My sister is also an attorney. When I was in law school, she told me that corporate law and litigation were two distinct paths, but like any kind of advice, it was very hard to understand without context. I was just starting law school and didn’t really have any way of understanding what she was saying.
It didn’t have meaning at that time. It started to make sense when I started the first summer. I took on a couple of litigation type projects. It became clear then what the differences were and what kind of work each would entail. The hours and styles associated are different.
It’s Not Like on TV
Many people believe that litigators are type-A personalities – very fast paced and aggressive, but that isn’t really true. Fast paced litigators aren’t corporate litigators. This is especially true when we’re talking specifically about how big firms operate.
People who tend to like the pace of corporate law are the people who would otherwise become bankers or otherwise be on the business side of things. They like to see their transactions in the Wall Street Journal.
People who like individual research probably would not get a kick out of being a corporate lawyer because it’s simply not about digging into legal precedent. When you’re preparing transactional paperwork, it’s important to know all the legal rules that you’re operating under.
On the litigation side issues with courts and disputes are handled. In corporate litigation you’re representing large corporations in a specific bunch of disputes (class action, etc.) You do a lot of research on law.
This is more like what you experience in law school. You’re given legal issues, and you research on law and spend time prepping internal briefs regarding specific issues that more senior associates tell you to dig up.
Document Review Takes up a Lot of Your Time
More junior associates also do a lot of document review and a lot of digging through piles of preliminary information to find red flags. You dig through corporate e-mails to find smoking guns. You dig through transcripts to find anything that’s useful to present.
You won’t go to court for a while, although that’s what your ultimate goal will be. You’re doing a lot of prep work for a possible trial at some point.
Your hours will be more predictable because of the pace of the legal system, as far as the courts are concerned, is not really lightning speed. Judges work on their own schedule. The deadlines may be firm, but they are very forgiving. They’re months in advance.
You May Not See the Results of Your Work
The downside is that it’s very constant. It’s not exciting. Stuff doesn’t happen like on TV. These things can take years. There are disputes that might go on even beyond your career at the firm.
There are disputes that go unresolved for a decade, or at least for a very long time. You don’t see a resolution and you’re doing a lot of internal stuff. You don’t get to go to court unless it’s pro bono or for little tiny things until you move up the ranks.
Your Work May Focus on Facilitating Business Transactions
On the flip side of the coin, in corporate law, you may be assisting companies with business transactions most of the time. You may be working to raise money in the public markets in the form of an IPO or buying or selling a specific division or a foreign company.
A lot of that is transactional paperwork. It’s pretty fast paced because, unlike litigation where you’re dictated by the schedule of the judge, you’re dictated by the market. People in business want to get things done ASAP because any kind of delay adds to the risk of a business transaction.
So in the moment that they’re thinking about a specific acquisition or fund raising activity, they want to get it done. There’s a narrow window dictated by the market conditions.
Your work there involves a lot of proofreading and form filling. You take form paperwork and adapt it to the needs of the situation. It’s different from litigation because the skill set is different.
However it’s all about attention to detail and the ability to manage a lot of crises and issues at once, prioritize, and stay organized. It’s different from anything you learn in law school.
