Is in-house investigations/litigation boring? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a burned out big fed litigator. I have an offer to join a tech company doing investigations and maybe some (managing of) litigation.

I like the idea of making 3x more money with comparable WLB but I'm worried about being bored.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a burned out big fed litigator. I have an offer to join a tech company doing investigations and maybe some (managing of) litigation.

I like the idea of making 3x more money with comparable WLB but I'm worried about being bored.

Any upward mobility on this compensation or are you basically going to be capped at what I assume is 400 to 500k forever.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a burned out big fed litigator. I have an offer to join a tech company doing investigations and maybe some (managing of) litigation.

I like the idea of making 3x more money with comparable WLB but I'm worried about being bored.

Any upward mobility on this compensation or are you basically going to be capped at what I assume is 400 to 500k forever.

I think there's some movement upwards for regular COLA but somwhat limited potential for promotions. There's not many levels between me and GC and so not a lot of room for promotions internally.

[Anonymous User]

I'm doing investigations in bigfed for $150k and I'm extremely bored.

$400k? Damn, go for it.

[Anonymous User]

I'm doing investigations in bigfed for $150k and I'm extremely bored.

$400k? Damn, go for it.

Not to derail. But what was your background? And do you mind telling us generally what type of bigfed that is?

[Anonymous User]

what type of investigations are you talking about?

in my experience being in-house and working on investigations 'boring' is literally the last word I would use to describe that work. it's terrifying and stressful and in my opinion too intense. everyone is very worried and afraid when a regulator is investigating them. it is not boring.

[Anonymous User]

OP I made this exact jump from your background (from DOJ) and have really enjoyed it. Hours are less than DOJ (although a lot more meetings), no trials, outside counsel does the heavy lifting, and my total compensation this year is 2.7X my capped out GS15 salary.

I'm never really bored because there is always so much going on. Because we are a large tech company I can work on matters of first impression.

I highly recommend it. The FAANGS also really love the BIGFED experience, because they are often filled with corporate lawyers from large law firms that primarily think one way.

[Anonymous User]

OP I made this exact jump from your background (from DOJ) and have really enjoyed it. Hours are less than DOJ (although a lot more meetings), no trials, outside counsel does the heavy lifting, and my total compensation this year is 2.7X my capped out GS15 salary.

I'm never really bored because there is always so much going on. Because we are a large tech company I can work on matters of first impression.

I highly recommend it. The FAANGS also really love the BIGFED experience, because they are often filled with corporate lawyers from large law firms that primarily think one way.

Not OP but thanks for this post. It seems like a great landing spot. Any thoughts on what types of Big Fed would be most useful prep for making the jump, particularly for someone with a few years' biglaw experience?

[Anonymous User]

OP I made this exact jump from your background (from DOJ) and have really enjoyed it. Hours are less than DOJ (although a lot more meetings), no trials, outside counsel does the heavy lifting, and my total compensation this year is 2.7X my capped out GS15 salary.

I'm never really bored because there is always so much going on. Because we are a large tech company I can work on matters of first impression.

I highly recommend it. The FAANGS also really love the BIGFED experience, because they are often filled with corporate lawyers from large law firms that primarily think one way.

Not OP but thanks for this post. It seems like a great landing spot. Any thoughts on what types of Big Fed would be most useful prep for making the jump, particularly for someone with a few years' biglaw experience?

Quoted Poster Above. For in-house investigations roles I have seen a lot of former DOJ prosecutors (AUSAS and from MJ) with good experience (6+ years at DOJ). For other roles it varies: federal prosecutors, SEC, CFPB.

[Anonymous User]

OP I made this exact jump from your background (from DOJ) and have really enjoyed it. Hours are less than DOJ (although a lot more meetings), no trials, outside counsel does the heavy lifting, and my total compensation this year is 2.7X my capped out GS15 salary.

I'm never really bored because there is always so much going on. Because we are a large tech company I can work on matters of first impression.

I highly recommend it. The FAANGS also really love the BIGFED experience, because they are often filled with corporate lawyers from large law firms that primarily think one way.

Do the FAANGS like bank/financial regulator experience (i.e. OCC/FRB/FDIC/CFPB) or do they just like DOJ/USAO experience?

[Anonymous User]

I do this work for a tech company and didn't come from a DOJ/prosecutor background. I would say that it's relatively common (particularly in leadership at very large companies), but not having that experience isn't a total barrier to moving to an in-house role doing investigations. Across my entire team, only 1 comes from a government enforcement background.

But sometimes that depends on the team. Some internal investigations teams do both the internal investigations work and manage government investigation matters as well. I previously worked at a company where this was the case and it was a good bit more stressful. Some, like my current job, only handle internal investigations, and I think those tend to have a bit better balance.

I think the work is super interesting. My day-to-day is quite busy with interviews and reports and otherwise managing matters, but the hours are better than biglaw. And my total comp this year is higher than it would've been had I made counsel or income partner at my old firm.