Should I take the NY or CA bar? Forum

[Anonymous User]

HYS 3L here. Have a return offer at an NYC V10, but really don’t want to go back. I’m strongly considering switching industries entirely to VC and have a potential in with a couple smaller funds, but I’m trying to network more broadly since the funds I know aren’t sure of their hiring needs.

Assuming I can’t swing it in the next couple months, I need to start the bar process. If my goal is to get to VC ASAP, should I try and take the CA bar instead of NY and tell my firm to fuck off? Or should I just go to my firm and try and network in from NY?

If it changes things my firm does have a small SF office, but it focuses mostly on IP lit—if I have to be a lawyer I’d rather litigate so this could be an option, but I’m not sure if IP lit makes me more marketable as a VC associate, or if my firm would even let me switch.

[Anonymous User]

Reading your post, I’m not completely clear on what it is you’re trying to do. Are you hoping to leave the law immediately or are you looking to hop to a VC-focused law firm with the goal of doing so later?

If the former, I don’t know why they’d care about where you’re barred. They wouldn’t be hiring you for your legal skills or ability to practice law. Take the NY bar and quiet quit/coast at your V10 until you can find a VC fund to take you.

If the latter, your best bet is still to take the NY bar and start at your V10. The VC-focused firms are generally not hiring outside of OCI right now due to the contraction in work. That said, their business models rely heavily on laterals and hiring will pick back up. You can just take the CA bar in February and hop over at the soonest opportunity.

[Anonymous User]

Reading your post, I’m not completely clear on what it is you’re trying to do. Are you hoping to leave the law immediately or are you looking to hop to a VC-focused law firm with the goal of doing so later?

If the former, I don’t know why they’d care about where you’re barred. They wouldn’t be hiring you for your legal skills or ability to practice law. Take the NY bar and quiet quit/coast at your V10 until you can find a VC fund to take you.

If the latter, your best bet is still to take the NY bar and start at your V10. The VC-focused firms are generally not hiring outside of OCI right now due to the contraction in work. That said, their business models rely heavily on laterals and hiring will pick back up. You can just take the CA bar in February and hop over at the soonest opportunity.

Former, and that seems like the best approach. I'll go with that.

[gaddockteeg]

Do you still want to practice law at the VC fund or are you trying to join on the business side?

If your goal is joining on the business side, I would take a California bar and find a CA based firm to do the quiet quitting thing.

If you want to be in-house at a VC and still practice law, then I think you can just stay in NY though CA based firm still seems better.

[Anonymous User]

Do you still want to practice law at the VC fund or are you trying to join on the business side?

If your goal is joining on the business side, I would take a California bar and find a CA based firm to do the quiet quitting thing.

If you want to be in-house at a VC and still practice law, then I think you can just stay in NY though CA based firm still seems better.

Definitely business side. I doubt any CA based firms are hiring 3Ls at the moment, but I can see if my V10 will let me pivot to one of our CA offices.