Tax Attorneys: Making the Move to In-House Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone happen to know when a big law tax associate could consider switching to in-house (as in, what year does that move become a possibility)? Is there such a thing as leaving too early? I know there are several people who have posted on TLS in the past about their schedules in-house and it seems *substantially* better than big lawl--almost like you can sort of have a life! Any insight on making this move would be greatly appreciated.

(Anon here because the tax attorney community is small and I'd rather not out myself.)

[nealric]

Does anyone happen to know when a big law tax associate could consider switching to in-house (as in, what year does that move become a possibility)? Is there such a thing as leaving too early? I know there are several people who have posted on TLS in the past about their schedules in-house and it seems *substantially* better than big lawl--almost like you can sort of have a life! Any insight on making this move would be greatly appreciated.

(Anon here because the tax attorney community is small and I'd rather not out myself.)

I'm a tax attorney who went in-house at the end of my 3rd year. I'd say that was on the early side, but it depends on the company. In my company, they were looking at succession planning an intentionally hired someone relatively junior. There are a small number of companies that hire straight out of law school/LLM programs (i.e. Exxon), but I think looking for senior associates is more typical. There's little downside to putting your feelers out if it's a move you are interested in making.

Indeed my schedule is substantially better than biglaw. Happy to answer any further questions via PM if you'd like to discuss privately.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone happen to know when a big law tax associate could consider switching to in-house (as in, what year does that move become a possibility)? Is there such a thing as leaving too early? I know there are several people who have posted on TLS in the past about their schedules in-house and it seems *substantially* better than big lawl--almost like you can sort of have a life! Any insight on making this move would be greatly appreciated.

(Anon here because the tax attorney community is small and I'd rather not out myself.)

I'm a tax attorney who went in-house at the end of my 3rd year. I'd say that was on the early side, but it depends on the company. In my company, they were looking at succession planning an intentionally hired someone relatively junior. There are a small number of companies that hire straight out of law school/LLM programs (i.e. Exxon), but I think looking for senior associates is more typical. There's little downside to putting your feelers out if it's a move you are interested in making.

Indeed my schedule is substantially better than biglaw. Happy to answer any further questions via PM if you'd like to discuss privately.

How many hours do you work during the week? Why did you make the change?

[L'orDuCommun]

How different is the work?

[nealric]

Does anyone happen to know when a big law tax associate could consider switching to in-house (as in, what year does that move become a possibility)? Is there such a thing as leaving too early? I know there are several people who have posted on TLS in the past about their schedules in-house and it seems *substantially* better than big lawl--almost like you can sort of have a life! Any insight on making this move would be greatly appreciated.

(Anon here because the tax attorney community is small and I'd rather not out myself.)

I'm a tax attorney who went in-house at the end of my 3rd year. I'd say that was on the early side, but it depends on the company. In my company, they were looking at succession planning an intentionally hired someone relatively junior. There are a small number of companies that hire straight out of law school/LLM programs (i.e. Exxon), but I think looking for senior associates is more typical. There's little downside to putting your feelers out if it's a move you are interested in making.

Indeed my schedule is substantially better than biglaw. Happy to answer any further questions via PM if you'd like to discuss privately.

How many hours do you work during the week? Why did you make the change?

I'm on a "9/80" schedule (every other Friday off with a 45 hour work-week one week, and a 35 the next). I have a few late nights or weekends a year, and travel that deviates from that, but for the most part I get to stick to the schedule.

I made the change because I was relocating for family reasons. I had the option to go elsewhere in biglaw or in-house, and I ultimately chose in-house due to work-life balance. My spouse is in biglaw, and we decided that two of us in that life would not work with kids.

How different is the work?

There's a lot less research and writing. Although we do write legal memos, they are usually only to document our thought process or get our auditors on board with a position. As such, they generally don't need to be as extensive or as perfect as something you'd produce in biglaw. You go to a lot more meetings and spend a lot more time on calls advising internal clients. I also do a wider range of work due to the size of the company. I'm at a smaller F500 corp. with only two tax attorneys. If I were at a megacorp like Exxon/Apple, there'd likely be a lot more specialization. Personally, I prefer the range. In a lot of ways, coming in house felt like a promotion to partner in terms of the type of work that I do and the greater level of autonomy.