var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().disableInitialLoad(); });
device = device.default;
//this function refreshes [adhesion] ad slot every 60 second and makes prebid bid on it every 60 seconds // Set timer to refresh slot every 60 seconds function setIntervalMobile() { if (!device.mobile()) return if (adhesion) setInterval(function(){ googletag.pubads().refresh([adhesion]); }, 60000); } if(device.desktop()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.tablet()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } else if(device.mobile()) { googletag.cmd.push(function() { leaderboard_top = googletag.defineSlot('/22018898626/LC_Article_detail_page', [320, 50], 'div-gpt-ad-1591620860846-0').setTargeting('pos', ['1']).setTargeting('div_id', ['leaderboard_top']).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag.enableServices(); }); } googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Enable lazy loading with... googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ // Fetch slots within 5 viewports. // fetchMarginPercent: 500, fetchMarginPercent: 100, // Render slots within 2 viewports. // renderMarginPercent: 200, renderMarginPercent: 100, // Double the above values on mobile, where viewports are smaller // and users tend to scroll faster. mobileScaling: 2.0 }); });

In-House Counsel: Life in the Corporate Wing

published October 31, 2005

Most law firms avoid posting jobs on Indeed or LinkedIn due to high costs. Instead, they publish them on their own websites, bar association pages, and niche legal boards. LawCrossing finds these hidden jobs, giving you access to exclusive opportunities. Sign up now!

By CEO and Founder - BCG Attorney Search left

( 295 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Few television shows or Hollywood flicks glamorize the work of the in-house attorney. Corporate legal departments have long been a haven for law-firm refugees-established lawyers who are willing to take a pay cut in return for more reasonable hours. And the work doesn't make for gripping courtroom drama: In-house counsel are often viewed as administrators who facilitate the outsourcing of most of the company's legal work but do little of it themselves.
 
In-House Counsel: Life In The Corporate Wing
 
Click Here to Read BCG Attorney Search’s Guide to Corporate and Finance Job Search Categories for More Information.

But if you think corporate counseldom is a cushy but dull job for the suburban set, you haven't looked inside a company lately. With the advancement of technology, many companies are relying more heavily on in-house counsel to take on a broader, strategic role, which in many cases means more substantial work, greater responsibilities, and longer hours. These days, attorneys' reasons for taking the corporate path are changing, as new challenges and opportunities arise.

Bye-Bye, Burnout
Why take an in-house counsel gig? "Today, the most important attractor is the depth of practice," says Joseph Pattison, associate general counsel for FMC Corporation, a global chemical business based in Philadelphia. "You get closure on issues. You are there from the beginning. You get to see the results of your work."

The ability to offer practice variety gives corporations a hiring advantage over law firms. Because there is a trend in law firms toward specialization, there are consequently fewer and fewer general commercial practitioners. In corporations, says Pattison, the lawyer has more opportunity to experience a much broader range of issues. Such diverse work tends to alleviate boredom and prevent burnout.

Pattison, a former partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm, has been with FMC for 16 years and is the senior lawyer for the company's 25-lawyer corporate legal department. He says that his Washington practice was much narrower than the one he enjoys now as in-house counsel.

The policy of FMC, Pattison says, is to maximize the amount of work it does in-house. Although this might entail increased workloads for in-house attorneys, he says there are career-enhancing payoffs. "You are learning all the time. There is more opportunity for global engagement. The international aspects sharply underscore that point; there are very few opportunities for the average law firm lawyer to get so broadly engaged internationally as the average corporate lawyer. We have people who are dealing with litigations and acquisitions overseas. They are getting great experience," says Pattison.

For lawyers interested in a general commercial practice, Pattison says the opportunity to become a renaissance attorney is alive and well in in-house practice today: "Broadly speaking, the opportunity for professional expansion and growth is a lot greater [in-house.]"

One Client, Not Twenty
Working for one company also means you don't have to juggle multiple client demands. Washington, D.C.-based Bill Guidera, federal government affairs manager for Microsoft, says that he has never held a better job.

