Deciding Your Career Path in Law School: Corporate Law or Litigation?

Рет қаралды 36,874

Күн бұрын

When most people think of lawyers, they have visions of courtrooms and legal battles the likes of which they've seen in Law & Order. But, the world of law is vast.
Law school doesn't adequately prepare you for the many avenues you can take in your career as a lawyer. So, allow me to help you.
If you went to law school because you know you wanted to argue and fight out court cases and you've always known that about yourself, then it sounds like litigation is your future. And, you'll likely be happy as a litigator.
On the other hand, if you're unsure of where to go, you know you don't want to spend your work like battling things out in a courtroom, or perhaps you have interests and aspirations outside of law, then I suggest looking at becoming a corporate lawyer.
Be sure to leave me your comments, questions, or video suggestions!
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Have questions? Book a call, and talk to Brett today:
clarity.fm/brettcenkus
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You can reach Brett through:
clarity.fm/brettcenkus
/ brettcenkus
/ bcenkus
www.cenkuslaw.com
braatenwoods.com
merger-resources.com
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Brett A. Cenkus has 20+ years of experience in business law, finance, and entrepreneurship. Through Cenkus Law, PC, he provides advice and services for mergers & acquisitions (M&A), securities offerings, founders’ agreements, and other general business law issues.
Through Braaten Woods, LLC, Brett helps business owners in the lower middle market ($2MM - $25MM) position themselves for sale, find buyers, negotiate, and close M&A deals.
Brett also maintains merger-resources.com, a site packed with free articles, videos, checklists, deal diagrams, template contracts, and other tools to help pass M&A knowledge to others.
Brett regularly consults with entrepreneurs and invests his own capital as an angel investor.
From 2010-2013, Brett served as Chief Legal Counsel of a publicly-traded international oilfield services company. From 2001 to 2006, he and a partner founded and built Paragon Residential Mortgage. Bridge Investments acquired Paragon in 2006.
Brett holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania.
Brett lives in Austin with his wife, Cathryn, and two children. He enjoys reading, squash, classic movies, great food and wine, and the New England Patriots.
#corporatelaw #mergersandaquisitions #businesslaw #corporatelawyer

Пікірлер: 94

@rexinreno 4 жыл бұрын

I'm a new subscriber that found you page from Angela Vorpahl's channel. I'm a 2L in a 4 year evening program and found this extremely helpful. I was already leaning towards the corporate track, but your perspective about choosing litigation vs. sliding into transnational work really clarified what I think I already knew deep down. Thanks for the great content!

@RenaeFlowers 4 жыл бұрын

This was very helpful. Growing up I liked to argue, but as I've gotten older the idea of doing that as the in and out of a career sounds exhausting. Hearing this path is an option, sounds much more my style and something I could love doing. Thank you for your insight!

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

You're welcome, Naomi.

@kt1980 5 жыл бұрын

Great informative video! Love hearing you talk man, keep these videos coming.

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

thank you, Kevin!

@pareenmaru4296 5 жыл бұрын

Just came across your channel when I typed in Skadden on KZfaq to get some application advice as a recent law graduate in London. Your videos are amazing! Can't wait to catch up on all of them. I have one question- keeping in mind the transactional nature of work of both a corporate lawyer and an investment banker/other financial roles- how to decide corporate lawyer v investment banker?

@marquelelzy824 4 жыл бұрын

Aye, you a real one!!! 💯

@serga7486 Жыл бұрын

holy frick this was inspiring, especially about the actual ins and outs of business. thanks!

@BrettCenkus Жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

@nicky5684 4 жыл бұрын

This so, so, so helpful! Thank you!

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

you're welcome, Nicky!

@bolddiamond 5 жыл бұрын

Wonderful, wonderful video! Thank you for sharing!

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

you're welcome!

@Tina-mc2wx 3 жыл бұрын

I am currently a 1L and I came in to law school thinking I'd want to do transactional law and your videos have confirmed that! Thank you for these informative videos.

