White-Collar Crime

Three Things To Do To Break Into White-Collar Practice

Landing your dream job.

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white men white male lawyers old young partner associateThis is, alas, is my last column here for a while. I’ll miss your many emails, particularly those informing me of different intimate acts my mother likely engaged in prior to my conception.

Aside from those emails, perhaps the most frequently asked question I get is what a younger lawyer can do to launch a career in the world of white-collar criminal defense.

While I’ve touched on that before, here are three suggestions.

  1. Go to NACDL’s White-Collar Conference

Some conferences have great parties. Others have great substance. NACDL’s White-Collar Conference in October has both. This year is no exception.

The agenda looks excellent: a deep dive on McDonnell with Hank Asbill; Tommy Goldstein and Kannon Shanmugam on what to expect from SCOTUS post-Scalia; a session on 404(b); and a conversation with Barry Boss and Gerald Lefcourt on grand jury practice.

There’s also a panel of judges and former judges talking about sentencing in white-collar cases. If you want one place to see the breadth of issues that folks in the trenches face, you’d be hard pressed to beat the NACDL conference.

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Also, I’ll be there. Come up and say hi.

  1. Do Some White-Collar Work

If you want to do something, there is really no substitute for doing it. If you’re at a large firm and you’re having trouble getting assignments in the white-collar world, you should find a job working at a place where you can do white-collar cases.

I realize that’s harder to do than to say. Jobs at small firms where you get substantial experience doing meaningful things on criminal cases for someone accused of a white-collar crime are rarely open, more rarely advertised, and can be intensely competitive.

That said, these jobs do come open from time to time.

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And, as it happens, right now there’s an opening at my firm for an associate. We tend to be a little particular about pedigree and credentials, but we work hard to get the associates we hire real, stand up experience in court and a lot of client contact.

Any smart lawyer can come up with a lot of reasons not to leave a big firm to go to a small firm: the small firm could go under; maybe it won’t work out; you only get to cash in the prestige of having worked at [insert your firm name here] once; etc. Life is about choices. If you want the reward of more interesting work in an area you care about, you’ll have to accept those risks (which I think are ephemeral anyway).

If you’re interested, check out our careers page.

  1. Keep Reading This Column

For a few years now, I’ve had a column on white-collar or criminal justice issues here on Above the Law on just about every Thursday morning. I plan to be back in a few months but, in the meantime, my partner Justin Dillon will take over.

You should read what he does with this column. He’s had a very different path than I have — he went to DOJ honors after his clerkship and worked as an AUSA. Since he’s joined my firm, he’s transitioned into the role of a defense lawyer. Some former prosecutors make that transition well, others never really transition. Justin can talk about what that’s like and how he made the shift.

I’ll be back in a few months. Until then, good luck, and keep reading.

Matt Kaiser is a white-collar defense attorney at KaiserDillon. He’s represented stockbrokers, tax preparers, doctors, drug dealers, and political appointees in federal investigations and indicted cases. His twitter handle is @mattkaiser. His email is mkaiser@kaiserdillon.com He’d love to hear from you if you’re inclined to say something nice.

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