"I get to work for one client," he says. "I don't have to think about the next one." As a member of the law and corporate affairs department of Microsoft, Guidera is a few levels below the general counsel. His group, federal government affairs, consists of four policy people, five lobbyists, a tax consultant, and a public relations professional. Guidera works closely with this tight-knit team.

The nature of Guidera's work is corporate policy development. Half of his job involves talking to lawyers and executives to help set company policy. Once a policy statement is developed, Guidera speaks to the hard-core lobbyists in the company, and works with trade associations and other companies that share Microsoft's views to coordinate their lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.

A JD is not a prerequisite for his position, but Guidera says his legal education comes in handy every day. Whether he is interpreting existing law or drafting proposed legislation, an understanding of how the law works helps him evaluate whether Microsoft is indeed accomplishing its policy objectives. He says that a good grounding in the mechanics of American jurisprudence and substantive law has proven very useful in his position.

Because Microsoft's operations are international, everything that it does as a company has global impact. Guidera, as a result, is involved in creating, negotiating, and interpreting international treaties.

While the hours tend to be long-he puts in 10- to 12-hour days, attends many evening events, and always has his laptop with him on weekends-it is by no means a day-in, day-out grind. "Tomorrow," he says, "five of those hours will be [spent] playing golf at a congressional charity event."

It also helps that he loves his work. At Microsoft, he gets to work with the best external specialists, while he works more broadly across the whole corporation. "The outside firms do the heavy lifting, legally [speaking], and they do a far better job than I could ever do," he says.

Never having worked in a law firm environment, Guidera feels that he isn't missing anything in his legal career. He would recommend working for a corporation to a young lawyer: "It's a wonderful experience," he says. "I've never sat in the basement and done deposition digests."

Taking on an Advisory Role
The chance to focus on substantive work in the private sector was one of the things that drew Dan Lipschultz to a job in-house. Lipschultz is associate general counsel to McLeodUSA, a competitive carrier providing local, long distance, and other telecommunications services in 25 states. McLeodUSA's legal department employs about 20 lawyers.

Lipschultz advises McLeodUSA personnel on legislative, regulatory, and contract matters. Every day he has to respond to numerous phone calls and e-mails from employees in the region for which he is responsible-Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. He also represents the company in proceedings before regulatory commissions in his three states and spearheads lobbying efforts in state legislatures.

Lipshultz came to in-house practice after years of work in the public sector. He graduated from the University of Iowa Law School in 1985 and went to work for the Minnesota Department of Human Services as a staff attorney. Prior to taking his current job, he worked for the Minnesota Attorney General's Office.

During Lipshultz's stint in public service, he worked on telecommunications policy, helping open the market to competitive carriers. His move to McLeod was motivated by his desire to learn how telecom companies operate from the inside. Working in-house instead of at a law firm was attractive because he believed that he would be able to focus on the substance of his legal work and not have to worry about building a book of business-i.e., client development-and marketing himself.

Lipshultz says he is glad that he took his first career steps in government but feels there are many advantages to corporate practice. "Quite plainly," he says, "the salary and benefits are higher, [and you can] have some equity; that is an additional perk that you can't get with government. You also get a real sense of [a] bottom-line-driven organization. In government you are serving public policy interests set by sometimes nebulous factors. Here it is revenue driven. You have a better idea of where you need to go and how to adjust your course because there is a clear set of markers."

Although Lipshultz chose to work more hours in his government job than was necessary, his present position does not afford him the same luxury of choice. As in-house counsel, he must work at least the same hours and sometimes more. If he doesn't, there will be work waiting for him; and it will be noticed.

One thing he's often expected to do at his present job is internal marketing. Other in-house attorneys had warned him of this before he made the move. "In a sense you have to market yourself or gain the confidence of different units of the company," he says. "You are evaluated on the feedback from your internal clients. The way you are compensated and whether they keep you depends on whether the internal clients like you."

Asked if he would recommend that a new law school graduate work for a corporation, Lipshultz says it really depends on the individual. He feels that he learned a lot from his career in government, and he is still learning in-house. He encourages JDs to see it all: "It's nice to have a career that spans and crosses public and private lines."