@BrettCenkus 3 жыл бұрын

You're welcome, Tina. Thank you for the positive feedback!

@iStorm-my5fp Ай бұрын

Great video. I dont know why theres so much ambiguity in law

@mullerkapunski43 4 жыл бұрын

Loved man

@hazel1267 Жыл бұрын

Hi Brett, thanks for all your videos! I'm your new follower here and planning to enter law school next year. May I know the major differences between doing corporate law and business law? Kinda interested in these two pathways :)

@ashleyamina 3 жыл бұрын

Love this video. Im working on apps. I definitely don’t want to be a litigator.

@BrettCenkus 3 жыл бұрын

Deciding what you want to do often begins like that--with a process of eliminating what you do not want to do! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you.

@dmo8843 2 жыл бұрын

Isint that a small world. I lived on William cannon a few blocks from your office and now I’m living in Colorado figuring if I should be a transactional lawyer. Ha. Thanks for the info!

@asabahqueenten8531 Жыл бұрын

Your thought is very helpfull🙏

@asiawang7427 4 жыл бұрын

Hi Brett! I really enjoyed your video and your insights on litigation vs. transaction. I'm currently a first-year CPA doing public accounting, and always wanted to make the transition to business litigation. However I've been told by many people that given my background I would thrive more doing corporate law. I'm wondering what's your take on that? I enjoy doing more investigative work, and eventually want to be in court, doing cross-examination and deposition. Given my limited knowledge of what a lawyer does, are those good enough reason for wanting to be a lawyer? Or do you think I would fit in more doing due diligence?

@jeffrudloff1153 4 жыл бұрын

I've been a firefighter/paramedic for 25 years and am seriously considering a career in corporate law. I do have a master's degree in business and finance. Honest opinions on starting this track at this age (49).....and go

@jackkirakos675 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Brett. Thank you for the video. I appreciate the insight into the different careers. Do you believe a joint JD/MBA four-year degree would be reasonably advantageous for an associate corporate lawyer? It would be awesome if you could make a video talking about your perspective on this topic.

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

Jack, I will do this soon.

@estheresamuelestheresamuel7039 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Brett, I'm Samuel, I have some doubts, could you help me please, I enjoyed a lot your video, congratulations for the great content. can the litigators have companies as clients? Can the corporate lawyers, working on a firm, have many companies as clients or they have to be exclusive of a specific enterprise? these ones can do deals with the other part and if necessary, they can go to court or have to delegate it? Thank you so much in advance

@noahlansana3263 5 жыл бұрын

I consider your video so educative and inspiring.Prior,I was pondering to select the right area of choice-Corporate or Litigation;now I had known my choice.Thanks for the insight Mr.Cenkus.

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

you're welcome, Noah. I am glad I was able to help you!

@egirI 4 жыл бұрын

Great video!!

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

thank you!

@noahhumphreys6116 2 жыл бұрын

Very helpful thank you !!

@BrettCenkus 2 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@MegaTravianer 4 жыл бұрын

This is great content!

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

thank you for the kind words!

@compassiondetourinternatio8545 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your suggestions I’ve always wanted to be a litigation lawyer but I want to open my own law firm do you have any suggestion for me

@IUEC38 3 жыл бұрын

Which kind of openings are more secure and which path tends to be more secure, as a lawyer?

@JacqueLewis 5 жыл бұрын

Great video. Hope to see more soon. #soakingitin

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

thank you for the feedback, Jacque. I'll keep the videos coming.

@yalelaw 3 жыл бұрын

when you watch so much brett that you notice how many times he talks about how he's "dated" himself

@BrettCenkus 3 жыл бұрын

when someone watches your videos enough to point out your bad habits. I appreciate this comment!!

@MinaMulan 4 жыл бұрын

Great Vid!

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

@GG17250 5 жыл бұрын

Great video

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

thank you!

@RevelationMinistries114 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the video, I needed it very much. Is it possible if you can discuss sports and entertainment law and what it is that they really do please? Thank you.

