Litigation vs Transactional Law

[KOMODO]

I'm not going to weigh in on the back-and-forth but just want to note that the poster above mentioned "drafting wills" as an example of transactional work several times. 

I think it's really important that people reading this thread, now or in the future, understand that the type of transactional work some of us are referring to in this thread is completely different than retail will drafting - in many cases, we spend days negotiating a single complex agreement for corporate clients, and our professional judgment and creativity in drafting is really important - we're not just inserting names and dates into a form. Perhaps the poster's limited understanding of this type of work explains their unsual and generally inaccurate comments above.

[Homosapiens]

21 minutes ago, KOMODO said:

I'm not going to weigh in on the back-and-forth but just want to note that the poster above mentioned "drafting wills" as an example of transactional work several times. 

I think it's really important that people reading this thread, now or in the future, understand that the type of transactional work some of us are referring to in this thread is completely different than retail will drafting - in many cases, we spend days negotiating a single complex agreement for corporate clients, and our professional judgment and creativity in drafting is really important - we're not just inserting names and dates into a form. Perhaps the poster's limited understanding of this type of work explains their unsual and generally inaccurate comments above.

Yeah, I was going to say that too. Estate planning would not be the first thing that come to mind when I hear people say they do mostly transaction work.

[TheCryptozoologist]

6 hours ago, CleanHands said:

Dude, it's really "lady doth protest too much" stuff to write multiple posts arguing that someone was insulting you and yet spending three paragraphs ranting about how you're too cool to care whether someone insults you. Cringe.

It was two, but okay. Literally only said I didn't care once. I've dealt with worse people in real life and growing up, this kind of shit seems incredibly petty and stupid to continue arguing about so I'll stop responding. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by TheCryptozoologist

[spacecadet]

OP may also want to consider the practice "setting" as your work environment can change how you perceive disputes versus transactional work. The experience of litigating and advising people and businesses at a small firm or in-house setting can be quite different than working in big law. 

For instance, I have friends who love the hustle of family and criminal law (usually small firms do this kind of work) when compared to the "cog in a fine-tuned machine" feeling you might get working on million-dollar commercial disputes at a large firm. Personally, I have never really enjoyed big-law transactional work, but I loved working on contracts and opinions for my startup clients in my private practice. The city you work in could be a factor too in this equation. 

Being able to experience multiple groups and settings can be vital to figuring out what kind of work you will enjoy. While I get that the same opportunities are not available to everyone, I thought this was worth pointing out because you are ultimately trying to figure out the kind of work you will like doing. 

My $0.2 is to not fixate on some end goal like working on landmark cases or making partner at some firm. Figure out what you enjoy and the kind of people (including both clients and peers) you want to spend 60-70% of your waking time with.

EDIT: Fixed typos

Edited September 23, 2021 by spacecadet