Teamwork over Time Sheets
Working for a single client also means no longer having to keep track of those dreaded billable hours. "That [part is] great!" says Cassandra Soltis, an associate at a Washington, D.C., food and drug law firm. Soltis has had the unique opportunity of experiencing life as an in-house counsel while still working for a law firm.

When one of the firm's clients, a large pharmaceutical company, recently acquired another company and laid off the acquired company's legal department, the client found itself short-staffed. The company asked Soltis' firm to send an attorney with the requisite background and experience to its office in New Jersey to serve as a fill-in until it could restaff the legal department. Soltis found herself commuting weekly to work with the client's existing in-house attorneys as a temporary member of the legal department.

The experience has been a positive one, she says. For one thing, her industry knowledge has broadened dramatically. Before working for her present law firm, Soltis had worked for a nonprofit consumer watchdog organization. When she made the move to the law firm, she realized that she "had barely skimmed the surface of food and drug law." Now, acting the part of in-house counsel, she is learning even more.

She also attends more meetings and writes much less-perhaps because there is no need to be in constant contact with an outside client. "I hardly write anymore," she notes. "Everything is about memos and briefs in a law firm. When you go in-house, you don't write nearly as much."

In addition, her temporary post allows her to work in a less competitive setting. "It feels more like teamwork," she says. "In a law firm, everyone is trying to outshine someone else." Soltis says that the hours are generally better, too, although the in-house attorneys do work hard. And there's a gender difference: About three-fourths of the pharmaceutical company attorneys who work with her are women.
 
SEARCH CORPORATE JOBS ON BCG ATTORNEY SEARCH

Although Soltis is not ready to leave her law firm right now, she admits that she's considering it: "I think down the road, working in-house would be attractive."

Read contrary views here: Why Going In-house Is Often the Worst Decision a Good Attorney Can Ever Make

Please see the following articles for more information about general counsel and in-house positions:
 
Click Here to Learn How to Get a Fair In-House Salary

Find Food Law Counsel jobs on LawCrossing.

About Harrison Barnes

No legal recruiter in the United States has placed more attorneys at top law firms across every practice area than Harrison Barnes. His unmatched expertise, industry connections, and proven placement strategies have made him the most influential legal career advisor for attorneys seeking success in Big Law, elite boutiques, mid-sized firms, small firms, firms in the largest and smallest markets, and in over 350 separate practice areas.

A Reach Unlike Any Other Legal Recruiter

Most legal recruiters focus only on placing attorneys in large markets or specific practice areas, but Harrison places attorneys at all levels, in all practice areas, and in all locations—from the most prestigious firms in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., to small and mid-sized firms in rural markets. Every week, he successfully places attorneys not only in high-demand practice areas like corporate and litigation but also in niche and less commonly recruited areas such as:

  • Immigration law
  • Workers’ compensation
  • Insurance defense
  • Family law
  • Trusts & estates
  • Municipal law
  • And many more...

This breadth of placements is unheard of in the legal recruiting industry and is a testament to his extraordinary ability to connect attorneys with the right firms, regardless of market size or practice area.

Proven Success at All Levels

With over 25 years of experience, Harrison has successfully placed attorneys at over 1,000 law firms, including:

  • Top Am Law 100 firms such including Sullivan and Cromwell, and almost every AmLaw 100 and AmLaw 200 law firm.
  • Elite boutique firms with specialized practices
  • Mid-sized firms looking to expand their practice areas
  • Growing firms in small and rural markets

He has also placed hundreds of law firm partners and has worked on firm and practice area mergers, helping law firms strategically grow their teams.

Unmatched Commitment to Attorney Success – The Story of BCG Attorney Search

Harrison Barnes is not just the most effective legal recruiter in the country, he is also the founder of BCG Attorney Search, a recruiting powerhouse that has helped thousands of attorneys transform their careers. His vision for BCG goes beyond just job placement; it is built on a mission to provide attorneys with opportunities they would never have access to otherwise. Unlike traditional recruiting firms, BCG Attorney Search operates as a career partner, not just a placement service. The firm’s unparalleled resources, including a team of over 150 employees, enable it to offer customized job searches, direct outreach to firms, and market intelligence that no other legal recruiting service provides. Attorneys working with Harrison and BCG gain access to hidden opportunities, real-time insights on firm hiring trends, and guidance from a team that truly understands the legal market. You can read more about how BCG Attorney Search revolutionizes legal recruiting here: The Story of BCG Attorney Search and What We Do for You.