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

Edward, some areas of the law are defined by the industry in which it operates rather than the type of legal work the lawyers perform. Sports and entertainment is one of those areas. Others are oil and gas and hedge funds. The actual type of work that sports and entertainment lawyers perform falls into other categories you may be familiar with, including corporate (transactional), litigation, and intellectual property. That work is the same work lawyers do for clients in any other industry. I think the reason it gets its own category is because sports and entertainment is a high-profile industry. It's viewed as exciting and important. Transactions (deals) have a heavy licensing component (licensing of intellectual property), which makes it a bit more objectively unique. There is some regulation that sets it apart, although not nearly as much as hedge funds, for example. Also, it has its own jargon, although most industries have a unique vocabulary and that does not alone justify thinking of lawyers who have clients in that industry as a special type of lawyer. Ultimately, the vast majority of sports and entertainment lawyers are doing what lawyers in other fields do--the corporate (transactional) lawyers draft and negotiate contracts, form and merge companies, etc. Litigators go to court and fight over deals/contracts in dispute. IP lawyers handle registering intellectual property, licensing it, etc. We've handled sports and entertainment projects. I would never refer to myself as a sports and entertainment lawyer, although there is no reason we can't plenty of projects that are generally directed to sports and entertainment "specialists." One last point, sports and entertainment law is widely considered one of the tougher areas to get into because there aren't a lot of available positions (i.e., it is high profile, although it isn't a large industry by most traditional metrics).

@RevelationMinistries114 5 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCenkus Thank you for that break down. I also want to know, what do you do and what the day to day operations might be for you as a lawyer?

@illovehockey 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

you're welcome, Ivan.

@mebcalif 4 жыл бұрын

I have to say this was the most helpful video for me on KZfaq re lit vs trx law. I'm a litigator that loves the practice of persuasive writing, but the actual adversarial nature of the work has been miserable for me. So I've been looking into transitioning to transactional work, which also gives me more room for creativity though probably not as much writing. How would you recommend the transition?

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

Are you at a firm with a decent-sized corporate department? Moving within your firm would be the simplest approach, even if that means shifting slowly over a year or so by picking up a small project or two at first. It is never tough to find a transactional team that's busy (often on a project that's consuming a lot of resources) and could use a little help and you're already in the firm, so giving you a little "side" work wouldn't be tough. You may need to clear that with the partner(s) you work for currently (for political reasons), although I think they'd understand an explanation that's partly based on wanting to broaden your knowledge a bit and partly on considering a possible move one day (if, without being deceptive (based on how committed vs. not certain you are about the transition), you can present this as more of a broadening your knowledge exercise, I think it may be simpler to sell to whoever you're working for currently).

@mebcalif 4 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCenkus I'm no longer with my firm (got laid off!) But even still, they were a boutique firm and had a niche area in energy regulation. But I do expect that wherever I end up, one stipulation I'll have is the opportunity to work on transactional work. Now I just need to find a place that would benefit from my experience but also give me new ones! Thanks for your reply!

@nathaliedennis4540 2 жыл бұрын

I am a paralegal and I am trying to decide what law firm to start out at. I have an offer from a corporate firm and a litigation firm. What is the best place for a paralegal?

@AngelaVorpahl 5 жыл бұрын

Hi, Brett! I'm a new sub and have really enjoyed watching your videos! I also do law-related KZfaq videos on law school, law firms, and being a lawyer in general and would love to collaborate on a video sometime! I'll actually be in Austin later this year, so let me know! Angela

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

Angela, I'd love to talk more with you about that! I'll reach out to you on LinkedIn.

@talavrhami1685 4 жыл бұрын

Wow, so this comment is where your collabs started 😯😯😯 Brett, I found your channel through Angela's (which I love).....helpful stuff, thanks to you both!

