In-House

Depending on the specific job, an in-house attorney can handle any or all of the following: the legal aspects of day-to-day business operations; negotiating and formalizing deals; defending (or managing the defense of) the organization in litigation matters; or providing proactive legal advice to help the organization avoid legal problems. While most lawyers who move in-house end up working in a corporate legal department, some in-house lawyers secure compliance or risk management positions. Although most compliance positions don’t necessarily require a law degree, your J.D. can be enormously helpful, and make you more competitive as a candidate.

Corporate legal departments can range in size from one to several hundred. Approximately 60% of legal departments are five attorneys or fewer. In a staff of two or more attorneys, you can expect to find a general counsel, an assistant general counsel and anywhere from one to a handful of specialized staff attorneys. Smaller legal departments tend to hire “generalists” who can handle a wide range of legal issues for the organization.

PERSONALITY TRAITS OF AN IN-HOUSE LAWYER

If you are coming from a law firm, you should be aware of some of the general differences between in-house and law firm work. This awareness may help you decide if in-house work would be a good fit for you. Consider how closely your personality aligns with the traits listed below: 

  1. You're a decision-maker. You can make decisions quickly and are comfortable with some degree of uncertainty. You won’t have the luxury of time to research (or time to delegate the research of) every issue as you can at a law firm.

  2. You're capable of navigating the politics. You can handle, and navigate, the often intense politics inherent in working for multiple clients and constituents who may have diverging interests (even though they are ostensibly part of a single organization).

  3. You're a self-starter and a fast learner. You are ready, willing and able to learn new things, including the details of the business, the basics of how the organization earns its revenue and the relevant market and industry.

  4. You're business-savvy. You have enough business acumen and common sense to make practical, business-friendly (or at least “business-reasonable”) decisions. The organization does not want a professional naysayer who imposes legal roadblocks to every new idea; rather, it needs a thoughtful lawyer who can offer creative solutions to try to balance business concerns with acknowledged risk.

  5. You have leadership potential. You are comfortable managing and leading other people. This includes outside counsel, as well as people within the organization itself.

  6. You're confident and resolute. You are comfortable saying “no” when justified, even to people who are important or senior – or who pressure you to say otherwise. (This is especially true for compliance-related positions.)

  7. You're a skilled communicator. You do not need to be – or need to have others think you are – the smartest person in the room. In a law firm, subject matter expertise is often prized above most everything else. In contrast, an in-house lawyer’s subject matter expertise is assumed, and what is prized instead is the ability to listen, to communicate complex information to various constituents, to forge relationships and to inspire trust.

These qualities can also provide the basis for questions to ask during your informational interviews. It might be helpful to learn whether your interviewee agrees that the differences identified are accurate in their personal experience.

GETTING THERE: QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

In-house jobs are highly sought-after and extremely competitive. Many law firm attorneys view them as a way to escape the pressures of billable hours and the long workdays of firm life. While in-house work generally does not require lawyers to bill time, there are often other productivity pressures on in-house lawyers, and these jobs, while clearly offering many benefits, are not necessarily the panacea for long hours that they have been in the past.

Lawyers who practice in-house usually have had at least four years of work experience. While some legal departments will consider entry-level candidates, the bulk of hiring is lateral.

GETTING THERE: CHALLENGES 

One of the biggest challenges facing law firm attorneys in their quest to move in-house is a lack of actual in-house experience. More and more companies are stating a preference for candidates with prior in-house experience, producing a “Catch-22” for law firm attorneys at every level. Law firm partners who wish to move in-house should read this article written by a respected recruiter.

In recent years, some alternative legal service providers like Axiom Law have created an avenue for experienced law firm lawyers to gain that elusive in-house experience. These providers “loan out” lawyers to corporations (e.g., to cover a medical or maternity leave). Similar to a secondment, working for one of these providers is a great way for an attorney in transition to gain substantive in-house experience, not to mention keep his or her resume current, gain new skills and develop contacts. In some cases, these temporary assignments can turn into full-time employment; however, that situation is rare and should not be expected.

FINDING OPEN POSITIONS 

There are several ways to go about locating in-house searches. One strategy is to reach out to legal recruiters who specialize in in-house positions (you can find more information about this approach on the Search Firms page of this site). Another is to use the web to find recent job postings.  

With respect to the latter, the below sites are a great starting point:

 

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