Recession and going in-house Forum

[Anonymous User]

Corporate NYC midlevel. I was thinking of going in-house early next year but am now wondering whether I should just stay put at my firm given the possible recession (very low likelihood of getting laid off at my firm). Not to mention I'm not sure if companies are hiring as aggressively as they were even 6 months ago. Anyone else thinking along the same lines / having the same concerns?

[Anonymous User]

Yup I'm a corporate 5th year in Boston, was thinking of going after bonus payout in early 2023 but I'm not sure that makes sense anymore depending on recession. Also worried that 7th year and up is too late to go in-house, plus I go up for NEP that year... confused and feeling frozen lol.

[nealric]

A recession will impact every business one way or another (including Biglaw). But there is something to be said about a job where you have a positive track record.

Also worth noting that nobody can predict the economic future. If you could, you wouldn't need to work at all.

[jimmythecatdied6]

Yup I'm a corporate 5th year in Boston, was thinking of going after bonus payout in early 2023 but I'm not sure that makes sense anymore depending on recession. Also worried that 7th year and up is too late to go in-house, plus I go up for NEP that year... confused and feeling frozen lol.

You're worried that you only have one year left to go in house? ...

[Anonymous User]

Yup I'm a corporate 5th year in Boston, was thinking of going after bonus payout in early 2023 but I'm not sure that makes sense anymore depending on recession. Also worried that 7th year and up is too late to go in-house, plus I go up for NEP that year... confused and feeling frozen lol.

You're worried that you only have one year left to go in house? ...

I've heard that there comes a point where you are too senior to go in-house, maybe that's not true though?

[Sackboy]

I've heard that there comes a point where you are too senior to go in-house, maybe that's not true though?

This objectively false. Junior partners go in-house all of the time. Hell, equity partners even go in house often enough that it's not considered unusual.

[nealric]

Yup I'm a corporate 5th year in Boston, was thinking of going after bonus payout in early 2023 but I'm not sure that makes sense anymore depending on recession. Also worried that 7th year and up is too late to go in-house, plus I go up for NEP that year... confused and feeling frozen lol.

You're worried that you only have one year left to go in house? ...

I've heard that there comes a point where you are too senior to go in-house, maybe that's not true though?

There's a grain of truth in the sense that the number of roles decreases as you go higher up in the seniority scale. An equity partner making $2MM a year in Biglaw probably isn't going to be interested in a garden-variety in-house role paying $350k all-in. It would only make financial sense if they could get a GC role at a F500 (or similar scale private company), but only certain biglaw partners are well-setup for a GC gig. You need the right type of experience to be considered a fit for such a role.

But a 5th year is nowhere close to having that dilemma. In-house roles available to you probably won't change dramatically between year 5 and your partner year. Even a Counsel title probably won't change the landscape much.

Obviously companies vary, but I would consider that there are basically 4 tiers of in house roles at a megacorp with a decent size (20+ attorney) legal department:

1) There's the low-level roles where you are basically just churning day-to day contracts or low dollar cases. Title is usually just "attorney" or maybe "counsel." The few large companies still hiring straight from law school may offer these jobs to new grads, or to people who have minimal or no biglaw experience. Also may be given to people with academic credentials a tier under big law standard. Keep in mind that most in-house decision makers are former biglaw, so have some of the same hiring biases. Don't take those roles if you are already a biglaw 5th year. Pay maybe $100k-250k all-in.

2) The "standard" line attorney who has their area of responsibility and a decent bit of autonomy. Title is usually "senior counsel" or "associate GC." These are what most 5-10 year biglaw attorneys are going to be looking at. Pay around $200-400k all-in.

3) A management level role that's a step under the GC and reports to the GC. Title may be "Assistant GC" or maybe something like "Lead Counsel." You'll be primary managing the first two tiers and quarterbacking larger deals/cases. A Junior or non-equity partner would target these roles, or it's something to be promoted to if you do well in a Senior Counsel type role and the stars align. Pay around $300-$1MM (big spread due to increase in equity comp).

4) The General Counsel. These jobs are high buck (can be 7 or 8 figures with a good equity package), but also hard to get. Most search committees (being a C-suite job, hiring isn't going through normal HR channels) want to see prior corporate leadership experience when selecting for these jobs, so even being a mega-rainmaker won't necessarily get you there. But it's certainly possible if you know the right people and have demonstrated certain abilities. However, my sense is most GCs don't come in straight from a law firm with no in-house experience. Pay $1MM to sky's the limit if you hit the equity jackpot.

These tiers and pay scales may be a bit different when you start talking super-megacorps (ones that could form biglaw firms on their own with their legal teams). I don't have experience in that world, so don't have as much insight. Roles are also compressed when you start talking smaller companies. I also have minimal insight into startup world.