@yalelaw 3 жыл бұрын

i got recommended both of your videos so the collab is working out

@AngelaVorpahl 3 жыл бұрын

@@yalelaw So cool!! Happy to hear it! :)

@AngelaVorpahl 3 жыл бұрын

@@talavrhami1685 That's so cool! I'm glad that our videos are helping provide some additional insight into the lawyering world! :)

@mercisamazing7586 2 жыл бұрын

I think I fall underboth sides because I'm intrested and have both qualities, any advise

@lionlikemessenger Ай бұрын

Does Baylor prepare excellent litigators in your view?

@graceocran8436 4 жыл бұрын

Hey Brett! I am new law student. Just a quick question if I may? For students who do want to do more transactional business law, what type of internships should they be looking for. I am beginning to apply now and I must admit I feel lost. Any insight would be lovely.

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

Grace, most law students work for a law firm during their summers during law school. And most law firms have corporate (transactional) departments. There are firms that are transactional boutiques (i.e., they only do corporate transactional work). I don't have a strong pull for and against those. I was a summer associate at one years ago and I loved it, although that was because I liked the people and the work and that really has nothing to do with boutique vs. full-service law firm (the transactional work would be the same/similar). If I missed the boat on this question (if you're referring to internships other than with law firms), let me know!

@RevelationMinistries114 4 жыл бұрын

Hey! I know it has been a while and hopefully you get this message. Now since i'm really immersed in law. I fully understand what you are saying. However, my question is that if I go into corporate law can I still be considered doing entertainment and sports law? Also I am gearing up to take the LSAT, and I know you may not be an expert in this area, but what is your advice for someone like me that is trying to study for it. Thanks in advance.

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

Edward, it's been a while since I took the test, although my #1 tip back then is likely still relevant -- get previous LSAT exams and use those to test yourself. Crazy as it may seem, Kaplan and the other major test company back then (maybe Princeton Review, although they may have come into the market later) had practice exams and they weren't great. Their questions were often flawed. The actual LSAT questions were well-crafted, took a lot of hard work, I'm sure. Not that the study companies' questions were garbage, although they weren't on the same level. And, it may sound trite, although don't prep the day before. Relax, get a great night's sleep, arrive early. It is a speed test as much as anything else and that favors those who are firing on all cylinders that day. I went to law school with a guy who was testing in the low 150s over and over while practicing and he came in at 168 on game day! As I recall, that took him from the middle of the pack to the 95th percentile. One more practice test won't give you that kind of movement. I'm a big fan of the "just a little more" approach, although, at some point, it's time to relax and go with it.

@M_jay6056 2 жыл бұрын

Can you take pupilages while you want to be corporate lawyer?

@joshlucarelli8540 5 жыл бұрын

I’m currently working on my bachelor in Economics at a fairly competitive school and I’m very confident that I would enjoy the work of corporate law. My question is if you can’t get into a top tier law school are your chances of succeeding very slim? I see you went too Harvard law so I would like your opinion. Also, have you met other corporate lawyers within your career from lower tier law schools that are succeeding and enjoying what they do? I’ve watched a few of your videos and very much enjoy everything you have too say. Keep it up!

@jestnutz 5 жыл бұрын

I have another side of law that you maybe interested in, it's called blacks law. Also trust laws, glossa, latin: the language of law. Search up why our names are capitalized on government documents and you will find more languages of law

@rock882josh7 4 жыл бұрын

Good question..he does not mention the fact that corporate law jobs are relatively few so it is very difficult to get into a law firm doing corporate transactions

@rarasirius3795 3 жыл бұрын

Hi! Is it possible to be both a litigation and transactional lawyer? How often does this happen?

@BrettCenkus 3 жыл бұрын

Yes. In fact, I do both, although I am primarily a transactional lawyer. Maybe 15% of my work is litigation. It is rare in "Big Law" (where I came from, not where I am today). It is a little more common in smaller firms and in small markets, although still not very common. Bankruptcy is an exception as it is an area of the law that is a unique hybrid between transactional work and litigation. Putting the bankruptcy exception aside, I'd guess that fewer than 10% of lawyers actively do both types of practice (vs. a larger percentage that switches from one area to the other, which is not uncommon among younger lawyers who are figuring out what they want to do).

