I'm a 4th year transactional associate at a midwest V30 (I've spent my entire career here) who would like to move to NYC and also move in-house in the next 6 months or so. I'd like to move to NYC solely for personal reasons.
Would finding an in-house job (of the level I'd be applying for, or just generally) be more difficult for me in NYC than it would be in, say, Chicago? I want to leave biglaw for the typical lifestyle reasons, so I'm not interested in companies where I'd still be regularly putting in 60+ hours/week.
Also, I am not barred in NY, just my current state. Should I try to get barred in NY first, or will that not really matter?
Thanks! I owe this site a great deal of gratitude for what I've achieved in my career so far.
How competitive are NYC in-house jobs? Forum
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Anonymous User
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fmrez
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Re: How competitive are NYC in-house jobs?
All in-house gigs are competitive but the vast majority of in-house roles are for commercial counsel at your level and up, so if you're personable and have good experience drafting and negotiating deals you should get some traction. Be prepared to have an interview appropriate reason why you're making the switch (not liking the biglaw hours is not a good answer) and wanting to move to New York. I have never looked for a role in Chicago but I imagine you'll have more opportunities in NYC. Commercial counsel in legal departments work hard, especially near quarter ends, but if you're at a regular company (not finance or a bank) you shouldn't be regularly doing 60+ hour weeks. 9-6 with little weekend work is much more the norm.
I recommend scouring LinkedIn jobs and www.goinhouse.com. LinkedIn has a feature where you can show recruiters only that you are open to work, and some of the recruiter messages are legit.
Check out this about bar registration: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/attorneys/in-h ... ndex.shtml
I recommend scouring LinkedIn jobs and www.goinhouse.com. LinkedIn has a feature where you can show recruiters only that you are open to work, and some of the recruiter messages are legit.
Check out this about bar registration: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/attorneys/in-h ... ndex.shtml
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nealric
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Re: How competitive are NYC in-house jobs?
Can't speak to the NY market specifically, but a few things to keep in mind:
The competitiveness of in-house jobs will vary quite a bit depending on the specific company and role. "In-house" could be anything from "GC" of a 3 person startup, to a low-level "Contract specialist" at Megacorp, to corporate counsel at a F500, to GC of a Mag7 company. Pay could be anywhere from $0 to $10 million+. The variation in quality is going to be wider than biglaw because "in-house" can apply to a wide variety of company types and industries.
If you aren't already in-house, it's typically a tougher gig to get than a biglaw lateral offer and hiring timelines with larger organizations are often longer.
In-house roles are less clustered around city centers. A biglaw firm will almost always be in either lower or mid-town Manhattan, while in-house roles may be scattered around the suburbs (although there certainly will be plenty of roles close-in).
The competitiveness of in-house jobs will vary quite a bit depending on the specific company and role. "In-house" could be anything from "GC" of a 3 person startup, to a low-level "Contract specialist" at Megacorp, to corporate counsel at a F500, to GC of a Mag7 company. Pay could be anywhere from $0 to $10 million+. The variation in quality is going to be wider than biglaw because "in-house" can apply to a wide variety of company types and industries.
If you aren't already in-house, it's typically a tougher gig to get than a biglaw lateral offer and hiring timelines with larger organizations are often longer.
In-house roles are less clustered around city centers. A biglaw firm will almost always be in either lower or mid-town Manhattan, while in-house roles may be scattered around the suburbs (although there certainly will be plenty of roles close-in).
