Has anyone made the leap from state practice to federal practice? I’m looking at switching from Insurance Defense to Bankruptcy. Just looking for advice/experience/insight.

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Federal judges actually read what parties submit and follow laws. And they move the files really really fast.

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Don’t show up to federal court with an incomplete knowledge of the file. Judges aren’t going to continue the case because you couldn’t get client signatures or you’re too busy to take care of that case’s file. It’s all a lot more demanding with it comes to procedure, local rules being followed, and compliance with deadlines.

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If you’re on the plaintiff’s side of a case —especially a complicated jury case — state court is a wonderland. Straight path to a jury, no meaningful management of discovery, and an old time shootout at trial. I’m a biglaw commercial trial lawyer so am not talking about list and falls. Don’t overlook the advantages.

Litigation is litigation is litigation. You’ll be fine.

Bankruptcy is a whole new set of rules to learn though. I would at least point that out.

Bankruptcy is a primarily transactional/regulatory practice with a radically different set of rules and legal concepts. And there’s a HUGE difference between retail/consumer bankruptcy work, which is a high volume practice involving primarily negotiating repayment plans, and commercial BK work, which involves either chasing money on behalf of creditors or negotiating reorganization plans for businesses. At the more sophisticated end of the commercial BK spectrum the work is mostly done by Biglaw firms. At the simpler end of the consumer BK world it’s small firms and solos. So, “bankruptcy” (a) isn’t primarily a litigation practice and (b) is a VERY broad category. You need to learn more about the practice and figure out what’s accessible to you given your resume and whether that actually interests you.

If what you really want is to do federal court litigation, that’s an entirely different thing. Few of any BK lawyers do it. And while the rules are mostly the same as in state court, litigating and trying civil cases in federal court is very different than state court work. If that’s what you want to do become active in your local federal bar association, find the small subset of people who primarily do federal civil trials (mostly employment layers and a very small subset who do complex commercial cases), show an interest, present yourself well, and try to learn about lateral openings you can apply for.

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