As a legal recruiter, I’m fortunate to spend time discussing attorneys’ careers, goals, achievements and at times, what they find challenging about their work. M&A is one of the best corporate practices for long-term growth and exposure. Here’s the lowdown:
M&A provides the greatest amount of exposure to different types of work. M&A lawyers are able to work on deals from the initial stages to completion. This provides an in-depth view of the inner workings of the deal. Transactional lawyers not only work on documents, but engage with clients on a regular basis. The day-to-day work varies depending on the stage of the transaction.
Further down the line, as you get closer to executing these transactions, you may start to get into the weeds with negotiations & the art of the deal. Many partners that I speak with consider themselves to be “deal junkies,” as they truly love the intricacies of having a successful acquisition. When choosing a practice area, consider M&A as the broadest practice where you will have the most options to pivot in your career. The skills are transferable & highly sought out in other practice areas.