There are, generally speaking, two types of lawyers.
First, there are litigation lawyers who argue in court on a regular basis. They’re involved in civil litigation, divorce, criminal proceedings, landlord-tenant disputes, and things of that nature.
Second, there are transactional lawyers who handle real estate closings, probate matters, business formation, and all other administrative work that mostly involves paperwork. These lawyers rarely, if ever, go to court.
Over the course of my legal career, I’ve been both a transaction lawyer and a litigation lawyer. And I can tell you that these two categories of the profession are vastly different.
For starters, there’s the nature of the work. A lawyer friend of mine once said “litigation is more embarrassing but more forgiving than transactional work.” He’s absolutely right. If you litigate, you will make a fool of yourself on occasion. This is because you’re dealing with complex issues in an adversarial proceeding.  Mistakes will happen. And when they do, they are made in front of a public audience which includes strangers and colleagues. To litigate, you have to be able to deal with these moments of unease. On the bright side, you will almost always get an opportunity to fix your mistakes as a litigator. Say, for instance, that you file a motion incorrectly. First comes the moment when the judge points out your error for all to see. Then, mercifully, the judge will very likely say “we’re rescheduling this hearing and you’re going to revise and refile your motion.”
Transactional work is the total opposite. It is nearly impossible to embarrass yourself when drafting a contract or preparing a settlement statement for a real estate closing. There’s no public speaking or the anxiety it induces. Most communication is done via email or over the phone. It’s all very comfortable and secure. But if you mess up, which is easy to do, there will be no second chances. An omission in a will, an oversight in a mortgage payoff, an error in a contract—all of these can be financially catastrophic and the transactional lawyer will be given no redos to correct his mistake.
Another way in which these areas of law differ is in the clientele. The litigator must deal with tough (often pigheaded) clients. In most cases, but certainly not all, people who find themselves in a lawsuit are people who don’t compromise or make concessions. Instead, they are often combative and unreasoning—hence the lawsuit. Moreover, most lawsuits drag on for years. So, if you choose to litigate, you must be ready and willing to deal with such personalities. Conversely, the transactional lawyer handles mostly risk-adverse clientele. These are people planning their estates, refinancing their mortgages, or setting up an LLC to protect their personal assets. They tend to be polite and non-confrontational. This, in my opinion, can be frustrating at times. When I handled real estate closings, it was often maddening to watch my clients get pushed around by everyone—realtors, bankers, other lawyers, etc.
Despite their differences, both areas of the profession are admirable in their own way.