General Corporate Junior --> In-House at Tech Company Tips? Forum

[Donkeykongmadness]

I'm a general corporate/trans junior at a SF/SV firm. I would like to go in-house at a tech company at some point in the future. A quick review of the job openings available online suggests that many of the in-house jobs at tech companies are some sort of IP/licensing counsel. Almost all of them require some experience "negotiating licensing contracts", "negotiating general contracts", etc.

Assuming that I'm at a firm that doesn't make it easy for general corporate associates to do IP work, what should I do to acquire experience with some IP work? Should I lateral to a firm that does allow their associates to mix some IP work?

Any other insights into what tech companies are looking for from candidates with general corporate experience?

[Donkeykongmadness]

Bump.

[in house lawyer]

This is exactly the move I made... I had zero IP experience but finally found a tech company that was looking for a corporate generalist. They were willing to teach me (or throw me into) the licensing agreements that make up about 15% of what I do. It was a difficult search.

May I ask why you're interested in tech companies specifically?

[in house lawyer]

Haha, sorry I just realized that was short on tips. I'd recommend emphasizing any negotiation experience you have, it doesn't have to be specific to IP transactions. Also look for smaller tech companies that want generalists bbecause their legal dept is small.

[Donkeykongmadness]

I'm interested in tech companies because of personal interest and, I won't lie, the possibility of hitting the options/acquisition/IPO jackpot.

[bjblue01]

On a related note, does anyone have any idea of which NY firms would be best to go if I would like to go in-house at a tech company? I'm currently a law student.

Also, any tips for finding those firms would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

I am an in-house attorney at a large software company. I primarily draft and negotiate software license and professional services agreements.

I can say that most of our attorneys in this role did not come from big law firms. Most had some connection to the company either as outside counsel from a mid-sized regional firm or were in-house counsel on the other side of deals who switched. I started here right out of law school, but that is very uncommon. I spent some time as a consultant at another large technology company prior to going to law school, which was really critical in getting this job. I'd also met an assistant general counsel when I was networking with alumni.

The earlier poster who recommended you build general negotiation skills has the right idea. Those skills are transferable. I would also recommend that you get up to speed on issues in the technology industry like IP indemnifications, data protection, basic IP concepts stuff like that.

[RedGiant]

I'm a general corporate/trans junior at a SF/SV firm. I would like to go in-house at a tech company at some point in the future. A quick review of the job openings available online suggests that many of the in-house jobs at tech companies are some sort of IP/licensing counsel. Almost all of them require some experience "negotiating licensing contracts", "negotiating general contracts", etc.

Assuming that I'm at a firm that doesn't make it easy for general corporate associates to do IP work, what should I do to acquire experience with some IP work? Should I lateral to a firm that does allow their associates to mix some IP work?

Any other insights into what tech companies are looking for from candidates with general corporate experience?

I worked in corporate transactional work in SV as a paralegal for many years and finally am a 1L. I am summering at a newly-public SaaS company, and I sit right between the corporate AGC and a junior commercial attorney. At my company, there's not a ton of overlap in what they do. I specifically took my job this summer at the urging of my former partners, who told me that I needed to get some in-house experience and do more commercial work, as that would be very beneficial in my career later. Anyway, enough about me, point is that I've seen this from both sides, although I have way more law firm experience than in-house experience.

Many of the attys I worked for over the years lateralled. Most of them lateralled to companies that they were doing general corporate work for, or to firm clients (so they might not have been on a specific client's team, but that client uses X firm, so thinks of associates from that firm highly). Right now, many of my friends who are looking to leave biglaw are finding their jobsearches to be quite protracted--there's a lot of competition for in-house corporate jobs, and many of them are getting feedback that the in-house attys won't even consider attys who haven't been in-house before (so they are actively discriminating against biglaw folks by preferring in-house hires). This is why my biglaw friends are having a hard time getting traction. However, once you're in the in-house door, it seems not to be that hard to jump around, or follow the GC as he or she jumps around. My midlevel friends are taking 3-9 months to move in house, and they are apply to every job they find. It's hard!

In terms of how to get licensing experience--well, I'd look to get more involved in IP diligence when you are working on your next M&A deal, but, frankly, you get experience with those contracts by negotiating and revising those contracts. However, most standard commercial agreements don't go to biglaw because they don't merit biglaw rates. That's why the poster above noted that most of his colleagues didn't come from biglaw--you won't see a lot of "standard" commercial work in biglaw. As to the commercial contracts, most of them aren't tricky--most companies have their "absolutely not", "nice to have" and "must have" stances on provisions like indemnification, liability caps, certain defined terms, etc., that they negotiate over and over. In fact, if you've done more complicated M&A work, negotiating an NDA or a Consulting Services or License Agreement is not that tricky, once someone shows you the company's typical take on specific issues and red flags. The nuance is finding the common ground with your counterparty--it really is _negotiation_. Watching our senior commercial counsel on conference calls--she's a maestro--spouting off stuff about residuals, privacy laws all over the world, or even just trying to suss out the position of the other side if they rejected a proposed change lobbed over from our side--there's a lot to learn, but it's not necessarily super-tricky, and the skill is in the delivery and finding common ground. You would pick it up fast, but you need the chance to get in house to do so, which is your query!

In terns of your own situation, make friends with more senior associates who are still at the firm and ask what happened to their classmates who left. They'll have the best answers on where they are and whether it'd be a good idea to contact them. Also, start taking HH calls to find out what's market and what's realistic, given your background. Reach out to alumni who are in-house in your area for informational interviews. Be careful how widely you broadcast your jobsearch--partners can be especially abusive if they know you're biding your time and will be leaving soon anyway, so only tell those you trust, who will keep it on the DL. Good luck.