We want LI to be one of the friendliest places on the internet, where lawyers and law students help each other with their career related queries and occasionally discuss other stuff that might affect their lives too. In other words:
1. Be kind, respectful and helpful to each other.
2. Be bona fide, truthful, genuine and curious.
3. Assume the best intention of others.
Therefore, in using the site, you must agree to do your best to uphold these community guidelines.
Note that what you find here is written and moderated by anonymous people on the internet.
Therefore everything you read here is very likely unverified, rumour, speculation and/or downright false.
In continuing to read anything here, you must therefore agree not to take anything you read here as factual and that you will exercise due caution, diligence and common sense before acting on any information you may come across here.
You also agree to report any inaccurate or malicious comments with the buttons. Moderators take action within 24 hours, as required and appropriate under law.
Our full terms and conditions apply too.
Do you solemnly agree to all of the above?
What is the work culture like in these two areas?
Is one preferred over the other?
Should I try to get into an M&A or PE/VC team as an A0?
Is it worth entering these practice areas in a non-tier one firm?
What topics should I cover to have a decent enough base in these practice areas?
M&A and PE/VC are fairly related areas, in that they are both transactional work and largely involve deal making. PE / VC related fund-raises and a lot of time you are negotiating opposite an investor who is putting in a company on either side of the table, so it's not supposed to be as adversarial as M&A where literally the parties have different interests in deal.
Some say M&A is more challenging than PE/VC and others will say the opposite, but both are equally challenging. What I will say is that, at the higher end of things M&A is a lot more labour intensive in that due diligence, structuring, closing etc. take a lot of effort and man power, so there is that.
PE / VC on the other hand can range from straight forward fund-raises to complex fund raising structures but unless you are investor side for a large PE investor, the investment in DD, structuring is lesser (but not by much).
I find both equally interesting for what its worth. Though as a partner involved in the practice I find M&A a lot less appealing (for specific reasons I won't get into here).
If you join a M&A / PE-VC practice as an A0 you will do a LOT of due diligence, tracking CPs etc. You will not be involved in any active negotiation or deal work. This is not a bad thing.
It is ok to entire this practice area in non-tier 1 firms if you know the partner / team and they do good work. It may even be better in that non-Tier 1 firms will give you easier and faster access to better quality work (like being involved in negotiation / documentation) which is a lot more fulfilling.
Areas to cover: Companies Act - in particular relating to allotment of shares, Foreign Exchange Management Act and FDI Policy and to some extent, basics of tax law. This presumes you have a decent basis in contract law and your drafting is ok.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your reply. Can you please elaborate a little bit more about what all can a student aiming a career in M&A and PE/VC learn and prepare more, which are the critical laws which one should be thorough with and drafting which of legal document does it entails on frequent basis?
How to prepare for the interviews if one is looking to join M&A and PE/VC team. Also, what are expected questions in such interviews?
Should I first start with a boutique law firm where I am exposed to all the other areas of law as well and subsequently move to specialized practice area or vice versa? (I personally think that DD and other A0 work doesn't teaches you a lot and its monotonous whereas joining a boutique law firm offers variety in your work and they focus more on your growth and development)
PLEASE share your thoughts on above, I'm about to graduate.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Second - In terms of reading up, I would strongly suggest reading NDA's research papers on M&A and PE/VC (fund investments, fund formation etc.) - those are very well put together basic guides.
Beyond this, you should have a general understanding of fundamental of Companies Act, 2013 as well as the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (you can get an easy version of this by reading the Master Direction on Foreign Investments into India) and finally Indian Contract Act, 1872 - but try and read one of the commercial laws commentary version of it - and again more to know what the act contains. I would also suggest reading up on Interpretation of Statute - since I find that often times reading up on other laws also involves being able to interpret it well.
Basic questions in interviews will be largely around the same areas of law I've outlined above, If you have a reasonably good understanding then getting an internship / job is not very difficult.
In terms of joining a firm - I can't comment on what is a good opportunity or not. My genuine advice is this - if you join a place and put your effort into learning and "up-skilling" i.e. becoming better at the job, you will get opportunities everywhere. I have seen A1/A2s get to manage transactions in Tier 1 and SAs / PAs not be allowed to even participate in discussions in smaller firms, so you can get the raw end everywhere.
I also think DD and A0 work is VERY VERY critical skill to learn and know before moving to "more fancy work" - for example, as a partner I won't be able to tell a client how much time a due diligence will take without having done this work myself in the past. Also other skills that A0s get to pick up are basic e-mail writing, being able to manage documentation (like compiling signature pages etc) - are all important things to learn and know and definitely one that will show your work ethic.
Here is how I would put it, as a A0 - you aren't learning "the law", you learning how to learn the business of law. You learn work ethic, commitment, reliability and thoroughness. If you excel at those things, you will be doing more high end work very soon and will benefit from having learned these skills in the first place.
PS: As a partner I still sometimes run my own compares / do basic research and compile signature pages.
I feel more relaxed and confident now.