The question every law student must answer
Two law firm co-workers who specialize in divergent areas of the law gave more than 40 USC Law students their guidance, in the form of a good-natured debate, on choosing a career in either litigation or transactional work. The event was sponsored by USC’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA).
Warren Loui, a partner at Mayer Brown and an adjunct professor of Secured Transactions at USC Law, argued that a career in transactional or corporate law is most rewarding, while Mayer Brown Associate Melanie Natasha Henry made the case for litigation.
Loui said his two main responsibilities as a corporate lawyer are counseling clients and making deals. Counseling refers to helping clients both avoid and solve problems, while the focus of transactions is to help companies raise capital.
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| Warren Loui, partner at Mayer Brown |
As far as transactions go, Loui said it is important for him to be detail-oriented in order to ensure that multi-billion-dollar contracts make sense and are error-free. He told the students of the satisfaction he gets from helping his clients reach win-win solutions.
Loui concluded with a list of the top seven reasons to choose his career path.
Reason number one: “Corporate lawyers build things, litigators tear them down,” Loui said.
Henry, meanwhile, explained that she was swayed toward litigation when she realized that the things she enjoyed most in law school were legal research, writing and speaking persuasively.
She outlined a number of different career options for students interested in litigation, including jobs in the public sector and government, in-house at companies, and at private law firms.
Henry stressed the value of a clerkship for those who want to go into litigation.
“It’s basics, courtroom procedures, dealing with judges, dealing with clerks, which are things I have to do all the time,” she said of the experience she gained as a federal law clerk in New York City. “In addition to the people skills, there is also tons of research and tons of writing.”
Henry said she preferred the lifestyle of a litigator because it typically involves more defined work hours and a steadier ebb and flow of work than one might find in corporate law.
Both speakers took some comical shots at each along the way.
“Are there certain personality types that are better suited for being transactional lawyers?” Henry asked Loui.
“Smart people,” Loui said, to the laughter of the audience.
Later in the presentation, Henry struck back.
“Far more litigators become corporate lawyers than vice-versa,” Loui said, encouraging students to start out on the “right side.”
“It’s because they couldn’t hack it,” Henry quickly retorted.
Loui and Henry did find common ground in one key area. Both of them stressed that law students should never forget their classmates.
“When you graduate from here, you will start being each other’s clients,” said Henry, who attended USC as an undergraduate. “You want to keep those resources, so that in a few years you’re the one bringing in business to the firm.”
Following their presentations, the speakers candidly answered a number of student questions, ranging in topic from the value of a dual degree to compensation concerns.
The Asian Pacific American Law Student Association is dedicated to promoting the interests of Asian Pacific American students at USC Law on campus and throughout the greater legal community.
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