@YakirElbaz 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your videos. I have a specific question, I know that I want to be in litigation, my question is where? I have offers from a small firm that considered really good, and also I a big law firm. The thing is that the small law firm told me only the name partner is litigatiing, and not the rest. So what is better learning from one of the best lawyer in the field - by watching, or learning in a big law firm and have a chance sonner to appear in court. Will love to hear your comment on the issue.

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

Yakir, the primary generally perceived benefit of a small firm, is that you'll get substantive experience more quickly. You'd expect to be making appearances in court much sooner in a small firm than a big one. If that isn't the case here, i.e., the primary reason to go to a small firm does not apply to this small firm, I don't see a whole lot of benefit from going there. Even if the name partner is an absolute superstar, if he isn't letting anyone else at his firm make appearances, it doesn't sound like he's helping to shape and grow young lawyers. It seems like you may be left to trying to learn through osmosis, which is a lot of how lawyers learn everywhere. However, at the big firm, you'll have (I'm assuming) a more recognizable name on your resume, likely better experience (sometimes big firms take smaller cases/deals ("small" being relative to the firm, they may be significant cases/deals for small firms) and pass them down to junior lawyers to mainly handle (this happens more in transactional work, although it occurs in all types of practice), the possibility of finding a great mentor among the many other lawyers ... You can learn from great lawyers by watching videos. I wouldn't go to the small firm merely for the privilege of doing it in-person. Without real training/mentoring, I don't think that would be worth the tradeoff.

@YakirElbaz 4 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCenkus Thank you so much for your detailed answer, I will go then with the big firm and you help me validate what I was thinking. Again thank you for sharing your experience with me. Keep making good videos, and if you ever in Israel let me know!

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

@@YakirElbaz Best success!

@Jejdjejbfjf 5 жыл бұрын

Actually, I intern for a criminal law firm, and the litigators there do not necessarily fight for the interests of clients to the point of sacrificing the "right" outcome for all parties. They do have their own principles and would advise clients to plead guilty, then mitigate their best for them if required. It's quite common for litigators to discharge themselves when they feel that they have to go against their own values to fight for clients' interests.

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

Des, I don't believe you have the luxury, as a litigator, to consider the "right" outcome for the other side. We may be saying the same or very similar things, altough I will explain further to help determine that ... most litigation settles before going to trial and, to reach a settlement, it's necessary to consider the interests of the other side and how to get a deal done. In a way, that has any litigator thinking about acceptable outcomes to both sides. However, that's different to me than when I represent a party in a dispute that did something wrong or whom I determine is being less reasonable/fair than the opposing party. I need to represent my client impartially and in their best interests, which are, in most situations, directly opposed to the other side. Now, that doesn't mean I'm willing to act unethically. I will not do that. And, there are times where I choose to not represent someone because I don't align with them philosophically or how they operate in the world, but that decision needs to be made upfront. Once we are in an attorney-client relationship, if it's a dispute or litigation, my focus is purely on the best outcome for my client. With transactional work (M&A), it's a little different because a lot of transactional work is relationship-based, so it feels a little easier to navigate those waters and find mutually agreeable outcomes. At the core, business deals are meant to be win-win transactions (there is still a large component of drafting agreements that is more in the zero-sum vein but overall, the deal is meant to work well for all parties) and our adversarial litigation system is not built to deliver win-win outcomes. And, while we don't do any criminal defense work, I don't know how an attorney can do that work and aim to get the "right" outcome if the word "right" is meant to be the best outcome for society as a whole. If the case is stacked against your client, suggesting they plead guilty for strategic reasons is one thing but you couldn't suggest they plead guilty solely because you think they are guilty and that's the right thing to do.

