6th year in litigation. I know it's nuts, but I want to try retooling to corporate. Any thoughts on how to do that? I imagine lateraling is out of the question, even with a huge class cut, so I'm thinking about how I should begin laying the groundwork to pitch this to my current firm.

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You’re a midlevel going senior. You’re at the existential crisis point of your career. It’s okay. You don’t want to move - you think corporate will have some magic. It won’t.

Why do you want to do this anyway?

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I knew a guy who retooled from litigation to corporate as a 5th year, then ended up going in-house a couple years later in a role that really valued both his litigation and corporate experience. Honestly kinda stunning that he managed to pull it off lol. But the broader point is that there’s definitely a path out there for someone with this kind of background if staying in biglaw forever isn’t the goal.

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It took you 6 years to figure this out?

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Do you know anybody in corporate within or outside your firm? Reach out and start having informal conversations. My personal experience is that a lot of transactional attorneys will completely understand why someone wouldn’t want to be a litigator, so if you have a connection you can lean on, it’s not outside the realm of possibility. And you will be pretty much starting over so need to signal you understand that.

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You could try at your current firm, but it will likely put a target on your back that you're a flight risk and not committed to your practice long term. Realistically, your best bet to gain corporate experience is to try going in-house, either into a generalist role with a litigation and corporate component, or into a litigation-focused role in a mid-size legal department where you're more likely to be able to take on corporate responsibilities as you advance.

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Agree re trying to go in-house in a commercial role that values your litigation skills

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Unlikely outside of your own firm. There are not as many roles as associates are looking for, so even those with the right experience aren't getting jobs. Why do you want to retool?

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Gotta look for there your firm needs bodies.

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