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Yeah they are warranted but that’s still a pretty good offer. If you have the right big law experience you could probably still pivot to M&A later — though you’re right you run the risk of getting labeled as a commercial attorney.
FWIW — commercial attorneys are closest to the revenue source at most companies and there is some security in that. I’ve never really understood why “product counsel” was more prestigious than “commercial” — always seemed to me like commercial was doing the work and product was just “adding value.” All might be moot though with AI.
(Coming from M&A in-house counsel that has also done my fair share of commercial work as well).
For sophistication, I was thinking of deal structure and greater number of issues, but I guess that's fair. The fewer number of M&A roles and job security is certainly something to think about - I sort of assumed M&A wouldn't get impacted much given how small the in house teams already are.