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I’ve been in house for about 1.5 years now. Made the move after 3 years in big law (corporate/transactional). For a variety of reasons I won’t bore everyone with, I’m thinking about looking to get back into biglaw.

My question is, have any others here made a similar move back to biglaw after going in-house? What was your experience? Did you instantly regret it after that first long night or weekend?

Haven’t done it, but FWIW, everyone I know who has come back has stayed back. I know 3 people at my firm who did a short stint in house, hated it, and then moved back. They were all transactional deal lawyers who hated reviewing NDAs, commercial agreements, etc. but I’m not sure your reason for going back. They’ve all been back for at least 3 years, and one has been back for about 7-8 and is a partner

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:17 am

Haven’t done it, but FWIW, everyone I know who has come back has stayed back. I know 3 people at my firm who did a short stint in house, hated it, and then moved back. They were all transactional deal lawyers who hated reviewing NDAs, commercial agreements, etc. but I’m not sure your reason for going back. They’ve all been back for at least 3 years, and one has been back for about 7-8 and is a partner

OP here. Thanks for the response. I'm thinking of moving back for the same reason (that, plus the money).

I know people who've been back and forth. It's doable if you have the right resume/practice area.

One went in-house as a senior associate, worked about 5 years in-house, went to a firm with a "counsel" title, left that firm for another one as partner. After about 5 years total in big law, he is now GC at a mid-size company.

Another was in-house for over a decade, went back to a firm, and left the firm after a few months for another in-house gig.

I don't know anybody who went back to a firm and stayed. Once you get used to being free from the billable hour, I think it can be tough to go back.

I went in-house for a couple years and am now back in biglaw (corporate). I would say going back to the unpredictability is very hard. I have had some regret when it comes to quality of life - but if I had to do it over I may do it the same. The money is significantly better (especially right now) and you can always go back in-house later. I think I will be at a firm for another couple years and then the savings from that will give me more flexibility for my next step. It may be in-house for the right opportunity, or maybe I will just get used to the firm lifestyle and continue on - a lot of this probably depends on how the partner conversation goes in a couple years.