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On some levels, the general discourse that you hear around the ECM practice is true. The hours are gruelling, the work is fairly repetitive and boring and you’re almost always in a very high stress environment.
However, it’s not as bad as a lot of people will try to convince you. One important thing to note is that the ECM practice is growing at a really good pace in the country right now. A huge function of this is just the macro-economic environment we are in right now. The practice is very cyclical in nature. In bull-market quarters, you’ll be inundated with work and will barely have any time for yourself. However, in bear market conditions, you’ll be relatively more free (even more so than your friends in other relatively chiller teams). Another important factor is the money. Calling a spade a spade - most corporate lawyers get into the field for the money. Though the pay across teams is fairly similar (atleast in the beginning of your career) at most firms, the hikes across both fixed and variable components will generally be higher for ECM practices than some other large practice areas. There’s multiple reasons for this - growing economy, bulli-ish public market sentiments and the fact that utilisation and billable hours are huge factors in appraisals (for law firms).
I’d recommend you do a proper, rational pros and cons analysis before you make your mind about the practice area. Go in with no predispositions and biases - give it a fair shot. Personally, there are days when i hate my job and days where everything seems sorry of meh (sorry if you were looking for a more encouraging answer xD. Just trying to give you my honest opinion). All the best!
All this leading to a life with medical issues, mental health problems. Strictly Avoid.
However, dont let it demotivate you at this stage, its a well paying practice at a good team and there are a ton of vacancies, also mobility to move to the UK MC firms. The problems are low margin, extremely boring dry due diligence + backup work, and kinda inefficient seniors making timelines feel like hell. Possibly the worst practice wrt timelines.