I'm a third year litigator at a V50 thinking of making the jump to transactional work (M&A, Securities, PE). Anyone done this before? What was the switch like? Are you happy with the change?

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I switched as a junior from litigation to transactional (commercial real estate finance). Best decision I’ve made. I sound like a broken record on here as I’ve posted about it a few times. Once you recognize that your skills as a lawyer can be utilized in the business world, your perspectives change. Litigation sucked the life out of me…especially when I considered that I might be doing it forever.

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Thanks, this is helpful!

What are the best strategies for switching from litigation to transactional? Nearly all of my experience is in admin. appeals and litigation (in a wide spectrum of civil practice areas). Besides settlement agreements, I’ve negotiated the occasional P and A sale agreement, but nothing too complex.

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Why are you thinking of switching?

Yeah I was a 4th year and got bumped down to a 2nd year (but moved up to 3rd year at the end of the calendar year 6 months after joining). The firm then gave me a year back about 18 months into the new job, so I ended up only one year down. It was 1000% worth it for me.

Just switched from litigation to transactional (albeit a weird specialty) and am so happy about it. The odd times I get staffed on litigation related assignments I get so upset. I stated the exact reasons you did for switching and it all holds up. Love the fast paced nature of transactional and clients are friendlier

Do those who have switched feel that their experience in litigation is helpful in any way? I think the prevailing (and somewhat cynical) view that the experience isn’t at all applicable, but I would think there is value in someone with broad perspective and experience.

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