M&A or Funds?
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Does anyone want to be my M&A coach? Will pay.
Who’s planning on leaving after getting their bonus?
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Funds will have more, predictable work in the coming years.
M&A is just more fun.
Funds 100%
M&A exits are better in the sense that you can go to lots of different types of companies, but there are still tons of opportunities to leave in funds. It’ll likely be at banks, funds, PE firms, etc. but I’ve seen people leave to do general corporate.
Also, I’m in funds at Sidley. We’re busy but it’s not a sweatshop, and I love it here (as much as I can love a big law position).
I did m&a and worked with funds people (did a large amount of funds m&a if you can believe it). Early in my career I would have told you funds. Wayyyy better lifestyle, great exit opps to funds making bank (the associates did not take a pay cut going in house, they have a specific expertise and funds of course pay top dollar). Generally they left at 5pm and had occasional weekend work. That was not the case in m&a where I had late nights and weekend work all the time. I ended up doing m&a at a law firm for a long time. As a result, when I left the law firm, I had a million exit options and I am well positioned skill wise to lead a private or public company’s m&a department or entire legal department if I wanted. The downside is that the lifestyle was really rough at the law firm. I gave up a lot of my personal life. As far as I can see, the gc of my company also works a ton. However, I can also slot in to a way less intensive position at a company and go into the business side too. You can do that in funds as well btw, but not as common. The handful of funds lawyers I have seen make the switch to business side make a lot of money (like more than big law partner). I’m guessing though that funds lawyers mostly stay funds lawyers but I haven’t followed any funds lawyers careers long enough. Another thing to think about is that funds involves a lot of rules and regulations. You’re not going to be deep diving into rules and regulations in m&a, you have the regulatory lawyers do that. Also m&a requires you learn to negotiate, manage large teams of people/project manage on tight timelines and issue spot legal problems in a variety of areas that companies care about, which will serve you well. All in all, I’m now happy I did m&a because of the transferable skill set. It was fantastic training.
Author: the ones I know were a result of connections. The business people liked the funds lawyers when they worked at the firm and pulled them in and the (former) funds lawyers did real well on the business side.
M&A. Don’t be a loser!
We are all losers you know :)
Hours are better for funds, more predictable. Also more women and LGBTQIA+ representation. A little more prestigious bc not a lot of firms are able to do that work.
M&A is more interesting imho but lifestyle sucks. Also very white and very male dominated.
I chose funds. I vacillate between being happy with my decision and regretting it on a regular basis. Key tipping point is your firm and coworkers. I didn’t like the M&A people in my office. Seemed like nerds trying to reinvent themselves and then forcing me to validate how cool they are. I played sports growing up and was in a frat in college but these M&A folks seemed like the people who were always on the outside and had a point to prove. Funds people were exceptionally nice. A little too introverted at times but that was my calculus.
Haha in the same shoes, I’ve done a bit of M&A before and honestly it’s more interesting than funds work, but in this economy I don’t regret picking funds just because of the lateral market as well
Having done both, I'll say that M&A is definitely more exciting but more punishing on your lifestyle. You also get different types of exits - M&A is broader and Funds is more niche (although getting more mainstream).
Consider that you can also do deals as a funds lawyer. 90% of my practice is investor representation and funds-related transactions (secondaries, co-invests, etc.). Funds requires some specialization early on, which I think leads to juniors not being viewed as bodies in quite the same way you see in general corp.
It was the right choice for me. I think it would also be the safer play in the short term. My only regret is that the exit options are relatively limited, especially if you’re looking for better WLB.
M&A. I have no justification, except personal experience. 😅
Funds 1,000 %
As an m&a associate, do funds.
Hater.
Funds is more stable, better long term, better QOL. And honestly has become more interesting over the years and it’s still in its infancy (realizing there’s a lot of judgment calls and risk based decisions). The practice has change a lot over the past 5 years and it’s now much more demanding though.
Faster pace, more integrated with other practices, higher specialization, longer and more complex documents and negotiations (eg 10 years ago side letters were 3 pages long), higher scrutiny from regulators, tech disruption etc. other please feel free to chime in
Spent 8 years as a M&A associate and almost 4 years in house in a funds role. If I got a do over I would start in funds (I think gender matters in this analysis-I’m a woman).
OP what are your long term goals?
I’ve seen fund lawyers go straight into commercial legal roles and do really well. If you’re a quick learner, you just need someone to give you a chance and be able to articulate how your current skills translate. Commercial negotiations aren’t rocket science. A lot of it is learning the terms that are important to your client, attention to detail, negotiation and interpersonal skills. If you can talk about higher level issues that arise in commercial contracts some companies will give you a shot (do some reading on your own on Practical Law or talk to friends that are M&A and do diligence on commercial contracts or talk to friends that are commercial lawyers). It may just take a little longer for you to find a commercial role. Also, for what it’s worth, I was M&A, always thought I wanted to go to business side and I’d never do it in a million years now after seeing what they do. I think I could have switched to business development at one point in my career but the culture, their travel schedules and day-to-day were much less appealing to me personally.
Just following - interested in both.
Funds is far better for WLB. M&A is horrible and clients are as demanding as ever.
The funds work I’ve done has not made me throw up from stress, and the people are phenomenal. Can’t say the same for my M&A experience 🫠