Yeah, I know. But what you've gotta understand is that attorneys who do litigation commonly look down on attorneys who don't as being busch-league or pretenders.
If they do, they're short-sightedly risking biting the hand that feeds. A yuuuuuge portion of litigators in firms are living on what happens when deals their partners put together go bad. Depends on the place, ofc. Some firms are primarily litigation but will have corporate types (maybe generators, maybe service) largely there to try to spin the lit relationship to a more rounded one.
I'd also say that that is just an intellectually stupid perspective to have, and I have to believe that most grow out of it. Being a litigator isn't the
ne plus ultra of lawyerin' for everyone. And litigators - even good ones - have no idea how to set up a regulated investment fund, lead a syndication, structure a multi-continent leveraged acquisition, negotiate a deal with regulators to whittle down a 9-figure fine to 8, or even negotiate angel or venture investments on behalf of any key party.
And as for the last one, although negotiating for board seats and redemption rights, etc., is not especially complex, the hint of a litigator's involvement or style can kill deals...even though obviously every lawyer involved is trying to plan for the worst.
The difference btw corp and lit lawyers vis-à-vis clients often is that before it all goes to hell, the client is ready to bet the farm or give it away (or the reverse, is obstinate about stupid shit), certain of their own acumen and their relationships with their new best friend or tasty company that will definitely be the next Amazon. Once it goes south, business people are often in unknown or uncomfortable waters and out money already, and so can be more deferential to their lawyers' advice.
If you ask the guy corporate counsel hands it off to in an off the record conversation there's like a 9/10 chance he's going to say his contact counsel isn't a real lawyer because he doesn't do any litigation.
Lame if true. I don't think many corporate lawyers spend any time thinking litigators are idiots just because they haven't secured outrageously preferential rights or subtlely ground down the other side on covenant default triggers without the immediate weight of court costs and money burn in their bag of tricks. They tend to respect lanes.
He's probably also really unhappy with some of the decision that got made before the file was handed off to him.
Lol, everyone's a critic. Fair enough - but it's kind of
funny and weird sad how the minute the guy - in any kind of role - that everyone loved leaves the job, people start carping about the mess he left behind. I do always check myself on that kind of criticism or thinking I'm doing such a better job than a predecessor (in any situation, whether work or being the PTA treasurer*), even if I am, bc the person coming behind me could very well and probably will do the same about me.
*I'm not the PTA treasurer.
If you're doing plaintiffs litigation one of the dream scenarios is to extensively deal with in-house counsel because they are notorious for either giving away the farm to just get rid of stuff, or doing things that they think are being tough but are actually just goong to damage their side later.
There are a lot of bad legal minds out there. And some companies hire litigation managers more as shepherds and minders rather than managers. But they may also have the budget for go-away dollars so dgaf, in which case it's not so much that the plaintiffs attorney was so great, but that they just didn't rate more attention than they got.
But yeah, quality varies - some companies have an "if Legal says it then it is the Word of God" culture - and there are few of any checks of poor advice given.
However, different jobs require different skills, and people should remember that rather than getting mentally snobbish about some aspect of it. Someone might give easily (or be stupidly obstinate) not because they're unskilled or inexperienced, but bc that's how the role is structured, and they're actually being personally very canny in how they deal with you, and their career. Plus, you never know how things might change or who might wind up holding your income in their hand. "He's such a moronic idiot LINO" kind of falls flat when that idiot can effectively decide where your kids get to go to school. Or when that dolt litigation manager parlays his job to DGC at Megacorp and then negotiates a cush deal and is brought in to head your department.
