Former V15 Senior Associate - Current In-House Taking ?s Forum

[byebyebiglaw]

As the title says, I was a former V15 senior litigation associate, made the move over to in-house counsel last year. It's slow at year's end so I'll take any questions you may have regarding biglaw or moving in house.

[ph14]

As the title says, I was a former V15 senior litigation associate, made the move over to in-house counsel last year. It's slow at year's end so I'll take any questions you may have regarding biglaw or moving in house.

• Company/Industry?
• Salary?
• Hours?
• Lawschool?
• Grades?
• Journal?
• Advice for making yourself marketable and other factors in transitioning to in-house counsel?

[byebyebiglaw]

• Company/Industry? Tech
• Salary? Started at $150+ Stock
• Hours? SO MUCH BETTER
• Lawschool? Top 10
• Grades? Good, not great
• Journal? Yes
• Advice for making yourself marketable and other factors in transitioning to in-house counsel? Do good work for your clients, many transitions come from those relationships. Others from partners you've worked with who have other client relationships. And, even as a senior associate moving in-house they still care about the school you went to, the grades you got, and the firm that you're coming from.

[ph14]

• Company/Industry? Tech
• Salary? Started at $150+ Stock
• Hours? SO MUCH BETTER
• Lawschool? Top 10
• Grades? Good, not great
• Journal? Yes
• Advice for making yourself marketable and other factors in transitioning to in-house counsel? Do good work for your clients, many transitions come from those relationships. Others from partners you've worked with who have other client relationships. And, even as a senior associate moving in-house they still care about the school you went to, the grades you got, and the firm that you're coming from.

Can you elaborate on the hours?

[badaboom61]

How long did you spend at your firm before you left? Do you think there is generally an ideal time to leave?

[byebyebiglaw]

• Company/Industry? Tech
• Salary? Started at $150+ Stock
• Hours? SO MUCH BETTER
• Lawschool? Top 10
• Grades? Good, not great
• Journal? Yes
• Advice for making yourself marketable and other factors in transitioning to in-house counsel? Do good work for your clients, many transitions come from those relationships. Others from partners you've worked with who have other client relationships. And, even as a senior associate moving in-house they still care about the school you went to, the grades you got, and the firm that you're coming from.

Can you elaborate on the hours?

It really varies, but the biggest change is when you've left work (at the worst 7 or there's no pressure to be constantly "on." When the weekend comes the time is yours, you're not checking your email every 15 minutes. I'd say my hours are generally 9-6, but there are of course times that are way busier.

[byebyebiglaw]

How long did you spend at your firm before you left? Do you think there is generally an ideal time to leave?

7 years. I think the idea time is 3-5 years, you finally have some useful skills/experience (hopefully) and that's usually the sweet spot for companies looking for hires.

[Anonymous User]

Practice group while at the firm?

[2014]

Did you have good partnership prospects or did you see the writing on the wall leading you to in house?

[byebyebiglaw]

Practice group while at the firm?

Litigation

[byebyebiglaw]

Did you have good partnership prospects or did you see the writing on the wall leading you to in house?

I probably wouldn't have made partner, though I wasn't being pushed out. Yet. As far as everything they were telling me, I was still on track, but the odds were so low, that when the opportunity came up, I had to take it.

[Anonymous User]

Practice group while at the firm?

Litigation

Got that, but what industry group, etc.?

[Anonymous User]

Do you get the impression that certain specializations (M&A group v. environmental group, etc.) while at a firm lend to a better shot at an in-house position?

[2014]

Did you have good partnership prospects or did you see the writing on the wall leading you to in house?

I probably wouldn't have made partner, though I wasn't being pushed out. Yet. As far as everything they were telling me, I was still on track, but the odds were so low, that when the opportunity came up, I had to take it.

How much longer do you think you had before you would have been pushed out?

Did your peers who left before their 7th year do so largely by choice or no?

[byebyebiglaw]

Do you get the impression that certain specializations (M&A group v. environmental group, etc.) while at a firm lend to a better shot at an in-house position?

Corporate/Transactional seem to be in high general demand for in house. Litigation is a bit harder and there's probably less of a demand for specialities like environmental.

[byebyebiglaw]

Did you have good partnership prospects or did you see the writing on the wall leading you to in house?

I probably wouldn't have made partner, though I wasn't being pushed out. Yet. As far as everything they were telling me, I was still on track, but the odds were so low, that when the opportunity came up, I had to take it.

How much longer do you think you had before you would have been pushed out?

Did your peers who left before their 7th year do so largely by choice or no?

Probably another year, that's when they decide partner or out. I'd say about a third were pushed out, the rest by choice.

[Anonymous User]

Do you have any advice for recent graduates starting in-house? In particular, I hear that the training in-house is sub-par compared to a firm. Any suggestions for ways to address that?

I recognize that this is a rare situation, but due to the weird economy I recently started doing tech. transactional work (mostly software licensing) after graduating last May. Any insight would be appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

did you seek out the position or were you recruited?

[Big Shrimpin]

Industry group?

[byebyebiglaw]

Do you have any advice for recent graduates starting in-house? In particular, I hear that the training in-house is sub-par compared to a firm. Any suggestions for ways to address that?

I recognize that this is a rare situation, but due to the weird economy I recently started doing tech. transactional work (mostly software licensing) after graduating last May. Any insight would be appreciated.

Not really and I think training really depends on area and company. I'm not really familiar with tech transactions but I do know some in house people do the training seminars to brush up on skills or learn new things. Outside counsel are always pitching training programs so maybe that's something to look into.

[byebyebiglaw]

did you seek out the position or were you recruited?

Kind of a hybrid through working with the in house counsel at a client. They'd casually mention coming over and I finally decided it was time.

[byebyebiglaw]

Industry group?

Primarily tech industry but general commercial litigation.

[thescienceguy]

3L here who really wants to go in-house at a tech company some day. Working at a V50 in NYC after graduation in their general corporate group. As far as I know, we don't have any tech clients and I also don't have a tech-related background. How difficult would it be for me to get to where you are now? Should I try to lateral to a firm that does IP transactional/VC/startup work to get relevant industry experience?

Thanks in advance!

[KingsCup]

3L here who really wants to go in-house at a tech company some day. Working at a V50 in NYC after graduation in their general corporate group. As far as I know, we don't have any tech clients and I also don't have a tech-related background. How difficult would it be for me to get to where you are now? Should I try to lateral to a firm that does IP transactional/VC/startup work to get relevant industry experience?

Thanks in advance!

also, to kind of piggyback on this, how helpful would it be to have a tech background to get to where you were/are?

[TatNurner]

How did staying in biglaw for 7 years affect your personal life? To be more specific, around here a lot of people characterize biglaw as being non-stop work where you don't have much room for a personal life. Did you find this was the case?

Also, how many hours a week did you work on average while in biglaw?