This practice focuses primarily on litigation, although there can be some counseling involved as well. The litigation tends to be very high stakes for the companies and can be civil or criminal in nature. These attorneys help companies navigate restraint of trade issues, including those created by organic growth or acquisition. Many antitrust attorneys come from the Department of Justice or spend at least part of their careers working for state or federal government. These cases are often litigated against the federal government. This is a complicated area of law that is good for people who like sophisticated issues, who want to learn about industry segments and who like economics, market analysis and intellectual property. Antitrust suffers from the same challenges as any general litigation practice, with the addition that since you are litigating against the government, success rates can tend to be rather low.

This practice is very prestigious and hard to break into. The day-to-day work involves only legal research and writing. There is no fact development work such as discovery, depositions, etc. It is not as adversarial or time-sensitive as trial litigation; it’s great for introverts who want a predictable schedule. Pure appellate practice is focused in Washington, D.C. There is some pure appellate in New York and Los Angeles, but not that much. Appellate work in other cities tends to mix with trial practice. These cases can be morally difficult. The defendants appeal because they were hit with large damages because they did something very bad. Damage reduction cases can involve difficult arguments regarding how valuable a person’s life was. Aside from damage reduction cases, questions can be arcane: such as how the 7th Amendment would have been interpreted in 1791 on a subject it doesn’t directly address. This is definitely work for big brains. Discrete projects tend to be shorter than general litigation. Students interested in this should try to write for a law review and obtain a federal appellate clerkship, if possible.

 General Litigation

These attorneys are the consummate generalists. They’re always learning something new and never expected to be an expert at anything. This is the quintessential adversarial practice. The interactions between the parties can be rancorous and attorneys rarely concede a material point. This means you can spend a lot of time drafting arguments that you suspect are a waste of time. The reward is victory, you must get satisfaction from winning. People who like this practice like the intellectual diversity and the fact that the attorneys run the show, not the client. It’s also easier to bill hours as a litigator than it is in many practice areas (depositions, hearings, strategy meetings can involve hours of sitting around, all of which is billed). 

Product Liability / Toxic Tort

Product liability practice is litigation involving the production, manufacturing, marketing and use of a business product or service. It may involve anything from traditional product liability theories such as design defect or strict liability to antitrust and consumer class action claims. Toxic tort practice typically involves harmful agents such as asbestos, etc. People who like this practice enjoy the fact that there are lots of depositions and that that they are allowed to assume every role from scientist to corporate counsel. Also, these attorneys feel that they are essential to a company’s business. The lifeblood of many businesses is the revenue from goods sold, and product liability lawyers are seeking to protect that revenue flow. 

These attorneys represent individuals and corporations in securities class actions, stock-drop cases, and derivative actions. They perform internal investigations on behalf of corporate audit committees (whistleblower investigations), represent audit committees, individuals and companies in SEC investigations, advise corporations regarding director and officer liability insurance, and advise law-firm corporate departments regarding disclosure questions. The day-to-day work involves most usual litigation tasks with a focus on pre-trial activity. Associates spend a lot of time drafting, counseling and interviewing clients and on factual development (these cases can have intense discovery demands). Partners spend a lot of time on the telephone advising clients in addition to drafting. The hours can be fairly long and the cases can be rather complicated. Attorneys who like this practice enjoy helping accused individuals: this is closest you can get to doing criminal defense work without worrying that your client will go to jail. Client relationships with the individuals and company management tend to be very close. These attorneys also enjoy working in a variety of industries and learning about various companies’ businesses. People who don’t like this practice are frustrated because these cases rarely go to trial.

This is narrow practice area and is very different from other litigation practices, which tend to be civil in nature, if not in tone. Criminal rules differ from civil rules. The community of white collar practitioners is usually relatively small. They all know each other and, for the most part, behave with a higher degree of civility than general litigators. Day-to-day is similar to civil litigation with research, drafting, factual development and argument, but with more significant client contact. This can be a tough practice area for associates because there is not much leverage: clients whose lives are on the line want to work with partners. The usual path is to come from government practice, so the practice contains many senior attorneys. Client relationships tend to be very close. As in civil litigation, the attorneys run the show rather than the client. Attorneys in this practice have to like battling the government. They see themselves as “The Fixer,” called in at the last minute to clean up a bad situation. They are crisis management. These attorneys have to accept that they defend guilty individuals and companies. Clients require 24-hour access to you because of the stakes. This is a high stress practice.

 Bankruptcy

 This practice combines the representing and counseling of clients who are considering or going through bankruptcy, or the representation of creditors of such companies. The basic premise is that there is a limited pool of assets and all the creditors are fighting to get the greatest amount possible. This practice is a hybrid litigation/counseling/contract practice. The day-to-day work typically includes standard litigation tasks including drafting agreements such as loans documents, licenses, etc. The trials, though, are not jury trials, and there is only a limited right to appeal. There is a lot of negotiation involved in this practice. Bankruptcy is governed by a special set of rules and can take a while for new attorneys to master. This practice is great for people who like gamesmanship, who like deals and who enjoy negotiation. Also, the lawyers tend to drive the terms and take much more of a business role than most litigation attorneys.