The Most Trusted Career Advisor for Attorneys

Harrison’s legal career insights are the most widely followed in the profession.

Submit Your Resume to Work with Harrison Barnes

If you are serious about advancing your legal career and want access to the most sought-after law firm opportunities, Harrison Barnes is the most powerful recruiter to have on your side.

Submit your resume today to start working with him: Submit Resume Here.

With an unmatched track record of success, a vast team of over 150 dedicated employees, and a reach into every market and practice area, Harrison Barnes is the recruiter who makes career transformations happen and has the talent and resources behind him to make this happen.

A Relentless Commitment to Attorney Success

Unlike most recruiters who work with only a narrow subset of attorneys, Harrison Barnes works with lawyers at all stages of their careers, from junior associates to senior partners, in every practice area imaginable. His placements are not limited to only those with "elite" credentials—he has helped thousands of attorneys, including those who thought it was impossible to move firms, find their next great opportunity.

Harrison’s work is backed by a team of over 150 professionals who work around the clock to uncover hidden job opportunities at law firms across the country. His team:

  • Finds and creates job openings that aren’t publicly listed, giving attorneys access to exclusive opportunities.
  • Works closely with candidates to ensure their resumes and applications stand out.
  • Provides ongoing guidance and career coaching to help attorneys navigate interviews, negotiations, and transitions successfully.

This level of dedicated support is unmatched in the legal recruiting industry.

A Legal Recruiter Who Changes Lives

Harrison believes that every attorney—no matter their background, law school, or previous experience—has the potential to find success in the right law firm environment. Many attorneys come to him feeling stuck in their careers, underpaid, or unsure of their next steps. Through his unique ability to identify the right opportunities, he helps attorneys transform their careers in ways they never thought possible.

He has worked with:

  • Attorneys making below-market salaries who went on to double or triple their earnings at new firms.
  • Senior attorneys who believed they were “too experienced” to make a move and found better roles with firms eager for their expertise.
  • Attorneys in small or remote markets who assumed they had no options—only to be placed at strong firms they never knew existed.
  • Partners looking for a better platform or more autonomy who successfully transitioned to firms where they could grow their practice.

For attorneys who think their options are limited, Harrison Barnes has proven time and time again that opportunities exist—often in places they never expected.

Submit Your Resume Today – Start Your Career Transformation

If you want to explore new career opportunities, Harrison Barnes and BCG Attorney Search are your best resources. Whether you are looking for a BigLaw position, a boutique firm, or a move to a better work environment, Harrison’s expertise will help you take control of your future.

? Submit Your Resume Here to get started with Harrison Barnes today.

Alternative Summary

Harrison is the founder of BCG Attorney Search and several companies in the legal employment space that collectively gets thousands of attorneys jobs each year. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placement attract millions of reads each year. Harrison is widely considered the most successful recruiter in the United States and personally places multiple attorneys most weeks. His articles on legal search and placement are read by attorneys, law students and others millions of times per year.

More about Harrison

About LawCrossing

LawCrossing has received tens of thousands of attorneys jobs and has been the leading legal job board in the United States for almost two decades. LawCrossing helps attorneys dramatically improve their careers by locating every legal job opening in the market. Unlike other job sites, LawCrossing consolidates every job in the legal market and posts jobs regardless of whether or not an employer is paying. LawCrossing takes your legal career seriously and understands the legal profession. For more information, please visit www.LawCrossing.com.
Gain an advantage in your legal job search. LawCrossing uncovers hidden positions that firms post on their own websites and industry-specific job boards—jobs that never appear on Indeed or LinkedIn. Don't miss out. Sign up now!
( 295 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.