Joining a Bankruptcy Group After a Non-Bankruptcy Clerkship Forum

[Anonymous User]

Clerking on one of CADC/CA2/CA9 after a year of transactional practice. I’ve had the clerkship lined up since law school; the timing is just how it happened to work out for my judge. Considering making the switch to bankruptcy litigation after the clerkship ends, having done and enjoyed a number of bankruptcy assignments during my first year.

At my firm, bankruptcy is a smaller practice and is split between transactional (which handles filing, writing the plan, etc.) and litigation (which deals with responding to creditor requests, court appearances, etc.). Because of this divide, transactional folks learn bankruptcy, and litigation folks do court-facing work but essentially leave the “meat” of the bankruptcy to the transactional side.

Is that how it works everywhere? I’m interested in becoming an academic who specializes in the field in a couple of years, so I’m trying to maximize being “in the law” of bankruptcy while minimizing the fact-specific work of running a company through bankruptcy.

Would a creditor-side practice be good for my goals? And if so, where should I consider? Will the clerkship be an impediment to potentially switching firms or to joining a bankruptcy lit group?