Looking for easy street Forum

[Ready4Summer15]

Have been litigating and in trial practice for more than a decade and I have had it! Was a prosecutor for several years and have been in private civil practice for 4 years as an associate -- looking for something much less stressful that will let me take Fridays off here and there. Don't care about money but want to still work in law, preferably in-house, if possible. Philadelphia/Delaware area only or remote. Suggestions please? Serious replies only. Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

I have been looking for in house jobs for 3 years as a biglaw litigation senior associate and haven't been able to land a single offer. Granted, I'm in a major legal market and am not willing to relocate, but still: it's rough out there for litigators trying to find their next job at my seniority.

[Anonymous User]

Just apply to tons of in-house jobs at all kinds companies and firms and eventually something will probably work out.

[Anonymous User]

I did biglaw litigation before moving in-house. I left at year 6. Mid-size legal market and got a fully remote in--house gig. Honestly, litigation is a difficult skillset to sell in in-house interviews unless you're interviewing for an insurance company. Prepping for in-house interviews is different than prepping for firm interviews. You have to focus on the profile/mission of the organization you're interviewing with and then sell them on the soft skills that litigators tend to refine better than transactional folks (even though the bulk of the work you'll be doing is transactional). I had success focusing my interviews on the risk mitigation analysis that litigators know too well (and see what happens when it goes wrong), crafting creative arguments, balancing the deadlines that comes with carrying a substantial active caseload, and being an effective communicator, because ultimately, your job as a litigator is to communicate both with your client and opposing counsel. All these skills translate very well to in-house.

Of course, it greatly helps if your subject-matter expertise is of benefit to the company. Employment is universal.

[Anonymous User]

Depends a bit on the type of litigation you do but you need to send 100s of applications and don't give up.

I was a mid-level big law litigator and went in house after 2 years of applying and interviewing, 150 applications sent, scores of rejections and no responses. Fully remote positions are out there, but you are going to be fighting an even steeper up hill climb if you can't work in SF/LA/NY.

[Oleo]

I did biglaw litigation before moving in-house. I left at year 6. Mid-size legal market and got a fully remote in--house gig. Honestly, litigation is a difficult skillset to sell in in-house interviews unless you're interviewing for an insurance company. Prepping for in-house interviews is different than prepping for firm interviews. You have to focus on the profile/mission of the organization you're interviewing with and then sell them on the soft skills that litigators tend to refine better than transactional folks (even though the bulk of the work you'll be doing is transactional). I had success focusing my interviews on the risk mitigation analysis that litigators know too well (and see what happens when it goes wrong), crafting creative arguments, balancing the deadlines that comes with carrying a substantial active caseload, and being an effective communicator, because ultimately, your job as a litigator is to communicate both with your client and opposing counsel. All these skills translate very well to in-house.

Of course, it greatly helps if your subject-matter expertise is of benefit to the company. Employment is universal.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you at all find any part of your in house gig difficult once you landed it? It sounds like you sold your experience well, but I’m wondering if the fact that the bulk of your new work was transactional was at all difficult for you to adjust to, coming from a litigation background.