@Jejdjejbfjf 5 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCenkus perhaps it's because we live in different countries, and even within each country, every lawyer is different; we ought not to generalize. In my country, there is no jury, only a judge, so the reputation of the criminal lawyer as a person of integrity is of utmost importance. He is not only representing the client, but is also an officer of the court. I will gladly elaborate on this below. The lawyers I intern for quite obviously consider a variety of reasons before asking clients to plead guilty, and their own principles definitely hold weight in persuading clients to do so. Of course, it is not rational to use it as the "sole" reason and I have not mentioned so. In the event that clients do not align with their approach, they are quite willing to discharge themselves. Once a criminal lawyer becomes known as someone lacking in integrity, who "lies" to defend someone obviously guilty, future court decisions are more likely to go against him because he has lost the trust of the judge. As we don't use the jury system, judges are familiar with criminal defence lawyers and their track records. So yes, from both strategic and moral standpoints, it is beneficial for a criminal lawyer to work toward a just outcome for both sides. As for the "right outcome", it can be quite subjective. The prosecution usually proposes for harsher punishments in court since they have decided to take it to trial, while criminal lawyers plead for leniency. However, since trustworthiness and integrity are important to both sides, the end result does not tend to veer too far off what is "fair" from the perspective of either side. Sure, there are criminal lawyers who are probably unscrupulous in doing anything to get their clients off the hook; they either don't have a conscience or try really hard to silence that voice, but it damages them in the long run personally and professionally.

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

agreed regarding not generalizing, or at least let's acknowledge that there are all sorts of different approaches, even within our countries, and every attorney practices differently. Lawyers in the U.S. are also officers of the court, although I get the sense (from what you're saying now and what I've seen over the years here) that our system is a bit different from yours in terms of how that fact is manifested.

@basenjii 4 жыл бұрын

@@BrettCenkusThe thing is as a criminal defense lawyer you have to internalise basic principles as "innocent until proven quilty" and "everyone has the right to legal representation". If you internalise and believe in these principles, it is not difficult to defend almost anyone, since that is the right thing to do.

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

@@basenjii agreed with most of your points, other than I think lots of people would still find it hard to defend people accused of certain types of crimes. I don't think that's a right or wrong thing. I certainly agree that everyone deserves a defense. But I don't think that most people, even most criminal lawyers, defend absolutely anyone. IDK, maybe they do. I know plenty who draw their lines in certain places, and that's the prerogative. I don't do any criminal work. I'll do some civil litigation. When I do, I am very selective about it. I'll rarely take on defense work. I'm only interested in handing cases where I'm darn convinced that we have the "right" side. I'm not naive, I may get that wrong. And, "right" is itself a subjective call. Still, I have the luxury of making those calls and only taking on litigation where I feel like I'm pursuing a "just fight." I don't think there's anything wrong with that approach. What do you think?

@PaigeSpiekz Жыл бұрын

Hi Bret would I need to sit and pass the bar to be a coeporate lawyer?

@BrettCenkus Жыл бұрын

Yes

@TahjDaniels 5 жыл бұрын

Which lawyer deals with acquisitions?

@BrettCenkus 5 жыл бұрын

corporate (sometimes called transactional) lawyers represent buyers and sellers of businesses (mergers and acquisitions)

@Ekaterina_Kolesnikova 2 жыл бұрын

Are you professor?)

@zachjones6944 2 жыл бұрын

Corporate law would bore me to tears.

@basenjii 4 жыл бұрын

It probably isn't your intention but this video comes off quite biased. You kind of dismiss litigation as just arguing for "special" persons, whatever that means. Surely one should enjoy creating good argumentation as a litigation lawyer but the true motivation lies in helping your clients. It is surprisingly easy to get behind your client in most cases since most cases are gray, not black and white

@BrettCenkus 4 жыл бұрын

I appreciate your feedback. You are correct, I didn't intend any bias and, candidly, I listened to the video again tonight and don't see a whole lot. Perhaps that's the bias itself! Seriously, I think it's clear that I don't like litigation as much as transactional work (although we do a little litigation, just needs to be what we think is the "right" case), although I don't think less of litigators. Again, thank you for you joining the conversation!