I started looking into in house legal opportunities, as I've seen some interesting openings. I'm aware this will likely come with a pay cut (perhaps in exchange for a better work/life balance....tbd), but welcome any thoughts on other considerations/questions I should be thinking about/asking. #legal
Hard to give you any concrete advice op. What do you want to know in particular?
Any pitfalls I should be on the lookout for, that being at a firm I may not be used to/know to look for? I've only worked in a firm setting and have heard tangentially from acquaintances who've gone in house about their experiences, but to the extent you have any instances of "oh I wish I knew that/thought of that/asked about that when I came in house" those would be super helpful
You really ought to network with some of your clients about their in house experience. We know little about you to know if it's a good fit or not. Some things for sure: 1) your soft skills and EQ are way more important than your IQ and expertise, 2) you have to be ok getting ignored and overruled by the business, 3) there is a premium on problem solving rather than analysis, 4) your boss will make or break your experience. I can go on but those are a start.
It’s very, very different. Expectations and work product both
Could you be more specific as to how so? Thanks in advance.
Single client focus, expertise development, SO MUCH client and expectations management. I do less “legal” writing and much more guidance. Crossfunctional politics and stakeholder management. Lot of corralling people.
Much more important to manage expectations in an in-house role. Under promising and overdelivering is the name of the game. Expect much less drafting, much more emphasis on solutions, and be prepared to explain in detail why you made any decision. Much more strategy focused instead of perfection.
Depending on your role, you may have more career opportunities in-house than you do in a law firm. WRT salary - think about your overall compensation, not just salary. When I left my in-house role at one company and went to another, the salary was the same, but when you factored in bonus and stock, not to mention all the benefits of the company I went to (free food, transportation, too many perks to mention, I more than doubled the salary I was making at the company I left - they had a small bonus plan and no stock, very skimpy on the benefits.
Way less pressure and I think for us type A lawyers from biglaw that could mean boredom but you get your life back. Don’t think of it as number of hours only. It’s also the pressure that you endure with every hour at biglaw
Why don't you give more information? Years of experience? What geos are you looking at? What geo are you in currently? What's your practice area?
In and staying in NY. In the tech field and i have 5 YOE