 then they could probably get away with saying they only want lit. But at a T25, most important thing is getting the SA in the first place.

[LBJ's Hair]

So lit is significantly harder to get into and has significantly worse exit options. I don't get it. Folks must really want to write papers for a living to do that to themselves

Nah I totally get it

(1) Corporate lifestyle is worse
(2) If you aren't the sort of person that at least ... sort of ... enjoys reading the Wall Street Journal, corporate probably doesn't seem interesting. (Judging by TLS posts, many practicing corporate lawyers who do like reading the Wall Street Journal don't think actual corporate work is interesting.) A lot of those people don't go to law school.
(3) Most 1Ls (also most 3Ls and maybe even practicing litigators) have no idea what a corporate lawyer does. They do, sort, understand what litigation is.

[Anonymous User]

I don't have much experience with the rest of the V100, so others can weigh in, but probably depends on class size. Either way, doesn't change the advice. If OP were top 20% at a T6 then they could probably get away with saying they only want lit. But at a T25, most important thing is getting the SA in the first place.

This sounds wrong to me. It's definitely harder, but not "you need to be T20% at T6" hard. I was at an MVPB and if you were somewhat flexible on ranking and targeted DC/NYC, you could get a lit offer somewhere in the V100 at median or above. I know people below median who landed DC lit jobs, which tend to be a bit harder to get even if there are more of them.

[Anonymous User]

I was enlisted to explain some transactional documents relevant to a litigation, and lol no litigation is not more interesting. YMMV so if you enjoy it, well, enjoy! But the actual work is a grind either way and being involved in sophisticated transactions is pretty interesting to some of us. Again, YMMV, I'm not trying to bash lit just pushing back on lit folks who like to crap on us.

From a career advice perspective, lit is 1) harder to get, 2) worse exits (by a lot, just look around this website is full of 5th yr lit ppl talking about applying to 100 jobs with no offers), and 3) lit partners make less money. If it's really that important to you then do it, but do it with your eyes open.

[Anonymous User]

I used to work at a V50, and all my corp classmates have lateralled up to Kirkland, Latham, etc., whereas all my lit classmates have lateralled down to midlaw lmfao.

Not even another V50, or a V100, straight to midlaw.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Does this answer change at all if I'm not interested in NYC? I'm hoping to land in a v100 satellite office within the same region (think FL or AL) as my law school. Does this make lit easier to get?

[Anonymous User]

I used to work at a V50, and all my corp classmates have lateralled up to Kirkland, Latham, etc., whereas all my lit classmates have lateralled down to midlaw lmfao.

Not even another V50, or a V100, straight to midlaw.

Is this a reflection of lit lifestyle, or of exit options?

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Does this answer change at all if I'm not interested in NYC? I'm hoping to land in a v100 satellite office within the same region (think FL or AL) as my law school. Does this make lit easier to get?

Which V100 have satellites in Alabama?

FL is significantly harder to get that NY, for either lit or corp. With your stats, if you want biglaw you should probably get more interested in NY.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Does this answer change at all if I'm not interested in NYC? I'm hoping to land in a v100 satellite office within the same region (think FL or AL) as my law school. Does this make lit easier to get?

FL is significantly harder to get than NY

[citation needed]

[trebekismyhero]

I don't have much experience with the rest of the V100, so others can weigh in, but probably depends on class size. Either way, doesn't change the advice. If OP were top 20% at a T6 then they could probably get away with saying they only want lit. But at a T25, most important thing is getting the SA in the first place.

This sounds wrong to me. It's definitely harder, but not "you need to be T20% at T6" hard. I was at an MVPB and if you were somewhat flexible on ranking and targeted DC/NYC, you could get a lit offer somewhere in the V100 at median or above. I know people below median who landed DC lit jobs, which tend to be a bit harder to get even if there are more of them.

I am not saying you can't get lit, of course plenty of ppl who are median at t14 get lit every year. I am just saying it is harder so not worth the risk to say I am only interested in lit. There is also a huge difference between T25 and MVPB

[jotarokujo]

So lit is significantly harder to get into and has significantly worse exit options. I don't get it. Folks must really want to write papers for a living to do that to themselves

the same reasoning applies to going to law school at all compared to more lucrative things out of undergrad. it comes down to substantive interest at the end of the day

there just seems to be little cost to saying "i like transactional" in the interview though. because i don't think there's anything holding a summer to what they said in the interview. they can eaisly just say "yeah i actually realized i'm interested in lit during my 2L, so i'll just do that" during the summer

[Anonymous User]

I used to work at a V50, and all my corp classmates have lateralled up to Kirkland, Latham, etc., whereas all my lit classmates have lateralled down to midlaw lmfao.

Not even another V50, or a V100, straight to midlaw.

Is this a reflection of lit lifestyle, or of exit options?

I'm under the impression that midlaw lit is just biglaw lit but at much worse pay.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Does this answer change at all if I'm not interested in NYC? I'm hoping to land in a v100 satellite office within the same region (think FL or AL) as my law school. Does this make lit easier to get?

FL is significantly harder to get than NY

[citation needed]

Not the person you replied to, but there was a post here the other day that counted all of the biglaw SAs in Florida and it totalled like 50 or something.

ETA: found it

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=312229

[jotarokujo]

also are all types of litigation significantly harder to get than all transactional? is there variation between general, ip, white collar, etc

[Anonymous User]

From a career advice perspective, lit is 1) harder to get, 2) worse exits (by a lot, just look around this website is full of 5th yr lit ppl talking about applying to 100 jobs with no offers), and 3) lit partners make less money. If it's really that important to you then do it, but do it with your eyes open.

Lit exits are not worse if you want to exit into a lit position. I like lit. Transactional law is my worst nightmare (so was IBanking in undergrad). I have no interest in companies, finance, or anything like that. The exit options for transaction attorneys seem equally bad if not worse than being a BL transactional attorney to me. A lot of people do like transactional work. Great for them.

I am not sure why people treat job choice as some sort of mystery. If you have no interest in lit work, it makes no sense to go into lit. If you have no interest in transactional work, it makes no sense to go into transactional law.

And you can absolutely have at least a decent sense 1L whether transactional work is something you would be interested in, especially if you have prior work experience. That being said, express openness to transactional work during OCI. I found huge success by noting that 1L is basically lit, so I was "curious" about exploring "work that we just do not get in law school."