Questions about In-House Careers Forum

[Inhousefuture]

Hello,

I am a paralegal, have taken the LSAT (169), and am interested in a career as an in-house counsel. I will be applying to law schoool next fall.

This role appeals to me for several reasons:

A. Working as an in-house counsel would allow to me to be involved in several areas of law at once since many legal problems that a business will face are integrated. For instance, terminating an executive who has a "golden parachute" clause will involve both contract law and employment law. Preparing an employee stock option agreement will involve not only involve contract law, but it will also require an understanding of securities law.

B. If I were to work as a firm lawyer, the work would be abstract and distant. For instance, drafting an employee union agreement for factory employees would seem to be an exercise in nothing but words. However, if I were an in-house counsel and walked past the factory floor on the way to the office, I would in a visceral way see the overall context. Another would example would be preparing for a company IPO. Compare working on a company IPO at a Big-Law firm where you will probably never even visit the company to working on a company IPO as an in-house counsel where it is for a firm that you have probably spent every day at for the past few years and have some equity in as well (RSU, Stock Options, etc).

C. Working as an in-house counsel will allow me the chance to learn about the companies business and to get involved in some non-legal aspects of business. For instance, some in-house attorneys get involved in complex sales, business development, real estate purchases, etc. I have heard that some in-house attorneys switch into to business roles or hybrid positions that are 50% business 50% legal. There are even some entrepreneurs on the Forbes 400 that began their career as in-house counsel.

D. Since I will still be an attorney, I will have the opportunity via pro-bono work or a part-time volunteer clinic to get involved in social justice causes that are important to me. The desire to engage in at least some "traditional" legal practice in a public interest sense is a strong one.

My questions are:

1. What law schools are best suited for this particular goal on the East Coast and West Coast? How is USC, UCLA, and the University of Washington?

2. How should I best prepare in terms of courses, clinics, and internships/summer jobs during law school?

3. I am aware that some people have gotten in-house jobs directly out of law school, despite the fact that the standard path is to work at a firm for 3-5 years. Under what conditions can this happen?

4. What type of law firm should I seek to work at and how do I maximize my time there?

5. To those who already are in-house counsel, to what extent are you integrated with the rest of the business? For instance, how often do you ever sit in meetings with managers or get involved legal adjacent or non-legal matters? Does being an in house counsel work as a stepping stone to
hybrid roles (50 percent business, 50 percent legal), non-legal roles, or being involved in a business partnership ala Shark Tank?

6. Will I get a chance to engage in some socially useful pro-bono or volunteer legal work during my stay at the firm or on the side when I work as an in-house counsel?

I know these are a lot of questions, but am trying to best determine how to proceed forward in my career goal. I would appreciate any advice or assistance.

With great thanks

[nealric]

Hello,

I am a paralegal, have taken the LSAT (169), and am interested in a career as an in-house counsel. I will be applying to law schoool next fall.

This role appeals to me for several reasons:

A. Working as an in-house counsel would allow to me to be involved in several areas of law at once since many legal problems that a business will face are integrated. For instance, terminating an executive who has a "golden parachute" clause will involve both contract law and employment law. Preparing an employee stock option agreement will involve not only involve contract law, but it will also require an understanding of securities law.

B. If I were to work as a firm lawyer, the work would be abstract and distant. For instance, drafting an employee union agreement for factory employees would seem to be an exercise in nothing but words. However, if I were an in-house counsel and walked past the factory floor on the way to the office, I would in a visceral way see the overall context. Another would example would be preparing for a company IPO. Compare working on a company IPO at a Big-Law firm where you will probably never even visit the company to working on a company IPO as an in-house counsel where it is for a firm that you have probably spent every day at for the past few years and have some equity in as well (RSU, Stock Options, etc).

C. Working as an in-house counsel will allow me the chance to learn about the companies business and to get involved in some non-legal aspects of business. For instance, some in-house attorneys get involved in complex sales, business development, real estate purchases, etc. I have heard that some in-house attorneys switch into to business roles or hybrid positions that are 50% business 50% legal. There are even some entrepreneurs on the Forbes 400 that began their career as in-house counsel.

D. Since I will still be an attorney, I will have the opportunity via pro-bono work or a part-time volunteer clinic to get involved in social justice causes that are important to me. The desire to engage in at least some "traditional" legal practice in a public interest sense is a strong one.

My questions are:

1. What law schools are best suited for this particular goal on the East Coast and West Coast? How is USC, UCLA, and the University of Washington?

2. How should I best prepare in terms of courses, clinics, and internships/summer jobs during law school?

3. I am aware that some people have gotten in-house jobs directly out of law school, despite the fact that the standard path is to work at a firm for 3-5 years. Under what conditions can this happen?

4. What type of law firm should I seek to work at and how do I maximize my time there?

5. To those who already are in-house counsel, to what extent are you integrated with the rest of the business? For instance, how often do you ever sit in meetings with managers or get involved legal adjacent or non-legal matters? Does being an in house counsel work as a stepping stone to
hybrid roles (50 percent business, 50 percent legal), non-legal roles, or being involved in a business partnership ala Shark Tank?

6. Will I get a chance to engage in some socially useful pro-bono or volunteer legal work during my stay at the firm or on the side when I work as an in-house counsel?

I know these are a lot of questions, but am trying to best determine how to proceed forward in my career goal. I would appreciate any advice or assistance.

With great thanks

I've been in house for almost 7 years now. To answer your questions:

1) Aim higher than the schools mentioned. If your GPA was good, you should be able to wrangle a T14 offer with a 169. The higher-end the school, the better chance you have of a decent in-house job.

2) Doesn't really matter that much unless you are planning on a specific specialty (like tax). Take classes that interest you that have good professors. First year curriculum is usually fixed anyways, so you can figure out what's important after you've had some law school experience.

3) A few of the very largest companies have direct to in-house programs (Exxon, HP come to mind). It can also happen at lower-tier companies that just want someone cheap. But I generally wouldn't recommend it as a plan. Most good in-house positions require at least 3 years of biglaw (or occasionally relevant government experience) to be competitive. It's also helpful to have been in biglaw when you are hiring them and reviewing bills.

4) Biglaw firm that does work for an industry/location where you'd like to be. A better-known name is helpful, but most hiring managers know the lay of the land in terms of what firms are good.

5) I'm in meetings with mostly non-lawyers more often than I am in meetings with mostly lawyers if that means anything. Your job is to advise the business, so you will often interact with the business units. I do occasionally work on legal-adjacent matters when it relates to an area of expertise or when the non-legal aspects are difficult to separate out. There are a few folks who have transitioned out of law into the business side from my company, but keep in mind that they are the exception.

6) That's up to you. Most in-house legal departments run some sort of pro bono project institutionally, but it's often up to you to seek out opportunities. In that sense, it's a big upgrade from firms, where a lot of pro bono is assigned by partners and may be of little interest to you personally.